Dearly loved friends,
On 28 November 1971 the
Bahá'í World will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Passing of
'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Centre of the Covenant, the Ensign of the Oneness of Mankind,
the Mystery of God, an event which signalized at once the end of the Heroic Age
of our Faith, the opening of the Formative Age and the birth of the
Administrative Order, the nucleus and pattern of the World Order of
Bahá'u'lláh. As we contemplate the fruits of the Master's Ministry harvested
during the first fifty years of the Formative Age, a period dominated by the
dynamic and beloved figure of Shoghi Effendi, whose life was dedicated to the
systematic implementation of the provisions of the Will and Testament of
'Abdu'l-Bahá and of the Tablets of the Divine Plan -- the two charters provided
by the Master for the administration and the teaching of the Cause of God - we
may well experience a sense of awe at the prospect of the next fifty years.
That first half-century of the Formative Age has seen the Bahá'í Community grow
from a few hundred centres in 35 countries in 1921, to over 46,000 centres in
135 independent states and 182 significant territories and islands at the
present day, has been marked by the raising throughout the world of the
framework of the Administrative Order, which in its turn has brought
recognition of the Faith by many governments and civil authorities and
accreditation in consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations, and has witnessed the spread to many parts of the world of that
"entry by troops" promised by the Master and so long and so eagerly anticipated
by the friends.
A new horizon, bright
with intimations of thrilling developments in the unfolding life of the Cause
of God, is now discernible. The approach to it is complete victory in the Nine
Year Plan. For we should never forget that the beloved Guardian's Ten Year
Crusade, the current Nine Year Plan, other plans to follow throughout successive
epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, are all phases in the implementation
of the Divine Plan of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, set out in fourteen of His Tablets to North
America.
The Nine Year Plan is
well advanced, and this Ridvan will witness the establishment of seven more
National Spiritual Assemblies, five in Africa, one in South America and one in
the Pacific, bringing the total number of these exalted bodies to 101. Next
Ridvan the nine already announced will be formed, together with 4 more, one
each in Afghanistan, Arabia, the Windward Islands and Puerto Rico, bringing the
total to 114, six more than called for in the Nine Year Plan. The members of
all National Spiritual Assemblies which will be elected at Ridvan 1972 will
take part in the election of the Universal House of Justice at Ridvan 1973,
when an international convention will be held at the World Centre.
The Mother Temple of
Latin America, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of Panama, is scheduled to be completed by
December 1971 and its dedication will take place at the following Ridvan.
The wonderful spirit
released at the four Oceanic and Intercontinental Conferences, together with
the practical benefits which accrued to the Cause from them, reinforce our high
hopes that the four Conferences to be held this year will be resounding
successes and result in more pioneers, more travelling teachers, greater
proclamation of the Message and a raising of the spirits and devotion of the
friends.
Our appeal to the
friends in December 1970 for support of the Bahá'í International Fund, which
had reached a serious condition due to various unforeseen circumstances, has
had a magnificent response from many quarters of the world-wide Bahá'í
Community, and we are heartened to believe that this manifestation of devotion
and sacrifice, as it continues and becomes more widespread, will resolve the
condition that had threatened to adversely affect the attainment of cherished
goals of the Nine Year Plan.
The travels and other
services of the Hands of the Cause of God continually evoke our thankfulness
and delight, even wonder and astonishment. Their deeds are such as to eclipse
the acts of the apostles of old and to confer eternal splendour on this period
of the Formative Age. On behalf of all the friends everywhere, we offer them
our reverent love and gratitude. It is fitting to record here the passing,
after seventy years' exemplary service to the Faith, of the Hand of the Cause
Agnes Alexander, whose early services in Hawaii were said by the Master to be
greater than if she had founded an empire.
Restrictive measures,
directed against the Faith, and varying in severity from outright oppression to
imposition of disabilities make virtually impossible the achievement of the
goals of the Nine Year Plan in a number of countries, particularly in the
Middle East, in North West Africa, along the fringes of East Africa and certain
areas in South East Asia. It is hoped that those Bahá'í communities which enjoy
freedom to teach their Faith will so far surpass their own goals as to amply
compensate for the disabilities suffered by their less fortunate brothers. The
army of travelling teachers must be reinforced and the friends, particularly
Bahá'í youth, are called to seriously consider how much time they can offer to
the Faith during the remaining two years of the Nine Year Plan. Teaching visits
of brief or long duration, deputization of others, the undertaking of such
tasks as would free other friends for teaching work, are all means of building
up, in unison, that final surge which will carry the Plan to victory.
Two major objectives of
the Plan are the formation of new Local Spiritual Assemblies and the opening of
new localities. 14,966 Local Spiritual Assemblies are called for; 10,360 are
now in existence. 54,503 localities must claim a Bahá'í resident; 46,334 do so
now. The goal is in sight, the time short. However, the growth reflected in the
above statistics has not taken place at all levels and in all areas. For while
a number of national communities have already achieved, or even surpassed the
goals assigned to them, many face extreme difficulties in attaining theirs.
With mutual help and an increase in the momentum already generated there is no
doubt that the community of the Most Great Name is capable of sweeping on to
total victory, thereby gaining a view of those enthralling vistas at present
beyond the horizon.
The twin processes so
clearly described by the beloved Guardian in his essay "The Unfoldment of
World Civilization" -- the steady progress and consolidation of the Cause
of God on the one hand and the progressive disintegration of a moribund world
on the other -- will undoubtedly impose upon us new tasks, the obligation of
devising new approaches to teaching, of demonstrating more clearly to a
disillusioned world the Bahá'í way of life and making more effective the
administrative institutions of the Faith. The authority and influence of
National and Local Spiritual Assemblies will have to be strengthened in order
to deal with larger Bahá'í communities; the international character of the
Cause will need to be developed, while the international teaching agency at the
World Centre, already referred to in previous general letters, will be
established.
However fascinating such
considerations, which are likely to be forced upon our attention in the near
future, may be, they must not deflect our energies and will from the immediate
task -- the goals of the Nine Year Plan. Their achievement is the best
preparation for the future and the means of developing new powers and
capacities in the Bahá'í Community. We are confident that the Army of Light,
growing in strength and unity will, by 1973, the centenary year of the
revelation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, have scaled the heights of yet another peak in
the path leading ultimately to the broad uplands of the Most Great Peace.
With loving Bahá'í
greetings,
The Universal House of
Justice
(Messages from the
Universal House of Justice, 1963 to 1986)
