Ridván 1992: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

At this Ridván season, with its inherent splendors and its initiation of unusual, eventful days, our hearts throb in wonderment, we kneel in homage to the King of Glory by Whose grace we have arrived at an auspicious juncture in the history of His Cause.

From the peak of triumph of the Six Year Plan now ended, we come to the threshold of the Holy Year, now begun, awestruck at the very thought of the unique significances associated with the commemoration of that sanctified occasion one hundred years ago when Bahá’u’lláh, the Promised One of all ages, took His leave of this earthly life. The Sun of Truth, however, was to set only to shine everlastingly from the “Kingdom of fadeless glory,” thenceforward to shed the radiance of its regenerative power on the entire world. Gone from this plane was He Who is the Author of a Revelation of “inconceivable greatness” in which “all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation”; the Originator of a new Universal Cycle “that must extend over a period of at least five hundred thousand years”; the Founder of a World Order, a “System—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.” Moreover, He was the Dawning Point of the Day of God, the “Day in which God’s most excellent favors have been poured out upon men.” Such are the superlative realities upon which our contemplations are focused during this special anniversary occurring at this crucial moment in the affairs of humankind.

So imbued are we by the sacred remembrances evoked by this Holy Year, that we can do no less than invite you all to take pause to enter into this period of reflection, this time of reconsecration, this stage of preparation for tasks yet to be done, heights yet to be attained, splendors yet to be unveiled. For if we look back at one hundred years of an unexampled history of unremitting progress, we also look forward to many centuries of unfolding fulfillment of divine purpose—fulfillment, which as experience has shown, is incrementally realized through the systematic advances of Plans and the wondrous leaps and thrusts of epochs.

Indeed, the immediate portal to this propitious Holy Year is the vista of new horizons opened by the triumph of the Six Year Plan, which coincided with the initial phase of the fourth epoch of the Formative Age of our Faith. Overall it is not so much a triumph in numerical achievements, though in many places and at particular moments the scope of expansion was extraordinary. It is a triumph that has been manifested in a new variety of victories, in new beginnings, fresh initiatives and mature institutional developments, such as to stamp the seal of success on the Plan’s seven major objectives. Impossible as it is to enumerate in these few pages the results of the Plan, the main aspects of the developments in this remarkably dynamic period deserve, nonetheless, to be highlighted. The Bahá’í community changed markedly over the last six years. The major indicators are, no doubt, discernible to the friends everywhere and may be summed up thus:

7 January 1992: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We take great joy in announcing, consequent upon the changed situation in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and further to our message of 26 November 1991, the formation next Ridván of three additional Spiritual Assemblies in that vast area, as follows:

The Regional Spiritual Assembly of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova with its seat in Kiev.

The Regional Spiritual Assembly of Central Asia with its seat in ‘Ishqábád, comprising the republics of Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The National Spiritual Assembly of Azerbaijan with its seat in Baku.

In accordance with these changes, the former Spiritual Assembly of the USSR with its seat in Moscow will become the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Russia, Georgia and Armenia.

Furthermore, with the recent official recognition of the Faith in Niger, the National Spiritual Assembly of that country will also be reestablished, with its seat in Niamey.

Together with those recently announced, the number of Regional and National Spiritual Assemblies to be newly formed or reestablished at Ridván 1992 amount to 12.

We are thrilled by such evidences of the extension of the institutions of Bahá’u’lláh's administrative order at this crucial, concluding stage in the Six Year Plan. May the friends throughout the world, and particularly in the countries directly affected, derive fresh impetus from these developments, confident that every effort exerted to expand the base supporting the structure of these prospective institutions will bring untold victories at this fate-laden period in the life of the Bahá’í world community.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice

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

26 November 1991: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the World

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

On the occasion of the Day of the Covenant, amidst the dramatic events within and without the Faith which evince an accelerating momentum in the concluding months of the Six Year Plan, and less than half a year from the beginning of the long-anticipated Holy Year, we rejoice in conveying this triple announcement to the entire Bahá’í world.

Seven new National Spiritual Assemblies will be formed at Ridván 1992: Angola in Africa; Greenland in the Americas; and Albania, the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland in Europe. The emergence of the latter five will set a befitting seal on the victorious supplementary Two Year Plan launched at Ridván 1990. In addition, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Congo Republic, after a lapse of more than a decade due to political conditions, will be reestablished.

The Office of Huqúqu’lláh has been established in the Holy Land under the direction of the Chief Trustee of Huqúqu’lláh, the Hand of the Cause of God ‘Alí-Muhammad Varqá, in anticipation of the worldwide application of the Law of Huqúqu’lláh next Ridván. Concurrent with this development are the steps being taken by Dr. Varqá to organize regional and national Boards of Trustees of Huqúqu’lláh, following the example of the Board already functioning in the United States.

At Ridván 1993, immediately following the Holy Year and during a period which will witness the holding of the Seventh Bahá’í International Convention at the World Center, a Three Year Plan will be launched. The national goals of this global Plan will be set through consultations between the Continental Counselors and National Spiritual Assemblies. The unusual character and rapidity of developments both inside and outside the Faith signify the necessity for a short, flexible plan attuned to the dynamic nature of the times.

18 November 1991: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in Every Land

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

A time of challenge for the stalwart upholders of the Cause of God has now come upon us at the very moment when the world is grappling with tremendous problems, moral, social, economic and ecological. The Bahá’í community has grown in size and influence to the point where it is put to the test on all sides and at all levels. The opportunities are immense but we now face the question of whether to push forward with all speed, or to hold back because the resources available to us are inadequate for the purpose.

In lands where people have accepted the Faith in large numbers, the process of economic and social development, linked with the establishment, consolidation and strong functioning of Local Spiritual Assemblies, is attaining ever greater importance and is placing upon the international resources of the Faith a heavy demand for manpower and finance. In the countries of the former Eastern Bloc the need for assistance in the form of Bahá’í literature, pioneers, traveling teachers, the establishment of local centers, is made the more urgent by the extraordinary receptivity to the Message of Bahá’u’lláh shown by the spiritually thirsty populations. The opportunities for the promotion of the Cause of God in these areas cannot be allowed to go unheeded.

At the national level, the structure of Bahá’í communities is growing in complexity as the number of believers rises, and National Spiritual Assemblies are being increasingly invited by national governments and nongovernmental organizations to offer advice and assistance in upholding human rights, in safeguarding the environment, in promoting moral education, and in overcoming the ravages of prejudice and the rising tide of lawlessness which are undermining the social structure. Internationally a parallel process is taking place.

9 October 1991: Bahá’í International Women's Conference Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The contribution of women to social, economic and cultural development is paramount. As the primary educators of children, women must themselves be educated and receive literacy training. As wives and mothers, as members of the professions, as farmers, as stewards of the health and well-being of families, and as members of Bahá’í administrative institutions, women must be welcomed into full partnership with men in consultative decision-making and in guiding the progress of their communities.

We are confident of your ability to set in motion processes of development and patterns of living which, emanating from within the Bahá’í communities, will exert salutary effects on the destiny of nations. Inspired and reinforced by the guidance and life-giving properties of the Word of God, the Bahá’ís of Africa can choose to play a leading role in brightening the fortunes of their entire continent. Be assured of our heartfelt prayers at the Sacred Threshold that this conference will be a center of spiritual illumination inspiring the friends to redouble their efforts towards ensuring the unhampered, systematic involvement of women in the vital work of the Cause.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice

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

20 June 1991: To the Bahá’ís of the World

FOLLOWING RECEIPT BUILDING PERMITS FOR SECOND PHASE OF TERRACES OF THE BÁB'S SHRINE AND FOR EXCAVATION FOR THE FIRST TWO BUILDINGS, AND AFTER COMPLETION TENDER FORMALITIES, WE REJOICE ANNOUNCE CONTRACT SIGNED SEVENTEENTH JUNE 1991, OFFICIALLY COMMENCING PHASE TWO OF MOUNT CARMEL PROJECTS.

THIS PHASE, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO TAKE APPROXIMATELY SIXTEEN MONTHS, WILL INCLUDE EXCAVATION AND ANCHOR WORK FOR CENTER STUDY TEXTS AND ARCHIVES EXTENSION AS WELL AS EARTHWORK OF FIVE. TERRACES IMMEDIATELY BELOW HOLY SHRINE AND EXTENSION OF MAIN TERRACE. TOTAL COST THIS PHASE ESTIMATED FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.

APPEAL CONTINUING FLOW FUNDS ENSURE UNINTERRUPTED PROGRESS.

SUPPLICATING SACRED THRESHOLD DIVINE CONFIRMATION HISTORIC UNDERTAKING.

The Universal House of Justice

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

10 May 1991: To the Pacific Women's Conference

30 May-7 June 1991

One of the most encouraging developments, as a new millennium approaches, is the speed at which women everywhere are arising to assume an equal part with men in the management of the affairs of humankind. For the Bahá’í community this fundamental change in the role played by women is a harbinger of the approach of global peace. Only as the spiritual and intellectual capacities which have found particularly vigorous expression in women are able to exert their proper influence in the life of society will the conditions for lasting global reconciliation emerge.

For those who share this perception, no area of the world holds greater promise than the nations of the Pacific. Though for the most part small in population and widely separated geographically, your island countries have demonstrated a steadily increasing capacity for creative response to the challenges facing our planet. The Bahá’í communities of this vast region feel a deep sense of pride that they have been able to play a part in this spiritual adventure.

Be assured of our heartfelt prayers that the consultations on which you are embarked will add another impulse to the irresistible process by which women the world over are awakening to the role they alone can play in building a just and peaceful world.

Universal House of Justice

Ridván 1991: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

No earthly tongue can voice the gratitude we feel for the extraordinary bestowals vouchsafed by the Blessed Beauty to His worldwide community and to the World Center of His Faith during the year just ended. We bow our heads in humility before the striking evidences of His sustaining grace and all-compelling might.

The overwhelming danger which, as a result of the turmoil in the Middle East, enveloped the Holy Land during the latter part of the year receded without halting or even seriously hampering the operation of the Bahá’í administration. The situation was a poignant reminder of the contrast between the unobtrusive, steadily developing, distinctly integrative System of Bahá’u’lláh and the turbulent character of the Age of Transition, “whose tribulations,” Shoghi Effendi avers, “are the precursors of that Era of blissful felicity which is to incarnate God’s ultimate purpose for all mankind.” It was another of the “ominous signs simultaneously proclaiming the agonies of a disintegrating civilization and the birth pangs of that World Order—that Ark of human salvation—that must needs arise upon its ruins.”

The forces which united the remedial reactions of so many nations to the sudden crisis in this region demonstrated beyond any doubt the necessity of the principle of collective security prescribed by Bahá’u’lláh more than a century ago as a means of resolving conflict. While the international arrangement envisioned by Him for the full application of this principle is far from having been adopted by the rulers of mankind, a long step towards the behavior outlined for the nations by the Lord of the Age has thus been taken. How illuminating are Bahá’u’lláh’s words foreshadowing the future reorientation of the nations: “Be united, O concourse of the sovereigns of the world,” He wrote, “for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.”

21 November 1990: To the Friends gathered at the Moscow Conference

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

It is with a sense of joy and wonderment that we address you, the representatives of the Bahá’í communities throughout the USSR and of the National Spiritual Assemblies which have been given the awesome responsibility for raising up the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh in that vast area. The march of world events has utterly transformed the scene of your labors, presenting you with formidable problems but with achievements and opportunities which must cause your hearts to sing with joy to the Almighty.

In the Heroic Age of the Faith many events occurred to link it with the peoples of Russia. We need but mention the offer of asylum extended to Bahá’u’lláh by the Russian Government prior to His banishment to Iraq; His Tablet addressed to Tsar Alexander II; the deep interest that the Cause aroused in Russian scholars and leading literary figures; the glories of the Bahá’í community which arose in ‘Ishqábád; the exemplary action of the members of that community in appealing for clemency for its persecutors; and the raising of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in that city. A beginning which showed such promise was eclipsed by the restrictions following the First World War but, even in those dark days, the beloved Guardian saw clearly that it was but a temporary veiling of the light of this Revelation. In a letter he wrote in Persian to the believers in ‘Ishqábád on 11 January 1923 we find these insightful words:

12 November 1990: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the World

SEVEN MONTHS AFTER LAUNCHING SUPPLEMENTARY TWO YEAR PLAN REJOICE ANNOUNCE FOURTEEN LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES IN SOVIET UNION, PLUS SIX IN ROMANIA WHERE THERE ARE NOW OVER 600 BELIEVERS, AND ONE LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY EACH IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA, HUNGARY AND YUGOSLAVIA. DEVELOPMENT FAITH IN ALL THESE COUNTRIES AS WELL AS IN ALBANIA, BULGARIA, MONGOLIA AND POLAND GOING FORWARD WITH EXTRAORDINARY SPEED, FORMATION MORE LOCAL ASSEMBLIES IN PROCESS OR EXPECTED SHORTLY.

IN HOLY LAND WORK ON TERRACE OF SHRINE OF THE BÁB PROGRESSING. RESERVE REQUIRED FOR COMMENCEMENT WORK ON ARC NOW REACHED $45,000,000: $29,000,000 FROM EARMARKED CONTRIBUTIONS, $16,000,000 THROUGH TRANSFERS MADE FROM CONTRIBUTIONS TO HUQÚQU’LLÁH AND THE BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL FUND. IMPERATIVE FULFILL INITIAL GOAL $50,000,000 FORTHWITH, AND ENSURE ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION $20,000,000 FOR MOUNT CARMEL PROJECTS TO ENABLE WORK PROCEED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.

CONFIDENT INVINCIBLE SPIRIT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH WILL ENABLE HIS FOLLOWERS EVERY LAND MEET CHALLENGE WORLDWIDE EXPANSION CAUSE AND INTERNATIONAL NEEDS OF THE FAITH AT WORLD CENTER.

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

25 October 1990: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

It gives us great pleasure to announce the membership of the Continental Boards of Counselors as from the Day of the Covenant, 26 November 1990. The number of continental Counselors remains at 72, but adjustments have been made in their geographical distribution in consonance with the development of the Faith around the world.

The membership of the Continental Boards of Counselors as now appointed is:

Africa (18 Counselors): Dr. Hushang Ahdieh (Trustee of the Continental Fund), Mr. George Allen, Mrs. Beatrice O. Asare, Mr. Gila Michael Bahta, Mr. Kiser Barnes, Mrs. Parvin Djoneidi, Mr. Mehraz Ehsani, Mr. Friday Ekpe, Mr. Shidan Fat’he-Aazam, Mr. Kassimi Fofana, Mr. Hizzaya Hissani, Mr. Zekrollah Kazemi, Mr. Muḥammad Kebdani, Mr. Daniel Ramoroesi, Mr. Gilbert Robert, Mrs. Edith Senoga, Mrs. Lucretia M. Warren, Mr. Wingi Mabuku.

The Americas (17 Counselors): Mr. Eloy Anello, Mr. Gustavo Correa, Mr. Rolf von Czékus, Mrs. Jacqueline Delahunt, Dr. Wilma M. Ellis, Dr. Peter McLaren (Trustee of the Continental Fund), Mr. Shapoor Monadjem, Mrs. Linda Neufeld, Mrs. Ruth Pringle, Dr. William Roberts, Mrs. Isabel de Sanchez, Mr. Fred Schechter, Mr. Errol Sealy, Dr. Arturo Serrano, Mr. Alan Smith, Dr. David R. Smith, Mr. Rodrigo Tomás.

Ridván 1990: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

Having ended a year of momentous achievements, we stand at the threshold of the last decade of this radiant twentieth century facing an immediate future of immense challenges and dazzling prospects. The swiftness of events during the past year is indicative of the acceleration, as the hundredth anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s Ascension approaches, of the spiritual forces released with the advent of His revolutionizing mission. It is an acceleration which, in its suddenness and wide transformational impact on social thought and on political entities, has aroused feelings of delight as to its immediate effects and of bewilderment as to its real meaning and destined outcome, prompting the astonished editors of an outstanding newspaper, finding themselves bereft of explanations, to attribute it to the workings of an “Invisible Hand.”

For the followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the world there can be no doubt as to the Divine Source and clear intention of these extraordinary happenings. Let us rejoice, therefore, in the wondrous signs of the beneficence of God’s abounding grace. The high level of teaching and enrollments reported last Ridván has been sustained, and new fields of teaching have been opened from Eastern Europe to the China Sea. With the settlement in recent weeks of two Knights of Bahá’u’lláh in Sakhalin Island, the last remaining territory named by Shoghi Effendi in his Ten Year Global Plan entered the Bahá’í fold. The recreation last Ridván of the Local Spiritual Assembly of ‘Ishqábád, the recent election of that of Cluj in Romania, the first new Assembly in the “East Bloc,” the reestablishment and formation this Ridván of Local Spiritual Assemblies in other parts of the Soviet Union and in other countries of Eastern Europe—all these achievements and immediate prospects affirm our arrival at a significant milestone in the fourth epoch of the Formative Age. The Administrative Order now embraces a community of wider diversity than ever before. It is such prodigious developments that prompted our recent announcement of a subsidiary Two Year Teaching Plan, now formally launched, to which we commend your urgent and active attention.

12 February 1990: To the Bahá’ís of the World

With feelings of thankfulness and joy we announce an achievement of immense importance to the accelerating progress of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. The University of Maryland and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States recently signed a memorandum of understanding, establishing "The Bahá’í Chair for World Peace" at that University's Center for International Development and Conflict Management. The stated purpose of the Chair is "to conduct and publish research, design courses and conduct seminars in the field of Bahá’í studies and world peace within an interdisciplinary context; to initiate public forums for discussing the issues proposed in the Statement of the Universal House of Justice entitled The Promise of World Peace; and to establish academic linkages with and provide technical assistance to Bahá’í institutions in the fields of peace education and international development."

This first initiative by a well-founded, significant institution of higher learning to formulate such a serious program of Bahá’í studies is a direct response to the Peace Statement, as is borne out by a letter addressed to us by the Director of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management in which he said: "With this letter I am answering on behalf of CIDCM and the University of Maryland your call: 'If the Bahá’í experience can contribute in whatever measure to reinforcing hope in the unity of the human race, we are happy to offer it as a model for study.'"

Fully cognizant of Bahá’u’lláh's praise of knowledge as "wings to man's life" and of the importance which He assigns to its acquisition; of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's advice that we should "seek to impart the Message to influential persons and become a cause of guidance to the learned and distinguished"; and of Shoghi Effendi's call for a "resolute attempt" to reinforce measures "for the establishment of closer contact with the leaders of public thought, with colleges and universities," we hail this seminal development both as a mark of the Faith's emergence from obscurity and as the harbinger of that day when hosts of scholars will devote their energies to the exploration, exposition and defense of the dynamic principles animating the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, thereby fulfilling the need identified by the beloved Guardian for "well-read and well-educated people, capable of correlating our teachings to the current thoughts of the leaders of society." On that day, we shall witness an expansion and consolidation of the community as has not yet been experienced.

May the Blessed Beauty enable the new Bahá’í Chair for World Peace to achieve its laudable purpose; may He shower upon all who support it His abundant confirmations.

The Universal House of Justice

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

8 February 1990: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the World

FAR-REACHING EVENTS BEING ENACTED WORLD STAGE, PARTICULARLY IN EASTERN EUROPE AND SOVIET UNION, ON THRESHOLD FINAL FATE-LADEN DECADE CENTURY OF LIGHT, PROVIDE FURTHER DRAMATIC EVIDENCE RESISTLESS OPERATION OF GOD'S MAJOR PLAN FOR TRANSFORMATION OF HUMAN SOCIETY. RAPID UNFORESEEN DEVELOPMENTS NECESSITATE CORRESPONDING PARALLEL ACCELERATION IN LIFE-GIVING ENTERPRISES BEING PURSUED BY INHERITORS BAHÁ’U’LLÁHS RESPLENDENT REVELATION.

REJOICE THEREFORE ANNOUNCE LAUNCHING AT RIDVÁN OF SUBSIDIARY TWO YEAR TEACHING PLAN FOR VAST REMAINING REACHES EASTERN EUROPE AND ASIA. MOMENTOUS STEP INVOLVES FURTHER SYSTEMATIC UNFOLDMENT PROVISIONS TABLETS MASTER-PLAN OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ ALREADY IN ADVANCED STAGE OF OPERATION OTHER AREAS PLANET. REGIONAL ENTERPRISE, CONCEIVED IN CONSULTATION INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTER, DESIGNED SIGNIFICANTLY REINFORCE CURRENT SIX YEAR GLOBAL PLAN. OBJECTIVES INCLUDE ATTRACTION NUMEROUS NEW SUPPORTERS FAITH, GREAT INCREASE TRANSLATION, PUBLICATION AND DISSEMINATION BAHÁ’Í LITERATURE IN REQUISITE LANGUAGES ENTIRE AREA, AND EXTENSION BENEFICENT INFLUENCE DIVINELY APPOINTED ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER THROUGH ERECTION FRAMEWORK LOCAL NATIONAL BAHÁ’Í INSTITUTIONS IN AS MANY EASTERN COUNTRIES AS POSSIBLE UP TO AND INCLUDING RIḌVÁN 1992.

CALLING UPON THOSE NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES EUROPE, ASIA AND AMERICA WHICH BEAR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUAL NATIONS INVOLVED, TO CONSULT WITH COUNSELORS AND FORMULATE DETAILS SPECIFIC GOALS INCORPORATING AND SUPPLEMENTING THOSE ALREADY ADOPTED AND IN PROCESS ACCOMPLISHMENT UNDER SIX YEAR PLAN. MOVED PAY TRIBUTE PRESENT HOUR REMARKABLE UNSUNG ACHIEVEMENTS THOSE INSTITUTIONS AND INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS PRESENTLY LABORING ADVANCEMENT CAUSE IN EASTERN EUROPE AND SOVIET UNION, ACHIEVEMENTS WHICH HAVE BLAZED TRAILS FOR COMING LARGE-SCALE INITIATIVE. CALL UPON BAHÁ’Í WORLD ARISE SUPPORT DIFFUSION WORLD-REDEEMING MESSAGE FAITH GOAL AREAS THROUGH SETTLEMENT PIONEERS AND THROUGH DESPATCH STEADY FLOW TRAVELING TEACHERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH KNOWLEDGE LANGUAGES COUNTRIES AND REPUBLICS EASTERN BLOC…

BROAD VISTAS NOW OPEN TO FAITH GOD PROVIDE UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITIES WIN FRESH VICTORIES AS WORTHY OFFERING SACRED THRESHOLD BLESSED BEAUTY OCCASION COMMEMORATION FIRST CENTENARY HIS ASCENSION COMING HOLY YEAR. IMPLORING ABUNDANT OUTPOURING DIVINE CONFIRMATIONS PARTICIPANTS ALL FACETS HISTORIC SIX YEAR CAMPAIGN.

 THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

Message to the International Teaching Conference Dedicated to the Hand of the Cause of God Dr. Muhájir

28 November 1989

To the Friends gathered at the Teaching Conference dedicated to the memory of the Hand of the Cause of God Dr. Rahmátu’lláh Muhájir c/o The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Ecuador

Dearly loved Friends,

As our hearts turn to your assemblage, we are moved to recall the remarkable spirit of Dr. Muhájir, whose presence is surely felt by all of you gathered on this occasion.

Dr. Muhájir was a man of vision, who had an extraordinary ability to recognize the practical needs of the community, but he was also a man of action, and his greatest dream was that the masses of humanity would soon awaken to the call of Bahá’u’lláh. He well understood that the greatest gift that Bahá’u’lláh has given us is the privilege to become instruments through which other souls are touched by His healing message. If we offer ourselves in the right manner, if we make selfless efforts, if we arise with love and with courage, then our services and sacrifices will be confirmed and many seeking souls will find eternal life. Thus the Cause of God will blossom before our eyes.

Dr. Muhájir has left a great legacy, and by the grace of God his earthly remains repose in Latin America, in a land and amongst a people that he loved so much. We earnestly pray that the memory of his indomitable spirit will inspire all of those present at this International Conference to arise and follow his noble example by offering enthusiastic and humble service during the yearlong teaching plan that has been dedicated to his memory.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice

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

27 August 1989: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The Nineteen Day Feast, its framework, purpose and possibilities, have in recent years become a subject of increasing inquiry among the friends. It occupied much of the consultation at the Sixth International Bahá’í Convention last year, and we feel the time has come for us to offer clarifications.

The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh encompasses all units of human society; integrates the spiritual, administrative and social processes of life; and canalizes human expression in its varied forms towards the construction of a new civilization. The Nineteen Day Feast embraces all these aspects at the very base of society. Functioning in the village, the town, the city, it is an institution of which all the people of Bahá are members. It is intended to promote unity, ensure progress, and foster joy.

"If this feast be held in the proper fashion," ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states, "the friends will, once in nineteen days, find themselves spiritually restored, and endued with a power that is not of this world." To ensure this glorious outcome the concept of the Feast must be adequately understood by all the friends. The Feast is known to have three distinct but related parts: the devotional, the administrative, and the social. The first entails the recitation of prayers and reading from the Holy Texts. The second is a general meeting where the Local Spiritual Assembly reports its activities, plans and problems to the community, shares news and messages from the World Center and the National Assembly, and receives the thoughts and recommendations of the friends through a process of consultation. The third involves the partaking of refreshments and engaging in other activities meant to foster fellowship in a culturally determined diversity of forms which do not violate principles of the Faith or the essential character of the Feast.

Even though the observance of the Feast requires strict adherence to the threefold aspects in the sequence in which they have been defined, there is much room for variety in the total experience. For example, music may be introduced at various stages, including the devotional portion; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recommends that eloquent, uplifting talks be given; originality and variety in expressions of hospitality are possible; the quality and range of the consultation are critical to the spirit of the occasion. The effects of different cultures in all these respects are welcome factors which can lend the Feast a salutary diversity, representative of the unique characteristics of the various societies in which it is held, and therefore conducive to the upliftment and enjoyment of its participants.

Ridván 1989: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

The spiritual current which exerted such galvanic effects at the International Bahá’í Convention last Ridván has swept through the entire world community, arousing its members in both the East and the West to feats of activity and achievement in teaching never before experienced in any one year. The high level of enrollments alone bears this out, as nearly half a million new believers have already been reported. The names of such far-flung places as India and Liberia, Bolivia and Bangladesh, Taiwan and Peru, the Philippines and Haiti leap to the fore as we contemplate the accumulating evidences of the entry by troops called for in our message of a year ago. These evidences are hopeful signs of the greater acceleration yet to come and in which all national communities, whatever the current status of their teaching effort, will ultimately be involved.

We look back with feelings of humble gratitude and heightened expectations at the stupendous developments which have taken place in so brief a period. One such development has been the adoption of the architectural design conceived by Mr. Faríburz Sahbá for the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb, which launches a new stage towards the realization of the Master’s and the Guardian’s vision for the path along which the kings and rulers will ascend the slopes of Mount Carmel to pay homage at the resting place of Bahá’u’lláh’s Martyr-Herald. Other developments include: the approval by the central authorities in Moscow of the application submitted by a number of Bahá’ís in ‘Ishqábád to restore the Local Spiritual Assembly of that city; the initiation of steps to open a Bahá’í Information Center in Budapest, the first such agency of the Faith in the Eastern Bloc; the establishment of a branch of the Bahá’í International Community’s Office of Public Information in Hong Kong in anticipation of the time when the Faith can be proclaimed on the mainland of China.

29 December 1988: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the United States of America

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We have noticed with concern evidences of a confusion of attitudes among some of the friends when they encounter difficulties in applying Bahá’í principles to questions of the day. On the one hand, they acknowledge their belief in Bahá’u’lláh and His teachings; on the other, they invoke Western liberal democratic practices when actions of Bahá’í institutions or of some of their fellow Bahá’ís do not accord with their expectations. At the heart of this confusion are misconceptions of such fundamental issues as individual rights and freedom of expression in the Bahá’í community. The source of the potential difficulties of the situation appears to us to be an inadequacy of Bahá’í perspective on the part of both individual believers and their institutions.

Recognizing the immense challenge you face to resolve such confusion, we pause to reflect with you on these issues in search of a context in which relevant fundamental questions may be discussed and understood in the community.

The extraordinary capacities of the American nation, as well as the superb stewardship of the Bahá’í community within it, have repeatedly been extolled in the writings of our Faith. In His Tablets and utterances, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant, projected a compelling vision of the world-embracing prospects of that richly endowed country. "The American nation," He averred, "is equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history, to become the envy of the world, and be blest in both the East and the West for the triumph of its people." In another assertion addressed to the Bahá’í community itself, He uttered words of transcendent importance: ". . . your mission," He affirmed, "is unspeakably glorious. Should success crown your enterprise, America will assuredly evolve into a center from which waves of spiritual power will emanate, and the throne of the Kingdom of God will, in the plenitude of its majesty and glory, be firmly established."

Shoghi Effendi, in various statements, celebrated the remarkable achievements and potential glories of that specially blessed community, but was moved to issue, in The Advent of Divine Justice, a profound warning which is essential to a proper understanding of the relation of that Bahá’í community to the nation from which it has sprung. "The glowing tributes," he solemnly wrote, "so repeatedly and deservedly paid to the capacity, the spirit, the conduct, and the high rank, of the American believers, both individually and as an organic community, must, under no circumstances, be confounded with the characteristics and nature of the people from which God has raised them up. A sharp distinction between that community and that people must be made, and resolutely and fearlessly upheld, if we wish to give due recognition to the transmuting power of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, in its impact on the lives and standards of those who have chosen to enlist under His banner. Otherwise, the supreme and distinguishing function of His Revelation, which is none other than the calling into being of a new race of men, will remain wholly unrecognized and completely obscured." It is the far-reaching, transformative implications of this distinction which we especially invite you to contemplate.

16 June 1988: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Recent events have given rise to eleven vacancies in the membership of the Continental Boards of Counselors. Mr. Adib Taherzadeh has been elected to the Universal House of Justice; Dr. Farzam Arbab, Mr. Hartmut Grossmann, Mrs. Lauretta King, Mr. Donald Rogers, Mrs. Joy Stevenson and Mr. Peter Vuyiya have been appointed as Counselor members of the International Teaching Center.

In addition, ill health has sadly made it impossible for Dr. Chellie Sundram to continue his services as a Counselor for Asia, Dr. Iraj Ayman and Mrs. Thelma Khelghati have been compelled by circumstances beyond their control to leave, respectively, the continents of Asia and Africa in which they were serving, and Mr. Adam Thorne has had to resign, for personal reasons, from the Continental Board of Counselors for Europe. We wish first to express our profound appreciation of the contributions these dear friends have made to the advancement of the Cause of God during their years of service as Counselors, and we pray that the blessings of Bahá’u’lláh will surround them in all they undertake in the future.

We now have great happiness in announcing the appointment of the following believers as Continental Counselors:

Africa: Mr. George Allen and Mr. Hizzaya Hissani

The Americas: Mr. Gustavo Correa, Mrs. Jacqueline Delahunt and Dr. William Roberts

Asia: Dr. Kim Myung-Jung and Mrs. Shantha Sundram

Australasia: Mrs. Violette Haake

Europe: Mr. Patrick O'Mara, Mrs. Elisabeth Mühlschlegel and Dr. Shapoor Rassekh.

Ridván 1988: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

At this resplendent, festive season, we greet you all in a spirit of renewed hope.

A silver lining to the dark picture which has overshadowed most of this century now brightens the horizon. It is discernible in the new tendencies impelling the social processes at work throughout the world, in the evidences of an accelerated trend towards peace. In the Faith of God, it is the growing strength of the Order of Bahá’u’lláh as its banner rises to more stately heights. It is a strength that attracts. The media are giving increasing attention to the Bahá’í world community; authors are acknowledging its existence in a growing number of articles, books and reference works, one of the most highly respected of which recently listed the Faith as the most widely spread religion after Christianity. A remarkable display of interest in this community by governments, civil authorities, prominent personalities and humanitarian organizations is increasingly apparent. Not only are the community’s laws and principles, organization and way of life being investigated, but its advice and active help are also being sought for the alleviation of social problems and the carrying out of humanitarian activities.

A thrilling consequence of these favorably conjoined developments is the emergence of a new paradigm of opportunity for further growth and consolidation of our worldwide community. New prospects for teaching the Cause at all levels of society have unfolded. These are confirmed in the early results flowing from the new teaching initiatives being fostered in a number of places as more and more national communities witness the beginnings of that entry by troops promised by the beloved Master and which Shoghi Effendi said would lead on to mass conversion. The immediate possibilities presented by this providential situation compel us to expect that an expansion of the Community of the Most Great Name, such as has not yet been experienced, is, indeed, at hand.

31 August 1987: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the world

Beloved Friends,

Nigh on one hundred years ago, Bahá’u’lláh walked on God's Holy Mountain and revealed the Tablet of Carmel, the Charter of the World Center of His Faith, calling into being the metropolis of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Through decades of oppression and expansion, persecution and emancipation, His followers have successfully labored to carry His message to the remotest regions of the earth, to erect the structure of His Administrative Order, and to proclaim to mankind the divinely prescribed cure for all its ills. In the past eight years the agonies suffered by His lovers in Iran have awakened the interest of a slumbering world and have brought His Faith to the center of human attention.

On this same Mount Carmel ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, with infinite pains, raised the Mausoleum of the Báb on the spot chosen by His Father, and laid to rest within its heart the sacred remains of the Prophet Herald of the Faith, establishing a Spiritual Center of immeasurable significance. In accordance with the same divine command, Shoghi Effendi embellished the Shrine with an exquisite shell and then, under its protecting wing, began the construction of the Administrative Center of the Faith, to comprise five buildings in a harmonious style of architecture, standing on a far-flung Arc centering on the Monuments of the Greatest Holy Leaf, her Mother and Brother. The first of these five buildings, the International Archives, was completed in the beloved Guardian's lifetime. The second, the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, now stands at the apex of the Arc. Plans for the remaining three were prepared in fulfillment of a goal of the Seven Year Plan, and are now being detailed.

As indicated in our letter of 30 April 1987, the way is now open for the Bahá’í world to erect the remaining buildings of its Administrative Center, and we must without delay stride forward resolutely on this path.

Five closely related projects demand our attention: the erection of the three remaining buildings on the Arc and, added now to these, the construction of the terraces of the Shrine of the Báb and the extension of the International Archives Building. A brief description of each of these will convey an impression of their significance for the Faith.

30 APRIL 1987: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

This Ridván, after decades of unabated effort involving prolonged, delicate negotiations, the Government of the State of Israel and the Bahá’í World Center signed an international agreement whose implications―spiritual, historical, and practical―are inestimable for the rapidly evolving World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.

Approved by unanimous vote of the Cabinet of the National Unity Government, the Agreement states as reasons for the Government's concurrence in it the "friendly relations between the Bahá’í world community and the State of Israel" and the "desire of the Government of Israel to give effect to this relationship, and to its recognition of the special status of the Bahá’í World Center." These friendly relations trace their foundation to the inspired initiatives of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself, particularly during the period following the Revolution of the Young Turks in 1908 when a general amnesty was effected for religious and political prisoners held under the old regime. The prestige acquired by the Faith through the dynamic force of the Master's unique spirit was demonstrated after His release from imprisonment in the actions He took to establish His residence in Haifa at the foot of Mount Carmel, to inter the sacred remains of the Báb in the mausoleum which had been erected by Him on the spot designated by Bahá’u’lláh Himself, and to travel extensively in the West. Subsequent to these travels, it was more conspicuously illustrated through the excellent relations He forged with high and low alike, the social impact of His liberal ministrations to the needs of the people in the Holy Land, and the conferring of a knighthood upon Him by the British Crown.

This legacy of prestige was evident in the recognition accorded Shoghi Effendi as Head of the Faith by the authorities of the British Mandate. The extent of the Guardian's energetic exertions to achieve recognition of the independent status of the Faith, whose permanent spiritual and administrative centers are in the Holy Land, is beyond the scope of this letter and must, in due time, be afforded full treatment in the work of future historians. Let it suffice to reaffirm here that what he was able to accomplish during the years of the Mandate, in securing custody of Bahá’í properties and in obtaining official protection of the Holy Places, recognition of the Bahá’í marriage certificate and of Bahá’í Holy Days, and relief from certain taxes, combined to reflect a status for the Faith which was accepted by the new Government when the State of Israel was established in 1948. Writing on Shoghi Effendi's behalf to a National Spiritual Assembly on 30 May 1952, his secretary stated that "All the Bahá’í properties and imports are exempt from taxation and customs, and the status of the Faith as a religion, recognized." However, the letter pointed out that "At present, we are planning to clarify our legal position with the Government, and get it on a more concrete footing." It is precisely in fulfilling the need for such clarification and more concrete footing that the instrument recently signed in Jerusalem represents a distinctive stage in the relations of the Bahá’í World Center with the Government of this country.

Ridván 1987

Dearly loved Friends, 

The launching of the Six Year Plan at Ridván 1986 coincided with the opening of a new epoch—the fourth—in the organic unfoldment of the Formative Age of our Faith. The Administrative institutions of this growing Cause of God had already begun to show signs of an increasing maturity, while at the same time emerging from the protective obscurity of their early days into the larger arena of public notice. These twin processes were signalized by a development of far-reaching consequence to the internal life of the Bahá’í community and by an outward activity of a magnitude unprecedented in its entire history. 

The former was a devolution of responsibility whereby all national communities, through their National Spiritual Assemblies, in consultation with Counselors, Local Spiritual Assemblies and the generality of believers, were requested to formulate, for the first time, their own objectives for achievement during the new Plan. This expectation of maturity challenging the national communities was matched by their formulation of national plans submitted to the World Center for coordination into the world-embracing Six Year Plan. 

The latter was a united uprising of the entire Bahá’í world community to distribute the statement, The Promise of World Peace, issued in October 1985, to the peoples of the world. Heads of State, large numbers of the members of national governments, diplomats, teachers, trade unionists, leaders of religion, eminent members of the judiciary, the police, legal, medical and other professions, members of local authorities, clubs and associations, and thousands of individuals have been presented with the statement. It is estimated that more than a million copies, in some seventy languages, have so far been distributed. These two activities alone have heavily reinforced the growing strength and maturity of the Bahá’í world community and given it a more clearly defined and readily recognizable public image. 

Other factors have contributed greatly to the rapid entrance of the Faith onto the world stage. Indeed it appears that every activity of the widespread Army of Life is now observed or commented upon by some section of the public, from the General Assembly of the United Nations to small and even remote local communities.

25 May 1986: To the Bahá’ís of the World

Beloved Friends,

The Six Year Plan has been launched and national Bahá’í communities throughout the world are engaged in formulating their national goals. On the Day of the Covenant, 26 November 1986, a new term of five years will begin for those appointed to the Auxiliary Boards. In preparation for that event, we find it propitious to announce the following decisions.

As from last Ridván, Turkey has been transferred from the area of responsibility of the Continental Board of Counselors in Asia to that of the Continental Board of Counselors in Europe. Counselor Ilhan Sezgin is, therefore, a member of the European Board of Counselors. It has also been decided to increase the size of the European Auxiliary Board for the Protection of the Faith to 36 members, which is the same as the number currently authorized for the Propagation Board in that continent.

In view of the growth of the Bahá’í community and its emergence from obscurity, we have decided to make the following further changes in the number of members of the Auxiliary Boards, to be effective from 26 November 1986:

Ridvan 1986: To the Baha'is of the world

Dearly loved friends,

The Divine Springtime is fast advancing and all the atoms of the earth are responding to the vibrating influence of Baha'u'llah's Revelation. The evidences of this new life are clearly apparent in the progress of the Cause of God. As we contemplate, however momentarily, the unfolding pattern of its growth, we can but recognize, with wonder and gratitude, the irresistible power of that Almighty Hand which guides its destinies.

This progress has accelerated notably during the Seven Year Plan, witnessed by the achievement of many important enterprises throughout the Baha'i world and vital developments at the heart of the Cause itself. The restoration and opening to pilgrimage of the southern wing of the House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha; the completion and occupation of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice; the approval of detailed plans for the remaining edifices around the Arc; the expansion of the membership and responsibilities of the International Teaching Centre and the Continental Boards of Counsellors; the establishment of the offices of Social and Economic Development, and of Public Information; the dedication of the Mother Temple of the Pacific, and dramatic progress with the building of the Temple in India; the expansion of the teaching work throughout the world, resulting in the formation of twenty-three new National Spiritual Assemblies, nearly 8,000 new Local Spiritual Assemblies, the opening of more than 16,000 new localities and representation within the Baha'i community of 300 new tribes; the issuing of 2,196 new publications, 898 of which are editions of the Holy Text and the enrichment of Baha'i literature by productions in 114 new languages; the initiation of 737 new social and economic development projects; the addition of three radio stations, with three more soon to be inaugurated -- these stand out as conspicuous achievements in a Plan which will be remembered as having set the seal on the third epoch of the Formative Age.

The opening of that Plan coincided with the recrudescence of savage persecution of the Baha'i community in Iran, a deliberate effort to eliminate the Cause of God from the land of its birth. The heroic steadfastness of the Persian friends has been the mainspring of tremendous international attention focused on the Cause, eventually bringing it to the agenda of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and, together with world-wide publicity in all the media, accomplishing its emergence from the obscurity which characterized and sheltered the first period of its life. This dramatic process impelled the Universal House of Justice to address a Statement on Peace to the Peoples of the World and arrange for its delivery to Heads of State and the generality of the rulers.