Ridván 157 [1999]: To the Bahá’ís of Indonesia

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

With the greatest of happiness we extend our loving greetings to you on the long-awaited occasion of the restoration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Indonesia after a lapse of almost three decades.

Your Bahá’í community owes its origin to the arrival in Batavia over a century ago of Jamal Effendi and Mustafa Rumi and their subsequent travel to many parts of the region. It entered a period of accelerated growth during the Ten Year Crusade, aided by an influx of dedicated pioneers from other lands, including the Hand of the Cause Rahmatu’llah Muhajir, but its progress was arrested by the enforced dissolution of the elected Bahá’í institutions.

Although deprived of their institutions, members of your community held fast to the Cause of God in the face of misunderstanding and hostility in some quarters. We are moved to express our admiration and gratitude for the heroism and tenacity manifested during the years of adversity. Who can doubt that it was this fidelity and steadfastness which attracted the limitless blessings of Bahá’u’lláh through which the barriers to your progress have been removed? Our profound gratitude is offered also to the dear friends who guided your activities with consummate wisdom during the years of deprivation, most recently as members of the Bahá’í Committee for Indonesia, and whose endeavors were powerfully reinforced by the Continental Counselors and their helpers.

27 January 2000: To the Bahá’ís of the World

The passing of our dearly loved coworker, Adib Taherzadeh, has deepened our sorrows. We recall with admiration his devoted and unremitting services to the Cause of God for over half a century. His exemplary enthusiasm for the teaching work and his capacity to inspire the believers endeared him to all who knew him. As a self-sacrificing pioneer, as a champion of the Covenant, as a member of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the British Isles and of the Republic of Ireland, as a member of the Continental Board of Counselors in Europe, and as a member of the Universal House of Justice, he evinced complete consecration, unshakeable faith, and unyielding resolve.

At an early point in his life he was seized by the desire to make available to his fellow believers in the West the riches of the history and teachings of the Faith. It was this longing that found expression in the body of writings that will remain forever associated with his memory.

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved family, most particularly to his dear wife and beloved children, and assure them of our fervent prayers in the Holy Shrines for bountiful rewards to be vouchsafed to him in the Abhá Kingdom.

All National Assemblies are advised to hold memorial gatherings in his name, including devotional programs in his honor in all Houses of Worship.

The Universal House of Justice

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)

19 January 2000: To the Bahá’ís of the World

In the early hours of this morning, the soul of Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, beloved consort of Shoghi Effendi and the Bahá’í world's last remaining link with the family of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, was released from the limitations of this earthly existence. In the midst of our grief, we are sustained by our confidence that she has been gathered to the glory of the Concourse on High in the presence of the Abhá Beauty.

For all whose hearts she touched so deeply, the sorrow that this irreparable loss brings will, in God's good time, be assuaged in awareness of the joy that is hers through her reunion with the Guardian and with the Master, Who had Himself prayed in the Most Holy Shrine that her parents be blessed with a child. Down the centuries to come, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh will contemplate with wonder and gratitude the quality of the services―ardent, indomitable, resourceful―that she brought to the protection and promotion of the Cause.

In her youth, Amatu’l-Bahá had already distinguished herself through her activities in North America, and later, both with her dear mother and on her own, she had rendered valuable service to the Cause in Europe. Her twenty years of intimate association with Shoghi Effendi evoked from his pen such accolades as "my helpmate," "my shield," "my tireless collaborator in the arduous tasks I shoulder." To these tributes he added in 1952 his decision to elevate her to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God, after the death of her illustrious father.

The devastating shock of the beloved Guardian's passing steeled her resolve to lend her share, with the other Hands of the Cause, to the triumph of the Ten Year Crusade, and subsequently to undertake, with characteristic intrepidity, her historic worldwide travels.

A life so noble in its provenance, so crucial to the preservation of the Faith's integrity, and so rich in its dedicated, uninterrupted and selfless service, moves us to call for befitting commemorations by Bahá’í communities on both national and local levels, as well as for special gatherings in her memory in all Houses of Worship.

With yearning hearts, we supplicate at the Holy Threshold for infinite heavenly bounties to surround her soul, as she assumes her rightful and well-earned position among the exalted company in the Abhá Kingdom.

The Universal House of Justice

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)