The second Letter of the Living, Muḥammad-Ḥasan Bushrú'í, a prominent follower of the predecessor Bábí Faith, was arrested in 1845 by Ottoman authorities and the punishment they entertained speculated of banishing him to Algeria at one point.
[9][10] The first known Baháʼís to live there any length of time came in June 1952 when a Persian family travelled from Iran to France, and then on to Algeria, where they pioneered.
[16] There is a law in Algeria which makes "shaking the faith" of Muslims punishable[17] - depending on how that is interpreted it might be applied to Baháʼís though they recognized and affirm Muhammad as a prophet.
[20] The Promise of World Peace, a major publication of the Universal House of Justice, head institution of the religion, was delivered to the national government indirectly through their diplomatic offices in the United States in 1986.
[21] The World Christian Encyclopedia listed 700 Baháʼís in the mid 1970s, and noted expansion had been checked by waves of persecution and that all activities were banned.