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.

13 January 1986: To the Baha'i Youth of Australia

ENTRANCE FAITH FOURTH EPOCH FORMATIVE AGE HERALDS ADVENT NEW CHALLENGES OPPORTUNITIES FRIENDS EVERYWHERE EXEMPLIFY DIVINE QUALITIES FIRMLY ESTABLISH BAHA'I COMMUNITY AS MODEL WORTHY EMULATION PEOPLES WORLD INEVITABLY MOVING TOWARD TRANSFORMATION HUMAN SOCIETY AND LAYING FOUNDATIONS WORLD PEACE.  CONFIDENT ENERGETIC SPIRIT MEMBERS YOUR GENERATION WILL INSPIRE FELLOW BELIEVERS ALL AGES DISCHARGE THEIR SHARE DUTIES OBLIGATIONS DURING YEAR PEACE AS ALL LABOUR UNITEDLY FOR VICTORY SEVEN YEAR PLAN AND CONTEMPLATE NEW LEVELS ACHIEVEMENT COURSE SIX YEAR PLAN.

OFFERING OUR PRAYERS SUPPLICATIONS YOUR BEHALF.  MAY PROMISED BLESSINGS CONFIRMATIONS BAHA'U'LLAH SUSTAIN YOU DURING YOUR DELIBERATIONS AND CROWN YOUR EFFORTS WITH OUTSTANDING VICTORIES.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

2 January 1986: The Baha'is 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 Baha'i 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-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, Ugo Giachery, 'Ali-Akbar Furutan, 'Ali-Muhammad Varqa 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 Baha'i 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 Baha'i 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 production, distribution and use of Baha'i literature; a firmer and world-wide demonstration of the Baha'i way of life requiring special consideration of the Baha'i education of children and youth, the strengthening of Baha'i family life and attention to universal participation and the spiritual enrichment of individual life; further acceleration in the process of the maturation of local and national Baha'i communities and a dynamic consolidation of the unity of the two arms of the Administrative Order; an extension of the involvement of the Baha'i world community in the needs of the world around it; and the pursuit of social and economic development in well-established Baha'i 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.

17 November 1985: To the Baha'is of the world

Beloved friends,

It is with a feeling of joy and gratitude that we inform the Baha'i world of the befitting re-interment of the remains of Mirza Muhammad-Quli, the faithful half-brother and companion in exile of Baha'u'llah, and of eleven members of his family, in a new Baha'i cemetery on a hillside looking across Lake Kinneret and the hills of Galilee towards the Qiblih of the Faith. This historic event, coinciding fortuitously with the first formal presentation of The Promise of World Peace to a Head of State, is of especial significance in the annals of the Cause of Baha'u'llah.

On 12 November 1952 the beloved Guardian jubilantly cabled the Baha'i world his announcement of the acquisition of vitally needed property surrounding the Most Holy Shrine and the Mansion of Bahji in exchange for land donated by the grandchildren of Mirza Muhammad-Quli.

The land referred to in this cable had been in the possession of Mirza Muhammad-Quli on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, at a place called Nuqayb. He and his family lived there and farmed the land for many years and on his passing, at the instruction of 'Abdu'l-Baha, his remains were buried there, as were subsequently those of members of his family.

In 1937 Kibbutz Ein Gev was established just to the north of the farm, and the two groups of settlers lived as amicable neighbours until the war of 1948 forced the family to leave the land which, lying on the troubled frontier of the new State of Israel, was expropriated by the Government. The grandchildren of Mirza Muhammad-Quli gave their rights in the land to the Faith which received in exchange the much needed land in Bahji. Thus the little cemetery passed out of Baha'i hands. It remained untouched until 1972 when the decision was made to approach the authorities with a view to embellishing the site and maintaining it as a place of historic significance for the Faith. However, plans had already been made for the extension of the plantings of the kibbutz and the eventual development of the land in a way that would not permit the permanent re-establishment of the cemetery in that place. Negotiations were then entered into, as a result of which another plot of land in the immediate neighbourhood, but slightly farther from the shore of the Lake on the slope of Tel Susita, was officially designated a Baha'i cemetery and given over to the Baha'i Community. The work of fencing it and planting suitable shrubs and trees was then put in hand and preparations were made to re-inter the precious remains of this family.

On the morning of Friday 18 October 1985, as the final stage in this process, the remains of Mirza Muhammad-Quli himself were ceremoniously conveyed from the old cemetery to the new and were re-interred there in the presence of the Hands of the Cause Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum and 'Ali-Akbar Furutan, members of the Universal House of Justice and of the International Teaching Centre, and a large gathering of World Centre friends as well as representatives of the Israeli authorities and of Kibbutz Ein Gev. Mrs Husniyyih Baha'i, the granddaughter of Mirza Muhammad-Quli, who is now pioneering in St. Lucia in the West Indies, accompanied by members of her family, had been especially invited to attend the ceremony in honour of her illustrious forebear, to whom 'Abdu'l-Baha paid eloquent tribute in Memorials of the Faithful.

The Universal House of Justice

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

24 October 1985: To the Baha'is of the World

Dear Baha'i friends,

It gives us great happiness to announce the membership of the Continental Boards of Counsellors as from the Day of the Covenant, 26 November 1985. The number of Counsellors has been increased from 63 to 72 and 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 Counsellors as now appointed is:

Africa (18 Counsellors):  Mr Hushang Ahdieh (Trustee of the Continental Fund), Mr Husayn Ardikani, Mrs Beatrice O. Asare, Mr Gila Michael Bahta, Mr Friday Ekpe, Mr Oloro Epyeru, Mr Shidan Fat'he-Aazam, Mr Kassimi Fofana, Mr Zekrullah Kazemi, Mr Muhammad Kebdani, Mrs Thelma Khelghati, Mr Roddy Dharma Lutchmaya, Mr Daniel Ramoroesi, Dr Mihdi Samandari, Mrs Edith Senoga, Mr Peter Vuyiya, Mrs Lucretia Mancho Warren, Mr Mabuku Wingi.

The Americas (17 Counsellors):  Dr Hidayatu'llah Ahmadiyyih, Mr Eloy Anello, Dr Farzam Arbab (Trustee of the Continental Fund), Dr Wilma Brady, Mrs Isabel p. de Calderon, Mr Rolf von Czekus, Mr Robert Harris, Mrs Lauretta King, Dr Peter McLaren, Mr Shapoor Monadjem, Mrs Ruth Pringle, Mr Donald O. Rogers, Mr Fred Schechter, Dr Arturo Serrano, Mr Alan Smith, Dr David R. Smith, Mr Rodrigo Tomas.

Asia (19 Counsellors):  Dr Sabir Afaqi, Mr Burhani'd-Din Afshin, Dr Iraj Ayman, Mr Bijan Fareed, Dr John Fozdar, Mr Zabihu'llah Gulmuhammadi, Mr Bharat Koirala, Mr Ruhu'llah Mumtazi, Mr S. Nagaratnam, Dr Perin Olyai, Mrs Rose Ong, Mr Khudarahm Payman (Trustee of the Continental Fund), Mr Masih Rawhani, Mr Vicente Samaniego, Dr Ilhan Sezgin, U Soe Tin, Mrs Zena Sorabjee, Dr Chellie J. Sundram, Mr Michitoshi Zenimoto.

11 July 1985: To the International Youth Conference in Columbus, Ohio

OUR HEARTS UPLIFTED HIGH SPIRIT, LOFTY PURPOSES, MULTIFARIOUS FEATURES, REMARKABLE IMPACT INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CONFERENCE COLUMBUS, OHIO, PARTICULARLY DISTINGUISHED BY IMPRESSIVE EXAMPLES SELFLESS SERVICE ITS PARTICIPANTS. THEIR UPRIGHT BEHAVIOUR, NOBLE DEEDS, CREATIVE VIGOUR HEIGHTENED PRESTIGE OUR GLORIOUS CAUSE INSPIRED JOY HEARTS BELEAGUERED BRETHREN CRADLE FAITH. OFFERING PRAYERS THANKSGIVING, BESEECHING BLESSED BEAUTY GUIDE, PROTECT, CONFIRM YOUTH IN THEIR EARNEST ENDEAVOURS MOVE WORLD TOWARDS UNITY PEACE.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

8 May 1985: To the Baha'i youth of the world

Dear Baha'i friends,

We extend our loving greetings and best wishes to all who will meet in youth conferences yet to be held during International Youth Year. So eager and resourceful have been the responses of the Baha'i youth in many countries to the challenges of this special year that we are moved to expressions of delight and high hope.

We applaud those youth who, in respect of this period, have already engaged in some activity within their national and local communities or in collaboration with their peers in other countries, and call upon them to persevere in their unyielding efforts to acquire spiritual qualities and useful qualifications. For if they do so, the influence of their high-minded motivations will exert itself upon world developments conducive to a productive, progressive and peaceful future.

May the youth activities begun this year be a fitting prelude to and an ongoing, significant feature throughout the International Year of Peace, 1986.

The present requirements of a Faith whose responsibilities rapidly increase in relation to its rise from obscurity impose an inescapable duty on the youth to ensure that their lives reflect to a marked degree the transforming power of the new Revelation they have embraced. Otherwise, by what example are the claims of Baha'u'llah to be judged? How is His healing Message to be acknowledged by a sceptical humanity if it produces no noticeable effect upon the young, who are seen to be among the most energetic, the most pliable and promising elements in any society?

The dark horizon faced by a world which has failed to recognize the Promised One, the Source of its salvation, acutely affects the outlook of the younger generations; their distressing lack of hope and their indulgence in desperate but futile and even dangerous solutions make a direct claim on the remedial attention of Baha'i youth, who, through their knowledge of that Source and the bright vision with which they have thus been endowed, cannot hesitate to impart to their despairing fellow youth the restorative joy, the constructive hope, the radiant assurances of Baha'u'llah's stupendous Revelation.

Ridvan 1985: To the Baha'is of the world

Dearly loved friends,

As we enter the final year of the Seven Year Plan, confidence of victory and a growing sense of the opening of a new stage in the onward march of the Faith must arouse in every Baha'i heart feelings of gratitude and eager expectation. Victory in the Plan is now within sight, and at its completion the summation of its achievements may well astonish us all. But the great, the historic feature of this period is the emergence of the Faith from obscurity, promoted by the steadfast heroism of the renowned, the indefatigable, dearly loved Baha'i community of Baha'u'llah's and the Bab's native land.

This dramatic change in the status of the Faith of God, occurring at so chaotic a moment in the world's history when statesmen and leaders and governors of human institutions are witnessing, with increasing despair, the bankruptcy and utter ineffectiveness of their best efforts to stay the tide of disruption, forces upon us, the Baha'is, the obligation to consider anew and ponder deeply the beloved Guardian's statement that "The principle of the Oneness of Mankind -- the pivot round which all the teachings of Baha'u'llah revolve -- ... implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced."

Intimations in the non-Baha'i world of a rapidly growing realization that mankind is indeed entering a new stage in its evolution present us with unprecedented opportunities to show that the Baha'i world community is not only "the nucleus but the very pattern" of that world society which it is the purpose of Baha'u'llah to establish and towards which a harassed humanity, albeit largely unconsciously, is striving.

3 January 1985: To the followers of Baha'u'llah in every land

Dearly loved friends,

Twelve months have passed since we addressed to the devoted followers of the Blessed Beauty throughout the world a message in which we outlined the major challenges which face the Cause of God and the thrilling opportunities which are presenting themselves for us to use in His Service.

There was an immediate and heart-warming response in offers of service, in plans of action put promptly into effect, and in contributions to the Fund. The activities of the friends are still increasing, and evidences of rich harvests are appearing. In India alone, over 150,000 new believers have joined the Baha'i community; in Samoa the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar has been dedicated amidst unprecedented recognition of the Cause; in Canada, at the conference held in London, Ontario, an upsurge of activity among the Baha'i youth has started a movement which has caught the imagination of the friends far and wide. In relation to the Fund, however, the rate of contributions during the second six months of the year has slowed seriously, and we feel it is timely to draw to your attention that our letter of 2 January 1984 was not an appeal for a one-time Herculean effort, but was intended to inform the whole world community of the present great challenges and opportunities which are not only immediate but require also a long-range, sustained increase in the efforts and self-sacrifices of the friends, both in service and in contributing from their financial resources to the advancement of the Faith.

The challenges which we enumerated then are by no means met, nor the opportunities wholly seized. The Indian Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, a building of great size and beauty, is still unfinished; plans for the further development of the World Centre, for the design and erection of the three remaining buildings on the Arc must be laid in full confidence that the funds for their completion will be made available; projects for social and economic development, for the establishment of Baha'i schools and radio stations, for agricultural advancement, and a wide range of other urgently needed activities are multiplying; world-wide attention to the Faith has increased during the past year with even greater rapidity than before, demanding new measures to co-ordinate public information services and contacts with governments and leaders of thought; and last, but near to the hearts of all, is the need of funds to assist in the relief of those hard-pressed believers who have been forced to leave Iran, often penniless and in great distress, seeking to build a new life in other parts of the world.

August 1984: To the friends gathered in Apia, Western Samoa on the occasion of the dedication of the Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands

Dearly loved friends,

In these historic days we are witnessing a major triumph in the development of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. Not only is the raising up of this House of Worship a further significant fulfilment of the Blessed Beauty's promise, it also presages a brilliant future in the Pacific for His Faith, whose quickening light is casting its rays on the peoples of this vast ocean. In his message to the Baha'i world in April 1957 the beloved Guardian, referring to the Pacific, wrote, "... Baha'i exploits bid fair to outshine the feats achieved in any other ocean, and indeed in every continent of the globe ..."

In reviewing the religious history of the Pacific during the Baha'i Dispensation we recall that it was only a short time prior to the Declaration of the Bab that the Teachings of Christ spread throughout these islands; that the Teachings of Baha'u'llah were first proclaimed there when the Hand of the Cause Agnes Alexander arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in December 1901; that at the beginning of the World Crusade in 1953 only a handful of islands had had any contact with the Faith; and that at Ridvan 1959 when the first regional National Spiritual Assembly of the South Pacific was established in Suva there were in its area but twelve Local Spiritual Assemblies in nine island groups. Witness now what has happened in the quarter century since 1959.

•  The first reigning monarch in the world to embrace the Faith of Baha'u'llah is the Head of State of Western Samoa whose official residence is near the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
• There are now a total of thirteen National Spiritual Assemblies in the homelands of the Polynesians, the Melanesians and the Micronesians.
• The Caroline Islands
•  Fiji
• The Hawaiian Islands
• Kiribati
• The Mariana IslandsThe Marshall Islands
• New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands
• Papua New Guinea
• Samoa
• The Solomon Islands
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu

28 June 1984: To the Baha'i Women's Conference in Cotonou, Benin

AS FINAL YEAR UNITED NATIONS DECADE WOMEN APPROACHES BEFITTING YOU GATHER THIS HISTORIC CONFERENCE REVIEW ACHIEVEMENTS PLAN ENLARGE SCOPE ACTIVITIES FULFIL NOBLE ROLE WOMANKIND ENVISAGED BAHA'U'LLAH. PRAYING HOLY SHRINES DIVINE CONFIRMATIONS NOBLE ASPIRATIONS FRUITFUL DELIBERATIONS.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986)

Ridvan 1984: To the Baha'is of the world

Dearly loved friends,

The emergence from obscurity, which has been so marked a feature of the Cause of God during the first five years of the Seven Year Plan, has been attended by changes, both external and internal, affecting the Baha'i world community.  Externally, there are signs of a crystallization of a public image of the Cause -- largely uninformed, however friendly -- while internally growing maturity and confidence are indicated by increased administrative ability, a desire for Baha'i communities to render service to the larger body of mankind and a deepening understanding of the relevance of the divine Message to modern problems. Both these aspects of change must be taken into consideration as we enter the third and final phase of the Seven Year Plan.

The year just closing has been overshadowed by the continued persecution of the friends in Iran. They have been forced to disband their administrative structure, they have been harassed, dispossessed, dismissed from employment, made homeless and their children are refused education. Some six hundred men, women and children are now in prison, some denied any contact with their friends and relatives, some subjected to torture and all under pressure to recant their faith.  Their heroic and exemplary steadfastness has been the mainspring in bringing the Cause out of obscurity, and it is the consolation of their hearts that their suffering results in unprecedented advances in teaching and proclaiming the divine Message to a world so desperately in need of its healing power. For this they embrace the final service of martyrdom. Our obligation is crystal clear. We cannot fail them now.  Sacrificial action in teaching and promoting the Cause of God must follow every new instance of publicity arising from their persecution. Let this be our message to them of love and spiritual union.

26 March 1984: To the National Baha'i Women's conference, Nairobi, Kenya

OCCASION NATIONAL WOMEN'S CONFERENCE WE GREET PARTICIPANTS EXPRESSING HOPE DELIBERATIONS WILL GIVE DIRECTION AND STIMULATION TO EFFORTS BAHA'I WOMEN THROUGHOUT COUNTRY TO EXEMPLIFY BAHA'I WAY OF LIFE, TO STEP FORWARD AS SUSTAINING AND DRIVING FORCE COMMUNITY AND TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP THEIR PEERS.  PRAYING HOLY SHRINES BOUNTIFUL BLESSING, FULFILMENT HIGHEST ASPIRATIONS.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

3 January 1984: To the Baha'i youth of the world

Dear Baha'i friends,

The designation of 1985 by the United Nations as International Youth Year opens new vistas for the activities in which the young members of our community are engaged. The hope of the United Nations in thus focusing on youth is to encourage their conscious participation in the affairs of the world through their involvement in international development and such other undertakings and relationships as may aid the realization of their aspirations for a world without war.

These expectations reinforce the immediate, vast opportunities begging our attention. To visualize, however imperfectly, the challenges that engage us now, we have only to reflect, in the light of our sacred Writings, upon the confluence of favourable circumstances brought about by the accelerated unfolding of the Divine Plan over nearly five decades, by the untold potencies of the spiritual drama being played out in Iran, and by the creative energy stimulated by awareness of the approaching end of the twentieth century. Undoubtedly, it is within your power to contribute significantly to shaping the societies of the coming century; youth can move the world.

How apt, indeed how exciting, that so portentous an occasion should be presented to you, the young, eager followers of the Blessed Beauty, to enlarge the scope of your endeavours in precisely that arena of action in which you strive so conscientiously to distinguish yourselves!  For in the theme proposed by the United Nations -- "Participation, Development, Peace" -- can be perceived an affirmation that the goals pursued by you, as Baha'is, are at heart the very objects of the frenetic searchings of your despairing contemporaries.

2 January 1984: To the followers of Baha'u'llah in every land

Dearly loved friends,

The gathering of the representatives of the Baha'i world at the International Convention last Ridvan was held in an atmosphere charged with awareness of the sacrifices being made by our fellow believers in Iran and with eager anticipation of the new prospects opening before the Cause as a result of changing conditions in the world, the widespread publicity that the Faith has received in all continents, and the growing maturity of its administrative institutions.

During the succeeding eight months we have been developing the agencies and formulating the plans to enable the Faith to seize the unprecedented opportunities now before it, but we are confronted with a shortage of funds which, if not remedied, could frustrate these plans. For the last two years there has been a decline in the amount of contributions to the international funds of the Faith, and we note that many national funds also are facing the danger of deficits.

Beyond carrying on the general work of the Cause there are four areas where immediate action is required.

The first is the completion of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkars in India and Samoa. Any delay in this work can but make it more expensive and also seriously injure the reputation of the Faith in these two vital areas.

20 October 1983: To the Baha'is of the world

Dear Baha'i friends,

The soul-stirring events in Baha'u'llah's native land and the concomitant advance into the theatre of world affairs of the agencies of His Administrative Order have combined to bring into focus new possibilities in the evolution of the Baha'i world community. Our Ridvan message this year captured these implications in its reference to the opening before us of a wider horizon in whose light can dimly be discerned new pursuits and undertakings upon which we must soon embark. These portend our greater involvement in the development of the social and economic life of peoples.

From the beginning of His stupendous mission, Baha'u'llah urged upon the attention of nations the necessity of ordering human affairs in such a way as to bring into being a world unified in all the essential aspects of its life. In unnumbered verses and tablets He repeatedly and variously declared the "progress of the world" and the "development of nations" as being among the ordinances of God for this day. The oneness of mankind, which is at once the operating principle and ultimate goal of His Revelation, implies the achievement of a dynamic coherence between the spiritual and practical requirements of life on earth. The indispensability of this coherence is unmistakably illustrated in His ordination of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the spiritual centre of every Baha'i community round which must flourish dependencies dedicated to the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific advancement of mankind. Thus, we can readily appreciate that although it has hitherto been impracticable for Baha'i institutions generally to emphasize development activities, the concept of social and economic development is enshrined in the sacred Teachings of our Faith. The beloved Master, through His illuminating words and deeds, set the example for the application of this concept to the reconstruction of society. Witness, for instance, what social and economic progress the Iranian believers attained under His loving guidance and, subsequently, with the unfailing encouragement of the Guardian of the Cause.

4 July 1983: To the European Youth Conference in Innsbruck

Dear Baha'i friends,

With high hopes we greet the representatives of the Baha'i youth of Europe gathered in conference in Innsbruck. This generation of Baha'i youth enjoys a unique distinction. You will live your lives in a period when the forces of history are moving to a climax, when mankind will see the establishment of the Lesser Peace, and during which the Cause of God will play an increasingly prominent role in the reconstruction of human society. It is you who will be called upon in the years to come to stand at the helm of the Cause in face of conditions and developments which can, as yet, scarcely be imagined.

European Baha'i' youth in particular face tremendous and challenging tasks in the immediate future. Can one doubt that the manner in which the governments of the European nations have rallied to the defence of the persecuted Baha'is in Iran will draw down blessings from on high upon this continent? And who among the people of Europe are more likely to be kindled by the challenge and hope of the Message of Baha'u'llah than the youth? Now is an opportunity to awaken the interest, set afire the hearts and enlist the active support of young people of every nation, class and creed in that continent. The key to success in this endeavour is, firstly, to deepen your understanding of the Teachings of the Cause so that you will be able to apply them to the problems of individuals and society, and explain them to your peers in ways that they will understand and welcome; secondly, to strive to model your behaviour in every way after the high standards of honesty, trustworthiness, courage, loyalty, forbearance, purity and spirituality set forth in the Teachings; and, above all, to live in continual awareness of the presence and all-conquering power of Baha'u'llah, which will enable you to overcome every temptation and surmount every obstacle.

23 June 1983: To Baha'i youth throughout the world

RECENT MARTYRDOMS COURAGEOUS STEADFAST YOUTH IN SHIRAZ, SCENE INAUGURATION MISSION MARTYR-PROPHET, REMINISCENT ACTS VALOUR YOUTHFUL IMMORTALS HEROIC AGE. CONFIDENT BAHA'I YOUTH THIS GENERATION WILL NOT ALLOW THIS FRESH BLOOD SHED ON VERY SOIL WHERE FIRST WAVE PERSECUTION FAITH TOOK PLACE REMAIN UNVINDICATED OR THIS SUBLIME SACRIFICE UNAVAILING. AT THIS HOUR OF AFFLICTION AND GRIEF, AND AS WE APPROACH ANNIVERSARY MARTYRDOM BLESSED BAB CALL ON BAHA'I YOUTH TO REDEDICATE THEMSELVES TO URGENT NEEDS CAUSE BAHA'U'LLAH.  LET THEM RECALL BLESSINGS HE PROMISED THOSE WHO IN PRIME OF YOUTH WILL ARISE TO ADORN THEIR HEARTS WITH HIS LOVE AND REMAIN STEADFAST AND FIRM. LET THEM CALL TO MIND EXPECTATIONS MASTER FOR EACH TO BE A FEARLESS LION, A MUSK-LADEN BREEZE WAFTING OVER MEADS VIRTUE. LET THEM MEDITATE OVER UNIQUE QUALITIES YOUTH SO GRAPHICALLY MENTIONED IN WRITINGS GUARDIAN WHO PRAISED THEIR ENTERPRISING AND ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT, THEIR VIGOUR, THEIR ALERTNESS, OPTIMISM AND EAGERNESS, AND THEIR DIVINELY APPOINTED, HOLY AND ENTHRALLING TASKS.  WE FERVENTLY PRAY AT SACRED THRESHOLD THAT ARMY OF SPIRITUALLY AWAKENED AND DETERMINED YOUTH MAY IMMEDIATELY ARISE RESPONSE NEEDS PRESENT HOUR DEVOTE IN EVER GREATER MEASURE THEIR VALUED ENERGIES TO PROMOTE, BOTH ON HOME-FRONTS AND IN FOREIGN FIELDS, CAUSE THEIR ALL-WATCHFUL AND EXPECTANT LORD. MAY THEY MANIFEST SAME SPIRIT SO RECENTLY EVINCED THEIR MARTYR BRETHREN CRADLE FAITH, SCALE SUCH HEIGHTS OF ENDEAVOUR AS TO BECOME PRIDE THEIR PEERS CONSOLATION HEARTS PERSIAN BELIEVERS, AND DEMONSTRATE THAT THE FLAME HIS OMNIPOTENT HAND HAS KINDLED BURNS EVER BRIGHT AND THAT ITS LIFE-IMPARTING WARMTH AND RADIANCE SHALL SOON ENVELOP PERMEATE WHOLE EARTH.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

19 May 1983: To the followers of Baha'u'llah throughout the world

Dearly loved friends,

For ten years the International Teaching Centre has rendered invaluable services at the World Centre of the Faith, and it is with great joy that we now announce a number of major steps in the evolution of this vital institution of the Administrative Order of Baha'u'llah.

Since the tragic death of Mr Paul Haney there have been only two Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land. We have therefore decided to call upon Dr 'Ali Muhammad Varqa and Mr. Collis Featherstone to participate in the discharge of the special duties of the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land when the occasion requires, as for example, in dealing with matters of Covenant-breaking.  They will be able to perform these functions either by correspondence or by periodic sojourns at the World Centre.

We have decided to raise the number of resident members of the International Teaching Centre to nine.  For reasons of health Mrs Florence Mayberry is leaving the World Centre, bringing to an end her highly valued services on this institution. Four new Counsellor members have therefore been appointed: Dr Magdalene Carney, Mr Mas'ud Khamsi, Dr Peter Khan and Mrs Isobel Sabri, whom we now call upon to transfer their residences to the Holy Land, where they will join the Hands of the Cause Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum and 'Ali-Akbar Furutan and Counsellors Anneliese Bopp, Hooper Dunbar and 'Aziz Yazdi.

Ridvan 140 [AD 1983]: To the Baha'is of the world

Dearly loved friends,

The observable acceleration, during the past decade, of the two processes described by our beloved Guardian, the disintegration of the old order and the progress and consolidation of the new World Order of Baha'u'llah, may well come to be regarded by future historians as one of the most remarkable features of this period. The recent increase in this very acceleration is even more remarkable. Both within and without the Cause of God, powerful forces are operating to bring to a climax the twin tendencies of this portentous century. Among the many evidences which reveal this process may be cited, on the one hand, the continual increase of lawlessness, terrorism, economic confusion, immorality and the growing danger from the proliferation of weapons of destruction, and on the other, the world-wide, divinely propelled expansion, consolidation and rapid emergence into the limelight of world affairs of the Cause itself, a process crowned by the wonderful efflorescence of Mount Carmel, the mountain of God, whose Divine springtime is now so magnificently burgeoning.

During the past five years, the historical dialectic of triumph and disaster has operated simultaneously within the Cause of God. The Army of Light has sustained the loss of six Hands of the Cause and waves of bitter persecution which have again engulfed the long-suffering community in Iran, and have resulted in the razing of the House of the Bab, the demolition of Baha'u'llah's ancestral home in Takur, and the martyrdom of scores of valiant souls. Yet these disasters have called forth fresh energies in the hearts of the friends, have fed the deep roots of the Cause and given rise to a great harvest of signal victories. Chief among these are the successful conclusion of the Five Year Plan, the launching of the Seven Year Plan, now in the final year of its second phase and unprecedented proclamation of the Faith to Heads of States, parliaments and parliamentarians, government ministers and officials, leaders of thought and people prominent in the professions, resulting in a change of attitude on the part of the mass media, which now increasingly approach us for information about the Cause.

17 March 1983: To The Baha'i Youth Conferences in Costa Rica and Honduras

WARMLY WELCOME OCCASION SIMULTANEOUS CONFERENCES COSTA RICA AND HONDURAS TO GREET VIBRANT BAHA'I YOUTH CENTRAL AMERICA. YOUR ENTHUSIASTIC EXERTIONS IN SERVICE CAUSE BAHA'U'LLAH AS SHOWN BY SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE YOUR NUMBERS BRING GLADNESS TO OUR HEARTS AND INSPIRE EXHILARATING THOUGHT THAT BRIGHT PROSPECTS SUCCESS LIE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE YOU.

YOU MEET AT HIGHLY CRITICAL MOMENT HISTORY WHEN TURMOIL ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ERA OF TRANSITION INTENSIFIES. WITHIN CAUSE ITSELF CAN BE SEEN ON ONE HAND UNPRECEDENTED CAMPAIGN PERSECUTION LONG-SUFFERING IRANIAN BRETHREN AND ON OTHER HAND RESOUNDING TRIUMPHS SEVEN YEAR PLAN INDUCED BY THEIR SACRIFICES AND SYMBOLIZED BY OCCUPANCY PERMANENT SEAT UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE. MANKIND RAPIDLY APPROACHES RECKONING WITH BAHA'U'LLAH'S INJUNCTION THAT IT BE UNITED.  FROM FAR AND NEAR ANGUISHED MULTITUDES CRY FOR PEACE BUT BEING LARGELY IGNORANT HIS LIFE-REDEEMING MESSAGE THEY FEEL NO HOPE.  SITUATION THUS PRESENTS BAHA'I YOUTH WITH GREAT OPPORTUNITIES INESCAPABLE CHALLENGE TO RESCUE THEIR PEERS FROM SLOUGH DESPONDENCY POINTING THEM TOWARDS HOPE-RESTORING BANNER MOST GREAT NAME. HOW FITTING THEN THAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER AT THESE CONFERENCES BEST MEANS EQUIP YOURSELVES SPIRITUALLY TO FULFIL TEACHING MISSION PARTICULARLY SUITED TO YOUR CAPACITIES FOR SERVICE, YOUR ABOUNDING ZEAL AND ENERGY.

ARDENTLY SUPPLICATING AT HOLY THRESHOLD ON YOUR BEHALF THAT IN ADDITION TO PRAYING, ABSORBING HOLY PRINCIPLES AND TEACHING FAITH, YOU WILL BE SO IMBUED BY BELOVED MASTER'S EXAMPLE SERVICE TO HUMANITY AS TO BE ABLE THROUGH YOUR INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE DEEDS TO DEMONSTRATE CIVILIZING POWER OUR SACRED CAUSE AND CONVEY VISION ITS SPIRITUAL AND SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTIVE BENEFITS TO YOUR COMPATRIOTS OF ALL AGES.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

2 September 1982: To the friends gathered in the Asian-Australasian Baha'i Conference in Canberra

Dearly loved friends,

These are momentous times. The institutions of the old world order are crumbling and in disarray. Materialism, greed, corruption and conflict are infecting the social order with a grave malaise from which it is helpless to extricate itself. With every passing day it becomes more and more evident that no time must be lost in applying the remedy prescribed by Baha'u'llah, and it is to this task that Baha'is everywhere must bend their energies and commit their resources.

New conditions now present themselves, making it easier to accomplish our purpose. Galvanized by the fires of fierce opposition and nurtured by the blood of the martyrs, the forces of the Cause of Baha'u'llah are, at long last, emerging from obscurity. Never before in history has the Faith been the subject of such universal attention and comment. Eminent statesmen, parliamentarians, journalists, writers, educators, commentators, clergymen and other leaders of thought have raised their voices and set their pens to expressions of horror and revulsion at the persecutions of our brethren in Iran on the one hand, and to paeans of praise and admiration of the noble principles which motivate the followers of the Most Great Name on the other.

The five international conferences of the Seven Year Plan were called to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf, to discuss anew the present condition of the Faith in a turbulent world society, to examine the great opportunities for its future growth and development, and to focus attention on the unfulfilled goals of the Plan. We are certain that the contemplation of the gathered friends on the sterling qualities which distinguished the heroic life of the Greatest Holy Leaf will help them to persevere in their noble endeavours.

2 September 1982: To the friends gathered at the Baha'i International Conference in Montreal

Dearly loved friends,

Seventy years ago 'Abdu'l-Baha visited Montreal, hallowing it forever. The visit of the beloved Master to America, the laying by Him of the cornerstone of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the West and the revelation by Him five years later of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, which invest its chief executors and their allies with spiritual primacy, constitute successive stages in the gradual disclosure of a mission whose seeds can be found in the Báb's address to the people of the West, urging them to aid God's Holy Cause. This mission was given specific direction through Baha'u'llah's summons to the rulers of America, calling on them to heal the injuries of the oppressed and, with the "rod of the commandments" of their Lord, to bring their corrective influence to bear upon the injustices perpetrated by the tyrannical and the ungodly. 'Abdu'l-Baha revealed in clearer details than those given by either the Báb or Baha'u'llah the nature and scope of that glorious mission. In His eternal Tablets unveiling America's spiritual destiny the Master wrote, "The continent of America is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendours of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide and the free assemble. Therefore, every section thereof is blessed ..." and, referring to Canada, He asserted that its future "is very great, and the events connected with it infinitely glorious." Even more specifically, He expressed the "hope that in the future Montreal may become so stirred, that the melody of the Kingdom may travel to all parts of the world from that Dominion and the breaths of the Holy Spirit may spread from that centre to the East and the West of America."

19 August 1982: To the friends gathered at the Baha'i International Conference at Lagos

Dearly loved friends,

With hearts overflowing with love for the people of Africa, so richly endowed with the gifts of the spirit, so abundantly and repeatedly blessed since the dawn of this Revelation, and so gloriously promising in the unfoldment of their hidden potentialities, we welcome the friends gathered at this Conference held in one of the most important capitals of their emergent continent.

As we review the annals of our Faith we see that since the days of the Blessed Beauty and up to the early 1950s, the activities of the friends in Africa had produced the formation of one National Spiritual Assembly with its seat in Cairo, Egypt, the opening of 12 countries to the light of the Faith, and some 50 localities established throughout its vast lands.  It was at such a time that the beloved Guardian ushered in the first African Teaching Plan, to be followed during the remaining years of his ministry and in subsequent years after his passing, by a series of challenging and bravely executed plans designed to implant the banner of the Faith throughout the length and breadth of that continent and its neighbouring islands.  Today, after the lapse of a little over three decades, we stand in awe as we view with admiration one of the most valiant contingents of the Army of Light, guided by its own Board of Counsellors, led and administered by 37 National Spiritual Assemblies and 4990 Local Spiritual Assemblies, privileged to serve an eager and radiant community of believers drawn from 1152 African tribes residing in 29,000 localities.