II
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHÁ’Í ACTIVITIES IN THE EAST AND WEST
BY HORACE HOLLEY
THROUGHOUT the period from 1940 to 1944 represented in this volume the Bahá’í community has been surrounded by a world at war. War has created the environment in which this spiritual body has dwelt. War has established the conditions under which the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, losing their physical unity, have learned the true meaning of their unity in spirit and in truth. As communication and travel slackened and ceased, their realization of essential oneness quickened. As the pressure of a struggling society intensified, longing for the Kingdom of peace and fellowship filled their hearts. As many nations and peoples committed their very existence to human policy exploiting hope for lasting power and wealth and expanded authority, the Bahá’ís developed clearer understanding of the import of a Divine policy committed to the whole of mankind. As sectarian creeds were made aware of their impotence in the face of a dire world need, the Bahá’í Faith found sustenance in witnessing the fulfilment of the prophecies of all the ancient Prophets, and inspiration in the surpassing power released by Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets to the Kings.
These Tablets, unique in the world’s sacred literature, have for the Bahá’ís been the expression of an Authority and a Power superior to the events of this time, superior to the human forces attempting to ride these events and guide them to limited, partisan goals, superior to the shifting waves of popular hopes and fears: the sign, no less, that the ultimate victory of the spirit is to be achieved on earth.
Therefore, as each national Bahá’í community has concentrated effort upon certain definite tasks, such as the spread of the Faith to new countries and areas or the construction of a befitting Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds or national administrative center, and every local community has multiplied its range of action, the Bahá’ís as a spiritual body, a religious world commonwealth, have been experiencing a profound humility and renewal. The Guardian’s providential gift of the Tablets to the Kings through the chosen passages forming so vital a part of his work “The Promised Day Is Come” armed the Bahá’ís against the psychic onslaught of war itself, and created an inner peace which nothing in the world can assail.
In ”The Promised Day Is Come” Shoghi
Effendi asserted the spiritual power of his
station as Guardian of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh by meeting, once and for all, the
challenge made by terror, death and
devastation to the minds and hearts of men. He
has written the justification of faith,
restored the integrity of religion in human
experience, and disclosed the unique and
universal character of the Dispensation of
Bahá’u’lláh. In this volume the world has
light for its darkness, healing for its hurt,
guidance for its future, justice for its
wrongs, purification for its evil. There
can be no more suitable introduction to a
summary of international Bahá’í activity
from 1940 to 1944 than a presentation of
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A Group of Early Persian Bahá’í Sufferers for the Faith.
On the left: Jinábi-i-Varqá and his son Rúḥulláh, who were later martyred.
On the extreme right: Ḥájí Ímán-i-Zanjání, a survivor of the Zanján upheaval.
key passages from the Guardian’s book, written in the form of a communication addressed to the Bahá’ís throughout the West dated March 28, 1941.
"A tempest, unprecedented in its violence, unpredictable in its course, catastrophic in its immediate effects, unimaginably glorious in its ultimate consequences, is at present sweeping the face of the earth. Its driving power is remorselessly gaining in range and momentum. Its cleansing force, however much undetected, is increasing with every passing day. Humanity, gripped in the clutches of its devastating power, is smitten by the evidences of its resistless fury. It can neither perceive its origin, nor probe its significance, nor discern its outcome. Bewildered, agonized and helpless, it watches this great and mighty wind of God invading the remotest and fairest regions of the earth, rocking its foundations, deranging its equilibrium, sundering its nations, disrupting the homes of its peoples, wasting its cities, driving into exile its kings, pulling down its bulwarks, uprooting its institutions, dimming its light, and harrowing up the souls of its inhabitants.
"‘The time for the destruction of the world and its people,’ Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic pen has proclaimed, ‘hath arrived. The hour is approaching,’ He specifically affirms, ‘when the most great convulsion will have appeared.’ ”
“The powerful operations of this titanic upheaval are comprehensible to none except such as have recognized the claims of both Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb.”
“This judgment of God, as viewed by
those who have recognized Bahá’u’lláh as
His Mouthpiece and His greatest Messenger
on earth, is both a retributory calamity and
an act of holy and supreme discipline. It is
at once a visitation from God and a
cleansing process for all mankind.
Its fires punish the perversity
of the human race, and
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weld its component parts into one organic,
indivisible, world-embracing community.
Mankind, in these fateful years, which at
once signalize the passing of the first
century of the Bahá’í Era and proclaim the
opening of a new one, is as ordained by Him
Who is both the Judge and the Redeemer of
the human race, being simultaneously called
upon to give account of its past actions, and
is being purged and prepared for its future
mission. It can neither escape the
responsibilities of the past,
nor shirk those of the future.”
" ‘These great oppressions,’ He, moreover, foreshadowing humanity’s golden age, has written, ‘are preparing it for the advent of the Most Great Justice.’ This Most Great Justice is indeed the Justice upon which the structure of the Most Great Peace can alone, and must eventually, rest, while the Most Great Peace will, in turn, usher in that Most Great, that World Civilization which shall remain forever associated with Him Who beareth the Most Great Name.”
“For a whole century God has respited mankind, that it might acknowledge the Founder of such a Revelation, espouse His Cause, proclaim His greatness, and establish His Order. In a hundred volumes, the repositories of priceless precepts, mighty laws, unique principles, impassioned exhortations, reiterated warnings, amazing prophecies, sublime invocations, and weighty commentaries, the Bearer of such a Message has proclaimed, as no Prophet before Him has done, the Mission with which God had entrusted Him. To emperors, kings, princes and potentates, to rulers, governments, clergy and peoples, whether of the East or of the West, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Zoroastrian, He addressed, for well-nigh fifty years, and in the most tragic circumstances, these priceless pearls of knowledge and wisdom that lay hid within the ocean of His matchless utterance.”
”Unmitigated indifference on the part of men of eminence and rank; unrelenting hatred shown by the ecclesiastical dignitaries of the Faith (i. e., Islám) from which it had sprung; the scornful derision of the people among whom it was born; the utter contempt which most of the kings and rulers who had been addressed by its Author manifested towards it; the condemnations pronounced, the threats hurled, and the banishments decreed by those under whose sway it arose and first spread; the distortion to which its principles and laws were subjected by the envious and the malicious, in lands and peoples far beyond the country of its origin—all these are but the evidences of the treatment meted out by a generation sunk in self-content, careless of its God, and oblivious of the omens, prophecies, warnings and admonitions revealed by His Messengers.”
“To the mounting tide of trials which laid low the Báb, to the long-drawn-out calamities which rained on Baha’u’llah, to the warnings sounded by both the Herald and the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation, must be added the sufferings which, for no less than seventy years, were endured by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as well as His pleas, and entreaties, uttered in the evening of His life, in connection with the dangers that increasingly threatened the whole of mankind.”
“How often and how passionately did He appeal to those in authority and to the public at large to examine dispassionately the precepts enunciated by His Father? With what precision and emphasis He unfolded the system of the Faith He was expounding, elucidated its fundamental verities, stressed its distinguishing features, and proclaimed the redemptive character of its principles? How insistently did He foreshadow the impending chaos, the approaching upheavals, the universal conflagration which, in the concluding years of His life, had only begun to reveal the measure of its force and the significance of its impact on human society?”
“After a revolution of well-nigh one
hundred years what is it that the
eye encounters as one surveys
the international scene
and looks back upon the early beginnings
of Bahá’í history? A world convulsed by
the agonies of contending systems, races
and nations, entangled in the mesh of its
accumulated falsities, receding farther and
farther from Him Who is the sole Author
of its destinies, and sinking deeper and
deeper into a fratricidal carnage which its
neglect and persecution of Him Who is its
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Redeemer have precipitated. A Faith, still
proscribed, yet bursting through its
chrysalis, emerging from the obscurity of a
century-old repression, face to face with the
awful evidences of God’s wrathful anger,
and destined to arise above the ruins of a
smitten civilization.”
”We are indeed living in an age which, if we would correctly appraise it, should be regarded as one which is witnessing a dual phenomenon. The first signalizes the death-pangs of an order, effete and godless, that has stubbornly refused, despite the signs and portents of a century-old Revelation, to attune its processes to the precepts and ideals which that Heaven-sent Faith proffered it. The second proclaims the birth-pangs of an Order, divine and redemptive, that will inevitably supplant the former, and within whose administrative structure an embryonic civilization, incomparable and world-embracing, is imperceptibly maturing. The one is being rolled up, and is crashing in oppression, bloodshed, and ruin. The other opens up vistas of a justice, a unity, a peace, a culture, such as no age has ever seen.”
"For the trials which have afflicted the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh a responsibility appalling and inescapable rests upon those into whose hands the reins of civil and ecclesiastical authority were delivered. The kings of the earth and the world’s religious leaders alike must primarily bear the brunt of such an awful responsibility. ‘Every one well knoweth,’ Bahá’u’lláh Himself testifies, ‘that all the kings have turned aside from Him, and all the religions have opposed Him’.”
"It should not be forgotten that it was the kings of the earth and the world’s religious leaders who, above all other categories of men, were made the direct recipients of the Message proclaimed by both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. It was they who were deliberately addressed in numerous and historic Tablets, who were summoned to respond to the Call of God, and to whom were directed, in clear and forcible language, the appeals, the admonitions and warnings of His persecuted Messengers. It was they who, when the Faith was born, and later when its mission was proclaimed, were still, for the most part, wielding unquestioned and absolute civil and ecclesiastical authority over their subjects and followers. It was they who, whether glorying in the pomp and pageantry of a kingship as yet scarcely restricted by constitutional limitations, or entrenched within the strongholds of a seemingly inviolable ecclesiastical power, assumed ultimate responsibility for any wrongs inflicted by those whose immediate destinies they controlled. It would be no exaggeration to say that in most of the countries of the European and Asiatic continents absolutism, on the one hand, and complete subservience to ecclesiastical hierarchies, on the other, were still the outstanding features of the political and religious life of the masses. These, dominated and shackled, were robbed of the necessary freedom that would enable them to either appraise the claims and merits of the Message proffered to them, or to embrace unreservedly its truth.”
“The magnitude and diversity of the theme, the cogency of the argument, the sublimity and audacity of the language, arrest our attention and astound our minds. Emperors, kings and princes, chancellors and ministers, the Pope himself, priests, monks and philosophers, the exponents of learning, parliamentarians and deputies, the rich ones of the earth, the followers of all religions, and the people of Bahá—all are brought within the purview of the Author of these Messages, and receive, each according to their merits, the counsels and admonitions they deserve.”
"The transcendent majesty and unity of an unknowable and unapproachable God is; extolled, and the oneness of His Messenger; proclaimed and emphasized. The uniqueness, the universality and potentialities of the Bahá’í Faith are stressed, and the purpose and character of the Bábí Revelation unfolded. The significance of Bahá’u’lláh’s sufferings and banishments is disclosed, and the tribulations rained down upon His Herald and upon His Namesake recognized and lamented.”
“Appeals for the application of the
highest principles in human and international
relations are forcibly and insistently made,
and the abandonment of discreditable
practises and conventions, detrimental to the
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happiness, the growth, the prosperity and
the unity of the human race, enjoined.
Kings are censured, ecclesiastical dignitaries
arraigned, ministers and plenipotentiaries
condemned, and the identification of His
advent with the coming of the Father
Himself unequivocally admitted and repeatedly
announced. The violent downfall of a few
of these kings and emperors is prophesied,
two of them definitely challenged, most are
warned, all are appealed to and exhorted.”
“The decline in the fortunes of the crowned wielders of temporal power has been paralleled by a no less startling deterioration in the influence exercised by the world’s spiritual leaders. The colossal events that have heralded the dissolution of so many kingdoms and empires have almost synchronized with the crumbling of the seemingly inviolable strongholds of religious orthodoxy. That same process which, swiftly and tragically, sealed the doom of kings and emperors, has operated in the case of the ecclesiastical leaders of both Christianity and Islám, damaging their prestige, and, in some cases, overthrowing their highest institutions. ‘Power hath been seized’ indeed, from both ‘kings and ecclesiastics.’ The glory of the former has been eclipsed, the power of the latter irretrievably lost.”
“This great retributive calamity, for which the world’s supreme leaders, both secular and religious, are to be regarded as primarily answerable, as testified by Bahá’u’lláh, should not, if we would correctly appraise it, be regarded solely as a punishment meted out by God to a world that has, for a hundred years, persisted in its refusal to embrace the truth of the redemptive Message proffered to it by the supreme Messenger of God in this day. It should be viewed also, though to a lesser degree, in the light of a divine retribution for the perversity of the human race in general, in casting itself adrift from those elementary principles which must, at all times, govern, and can alone safeguard, the life and progress of mankind. Humanity has, alas, with increasing insistence, preferred, instead of acknowledging and adoring the Spirit of God as embodied in His religion in this day, to worship those false idols, untruths and half-truths, which are obscuring its religions, corrupting its spiritual life, convulsing its political institutions, corroding its social fabric, and shattering its economic structure.
“Not only have the peoples of the earth ignored, and some of them even assailed, a Faith which is at once the essence, the promise, the reconciler, and the unifier of all religions, but they have drifted away from their own religions, and set up on their subverted altars other gods wholly alien not only to the spirit but to the traditional forms of their ancient faiths.”
"The chief idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other than the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism, at whose altars governments and peoples, whether democratic or totalitarian, at peace or at war, of the East or of the West, Christian or Islámic, are, in various forms and in different degrees, now worshipping. Their high priests are the politicians and the worldly-wise, the so-called, sages of the age; their sacrifice, the flesh and blood of the slaughtered multitudes; their incantations outworn shibboleths and insidious and irreverent formulas; their incense, the smoke of anguish that ascends from the lacerated hearts of the bereaved, the maimed, and the homeless.
"The theories and policies, so unsound, so pernicious, which deify the state and exalt the nation above mankind, which seek to subordinate the sister races of the world to one single race, which discriminate between the black and the white, and which tolerate the dominance of one privileged class over all others—these are the dark, the false, the crooked doctrines for which any man or people who believes in them, or acts upon them, must, sooner or later, incur the wrath and chastisement of God.”
"Contrasting with, and irreconcilably
opposed to, these engendering,
world-convulsing doctrines, are
the healing, the saying, the pregnant
truths proclaimed by
Bahá’u’lláh, the Divine Organizer and
Saviour of the whole human race-truths
which should be regarded as the animating
force and the hall-mark of His Revelation:
‘The World is but one country, and
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mankind its citizens.’ ‘Let not a man glory in
that he loves his country; let him rather
glory in this, that he loves his kind.’ And
again: ‘Ye are the fruits of one tree, and
the leaves of one branch.’ 'Bend your minds
and wills to the education of the peoples
and kindreds of the earth, that haply . . .
all mankind may become the upholders of
one order, and the inhabitants of one city
. . . Ye dwell in one world, and have been
created through the operation of one Will.’ ”
"The flames which His Divine Justice have kindled cleanse an unregenerate humanity, and fuse its discordant, its warring elements as no other agency can cleanse or fuse them. It is not only a retributive and destructive fire, but a disciplinary and creative process, whose aim is the salvation, through unification, of the entire planet. Mysteriously, slowly, and resistlessly God accomplishes His design, though the sight that meets our eyes in this day be the spectacle of a world hopelessly entangled in its own meshes, utterly careless of the Voice which, for a century, has been calling it to God, and miserably subservient to the siren voices which are attempting to lure it into the vast abyss.”
”The world is, in truth, moving on towards its destiny. The interdependence of the peoples and nations of the earth, whatever the leaders of the divisive forces of the world may say or do, is already an accomplished fact. Its unity in the economic sphere is now understood and recognized. The welfare of the part means the welfare of the whole, and the distress of the part brings distress to the whole. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh has, in His own words, 'lent a fresh impulse and set a new direction’ to this vast process now operating in the world. The fires lit by this great ordeal are the consequences of men’s failure to recognize it. They are, moreover, hastening its consummation. Adversity, prolonged, world-wide, afflictive, allied to chaos and universal destruction, must needs convulse the nations, stir the conscience of the world, disillusion the masses, precipitate a radical change in the very conception of society, and coalesce ultimately the disjointed, bleeding limbs of mankind into one body, single, organically united, and indivisible.”
The text from which these few excerpts are taken contains many selections from Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets to the Kings and His Messages addressed to the official heads of religions. They are not cited here for the reason that these Tablets are reproduced elsewhere in the present volume. What appears above is the fundamental Bahá’í position in relation to the whole movement of world events.
A survey of actions and events within the worldwide Bahá’í community, while it must necessarily reveal the shock and perturbation caused by the general dislocation of life today, will disclose at least a portion of the arc of progress and evolution which the Bahá’í community makes in every period in attainment of its destined goal.
Three separate but inter-connected lines of development will be noted by every person aware of the nature of the Cause of Baha’u’llah: first, an increase in the number of declared believers; second, the formation of new institutions and the strengthening of existing institutions within the local, national and international Bahá’í community, adapting the Bahá’í body to a condition of approaching maturity; and third, a greater degree of recognition by civil and ecclesiastical institutions that the Faith is an independent, a revealed religion bearing within it a potency which, by successive stages and degrees, must eventually challenge the truth, the virtue, the power and the authority of every social organization on earth. The history of the Bahá’í community is not a record of incident but a reflection of the divine will, divine, integral and supreme no matter how weak and ineffective the instruments through which it works at any given time, in any particular place.
NATIONAL BAHÁ’Í HEADQUARTERS
The social organism, like the individual
personality, operates by qualities
whose effective functioning requires instruments.
Every social institution is inherently the
projection of a quality within the life of
civilization. A spiritually conscious order
will therefore create the means by which
it can manifest the truths and the virtues
which lie within its collective soul. As it
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has understanding, so it will build schools;
as it has devotion, so it will create houses
of worship; as it has justice, so it will create
courts of law; as it has will, so it evolves
government. But while the capacity remains
latent and ineffective without the
institution, so the institution becomes
negative and parasitic without the
flow of sustaining life from the
quality it is supposed
to manifest. False is the mysticism which
remains aloof from the instruments
of civilization because it feels that the qualities
by themselves are perfect and complete;
materialistic is the man who has confidence
in the institutions, because of their avowed
functions, when their connection with the
spirit has become broken.
The Bahá’í community is an organism imbued with certain spiritual realities which seek expression and influence in human life. Therefore it is an organism possessing a society-building power. The Bahá’ís in all countries, whatever the stage of their collective development, are actively concerned with their administrative agencies, whether Assemblies or Committees, because without the organs of a true society their spiritual experience could not maintain its vital integrity. To remain honest, a man must strive to assure the dominion of honesty throughout the area of his social existence. The point at which he ceases to strive is the point where his honesty fails and finds justification in dogma and myth.
During the period under consideration, the Bahá’í community expressed itself in the development of a Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, or Headquarters, in the various countries possessing a National Spiritual Assembly. This action discloses a turning point in their evolution, marking the commencement of a new stage in the history of the Faith.
From Persia the Assembly reports that the central auditorium of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, in Ṭihrán, has been completed. The circular auditorium is three stories in height, with two tiers of loges. The grounds have been landscaped, and much work has been done on the building. The Persian Bahá’ís plan to equip their National Office with every modern facility, including air-conditioning and indirect lighting. The structure has become a landmark in the city where less than one hundred years ago Bahá’u’lláh was condemned as heretic and rebel, and thrust for months into the depths of a dungeon used for the vilest criminals of the realm.
Outside Ṭihrán, the local Assemblies of Persia also have their Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, the National Spiritual Assembly contributing to the local building fund when the local community itself needs assistance.
The Bahá’ís of Egypt laid the foundation stone of their Headquarters in Cairo in 1940, their funds permitting at that time only the construction of the first story intended for administration. The encouragement and contributions received from the Guardian, however, together with donations offered by other National Assemblies, so stimulated the spirit of sacrifice among the believers that the three story building, surmounted by a dome, was finished before the end of the first Bahá’í century.
The most complete description of a Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds comes in the report of the National Spiritual Assembly of ‘Iráq, the administrative section of whose Headquarters had been constructed in Baghdád by September, 1939. Since 1940, the building has been furnished and equipped. From the Assembly’s report we cite these interesting facts:
”The office rooms of both the National
Spiritual Assembly and the Local Spiritual
Assembly of Baghdád were provided with
metal cases to contain documents
and records; typewriters; a duplicating machine;
telephones, and other necessities. The room
for the public meetings accommodates quite
a number of attendants. The national library
is furnished with modern book cases and
shelves, and is provided with
Bahá’í literature in many different
languages, the nucleus of which
had been graciously donated
by the Guardian. This institution, which
is being constantly enlarged through its
own budget and provided with the latest
Bahá’í publications, is playing an important
role in the promotion of teaching work.
The national archives, instituted by the
expressed wish of the Guardian, and blessed
by his gift of a picture of the inner Shrine
of the Báb, has by now grown fairly rich
with various sacred objects offered by the
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Attendants at the Australian Bahá’í Summer School, held at Yerrinbool, 1942 Session.
believers for preservation from damage or loss. The room is beautifully furnished with modern cases and shelves which befit the sacred objects. The contents are arranged as follows:
"Manuscripts comprising original Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá together with original letters and messages of the Guardian.
"Clothes and personal articles of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, among which is a shirt of Bahá’u’lláh which He wore at the time the tragic martyrdom of the Purest Branch occurred in the Most Great Prison. This shirt bears stains of the blood of that Youthful Martyr. Another sacred object is a handkerchief stained with blood believed to be of Bahá’u’lláh, which flowed out of His mouth after drinking the poisoned water given Him by the treacherous Mírzá Yaḥyá. The Guardian asked that these sacred relics be safely preserved in the archives, saying that these precious objects bless and protect the Bahá’í community in ‘Iráq.
“Portraits and photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, together with pictures of early believers, of martyrs, and of Bahá’í historic places. Most sacred among these objects are locks of the hair of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
"Thus this Bahá’í spiritual and administrative center has, by reason of its splendid design, its priceless contents, and its spiritual atmosphere, proved to be an effective factor in promoting the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and enhancing its prestige.”
Attached to, and forming a component part of, the Bahá’í Headquarters at Baghdád is a Guest House which was virtually completed in April, 1944, a large two-storied building which can accommodate a considerable number of Bahá’í travelers and guests. The unfinished portion awaits the release of building material by the civil authorities.
Linking these two sections will be a spacious assembly hall or auditorium, the last part of the construction plan approved by the Assembly of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq, delayed on account of the shortage of building materials at this time.
The student of Bahá’í history will recall
the time spent by Bahá’u’lláh with His
family and followers in Baghdád,
the Declaration of His Mission outside that city,
and the designation of His House as the
point of pilgrimage for the Bahá’ís of East
and West. To the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq the
Guardian wrote at the time the completion
of the first section of the Headquarters
was being celebrated: “The country of ‘Iráq
will be the arena of the dawning of Light
and the first link to connect Persia, the
[Page 21]
Attendants at the Australian Bahá’í Summer School, held at Yerrinbool, 1943 Session.
cradle of the Faith of God, with the Holy Land, the point of adoration of the people of Bahá.”
The formation of a Headquarters by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma has been one of the effects of the completion of the exterior of the Bahá’í House of Worship in North America. On January 15, 1943, the Assembly received a message from Shoghi Effendi informing the members that this event necessitated that they direct attention to the establishment of an administrative center for the Faith in India. The city of Delhi was designated. The Guardian himself contributed to the building fund, and with active participation by the local Assemblies of India and other National Spiritual Assemblies, it become possible, despite the difficulties of the war period, to purchase a house for the centralizing of the Assembly activities. “In previous years,” as the report states, "the National Office used to shift with (the residence of) the elected Secretary. As rapidly as possible, the stock of the Publishing Committee has been transferred from Lahore, and the Assembly records are being centralized and permanently arranged. In India, three local Spiritual Assemblies have likewise purchased property for use as a local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, in Bombay, Andheri, and Quetta.
“How profoundly stirred we were, how honored, what a stimulus and tonic to the Australian and New Zealand Bahá’í community,” the Assembly reports concerning the immediate and beneficial effects of the Guardian’s action in donating funds for the establishment of a National Bahá’í Headquarters in Sydney. “We had been considering how to befittingly celebrate the end of the first Bahá’í century; now a munificent centenary gift was being made to us by our beloved Guardian.” Their joy and spirit of accomplishment was further deepened by receipt of contributions from their sister-Assemblies of other lands, the total amounting to £4,024/9 in Australian currency, or some $20,000–truly, a most impressive evidence of spiritual solidarity manifested in the darkest days of world war. After extensive search, a property was purchased within the municipal area of Sydney which the Assembly considers an ideal choice. "Now we have realized more than ever before, the meaning of Bahá’í unity. . . . We rejoice in the reality of our spiritual union with the believers throughout the world.”
A group of early believers taken in 1898 in the studio of Arthur P. Dodge, in New York City. Left to right: Elizabeth Ann Dodge, Arthur P. Dodge, Anna Mason Hoar, W. H. Hoar. (Paul Dodge seated on floor.)
The Bahá’ís of North America had established National Headquarters some months before the period of the present survey in the studio constructed on land connected with the House of Worship by its architect, the late Louis J. Bourgeois, as reported in volume VIII. There are at present, therefore, six National Bahá’í Headquarters in existence symbolizing both to the public and to the Bahá’í community itself that the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is a process of continuous growth and activity which little by little manifests the organic oneness of the human race. The Bahá’ís have traversed a great part of the road leading to the institution of the Universal House of Justice.
The Guardian wrote concerning this step in a letter dated July 4, 1939:—
"The readiness of your Assembly . . . to transfer the National Bahá’í Secretariat to the vicinity of the Temple in Wilmette has evoked within me the deepest feelings of thankfulness and joy. Your historic decision, so wise and timely, so surprising in its suddenness, so far-reaching in its consequences, is one that I cannot but heartily and unreservedly applaud. To each one of your brethren in the Faith, throughout the United States and Canada, who are witnessing, from day to day and at an ever-hastening speed, the approaching completion of their National House of Worship, the great Mother Temple of the West, your resolution to establish within its hallowed precincts and in the heart of the North American continent the Administrative Seat of their beloved Faith cannot but denote henceforth a closer association, a more constant communion, and a higher degree of coordination between the two primary agencies providentially ordained for the enrichment of their spiritual life and for the conduct and regulation of their administrative affairs. To the far-flung Bahá’í communities of East and West, most of which are being increasingly proscribed and ill-treated, and none of which can claim to have had a share of the dual blessings which a specially designed and constructed House
The “Board of Counsel” of the Bahá’í Assembly of New York City, 1900. Seated, left to right: Orosco C. Woolson, Howard MacNutt, Arthur P. Dodge, Charles E. Sprague. Standing, left to right: Anton F. Ḥadád (honorary), Frank E. Osborne, Hooper Harris, William H. Hoar, Andrew Hutchinson, and Edwin A. Putnam.
of Worship and a fully and efficiently functioning Administrative Order invariably confer, the concentration in a single locality of what will come to be regarded as the fountain-head of the community’s spiritual life and what is already recognized as the mainspring of the administrative activities, signalizes the launching of yet another phase in the slow and imperceptible emergence, in these declining times, of the model Bahá’í community—a community divinely ordained, organically united, clear-visioned, vibrant with life, and whose very purpose is regulated by the twin directing principles of the worship of God and of service to one’s fellow-men.
“The decision you have arrived at is an act that befittingly marks the commencement of your allotted term of stewardship in service to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Moreover, it significantly coincides with the inauguration of that world mission of which the settlement of Bahá’í pioneers in the virgin territories of the North American continent has been but a prelude. That such a decision may speedily and without the slightest hitch be carried into effect is the deepest longing of my heart. That those who have boldly carried so weighty a resolution may without pause or respite continue to labor and build up, as circumstances permit, around this administrative nucleus such accessories as the machinery of a fast evolving administrative order, functioning under the shadow of, and in such close proximity to, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, must demand, is the object of my incessant and fervent prayer. That such a step, momentous as it is, may prove the starting point for acts of still greater renown and richer possibilities that will leave their distinct mark on the third year of the Seven Year Plan is a hope which I, together with all those who are eagerly following its progress, fondly and confidently cherish.”
In these words we meet the attitude felt by the Guardian on all the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár established since 1940.
PROPERTIES AND HISTORIC SITES
In addition to the several Administrative Headquarters mentioned, the Bahá’í world community has acquired a number of other important properties which either contribute facilities for larger service or bring Bahá’í control over sacred historic sites associated with the early days of the Faith.
In North America we note the following acquisitions:
The administrative building constructed on Temple property for the work of the Treasurer and the Publishing Committee, with facilities also for the work of the Secretariat.
The Temple land has been improved by the realignment of Sheridan Road by the Village of Wilmette, involving an exchange of land on the west of the road for land on the east; the rental of a strip on Linden Avenue adjacent to the canal for use as a parking lot; grading and seeding of the area surrounding the House of Worship; fencing this area; enlargement of the area along the lake shore east of the National Office by fill extending to the water line; grading and seeding along the east side of Sheridan Road.
The House of Worship, the exterior ornamentation of which was completed in 1943, has been developed through successive contracts: the construction of tunnels and areaways; upper portion of the main story pylons; ornamentation of the main story; construction of circular steps; installation of tile drainage system at base of steps. Within the Temple foundation space and facilities have been provided for storage of publications by the Publishing Committee and for the storage and preservation of the sacred relics and records entrusted to the National Archives Committee.
The detailed report of Temple construction work during the four-year period under survey will be found elsewhere in the present volume.
The Wilhelm property at West Englewood, New Jersey, historic site of the Feast given by the Master in 1912 which He declared marked the spiritual birth of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in North America, will in future be developed with the sole Memorial to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in this continent. Mr. Roy C. Wilhelm has augmented his previous deeds of lots and buildings with the donation of the family home and lots one, two, three, four and five of Block D. This munificent gift, transferred to Trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly, completes Mr. Wilhelm’s intention of establishing the family home so signally blessed by the Master as a permanent Bahá’í property. Two lots lying between the home and the grove at the lower end of Evergreen Place, purchased by the late Mr. James and now in his daughter’s possession, will be transferred later to the Trustees.
Green Acre Bahá’í School in Eliot, Maine, has likewise benefited through a generous gift. The property known as Nine Gables, beautifully remodeled farmhouse, with two studios, farm buildings, gardens and more than one hundred acres of land, has been transferred by Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried Schopflocher to the Green Acre Trustees. As in the case of the Wilhelm house, the indenture reserves life use for the present owner. The Rogers cottage, standing at the entrance to Green Acre, has been extensively remodeled and improved since the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Greenleaf, who for a number of years conducted it as a teaching center, and has been temporarily rented and made income-producing for the benefit of the School.
The Bahá’ís of Persia have been adding steadily to the historic sites and properties brought under their collective control, a sacred trust for the Bahá’í world community. Since 1940 the National Spiritual Assembly has acquired the following: "The house of the seven martyrs in Sulṭánábád (Persian ‘Iráq); the resting place of Quddús in Babul (formerly Bárfurúsh); the house at Míyánaj (Ádhirbáyján) visited by the Báb; the house and garden of Siyyid Muḥammad-Rida, who fought at Tabarsi, in Shahmírzád; the house of Haj Mírzá Ma’sum (Zanján) where the Báb resided; the house of Bahá’u’lláh in Ṭihrán, and the houses adjacent to this.”
Bahá’í properties of historic significance
repaired since 1940, according to the report
of the National Spiritual Assembly, include:
"The house in Qum where the body
of the Báb rested for a time; the house of
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the mayor of Ṭihrán where Ṭáhirih was
imprisoned; the house of the martyr, Hájí
Naṣír (Saráju’sh-Shuhadá)
in Rasht; the
shop of the Báb in Búshhr; the house of
Ḥujjat in Zanján; the house of the King of
Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs in
Iṣfáhán; the houses of the four martyrs
and the seven martyrs in Sulṭánábád; lands
surrounding the burial-place of the martyrs
in Maláyir; the shrine of Shaykh-Ṭabarsí;
the bath attended by the Báb in the Street
of the Sword-Makers (Shíráz); the house
at Míyánaj (Ádhirbáyján); the house of
Bahá’u’lláh in Ṭihrán.”
The House of Worship which the Persian Bahá’ís are preparing to construct when conditions of economic and social stability are restored will assuredly be one of the marvels of the Bahá’í world. For some nine years the National Spiritual Assembly has been purchasing lands for that purpose near the capital city. By 1944 up to three million, five hundred and eighty-nine thousand square meters had been acquired, including several houses and two extensive gardens. Contributions are being received for the building fund, and the Assembly will begin the work on receipt of directions from Shoghi Effendi.
In Egypt, under circumstances of such importance that they are presented in connection with reports on the subject of civil recognition later in this survey, the Bahá’ís have developed a number of cemeteries for the interment of members of the Faith. In 1940 a burial place of four hundred square meters was acquired at Ismailia and one of an acre a year later at Cairo. The matter of similar cemeteries at Alexandria and Port Sa‘id has been under discussion with the civil authorities, and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and the Súdán believes that the necessary permits will be obtained.
The Bahá’ís of Egypt have also received a valuable gift from Aly Effendi Saadeddin, member of the Bahá’í community of Port Sa‘id. On December 27, 1943, his property known as "Villa Safwan” was deeded to the Assembly. This estate is in Port Fouad on the east bank of the Suez Canal, opposite Port Sa‘id. The gift represents a considerable asset to the Bahá’í community.
Data concerning national and international Bahá’í endowments were compiled by Shoghi Effendi as of the end of the first Bahá’í century, and the following material has been taken from his World Survey of the Bahá’í Faith:
Estimated value of Bahá’í national endowments in the United States of America .................................. $1,768,339
Area of land purchased as the site of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of Persia .......... .................................3,589,000 sq. meters
Area of land surrounding and dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel. . . .................................. 140,600 sq. meters
Area of land dedicated to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in ‘Akká ................1,000 sq. meters
Area of land dedicated to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in the district of Gaza, Palestine ......................... 10,530 sq. meters
Area of land dedicated to the Shrines of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb in the Jordan Valley.......................... 2,354,108 sq. meters
Area of land dedicated to the Shrines of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb in Palestine and registered in the name of the Palestine Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States of America and Canada .................50,000 sq. meters
Total cost of the structure of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette, Ill. (1921—1943) ......... .................... $1,342,813
AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í PROPERTIES
HELD IN TRUST
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, Wilmette, Illinois
- Temple
- Caretaker’s Cottage
- Land
Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, Wilmette, Illinois
- National Bahá’í Office
- Supplementary Administrative Office
- Bahá’í Publishing Committee Office
Green Acre Bahá’í School, Eliot, Maine
- Bahá’í Hall
- Dormitory and Dining Room
- Studio
- Three Cottages, Supplementary Dormitories
- Arts and Crafts Studio
- Schopflocher Cottage
- Rogers Cottage
- Lucas Studio
- Fellowship House
- Reeves Camp
- Nine-Gables, Schopflocher Estate; House, Studio, Farm Buildings
- 138 acres of land, including area on Monsalvat
Wilhelm Property, West Englewood, New Jersey
- Wilhelm House
- Evergreen Cabin
- Cottage, Garage
- Land, including pine grove where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave the unity feast in 1912.
Geyserville Bahá’í School, Geyserville, California
- Bosch House
- Bahá’í Hall
- Dormitory
- Ranch Buildings
- Land
International Bahá’í School, Pine Valley, Colorado
- Mathews House
- Ranch Buildings
- 20 acres of land
Wilson Property, Malden, Massachusetts
- Wilson House, where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá rested in 1912
- Land
Muskegon, Michigan
- Land
ESTIMATED VALUE OF AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í PROPERTIES
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár . . . . . $1,482,012.91 Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,526.42 Green Acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,000.00 Wilhelm Property . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,000.00 Geyserville School . . . . . . . . . . . 42,000.00 International School . . . . . . . . . . 51,500.00 Wilson Property . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,000.00 Muskegon Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.00
________________
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,768,539.33
These statistics do not include the physical value of the Bahá’í property which has developed in the form of books and pamphlets published by the several National Spiritual Assemblies in a total of forty-one different languages to the end of the period of this review, April 21, 1944.
THE FORMATION AND INCORPORATION OF LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES
In nine countries Bahá’í local Spiritual Assemblies have been incorporated, thirty-seven in the United States, thirteen in India, three in Burma, two in Australia, two in Canada, one in Germany (suspended by the Civil authorities), one in New Zealand, and one each in Costa Rica and Balúchistán. The cities are given in the following list:
United States of America—
- Berkeley, Calif.
- Binghamton, N. Y.
- Boston, Mass.
- Chicago, Ill.
- Cincinnati, O.
- Cleveland, O.
- Columbus, O.
- Detroit, Mich.
- Flint, Mich.
- Helena, Mont.
- Honolulu, H. I.
- Indianapolis, Ind.
- Jersey City, N. J.
- Kenosha, Wis.
- Lima, O.
- Los Angeles, Calif.
- Miami, Fla.
- Milwaukee, Wis.
- Minneapolis, Minn.
- New York, N. Y.
- Oakland, Calif.
- Pasadena, Calif.
- Peoria, Ill.
- Philadelphia, Pa.
- Phoenix, Ariz.
- Portland, Ore.
- Racine, Wis.
- Richmond Highlands, Wash.
- San Francisco, Calif.
- Seattle, Wash.
- Springfield, Ill.
- St. Paul, Minn.
- Teaneck, N. J.
- Urbana, Ill.
- Washington, D. C.
- Wilmette, Ill.
- Winnetka, Ill.
India—
- Ahmedabad
- Andheri
- Bangalore
- Baroda
Believers gathered at a Bahá’í Summer Conference held in Ontario, Canada.
- Bombay
- Calcutta
- Delhi
- Hyderabad Sind
- Karachi
- Panchgani
- Poona
- Serampore
- Vellore
Burma—
- Daidanow-Kalazoo
- Mandalay
- Rangoon
Australia—
- Adelaide
- Sydney
Canada—
- Montreal
- Vancouver
Germany—
- Esslingen
New Zealand—
- Auckland
Costa Rica—
- San José
Balúchistán—
- Quetta
In the formation of new Assemblies, the current four-year period greatly surpasses any similar period in the past.
From ‘Iráq comes the report that the Assemblies were increased from three to nine; the Bahá’ís of India formed sixteen new Assemblies, making a total of twenty-nine; in England one Assembly was established; the Bahá’ís of North America formed five new Assemblies in 1940-1941, ten new Assemblies in 1941-1942, nineteen the following year, and ten Assemblies in 1943-1944. These numbers do not include the restoration of former assemblies dissolved for lack of numbers. At the beginning of the four-year period there were 102 Assemblies in North America; at the end of the period, 135.
Two changes of fundamental importance have been made in the area of jurisdiction of a local Spiritual Assembly in North America since 1940. They are mentioned here because they no doubt apply to all local Assemblies of the Bahá’í World Order.
First is the Guardian’s ruling that voting
members of the local community must
reside within the civil limits of
the municipality, whether city, town or village.
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First Canadian Bahá’í Summer Conference. Held in Montreal, 1941.
Hitherto the local community in America admitted believers who had residence near enough to enable them to attend the meetings, thus extending the voting franchise to a considerable number of Bahá’ís associated with no community in their own immediate neighborhood, and preserving many relationships on the part of believers who had been connected with one particular Assembly for many years. The by-laws defined the area of jurisdiction of the Assembly in terms of the town or city, but conferred the right to accept as voters, pending the formation of an Assembly in their own civil unit, those who could travel to the Bahá’í center and keep in touch with the local affairs. In application this principle frequently involved rather a question of desire or right on the part of the individual than of duly defined authority on the part of the institution. In one case a local voting list for some time carried the name of a former resident who had not only established residence and a profession in Europe but had also become a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of that country.
Thus the new ruling, always implicit but not previously enforced, entailed a considerable number of changes for Assemblies and individuals, in some instances removing several or even a majority of the members of the Assembly, experienced committee heads, and such a proportion of the community as to decrease its representation in the Annual Convention. Some Assemblies had to be dissolved. The Bahá’ís who lost their status as members of a community no longer had capacity to vote in a Bahá’í election, since the Convention was composed of delegates chosen by the local communities qualified to elect a Spiritual Assembly. The former right depended on the latter. Even where a delegate had been elected in March for an April Convention, to represent a community having an Assembly, if the Assembly could not be maintained after April 21, the delegate became disqualified. As the voting right is greatly prized and esteemed by Bahá’ís, the distinction between community member and isolated believer was keenly felt.
As hundreds of Bahá’ís were suddenly transferred for the first time to this latter category, the national Bahá’í community was profoundly altered. Instead of some eighty local communities, with a few score isolated believers, hundreds of groups came into existence composed of less than nine Bahá’ís, thus spreading the capacity to teach and develop new Assemblies throughout the country.
The Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of the Bahá’ís of Persia.
The recently completed National Administrative Headquarters, situated in the outskirts of Ṭihrán.
The second change initiated by Shoghi Effendi took advantage of this new condition to redefine the area of local Bahá’í jurisdiction. Whereas the local community had been established on the basis of the civil municipality, the incorporated village, town or city, it was amplified to include townships and (the smaller) counties, even in some cases the unincorporated village (if its area is definitely defined) and also the judicial districts into which certain counties are divided. Whether the township or county unit is taken as area of jurisdiction depends upon the manner in which the State has been politically subdivided. In New England the township is chosen rather than the county; in other States the township unit does not exist. In either case, the area of jurisdiction is defined as that part of the civil unit lying outside the villages, towns or cities. The municipal unit is not dissolved within the township or county area but continues as an independent Bahá’í administrative area at this time. This change, indeed, restored the balance between urban and rural areas, for until the period of the present survey all rural Bahá’ís had been unable to form part of a voting community. Indeed, the Bahá’í franchise had not been so much a matter of individual right as of community achievement, for none could vote until a community of nine or more had come into being.
Later in this survey mention is made of a third organic change made by the Guardian which bases the Annual Convention upon the Bahá’ís of each State or Province, transferring representation from local community to the new State community, with the result that every individual Bahá’í in the United States and Canada was qualified to vote for delegates composing the Centenary Convention of 1944.
The Bahá’í world community, seeking to
establish religious societies for the
administration of educational and humanitarian
institutions, single in aim but varied in
method, are beginning to uphold a universal
standard of human values for recognition by
civil authorities in many countries, many
states and a great number of cities. A Bahá’í
community in North Africa, in ‘Iráq, in
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India, Australia, England, South America
or the United States, requires a legal status
by right, based upon spiritual truth and
law, rather than by privilege, reflecting
arbitrary authority, and similar in scope to
the status of all other Bahá’í communities.
The experience of these small communities
in making effort to achieve such status is
highly significant. It means that a truly
human standard is being asserted, and
signalizes the outworking spirit of a new day.
Humanity had become subject to laws and
conditions which are entirely incapable of
expressing its true qualities and powers,
binding the groups, races and nations to
the principle of conflict in all important
affairs.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLICATIONS
The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh was conveyed to the world in a written and authentic text, clearly a fundamental requisite for a Faith intended to embrace mankind. His Message admits no divisive forces employing the uncertainties of oral tradition, variations of text or arbitrary dictum to assert partisan claims or support formalistic views and practices. The Bahá’í has access to the word and utterance of his Lord without veil or hindrance, save only the manmade difficulty of language, requiring translations from the original Persian and Arabic tongues.
This fact in itself banishes the lingering shadows in which religious disputation has flourished throughout the term of known history. The Word is no longer a hope deferred but a truth made manifest for all to behold. Moreover, its application to this or that condition has also been made clear and assured through the office of interpreter exercised first by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and after Him by the succession of Guardians to the end of the Bahá’í Dispensation. Since we are human and fallible, men may still continue to deceive themselves; but the practice of deliberate deception by a policy disguised as denominationalism, under which multitudes receive of Revelation only the wrapping in which its light is concealed, has been done away. The goal of human unity can only be attained by individuals who rise to the level of moral responsibility, resolutely abandoning any type of spiritual life which can only experience truth at second hand and as by-product of the maintenance of some system of special privilege.
Beginning with Islám, as the impartial student must admit, religion has emphasized reason and knowledge, resisting the instinctive effort of an immature race to make worship irrational and enthrone superstition in the social practices of faith. The universities founded by Islám, and imitated by Christian Europe, mark the first glimmerings of the age of light in the realm of the human soul. Bahá’u’lláh has freed the mind from its ancient terror of a truth not soluble in emotion and converted to emotional use. The bounds and limits placed upon mental activity today do not represent the bastions of a system that would be eternally impregnable, but the natural limitations of the mind itself and the needs of the social body.
Their sacred literature is the supreme treasure of the Bahá’í community in all lands. Their activities have for goal the sharing of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, knowledge of His principles and obedience to His laws. Language is the first foreign field to be captured by the believers in their effort to establish the Faith in a new land.
The four-year period under consideration has been impressive in the extent to which Bahá’í works have been translated, printed and distributed. The total number of languages in which Bahá’í books have been published is forty-one. Translations are under way in twelve additional tongues. The well-known and exceedingly helpful introductory volume, "Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” by the late J. E. Esslemont, has appeared in a total of thirty-seven languages, this in less than twenty-five years. In the language of the blind, Braille, for English-reading persons, forty-nine titles have been made available.
From Persia we learn that while Bahá’í
books are rare and hard to find (on account
of governmental interference), libraries
have been established in most centers. In
Ṭihrán alone the Bahá’í center has over
four thousand, four hundred Bahá’í and
other works, and two thousand, six hundred
magazines and papers. Since in Persia the
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publication of Bahá’í literature is
forbidden, the text is reproduced in
typewritten, mimeographed and similar
processes not under official ban.
By such means the National
Spiritual Assembly provides the hundreds of
Bahá’í centers in Persia with Bahá’í
literature, including communications
received from the Guardian, and reports of
current news. In Persia another difficulty
exists due to the police regulation which
prevents the Bahá’ís from conducting their
Nineteen-Day Feast in the local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds,
restricting these organic community
meetings to private homes. In Ṭihrán this
means that the Bahá’í community is obliged
to divide itself into the small groups who
can gather in each of about one hundred
twenty-two different places. It is in the
intensity of their effort, the purity of their
motives and the ardor of their faith rather
than through development of publishing
facilities that the Persian Bahá’ís
are contributing to the spread of the Message of
Bahá’u’lláh during these crucial days.
Similarly in ‘Iráq, there has been prohibition laid on the printing of Bahá’í literature in Arabic. The ‘Iráqí believers have therefore imported books and pamphlets from Egypt, where the National Spiritual Assembly has been able to produce Bahá’í literature in Arabic translation. The Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq are prepared to undertake a vigorous publishing plan when the present obstacles to their religious freedom are removed.
The Bahá’ís of Egypt for a number of years centered their energy on the production of an Arabic edition of ”The Dawn Breakers: Nabil’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation,” written in Persian and translated into English by the Guardian more than ten years ago. This work was seriously threatened when, in 1940, the edition was confiscated by the civil authorities on declaration by the heads of Islám that the book contains matters generally injurious to that Faith. The entire stock of printed books, in fact, was seized and transported to a place where they could be destroyed by fire.
The Bahá’ís of Egypt, thereupon, through their National Spiritual Assembly, made a strong appeal, expounding the argument that the book in question contains the record of historical facts and incidents and does not involve harm for any religious community or nation. The appeal, moreover, pointed out that it was not equitable or just for the authorities to pass judgment on the assumption that the charges made by one party are to be taken for granted without giving the other party opportunity for defense.
After long-protracted endeavors by the Bahá’ís, the books were released and the Assembly was able to distribute copies to all who had ordered them, whether in Egypt or abroad.
The National Spiritual Assembly of India has listed the Bahá’í publications produced from 1940 to 1944, as follows:
In English—Dawn of the New Day; How To Live the Life; The World Religion.
In Urdu—Dawn of the New Day; The World Religion.
In Gujrati—Dawn of the New Day.
In Hindi—The World Religion.
The total number of copies printed for free distribution, in connection with teaching activity, was 25,000.
Added to the catalog of Bahá’í publications were four important works:
In Urdu—Some Answered Questions; The Bahá’í Peace Program.
In Persian—Tabin-i-Haqiqat.
In English—The Seven Valleys.
On advice received from Shoghi Effendi,
the Assembly in addition initiated
the translation of “Bahá’u’lláh
and the New Era,” by
J. E. Esslemont into the Telegu, Kanarese,
Pushtoo, Mahratti and Tamil languages.
Of these five new translations, three were
sent to press in 1944 and plans are
prepared for publishing the other two editions
immediately. Moreover, the Assembly
decided to have the same book translated into
Singhalese, Oriya, Malayalam and Punjabi,
subject to the Guardian’s approval, which
was given at once, with the further advice
that the work by Dr. Esslemont be
translated into Rajasthani. This makes a total of
ten new editions undertaken by the Bahá’ís
of India before the conclusion of the first
Bahá’í century. Finally, the report lists the
following Bahá’í books as on the press:
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In Urdu—Kitáb-i-; Six Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh; Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.
In Gujrati—Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.
In Persian—The Bahá’í Faith; Qádíyán.
The Bahá’ís of Australia maintain a magazine, “Herald of the South,” and "Bahá’í Quarterly,” the bulletin and news letter of the National Spiritual Assembly. Under the editorship of Miss D. Dugdale and Miss L. Clark, the magazine has become a valued source of Bahá’í literature and of articles concerning the Faith. The Assembly obtains printed books and pamphlets from the Publishing Committees of the United States and Canada or of England as needed.
The report received from the National Spiritual Assembly of England is cited in full.
"Another institution which has both maintained itself and made progress is the Bahá’í Publishing Trust. Founded in 1937, it was still hardly out of its infancy four years ago. Nevertheless, though still so young, it has had to deal with its share of difficulties in the form of paper shortage, binding delays, prohibition of imports from abroad, etc., and these still hamper it and will no doubt do so for some time to come. However, it has quite a few publications to its credit during this period: ‘The Guide to the Administrative Order,’ ‘Selections from Bahá’í Scripture,’ ‘The Chosen Highway,’ 'Security for a Failing World,’ ‘The Unfoldment of World Civilization’ (both these reproduced here photographically), ‘The Centenary of a World Faith,’ a new edition of ‘The Hidden Words’ and several pamphlets, and during the past year plans have been made for a new and larger prayer book, for a book containing a complete record of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to this country, for a book of selections from the Writings suitable for meditation, etc. Another publishing innovation, so far as we know unique yet in the Bahá’í world, was the publication for the year 1944 of a pocket diary specially adapted to Bahá’í needs, with the first days of the Bahá’í months, days of commemorations, etc., included in it. It also contained a very brief account of the principles of the Faith and a list of literature. Due to the shortage of ordinary diaries during war time, the Bahá’í diary sold extremely well to non-Bahá’ís and many people up and down the country are thus being reminded daily of the Bahá’í Faith.
”On the administrative side, the Trust has evolved a firm basis of costing and of stock control. It has also experimented with advertising and through this has sold a number of books.
"Early in 1941 it was decided, on account of paper and personnel difficulties, to discontinue the monthly magazine ‘New World Order,’ and publication stopped after the July, 1941, issue, It still appeared, however, that such a magazine is a useful medium of teaching and consequently it was revived as a quarterly and appeared again in a changed form in Spring, 1943.”
The publishing activity of the North American Bahá’ís increased steadily during the period 1940 to 1944. From the successive annual reports we note the figures showing sales as follows:
For the year ended February 28, 1941, the Bahá’í Publishing Committee distributed 16,464 books, 100,678 pamphlets and 2,611 study outlines. The following year was reported on an eleven-month basis: 19,236 books, 77,044 pamphlets, 1,286 outlines. In the year ended February 28, 1943: books, 19,759 plus 4,236 sets of the three small volumes of "Selected Writings,” pamphlets, 108,732; and outlines for study, 3,315. A year later the final report showed. that 27,407 books were distributed, with 147,659 pamphlets and 2,833 study outlines.
The reprint of titles out of stock goes on
constantly to maintain the more than one
hundred different books and pamphlets
listed in the Bahá’í catalog, but in addition
the Committee has produced several
important new works since 1940. Among these
special reference is made to the Guardian’s
translation of Bahá’u’lláh’s work, "Epistle
to the Son of the Wolf”; the one-volume
compilation of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá entitled “Bahá’í World
Faith”; the series of three small
books containing selections from
Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and
Shoghi Effendi, “Selected
Bahá’í Writings”; "Communion With
God,” "Bahá’í Prayers” and “Bahá’í
[Page 33]
Writings” (prayers and meditations); "Child’s
Prayer Book”; four works by Shoghi Effendi,
"Messages from the Guardian (June 21,
1932 to July 21, 1940); “Bahá’í
Administration,” revised edition; "The Promised
Day Is Come,” and "God Passes By” (on the
press); the international Bahá’í record,
"The Bahá’í World,” Volume VIII; two
books prepared by the National Spiritual
Assembly, “Bahá’í Procedure” (second
edition, revised); and “The Bahá’í Centenary
1844-1944,” on the press; the compilation
“Race and Man”; "Security for a Failing
World” (revised edition); "The Heart of
the Gospel,” and “The Glorious Kingdom of
the Father Foretold.”
Beside these books, ten or more new pamphlets and ten new study outlines were also put into print.
One pamphlet, ”The Bahá’í House of Worship,” went through its third printing, bringing the total number of copies since 1938 to 376,000. This pamphlet is the one selected for distribution at the various Expositions and Fairs at which Bahá’í Exhibits had been arranged. The series of ”Selected Writings” includes 25,000 each of three small books, a total of seventy-five thousand. ”Bahá’í World Faith” appeared in an edition of 10,000 bound in fabrikoid and 500 bound in leather as a special Centennial edition. The compilation entitled “Peace: A Divine Creation” was produced in order to make available in convenient form the Bahá’í teachings on universal peace. To commemorate the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the Temple in January, 1942, the National Spiritual Assembly prepared an illustrated booklet, copies of which have been distributed throughout the country and thousands presented to persons who visit the House of Worship.
In the field of translations much work has also been done by the American Bahá’ís. Funds were contributed toward the cost of printing the Polish translation of ”Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era” in France (Lidia Zamenhof’s translation). A believer long associated with the Bahá’í community of Paris made a special contribution for printing Bahá’í literature in French, and so far the Publishing Committee has produced “Les Paroles Cachees,” "Les Sept Vallees,” and ”L’Economie Mondiale de Bahá’u’lláh.” In Esperanto has appeared "Parolado de Báb.” A Committee has been engaged for a number of years in the translation of Bahá’í texts into German; and has prepared for future publication a number of important works, including "Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh”; “Prayers and Meditations of Bahá’u’lláh”; ”Selected Writings”; "Tablet on the Jews”; "Bahá’í Prayers”; "Three Spiritual Truths for a World Civilization”; and ”Bahá’í House of Worship.” In preparation are "The Promised Day Is Come”; "Race and Man”; "Bahá’í World Faith”; "Advent of Divine Justice”; and ”The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.”
Spanish and Portuguese translations for use in Central and South America have received special attention. Some of the literature was published in Mexico, D. F., while arrangement has been made for Spanish printing in Buenos Aires. For the most part, however, during the period considered, the printing of literature in languages other than English has been conducted by the American Bahá’í Publishing Committee. The Spanish titles listed are: "La Sabiduria de ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”; "Contestacion A Unas Preguntas”; ”Bahá’u’lláh Y La Nueva Era”; "La Dispensacion de Bahá’u’lláh”; "El Kitáb-i-Íqán”; "Oraciones Bahá’í”; "Los Siete Valles”; "La Religion Mundial”; “Que es el Movimento Bahá’í”; "Las Oraciones Obligatorias”; "Principios de la Fe Bahá’í”; ”El Templo del Culto del Bahá’í”; "Primer Centenario”; "La Republica Venidera Mundial”; “El Objecto de un Orden Nueva Mundial”; "La Ultima Voluntad Testamento de ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”; “El Procimiento Bahá’í.”
A special compilation of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was made by Loulie A. Mathews and Helen Bishop for translation into Spanish and publication, in order to provide the Latin American believers with a representative collection of the literature in one volume. This work is to be printed in Buenos Aires.
American Bahá’í periodicals include
three publications: the successive volumes of
“The Bahá’í World”; ”Bahá’í News,”
distributed by the National Spiritual Assembly
[Page 34]
to members of the Bahá’í community; and
“World Order,” a monthly magazine
founded in 1909 as “Bahá’í News,” later known
as “Star of the West” and "Bahá’í
Magazine,” adopting the present title in 1935
when combined with "World Unity." A
few excerpts from the annual reports of the
Editorial Committee will describe the
magazine since 1940.
"A careful analysis of the new teaching opportunity created by the outbreak of the long-threatened international war convinced the Editorial Committee that the magazine could render greater service this year through a more direct presentation of the Faith. The committee visualized its teaching problem as that of equipping the believers to convey the Message more effectively, rather than of attempting to reach the general body of the public through a direct channel.
"This attitude was approved by the National Spiritual Assembly, as was the second recommendation that World Order be issued henceforth in a smaller and more convenient size.
“Beginning in April, 1940, therefore, the magazine has been changed in appearance as well as in presentation of material. The general aim has been to develop each consecutive issue with the following type of contents: a leading article, directly Bahá’í in character, consisting in the exposition of some important subject of current interest and importance; a secondary article, usually related to the subject of the leading article, but representing personal experience and a more intimate approach; a compilation from the Writings; the Bahá’í answer to some world problems; a brief book article dealing with some current work having some direct or indirect value to Bahá’ís; a brief study outline providing references for one meeting a week for four weeks; and an editorial department containing information about the authors or citing letters received from readers.
"The list of twelve leading articles published this year includes: Religion and Society, Hussein Rabbani; The Question of Religious Unity, Horace Holley; Bahá’í Education, Wm. Kenneth Christian; ,The Human Soul in This World of Chaos, Alice Simmons Cox; The Lesser and the Most Great Peace, George O. Latimer; Islám’s Contribution, Stanwood Cobb; Dawn Over Mount Hira, Marzieh Gail; By the Mouth of His Prophets, Maye Harvey Gift; Civilization and Culture, Helen Bishop; The Life Beyond, Stanwood Cobb; Youth and the New World Order, a symposium; America’s Destiny, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick. These twelve articles might well be reprinted, as they present the Bahá’í view on subjects which every teacher encounters in his work every day.
“The Inter-America work has been served by publishing the diary of Martha Root’s visit to South America, the diary notes of Louise Caswell and Cora H. Oliver and the very interesting study by Mrs. Kirkpatrick on America’s Destiny.”
“The general plan includes a leading article of wide interest and value in the Bahá’í world; short articles of more specialized or intimate nature; selections from the Writings; poetry; and the departments.
“The magazine this year began publishing excerpts from the Guardian’s most recent and momentous letter, The Promised Day Is Come, as soon as it was received, the series being completed in this volume. Hitherto unpublished addresses made by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are now appearing with the consent of Shoghi Effendi. Other sacred Words are printed each month on the inside and back covers, and in the regular publication of a Bahá’í prayer, a policy this year adopted upon suggestion from a number of believers. The new compilation, The Divine Art of Living, by Mabel Paine, begun last year, was completed in this volume.
“Inter-America interest has been met with the vital series of letter extracts from the pen of Elisabeth H. Cheney, A Bahá’í Pioneer in Paraguay. This followed the conclusion of an equally interesting series by Louise Caswell and Cora H. Oliver, From a Panama Diary.
”The most outstanding leading articles have been The Bahá’í Cause Today, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant. The former, by Marzieh Gail, is an answer written upon request of the National Spiritual Assembly to a widely-circulated article by a Christian missionary misrepresenting
The Main Entrance of the Persian National Bahá’í Headquarters.
[Page 36]
the
the Faith; and the latter, by Juliet Thompson,
brings to Bahá’ís a picture of the
vibrant figure of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the
meaning of the function of the Center of
Bahá’u’lláh’s peerless Covenant. Mrs. Gail’s
article was preceded by a strengthening
statement from the National Assembly
entitled, The Universal and the Sectarian.
"Other leading articles have offered thought of deep interest and usefulness on a variety of themes: The World Wide Law and Crime and the Treatment of Criminals, by Chester F. Barnett; Religion for Our Time, by William Kenneth Christian; A Scientific Approach to Religion, by Howard Luxmore Carpenter; The Development of the Creative Individual, by Genevieve Coy; The White Silk Dress, by Marzieh Gail; A World Language for a World Order, by Della C. Quinlan; Science and the Open Mind, by Glenn A. Shook; and a Symposium, Equality of the Sexes, by Gertrude Atkinson, Della C. Quinlan, Maye Harvey Gift and Annamarie Kunz Honnold.
"A special feature this past year has been the emphasis given to the meaning of the Bahá’í Covenant in a series of articles by Albert Windust, who, because of his early experiences, was well qualified for this service to the Bahá’ís. He wrote upon request of the National Spiritual Assembly. The series was introduced by a special number of the magazine (September) which reprinted a Tablet by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Protection of the Covenant and also devoted other departments to the subject of the Covenant. (The last issue of the previous volume had given us Juliet Thompson’s fine article: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant.)
“Another feature of the year was a short series, The Bahá’í Community, with Chester F. Barnett, William Kenneth Christian and Annamarie Honnold as the contributors. Dr. Khan’s study of Epistle to the Son of the Wolf was a particularly valuable article because of the rich background of knowledge which he could bring to the writing. The friends were happy to have early in the year from the Center of the Bahá’í Faith, a moving communication from Rúḥíyyih Khánum.
”Leading articles each month were as follows: Charter for World Peace, by Alice Simmons Cox; Unchallengeable Victory, by Maye Harvey Gift; The Souvenir of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, by Shirley Warde; Bahá’u’lláh as Protector, by Mabel Hyde Paine; A Calendar for a World Faith, by Horace Holley; The Purpose of Affliction, by EliZabeth Hackley; The Word Is Made Flesh, by Mary Hammond; The House of Worship of a World Faith, by Horace Holley; Cycles of Civilization, by J. H. Haggard; God’s Promise Is Fulfilled, by Evelyn Lackey Bivins; and Religion and Economics, by Arthur Dahl.
“Pioneer activities have been represented by publication of Black Hero, by Ellsworth Blackwell; The Spirit of Power Confirmeth Thee, by Helen Griffing; In the Army, by Benjamin Kaufman; Buenos Aires, by Philip Sprague; Brazil in Renaissance, by Beatrice Irwin; You, Too, Can Pioneer, by Adrienne Ellis; and Illumination, by Felipe Madrigal. The Bahá’í teachings on race were developed by Louis Gregory in Bahá’í to Jew; Color and Human Nature (book review), by Garreta Busey; The Tabernacle of Unity, by Phyllis Durroh; Love in Diversity, by Lethia C. Fleming; and Hear, O Israel (poem) by Gertrude W. Robinson.”
”The general plan of World Order calls for a leading article and two or three others of general interest, an editorial article of two pages, and the department With Our Readers which contains brief comments about contributors and is open to communications from readers. A special feature has been a series of references designed to be helpful to Bahá’í Holy Days. This has taken the place of the study outlines printed for a number of years. Another special feature running through the first ten issues of the year was a symposium by contributors called The Evolution of Peace showing progress in world events towards the Lesser Peace as distinguished from the Most Great Peace of Bahá’u’lláh. An article by Arthur Dahl entitled Contemporary Peace Plans and the Bahá’í Program was an excellent supplement to this series as were several of the book reviews. Other book reviews concerned books closely in accord with the Bahá’í principles.
”The magazine has been fortunate in
[Page 37]
receiving articles from our pioneers and
travelers: Pioneer Journey by Virginia
Orbison, A Bahá’í Shrine in Latin America, by
Amelia Collins, El Peru by Eve Nicklin,
Panama by C. E. Hamilton, In Search of a
New Way of Life by Janet Whitenack.
The editors send out a call for more such
articles especially from Latin America since
Shoghi Effendi advises the publishing of
accounts and experiences of Bahá’í pioneers
for they help to bring all Bahá’ís in the
Western Hemisphere in closer touch with
one another.
“From the pen of the Guardian two long selections have been used. The Spiritual Potencies of That Sacred Spot, a reprint of the letter written in December, 1939, appeared in the May, 1943, issue; and in the recent March issue was printed the introduction to his forthcoming book, ‘God Passes By’, a survey of the first hundred years of the Bahá’í Faith. Chapters from this book will continue to appear in the April and May issues of 'World Order.’ Other brief selections from the writings of Shoghi Effendi have been used from time to time.
”Another highly valued contribution from the Holy Land was that of Rúḥíyyih Khánum. The Prayers of Bahá’u’lláh, a treasurehouse of thoughts, explanations and suggestions which bring the reader nearer the heart of Bahá’u’lláh. Selections from an Early Pilgrimage by May Maxwell published in the October number also brought us closer to the world center of our Faith.
“Three consecutive issues, July, August and September, contained a compilation of prayers revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá especially suitable for public gatherings and special occasions and for children. These had been gathered from sources not available to many and make a valuable addition to the small prayer book.
”The special needs of children in these troublous times have been dealt with by experts in their field in two articles: The Child in a Chaotic World by Olga Finke, and Bahá’í Children in War Time, by Amy Brady Dwelly.”
BAHÁ’Í SCHOOLS
Education comes to its fulfilment in the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh. He defines the purpose of man’s existence as duty to know and worship God. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá declared that to love God man must know Him. One of the Bahá’í principles states that ”education and training are recorded in the Book of God as obligatory and not voluntary.” In a Tablet addressed to an American believer the Master said: “If a man engages with all his power in the acquisition of a science or in the perfection of an art, it is as if he has been worshipping God in the churches and temples.” Bahá’u’lláh moreover defines knowledge as that which has been revealed, that which corresponds to truth and fact, and that which applies to life in useful action. He has condemned mere speculation and theoretical and false knowledge which begins and ends in words.
An era in which worship itself has been made inseparable from knowledge, and knowledge in turn has been defined in terms of the true and the useful, possesses illimitable potentiality for the development of the human type and the progress of civilization. The schools established by Bahá’ís in a number of countries reflect this revolutionary break with the past, when knowledge was tragically sundered from worship by the ascendancy of superstition, and the rise of new knowledge in the form of science, repudiated by the church, came under the control of a civil state committed to the struggle for existence.
From Australia we learn that the first Summer School conducted in New Zealand was held at Brown’s Bay near Auckland during June, 1940. Though of brief duration, the believers are assured that the foundations of the institution of the Summer School were firmly laid. Another School was held at Titirangi in the Blue Mountains of Auckland, attended by all the isolated Bahá’ís. In Australia itself, a Summer School and also a Winter School have for some years been held regularly at Bolton Place, Yerrinbool, New South Wales; a Summer School is conducted at Hobart, Tasmania. Mr. Bolton has constructed a hall at the Yerrinbool School seating one hundred and sixty persons. The building is a memorial to the late Hyde Dunn, and is known as ”Bahá’í Memorial Hall.” “Mr. Bolton,” the report states, ”has also built
Views of the gardens surrounding the newly finished National Bahá’í Administrative Headquarters in Ṭihrán.
[Page 39]
cabins on the property for the
accommodation of those attending the
School. Yerrinbool Summer School is
held for two weeks
in January; the Winter School for one week
in June. The time is spent in studying the
Teachings, in prayer and meditation, in
discussion and the reading of the papers
prepared beforehand by the various friends.
"On the opening day a public lecture is given to which Yerrinbool people are invited. The youth take an active part in the proceedings, one day being set aside as Youth Day, when the Bahá’í youth entertain their elders and friends, conduct the sessions and expound the Teachings.”
The Winter School at Adelaide consists of intensive study classes, three a day, held over a weekend. Two or three prepared papers are presented and discussed at each session.
The School at Hobart was begun in January, 1943. The first program centered attention during three days on the meaning of the Covenant of God and the nature of the Bahá’í administrative order.
The Fifth Auckland Bahá’í Summer School was held from January 28 to February 14, 1944, at the Presbyterian Bible Class Girls’ Camp, Mairangi Bay. A wider range of subjects was covered than in previous sessions. The non—Bahá’í visitors included a Hindu, a Chinese and a Czechoslovak who were invited to lecture, with an intensification of interest on their part in the Bahá’í message, one declaring his faith at the school. The youth group conducted a mock trial, in which a Jew, a Muḥammadan and a Christian preferred charges against a Bahá’í, claiming that Bahá’u’lláh was a false prophet. So excellent was the defense of the Bahá’í that the non-Bahá’í serving as judge accepted the Cause.
The National Spiritual Assembly of ‘Iráq reports that their first Bahá’í School was conducted in 1940, since when it has been constantly developed. With the completion of the Bahá’í Headquarters in Baghdád the sessions are now held in this building. Bahá’ís from all parts of the country attend. The subjects are presented in lectures for general discussion. Among the themes developed in this way are Bahá’í history, the principles of the Faith, its laws and its social order.
From the Bahá’í Bureau of Geneva, Switzerland, we learn that a Summer School has been held at the home of two members of the Faith. In August, 1943, a session was conducted for four days. After three days of intensive study and discussion, the final day was devoted to a meeting for invited guests at which a Bahá’í address was delivered by Mr. Semle. ”Thus one more unforgettable experience in the midst of a world immersed in darkness was vouchsafed us this year,” the report remarks.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles, in summing up the activities since 1940, has stated that the Bahá’í School had to be suspended one year, but in all other years they have been conducted with an enthusiastic attendance. In England the Summer School even more than other Bahá’í institutions has been subject to the difficulties of the times. Cancelled in 1940, at a time when invasion of the country seemed imminent, the 1941 program was carried out in Bradford, at the Bahá’í Center. In 1942 two brief sessions were held, one at Torquay and one at Buxton. A separate School was conducted that year by the Bahá’ís of London, who gathered daily during the session at a different believer’s home or garden. By 1943 conditions had become more favorable and the School was held in a lovely house in the heart of Warwickshire.
The data concerning Bahá’í Schools in North America are so much more extensive than those received from other countries for the period under review that the survey would be unbalanced if all of it were presented. Briefly, the American Bahá’ís conducted Schools at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine; at Geyserville, California; at Davison, Michigan; and Pine Valley, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. At these places permanent facilities have been developed. In addition, regional conferences held in Canada and in the Southern States have maintained study courses. Indeed, the local Assemblies likewise, some of them for many years, have sponsored community study classes conducted at weekly intervals throughout the year, and the same method has been
Bahá’ís Gathered at the Auckland, New Zealand, Bahá’í Summer School of 1942, (above) and 1943, (below).
[Page 41]
employed by local groups. Finally,
individual believers maintain a study group in
their own homes.
There is an interesting variation of method between the four established Bahá’í Schools. At Geyserville, for example, the report for 1942 states: ”The program was planned to meet the twin objectives indicated in the Guardian’s letters, namely, to present the Faith capably to interested people on the one hand, and on the other hand to deepen our knowledge of the Writings and to develop new teachers. There were new courses, and new approaches to familiar subjects. The course entitled ‘The Bahá’í World’ was a real innovation. Its aim was to give a broad concept of the scope of the Cause and to impart some of its power. Another innovation was ‘Questions Frequently Asked By Inquirers,’ which together with Bahá’í Administration,’ ‘Teaching Laboratory,’ and ‘Public Speaking’ made up the curriculum for teacher training. ‘The Bahá’í Faith in Practice’ was given from a new viewpoint, and was a happy complement to ‘The Bahá’í World.’ The course on Islám brought out the beauty and great scope of the Faith of Muḥammad in an inspiring and convincing manner.” By special arrangement the Geyserville School Committee also that same year conducted a session in the San Francisco Bay region from March 29 to April 3, with afternoon and evening classes. “The evening classes were concerned with learning the facts and how to use them. The afternoon classes were concerned primarily with teaching techniques and their practice.”
In 1942, the Louhelen School held three summer and one winter session, offering as subjects: The Law of Consultation; The Promised Day Is Come; The Spiritual Responsibilities of the Americas; The Spiritual Evolution of Mankind; The Bahá’í in Everyday Life; Fundamentals of the Bahá’í Faith; The Dawn-Breakers; How Can the Individual Bahá’í in the Present Emergency Best Help His Country, Serve the World of Humanity and Teach Effectively; Our Message and Our Neighbors; and The Proof of a Bahá’í. Great emphasis is laid at the Louhelen School on youth sessions, and these have proved very successful.
The International School founded by Mrs. E. R. Mathews in Colorado has had the special purpose of preparing Bahá’ís to teach in other lands, particularly, at present, in Latin America. The teaching method in operation has been the intimate discussion group conducted by a Latin American expert or by a Bahá’í who has had firsthand experience in the field. Morning sessions have been devoted to study of some aspect of the Bahá’í Writings, afternoons given over to the history and culture of South America or its social conditions, while for the evenings a public meeting was arranged.
At Green Acre 1n 1942 the program was divided into two main groups of courses: "The Essentials of the Bahá’í Faith,” presented by five different teachers in successive two-week classes; and advanced courses for further training of teachers, strengthening their knowledge and deepening spiritual capacity. The subjects studied were: Islám; The Influence of Baha’u’llah in Modern Civilization (Law, Education, Science, Religion, Development of the State, Economics, Health, Art and Beauty, Sociology, Anthropology, Attitude Toward Mankind); Establishing a Bahá’í Community; Bahá’í Proofs; Discovering the Most Great Ocean; Prophecy Fulfilled in This Day; Practical Applications of the Bahá’í Faith; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Divine Plan. The Green Acre season covers eight or nine weeks, and the evenings have been devoted to a special program including illustrated lectures, round table discussions and studies in musical composition. Children’s art classes, study of Spanish, and a youth week were also conducted. The youth program was planned by the young believers themselves.
From this summer of one typical season it
is evident that the four-year period
witnessed steady growth in the function of the
Bahá’í School in North America. The desire
for knowledge is producing methods of
study and means of teaching, for from the
Bahá’í principle of consultation the
collective social intelligence is
being stimulated and drawn upon as never before.
Public education, it is said, has entered a
period of crisis. In avoiding sectarianism
it has abandoned religion; in remaining
[Page 42]
neutral to partisan politics it has missed the
path to peace. The boundaries between
opinion and truth, between group pressure
and authority, between education for career
and education for life, have become submerged.
Civilization can never be restored
as a pattern centered upon science, any
more than the medieval church can reassume
its sway. Human intelligence unfolds only
to the degree that it has a body of spiritual
truth to compose the knowable universe.
When the university discovers Bahá’u’lláh,
the light and the sanity of the mind will be
restored.
BROADCASTING THE BAHÁ’Í MESSAGE
Radio is one of the signs of a universal age. It commits the world to the principle of oneness; it raises society from the plane of instinct to the realm of conscious knowledge. When humanity becomes an audience, the only endurable speaker is he who speaks with the voice of God.
Like all things of earth, radio attains its maturity of power and its ultimate usage by degrees. It has been the sickly infant, the dependent child, the assertive youth; but its future condition can even now be discerned as we see how it is needed by the heads of states for encouraging and guiding whole populations through the days of peril. The present impressive manifestations of its influence point to the time when the peril, the guidance, the way is more than national; worldwide and truly human. Radio at the same time is fully selective of theme as well as of space; like the man of greatness who lives in his village and his nation while living in the world.
The world community of Bahá’ís has made distinct progress in recent years toward the inevitable goal of radio teaching. Though its collective capacity in any specialized field seems weak and inadequate, capacity is born out of passionate resolve plus experience. As indications of resolve, the few examples of Bahá’í broadcasts are significant and encouraging.
The Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand carried out arrangements for three radio talks over stations in five States. One script was taken from the writings of the late Dr. J. E. Esslemont; the other two were prepared by Mrs. Axford. These broadcasts were well received. Not only inquiries but at least one confirmation resulted.
In India the National Spiritual Assembly reports that radio has been employed whenever opportunity arose, but the broadcasting stations are reluctant to have radio used for religious discussion in view of the fact that the number of religions and sects which might subsequently clamor for radio time would be so vast as to debar any other topic. However, in Delhi, Lahore and Bombay the Bahá’ís delivered talks over the radio in connection with their observance of one of the Bahá’í holy days.
In North America the four successive annual reports of the Radio Committee are drawn upon for the following summary:
From 1940 to 1941, one hundred and seventy-eight copies of radio scripts were distributed by the Committee on request. A beginning was made on recording Bahá’í material on transcriptions. The Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine Assemblies combined in sponsoring a series of ten broadcasts. Twenty-five scripts were sent to Philip Sprague during his visit to South America and were translated into Spanish for a radio series of two one-half hour periods a week. The same scripts were later translated into Portuguese by Lenora Holsapple for radio use in Brazil. Amelia Collins broadcast in Buenos Aires.
A series of twelve broadcasts were given in Champaign and Danville, Illinois. In Greenwood, Mississippi, one Bahá’í gave many broadcasts. Talks on world peace and Bahá’í social principles were featured in New England. The Committee became aware of the power of inter-church ministers’ organizations to prevent Bahá’í talks from being included in their allotted program time.
The following year the Committee mentions forty-six broadcasts given by Mrs. Bivins in Greenwood, Mississippi, in a series. called “The Door of Hope.” In Everett, Washington, Mrs. Walter delivered twenty-six talks on the Faith. Mrs. Nina Matthisen carried out an extensive program in Racine. The Urbana Assembly continued to make frequent use of a station in Champaign.
The Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of the Bahá’ís of India.
Newly purchased National Administrative Headquarters, situated in Delhi.
[Page 44]
In Port Huron, Michigan, Mrs. Edna Ketels
was invited many times to speak over the
local station. In Springfield, Massachusetts,
two series of six radio addresses were given,
an annual affair, over two stations. Mrs.
H. E. Chamberlin and Mrs. Wendell E.
Bacon, with the cooperation of the
Springfield Assembly, organized the
radio and also
the coordinated teaching activities.
Traveling Bahá’í teachers, including Mrs. Sylvia
King, Mrs. Ruth Moffett, Mrs. Mable Ives,
Mrs. Marzieh Gail and Mrs. Marguerite
Sears, were very active in radio work. From
Salt Lake City, Utah, seven talks were
delivered by Mrs. Sears. Six transcriptions
made by William Sears in Salt Lake City
were sent to Bahá’ís in a few cities for
experimental use. Another transcription
was made by Mrs. King in Fargo, North
Dakota. In St. Petersburg, Florida, five
radio broadcasts were conducted by Mrs.
George Kent of Binghamton and Mrs. Fred
Morton of Worcester. A second series was
carried on by Ella Bland of San Francisco.
In San Jose, California, a radio program
was coordinated by the Regional Teaching
Committee and the local Assemblies in an
intensive effort involving use of meetings
for discussion of the radio talk. Response
was made from as distant a point as Phoenix,
Arizona. Mrs. Sylvia Ioas served as
executive in making the arrangements.
From 1942 to 1943, the Radio Committee reported as the greatest achievement of that year the Bahá’í talk on race amity given on the “Wings Over Jordan” program, a national hookup. The address was delivered by Mrs. Lethia Fleming of Cleveland, from a script prepared by Mrs. A. F. Matthisen from words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Mrs. Evelyn Bivins gave a fifteen-minute presentation of the Faith once a week during the year over the local station in Greenwood, Mississippi. In Moorhead, Minnesota, two series of Bahá’í talks were arranged by Elsa Steinmetz and conducted by Mrs. Marguerite Bruegger. Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Ullrich introduced the Faith to the people of Mansfield, Ohio, through simultaneous use of radio and newspaper advertising.
The Radio Committee reporting for 1942-1943 referred to Baltimore as the local Assembly which had been doing outstanding radio work. A series of thirteen weekly talks was given over WFBR, producing many inquiries and providing an interested new group for a study class. Among the talks broadcast by traveling teachers, particular reference was made in the report to those given by Virginia Camelon in Charleston, West Virginia, and by Agnes Alexander in Honolulu. The Committee announced that twenty-six five minute talks had been scheduled for Miss Alexander for the spring and summer of 1943.
In Quito, Ecuador, John Stearns, resident pioneer teacher from Jamestown, New York, conducted a regular weekly radio program featuring recordings of symphonic music with readings from the Bahá’í literature.
By this time the possibilities had become so apparent that the American National Spiritual Assembly for the first time formulated a general plan of radio activity, consisting of a series of brief talks to be broadcast from some station within each of the various teaching regions of North America. This method was carried out in the area of the Bahá’í House of Worship through the use of a broadcasting station in Chicago. Other factors arose which prevented the fulfilment of this policy at the time.
In the concluding year of the first Bahá’í century, the American radio activities were greatly augmented by a campaign of national scope, employing stations in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and by the success of local Assemblies and groups in placing a script on the subject of the Bahá’í Centenary as a news feature in a large number of local stations. As the present survey deals only with the four-year period ending April 20, 1944, the following summary omits all programs falling between April 20 and the date of the Centenary celebrations.
In all seventeen broadcasting stations were
used in the campaign conducted or supervised
by the Radio Committee, with eleven
different series of weekly programs, four of
which operated on purchased time. The
Committee tabulated two hundred forty-six
different Bahá’í radio periods, thirty—nine being
of five minutes’ duration, two hundred seven,
fifteen minutes, and thirteen a half hour.
The first Bahá’í shortwave broadcast was
[Page 45]
beamed to South America from New York
in April, 1944.
ANNUAL CONVENTIONS
The Bahá’í community exemplifies the spirit of union maintained through institutions the membership of which, but not the nature or functions, are controlled by the body of the believers. This control is direct in the case of the local Assembly and exercised through representatives in the case of the National Assembly. Until the year 1944, the annual Convention of the American Bahá’ís was composed of delegates chosen by the local (municipal) communities by proportionate representation. In 1944, the number of local communities having become very great, and Assemblies having been formed in all states of the United States and provinces of Canada, the Guardian changed the area of representation from the city to the state or province;
The Convention has consistently served as a meeting of the entire Bahá’í community of the land, through their elected representatives, with the National Spiritual Assembly. The experience of participation in a new social organism has been greatly enhanced for the American Bahá’ís since the annual meetings have been held in the foundation hall of the House of Worship in Wilmette. The structure itself, in its majesty of spiritual meaning and in its very physical development from year to year, has immersed the Bahá’ís in the pure idea, as it were, of their gathering and deliberation. It has made them realize that the basic truths of their Faith and the scope of their institutions are unassailable by partisan force and free from influences of restless change. What they can contribute is their understanding rather than their desire, and their sacrifice in place of their ambition. The immutable substance of their order eventually impresses upon the most thoughtless believer the realization that faith is a leverage for changing and perfecting the self, not an instrument intended for exploiting society and the world for a self unwilling to advance.
The Bahá’ís of all countries feel that their annual meeting generates a propelling power, creates new dimensions of thought and feeling, and arranges individuals in new patterns. The national Committees have done an immense amount of work, the details of which are published in the form of annual reports before the Convention opens; the Guardian sends messages striking the key note of the coming year and touching with fire the uplifted hearts of the delegates. In a distracted, a bewildered, a discouraged world it is possible to find this new type of gathering in at least six countries where the individual feels himself part of a profound renewal of personality and a regeneration of his social environment.
The Bahá’í Convention proceeds on the basis of an agenda which provides for consultation on the most important activities, plans and policies. It summarizes the year that ends and makes plans and resolves for the year that begins. The occasion is not the performance of specialists but the training of a community all of whose members are workers for the sake of their convictions. It does not eventuate in public statements and formal resolutions, but in responsibility for the achievement of tasks which seem impossible for the available capacities to carry through.
There is natural variety of method in the different parts of the Bahá’í world, but such agreement on principle that any believer would feel at home in any of the Bahá’í Conventions held in America, Europe or the East. As the years pass, and the destined changes unfold throughout the world, these gatherings acquire more and more significance, since the time will come when their choice of national representatives will create the electoral bodies for the formation of the Bahá’í House of Justice ordained by Bahá’u’lláh.
Between 1940 and 1944, National Bahá’í
Assemblies have existed in the British Isles,
Egypt, ‘Iráq, Persia, India and Burma,
Australia and New Zealand, and in the United
States and Canada. The annual meeting,
however, could not be held in all
these countries regularly during those
years, on account
of travel and other war restrictions. In such
cases the delegates cast their ballots for the
Assembly membership by mail. The detailed
reports of the National Spiritual Assembly
and its committees are published annually,
[Page 46]
in advance of the convention date, and this
publication is considered a part of the
convention proceedings. Whatever
recommendations are voted during the convention
sessions are referred to the newly elected
Assembly for its approval.
GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION
The new era identified with Bahá’u’lláh, asserting the oneness of mankind, has brought social changes which make it increasingly impossible to maintain the old boundaries between peoples of different nationality and groups of different interest within the same nation. Our modern world has constructed no frontiers capable of shutting out or delimiting the operation of the great forces so unexpectedly released. Class unrest, industrial failure, uncontrolled monetary standards, war itself, crash alike into the most powerful and the most remote societies of earth. Every combination of persons and interests, whether in nation, industry, labor union, culture, race or creed, undergoes tests that penetrate to the very core of its authority and influence, as the new phenomenon, the supremacy of mankind, demonstrates a sovereignty higher than human force and human law have been able to enact. Embroiled within a traditional clash of interests within his nation, modern man looks up to behold his own familiar battlefield submerged beneath the greater clash of interests within his continent; and attempting to adapt himself to this new and larger struggle, he finds the continent itself seized by the more menacing titans of a warring world.
Throughout this unsettling bewilderment of his inherited society and the destruction of that sense of isolation which has been the ultimate and sole guarantee of his cultural, moral, denominational and legal values as well as economic security, the destructive forces have augmented by employing the individual’s most sacred sense of loyalty but turning it against the same instinct in other men. The source of this destruction in the last analysis is confusion, seized as a means of perversion by a certain number who seem always to stand available to exemplify the evil genius of the human race. The labels have been shifted about, so that the masses accept values today in terms of economic or political formulas instead of religious truths.
The condition is that in which only a new Revelation of truth and of power can meet the need. Otherwise no one can rise above the level of the confusion which actually engulfs alike the churches, the schools and the legislatures and no power can restore their ancient relationship to the process of life. The Bahá’í Faith, first in its unique Persons, then in its heroes and martyrs and finally in its organic community, has withstood all confusion and all violence, trusting in the Light of God and the eventual predominance of His will in terms of the unity of mankind.
The possibility of true union and harmony among all the necessary institutions of society has been revealed for the first time in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. His teachings deal with man as a complete entity and unit and with society as an organism imbued with life and purpose from one source. Therefore by evolution union and harmony will eventually be attained, both between the individual and the community, and between the community and the world.
The period under review has produced interesting and significant situations involving the Bahá’í community and civil authority. We can introduce the subject no better than by citing the admirable statement which first appeared in the January, 1941 issue of the Bahá’í Quarterly published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand:—
“A most important matter for Bahá’ís at this time, when world convulsions assume daily more destructive proportions and national hatreds are more bitterly fostered, is to get a clear vision, a balanced perspective of the attitude we should hold towards the situation. For some years the Guardian, through his messages and World Order letters (Goal of a New World Order, etc.) has been preparing us for just the conditions we are now experiencing. In clear and emphatic utterances he has been educating our minds and steering our thoughts into channels calculated to keep us clear of personal bias and inherited patriotisms. Our patriotism must be always to world citizenship, world brotherhood, and the lesser loyalties
Construction work on the National Administrative Headquarters of the Bahá’ís of Egypt, situated in Cairo.
must be subordinated to this supreme loyalty. In these countries of the antipodes, where loyalty to Britain is stronger, perhaps, than in Britain itself, it requires real spiritual insight and understanding to be able to rise above our limited inherited loyalties and the clamor of conflict and see beyond it the inevitable and ordained outcome of organized peace and a reconstructed mankind.
“We must see in the conflict a breaking down of old ideas and forms which no longer serve mankind, but which are a distinct menace to his security, ‘antiquated barriers that seek to block humanity’s progress towards its destined goal.’ It would be well to study again the ‘World Order’ letters of Shoghi Effendi, and in the light of the tragic drama in which we are enmeshed, try to get a deeper insight and a surer ground of understanding of the ‘mystery unfolding so rapidly in this Day of God, when the nations and peoples are summoned before the high court of destiny to answer for their failure to attain peace.’ We cannot take sides or assign blame to any particular nation. The causes leading up to the war are many and deep rooted.
"Groups of nations leagued together
against other groups can only result sooner
or later in open conflict. Never can such
methods result in peace. To Bahá’ís peace
means the harmonious relationship of all
peoples, through their governments, their
educational systems, economic systems and
other social agencies. Only a world outlook,
one organized world order as set out in the
Bahá’í Teachings, can establish and maintain
peace in our time. Now is the supreme
[Page 48]
A corner of the Assembly Hall of the new Egyptian National Bahá’í Headquarters.
opportunity of every Bahá’í teacher to stress at all times this consummation as the sole remedy for the tragic plight the nations are experiencing at this moment of humanity’s history.
"Attention is again directed to the Guardian’s repeated instructions concerning non-participation in political propaganda. Bahá’í teaching insists on the removal of barriers of class, nation and race; political parties represent the interests of certain sections of the community and their legislation is directed primarily to foster and enhance those interests. Bahá’ís cannot logically identify themselves with or support any brand of class legislation. Therefore party politics should be viewed as an anachronism. As far back as 1932 Shoghi Effendi wrote, ‘Let them refrain from associating themselves, whether by word or deed, with the political pursuits of their respective nations, with the policies of their governments and the schemes and programs of parties and factions. In such controversies they should assign no blame, take no side, further no design and identify themselves with no system prejudicial to the best interests of that World Fellowship which it is their aim to guard and foster. Let them affirm their unyielding determination to stand, firmly and unreservedly, for the way of Bahá’u’lláh, to avoid the entanglements and bickerings inseparable from the pursuit of the politician, and to become worthy agencies of that Divine Polity which incarnates God’s immutable purpose for all men. To enter the arena of party politics is surely detrimental to the best interests of the Faith and will harm the Cause.’
“During election campaigns, when party feeling runs high, it is essential that all Bahá’ís, more especially those who in the past have had strong party leanings, should discipline themselves and not be led by mass emotion into controversies which would belittle the world-wide scope of the Cause with which they stand identified. On September 24, 1938, the following message was cabled by Shoghi Effendi to the N. S. A. of U. S. A. and Canada:—‘Loyalty (to the) World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, security of its basic institutions, both imperatively demand all its avowed supporters . . . in these days when sinister uncontrollable forces are deepening (the) cleavage sundering peoples, nations, creeds (and) classes, (to) resolve, despite (the) pressure (of) fast crystallizing public opinion, (to) abstain individually and collectively, in word (and) action, informally as well as in all official utterances and publications, from assigning blame, taking sides, however indirectly, in recurring political crises now agitating (and) ultimately engulfing human society. Grave apprehension lest cumulative effect (of) such compromises (should) disintegrate (the) fabric, clog (the) channel of grace that sustains (the) system of God’s essentially supranational, supernatural order so laboriously evolved, so recently established.’
“The latest news from Haifa tells of the
Building recently purchased by the Bahá’ís of Bombay, India, to serve as their local Headquarters.
compulsory disbanding of Assemblies in Europe, Palestine and Persia, thereby, temporarily at least, crippling the Cause in those countries. We pray that our brothers and sisters in these lands may be sustained and strengthened in their time of trial and difficulty. It behooves us, therefore, to put forth a supreme effort to strengthen the foundations and build up the structure of the faith in these far-off regions, as yet comparatively untouched by drastic war measures, in preparation for the time when we shall be called upon to vindicate our faith and take our part in the establishment of the complete Administrative Order, the Commonwealth of Nations. To voice prejudiced opinions on either local, national or international policies will tend to retard the progress of the Cause. Divine justice will be served. Our plain duty is to work for the reconstructed world that is to be.”
The first great issue facing the Bahá’ís was that of their status under the war statutes or acts of their respective countries. We find statements on this subject in a number of reports received from the National Assemblies.
From the British Isles:—
"During the period under review a number
of men from the community have gone
into the Forces, all as it happened into the
Army, none going to the Army or Air Force.
Girls of conscription age have also joined
the Women’s Services or the Land Army.
The law provides that men conscripted may
apply on conscientious grounds either for
complete exemption or to be assigned to
noncombatant duties. In accordance with the
Guardian’s instructions, Bahá’ís have applied
under the latter category and all applications
have been granted, though in one case it was
necessary to go to the higher tribunal for a
second hearing. Early in the war the
[Page 50]
Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of the Bahá’ís of Australia. Building recently purchased for the National Bahá’í Headquarters, situated in Sydney, New South Wales.
National Assembly printed a statement of the Bahá’í attitude to military service, which has been very useful in giving information to individuals and authorities making inquiries. One Bahá’í, Robert Yool,—practically the only one in a fighting unit, he having been a reservist before becoming a Bahá’í—has been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his courage in saving a comrade from a burning tank in North Africa.”
From Australia and New Zealand:—
“Soon after the outbreak of war the National Spiritual Assembly took steps to dispel any doubts and misapprehensions regarding the loyalty of Bahá’ís to the Government and the Bahá’í attitude to war, which might have been held by the authorities. A statement was compiled setting forth the Bahá’í attitude to war and showing that the Faith is non-political in character and enjoins absolute loyalty and obedience to the Government. This was sent to the Prime Minister of the Federal Parliament of Australia and to the State Premiers together with a copy of Vol. VII of The Bahá’í World and the following covering letter:—
“ ‘Sir,
“ ‘On behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand, I have much pleasure in sending, under separate cover, a copy of the publication, The Bahá’í World, Volume VII, for your kind acceptance. My Assembly hopes that amid your many important and onerous duties you may find time to peruse this work, and later, if agreeable to you, place it in the Parliamentary library.
“ ‘The book is an authentic record of Bahá’í activities in all countries, and shows the world wide scope of its work and influence. We would especially refer you to the article on Page 3 The Aims and Purposes of the Bahá’í Faith, by which you will see that its aims are directed to a just and ethical social order, as well as to individual faith and belief.
" ‘A brief statement of its attitude to war accompanies this letter. The National Spiritual Assembly respectfully desires you to read this in order to clarify their position in regard to this matter, and thereby dispel any suspicion of subversive ideas which may erroneously have been held against this world Faith.
[Page 51]
” 'I have the honour to remain,
For the National Spiritual Assembly of the
- Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand,
- Yours obediently,
- H. M. BROOKS,
- Hon. Secretary.’
"Kindly replies, accepting The Bahá’í World for the Parliamentary Libraries and in some cases promises to peruse the book, were received from the Prime Minister and the Premiers.”
From New Zealand:—
"Two youth members instead of waiting until conscripted for military service, volunteered for the Air Force. Requests for noncombatant service were made. In each instance their requests were granted, no appeals being necessary. The Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly in registering under the Manpower regulations, registered as a religious worker, and no appeal against her direction to essential work has been necessary.”
From the United States:—
“Our community has this year begun to share the experience of believers in all parts of the world whose nations have entered the world conflict. Fortunate are we, to have the inspiration of the teachings and the guidance of the Guardian in days so full of turmoil and stress!
“In transmitting in Bahá’í News the instructions which the Guardian had given the British believers in 1939, the Assembly sought to add the advice that in matters of civil defense and humanitarian action, Bahá’ís are to act as individuals, the community and its institutions continuing to ‘confine their efforts to direct Bahá’í work and the discharge of the functions definitely assigned them in the teachings.’
"The ways in which Bahá’ís can voluntarily serve their country in time of war are explained by Shoghi Effendi as follows:
“ ‘There are many other avenues through which the believers can assist in times of war by enlisting in services of a non-combatant nature—services that do not involve the direct shedding of blood—such as ambulance work, anti-air raid precaution service, office and administrative works, and it is for such types of national service that they should volunteer.
" ‘It is immaterial whether such activities would still expose them to dangers, either at home or in the front, since their desire is not to protect their lives, but to desist from any acts of wilful murder.’
"As for the draftee, called to active duty, the Bahá’í is to apply for non-combatant types of duty, but is required by his religion to obey his government if his application is refused. In March, 1941, the National Assembly prepared a bulletin explaining how to fill out the draft questionnaire in conformity with the Bahá’í teachings; and in April, 1942, it has issued a second bulletin dealing with the matter of appealing, when necessary, from refusals to accept their religious status.”
The American Assembly appointed a special committee to assist members of the community called before draft boards, and the following statement is from an annual report submitted by that committee:—
"Several special bulletins have been issued during the year, including: (1) An explanation of a change in the draft questionnaire relating to application for noncombatant status; (2) special instructions for Bahá’ís who have been drafted and incorrectly assigned to combatant service, pointing out steps which may be taken to obtain transfer to noncombatant duty; (3) an additional statement of the Bahá’í position on military service for use by believers who are called before local draft boards or other official bodies to explain their claims for exemption from combatant service; and (4) a bulletin containing special instructions for Canadian Bahá’ís subject to military service.
"As indicated in previous bulletins prepared
by the Committee, the rules of the
War Department in the past permitted the
assignment of individuals with noncombatant
status to any branch of the Army Medical
Corps, and certain branches of the
Quartermaster Corps, Chemical Warfare Service,
Signal Corps, Corps of Engineers, and many
other specialized branches of the service.
However, this ruling was changed early in
1943, and the regulations now provide that
individuals who obtain a noncombatant
[Page 52]
status through the Selective Service machinery
can be assigned only to the Medical Corps.
This means that duty in the Medical Corps
is the only type of military service now open
to Bahá’ís, since the Guardian’s instructions
require us to apply for and maintain a
noncombatant status if it is possible to do so
under the laws of our government.
“The Army Regulations covering admission to Officers Candidate Schools formerly provided that applicants for commissions who were classified as noncombatants, or who claimed conscientious objection to combatant duty, could become eligible only if they refuted by affidavit their objection to combatant service. Our Committee felt that this worked an unnecessary hardship upon Bahá’ís serving in the Army, since it prevented their trying for a commission in the Medical Administrative Corps, which as a branch of the Medical Department is a strictly noncombatant arm of the service. Therefore an appeal setting forth in detail the Bahá’í position on military service was sent to the War Department, together with a request for a reconsideration of this particular provision of the Army Regulations.
”We are happy to be able to report that this appeal met with a favorable response, and the Adjutant General’s Office has informed us that the Army Regulations have been amended to permit qualified soldiers classed as noncombatants to apply for admission to the Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate Schools.
"In all of our contacts with officials of the government, we have emphasized that Bahá’ís make no reservations in claiming that they are fully obedient to all provisions of the laws of our country, including the constitutional right of the Federal government to raise armies and conscript citizens for military service. We have stated that in the absence of specific legislation on the part of Congress offering noncombatant service to those who are opposed to combatant service on the grounds of religious training and belief, the members of our Faith would feel obligated to perform combatant military service if asked to do so by the government. In addition, we have safeguarded the status of the Faith in the eyes of our government by pointing out that if special legislation by Congress covered only the cases of individuals who are unwilling to perform any type of military service, Bahá’ís would not go to work camps as conscientious objectors, or avail themselves of any similar means of avoiding their obligation to render military service to their country in time of war.”
The Faith has been recognized by government authorities in the United States in connection with the use of the Bahá’í symbol on the headstones of graves of believers, and the issuance of supplementary gas rations to the chairman and secretary of the local Spiritual Assembly for use in their religious duties.
A letter from the Office of the Quartermaster General at Washington, dated, August 14, 1942, addressed to the chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, conveyed the following statement:—
"Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of August 4th, requesting authority for the use of the Bahá’í symbol on the stones which will mark the graves of the followers of the faith of Bahá’u’lláh, who may be killed in this war and buried in military cemeteries or private cemeteries.
“The authorized design for the Government headstones of the general type is the Latin Cross for those of the Christian Faith and the Star of David for those of the Hebrew Faith. However, if the emblem of the Bahá’í is desired on any Government headstone to be placed in a Military Cemetery or a Private Cemetery and information to that effect is furnished at the time the decedent is interred in the case of a National Cemetery or when application is made for a headstone in the case of a Private Cemetery, the space for the emblem on the Government stone will be left blank in order that such emblem may be placed thereon at private expense.”
On December 21, 1942, the Office of Price Administration at Washington wrote the National Assembly as follows:—
"Upon a review of the facts presented by
representatives of the Bahá’í Faith, we
conclude that the chairmen and secretaries of
the Local Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’ís
may be eligible for preferred mileage under
the provisions of Section 7706 (k), Mileage
Rationing: Gasoline Regulations (Ration
[Page 53]
Order No. 5C), to meet the religious needs
of the localities they regularly serve. These
officers conduct the religious meetings of the
community, or congregation, perform religious
services, are authorized in three states
to perform the marriage service, and in
general perform religious services similar to
those rendered by ministers of other religious
sects or churches.”
The incorporated local Assemblies of North America are applying to the civil authority for power to conduct a legal marriage ceremony for members of the Bahá’í community in accordance with the character of Bahá’í marriage. The first legally recognized Bahá’í marriage was conducted by the Chicago Assembly. Other Assemblies which now exercise this function are New York, Teaneck, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Lima, Helena, Wilmette, Evanston and Wilmington, Delaware. In July, 1942, the American National Assembly issued a bulletin summarizing the matter for the information of the newer local Assemblies, and the following passages are cited:—
"According to Bahá’í Marriage Law the written consent of both sets of parents must be presented to the local Assembly before the marriage ceremony is performed.
“In essence, a Bahá’í marriage is a relationship established by the two parties themselves. Under the law of Bahá’u’lláh the Bahá’í representatives present are necessary as witnesses to the marriage, but, unlike the marriage rite of the church, they do not create or give the marriage to the bride and groom.
“This is made clear by these words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:—
" ‘The Bahá’í betrothal is the perfect agreement and entire consent of both parties. They must show forth the utmost attention and become informed of one another’s character. The firm covenant between them must become an eternal binding, and their intentions must be everlasting affinity, friendship, unity and life.
“ ‘The bridegroom must, before the bridesman and a few others, say: “Verily, we are content with the Will of God,” and the bride must rejoin: “Verily, we are satisfied with the Desire of God”.”
From ‘Iráq we have this report on marriage: "Among other laws, the law of marriage, in particular, was firmly upheld and enforced. Certain local Assemblies in this country and particularly the Local Spiritual Assembly of Baghdád performed during the last four years marriage ceremonies for believers of different religious background who, undaunted by the difficulties and opposition raised by their non-Bahá’í families, relatives, and other former co-religionists, insisted that their marriage ceremonies be absolutely in accordance with the Bahá’í law. Such a tenacity of faith in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh displayed by the believers had its deep repercussions in the non-Bahá’í communities concerned, who now began to realize the pervasive influence and independent character of the Bahá’í Faith.
“It is regrettable to state that the Authorities have even until now refused to recognize the legal character of the Bahá’í marriage certificates issued by the Spiritual Assemblies, on the ground that the Bahá’í Faith is denied official recognition either as independent or as one of the sects recognized by the state, or even as a society or body entitled to exercise religious functions. This state of affairs led as might be expected to the flat refusal of any and every application submitted by the Bahá’í contracting parties to the Authorities concerned for recognition and registration. When the situation was finally referred to the Guardian, he directed the National Spiritual Assembly to be firm and steadfast and to continue to perform marriage ceremonies according to the Bahá’í Law.”
A case which has furthered the independent status of the Faith in Egypt involved the application of the inheritance law of Islám to a Bahá’í beneficiary under the will of a Muslim. Verdict was given in the Sharia (Islámic) court declaring that a Bahá’í is not entitled to benefit from an inheritance in the will of a Muslim in accordance with the principle of "Variety of Religions.” That is, diversity of faith affects the distribution of assets under Islámic law. It prevents a Bahá’í from taking under the Will of a Muḥammadan, but at the same time prevents a non-Bahá’í from taking under the will of a Bahá’í.
Temerity Ranch, Colorado Springs, Colorado, where the Bahá’í International School is held annually.
[Page 55]
More important was the case of the Bahá’í
cemetery in Egypt, a sacred property which
the believers were compelled to acquire in
view of the religious law prohibiting the
burial of a non-Muslim in an Islámic cemetery.
This case was not a mere legal or
ecclesiastical matter but one of bitter
public persecution. Mobs of hostile persons
animated by religious prejudice prevented
the burial
of Bahá’ís in cemeteries associated with their
traditional creed. The Public Security
Department realized that such disturbances
would have to be prevented. A formal
pronouncement was obtained from the Mufti
which declared that the Bahá’í Faith is not
Muslim, and therefore any Muslim who becomes
a Bahá’í is an apostate, subject to all
the disabilities provided in the Muḥammadan
code. A Bahá’í can not be buried in a
Muslim cemetery.
The final outcome was to establish more firmly the independent status of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and strengthen the hearts of the believers throughout Egypt.
A list of incorporated Bahá’í Assemblies, both National and Local, was prepared by Shoghi Effendi in his world survey of the Faith issued toward the close of the period under consideration. This material is incorporated here as impressive evidence of the degree to which the believers in various countries have gradually won civil recognition of the corporate nature of their religious institutions.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES
INCORPORATED BAHÁ’Í ASSEMBLIES
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1927
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma . . . . 1933
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and the Sudan . . 1934
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1938
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles . . . 1939
LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES
United States of America—
Berkeley, Calif.
Binghamton, N. Y.
Boston, Mass.
Chicago, Ill.
Cincinnati, O.
Cleveland, O.
Columbus, O.
Detroit, Mich.
Flint, Mich.
Helena, Mont.
Honolulu, T. H.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Jersey City, N. J.
Kenosha, Wis.
Lima, O.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Miami, Fla.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Minneapolis, Minn.
New York. N. Y.
Oakland, Calif.
Pasadena, Calif.
Peoria, Ill.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Phoenix, Ariz.
Portland, Ore.
Racine, Wis.
Richmond Highlands, Wash.
San Francisco, Calif.
Seattle, Wash.
Springfield, Ill.
St. Paul, Minn.
Teaneck, N. J.
Urbana, Ill.
Washington, D. C.
Wilmette, Ill.
Winnetka, Ill.
India—
Ahmedabad
Andheri
Bangalore
Baroda
Bombay
Calcutta
Delhi
Hyderabad Sind
Karachi
Panchgani
Poona
Serampore
Vellore
Burma—Daidanow-Kalazoo, Mandalay, Rangoon
Australia—Adelaide, Sydney
Canada—Montreal, Vancouver
Germany—Esslingen
New Zealand—Auckland
Costa Rica—San Jose
Balúchistán—Quetta
TEACHING ACTIVITY
Separate articles prepared for the present
volume record the special teaching plans
carried out by the American Bahá’ís
throughout North, Central and South
America, as
well as the construction work which
completed the exterior decoration of
the House
of Worship in 1942. It is sufficient
to emphasize here the fact that the Guardian
stimulated and guided the American
believers to achieve three major
tasks before
the end of the first Bahá’í century:
completion of the Temple ornamentation,
including the encircling steps;
formation of a
[Page 56]
Spiritual Assembly in each State of the
United States and Province of Canada; and
the creation of a nucleus of believers
in every
American Republic of Central and South
America. The separate articles mentioned
report the full success of all three
undertakings, and these tasks represent
the most
important activity sustained by the
American Bahá’ís between 1940 and 1944.
There were, however, numerous instances
of teaching work carried on during that period
which were not directly connected with the
threefold undertaking but stand out as
significant episodes in relation to
the general advance of the Cause.
Regret is expressed that so much equally important activity in other lands has not been reported as fully as the work in America, and therefore can appear here only in brief summaries.
From Persia we have the following:—
"Many new teaching classes have been formed—classes lasting a definite period with a set enrollment, such as a Ṭihrán one-year study class for ninety youth. Graduates of these classes frequently go into the provinces, to teach what they have learned from the leading Bahá’í scholars in charge. Besides continual teaching by individuals, twenty-three persons during these past four years have spent their entire time as appointed teachers. Forty-one persons undertook teaching journeys throughout Persia and a large number served locally. Thousands of people have been taught the Faith in this way. The Guardian’s many telegrams and letters regarding the urgency of teaching have been constantly circulated among the friends and have greatly stimulated this activity. Bahá’í books including the Fará’id of Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl and the Gulshan-i-Ḥaqá’iq of Jináb-i-Arjumand are distributed to various centers whenever possible. In a typical year (98), (i.e:, 1942) 795 teaching meetings were held in Ṭihrán alone.
"A large number of pioneers also settled areas inside Persia, establishing 187 new centers. These, besides suffering considerable financial losses, have had to contend night and day with the fanatical hostility of the authorities, the clergy, and the majority of the residents.
“Recently a large number of Americans and Europeans in Persia and particularly Ṭihrán have expressed great interest in the Faith. The Unity of the East and West Committee has been directed to supply them with information and literature.
“The Bahá’ís of Persia make two kinds of contributions to their Assembly, one destined for the National, the other for the Local Fund. The latter is expended locally for the poor, for teaching, maintaining the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds and shrine areas, and the like. The other sum is sent on to the National Assembly. During these four years the National Assembly has received 12,004,288.35 ríyáls and has expended 11,094,045.80. Recent contributions of the Bahá’ís of Persia to non-Bahá’í organizations include 50,000 ríyáls to the Soviet poor and 5,000 ríyáls to the Ṭihrán Welfare Fund.
“Bahá’í needy are served by a national committee which up to now has assisted 2,910 persons, supplying provisions and funds, as well as loaning out capital to those requiring it.”
The National Spiritual Assembly of ‘Iráq shares these interesting facts:
“With the erection of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds and the transfer of Bahá’í administration to this new center, teaching can be said to have entered upon a new era of activity. To this testify the words of the Guardian, who wrote through his secretary (translated): ‘In this connection he strongly urges your Assembly to go forward and complete the entire structure of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, that edifice to which he always attaches the greatest importance.’ In another message he states, ‘This endeavor on your part to complete the building of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds is attractive of the unfailing confirmations of the Almighty Lord, is the cause of the consolidation of the Bahá’í institutions, of the elevation of the prestige of the Community in that land, and is conducive to the joy and delight of the friends in the East and West of the Bahá’í World.’
“How gloriously true these promises of
the beloved Guardian have proved even
before the completion of the whole structure
of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds. People of different
classes and creeds began in increasing
[Page 57]
numbers to inquire about the Faith and
investigate its truth. Consequently,
teaching centers have been assigned
in various parts of
Baghdád, where teachers explain to
beginners the Bahá’í principles and
answer their
questions about various aspects of the Faith.
A number of these beginners have as a result
of these activities embraced the Cause, and
many others are studying the teachings with
a view of being enrolled as believers in the
Bahá’í Community. The hope is cherished
that in the not far distant future the Faith
will acquire even greater importance and
publicity in the eyes of men.
“Resident teachers in several parts of the country, who have been appointed as such by the National Spiritual Assembly, send in encouraging reports about their activities in their respective centers.
“It should be borne in mind, however, that teaching in ‘Iráq is strictly limited to individual contacts and endeavor; the more effective ways and means of propagation and publicity such as the radio, the press, and public lecturing are still denied the Bahá’ís here. Up to a few years before the period covered by this report the Bahá’í Faith was from time to time the target of fierce attacks in the press by the enemies of the Cause. The National Spiritual Assembly endeavored in vain to be given an opportunity in the press in order to refute those unfounded charges brought against the Faith of God.”
The scope of Bahá’í activity in ‘Iráq is attested by this list of National Committees:
Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds: This committee supervised and expedited building operations, and collected subscriptions and donations for the building fund.
Teaching: It supervised, co-ordinated and stimulated teaching activities throughout the country.
Youth: It supervised and encouraged all youth activities. It arranged and organized the annual Symposium Day held every year. It persuaded young Bahá’ís to deepen their understanding of the fundamental aspects of the Faith.
Translation and Publishing: It translated articles chiefly from English to Arabic and reviewed translations for local circulation.
Children Education Courses: It compiled courses for the education and character training of Bahá’í children of various ages.
Pioneers: It encouraged the believers of Baghdád to go and settle in cities and towns where the Faith has not been established, thereby to carry out the repeated appeals and urgent wishes of the Guardian; it facilitated pioneering for those who contemplated such a step; it studied the conditions of pioneers, it strengthened the pioneers’ fund, and made informative recommendations to the National Spiritual Assembly.
National Library: It improved the library by providing it with the latest publications produced throughout the Bahá’í world, and induced the believers to offer the library what literature they can spare.
National Archives: It collected from the friends and preserved in special cases sacred relics and other precious Bahá’í objects of which a good collection has been made.
Activities of Bahá’í Women: Under the instruction and encouragement of the National Spiritual Assembly and their respective Local Spiritual Assemblies the Bahá’í women in ‘Iráq have made good progress in their efforts to serve the Cause. They have their own committees which are concerned with general services such as: youth organizing meetings, uplifting and training. In addition they hold their own nineteen-day feasts and their regular public meetings which are attended by both Bahá’ís and beginners. Their annual youth symposium is held with success. They attend classes organized by, the Local Spiritual Assembly where courses in Bahá’í history, law, teaching, and administration are given. Thus with higher spiritual capacity the Bahá’í women gradually are proving themselves fit and qualified to do their share in the field of service.
Bahá’í Youth: During recent years the Bahá’í youth have awakened to play their important role in the promotion of the interests of the Faith. Under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly they have arisen to organize their activities and consolidate their institutions, and thus have been successful in reinforcing the teaching activities in the country.
The Bahá’ís of India have made notable
progress in their development of
the community to new areas:
[Page 58]
The Bahá’í Center Owned by the Bahá’ís of Cincinnati, Ohio.
"The seeds sown in India by numerous touring teachers from America and Persia over a number of years, coupled with the endeavors and sacrifices of the Indian friends, blossomed forth and gave abundant fruit during the period under review.
“Due to the peculiar nature of the territory
and the people where we worked, our
task is particularly trying. This vast
subcontinent is divided into 11 major and 4
minor provinces with about 11 major and
numerous minor Indian states. The division
[Page 59]
is mainly based upon the language spoken
by the people of the territory. Although
there are 225 languages spoken in the Indian
Empire, about 15 of them are spoken by the
largest majority groups. Again, there are
about seven principal religions in India.
It must, however, be noted that the term
religion in this country has invariably come
to mean a bundle of customs, rites and
conventionalities. The difference in
the customs has been the cause of many
a religious quarrel in this ancient land.
"In such a scene, among this babel of tongues and medley of religions, the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma has to work and to propagate the Bahá’í message of Unity and Oneness and Love.
“The faith of Bahá’u’lláh was brought to India during the lifetime of the Báb. During the ministry of Bahá’u’lláh it was established here. And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá nurtured it by sending out teachers who with love and sacrifice watered the seeds already sown and planted others, which during the time of the first Guardian of the Cause, and under his loving care and direction, are yielding fruit.
“Although the publicity so far given has been small in comparison to the vast areas and population involved, yet it has been followed up with more or less regularity. Our traveling teachers went round. They delivered the message to the faculty and students of Universities. They spread the Glad-Tidings in the important towns. The Guardian more recently sent us two American Bahá’ís, distinguished for their services, to help us in this phase of our work. Mr. Schopflocher came in 1937. He visited the important towns of India and Burma. He met notable men and visited local Bahá’ís, encouraging them in their efforts to serve God’s Cause. He was followed, in 1938, by Miss Martha Root. The Guardian was pleased to let her stay and work in our midst for an extended stay of eighteen months. She toured the country from Cape Comorin in the South to Srinagar (Kashmir) in the North and from Mandalay in the East to Bombay in the West. She was indefatigable. She visited every important town in this vast country. Her sincerity and selflessness impressed all with whom she came in contact. Her ‘Letters Home’ have been published in the Bahá’í News of both America and India and are interesting for they partly reveal the spiritual condition of the people of India before the war.
"One of the greatest achievements of the Indian believers during this period was the successful conclusion of the six-year Plan of Teaching, started in April, 1938, by a resolution of the N.S.A. at its Annual Meeting. The significance of the Plan took two years to be thoroughly realized by the believers and its chief acts were enacted during the years under report. The Guardian gave the Plan his full support. Writing through his Secretary in 1938, he says: " ‘In connection with the six-year plan initiated by your N.S.A. the Guardian cannot too highly praise this undertaking of unprecedented magnitude which your Assembly has resolved to carry out. One year has already elapsed since the plan was first launched and the task that will have to be accomplished during the remaining five years is indeed immense, and calls for no less than a combined and tremendous sacrificial effort by every Assembly, group and individual believer throughout India and Burma.
"‘But the friends should derive much
encouragement at the realisation that their
efforts for the prosecution of the plan are,
in a way, far more meritorious than those
which their fellow believers in the American
Continent are exerting in connection with
the Seven Year Plan of the American N.S.A.
Whereas this latter plan, which it should be
fairly admitted, is the largest enterprise of
its kind ever undertaken by any National
Bahá’í Community, has been concerted and
formulated directly by the Guardian himself,
the Six Year Plan adopted by the Indian
N.S.A. has been initiated solely through the
efforts of the elected body of the National
Representatives, and represents, therefore,
the spontaneous undertaking of the Indian
Bahá’í Community itself and as such is
endowed with a special merit and a
unique spiritual potency. When
successfully completed
this plan will constitute indeed an abiding
monument to the resourceful energy, the
unstinted devotion and the unquenchable
enthusiasm of the Indian Bahá’ís from which
[Page 60]
further generations of believers in that land
will derive endless inspiration and guidance.’
“Local teaching activity was stimulated. Appeals addressed to the believers encouraged them to venture forth. The spirit moved Mr. Soroosh F. Yaganagi of Poona to leave his home and settle in Bangalore, South India. This was in October, 1941.
"The news of this first pioneering attempt aroused others and was soon followed by the establishment of 5 Bahá’í groups. At Hyderabad (Sind) by pioneer Hormuzdyar Beheshti in 1941, at Kotah (Rajputana) by pioneer Mrs. S. Fozdar in 1942, at Hyderabad (Deccan) and Srinagar (Kashmir) and Aligarh by the local friends.
“The N.S.A. of India and Burma sent some teachers to help these groups. Mr. ‘Abdu’lláh Fáḍil, a young Bahá’í from Persia, who was sent to South India on a teaching tour succeeded in winning over some good souls in Hyderabad, Deccan. With the older believers they formed into a Spiritual Assembly, in 1941. This was the first Assembly to be formed under the Six Year Plan.
“The Kotah group grew in numbers and evolved into a Spiritual Assembly.
"At Bangalore, there existed a body of seekers after truth who held weekly meetings and discussed religious subjects. Mr. Yaganagi, our pioneer in this center and Mr. Fáḍil, who had gone there to help him went to these meetings and explained the subjects under discussion in the light of the Divine Teachings. Members of this group were attracted and became believers, thus forming a Spiritual Assembly there.
“Some Bahá’ís from Karachi, under the aegis of the local Spiritual Assembly settled in Hyderabad (Sind). They started a business there on behalf of some Karachi friends and devoted their spare time to giving the message.
“The news of the establishment of three new Assemblies gladdened the heart of our Guardian, and he sent us this cablegram: "‘Notable prayers achieved dear Indian believers teaching Faith Bahá’u’lláh impels me to contribute two hundred pounds teaching fund. Appeal intensification of efforts; wider dispersion; increase number of volunteers; multiplication groups Assemblies.
Praying conspicuous victories. — Shoghi Rabbani.’
“This cable and the success of Mr. Saroosh F. Yaganagi encouraged the friends in India and a number of families left their homes to settle in virgin territories.
"Mr. Bahram M. Manavi, an old and experienced believer, left Bombay with his family and settled in Deolali.
“Dr. M. G. Luqmani left Bombay for Sholapur where he opened a Homeopathic Dispensary, teaching the Cause in his spare time. His selfless efforts and capable method of teaching soon bore fruit and an Assembly was formed there.
“Mrs. Humayun Jehangir and family settled in Igatpuri and are busily engaged in teaching the Faith there.
"Mr. H. M. Manji with his mother and family left in company with Mr. Bahman B. Mihrbani and family settled in Ujjain where after hard efforts they gathered a group of interested beginners.
"Mr. Gushtasb Yaganagi and family left Poona and settled in Belgaum. Although several teachers were sent to help him, there was no response for about two years. But Mr. Yaganagi persevered and continued to feed the flame lit in the breasts of a few inquirers.
“Mr. Jamshid Z. Mahallati and family left Poona and settled in Mysore, where the people are very conservative. Mr. Mahallati is still working in Mysoore.
"Mr. Rustam Foroody and family left Poona and settled in Secunderabad. After some hard work they formed a group of interested people.
“Mrs. Shirin Fozdar who had moved to Ahmedabad taught and labored until she formed an Assembly in that Center.
“Mr. Rustam M. Shoeili and family and Mr. Rustam D. Mihrshahi and family from Bombay and Mr. Isfandyar F. Yaganagi and family from Pooha went together and settled in Panchgani, forming among themselves a strong group of Bahá’ís.
“To Srinagar (Kashmir) which was originally
opened by Miss Martha Root, regular
follow-up visits were paid by Mr. I.
Bakhtiari, Prof. Pritam Singh, Mrs. S.
Fozdar, Mr. M. H. Ilmi, and Mr. Samadani, Moulvi
[Page 61]
Muḥammad ‘Abdu’lláh, an erudite Muslim
scholar and one of the foremost ‘Ulamás of
the Qádíáni sect of Islám, who had been
investigating the Cause for a long time,
now declared himself a Bahá’í and joined
forces with the Bahá’ís. It was mainly due
to his persistent efforts, supported by
occasional visits by our teachers, that
an Assembly was formed in this health resort.
"Dr. M. A. Samadani, on his teaching trips to Srinagar, stayed on his way at his home village, Kiriafghanan, near Qádíán and taught the people till at last he succeeded in forming an Assembly there.
"Mr. A. Parthsarthi, one of the newer Bahá’ís from Madras got transferred to Vellore where he worked hard and gathered some good souls around him and succeeded in forming a Spiritual Assembly there.
“All the while, the believers gave liberal financial support to the Plan.
"The Bahá’ís of Bombay, of Poona and Karachi contributed most generously to the Teaching Fund in addition to sending out volunteers for the prosecution of the Six Year Plan.
"Thus when the 14th Annual Convention was held at Poona during the Riḍván of 1943, it was announced that eight new Spiritual Assemblies were formed (including three of last year), and seven strong groups at Lahore, Ujjain (Gwalior), Secunderabad (Deccan), Panchgani, Belgaum, Gorakhpur and Aligarh. The net result up to that time, therefore, was that while two years ago we had only five local Spiritual Assemblies we now had thirteen local Spiritual Assemblies and seven strong groups.
“When this news reached the beloved Guardian, he was pleased and sent us the following encouraging cablegram:—
"‘Greatly cheered remarkable expansion teaching activities valiant pioneers. Urge perseverance. Cabling three hundred pounds facilitate Bahá’í settlement virgin states. Praying magnificent victories resounding success historic task.’
“The text of this cablegram was made the basis of a fervent appeal by the Six Year Plan Committee to stimulate the believers into putting forth fresh efforts and further sacrifices. Only one more year was left and there was such a great deal yet to be done if we were to prove even in a slight measure worthy of the love and confidence of our beloved Guardian. Passionate appeals addressed to the Community and the individual were issued in quick succession by the Six Year Plan Committee urging the friends to pioneer. Concentrated attention was paid to the seven groups already formed and every effort was made to increase their numbers so as to form them into Assemblies.
"A fresh batch of Bahá’ís from Bombay joined the group of believers already settled at Panchgani and formed a Spiritual Assembly there.
“Andheri, on the outskirts of Bombay, had a group of firm believers who participated in the activities of the Bahá’í community of Bombay. Their numbers were reinforced by fresh settlers from Bombay and a Spiritual Assembly was formed there.
"A group of inquirers gathered around our pioneers at Secunderabad and Belgaum and in time Spiritual Assemblies were formed at both these places.
“Messrs. Bahram J. Akhtari and Kaikhosrove J. Akhtari with their families from Poona and Mr. Kohdadad R. Soheili and family from Bombay settled in Kohlapur. They started in business and set apart a room for holding meetings. Mr. A. Fáḍil paid them regular visits and in nine months succeeded in forming an Assembly there.
"Gorakhpur had had a group for a long time. With the renewed efforts of Dr. Bhargava, who had settled in this place, the group evolved into a Spiritual Assembly.
"Some of the Gorakhpur youths accompanied by Mr. Shyam Bhargava went to Sewan (Bihar) to start a business. Soon some others were added to their numbers and a Spiritual Assembly was formed there.
“The Bahá’ís at Hyderabad (Sind) were reinforced by fresh arrivals from Karachi and formed a Spiritual Assembly.
“Mr. Bahman Behi and family and
daughter, Mrs. Riḍván Mubidzadih, left
their home in Poona and settled in Surat.
They were joined here by Mrs. Yasoda Vakil
and her two daughters Miss Sushila and
Miss Ṭáhirih and another Bahá’í, Mr.
Nazerali Rahmat’u’llah. They hired
quarters for Bahá’í meetings. Some
interested persons
who were studying the Cause declared
[Page 62]
The Grave of May Maxwell in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
One of the earliest Bahá’ís of the Western World, who established the first Bahá’í group on European soil, in Paris, 1899. She died in South America, where she had gone to teach the Faith.
themselves as believers and an Assembly was formed here.
“Some believers from Persia, in response to the Guardian’s appeal to settle in the countries adjoining Persia where the light of the Faith had not yet penetrated, migrated to Quetta, Balúchistán, where they were joined by some believers from Bombay and a Spiritual Assembly was formed there. Mr. Sultan Nik-A’in and Mr. N. Akhtar Khavari from Persia and Mr. A. K. Khavari from Bombay were the first pioneers of this center.
“Mr. M. H. Ilmi settled in Aligarh and joined the group of believers there. Mr. S. H. Koreshi paid them occasional visits and helped them in teaching enquirers, some of whom declared themselves as Bahá’ís thus making the formation of a Spiritual Assembly possible there.
“Mr. Merwan Khosrove went to Rajkot and after due efforts succeeded in establishing an Assembly there.
”Mr. Merwan Khosrove went to Baroda and after due effort succeeded in establishing an Assembly there.
“Mr. M. Irshad settled in Setampore
[Page 63]
where he succeeded in establishing an
Assembly.
“Pleased with the success of our pioneers, the Guardian cabled us on January 15, 1944:
“ ‘Cabling one thousand pounds facilitate settlement still greater number believers virgin areas wider dispersion greater intensification in pioneer teaching activities. Heart filled gratitude magnificent services already rendered.’
“Thus on the 15th April, 1944, we had twenty-nine Assemblies including sixteen new ones formed during the year.”
The National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles has prepared this summary of the significant teaching activities conducted under its supervision:—
“The history of the British Bahá’í community in the years 1940-1944 is a history of wartime, of new and scarcely anticipated circumstances, of difficulties, of depleted communities, but yet, in spite of all this, a record of slow and not yet entirely visible, but nevertheless very definite progress. An important aspect of the wartime years has been decreasing numbers, not a decrease in the total number of Bahá’ís, which indeed grows slowly but steadily, but in the number able to take part in the work of the community. A number have been called up to the Forces, others are doing long hours of war-work, some have been evacuated to remote places. The burden on those who are left has been great, especially during the preparations for the Centenary, but in spite of this all our institutions have been maintained, the centers kept open, the teaching work has been extended and a good deal of fresh publicity has been undertaken. Thus the foundations have been kept intact and much preliminary work done, on which we shall later build the body of the Faith in the British Isles.
“Communities, like individuals, gradually adapt themselves to changed circumstances and we are now quite used to the fact that in winter most meetings must be held in the afternoon on account of early black-out, that transport services stop running early, that if there is a period of air-raids attendance at meetings will drop for a while, that audiences at meetings tend to consist mainly of the middle-aged, that people are often on the move and useful contacts are liable to disappear suddenly, that when a new activity is undertaken, it is likely to be the same already hard-worked people who will do the work involved. All this comes in time to be taken for granted as the usual state of affairs.
"The two main themes of work during these four years have been the maintenance and consolidation of our administrative organizations, and the effort to make the Faith more and more widely known by various forms of publicity.
“So far as the first is concerned, all the
local Assemblies, as well as the National
Assembly, have continued to function and
have become more firmly established. One
local Assembly has been re-established, i.e.,
in Bournemouth, where it had lapsed for a
number of years. The National Spiritual
Assembly, in spite of travel problems, is
holding longer and more frequent meetings
to deal with the expanding activities. The
Convention has been held each year, always
with a large even when not with a complete
attendance of delegates. Summer School
had to be suspended one year and also the
annual winter Teaching Conference, but in
other years they have been held and well
and enthusiastically attended. The Summer
School has certainly been subject more than
the other institutions to the difficulties of
the times. After having been cancelled in
1940 at the time of threatened invasion, it
proved impossible to find anywhere to hold
it in 1941, all suitable places being filled
with soldiers, evacuées, etc. Consequently
it had to be held in the big industrial town
of Bradford, with sessions at the Bahá’í
Center there and the friends staying in
various parts of the town; but in spite of
all this it was a complete success. The next
year the same difficulties were encountered,
to be met this time by the plan of holding
two long weekends, one in the South at
Torquay and one in the North at Buxton.
London, left out by both these arrangements,
held its own school at home by
gathering each day in a different believer’s
house or garden for meetings. In 1943 however
the situation was easier and we were
able to hold the school in a lovely house in
the heart of Warwickshire.
[Page 64]
"Publicity has only been undertaken seriously during the latter half of the period under review, and has been done by two different methods, i.e., by paid advertisement in the Press and in the form of articles, paragraphs, etc., accepted for insertion by the various newspapers and magazines themselves. Advertisements in the Press, mainly in papers with a provincial circulation, these proving more useful than national papers, have produced a great many inquiries, resulting in the Faith having been introduced to at least one person, often more, in about 110 towns and villages, spread all over the country, and in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Inquiries have also been received from so far afield as New Zealand, South Africa, India and even Mexico, besides members of the Forces scattered in different parts of the world.
"At the present stage in the development of the Cause, teaching is the main work and object of any Bahá’í community and the bulk of its efforts must be devoted to this. In the British Isles we have not yet grown to the state in which we need, as some other countries do, regional committees for different parts of the country; that will come later. We have had a National Teaching Committee for part of the time under review, at other times teaching has been dealt with directly by the National Assembly and by local Assemblies. In any case, though committees and Assemblies can direct, guide and encourage, teaching the Cause is basically an individual task and every effort has been made to render the believers, both in communities and living alone, alive to their teaching responsibilities and possibilities, to prepare them for the work and to help them. That there has been some success is shown by the fifty-five new Bahá’ís during the period; they were not concentrated in any one area, but came from all parts of the country, which is, even though the number be not large, a satisfactory way of spreading the Faith. The communities of course have been able to make concerted efforts and have tried out many schemes for attracting people to inquire about the Faith and to come to meetings. Such was London’s Race Amity meeting, held in a hired hall which was crowded, at which representatives of various religions testified that their faiths all teach brotherly love and tolerance of racial and color differences. Manchester held a meeting devoted to friendship with Czechoslovakia to which many Czech refugees living in the city came. All the communities have held regular teaching meetings, besides maintaining their Nineteen-Day Feasts. Torquay community is truly an example to the Bahá’í world—with a membership of just nine, several of whom are unable to do much through ill-health, they are maintaining a center, holding three public meetings a week, and also running a social club for young people meeting once a week, through which a number of young girls working locally and their parents are being introduced to the Faith.
“Meetings have been held, or talks given to societies, etc., in many places, amongst them: Newcastle, Ilkeston, Nottingham, Northampton, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bristol, Stratford-on-Avon, Amesbury, Salisbury, Exeter, Tadworth, Kingston, Droitwich, Coventry, Grimsby, Brighton. In Northampton an active group is now working.
“We have reached 1944 with, it is true, only five local Assemblies established, but with definite hopes of more in quite a few places, and with the believers themselves much more ready to work for this than they were four years ago and with much more knowledge and teaching experience to help them.”
The Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand provide the following data:—
“1940 and 1941 all local Assemblies
reported intensified teaching effort. In
addition to the regular weekly meetings and
advertised lectures at each center, social or
fireside meetings were held in many homes
when talks or lectures were given to invited
guests. The home meetings have proved an
effective means of attracting people to the
Cause. The National Assembly began to
send teachers long distances. Under the
direction of the N.S.A., Miss Hilda Brooks
of Adelaide and later Mrs. O. Routh of
Sydney, went to Melbourne and Hobart
where they gave lectures and contacted
many people. The following year Miss
Brooks, with Mrs. Hawthorne of Adelaide
[Page 65]
The Grave of Martha Root, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
America’s outstanding Bahá’í teacher, through whom Queen Marie of Rumania was led to embrace the Faith.
and Mrs. Moffitt of Sydney to organize, went as far north as Brisbane and engaged in a four weeks’ teaching campaign with the joyous result that a Study Group was formed in that city where there had been no workers for the Faith since Mr. and Mrs. Dunn were there many years ago. The work went with a swing from the first days. Contacts were made, invitations to the lectures sent out and the lectures impressively advertised. In the first week the assistance and advice of Mr. O’Bryen Hoare, poet and teacher of public speaking, opened many doors. He had heard from a non-Bahá’í source that the Bahá’ís were visiting Brisbane and although unacquainted with them, he phoned soon after their arrival and proffered his advice and assistance. In him the Bahá’ís found a good friend whose advice and introductions enabled them to make many contacts. The first lecture given by Miss Brooks on the evening of May 12, 1941, was attended by sixty people and was most enthusiastically received. The press report enhanced the prestige of the Bahá’ís, assisted in spreading the knowledge of the Teachings, in Queensland and led to inquiries and requests for literature. This report was also broadcast over the air. An interview with the Social Editor of ‘Country Life,’ a weekly publication which reaches the graziers and primary producers throughout Queensland followed and subsequently a report of the interview appeared in the paper. The Social Editor arranged an interview for Miss Brooks with the Assistant Manager of ‘The Queensland Primary Producers’ Association.’
"In addition to the advertised lectures,
Miss Brooks spoke at meetings for inquirers,
the Theosophical Society and social gatherings.
All the meetings were well attended
and a Study Group quickly formed. Many
people called at the hotel for personal
interviews. Bahá’í books were in great demand
[Page 66]
throughout the campaign. Then Mrs. Routh
of Sydney arrived in Brisbane and beginning
on June 2 she gave a series of lectures and
talks all of which were cordially received.
This seven weeks’ intensive teaching effort
was followed up later by Mr. O. A. Whitaker
of Sydney.
“In January, 1942, after a meeting of the National Assembly in Sydney, Mrs. Axford, Mr. and Miss Blundell of Auckland, New Zealand, and Miss Hilda Brooks of Adelaide, were sent by the National Assembly to Melbourne where they gave lectures, made many contacts and once again started a Study class in that city where it has been so hard to make progress.
“Now the Bahá’í communities of Adelaide, Sydney and Auckland became strong in faith, and well organised. Bahá’í Administration was understood and the institutions of the Cause developed along the right lines and firmly established. Eager to proclaim the Message to their fellow citizens, the believers made strenuous efforts which resulted in greater interest in and appreciation of the Faith. Some new members were enrolled in each center and the Message was carried to country districts. Newspapers began to report the activities of the friends. Reports of Mrs. Bolton’s fireside meetings held at the home of Mrs. Reynolds, Caringbah, New South Wales, appeared in the ‘Cronulla Observer.’ The reports included resumes of the talks given at the meetings by speakers from the Sydney Bahá’í community. The ‘Mercury’ reported the lectures given in Hobart By Miss Lamprill and Miss Crowder. The Adelaide ‘News’ devoted a whole column to an interview with Miss Brooks, a picture of the Temple at Wilmette was featured. The article began with the arresting paragraph—‘A small group of trail-blazers for a new religion, which aims to unite all sects, religions, nations and people, meets in Adelaide every week. They are followers of the Bahá’í Faith, a religion which began in Persia in the last century. It has since spread over the world, and numbers among its members Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Zoroastrians and others, as well as people of no religion at all.’
“The ‘Mittagong Star’ has given much prominence to the activities of the Yerrinbool Group, the Summer and Winter schools held at ‘Bolton Place,’ Yerrinbool, and extracts from the Writings. This led to an attack on the Bahá’í Faith in the correspondence columns by a Roman Catholic priest and a Protestant minister. The priest denounced the Faith as patent blasphemy and contended that a newspaper serving 21 Christian community should not make itself an instrument to propagate such teachings. ‘This outcrop of Islamic Faith in a nineteenth century Mahdi, this anti-Christian Islamic aberration, this basically Shiite Pantheism.’ The newspaper’s reaction to this was to publish the replies of the Secretary of the N.S.A., Miss Hilda Brooks, in full. The priest, who was a D.Ph., D.D., D.S.S., made a great show of his learning thereby giving his erroneous and misleading delineation of the origin of the Bahá’í Faith, the appearance of an authenticated and authoritative statement. But to confound him, to refute his statement and give the true facts about the two great Persian sects of Islam, the Shiahs and the Sunnis, their respective beliefs and expectations regarding the coming of the Promised One, was easy, as the beloved Guardian has provided the believers with detailed and accurate information on these matters. It is at this point I should like to make mention of the great love and gratitude of the believers of Australia and New Zealand for the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi. He has provided us in advance with all the information and understanding we need to enable us to deal with such attacks, our confidence in the Guardian is prodigious, our love and gratitude to him for all his loving guidance is a very vital factor in our lives.
“As the correspondence developed, the
attack weakened and the priest began his
last letter with—‘It is with very great
reluctance that I continue in your columns,
a controversy with a lady, and particularly
with a lady of such courtesy as the Secretary
of the National Bahá’í Assembly.’ To this
the reply was: ‘I am sorry that Dr. ——
feels that this correspondence has developed
into a controversy. One of the great Bahá’í
principles is independent investigation of
truth and reality. The meaning is that every
individual member of humankind is
[Page 67]
exhorted and commanded to set aside
superstitious beliefs, traditions and blind
imitation of ancestral forms in religion and
investigate reality for himself. Inasmuch
as the fundamental reality is one, all
religions and nations of the world will become
one through investigation of the reality.
We therefore welcome questions. Moreover,
if questions are not asked how can we give
the answers? We are happy always to
answer questions about the Bahá’í Faith.
Truth is one and absolute and therefore can
withstand the searchlight of inquiry.’
"Much interest was displayed in the correspondence. The last letter of the National Assembly Secretary was printed on the first page of the paper, and with this letter the editors closed the correspondence.
"The Protestant minister added humor to the situation by condemning before investigation. To his letter the Yerrinbool Group replied with the following quotation from Spencer. ‘There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance; this principle is condemnation before investigation.’
“Owing to travel restrictions between the States of the Commonwealth of Australia and from New Zealand to Australia, the National Spiritual Assembly had great difficulty in convening its meetings. Only a quorum, five members, was assembled in Adelaide in July, 1943; this was the first meeting since January, 1942. All efforts to obtain travel permits to enable the members to meet in April, 1943 and for the delegates to attend a Convention which the National Assembly hoped to hold in Adelaide, South Australia, failed. This occasioned keen disappointment as it was six years since the last Convention, which was held in Sydney in 1937. Disappointed also, were those who hoped for permits to travel from their own State to the Yerrinbool Summer School and the Adelaide Winter School. However, although our movements were impeded and our activities hampered, the National Assembly has, inspired and assisted financially by the beloved Guardian to the extent of £700 (seven hundred pounds) £872.15.0 Australian currency, inaugurated a new era in teaching in Australia and New Zealand. The first step was to call for suggestions and proposals from the Spiritual Assemblies and groups and through them every individual believer was asked to state what teaching work he or she would be willing to undertake if the necessary financial assistance should be available. The National Assembly then drew up a plan by means of which it was hoped to spread the knowledge of the Bahá’í Teachings throughout the length and breadth of Australia and New Zealand, not only in the capital cities but to every town and country district. The plan was eagerly accepted by the believers everywhere and is working successfully. Mrs. Dunn went to Brisbane where she remained some months teaching and consolidating the work of previous teaching campaigns.
“In order to open a Bahá’í Center in Melbourne, Mrs. Almond was established in a flat in the center of the city. There Bahá’í meetings were held regularly and much effort put forth.
“The Adelaide Spiritual Assembly purchased a house at Belair for the purpose of establishing a Center there. This venture was decided upon as a result of substantial donations being made to the Spiritual Assembly by some of the believers and of an overpowering desire to make progress. Summer schools, meetings and week-end classes held at the house at Belair should attract many inquirers, as the Center there will have all the advantages which a picturesque setting and a pleasant outing can give. The property is situated in the hills, thirteen and a half miles from Adelaide, and commands a magnificent panoramic view of the city and country. The believers hope that in the years to come a Bahá’í College will be built there. The National Assembly has included the development of the Center at Belair by the Adelaide Spiritual Assembly, in the teaching plan.
“Strenuous efforts to carry the message to new districts are being exerted. Mrs. Bolton has been to Canberra where she has interested several people, to Goulburn, Wollongong and Caringbah. There are two believers at Goulburn, three at Wollongong and seven at Caringbah, as a result of Mrs.
The Grave of Keith Ransom-Kehler in Iṣfáhán, Persia.
At the request of Shoghi Effendi she proceeded to Persia to carry out Bahá’í work according to his instructions. She passed away in the course of her strenuous activities and received the distinction of being America’s first Bahá’í martyr.
Bolton’s pioneering work. The group at Caringbah which is close to Sydney has been watched over and nurtured by the Sydney Spiritual Assembly, bids fair to become a Spiritual Assembly before long. This group is very much alive and keen to make progress. Much literature has been distributed by Mr. and Mrs. Bolton during their professional visits to towns in New South Wales.
"Mrs. Dobbins is making regular visits to Pt. Adelaide and is conducting a Study Class in a private home.
“The first part of the Teaching Plan for Broken Hill was carried out by Mrs. Routh and Mrs. Moffitt who opened the way through social channels. Excellent work was done, then in September, 1943, Miss Hilda Brooks assisted by Mrs. R. Hawthorne, Mrs. Moffitt and Miss Gladys Moody, who gave invaluable help in making contacts through social channels; visited Broken Hill. Miss Brooks gave two lectures in the Country Women’s Association Rooms, the President of the Association presided at both meetings. Much interest was awakened in Broken Hill by the visit. Many contacts were made and literature distributed.
”Working in conjunction with the N.S.A.
Regional Teaching Committee the Hobart
believers arose with great enthusiasm to
carry out their part of the Teaching Plan.
Lectures were given by Miss Lamprill and
Miss Crowder, in the Lord Mayor’s Court
Room, Town Hall, Hobart, on three
occasions over a period of three months and
three were given in Launceston in the
Public Library. All meetings were regularly
and well advertised and received good
newspaper reports. The three
broadcasts given
by the National Spiritual Assembly over the
Macquarie network were well advertised.
Records of these were later obtained from
the Mainland, and given over four
Tasmanian stations. Literature was
distributed and many new contacts made.
[Page 69]
“The years of World War II have had
their effect on the work in New Zealand.
Blackout conditions at one time caused
meetings to be curtailed; travel restrictions
hindered believers from visiting areas outside
of Auckland, import license control has
kept the importation of literature to a very
small sum, creating a serious problem because
without literature the Message cannot
be spread and the cost of printing in New
Zealand at the present time is prohibitive
to the believers; interest and absorption in
war work has so occupied people they have
little time to investigate the Teachings.
“The visit of the late Miss Martha L. Root to Auckland during April-May, 1939, continued to be felt in the work of the Auckland Community in 1940. Her example of teaching was emulated when in April Miss E. Blundell and Miss D. Burns visited Whangarei, a country town north of Auckland, cooperating with the only believer there in spreading the Message. In October these two believers visited Hastings, giving the Teachings by invitation to a group of people at Havelock North, a few miles out of Hastings. They continued to Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, spending ten days there. Lectures were given from the platforms of the Theosophical Society and other groups. Books were left at the Public Library and the assistance of the only believer in Wellington and a non-Bahá’í did much to further the work of the visitors who had the privilege of presenting the Teachings to the wife of the Prime Minister.
"The Bahá’ís of Auckland continued to support and be represented at the Peace Meditation Group which was formed by unorthodox Societies soon after Miss Root’s visit. The meetings afforded the opportunity of reading Bahá’í prayers and excerpts from the Bahá’í writings whenever the Bahá’ís were called upon to conduct them and were of great value in spreading the knowledge of the Faith.
"During the year, invitations to do so having been received, Bahá’ís spoke on the platforms of several other Societies, these including the luncheon meetings of a psychic research Club. Many social contact evenings were held and fireside groups were conducted in the suburb of St. Heliers and at the Center. ‘Consort ye with all peoples’ was observed when the Auckland Bahá’ís were guests at the Christmas party given by the Auckland Chinese Christian Church. Copies of ‘World Order’ and the ‘Herald of the South’ magazines were regularly donated to municipal and university college libraries.
“The war now brought to Auckland Mr. Alvin Blum, an American Bahá’í of orthodox Jewish background serving in the Medical Corps of the United States Army. Arising to his responsibilities to serve his beloved Faith, he wholeheartedly offered to assist in the teaching work and a Youth Group under his leadership was formed. A fireside group at Devonport was also started. Door after door was opened to the American Bahá’í for spreading the Teachings. These same opportunities would never have come to the Auckland believers. To a ‘stranger in a strange land’ hospitality was offered and all heard of the Faith and of the first House of Worship in the Western world.
"The first declared youth believer in New Zealand was welcomed to the Auckland Community. The enrolment of a believer at Lower Hutt, a city ten miles from Wellington, was of great joy to the friends in Auckland. Realizing that these believers isolated from organized communities are the point of attraction for traveling teachers and that their work is difficult and often most discouraging, the Auckland Community has by correspondence kept in constant touch with these pioneer believers in the North Island.
"1943-44 saw the removal of ‘blackout’ restrictions, and for short periods the lifting of travel restrictions within New Zealand.
"Early in the Bahá’í year a visit was made
to Wellington by Mr. Alvin Blum. Contact
was made with another Bahá’í in the U. S.
Marines who also assisted with the teaching
work. Lectures were given and for a short
time after his visit regular meetings were
held in Wellington. Three months later the
chairman of the Auckland Spiritual Assembly,
Mrs. E. Axford, visited Wellington and
recommended that the meetings should be
continued in the home of the believer in
Lower Hutt. Miss F. de Lisle two months
later stayed in Lower Hutt for a few weeks,
[Page 70]
and a fireside group has continued to function.
Miss de Lisle journeyed to Napier
giving the message to influential people and
making the necessary contacts for our
American friend who visited Napier at the
close of the Bahá’í year. Manpower
restrictions prevented one of the
youth group from settling in Napier.
"In Cambridge Mr. Blum was the guest of an Anglican minister. An address on the ‘Oneness of Mankind’ was given from the Church pulpit on the Sunday evening, and the following evening a talk on ‘The Bahá’í Faith’ was given in the Parish Hall.
"In Auckland ten Bahá’í lectures were given at the request of other Societies. Advertised public lectures were continued. The twice monthly afternoon meetings continued to fill a definite need in the teaching work. Fireside groups at two homes stimulated interest in the Faith.
“Publicity to the Faith was given in an article on the Temple in a monthly magazine published in Auckland; three articles appeared in the Cambridge daily newspaper; and in the 'Auckland Star’ on March 18, 1944, the writer of the weekly religious column devoted his column in the interest of the Bahá’í Faith.
”The Library commenced by the Auckland believers in 1925 has proved of inestimable value in spreading the teachings in New Zealand, books having been sent to many parts of the North Island of New Zealand. Magazines continued to be donated as in the past to libraries, and many books were presented to the libraries of towns where teaching work had been done.”
One of the most far-reaching teaching efforts of the American Bahá’ís since 1940 has been providing a Bahá’í speaker to college audiences. This work was carried forward by the Race Unity Committee to a point where it required the undivided attention of an experienced teaching agency, whereupon a College Speakers Bureau was appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly.
The following summaries are taken from annual reports of both committees:
“The Race Unity Committee has this year conceived its first duty to be to reach the American minorities with the Call of Bahá’u’lláh. The committee, through its membership has addressed the following schools and organizations:
Hillel Student Extension League, Milwaukee, Wis.
Boy Scouts, Urbana, Ohio.
M. E. Church, Urbana, Ohio.
P. E. Church, Dayton, Ohio.
A.M.E. Cary Temple, Chicago; Ill.
Wilberforce University, Xenia, Ohio.
Jewish Twilight Forum, Milwaukee, Wis.
High School, Suffolk, Va.
Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina.
Allen University, Columbia, South Carolina.
Haines Institute, Augusta, Ga.
Paine College, Augusta, Ga.
Booker T. Washington High School, Atlanta, Ga.
Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga.
A and I. State College, Nashville, Tenn.
Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.
Henderson Business College, Memphis, Tenn.
Le Moyne College, Memphis, Tenn.
City College, Louisville, Ky.
Greenwood High School, Greenwood, Miss.
Rutherford B. Hayes High School, Cleveland, Ohio.
Outhwaite High School, Cleveland, Ohio.
West Virginia State College, Charleston, W. Va.
Garnet High School, Charleston, W. Va.
Avery Institute, Charleston, South Carolina.
Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla.
Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga.
Baptist Church, Huntington, W. Va.
Stetson University, De Land, Fla.
Kiwanis Club, Kenosha, Wis.
Battles Church, Milwaukee, Wis.
Y.M.C.A., Cleveland, Ohio.
Y.M.C.A., Evanston, Ill.
Roxbury Peace Assn., Boston, Mass.
Liberty City (Housing Project), Miami, Fla.
"The committee has also taken part in
mixed meetings of a public nature, held
in Atlanta, Charleston, W. Va., Detroit,
Lima, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee,
Jamestown, Philadelphia, Jacksonville,
[Page 71]
Miami, Nashville, St. Augustine, Urbana,
New Haven, Dayton, Fort Wayne,
Xenia, Suffolk, and Eliot. Reports of fine,
mixed meetings have come from Toronto,
Peoria, Helena, Los Angeles, and Waukegan.
"Some of the Assemblies have undertaken unique work of their own along these lines. Chicago held her third annual unity banquet, conducted an exhibition at the National Negro Exposition, followed this with public and fireside meetings in several parts of the city, entertained at an International Night, and recently has sponsored a tour which visited the Chicago Center in celebration of Oriental Day. Milwaukee reports unusual success with Indian councils and visits to the Oneida tribes, and within the year two full-blooded Oneida Indians have become members of the Milwaukee Community. A Milwaukee Youth series has included a Jewish night, German, Mexican, Eskimo, and Hungarian nights. Milwaukee has participated in the Race Unity work of the Council of Churches, the Jewish Center, and the Urban League. Other cities have reported success in radio, dinner meetings, and fraternization on public occasions. Fourteen new local Race Unity Committees have appeared this year and growing cooperation and enthusiasm is widespread.
"The southern college project came out of the idea that a problem exists among the southern races. The committee here has not limited itself to reaching minority groups, but to giving the social program to both groups equally. Over the period of the entire project, seventy-one schools and colleges have had public addresses. Of these, two have been Indian, thirty-three white, and thirty-one colored. All schools received pamphlets, and almost all accepted a book for the library. Many letters of appreciation have been received from the colleges, with invitations for further work. In the coming year emphasis will swing to the Indian schools, while more intensive activity is being developed in the southern colored and white schools. The schools visited in the present year are listed below:
Lothar Schurgast:—
West Virginia State College, Charleston, W. Va.
City College, Louisville, Ky.
Louis Gregory:—
State University, Kent, Ohio.
Minor Teachers College, Washington, D. C.
Pentwater H. S., Pentwater, Mich.
Mechanical Arts H. S., St. Paul, Minn.
Muskegon Heights, Muskegon, Mich.
Mr. Gregory will spend March and April in the colored state universities of Virginia and North Carolina, arranging classes for Bahá’í study.
Mrs. Dorothy Baker:—
Kentucky State College, Frankfort, Ky.
Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky.
Caney College, Pippapass, Ky.
Sue Bennett College, London, Ky.
Bowling Green College of Commerce, Bowling Green, Ky.
Union College, Barbourville, Ky.
Mars Hill College, Mars Hill, N. C.
Cherokee-Indian School, Cherokee Reservation, N. C.
Brevard College, Brevard, N. C.
Western Carolina Teachers College, Cullowhee, N. C.
Appalachian State Teachers College, Boone, N. C.
Flora MacDonald College, Red Springs, N. C.
Indian State Normal College, Pembroke, N. C.
State College for Negroes, Durham, N. C.
A. and T. College, Greensboro, N. C.
Alice Freeman Palmer Institute, Sedalia, N. C.
Bennett College, Greensboro, N. C.
Guilford College, Guilford College Station, N. C.
West Kentucky College, Paducah, Ky.
Blue Mountain College, Blue Mountain, Miss.
Oklona Industrial School, Oklona, Miss.
Alcorn College, Alcorn, Miss.
Mississippi Southern College, Hattiesburg, Miss.
Jackson College, Jackson, Miss.
State College, near Starkville, Miss.
Piney Woods College, Piney Woods, Miss.
Southwest Mississippi Junior College, Summit, Miss.
Clarke Memorial College, Newton, Miss.
Sunflower Jr. College, Moorhead, Miss.
State Teachers College, Jacksonville, Ala.
The Grave of Hyde Dunn, in Sydney, Australia.
One of America’s first Bahá’í pioneers. He carried the Faith to Australasia and passed away after firmly establishing its institutions in many cities of that continent.
Southern Union College, Wadely, Ala.
Selma University, Selma, Ala.
Talladega College, Talladega, Ala.
Athens College, Athens, Ala.
Austin Peay College, Clarkville, Tenn.
Middle Tennessee State College, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Bethel College, McKenzie, Tenn.
Union University, Jackson, Tenn.
Lane College, Jackson, Tenn.
Morristown College, Morristown, Tenn.
Hiwassee College, Madisonville, Tenn.
Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tenn.
State Teachers College, Johnson City, Tenn.
Milligan College, Milligan, Tenn.
Lincoln Memorial Institute, Harrogate, Tenn.
Polytechnic Institute, Cookville, Tenn.
University of Chattanooga, Tenn.
A. and I., Nashville, Tenn.
Vanderbilt School of Religion, Nashville, Tenn.
Cumberland College, Lebanon, Tenn.
“The College Speakers Bureau Committee was appointed as late as January, 1943, for the purpose of carrying on a widespread campaign of teaching among university student bodies. The function of the committee is both extensive and intensive. The committee will work through the Assemblies and through prepared speakers, whose aim will be to bring the Bahá’í Faith for the first time to college Chapels, clubs, and class-rooms, to provide speakers on an annual basis thereafter, and finally to establish groups or clubs on each campus for the study of the Faith.
”The Assemblies have already made a good beginning. Memphis assisted in presenting Mr. Gregory to Le Moyne and Henderson School. Nashville has assisted Mr. Gregory, Mrs. Baker, and recently Mrs. Joy Earl, to meet the students of A. and M. State College, Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, and Vanderbilt School of Religion. New Orleans arranged meetings for Philip Marangella and cooperated with Mrs. Joy Earl at Dillard University. The Ann Arbor Assembly has recently been able to introduce Mr. Gregory to a number of classrooms on the campus of Michigan State University. We are informed that the San Francisco Assembly has cooperated with Berkeley in displaying the Temple model and initiating Bahá’í talks on the college campus at Berkeley.
"The Race Unity Committee reports college work in the south and southwest from March 1, 1942 to March 1, 1943, as follows:
(March and April, 1942; Mr. Gregory)
Garnet High School, Charleston, W. Va. (Negro).
Junior High School, Huntington, W. Va. (Negro).
State College, W. Va. (Negro).
Virginia State College, Va. (Negro).
Shaw University, Raleigh, N. C. (Negro).
St. Augustine College, S. C. (Negro).
High School, Clayton, N. C. (Negro).
Students National Youth Administration, Rocky Mount, N. C. (Negro).
Benedict College, Columbia, S. C. (Negro).
Allen University, Columbia, S. C. (Negro).
Palmetto Medical, Palmetto, S. C. (Negro).
Booker Washington High School, Columbia, S. C. (Negro).
(March and April, 1942; Mrs. Baker)
Virginia State College, Petersburg, Va. (Negro).
Madison College, Harrisonburg, Va. (White).
Mary Washington College, Fredricksburg, Va. (White).
Radford State Teachers’ College, Radford, Va. (White).
Shenandoah College, Dayton, Va. (White).
Southern Seminary, Danville, Va. (White).
Marshall College, Huntington, W. Va. (White).
Salem College, Salem, W. Va. (White).
University of Tenn., Knoxville, Tenn. (White).
(October and November, 1942; Mrs. Baker)
Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kan. (Indian).
Bacone College, Bacone, Okla. (Indian).
Sequoyal School, Tahlequah, Okla. (Indian).
Fort Sill School, Lawton, Okla. (Indian)
Iola Junior College, Iola, Kan. (White).
[Page 74]
Connors State Agricultural College, Warner, Okla. (White).
Central State College, Edmond, Okla. (White).
Texas Technological College, Lubbock, Tex. (White).
Wayland College, Plainview, Tex. (White).
Panhandle A. & M. College, Goodwell, Okla. (White).
New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, N. Mex. (White).
Weatherford College, Weatherford, Tex. (White).
Texas Wesleyan College, Fort Worth, Tex. (White).
Gainesville Junior College, Gainesville, Tex. (White).
Ouachita College, Arkadelphia, Ark. (White).
Polytechnic College, Russellville, Ark. (White).
Lamoni College, Wayland, Iowa (White).
Chariton College, Chariton, Iowa (White).
Centerville College Centerville, Iowa (White).
Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa (White).
Iowa University, Iowa City, Iowa (White).
Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa (White).
Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark. (Negro).
Dunbar Junior College, Little Rock, Ark. (Negro).
Wiley College, Marshall, Tex. (Negro).
A.M.&.N. College, Pine Bluff, Ark. (Negro).
Spanish America Normal College, El Rito, N. Mex. (Latin).
(November and December, 1942)
Clark Memorial, Newton, Miss. (White).
Lane College, Jackson, Tenn. (Negro).
Henderson Business College, Memphis, Tenn. (Negro).
Le Moyne College, Memphis, Tenn. (Negro).
Alcorn A. & M. College, Alcorn, Miss. (Negro).
Jackson College, Jackson, Miss. (Negro
Campbell College, Jackson, Miss. (Negro).
Jim Hill High, Jackson, Miss. (Negro).
Lanier High, Jackson, Miss. (Negro).
Selma College, Selma, Ala. (Negro).
Miles Memorial, Birmingham, Ala. (Negro).
A. & M. College, Normal, Ala. (Negro).
A. & M. State College, Nashville, Tenn. (Negro).
Fisk, Nashville, Tenn. (Negro).
Meharry Medical, Nashville, Tenn. (Negro).
(January and February, 1943; Mr. Gregory)
Wilberforce, Xenia, Ohio (Negro).
Garnet High, Charleston, W. Va. (Negro).
Cabell Junior High, Charleston, W. Va. (Negro).
Miller High, Huntington, W. Va. (Negro).
Virginia Theological Seminary, Va. (Negro).
Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Va. (Negro).
N. C. State College, Durham, N. C. (Negro).
Bennett College, Greensboro, N. C. (Negro).
A. C. T. State College, Greensboro, N. C. (Negro).
Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tenn. (Negro).
Salem College, Knoxville, Tenn. (White).
Michigan State University, Ann Arbor, Mich. (White).
West Virginia State College, Charleston, W. Va. (Negro).
(Miss Jeanne Bolles and Mrs. Virginia Camelon have also done good work here this year in cooperation with Mr. and Mrs. Hilbert Dahl, pioneers.)
Tenn. State, Nashville, Tenn. (Negro).
Miles Memorial College, Birmingham, Ala. (Negro).
(Mrs. Camelon first introduced the Faith here.)
N. C. State College, Durham, N. C. (Negro).
Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn. (Negro).
Dillard University, New Orleans, La. (Negro).
Smith & Gaston’s Business School, Birmingham, Ala. (Negro).
Lewisburg College, Lewisburg, N. C. (White).
“Pioneers in New England arranged for Mrs. Baker to address the Putney School in Putney, Vt., Rutland High School in Rutland, Vt., and the Brattleboro Business College in Brattleboro, Vt.
(1943—1944)
"Dorothy Baker’s Circuit: Mrs. Dorothy Baker undertooke college speaking trip last March and April in Ohio and Michigan; she spoke at the following colleges: Defiance College (assembly); Wilberforce College (assembly) (3 classes); Wilmington College (assembly); Albion College (assembly); Great Lakes College (student group); The Business Institute, Detroit (assembly); Bible Holiness Seminary, Owasso, Michigan (assembly); University of Michigan (class). She was also able to speak at the following colleges at various times during the year: University of California, Berkeley (student luncheon); University of Colorado (student group); Colorado State College of Education (assembly); University of Denver (student group); Lawrence College, Appleton, Wis, (assembly); Colleges of the Seneca (2 classes); Syracuse University (class).
”Margaret Ruhe’s Circuit: Last November Mrs. Margaret Ruhe undertook a two weeks’ circuit of negro colleges in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. She spoke at the following: Knoxville College (assembly); Tennessee A. and I. State College (3 classes); Lane College (assembly); Henderson Business College (assembly); Alcorn A. and M. College (assembly) (1 class); Selma University (assembly); Miles College (assembly); Lanier High School, Jackson, Miss. (assembly). At Alcorn A. and M. College, the president, at his own suggestion, arranged a special evening assembly so that all students might attend. Her audiences on this trip totalled 2,375 students.
"Dr. Rice-Wray’s Circuit: In February of this year Dr. Edris Rice—Wray undertook a brief circuit in Iowa, speaking at: Graceland College (assembly); Centerville Junior College (assembly); School of Religion, State University of Iowa (class). In these three talks her student-faculty audience totalled 565. At Graceland College, Dr. Rice-Wray was a featured evening speaker during Religious Emphasis Week. At the end of the discussion following her talk at Graceland College, Dr. Briggs, the president, arose and said that he had heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá speak in Washington in 1912 and that it was the most inspiring talk he had ever heard.
"Allen McDaniel’s Circuit: In February Allen McDaniel undertook a circuit of Virginia colleges, giving an illustrated talk on ‘The Temple of All Ages.’ He spoke at Radford State Teachers College (assembly) (1 class); Lynchburg College (assembly); Farmville State Teachers College (assembly); Mary Washington College (special evening meeting sponsored by International Relations Club). His audiences totalled 1,400. Mr. McDaniel has a return engagement to speak at Mary Washington College in April. At this writing, a report has not yet been received of an additional talk at West Virginia College.
"The Tuskegee Project: On the basis of reports from the Regional Committee for Alabama and Tennessee of teaching work carried out by Mr. George Washington at Tuskegee Institute, it was decided to ask Miss Elsie Austin to spend a week there for follow-up teaching. Miss Austin spent six days at Tuskegee in late February. She talked to the entire student body at the chapel service on ‘Bahá’í Answers to Some Post War Issues.’ The chaplain read selections from the Bahá’í writings. She was provided by the school authorities with a conference lecture room in the library. Here for two daily periods she met faculty members and students for serious and prolonged discussion. Deep interest was shown by faculty members, and it is hoped that a study group will result.
”Louis Gregory’s Project: As part of a
teaching project for the Race Unity
Committee, Louis Gregory spoke at the
following colleges during the year:
Salem College, W. Va.; Wilberforce College,
Ohio; State Industrial School, Kansas;
Southwestern Theological Seminary,
Oklahoma; Tilotson
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College, Texas; and the following high
schools: Lincoln High School and Douglas
High School, Kansas City, Mo.; Washburne
Rural High School, Kansas; and a negro
high school in Oklahoma City. He gave
three lectures at the Sociology Department
of Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti,
Mich. He was also able to contact officials
and faculty members at Western Theological
Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.;
Stowe Teachers College, St. Louis, Mo.;
Washburne College, Topeka, Kan.
"Other Speakers: Others who have spoken at colleges this year are: Mrs. Terah Smith at Martha Berry College, Ga. (assembly—355 students), Darlington School for Boys, Ga. (assembly—300 students); Mrs. Annamarie Honnold at Virginia State College (assembly —950 students); Mrs. Margaret True at Philander—Smith College, Ark. (assembly); Mrs. Eva Flack McAllister at Atlanta School of Social Work, Ga. (class); Mrs. Mary Collison at University of Rochester (student group). Mrs. Marion Little has spoken at four colleges during the course of teaching trips for the N.T.C.: Guilford College, and Agricultural and Technical College at Greensboro, N. C.; University of Miami (class); and Walter Edwards College, Jacksonville, Fla. (assembly). Mr. Stanwood Cobb has undertaken several brief trips for the Bureau: Storer College, W. Va. (assembly); Morgan State College, Baltimore (assembly).
“Our speakers always present a book to the college library and sometimes to especially interested faculty members, and pamphlet literature is provided for student distribution. A special one-page pamphlet, summarizing the principles of the New World Order, was adopted for distribution this year. It is not possible to give an accurate report of the amount of pamphlets distributed; the total easily runs high in the thousands. Over 38 books were presented to college libraries.”
The House of Worship at Wilmette has become the most potent teaching agency of the American Bahá’ís, as attested by these excerpts from latest annual report of the Temple Guides Committee:—
“In spite of transportation difficulties there were 15,760 visitors to the Temple, an increase of 2,206 over the previous year. Fifty-six members of the Faith acted as guides and twenty as hosts and hostesses. These workers came from the thirteen towns and villages, Chicago, Brookfield, Riverside, Madison, Milwaukee, Waukegan, Shorewood, Winnetka, Wilmette, Evanston, Bristol, Glenview and Kenosha. Nine from as far away as Milwaukee guided regularly from one to four days each month.
“Seven classes, with about one hundred attending, are being held to prepare guides for the busy summer approaching. These are in Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Kenosha, Peoria, Chicago and Wilmette.
“Visitors came from all the states, seven provinces of Canada, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, Cuba, Bahamas, Mexico, Honduras, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, England, France, Finland, Wales, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Monaco, India, Persia and Palestine. No doubt they came from many other countries as well, since only approximately one-fourth sign the Visitors’ Register from which this information was taken.
“Thirty-one organizations visited in a body. These were as follows:
10 Religious
8 Educational
4 YMCA
4 Social
3 Recreational
1 Garment Workers Union
1 Radio Cast of ‘Hour of Prophecy.’
“Since July 1, 1932, when Temple guiding was inaugurated, 166,318 have been taken through the Temple. Visitors the past year were very receptive to the Teachings, some having joined study classes and some having declared their intention of becoming Bahá’ís.”
Many interesting photographs of Bahá’í exhibits, most of them featuring models or illustrations of the House of Worship, were reproduced in Bahá’í News during the period under review. The list includes exhibits in the following cities: New Haven, Philadelphia, Columbia, Helena, Charleston, W. Va., Augusta, Toronto, Little Rock, Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland, Houston, Beverly Hills, Phoenix, San Jose County, Calif., Denver, and Ridgewood, N. J. A number of exhibits of Bahá’í books were also conducted,
The Grave of Hájí Ghulám Riḍá, in Ṭihrán, Persia.
Styled Amín-Amín by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He rendered the Faith many years of devoted service.
including those in Yonkers, Racine, Peoria, Wilmette, and the Pierce Public Library, Grosse Pointe, Mich.
An effort will now be made to give mention to a number of teaching activities conducted in North America, mostly under the direction of local Assemblies, some of which did not perhaps command the attention of any considerable number of non-Bahá’ís but all of which express a devoted spirit of service and a significant type of public contact.
First we have the regular public lectures
which in the larger Bahá’í communities open
the door of spiritual hospitality to
the people. A student could make a
most interesting and useful research
into the types of
program conducted by the Bahá’ís in a large
number of cities throughout the United
States and Canada. The selection of topics,
the variety of speakers, the physical form of
the printed program itself, with its excerpts
from the Sacred Writings of the Faith: all
these impress the sympathetic seeker with
the realization that here is a new and true
expression of religion, quickening to speech
a host of believers who without this Faith
would go voiceless along the road of existence,
training them in the forms of truth as
students in a great university, giving them
more and more power to command the attention
of a world which has seen its temples
destroyed and its idols broken upon the
ground. A program conducted in San Francisco,
for example, presented in a series
continued eight weeks such subjects as:
Progressive Revelation, Christianity and the
Bahá’í Faith, Independent Investigation of
Truth, A Wider Patriotism, Foundations of
World Unity, Can Human Nature Change,
The Divine Plan for World Order, The
Bahá’í House of Worship. The Teaneck
Assembly sponsored a program offering a series
of nineteen lectures on the Faith, a unified
and comprehensiire approach to the new
teachings. The Bahá’ís of Portland, Oregon,
have similarly and for many years expounded
the principles and truths revealed
by Bahá’u’lláh, one program listing these
topics: A Bahá’í Looks At the World Today,
Portals to Freedom, Signs of Advancing
Thought in—Education, Art, Business,
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The Grave of Dr. Susan I. Moody, in Ṭihrán, Persia.
One of the first American Bahá’ís to proceed to Persia in order to serve the Faith. She became greatly beloved by the women of Ṭihrán, whom she treated for years before the veil was abolished, and at a time when they received very little medical attention. She passed away in the land of her adoption.
Nutrition (four speakers and panel discussion),
Cycles of Civilization, Building a Nobler
World (round table discussion), Youth Views
Science and Victory, Thy Kingdom Come,
The Harmony of Science and Religion. One
of the announcements issued by the
Los Angeles Assembly has included
the subjects of
Religious Evolution, The Attainment of
Peace and Tranquillity, A New Social Form.
A program conducted in Philadelphia
presented: Science, Faith and Reason,
Haifa in the World of Tomorrow, The
Guardianship of the Bahá’í Faith,
Personal Assurance,
Life in Reality, True Liberty, Humanity’s
Goal, Material and Spiritual Education,
Seven Candles of Unity. The Bahá’ís of
Wilmette conducted a special program of
discussions on The Post-War World and Its
Various Aspects: From the Viewpoint of the
Educator, From the Viewpoint of the
Statesman, From the Viewpoint of the
Scientist and the Economist,
concluding with a panel
discussion by Bahá’ís and others. The
Bahá’ís of Indianapolis conducted a series of
weekly meetings based on listed
source material: such Bahá’í works
as Some Answered
Questions, Goal of a New World Order,
The Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, America’s
Spiritual Mission, Promulgation of
Universal Peace, etc. The aim here
was to gather
the Bahá’ís and their friends around
the collective Center of the Word.
In Washington,
D. C., the Assembly has issued bi-monthly
programs with the weekly lecture topics
reflecting one central theme. For example,
under The Evolution of Man’s Collective
Life we find eight subjects, including: The
Four Springs of Knowledge, A New World
Vision—The Oneness of Mankind, Spiritual
Destiny of America, Character, The Light
Has Come, The Dynamic Power of the Light
That Arises in the East, God in Nature—God
in History, The Challenge of the New
Age, Chaos or Opportunity. In Topeka the
Bahá’ís produced an annual Directory and
Calendar, giving each member of the
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community reference to sources of information
needed in connection with all local activity.
From Toronto came a program developing a
series of nineteen subjects, conveyed to the
public in a sequence of small mimeographed
bulletins entitled New World Order
containing excerpts from the Bahá’í Writings
and a summary of the theme.
The Spiritual Assembly of Beverly Hills in April, 1942 sponsored a Round Table Discussion on the Unity of Religion which eventuated in the publication of the text of four addresses delivered by those taking part in the discussion, and their remarks during the discussion which followed the talks. Dr. Richard Hocking, Rabbi Sidney I. Goldstein, The Very Rev. Francis Eric Bloy representing the University, Hillel Council and Episcopalian points of view, were followed by a Bahá’í speaker, Mrs. Charles Reed Bishop. The announcement quoted texts from Zoroaster, Moses, Christ, Muḥammad and Bahá’u’lláh. Extensive notice was given this symposium in the daily press.
The Bahá’ís of Winnetka have conducted an exhibit in the village Community House during the Annual Community Week, with model of the Temple, a collection of books, panel texts, and an attendant to answer questions.
In December, 1942 the publishers of Wilmette Life issued a special number to be sent to local men serving in the armed forces in all parts of the world. Space was provided for special greeting addressed to individual friends or relatives. The local Bahá’ís took the opportunity to engage space for a picture of the House of Worship and a message to their fellow-members in foreign fields: "We think of you as part of that tremendous mission laid upon America to lead the way to the triumph of justice and order as well as the triumph of arms. Never was a people sent out to so many parts of the world as you, the mighty host of youth upholding human rights wherever they are assailed. You are becoming friends and coworkers with peoples of many a far-off nation and race whose language and customs seem alien and strange, until you see the real person beneath the foreign garb. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said: ‘The prophets of God have been divine shepherds of humanity. They have established a bond of love and unity among mankind, made scattered peoples one nation and wandering tribes a mighty kingdom. They have laid the foundation of the oneness of God and summoned all to universal peace. All these holy, divine Manifestations are one. They have served one God, promulgated the same truth, founded the same institutions and reflected the same light.’ ”
Among the interesting references to the Faith in other papers and magazines we note: World Affairs Interpreter, published quarterly by the Los Angeles University of International Relations, carried in its issue of Winter, 1943 a review of The Bahá’í World, Vol. VIII, written at the editor’s request by Mrs. Stuart W. French. Canadian Geographical Journal of March, 1944, presented an article entitled “Symbolism and the Humanities” by Sylvia King devoted to an exposition of the House of Worship at Wilmette, with illustrations. A student paper, The Manitoban, published in Winnipeg, in October, 1943 featured an article by Ross Woodman entitled “Religion In the Modern World,” which clearly traced the meaning of Bahá’u’lláh’s religion for the student body. The Service Bulletin of the FREC in February, 1944 devoted its first article to a statement explaining the work of Dr. Marcus Bach of the School of Religion, University of Iowa, in broadcasting from his classroom over WSUI on the different elements of the nation’s religious heritage. Dr. Bach presented in this series of broadcasts an outline of the history and beliefs of the Bahá’í Faith during 1944. The Highway Traveler of April—May, 1944, published by the affiliated Greyhound (bus) Lines, presented illustrations of ten buildings or other scenes with a brief reference to each, and the question How many of them do you recognize? The Bahá’í Temple dome was depicted as number 8 in this series.
Another teaching method which has been
developed very efficiently in various cities is
that of the dinner or banquet meeting, with
Bahá’í and non—Bahá’í speakers. In Chicago,
for example, the Assembly has for some
years conducted an annual Race Amity
dinner which has brought together an interested
group numbering several hundreds. In
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Milwaukee a series of dinner meetings
was inaugurated in 1944 with such
success that plans for the future
were revised and accommodations increased.
In many of the cities and towns, a Bahá’í gathering in the nature of a picnic has become an annual feature, as in Springfield, Mass., Red Bank, New Jersey, Norwich, Conn., and Toronto, Ontario, as well as Geneva, N. Y. Here the ingredient is fellowship, and discussion of the Faith is informal and a sharing of experience rather than a lecture.
The Bahá’ís of New York City have been conducting a series under the direction of a Committee on Special Events, and the first meetings are described by the Committee as follows:—
“The first event was a Persian evening at the Park Avenue apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Habib Sabet of Ṭihrán. The emphasis at this gathering was on enjoyment rather than speech-making and distinguished inquirers of various racial groups were very favorably impressed.
“The second event was a Youth Rally for Race Unity held at the Bahá’í Center on October 24th. About two hundred persons heard addresses by Dr. Alain Locke, Professor of Philosophy at Howard University, and Dr. Harry A. Overstreet, author of Influencing Human Behavior and many other books in the field of social psychology. Robert Gulick was chairman.
“The Committee was then called upon by the Assembly to plan a special festival in celebration of the Birthday of Bahá’u’lláh on the evening of November 11. This program was held at the New York Times Hall, the former theater of Winthrop Ames attended by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when The Terrible Meek was being performed. Dr. ‘Alí-Kuli-Khán, chairman of the Assembly, presided and Philip Sprague was the Bahá’í speaker. The guest speaker was Henry Cowell, American composer and music consultant for the O. W. I., whose topic was ‘Music and Universal Harmony.’ A narrative account of the life of Bahá’u’lláh, prepared by Marzieh Gail, was presented by Mrs. Gail and six readers. Music played a very important role on the program. Walter Olitzki of the Metropolitan Opera presented classical selections in keeping with the spirit of the occasion. He was accompanied by Miss Niuta Schapiro, a former scholarship pupil at the Juilliard School. The program began and closed with piano offerings by Bruce Wendell, concert artist. Thanks to the generosity and able service of Mildred Mottahedeh and Mrs. Olitzki, the hall was so beautifully decorated that the manager had special photographs taken for use in publicity. Even the stage hands showed great interest in the program. Considerable Bahá’í literature was distributed. Over 400 persons attended.”
The most ambitious program conducted in New York during the period under review was the Woodrow Wilson Anniversary presented February 3, 1944 at the Henry Hudson Hotel Auditorium. Shoghi Effendi sent the Assembly a message expressing his great pleasure at associating himself with the Memorial Meeting held to honor America’s illustrious President. “However much unappreciated by his contemporaries,” the Guardian stated, "Bahá’ís the world over, mindful of the glowing tribute paid him by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have ever acclaimed the breadth and soundness of his vision, his high purpose, his single-mindedness and indefatigable efforts in the cause of world brotherhood and universal peace.” From the printed program we note that the Hon. William Copeland Dodge presided, Bahá’í tributes to Woodrow Wilson were read by Bruce Wendell, M. Louis Dolivet spoke on Wilson and a Free Humanity, and the Hon. ‘Alí-Kuli-Khán, N. D., represented the Bahá’ís in his address on Wilson’s Ideal World.
Space does not suffice for the innumerable instances of Bahá’í teaching activity available. A word, however, must be directed to the immense nationwide program carried out from September, 1943 to April, 1944 by all the American Bahá’í communities on four selected themes underlying the new World Religion:—Race Unity, Religious Unity, World Unity, and the Manifestation of God—a great undertaking which prepared the Bahá’ís and their friends for the spiritual climax, the end of the first Bahá’í century, the anniversary of the Birth of the Faith to be celebrated in May, 1944 shortly after the end of the period here surveyed.
To assist with relevant material, the National Assembly distributed portfolios on each theme, with suggestions for publicity, radio talks and references to the most suitable literature for each theme.
Among the instances of Bahá’í talks sponsored by other groups and organizations we cite the address by Leroy Ioas at the Twenty-Seventh Anniversary of the Cosmos Social Club of San Francisco, February 11, 1944, bringing together an audience of more than one thousand persons; Louis Gregory’s talk on Some Ideals for World Reconstruction, given at Paseo Methodist Church, Kansas City, Bible Class; Bahá’í representation on Red Bank Community Recreation Council; presentation of the Cause by Horace Holley at a symposium on religious unity conducted by the Chicago Woman’s Club; recognition extended to the Spokane Assembly for the work of its women members in decorating the mess hall at Geiger Field.
Still another aspect of teaching activity, and perhaps its most important expression at this time, has been the work of a number of national Bahá’í communities in sending volunteer workers to settle in other countries and establish new centers for the Faith. Information concerning this activity has been provided by the National Spiritual Assemblies of Persia, ‘Iráq, Australia and New Zealand, and the United States and Canada. The Persian Bahá’ís have summarized their record as follows:—
“From the Bahá’í year 98 (1942-1943) on, owing to the beloved Guardian’s repeated urging, a wave of pioneering began to spread over Persia, and in the year 99 settlers went out to Arabia, ‘Iráq, Afghanistán, British Balúghistán, and Bahrayn, and established new centers. The total number of Bahá’í pioneers outside Persia grew to 145 families, including 111 men, 113 women, and 148 children. The majority of these went into ‘Iráq, establishing centers in such towns as Sulaymáníyyih, Basrah, Karkúk, Mosul, Kuwayt, Karbilá, and Najaf. About the year 100, ‘Iráq’s Department of Foreign Residents ordered all these pioneers out of the country, so that, after enduring hardships and great personal loss, they were obliged with a few exceptions to return to their homes. However, a great number of the people of ‘Iráq learned of the Faith through them, and many spoke highly of them and regretted their enforced departure.”
An impressive statement comes from ‘Iráq:
“Among the outstanding events that transpired during the last four years was the coming of a number of Persian Bahá’í families who, in response to the Guardian’s urgent appeals for pioneers to settle in the countries neighboring Persia have decided to reside in ‘Iráq with the sole purpose of establishing in conjunction with the friends of ‘Iráq new Bahá’í centers.
"The Beloved Guardian through repeated messages of love and encouragement and considerable contributions to the Pioneering Fund, has sought to impress upon the Bahá’í Community in general and the National Spiritual Assembly in particular the great significance and urgency of this historic endeavor coinciding with the closing years of the first Bahá’í Century. In compliance with his instructions the National Spiritual Assembly extended every possible assistance to these pioneers for obtaining the necessary visas for entry and settlement in the neighboring territories of Kuwait, Bahrain, and Ḥijáz. In addition, efforts were made to obtain permission for the remaining majority of the Persian friends to settle in ‘Iráq. Those of them who chose this country as their field of Bahá’í activity were distributed by the National Spiritual Assembly as follows:
Locality Number of Pioneers
(including children)
Sulaymaniyyih ..................... 47 Basrah ............................ 29 Karkuk ............................ 56 Mosul ............................. 28 Arbil ............................. 44 Nasiriyyih ........................ 13 Karbilá ........................... 40 Khanaqin .......................... 41 Ya’qubiyyih ....................... 26 Baghdád ..................... 18 Ḥijáz ............................. 7 Bahrain ........................... 2 India ............................. 1
———-
352
“Through the cooperation of Persian and
[Page 82]
Bahá’ís gathered on the occasion of the re-interment of the remains of Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl in the new Bahá’í Cemetery in Cairo, Egypt.
‘Iráqi pioneers five new Spiritual Assemblies were formed in Basrah, Karkuk, Mosul, Sulaymaniyyih and Khanaqin. Besides several other groups which, had the Persian pioneers not been forced to quit the country, would have evolved into many other Spiritual Assemblies. The Guardian on being informed of these successes wrote through his secretary (translated) ‘He expressed deep joy and said, “In the multiplication of Bahá’í centers and the establishment of new Spiritual Assemblies in that sacred country is a brilliant proof of the self-sacrifice on the part of the dear Persian friends and the energetic activities of the members of that Assembly. It is now incumbent upon you to exert, more than ever before, your utmost endeavor in the promotion of the teaching activities, the guidance of men, and the dispatch of teachers to towns and villages where no believer has as yet settled.” ’
"The growing number of Persian Bahá’í pioneers arriving in ‘Iráq has, unfortunately, aroused the suspicion and apprehension and excited the prejudice of some of the government officials who, jealous of the growing fame and prestige of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, began to oppose the Persian pioneers and refused to renew their permission to reside in this country. Not content with this step, the police authorities summoned and interrogated them regarding their purpose of settling in ‘Iráq and about the tenets of their Faith. Following this the Persian friends were made to give written pledges by which they were bound to leave the country within a limited period of time. The National Spiritual Assembly thereupon intervened in the matter and did its best to induce the authorities not to carry out its decision of sending back the Persian pioneers. All efforts, however, were in vain. The newly formed Assemblies of Basrah, Karkuk and Mosul were, consequent upon the departure of the Persian friends, disbanded. The Bahá’í community in this country has consequently lost, though temporarily, loyal and steadfast spiritual brothers and sisters.”
The Bahá’ís of Australia report as follows:—
“Tasmania is a little heart-shaped island one hundred and eighty miles from the south eastern shores of Australia. It is the smallest of the Federated States of Australia and is know as ‘The Little Sister.’
"After the visit of Miss Martha Root in 1939 there were only two members in Tasmania, Miss G. Lamprill and Miss E. Jensen, of Hobart. Very soon Miss K. Crowder joined the ranks and there was an ardent, active group of three. The visit in 1940 of Mrs. M. Almond of Adelaide, for one month, was stimulating and helped the little group on its way to progress and achievement.
Bahá’ís gathered in the new Bahá’í Cemetery in Ismá’ílíyyih, Egypt.
"Realizing the vital importance of giving people an opportunity of hearing about the Cause, four public meetings were arranged during the months of September and October, 1940, the subjects presented being ‘The Pattern for a New World Order,’ ‘True Education,’ ‘The Oneness of Religion and Humanity,’ and ‘A World Message.’ The first lecture of the series was given by the Secretary of the N.S.A., Miss Hilda Brooks, who had traveled from South Australia especially to assist in this new venture. The second and third were given by Miss Lamprill and Miss Crowder, respectively. The fourth and last by Mrs. O. Routh of Sydney.
“In 1940, when there were still only three Bahá’ís in Hobart, 3 Melbourne Bahá’í settled for a time in Launceston at the northern end of Tasmania. By traveling over one hundred miles the four Bahá’ís met on several occasions and in a spirit of great happiness kept some of the feasts together.
“The teaching work now gathered momentum, the little group met regularly to study the Teachings, advertised lectures were given in Hobart and Launceston and a fourth member was enrolled. The flying visit of Mr. and Mrs. Bolton of Sydney, when they spent a few days in Hobart and gave two lectures, created interest and greatly encouraged the small group. As time went on the indefatigable labors of the Hobart believers bore fruit, new members were enrolled, a youth group formed and a summer school held. There are now in 1944 eight members and bright prospects of a Spiritual Assembly being formed before long.”
A special bond unites the Americas in the spiritual creation of Bahá’u’lláh. His message directed to the presidents of the American republics in His Holy Book, the Aqdas, calling upon them to raise up the crushed and destroy oppression, formulated a mission which destiny already makes visible in the world of events. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá could not include Central or South America in His journeys between 1911 and 1913; but the Master made the Bahá’ís of North America trustees of a teaching mission the first stage of which was the carrying of the message to Central and South America.
The Inter-America activities of the American Bahá’ís have been reported in previous volumes of The Bahá’í World. The significant advances made since 1940 have been made the theme of a special article in the present volume. It will suffice here to note merely the main outlines of the work.
An increasing amount of space in World Order Magazine has been devoted to sketches drawn by pioneer teachers of the countries in which they have settled or traveled. Since 1940, for example, the magazine has published: From a Panama Diary, by Louise Caswell and Cora H. Oliver; Venezuela, by Emeric Sala; A Bahá’í Pioneer in Paraguay, by Elisabeth H. Cheney; Brazil in Renaissance, by Beatrice Irwin; Buenos Aires, by Philip G. Sprague; Panama, The Crossroads, by C. E. Hamilton; and Pioneer Journey, by Virginia Orbison. These intimate diary recordings make the Bahá’ís of North America feel that they are a part of the vivid experience, and enlarge the area of direct ethical responsibility to take in all the American republics.
In addition to these, the magazine recalled Martha L. Root’s journey to South America in 1919—the beginning of work under the Master’s Plan—in Helen Bishop’s To South America in 1919, an editing of Martha Root’s letters; and recorded the construction of the monument at the grave of Mrs. May Maxwell in Amelia E. Collin’s account, A Bahá’í Shrine in Latin America.
Two Bahá’ís of North America and two of Central America contributed first-hand accounts directly to the editors of The Bahá’í World, and these have been made available for use in this survey.
Dr. Malcolm M. King briefly described the formation of the first Bahá’í group in Jamaica:
“My feeling, on arrival in Jamaica on the 23rd of October, 1942, was somewhat dampened by the lengthy and searching inquiry of government officials at the airport, followed by many weeks of disillusion and disappointments. The poverty and misery of the masses of people further enhanced my depression. It was only after many months of constant effort that this feeling was submerged, and a ray of light became discernible amongst those with whom I had worked so strenuously. I had much publicity in three papers, one daily and two weeklies. So there was a constant stream of publicity coming from the press which kept the Bahá’í Cause before the public eye. Many inquirers wrote from the country parts asking for information and literature. Two parishes, (others than those two where my work was concentrated) were visited, and talks were given in each, two talks in one and one in the other. A total of twenty-six talks were given during my stay, in homes, halls and churches, to attendance numbering from 8 to 175 people each, and for a total of more than 870 people. Individuals and groups in homes, numbering less than eight, are not accounted for, but were very considerable. There were more than fifty people known to me who read one or more books (chiefly Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era).
“Before June, 1943, my efforts consisted of visiting contacts and making new contacts, giving talks and explaining, to the best of my ability, the Bahá’í Teachings. These contacts were made among all classes of people, white, colored, Chinese, Indian, Jewish, doctors, dentists, lawyers, business men, chiropractors, pharmacists, nurses—some very influential people. Their reactions, except for a few, were not different from the general run of people here in America—possibly more conservative, because of their English background and influence. In the main, they were very apathetic to new spiritual truths, yet were not antagonistic. They would listen patiently, but always made excuses when asked to investigate.
“In June I was able to form my first study group (through a seemingly accidental meeting) out of which came two declared believers. The second study group followed closely the first under very similar conditions. Five declared believers came out of this group. These two groups were merged by meeting together at least once each week. Because of different locations and time they still carry on as separate study groups; but declared believers meet as an organized group at 190 Orange Street, the regular Bahá’í meeting place. This group has elected the various officers, as if they were a duly constituted Spiritual Assembly, and these officers were elected in accordance with Bahá’í procedure.”
Miss Eve B. Nicklin, who has spent several years in Peru, contributes this interesting account:—
"As Lima is fast becoming the hub of
the western coast it has been blessed with
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visiting Bahá’ís en route to other South
American countries. Philip Sprague spent
a week in Lima in October, 1942. A group
of sixteen friends met in the Hotel Bolivar
for a Bahá’í meeting. Later follow-up teas
were given. Mrs. Enos Barton came for
eight days in December of that year, and
Flora Hottes has spent two vacations here.
At both times she made valuable friends for
the cause of Bahá’u’lláh. A short visit was
made by Etta Mae Lawrence.
“The Instituto Cultural Peruano-Norte-americano, where I have been employed since 1943, has given me one of the greatest opportunities to make contacts with both the students and my fellow-teachers. Choosing a topic of universal nature for discussion in the classroom has led to a more direct method of teaching the Faith after classes.
”Two young men have gone to the United States to attend universities, and have been given letters of introduction to Bahá’í communities. But the greatest opportunity of all came by the way of the first summer school ever to be held in Peru for the Peruvian teachers of English; I was asked to be one of the teachers in this pioneer work. My subject is to introduce them to American Reading. I have as pupils one hundred teachers from not only the city of Lima, but from many of the provinces. I felt sure it was Bahá’u’lláh’s work when the superintendent said to me, ‘Meeting all these people may help you with your work.’ He has never mentioned my Bahá’í work to me since the first conversation we had had about it a year ago when he asked me what I was doing in Peru. Dovetailing with this scheme of things to come, came Virginia Orbison to Peru. She having been employed in the research library for Paramount pictures, who better could I have had as guest speaker in my classes? So tactfully did she weave in the great message that it was easy for me to invite those who were especially interested to come to the Bahá’í Home to hear more. Several groups have met with us and all have listened eagerly to a Bahá’í talk. We are looking forward to the meeting with nearly all the hundred teachers in this way. These meetings have already had ramifications because we have been invited into their home to tell the good news to their friends and families.
“Flora Hottes reported that Alicia Bustimente of Lima, Peru, has become a'Bahá’í in La Paz, Bolivia, and is returning home in the Fall to spread the message among her wide circle of friends here.
“While looking for a pension for Flora, we seemed to have been led right up to the door of Sra. Isabel Tirade de Barreda who was destined to become the first believer to send in her name from Lima, Peru. Sra. Tirade de Barreda, Virginia Orbison and myself celebrated this historical event on the Bahá’í Feast Day, February 7, 1944.”
The first native Bahá’í of Nicaragua, Sra. Blanca Victoria Mejia, pays tribute to the teachers who brought the message of Baha’u’llah to her people:—
"Beginning in 1941, the first one was the unforgettable and sweet Mrs. Frances Benedict Stewart. She, with her words filled with eloquence, is like a torch that lights our souls; but as in these times certain things are misunderstood that develop during this period, she was also misunderstood here, although not by all, for some of us were captivated by her elevated ideas and advice. Full of wisdom the seeds are that today little by little are growing in Nicaragua.
“Likewise, there was among us Mr. Mathew Kaszab, an ingenious man with a great heart. Those that knew him thoroughly were able to say that he was a saint. He remained two years in the country, but he also was not understood, and from then on he did not accomplish much in spite of his great wishes; his gentleness and humility were completely misunderstood.
“Also, a Mr. John Eichenauer honored us with his presence, an irreproachable youth, dynamic and with a clear intelligence, who presided at various gatherings of enthusiasts of the new Faith; but as a migratory bird he only remained two days in our capital. Then Mrs. Louise Caswell favored us gently with her talks full of sweetness and delicacy.
“Today, the Bahá’í Faith in Nicaragua is
limited to a few seedlings recognized by
souls following the light, but we try to sow
them in many hearts. We are not dismayed,
convinced by our eyes that the bigger and
[Page 86]
more important things have a small, almost
imperceptible origin.”
In January, 1944, Sr. Gerardo Vega acted for the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of San José, Costa Rica, in compiling the salient details of the work in that city:—
"From March, 1940, the time of the arrival of the pioneers Mrs. Amalia Ford and Mrs. Gayle Woolson in Costa Rica, until the present time the new ideas have inspired investigators who have felt the waves of knowledge that are renewed and harmoniously extend to the fertile shores of the minds of those who recognize and acknowledge the eternal and ancient Truth. This requires the constant human realization and the opening of fragrant new paths that the human race needs as its consciousness widens.
”With the assurance which spiritual ideas produce when applied to the service of humanity, the pioneers arrive in our country and are directed to the Chamber of Commerce of the city. By this organization they are then directed to the Theosophical Society.
"After several months of work the first Spiritual Assembly was elected on April 21, 1941, with the following membership: Sr. Jose J. Ulloa, Chairman; Sra. Gayle Woolson, Vice Chairman; Sr. Guido Contreras, Corresponding Secretary; Sr. Raul Contreras, Recording Secretary; Sra. Ester Urena, Treasurer and Sr. Felipe Madrigal, Sra. Consuleo Miranda, Sra. Anita Clachar, and Sra. Amalia Ford. Mrs. Amalia Ford returned to the United States on September 17, 1941. The formation of this first Spiritual Assembly was really the foundation stone of all that has been made possible for the Cause in Costa Rica.
“In order to extend the cultural work of the Assembly an invitation has been extended from time to time to Prof. Roberto Brenes Mesén, Prof. J. Joaquín García Monge, Prof. José B. Acuña and to the eminent lawyer Benjamin Odio. The assistance of these distinguished gentlemen and their presence in our Center has undoubtedly augmented our prestige.
"On April 11th, 1941, the official Gazette of the Government published the statutes recognizing our Cause under the legislative rules governing religious organizations, lodges and other similar societies. We must acknowledge with great appreciation that it was due to the assistance of Lawyer Benjamin Odio that no difficulty was encountered in the passage of our application since it was presented by a recognized judicial authority who was interested in the Cause.
“On April 21st, 1942, the second Spiritual Assembly was elected consisting of the following members: Sr. Serapio Hernandez, Chairman; Sr. Guido Contreras, Vice Chairman; Sr. Carlos Porras, Cor. Secretary; Sr. Raul Contreras, Recording Secretary; Sra. Blanca Lacayo, Treasurer; Sra. Isabel de Porras, Sr. Pedro Ujueta and Sra. Gayle Woolson.
“During this administrative period the work was carried on with more assurance. Not only were material conditions better but we benefited by the experience of the first year which was one of hard work and there was a greater willingness to serve. At the end of this period a committee for consultation was formed consisting of Sra. Gayle Woolson, Sr. Serapio Hernandez, Sra. Rosa Quesada, Sr. Raul Contreras and Sr. Gerardo Vega. The most important accomplishment of this committee was a series of papers twelve of which dealt with the Bahá’í Principles and six were dedicated to the Prophets.
"In the well known magazine ‘American Repertoire’ an article on the Temple written by Mrs. Woolson was published.
"Our treasury has been organized in such a way that it now modestly assists in defraying the expenses of the administration.
"Through the activities of the corresponding secretary we notice that the correspondence is extensive and that it puts us in contact with the activities of similar groups in the Americas. The Library is well stocked with Bahá’í books.
"Among the activities for the promulgation of the Faith we record the formation of a Group in Puntarenas which has been functioning for three years and is now a duly organized Spiritual Assembly.”
As the period under review opened in
1940 the North American Bahá’ís active
in the field were: Panama, Mrs. Louise Caswell,
[Page 87]
Cairo Bahá’ís Gathered to Re-inter Mrs. Getsinger’s Remains.
Lua Getsinger, one of the first American believers, known as the "Mother teacher of the West,” was originally interred in a Christian cemetery in Cairo; with the help of the State Department in Washington, the American Consulate in Cairo, and the Egyptian Bahá’í Assembly, her body was removed to the Bahá’í Cemetery.
Mrs. Cora Oliver and Peter Caswell; Puerto Rico, Mrs. Katherine Disdier, Miss Rouhieh Jones; Cuba, Mrs. H. Emogone Hoagg, Miss Josephine Kruka, following Mr. and Mrs. Philip Marangella who returned earlier in the year after forming a group; Haiti, Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Blackwell; El Salvador, John Eichenauer, Jr., and Clarence Iverson (Mr. Eichenauer is returning shortly); Costa Rica, Mrs. Gayle Woolson, Mrs. Amalia Ford; Santo Domingo, Miss Margaret Lentz; Nicaragua, Mathew Kaszab; Colombia, Gerrard Sluter; Venezuela, Miss Priscilla Rhodes, Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala being en route to Canada; Brazil has an Assembly at Bahia; Rio de Janeiro (temporarily), Miss Jeanne Bolles; Uruguay, Wilfrid Barton and (temporarily) Mrs. Mary Barton; Argentina has a Spiritual Assembly; Bolivia, Mrs. Eleanor Smith Adler; Chile, Mrs. Marcia Stewart Atwater; Ecuador, John Stearns; Paraguay, Miss Elisabeth Cheney. At Honduras and Guatemala, after teaching work by Mr. Sluter and Tony Roca, there are groups with native membership. Mexico City has a local Assembly. Plans are under way to establish Miss Eve Nicklin in Peru, while Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Wood are preparing to locate in Brazil. Contacts were made at Jamaica during a six months’ stay by Mr. and Mrs. Shaw. Philip Sprague spent some months at Buenos Aires, with notable results. Mrs. Frances B. Stewart has translated, published, distributed books to pioneers and groups, and maintained teaching activity and contacts in Mexico City, Honduras and Guatemala.
Since then, the number has been increased
by new pioneers and also some believers
able to travel and visit various Bahá’í centers
in Central or South America. These include:
Mr. and Mrs. R. Y. Mottahedeh, who
traveled extensively; Beatrice Irwin,
Brazil; Mr.
and Mrs. C. E. Hamilton, Panama; Eve
Nicklin, Peru; Mrs. Ella Guthrie, Mrs. Edith
Marangella, Lucien McComb and Mrs. Ayned
McComb, Puerto Rico; Mrs. Amelia E.
Collins, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil;
Marshall Eichenauer, El Salvador, Guatemala;
Louise Baker, Colombia; Mrs. Dorothy
[Page 88]
Baker, Colombia, Venezuela; Ruth Shook
(Mrs. Fendell), Colombia; Dr. Malcolm King,
Jamaica; Mrs. Marcia Atwater, Chile;
Gertrude Eisenberg, Brazil, Paraguay; Mrs.
Florence Keemer, Mexico, Guatemala; Julia
Regal, Panama; Virginia Orbison, Chile,
Paraguay; Jean Silver, Cuba; Etta Mae
Lawrence, Argentina.
The martyrdom of Mrs. May Maxwell in Buenos Aires, and that of Mathew Kaszab, who died in Texas of the effects of hardship and suffering sustained in Nicaragua, are the pledge that the trusteeship conferred by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá will be fulfilled throughout the Americas, forming an inter-continental basis from which in future will be launched the spiritual crusade to achieve the oneness of mankind and the triumph of the Bahá’í teachings throughout the world.
As the date of April 21, 1944, approached it was evident that either a Spiritual Assembly or a group has been formed in all the American republics. The detailed information is indicated on the teaching maps inserted at the end of this volume.
THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP
Completion of the exterior decoration of the House of Worship at Wilmette, Illinois, has already been listed as one of the three major tasks undertaken by the American Bahá’ís in the last seven years of the Bahá’í Century ended May 23, 1944. The work on the Temple was officially completed early in January, 1943. The subject of Temple construction is presented elsewhere in the present volume, but for purposes of record in this survey the successive contracts undertaken since 1940 are mentioned, as follows:
Main story, exterior decoration, . . .$207,552.39
Circular steps . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,817.84
—————————————
Total construction 1940-1944, . . . . $258,370.23
These figures bring the total construction costs from 1921 to $1,341,929.88, to which must be added cost of other structures on the grounds, grading, etc., amounting to $50,111.45, and cost of land, $51,500.00, making final total of $1,443,541.33.
BAHÁ’Í MEMORIALS
In grateful devotion to their sacrifices and services to the Faith, the believers have raised monuments over the graves of a number of martyrs since 1940.
From Persia the Assembly reports that the memorial designed by the late Myron H. Potter of Cleveland, and contributed by the American believers, in honor of Keith Ransom-Kehler has been completed under the supervision of the Persian Bahá’ís at Iṣfahán. The members of the National Spiritual Assembly visited the tomb and remained at Iṣfahán a number of days. In 1943 the Guardian advised the Persian Assembly to build monuments at the graves of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, most famous of the early believers tortured and slain by fanatics in Persia, in the same city. The Assembly provided an engineer from Ṭihrán to carry out the construction, the cost being met by general subscription of the Persian Bahá’ís.
The Assembly of Egypt, after obtaining government permission to maintain a Bahá’í cemetery, arranged for the transfer of the remains of the late Abu’l-Faḍl and of the late Lua Moore Getsinger and their permanent reinterment therein. To fulfill official requirements, the American Assembly secured the written permission of Mrs. Getsinger’s closest surviving relative, Mrs. Howard Struven, and through the State Department filed this permit with the Egyptian authorities. On December 18, 1942, the members of the National Spiritual Assembly, together with its committee who carried out the transfer, accompanied by representatives of all Bahá’í communities of Egypt, conducted a service at the Bahá’í cemetery during the reinterment. The memorial to be erected to Lua Getsinger, famous and beloved American Bahá’í teacher in the days of the Master, will stand beside the tomb of the great Abu’l-Faḍl.
American believers have also a direct
concern with the transfer of the remains
of Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl, that great teacher sent
here by the Master many years ago, to the
new Bahá’í cemetery. The records made
available by George O. Latimer who acted
for the Committee in charge of
subscriptions toward the construction
of a suitable monument in Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl’s
memory indicate that a total of $708.10
was contributed to that purpose in 1919, 1920 and
[Page 89]
1921. The Master’s Ascension and the
changes in the administration of the Cause
resulting therefrom interrupted the work
and the special fund was turned over into
the general fund of Bahá’í Temple Unity
which later became the present National
Bahá’í Fund. Shoghi Effendi now wishes
this special fund, latent for so many
years, to be transmitted to the
National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt for a
Memorial to be constructed, in the Bahá’í
cemetery now available. Thus the
contribution which the American
Bahá’ís made
more than twenty years ago, in
grateful appreciation of Abu’l-Faḍl’s
unique teaching
mission in North America, can at last be
consummated. Had the Memorial been
built earlier, the Bahá’ís of Egypt would
have been deprived of the opportunity to
establish publicly the importance of their
Bahá’í cemetery which they now possess.
Beside these blessed ties connecting the American Bahá’ís with those of Persia and Egypt, the passing of Martha L. Root and of May Ellis Maxwell have led to the raising of shrines in Hawaii and in Argentina to which the hearts of the American believers fervently turn.
Designed by C. Mason Remey, the Memorial to Martha L. Root is in the form of a tablet inscribed with the Greatest Name, words of Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on teaching, and the Guardian’s words which confer upon her so high a spiritual station. Her grave is beautifully situated in a cemetery of Honolulu, and the monument was made under the supervision of the Honolulu Assembly.
William Sutherland Maxwell designed the memorial which stands at the grave of Mrs. Maxwell in Quilmes Cemetery, Buenos Aires. We fortunately have this first-hand account written by Mrs. Amelia Collins who proceeded to Buenos Aires as representative of the American National Spiritual Assembly and supervised with Sr. Tormo, Sr. Barros and Wilfrid Barton the execution of Mr. Maxwell’s design and the placing of the completed Memorial at the grave, where impressive prayers and readings were conducted by the Bahá’ís of Argentina and the United States. Quoting from Mrs. Collin’s article in World Order, December, 1943:—
“At the time of the passing of May Maxwell at Buenos Aires, Shoghi Effendi cabled to her husband, Sutherland Maxwell, ‘Her tomb, designed by yourself, erected by me, on the spot where she fought, and fell gloriously, will become the historic center of pioneer Bahá’í activity.’ By June, 1942, the plans for carrying out the wishes of Shoghi Effendi were complete. The design, photographs, drawings and specifications for the monument had been received by the National Spiritual Assembly from Mr. Maxwell in Haifa. A sample of the fine Carrara marble which the Buenos Aires Bahá’í committee had secured had arrived. It now seemed well that someone go to Buenos Aires as a representative of the National Assembly to consult and work with the committee there rather than to depend upon the slow and uncertain method of correspondence. So it was agreed that I should represent the National Assembly, go to Buenos Aires and help in seeing that all plans were faithfully and fittingly fulfilled. Immediately on this decision a cable was sent to Shoghi Effendi, asking his wishes and advice. His reply confirmed our plans.
“While standing at the hotel desk filling out the questionnaire required of visitors a momentary feeling of loneliness passed over me as I realized that I was in a country where I did not speak the language of those about me. Suddenly the porter said, ‘You are Mrs. Collins?’ and handed me a cablegram. The message was from Shoghi Effendi and read, ‘Prayers accompany you always, everywhere. Deepest, loving appreciation.’ Immediately I felt at home in spite of the fact that on account of my many delays the friends in Buenos Aires did not know of my arrival.
"Early the next morning a messenger was
sent to Sr. Tormo, the chairman of the
Buenos Aires Bahá’í Assembly, and in a
very few minutes he was at the hotel
extending me a true Bahá’í welcome. In a
short time several other believers dropped
in and again it was demonstrated that the
Faith is one and unites hearts wherever
believers come together. At once
arrangements were made to visit our
beloved May’s grave.
Right after lunch we started. How shall
I describe the quaint, lovely, simple spot—
[Page 90]
so well chosen—right out in the open country,
some distance from the village of
Quilmes. The peace and quiet of the place
was broken only by the birds singing their
early spring songs. Here it was that Jeanne
Bolles and Wilfrid Barton had found the
‘fitting spot’ for the last resting place of May
Maxwell’s body, henceforth a place for
pilgrimages. We entered the little gate,
placed our simple offering of flowers
and then gave
thanks to Bahá’u’lláh, remembering the
many dear friends in many lands, and asking
God that they, too, would be permitted to
visit this sacred spot.
“The first to make a pilgrimage from the United States to this revered place had been Philip Sprague. Not many weeks after the burial he had laid on the grave fragrant flower petals from the sacred shrines in ‘Akká and Haifa sent by Shoghi Effendi and Rúḥíyyih Khánum. There will be other pilgrimages—many—for the Guardian denotes May Maxwell as one of the (three heroines of the formative age of the Faith of Baha’u’llah’ now ‘living in solitary glory in the southern outpost of the Western Hemisphere.’
“Monday Sr. Tormo, Sr. Barros and I inspected the block of marble. It was a great satisfaction to see the huge block of Carrara marble—the envy, I learned, of all the sculptors in the region who had hoped to have at least some of it to carve. Then began the search for the right artist. An Italian sculptor, Mario Viciani, a Florentine, was finally found and a contract given to him to make first a model in plaster to meet the specifications. In due time the full committee was most gratified to see a fine sample of this sculptor’s art shown in a plaster cast of the proposed monument and the contract to proceed with the work in marble was given to him. On May 30, 1943, several months after my return the beautiful monument was in place at May’s grave and was dedicated with impressive services conducted by the Buenos Aires friends.”
In deep reverence also the Bahá’ís of America acclaim the Memorial raised in honor of the late Hyde Dunn in Australia, that built in Ṭihrán commemorating the late Dr. Moody and the stone marking the tragic yet heroic grave of Mathew Kaszab in Brownsville, Texas, provided by the first chairman of the Inter-America Committee, Loulie A. Mathews. In his cablegram of February 21, 1941, Shoghi Effendi linked together the names of Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler, Miss Martha L. Root, Mrs. May Maxwell and Mr. Hyde Dunn as evidences of the historic world mission conferred by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá upon the American Bahá’í community.
YOUTH ACTIVITY
The publication of The Bahá’í World and the annual observance of Bahá’í Youth Day, are at present the only two fully international activities of the Bahá’í community. The maintenance of youth administrative bodies and youth programs during the war years has been difficult. The claims made upon the youth of the world have well-nigh expended their powers in action outside the realm of the spirit. The youth between fifteen and twenty-one have recognized the highest of all claims, the call of God, exemplify the quality of truest devotion if not impressiveness of numbers. One feels the ardor of this small yet intent group in every report made about their work by the Assemblies of East and West.
We have, for example, this impressive record from Persia, where the young people have not been drafted:—
"The Bahá’í Youth Committee in Ṭihrán
has over a thousand members regularly
attending its sessions. One hundred and one
persons serve on its sub-committees, which
handle finances, teaching, study of the Faith,
education, census, arbitration, and sports.
Four thousand youth participate in the
annual Youth Symposium, and hundreds
attend the public speaking and teacher
training classes. The National Youth Committee
conducted a summer school in Ṭihrán, 213
youth attending, and many adult auditors;
this Committee likewise invited youth
delegates from the provinces to attend; thirty
localities sent representatives and these were
guests of the Committee in Ṭihrán for ten
days. The Committee also had charge of
eleven Bahá’í orphans pending organization
of a separate body to care for them. Forty
youth are continually occupied in giving
[Page 91]
Memorial Erected at the Grave of Mathew Kaszab, Brownsville, Texas.
He was one of the first pioneers to arise to meet the requirements of the Seven Year Plan.
classes in the provinces, for parents and children alike, and in holding festive gatherings for the believers. Youth committees are active in the majority of centers; that of Iṣfáhán established a summer school, as did the youth of Shíráz. During this period about twenty young Bahá’ís of Persia, topflight scholars, left for the United States where they are completing their education.
"Bahá’í children in Persia spend two
hours every Friday in studying Bahá’í
principles and lessons in character-building,
under Bahá’í instructors. This work is
supervised by the National Committee for
Bahá’í Instruction. Except where
persecutions make it impossible, the
majority of Bahá’í children attend;
in Ṭihrán, for instance, ninety such
classes meet in an average year. Many
adults attend to encourage
the children, and special events and the
[Page 92]
distribution of prizes also contribute to
that end. A feature of the classes is
the teaching
of Bahá’í songs; the curriculum of the six
preliminary classes includes successively the
six volumes of character—building lessons.
The seventh class studies Lessons in Religion
(I) and fifteen of the Persian Hidden Words;
the eighth studies Lessons in Religion (II)
and fifteen additional Hidden Words; the
ninth offers selections from the writings of
Bahá’u’lláh and the Master, the tenth, talks
of the Master, and the remaining two
Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.
The Australian Bahá’ís render this account:—
"The number of youth in each center is small, but the young people are active and very progressive. The Adelaide youth presented a play, ‘The Golden Age’ adapted from Florence Pinchon’s book, The Coming of the Glory, at the Winter School held at Aldgate in August, 1942. This attracted the largest audience of the sessions, and was declared by all present an outstanding success, and an interesting and novel way of teaching and presenting the Cause to the public. A few weeks later the youth repeated the performance at the Bahá’í Center in Adelaide to an audience of young people. The Yerrinbool and Auckland youth followed suit and gave the play at their respective Summer Schools.
“The following is an extract from the Auckland Spiritual Assembly Report which records the work of an American Bahá’í youth in Auckland: ‘Six months ago we had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. Alvin Blum, an American Bahá’í from Memphis, Tennessee, stationed in Auckland with the American Armed Forces. He generously offered to assist in the teaching work and has been of invaluable help to the Assembly. He has been able to interest a large number of people, some of whom have attended the monthly lectures and also arranged for him to give the Message to their friends in their homes. We are specially grateful to Mr. Blum for his splendid work with a group of young people who now constitute a Bahá’í Youth’Group. A fireside group at Devonport has had the advantage of his valued services and this bids fair to develop into an Assembly in due course.’
”Our own young men in the Armed Forces have been indefatigable in teaching the great ethical and spiritual principles of the Bahá’í Faith. Letters from contacts made by Sergeant Jim Heggie show how great has been his influence, how well he has imparted his faith and knowledge to the other young men. The National Assembly has sent literature to his various and widely separated contacts.
“Miss Merle Brooks interested a number of people at Kapunda, South Australia, and arranged two public meetings in the town. Miss Antoinette Bolton regularly conducts a Sunday School at Bolton Place, Yerrinbool, N.S.W.
“The progressive Hobart Youth Group meets regularly; all the members attended the Summer School sessions.
“In 1944 the National Assembly appointed a Youth Committee to supervise and coordinate the activities of the youth of Australia and New Zealand. The members of the committee (Miss Hilda Brooks, Adelaide, Secretary Convener; Miss G. Lamprill, Hobart; Miss V. Hoehnke, Sydney; Mrs. R. Deem, Auckland) decided to publish a Bahá’í Youth Journal. Miss Merle Brooks, Adelaide, was appointed editor of the Journal. The youth of Australia and New Zealand are delighted at the prospect of having their own publication, the purpose of which is to provide a medium through which they might express themselves and get to know each other. Material is now being collected for the first issue, many of the youth having sent letters for the correspondence column.”
Dramatic, indeed, to realize that the World Youth Day is being observed in old Baghdád:—
“The National Youth Committee has devoted much attention to the organization of these annual meetings, which offer splendid opportunities to give the Faith wider publicity especially among the youth of other religions. The Committee has endeavored to establish similar symposiums in other Bahá’í centers as well as in Baghdád, where great success has been achieved judging from the number of non-Bahá’í attendants.
"The successes achieved by the Symposiums
[Page 93]
held in Baghdád are due in no small measure to the fact that these annual meetings have been held in the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds which by its impressive beauty, comfortable accommodations, attractive library and other pleasing features, serves to impress a sweet and lasting memory of the occasion in the minds of the attendants. Among the speakers, there were a few non-Bahá’ís who extolled the Bahá’í teachings wishing the Faith universal success. At the close of these meetings Bahá’í literature both in English and Arabic is distributed to the interested among the attendants.”
The successive Youth Committees of America have made annual reports from which these excerpts are gleaned:—
"The Sixth Annual World Bahá’í Youth Day was observed by the Youth throughout the world on February 23 (February 21 in the Muḥammadan countries). The theme for this year’s symposium was ‘Is Religion Needed as the Basis for a New World Civilization?’ Four subjects were suggested for presentation of this subject: ‘Religion, the Civilizing Force of the Ages’; ‘Religion, the Unifying Force of Diverse Peoples’; ‘Religion in the Individual Life’; and ‘The Bahá’í Faith as the Basis for a New World Order.’
“The committee suggested that the Youth Groups hold five study days this year in November, December, January, March, and April. These study days are designed for the young Bahá’ís to gain a more thorough knowledge of the Bahá’í Writings. The subject for study this year was ‘Foundations of World Unity,’ a compilation of some of the talks given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. This book was chosen in order that the Youth may not only become more acquainted with the teachings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but also become more aware of his masterly method of teaching through making public speeches.
"The committee also recommended that the groups hold an International Evening some time during November. This activity is designed to help the groups confirm the feelings of brotherhood among the various peoples of the world.
“The Seventh Annual Bahá’í Youth Symposium was held on February 22. Youth groups all over the United States, in Canada and in several Latin American countries participated in the Symposium. Talks were given by the youth on the general theme, The Creative Spirit in Modern Society. The outlines, appearing in the February 1 issue of the Bahá’í Youth Magazine concerned the influence which religion has had all through the ages and placing primary emphasis on the New Cycle—the historical background of the Bahá’í Faith and the lives and station of its Founders. A message of greeting to the Guardian, to be signed by the youth in the various communities, was sent out by the National Youth Committee. These are to be compiled in a scrapbook to be sent at a later time to the Guardian. Although world conditions made contact with groups in other lands impossible for the most part, we trust that in communities where it was possible, the young Bahá’ís have kept alive this traditional youth activity.
”Through the Inter-America Committee fourteen youth groups in Central and South America were contacted, including Santiago, Chile; Recife, Brazil; San Jose, Costa Rica; Vedado, Cuba; Montevideo, Uruguay; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Ancon, Canal Zone; Nicaragua, San Salvador; Asuncion, Paraguay; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Mexico City; Ciudad Trujillo; Caracas, Venezuela.
"Letters of greeting from the National Bahá’í Youth Committee and plans for the International Bahá’í Youth Symposium were sent to these groups. The groups that replied were as follows: Havana, Cuba; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; San Salvador, El Salvador. These three places had definite youth groups and took part in the International Symposium. Miss Priscilla Rhoads also replied from Caracas, Venezuela, but there are as yet no Bahá’í youth in Caracas. Miss Margaret Lentz of Ciudad Trujillo also replied saying there were no Bahá’í youth in Ciudad, but she would hold a meeting for some of the students on the day of our International Symposium.
“A survey of youth groups, isolated
youth, and servicemen was initiated through
questionnaires to Local Assemblies and
Regional Committees. Replies from 46
Assemblies and 7 Regional Committees have put
us in touch with 20 youth groups in
[Page 94]
organized communities, 3 other youth groups,
and unorganized youth in 8 Assemblies and
54 other localities. Eighteen Assemblies
reported no young people at all. In addition,
the Committee is corresponding with 50
Bahá’í men in military service. Doubtless
there are many other youth whose names
have not been sent us.
“We are also proud to list the following youth who pioneered in 1942—43: Anne McGee, Calgary; Farrukh Ioas, Sally Sanor, Harmon Jones, Boise; Anita Ioas, Edmonton; Eva Flack and Adrienne Ellis, Greensboro; Lauretta Voelz, Regina; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Walters, Albuquerque; Mary Bower, Providence; Clair Gillespie and Eunice Shurcliff, Laramie. (To our best knowledge these are the youth, although many pioneers were very little older.)
”To maintain contact with all of these youth, a series of bulletins were issued. In writing these, we were mindful of the paramount claim of the Seven Year Plan, and the stresses of this War period. Bulletin No. 1 (Volume 8), issued in November, was devoted to an appeal for youth pioneers. Bulletin No. 2, January, reported the activities of our servicemen. Bulletin No. 3, March, provided suggestions for the organization and conduct of youth groups.
“World Bahá’í Youth Day, now in its eighth year, was called for March 7, 1943, thus demonstrating our solidarity in the midst of world chaos. The theme, ‘World Unity Is Our Goal,’ was based on the last pages of ‘The Unfoldment of World Civilization,’ Bahá’í youth in every continent were invited to join us, and an effort was made in the Western Hemisphere to underscore the approaching triumph of the Seven Year Plan, through symposiums in as many States, Provinces, and Republics as possible. The Persian National Youth Committee wrote us of ‘the enormous appeal’ of symposiums there, and Bahá’í youth of Uruguay translated the Guardian’s pages for the use of other Latin American groups.
“Help to Bahá’í servicemen was a prime objective. Through personal correspondence they were put in touch with nearby Bahá’ís, addresses were exchanged between them, and all material issued by the Committee was sent. Other believers who wished to write them were given addresses, and each bulletin carried a special section of their news. An important part of this work is the follow-up and cordial welcome which all Bahá’ís are urged to extend to these Bahá’í men, who are serving throughout the U. S., on the seas, and as far away as England, Alaska, New Zealand, and the Solomon Islands.”
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The Bahá’í community today is composed of a number of national bodies, each administratively independent, functioning in a world Faith under one Guardian who represents the oneness underlying this great variety of national and racial types. Mutual action among these different national groups is instantly possible at all times, but in practice they are engaged in matters of teaching and internal development which takes internationalism for granted without participation in projects of a directly international character. It has been the effort to teach that primarily produced mutual activity among Bahá’ís in different parts of the world. From time to time definite projects, like the construction of the House of Worship, or appeals to civil authorities for mitigation of persecution, have been carried out under the direction of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or the Guardian.
The international activities or actions culled from the current record are significant more as expressive of the fundamental oneness of the Bahá’ís than their possession at this time of any social mechanism concerned with and equipped for international Bahá’í affairs. That mechanism, reinforcing and fulfilling the function of the Guardianship, will come into being with the Universal House of Justice. Strietly speaking, any inter-Assembly actions taking place at present are responses to the Guardian and not mutual projects performed by the Bahá’í bodies through representatives duly qualified for participation in inter-Assembly affairs.
References have already been made in the course of this survey to certain matters of concern to several or all the national Bahá’í communities. From the available reports the following instances are added to the record.
Students, Bahá’í Youth Academy, San Salvador.
The American National Spiritual Assembly reported in 1941:—
"A number of situations have arisen this year which very poignantly bring home to us the tragic condition of affairs confronting believers in other lands. In the spring of 1940 the Assembly received an appeal from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles for hospitality to twenty-five Bahá’í children. A special committee was appointed to make arrangements with the American Bahá’ís who could care for one or more children, and within a few weeks reported that the entire number mentioned by the English Assembly could be placed. Difficulties, however, arose in connection with the sending of children out of that country, and the friends who were prepared to give hospitality were not called upon to render this precious service. It is noted, however, as part of our history, that the appeal created a magnificent response and the American Bahá’í community arose to meet the emergency in full.
“Believers, likewise, have volunteered to finance the cost of transportation of Lidia Zamenhof and to guarantee her support in this country; but despite efforts put forth through every available official channel, Miss Zamenhof’s whereabouts and condition are not accurately known nor has it yet been found possible to arrange for her travel to America through the authorities in charge of her country at this time. May we hope and pray that some means will be found to provide for the future of this renowned servant of the Faith.”
The Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq cite four instances:—
"During the period under review the National Spiritual Assembly endeavored to demonstrate unity of purpose and to promote the vital interests of the Faith throughout the Bahá’í World. The ‘Iráqi Bahá’í Community has seized every opportunity that presented itself to show their spirit of cooperation with their fellow believers in other parts of the world. The following are some of the instances whereby the National Spiritual Assembly shared in the shouldering of some constructive enterprises undertaken by other Bahá’í Communities.
“1. £.200. Was remitted to the Spiritual Assembly of Damascus as a contribution to the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds Fund.
“2. £300. Was sent to the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt for the construction of a National Bahá’í Headquarters in Cairo.
”3. Rupees 11,500. Was forwarded to the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma for the construction of a National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in New Delhi.
Bahá’ís Gathered to Celebrate the Feast of Riḍván in San Salvador, 1943.
"4. 512 Australian pounds was offered to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand for the erection of National Bahá’í Headquarters in Sydney.
"These insignificant contributions were a source of pleasure to our Beloved Guardian and a concrete evidence of the unity and solidarity of the Bahá’í communities throughout the world.”
The Persian Bahá’ís have contributed munificently to their co-workers in other lands:—
“Persia has likewise, during this period, contributed 1,000 pounds each toward construction of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Syria, Egypt, and India; 2,500 pounds toward that of Australia and New Zealand, and 500 pounds toward that of Kowayt, Balúchistán.”
From a San Francisco paper of February 18, 1944 we cite a most interesting type of Bahá’í cooperation—the sending of students from Persia to the United States:—
“With all the exuberance of American tourists in a foreign land, nine young Persians, here to study at universities in the United States, were taking in the sights of San Francisco today.
“Their American guides, Mrs. Leroy Ioas and Miss Lucy Marshall, were breathless trying to keep pace with enthusiasms, which ranged from delighted chuckles over American radio programs to whole-hearted approval of California’s climate—‘so like our own Persia.’
“In well-spoken English they told of the ‘city within a city’ built inside their capital, Ṭihrán, exclusively for the students of their university. They were proud of the modern 1OOO-bed hospital in the capital, now taken over for use by Allied soldiers and of the fact that many of the younger Persians are learning to speak English.
“ ‘The American women who taught us said, when we first asked for instruction, “We have not the time nor the space for you”,’ Firuz Kazemzade, 19-year-old son of a Persian diplomat, who spoke for the group, said. ‘They hold English classes from 7 in the morning till 9 at night, and always they are rushed.’
"They were surprised that any one should think their women veiled.
“ ‘Oh; no, they do not wear veils, have not for 10 years. Universities are co-educational, and the women study medicine and teaching. In the dental classes they outnumber the men. . . .’
“Their trip to this country was a long one, starting in Ṭihrán last November and ending in Los Angeles a week ago.
“They were still in Persia at the time
of the
[Page 97]
‘Big Three’ conferences between President
Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and
Premier Stalin, but did not learn of it till
they had reached India.
“ ‘We knew something was happening because we could not send or receive cables, and the radios were silent.’
“All members of the Bahá’í Faith, they are here to continue studies started in Persia because ‘We feel America has made such strides in science.’
"Two of the boys, Shidan Fatheaazam, 16, and Amin Banani, 17, will prepare for college at the Montezuma Boys School.
“Of the others, Hushang Javid and Manucher Javid, both 22, will continue medical studies at Columbia; Farhang Javid, 19, and Rouhollah Zargarpur, 21, will enroll at MIT in Boston; Nasrollah Rasekh, 19, and Firuz Kazemzade plan to enter Stanford; and Rouhollah Rahmani, 25, who completed the required two years of military service and who has degrees in agriculture and engineering, will study at the University of California.”
ATTACKS UPON THE FAITH
The careful student of current religious expression cannot fail to overlook the increasing number of evidences on the part of some ancient faiths that they feel the need of counterbalancing the utter spiritual failure signalized by a general international war. Unable to prevent it, they seek to seize the swift flow of events toward a new order in order to reaffirm an ancient authority under new and more acceptable conditions. Since theology has failed to guide society, they would now substitute a social program as the determiner of events. After godless states have arisen among large number of their communicants, they seek closer association with civil authority in a post-war world in order to substitute its power for the lost power of faith in God.
In all such trends, the climax of the experience comes with conscious effort to destroy the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. As long as it endures, any other claim to spiritual influence rests upon something outside the true realm of religion: it rests upon a treaty or understanding with civil government, or influence with the rulers, or possession of great property holdings, or the exercise of financial weight, or the substitution of a great tradition for living faith in the hearts of the masses of people. Shoghi Effendi has traced the operation of the principle which we first find revealed in Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of Íqán. The history of these passing years must needs produce the material for another stupendous crisis in human affairs—the crisis which will inevitably arise when the people discover that political and economic arrangements, lacking roots in spiritual accord, are fruitless. Contemporary events are a promissory note which has validity only because the time for payment has not yet come.
The report submitted by the National Spiritual Assembly of Persia testifies that the day of persecution still endures in the land of the birth of God’s Cause:—
“This four-year period has brought ever increasing persecutions to the Bahá’ís of Persia. Here are typical cases:
“A group of Bahá’ís from Yazd, owing to the machinations of their enemies, were imprisoned in Ṭihrán. One of them died in prison.
"Because they closed their shops on the day of Bahá’u’lláh’s Ascension, nine Bahá’ís of Sangisar were banished by government authorities to localities throughout Khurásán. Five women believers of Sangisar, wives of banished Bahá’ís, wrote a petition to the Sháh. Later they received the following official answer from the Minister of the Interior: ‘Regarding the representations you had made to His Majesty, petitioning the return of your husbands to Sangisar: Your husbands were removed because of the ugly thing they had done and at present their return is not feasible.’
"In the same town, a Bahá’í woman died. As the memorial was being held in her home, and her brother, an aged man of eighty-five, was chanting prayers, members of the local police force broke into the house, abused and struck the old man, and took him away to prison where he was sentenced to three months’ confinement ‘for chanting Bahá’í prayers.’
“A Bahá’í of Karaj, because he ‘held teaching meetings in his home, comparing the principles of his Faith with others,’ was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment.
"A number of the Friends, because they had explained their beliefs and attended Bahá’í meetings, lost government positions and were put out of schools.
”Bahá’í couples were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to six months for being married according to Bahá’í law.
"Four Bahá’ís from Pambih—Chúlih (Mázindarán), and one from Bunáb (Ádhirbáyján) and one from Qahfarakh (Iṣfáhán) and one from Nayríz (Fárs), in a most grievous and abominable manner were martyred for the Faith.
"The hundredth year brought severe trials throughout the country: In Qum, the arrival of settlers, although carried out with prudence and dignity, caused various seditious persons to stir up the populace, until the Bahá’ís were cursed in the streets, their houses were set on fire, threatening placards were posted, and anonymous letters sent them through the mails. A placard read: ‘Wake up! The Brave, the Religious, the Wealthy, the Great! When will you take action? How long will you sleep? What gross neglect! Thieves have come into your city. They are shamelessly building a house —a place to spread their beliefs and destroy yours. While they are still weak, uproot them! Get together—drive out the enemies of your Faith, your honor, your name, your position—drive out the Bahá’ís! Do not be frightened! Your Sháh is sháh of Islám—defender of the Qur’án, one who, on the first day of his reign, took an oath on the Qur’án to make no law against the law of Islám. Arise! Arise! Know your duty! Follow the basic law of the land, forbid those who are opposed to Islám to serve the Government! Band together, you shall win, none shall prevail against you. Rejoice, for God is with you!’
“And an anonymous letter: 'It is learned that you are followers of the baseless belief of Bahá. Since our Law directs us in so far as possible not to unveil such shameful imputations or disclose a person’s secret acts, we are therefore advising you by letter that if the report is untrue you should immediately publish your innocence in the press; and if, God forbid, you are infected with this contagious disease, you should at once close up your shop and get out of this town —for otherwise your lives and property will be in danger. (signed) A group of defenders of the Faith.’
“Muslims and other religious groups invited persons to what was ostensibly a prayer-meeting, the real purpose being to incite them against the Bahá’ís.
“Episodes in other towns follow:
“In Fírúz-Kúh, the mullás preached against the Bahá’ís from their pulpits, until the simple inhabitants rose up, cursed the Friends, broke into the store of a Bahá’í, abused and beat him.
“In Sháh-Riḍá, a number of the residents abused the Bahá’ís in public, and the children mocked them, shouting ‘Bábí!’ Houses of the Bahá’ís were stoned, and unseemly things written on the walls. The Bahá’ís were denied the use of the public baths. The local Imám-Jum‘ih and other clerics incited the populace against the Bahá’ís.
"In Shírván (Khurásán) local ‘ulamás and leaders plotted against the Bahá’ís; they aroused the populace, and demanded that the Bahá’í settlers return home. They gave them three days to leave town, after which time the residents were to massacre them. The Friends declined to leave. Some two thousand persons attacked them, and stoned them. Following this, they posted obscene and threatening notices on the shops of the Bahá’ís.
In Bih-Shahr (Mázindarán), leading people sent slanderous telegrams against the Bahá’ís to the capital, with a view to ousting them from government service.
”In Tákistán (Qazvín) teachers and school children alike turned on the Bahá’í students. Incited by the teachers, the other children struck the Bahá’ís; a number of our children were therefore obliged to stay away from school. Repeatedly, the rabble collected to force the locks of Bahá’í stores and raid the establishments but were unable to do so. Many times, they stoned the homes of Bahá’ís, wounding some of the women.
“In Uskú (Ádhirbáyján) placards were used to arouse the populace against the Bahá’ís.
“In Varqá. (Persian ‘Iráq) a neighboring village—head named Mukhtár punished an Assembly member, ‘Alí-Ḥusayn Muẓafarí,
Bahá’ís and Visiting Believers in Bahia, Brazil.
and forced him to pay the sum of 500 ríyáls. He then gave the local Bahá’ís twenty-four hours to close up their school and vacate the town. By night, the rabble attacked the homes of the Bahá’ís, wounding some with knives and forcing them all to leave.
“There has been continual persecution in Naráq. Recently the grave of one of the believers was violated, three weeks after the burial.
"In Dúgh-Ábád (Khurásán) the whole town rose against the Bahá’ís and stormed their homes, entering by force and threatening the Friends with death. They frequently stone the houses of the believers; one Bahá’í was badly injured and his arm broken.
“In Maḥallát the populace continually persecutes the Bahá’ís. The pioneer Fu’ád-Aḥmad Púríkí was attacked and severely injured. The house of Áqáy-i-Raḥmatíyán was set on fire, as well as the store of Áqáy-i-‘Ahdí. The inhabitants maintain a strict boycott of the Bahá’ís.
“In Míyámí the head of the gendarmerie, far from protecting the settlers, himself incites the populace against them. The rabble collected and shrieked against the Bahá’ís. Two policemen by order of their chief removed furniture and other property from the homes and stores of the Bahá’ís. The believers were given ten days to leave town and were obliged to do so.
“In Láhíján the populace closed the shops of believers and mobbed the Bahá’ís. Striking their hands together and chanting in exultation, they advanced on the Friends and carried two away to prison.
“In Langarúd they publicly abused the Friends, stoned their homes and tried repeatedly to set fire to them.
"In Gílán-i-Qarb, a man named ‘Aẓímí, in charge of the Post and Telegraph Office, aroused the populace against Dr. Ḥasan-i-Hátif and other Bahá’ís, urging persons who had weapons to put them to death.
"In Gulpáygán hostile placards were posted throughout the town. The Friends were completely boycotted and repeated attempts were made to set fire to their shops and homes.
"In Rafsinján a mullá named Siyyid
Muḥammad-Taqvá, inciting the populace
against the Bahá’ís, caused a near-riot. In
Káshán an exiled member of the ‘ulamá
wrote a treatise against the Bahá’ís, had it
widely sold and advertised in the streets by
[Page 100]
public heralds. In Naṭanz, the houses of the
Bahá’ís were stoned and the believers
repeatedly told to get out of town. In
Qal‘ihy-i-Hasan-Khán (Ṭihrán), by decree of a
mujtahid from the capital, the wife of
‘Abbás-i-Urdi’i-an agricultural worker who
had recently accepted the Faith—was
forcibly divorced from him and his household
furniture was confiscated.
“In Qurvih (Kurdistán) the house of one of the believers was set on fire, the rabble attacking him and his family. One of the Bahá’ís was severely beaten; as a result of the shock, his wife died a few days later. When they were taking her remains away for burial a mob of one hundred and fifty persons, crying that the deceased was a Muslim, wrested the body from the Friends and buried it with Muslim rites.
“There were severe persecutions in Sháh-Ábád (Persian ‘Iráq). In Mashhad-i-Dhúlfábád, the official in charge of the bureau of marriage and divorce aroused the populace; the Bahá’ís were therefore forbidden to use the public bath, and various other persecutions were heaped upon them. This official’s brother forced one of the Bahá’ís to go to his home, and there tortured him until he was near death.
"In Zabul a Bahá’í was attacked and beaten at the door of his home. In Zahidán the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds was twice set on fire. In Rúdsar (Gílán) some of the residents boycotted the believers. In Gílán-i-Damávand the residents forced a pioneer to leave, and provoked a near-riot. In Dámghán the chief justice aroused the populace against the Bahá’ís. In Khumín the people posted placards with this text: ‘This proclamation standing for religious faith is being distributed to do away with the evil of the Bahá’ís, who are more abandoned than wild beasts. Any person who has rented them a building should oust them from the premises by force. Otherwise there is no saying what will happen to them at the hands of the community—nor what will happen to any persons who help them either morally or materially or in any other way. The friends of the Bahá’ís are the enemies of Islám and of every other faith. A man showing friendship to them is a man striking at his own roots.’
“Beating their breasts, shouting, brandishing clubs, the populace of Ádhar-Shahr (Ádhirbáyján) mobbed the house of two of the Bahá’ís, carrying off their furniture and other possessions. After some time the local chief of police without the least legal excuse directed the pioneers in writing to leave the town, and forcibly ejected them.
“In Gávgán (Ádhirbáyján) the populace, incited by Mullá Mírzá Ám-Ḥasan and his colleagues mobbed the believers, broke into the house of one of them, threatened the pioneers with death until they were obliged to leave town. In Tabríz, a mob armed with stones, knives and clubs attacked the Bahá’ís of the Marálán quarter, wounding many. In Marághih the house of a Bahá’í was set on fire, by a mob, threatening placards posted, and other persecutions constantly inflicted. In Ásíyábán (Qá’inát), incited by the local mullá and the mujtahid of Bírjand, the residents forbade the Bahá’ís to use the public bath. They broke into, sacked and destroyed the houses of four of the believers, whom they then took to Bírjand and imprisoned. In Sar-Cháh, on the first night of Riḍván, a gang smeared filth on the house of one of the believers. The Bahá’ís of Bírjand were forbidden the use of the public bath and threatening placards were posted on their places of business.
“The Bahá’ís of Bahár (Hamadán) are strictly boycotted. The trees in their orchards are uprooted and their agricultural pursuits interfered with. The same is true in Barzak (Káshán). In Bandar-i-Jaz obscene placards inflaming the populace against the Bahá’ís were posted. In Mubarakih (Iṣfahán) a gang constantly harassed the Bahá’ís; in Sámán a mob sacked the home of two Bahá’ís, and drove them out of town.
“The chief mullá of Abhár, standing in
his pulpit, urged his congregation to attack
the Bahá’ís. In Ṣaghád one of the believers
was severely beaten and the
Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds set on fire, causing
approximately
50,000 ríyáls damage. Police were finally
sent to arrest the ringleaders, but
these were
soon released by a mob which then
manhandled and injured two of the
local Bahá’ís.
In Ábádih a mob attempted to set fire to the
gates of the Ḥadíqatu’r-Rahmán and the
Bahá’í cemetery, breaking the gravestones
[Page 101]
at the latter place, polluting some of the
graves and violating the grave of a child.
"In Iṣfandábád they set fire to the house of one of the believers, then to installations at the Bahá’í cemetery.
“When the National Assembly and its party traveled to Template:Shíráz pioneers at Sháh-Riḍá told them of fresh and intense outbreaks in Ábádih; that the Ḥadíqatu’r-Rahmán (the Administrative center and burial—place of the heads of the Nayríz martyrs) had been set on fire and many of the Friends severely beaten. Reaching Ábádih the Assembly and its party went at once to the place where the attack occurred and found an appalling sight: the gate and a room of the edifice burned away—the furnishings and equipment stolen—partially burned Tablets and relics and Bahá’í papers scattered around the courtyard—a few Bahá’í women and children weeping from shock—in an adjacent house, four persons lying side by side, badly injured and covered with blood.
“What had happened was this: on Urdíbihisht 21, 1323, a gang attacked the business establishment of a Local Assembly member, shouting to him to vacate the premises at once, or be burned to death with all his possessions. He closed the establishment and left. The rabble at once shifted to the store of two other Assembly members, and to the shop of two Bahá’í brothers. At the same time a gang from the bázárs attacked the barber-shop of another believer, threw down his sign, threatened to kill him unless be vacated his shop, caught and beat his brother. The next day (Jamál 15, 101), early in the morning, an enormous uproar and clamor was heard throughout the town. It seemed to shake the very walls of the houses. The bellowing rose to a crescendo. A mob of about 4,000 people, made up of local inhabitants and those from neighboring villages, stormed the Bahá’í center and the hospice adjacent to it.
“The mob, abetted by soldiers, set fire to the gate of the Center, and since it was slow to burn they lost patience, broke down the door with clubs and axes and forced their way into the building. Entering the meeting-room of the Spiritual Assembly they set it on fire with its contents. Then they scattered whatever remained of the furniture through the garden, and smashed whatever was breakable—mirrors, china and the rest. They then carried off some Bahá’í books from the library, burning or tearing up what was left. Three of the Bahá’ís they beat and gouged until the victims were near death.
“Finally the flames and smoke spread through the garden, and a tall pine tree caught fire. The mob receded from the Center, passed over to a neighboring house, sacked it, carried away the contents and then, with a great shouting and chanting poured through the streets and bázárs. Till noon, the flames and smoke of the Bahá’í Center raged over the city. The women of Ábádih went up on their roofs, clapping their hands and singing, and the soldiers at headquarters literally danced for joy.
"Then reports came that the mob was making for Himmatábád to kill the Bahá’ís there and sack their homes. Shrieking and yelling, they besieged the town; by now they were five thousand strong. A band of them broke into the house of a Bahá’í, beating and injuring his son. Attacking the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, they smashed a door, cut down trees, carried away the caretaker’s furniture. At this point the riot was quelled and the crowds scattered. By sunset the ringleaders returned to Ábádih and after this the military government restored the peace.
"In Túsírgán, barber shops and public baths were closed to the Bahá’ís, the believers being proclaimed impure (najis). In Masgar-Ábád, a pioneer was attacked and severely beaten. In Fírúzábád (Fárs) the mullá, urged on by the authorities, so roused the populace against the Bahá’ís that a number of believers were obliged to quit the town for Shíráz.
”When the customs officials in Kirmánsháh burned a number of Bahá’í books, the National Spiritual Assembly wrote the Prime Minister as follows: ‘. . . We are informed that customs officials in certain localities have seized and burned Bahá’í books and sacred objects, on the grounds that they are contrary to religion and morality. Recently the customs bureau in Kirmánsháh burned a great number of Bahá’í books which they had taken from travelers.
"‘The National Spiritual Assembly
[Page 102]
respectfully considers it necessary
to bring to
your attention the fact that Bahá’í
literature proclaims the truth of all
divine religions and affirms all sacred
law, particularly
that of Islám; Bahá’ís are bound by their
religious belief to revere the principles of
Islám, and they demonstrate the truth and
validity of the Prophet to those who deny
Him. Thus a great number of the members
of other faiths—Zoroastrians, Jews,
Christians and others, who, throughout
the world,
have come into the Bahá’í Faith—one and
all, contrary to their previous belief, now
accept Islám and the Prophet Muḥammad,
and desire to visit the holy places of Islám.
No one can become a Bahá’í unless he also
accepts the truth of Islám. Even a cursory
reading of Bahá’í texts will prove these
statements. Therefore, burning Bahá’í books on
the basis of their being contrary to Islám is
truly comparable to burning the glorious
Qur’án and the other holy scriptures. Such
an action by government officials, who
should hardly be a prey to fanaticism, is a
matter of surprise and deep regret. While
Bahá’í literature, which promotes Islám, is
being burned, publications which openly
attack and make a mockery of Islám are given
free entry into the country and are freely
distributed everywhere.
“‘It is therefore requested that an order be given the customs officials to desist from such practices, refrain from seizing Bahá’í literature, and accord such literature the same free entry as is granted to other publications. For the law applies to writings contrary to Islám, not to Bahá’í books, which affirm that Faith. Should anyone have misrepresented this matter, it was due either to lack of information regarding the Bahá’í Faith or to personal bias. . . . Letters to this same effect were sent to the Treasury Department and the head of the Customs, and an interview was held with the American customs adviser, when it was requested that such acts be prohibited henceforth.
“The National Spiritual Assembly has made every effort to protect the Bahá’ís, referring to the Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior, Chief of Police, Head of the Gendarmerie, and other leading government officials, and also to His Majesty himself writing petitions, pleading verbally the cause of these law-abiding and blameless citizens. The sufferers and their kindred, likewise, have made every effort to state their case and ask for justice. Unfortunately as a general rule no favorable result is obtained and as has been seen, the persecutions have not abated.”
The report from Egypt is brief, but discloses an active anti-Bahá’í spirit among certain elements:—
"The opponents were greatly excited by the wonderful progress the Cause made.
“Fanatic elements labored for making disturbances against Bahá’ís. In the capital the instigators caused an attack against the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds whereby the custodian was beaten and his arm was broken.
"Antagonistic movements were also organized in certain localities where small groups of Bahá’ís exist. At Tanta a certain Muslim leader lectured in the mosque against the Bahá’í Faith whereupon masses were stirred up, and circulars were stuck on doors and even on the notice-board of the Railway Station. That movement did not last long at Tanta but it soon flamed in Mehalla-El-Kebira another locality where few Bahá’ís exist.
"Persecutions started violently following a lecture in the mosque to a large attendance.
“Not only circulars were displayed everywhere but also demonstrations continued by day and by night. The situation was grave; but through the providence of Bahá’u’lláh all Bahá’ís were protected.”
The difficulties in America have been due to the action of individuals who, at one time members of the Faith, later failed to meet the test imposed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His testament and made all possible effort to destroy the basis of Bahá’í unity resting in the administrative order He left as legacy to the followers of Baha’u’llah.
The following references are taken from two annual reports of the American Assembly:—
“The National Assembly, representing
the American Bahá’í community, is engaged
in a legal action before the Supreme Court
of the State of New York for the purpose of
preventing the public misuse of the name
‘Bahá’í’ in connection with activities,
including solicitation of funds, publication and
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sale of literature and other activities under
conditions which represent a clear betrayal
of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
repudiation of His station as Center of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant and Interpreter of
Bahá’u’lláh’s text, and definite disobedience
to Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith,
as well as to the recognized administrative
institutions of the Faith in America. At the
moment of writing this report, the
fundamental issues involved have not
been determined by the court. The Bahá’í issues and
principles, however, are truths which stand
steadfast beyond compromise or corruption
in the souls of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh.
In his letter dated April 15, 1940,
for example, the Guardian referred to this
situation as follows:
“ ‘The subtle and contemptible machinations by which the puny adversaries of the Faith, jealous of its consolidating power and perturbed by the compelling evidences of its conspicuous victories, have sought to challenge the validity and misrepresent the character of the Administrative Order embedded in its teachings have galvanized the swelling army of its defenders to arise and arraign the usurpers of their sacred rights and to defend the long-standing strongholds of the institutions of their Faith in their home country.’
“In this connection it is significant to note that even before the passing of the Master and the publication of His Will and Testament, while yet the American community was young, inexperienced, and not fully informed, even then, step by step as can be traced in the three volumes of His Tablets, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá established and steadily developed the law of consultation and unity which is the very essence of the Administrative Order. From the earliest days there has been no excuse for the self-appointed interpreter or the would-be personal leader among the Bahá’ís. We find these stages in the growth of the American Bahá’í community plainly set forth in Tablets which have been available for some thirty years. First, the recognition of the administrative body elected by the Chicago friends and its identification with the institution* ordained by
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*Local House of Justice.
Bahá’u’lláh; second, the instruction that the Bahá’ís of Chicago and New York should consult and make joint decision on certain general Bahá’í matters; third, that the Bahá’ís of Chicago, New York and Washington should similarly consult and make decision; fourth, the recognition of Bahá’í Temple Unity as representative of all groups throughout the United States and Canada; fifth, the revealing of the Tablets now termed America’s Spiritual Mission, in which the conditions of unity and faithfulness are plainly set forth. Finally, we have not only the Master’s succession of Tablets on the meaning of His own Station, but also His action in banishing from the company of the friends of God one who had been close to Him but had betrayed the Master’s trust. The evidence for the true believer is overwhelming; as for those who substitute their own opinion or wish for revealed truth or established authority, we must recall the words of Bahá’u’lláh that the Word of God at the same time kindles the fire of love in the heart of the faithful, and produces the cold of heedlessness in the heart of the denier.
“Legal action was taken in an effort to prevent this public misrepresentation on the part of former Bahá’ís. As was reported to the friends after the final court hearing:
“ ‘In taking this action, the Assembly found that the courts in the United States are not authorized to decide religious questions or to determine what are the true Bahá’í teachings or true application of the teachings. The Assembly was therefore compelled to limit the action to other questions relating to use of the Bahá’í name by the founders of the New History Society in conducting a book shop and collecting contributions. By this action, though limited, the Assembly hoped to prevent the founders of the New History Society from creating the false impression that they are authorized to represent the Bahá’í Cause.
" ‘The court took the view, however, that
the case involved the right to use the name
of a religion and therefore involved a religious
question which could not be decided
by the court. This result prevented the Assembly
from attaining its aim through legal
means, but in no wise affected the essential
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spiritual question of obedience to the basic
laws and principles of the Bahá’í Faith.
“ ‘When, therefore, the New History Society claims legal victory or vindication from this court action, there is no basis for the claim except the refusal of the court to try the case. There was no decision on the merits of the case. The only question in dispute was whether a religious question was involved. The Court’s lack of authority to decide a religious question is in accordance with the doctrine of freedom of worship and was not disputed.’
“The Guardian’s judgment of the matter has already been presented in this report . . . 'the retribution he will in the end suffer will be correspondingly grievous and devastating. Every effort should be made by your Assembly to protect the new believers from the poison which he is trying to instill into their minds and souls, and to reinforce their confidence in his ultimate downfall and complete obliteration.’ ”
A WORLD SURVEY OF THE FAITH
The American Bahá’ís have received from Shoghi Effendi a set of data compiled by the Guardian which defines the international Bahá’í community in 1944, at the end of the first century of the Faith. The following items are reported from that data, and conclude this study of international Bahá’í activity since 1940.
Countries in Which Bahá’ís Have Established Their Residence
1. *Abyssinia
2. Afghánistán
3. *Alaska
4. Albania
5. Arabia
6. *Argentina
7. *Australia
8. *Austria
9. *Bahrayn Island
10. *Balficilistén
11. Belgian Congo
12. Belgium
13. Bolivia
14. *Brazil
15. *Bulgaria
16‘. *Burma
17. *Canada
18. *Caucasus
19. *Chile
20. China
21. *Colombia
22. *Costa Rica
23. *Cuba
24. Czechoslovakia
25. Denmark
26. *Ecuador
27. *Egypt
28. *El Salvador
29. Finland
30. *France
31. *Germany
32. *Great Britain
33. *Guatemala
34. *Haiti
35. *Hawaii Islands
36. Hollander
37. *Honduras
38. Hungary
39. Iceland
40. *India
41. *‘Iráq
42. Ireland
43. Italy
44. *Jamaica
45. *Japan
46. Java
47. *Lebanon
48. *Mexico
49. *New Zealand
50. Nicaragua
51. Norway
52. *Palestine
53. Panama
54. *Paraguay
55. *Persia
56. *Peru
57. *Philippine Islands
58. Poland
59. *Porto Rico
60. Rumania
61. *Russia
62. San Domingo
63. *South Africa
64. South Rhodesia
65. Sudan
66. Sweden
67. Switzerland
68. *Syria
69. Tahiti
70. Tasmania
71. *Transjordania
72. *Tunisia
73. *Turkey
74. *Turkistán
75. *United States of America
76. *Uruguay
77. Venezuela
78. Yugoslavia
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*Local Spiritual Assembly established.
Races Represented in the Bahá’í World Community
1. Abyssinian
2. Albanian
3. Arab
4. Armenian
5. British
6. Bulgarian
7. Burmese
8. Chinese
9. Czech
10. Dutch
11. Eskimo
12. Finnish
13. French
14. German
15. Hungarian
16. Irish
17. Indian
18. Italian
19. Japanese
20. Kurdish
21. Māori
22. Negro
23. Persian
24. Polish
25. Red Indian
26. Russian
27. Scandinavian
28. Spanish
29. Sudanese
30. Turkish
31. Yugoslavia
