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RIDVANIYYIH SULEIMANI
(RIDVANIYYIH SULAMANt) 1904—1981
DEEI’I.Y GRIEVED PASSING HANDMAlD BAHAULLAH VALIANT PROMOTER FAITH RlDVANIYYlH SULEIMANI. STEADFASTNESS DEDICATION WITH WHICH SHE OFFERED SERVICES PIONEERING FIELD LOVINGLY REMEMBERED. ASSURE DEAR HUSBAND FRIENDS FERVENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.
Universal House of J ustice 19 March 1981
Riḍvániyyih (Ouskouli) Suleimani was born to Bahá’í parents on.25 April 1904 in ‘Ishqábád, Russia, the first of four daughters and a son born to Zahra and Husayn Ouskouli. Both her parents were from Iran, and the devotion and enthusiasm with which they served the Bahá’í Faith was to ignite in Riḍvániyyih’s heart a flame that never lessened and that was to warm all with whom she came in contact. When Riḍvániyyih was fifteen her mother passed away leaving her to help care for her siblings with a joy and generous giving of self that was for six decades to characterize the hospitality she lavished upon all who entered her home. At eighteen she married Suleiman ‘Ah’ Muhammad Suleimani Milani in ‘Ishqábád where they remained for a year.
In 1923 Mr. Ouskouli and Mr. and Mrs. Suleimani made their great journey to the East to pioneer in China, a land which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá longed to visit. They settled in Shanghai and were soon blessed with a visit from Martha Root who was making the first of her four trips to China. During their many years in mainland China Mr. Ouskouli and Mr. and Mrs. Suleimani made every effort to teach the Faith to the Chinese people, a race whom the Master described as ‘most simplehearted and truth-seeking’. Through all the
THE BAHA’I’ WORLD
wars and conflicts that raged about them, these lovers of the Blessed Perfection shared His healing, peace—bringing Message with everyone they met. In August 1950 Mr. and Mrs. Suleimani reluctantly left Shanghai because of disturbed conditions. Her father, although isolated and in his late seventies, decided to remain behind, to continue holding aloft the Light in the darkness around him. In various letters written on behalf of the Guardian, or in postscripts in his own hand, Shoghi Effendi made it clear how deeply he appreciated Mr. Ouskouli’s remaining in Shanghai, an act to which he attached ‘the greatest importance’.
In 1952 the Suleimanis made their pilgrimage and had the inestimable privilege of being in the Guardian’s presence. Shoghi Effendi showered them with loving kindness, mentioned their services in China and expressed his hope that, if possible, they would be able to return there. He assured them that that vast land would witness the raising of the Banner of Bahá’u’lláh. After that never-to-be-forgotten sojourn, they returned to Iran and on 30 August 1954 they set sail from Iran for Taiwan, where they disembarked at the port of Keelung on 22 October and joyously cabled Shoghi Effendi news of their arrival. The beloved Guardian cabled back, assuring them of his loving prayers. They were the first pioneers to settle in Taiwan. They made their home in Tainan, on the western coast of the island, facing mainland China. When they first arrived there were only ten Chinese believers. On the eve of their first Naw-Rúz in Taiwan four friends became Bahá’ís, the first of many who were led to the Faith through the humble and persistent efforts of Riḍvániyyih and her husband. At Riḍván 1955 the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land wrote that ‘The wonderful news of the progress of the Cause in Formosa brought great joy to his [the Guardian’s] heart’.
By Riḍván 1956, through their untiring efforts, the Suleimanis were able to witness the formation, in Tainan, of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Taiwan. Through his secretary the Guardian expressed his pleasure at this victory, remarking on its historic importance, and stating that ‘it is the first of the universal institutions of the Faith to be established in that unique and promising
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IN MEMORIAM
Riḍvániyyih Suleimani
country. It is the center of the spiritual gifts which must now come to the people of the area.’ In November 1956 the Suleimanis hosted the first All-Taiwan Teaching Conference in their home which was attended by the Hand of the Cause of God Agnes Alexander and forty other Bahá’ís. This had been preceded just a couple of months before by Taiwan’s first summer school, also held in Tainan.
In 1958 the Suleimanis purchased land and constructed a beautiful Bahá’í Center in Tainan—Taiwan’s first—located in an attractive area near an important national university. In October the following year, during the third Taiwan summer school, the Center was dedicated. Later, through their loving efforts, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tainan was incorporated, and Riḍvániyyih and her husband then legally transferred the ownership to the Local Assembly as a donation. It was the first property belonging to the Faith in Taiwan, and the Suleimanis humbly offered to be its caretakers. In the years that followed, the Center, with the Suleimanis as gracious hosts, was blessed with the visits of many of the Hands of the Cause, Bahá’í traveling teachers
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and other friends from around the world. No guest of Mrs. Suleimani’s can ever forget her warm embrace, her enthusiastic greeting, her hurried footsteps as she brought a continuous flow of delicious homemade refreshments, the sumptuous meals that she seemed to create in no time at all. She would always inquire, with what one knew to be genuine concern, about one’s health, about one’s family and about the progress of the Faith in one‘s home area, the good news of which always brought her much joy. It was always a pleasure to talk with her, for she was quick—witted, full of humor and forbearing. Even into her seventies she would always try to journey to meet newly-arrived pioneers, bringing for them a homemade cake and plants from her garden. It was only in the last couple of years of her life that a debilitating skin disorder which doctors could neither diagnose nor cure forced Mrs. Suleimani to stop her constant travels around Taiwan, journeys she made as a member of the Auxiliary Board or as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly. In addition to serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tainan from the time of its formation in 1956 until her passing nearly a quarter of a century later, Mrs. Suleimani also served as a member of Taiwan’s National Spiritual Assembly from its formation in 1967 through 1970, and again from 1973 through 1977. In 1978 she attended the International Convention for the election of the Universal House of Justice and had the bounty of being selected as one of the tellers; in her diary she commented that the wonderful task took all night.
As her illness grew worse Mrs. Suleimani
suffered great pain, but would never let one
know of it. After serving others for so many
years it was a true sacrifice for her to allow
others to try to serve her. At last, in the early
morning hours of 18 March 1981, she left
behind her small, bent, frail body. She was
buried on the eve of Naw—Rfiz on the crest of a
hill overlooking a lake in Tainan county. Her
resting—place is the first Bahá’í cemetery of
Taiwan. She faces West towards the Qiblih.
Between her grave and the Holy Land stretches
the vast expanse of China, her adopted home,
the pioneering post where two generations of
her family have achieved their desire of burying their bones. We know that for generations
to come the memory of Husayn Ouskouli and
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of his daughter, Riḍvániyyih Suleimani, will
be honored, as the Chinese people reflect on
the lives of these valiant souls who brought to
their land the Light of Bahá’u’lláh, in obedient
response to the Master’s call: China, China,
China-ward the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh must
march. Where is that holy, sanctified Bahá’í to
become the teacher of China! . . . He must
entertain no thought of his own but ever think
of their spiritual welfare. In China one ,can
teach many souls and train and educate such
divine personages that each one of them may
become the bright candle Of the world of
humanity . . . Had I been feeling well I would
have taken a journey to China myself . . .
China is the country of the future. I hope the
right kind of teacher will be inspired to go to
that vast empire to lay the foundation of the
Kingdom of God, to promote the principles of
divine civilization, to unfurl the banner of the
Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and to invite the people to
the banquet of the Lord!1
DALE ENG
