Chapter 10

Reacting to these barbarous acts, over a thousand groups and local Assemblies of the Baha'i world appealed telegraphically to the authorities, and all National Assemblies addressed written communications to the _Sh_ah, the government and parliament, pleading for justice and protection.

Finding written pleas unanswered, an appeal has been lodged with United Nations by representatives of the International Baha'i Community at Geneva. Copies of the appeal were delivered to representatives of member nations of the Social and Economic Council, the Director of the Human Rights Division and certain specialized agencies of nongovernmental organizations with consultative status. Furthermore, President Eisenhower who, according to the newspapers, first mentioned the persecutions at a Press Conference in Washington, has been appealed to by the National representatives of the American Baha'i Community and all Assemblies and groups in the United States to intervene on behalf of their oppressed sister community.

Whatever the outcome of the present heart-rending events, one fact emerges clear and indisputable. God's infant Faith, provided, through the operation of a quarter-century-long process associated with the first epoch of the formative age of the Faith, with the machinery of a divinely appointed Administrative Order, and utilizing in the course of the succeeding epoch, through the formulation of a series of national plans, culminating in the launching of the World Crusade, the newly-born administrative agencies for the systematic propagation of the Faith, is now gradually emerging from obscurity in the wake of the ordeal convulsing the overwhelming majority of the followers of the Faith.

The world-wide reverberations of this nation-wide commotion will be hailed by posterity as the mighty blast of God's trumpet designed to awaken, through the instrumentality of its oldest, most redoubtable, most vicious, most fanatical adversaries, countless multitudes, and the Chancelleries and Chief Magistrates of the East and of the West, to the existence and implications of the Faith proclaimed by His Messenger in this Day. This long-desired, ardently-hoped-for emergence, itself a long-drawn-out process, is bound to pave the way for the emancipation of this same Faith from the fetters of orthodoxy in Islamic countries, as well as the ultimate recognition of the independent character of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah in His homeland.

Owing to the grievous losses sustained, and the necessity to demonstrate world-wide Baha'i solidarity, an "Aid the Persecuted" Fund has been inaugurated for the purpose of bringing immediate relief to the despoiled and homeless victims. Myself contributing the equivalent of eighteen thousand dollars for this noble purpose. However conscious I am of the manifold demands on the adherents of the Faith, I am impelled to invite them to participate through contributions to be transmitted through their respective National Assemblies.

Moreover, undeterred by the obstacles placed in the path of the crusaders of Baha'u'llah, the historic decision has been arrived at to raise the Mother Temple of Africa in the City of Kampala, situated in its heart and constituting a supreme consolation to the masses of oppressed valiant brethren in the Cradle of the Faith. Every continent of the globe except Australasia will thereby pride itself on and derive direct spiritual benefits from its own Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar. Befitting recognition will, moreover, have been accorded the marvelous expansion of the Faith and the amazing multiplications of its administrative institutions throughout this continent, a continent fully deserving of a House of Worship, complementing the four national Haziratu'l-Quds already established, wherein the spirit of an unconquerable Faith can dwell, within whose walls the African adherents of the Faith of Baha'u'llah can congregate, and from which anthems of praise glorifying the Most Great Name can ascend to the Concourse of the Abha Kingdom.

Transmit message to Hands of the Cause and National Assemblies.

--Shoghi

[Cablegram, August 23, 1955]

Hand of Cause Appointment

Inform Hands and National Assemblies that Varqa's son, 'Ali Muhammad has been appointed to succeed his father now gathered into the concourse on high in the Abha Kingdom, as Trustee of Huquq and elevated to rank of Hand of the Cause.

--Shoghi

[Cablegram, November 15, 1955]

So Significant a Victory

The triumphant termination of the second phase of the decade-long global Spiritual Crusade on which the followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah have so auspiciously embarked impels me to share with the delegates assembled at the Annual Baha'i Conventions convened in all the continents of the globe the feelings of joy, of pride and of thankfulness which so significant a victory has evoked in my heart.

A REMARKABLE VICTORY

The year that has just ended--a year which posterity cannot fail to regard as one of the most eventful and challenging in the annals of the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation--has been overshadowed, in the course of its opening months, by a sudden and highly menacing crisis in the fortunes of this Faith, a crisis which, though as yet not fully resolved, has already led to a remarkable victory over the combined forces of its traditional adversaries in the land of its birth, who, for more than a century, have plotted assiduously to disrupt its foundations, tarnish its glory and extinguish its light. A long-abused, down-trodden, sorely tried community, constituting the overwhelming majority of Baha'u'llah's followers, subjected recently to the strain and stress of a violent recrudescence of persecution, which was marked throughout by intense vilification, intimidation, spoliation, expulsion, arson, rape, and murder, has emerged triumphant from yet another gruelling experience--a testing period of exceptional severity--its unity unbroken, its confidence reinforced, its prestige considerably enhanced, its fame noised abroad to an unprecedented degree, its administrative agencies unshaken, its endowments unimpaired, and the grim, boastful and reiterated threats of its sworn enemies to outlaw it through formal legislative action, confiscate its property, demolish its edifices, imprison and deport its members, and extirpate it, root and branch, in the native land of its Founder unenforced.

PROGRESSIVE UNFOLDMENT OF THE TEN-YEAR CRUSADE

Simultaneous with this marvelous, awe-inspiring interposition of Providence, at this critical stage in the mysterious evolution and the resistless progress of God's infant Faith in the land of its birth, towards the two shining goals of complete emancipation from the shackles of religious orthodoxy and of state recognition, an equally significant development can be noted, during the last twelve-month, in the progressive unfoldment, beyond the confines of this storm-tossed land, and stretching to the farthest corners of the earth, of the Ten-Year Plan, now entering upon the third, and what promises to be the most brilliant, phase in its execution.

This world-encompassing enterprise, embarked upon, three years ago, on the occasion of the world-wide celebrations commemorating the centenary of the birth of the Mission of the Founder of our Faith, has, in all phases of its operation, throughout five continents, as well as the islands of the seas, gathered swift momentum, and is demonstrating, in both its territorial and institutional aspects, a vitality, and has registered successes, that have far exceeded the expectations of even the most sanguine among its promoters.

The number of localities into which the light of this unconquerable Faith, now radiating the splendor of its glory over the face of the planet, has penetrated, has swelled to well nigh thirty-seven hundred, marking an increase of almost five hundred in the course of a single year. The number of Sovereign States and Chief Dependencies included within its pale, which multiplied with such amazing swiftness during the opening year of this World-Crusade, has now risen to two hundred and forty-seven through the arrival of the Knights of Baha'u'llah Udai Narain Singh, Frank Wyss and Daniel Haumont, in Tibet, in Cocos Island and Loyalty Islands, respectively, as well as through the opening of Laos and Cambodia and of the Islands of Pemba, Fernando Po, Trinidad and Corisco--territories not included in the provisions of the Ten-Year Plan,--and as a result of information recently received indicating the presence of a few believers in the Soviet Republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The number of local Spiritual Assemblies now functioning throughout the length and breadth of the Baha'i World exceeds nine hundred. Every single country listed in the Plan within the confines of every continent of the globe, with the exception of those within the Soviet Orbit, are now opened to the Faith. All islands figuring in that Plan, over seventy in number, situated in the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Indian Oceans, in the Mediterranean and the North Sea, have, likewise been opened except Nicobar Islands, Chagos Archipelago, Hainan Island, Sakhalin Island, Spitzbergen and Anticosti Island. The number of the islands of the globe to which the Message of Baha'u'llah has been carried since its inception now totals ninety-eight. In the Pacific Ocean alone the number of opened territories is now over forty, while the number of localities where Baha'is reside exceeds one hundred and seventy. The number of languages into which Baha'i literature has been and is being translated has now reached one hundred and ninety, no less than thirty-four of which are to be regarded as supplementary to those included in the provisions of the Plan.

FAST-AWAKENING CONTINENT OF AFRICA

In the Continent of Africa and in its neighboring islands, in both the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, the number of the avowed supporters of the Faith has passed the three thousand mark; over two thousand five hundred of whom belong to the Negro race. The number of territories opened to the Faith in that fast-awakening continent and its neighboring islands has risen to fifty-eight, while the number of localities where Baha'is reside is over four hundred. The number of tribes represented in the Baha'i Community is now over one hundred and forty, the number of local Assemblies already established is over one hundred and twenty, and the number of languages into which Baha'i literature has been and is being translated exceeds fifty.

FORTY-THREE NATIONAL HAZIRATU'L-QUDS

The number of incorporated Assemblies, both local and national, in various continents of the globe, has been raised to one hundred and sixty-eight, the latest additions being the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assembly and the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Brussels, Tokyo, Liverpool, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Quincy, Basel, Zuerich, Geneva, Heidelberg, Buenos Aires, Saigon, Suva, Malacca and Addis Ababa. The number of National Haziratu'l-Quds, the precursors of Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies, acquired in the capitals and leading cities of North, Central and South America, of the goal countries of Europe, of Africa, Asia and Australasia, and of several islands of the globe, has reached forty-three, involving the expenditure of over half a million dollars, amply compensating for the seizure and occupation of the National Administrative Headquarters of the Faith and the demolition of its dome by the military authorities in the Persian capital.

TEMPLE SITES AND ENDOWMENTS

Land for ten Temple sites has moreover been acquired at a cost of no less than one hundred thousand dollars, while negotiations are well advanced for the acquisition of the one remaining Temple site to be purchased in the Swedish capital. In no less than thirty of the fifty-one countries listed in the Ten-Year Plan, National Baha'i endowments estimated as having a value of one hundred thousand dollars have been acquired, outstanding among them being the Maxwell Home honored by the presence of 'Abdu'l-Baha while in Montreal, which has been transferred by the Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Baha to the Canadian National Spiritual Assembly. Efforts are moreover being strenuously exerted for the establishment of similar endowments in the twenty-one remaining countries. Following the completion and adoption of the design for the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in the cradle of the Faith, steps have been taken for the preparation of no less than three additional designs, one for the Temple scheduled to be erected in the heart of the European Continent, another for the one to be erected in the near future in the African Continent, and the third for the one contemplated for Australasia, paving the way thereby in each of the remaining continents of the globe for the erection of a House to be consecrated to the worship of the one true God, and to the glory and honor of His Messenger for this Day.

DEVELOPMENT OF BAHA'I WORLD CENTER

In the Holy Land, the center and pivot round which the divinely appointed, fast multiplying institutions of a world-encircling, resistlessly marching Faith revolve, the double process, so noticeable in recent years, involving a rapid decline in the fortunes of the breakers of Baha'u'llah's Covenant and proclaiming the rise of the institutions of its World Administrative Center, in the shadow of His Shrine, has been accelerated on the one hand, through the death, in miserable circumstances, of the treacherous and malignant Majdi'd-Din, the last survivor of the principal instigators of the rebellion against the Will of the Founder of our Faith, and, on the other, through the laying of the foundation, and the erection of some of the pillars, of the facade and of the northern side of the International Baha'i Archives--the first of the major edifices destined to constitute the seat of the World Baha'i Administrative Center to be established on Mt. Carmel. No less than thirty of the fifty-two pillars, each over seven meters high, of this imposing and strikingly beautiful edifice have already been raised, whilst half of the nine hundred tons of stone ordered in Italy for its construction have already been safely delivered at the Port of Haifa. A contract, moreover, for over fifteen thousand dollars has been placed with a tile factory in Utrecht for the manufacture of over seven thousand green tiles designed to cover the five hundred square meters of the roof of the building.

Coincident with these building operations an extensive plot, adjoining the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf has, after protracted and difficult negotiations, been purchased for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, for the purpose of extending and safeguarding, on the one hand, the area of the international Baha'i endowments on Mt. Carmel, and of providing, on the other, the much needed space for the extension and completion of the far-flung arc around which the edifices of the World Baha'i Administrative Order are to be built. The recently acquired area surrounding the holiest Shrine in the Baha'i World and its appointed Qiblih in the plain of Akka has been further extended through the purchase from the Development Authority of the State of Israel of a dilapidated house, situated south of the Mansion and blessed by the presence of 'Abdu'l-Baha and in which He was wont to receive His friends, amongst them the first party of western Baha'i pilgrims to arrive in the Holy Land after the passing of Baha'u'llah. To these latest acquisitions must be added the purchase of another plot situated in the neighborhood of the Bab's Sepulcher and adjoining the area surrounding the future seat of the World Baha'i Administrative Order, raising thereby the total area of the international Baha'i endowments in the Holy Land to over four hundred thousand square meters. Furthermore, the necessary formalities have been completed in connection with the purchase of the site of the future Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar on Mt. Carmel, while the transfer of the title deeds of recently acquired plots to the name of the Israel branches of the United States, the British, the Persian, the Canadian and Australian Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies is being expeditiously carried out.

EVENTS IN THE UNITED STATES

In the United States of America, the home of the champion-builders of a fast-evolving Order, an official invitation was extended to the Baha'i Community by the San Francisco Council of Churches to send representatives to attend a Service of Prayer for Peace and Divine Guidance to the United Nations, an invitation to which the Community warmly responded. At this inter-religious gathering, held in the Cow Palace in San Francisco, the birthplace of the Charter of the United Nations, which united nearly sixteen thousand people in worship and silent prayers, and at which government leaders, among them the United States Secretary of State, were present, the voice of the Baha'i representative was the first to be raised, reciting a prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah, after whom a prayer was read by each of the representatives of the Christian, the Muslim, the Jewish, the Hindu, and the Buddhist Faiths, all of whom were similarly invited to participate in that immense and historic gathering. A prayer revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha for America was presented by the elected national representatives of the United States Baha'i Community to President Eisenhower, who acknowledged its receipt in warm terms and above his own signature.

OTHER VICTORIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Nor should mention be omitted in this brief survey of Baha'i victories and achievements in the course of the closing year of the second phase of the Ten-Year Plan of the establishment of a Baha'i Publishing Trust in India; of the establishment of over thirty new centers and fifteen Assemblies in India, Pakistan and Burma; of the purchase of some of the holy sites blessed by the footsteps of Baha'u'llah in Adrianople, the Land of Mystery and the scene of the proclamation of His Message; of the holding of the first Baha'i Summer School in Central Africa, in Kobuka, Uganda, attended by about one hundred African and white believers and representatives of no less than twenty-eight Baha'i local Assemblies; of the convocation of the first historic All-France Teaching Conference, the first fruit of the combined labors of the believers of about thirty centers already established throughout the length and breadth of that country; of the setting apart of a plot to serve as a burial-ground for the members of the Baha'i community in Tripoli, Libya and in the capital of Tanganyika; of the purchase of land for the establishment of a Baha'i Summer School in 'Iraq; of the extension to the Baha'i women in Egypt of the right to be elected to the Egyptian Baha'i National Spiritual Assembly as well as to participate as delegates in the National Baha'i Convention; of the purchase, in an island near Muara Siberut, Mentawei Islands, of a plot supplementing the Baha'i endowment established in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital; of the pushing of the northern outpost of the Faith in Alaska to Point Barrow beyond the Arctic Circle; of the initiation of auxiliary plans for the promotion of the Faith in the Seychelles Islands and in the Sudan; and of the arrival of a pioneer in Praslin Island forming a part of the Seychelles group.

APPEAL TO UNITED NATIONS

Nor can I in this survey allow to pass unnoticed the energetic and commendable efforts exerted by Baha'i communities the world over for the support, protection and relief of the persecuted members of the Persian Baha'i Community subjected to one of the severest ordeals experienced in recent years by the steadfast followers of the Faith in the land of its birth. Following this barbarous recrudescence of religious persecution and the transmission of over one thousand messages by Baha'i communities, some in writing and others telegraphically, to His Majesty the _Sh_ah, the Government, the Majlis and the Senate, and reinforcing the wide publicity given in the world's leading newspapers and the numerous protests voiced by scholars, statesmen, government envoys and people of eminence such as Pandit Nehru, Eleanor Roosevelt, Professor Gilbert Murray and Professor A. Toynbee, a written communication accompanied by a memorandum listing the atrocities perpetrated throughout the Persian provinces, was submitted in Geneva to the Secretary General of the United Nations, who appointed a commission of United Nations officers, headed by the High Commissioner for Refugees, instructing its members to contact the Persian Foreign Minister and urge him to obtain from his government in Tihran a formal assurance that the rights of the Baha'i minority in that land would be protected. Copies of this communication addressed to the United Nations were delivered to the representatives of the member nations of the Social and Economic Council, to the Director of the Human Rights Division, and to certain specialized agencies of non-governmental organizations with consultative status. Furthermore, the American President was appealed to by the national representatives of the American Baha'i Communities as well as by all local Assemblies and groups in the United States. A courteous and reassuring letter was subsequently received by the American Baha'i National Spiritual Assembly from the State Department in Washington, acknowledging the receipt of the appeal, while the Director of the Division of Human Rights addressed in his turn a communication to the Secretary of the American National Spiritual Assembly, informing him that summaries of both the letter and petition forwarded to him would be furnished to the Commission of Human Rights, and copies sent to the Persian Government. Assurance was moreover given that summaries would also be sent to the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. As a further measure to obtain redress a forty-thousand dollar publicity campaign was initiated by the American Baha'i Community designed to lend an impetus to the proclamation of the fundamental verities of the Faith, the aims and purposes of its followers, and of the disabilities suffered by the overwhelming majority of its adherents in the land of its birth.

ENROLLMENTS IN VIRGIN TERRITORIES

Nor can I refrain from emphasizing in this rapid survey the highly significant fact that in over sixty territories, constituting more than a half of the total number of virgin territories opened to the Faith, since the inauguration of the World Spiritual Crusade, the number of those who have espoused the Cause of Baha'u'llah and enlisted under His banner has surpassed the number originally anticipated and regarded as a minimum for the opening of these territories; that in a considerable proportion of them the Baha'i membership has far exceeded the number required for the formation of local Assemblies; that in Gambia as many as three hundred, and in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands as many as five hundred, have been and are being enrolled beneath His standard; and that in Uganda alone, which holds the palm of victory, the number of registered believers has exceeded one thousand.

NEXT PHASE OF WORLD CRUSADE