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| Bahá’í News | February 1986 | Bahá’í Year 142 |
Communications: Riding
the ‘wave of the future’
Bahá’í News[edit]
Universal House of Justice offers outline of the coming Six Year Plan | 1 |
Radio Bahá’í del Lago Titicaca in Perú celebrates fourth anniversary | 2 |
The communications boom: Challenge, opportunity for Bahá’í Faith | 4 |
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe | 14 |
Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside the U.S.: one year, $14; two years, $24. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment must accompany the order and must be in U.S. dollars. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1986, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
World Centre[edit]
Six Year Plan outlined at Conference[edit]
To the Bahá’ís of the World
Dearly-loved Friends,
The eager expectation with which we welcomed to the World Centre, on 27 December, sixty-four Counsellors from the five continents to discuss, with the International Teaching Centre, the challenges and opportunities facing the Bahá’í world community, has, at the conclusion of their historic Conference, been transmuted into feelings of deepest joy, gratitude and love.
Graced by the presence of the Hands of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, Ugo Giachery, ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan, ‘Alí-Muḥammad Varqá and Collis Featherstone, the Conference was organized and managed with admirable foresight and efficiency by the International Teaching Centre, whose individual members watched over and served untiringly the needs of the participants and the progress of the Conference itself.
Convened in the concourse of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice as the Counsellors of the Bahá’í world entered upon their new five-year term of office, within months of the termination of the Seven Year Plan and the opening of the new Six Year Plan, its aura heightened by the spiritual potencies of the Holy Shrines and the euphoric sense of victory and blessing now pervading the entire Bahá’í world, the Conference attained such heights of consultative exaltation, spirituality and power as only those serving the Blessed Beauty can enjoy.
The organic growth of the Cause of God, indicated by recent significant developments in its life, becomes markedly apparent in the light of the main objectives and expectations of the Six Year Plan: a vast expansion of the numerical and financial resources of the Cause; enlargement of its status in the world; a world-wide increase in the
This new process, whereby the national goals of the next Plan are to be largely formulated by National Spiritual Assemblies and Boards of Counsellors, signalizes the inauguration of a new stage in the unfoldment of the Administrative Order.
production, distribution and use of Bahá’í literature; a firmer and world-wide demonstration of the Bahá’í way of life requiring special consideration of the Bahá’í education of children and youth, the strengthening of Bahá’í family life and attention to universal participation in the spiritual enrichment of individual life; further acceleration in the process of the maturation of local and national Bahá’í communities and a dynamic consolidation of the unity of the two arms of the Administrative Order; an extension of the involvement of the Bahá’í world community in the needs of the world around it; and the pursuit of social and economic development in well-established Bahá’í communities. These are some of the features of the Six Year Plan which will open on 21 April 1986 and terminate on 20 April 1992.
Riḍván 1992 will mark the inception of a Holy Year, during which the Centenary of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh will be observed by commemorations around the world and the inauguration of His Covenant will be celebrated, in the City of the Covenant, by the holding of the second Bahá’í World Congress.
The beloved Counsellors, strengthened and enriched by their experience in the Holy Land, will, as early as possible, consult with all National Spiritual Assemblies on measures to conclude triumphantly the current Plan, and on preparations to launch the Six Year Plan.
In anticipation of those consultations, National Spiritual Assemblies will receive the full announcement of the aims and characteristics of that Plan, so that together with the Counsellors they may formulate the national plans which will, for each community, establish its pursuit of the over-all objectives.
This new process, whereby the national goals of the next Plan are to be largely formulated by National Spiritual Assemblies and Boards of Counsellors, signalizes the inauguration of a new stage in the unfoldment of the Administrative Order. Our beloved Guardian anticipated a succession of epochs during the Formative Age of the Faith; we have no hesitation in recognizing that this new development in the maturation of Bahá’í institutions marks the inception of the fourth epoch of that Age.
Shoghi Effendi perceived in the organic life of the Cause a dialectic of victory and crisis. The unprecedented triumphs, generated by the adamantine steadfastness of the Iranian friends, will inevitably provoke opposition to test and increase our strength.
Let every Bahá’í in the world be assured that whatever may befall this growing Faith of God is but incontrovertible evidence of the loving care with which the King of Glory and His martyred Herald, through the incomparable Centre of His Covenant and our beloved Guardian, are preparing His humble followers for ultimate and magnificent triumph. Our loving prayers are with you all.
January 2, 1986
Perú[edit]
Radio Bahá’í marks fourth anniversary[edit]
On November 23-24, thousands of people came from far and near to enjoy a traditional folkloric festival that marked the fourth anniversary of Radio Bahá’í of Lake Titicaca in the Puno region of Perú.
Seventy-nine folkloric groups performed before a panel of judges in a competition that consisted of four musical categories. The judges represented a number of cultural organizations in the region.
During the two-day festival, hundreds of brightly costumed dancers offered the most beautiful and original of their folklore in an event almost unequaled on a national level in the quantity and diversity of participants and the exhibition of native ancestral dances. Puno is considered the folklore capital of Perú and one of the richest regions culturally on the continent.
The anniversary festival was broadcast in Aymara, Quechua and Spanish, the three languages of the region, and was filmed by a government development agency which is considering making a documentary to be distributed among its offices throughout the country.
On Saturday, before the folkloric competition, 70 runners competed in a 17-kilometer (10 1/2-mile) marathon from the city of Puno to the grounds of Radio Bahá’í. The race is called “El Chaski,” after the Chaskis, couriers of the ancient Incan empire who ran at great speeds for long distances in a sort of express postal system, running the errands of the sovereign amazingly fast. Each of the contestants in the marathon was dressed in clothing typical of the legendary Chaskis.
Meanwhile, on the grounds of the radio station, 12 teams participated in a district-wide volleyball tournament.
Showing off her dancing style is one of the younger performers in the folkloric festival which was a part of the fourth anniversary celebration last November 23-24 of Radio Bahá’í of Lake Titicaca in the Puno area of Perú.
Saturday night, hundreds of people came from the town of Chucuito (where Radio Bahá’í is located) in a spontaneous gesture of affection. The celebration continued until late into the night with dancing, singing and testimonies of love and affection for the station. Warm greetings were sent via Radio Bahá’í to the communities in Chile on the other side of Lake Titi-
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caca.
Although the festival was held during the rainy season, and everyone came prepared for it, the weather was lovely with clear, sunny skies. At noon on Sunday, the Office of Social and Economic Development of Radio Bahá’í was inaugurated in a ceremony at the Muhájir Institute, which is adjacent to the radio station. César Cortés, managing director of Radio Bahá’í, announced the inauguration of the new office, cutting a cake whose inscription read “Development.”
Lunch was served to the invited representatives of development organizations in the region who expressed their admiration at the enthusiastic response of the people. Many said they’d never seen anything like it, and marveled at the capacity of radio to inspire social movement.
During the inauguration ceremony, some of the actors in the Bahá’í theatre group “Pan y Paz” (Bread and Peace) were introduced. This group, consisting of youth in the Puno area, was formed last year. Its members work to promote community development, and have presented two highly successful plays: El Hijo Pródigo (The Prodigal Son), about the migration from villages to cities; and El Retorno del Robachicos (The Return of the Baby-snatcher), which teaches about the prevention and cure of diarrhea in children, a main cause of infant mortality in the region, killing each year about 126 of every thousand children born.
It is worth noting that Radio Bahá’í helps to deepen and spiritualize more than 450 local Spiritual Assemblies in Perú and Bolivia that are within the station’s broadcast range. A new antenna, now being constructed, will increase the station’s transmission area so that Radio Bahá’í will be better able to serve surrounding communities, Bahá’í as well as non-Bahá’í.
Pictured is one of the 70 folkloric groups that performed during the fourth anniversary celebration last November 23-24 for Radio Bahá’í of Lake Titicaca in Chucuito, Perú.
Displaying their trophies (center) are the first- and second-place winners in the 17-kilometer marathon held as a part of the fourth anniversary celebration of Radio Bahá’í of Lake Titicaca in Chucuito, Perú. The race is called ‘El Chaski’ in memory of the Chaskis, who were the long-distance couriers of the ancient Incan empire.
Special report[edit]
Communication: Key to expansion[edit]
The Word—Bahá’u’lláh’s legacy
The legacy of every Manifestation of God has been the Word that He has revealed for the guidance of His followers. In the following passage Bahá’u’lláh speaks of what devolves to the believers as they interact with that Word:
“... O my friend, it behooveth Us to exert the highest endeavour to attain unto that City, ... That city is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation....(In) the dispensation of Him Whom God will make manifest (it is) His own Book—the Book unto which all the Books of former Dispensations must needs be referred, the Book which standeth amongst them all transcendent and supreme. In these cities spiritual sustenance is bountifully provided, and incorruptible delights have been ordained. The food they bestow is the bread of heaven, and the Spirit they impart is God’s imperishable blessing. Upon detached souls they bestow the gift of Unity, enrich the destitute, and offer the cup of knowledge unto them who wander in the wilderness of ignorance. All the guidance, the blessings, the learning, the understanding, the faith, and certitude, conferred upon all that is in heaven and on earth, are hidden and treasured within these Cities.”1
This Word is the Creative Word of God; that Word which has the power to restructure the entire creation. In another
| This article was written by Roger Coe of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who is chairman of the U.S. National Bahá’í Computer and Telecommunications Committee and assistant manager of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly’s electronic mail network. Before assuming his present position, Mr. Coe taught for six years as a homefront pioneer at the Navajo Community College in Tsaile, Arizona. |
passage Bahá’u’lláh speaks of effecting the change of Order with the First Word that He spoke in His capacity as a Manifestation of God:
“I testify that no sooner had the First Word proceeded ... out of His mouth, ... than the whole creation was revolutionized, ... Through that Word the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom, entities of a new creation ...”2
Bahá’u’lláh affirms that each one of the Words He has uttered is endowed with a similar power. He says, “Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed a mother letter, and every word uttered by Him ... is a mother word, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet.”3 And elsewhere, “Every single letter proceeding from Our mouth is endowed with such regenerative power as to enable it to bring into existence a new creation—a creation the magnitude of which is inscrutable to all save God.”4
Notwithstanding the fact that many of these Words had been in use by mankind prior to the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, the fact that they were uttered by the Manifestation of God has endowed them with a unique distinction. Bahá’u’lláh affirms, “The word which the one true God uttereth in this day, though that word be the most familiar and commonplace of terms, is invested with supreme, with unique distinction.”5
Bahá’u’lláh, in His capacity as “the Organizer of the entire planet,”6 has, through His Word, upset the equilibrium of the old order and established the balance of the new World Order. He has invested mankind with a similar capacity by endowing each soul with the power to reflect all the names and attributes of God—including the power of creation. Bahá’u’lláh says, “O My servant! Obey Me and I shall make thee like unto Myself. I say ‘Be,’ and it is, and thou shalt say ‘Be’ and it shall be.”7
In the Lawh-i-Maqsúd, which is found in Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, there is a wonderful and lengthy passage on the importance of words, and their proper use by man:
“No man of wisdom can demonstrate his knowledge save by means of words. This showeth the significance of the Word as is affirmed in all the Scriptures, whether of former times or more recently. For it is through its potency and animating spirit that the people of the world have attained so eminent a position....
“Every word is endowed with a spirit, therefore the speaker or expounder should carefully deliver his words at the appropriate time and place, for the impression which each word maketh is clearly evident and perceptible. The Great Being saith: One word may be likened unto fire, another unto light, and the influence which both exert is manifest in the world. Therefore an enlightened man of wisdom should primarily speak with words as mild as milk, that the children of men may be nurtured and edified thereby and may attain the ultimate goal of human existence which is the station of true understanding and nobility.”8
Let us reflect for a moment on the significance of words in relation to the work we presently do for the Faith. Our basic task as Bahá’ís is twofold: (1) the promulgation of the Word of Bahá’u’lláh, and (2) the establishment of a world-wide culture and civilization based on that Word. The administration of the activities designed to
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achieve these ends is carried out by
bodies whose method is consultation
and whose product is a decision. Both
the process and the content of the administrative agencies of the Faith is
represented in words. But these are not
ordinary words; they are words spoken
for the sake of God, and following the
Order set by Bahá’u’lláh—that is, intending to carry out His Divine Plan.
They are specifically designed to create
a visible effect in the world and in the
hearts of men in accordance with the
laws and principles of Bahá’u’lláh.
The beloved Guardian, in one of his first letters to the American Bahá’í community, spoke of the purpose of the National Spiritual Assembly and specifically connected the accomplishment of that task to the necessity for communication:
“(The National Spiritual Assembly’s) immediate purpose is to stimulate, unify and coordinate by frequent personal consultations, the manifold activities of the friends as well as the local Assemblies; and by keeping in close and constant touch with the Holy Land, initiate measures, and direct in general the affairs of the Cause in that country.”9
During the course of his ministry, besides his one book and his several book-length letters, the Guardian wrote more than 26,000 letters to Assemblies, committees and individuals, expounding upon the Word of Bahá’u’lláh, guiding the friends, and organizing them in the gradual construction of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. In these letters he indicated time and again the importance of communication and urged the friends to focus on the means for communication, as well as the content of what was being said. In a letter he wrote in 1931, which is included in the World Order letters, he quotes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s definitive statement that even the possibility for the achievement of World Order is linked directly to the development of means for communication:
“In cycles gone by, though harmony was established, yet, owing to the absence of means, the unity of all mankind could not have been achieved. Continents remained widely divided, nay even among the peoples of one and the same continent association and interchange of thought were well-nigh impossible. Consequently intercourse, understanding and unity amongst all the peoples and kindreds of the earth were unattainable. In this day, however, means of communication have multiplied, and the five continents of the earth have virtually merged into one.... Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day be achieved.”10
From the following letter it is clear that, even in 1923, the Guardian was tremendously burdened by the correspondence that was so necessary to the
The beloved Guardian, in one of his first letters to the American Bahá’í community, spoke of the purpose of the National Spiritual Assembly and specifically connected the accomplishment of that task to the necessity for communication ...
organization of the work of the Cause, and hoped for a “solution” to the problem:
“I am sure you all realise the seemingly unsurmountable difficulties in the way of individual correspondence with the ever-increasing multitude of Bahá’ís throughout the world, and I need hardly tell you how tremendously difficult it is, and how reluctant I feel, to discriminate at all between the many letters of varying importance which I daily receive from almost every corner of the globe. Realising however that direct and intimate individual correspondence, in some form or other, is most urgent and vital to the interests of the Cause, I am, I assure you, giving it these days again my careful and undivided attention, and pray God that to this problem may soon be found a satisfactory and feasible solution (emphasis added). In the meantime, I wish to emphasise the fact that I eagerly await, and would welcome, and would assuredly have time to peruse, most carefully, and in person, every individual letter you may wish to send me, and my readiness and wish to attend, in the very best way I can, to every matter raised in those letters. No written message, however unimportant, will first be opened and read by any one save myself.”11
In another early letter the Guardian indicates the importance of communication between the various institutions around the world for forging a bond of brotherhood and common purpose.
“They (the Assemblies) must make an effort to maintain official, regular, and frequent correspondence with the various Bahá’í centers throughout the world, report to them their activities, and share the glad-tidings they receive with all their fellow-workers in the Cause.
“They must encourage and stimulate by every means at their command, through subscription, reports and articles, the development of the various Bahá’í magazines, ...”12
The Universal House of Justice, in its Naw-Rúz 1974 message to the Bahá’ís of the world, reiterated the Guardian’s emphasis on the importance of communication and words in general, encouraging the believers to adopt means that are more efficient and rapid:
“(The) dissemination of news and messages, so vital to the knowledge, encouragement and unity of the Bahá’í community, must be made efficient and rapid, and in anticipation of a vast expansion in the number of believers, of Local Spiritual Assemblies, and of localities where Bahá’ís reside a coordinated program of translating and publishing Bahá’í literature with the eventual aim of providing the Sacred Text and the teachings of the Faith to all mankind is to be developed....
“The proclamation of the Faith, following established plans and aiming to use on an increasing scale the facilities of mass communication must be vigorously pursued.”13
We are not only encouraged as individuals to stimulate one another through our letters, magazines and personal communications—consultation is a law that is specifically enjoined upon our administrative bodies. This law is of such importance that Shoghi Effendi has called it “the bedrock of this unique order.”14
The supreme importance of these consultative bodies lies in the fact that in them resides the sole authority for the administration of the affairs of the Faith. No individual in the Bahá’í world has more power or administrative authority than any other individual—all administrative authority is vested in elected bodies whose method of operation is consultation. In the fol-
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lowing passage, Shoghi Effendi indicates the scope of the authority, and
the efficacy of the method, of these
consultative bodies:
“The principle of consultation, which constitutes one of the basic laws of the Administration, should be applied to all Bahá’í activities which affect the collective interests of the Faith, for it is through cooperation and continued exchange of thoughts and views that the Cause can best safeguard and foster its interests. Individual initiative, personal ability and resourcefulness, though indispensable, are, unless supported and enriched by the collective experiences and wisdom of the group, utterly incapable of achieving such a tremendous task.”15
What needs to be done?[edit]
In the promulgation of the Word of Bahá’u’lláh, and in the creation of a new world-wide culture and civilization, the primary tasks that must be accomplished are all concerned with consultation, communication and motivation. But the achievement of these goals also requires knowledge of the Word and its authoritative interpretations, and administrative skill in doing such work as planning, organization, management and monitoring. Knowledge of the principles of Bahá’u’lláh, and skill in consultation and the methods of science, are among the primary requisites for all of these activities.
In one of the Guardian’s early letters to the American Bahá’í community, he spoke of the role in organizing and shepherding the community that would be undertaken by the future International House of Justice, saying that “the Supreme Council ... will guide, organize and unify the affairs of the Movement throughout the world.”16
But it is not necessarily the administrative agencies who do all the work, or, for that matter, even initiate every impetus for the Faith as a whole to move in any particular direction. The individual believer has a not inconsiderable part in this process. In the words of Shoghi Effendi:
“(It is the) individual believer on whom, in the last resort, depends the fate of the entire community. He it is who constitutes the warp and woof on which the quality and pattern of the whole fabric must depend.... Without his support, at once whole-hearted, continuous and generous, every measure adopted, and every plan formulated, by the body which acts as the national representative of the community to which he belongs, is foredoomed to failure.
“The administrative agencies of a divinely conceived Administrative Order at long last erected and relatively perfected stand in dire need of the individual believer to come forward and utilize them with undeviating purpose, serene confidence and exemplary dedication.”17
While it is to every individual believer, as “one of the multitude of bricks which support the structure and assure the stability of the administrative edifice ...”18 that this call is made, it is on the learned, in particular, that a greater responsibility lies. Bahá’u’lláh, in the Lawh-i-Maqsúd, says:
“The man of consummate learning and the sage endowed with penetrating wisdom are the two eyes to the body of mankind. God willing, the earth shall never be deprived of these two greatest gifts.... Please God, the peoples of the world may be led, as the result of the high endeavours exerted by their rulers and the wise and learned amongst men, to recognize their best interests.”19
‘Abdu’l-Bahá adds His injunction:
“It is essential that scholars and the spiritually learned should undertake in all sincerity and purity of intent and for the sake of God alone, to counsel and exhort the masses and clarify their vision with that collyrium which is knowledge.”20
In the concluding passages of The Secret of Divine Civilization, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s treatise on social and political development and the responsibilities of the learned within those arenas, the Master indicates the supreme importance of communication of thought and the proper directing of public opinion as He writes:
“It is therefore urgent that beneficial articles and books be written, clearly and definitely establishing what the present day requirements of the people are, and what will conduce to the happiness and advancement of society. The publication of high thoughts is the dynamic power in the arteries of life; it is the very soul of the world. Thoughts are a boundless sea, and the effects and varying conditions of existence are as the separate forms and individual limits of the waves; not until the sea boils up will the waves rise and scatter their pearls of knowledge on the shore of life.
“Public opinion must be directed toward whatever is worthy of this day, and this is impossible except through the use of adequate arguments and the adducing of clear, comprehensive and conclusive prooofs. For the helpless masses know nothing of the world, and while there is no doubt that they seek and long for their own happiness, yet ignorance like a heavy veil shuts them away from it.”21
Furthermore, He, in that same book, indicates what the collective responsibility of the scholars and the learned is in connection with the structuring and ordering of the affairs of the world:
“In view of the fact that at the present time... fully developed and comprehensively learned individuals are hard to come by, and the government and people are in dire need of order and direction, it is essential to establish a body of scholars the various groups of whose membership would each be expert in one of the aforementioned branches of knowledge (in preceding passages, these are cited as “knowledge of the sacred Scriptures and the entire field of divine and natural science, of religious jurisprudence and the arts of government and the varied learning of the time and the great events of history ...”). This body should with the greatest energy and vigor deliberate as to all present and future requirements, and bring about equilibrium and order.”22
In 1949 the Guardian admonished the believers to work toward “a more profound and co-ordinated Bahá’í scholarship ...,”23 but it seems that we have had some difficulty in carrying out this instruction. Bahá’í scholars and others who study deeply the Writings of the Faith often are spread so far apart from each other that collaboration and coordination is physically and financially impossible. And while the Faith has always had in its ranks scholars and learned individuals, there has not been, until recently, an official administrative channel through which they might efficiently and effectively coordinate their efforts and collaborate in devising solutions to the prob-
[Page 7]
lems facing the Bahá’í community.
Shortly after assuming its duties the Universal House of Justice established its Research Department, and in 1968 made provision for the extension into the future of the functions of the institution of the learned through establishment of the Continental Boards of Counsellors. Five years later the International Teaching Centre was brought into existence. In the mid-1970s the Association for Bahá’í Studies was begun, and within the past year the Boards of Counsellors have received instructions from the House of Justice to assist the community of scholars.
But the communications medium through which these scholars might be convened has not yet been effectively established. The beloved Guardian gave voice to a similar plaint as early in his ministry as 1923; we would do well to hear again his wish and pause to reflect on how we might complete by proxy his long-cherished hope that we work closely with others in establishing the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
“After a long and unbroken silence, it gives me the greatest joy to be enabled to correspond again with my dearly-beloved co-workers of the National Spiritual Assembly.
“Your three letters ... have been safely received, and to each I have given my earnest and fullest attention. Their perusal which reflects only a certain amount of your activities together with the study of the enclosed communications and circulars and of the detailed and admirable report of the proceedings of the Annual Convention have all served to heighten my admiration for the thoroughness, the ability, and the devotion with which you are conducting the affairs of the Cause of God in that land.
“How often I have wished and yearned to be nearer to the field of your activities and thus be able to keep in a more constant and closer touch with every detail of the manifold and all-important services you render. I cherish the hope that erelong the facilities in the means of communication and transport will serve to draw us still nearer to one another, and fulfill, though partially, this long-desired wish.”24
The efficacy of consultation in connection with working together on projects is clearly set forth in the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“The purpose of consultation is to show that the views of several individuals are assuredly preferable to one man, ... Thus consultation ... hath been enjoined upon the believers, so that they may confer upon ordinary and personal matters, as well as on affairs which are general in nature and universal.
“For instance, when a man hath a project to accomplish, should he consult with some of his brethren, that which is agreeable will of course be investigated and unveiled to his eyes, and the truth will be disclosed; ... the members of each profession, such as in industry, should consult, and those in commerce should similarly consult on business affairs. In short, consultation is desirable and acceptable in all things and on all issues.”25
“Settle all things, both great and small, by consultation. Without prior consultation, take no important step in your own personal affairs. Concern yourselves with one another. Help along one another’s projects and plans.”26
The task ahead of the Bahá’í world is the most monumental undertaking that has ever confronted any group of people throughout all of recorded history. It is a task that is not only going to require study, research and deepening on the part of a great many scholars, it is going to require that all of that work be coordinated and systematized.
This task, in brief, is none other than the organization and management of the entire range of human and material resources around the world for the benefit of all mankind. In The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, Shoghi Effendi has given us a vision of the pattern of this future society:
“A mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect regularity. A world metropolis will act as the nerve center of a world civilization, the focus towards which the unifying forces of life will converge and from which its energizing influences will radiate.... In such a world society, science and religion, the two most potent forces in human life, will be reconciled, will cooperate, and will harmoniously develop.... The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war ... will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions and technical development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, ... to the extension of scientific research, ... to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race.”27
This passage was written in 1939, in the dark beginnings of a World War and at a time when few had ever even dreamed of such prospects, yet here is a clear and definite anticipation of the communications system that our modern scientific age has made a reality. And is this not a major miracle? It was only 100 years ago from the present date that Bahá’u’lláh, seeking to impress upon Nabíl-i-Akbar the wonders of past ages, set forth as an example the achievement of Martos, who “invented an apparatus which transmitted sound over a distance of sixty miles,”28
These inventions and discoveries are not happenstance. The Plan of God requires the means for its implementation, and the Word of Bahá’u’lláh has unleashed the potentiality for all of the necessary sciences and technologies to come into existence. Adib Taherzadeh, in volumes I and III of his series, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, speaks at length of the connection between the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and the developments in the communications sciences:
“Since the appearance of the Báb,
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man’s advances in both material and
spiritual civilization have been prodigious. The unprecedented increase in
scientific discoveries has, within a
short period of time, established a marvelous system of communication
throughout the world, which is of the
utmost significance if we are to evaluate correctly the plan of God for mankind.
“The diffusion of the light of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the entire planet and the proclamation of its Message on a global scale could be realized only at a time when the peoples of the world are able to communicate easily with one another. Without a world-wide system of communication linking all humanity together, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh have been impractical and ineffective. For this is a Faith whose basic teachings revolve around the principle of the oneness of mankind. Its message is universal and its aim is to establish a spiritual world order for all who dwell on earth.
“In the early days of the Faith in Persia, many believers could not visualize the manner in which the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh would reach the remote corners of the earth. The only way of traveling known to them was by walking or riding a donkey or a mule. The question which puzzled them most was how they could cover such long distances to teach the Cause. At that time no one could have offered a solution except to say that God would create the means. But the Báb had stated that mankind should establish a system of swift communications so that the news of the coming of ‘Him Whom God shall make manifest’ could reach the whole world.
“Now this has happened, and within such a short period a miraculous scientific revolution has taken place. Today the world has become one world. Man can communicate with the speed of light and travel faster than sound. The Báb had indeed ushered in a new era in human knowledge, paving the way for the coming of Bahá’u’lláh....”29
“Bahá’u’lláh affirms (in the Súriy-i-Haykal) that through the outpouring of knowledge from the heart of the Haykal, He will soon raise up scientists of great calibre, who will bring about such marvelous technological achievements that no one can as yet imagine them. This prophecy of Bahá’u’lláh has already been fulfilled—and this is only the beginning....
“The technological developments which have taken place in the field of communications since the advent of the Báb bear ample testimony to this. As the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh grew, the means of communication kept pace with it.
“... In surveying the progress of their Faith, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh have seen that whenever the propagation of the Faith or the building of its Administrative Order needed some new material means, they were miraculously provided in time. Some of the new inventions which have played a vital part in the development of the Faith have come about just in time to serve a particular need. To cite one example of many: Bahá’u’lláh revealed many Tablets, Epistles and Books which, if compiled, would produce about one hundred volumes. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s writings are no less in range. The Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá contain, among other things, teachings both spiritual and social, laws, exhortations and explanations about many subjects including man, the purpose of his life and his relationship to God. Added to these are the voluminous writings of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith. In addition to his famous works, he has written no less than 26,000 letters, some of them so lengthy that they warranted being printed in the form of a book. His writings contain invaluable guidance which, as the authorized interpreter of the Words of Bahá’u’lláh, he has given to the Bahá’í world. It can be seen therefore that the Bahá’í Holy Writings are enormous in range and contain matters of vital interest for all humanity.
“When the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Bahá’í community, came into being in 1963, one of the most essential needs was the collating of all the Writings of the Central Figures of the Faith and the making of a comprehensive index of all the subjects they contained. This was a vital necessity for the supreme institution of the Faith which had to have access to each and every subject recorded in these Writings, so that it could guide the Bahá’í community in accordance with the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and also legislate whenever feasible on matters which are not explicitly mentioned in these Writings.
“Up until the formation of the Universal House of Justice, it was impossible even to attempt to make this comprehensive index. Such a colossal undertaking, involving the provision of a detailed list of every subject within such a vast range of writings, would not have been a practical proposition given the small size of the Bahá’í community because of the non-existence of technological aids at that time. The invention of these aids, such as photocopiers and electronic processors, and their commercial use, were almost synchronized with the birth of the Supreme Body of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. And this vital task was undertaken. Had it not been for this timely development, insignificant as it may seem today, it is difficult to imagine how the Universal House of Justice could have discharged its sacred functions in the Bahá’í world effectively, bearing in mind that prior to taking every major decision, the Supreme Body has to refer to the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi and to take into consideration their words which have a bearing on the subject.”30
Norbert Wiener, the chief founder of the science of cybernetics—that is, the science of control and communication—foresaw many of the possibilities that were inherent in the advent of the communication and information sciences. In his book, The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society, written in 1950, he says:
“... Communications in society ... (is) the cement which binds its fabric together.” 31
“... The integrity of the channels of internal communication is essential to the welfare of society.”32
“With the airplane and the radio the word of the rulers extends to the ends of the earth, and very many of the factors which previously precluded a World State have been abrogated. It is even possible to maintain that modern communication, which forces us to adjudicate the international claims of different broadcasting systems and different airplane nets, has made the World State inevitable.”33
While the presently available technology in the communications industry
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is extremely useful in and of itself, it
takes on an even greater significance
and facility when it is fused with present technological advances that have
been made available to humanity from
the information processing sciences.
The result of this fusion is the creation
of a new information environment
which already has had tremendous societal impact—yet society has not even
begun to tap the deeper potential of
this environment. The World Order of
Bahá’u’lláh will, through fusion of the
communication and information processing technologies, have tremendous
“ordering capabilities” at hand
through which the management of the
world can be accomplished.
At this point it is important to say something about the connection and relationship which the philosophy and theory of the information processing sciences have to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. “Information” is a word that has been in the English language for some time, but heretofore it has meant little more than “a collection of facts.” Bahá’u’lláh, however, as quoted in Note 5 above, says that the Words He has uttered have been invested with a new spirit, even those words that once were the most familiar and commonplace of terms. Information is one such word, one that has been invested with tremendous significance in the most fundamental manner. The new way in which scientists and philosophers conceive of information has implications for the very structure of the philosophy of the way in which we perceive the nature of reality. (For more information from the realm of science and philosophy, the reader is referred to Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity, by Gregory Bateson; The Turning Point, by Fritz Capra; and The Human Use of Human Beings, by Norbert Wiener.)
In God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi speaks of some of the more important Tablets from the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh. One of those he mentions is the Lawh-i-Hikmat (Tablet of Wisdom), which can be found in Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh. Shoghi Effendi says that in this Tablet Bahá’u’lláh “sets forth the fundamentals of true philosophy.”34
Besides a wealth of other implications in this Tablet which relate to the importance of information, pattern and order, one will see that Bahá’u’lláh invokes God in the name of the “All-Informed” a great many times throughout the Tablet. In fact, of all the Names of God used in this Tablet, there is only one—the All-Wise—that is used more often.
What is “information”? And what is its importance to us here? Daniel Bell, a Harvard professor of sociology and chief protagonist of the new information society, defines information relative to data and knowledge. Data, he says, is discrete fact at the most
The unprecedented increase in scientific discoveries has, within a short period of time, established a marvelous system of communication ... which is of the utmost significance if we are to evaluate correctly the Plan of God for mankind.
basic level, whereas “information is a pattern or design that rearranges data for instrumental purposes, while knowledge is the set of reasoned judgments that evaluates the adequacy of the pattern for the purposes for which the information is designed. Information is thus pattern recognition, subject to reorganization by the knower, in accordance with specified purposes.”35
With the development of electronic data processing technology, we now have the capacity to store and retrieve discrete data that is arranged in an informational pattern, whether as an indexed data base, or in a form representing a logical structure, or a sequence of logical structures, e.g., a computer program, and to manipulate that data in accordance with these patterns at tremendously rapid rates. Because electronic data processors operate on the basis of a difference between one state and another—i.e., 0 (zero) or 1 (one), which have no inherent meaning, they only indicate difference—they can process information using the processes of binary arithmetic. By setting up data in logical structures in terms of Boolean algebra, a rich and varied logic is made available for manipulation at computational speeds approaching the speed of light. Central processing units found in the common personal computers in many of our homes are routinely capable of performing more than two million arithmetic operations a second.
I feel that it is important to note here the correlation between the processes of electronic data processors and the fundamental nature of the contingent world as defined by Bahá’u’lláh. He has identified the qualities of “distinction, differentiation, temporal limitations, characteristics and standards”36 as being fundamental to the nature of the contingent world—the world of names and attributes. In translating “that which hath been written into reality and action,”37 scientists have discovered applications for some of the most fundamental processes of the contingent world and have brought into being a technology that will be of tremendous benefit to all of mankind.
The fusion of these capabilities with the communications technologies has created the capacity, for the first time in history, for the rational organization and management of the affairs of the world from a “nerve center” that has a rich and abundant communicational path to each of the various organs and centers in the body of the world.
In commenting on the potential of this capacity, Professor Bell has said that the “methodological promise of the second half of the 20th century is the management of organized complexity ...”38 Can we imagine a more complex management problem than the mandate Bahá’u’lláh has given to the Universal House of Justice? I think not—and it is precisely for this reason that Bahá’ís, and especially Bahá’í administrators, scholars and the learned, must step into this realm of management and do so quickly, with full consciousness of the implications of what they are doing.
In a rather abstrusely worded passage in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, Shoghi Effendi indicates that if we would use “the facilities which modern scientific progress has placed at the service of humanity in our time” we would find the task of achieving “the unification of all mankind” to be “infinitely less complex” than the “problem of welding the American states into a single federation” during the founding of our Republic.39 As the promulgation of the Word and the ordering of society are our primary tasks, are not the communication and infor-
[Page 10]
mation technologies heavily implicated?
In another passage, the Guardian says, “The Bahá’ís should not always be the last to take up new and obviously excellent methods but rather the first, as this agrees with the dynamic nature of the Faith which is not only progressive, but holds within itself the seeds of an entirely new culture and civilization.”40
The Guardian also indicates that one of the purposes of Bahá’u’lláh in designing such flexibility into the structure of the Administrative Order is so that “whatever is deemed necessary to incorporate into (the machinery of the Cause) in order to keep it in the forefront of all progressive movements, (could) be safely embodied therein ...”41
What are these “new and excellent methods,” these gifts of “modern scientific progress,” that I am proposing we incorporate into the machinery of the Cause to reduce the complexity of the task of achieving the unification of mankind? And how are they so different from what has been available from science in the past?
The prospects for the advancement of the work of the Cause in light of recent and anticipated scientific and technological advances are truly incredible. In the past few years there has been established a world-embracing satellite-based communications network that functions with “marvelous swiftness and perfect regularity”; there has been a continual drop in the ratio between computing power and cost; an ever-increasing volume of information is being stored in ever smaller storage units; there has been a wide-ranging decentralization of information-processing power with the proliferation of personal computers in the homes of ordinary citizens; and amazing developments in all areas of computer programming have taken place that are so wide-ranging and remarkable as only those who are at once aware of the future world society predicted by the Central Figures of the Faith, and who are actively staying abreast of the whole range of developments in the fields of computers and telecommunications, can adequately appreciate.
The ramifications of the scientific and technical achievements in information-processing and in the means of communication have the potential to influence every aspect of Bahá’í life and work, but most significantly the arena of the administration of the Faith. The Word of Bahá’u’lláh has established a new Order in the world of being; the structural basis of this Order is the Administrative Order of the Faith whose functions are to propagate the Word of Bahá’u’lláh, maintain unity among the body of the believers, and guide the corporate body of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh into an efflorescent civilization based upon His teachings.
The work of maintaining unity of action and unity of belief in guiding the community gradually into the future is primarily a work that involves communication, organization and management, and each of these areas has, in particular, felt in great measure the impact of the fusion of the communication and information-processing sciences.
Perhaps the most significant development, to the author’s mind, is the possibility of linking the personal computer in one’s home with any other personal or corporate computer simply by using the telephone system. This, together with conferencing software that can facilitate one-to-many communications, bears the possibility of increasing in a revolutionary way the quality and quantity of the communications capacity of the Faith as a whole.
In the early days of the Faith, as Mr. Taherzadeh has pointed out, the teachers of the Faith walked from place to place or rode donkeys or mules. The Word which had been revealed was laboriously copied by hand by scribes who were in the service of Bahá’u’lláh. Later, many of these precious Tablets were translated into other languages and began to make their way out into the spreading Bahá’í community. It is widely known that in America copy after copy was typed by hand with as many carbons as the typewriter would carry. Gradually, as money became available, the books and prayers of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were printed. Magazines, such as Star of the West, were brought into being to provide a reasonably current channel for the communications of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. As the technology of the telegraph became more widespread throughout the world, the beloved Guardian made increasing use of that facility. According to Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, in The Priceless Pearl:
“Since the inception of his ministry Shoghi Effendi had increasingly used the medium of telegrams and cablegrams, not only because they saved time but because, as he explained to me, of their psychological effect; a cable conveys a sense of urgency and drama and is often a better way of driving home one’s point.”42
In the nearly 30 years since the passing of Shoghi Effendi, science and technology seem to have outdone themselves. We now have available for our use a vast array of technological, and even “conceptual,” devices by means of which we can “process the Word of Bahá’u’lláh” and communicate quite rapidly with one another—and to a tremendously abundant degree.
By way of illustrating how presently available technology might be used in service to the Faith, I will sketch briefly the outline of a very real problem that we as Bahá’ís will face in the very near future and attempt to show how utilization of this technology would decrease the complexity of meeting the challenge. Of course, this scenario assumes that these technical aids would already be in use by the administrative agencies of the Faith—something we have yet to accomplish in a widespread manner.
In Citadel of Faith, the Guardian maps out certain stages in the growth of the Faith and ends by saying: “... the entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the Bahá’í world ... will be the prelude to that long awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations and races, and as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in nature, ... will suddenly revolutionize the fortunes of the Faith, derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.”43
What will we do when, for every one of us, there are more than 1,000 souls to educate in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh? How can we meet the challenge of organizing and training the Spiritual As-
[Page 11]
semblies? Of insuring that each Assembly has the guidance it needs to assist
both its internal community and the
larger community in all aspects of social development?
The scenario begins[edit]
As it became increasingly apparent that the fortunes of the Faith in America were about to be revolutionized, the members of the National Spiritual Assembly consulted among themselves via the computer conferencing service that had been leased from a major university using the communicating word processors the Assembly had recently purchased. After availing itself of the guidance at hand from Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice, the National Spiritual Assembly decided to convene a full-time advisory task force that would be charged with organizing a suitable approach to the problem which was soon to come up.
The task force would have at its disposal the facilities of the recently completed integrated data base of the writings of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and the letters and other messages from the Universal House of Justice. (The communications that had been sent to the American Bahá’í community from itself over the past 70 years had not been placed in the larger data base, as the National Assembly felt the need to have them organized so that a comprehensive review of its past decisions could be performed when time permitted.)
Scholars of the Faith had already begun preliminary organizational work on the data base, which had been put into the computer-readable format, by scanning all of the extant writings of the Faith with the newly purchased optical character reader. Complete concordances of all the writings were being printed as fast as the laser printer could turn them out. Several research teams composed of scholars from across the country who consulted with one another via the same computer conferencing network used by the National Spiritual Assembly were each experimenting with various conceptual methods of organizing, outlining and indexing the writings. As the personal computers which these scholars had in their homes did not have enough memory capacity to hold all of the writings in a single, easily manipulated data base, the research teams had been organized by the Association for Bahá’í Studies to experiment with different ways of conceiving the “knowledge base” of the writings with a view toward eventually having an “expert system” that could be consulted on-line by any individual, Assembly or committee with a question that needed resolution in light of all of the authorized texts of the Faith. Time with the new large computer at the National Center had been allocated to each of these groups—after working together among themselves on the conferencing network from their separate homes they would submit their organizational schemes directly to the data base after office hours when the computer would have ample time to process the writings according to their scheme. They could each see the results when they logged onto the system the next evening.
These scholars were fortunate to have the contributions of the beloved Guardian to guide their works, which, above all, consisted of: “... a masterly orientation of thought towards the concepts enshrined in the teachings of the Faith and the orderly classification of those teachings into what might well be described as a vast panoramic view of the meaning, implications, destiny and purpose of the religion of Bahá’u’lláh, indeed of religious truth itself in its portrayal of man as the apogee of God’s creation, evolving towards the consummation of his development—the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.”44
Meanwhile, the advisory task force, which was composed of a multi-disciplinary team of Bahá’ís, had outlined the task ahead by using an “idea organizer” or “outlining program” on the personal computer in their conference room. They knew they were organizing for a time in the future when the material resources of the Faith would be increased, but the organization and preparation to meet that time had to take place within the present budgetary limits.
As an appropriate approach to the challenge began to take shape, the project was planned with clear-cut goals and all of the necessary milestones, objectives and time lines fixed in place to meet those goals. The task was made much clearer to everyone by using the project management software that was running on the office personal computer. The critical path had been determined, and by using the electronic spreadsheet the presently available funds had been juggled such that the National Assembly would have to increase the annual contributions goal by only 17 per cent during the coming year. Within three weeks, the plan was presented to the National Spiritual Assembly at a meeting called especially for that purpose.
Obviously, there was much work left to do—organization is one thing, and very important, but there were tutorials to be designed for the on-line computerized data bases that would be set up. Much of the work depended on the rational organization of the integrated data bases the scholars were working on—and as much of the technology was relatively new, there was much to learn and a lot of testing that had to be done.
Nevertheless, several aspects of the work stood out clearly and work could begin on them right away. The Teaching Committee had to make plans to expand the membership data base in such a way as to monitor the educational progress of the newly enrolled believers. The Business and Professional Affairs Committee had to target certain notable people and issue a call to the general community for help in organizing a portfolio of interests, susceptibilities and inhibiting factors for each of those targeted. It also needed to identify individual Bahá’ís who could call upon those people to proclaim the Faith to them. Meanwhile,
[Page 12]
data processing already was at work
preparing the system for the input and
update of membership information
from the field generated by District
Teaching Committees. The Bahá’í
schools, which had permanent staff
onboard, had been consulting for some
time on the computer conferencing network about the coordination of Bahá’í
scholarship—there were certain priorities that had been identified in relation to the challenge at hand, and the schools had organized research teams
composed of the scholars they knew
and had solicited help from other Bahá’ís through The American Bahá’í to
begin the needed research.
Since the National Convention had begun meeting year round on the conferencing network, the National Spiritual Assembly had a tremendous resource pool of deepened believers available for consultation at a moment’s notice—and the Convention never adjourned!
The Counsellors and Auxiliary Board members also were busy, consulting with the National Assembly, advising local Spiritual Assemblies, conferring with individual Bahá’ís, and in general monitoring the rapid development of the national community they protect and serve.
The Social and Economic Development Committee had established contacts within and outside the Bahá’í community in preparation for establishing an “electronic peace corps” that would consist of technical experts from all areas of science, business and social services who would be on call over the conferencing net in the event their particular expertise was needed.
Meanwhile, the Publishing Trust had begun duplicating volumes of the various Bahá’í works on computer diskettes that would then be sold to the friends so they could work on making compilations, doing research and, in general, deepening their knowledge of the Faith. The word processing programs the friends had in their personal computers at home gave them the capability they needed to “process the Word” so as to make it more accessible to seekers, the study groups they had organized, etc.
And all of this was being done by the rank and file Bahá’ís. For years the National Spiritual Assembly had dreamed of a system that would allow it to make rapid and efficient use of all of the energy and competence that exists in the rank and file of the believers, as Shoghi Effendi had said that this is “the first quality for leadership both among individuals and Assemblies.”45 This potential was now made manifest because of the establishment of an effective communications infrastructure that provided the possibility for Bahá’ís, no matter where they lived, no matter how little they could travel for
The word processing programs the friends had in their personal computers at home gave them the capability they needed to ‘process the Word’ so as to make it more accessible to seekers, the study groups they had organized, etc.
the Faith, no matter how tied down they were in their professional or personal lives, to consult together in doing research and development on projects that were needed by the Faith and whose priority had been clearly identified by the National Spiritual Assembly.
... Thus ends the scenario.
The challenges that lie ahead of us are of such magnitude that the only way we are going to be able to meet them is to work together—to coordinate the work with common goals and clear objectives in mind. It is now possible to do this with present technology if we but heed the Guardian’s advice about using those things that modern scientific progress has given to humanity.
“... The world, (is) contracted and transformed into a single highly complex organism by the marvellous progress achieved in the realm of physical science, (and) by the world-wide expansion of commerce and industry ...”46
The Guardian has given us the task of establishing the nucleus of “A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, ...”47
This is the task of the Universal House of Justice and its sustaining pillars, the National Spiritual Assemblies. We have long known the promise, but have only been able to wonder how this might be accomplished. Now, with the construction of the “mechanism of world inter-communication” and the development of information-processing tools that allow for automation of the necessary conceptual processes of the organization and management of such a complexity, aspects of the methodology for the accomplishment of this paramount task are being unveiled to the eyes of the Bahá’í world.
America as a whole has been blessed by Bahá’u’lláh. Much of the technology we take for granted is not even a dream in the minds of millions of people around the world. Yet these are the very mechanisms that will provide the means for the unification of mankind. Shoghi Effendi referred to the unique challenge America faces when he wrote:
“The world is moving on. Its events are unfolding ominously and with bewildering rapidity.... The New World (America) is being insensibly drawn into its vortex.... The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are, with every acceleration in the march of science, steadily shrinking into mere channels. The Great Republic of the West finds itself particularly and increasingly involved.... The world is contracting into a neighborhood. America, willingly or unwillingly, must face and grapple with this new situation. For purposes of national security, let alone any humanitarian motive, she must assume the obligations imposed by this newly created neighborhood. Paradoxical as it may seem, her only hope of extricating herself from the perils gathering around her is to become entangled in that very web of international association which the Hand of an inscrutable Providence is weaving.”48
- Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude, tr. Shoghi Effendi, 2d ed. (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1950), pp. 199-200.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Prayers and Meditations, tr. Shoghi Effendi (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1938), pp. 295-96.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, tr. Shoghi Effendi, rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1952), p. 142.
- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of
- Bahá’u’lláh, rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1955), p. 107.
- ibid., p. 104.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970), p. 93.
- Bahá’u’lláh, The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, tr. Ali-Kuli Khan (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1952), p. 60.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, tr. Habib Taherzadeh, 1st ed. (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978), pp. 172-73.
- Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration, rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1968), p. 39.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 38-39.
- Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny (London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1981), pp. 16-17.
- Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration, p. 38.
- Letter from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world, Naw-Rúz 1974, in The Five Year Plan (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974), p. 5.
- Shoghi Effendi, comp. by Research Dept. of the Universal House of Justice, Consultation: A Compilation (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1980), p. 15.
- ibid.
- Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration, p. 39.
- Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1965), pp. 130-31.
- ibid., p. 130.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 171.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization, tr. Marzieh Gail, 2d. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970), p. 39.
- ibid., pp. 109-10.
- ibid., p. 37.
- Shoghi Effendi, comp. by Research Dept. of the Universal House of Justice, The Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1983), p. 49.
- Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration, pp. 52-53.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Consultation: A Compilation, pp. 8-9.
- ibid., p. 9.
- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 203-4.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 150.
- Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh: Baghdad 1853-63, Vol. 1, rev. ed. (Oxford: George Ronald, 1975), pp. 216-17.
- Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh: ‘Akká, the Early Years, 1868-77, Vol. 3 (Oxford: George Ronald, 1983), pp. 137-40.
- Norbert Wiener, The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society (New York: Avon Books, 1954), p. 39.
- ibid., p. 179.
- ibid., pp. 124-25.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 219.
- Daniel Bell, “The Social Framework of the Information Society,” in The Microelectronics Revolution, ed. Tom Forester, 1st ed. (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1981), p. 509.
- Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 178.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 250.
- Daniel Bell, op. cit., p. 503.
- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 45.
- From a letter dated May 5, 1946, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual Bahá’í, in Design for Victory: 1976-1979 (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976), p. 13.
- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 22-23.
- Rúhíyyih Rabbani, The Priceless Pearl (London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1969), p. 225.
- Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 117.
- Rúhíyyih Rabbani, op. cit., pp. 226-27.
- From a letter dated August 30, 1930, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the U.S. and Canada, in The Local Spiritual Assembly, comp. the Universal House of Justice (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust), p. 22.
- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 47.
- ibid., p. 204.
- Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1963), pp. 73-74.
West Germany[edit]
Judy Rafat, a pioneer from Canada to West Germany, recently had the opportunity as a professional singer-guitarist to perform on television in West Germany and Luxembourg. Also, she was interviewed on radio in Germany about her music and the Bahá’í Faith. Her new album, ‘The Dawn of a New Day’ (available from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust in West Germany), features a prayer revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and other music with Bahá’í content. She has been performing in concert, and via extensive press coverage has been able to spread the spirit and ideas of the Faith in West Germany. She is presently working with other Bahá’í musicians on a new recording for the International Year of Peace.
The world[edit]
Governments receive peace statement[edit]
As of January 3, the Universal House of Justice’s peace statement, “The Promise of World Peace,” had been presented to more than 70 heads of state, to a great many leaders of political, academic, religious, national and international organizations, and to royalty.
Among heads of state who subsequently responded in writing were those of Colombia, Switzerland, France, Denmark and the Marshall Islands, while many reports quoted the recipients’ appreciation on receiving the statement.
Among the members of royalty who have received “The Promise of World Peace” is Prince Mikasa of Japan who read and discussed it at length during a friendly meeting with a two-member Bahá’í delegation.
A warm welcome to the representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly was also given by King Taufaahau IV of Tonga at a full traditional ceremony during which he was presented the peace statement.
In the U.S., President Reagan received the statement December 10 from the National Spiritual Assembly during the annual Human Rights Week observance in Washington.
Mr. Reagan’s comments during the ceremony concerning the situation of Bahá’ís in Iran were heard around the world via radio broadcasts on the BBC and the Voice of America.
Earlier, on November 22, UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar accepted a copy of the document from the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, the House of Justice’s representative, at UN headquarters in New York City.
Direct presentations to heads of state since the House of Justice’s first report in November included those in Alaska, the Bahamas, Botswana, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Guatemala, the Republic of Ireland, Israel, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Togo, Tonga, Transkei, Trinidad and Tobago, the Virgin Islands, the U.S., Western Samoa and Zimbabwe.
In addition, “indirect” presentations were made in Belgium, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Guadeloupe, Kampuchea, Macao, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The Bahamas[edit]
His Excellency Sir Gerald Cash, the Governor General of the Bahamas (second from right), was presented a copy of the peace statement last October 24 by a delegation of three members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahamas. The Governor General expressed great pleasure in receiving the Bahá’í delegation and the message of the Universal House of Justice.
Austria[edit]
Dr. Rudolf Kirchschlaeger, the President of Austria (second from right), receives the peace statement from a three-member delegation comprised of members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Austria. The presentation was made in October 1985.
Grenada[edit]
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Grenada present the Universal House of Justice’s peace statement, ‘The Promise of World Peace,’ to Sir Paul Scoon (left), the Governor General of Grenada, during a ceremony last October 24.
Guatemala[edit]
Guatemala’s head of state, Gen. Oscar Humberto Mejia V. (third from left), receives a five-member Bahá’í delegation who presented him last October 24 with a special copy of ‘The Promise of World Peace.’
India[edit]
His Excellency Giani Zail Singh (left), the President of India, accepts a portrait of the model of the Mother Temple of the Indian Subcontinent from R.N. Shah, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India. Mr. Singh met with a three-member Bahá’í delegation last October 28 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, the official residence of the President, to receive a special copy of the Universal House of Justice’s statement ‘The Promise of World Peace.’ Besides Mr. Shah, the delegation consisted of Counsellor Zena Sorabjee and another member of the National Spiritual Assembly, Jagdish Gandhi.
The President of India, Giani Zail
Singh, receives a copy of the peace
statement from Counsellor Zena Sorabjee. The presentation was made last
October 28.
Papua New Guinea[edit]
Sir Kingsford Dibela (right), the Governor General of Papua New Guinea, accepts the peace statement from Auxiliary Board member Lundeng Capenias on United Nations Day, October 24, 1985, at the Governor General’s official residence in Port Moresby.
Trinidad/Tobago[edit]
On October 24, the Universal House of Justice’s peace statement ‘The Promise of World Peace’ was presented to His Excellency Ellis Clarke (second from left), President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, by a three-member Bahá’í delegation consisting of (left to right) Dr. Harry Collymore, Auxiliary Board member Shahnaz Jamalabadi, and Mansingh Amarsingh. (Photo by Arthur Lee)
George Chambers (right), the Prime
Minister of the Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago, receives a copy of the
peace statement ‘The Promise of
World Peace’ from Auxiliary Board
member Shahnaz Jamalabadi as Bahá’ís (left to right) Mansingh Amarsingh and Dr. Harry Collymore look
on. The presentation was made last October 24. Mr. Chambers promised to
read the statement with interest and
thanked the Bahá’ís for presenting it to
him. (Photo by Arthur Lee)
Republic of Ireland[edit]
On October 31, a three-member Bahá’í delegation presented a special copy of ‘The Promise of World Peace’ to His Excellency Dr. Patrick J. Hillery (second from left), the President of the Republic of Ireland. Making the presentation on behalf of the Universal House of Justice were (left to right) Dr. Seosamh Watson, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Republic of Ireland; Vivienne Bogan; and Patrick O’Mara, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly. A wide-ranging discussion with the President touched on the basic principles of the Faith, the admission of Bahá’í refugees from Iran, and the role of religion in society.
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