Bahá’í World/Volume 16/The Hands of the Cause of God

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[Page 406]

THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD

1. THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD AND THE EXTENSION OF THEIR FUNCTIONS INTO THE FUTURE

A. THE RULERS AND THE LEARNED

IN every society and community of human beings there are those who are revered for their learning and wisdom, and there are those who are invested With authority to govern. In religious communities it has been usual for the legislative and governing authority to be held by the learned who have thus, as priests or as doctors of religious law, combined both capacities in the same persons. Other communities have, only too often, been riven by the conflict between church and state, between priests and kings, or, in more modern terms, between intellectuals and the establishment. In the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh these two extremes, of the over-concentration of authority on the one hand and of division and conflict on the other, are eliminated. The way this is achieved is one of the unique features of that Order and confers unimagined benefits upon the Bahá’í community.

In the Kitáb-i—‘Ahd (The Book of the Covenant) Bahá’u’lláh wrote, Blessed are the rulers and the learned in Bahd. The Guardian, interpreting this passage, stated on 4 November 1931:

In this holy cycle the ‘learned’ are, on the one hand, the Hands of the Cause of God, and, on the other, the teachers and diffusers of His teachings who do not rank as Hands, but who have attained an eminent position in the teaching work. As to the ‘rulers’ they refer to the members of the Local, National and International Houses of Justice. The duties of each of these souls will be determined in the future. (Translated from the Persian.)

Since those words were written the Bahá’í Administrative Order has developed rapidly

and is now functioning throughout the world. Under the supreme authority of the revealed Law of God the Bahá’í community is governed by its elected institutions: Local and National Spiritual Assemblies and the Universal House of Justice, while the institutions of the ‘learned’, which exercise no governing authority over the believers, are accorded an exalted rank which enables them to exert their beneficent influence over all parts of the community. Commenting on this feature of the Bahá’í Administrative Order, the Universal House of Justice wrote in its message of 24 April 1972:

The existence of institutions of such exalted rank. comprising individuals who play such a vital role, who yet have no legislative, administrative or judicial authority, and are entirely devoid of priestly functions or the right to make authoritative interpretations, is a feature of Bahá’í administration unparalleled in the religions of the past . . i

Developing this theme, the Universal House of Justice referred in that same message to a letter written on behalf of the Guardian on 14 March 1927, to the Spiritual Assembly of Istanbul, in which he expounded the Bahá’í principle of action by majority vote. In this letter Shoghi Effendi points out how, in the past, it was certain individuals who ‘accounted themselves as superior in knowledge and elevated in position’ who caused division, and that it was those ‘who pretended to be the most distinguished of all’ who ‘always proved themselves to be the source of contention’. He praises God that Baha’u’llah had withdrawn authority from ‘the unyielding and dictatorial Views of the learned

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and the wise’, rejected the assertions of individuals, even though recognized as the most accomplished and learned among men, as authoritative criteria, and ‘ordained that all matters be referred to authorized centres and assemblies’. Thus the institutions of the learned in the Bahá’í Faith, while invested with high rank and exercising invaluable moral authority and influence, have no executive power other than in the direction of their own institutions.

The difficulty of establishing a clear understanding of this administrative concept, new in the history of religion, is reflected in the concluding passage of the message of the Universal

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House of Justice, of 24 April 1972, quoted above:

. . . The newness and uniqueness of this concept make it difficult to grasp; only as the Bahá’í community grows and the believers are increasingly able to contemplate its administrative structure uninfluenoed by concepts from past ages, will the vital interdependence of the ‘rulers’ and ‘learned’ in the Faith be properly understood, and the inestimable value of their interaction be fully recognized

Only now, as these two arms of the worldembracing system of Bahá’u’lláh begin to function in their separate but complementary roles towards a common achievement, are intimations caught of the divine beneficence of that system.

B. THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD

Bahá’u’lláh Himself created the institution of the Hands of the Cause and appointed four Hands to serve Him in His own lifetime. In the Tablet of the World He refers to the Hands of the Cause in words descriptive of the station of service to which they are called:

Light and glory, greeting analpraise be upon the Hands oins Cause through whom the light of fortitude hath slzoneforth and the truth hath been established that the authority to choose rests with God, the Powerful, the M ighty, the Unconstrained, through whom the ocean of bounty hath surged and the fragrance of the gracious favours of God, the Lord of mankind, hath been diflused. We beseech Him—Exalted is He—to shield them through the power of His hosts, to protect them through the potency of His dominion and to aid them through His indomitable strength which prevaileth over all created things. Sovereignty is God’s, the Creator of the heavens and the Lord of the Kingdom of Names,

The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá contains many references to the Hands of the Cause, including explicit definitions of their station and functions, as well as various admonitions addressed to them:

Salutation andpraise, blessing and glory rest . . . upon the Hands of the Cause afGod that have diflused widely the Divine Fragrances, declared His Proofs, proclaimed His Faith, published abroad His Law, detached themselves from all things but Him, stoodfor righteousness in this world, and kindled the Fire of the Love of God in the very hearts and souls oins servants; . . . the Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and protest against the Guardian of the Cause of God cast him out

from the congregation of the people of Bahá and in no wise accept any excuse from him. . . .

. . . The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the Guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the Guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor. . . .

O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his shadow and obey his command. . . .

The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, tapromote learning, to improve the character of all men and to be, at all times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things. T hey must manifest the fear of God by their conduct, their manners, their deeds and their words. This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the direction of the Guardian of the Cause of God. He must continually urge them to strive and endeavour to the utmost of their ability to difluse the sweet savours of God, and to guide all the peoples of the world, for it is the light of Divine Guidance that causeth all the universe to be illumined. T0 disregard, though it be for a moment, this absolute command which is binding upon everyone, is in no wise permitted, that the surface of the earth may become heavenly, that contention and conflict amidst peoples, kindreds, nations and governments may disappear, that all the dwellers on earth may become one people and one race, that the world may become even as one home.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not Himself appoint any additional Hands of the Cause. He did, how [Page 408]408

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Convemionfor the election of'the Universal House of Justice; Riḍván 1973.

ever, refer to certain outstanding teachers of the Faith as Hands.

During the first three decades of his ministry as Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi designated certain outstanding Bahá’ís as Hands posthumously. Then, in December 1951, he raised twelve living believers to this exalted rank, a development of the Administrative Order which thrilled the entire Bahá’í world. In February 1952 he appointed a further seven, and in 1957 eight more, bringing the total number to twenty-seven. In these brief six years the Guardian not only established this institution on a firm foundation throughout the world, with a body of four Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land to act as the liaison between himself and the Hands in each con tinent, but he brought into being in each continent two Auxiliary Boards, one for the protection and one for the propagation of the Faith, to act as the ‘assistants, deputies and advisers’ of the Hands of that continent.

The epic story of how in November 1957, the Hands of the Cause of God, called by the Guardian the ‘Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth’, rallied the grief—stricken and stunned Bahá’ís of the world, guided them to the victorious accomplishment of the Ten Year Crusade which he had launched, and convened the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies for the first election of the Universal House of Justice in April 1963, has been told in befitting detail in Volume XIII of this publication.

C. THE CONTINENTAL BOARDS OF COUNSELLORS

The establishment of the Universal House of Justice in 1963 ushered in a new phase in the evolution of the institution of the Hands of the Cause. In October 1963 the House of Justice

decided ‘that there is no way to appoint or legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi’. Therefore, among the first questions which it was

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necessary for it then to consider were the manner in which the institution of the Hands of the Cause was to continue to perform its appointed functions, the relationship which should exist between the House of J ustice and the Hands of the Cause, and how the indispensable functions of the Hands of the Cause could be extended into the future, since, according to the text of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God.

Following consultation with a conclave of the Hands in October—November 1964, the Universal House of Justice announced to the believers in its message of November 1964 the following decisions:

There is no way to appoint, or to legislate to make it possible to appoint, Hands of the Cause of God.

Responsibility for decisions of matters of general policy affecting the institution of the Hands of the Cause, which was formerly exercised by the beloved Guardian, now devolves upon the Universal House of Justice as the supreme and central institution of the Faith to which all must turn.

That same message announced increases in the number of the members of the Auxiliary Boards for propagation in every continent, and the Hands were requested to appoint one or more members of each Auxiliary Board to act in an executive capacity on their behalf and in the name of each Hand, for the direction of the work of the Boards. The message continued:

The exalted rank and specific functions of the Hands of the Cause of God make it inappropriate for them to be elected or appointed to administrative institutions, or to be elected as delegates to national conventions. Furthermore, it is their desire and the desire of the House of J ustice that they be free to devote their entire energies to the vitally important duties conferred upon them in the Holy Writings.

At the same time the House of Justice confirmed the request of the Hands of the Cause that henceforth members of the Auxiliary Boards should be freed from administrative responsibilities, including service on committees and as delegates to conventions.

On 21 June 1968 the House of Justice announced by cable to the Bahá’í world the decision to establish eleven Continental Boards of Counsellors for the protection and propagation of the Faith and, in a written message

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issued on 24 June, outlined in detail the nature and scope of this action. Because of its great significance to the evolution of the Administrative Order, the entire text of this message is quoted:

The majestic unfoldment of Bahá’u’lláh’s worldredeeming administrative system has been marked by the successive establishment of the various institutions and agencies which constitute the framework of that diviner-created Order. Thus, more than a quarter-of-a-century after the emergence of the first National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’í world the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God was formally established, with the appointment by the beloved Guardian, in conformity with the provisions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament, of the first contingent of these high-ranking officers of the Faith. Following the passing of the Guardian of the Cause of God, it fell to the House of Justice to devise a way, within the Administrative Order, of developing ‘the institution of the Hands of the Cause with a view to extension into the future of its appointed functions of protection and propagation', and this was made a goal of the Nine Year Plan. Much thought and study has been given to the question over the past four years, and the texts have been collected and reviewed. During the last two months, this goal, as announced in our cable to the National Conventions, has been the object of prolonged and prayerful consultation between the Universal House of J ustice and the Hands of the Cause of God. All this made evident the framework within which this goal was to be achieved. namely:

The Universal House of Justice sees no way in which additional Hands of the Cause of God can be appointed.

The absence of the Guardian of the Faith brought about an entirely new relationship between the Universal House of Justice and the Hands of the Cause and called for the progressive unfoldment by the Universal House of Justice of the manner in which the Hands of the Cause would carry out their divinely-conferred functions of protection and propagation.

Whatever new development or institution is initiated should come into operation as soon as possible in order to reinforce and supplement the work of the Hands of the Cause while at the same time taking full advantage of the opportunity of having the Hands themselves assist in launching and guiding the new procedures.

Any such institution must grow and operate in harmony with the principles governing the functioning of the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God.

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In the light of these considerations the Universal House of Justice decided, as announced in its recent cable, to establish Continental Boards of Counsellors for the protection and propagation of the Faith. Their duties will include directing the Auxiliary Boards in their respective areas, consulting and collaborating with National Spiritual Assemblies, and keeping the Hands of the Cause and the Universal House of Justice informed concerning the conditions of the Cause in their areas.

Initially eleven Boards of Counsellors have been appointed, one for each of the following areas: Northwestern Africa, Central and East Africa, Southern Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Western Asia, Southeastern Asia, Northeastern Asia, Australasia and Europe.

The members of these Boards of Counsellors will serve for a term, or terms, the length of which will be determined and announced at a later date, and while serving in this capacity, will not be eligible for membership on national or local administrative bodies. One member of each Continental Board of Counsellors has been designated as Trustee of the Continental Fund for its area.

The Auxiliary Boards for protection and propagation will henceforth report to the Continental Boards of Counsellors who will appoint or replace members of the Auxiliary Boards as circumstances may require. Such appointments and replacements as may be necessary in the initial stages will take place after consultation with the Hand or Hands previously assigned to the continent or zone.

The Hands of the Cause of God have the prerogative and obligation to consult with the Continental Boards of Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies on any subject which, in their view, affects the interests of the Cause. The Hands residing in the Holy Land will act as liaison between the Universal House of Justice and the Continental Boards of Counsellors, and will also assist the Universal House of Justice in setting up, at a propitious time, an international teaching centre in the Holy Land, as anticipated in the Guardian‘s writings.

The Hands of the Cause of God are one of the most precious assets the Bahá’í world possesses. Released from administration of the Auxiliary Boards, they will be able to concentrate their energies on the more primary responsibilities of general protection and propagation, ‘preservation of the spiritual health of the Bahá’í communities’ and ‘the vitality of the faith‘ of the Bahá’ís throughout the world. The House of Justice will call upon them to undertake special missions on its behalf, to represent it on both Bahá’í and other occasions and to keep it informed of the welfare of the Cause. While the Hands of the Cause will, naturally, have special concern for the affairs of the Cause in the areas in which they reside, they will operate increasingly on an intercontinental level, a factor which will lend tremendous impetus to the diffusion throughout the Bahá’í world of the spiritual inspiration channelled through them~the Chief

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Stewards of Baha’u’llah’s World Commonwealth.

With joyful hearts we proclaim this further unfoldment of the Administrative Order of Bahá’u’lláh and join our prayers to those of the friends throughout the East and the West that Baha’u’llah may continue to shower his confirmations upon the efforts of His servants in the safeguarding and promotion of His

Faith.

embryonic

A clarification of the status of Counsellors and their relationship to National Spiritual Assemblies was made by the House of J ustice in a letter to a National Spiritual Assembly in May 1975:

. . . (it) must be one of warm and active collaboration, a full sharing in the excitement and the challenge of the teaching work and the establishment of living and growing Bahá’í communities . . . While the role of the Counsellors is normally to advise, encourage and reinforce, and they have no legislative or administrative authority, they nevertheless occupy a rank superior to that of the National Assembly or its members and each individual Counsellor is a high officer of the Faith entitled to the respect, honour and courtesy due to his rank. Each country which is privileged to have a resident Counsellor should prize that privilege. Each National Assembly which has a Counsellor at hand for frequent consultations should, without relinquishing any portion of its divinely assigned authority, call upon him often for his views and accord great weight to his advice.

On 8 J une 1973 a further directive was sent to the Continental Boards of Counsellors which answered the need discussed by the Counsellors during their sessions in the Holy Land, at the time of the International Convention of that year, for some method to enable their institution to reach more deeply into the fabric of the Bahá’í world community. The House of Justice authorized each Board of Counsellors, at its discretion, to permit Auxiliary Board Members to appoint assistants, whose duties would be to activate and encourage Local Spiritual Assemblies, to call the attention of Local Spiritual Assembly members to the importance of regular meetings, to encourage local communities to gather for Nineteen Day Feasts and Holy Days, to help deepen their fellow-believers’ understanding of the teachings, and generally to assist the Auxiliary Board members in the discharge of their duties. The advice, at that time, was to proceed gradually with this new step so that experience could indicate the most effective manner of its oper [Page 411]THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

ation. Since then, as aresult of the proven value of this expanded service, appointments of assistants in each zone have been steadily and rapidly augmented. The letter of 8 June 1973 stated that ‘believers can serve at the same time both as assistants to Auxiliary Board members and on administrative institutions’.

Adjustments to the number of Continental Boards of Counsellors are made as the Universal House of Justice deems necessary, entailing adjustments to zones assigned to the Boards,

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to the number of Counsellors and to the numbers of Auxiliary Boards and Auxiliary Board members.1 Thus the institution operates at all levels throughout the world, reaching into the basic structure of local community life and exerting its encouraging and uplifting influence upon the lives of individuals and the deliberations of institutions, constantly watching over the security of the Faith, pointing the way to the promotion of its best interests, and to the ever wider dissemination of its healing message.

D. THE INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE

Assurance of the extension into the future of the appointed functions of protection and propagation conferred upon the Hands of the Cause was accomplished by the establishment of the Continental Boards of Counsellors. However, that vital goal having been accomplished, the problem remained of ordering the work of the new institution so that it would grow organically with the Faith itself.

In a letter addressed to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 24 June 1968 the Universal House of Justice confirmed that ‘the relationship of Continental Boards of Counsellors to National Spiritual Assemblies will follow the pattern of the relationship between the Hands of the Cause and National Spiritual Assemblies, outlined by the beloved Guardian in various communications’.

The cablegram addressed by the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 21 June 1968 announcing the establishment of Continental Boards of Counsellors had contained a reference to the ‘future establishment international teaching centre Holy Land foreshadowed writings beloved Guardian.’

In October 1971 the Hands of the Cause were notified that after the International Convention for the election of the Universal House of Justice during Riḍván 1973, their presence in the Holy Land for a period of time in order to consult on a number of important subjects would be most welcome. The foremost topic would be the establishment of the international teaching centre about which the Hands had previously been requested to submit their written views. The Universal House of J ustice, in its letter

to the Hands of the Cause in October 1971, cited, amongst others, the following three quotations from the Guardian which anticipated the evolution of the World Administrative Centre of the Faith on Mount Carmel and the establishment there of an international teaching centre as the seat of the Hands of the Cause of God:

. it must be clearly understood, not can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the conjunction of the resting—place of the Greatest Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual potencies of that consecrated Spot which, under the wings of the Báb’s overshadowing Sepulchre. and in the vicinity of the l‘uture Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, which will be reared on its flank, is destined to evolve into the focal centre of those world-shaking, world-embracing, world-directing administrative institutions, ordained by Baha’u’llah and anticipated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and which are to function in consonance with the principles that govern the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. Then, and then only, will this momentous prophecy which illuminates the concluding passages of the Tablet of Carmel be fulfilled: Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee (Carmel) and will manifest the people ofBahlz who have been mentioned in the Book of Names. 2

In this great Tablet which unveils divine mysteries and heralds the establishment of two mighty, majestic and momentous undertakings—one of which is spiritual and the other administrative, both at the World Centre of the Faith—Bahá’u’lláh refers to an ‘Ark‘, whose dwellers are the men of the Supreme House of

‘At Riḍván 1976 there are thirteen Continental Boards of Counsellors, each Continental Board having two Auxiliary Boards, one for protection and one for propagation; and each Auxiliary Board member having assistants as needed and authorized.

3 Shoghi Effendi. letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. 2l December 1939: see Messages (0 America, pp. 32—33.

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kl

t

The Hands of the Cause Amatu’l—Bahd Rúḥíyyih Khánum, ‘A/i-Akbar Furfltan, Paul E. Haney,

and Abu’l—stim Faizz' ; and C ounsellors members of the International T eaching Centre, Hooper Dunbar. Florence V. M ayberry, and ‘Azz': Yazdz', gatheredfbrprayers at the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, Bahjz’, during the inaugural meeting of the Teaching Centre; 14 June 1973.

J ustice, which, in conformity with the exact provisions of the Will and Testament of the Centre of the Mighty Covenant is the body which should lay down laws not explicitly revealed in the Text. In this Dispensation, these laws are destined to flow from this holy mountain, even as in the Mosaic Dispensation the law of God was promulgated from Zion. The ‘sailing of the Ark’ of His laws is a reference to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, which is indeed the Seat of Legislation, one of the branches of the World Administrative Centre of the Bahá’ís on this holy mountain. It will be housed in a separate building near the International Archives Building, now under construction, on a site in the neighbourhood of the Shrine of the Báb, and overlooking the sacred and illumined Monuments. In the.neighbourhood of these two stately edifices and two mighty Institutions (i.e. the Archives Building and the edifice for the House of Justice), another edifice will gradually be erected which will be the Seat of the Guardianship, the Centre which will interpret, expound and prepare commentaries on explicitly revealed laws, and will reinforce and supplement the legislative body. Yet another edifice to supplement these three edifices will be the Centre for the propagation and teaching of the Faith, the Seat for the Hands of the Cause, who, in accordance with the explicit text of the Will and Testament are charged with the security, the pres ervation and protection of the Cause, the safeguarding of the unity of the community, the promotion of God’s religion and the spread of His Word. These majestic and mighty edifices, which will be constructed gradually in accordance with a beautiful and uniqile style of architecture around the sacred Monuments, are all considered as branches of this highlyexalted, firmly-grounded and broadly-based World Administrative Centre of the followers of the Cause of Him Who is the Lord of this Age and the Ruler of Creation.1

The raising of this edifice (International Bahá’í Archives) will in turn herald the construction, in the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of several other structures, which will serve as the administrative seats of such divinely appointed institutions as the Guardianship, the Hands of the Cause, and the Universal House of Justice. These edifices will, in the shape of a far-flung arc, and following a harmonizing style of architecture, surround the resting places of the Greatest Holy Leaf, ranking as foremost among the members of her sex in the Bahá’í Dispensation, of her brother, olfered up as a ransom by Bahá’u’lláh for the quickening of the world and its unification and of their mother, proclaimed by Him to be His chosen ‘consort in all the

‘ Shoghi Effendi, letter in Persian to the Bahá’ís of the East, Naw-Ri'iz 111 (1954).

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worlds of God '. The ultimate completion of this stupendous undertaking will mark the culmination of the development of a world-wide divinely—appointed Administrative Order whose beginnings may be traced as far back as the concluding years of the heroic Age of the Faith,l

On 5 June 1973, following the International Convention and the consultations with the Hands of the Cause, and less than a month after the Counsellors had left the Holy Land to resume their services within their zones, the following announcement was cabled by the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies:

‘ANNOUNCE ESTABLISHMENT HOLY LAND LONG ANTICIPATED INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE DESTINED EVOLVE INTO ONE THOSE WORLD SHAKING WORLD EMBRACING WORLD DIRECTING ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS ORDAINED BY BAHA’U’LLAH ANTICIPATED BY ‘ABDU’L-BAHA ELUCIDATED BY SHOGHI EFFENDI STOP MEMBERSHIP THIS NASCENT INSTITUTION COMPRISES ALL HANDS CAUSE GOD AND INITIALLY THREE COUNSELLORS WHO WITH HANDS PRESENT HOLY LAND WILL CONSTITUTE NUCLEUS ITS VITAL OPERATIONS STOP CALLING UPON HOOPER DUNBAR FLORENCE MAYBERRY AZlZ YAZDI PROCEED HOLY LAND

' ASSUME THIS HIGHLY MERITORIOUS SERVICE STOP OFFERING PRAYERS HEARTFELT GRATITUDE SACRED THRESHOLD THIS FURTHER EVIDENCE ORGANIC EVOLUTION ADMINlSTRATIVE ORDER BAHA’U’LLAH.’

It was followed three days later by this expanded announcement to the Bahá’ís of the world:

The centennial year of the revelation of the Kitdb-iAqdas has already witnessed events of such capital significance in the annals of the Bahá’í Dispensation as to cause us to contemplate with awe the rapidity with which Divine Providence is advancing the Cause of the Most Great Name. The time is indeed propitious for the establishment of the International Teaching Centre, a development which, at one and the same time, brings to fruition the work of the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land and provides for its extension into the future, links the institution of the Boards of Counsellors even more intimately with that of the Hands of the Cause of God, and powerfully reinforces the discharge of the rapidly growing responsibilities of the Universal House of J ustice.

This International Teaching Centre now established will, in due course, operate from that building designated by the Guardian as the Seat for the Hands

lShoghi EITendi, letter to the Bahá’ís of the world. 27 November 1954; see Messages (0 [he Bahá’í World. p. 74.

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of the Cause, which must be raised on the are on Mount Carmel in close proximity to the Seat of the Universal House of Justice.

The duties now assigned to this nascent institution are:

To co-ordinate, stimulate and direct the activities of the Continental Boards of Counsellors and to act as liaison between them and the Universal House of Justice.

To be fully informed of the situation of the Cause in all parts of the world and to be able, from the background of this knowledge, to make reports and recommendations to the Universal House of J ustice and give advice to the Continental Boards of Counsellors.

To be alert to possibilities, both within and without the Bahá’í community, for the extension of the teaching work into receptive or needy areas, and to draw the attention of the Universal House of J ustice and the Continental Boards of Counsellors to such possibilities, making recommendations for action.

To determine and anticipate needs for literature, pioneers and travelling teachers and to work out teaching plans, both regional and global, for the approval of the Universal House of Justice.

All the Hands of the Cause of God will be members of the International Teaching Centre. Each Hand will be kept regularly informed of the activities of the Centre through reports or copies of its minutes, and will be able, wherever he may be residing or travelling, to convey suggestions, recommendations and information to the Centre and, whenever he is in the Holy Land, to take part in the consultations and other activities of the Centre.

In addition, we now appoint Mr. Hooper Dunbar, Mrs. Florence Mayberry and Mr. ‘Aziz Yazdi to membership of the International Teaching Centre, with the rank of Counsellor. These believers, who have been serving with distinction on the Continental Boards of Counsellors in South America, North America and Central and East Africa respectively, will henceforth reside in Haifa and will, together With the Hands present in the Holy Land, constitute the nucleus of the operations of the Centre.

Authority for the expulsion and reinstatement of Covenant-breakers remains with the Hands of the Cause of God. All such matters will be investigated locally by the relative Continental Board of Counsellors in consultation with any Hand or Hands who may be in the area. The Continental Board of Counsellors and the Hands concerned will then make their reports to the International Teaching Centre where they will be considered. The decision whether or not to expel or reinstate will be made by the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land who will, as at present, submit their decision to the Universal House of Justice for approval. . . .

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The decisions now announced are the outcome of deliberation extending over a number of years, reinforced by consultations with the Hands of the Cause of God, and especially with the Hands residing in the Holy Land who were requested in 1968 to assist the Universal House of Justice in the establishment of the International Teaching Centre, a task that now increases in magnitude as that Centre begins its work.

One of the first tasks assigned by the Universal House of Justice to the International Teaching Centre was to devise the broad outlines of the global teaching plan to begin at Riḍván 1974 and conclude five years later at Riḍván 1979. This comprehensive and detailed survey of the entire Bahá’í world community provided an opportunity for the Teaching Centre to become thoroughly acquainted with the conditions, needs and potentialities of the one hundred and thirteen national Bahá’í communities which made up the Bahá’í international community at Riḍván 1973. A greatly increased flow of vital information from the Continental Boards of Counsellors was called for by the International Teaching Centre, which promised, in turn, the development of an increasingly close relationship between itself and the Boards through a similarly increased flow of materials from the Teaching Centre. At the

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request of the House of Justice the Teaching Centre also evolved a plan for international collaboration on travelling teaching projects.

The divinely ordained institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, having been brought into active reality by the Guardian of the Faith according to the directives of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament, was confronted in its infancy with an appalling crisis in the life of that Faith whose protection was its prime duty. During the interregnum between the passing of the Guardian and the election of the Universal House of Justice, the Hands of the Cause as its Chief Stewards, maintained the integrity and unity of the Faith. The functions of protection and propagation appointed to this great institution have now been extended into the future in a manner consonant with the principles of the Faith. The Continental Boards of Counsellors with their attendant Auxiliary Boards for protection and propagation, the assistants to the Auxiliary Board members, all eo-ordinated and kept in relationship to the Universal House of Justice by the International Teaching Centre, form the fabric of the appointive arm of the Administrative Order of the Faith, which will in increasing measure exert its spiritualizing influence upon the development of the Bahá’í community and of all mankind.

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2. THE WORK AND TRAVELS OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE

THE Hands of the Cause of God, freed, in 1968, of administrative duties, have continued to represent the Faith as ambassadors-at-large. Their assistance to the Continental Boards of Counsellors and to the National Spiritual Assemblies has shown that they are indeed ‘one of the most precious assets the Bahá’í world possesses.’l The lengthy section in this volume comprising the world-wide survey of the Bahá’í national communities is studded with specific references to the visits of the Hands, and offers glowing tribute to their effective and inspiriting encouragement.

It is beyond the scope of these pages to chronicle the ceaseless activities far and wide in the Bahá’í world of the seventeen Hands during the three years covered by this volume and the reader is referred to the section mentioned (pages 141 to 318), Brief summaries of the major travels of the Hands of the Cause follow.

Amatu’I-Bahd Rfilgiyyih fldnum

During this period, in addition to her service on the International Teaching Centre, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum undertook a lengthy journey to India, Bangladesh, Burma and Hong Kong, proceeding to the United States for the St. Louis Conference before visiting her homeland, Canada. Her ‘Green Light Expedition’, the historic odyssey which she undertook in the Amazon and Orinoco, is reported elsewhere (pages 419 to 448) and the motion picture and slide series of the great journey are described. Going on to the United States and Canada to supervise the making and release of the audiovisual products of the journey, she recorded the Canadian film of her reminiscences, Invitation. During this period, too, out of her experiences with and sympathy for Bahá’í pioneers in their often difficult, lonely and sacrificial services, she wrote A M anual for Pioneers (Bahá’í Publishing Trust, India, 1974).

1 The Universal House of Justice, letter to all National Spiritual Assemblies, 24 June 1968; Wellspring of Guidance, pp. 140—143.

Ugo Giachery

From his home in Monaco, Dr. Ugo Giachery has devoted himself primarily to the European communities, to the establishment and growth of which he has been so great a contributor; he has inspired many summer and winter schools, conferences, conventions and special events. In 1975 he was able to visit Greece and the Holy Land en route to an intensive teaching visit to the Cradle of the Faith. As a special mission, and in support of the growing prestige of the Cause in Europe, Dr. Giachery met and presented the Faith to Franz J oseph 11, Prince of Lichtenstein.

‘Ali-Akbar Furlitan

Mr. ‘Ali-Akbar Furl’ltan, based in the Holy Land, has devoted himself to service in the International Teaching Centre, to duties of scholarship, to the Bahá’í pilgrims and visitors and, during the summers, to international travels in support of the Five Year Plan. In 1973 he was in various countries of western Europe; in 1974 in lran for five intensive months of teaching, beginning with the annual convention; and, in 1975, participated in summer schools and conferences in western Europe.

D_hikru’lláh flddem

Although based in the United States where he lent valuable reinforcement to the work of the Faith and participated in a number of significant conferences, Mr. thkru’llah @adem has devoted a great part of his time to the special project assigned by the Universal .House of Justice of assembling as complete a record as possible of data on Bahá’í Holy Places and places of historical significance for the Faith in all parts of the world, the largest number of these, of course, being in iran and ‘Iráq. He attended the annual convention in iran in 1973 and taught at the summer school, and visited lran again at Riḍván 1974.

fiu‘d‘u’lkih ‘Ald’i

General flu‘a‘u’llah ‘Ala’i lived in iran throughout the period under review and vigorously pursued his work with the National Spiritual Assembly in the continuing problems

[Page 416]416

of the protection of the Faith and its emancipation from the fetters of orthodoxy. In 1975 he visited a number of centres in the United Kingdom and Europe where he met the Bahá’í friends and addressed public meetings. In various centres in Germany, General ‘Ala’i was introduced to a number of distinguished orientalists who accepted Bahá’í literature for university and State libraries.

Adelbert Mühlschlegel

Moving from Fribourg, Switzerland to Hotheim-am-Taunus in the shadow of the House of Worship in Langenhain, Germany, in December 1973, Dr. Adelbert Mühlschlegel has devoted himself to Europe’s acute needs in the Five Year Plan. In early 1974 he made an extensive journey which took him to various centres in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and its northern island groups, to Iceland, the Faroes and Denmark. In the summer of 1975 he was able to undertake a lengthy South American itinerary, returning thence to serve, despite illness, on the German and European homefronts.

Jalél fldzeh

Colonel Jalal Igazeh has for some years concentrated on teaching and protection duties in Iran where the splendid upsurge of teaching work in the Provinces owes a great deal to his inspiration and encouragement. In the summer of 1973 he was able to undertake a globeencircling journey to India, Japan, Alaska, Canada, the United States and Switzerland. In 1974 he made an extended tour of South America and the Caribbean islands.

Paul Haney

With the establishment of the International Teaching Centre in 1973 much of the responsibility for inaugurating the work of that institution fell upon Mr. Paul Haney from among the Hands of the Cause who reside in the Holy Land. The increasingly onerous duties cast upon the Boards of Counsellors throughout the world has greatly expanded the work of coordination and communication at the World Centre and has called heavily upon Mr. Haney’s administrative talents. In addition, in 1973—1974 he visited the United States and the United Kingdom on a teaching mission.

THE BAHA’I WORLD

‘AlziMuhammad Varqé

Continuing his vital responsibilities as Trustee of the Huqfiqu’lláh, Dr. ‘Ali-Muhammad Varqa was able to_undertake travels in the intervals allowed by his professorial duties at the University of Ṭihrán. In the summer of 1973 he visited the western hemisphere, notably aiding the teaching work in the French Antilles. In the summer of 1974 he journeyed to Europe and to many francophone countries of West Africa. Although hampered by illness, he was able to be in Europe during the summer of 1975.

Enoch 01inga

Mr. Enoch Olinga, despite pressing duties in Uganda, has been able to serve the African communities far and wide. Travelling through East Africa in 1973—1974, he undertook thereafter a five-month West African teaching mission to twelve countries. In the spring of 1975 he embarked upon another intensive circuit through West Africa, aiding twelve countries in their demanding goals of the Five Year Plan, attending an International Youth Conference and the inaugural convention of the National Spiritual Assembly of Upper West Africa. At year’s end he began a four—month teaching programme aimed at improving relationships of the many Ugandan Bahá’í communities of both the Western Provinces and the Eastern Provinces with the Government.

William Sears

Mr. William Sears has continued his zealous and creative labours via many modes of communication including writing, audio cassettes, radio and television programmes. Notable has been the completion of a television series produced in conjunction with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands. Based in Canada from the summer of 1974, Mr. Sears at intervals has been able to undertake lengthy teachingjourneys: in 1974, to Korea and Japan, and to the youth conferences in Hilo, Hawaii, and Oklahoma and St. Louis in the United States; to Samoa in early 1975; to Iceland, the Faroes, Shetland and Orkney Islands that summer. His intensive work with the Canadian and American communities and his frequent travels have been a source of great stimulus to them.

[Page 417]THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH

John Robarts

On his departure from the Holy Land in May 1973, Mr. John Robarts flew home to Canada via Kenya and London, attending the annual conventions of the United Kingdom and Canada. Despite the difficulties of ill health Mr. Robarts gallantly abandoned his hoped-for sabbatical for rest and study in response to the urgent needs of the Canadian community. During the winter months he travelled through Canada’s Provinces in support of the Canadian Bahá’í fund, visited the United States national centre at Naw-Rt'lz, and attended the Canadian annual convention at Riḍván 1974 at which time the new Canadian Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds was dedicated. In the summer of that year he attended the St. Louis conference and North American summer schools, and then visited a number of centres in the Caribbean and Central America. The meetings and conference in Vancouver in the autumn of 1975 commemorating the eight-day visit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Canada in 1912 were attended by Mr. Robarts.

H. M. Balyfizi

Mr. Hasan M. Balyfizi, in spite of chronic ill health, has persistently pursued his scholarship, research and writing for the Faith. His M ubammad and the Course of [skim was published (George Ronald, Oxford; 1976) and attracted a good deal of critical appraisal. With this work, Mr. Balyfizi greatly consolidated his recognized position as a scholar and writer. He is completing his great trilogy on the three Central Figures of the Faith with a comprehensive survey of the life of Bahá’u’lláh set against the social and political conditions of the world at the time.

John Ferraby

Mr. John Ferraby died in September 19731 after a long illness which for some time had vastly restricted his activities.

H. Collis Featherstone

Although Mr. H. Collis Featherstone, who lives in Australia, has made the entire Pacific his particular area, constantly fosterin g the teachin g

‘See ‘In Memoriam’, p. 511.

417

work and encouraging the friends by his visits, he has not confined his services to that vast zone. He travelled in 1973 to Europe, Canada, the United States, Alaska, Eastern Asia, Indonesia, the South Pacific and New Zealand. ‘In 1974 he attended the Hawaiian Youth Conference and visited centres in the United States, Alaska, the West Pacific and Eastern Asia. He has undertaken delicate missions on behalf of the Universal House of Justice in efforts to free the Faith from restrictions.

Rahmatu’lláh Muhájir

With characteristic vigour and stamina, Dr. Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir has brought his zeal and fertile mind to serve the goals of the Five Year Plan in half a hundred national Bahá’í communities across the world, travelling almost ceaselessly on behalf of the Cause from his London home. In 1973—1974 he undertook four major journeys: to Europe and Africa; to Iran, South East Asia, the South Pacific, East and West Africa; to Europe; and to Latin America. In 1975 he was again in Latin America, thence travelling to West Africa, including attendance at two inaugural conventions, and thereafter to summer schools in Europe. In the autumn of 1975 he set off for Asia via the Holy Land, revisiting South East Asia, the North West Pacific, and on to Latin America, the United States and Canada.

Abu’l-Qásim Faizi

From his home in the Holy Land, amplifying the services which he offers to the International Teaching Centre as well as to the increasing flow of pilgrims and visitors, Mr. Abu’l—Qasim Faizi has moved outward to the Bahá’í world in a series of long teaching journeys. He visited Europe in the autumn of 1973; was in Europe, Latin America and North America from May to October of 1974, including the St. Louis and Hilo conferences; returned to Europe during the winter of 1974—1975 and again during the summer school period of 1975. In addition to his extensive correspondence, Mr. Faizi has published a number of his studies and scholarly commentaries.

[Page 418]418

THE Bahá’í WORLD

3. HANDS OF THE CAUSE WHO REPRESENTED THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE AT INAUGURAL CONVENTIONS FOR THE ELECTION OF NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES 1973—1976

Riḍván 1974

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih K_h2'mum Hong Kong (Seat: Kowloon, Hong Kong)

Riḍván 1975

Dr. ‘Ali Muhammad Vurqé Jordan (Seat: ‘Ammém) Enoch Olinga Sierra Leone (Seat: Freetown) Upper West Africa (Seat: Dakar, Sénégal) Dr. Rahmatu’lláh Muhzijir Niger (Seat: Niamey) Togo (Seat: Lomé)

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4. THE GREEN LIGHT EXPEDITION OF RUHiYYIH RABBANI

FEBRUAR )LA UGUST 1975 Adapted from the documentary slide programmes of the expedition1

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, widow of the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, World Head and Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, is one of the highest-ranking officers of that Faith, a Hand of the Cause of God. She is better known to the general public as Madame Rabbani.

Born in 1910 of an American mother and a Canadian father, Madame Rabbani is an author, lecturer and world traveller, having already visited 109 countries at the time she undertook, in 1975, an expedition to visit the indigenous tribes of the Amazon Basin in South America. At the end of the jungle phase of this arduous and historic journey, she and the members of her party attended two Andean Bahá’í conferences, one held in the altiplano of Bolivia, the other in Cuzco, Peru. A team of professional film makers accompanied the expedition and a documentary film, two hours in length, entitled The Green Light Expedition, was produced with English, Spanish and Persian commentary. An extensive record was also made by a professional photographer. A selection ofthese photographs follows. Some intimation of the profound sensibility of Bahá’ís to the central teaching of Bahá’u’lláh, namely the oneness of mankind, may be gathered from the following account.

PART I—A VOYAGE ON THE ORINOCO AND VENTUARI RIVERS OF VENEZUELA

Venezuela, where the first stage of the expedition took place, is the area seen at the top of the map of South America.

Madame Rúḥíyyih Rabbani and Dr. Pablo Anduze, Governor of the State of Amazonas in Venezuela, whom she had met on her previous visit to Puerto Ayacucho in 1968. Dr. Anduze is an authority on Amazonian Indian tribes and received Madame Rabbani very cordially‘prior to the commencement of the expedition, giving valuable advice about conditions in the interior.

1 Copyright © 1976 by Rúḥíyyih Rabbani. Distributed by International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Center. 1640 Holcomb Road, Victor, New York 14564, USA.

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Puerto Ayacucho, the rapidly growing provincial capital of the Amazonas State, is the door to the interior. The expedition met

with the devoted and active all-Indian Bahá’í community in the outskirts of the town.

The expedition travelled over 1,700 kilometres on this river barge and affectionately christened it Queen Mary. Seven members of the expedition and three crewmen lived and slept on it for thirty-two nights; it was propelled by the outboard motors of two dugout canoes attached to its sides. The one with the thatched roof was the captain’s quarters. The little hut in the middle housed the unbelievable luxury of a bathroom.

THE Bahá’í WORLD

Madame Rabbahi with Ramona and Leco Zamora, Mr. Zamora, a Mapuche Indian, who came as a Bahá’í pioneer to Venezuela from Argentina, accompanied the expedition throughout the first stage of its travels. Mrs. Zamora is a Venezuelan Indian of the famous Carib people. A marriage between two such widely different tribes is very unusual but exemplifies the complete lack of prejudice among Bahá’ís.

Dawn on the Queen Mary was a series of upheavals. Sleeping in hammocks—an invention of the Carib Indians now widely used in Central and South America—is a way of life both practical and comfortable but the ‘gringo’ or foreigner has to get used to it.

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There were many villages on the Orinoco near Puerto Ayacucho with Bahá’í communities. Leco Zamora was familiar with these and an impromptu meeting, often in the school house, would be held. Rúḥíyyih Khánum is speaking in English; on the left Mr. Mas‘fid @amsi, a member of the South American Continental Board of Counsellors who accompanied the expedition as its business manager, is translating into Spanish; and the lady at the far left into the local Indian language.

The Venezuelan Indians, an intelligent and highly spiritual people, were very interested in the Bahá’í teachings regarding the development of man on this earth and his soul after death. With the help of a chart drawn on the school house blackboard, Madame Rabbani is illustrating her points on this subject.

The visit of fellow-Bahá’ís was a great and happy event for people so isolated geographically from most national community activities within the Faith. A11 concerned were delighted to have their picture taken.

This woman, an expert potter in the great Indian tradition, had been a Bahá’í for more than ten years when the expedition visited her on Buenos Aires Island, near Venado. All her family are very active in teaching the Faith.

[Page 422]422

The daily life of the expedition as it proceeded ever deeper into the interior began to form a pattern: when a village was seen, the boat would put in to shore and Madame Rabbani and Mr. Qamsi, accompanied by other members of the expedition, would go to visit the villagers. If they seemed interested to know the reason for this visit, an informal meeting, such as this typical one, would be held.

From Puerto Ayacucho to San Fernando (the town on the distant shore) the Orinoco is the frontier between Colombia and Venezuela. Queen Mary is the boat on the left, moored on the Colombian side of the river, and the building floating on the water is a large general store. After leaving San Fernando, fewer evidences were seen of the disruption

of village life by contact with civilization.

THE BAHA’l WORLD

Night meetings were sometimes more convenient when people had come home from work on their plantations or the river. The universal instrument of Latin American Indians is the pipe, and the fact that one of the members of the expedition had brought his recorder was a key that unlocked many doors of friendly companionship.

Such bridges are the usual way of crossing jungle streams. Most members of the expedition had not done any balancing of this kind since their childhood. Though it looks deceptively easy, it was in fact dangerous because the handrail was too light to support any weight, and the drop into the river was almost six metres.

[Page 423]THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 423

Leaving the Orinoco, the expedition went up the shallower Ventuari River, finding many huts of this style where the thatched roof covers the entire building. They are shady and cool in the daytime, keep the heavy rains out and are warm at night.

‘ '\

Every night Queen Mary moored by the bank of the river and every morning members of the crew made a fire and cooked their meal. They rarely ate in the middle of the day but would content themselves with a handful of dry cassava meal washed down with a little river water. Their simple diet seems to keep these Indians healthy, strong and intelligent.

Although the expedition carried a stove and usually cooked on board, sometimes it followed the example of the crew and cooked over an open fire on a sand bank. Here Madame Rabbani is breaking driftwood to go under the pot on the right.

There were also many hidden sandbanks on which Queen Mary stuck and had to be pushed off, everyone ardently hoping they would not be bitten by the vicious piranha found in these rivers of South America.

[Page 424]424

The tributary rivers being narrow and shallow, the Queen Mary was often unable to navigate them, so the expedition rented this big dugout

canoe, installed the extra outboard-motor it had brought along, and was free to travel anywhere.

Jungle such as this shown on the bank of the river is almost impenetrable on foot. One would have to clear a path with machetes

every step of the way. The universal roads are therefore the rivers and streams, and to pass

’ through the unspoiled wilderness is to experience unbelievable peace and beauty.

THE BAHA’l WORLD

The Venezuelan Indians are a fine looking race and the village children seem bursting with health. This little fellow is riding in a homemade carriage. He sits in the natural sheath from a particular kind of palm tree; these are widely used as a dish and for many other purposes.

The staple food of the jungle people of South America is yucca, known also as manioc or cassava. It is first grated, the pulp put into a woven tube and compressed to extract the bitter juice, then rubbed through sieves (shown left) and the resulting coarse flour roasted over a fire and eaten as meal or made into flat, dry, hard cakes of bread which will keep for some time.

[Page 425]THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 425

These Indians belong to one of the largest and most primitive groups in Venezuela, the Yanomamos. Although this small settlement was already affected by its proximity to civilization, these people were nearest, of the groups the expedition met in Venezuela, to the old, untouched way of jungle life. The women grow and spin the cotton to make thread for their beautiful, cool hammocks, such as the one this woman is weaving.

The Catholic priest in San J uan de Manapiare was a very fine, consecrated man; like so many missionaries in South America, he is from Spain, not Latin America. San Juan is a rapidly growing town in the interior, now connected with civilization by a road, and a centre from which this whole area is being opened up to agriculture, mining, and the general exploitation of civilization.

This is the ‘capitén’ or chief of an all-Bahá’í village way up the Ventuari River. The Government is giving to those who will settle in the interior grants of land for farming, and a number of families have settled there. The chief is pointing out the site they have set aside for their future Bahá’í Centre.

Sunset on a jungle river and an Indian preparing to shoot a fish for his dinner. Bahá’u’lláh said the city is the home of the body, but the country is the home of the soul. The Indians still live in the home of the soul.

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THE Bahá’í WORLD

PART II—THE BUSH NEGROES OF SURINAM

The small area seen at the top of the map of South America is Surinam where the second stage of the Green Light Expedition took place. It consisted of visits to Bush Negro villagers in the interior; they are a unique people, descendants of slaves brought from Africa who fled into the jungles, reestablished their African way of life and were never recaptured.

Some of the members of the expedition about to start out on Lake ‘Professor Doctor Engineer Van Blumenstein’ (shown in the background), a vast flooded valley area created through building a dam for electric power.

Surinam is a multi-racial nation composed of people of Amerindian, Negro, Indonesian, Chinese, Caucasian and other backgrounds. The Bahá’í community in Paramaribo, the capital city, is a harmonious mixture of these races.

Dugout canoes—the universal conveyancehad been rented to take the expedition across this artificial lake which produces electric power for the mining of bauxite, the main export of Surinam.

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The lake is filled with the trunks of dead trees, still sticking out of the water—a great hazard for navigation even in shallow dugout canoes—and it took almost three hours to reach Sarakreek, on the other side. The expedition members are disembarking at the village of Redi Doti.

The first act of the members of the expedition was to meet the captain or chief of Redi Doti, shown here with Madame Rabbani. He informed her they were welcome to use the village hall as a guest house during their stay; indeed, the word ‘Welcome’ in large letters hung over its door.

. During the four-day stay in Redi Doti eight people slept and lived in this hut; on the left the hammocks can be seen rolled up on the wall, to be swung across the hut each night as beds; the expedition’s kitchen is seen at the back and some of its members are sitting in the ‘dining room’.

Bush Negroes are divided into four tribes; the people of Redi Doti, a village of about 1,000 people, belong to the Aukaner tribe. It was at the invitation of this student, shown with Madame Rabbani and his grandparents before their hut, that the expedition visited Redi Doti, which previously had had no contact with Bahá’ís.

[Page 428]428

These two men are witch doctors, the pagan priests of Redi Doti, an almost entirely pagan village. They are the guardians of its most sacred shrine, which they permitted the expedition members to enter and which is very like those in West Africa. Behind the man on the right is a ‘spirit screen’ to prevent evil spirits from entering the temple.

Madame Rabbani rolling and tying up her own bedding, much to everyone’s amusement. On the right, the captain is having a good laugh at her because she refused all offers of help, saying her years of experience had made her more capable of doing this than anyone else. He cordially invited her and her party to come back, stating they would always be most welcome.

THE BAHA’l WORLD

The doctor of the expedition, Nfisrat Rabbani, a Persian pioneer who had practiced medicine for many years in Surinam, noticed this child had an eye infection. Like almost all jungle children, this little girl was not afraid, did not cry, and let herself be treated.

The second stage of the Surinam visit took place on the Surinam River. The expedition hired a plane to fly to Boto Passi (which means in Taki-Taki, the local language, ‘boat passes’) where a tremendous number of curious and eager children met them.

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To these little people the members of the expedition and their piles of belongings, stranded on the grass airfield, were the most peculiar and fascinating sight they had ever seen. Mr. Qamsi called upon the village chief and asked him if a boat could be rented; he was very co-operative and dozens of people, at no cost, helpfully carried innumerable bundles through the village and down to the boat landing where the party embarked for Kamaloea.

The majority of Bush Negroes follow the old African religion of their forefathers. They are a reverent and spiritually-minded people and nearly every home has its own ‘voodoo’ or little protective shrine. Villages have larger ones like this in Kamaloea.

Madame Rabbani found Kamaloea the most beautiful village she had ever seen. The people are gifted wood carvers with a fine sense of design and use of materials, and a great many of the houses are elaborately decorated. In addition to being an artistic people, the Bush Negroes are spotlessly clean, and the visit there was a memorable and happy one.

The small Bahá’í group of Kamaloea, most of whom had accepted the Faith while working in Paramaribo, had never before received a visitor from the outside. Here a consultation is taking place as to how best they feel the visit of the expedition can be of help to them. It was decided to go back down river to Boto Passi.

[Page 430]430

The chief of Boto Passi, one of the elders of the Village (centre), and Madame Rabbani in the meeting held in the village hall. She told the chief how the kindness shown to them the day before had touched their hearts and made them want to come back and meet them again and thank them. The old captain thanked her for her talk and insisted that on the way back down the river all the members of the expedition should sleep one night at Boto Passi, which they did.

After this meeting five new Bahá’ís were enrolled; one of them, the captain of the village, is seated to the right of Madame Rabbani. Behind her are some of the friends from Kamaloea who took the expedition members to visit their neighbours in Lafanti.

THE Bahá’í WORLD

lll

‘r', '

They then went back up the Surinam River in their dugout canoe to pay a visit to the village of Lafanti. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said in the T ablets of the Divine Plan that those who go to serve the Cause in foreign countries should learn the native language. Here a Persian pioneer who is a member of the Auxiliary Board is addressing the meeting in Taki-Taki, which he speaks fluently and which is of tremendous assistance in his teaching activities.

The illustrated teaching materials the Board member brought with him were a source of deep interest to the Bahá’ís in Kamaloea. They went over them very carefully, and, before he returned to Paramaribo, they had persuaded him to leave them with them for their own teaching work.

[Page 431]THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA’U’LLAH 431

On the last night of the expedition’s visit the election of the historic first Bush Negro Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly was held. The old man to the right of Madame Rabbani is the captain of the village, who accepted the Faith and was elected a member of the Assembly. Here the Board member is explaining the procedure in Bahá’í elections.

As most of the people are illiterate, the Board member wrote their ballots for them. The Bahá’ís were all radiantly happy over the establishment of their Assembly—to

which one woman was elected—and the other villagers were duly impressed.

Next morning the expedition had to leave, and this new member of the Assembly accompanied them in the big dugout canoe for the nine—hour journey down the Surinam River. His costume is by no means unusual: he carries a gun for hunting, a big knife or machete for clearing undergrowth in the jungle, a briefcase, an umbrella, a boat paddle, and a bow and arrow for fishing.

For four nights—with 40 other passengers waiting in Mamadarn for the Government ferry boat, all sleeping together in one huge shed—the expedition members and their Kamaloea friends lived, ate and chatted together, cementing the bonds of a very real friendship.

[Page 432]432

During this stay in Mamadam the man in the white shirt sitting beside the Board member became very interested in the Bahá’ís: Who

were these white people and these Bush Negroes? He asked many questions and listened hour after hour to the explanations of the Kamaloea friends and accepted the Faith the morning the ferry came. Here he is being enrolled as a Bahá’í.

The area seen on the map of South America is Brazil and Peru. After leaving Surinam the expedition arrived in Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon River, situated near the island shown on the right upper side of the continent. From there it crossed the continent from east to west.

THE Bahá’í WORLD

The ferry boat arrived at dawn and was now ready to recross the great inland lake. Dozens and dozens of people scrambled on board with all their parcels. So did the expedition members, even more heavily laden! The only way to get on board seemed to be to walk up this rope, and that is what Madame Rabbani is doing. The wonderful visit to Surinam was over, and the next phase of the Green Light Expedition—the Amazon River—lay ahead.

During the short visit to Belém, Brazil’s most populous northern city, Madame Rabbani was interviewed on the first television presentation of the Bahá’í Faith in that area and lectured to university students taking post-graduate teacher training courses. She is shown seated between the Rector of the Federal University of Para (left) and the Vice-Rector (right).

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Some of the members of the first Bahá’í family of Macapa, a city north of Belém; they are fisher folk of Spanish—Indian blood. What appears to be the sea in the background is the Amazon River.

Near Macapa there are many Bahá’í fishermen and their families who are descendants of the African slaves brought to Brazil. The thatched hut is the village Bahá’í Centre where a happy meeting with the children was held, most of the adults being away at their work.

Madame Rabbani being welcomed on her arrival at the airport at Manaus where the first All-Amazon Bahá’í Conference was arranged to coincide with the arrival of the expedition. The vast Amazon Basin area spreads over parts of nine countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana. Manaus, on the Amazon River, is the centre of this giant wheel, almost 2,000 kilometres inland from the Atlantic coast.

An excellent press conference attended by reporters from newspapers‘and television stations was held with Madame Rabbani. The teaching campaign which accompanied the first All-Amazon Bahá’í Conference resulted in a degree of publicity in this capital city of the State of Amazonas which she said she had

never seen equalled anywhere in the world.

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Part of this effort was reflected in Madame Rabbani’s very cordial forty-five-minute interview with the Governor of the State, Sr. Da Silva Reis, who was particularly interested in the Bahá’í teachings about life after death and asked many questions.

The expedition’s last meeting with the Bahá’ís. As in all huge cities, the entire community was not able to gather, but everyone’s heart was full of thanksgiving for the wonderful success which had crowned the first All-Amazon Conference.

THE Bahá’í WORLD

Manaus, a city of almost half a million people, lies in the heart of the greatest jungle area on the globe. The discovery of rubber and its exploitation raised up this giant metropolis where the ‘rubber barons’ created a city of fabulous prosperity called the ‘Pan's of the Amazon’. On its main square, with its black and white mosaic pavement, stands this famous opera house, one of the most beautiful in Latin America.

From Manaus the expedition flew to Leticia, a town in Colombia where the frontiers of Brazil, Peru and Colombia meet. It is an ideal centre for pioneering and Bahá’í activity as it lies in the centre of an area with many Indian tribes. During the week in which the expedition was preparing for the next stage of its journey, a meeting was held in a nearby Ticuna village. The people gathered in front of the verandah of the house of the chief, who next day accepted the Faith.

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The small community of Bahá’ís in Leticia, shown here, were very enthusiastic and active in the teaching work.

For eighteen days the captain, steersman, guide and seven expedition members slung their hammocks in this old cargo boat. Owing to the Amazon’s torrential rains such boats are very shut in and the heat and smell of the diesel engine were suffocating. Because of all this they named her ‘S.S. Mutt’.

Going up the gangplank onto the boat was always somewhat precarious, but it was getting onto the roof that was really difficult.

Every morning the members of the expedition climbed onto the roof of the Mutt to have prayers and discuss plans, because the noise of the engine inside the boat was deafening. As the boat had no deck, getting up and down could be achieved only with the assistance of a rope and by walking on a ledge four centimetres wide.

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Because of the season of torrential rains the whole area beside the Amazon and its tributaries was flooded, an annual occurrence to which the Indians are completely adapted. Everyone goes about by boat, big or little, like this man who paddled along easily and swiftly, the top of his canoe only an inch above the river.

Seeking contact with less civilized villages, Mutt went up small tributary rivers. The welcome of the Indians—no doubt sensing the feeling of deep human oneness in the hearts of the Bahá’ís—was universally friendly. On one occasion the expedition was invited to come back and share in a fiesta to be held that evening. Many Indians were dancing, singing and playing their pipes, such as the one this chief is playing, which emit a shrill, very high pitched sound.

THE Bahá’í WORLD

Types of but differ greatly from tribe to tribe, but they are invariably well made and entirely suited to the climate. In this large Ticuna village the inhabitants had been recently converted to Christianity and had a school and regular chapel services. Their homes and way of life, however, were still traditional.

Deep in the unSpoiled jungle, on a tranquil and beautiful stream, Madame Rabbani is about to go up the ‘front steps’ of a typical river home. The soil of the jungle, strangely enough, is very poor and one seldom finds large groups living together in the wilderness, as neither hunting nor agriculture can feed more than a small group in one place.

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This is a typical open hearth for cooking, laid on the floor of the entirely wooden hut. Madame Rabbani had seen similar hearths in Panama among some of the Indian tribes she had visited there.

At last was found, in a village deep in the jungle, an Indian who proudly adhered to his ancestral costume and customs. He demonstrated the use of the blowpipe for shooting birds and small game with poisontipped darts of wood, which are kept in the quiver hanging around his neck. Taking careful aim, with a tremendous pufl‘ the arrow is expelled from his two-and-a-half-metre long blowpipe. After journeying hours to meet him, the best reward was this wonderful smile.

Ruth Pringle, the skilled Bahá’í nurse who accompanied Madame Rabbani throughout this phase of the expedition, and who is a long-standing pioneer in Central America, is shown treating the scalp of a badly infected baby. When it was all over, the mother was very appreciative and greatly relieved.

The SS. Mutt heads up another small river to visit another tribe, this time the Boras. The Amazon is a land of mirror images; everywhere one goes, except where the current is swift, there is a perfect reflection in the water, an upside-down world so perfect it is hard to tell which is the real one.

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The Boras are a distinctive people with their own style of huts, customs and music. One of the Indians obligingly played this very unusual drum. The long pieces of wood are from a special tree and give a pleasant, deep sound, like chimes. They are set over a hole in the earth which acts as a resonance box.

Quite spontaneously and with great affection this old Indian woman came up and embraced Madame Rabbani after her talk. What is in the heart can always be sensed by tribal people, who are very sensitive to such things. The Indians are for the most part a short race. One can see here how much taller the members of the expedition are than the native people.

THE Bahá’í WORLD

, Il- tlgg # i _ .

A number of meetings were held in the huge communal huts of this tribe, the village school teachers invariably acting as excellent translators into the native language from the Spanish of Mr. K_hamsi, who in turn was translating the English of Madame Rabbani. Such experiences underline the necessity for an international auxiliary language, one of Bahá’u’lláh’s fundamental teachings.

This bridge on the way to a Shipibo Indian village near Pucallpa serves its purpose as well as any other kind would, the people trotting over it as if it were completely flat and as wide as a city sidewalk.

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It is always a pleasure to watch an Indian handle a boat, as they are so skilled that every gesture seems purely spontaneous, like breathing. One can also learn a great deal about creating stable family life by observing tribal life in which the children—of all agesare, from birth, an integral part of all that

goes on.

One day Mr. @amsi went shopping, obligingly paddled by an extremely skilful young boatman who could not have been over five years old!

Village children do adult work; it makes them responsible and mature, but they are never over-burdened by their parents or treated harshly, only brought up to feel they are a normal part of a living organism—the family, the village, the tribe. This little girl was busily cooking on the typical out—door stove of the Shipibos, the last tribe of Amazonian Indians visited by the expedition before flying to Lima. The wonderful jungle journeys were at an end.

PART IV—THE ANDEAN Bahá’ís OF BOLIVIA AND PERU

The area seen on the map of South America is Peru and Bolivia. From Lima, the capital of Peru, the expedition went to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. Its members then drove to Sacaca, on the altiplano, for a special Indian Bahá’í conference. Returning to Lima, Madame Rabbani and some of her companions attended in Cuzco, Peru, the first All-Quechua Bahá’í Conference.

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A National Teaching Conference was arranged to coincide with the arrival of the expedition in Lima. Bahá’ís from all over Peru attended. This picture was taken in the public gardens adjoining the Bahá’í headquarters.

At a special function for prominent women Madame Rabbani was able to renew a very old friendship. Seated on the left is Miss Eve Nicklin, one of the earliest pioneers to South America, who had been there for thirty-seven years. She is the spiritual ‘mother’ of the Bahá’ís of Peru.

THE BAHA’l WORLD

For the second time on her long journey Madame Rabbani met with the Continental Board of Counsellors for South America. Mr. ‘Aziz Yazdi, a member of the International Teaching Centre in Haifa, was also present. Standing, from left to right, are Peter McLaren, Athos Costas, Donald Witzel, Mas‘ild flamsi, and ‘Aziz Yazdi. Seated are Madame Rabbani and Mrs. Leonora Armstrong, the first pioneer to Latin America, who went to Brazil in 1922.

Another special event was a visit to one of the barrios of Lima to attend a Bahá’í children’s class, held weekly in the home of this Quechua Indian Bahá’í. He is a widower, and these are his five children whom he has brought up in the Faith. During a previous trip Madame Rabbani had visited his home and was happy to renew her friendship with this devoted family.

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Driving over the altiplano from Puno to La Paz the road skirts the shore of Lake Titicaca, the highest large navigable lake in the world, over 4,000 metres above sea level. The famous totora boats, made of bundles of special reeds, are used today as they were at the time of the Inca civilization. They are not only used on this lake all the time, but also on the seacoast and, strangely enough, similar boats are used on a lake in Ethiopia. Truly, man is universal!

During this third trip of Madame Rabbani to Bolivia she was cordially received by the President, General Hugo Banzer (right). Between them is seated Andres Jachacollo, the first Bolivian Indian Bahá’í, now a member of the Auxiliary Board. The President was obviously impressed to learn that Mr. Jachacollo had’been one of the Bolivian delegates who carne to Haifa to elect the first Universal House of Justice in 1963.

A bus load of Bahá’ís entering Sacaca, a village of some 2,000 people, to attend the Bolivian Bahá’í Conference. Sacaca is entirely built of adobe (mud), the universal building material used by all people in every continent of the globe.

Madame Rabbani, riding a mule, on her way to the opening session of the conference in a village a thousand feet above Sacaca. The extreme altitude left all ‘gringos’, or foreigners, breathless, but nevertheless many of them struggled to the top, bringing very small children with them. No one wished to miss such a joyous and historic occasion.

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Bahá’ís from far and wide, dressed for the conference in their festive clothes, poured into the tiny hamlet of Totoroco, many playing their pipes and beating their drums, hour after hour, as they climbed up the mountain from Sacaca.

The friends listened with great attention as she went on to say she felt sure their parents and grandparents were watching them on this joyous occasion and sharing it with them. ‘This is a feast of love,’ she told them. ‘Why have I come? Why have you come? Only because we love each other. This is the greatest gift Bahá’u’lláh has brought into the world today—love between different people.’

THE Bahá’í WORLD

Rúḥíyyih Khánum told them how happy she was to see them again, and that as they were all coming across the hills together she had had a very vivid feeling that above their heads, invisible in the sky, a great army was marching with them—the souls of holy people who have passed away but continue to help us in this world, the Supreme Concourse.

The Indians, like all villagers all over the world, are good listeners, and their powers of concentration appear to far exceed those of many city people. The people shown here are descended from the Incas, who, without a written language, created a great empire.

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After lunch the festivities started again. This beautiful woman is one of the very active Bahá’ís. Nearly everything these villagers are wearing was made by themselves from llama wool, dyed, spun, and woven at home. Even the felt hats, different in shape from village to village, are a local product.

Each group of villagers seemed to have its own band, the women and children also playing with ease and skill as they arrived to join in the festivities.

Sometimes the pipes are thick and long, like these, which produce deep notes. These mountaineers, completely adapted to the high altitudes at which they live, have a greater lung capacity than other races and do not know what it is to get short of breath. They can walk uphill for hours at a time while playing their instruments.

The panpipe, of all varieties and any number of reeds, seems to be the universal musical instrument of South American Indians, whether in the mountains or the jungles. Often the pipes have double rows, like the one seen here, which has over thirty reeds in it and a wide range of notes. In addition to the instrumental music, many of the Bahá’ís had composed special, beautiful songs for the occasion.

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Not only are the people extremely musical, but dancing is a natural expression of feeling at every fiesta. The feather hats worn by this group of villagers are only taken out for very sacred celebrations. The feathers, from the rhea (the South American ostrich), have been imported as far back as Inca times from Argentina.

The second day of the conference was held in the village school at Sacaca, which the authorities had kindly placed at the disposal of the Bahá’ís. There were not only talks but free consultation about the progress of the Five Year Plan in Bolivia, and many offers of help and suggestions were made.

THE BAHA’l WORLD

When the sun was getting low, all the attendants gathered for a group photograph. The prayers, the talks, the songs, music and dancing, the simple lunch eaten on the hillside, all the joyous events of a unique day, had knit the hearts of the Bahá’ís of different races, nations and villages into closer bonds of oneness under the shadow of Bahá’u’lláh’s love.

On the eve of the unique All-Quechua Bahá’í Conference convened in Cuzco, Peru by the Continental Board of Counsellors for South

America, a banquet was given for Government officials and other notabilities in this beautiful room at the Government tourist hotel.

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The conference was entirely conducted in the Quechua language. Here the session is opening with a prayer in Quechua, the language of the old Inca empire, still spoken by millions of Indians in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

Madame Rabbani presented the message received from the Universal House of Justice. The main purpose of the conference was to see if the Quechua Bahá’ís from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru could understand each other’s dialects so that Bahá’í literature for the three countries could be made uniform. They held many special workshops on this subject during the conference.

While the Quechua Bahá’ís were consulting, many Spanish-speaking Bahá’ís were telling the people who the Bahá’ís are and what they believe. The people were very interested as they had never seen such an international : , ‘ > . . group of friendly people, and the much- ' . ' . Y ‘ BAHAU'LLA“

Pllblicized All-Quechua Conference had ' ' V -. [L ”7"“ ”‘ astonished them. This sign says that Bahá’u’lláh is the return of Viracocha, a divine being of Indian tradition.

VIRACOCHA

The Indian Bahá’ís went sight—seeing. Here, in front of one of the famous Inca walls, three of them from Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru are discussing the achievements of their ancestors. No civilization has ever surpassed the masonry of the Incas. Note the perfect fit of these stones.

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The conference attendants were thrilled to visit Sacsahuman, one of the greatest achievements of the Incas. This mighty fortress, built on the approaches to Cuzco to protect it from its enemies, is estimated to have taken 30,000 Indians eighty years to construct.

This is the capital of the Inca empire, the golden city of Cuzco, as it appears today from the top of Sacsahumén. When the Spanish conquistadores beheld the sheets of gold covering the Temple of the Sun, the gold dust on the thatched roofs of the aristocracy, the statues of solid gold in the Temple garden, it was the death knell of the native state.

THE Bahá’í WORLD

Some of its stones are five-by-four metres in size. The only masonry comparable to it in scale is the pyramids in Egypt. As usual, the Bahá’ís arrived in festive spirit, village groups playing their music as they came.

Inca tradition said ‘the sun is tied’ in very special, sacred places, This circle of stones, at the top of Sacsahuman, is one of them. The Bahá’ís gathered in this auditorium, as their ancestors may have done over five hundred years earlier on some solemn religious occasion. Madame Rabbani, aware that they knew very little of their own great history, spoke to them about the glory of their past and the achievements of their people.

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This Bolivian woman had a most beautiful voice and sang songs in Quechua composed by the Bahá’ís themselves. The Indians are an extremely gifted people in all the arts.

The head of the Quechua Academy of Cuzco came with other officials to express appreciation for the step the Bahá’ís had taken in holding the first international Quechua Conference. Peru has recently made Quechua the second official language of the country, a most just and courageous step forward.

At the foot of Sacsahumén, sitting on the grass in a great circle,‘the friends had a picnic lunch in which the official guests joined them.

Although it was wintertime, the direct sun at this altitude is always hot. The nights, however, are freezing cold.

Another memorable event of the conference was a visit to Machu Picchu, one of a series of hanging cities,'fortresses built by the Incas all through these valleys to protect their empire from enemy tribes living in the jungles to the north-east.

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Here in Machu Picchu was another of those sacred spots where ‘the sun is tied’, an unusual carved rock on a high hill overlooking the city. Instinctively the Ecuadorian friends took possession of it and began to play their music. Their ancestors had been subjects of the Incas, one of whose roads stretched over 2,000 kilometres from Cuzco to their country.

THE Bahá’í WORLD

It was here at this sacred spot in the very heart of the Andes that the Bahá’ís gathered to pray, raising their voices in the language of their illustrious ancestors, glorifying Bahá’u’lláh and His Message, calling upon Him for assistance in taking His glad tidings to their own people and beyond them to other waiting tribes of the indigenous population of the Americas.