Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Universal House of Justice, The Baha'i World: Volume 30 (2001-2002), Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 2003, bahai-library.com.
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THE
BAH~l
WORLD
2001 - 2002
AN INTERNATIONAL RECORD

BAHA'I WORLD CENTRE
HAIFA
©2003 World Centre Publications

Order department:
Baha'i Distribution Service
4703 Fulton Industrial Blvd.
Atlanta, GA 30336-2017
USA
E-mail: bds@usbnc.org

Senior editor: Ann Boyles
Assistant editor: Alex McGee

Photo credits: pp. 89, 93, 96, 99, 111, 118, 119, 120, 121, originally
appeared in the Baha' f World News Service; p. 110, courtesy of Michelle
Murphy; pp. 11 4, 116, copyright Randy Focht; p. 126, copyright
United Nations Photo Archive; p. 128, originally appeared in One
Country; pp. 244, 246, 249, 250, 252, courtesy of the Bayan Association. All others courtesy of the Audio-Visual Department of the Baha'i
World Centre.

ISBN 0-85398-974-5
CONTENTS

7 Introduction co the Baha'i Community

Writings and Messages
21 Baha'i Sacred Writings
29 From the Universal House ofJustice

Events 2001-2002
37 Official Opening of the Terraces
of the Shrine of the Bab
75 The Year in Review
113 Anniversaries of Baha'i Communities
125 World Conference against Racism
133 Baha'i International Community Activities
143 Update on the Situation of the Baha'ls in Iran
149 European Baha'i Business Forum
Essays, Statements, and Profiles
157 World Order and Global Governance: A Baha'i
Perspective
by Paul Vreeland
189 Fostering the Spiritual Education of Children
by Barbara Johnson
221 World Watch
by Ann Boyles
243 Profile: Bayan Association

Statements by the Baha'i International Community
255 Belief and Tolerance: Lights amidst the Darkness
263 Overcoming Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity in
Public Institutions: A Baha'i Perspective
273 One Same Substance: Consciously Creating a Global
Culture of Unity
279 Sustainable Development: The Spiritual Dimension
287 HIV/AIDS and Gender Equality: Transforming Attitudes
and Behaviors
291 Baha' is in Iran: Current Situation

Statements by National Spiritual Assemblies
295 The Destiny of America and the Promise of World Peace
by the National Spiritual Assembly ofthe Bahd'is ofthe United States

Information and Resources
301 Obituaries
311 Statistics
315 Directory
323 Selected New Publications
327 A Basic Baha'i Reading List
331 Glossary
337 Index
Introduction to the
Baha'i Community

intercultural performance and service group travels through
Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, with the
aim of giving young native people a positive view of their
culture and heritage. A Russian journalist facilitates workshops
for students in three Austrian schools to help them learn how to
find positive solutions to moral dilemmas in their lives. In a droughtplagued region of Ethiopia, a community inaugurates a water pond
project that will benefit 300 households and more than 15,000
cattle. At the end of a large conference in Brazil, youth commit
themselves to making positive changes in their communities, by
starting moral education classes for children and a moral education
theater group, and by becoming involved in community-building
projects. In Papua New Guinea, people walk for up to two days
to witness the official opening of a new primary school in their
region. In Stuttgart, Germany, organizers of a panel discussion
invite members of diverse religious groups to come together to
examine the topic "Religions against Violence, " looking at the
peace-promoting elements of religions as well as their potential
to generate conflict and war. A nongovernmental organization (NGO)
in Ghana offers teachers, government ministries, other NGOs, and
the media a moral leadership training seminar designed to assist
participants to address social problems in that country. In Malaysia,

8 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

a campaign for Asli children combines literacy training with spiritual
education. And a performing arts group composed of youth from
ten countries travels through Lesotho, performing music and dances
on topics such as unity, the elimination of prejudice, drug abuse,
and HIV/AIDS.
Although they come from diverse backgrounds and far-flung
areas of the planet, these people all share a united view of the
world, its future, and their role in shaping it. They are Baha'is.
The Baha'i International Community, comprising members
of the Baha'i Faith from all over the globe, now numbers more
than five million souls. It represents 2, 112 ethnic and tribal groups
and live in more than 127,500 localities in 190 independent
countries and 46 dependent territories. What was once regarded
by some as a small, obscure sect was reported by the Britannica
Book of the Year 2001 to be the second-most widely spread
independent religion in the world, after Christianity. Its membership cuts across all boundaries of class and race, governing itself
through the establishment of local and national elected bodies
known as Spiritual Assemblies. Its international center and the
seat of its world governing council, known as the Universal House
of Justice, are located in the Holy Land, in Haifa, Israel.
This article offers a brief introduction to the Baha'i community,
its history, its spiritual teachings, and its aims and objectives.

Origins

In 1844, a young Persian merchant named Siyyid 'Ali-Mu}:iammad
declared Himself to be the Promised Qa'im awaited by Shia
Muslims. He adopted the title "the Bab," which means "the Gate,"
and His teachings quickly attracted a large following. Alarmed
by the growing numbers of "Babis," as His followers were known,
the Muslim clergy allied themselves with ministers of the Shah in
an effort to destroy the infant Faith. Several thousand Babis were
persecuted, tortured, and killed in the following years, but the
growth of the new religion continued even after the Bab Himself
was imprisoned and later executed in July 1850. The horrific
treatment of the Babis at the hands of the secular and religious
authorities was recorded by a number of Western diplomats, scholars,
THE BAHA'f COMMUNITY 9

and travelers, who expressed their admiration for the character
and fortitude of the victims.
The Babi religion sprang from Islam in much the same manner
that Christianity sprang from Judaism or Buddhism did from
Hinduism. That is to say, it was apparent early in the Bab's ministry
that the religion established by Him was not merely a sect or a
movement within Islam but an independent Faith. Furthermore,
one of the main tenets of Babi belief was the Bab's statement that
He had been sent by God to prepare the way for One greater
than Himself, Who would inaugurate an era of peace and
righteousness throughout the world, representing the culmination
of all past religious dispensations.
Mirza J::Iusayn-'Ali was one of the leading adherents of the Babi
Faith Who was arrested and imprisoned during the tumultuous
years of the Bab's brief ministry. Because of pressure on the Persian
Shah from European diplomats, He was spared from execution but
was banished from Persia to Baghdad, Constantinople, Adrianople,
and finally the penal colony of Acre in Palestine. Thus, the Persian
government, which had secured the support of the rulers of the
rival Ottoman Empire in suppressing the new movement, expected
that His sphere of influence would be severely limited.
During His initial imprisonment, Mirza J::Iusayn-'Ali had
received the first divine intimations that He was the Promised
One of Whom the Bab had spoken. He adopted the title
"Baha'u'llah," which means "Glory of God," and publicly declared
His mission on the eve of His exile from Baghdad, in April 1863.
Baha'u'llah was still nominally a prisoner when He passed away
near Acre in May 1892, although the authorities had gradually
loosened their restrictions as they became acquainted with Him
and the nature of His teachings. During the long years of His
exile Baha'u'llah revealed the equivalent of more than 100 volumes
of writings, consisting of the laws and ordinances of His dispensation, letters to the kings and rulers of the East and the West,
mystical teachings, and other divinely inspired writings.
In His Will and Testament, Baha'u'llah appointed His eldest
son, 'Abbas Effendi, Who adopted the title "'Abdu'l-Baha" ("Servant
of Baha''), as His successor and the sole authoritative interpreter
of His teachings. 'Abdu'l-Baha had shared His Father's long exile
IO THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

and imprisonment and was freed only after a new regime was
installed by the "Young Turk" movement in 1908. Shortly thereafter,
at an advanced age, He embarked on an arduous journey to Europe
and America where, from 1911to1913, He proclaimed Baha'u'llah's
message of universal brotherhood and peace to large audiences,
consolidated fledgling Baha'i communities, and warned of the
potential catastrophe looming on Europe's darkening horizon. By
the outbreak of World War I in 1914, 'Abdu'l-Baha had returned
to His home in Haifa, just across the bay from Acre, and devoted
Himself to caring for the local people, fending off famine by feeding
them from stores of grain He had safeguarded for such an emergency. 'Abdu'l-Baha's humanitarian services and His promotion
of intercultural harmony were recognized by the British government, which, at the end of the war, conferred upon Him a
knighthood-a title He acknowledged but declined to use. He
passed away in 1921 and is buried on Mount Carmel in a vault
near the spot where He had interred the remains of the Bab some
years before.
Among the legacies that 'Abdu'l-Baha bequeathed to history
was a series of letters called the Tablets of the Divine Plan, which
He had addressed to the Baha' is of North America during the
years of World War I. These 14 letters directed the recipients to
scatter to countries on all continents and share with their populations
the teachings of Baha'u'llah-a mandate that led to the global
expansion of the Baha'i community.
Another legacy of'Abdu'l-Baha is His Will and Testament, which
Baha' is regard as the charter of the administrative order conceived
by Baha'u'llah. This document appointed 'Abdu'l-Baha's eldest
grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as Guardian of the Baha'i Faith and
authorized interpreter of its teachings. Successorship to the Founders
of the Baha'i Faith would be shared by the Guardian and an elected
Universal House of Justice, whose complementary role would be
to create legislation supplementing the Faith's scriptures.
During the period of his Guardianship, from 1921 to 1957,
Shoghi Effendi concentrated on four main areas: the development
of the Baha'i World Centre in the environs of Haifa; the translation
and interpretation of the Baha'i sacred writings; the rise and
consolidation of the institutions of the Baha'i administrative order;
THE BAHA'f COMMUNITY II

and the implementation of 'Abdu'l-Baha's plan for the propagation
of the Baha'i Faith around the world.
At the Baha'i World Centre, Shoghi Effendi effected the construction of a superstructure for the mausoleum containing the
remains of the Bab, which had been brought secretly from Persia
and interred by 'Abdu'l-Baha in a spot designated by Baha'u'llah
on Mount Carmel. Shoghi Effendi beautified and expanded the
simple native stone structure, which is today a site of pilgrimage
for Baha'is from all over the world. He enhanced the Baha'i
properties and initiated construction of the International Baha'i
Archives building to house the original Baha'i scriptures and artifacts
from the early days of the Baha'i Faith. This building, the first on
the arc-shaped path on the site designated as the world administrative
center of the Baha'i community, was completed in 1957. Shoghi
Effendi's actions laid the foundations, literally and figuratively,
for the further development of the Baha'i World Centre.
Shoghi Effendi was also instrumental in interpreting the writings
of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha and in translating them from the
original Persian and Arabic into English. The Guardian had served
as secretary to 'Abdu'l-Baha for a number of years and was a student
at Oxford University at the time of his Grandfather's passing. Shoghi
Effendi's mastery of Persian, Arabic, and English, coupled with
the authority conferred upon him as the appointed interpreter of
the Baha'i writings, made him uniquely qualified to undertake
their translation. He also translated The Dawn-Breakers, a history
of the Babi Faith, authored God Passes By, a history of the first
century of the Baha'i Faith, and wrote thousands of letters to
communities and individuals around the world, elucidating passages
from the writings and giving direction and impetus to Baha'i
communities.

Development of the Administrative Order

Shoghi Effendi's work in developing the Baha'i administrative order
is one of the most dramatic legacies of his years as Guardian. The
first step in this development was to encourage the organized,
planned expansion of Baha'i communities in places where local
and national Baha' f councils, known as Spiritual Assemblies, would
12 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

eventually be established. The Guardian effected this global
expansion of Baha'i communities through a series of international
plans of varying duration, during which 12 National Spiritual
Assemblies were elected.
At the time of Shoghi Effendi's sudden passing in 1957, the
Baha'i community was in the middle of a global plan of expansion
and consolidation called the Ten Year Crusade. During this period,
which concluded in 1963-the centenary of Baha'u'llah's declaration
of His mission in the Garden of Riqvfo in Baghdad-the goal
was to open 132 new countries and major territories to the Faith
and to expand existing communities in 120 countries and territories
that had previously been opened. These ambitious targets were in
certain instances actually exceeded by the end of the plan, in spite
of the difficulties posed by the Guardian's death.
'Abdu'l-Baha, in His Will and Testament, had authorized the
continuation of the Guardianship through the appointment by
the Guardian of a successor from among his own sons, should he
have them, or other direct descendants of Baha'u'llah. Such a
designation was dependent upon the decision of Shoghi Effendi
as to whether an individual could be named who met the demanding
spiritual qualifications specified by 'Abdu'l-Baha. Shoghi Effendi
had no children and died without designating such a Guardian
to follow him. He had, however, taken steps towards the election
of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of
the Baha'i Faith. He had also appointed a number of individual
Baha'is to an auxiliary institution of the Guardianship called Hands
of the Cause of God. These individuals had been charged with
protecting the unity of the Faith and collaborating with National
Spiritual Assemblies around the world to ensure that the goals of
the Ten Year Crusade were won. Upon Shoghi Effendi's passing,
these men and women guided the Baha'i community to complete
the plan initiated by the Guardian and to hold the first election
of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.
Conceived by Baha'u'llah Himself, the institution of the
Universal House of Justice is established on principles laid down
in the Baha'i sacred writings. Its initial election, by the members
of the 56 National Spiritual Assemblies that existed in April 1963,
clearly demonstrated the principle of unity so central to the Baha'i
THE BAHA'f COMMUNITY 13

Faith, with the nine members coming from four continents and
representing a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds.
Based on the authority conferred on it by the Founder of the
Faith, the Universal House of Justice is now elected every five
years and stands as the acknowledged central authority in the
worldwide Baha'i'. community and has, during the past 38 years,
launched eight global plans for the advancement of the Faith.
From a worldwide population of 408,000 in 1963, the Baha'i'.
community has grown to more than five million members; the
number of National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies has grown
from 56 to 182; and the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies
has increased from 3,555 to 11,746.

Spiritual and Moral Teachings
and Baha'i Community Life
The force that unites this diverse body of people is the vision
achieved through their belief in Baha'u'llah as a Manifestation of
God, in the social and administrative structures He established,
and in the spiritual and moral teachings He propagated. Central
to these spiritual teachings is the concept that there is only one
God and that the world's great religions have been established by
Messengers or Manifestations of this Divine Reality-Abraham,
Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, and Muhammad-Who
have been sent throughout history to deliver a divine message
commensurate with humanity's stage of development. Though the
religions' social teachings change through this process of progressive
revelation, the spiritual essence of all the major religions remains
the same: humanity has been created to know and to worship
God. The Baha'i'. perspective sees the cumulative benefits of
progressively revealed religions as fundamental to an "ever-advancing
civilization." What divides various religious communities, Baha'i'.s
believe, comes not from God but from humanity and its accretions to the essential religious teachings brought by the divine
Messengers.
At this stage of humanity's development, the unity of the
human race must be recognized, the equality of women and men
must be established, the extremes of wealth and poverty must
14 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

be eliminated, and the age-old promise of universal peace must
be realized. Likening the development of the human race to that
of an individual, the Baha'i writings say that we have passed
through stages analogous to infancy and childhood and are now
in the midst of a tumultuous adolescence, standing on the
threshold of maturity. Baha'u'llah taught that humanity is destined
to come of age, but the course it takes to achieve that goal is
entirely in its own hands.
To promote the development of a society in which Baha'i ideals
can be fully realized, Baha'u'llah established laws and moral teachings that are binding on Baha'is. Central to these is daily obligatory
prayer. Study of and meditation upon the Baha'i sacred writings
each morning and evening is also enjoined. Baha'is between the
ages of 15 and 70, with certain exceptions, observe an annual 19-
day, dawn-to-dusk fast. Baha'u'llah referred to prayer and fasting
as the "twin pillars" of faith, an indication of their importance
and the benefits to be gained from them. He also raised work to
the level of worship. The main repository of Baha'u'llah's laws is
a volume entitled the Kitab-i-Aqdas, or the "Most Holy Book."
There are no dietary restrictions in the Baha'i Faith, but the
consumption of alcohol and the use of narcotic and hallucinogenic
drugs are forbidden, as they affect the mind and interfere with spiritual
growth. Baha'u'llah counseled Baha'is to be honest and trustworthy,
to render service to humanity with an abundance of deeds rather
than mere words, to be chaste, and to avoid gossip and backbiting.
He forbade lying, stealing, adultery, homosexual acts, and promiscuity. The importance of the family is central to Baha'i community
life, as is the moral and spiritual education of children.
Baha'i'.s often gather together in their communities to study
the sacred writings of their Faith and to pray, but a central feature
in Baha'i'. community life is a meeting called the Nineteen Day
Feast, at which all members join in worship, consult about community affairs, and socialize. Pending the further development of
Baha'i'. communities, these meetings often occur in rented facilities,
people's homes, or in local Baha'i centers. The Baha'i'. writings
call for the erection in each community of a beautifully designed
House of Worship, surrounded by gardens and functioning as a
spiritual center of activity. A variety of social and humanitarian
THE BAHA'f COMMUNITY 15

institutions are also to be established around it. Seven Baha'i Houses
of Worship presently exist, in Australia, Germany, India, Panama,
Uganda, the United States, and Western Samoa, and sites have
been purchased around the world for the construction of many
more. The Houses of Worship are open to people of all faithsor those professing no particular faith-for prayer and meditation.
Services are nondenominational. There are no sermons, only readings
and prayers from the Baha'i writings and scriptures of other faiths
with music by an a cape/la choir. This preserves the sacredness of
the experience of hearing and meditating upon the Holy Word
without the interference of man-made concepts.

Aims, Objectives, and Activities

As the Universal House of Justice stated in a message addressed
to the peoples of the world, written in October 1985, coinciding
with the United Nations International Year of Peace, "Acceptance
of the oneness of mankind is the first fundamental prerequisite
for the reorganization and administration of the world as one
country, the home of humankind." The ultimate aim of the Baha'i
Faith is the establishment of unity among all the peoples of the
world, and it is because of its orientation towards unity on an
international scale that the Baha'i community has been active at
the United Nations since that organization's inception. Today the
Baha'i International Community, an active nongovernmental
organization (NGO) that represents the collective voice of national
Baha'i communities around the world, enjoys special status with
the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It is particularly
involved in addressing human rights issues, the needs of women
and children, and environmental concerns, as well as pursuing
sound, sustainable development policies. To coordinate its international efforts in these areas, the Baha'i International Community's
United Nations Office and Office of Public Information, as well
as the Office of the Environment and the Office for the
Advancement of Women, collaborate with National Spiritual
Assemblies around the world. The Baha'i International Community's activities at the United Nations have earned it a reputation
as one of the most effective religious NGOs in the UN system. Its
16 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

national and international representatives took active roles in the
major world summits and NGO forums sponsored by the United
Nations during the 1990s.
Baha'is look towards a day when a new international order
will be established, a commonwealth to which all the nations of
the world will belong. As Shoghi Effendi wrote in 1936:
The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Baha'u'llah, implies
the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations,
races, creeds, and classes are closely and permanently united,
and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal
freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them
are definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth
must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature,
whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind,
ultimately control the entire resources of all the component
nations, and will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate
the life, satisfy the needs, and adjust the relationships of all
races and peoples. A world executive, backed by an international
Force, will carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply the
laws enacted by, this world legislature, and will safeguard the
organic unity of the whole commonwealth. A world tribunal
will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final verdict in
all and any disputes that may arise between the various elements
constituting this universal system. 1
Shoghi Effendi went on to describe the tremendous benefits
to humanity resulting from such a world order:
The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether
economic or political, will be consecrated to such ends as will
extend the range of human inventions and technical development,
to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to the
extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research,
to the raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation
of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the
prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any other

1 Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahd'u'fldh: Selected Letters, 2d rev.
ed. (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 203.
THE BAHA'f COMMUNITY 17

agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual
life of the entire human race. 2
To make its aims and objectives widely known and to promote
its perspective on various issues, the Baha'i International Community
not only collaborates with like-minded organizations within and
outside of the United Nations, but it engages in public information
efforts to bring the spiritual and social principles of the Faith to
the attention of people everywhere. The persecution of the Baha'is
in Iran since the 1979 Iranian revolution has prompted wide
dissemination of information about the Baha'i Faith in the
international news media. More than two hundred members of
the Faith have been executed for their belief, which is considered
as heresy by the regime, and thousands more have been imprisoned,
fired from their jobs, or had their homes confiscated or their pensions cut off as a result of government orders. Baha'is around the
world have responded in unity to this ongoing persecution in Iranthe land in which their religion was born-by petitioning their
governments to take action against this injustice. It is, to some
degree, as a result of these efforts that the persecutions have not
been more extreme, although Iran's Baha'is still face the possibility
of arbitrary imprisonment and execution, and are still denied
fundamental rights and freedoms. 3
The Baha'i community has also taken a proactive approach in
promulgating its views. The statement on peace issued by the
Universal House of Justice in 1985, entitled The Promise ofWorld
Peace, sparked a worldwide campaign of presentations and public
awareness programs throughout the International Year of Peace
and since, aimed at government figures, leaders of thought, and
the general population. The centenary of Baha'u'llah's passing in
1992 was commemorated, in part, with the publication of a
statement detailing His life, teachings, and mission, designed to
increase knowledge of the Baha'i Faith among members of the
public. A statement presenting the Baha'i perspective on social

2 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'LLdh, p. 204.
3 See pp. 143-47 and 291-93 for further information on the continuing
persecution of Iran's Baha'i community.
18 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

development, The Prosperity of Humankind, was disseminated at
the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in
March 1995, and later that year a statement entitled Turning Point
for All Nations was released as a contribution to discussions on
the future of the United Nations during its 50th anniversary. In
1999, the Baha'i International Community released Who Is Writing
the Future? Reflections on the Twentieth Century.
The Baha'i community has also been continually engaged in
a series of international teaching plans. It has seen rapid expansion
in different parts of the world, perhaps most notably in Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union, where national Baha'i
communities have been established in recent years following the
collapse of long-standing political barriers. New national governing
bodies are also being formed elsewhere, as the Universal House
of Justice deems communities to have reached a sufficient level
of maturity.
The existence and growth of the Baha'i community offers
irrefutable evidence that humanity, in all its diversity, can learn
to live and work together in harmony. While Baha' is are not unaware
of the turmoil in the world surrounding them, their view is succinctly
depicted in the following words, taken from The Prosperity of
Humankind:
A world is passing away and a new one is struggling to be born.
The habits, attitudes, and institutions that have accumulated
over the centuries are being subjected to tests that are as necessary
to human development as they are inescapable. What is required
of the peoples of the world is a measure of faith and resolve to
match the enormous energies with which the Creator of all things
has endowed this spiritual springtime of the race. 4
The source of this faith and resolve is the message offered by
the teachings of Baha' u'llah, a message that deserves the thoughtful
consideration of all those who yearn for peace and justice in the
world.

4 Baha'i International Community's Office of Public Information, The Prosperity of Humankind (1995). See The Bahd'i World 1994-95, pp. 273-96,
for the complete text of this statement.
WRITINGS
AND MESSAGES
Baha' f. Sacred Writings

From the Writings of Baha'u'llah

K now verily that the essence of justice and the source thereof
are both embodied in the ordinances prescribed by Him
Who is the Manifestation of the Self of God amongst men,
if ye be of them that recognize this truth. He doth verily incarnate
the highest, the infallible standard of justice unto all creation.
Were His law to be such as to strike terror into the hearts of all
that are in heaven and on earth, that law is naught but manifest
justice. The fears and agitation which the revelation of this law
provokes in men's hearts should indeed be likened to the cries of
the suckling babe weaned from his mother's milk, if ye be of them
that perceive. Were men to discover the motivating purpose of
God's Revelation, they would assuredly cast away their fears, and,
with hearts filled with gratitude, rejoice with exceeding gladness.
qf0

Bestir yourselves, 0 people, in anticipation of the days of Divine
justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to
apprehend its import and be accounted among the erring.
qf0

Every Prophet Whom the Almighty and Peerless Creator hath
purposed to send to the peoples of the earth hath been entrusted

22 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

with a Message, and charged to act in a manner that would best
meet the requirements of the age in which He appeared. God's
purpose in sending His Prophets unto men is twofold. The first
is to liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance,
and guide them to the light of true understanding. The second is
to ensure the peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all
the means by which they can be established.
The Prophets of God should be regarded as physicians whose
task is to foster the well-being of the world and its peoples, that,
through the spirit of oneness, they may heal the sickness of a
divided humanity. To none is given the right to question their
words or disparage their conduct, for they are the only ones who
can claim to have understood the patient and to have correctly
diagnosed its ailments. No man, however acute his perception,
can ever hope to reach the heights which the wisdom and
understanding of the Divine Physician have attained. Little wonder,
then, if the treatment prescribed by the physician in this day should
not be found to be identical with that which he prescribed before.
How could it be otherwise when the ills affecting the sufferer
necessitate at every stage of his sickness a special remedy? In like
manner, every time the Prophets of God have illumined the world
with the resplendent radiance of the Daystar of Divine knowledge,
they have invariably summoned its peoples to embrace the light
of God through such means as best befitted the exigencies of the
age in which they appeared. They were thus able to scatter the
darkness of ignorance, and to shed upon the world the glory of
their own knowledge. It is towards the inmost essence of these
Prophets, therefore, that the eye of every man of discernment must
be directed, inasmuch as their one and only purpose hath always
been to guide the erring, and give peace to the afflicted .... These
are not days of prosperity and triumph. The whole of mankind is
in the grip of manifold ills. Strive, therefore, to save its life through
the wholesome medicine which the almighty hand of the unerring
Physician hath prepared.
C(f0

And now concerning thy question regarding the nature of religion.
Know thou that they who are truly wise have likened the world
SACRED WRITINGS 23

unto the human temple. As the body of man needeth a garment
to clothe it, so the body of mankind must needs be adorned with
the mantle of justice and wisdom. Its robe is the Revelation
vouchsafed unto it by God. Whenever this robe hath fulfilled its
purpose, the Almighty will assuredly renew it. For every age requireth
a fresh measure of the light of God. Every Divine Revelation hath
been sent down in a manner that befitted the circumstances of
the age in which it hath appeared.
~

Behold the disturbances which, for many a long year, have afflicted
the earth, and the perturbation that hath seized its peoples. It
hath either been ravaged by war, or tormented by sudden and
unforeseen calamities. Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath paused to reflect what the cause
or source of that may be. Whenever the True Counsellor uttered
a word in admonishment, lo, they all denounced Him as a mover
of mischief and rejected His claim. How bewildering, how confusing
is such behavior! No two men can be found who may be said to
be outwardly and inwardly united. The evidences of discord and
malice are apparent everywhere, though all were made for harmony and union. The Great Being saith: 0 well-beloved ones!
The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another
as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one
branch. We cherish the hope that the light of justice may shine
upon the world and sanctify it from tyranny. If the rulers and
kings of the earth, the symbols of the power of God, exalted be
His glory, arise and resolve to dedicate themselves to whatever
will promote the highest interests of the whole of humanity, the
reign of justice will assuredly be established amongst the children
of men, and the effulgence of its light will envelop the whole
earth. The Great Being saith: The structure of world stability and
order hath been reared upon, and will continue to be sustained
by, the twin pillars of reward and punishment. And in another
connection He hath uttered the following in the eloquent tongue: 1
Justice hath a mighty force at its command. It is none other than

1 Arabic
24 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

reward and punishment for the deeds of men. By the power of
this force the tabernacle of order is established throughout the
world, causing the wicked to restrain their natures for fear of
punishment.
In another passage He hath written: Take heed, 0 concourse
of the rulers of the world! There is no force on earth that can
equal in its conquering power the force of justice and wisdom . I,
verily, affirm that there is not, and hath never been, a host more
mighty than that of justice and wisdom. Blessed is the king who
marcheth with the ensign of wisdom unfurled before him, and
the battalions of justice massed in his rear. He verily is the ornament
that adorneth the brow of peace and the countenance of security.
There can be no doubt whatever that if the daystar of justice,
which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed its light
upon men, the face of the earth would be completely transformed ....
In these days the tabernacle of justice hath fallen into the clutches
of tyranny and oppression. Beseech ye the One true God-exalted
be His glory-not to deprive mankind of the ocean of true
understanding, for were men but to take heed they would readily
appreciate that whatever hath streamed from and is set down by
the Pen of Glory is even as the sun for the whole world and that
therein lie the welfare, security, and true interests of all men;
otherwise the earth will be tormented by a fresh calamity every
day and unprecedented commotions will break out. God grant
that the people of the world may be graciously aided to preserve
the light of His loving counsels within the globe of wisdom. We
cherish the hope that everyone may be adorned with the vesture
of true wisdom, the basis of the government of the world.
The Great Being saith: The heaven of statesmanship is made
luminous and resplendent by the brightness of the light of these
blessed words which hath dawned from the dayspring of the Will
of God: It behoveth every ruler to weigh his own being every day
in the balance of equity and justice and then to judge between
men and counsel them to do that which would direct their steps
unto the path of wisdom and understanding. This is the cornerstone
of statesmanship and the essence thereof. From these words every
SACRED WRITINGS

enlightened man of wisdom will readily perceive that which will
foster such aims as the welfare, security, and protection of mankind
and the safety of human lives. Were men of insight to quaff their
fill from the ocean of inner meanings which lie enshrined in these
words and become acquainted therewith, they would bear witness
to the sublimity and the excellence of this utterance. If this lowly
one were to set forth that which he perceiveth, all would testify
unto God's consummate wisdom. The secrets of statesmanship
and that of which the people are in need lie enfolded within these
words. This lowly servant earnestly entreateth the One true Godexalted be His glory-to illumine the eyes of the people of the
world with the splendor of the light of wisdom that they, one
and all, may recognize that which is indispensable in this day.
'*-'
0 Oppressors on Earth! Withdraw your hands from tyranny, for
I have pledged Myself not to forgive any man's injustice. This is
My covenant which I have irrevocably decreed in the preserved
tablet and sealed it with My seal of glory.
'*-'
It beseemeth you to fix your gaze under all conditions upon justice
and fairness. In The Hidden Words this exalted utterance hath
been revealed from Our Most August Pen:
"O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is
Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect
it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with
thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know
of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy
neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behoveth thee to be.
Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness.
Set it then before thine eyes."
They that are just and fair-minded in their judgment occupy
a sublime station and hold an exalted rank. The light of piety
and uprightness shineth resplendent from these souls. We earnestly
hope that the peoples and countries of the world may not be deprived
of the splendors of these two luminaries.
'*-'
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Say: Observe equity in your judgment, ye men of understanding
heart! He chat is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the
characteristics that distinguish man's station.
qt<.,

Say: Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning. Suffer not
yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice,
that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted from your hearts
upon all created things. Say: Beware, 0 people of Baha, lest ye
walk in the ways of them whose words differ from their deeds.
Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the
earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His commandments.

From the Writings and Utterances of 'Abdu'l-Baha
God be praised! The sun of justice hath risen above the horizon
of Baha'u'llah. For in His Tablets the foundations of such a justice
have been laid as no mind hath, from the beginning of creation,
conceived ... . The canopy of existence resteth upon the pole of
justice, and not of forgiveness, and the life of mankind dependeth
on justice and not on forgiveness.
qt<.,

And among the teachings of Baha'u'llah are justice and right. Until
these are realized on the plane of existence, all things shall be in
disorder and remain imperfect. The world of mankind is a world
of oppression and cruelty, and a realm of aggression and error.
In fine, such teachings are numerous. These manifold principles,
which constitute the greatest basis for the felicity of mankind and
are of the bounties of the Merciful, must be added to the matter
of universal peace and combined with it, so that results may accrue.
Otherwise the realization of universal peace by itself in the world
of mankind is difficult. As the teachings ofBaha'u'llah are combined
with universal peace, they are like a table provided with every
kind of fresh and delicious food. Every soul can find, at that table
of infinite bouncy, that which he desires. If the question is restricted
to universal peace alone, the remarkable results which are expected
and desired will not be attained. The scope of universal peace
must be such that all the communities and religions may find
their highest wish realized in it. The teachings of Baha'u'llah are
SACRED WRITINGS 27

such that all the communities of the world, whether religious,
political, or ethical, ancient or modern, find in them the expression
of their highest wish.
~

The bulk of humanity now realizeth what a great calamity war is
and how war turneth man into a ferocious animal, causing
prosperous cities and villages to be reduced to ruins and the
foundations of the human edifice to crumble. Now, since all men
have been awakened and their ears are attentive, it is time for the
promulgation of universal peace-a peace based on righteousness
and justice-that mankind may not be exposed to further dangers
in the future. Now is the dawn of universal peace, and the first
streaks of its light are beginning to appear. We earnestly hope
that its effulgent orb may shine forth and flood the East and the
West with its radiance. The establishment of universal peace is
not possible save through the power of the Word of God ....
~

Mere knowledge of principles is not sufficient. We all know and
admit that justice is good, but there is need of volition and action
to carry out and manifest it.
~

Let them perform their services with complete sanctity and
detachment, and on no account defile themselves by receiving
bribes, harboring unseemly motives, or engaging in noxious
practices. Let them be content with their wages, and seek distinction in truthfulness, straightforwardness, and the pursuit of virtue
and excellence; for vanity in riches is worthy of none but the base,
and pride in possessions beseemeth only the foolish. To attain to
true glory and honor, man should exercise justice and equity, forbear
to act in an oppressive manner, render service to his government,
and work for the good of his fellow citizens. Were he to seek after
aught else but this he would indeed be in manifest loss.
~

Among the results of the manifestation of spiritual forces will be
that the human world will adapt itself to a new social form, the
justice of God will become manifest throughout human affairs,
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

and human equality will be universally established .... Through
the manifestation of God's great equity the poor of the world will
be rewarded and assisted fully, and there will be a readjustment
in the economic conditions of mankind so that in the future there
will not be the abnormally rich nor the abject poor. The rich will
enjoy the privilege of this new economic condition as well as the
poor, for owing to certain provisions and restrictions they will
not be able to accumulate so much as to be burdened by its
management, while the poor will be relieved from the stress of
want and misery. The rich will enjoy his palace, and the poor will
have his comfortable cottage.
The essence of the matter is that divine justice will become
manifest in human conditions and affairs, and all mankind will
find comfort and enjoyment in life.
c'J(_,

0 friends of God, be living examples of justice! So that by the
mercy of God, the world may see in your actions that you manifest
the attributes of justice and mercy.
Justice is not limited, it is a universal quality. Its operation
must be carried out in all classes, from the highest to the lowest.
Justice must be sacred, and the rights of all the people must be
considered. Desire for others only that which you desire for
yourselves. Then shall we rejoice in the Sun of]ustice, which shines
from the horizon of God.
Each man has been placed in a post of honor, which he must
not desert. A humble workman who commits an injustice is as
much to blame as a renowned tyrant. Thus we all have our choice
between justice and injustice.
I hope that each one of you will become just, and direct your
thoughts towards the unity of mankind; that you will never harm
your neighbors nor speak ill of any one; that you will respect the
rights of all men, and be more concerned for the interests of others
than for your own. Thus will you become torches of divine justice, acting in accordance with the teaching of Bahf u'llah, who,
during His life, bore innumerable trials and persecutions in order
to show forth to the world of mankind the virtues of the world
of divinity, making it possible for you to realize the supremacy of
the spirit, and to rejoice in the justice of God.
From the
Universal House of Justice

T he Universal House of]ustice, the world governing council
of the Baha'i International Community, is responsible for
guiding and coordinating the activities of its 182 national
affiliates and the Faith's five million adherents throughout the world.
While it corresponds with individuals and organizations seeking
its guidance, the Universal House of Justice also writes letters to
National Spiritual Assemblies and to the Baha'is of the world
containing major announcements, providing direction, and advising
them of opportunities that lie before them. This article highlights
major letters written by the Universal House of Justice between
April 2001 and April 2002.

Riqvan 15 8 BE message
Each year during the Baha' { Festival of Ri9van, between 21 April
and 2 May, the Universal House of Justice addresses a message to
the Baha'!s of the world, reviewing the past year and looking forward
to the next. The Ri9van 2001 letter, released at the conclusion of
a brief Twelve Month Plan, both reflects on it and relates its
accomplishments to the foundations laid in the previous Four
Year Plan (1996-2000).
30 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The letter begins by drawing attention to the community's
"heightened awareness of the value of process, the necessity of
planning and the virtue of systematic action" in "fostering growth"
and in "developing the human resources" of the community. In
reviewing the process that has led to this significant moment, the
House ofJustice notes the development of more than 300 training
institutes during the Four Year Plan and the greater focus on the
spiritual education of children and "junior" youth (aged 12-14)
during the Twelve Month Plan. It remarks on the "freshness of
vitality" that characterized the conference of the Continental
Counsellors and Auxiliary Board members in January 200 l, which
sparked the announcement of the Faith's entrance into the Fifth
Epoch of its Formative Age, and it urges reflection upon "the
tumultuous forces that influenced the life of the planet and the
processes of the Cause itself at a crucial time in humanity's social
and spiritual evolution."
Reviewing external affairs activities during the Twelve Month
Plan, the House of Justice mentions the prominent participation
of Baha'i representatives in the millennial events called for by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, noting that "the
implications of so close and conspicuous an involvement of the
Baha'i International Community with the processes of the Lesser
Peace will require the passage of time to be properly understood."
The House ofJustice also finds the colloquium on science, religion,
and development in India, organized by the Baha'i International
Community's Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity, and the
launch of the Baha'i World News Service to be notable accomplishments during this period.
At the Baha'i World Centre, achievements include the
occupation by the International Teaching Centre of its permanent
seat, the conference of the Continental Counsellors and Auxiliary
Board members, the completion of the Mount Carmel projects
in preparation for the official opening of the Terraces surrounding
the Shrine of the Bab, the preparation of a new reception center
for pilgrims in Haifa, and the construction of a new facility for
visitors to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah.
The final point highlighted by the Universal House of Justice
in its review of the year is the restoration of the National Spiritual
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE 31

Assembly of the Bahi'1s oflndonesia, which had lapsed for almost
three decades following a ban on Bahi' { activities in 1962.
Having looked back over the past year, the House of Justice
then turns its gaze forward. "Two decades from now,'' it writes,
"the Bahi' f world will celebrate the centenary of the inception of
the Formative Age." The Five Year Plan, it points out, "constitutes the first of a series of campaigns chat will be pursued during
these twenty years" aimed at accomplishing "a significant advance
in the process of entry by troops,'' which will require "continuity
in systematic endeavor" by individuals, institutions, and
communities. The aims of the Five Year Plan, in the words of the
House of Justice, are "co effect a deeper penetration of the Faith
into more and more regions within countries,'' using approaches
such as intensive programs of growth and the "methodical opening
of new areas" by individuals who move to settle in those areas as
"home-front pioneers."
Looking towards the "enrichment of the devotional life of the
community through the raising up of national Houses of Worship"
throughout the Fifth Epoch, the House of Justice outlines in the
Ric;l.van letter the immediate task ahead: to erect "the Mother Temple
of South America" in Santiago, Chile, thus completing Shoghi
Effendi's plan to build Houses of Worship on all continents.
At the Baha'i World Centre the work of chose institutions chat
have recently moved into the new buildings on the Arc will be
guided to further development. Attention is to be given to the
Centre for the Study of the Texts, particularly in regard to "enriching
the translations into English from the Holy Texts,'' and measures
will be taken to welcome larger numbers of pilgrims and visitors.
The Ric;l.van letter concludes by referring to the imminent arrival
of Baha'{s from all over the world for the events surrounding the
official opening of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab in May
2001 and by characterizing the occasion as an important milestone
chat will allow both reflection on the progress made by the Baha' f
community throughout the preceding century and a look forward
to the future. 1

1 See pp. 37- 73 for an article on the Terraces' official opening and for the full
text of two letters of the Universal House of Justice written for that occasion.
32 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Other Significant Letters

Baha'i Funds
The establishment of the World Centre Endowment Fund, "for
the preservation, upkeep, and security of the edifices and precincts
of the Spiritual and Administrative Centres of the Faith," was
announced in a letter dated 12 November 2001, which urges Baha'i'.s
to contribute to this special fund so that the "splendor, befitting
so sacred a place, be preserved undiminished in the decades and
centuries ahead."

Martyrdoms in Tajikistan
A letter dated 27 February 2002 from the Secretariat of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies conveys
the sad news of the assassination of two Baha'is in Tajikistan. Rashid
Gulov and Afshin Shokoufeh Mosadegh "were killed at the hands
of fanatical elements in that country who wished to cause harm
to followers of Baha'u'llah." Mr. Gulov was shot and killed on 23
October, and Mr. Mosadegh was shot on 3 December. The House
of Justice notes, "The investigation by the Tajik authorities into
the murders has shown that the two Baha'is were killed because
of their Faith." 2 The previous assassination of another Baha'i,
'Abdu'llah Mogharrabi, two years before, is recalled, and the House
of Justice concludes, ''A community so distinguished by the sacrifices
of martyrs is bound to attract bountiful confirmations of its efforts
from on high."

International Pioneering and Traveling Teaching
The subject of international pioneering and traveling teaching-
"an indispensable feature of the Baha'i community"-is addressed
in a letter dated 10 January 2002 to the Baha'is of the world.
Noting that "in the Twelve Month Plan alone, over 1,800 believers
from nearly 90 countries set out to serve the Faith in the
international field," the House of]ustice underscores the importance
of such efforts by stating, "Apart from the services such staunch

2 See pp. 304 and 308 for obituaries of Mr. Gulov and Mr. Mosadegh.
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE 33

souls are able to render the Cause of God, this intermingling of
the peoples of the world is vital to the patterns of life that the
followers of Baha'u'llah are striving to establish and which are
destined to provide an example for the rest of humanity to emulate."
New Publications
Finally, the Universal House of Justice announced the release of
several important publications during the year. The first is the
Arabic edition of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, Baha'u'llah's Most Holy Book
and the "Charter of the future world civilization," in the words
Shoghi Effendi, which was announced in a letter dated 27 April
2001. The second is The Four Year Plan and the Twelve Month
Plan, 1996-2001: Summary ofAchievements, on 30 January 2002,
about which it states, "The volume chronicles the progress of the
Faith worldwide during a period of important accomplishments
in the Baha'i community, and its careful reading will provide insights
into the processes by which the Faith advances through systematic
planning and action." The third is The Summons of the Lord of
Hosts, which, as the House of Justice writes in a letter dated 8
April 2002, "brings together for the first time the authorized
translations into English of the full texts of Baha'u'llah's major
Tablets to the kings and rulers of the World." The letter notes
that these Tablets were revealed during Baha'u'llah's exiles to
Adrianople and Acre and that they "summon their recipients to
recognize the Day of God and to arise to the challenges it imposes
on them as the trustees of civil authority among the peoples of
the world. "
EVENTS
2001-2002
Official Opening of the
Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab

... it shall come to pass in the last days, that the
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in
the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above
the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

0 n the evening of 22 May 2001, in the gathering dusk,
some 3,000 members of the Baha'i Faith, joined by more
than 600 special guests, gathered at the foot of Mount
Carmel in Haifa, Israel. The Baha'is had come from more than
180 countries, as representatives of their communities, to witness
the inauguration of the terraces of the Shrine of the Bab, towards
the construction of which they had been contributing for more
than 13 years. They shared this historic moment with their
cobelievers and with the world at large via transmissions on a
global satellite network and the World Wide Web, reaching millions
of viewers in more than 70 countries.
The call to undertake this immense project had come some
14 years before, in 1987, when the Universal House of Justice
stated, "the way is now open for the Baha'i world to erect the
remaining buildings of its Administrative Centre,'' thus fulfilling

THE M OUNT CARM EL TERRACES
OFFIC IAL OPENING
THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

the intent of 'Abdu'l-Baha and bringing to fruition the work of
the Guardian in this regard. In its letter, the Universal House of
Justice also wrote, "The great work of constructing the terraces,
landscaping their surroundings, and erecting the remaining buildings of the Arc will bring into being a vastly augmented World
Centre structure which will be capable of meeting the challenges
of coming centuries and of the tremendous growth of the Baha'i
.
community ... "l
It was Baha'u'llah Who designated this particular location on
Mount Carmel as both the spiritual and the administrative center
of His Faith, when He visited Haifa during the last years of His
life. In accordance with Baha'u'llah's directive, 'Abdu'l-Baha built
the Shrine of the Bab and interred His remains there in 1909. In
the middle years of the twentieth century Shoghi Effendi beautified
that Shrine and then undertook the construction of a classically
designed structure to house the historic and sacred relics of the
early period of the Baha'i Faith.
Construction of the seat of the Universal House of Justice
commenced in the 1970s and was completed in 1983. Four years
later came the call for the building of the remaining structures
and the terraces. For Baha'is the world over it was a project of
great significance, coinciding with the emergence of their Faith
from obscurity. Their contributions, whether large or small,
connected them tangibly to the World Centre, and news of the
completion of each stage of the construction projects was received
with palpable enthusiasm.
No wonder, then, that the Baha'is chosen to represent their
national communities arrived in Haifa in May 2001 with a sense
of tremendous emotion. "I feel I am in a different world," commented one delegate from Suriname, while another from Belarus
said, "The idea that more than 3,000 people can come together
to do this, it is an example that can show the way the world can

1 Letter dated 31 August 1987 to the Baha'fs of the world.

THE M OUNT CARMEL TERRACES
OFFICIAL OPENING
MOUNT CARMEL TERRACES OFFICIAL OPENING 39

Representatives of more than 180 national Bahd 'i communities gather in
Haifa in May 2001.

be, without any problems or prejudice. All over the world, people
are waiting for this." "To meet so many brothers and sisters, from
different countries, speaking different languages, it brings me great
happiness. I feel like I am next to God, with people of different
colors, from difference places, and that we are flowers of one garden,"
said a participant from Bolivia. And another from Uganda: "When
you see this place, you see that peace can come in the world. The

THE M OUNT CARMEL TERRACES
OFFICIAL OPENING
40 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Participants circumambulate the Shrine
of Bahd 'u'lldh as part of the devotional
program at Bahji on 21 May.

beauty here, it can bring people together.
It is, like the Bible says, the Kingdom of
God on earth."
The first event, on Monday 21 May,
was a devotional program at the Shrine
of Baha'u'llah, where participants prepared themselves spiritually for the week
ahead by paying homage to the Founder
of their Faith as prayers and readings from the Baha'i sacred writings
were read and chanted in Arabic, English, French, Persian, and
Russian.
The following morning, participants convened at the Haifa
Congress Center for a program featuring remarks by Hands of
the Cause of God 'Ali-Akbar Furutan and 'Alf-Mu~ammad Varqa.

TH E M OUNT C ARMEL TERRACES
OFFICIAL OPENING
MOUNT CARMEL TERRACES OFFICIAL OPENING 4r

Hand of the Cause of God 'Ali-Akbar Furutan chants a prayer during
the devotional program at Bahji.

Matthew Weinberg, Director of Research for the Baha'i International Community's Office of Public Information, delivered a
talk about the significance of the occasion, 2 and the mayor of
Haifa, Amram Mitzna, came to welcome the participants on behalf
of the city. Also featured were a youth choir from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo; Tabarsi, a group of young Romany musicians
from Spain; and soloists performing gospel-style music.
That evening, on the 158th anniversary of the Bab's declaration
of His mission, the centerpiece of the inaugural events unfolded
at the foot of Mount Carmel. The performance of two original
symphonic works, commissioned by the Universal House ofJustice
and composed by Tolibkhon Shahidi of Tajikistan and Lasse
Thoresen of Norway, thrilled those present.

2 See pp. 51-62 for the text of th is talk.

THE MOUNT CARMEL TERRACES
OFFICIAL OPENING
42 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

(Above) The more than 3, 000
people gathered at the foot of the
terraces. (Left) The composers,
orchestra conductor, and soloists.

Mr. Shahidi's melodic and lyrical symphonic composition in
three movements, entitled "O Queen of Carmel!", is based on a
eulogy by Shoghi Effendi to the Shrine of the Bab. Mr. Thoresen's
symphonic oratorio "Terraces of Light" in five movements is based
on Baha'u'llah's Tablet of Carmel. Both pieces were performed by
the Israel Northern Symphony, Haifa, under the direction of Stanley
Sperber, and the 70-voice Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir
of Cluj, Romania, under the direction of Cornel Graza. Mezzosoprano Patricia Green, tenor Stuart Howe, and baritone Brett
Polegato were featured soloists, along with Austrian violinists Bijan
Khadem-Missagh, his son Vahid, and his daughter Martha.
During the final movement of "Terraces of Light," as dusk
was falling, guests watched light flood the 19 newly completed
terraces surrounding the Shrine of the Bab, which extend more

TH E M OUNT CARMEL TERRAC ES
OFFICIAL OPENING
MOUNT CARMEL TERRACES OFFICIAL OPENING 43

than a kilometer up the face of the mountain. "It was stunning,"
commented one delegate afterwards. "I felt myself in a different
world. In the Baha'i writings, it is said that music gives wings to
the soul. And I felt that."
The lighting of the Shrine was particularly poignant for Baha'i'.s,
who recalled that the Bab was denied even a single candle by which
to read at night during the years He was imprisoned before His
execution.
A statement by the Universal House of Justice, prepared for
the occasion, described the Shrine as "a monument to the triumph
of love over hate" and the surrounding gardens with their "rich
variety of colors and plants" as "a reminder that the human race
can live harmoniously in all its diversity." In this turbulent time,
the statement continued, "There is a light at the end of this tunnel
of change, beckoning humanity to the goal destined for it according
to the testimonies recorded in all the Holy Books. The Shrine of
the Bab stands as a symbol of the efficacy of that age-old promise,
a sign of its urgency." 3
The evening event was attended not only by the 3,000 Baha'i'.
delegates from around the globe but also by some 600 dignitaries,
including local and national political figures, local and regional
religious leaders, and ambassadors from more than 30 countries.
More than 100 members of national and international media were
accredited. Throughout the world, millions more watched via
satellite television and Webcast.
The following morning Baha'i participants returned to the
open-air amphitheatre at the foot of the terraces for a devotional
program before ascending the terraces to circumambulate the
Shrine. The prayers and music that formed the program
represented a variety of cultures. Choral music was offered by
the youth choir from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and an international choir formed at the Baha'i World Centre,
joined by a soloist from India, Vivek Nair.

3 See pp. 65- 67 for the complete text of this statement.

THE M O UNT CARMEL TERRACES
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44 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The ascent of the terraces was a profoundly spiritual act for
the delegates, many of whom wore traditional native costumes.
"I thought of the suffering of the Bab," said one man from Kenya.
"He was put in prison and He was mocked and He was marryred
and everyone thought that was the end. But now we see the glory
that surrounds His Shrine and the adoration people feel when
they visit it." A young woman from Mexico recalled the Biblical
prophesy of Isaiah: "I thought of where it says, 'And it shall come
to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.' And when I
saw all those people from all these nations, climbing up Mount
Carmel, I felt that was the fulfillment of that prophesy. It is a
privilege without words to be part of that.''

A choir fom the
Democratic Republic
of the Congo (above)
and the international
choir formed at the
Bahd 'i World Centre
(right) peiform at the
foot ofthe terraces.

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(Left, from left to right)
Architects Fariborz Sahba
and Husayn Amanat are
introduced by Hushmand
Fatheazam, member of the
Universal House ofjustice.

(Above left) Kevin Locke teaches the audience a song from the Lakota
tradition while Zhu Ming Ying looks on. (Above right) Ate/ Sadkaoui
performs on the same evening.

Wednesday evening participants again gathered at the Haifa
Congress Center. The program celebrated the accomplishments of
the two principal architects responsible for the Mount Carmel
Projects-Husayn Amanat, who designed the buildings on the Arc,
and Fariborz Sahba, who designed the terraces and served as project
manager for both the buildings and the terraces. A video documentary
depicting the terraces' construction premiered during the evening.
The two composers whose works were performed at the official
opening were recognized as well. Musical selections from Chinese,
Arabic, Indian, and American native traditions were highlighted.
In a letter to the Baha'i'.s of the world written just a month
before the inaugural events took place, the Universal House of
Justice stated:

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The significance of the occasion lies principally in the pause it
will allow for a review of the remarkable distance the Cause
has covered in its development during the twentieth century. It
will be time, too, for considering the future implications of the
phenomenal accomplishments symbolized by the rise of the
monumental structures on God's holy mountain-a rise that
opens the spiritual and administrative centers of our Faith to
the gaze of the world.4

This combination of reflection on the past and looking forward
to the future formed the basis of Thursday's evening program.
First, a dramatic narrative juxtaposed news events in the world at
large with dramatic episodes from the history of the Baha'i Faith.
And then came the moment awaited eagerly by all delegates: The
institution of the Universal House of Justice took the stage and
delivered a message looking forward to the challenges and prospects
for the Baha'i community. In part, the message stated:

The majestic buildings that now stand along the Arc traced for
them by Shoghi Effendi on the slope of the Mountain of God,
together with the magnificent flight of garden terraces that
embrace the Shrine of the Bab, are an outward expression of
the immense power animating the Cause we serve. They offer
timeless witness to the fact that the followers of Baha'u'llah
have successfully laid the foundations of a worldwide community
transcending all differences that divide the human race, and
have brought into existence the principal institutions of a unique
and unassailable Administrative Order that shapes this community's life. In the transformation that has taken place on Mount
Carmel, the Baha'i Cause emerges as a visible and compelling
reality on the global stage, as the focal center of forces that
will, in God's good time, bring about the reconstruction of society,
and as a mystic source of spiritual renewal for all who turn to
it. 5

4 Universal House of Justice, letter to the Baha'fs of the world, Ri~vin 2001.
5 See pp. 69-73 for the full text of this message.

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Participants gather on
the Arc path on Mount
Carmel for the final
devotional program on
Friday morning.

The final official ceremony of the inaugural events was a
devotional gathering on Friday morning. Delegates stood along
the path connecting the buildings on the Arc on Mount Carmel
as they faced the Shrine of the Bab and, across the bay near Acre,
the Shrine of Bah a' u'llah. The Tablets of Visitation, special prayers
used by Baha'is when they visit these holy places, were read and
chanted as all bowed their heads in reverent silence. Afterwards,
participants lingered on the path and the steps of the buildings,
mingling and laughing and bidding farewell to their newly met
brothers and sisters from around the globe, as they readied
themselves to return home.
During their stay at the Baha'i World Centre participants were
given much free time for prayer and meditation in the Shrines
and gardens. They were also able to visit the grave of Amatu'l-
Baha Ru~iyyih Khanum, the monument for which had been
completed shortly before the official opening commenced. There
they remembered an indomitable soul who had, for more than
half a century, tirelessly traveled the globe and encouraged Baha'is
everywhere in their efforts to build their communities and teach
their Faith.
The Baha'i writings refer to music as a "ladder of the spirit"
and drama as "the pulpit of the future." The Universal House of
Justice has encouraged the development of the arts in the Faith as
the world community has matured, and at the inaugural events,
participants experienced the power of the arts to move hearts and

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uplift the spmt. Music-symphonic, choral, vocal solo, and
instrumental, whether traditional indigenous, classical, jazz, or
gospel-from various parts of the world was featured throughout
the programs, and drama also formed part of one of the evenings.
No doubt such artistic offerings will inspire other artists to develop
their own expressions in the future.
Media coverage of the inaugural events was unprecedented.
Stories were produced by the Associated Press, Agence France Press,
Le Monde, the Religion News Service, Trouw (Amsterdam), PTI
India News Agency, Itar-Tass, La Stampa, SABC (South Africa),
ARD German Radio, and many others. News media crews from
CBC-TV (Canada), NBC-TV and CBS-TV (US), The New York Times,
BBC Radio, CNN International, UPI, and ORF Austria also covered
the story. In Israel, the events were aired live on cable television,
and the Israel Broadcast Authority's classical music station also
broadcast the 22 May evening event live, relaying it for later
broadcast to European Broadcasting Union stations. The Webcast
page received almost 40,000 visits during 22 and 23 May.
Following the events, the Universal House of Justice addressed
a letter, dated 1 June 2001, to the Baha' is of the world, reflecting
on what had transpired. It wrote, "Our hearts overflow with joy,
our heads are bowed in gratitude to the Blessed Beauty, as we
contemplate the astonishing success of the ceremony that
inaugurated the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab." And it continued,
It is too soon to assess the immediate impact of this unexampled
global proclamation of the Faith; nor can its implications for
the progress of the Cause be immediately understood. There
can be no doubt, however, that so vast a proclamation will accrue
towards the advancement of the process of entry by troops, on
which the energy of the loved ones of Baha'u'llah everywhere
must be even more intensively focused than before ...
May the manifest wonders of the Lord of Hosts invigorate and
fortify the friends throughout the world in their devoted endeavors
to pursue the avenues of service that He has so graciously opened
before them.

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Bahd'is from nearly
two hundred
countries ascend the
terraces of the Shrine
of the Bdb on
Wednesday morning.
A Sacred History
Talk by Matthew Weinberg, given at the Haifa Congress Center on the
morning of 22 May 2001

Today we commemorate a sacred history of unexampled love,
supreme sacrifice, and divine vision. It is a narrative prefigured in
the pronouncements of the great seers of the past. As we stand
awestruck at the majestic structures and the "tapestry of beauty"
now defining the face of God's Holy Mountain, and ponder the
mysterious processes responsible for the remarkable transformation
of this once barren domain, the words of Isaiah echo on all sides:
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and
the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose ... the glory of Lebanon
shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they
shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." 1
In an enterprise revealing a tenacity of purpose, a sustained
selflessness, and the power of unified action, the followers of the
Greatest Name in all corners of the planet seized a unique moment
in time. The raising up of this directing center of the Kingdom
of Baha'u'llah evokes astonishment at His eternal might and
gratitude for His generous dispensations of grace. For we are nothing
more than His humble instruments striving to achieve His just
and compassionate purpose. The completion of this grand undertaking at once provides evidence of the tangible greatness of the
Cause of the 'Abha Beauty and is a testimony to the existence of
an objective spiritual reality-for such an accomplishment could
not be brought about by human effort and insight alone. Certainly,
the spiritual forces involved lie beyond our comprehension. As
Baha'u'llah Himself testifies, "This, truly, is a Revelation which
revealeth itself only once every five hundred thousand years. Thus
have We removed the barrier and lifted the veils." 2

1 Isaiah 35: 1-2.
2 Baha'u'llah, quoted in a letter of Shoghi Effendi to the Baha'fs of the
East, Naw-Ruz 101 BE.

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This occasion offers us the opportunity to look back at a fateladen and triumphant spiritual journey.
More than 150 years ago, a youthful Prisoner, banished to a
desolate mountain fortress, boldly addressed the ruler of Persia in
these words: "I am the Primal Point from which have been generated
all created things. I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor
can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can
never fade. "3 Speaking with an astounding power reminiscent of
the Prophets of old, the Bab proclaimed the arrival of a new Day,
that long anticipated moment in human history when the Promised
One would "fill the earth with equity and justice" 4 and "with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord. " 5
His "trumpet-blast of knowledge" awakened the darkened land
of Persia and endowed all who responded with "a new eye, a new
ear, a new heart, and a new mind. "6 His message, though, was
not directed to that land alone, for He was the Bearer of a Revelation
destined to transform the spiritual life of the human race. "O ye
peoples of the earth, " the Bab declared, "Enter ye, one and all,
through this Gate .... "7 To pass through this Door was to step out
of the darkness into the light of God's love and compassion; it
led to the "Path of Truth" and to the "ways of peace." 8
The Bab was the portal through which the long expected
universal Manifestation of God would soon appear. He clarified
the central aim of His mission by explaining that "the purpose
underlying this Revelation, as well as those that preceded it,

3 The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bdb (Haifa: Baha'i World
Centre, 1982), p. 12.
4 Shoghi Effendi, The Wo rld Order of Bahd 'u'lldh: Selected Letters, 2d rev.

ed. (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 179.
5 Habakkuk 2:14.
6 Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahd'u'LLdh (Wilmette: Baha'i

Publishing Trust, 1994), p. 267.
7 The Bab, Selections, p. 56.

8 The Bab, Selections, p. 61 .

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has ... been to announce the advent of the Faith of Him Whom
God will make manifest. "9 The basis for all human accomplishment
is to be found in the teachings of this Most Great Luminary, and
"the sum total of the religion of God,'' He says, "is but to help
Him." 10 For the Bab, a climacteric in human development had
been reached, and He was the "Voice of the Crier, calling aloud
in the wilderness of the Bayfo" 11 and announcing to humanity
that it was entering the period of its collective maturity.
The unbounded ardor and intrepidity engendered by the Bab's
clarion call marked the first chapter in an extraordinary drama of
spiritual and moral renewal. The heroism of His lovers, their
superhuman fortitude, and deeds of consecration shook Persia to
its depths and attracted the attention of the world. Engulfed in a
maelstrom of fanaticism and hate, the followers of the Lord of the
Age evinced prodigies of courage and devotion that defy all description. "Through the blood which they shed," Bahci'u'llah affirms,
"the earth hath been impregnated with the wondrous revelations
ofThy might and ... Thy glorious sovereignty." 12 And it is that same
blood, Shoghi Effendi states, which constituted "the seed" of a divinely conceived administrative order "destined to overshadow all
mankind." 13 We cannot forget, then, the shedding of this "crimson
ink" by the thousands of Babi heroes and heroines when we gaze
upon the monumental structures on the Mountain of God.
At the center of our thoughts is the ultimate, the glorious
sacrifice of the Exalted One Himself. The "Fruit of the Tree of
God's successive Revelations" 14 yielded its precious seed to the

9 The Bab, Selections, p. 106.
10 The Bab, Selections, p. 85.
11 Baha'u'llah, Tablets o/Bahd'u'lldh revealed after the Kitdb-i-Aqdas (Wilmette:

Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1997) , p. 12.
12 Baha'u'llah, cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette: Baha'i

Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 80.
13 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd 'u'lfdh, p. 52.

14 Shoghi Effendi, cited in The Bab, Selections, p. 3.

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"mill of adversity" 15 in the city of Tabriz, quenching temporarily
the "Flame of that supernal Light .... " 16 When contemplating the
inexplicable phenomenon of the Bab's martyrdom our hearts are
filled with wonder, and we are moved to exclaim our powerlessness
before One Who is Omnipotent. "The whole world," Baha'u'llah
testifies, "rose to hinder Him, yet it utterly failed. The more severe
the persecution they inflicted on that Sadrih of Blessedness, the
more His fervor increased, and the brighter burned the flame of
His love." 17 He Who was "the Herald of a new Era and the
Inaugurator of a great universal prophetic cycle" 18 had, in the words
of one prominent European writer, "sacrificed himself for humanity.... Like Jesus he paid with his life for the proclamation of a
reign of concord, equity, and brotherly love." 19
Deprived of the youthful and magnetic Voice which was its
instrument, the mysterious "God-borne Force" animating the new
Revelation then began to pulsate within the gloom and darkness
of the Sfyah-Chal. There, "He, for Whose sake the world was
called into being," 20 the Supreme Manifestation of God anticipated
by the Bab and all the Chosen Ones before Him, began to radiate
the Light of an all-embracing and transformative love. From that
"Black Pit" of deprivation and despair, the "Wronged One of the
World" and the ''All-Knowing Physician" arose to diffuse the "divine
remedy" of unity to the ends of the earth. " ... He Who is the
Ancient Beauty hath come," Baha'u'llah Himself avers, " ... that

15 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World, 1950-1957 (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 154.
16 The Bab, Selections, p. 74.

17 Baha'u'llah, The Kicab-i-fqfo (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1993),

p. 234.
18 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 57.

19 A.L.M. Nicolas. See Emily McBride Perigo rd, Translation ofFrench Foot-

Notes from The Dawn-Breakers (New York: Baha' I Publishing Committee,
n.d.), p. 61.
20 Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing

Trust, 1995), p. 56.

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He may quicken the world and unite its peoples. They, however,
rose up against Him with sharpened swords, and committed that
which caused the Faithful Spirit to lament .... At one time they
cast Him into prison, at another they banished Him, and at yet
another hurried Him from land to land. "21
Baha'u'llah suffered so "that all the dwellers of. .. earth" could
be "born anew." 22 And as He attests in His Most Holy Book,
"Because H e bore injustice, justice hath appeared on earth, and
because H e accepted abasement, the majesty of God hath shone
forth amidst mankind. " 23 Overcoming torture, imprisonment,
betrayal, and exile, and scorned by political rulers and religious
leaders alike, He, the "Unifier of the children of men" and the
"Organizer of the entire planet," succeeded in bringing into existence
a worldwide community dedicated to belief in the oneness of God,
the oneness of all the great religions, and the oneness of the human
family. H e had revealed Himself to stir humanity from its "strange
sleep, " to awaken it to its innate excellence, nobility, and beauty.
The mystical quest had been redefined as a quest not only for
meaning but for a new way of life. A forsaken and forgotten Prisoner
called upon humankind to finally break free from the ancient
shackles of prejudice, violence, superstition, and material desire.
His tribulations and banishments, the vehicles of a preordained
Divine plan, eventually brought Him to this, the "Most Holy
Land," the "abode of the Prophets," the geographic and spiritual
heart of the planet. And here He raised His "Tabernacle of Glory"
on the "Hill of God." T he "New Jerusalem," the "City of God"
mentioned in the Tablet of Carmel, the "heavenly Law ... which is
the guarantor of human happiness,'' 24 had been established. The

21 Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 63.
22 Baha' u'llah, Prayers and Meditations (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1998), p. 44.
23 Baha'u'llah, T he Kirab-i-Aqdas (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1993),

para. 158, p. 76.
24 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of'Abdu'l-Bahd (Wilmette: Baha'i

Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 59.

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Lord of Hosts Himself pointed to the spot where the precious remains
of His Herald, the "Primal Beauty," should find their permanent
place of rest. "The time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds
of the earth is now come," Baha'u'llah confirms. "The promises of
God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled." 25
The eventual placement of the Holy Dust of the Martyr-Prophet
in the mausoleum on Mount Carmel-a signal victory of 'Abdu'l-
Baha-and that Shrine's further beautification represented a striking
reversal of the tragic circumstances surrounding the Bab's ministry.
The juxtaposition of two mountains-Mah-Ku and Carmel-now
comes into clear focus. "In this mountain I have remained alone,"
the Bab laments in referring to Mah-Ku, and "In His presence,"
He continues, "there is not at night even a lighted lamp!" 26 How
mighty is the All-Glorious One! The Bab is no longer alone on
the mountain; He is now at the center of "both the visible and
invisible worlds": "the Point," as acclaimed by Baha'u'llah, "round
Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve," 27
and "the Spot," as extolled by the Master, "round which the
Concourse on high circle in adoration." 28
The Youth of Shiraz, the "Essence of Essences" and the "Morn
of Truth," had journeyed from a castle of oblivion to a lighthouse
of splendor lit by the oil of His incomparable sacrifice. The darkness
of one had been supplanted by the divine illumination of the
other. In remembrance of the linkage between the two mountains,
in 1953 Shoghi Effendi reverently placed a fragment of the plaster
ceiling of the Bab's prison cell in the fortress of Mah-Ku beneath
the gilded tiles of His Shrine's majestic dome. 29

25 Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of Bahd'u'lldh to the Kings and Leaders of
the World (Haifa: Baha'i World Centre, 1967), p. 110.
26 The Bab, Selections, pp. 16, 87.

27 Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations, p. 300.

28 'Abdu'l-Baha, cited in Shoghi Effendi, Citadel ofPaith: Messages to America

1947-1957 (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 96.
29 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahd 'i World, p. 141.

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Thus, as foreseen in the Holy Book, the Spirit of Elijah had
come back to the mountain of the Lord to once again serve as a
luminous beacon pointing to the "Perfect Way." 30 The Sepulcher
of the Bab is the "Queen" at the heart of the world who each day
in her evening glory is the visible expression of the Bab's cry: "I
am the Lamp which the Finger of God hath lit. .. and caused to
shine with deathless splendor." 31 And tonight we shall see yet one
more miracle: This mighty Lamp crowned in gold shall be encircled
by a myriad other lamps, setting the entire mountain ablaze in
light; and so we shall behold light upon light!
"How great is the potency of thy might," is the Guardian's
tribute to the "Queen of Carmel," "a might which has bewildered
the souls of the favored ones of God and His Messengers!" 32 As
she glows with brilliance, and with her wings spread over the guiding
institutions of God's Cause, we cannot fail to recall the Divine
assurance given to the Bab: "Be Thou patient, 0 Qurratu'l-'Ayn,
for God hath indeed pledged to establish Thy sovereignty throughout
all countries and over the people that dwell therein. "33
In our inauguration of a befitting approach to the sacred Spot
enshrining the earthly remains of the "Gate of God"-one day to
become the "Pathway of the Kings and Rulers of the World"-
we can discern a momentous victory of the meek. In accordance
with prophecy, at the time of the appearance of the Promised
One, it is said that all things are to be reversed. Baha'u'llah explains:
"Through this reversal He hath caused the exalted to be abased
and the abased to be exalted." 34 The dedicated and selfless efforts
of Baha' is across the decades of the twentieth century to raise up
and adorn the Shrine of the Bab-as well as the great Administrative
Centre in its shadow-is undoubtedly a triumph of the unheard

30 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 103.
3' The Bab, Selections, p. 74.
32 Shoghi Effendi, letter to the Baha'fs of the East, Naw-Ruz 111 BE.

33 The Bab, Selections, p. 57.

34 Baha'u'llah, cited in note 171 in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 238.

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peoples of the world. Adhering to the vision and guidance of the
Master and the Guardian, the followers of the Blessed Beauty in
every land-that noble but humble "army of light" -overcame
all obstacles and vanquished the forces of darkness that sought to
extinguish the Divine Flame kindled by the Bab and intensified
by Baha'u'llah. Reflecting on these events we can only say, "Glorified, glorified be His meekness .... "35
The verdant natural mosaic now extending from the foot to
the crest of Mount Carmel presents humankind with a profound
message of hope. The struggle for the spiritual regeneration of
the world, which is our Faith's ultimate mission, is, in some sense,
given expression by the greening and blossoming of this mountain.
As the variegated elements of the gardens encircling the Holy
Precincts effloresce into ever more resplendent patterns of beauty,
so too our teachings tell us "the earth of human potentialities
will blossom with its own latent excellence and flower into
praiseworthy qualities." 36 But these capacities of the human spirit
will only flourish "through the restoring waters of pure intention
and unselfish effort." 37 The magnificent gardens and flowing waters
now decorating God's "Vineyard" speak to the nobility of human
beings-of what is possible for human society to achieve when it
consciously turns to the bountiful outpourings of the Holy Spirit.
They suggest quire directly that the transformation of the outer
world is contingent upon an inner transformation of the heart.
In 1911, 'Abdu'l-Baha, in His first public address in the West
in London, declared, "This is a new cycle of human power. All
the horizons of the world are luminous, and the world will become
indeed as a garden and a paradise." 38 As humanity traversed the

35 Bahfu'llah, Gleanings, p. 242.
36 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Secret ofDivine Civilization (Wilmerre: Baha'i Publishing

Trust, 1994), p. 4.
37 'Abdu' l-Baha, Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 4.
38 'Abdu'l-Baha, 'Abdu'L-Bahd in London: Addresses and Notes ofConversations
(London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1987), p. 19.

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subsequent decades of the century-a century darkened by
harrowing periods of ferocity and depravity and illumined by
elevating flashes of creativity and unity-'Abdu'l-Baha's vision of
a transformed world unfolded. While the full consummation of
His vision is likely to occur only in the distant future, its essential features and direction have been irreversibly established. At
this juncture, the very purpose of the Baha'i community is to
demonstrate that it is possible to create gardens of justice and
understanding-patterns of collective life based on trust, cooperation, rectitude of conduct, and genuine concern for others. May
our own unremitting quest for unity in diversity illuminate others.
And as the terraced gardens of Carmel manifest in their beauty
and diversity the ideal of harmony, may the world itself recognize
its capacity to effect the unity which is the only pathway to peace
and well-being. We thus offer to humanity two powerful examples:
ourselves and this mountain of splendor.
In executing the mandate given to him by the Master, the
beloved Guardian, through immense effort and creativity, embellished the Shrine of the Bab with an "exquisite shell," designed
the Arc on the Hill of God, and beautified the Holy Precincts.
Each step he undertook in the development of the World Centre
was matched by a great thrust forward in the teaching field. As
Shoghi Effendi mapped the terrain of Mount Carmel, he also
mapped the earth to every last degree. Under his energizing and
divinely inspired leadership, and in accordance with the Plan
conceived by the Center of the Covenant, a valiant band of believers
extended the spiritual dominion of Baha'u'llah to the remotest
regions of the globe, presenting to the world a working model of
a unified "commonwealth of peoples. " 39
This response to the "summons of the Lord of Hosts" led to
the great victory of 1963. With the election of the Universal House
of Justice, the "sailing of the Ark" of God's laws mentioned in the

The Dawn-Breakers: Nabi/'s Narrative ofthe Early Days
39 Shoghi Effendi, trans.,

ofthe Baha'i RevelAtion (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1996), p. 667.

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Tablet of Carmel was realized. 40 Through this unique collective
act, the long awaited "scales of justice" had been raised by the
Baha'ls of the world and "the Hand of Omnipotence" had
"established His Revelation upon an enduring foundation." 41 The
"living waters of everlasting life," Shoghi Effendi indicated, would
now "stream forth from that fountain-head of God's World Order
upon all the warring nations and peoples of the world, to wash
away the evils and iniquities of the realm of dust, and heal man's
age-old ills and ailments." 42
The establishment of the Universal House of Justice constituted
a remarkable demonstration of the spirit of faith. This spirit was
again manifest in the monumental projects of the past decade.
Given the privilege of building up the agencies of the New World
Order "foreshadowed by the Bab, enunciated by Baha'u'llah, and
established by 'Abdu'l-Baha," 43 the projects drew the support of
every segment of our community. And how could it be otherwise?
For as Shoghi Effendi has explained, the "World Administrative
Center of the Baha'i community . . .stands as the emblem symbolizing
the basic unity of all nations, governments, and peoples, and as
the seat of sovereignty and the dawning-place of both spiritual
and temporal power. It is the supreme center to which the followers
of His most sublime and glorious Faith must turn and the focal
point which will mirror forth upon all regions the effulgent splendors
of the celestial throne of Him Who is the Creator of men. It is
the fountain-head of divine civilization which is the fairest, the

40 Shoghi Effendi, letter to the Baha'fs of the East, Naw-Ruz 111 BE, cited
in Adib Taherzadeh, The Covenant ofBahd'u'lldh (Oxford: George Ronald,
1992), p. 402.
41 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 109.
42 Shoghi Effendi, letter to the Baha'fs of the East, 27 November 1929,

cited in Covenant of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 407.
43 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to America: Selected Letters and Cablegrams

Addressed to the Bahd 'is of North America, 1932-1946 (Wilmette: Baha' f
Publishing Committee, 1947), p. 49.

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noblest fruit of the Revelation of the Most Great Name .... "44
This then provides insight into our essential identity. As
Baha' u'llah is the Prophet of civilization, we are the builders of
civilization. As He is the Divine Educator, we are students learning
to apply His teachings to the problems and needs of the world.
As He is the Source of light, we are the agents of light, casting
beams oflove and confidence into the darkness. We are, therefore,
instruments amplifying Carmel's call: "He that was hidden from
mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest;
His all-encompassing splendor is revealed. " 45 Our mission is the
spiritual empowerment of the whole of the human family-to
open up vistas of justice, freedom, and culture that have never
before been seen. "A race of men," Baha'u'llah assures us,
"incomparable in character, shall be raised up which ... will cast
the sleeve of holiness over all that hath been created ... . "46
The stunning structures on the Arc provide a glimpse of the
civilization to be. In their features of balance, proportionality, and
harmony they echo Baha'u'llah's exhortation to humanity to return
to the Golden Mean, the "Middle Way"-to infuse all human
endeavor with equity, mutuality of purpose, and moderation. In
their sublimity and elegant solidity, the buildings now erected
offer a striking contrast to the disintegrating institutions and
bankrupt mores of a directionless society. To a shaken and agitated
world they reflect the "calm new light of Peace and of Truth which
envelops, guides, and sustains" those who have embraced the "law
and love of Baha'u'llah." 47
The achievement that we have gathered to celebrate is one
truly worthy of our spiritual forebears. It is an accomplishment
that both vindicates the suffering of the Bab and Baha'u'llah and

44 Shoghi Effendi, letter to the Baha'fs of the East, Naw-Ruz 111 BE.
45 Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 16.
46 Baha'u'llah, cited in Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of D ivine j ustice (Wilmette:

Baha'i Publishing Trust, 2000), p. 3 1.
47 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd 'u 'lldh, p. 109.

Tl IE MOUNT CARMEL TERRACES
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THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

foreshadows the wonders that the age of human maturity will
reveal. In bringing these extraordinary projects to fruition we can
now begin to visualize what the writer of the Apocalypse saw long
ago: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people .... And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
.
pain .... "48
In pondering the significance of what the lovers of Baha' u'llah
have wrought on the mountain of God, we can only recall the
words of one of the seven martyrs of Tehran, who, while awaiting
the moment of his own death, gazed upon the bodies of the two
martyrs who had preceded him and who still lay entwined in each
other's embrace. '"Well done, beloved companions!' he cried." 49
Indeed, my brothers and sisters, well done!

48 Revelation 21 :3-4.
49 Shoghi Effendi, trans., The Dawn-Breakers, p. 454.

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From the Universal House ofjustice

On the Occasion of the Official Opening of the
Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab

22 May 2001

W ith joyful and thankful hearts, we welcome all who
have come from near and far to join us on this auspicious
ccasion for the Baha' is of the world. We acknowledge
with deep appreciation the presence of so many distinguished guests.
A century and a half have passed since that unspeakable tragedy
in the northwest of Persia when the Bab faced the volley fired at
Him from the rifles of 750 soldiers. The soldiers had followed
the orders of the highest authorities in the land. The Bab's mangled
body was then thrown on the side of a moat outside the city,
abandoned to what His cold-blooded persecutors thought would
be a dishonorable fate. They had hoped thus to put an end to the
growing influence of His teachings on masses of people throughout
the country. These masses had accepted, in the face of intense
persecution, the Bab's claim to prophethood, and their lives were
being transformed spiritually and morally as He prepared them
for what He said was the dawn of a new age in which a world
civilization would be born and flourish. The expectations chat
stirred countless hearts were heightened even more sublimely by
the Bab's announcement that One greater than He would soon
arise, One Who would reveal the unparalleled character of the
promised world civilization that would signify the coming of age
of the entire human race.
We are met not to lament the tragedy of the Bab's martyrdom
and the persecutions that followed; rather have we come to celebrate
the culmination and acknowledge the meaning of an unprecedented
project chat had its beginning over a century ago. It was then
that Baha'u'llah, Whom the Ottoman authorities had banished
to Acre to serve out His days in confinement, visited Mount Carmel

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66 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

and selected the spot where the remains of His Herald would be
interred. We humbly trust that the wondrous result achieved by
the completion of the nineteen terraced gardens, at the heart of
which rises the Shrine of the Bab, is a fitting fulfilment of the
vision initiated by Baha'u'llah.
The sufferings sustained by the Bab so as to arouse humanity
to the responsibilities of its coming age of maturity were themselves
indications of the intensity of the struggle necessary for the world's
people to pass through the age of humanity's collective adolescence. Paradoxical as it may seem, this is a source of hope. The
turmoil and crises of our time underlie a momentous transition
in human affairs. Simultaneous processes of disintegration and
integration have clearly been accelerating throughout the planet
since the Bab appeared in Persia. That our Earth has contracted
into a neighborhood, no one can seriously deny. The world is
being made new. Death pangs are yielding to birth pangs. The
pain shall pass when members of the human race act upon the
common recognition of their essential oneness. There is a light at
the end of this tunnel of change beckoning humanity to the goal
destined for it according to the testimonies recorded in all the
Holy Books.
The Shrine of the Bab stands as a symbol of the efficacy of
that age-old promise, a sign of its urgency. It is, as well, a monument
to the triumph of love over hate. The gardens which surround
that structure, in their rich variety of colors and plants, are a reminder
that the human race can live harmoniously in all its diversity.
The light that shines from the central edifice is as a beacon of
hope to the countless multitudes who yearn for a life that satisfies
the soul as well as the body.
This inextinguishable hope stems from words such as these
from the Pen of Baha' u'llah: "This is the Day in which God's
most excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day
in which His most mighty grace has been infused into all created
things." May all who strive, often against great odds, to uphold

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principles of justice and concord be encouraged by these
assurances.
In reflecting on the years of effort invested in this daunting
project, we are moved to express to the people of Haifa the warmth
of the feeling in our hearts. Their city will for all time be extolled
by the Baha' is everywhere as the place in which the mortal remains
of the youthful Prophet-Herald of their Faith finally found refuge,
and this after half a century of having to be secretly moved for
protection from one place to another in His native land. The patience
and cordiality shown towards the Baha'is throughout the most
difficult years of the construction work exemplify the spirit of
goodwill in which so much of the world stands so greatly in need.
Haifa is providentially situated on Mount Carmel, with its immortal
associations with saintly visionaries, whose concern throughout
the ages was largely focused on the promise of peace. May Haifa
achieve wide renown not just as a place of natural beauty but
more especially as the city of peace.
Let the word go forth, then, from this sacred spot, from this
Mountain of the Lord, that the unity and peace of the world are
not only possible but inevitable. Their time has come.

THE MOUNT CARMEL TERRACES
OFFIC IAL OPEN ING
(Above left) Youth from around the (Below) The crowd shows its
world reciting a prayer of the Bdb. appreciation at one of the events.
(Above right) The choirs from the Democratic (Below left) A scene from the dramatic
Republic of the Congo and the Bahd 'i World narrative. (Below right) The group
Centre p erform together. Tabarsi from Spain.
From the Universal House ofjustice

To the Believers Gathered for the Events Marking the
Completion of the Projects on Mount Carmel

24 May 2001

Dear Baha'i Friends,

One hundred and forty-eight years have passed since the moment
in the darkness of the S!yah-Chal when Baha'u'llah received the
Divine summons to rise and proclaim to all on earth the dawning
of the Day of God:

Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy
pen .... Erelong God will raise up the treasures of the earthmen who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name,
wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized
Him.
In terms of historical time, it is but the briefest of spaces that
separates that primal moment from the splendid victory we celebrate
here this week. You who have come together from every corner of
the earth and from every segment of the human family represent
a cross-section of those whom Baha'u'llah has raised up to aid
Him, and no one among us can hope to express adequately the
gratitude we feel at being in that company.
The majestic buildings that now stand along the Arc traced
for them by Shoghi Effendi on the slope of the Mountain of God,
together with the magnificent flight of garden terraces that embrace
the Shrine of the Bab, are an outward expression of the immense
power animating the Cause we serve. They offer timeless witness
to the fact that the followers of Baha'u'llah have successfully laid
the foundations of a worldwide community transcending all
differences that divide the human race, and have brought into
existence the principal institutions of a unique and unassailable
administrative order that shapes this community's life. In the

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70 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

transformation that has taken place on Mount Carmel, the Baha'i
Cause emerges as a visible and compelling reality on the global
stage, as the focal center of forces that will, in God's good time,
bring about the reconstruction of society, and as a mystic source
of spiritual renewal for all who turn to it.
Reflection on what the Baha'i community has accomplished
throws into heartbreaking perspective the suffering and deprivation
engulfing the great majority of our fellow human beings. It is necessary
that it should do so, because the effect is to open our minds and
souls to vital implications of the mission Baha'u'llah has laid on us.
"Know thou of a truth," He declares, "these great oppressions that
have befallen the world are preparing it for the advent of the Most
Great Justice." "God be praised!" 'Abdu'l-Baha adds, "The sun of
justice hath risen above the horizon of Baha'u'llah. For in His Tablets
the foundations of such a justice have been laid as no mind hath,
from the beginning of creation, conceived." In the final analysis, it
is this Divine purpose that all our activities are intended to serve,
and we will advance this purpose to the degree that we understand
what is at stake in the efforts we are making to teach the Faith, to
establish and consolidate its institutions, and to intensify the influence
it is exerting in the life of society.
Humanity's crying need will not be met by a struggle among
competing ambitions or by protest against one or another of the
countless wrongs afflicting a desperate age. It calls, rather, for a
fundamental change of consciousness, for a wholehearted embrace
of Baha'u'llah's teaching that the time has come when each human
being on earth must learn to accept responsibility for the welfare
of the entire human family. Commitment to this revolutionizing
principle will increasingly empower individual believers and Baha'i
institutions alike in awakening others to the Day of God and to
the latent spiritual and moral capacities that can change this world
into another world. We demonstrate this commitment, Shoghi
Effendi tells us, by our rectitude of conduct towards others, by
the discipline of our own natures, and by our complete freedom

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from the prejudices that cripple collective action in the society
around us and frustrate positive impulses towards change.
The standards set out by the Guardian apply to the entire Baha'i
community, both in its collective life and in the lives of its individual
members. They hold, however, particular implications for Baha'i
youth, who are blessed with the enviable advantages of high energy,
flexibility of mind, and, to a great extent, freedom of movement.
The world that Baha'i youth are inheriting is one in which the
distribution of educational, economic, and other basic opportunities
is grossly unjust. Baha'i youth must not be daunted by such barriers.
Their challenge is to understand the real condition of humanity
and to forge among themselves enduring spiritual bonds that free
them not only from racial and national divisions but also from
those created by social and material conditions, and that will fit
them to carry forward the great trust reposed in them.
Baha'u'llah encourages us to anticipate from the youth of His
community a much earlier advance to maturity than is characteristic
of the rest of society. Clearly, that does not in any way diminish
the importance of the pursuit of education, of economic realities,
or of family obligations. It does mean that Baha'i youth can acceptand should be encouraged to accept- a responsibility of their own
for moral leadership in the transformation of society. In vindication
of these words, we invoke the memory of the One Whose Shrine
has today set the Mountain of God ablaze with light, and the
memory of the band of youthful heroes and heroines whose greatness
of soul and sacrifice of self launched on its course the enterprise
in which we are engaged.
The achievement we are today celebrating brings into focus
two paradoxical realities. Within the Faith itself, the gathering
strength of the Baha'i community presages a great surge forward,
intimations of which are already everywhere apparent. Inevitably,
as Shoghi Effendi several times emphasized, this advance will excite
even more intense opposition than the Cause has so far encountered,
opposition that will in turn release the greater forces needed for
the still more demanding tasks that lie ahead.

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72 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The world in which our efforts are taking place is likewise
undergoing profound changes. On the one hand, the vast network
of agencies and individuals that promote understanding and
cooperation among diverse peoples affirms ever more powerfully
the growing recognition that the "earth is but one country, and
mankind its citizens." On the other hand, it is equally clear that
the world is moving through a period of social paralysis, tyranny,
and anarchy, a period marked by the widespread neglect of both
governmental and personal responsibility, the ultimate consequences
of which no one on earth can foresee. The effect of both developments, as Shoghi Effendi also pointed our, will be to awaken
in the hearts of those who share this planet with us a longing for
unity and justice that can be met only by the Cause of God.
A long and arduous process of struggle, experimentation, and
construction has led to the victories that lift our hearts as a new
century opens. Through the rapidly proliferating system of institutes and the energy being invested everywhere in area growth
strategies, the Baha'i community has moved swiftly to capitalize
on what has been achieved. However deep may be the gloom
enveloping the world, the future has never looked so bright for
the prosecution of Baha'u'llah's mission. We who have been
privileged to gather here this week have witnessed, with our own
eyes, the dawning fulfillment of the words revealed by the Lord
of Hosts on this mountain over a century ago, words which cause
the very atoms of the earth to vibrate: "Verily this is the Day in
which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day
for which have been laid up those things which God, through a
bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart, hath destined
for revelation."
Such a privilege carries with it an equally great responsibility,
the responsibility to do our part, whatever the sacrifice, whatever
the difficulty, to see that the poignant desire expressed by Baha'u'llah
on that historic occasion is fulfilled: "Oh, how I long to announce
unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each
one of its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation-a Revelation

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to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose
name the Burning Bush is calling: 'Unto God, the Lord of Lords,
belong the kingdoms of earth and heaven.'"
With all the fervor of thankful hearts, we will pray at the Holy
Threshold that Baha'u'llah will bless and confirm every effort you
make to advance His purpose for the redemption of humankind
and the healing of its ills.

With loving Baha'i greetings,
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

The members of the Universal House ofjustice at the Haifa Congress
Center on 24 May.

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The Year in Review

B aha'u'llah wrote that the purpose of religion is "to safeguard
the interests and promote the unity of the human race,
and to foster the spirit oflove and fellowship amongst men," 1
and Baha'is believe that the teachings of their Faith, when they
inspire the actions of individuals and communities, can be a motive
force for the progress of civilization.
The teachings of the Baha'i Faith include doctrines not only
for personal conduct, but also for the physical, moral, and spiritual
advancement of all mankind, and the more than five million Baha' is
in the world use these as the basis for their relationship with society.
Their religion is more than just a private practice; it is a vital
process that engages them actively in the development of their
own communities and the world around them.
Though the Baha'i community is still very young in relation
to other world religions, its activities are rapidly expanding in
both scope and scale. The size of these efforts is not their most
important aspect, but rather the spirit that animates them, as Baha'is
put the ideals of the Faith into action in communities throughout

1 Baha'u'llih, Tablets ofBahd 'u'Lldh revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdds (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 168.

THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

the world. Baha'is are active in such areas as the advancement of
women, racial harmony, social and economic development, and
also in practices that will encourage the growth and development
of their Faith.
This article is not a comprehensive record of these activities,
but it highlights major areas and demonstrates the variety of ways
in which the Baha'is are working to improve the world in which
they live.

Advancement ofWomen

'.Abdu'l-Baha explained that humanity's full potential cannot be
reached until equality is realized, saying, "until this equality is
established, true progress and attainment for the human race will
not be facilitated." 2 Equality between women and men is described
as a vital element in the success of humanity as a whole, and in
many places pursuing this ideal requires a struggle against entrenched
ideas and practices that have historically allocated a lesser place
to women m society.
In Brasilia, Brazil, Baha'is focused on using the justice system
to promote the advancement of women and organized the National
Seminar for the Training of Judges, Prosecutors, and Lawyers on
the theme "Protecting Women from Domestic Violence." The
seminar, held 5-7 November 2001, was carried out with the cooperation of both local government offices and NGOs, with financial
backing from the Ministry of Justice. Additional support was
provided by the Brazilian Association of Judges and Prosecutors
for Children and Youth (ABMP) , the Federal Council of the Brazilian
Bar Association, and UNESCO.
Participants in the intensive seminar came from 20 of the
country's 27 states and included judges, federal and state prosecutors,
and representatives of the Human Rights Commission and the
State Bar Association. Though the total number of participants
was relatively small, the idea was to assemble people from different

2 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation ofUniversal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-
Bahd during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, rev. ed.
(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 375.
YEAR IN REVIEW 77

regions of the country and train them so that they could continue
the process in their respective areas.
Layli Miller, a Baha'i lawyer with the US-based Tahirih Justice
Center (TJC), was the primary facilitator, and the three-day training
was based on a booklet she had prepared under the auspices of
the TJC. It was printed for distribution to the participants, and
each one received 30 copies to be able to reproduce the seminar
at the local level. A videotape of selected presentations was also
distributed to the participants to assist in their spreading the process
throughout the country.
The program included speeches, panel discussions, and a twohour presentation by one of the country's leading NGOs working
on the defense of women, El Centro Feminista de Estudios y Asesoria
(Feminist Center for Studies and Advisory Services), which provided
an overview of current aspects of the juridical situation regarding
violence against women.
In India, where a traditionally patriarchal society often reduces
the value of women, the Baha'i community worked during the
year with religious leaders to raise awareness of the importance of
equality while combating violent practices.
Dr. Ali K. Merchant represented the Baha'i community at a
convention of national religious leaders on the Abolition of Female
Feticide and Infanticide. The conference, held 24 June 2001 in
New Delhi, was jointly organized by the Indian Medical Association
and the National Commission for Women and brought together
more than 400 people. UNICEF, the Department of Women and
Child Development, and the Ministry of Human Resource
Development were also principal organizers of the meeting, held
at the Chinmay Mission Auditorium in New Delhi.
Dr. Merchant shared the Baha'i perspective on the topic and
contributed to the unanimous voices of the gathered leaders that
the destructive practices of female infanticide and feticide must be
eliminated. The group also addressed general practices and attitudes that lead to discrimination against women, which participants
identified as stemming from ignorance and prejudice. Dr. Merchant
called on the religious leaders who were present to reexamine the
sacred scriptures of their religions, which have been used as a means
of lowering the position of women in Indian society.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Other Baha'i communities participated in smaller-scale local
efforts, often through the coordination and assistance of local or
national Offices for the Advancement of Women. In July 2001,
the National Council of Women's Societies held its First Quadrennial
National Convention in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The theme of
the conference was "Promoting the Rights of Women through
the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW)." Members of the Baha'i Office for the
Advancement of Women in Nigeria participated in the conference,
along with members of government ministries and NGOs, and were
able to promote the Faith's perspective by distributing some 1,500
pamphlets on the Baha'i view of the equality of women and men.
Baha' fs in Cameroon participated in the commemoration of
World Rural Women's Day in Buea, Cameroon, on 15 October.
The local Baha'i community of Buea was invited by the provincial
delegate of Women's Affairs for the South West Province to
collaborate in the celebration. As a result, a Baha'i representative
took part in a panel discussion broadcast over the provincial radio
station. On the day of the commemoration, another Baha'i representative was present at the ceremony, which was presided over
by the Governor of the province.
From 5 to 7 October 2001, members of the Baha'i community
of Greece participated in a symposium about the social exclusion
and trafficking of women. Ir was held in Thessalonfki and organized
by Medecins du Monde, under the auspices of the Ministry of
Culture, the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace, and the General
Secretariat of Equality.

Social and Economic Development

One of the many ways Baha'ls work to advance the welfare of
human society is through social and economic development
activities. The projects, whether initiated by Baha'ls or simply
involving them, are intended to increase capacity and build resources
while also offering a direct and positive impact.
In Ethiopia, Baha'ls in the Weyisso Kenchera community inaugurated a 33,000-cubic-meter water pond project on 5 May 2001.
The project was designed to alleviate the problem of water shortages.
YEAR IN REVIEW 79

In Vanuatu, onlookers examine a vehicle running on coconut oil based
fuel, developed by a Bahd 'i in the country to reduce dependence on
outside oil and to better use local resources.

John Schramm, the Canadian Ambassador to Ethiopia, officially
opened the project, which was completed over a one-year period
and was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) .
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'{s of Ethiopia
originally initiated the project in consultation with local Baha'is,
and the entire community was involved in support of the pond
project, which will benefit 300 households with approximately
3,000 people and more than 15,000 cattle in the drought-plagued
region. The project will not only eliminate the need for migration to search for water but will also substantially decrease the
occurrence of water-borne illnesses in the region.
The Brazilian Ministry of Education, as part of a government
program to reduce unemployment, granted $850,000 to the
Association for the Cohesive Development of the Amazon (ADCAM),
a Baha'i-inspired development organization in the Amazon basin. 3
The grant will allow ADCAM to build and equip a three-story

3 For more information about ADCAM, see The Baha'i World 1995-96,
pp. 301-05.
80 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

technical education building, to be known as the Masrour
Technology Institute, on its 12-acre property in the Sao Jose suburb
ofManaus. Construction began in December, leading to completion
of the building in July 2002.
Initially, courses will be offered in business management, social
development facilitation, and environmental technology, with
additional classes in design, nutrition, and air conditioning
technology to be included as the teaching staff expands. By 2006,
the Institute expects to have a full complement of staff, with the
capacity to serve approximately 640 students per year in the main
subjects and another 4,350 per year in the shorter, basic-level courses.
ADCAM currently operates three other major programs: an
elementary school, a youth leadership project, and a supervised
youth service project, which collectively serve more than 700 people.
In June, Health for Humanity (HH) and the Mongolian Baha'i
Doctors Association organized the first Baha'i International Health
Conference in Mongolia. The conference took place 5- 8 June 2001
in Ulaanbataar.
Health for Humanity is a health development organization
that focuses its activities around three broad program areas: blindness
prevention, public health development, and international exchange.
The fundamental belief of HH is chat people everywhere have
capacity and inherent nobility and can care for themselves when
they have the proper education and resources. The Mongolian
conference was part of HH's international exchange program, which

Bahd'fs and
representatives of the
Brazilian Ministry of
Education and
Culture, at the
ceremony marking
the agreement
between the Ministry
and ADCAM in
MINISTERl9 September 2001.
DA EDUCA~AO
-~
YEAR IN REVIEW 81

Participants in a training workshop on moral leadership in Accra,
Ghana, in September 2001.

encourages learning experiences and an exchange of medical
knowledge and ideas by both volunteers and partners, with ongoing
activities in Mongolia and in China.
The International Environment Forum (IEF), a Baha'i-inspired
NGO that explores not only technical and scientific solutions to
environmental problems but also the potential benefit of new
social, cultural, and spiritual insights, organized its fifth international conference in October 2001. The three-day program,
titled "Knowledge, Values, and Education for Sustainable
Development," was held at Townshend International School in
Hluboka nad Vltavou, Czech Republic. Twenty IEF members
gathered at the conference, with dozens of others joining via the
Internet. Participants included researchers, teachers, students, and
professionals from a wide range of disciplines, and practitioners
in the field of environment and sustainable development.
In a keynote address entitled "Knowledge and Indicators for
Sustainable Development," Prof. Bedrich Moldan of Charles
University in Prague, who is the former Czech Minister of the
Environment, raised the idea of promoting or establishing a kind
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

of "global moral minimum" system of values for the environment.
In the end, participants concluded that values and education are
not only complementary but also essential to the technical and
scientific issues related to sustainable development.
In Ghana, the Olinga Foundation for Human Development,
a Baha'i-inspired NGO, is exploring the need for moral leadership
as a means to address the social problems in that country. The
group organized a moral leadership training workshop in Accra
from 3 to 9 September 2001, which was supported by CIDA and
Bolivia's Nur University.
The 30 participants came from teacher training colleges,
government ministries, NGOs, and the media. John Kepner, Director
of Projects at Nur University, and Leslie Casely-Hayford, the
Director of the Olinga Foundation, facilitated the training, the
framework of which was based on six key elements: service-oriented
leadership, leadership in personal transformation, leadership in
social transformation, fundamental moral responsibility, belief in
the essential nobility of humanity, and development of capacity.
Together, these create a system of moral leadership which the
organizers believe is sorely needed. Participants learned new training
methods, structures, and techniques through workshops and
presentations and were given both conceptual and practical tools
that emphasized moral values and means for promoting moral
leadership in government, classrooms, and through the media.

Race Unity

The Baha'i Faith teaches that all people are equal, and Baha'is
strive to eliminate prejudices that create separations between people
based on race, creed, or culture. Far from seeking a uniform whole,
though, Baha'i communities are encouraged to integrate the cultures
and heritage of the vast palette of humanity. The Baha'i community,
which has members from more than 2,000 ethnic and tribal
backgrounds, seeks to create a unified planet that is free from
racial prejudice and realizes Baha'u'llah's statement that "the earth
be regarded as one country and one home." 4

4 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 127.
YEAR IN REVIEW

In Brazil, a country where race relations are the cause of much
national stress, two seminars, one in Brasilia and another in Rio
de Janeiro, gathered federal deputies, journalists, researchers, and
others to discuss the question of racism in the Brazilian media.
The gatherings, held in August, were promoted by the Baha'i
community of Brazil, with the support of two other NGOs. Parts
of the first seminar were broadcast by the Federal Chamber's
television station and were later repeated several times.
Some 400 people attended the Rio de Janeiro seminar, which
was the larger of the two. Among the participants was the
ombudsman of Folha de Sao Paulo, Brazil's leading newspaper,
who said that these seminars were instrumental in changing the
editorial position of the paper regarding racism in Brazil and the
progress of preparations for the World Conference against Racism
(WCAR). 5 Instead of the occasional small notes that first appeared
in Folha de Sao Paulo, the paper began to dedicate significantly
more articles, editorials, and features to developments regarding
the WCAR and actions to combat racism in Brazil.
In Australia, more than 500 representatives from government,
private, civil, and Aboriginal groups celebrated the unveiling of a
monument in Townsville, Queensland. The 47-meter monument
depicts a Rainbow Serpent, the creature responsible for the creation
of the world according to Aboriginal traditional beliefs.
Farvadin Daliri, an Australian Baha' {, is the manager of the
Townsville Migrant Resource Center, which created the serpent.
Mr. Daliri also served as the project manager and sculptor for the
concrete and steel monument. The project took two years to
complete and involved consultation with members of many tribes
about the spiritual significance of the project in terms of Aboriginal
heritage. During the final stage, five indigenous artists from
Townsville's correctional center and Aboriginal artist Jackie Elliute
finished painting the serpent.
The unveiling took place on 23 March, coinciding with National
Harmony Day, and included traditional dancing and music in
celebrating Aboriginal culture.

5 For a report on the World Conference against Racism, see pp. 125-32.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Bahd'is in Peru entertain and educate students with the Universal Peace
musical theater program, which teaches the concepts of world citizenship
in primary schools.

Racial prejudice was called the "most challenging issue" in
America by Shoghi Effendi, and Baha'!s in the United States are
addressing the challenge through efforts such as participation in
the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day Parade in Houston, Texas.
Bahf is participate in the event annually, along with hundreds
of organizations, schools, institutions, and corporations, to promote
and honor the diversity of the city. In 2002, however, the chairman
and CEO of the MLK Jr. Parade Foundation met with a member
of the Local Spiritual Assembly and, responding to the depth of
feeling and conviction that the Bahf is show in the parade every
year, asked them to contribute a float and to both lead and close
the parade. He went on to request that the Baha'is cosponsor this
event with the MLK Foundation and asked them to help in the
planning to ensure the success of the parade.
Some 300,000 people attended and four national TV networks
broadcast segments of the parade's festivities to a potential audience
of millions more throughout the nation. Baha'i singers also
participated in "Celebrating Multicultural Diversity, a Family
Concert" held the day before the parade.
In Canada, the Honor All Nations Drum and Dance Group,
accompanied by Kevin Locke, traveled through Vancouver Island,
YEAR IN REVIEW

British Columbia, in June. Honor All Nations is a Baha'i
intercultural performance and service group, and Mr. Locke is a
Baha'i of Lakota heritage who performs several traditional native
art forms, including storytelling, hoop-dancing, and flute-playing.
The trip focused on Canadian First Nations areas, where many
children and youth must deal with the marginalization of their
language and culture and often struggle with discrimination,
substance abuse, and violence. The group's message of unity and
upliftment was meant to provide inspiration to the young people
and give them a positive view of their culture and heritage. The
trip aimed both to vitalize the culture and to propagate the Baha'i
teachings. The group was warmly received at its many stops, and
positive articles about its efforts were published in several local
newspapers.

Education

The Baha'i teachings repeatedly emphasize the importance of
education, especially that of children, in the various arts and sciences
and stress the inclusion of moral and spiritual elements in curricula.
Both of these are described as essential to a complete education,
and Baha'i classes and schools seek to incorporate these principles
into traditional educational disciplines.
One significant Baha'i educational initiative is Landegg
International University in Switzerland. On 20 September 2001,
Landegg was formally registered by the cantonal and federal
authorities as a private university, after meeting the criteria set by
the government. Landegg's new status is a recognition by the Swiss
government of the legitimacy of Landegg's unique approach to
education, which is based on the idea of applied spirituality.
The university, formerly known as Landegg Academy, currently
offers undergraduate degrees in four areas: economics and international development; political science and international relations;
psychology, human development, and education; and the integrative
study of religion. Landegg also offers master's programs in conflict
resolution, leadership and global governance, economic and social
development, spiritual psychology, and moral education. Over the
years, Landegg has established scholarly exchange programs with
86 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

a number of universities, including the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, Beijing University in China, the State University of
Sergipe in Brazil, and the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh in
the United States.
Although the Landegg campus is relatively small, with a current
capacity of approximately 100 full-time students, its reach is global.
At any given time, only about one-third of the school's students
are on campus, while the rest study from afar, using an array of
distance-learning technologies but principally e-mail and the World
Wide Web.
The Ruaha School, a Baha'i-sponsored school in lringa, Tanzania, received a two-year $122,000 grant to build a new girls'
dormitory capable of housing 120 students, increasing the school's
housing capacity by 46 percent. The new dormitory will provide
1,040 square meters of living space, including a 405-square-meter
courtyard. The school, which currently has about 400 students,
is owned and operated by the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'fs of Tanzania. The grant was given by the Unity Foundation,
a Baha'i-inspired development agency in Luxembourg that has
also recently provided funding to a health outreach project in Guyana
and a nonprofit printing operation in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo that produces low-cost educational materials for
community development and projects throughout the country.

Children in front of the Asma of Kakombe School complex in Uvira,
South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in June 2001.
YEAR IN REVIEW

Students at the Bahd '£-run Bad{ School in Panama view displays at the
school's science fair.

Ruaha's primary mission is to serve the Tanzanian community
by providing quality education at an affordable cost. One of its
major goals is to provide education for girls. More than two-thirds
of its students are female, in a country where girls make up fewer
than half the students enrolled in secondary schools.
While some Baha'i schools are expanding and changing, others
are just beginning. On 28 September 2001, the Baha'i community
in Daga, Papua New Guinea, witnessed the official opening of
the Bonara Community School, a primary school that serves the
Milne Bay province. The Baha'is of the Daga area initiated the
project with funding and support from the Baha'i community,
the government of PNG, and the Japan International Cooperation
Agency, which provided funds for four teachers' houses and two
large classrooms.
More than 1,000 people attended the opening, with some of
the participants walking for up to two days to reach the remote
area. Guests included representatives from the provincial government
and the National Spiritual Assembly, as well as Continental
Counsellor Jalal Mills. Peter Baki of the Department of Education
of PNG delivered the opening speech. Mr. Baki praised the Baha'is
88 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

for their efforts and mentioned other Baha'i projects in the area,
such as a tree-planting campaign, as well as the school. Though
the facility will serve the entire community, he called the Baha'is
the "spiritual guardians" of the school.
The Baha'i Center of Learning in Western Australia was opened
on 18 August 2001. Some 8 5 people attended the meeting, including
press representatives and dignitaries. The Governor of Western
Australia, Lieutenant-General John Sanderson, officially opened
the center and spoke about the Baha'i Faith and the purpose of
the building, specifically highlighting the Baha'i perspective on
education. He also acknowledged the 90 public schools in the
area that offer Baha'i education programs. Fiona McDonald, a
member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia, spoke
about the purpose of the center, which offers programs about the
Baha'i Faith and its teachings as well as in-depth programs based
on the Ruhi study materials. 6

Arts
Baha'u'llah wrote, "the true worth of artists and craftsmen should
be appreciated, for they advance the affairs of mankind. Just as
the foundations of religion are made firm through the Law of
God, the means of livelihood depend upon those who are engaged
in arts and crafts." 7 Inspired by Baha'u'llah's words, many Baha'i
artists throughout the world use their arts not only to express
their Faith, but also as a means to inform others about it.
In the United Kingdom, the Baha'i International Community
and Arts for Nature collaborated on an evening which used the
arts to remember the life of Amatu'l-Baha Rti}:iiyyih Khanum, who
passed away in January 2000. 8 Apart from being an author, a lecturer,

6 Developed in Colombia, these materials treat a variety of topics such as
the development of spiritual qualities, prayer, the soul and the afterlife,
carrying out acts of service, the spiritual education of children, Baha'i
history, and teaching the Baha'i Faith.
7 Baha'u'llah, cited in "The Arts ," The Compilation of Compilations, vol. 1

(Ingleside: Baha'i Publications Australia, 1991), no. 10, p. 3.
8 See The Baha'i World 1999- 2000, pp. 167-95, for a retrospective article

about the life of Amacu'l-Baha Rul;iiyyih Khanum.
YEAR IN REVIEW

The cast of
performers at an
Arts for Nature
tribute honoring
Ru~iyyih Khdnum,
held 15 May 2001
at Canada House
in London.

and a leader of the Baha'i community, Ru}:iiyyih Khanum cared
deeply about environmental issues and was an inspiration for the
establishment of Arts for Nature, a 14-year-old organization that
uses the arts to advocate for environmental issues.
Ru}:iiyyih Khanum supported the first Arts for Nature event,
which was held in 1988 in London and organized by the World
Wide Fund for Nature UK and the Baha'i International Community.
She gave the keynote address at the event, alongside HRH Prince
Philip.
The audience at the memorial evening, held in Canada House
in London, included the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duchess of
Abercorn, the Canadian High Commissioner, and more than 150
others. The guests enjoyed a reception and dinner, with a musical
performance and dramatic presentations. The centerpiece was a
theatrical performance entitled "A Life So Noble," which was
inspired by Ru}:iiyyih Khanum's life and portrays four major aspects
of her life and character, with a different actress personifying each.
The show, written by Beverley Evans and directed by Annabel
Knight, uses words taken from Ru}:iiyyih Khfoum's writings and
talks. Each attendee was given two books: Sacred Earth and Ru}:iiyyih
Khanum's Prescription for Living, based on the Baha'i teachings.
Elsewhere in the UK, the Saint Mungo Museum of Religious
Life and Art in Glasgow mounted an exhibition featuring the Baha'i
Faith, which opened 22 June and ran through 21 October.
Highlights of the exhibition included works by Baha'i artists, a
90 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Bahd'i artist Sima Baher standing with a mural that is part of her
exhibit "The Earth Is But One Country, " which was displayed in
Uruguay in 2001.

multimedia display, and a series of panels describing the history
and teachings of the Faith. The Baha'i Publishing Trust of the
United Kingdom prepared a booklet to complement the panels,
which was made available to museum visitors. More than 40,000
people visited the Baha'i exhibit during its five-month run.
Among the artistic displays were a model of the award-winning
House ofWorship in New Delhi, India, Rob Hain's painting "The
Voyages of the Crimson Ark," and three works from a series
illustrating The Seven Valleys, one of Baha' u'llah's primary mystical
works. Also, a room of the display was used as a "Tranquility
Zone," a space for private prayer and meditation. The realization
of the exhibition was the result of a long-standing relationship
between the Baha' is and the museum, and the displays were partially
sponsored by the Baha'i Council for Scotland.
Beyond Words, a Baha'i performing arts group consisting of youth
from Albania, Cameroon, Canada, the Czech Republic, Ecuador,
Guyana, South Africa, the UK, and the US, traveled through Lesotho
YEAR IN REVIEW 91

for a month, performing music and dances addressing issues such as
unity, the elimination of prejudice, drug abuse, and HIV/AJDS.
The group performed for 17 organizations during its stay in
Maseru, Lesotho. Hundreds attended the performances, many of
which were given multiple times in the same location due to public
demand. The group's travels and its message were promoted in
local media through interviews with members in newspapers, TV,
and radio.
The group's 17 November performance was sponsored by the
Save the Children Fund UK, and more than 100 youth were invited
to attend a full-day workshop on how to take initiative to help
others within the country.
Individual Baha' is are also recognized for their achievements
as they strive to use the arts to embody the teachings of the Faith
and to express their religion through artistic endeavors.
Three Baha'i women toured Canada and the United States
performing music and dance. The program consisted of Persian
classical music with three live musicians, Persian classical dance,
including a performance about the life of the famous Baha'i poet
Tahirih, and songs and dances from Africa. The two-hour performances in five cities were attended by some 1,500 people and
were enthusiastically received. After the performances, many
audience members asked for literature and information about the
Faith.
The performers were Karin Blumenthal from Germany, who
performed classical and free-form dances, Ghazal Ighani, a Canadian
of Persian origin, and Ranzie Mensah, a Ghanaian living in Italy,
who gave vocal performances. Ms. Ighani has two recorded albums,
one of Baha'i songs and the other a Persian pop classical album
which has been distributed worldwide. Ms. Mensah has recorded
five albums and has been featured on national TV shows in Africa,
France, and Italy.
Media coverage of the performances included local radio and
television announcements and a television interview about the
performance at the Alix Goolden Performance Hall in Victoria,
British Columbia, which aired on local television several times
during the day. Students from the Maxwell International Baha'i
School in nearby Shawnigan Lake opened the evening with a play.
92 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001- 2002

Also in Canada, the Banff Center for Continuing Education
announced a Baha'i, Benjamin Hatcher, as the recipient of its 2002
Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award. T he award is administered
annually by the Banff Center to an emerging Canadian choreographer
to encourage his or her professional development. Mr. Hatcher,
who is both a dancer and a choreographer, received $5,000 and the
opportunity to spend six weeks in residence at the Banff Center
working with professional dancers at the summer dance program.
He will also have access to full production support and staging facilities
at the center, and his new work will be presented in July 2002.

Involvement in the Life of Society
Baha'i communities, far from being isolated from the world around
them, are actively involved in public outreach, desiring to share
the spiritual principles and ideals that they believe will bring peace
and unity to the world. They seek to demonstrate to the public
how the Baha'i teachings can be used to contribute to an "everadvancing civilization."
The terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September
provided an opportunity for people all over the world to unite,
and Baha'i communities worldwide participated in commemorations to promote the unifying teachings of their Faith.
The Baha'i community of the United States issued a statement
on the destiny of America as "the promoter of world peace."
Although the statement does not specifically mention the terrorist
attacks, it was designed to offer a new perspective on these and
related events. Published 23 December 2001 as a full-page
advertisement in The New York Times, the statement says that Baha'is
believe the American nation "will evolve through tests and trials
to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership, a champion
of justice and unity among all peoples and nations, and a powerful
servant of the cause of everlasting peace. " 9
The National Spiritual Assembly of Greenland issued a statement
to the people of Greenland, expressing "heartfelt condolences for
those innocent victims who were struck down by shameless acts

9 For che cexc of chis scacemenc, see pp. 295-97.
YEAR IN REVIEW 93

of terrorism." The statement also expressed the view that "Our
beloved country also needs to join hands with the other governments
as a nation and participate fully in raising the standard of justice
and peace amongst all nations." The statement was run in both
national newspapers, in Greenlandic and Danish. This marked
the first time since the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly
in 1992 that it had addressed the people of Greenland.
In Australia, more than 1,000 people attended an interfaith
gathering at the House of Worship on 16 September 2001. Members
of Bahf 1, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim faiths offered
prayers for the victims of the attacks.
On 15 November, Baha'{s in Reykjavik, Iceland, participated
in a seminar on religious tolerance, held in connection with the
terrorist attacks on 11 September, organized by the Iceland
University of Education. The representatives of six religions were
invited to participate. Each introduced his or her faith group and
answered the following question: "How do you, as a representative
of your religion, believe the education system could promote more
respect and tolerance towards different religions and their followers?"
Baha'!s in Malaysia held a commemorative gathering on 6
October in Ipoh. Around 80 people joined in the "Prayers for
World Peace" event, which brought together members of different
religious groups in Malaysia, who contributed prayers and writings
from many faiths.
Irish Baha'!s also participated in an interfaith prayer service
in response to the terrorist attacks, hosted by the Redemptorist

President Festus
Mogae of Botswana
(left) with two of the
translators who
produced a Baha'i
prayer book in the
native Setswana
Language.
94 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Chief Minister Naveen Patnik of Orissa, India, (center) holding a copy
of the Kitdb-i-Aqdas at the ceremony celebrating the translation of the
book into the Oriya language.

Fathers Catholic Church in Limerick, Ireland. Thousands of people
joined in the program, which included music and readings from
various scriptures.
Though the Faith is apolitical in character, Bahf is do strive
to contribute to the discourse of society by participating in activities
and dialogues with governments and leaders of thought and through
collaboration with the UN and other international organizations.
On 22 and 23 September 2001, Greek Bahf is participated in
the first NGO Fair of Volunteerism and Humanitarianism, held at
the Zappeion in Athens. The exhibition was held under the auspices
of the Department oflnternational Cooperation for Development
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Coalition of NGOs in
Greece.
The Bahf i stand explained the principles that guide the work
of the Bahf i community in social and economic development
projects and showed concrete examples of projects in Africa and
Europe. There was also a video about the FUNDAEC program in
Colombia. Statements by the Baha'i International Community
on a variety of subjects such as sustainable development, racism,
YEAR IN REVIEW 95

and the role of religion in the advancement of women, were
distributed in both Greek and English.
Volunteerism and Humanitarianism was also the theme at the
International Fair in Luxembourg on 9 December 2001, which
attracted close to 10,000 visitors. The Luxembourg Baha' {Women's
organization Union Luxembourgeoise des Femmes Bahd'ies joined
some 200 other organizations in this event, which was organized
by a commission of the Ministry of Family.
The Baha'!s provided a presentation on the work of the
Luxembourgish Baha'l community in the areas of the equality of
women and men and service to humanity. The exhibit also included
a corner with information materials and Baha'i publications. The
Unity Foundation, a Baha'i-inspired NGO, was also represented.
The Luxemburger Wort, the largest newspaper in Luxembourg, wrote
about the participation of the Baha'l community at this event in
its 10 December edition.
In September 2001, workshops of the "Stop and Act" program
were facilitated for close to 65 students in three Austrian cities.
The workshops were initiated by GLOBart, a Baha'i-inspired NGO
dedicated to connecting the arts and sciences, as a social service
for schools in Horn, St. Polten, and Wien.
"Stop and Act" was developed by the Russian journalist Shamil
Fattakhov. The project was implemented in almost all Southeastern
European countries under the title "Promoting Positive Messages
Through the Media: The Happy Hippo Show." The project is

Bahd'is in
Mauritius lead
a parade
celebrating World
Religion Day in
January 2002.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Participants in a panel discussion on "Religions against Violence "
in Stuttgart, Germany, at a World Religion Day commemoration
on 20 January 2002.

sponsored by the government of Luxembourg as part of the Stability
Pact for Southeastern Europe (formerly the Royaumont Process),
a diplomatic initiative launched by the European Union in 1995.
The program features short dramatic sketches that center around
a moral dilemma, requiring audience members to discuss possible
resolutions to the situation. At the end, one of these is chosen
and acted out.
Each workshop was followed by a public show, with up to
700 people attending, including representatives of media, local
authorities, educators, and social workers. The project was covered
in newspapers and on local TV. The same month Mr. Fattakhov,
who facilitated the Austrian seminars, was awarded the 2001
Innovation Award by GLOBart.
In the Uni ted States, Prof. Suheil Bushrui, holder of the Baha'i
Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland's Center for
International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM),
presented a Baha'i perspective on ethics and humanity during a
workshop organized by CIDCM with the support of the William
YEAR IN REVIEW 97

and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The workshop was held at the
University of Maryland at College Park on 12 February 2002.
Entitled "Separating Fact from Fiction after 9/11: Insights from
Conflict and International Development Scholarship," the program
featured sessions on radical Islam and Islamic social movements;
on policing and law-enforcement against terrorism in the context
of democratic societies; and on the impact of the 9/11 events on
the US role in international affairs and on the processes of
globalization. Participants included representatives of the Office
of the UN Secretary General, the US Agency for International
Development, the National Academy of Sciences, the United
Nations Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller
Brothers Fund, and the Henry Stimson Center, as well as scholars
in conflict and peace studies from around the country.

Interfaith Activities
'Abdu'l-Baha wrote that "religion should be the cause of love and
agreement, a bond to unify all mankind, for it is a message of
peace and goodwill to man from God." 10 His vision of cooperation
and amity among religions guides the Baha'i community in its
pursuit of unity, and Baha'fs are acutely aware that religion should
be a means for the unity of mankind, not for its division.
In 1950 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'fs of the
United States initiated World Religion Day as a means of calling
attention to the harmony of spiritual principles and the oneness
of the world's religions, and to emphasize that religion is the
motivating force for world unity. Now Baha'fs around the globe
celebrate the day, commemorated annually on the third Sunday
in January, by hosting discussions, conferences, and other events
that foster understanding and communication among the followers
of all religions.
More than 400 people gathered in Stuttgart, Germany, on 20
January 2002 for a multifaith discussion on the topic "Religions
against Violence," which was sponsored by the National Spiritual

10 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1956), p. 240.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Assembly of Germany. Participants on the panel discussed both
the peace-promoting elements of religions and their potential to
generate conflict and war. All agreed that world religions, if seen
in their true essence, are against violence. Faith groups represented
at the event included the Central Jewish Council of Germany,
the German Buddhist Union, the Department of Theology of the
University ofTtibingen, the Central Muslim Council of Germany,
and Hans Kting's Foundation for World Ethics.
Panelists also noted that competing claims to exclusive truth
often prevent religions from establishing a climate of harmony
and unity. Prof. Urs Baumann, a Catholic theologian, said the
notion that a religion is "the only path to truth and salvation"
has all too often been considered the "greatest reason for violence,"
especially when such a claim becomes institutionalized by government or politics.
Other significant World Religion Day observances included
events in Bulgaria, Mongolia, Pakistan, and the United States,
where numerous local Baha'i communities sponsored celebrations.
In Bulgaria, about 45 people gathered at the national Baha'i
center in Sofia. Participants included followers of diverse religions,
academicians, and members of nongovernmental organizations.
The program included the reading of prayers by representatives
of the Baha'l Faith, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity,
Hinduism, and Islam. After the devotional program, a talk entitled
"Religious Tolerance: Historical Scope and Modern Understanding"
was given by Theodore Bourilkov, member of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Bulgaria, which sponsored the event.
More than 100 people gathered in Ulaanbataar, Mongolia,
including representatives of the Baha'i Faith, Buddhism, Christianity,
and Islam. Several government officials and four lecturers from the
religious studies department of the national university also attended.
In Pakistan, more than 50 people attended a program at Baha'i
Hall in Karachi, including members of Pakistan's Zikri community.
The Zikri community is a peaceful Sufi sect of Islam.
The World Religion Day Web site 11 lists many more countries
that participated in 2002's World Religion Day, including Albania,

11 <www.worldreligionday.com>.
YEAR IN REVIEW 99

Australia, Austria, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, New
Zealand, Norway, Panama, Slovakia, Switzerland, the United
Kingdom, the United States, and Vanuatu.
Baha'i communities are also involved in long-term efforts to
promote religious harmony and cooperation. One of the most
active of these is the Baha'i community in Norway, which
participated in the signing ceremony of the Oslo Declaration on
Freedom of Religion or Belief on 8 November 2001 as part of an
interfaith coalition composed of the major religious groups in the
country.
The Declaration was drafted and adopted by a coalition of
governments and nongovernmental organizations in August 1998
at an international conference on religious freedom. Among the
participants in that conference was the Baha'i International
Community. The document demonstrates a collective commitment
to religious tolerance and is significant because of the diversity of
religious groups that participated in its drafting. Twenty-five groups
signed the Declaration. Britt Strandlie Thoresen, member of the
National Spiritual Assembly of Norway, represented the Baha'is.
Representatives of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam,
Judaism, Sikhism, and humanism also participated.
The signing ceremony was initiated by the Cooperation Council
of Religions and Life-Stance Communities and the Oslo Coalition of Freedom of Religion or Belief. The Baha'i community

Britt Strandlie
Thoresen, member of
the National
Spiritual Assembly of
Norway, signs the
Oslo Declaration on
Freedom of Religion
or Belief at a
ceremony held at the
Norwegian Academy
of Science and Letters
in November 200 I.
IOO THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

of Norway is a member of both groups. The ceremony took place
at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and was attended
by more than 100 guests, including officials of the Norwegian
government, members of Parliament, representatives from some
16 foreign embassies, and members of various human rights groups
and academic organizations.
The Declaration specifically affirms that "every human being
has a responsibility to condemn discrimination and intolerance
based on religions and belief, and to apply religion or belief in
support of human dignity and peace." It gives recognition to the
idea chat "religions and beliefs teach peace and good will."
After the ceremony, Gunnar Sralsett, the Bishop of Oslo and
president of the Oslo Coalition of Freedom of Religion or Belief,
thanked the participants, stating chat he would give a copy of the
signed protocol to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Kofi Annan, when he came to Oslo on 10 December to receive
the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the United Nations.
Dutch Baha'fs are also involved in an interfaith initiative, a
national initiative on Freedom of Religion and Belief, which was

r

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Samoa elected in 2001,
standing in front of the Samoan House of Worship in Apia.
YEAR IN REVIEW IOI

created in May 2001 as a result of the conference "Freedom of
Religion: A Precious Human Right," held the previous year. The
initiative brings together many faiths, whose collective goal is to
monitor the situation of religious freedom in the world and to
advise the Dutch government on related issues. Situations such
as human rights problems related to religious intolerance in Fiji
and Macedonia are currently being monitored.
The initiative includes members of the Hindu Council; the
Protestant Missionary Council; the Catholic Organization for Ecumenism; the Dutch government's Department of Mission, Church
Social Welfare Work, and Development; the Liberal Jewish Council;
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'fs of the Netherlands;
the Dutch Muslim Council; and the Roman Catholic group ]ustitia
et Pax.
In Reunion, Baha'fs strengthened their interfaith dialogue and
relations with government officials by participating in a Group
for Interreligious Dialogue meeting with the Prime Minister of
France, Lionel Jospin, during his visit to the Island on 9 March
2002. Mr. Jospin invited members of religious communities to
discuss issues of relevance to the country, including interaction
between different religious and ethnic communities, religious lessons
in school curricula, and matters of personal morality.
The participation of the Bahf fs was a major step for the
community in that country, and the representative of the Faith
presented the Prime Minister with several Baha'f documents,
including statements of the Baha'f International Community.

Community Development

In the same way that individual Baha'fs are responsible for their
personal spiritual development, so are they responsible for promoting
creativity, building capacity, and developing distinctive social patterns
within the Bahf f communities. Just as individuals are counseled
by the Bahf f teachings to "acquire the attributes of spiritual and
material perfection," 12 they must collectively pursue those goals

12 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Secret ofDivine Civilization (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing
Trust, 1994), p. 35.
102 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The President of Singapore, S.R. Nathan, poses with Bahd'i children at
the national Naw-Ruz celebration in March 2002.

in more than two hundred countries and territories throughout
the world, where Baha'i community life and administration are
constantly developing.
A significant step in the development of national communities
is the recognition of their National Spiritual Assemblies by their
countries' governments. Such registration and incorporation allow
the Baha'is to enjoy the same freedoms and protection as their
coreligionists.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the Gambia
achieved incorporation in January 2002. This, together with the
recent recognition and listing by the Department for Religious
Affairs of the Baha'i Faith as one among four independent religions
in the country, declares the independence of the Faith from its
sister communities, safeguards the National Spiritual Assembly's
right as the sole legitimate organization to administer the affairs
of the Baha'is in the Gambia, and grants full rights to pursue its
humanitarian objectives for the nation.
In Iceland, the civil powers of Baha'i administration were
increased through an agreement with the government allowing
YEAR IN REVIEW 103

representatives of Local Spiritual Assemblies to be named as
Forstolfumalfur ("heads of the faith"). Though their status in the
Baha'i community remains unchanged, they gain the responsibility
for carrying out matters such as marriages, funerals, and registering
children's names.
The Local Spiritual Assemblies of Akureyri, Hafnafjorour,
K6pavogur, and Reykjavik are now entitled to carry out these
functions, in addition to the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'i'.s of Iceland. Previously, there had been only one "head" of
the Baha'i Faith in that country.
In the Seychelles, nine local Baha'i communities were officially
incorporated by the government, as announced in the Official
Gazette of 24 December 2001. Another local community, in
Klaipeda, Lithuania, also gained official registration.
The occasion of Naw-Ruz, the Baha'i new year, on 21 March
2002 provided several national Baha'i communities an opportunity
both to raise their profiles and to showcase their development to
the governments and to the wider community.
In Singapore, President S.R. Nathan and his wife were the
guests of honor at the country's Naw-Ruz gathering on 20 March
2002. The celebration included a dinner and musical entertainment
provided by several groups, including a Baha'i children's choir.
Some 580 people attended the event, and each was given a pamphlet
that outlined the meaning of Naw-Ruz, provided a brief summary
of the history of the Faith in Singapore, and described the activities
of Baha' is in the country and throughout the world.
In a message commemorating the new year, British Prime
Minister Tony Blair commended the Baha'i community of the
United Kingdom for its "significant contribution" to multiculturalism and interfaith dialogue. The message was read at a
reception on 21 March 2002 in the House of Commons, which
was attended by nearly 100 people and was sponsored by the All
Party Friends of the Baha'i Faith. Participants included members
of the British parliament and other government officials, as well
as representatives of NGOs and the media.
MP John Battle, the Prime Minister's advisor on interfaith
matters, read Mr. Blair's message, which singled out the "contribution of the Baha'i Faith to the stability and prosperity of
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Baha'i youth in Lome, Togo, in a tutor training course for Ruhi study
materials in August 200 I .

British society as a whole" and said, "I am very encouraged by
the vision the Baha'i community demonstrates in recognizing the
power of interfaith dialogue and the importance of all citizens
fulfilling their potential."
Barney Leith, Secretary-General of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the United Kingdom, addressed the gathering about
the UK Baha'i community's Institute for Social Cohesion, an
initiative to facilitate dialogue between entities working to build
stronger societal bonds in the United Kingdom.
The Baha'i community of Northern Ireland also received Naw-
Ruz greetings from the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister
of the Province.
In India, the House of Worship in New Delhi was the setting
for a Naw-Ruz reception that brought together some 180 Indian
and foreign guests. They included members of Indian civil society,
high-level Indian politicians, professionals and senior executives
of the Indian business community, representatives from various
foreign embassies and high commissions, and dignitaries from
United Nations agencies. Fariborz Sahba, the architect of the Indian
House of Worship, was also among the guests.
YEAR IN REVIEW

Naw-Ruz celebrations were also held m Bara and Malabo,
Equatorial Guinea. The Naw-Ruz program organized by the
community of Bata took place at the local Baha'i center and featured
artistic presentations such as songs, skits, and dances prepared by
the children and youth groups of both Bata and the nearby
community of N tobo. Other presentations included a short
introduction to the Baha'i Faith, a talk on the Baha'i calendar,
and a slide presentation on the Baha'i World Centre and the terraces
of the Shrine of the Bab. Approximately 150 people attended the
celebration, including representatives of the Catholic Church in
Bara and local elementary and secondary school teachers.
In Malabo, the Naw-Ruz celebration took place in the main
hall of the national Baha'i center with the attendance of
approximately 80 people, including several professors from the
National University of Equatorial Guinea. There were traditional
dances performed by a children's group and songs performed by
the Baha'i choir of Malabo.

Youth
Baha'i youth hope to rise to meet the expectations set forth by
Baha'u'llah in His statement, "Blessed is he who in the prime of
his youth and the heyday of his life will arise to serve the Cause
of the Lord." 13 In the Baha'i Faith, youth are called upon to use
their energy and vitality for the service of their Faith and humanity.
One of the ways youth have found to translate their enthusiasm
into action is participation in arts workshops that promote the
Baha'i teachings through dance and music. Pacific Flame is one
such workshop-a performing arts group from Tonga that brought
the Baha'i message to Fiji through music and comedy during its
trip in September 2001. The group addresses issues such as substance
abuse, family violence, the oppression of women, the oneness of
religion, and the oneness of humankind.
Throughout their time in Fiji, the youth of Pacific Flame
performed for audiences of all ages, faiths, and ethnic backgrounds,

13 Baha' u'llah, cited in "Youth," The Compilation of Compilations, vol. 2
(Ingleside: Baha'i Publications Australia, 1991), no. 2232, p. 415.
106 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

reaching hundreds of people with their message of love and unity.
Their venues ranged from the exclusive Sheraton Resort to a school
for disabled children. One evening they performed in a village
with no electricity, using only a kerosene lantern and a battery
powered CD player. The Sun, one uf Fiji's largest newspapers,
published an article on the group.
In Budapest, Hungary, members of the Budapest dance
workshop Puzzle are helping to promote their message and their
methods by training Roma youth in Sarkad to form their own
workshop. Many of the young people come from adverse social
circumstances, and involvement in the workshops helps not only
to uplift them but allows them to help others.
Another of the forums in which Baha'i youth gather to share
their enthusiasm for their Faith and create strategies of action are
youth conferences such as the Ninth Congress of the Baha'i, Youth
Movement of the Americas. More than 600 youth from 15 countries
attended the conference to talk about peace, change, and the future.
Organized by the Baha'i National Youth Committee of Brazil
and held outside Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 17 to 21 January 2002,
the event brought together youth from different countries and

Participants in the Day for Children and Youth at the Bahd 'f center in
Assomada, Cape Verde, in December 2001.
YEAR IN REVIEW

backgrounds to share ideas of how to better the world. The Congress
was the latest event in an international Baha'i Youth Movement
that is focused in the Americas. Through this movement youth
dedicate themselves to discovering solutions to the challenges facing
the world and to becoming catalysts for spiritual transformation.
The youth in Brazil ended the four-day Congress by committing
themselves to actions they will take over the next year in order to
effect a positive change in their community. Some of these included
starting moral education classes for children, making use of the
arts as an educational tool, starting a moral education theater group,
and becoming involved in community-building projects. Several
groups of youth launched a two-week campaign immediately
following the Congress to spread the principles of the Baha'i Faith.
Mirroring the activity of the Baha'i Youth Movement, other
national and international youth conferences gave Baha'i youth
around the world opportunities to gather, reflect, and plan activities.
More than 250 youth attended the Fifth Annual Montreal
Baha'i Youth Conference, held from 29 to 31 March. The threeday conference attracted youth from 10 countries and consisted
of talks, workshops, dance and dramatic performances, audio-visual
presentations, and an art exhibit, all revolving around the role of
Baha'i youth in the twentieth century and their responsibilities
in the century to come. The conference ended with youth resolving
to focus their activity in systematic action along three main linesthe establishment or strengthening of study circles, devotional
meetings, and community children's classes. Others were also
inspired to start community development programs and dancetheater workshops within their respective communities.
The national youth conference in Limbe, Cameroon, was held
26-30 July. Close to 150 participants gathered for the event, with
support from members of the Continental Board of Counsellors
in Africa, the Auxiliary Board, and the National Spiritual Assembly.
The program included workshops on the study of the Baha'i
writings, and the youth consulted on how they could help in
advancing the systematic process of growth of the Baha'i Faith in
Cameroon. At the end of the conference, 39 youth volunteered
to embark on trips to spread the Baha'i teachings.
ro8 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Bahd 'is studying training institute materials in Assam, India, in April
2002.

Some 210 individuals from 14 different countries attended
the Eighth ASEAN 14 Baha'i Youth Conference at the Kampaeng
Saen Agriculture Training Center in Nakhon Prathom, Thailand,
from 22 to 25 December. The theme of the conference was moral
leadership and learning how to be a source of social good. The
first day was marked by the reading of a letter from the Universal
House of Justice, which urged the youth to ask themselves how,
as individuals, as members of local and national committees, and
as the vanguard of an entire generation in their region, they could
ensure that the advancement of the process of entry by troops
called for by the Five Year Plan is achieved in each of their countries.
There were workshops on the crises of our times, prevailing mental
models, the conceptual framework of moral leadership, and the
role of youth in society.

Sharing the Baha'i Message
Of all the activities of the Baha'i community, none is seen as more
fundamentally important or meaningful than teaching the Baha'i

14 Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
YEAR IN REVIEW

Faith, an undertaking which is called "the greatest of all divine
bestowals." 15 For Baha' Is, this teaching represents more than a
mere numerical increase; it is a measure of humanity's response
to the message that they believe is the means for the advancement
of the whole human race.
In the Hawaiian Islands, more than 80 Baha'is from throughout
the Pacific participated in the Ocean of Light project, designed
to systematically inform people in the Pacific region about the
Baha'i teachings. Baha'is from Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, and other
neighboring islands joined together for the project, which culminated in the celebration of the 1OOth anniversary of the Faith
in the Pacific islands. 16
The project included large public gatherings, which attracted
hundreds of people to hear the Baha'i message, sessions where
Baha' is discussed ways to propagate their Faith, and trips by groups
of people to cities, towns, and villages to teach their Faith to local
residents.
Programs of Baha'i training institutes are becoming one of
the features of Baha'i community life, and through their curricula,
Baha'is learn systematic methods for contributing to the spiritual
and administrative growth of their communities, offering service,
expressing their faith through arts and music, and teaching the
Faith to others. 17
Institutes can also address issues such as health care, literacy,
and the equality of women and men-issues which relate directly
to the broader society. In Malaysia, a literacy campaign for junior
youth among the native Asli people incorporates literacy training
with systematic study of the Baha'i writings, all in the Malay
language. The literacy program will allow those who participate
to move on to other institute training such as the Ruhi study
materials, which are widely used in Baha'i communities around
the world.

15 'Abdu'l-Baha, Japan Will Turn Ablaze (Tokyo: Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1993), p. 12.
16 For a report of these events, see pp. 114- 17.

17 For more about training institutes, see The Baha'i World 2000- 2001,

pp. 191- 99.
IIO THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Bahd 'is in Peru participate in a Ruhi training course in Lake Titicaca in
November 2001.

In Japan, Baha'fs introduced training institute materials to
members of the Airaku Church after members of the church
expressed interest in how the Baha' {s learn about their own religion
and apply the teachings to their lives. A session with the Ruhi
study materials was held at the Airaku Church in Kurume City
on 19 October 2001. Approximately 30 people participated,
responding well to the session and expressing interest in continuing the sessions and in making contact with Baha'!s in Brazil
and Chicago, where there are other branches of the church. Many
also wanted to know more about how the Baha' fs' lives are affected
by the teachings of their religion.
In most cases, the efforts of Baha'fs to teach the Faith are
concentrated on individuals establishing a connection with other
people and expressing their relationship to the Faith and what it
means in their lives. Olya Roohizadegan, an Iranian Baha'i who
escaped death at the hands of her own government because of
her beliefs, now travels throughout the world and tells her story
not as one of suffering and oppression, but as one of hope-the
hope given to her by the Baha'i teachings.
In the summer of 2001, Mrs. Roohizadegan traveled extensively
through Canada and the United States, giving public talks about
YEAR IN REVIEW III

In Melbourne,
Australia, a group
of Bahd 'f youth
calling themselves
"Clown Nine "
have been using
dance, music, and
clowning to
promote virtues
and the principles
of the Faith.

her own life and Faith, and in many cases presenting people with
their first encounter with the Baha'i Faith. Her story has made
an impact on many people and has received extensive media coverage
from those impressed by her story of triumph over adversity.

Baha'1World Centre

At the heart of the worldwide Baha'i community is the Baha'i
World Centre, the spiritual and administrative center of the Baha'i
Faith. The Universal House of Justice and International Teaching
Centre coordinate and direct the activities of Baha'i communities,
and the World Centre houses the holiest places for Baha'is, the
Shrines of Bahi'u'llah and of the Bab. Shoghi Effendi described
the World Centre as the place "where the processes disclosing [the
Baha'i Faith's] purposes, energizing its life, and shaping its destiny
all originate." 18
This year, the activities at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa,
Israel, were focused primarily on events surrounding the longawaited inauguration of the terraces of the Shrine of the Bab on
Mount Carmel. 19 In addition to this historical development, other
progress was evident. In Bahji, for example, near the Shrine of
Baha'u'llah, a new Visitors' Center opened which now serves as a

18 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette: Baha' f Publishing Trust, 199 5),
p. 355.
19 For a report of these events, see pp. 37-73.
II2 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Exterior of the recently completed Bahji Visitors' Center near the Shrine
of Bahd'u'lldh.

reception area for the thousands of Baha'i pilgrims who travel
there annually to visit that holy place.
The Visitors' Center is a complex of facilities that encompasses
several courtyards, a monumental gate structure, and a 400-squaremeter reception hall. The building has been designed in keeping
with the setting around the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, and the entire
complex aims both to enhance the graceful simplicity and gentle
aura of spirituality of the Shrine and to create an atmosphere for
visitors that prepares them for their spiritual encounter with the
Shrine.
Adjacent to the pilgrim facilities is a wing which houses the
Visitors' Information Center, for the reception of special visitors
to Bahjf. 20 It has an information gallery, an audio-visual hall, and
a lounge to receive visitors.

2 °For more information about visirors ro the Baha'i World Cenrre, see
pp. 139-40.

ERRATUM: In The Baha'i World 2000-2001 the photo caption on p. 69 of
the Year in Review should read: jamshed Fozdar stands with Dr. A. T Ariyaratne,
the founder and president ofthe humanitarian organization Sarvodaya, in front
of Dr. Ariyaratne's Vishva Niketan Peace Center in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Anniversaries of
Baha' { Communities
In 2001-02, Bahd'f communities in
Hawaii, Uganda, and Sarawak
celebrated significant anniversaries
connected to the establishment of the
Bahd 'f Faith in their lands.

U nlike much older Faiths, which measure milestones in
centuries or millennia, adherents of the Baha'i Faith still
see ample significance in the few years and decades since
the founding of many national Baha'i communities. The passing
years are characterized internally by growth and consolidation and
externally by an increasing recognition from governments, civil
organizations, and other religions.
In 2001, two communities, Uganda and Sarawak, each
celebrated 50 years of the Baha'i Faith within their countries, while
the Baha'is of the Hawaiian Islands celebrated a full century of
progress in the Pacific region.
These anniversaries chart from the time each location is "opened"
to the Baha'i Faith-when the first Baha'i takes up residence there.
In each country, it was the efforts of individual "pioneers" that
sparked the growth of these communities, which are now thriving,
in the years since the introduction of the message of Baha'u'llah
to their people.

Il3
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Hawaiian Islands
The first Baha'i to set foot in the Hawaiian Islands was Hand of
the Cause of God Agnes Alexander, who was born in Hawaii and
was the granddaughter of missionaries. Miss Alexander first heard
about the Baha'i Faith while on a trip to Europe, and when she
returned home as an adult, on 26 December 190 l, she was the
first to bring word of the Baha'i Faith to the Hawaiian Islandsand, indeed, the entire Pacific region. Though she herself had
been a Baha'i for just over a year at that time, she ultimately devoted
her life to spreading the teachings of Baha'u'llah throughout the
Pacific and during her travels to Canada, China, Europe, Japan,
the Philippines, and the United States.
Miss Alexander passed away in 1971 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
There, almost exactly one hundred years after she had brought
the Baha'i teachings to the Islands, more than 1,000 Baha'is from
some 53 countries gathered in Honolulu from 20 to 23 December
2001 for the four-day "Fire in the Pacific" celebration. They came
from all over the Pacific, from Canada, Europe, Latin America,
the United States, and even from as far away as Asia and Africa to
celebrate the centenary of the Baha'i Faith in the Hawaiian Islands.
The first local Baha'i community formed in 1902, a year after
the introduction of the Faith to Hawaii. The National Spiritual

Princess To'oa Tosi Mafietoa, who
read a message to the anniversary
gathering in the Pacific from her
father, His Highness Susuga
Malietoa Tanumafili II, the king
of Western Samoa, who is a Bahd 'i.
ANNIVERSARIES

A few of the 1, 000 people who came from Bahd 'i communities around
the world for the celebration in Honolulu.

Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands, with its seat in Honolulu, was
established in 1964. Today, the Baha'i community of the Islands
includes more than 3,500 people in nearly 30 local communities
with 22 Local Spiritual Assemblies.
External recognition of a century's worth of growth and
achievement came in the form of extensive media coverage and
attendance by a number of prominent people. Her Highness Susuga
To'oa Tosi Malietoa extended greetings at the opening session on
behalf of her father, His Highness Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili
II, the head of state of the independent nation of Western Samoa.
Ka'ulu Kukui Thomas, retired Hawaii State Court Judge and trustee
for the Queen Liliuokalani Trust, welcomed the participants on
behalf of the Hawaiian people. Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris
greeted conference attendees during the plenary session on Saturday
morning, and Honolulu's top-rated television station KHON gave
extensive coverage to a parade from the burial place of Hand of
the Cause Martha Root to the cemetery where Hand of the Cause
Agnes Alexander is buried.
n6 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

A choir performing at
the anniversary
celebration, which
featured dramatic and
musical performances.

Drama, music, and other sarts were an essential part of the
conference, with numerous presentations by Baha'i artists
highlighting the event. Musician and Grammy-winner K.C. Porter
performed with local musicians; Australian actor Philip Hinton
presented "Portals to Freedom," the story of Howard Colby Ives;
and Nadema Agard, a community service outreach specialist with
the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian,
presented a workshop on the sacred feminine presence in the arts
of Native Americans. Also part of the celebration was a tribute to
Miss Alexander, when some 600 people visited her final resting
place to remember her and her contributions to the community a
century earlier.
On Sunday, 23 December, the conference sponsored a traditional outdoor Ho'olaule'a, or festival, at the McCoy Pavilion
in Ala Moana Beach Park. The Ho' olaule' a featured top local entertainers Amy Hanaiali'i, Hapa's Barry Flanagan, Martin Pahinui,
Sean Na' auao, and Ernie Cruz, as well as Mr. Porter. The event
also showcased entertainment by dancers from other Pacific Islands,
along with arts, crafts, and traditional Hawaiian food.
In addition to reflecting on the history of the community, the
conference focused on issues relevant to the Pacific region, highlighting moral and spiritual education for children, the situation
of indigenous peoples and their contribution to world society,
and the use of the arts as a means for positive social change.
In total, the conference featured more than 80 workshops,
lectures, and performances. Session topics ranged from a presentation on the successes of a Baha'i vocational school in Kiribati
ANNIVERSARIES II7

to discussions on the use of consultation in Baha'i community
life.
The conference brought together a view of both the past and
the future, and in plenary sessions the focus was largely on how
Baha'is can use the teachings of the Faith-such as the equality
of women and men and the recognition of humanity's essential
oneness-to continue making positive contributions to communities
in the Pacific region.

Uganda
The message of the Baha'i Faith was first carried to Uganda by a
small group of Baha' is who arrived there on 2 August 19 51. Hand
of the Cause of God Musa Banani, his wife Sami'ih, their daughter
Violette and her husband 'Ali Nakhjavani, and Philip Hainsworth 1
arrived in Kampala with the intent of establishing the Faith in
that country.
The first Ugandans became Baha'is later in 1951, and the
following year, Enoch Olinga became the third native Ugandan
to declare his belief in the Baha'i Faith. Within months, he was
elected as a member of the first Local Spiritual Assembly formed
in Kampala. In 1957, Mr. Olinga was appointed as a Hand of
the Cause of God and through his tireless activity became
instrumental in the spread of the religion throughout his own
country and the whole of Africa.
The principles of unity and social progress offered by the Faith
soon won acceptance from individuals in every region of Uganda
and most major tribal groups. Within two years the community
had expanded to nearly 300 members in some 25 localities who
represented 20 tribes. In the 50 years since those beginnings, the
Faith has grown to include an estimated 105,000 members in
nearly 3,000 localities.
In 19 5 5, though the Faith had been introduced in the country
scarcely four years before, Shoghi Effendi announced plans to construct a House of Worship in Kampala. Construction of the

1 See pp. 304-05 for Mr. Hainsworth's obituary.
n8 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Some of the 2, 000 people who gathered at Uganda's 50th anniversary
jubilee, in front of the House of Worship in Kampala.

nine-sided Temple began in 1957 and was completed in January
1961.
Like most of the rest of Uganda, the Baha'i community suffered
in the 1970s during the repressive regime of Idi Amin. Along
with many other religious groups, the Baha'i Faith was banned in
1977. After Amin was ousted in 1979, it was legally reconstituted, allowing the community to continue its development.
"The time from 1977 to 1981 was a period of great trial for
the Ugandan community generally, and there are stories of many
heroic feats and sacrifices by Bahi'is during this time,'' said John
Anglin, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahi'is
of Uganda. "But the 1990s were a period of rebuilding our former
capacity and strength."
The Baha'is commemorated the anniversary of their community
in a week-long Jubilee that featured a statement by Ugandan
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, which was read on 2 August
2001 by Capt. Michael Mukula, State Minister for Health, before
a crowd of some 2,000 people at the Baha'i House of Worship in
Kampala. The President's message praised the Faith's record of
promoting harmony and development in a country that has often
been divided by tribalism.
ANNIVERSARIES II9

"In Uganda we are constantly fighting against ethnic and
religious sectarianism and our politics were played out and polarized along those major fault lines for a very long time," wrote
President Museveni, explaining that his government has sought
to "bring all the people together irrespective of their faith, race,
color, or ethnicity."
"We have been doing what you in the Baha'i Faith began to
do a long time ago,'' his message continued. "Yours is a very useful
message and can contribute greatly to nation building."
President Museveni also said that his government shares a
commitment to bring about equality between women and men,
writing, "I appeal to members of the Baha'i Faith, who hold the
equality of rights and opportunities for women and men as an
act of faith and as their basic principle, to join in our crusade for
the empowerment of women."
Among other highlights of the anniversary festivities, which
began on 31 July in Kampala and ended on 5 August in Tilling,
Kumi District, in Eastern Uganda, were the presence of four of
the founding members of the community, the attendance of various
officials in the Ugandan government, and extensive coverage of
the celebration in the Ugandan media.
'AH Nakhjavani, who is currently a member of the Universal
House of Justice, and his wife Violette were both among the
founding members of the Baha'i community who attended the

Capt. Michael Mukula,
State Minister for Health
in Uganda, reads President
Museveni's message to the
Bahd'fs gathered for the
anniversary festivities.
120 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

event. Mr. Nakhjavanl spoke at several events during the week
on the theme "The Spiritual Destiny of Africa."
Philip Hainsworth, another of the founders who returned for
the celebration, spoke about the importance of the Baha'i
community of Uganda in the expansion of the Faith to other African
nations in the 1950s and 1960s, in the community's hosting of
various international conferences, and in its choice as the site of
the House of Worship, a well-known landmark in Kampala.
The Ugandan Baha'i community is also known for its sponsorship of social and economic development projects. The Faith
operates two primary schools, in Odusai in Pallisa District and in
Tilling in Kumi District. With close to 1,000 students and a solid
reputation for excellence, the school in Tilling is now considered
to be the top one in the district. The Baha'i-inspired nongovernmental organization UPLIFT operates a literacy project in the
northern region of Uganda, where literacy rates are low. The project
is focused around the town of Packwach in Nebbi District and
serves close to 200 people in six communities.
In recognition of initiatives such as these, government officials
present at the Jubilee events commended the Ugandan Baha'i
community's contribution to the country's development. At the

George Olinga (left) and Capt. Michael Mukula (center) sit with
founding members of the Ugandan Bahd'i community, 'Ali and Violette
Nakbjavdni.
ANNIVERSARIES 121

Philip Hainsworth, one of
the first Bahd 'is in
Uganda, with his wife Lois
in front of the House of
Worship in Kampala at the
anniversary festivities.

opening ceremony on 31 July, the Honorable Zoe Bakoko Bakoru,
the Minister of Gender, Labor, and Social Development, was the
featured speaker. Ms. Bakoko Bakoru praised the Baha'is for their
unity and for their support of equal rights for women. She urged
the Baha'i community to work harder to spread such teachings
and to undertake more development work. The Minister was also
present on 5 August at the closing event in Tilling.
At a Jubilee event on 3 August at the Baha'i center in Bweyeyo,
Luwero District, the guest of honor was Edward Masiga, the
Resident District Commissioner. The local Baha'i community there
operates a community school with about 40 students. Mr. Masiga
urged the Baha'is to spread their principles "aggressively," adding
that he hoped they would undertake more development projects
like the school.
At least three major television stations (CTV, UTV and WBS)
carried two- to three-minute segments on their evening news
broadcasts. The government newspapers The New Vision and Etop
carried articles with color photographs of Jubilee events. The
newspapers Monitor and Sunrise and numerous radio stations also
covered the celebrations.
"Now, over the next ten years, we expect to see steady growth
both in numbers and also in capacity and maturity," said Mr.
122 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Anglin. "The successful conclusion of the Jubilee events is one of
the signs of this new capacity and new willingness to achieve."

Sarawak

The dawn of the Baha'i Faith in the Malaysian state of Sarawak
came in 1951, when a group of Baha' is arrived to settle in the
city of Kuching. Two years later, the first Local Spiritual Assembly
formed in Kuching and the Spiritual Assembly of Malaysia formed
12 years later, with jurisdiction over Sarawak, as the Baha'i
community there continued to grow.
In 1998, the Universal House of Justice announced the
formation of the Spiritual Assembly of Sarawak. Though the state
is politically a part of Malaysia, its Assembly has a separate
jurisdiction.
The celebration of the Baha'i community's 50th anniversaryits "golden jubilee"-comprised three events, the centerpiece of
which was a reception in the Majlis Bandara Kuching Selatan City
Hall in Kuching. More than 500 people attended the gathering,
held on 11 November 2001. The community invited Baha'is who
had been among the first in Sarawak, includingJamshed and Paravati
Fozdar. The Fozdars, who now live in Singapore, were the first
Baha' is to settle in Kuching in 1951, and they contributed to the
celebration by sharing stories of the history of the Baha'i Faith in
Sarawak. Others who were early Baha'is in the state, many of whom
still reside in Sarawak, also attended, as did Zena Sorabjee of the
Continental Boards of Counsellors in Asia and representatives from
the neighboring communities of Indonesia, Malaysia, Sabah, and
Singapore.
In addition to stories about the formation and growth of the
Faith in Sarawak, the gathering was enhanced by the contributions
of some of the youth of Sarawak, who organized performances of
songs and dances and chanted prayers.
The youth performed again later that same evening at the Grand
Ballroom of the Kuching Hilton Hotel, where the Baha' is hosted
a dinner and reception that showcased the progress of the Faith
in Sarawak-progress easily demonstrated by the spread of the
Faith to more than 30,000 believers within the state in some 1,400
ANNIVERSARIES 123

local communities. The community now includes more than 100
Local Spiritual Assemblies and 65 local Baha'i centers.
Other communities throughout Sarawak, notably Miri and
Kampong Mujat, also held receptions to commemorate the
anniversary, with the Kampong Mujat event bringing together
more than 300 people and the Miri celebration attracting more
than 250.
World Conference against Racism

T he mission statement of the Nongovernmental Organizations Forum of the United Nations World Conference
against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and
Related Intolerance, held 28 August to 1 September 2001 in Durban,
South Africa, opens with a dire assessment of the current state of
race relations and asserts that an urgent need exists for steps to be
taken towards racial reconciliation. It states unequivocally: "The
last century has witnessed the most severe, serious, and devastating
expressions of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related
intolerance .... Racism is still with us in varying forms and degrees
and it is in fact gaining more ground as the process of globalization
unfolds. This Third World Conference on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance is another attempt
to contain and address this evil reality." 1
The NGO Forum was one of three events, along with the
governmental conference and a student summit, related to the
UN's World Conference against Racism (WCAR). The events gathered
some 2,300 representatives from 163 countries, including 16 heads
of state, 58 foreign ministers, and 44 ministers, as well as nearly

1 The mission statement of the NGO Forum is available at <www.racism.org.za/
mission.html>.
126 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

4,000 representatives of nongovernmental organizations, to discuss
these serious issues. Following similar conferences in 1978 and
1983, the latest WCAR was meant to create resolutions in the form
of two documents: a declaration and a plan of action. The
Conference itself was, however, fraught with challenges, revealing
the complexity of the issues involved and the sensitivity with which
they must be addressed in order for meaningful change to occur.
The possibility of requiring reparations for the past practice
of slavery and the degree to which the conflict in the Middle East
can be related to racism were both sources of heated disagreements.
Strained political debates over these and related issues caused the
withdrawal oflsrael's delegation from the Conference and the early
exit of the United States government representatives.
The NGO Forum stood as the voice of civil society at the
Conference, with nongovernmental organizations representing a
host of interests and agendas. The Baha' 1 International Community
(BIC) was one of nearly 2,000 NGOs present at the Forum, which
was composed of "caucuses" of different interest groups.
The Baha'i International Community's delegation participated
in both the Religious and Spiritual Caucus and the International
NGO Caucus. The BIC also set up an exhibition booth at the NGO
Forum and distributed copies of the publication "One Same
Substance: Building a Global Culture of Racial Unity," which

Mary Robinson, United
Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights, who
served as Secretary-General of
the UN's World Conference
against Racism, speaking at
the Conference.
WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM 127

provides an outline of the efforts of Baha'is around the world to
realize this teaching of Baha'u'llah:
Since We have created you all from one same substance it is
incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the
same feet, eat with the same mouth, and dwell in the same
land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions,
the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be
made manifest. 2
Despite its problems, the WCAR had high aims that, in many
ways, mirror those of Baha'u'llah's vision. In her address to the
Conference's Preparatory Committee on 1 May 2000, United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Secretary-
General of the World Conference against Racism Mary Robinson
acknowledged the potential of the event, saying it could "shape
and embody the spirit of the new century, based on the shared
conviction that we are all members of one human family. The
challenge is there to make this Conference a landmark in the struggle
to eradicate all forms of racism." Pointing out the wrongs of
inequality and identifying them as a major source of social upheaval,
she characterized the fight against racism as an act of prevention
that serves to reduce racial and ethnic tensions and the conflicts
they engender.
"If the World Conference is to make a difference," she said,
"it must not only raise awareness about the scourge of racism,
but it must lead to positive actions at the national, regional, and
international levels that can bring relief to those who bear the
brunt of racism and racial discrimination. This is a subject that
requires firmness of resolve, disciplined and persistent action, and
clear-sigh red thinking."
The Baha'i community works to pursue those goals. Indeed,
during more than 50 years of collaboration between the Baha'i
International Community and the United Nations, Baha'is have
supported many UN resolutions that have promoted the understanding of equality. For example, the BIC supported the UN

2 Baha'u'llah, The Hidden Words ofBahd 'u'LLdh (Wilmette: Baha'f Publishing
Trust, 1994), Arabic no. 68, p. 20.
128 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

••

The Bahd'f International Community's delegation to the WCAR, which
consisted of an Afro-Brazilian, a member of the Kikuyu tribe of Kenya,
an African American, a Maori, a Spanish Roma, and an Iranian.

Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the 1965 Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and it
participated in and made statements to the 1993 World Conference
on Human Rights in Vienna.
Baha'i communities around the world are dedicated to making
oneness a reality, and this was evident in the diversity of the Baha'f
delegation to the World Conference against Racism, which included
an Afro-Brazilian, a member of the Kikuyu tribe of Kenya, an
African American, a Maori, a Spanish Roma, and an Iranian. They
served as a small sample of the worldwide Baha'i community, which
has members from more than 2, 100 ethnic groups and tribal
backgrounds in more than 230 countries and territories.
Diane 'Ala'{, who works for the Baha'i International Community's United Nations Office in Geneva and headed the Baha'i
International Community's delegation to the WCAR, was nominated
as an alternate head of the International NGO Caucus and as the
cochair of the Religious and Spiritual Caucus.
WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM 129

South African Baha' is
The Baha'fs of South Africa were also represented at the NGO
Forum. The secretary of the country's National Spiritual Assembly
represented the Baha'i community in the South African National
Religious Leaders Forum and was selected to represent the NRLF
at the WCAR.
In South Africa, Baha'is are especially sensitive to the divisive
influence of racism. For the more than 50 years of apartheid, they • -·
dealt with laws that made the practicing their ideal of racial harmony
not only difficult but also illegal. Throughout those years, however,
the Baha'i community remained unswervingly committed to
maintaining an integrated community.
The Baha'i community in South Africa has been integrated
since the Faith's establishment in that country in 1911. Because
of apartheid-era laws against integrated public meetings, the Baha' is
held administrative and devotional meetings in their homes. The
National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa, first elected in 1956,
had five black and four white members, an extremely rare degree
of racial integration for any national organization at the time.
When apartheid made the integration of national bodies illegal,
it was the white members who forfeited their membership on the
Assembly.
In 1997, while many other religious communities throughout South Africa offered apologies to the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission for their practices under apartheid, the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha' is of South Africa issued a statement
that summarized the important place of racial integration in Baha'i
belief. It gave a summary of the endurance of the Baha'i
community during the apartheid years and explained that, despite
difficulty and harsh legislation, the Baha'is clung to the ideals
of their Faith.
Of the 10,000 people in the South African Baha'i community
today, more than 90 percent would have been classified as "nonwhite" under apartheid laws. Members come from nearly all the
tribal and ethnic groups in the country. And although many of
those groups, such as the Zulu and Xhosa tribes, are in conflict
with one another, tribal members are united in their beliefs as Baha'ls.
130 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Preparations for the WCAR

Around the world, Baha'is were also involved in preparations for
the Conference. In Brazil, where almost half the population is of
African descent, the national Baha'i community was recognized
by its government as being at the forefront of racial issues. At the
invitation of the country's government, the Brazilian Baha'i
community sent a delegation to the Preparatory Conference for
the WCAR held in Geneva 21 May though 1 June 2000.
Shortly after the end of the WCAR, Baha'is in Brazil met with
government officials of their country to assist with setting up a
special commission on race relations. The commission was established on 12 September and the Baha'is requested that the President
of Brazil hold a national seminar on racism, a suggestion that was
approved by the Secretary-General of the President's office; the
Baha'i community was later asked to join the preparatory committee
for the UN conference.
Unfortunately, Baha'is were debarred from participating in
another preparatory conference in Tehran, Iran, in February, as
the Iranian government refused to accept the application of the
Baha'i delegates. In spite of the fact that the Baha'is met all administrative and procedural requirements and included a letter of
accreditation from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights in their applications, the BIC delegates were not permitted
to attend. Ms. Robinson publicly expressed her dismay at the exclusion of the Baha'i International Community from the meeting.

Declarations

The government leaders' conference ended with the representatives
agreeing on an international action plan that offered condemnation
of racism, xenophobia, and intolerance in all forms and a call for
concrete actions on behalf of the international community to
eliminate these forces. While some countries expressed reservations
about the text of the final document, more than 160 nations that
attended the conference finally agreed to the action plan. In the
end, it took the addition of a day to the original program for
participants to produce a document that all would endorse.
WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM 131

A key aspect of the governments' resolution is the statement
that slavery is and always has been a crime against humanity. The
text expresses regret over the human suffering caused by the practice,
which is referred to as a "historical injustice" which "undeniably
contributed to poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social
exclusion, economic disparities, instability, and insecurity which
affects many people in different parts of the world .... "
The text further specifies actions in areas such as debt relief,
poverty eradication, building or strengthening democratic
institutions, promotion of foreign direct investment, market access,
agriculture and food security, technology transfer, health, education,
and the "facilitation of welcomed return and resettlement of the
descendants of enslaved Africans." The program of action also
includes calls for all nations to ratify the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)
by 2005.
At the conference's conclusion, Ms. Robinson said, "Many
questioned whether it would be possible to reach consensus, but
we have succeeded and that is no small achievement. We now
have a series of concrete recommendations-for national plans
and programs, for better treatment of victims, for tougher
antidiscrimination legislation and administrative measures, for
universal ratification and implementation of ICERD and other
relevant international treaties, for strengthening education (a most
important area), for improving the remedies and recourses available to victims, and many more."
The NGO Forum, meanwhile, issued a 9,000-word declaration
that included almost entirely the positions of the various caucuses
due to the NGO Forum's International Steering Committee's decision
to include language from all of the groups. The declaration is
somewhat convoluted and sometimes contradictory as a result,
but it reflects the diversity of views at the Forum.
In addition to the declaration issued by the Forum, the Baha'i
International Community also issued a statement to the conference
that outlined the Baha' 1 perspective on racial relations and the
need for harmony among the people of earth. 3

3 For the full text of this statement, see pp. 273-78.
132 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Conclusion

The BIC delegation's head, Ms. 'Ala'!, saw the results of the conference
as a positive, if not final, step. "In the past," she said, "people had
a tendency to view racism through their own eyes. And many
equated racism with just the problem between blacks and whites.
But this conference, because of the diversity of issues addressed
and the wide range of delegations among the NGOs, raised awareness
that racism is multifaceted in its scope. It gave voice to some of
the previously voiceless groups, like the Roma. It drew attention
to the fact that slavery is still practiced in some countries at the
beginning of the 21st century. And it also showed how racism
and religious intolerance and various forms of xenophobia cannot
be dissociated from each other."
Despite the adoption of the action plan by the WCAR, many
problems remain. The attitudes and practices that necessitated
the conference itelf have been, in most cases, entrenched for
generations. But the conference was a positive step towards
acknowledgement of the problems and will lead, eventually, to
their eradication.
Baha'i International Community
ACTIVITIES

T he Baha'i International Community (BIC) represents, at
the United Nations and at international gatherings, the
more than five million Baha' is living in some 236 countries
and dependent territories around the world. Its 182 national and
regional administrative bodies are engaged in a wide range of
activities aimed at creating a just and peaceful society. In recent
years, Baha'i International Community activities at the local,
national, and international levels have centered on four major
themes: human rights, moral development, the advancement of
women, and global prosperity.
The Baha'i International Community's United Nations Office
(BIC-UNO) and its Office of Public Information play complementary
roles in this work. The United Nations Office offers Baha'i
perspectives on global issues, supports UN programs, and assists
its national affiliates to work with their governments and other
organizations in their own countries to shape policies and programs
that will foster peace and prosperity. The Office of Public
Information coordinates and stimulates the public information
efforrs of national Baha'i communities, disseminates information
about the Baha'i Faith around the world, oversees production of
the award-winning newsletter One Country, and maintains the official
Web sites of the Baha'i International Community.

134 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

United Nations

National Baha'i communities have been encouraged by the Baha'i
International Community's United Nations Office to expand their
work with the United Nations in their own countries and regions,
focusing in recent years on the Decade for Human Rights
Education. 1 The training provided and the experience gained have
prepared a number of national Baha'i communities to assume an
increasing role in representing the Baha'i International Community
at UN meetings and conferences. This collaboration with national
affiliates became particularly important this year, when the BIC
UNO lost three of its most experienced representatives. Giovanni
Ballerio, so visible in the work for the advancement of women
for over twenty years, ultimately lost his battle with cancer. 2 Techeste
Ahderom, Principal Representative for more than a decade, and
Lawrence Arturo, Director of the Office of the Environment, left
to pursue other career goals. Acting Principal Representative Bani
Dugal Gujral assumed responsibility for the human rights portfolio
while continuing to direct the work of the Office for the
Advancement of Women.

1 Since the founding of the United Nations in 1945, the Baha'i International
Community has consistently supported the principles set forth in the
UN Charter and has helped to achieve the organization's social and
educational objectives. Formally affiliated with the UN since 1947, the
Baha'f International Community was granted special consultative status
with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1970
as an international nongovernmental organization (NGO). Consultative
status with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was accorded
in 1976, and then with the United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM) in 1989. That same year, the BIC established a working
relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO). The BIC has
United Nations Offices in New York and Geneva and maintains
representations to United Nations regional commissions in Addis Ababa,
Bangkok, and Santiago, and to the UN offices in Nairobi, Rome, and
Vienna. Its Office of the Environment, established in 1989, and its Office
for the Advancement of Women, established in 1992, function as adjuncts
of the United Nations Office.
2 See p. 302 for Mr. Ballerio's obituary.
BAHA'f INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY 135

HUMAN RIGHTS

The Baha'i International Community's long-standing dedication
to human rights and its recent global campaign in support of the
UN Decade for Human Rights Education, 1995-2004, are firmly
grounded in the conviction that human rights and responsibilities
are indispensable to the creation of a peaceful, prosperous, and
sustainable world order.
For the third time in the history of the UN, racism, considered
by Baha'ls to be one of the most persistent evils in the world, was
the theme of a major global conference, the World Conference
against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related
Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2001.
The Baha'f International Community was an active participant
in the preparatory process leading up to the conference, monitoring
all government preparatory meetings, serving on the coordinating
committee for the Conference and its NGO Forum, and engaging
in a wide variety of seminars and workshops. The BIC submitted
a written statement to the conference and produced a booklet
entitled "One Same Substance: Building a Global Culture of Racial
Unity," which documents the worldwide Baha'i community's historic
example and record of action for race unity. 3
The Baha'f International Community also sent a delegation
to the International Consultative Conference on School Education
in relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance, and
Non-Discrimination, held in Madrid in November 2001. The
conference was jointly sponsored by the UN and the government
of Spain and the BIC was chosen to have one representative financed
by the Spanish government. The BIC's oral intervention and its
written statement stressed the importance of moral education that
draws on both the methods of science and the insights of religion,
that teaches the appreciation of diversity, that distinguishes between
unity and uniformity, and that eschews coercion in matters of
faith. 4

3 For a report of the WCAR, see pp. 125-32. For the Baha'i International
Community's written statement to the Conference, see pp. 273-78.
4 For the text of the statement, see pp. 255-61.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

As part of the Baha'i International Community's global campaign
to mobilize support for the UN Decade for Human Rights
Education, a number of national Baha'i communities have focused
on including moral education and human rights education in school
curricula. The campaign, which emphasizes cooperation and
partnerships with governments, UN agencies, and NGOs over
unilateral action, has involved nearly 100 national Baha' f
communities. Many of these communities have undertaken national
plans and provided diplomatic training for local Baha'fs interacting
with government officials and NGOs in support of the Decade. In
Mozambique, the training of local volunteers has made it possible
for the Baha'i community to increase its involvement in the affairs
of the country. This increased expression of interest in public affairs
has resulted in invitations for the Baha' is to participate in
government seminars encouraging religious organizations to enter
into partnerships with the government and emphasizing the role
of religious communities in individual and social transformation.
In addition to these initiatives to promote human rights, the
Baha'i International Community is also active in the defense of
its own community and the right of Baha'is throughout the world
to practice their faith, both by making use of the United Nations'
human rights machinery and by meeting with diplomats on behalf
of Baha'fs experiencing difficulties in their countries. The role of
National Spiritual Assemblies, which liaise with their governments
on behalf of the Baha'is in Iran, has been critical to the success of
past resolutions. Annual training seminars, organized by the BIC
United Nations Office, bring together representatives of National
Spiritual Assemblies for consultations aimed at coordinating their
efforts to defend the Faith and for workshops designed to sharpen
their diplomatic skills. The sixth such training session was held
in Acuto, Italy, in September 2001.
The Baha'i International Community has also continued its
efforts to secure relief from persecution for the Baha'fs in Iran
and in Egypt, where several Baha'is remain imprisoned for their
beliefs. 5

5 For information about the situation of the Baha'i community in Iran,
see the article on pp. 143-47 and the statement on pp. 291-93.
BAHA'f INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY 137

ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

The Office for the Advancement of Women focused this year on
the connection between the status of women and the theme of a
special session of the General Assembly held this year on the HIV/
AIDS pandemic, held in June 2001. At that session, the BIC circulated
a written statement on gender equality and AIDS that emphasized
the need to transform the attitudes and behaviors that spread the
disease. 6 The statement directs attention to the important roles
of men and faith communities in turning the tide of this pandemic.
The Baha'is have also consistently supported African Action on
AIDS, an NGO formed to care for and educate some of the millions
of children in Africa orphaned by this disease. In December 2001
the BIC hosted the 10th anniversary celebration of African Action
on AIDS, which included a discussion of best practices and goals
for the future.
More than 60 national Baha'i communities have now established
Offices for the Advancement of Women. These offices-and other
national committees and task forces-assist National Spiritual
Assemblies to promote the full participation of women both in
the life of the Baha'i community and in the world at large. The
Baha'i International Community supports these offices with
materials, advice, and guidance, and draws on those who have
gained experience at the national level to help represent the BIC
at such UN events as the Special Session on Children and the
Commission on the Status of Women.
Six national communities were represented on the BIC delegation
to the 46th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
At the Commission Bani Dugal Gujral spoke on an NGO panel
addressing the concerns of women as they change with age and
participated in a workshop sponsored by the NGO Committee on
UNIFEM on "Eradicating Poverty through Empowering Women."
The BIC also cosponsored a workshop entitled "Effective Approaches
to Empowerment through Training: Using Spiritual Principles to
Eradicate Poverty," which featured a presentation by Janak Palta
McGilligan, the director of the Barli Vocational Institute for Rural

6 For the text of the statement, see pp. 287-90.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Women. The Institute, which first gained attention in the 1980s
for its role in eliminating guinea worm from villages in the district,
is now being recognized for its use and dissemination of solar
cooker technology and the transforming effect of its program of
life skills training for tribal girls. 7
MEETINGS

The Baha'i International Community held offices on 10 NGO
committees and task forces this year, chairing the NGO committees
on UNICEF, UNIFEM, and Freedom of Religion or Belief; the NGO
task force on restructuring the NGO Committee on UNICEF; and
convening the Advocates for African Food Security: Lessening the
Burden for African Women Farmers. The BIC also cochaired, for
the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, the planning group
for NGO Consultation Day at the Commission on the Status of
Women. In New York, the BIC cohosted a breakfast for NGO
representatives to meet girls participating in the Preparatory
Committee of the General Assembly Special Session on Children,
a breakfast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of UNIFEM, and two
receptions honoring committee members of the Convention on
the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). A
reception was also held to welcome the new executive director of
the Conference of NGOs, which was attended by the president of
the 56th General Assembly and other dignitaries. In Geneva the
BIC hosted a number of meetings and receptions to support its
work with the UN Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-
Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights,
as well as a consultation with the NGO Liaison for the World
Conference against Racism.
Other meetings and UN sessions monitored by the Baha'i
International Community this year include the Second World
Assembly on Ageing; the Fourth Session of the UN World Youth
Forum; the Preparatory Committee for the Third International
Conference on the Least Developed Countries; the 10th Session
of the Commission on Sustainable Development; the 40th Session

7 For a profile of the Barli Development Institute, see The Baha 'i World
2000-2001, pp. 219-27.
BAHA'I INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY 139

of the Commission for Social Development; the Substantive Session of ECOSOC; the 57th Session of the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination; the 25th and 26th Sessions
of CEDAW; the 54th World Health Assembly; as well as meetings
of the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Social,
Economic, and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Rights of
the Child, the UNICEF/WHO Joint Committee on Health Policy;
the UNICEF Executive Board; the 89th Session of the International
Labour Organization (ILO); and the 52nd Session of the Executive
Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Program
(UNHCR).

Public Information

Based at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel, with an office
in Paris, the Baha'i International Community's Office of Public
Information oversees and organizes public information work
throughout the worldwide Baha'i community and works with a
network of National Public Information Officers (NPIOs) who carry
out the external affairs and public information work of National
Spiritual Assemblies.
The Haifa Office receives dignitaries and other important
visitors, and from 21 April 2001 to 21 April 2002, the Office
arranged more than 360 special visits for nearly 6,000 dignitaries,
leaders of thought, and prominent people from 70 countries. The
visitors covered a broad range of professions including government
officials, diplomats, religious leaders, professors, researchers,
educators, students, writers, journalists, film crews, tour operators,
business people, and members of civil society and nongovernmental
organizations.
Visitors from Israel included the country's President, members
of the Knesset, the Attorney General, military court judges, the
President of the Israel Olympic Committee, and other government
officials. Also visiting were mayors of cities throughout Israel, the
Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Israel, and university professors.
The Office received 19 ambassadors from 18 countries and
other government ministers and officials, including those from
Belarus, China, the Republic of the Congo, the Czech Republic,
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary,
Latvia, the Seychelles, Switzerland, the United States, Uruguay,
Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu.
In addition to these special visits, the Office also manages a
Guided Tours Operations office that oversees a reservation system
for public tours of the terraced gardens. Weekly, an average of
some 5,200 people rake the guided tours in groups, and a total of
more than 211,000 people rook guided tours since they commenced
on 4 June 2001. In addition, more than 17,000 people per week
visit the gardens, with more than one million in total visiting in
the past year, compared to some 250,000 during the same period
the previous year.
The Office also received film crews, journalists, and
photographers from CNN, CCTV (China Central TV), NBC, CBS,
ORF Austria, ARD Germany, SAT 1 Germany, German National
Radio WDR, BBC Radio, The New York Post, Le Monde, Cox
newspapers, The Hindu, and National Geographic television, among
others, resulting in plentiful media coverage both within Israel
and internationally.
Much of the media coverage centered on the inauguration of
the terraces of the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel. 8 The
Office was responsible not only for contacts with international
media but also for training NPIOs in their own national efforts to
promote the event. The Office prepared and distributed press
materials in English, German, French, and Spanish for use by
Baha'i communities around the world.
The Paris Office was also devoted to supporting Baha'i
communities and NPIOs around Europe in their contacts with the
media for the opening of the terraces.
In collaboration with the Audiovisual Committee of the National
Spiritual Assembly of France, a 40-minute video was produced
from the live satellite broadcast of the terraces' inauguration.
The Paris branch of the Office of Public Information also
continued its work of assisting in public information work in Europe
and the francophone world through such efforts as continued
support of the "Promoting Positive Messages through the Media"

8 For more on the inaugural events, see pp. 37-73.
BAHA'f INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY 141

project, within the framework of the Stability Pact (formerly the
Royaumont Process) to promote stability and good relations in
Southeastern Europe. 9 The success of the pilot program in schools
in Bucharest, Romania, 10 led to the launching of the third phase
of the follow-up, with the extension of the project to schools outside
the Romanian capital. A training seminar with Prof. Charles Lerche
and Shamil Fattakhov was organized for teachers from outside
Bucharest from 22 to 30 July 2001 and was followed by the
implementation phase in several schools in the region of Cluj and
in the towns of Napoca, Giurgiu, and Braila. Follow-up has also
continued in Bucharest.
In March 2002, the Office of Public Information's Paris branch
organized the ninth European Public Information Management
Seminar in Budapest, Hungary, in collaboration with the National
Spiritual Assembly of that country. The event assembled nearly
100 participants from over 35 countries and was the largest seminar
to date.
In addition to this European-wide seminar, other training
programs and seminars were organized at the request of national
Baha'i communities around Europe, such as the launching of a
national training seminar on public information in Spain in
September 2001; a training seminar on external affairs for the
European Baha'i Youth Council in December 2001; and a regional
training seminar in January 2002 in Bucharest, Romania, for
Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria.
The year 2001-02 also saw the development of the presence
of the Baha'i International Community within the framework of
the United Nations International Decade for a Culture of Peace
and Nonviolence for the Children of World, with the BIC's
involvement in this project co-coordinated by the Paris branch.
The Office also continued distribution of its monthly European
Public Information Bulletin, a service that chronicles the public
information activities of the Baha'i community throughout Europe.
One Country, the official newsletter of the Baha'i International
Community, entered its 13th year of publication. Published quarterly

9 See The Bahd'i World 1998- 99, pp. 145- 50.
10 See The Bahd'i World 2000-2001 , p. 128.
142 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

in English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian, lt
reached nearly 50,000 readers in at least 180 countries.
During 2001-02, One Country won a number of awards,
including an Apex 2002 Award for its story "On Mount Carmel,
newly completed garden terraces are officially opened," which
appeared in the April-June 2001 issue. A second award, for
newsletter writing in general, was also received from Apex. In April
2001, the Religion Communicators Council gave One Country
two "Awards of Excellence," one in the category for newsletters
overall, and one for writing, for the story "In Nepal, a novel project
mixes literacy and microfinance to reach thousands," which appeared
in the January-March 2001 issue.
During the year, in addition to covering the opening of the
terraces in May 2001, One Country featured a series of stories on
significant Baha'i-inspired education institutions and their programs,
including stories on Nur University's moral leadership program
in Bolivia; Landegg International University and its Education
for Peace program in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and the City
Montessori School in Lucknow, India. It also reported on the United
Nations' World Conference against Racism and lead-up conferences
for the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, and gave
exclusive coverage to the Science of Morality conference held in
London in February 2002.
The Bahd't World Web site, 11 now in its sixth year, averaged
approximately 50,000 visits per month in early 2002. The site
contains information about the Baha'i teachings and about communities worldwide. In addition, it has links to the official Web
sites of 71 national Baha'i communities.
The Office of Public Information also maintains the Baha'i
World News Service, 12 which offers feature stories about Baha'i
activities. The site was launched in 2000 and currently averages
more than 40,000 visits per month.

11 <www.bahai.org>.
12 <www.bahaiworldnews.org>.
Update on the Situation
of the Baha' is in Iran

0 n 19 December 2001 the 56th Session of the United
Nations General Assembly adopted yet another resolution
defending the rights of Baha'is in Iran. With a vote of
72 in favor, 49 against, and 46 abstentions, the General Assembly
once again expressed its concern "at the still-existing discrimination
against persons belonging to minorities, in particular against the
Baha'is, Christians, Jews, and Sunnis." The resolution called upon
the Iranian government "to eliminate all forms of discrimination
based on religious grounds or against persons belonging to minorities and to address this matter in an open manner, with the full
participation of the minorities themselves, as well as to implement
fully the conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance relating to the Baha' is and other
minority religious groups until they are completely emancipated."
It further indicated the General Assembly's decision to continue
to examine the human rights situation ins Iran during its next
sess10n.
The 1996 report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of
religion or belief of the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights, Abdelfattah Amor, called for the Baha'is to be given the

144 THE BAHA.'f WORLD 2001-2002

rights to bury their dead, to enjoy freedom of movement, to have
unimpeded access to education and employment, to have security
of the person and physical integrity, to have the freedom to manifest
their belief, to receive equal treatment by the judiciary, and to
have equal rights with other citizens. Dr. Amor also called for the
review and setting aside of all death sentences pronounced against
Baha'1s on the basis of their belief, the return of community
properties and compensation for the destruction of places of worship,
and the reestablishment of Baha'i institutions. These recommendations have been reiterated by Dr. Amor throughout the years
since and have also been endorsed by the UN's Special Representative
on Iran, Maurice Copithorne, but they have never been implemented
by the Iranian authorities.
While the Iranian government has introduced some reforms
that have lessened the severity of the persecutions against the Baha'i
community in that country, the changes are largely cosmetic in
nature. The death sentences against all imprisoned Baha'is have
been commuted, but as of April 2002 five Baha'is remained in
jail solely because of their faith-two facing life imprisonment.
While the number of long-term imprisonments has decreased,
the government continues to pursue a policy of random shortterm arrests and imprisonments, creating an atmosphere of insecurity
and uncertainty among Baha'is, who never know when they or
their loved ones may be detained-or for how long.
While Mr. Copithorne had suggested in his report the previous
year that the situation in connection with the confiscation of the
Baha'i cemetery in Tehran had been rectified by the government,
this was, in fact, not the case. In his January 2002 report to the
General Assembly, he wrote: " ... as a complex has been built over
the old Baha'i cemetery in Tehran, the Iranian authorities had
allotted other land for this purpose. It is now reported that the
land offered is in fact wasteland, with no access to water. Further,
the community has been denied permission to mark individual
graves or to construct mortuary facilities."
Mr. Copithorne also noted, "Despite some promising reports,
the Special Representative understands that the Baha'i community
continues to experience discrimination in the areas of, inter alia,
education, employment, travel, housing, and the enjoyment of
BAHA'fS IN IRAN 145

cultural activities. Baha'is are still prevented from participating
in religious gatherings or educational activities."
Citing the example of a judicial decision in September 2001
regarding the confiscation of Baha'i properties, Mr. Copithorne
wrote:
... the verdict declares that the "seizure and confiscation of the
properties belonging to the misguided sect of Baha'ism is legally
and religiously justifiable" and states that "the cultural activities
of the misguided sect of Baha'ism-as prescribed by the order
of His Excellency the Supreme Leader-do need to be seriously
opposed." This would seem to indicate that the 1991
memorandum on "The Baha'i Question," issued by the Supreme
Revolutionary C ultural Council and approved by the Supreme
Leader, is still in force and therefore that discrimination against
Baha'is continues to be official practice, a situation that the
Special Representative deeply deplores.
This same judicial decision, delivered in connection with the
confiscation of properties used by the Baha'i Institute of Higher
Education, also underscores the Iranian authorities' active efforts
to prevent Baha'i children from identifying themselves as such if
they wish to attend school, to prevent Baha'i youth from pursuing
a higher education in officially recognized institutions of learning,
and to close down any kind of program set up by the Baha'(s
themselves to provide for the education of their children and youth.
In April 2002 at the 58th Session of the United Nations Human
Rights Commission in Geneva, various governmental delegations
spoke in defense of the Baha'is. 1 In her statement on the violation
of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the
world (item 9), the Canadian ambassador specifically mentioned
the situation of the Baha' is in Iran, noting "the steady deterioration
of the human rights situation in the country over the past year."
She expressed Canada's concern for "the discrimination against
religious minorities, notably the Baha'is," urging the government
"to proceed down the path of reform and to respect, in word and
deed, the human rights of all its people."

1 See pp. 291-93 for the text of the statement given by the Baha' f International
Community at the Human Rights Commission.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The Australian ambassador also mentioned the situation of
the Baha'!s in his statement to the Commission on item 9, saying
that Australia remains concerned about "violations of due process
and suppression of freedom of expression" in Iran. He urged the
government "to undertake judicial reform, to allow a visit by the
Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights and
to ensure that minorities, most notably Jews and Baha'is, are
accorded the full protection of the law under the Iranian
Constitution." The Irish delegation also mentioned "the continued
discrimination against members of the Baha'i faith in many parts
of the world."
One nongovernmental organization, the American Jewish
Committee, speaking in defense oflran's Baha'f community, cited
the report of the US Commission on International Religious
Freedom, which noted that the Baha'!s "suffer the worst forms of
religious persecution at the hands of the state." 2
Renewed concerns for the welfare and safety of the Baha'f
community in Iran arose at the Human Rights Commission session
when it rejected a resolution condemning human rights violations
in Iran. Up to that point, the United Nations, through its General
Assembly, Third Committee, and the UN Commission on Human
Rights, had passed 18 resolutions regarding human rights conditions
in Iran, including the situation of religious minorities, and particularly
mentioning the Baha'ls. This leaves Iran's Baha'is in an extremely
vulnerable position, as they rely heavily on the international
community to monitor the situation and prevent the worst forms
of the systematic persecution visited by the Iranian government on
the Baha'i community since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Baha'!s in other countries also found themselves in perilous
conditions during the year. Two Baha'is in Tajikistan were murdered
because of their religious convictions, 3 and harassment and
persecution of Egypt's Baha'i community continues.
In Tajikistan, Rashid Gulov was shot and killed on 23 October
2001 as he was returning from work to his home in Dushanbe.

2 Report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom,
1 May 200 l, <WWW. uscirf.gov/reporrs/O 1MayO1 /200 lannRpt. pdf>.
3 See pp. 304 and 308 for more information.
BAHA'fS IN IRAN 147

Afshin Shokoufeh Mosadegh was shot outside his home, also in
Dushanbe, on the morning of 3 December 2001 and died en
route to the hospital. Both men were devoted, active members of
the Baha'i community and served as members of the Local Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Dushanbe. Mr. Mosadegh had previously served as a member of the country's National Spiritual
Assembly. Only two years previously, another member ofTajikistan's
Baha'i community, 'Abdu'llah Mogharrabi, was also assassinated.
Tajik authorities who investigated the two latest killings determined
that both men were killed because of their Faith.
In Egypt, Baha'is continue to face arbitrary arrests and
imprisonment, periodic hate campaigns in the governmentcontrolled media, prohibition from functioning as a religious
community, and denial of members' civil and human rights. This
latter case was presented to the Human Rights Commission in
an oral statement presented by the Baha'i International Community
on 12 April 2002, 4 with the request that the Egyptian government
take the required steps to remove official obstructions and restrictions
imposed on the Baha'is in that country.
Baha'is in countries such as Iran, Tajikistan, and Egypt are
not seeking special privileges. All they wish is the recognition of
their basic civil and human rights. With the failure of the United
Nations Human Rights Commission to pass the resolution
condemning Iran's systematic violations of human rights, Baha' is
throughout the world worry that the international community,
whose influence has done much to mitigate the severity of the
persecution of Baha'is in Iran, will not be able to monitor the
situation as effectively as it had previously done. Fanatical elements,
in Iran and other countries, may become bolder with such an
opening. The international community must not neglect its
responsibility to challenge governments that either initiate or are
complicit in such persecution.

4 For more background on the situation of the Baha'i community in Egypt,

see The Bahd 'i World 2000-01, pp. 257-60.
European Baha'1 Business Forum

hen the Spirit in Business World Conference convened
n New York City in April 2002, it attracted more than
500 participants from 30 countries for exploration of
the theme "Ethics, Mindfulness, and the Bottom Line." Organized
by the Spirit in Business Institute, the conference was part of an
increasing discussion throughout the business world about
improving practices through ethical and spiritual means.
Marcello Palazzi, businessman and founder of the Progressio
Foundation, 1 was one of the organizers of the conference and is
also a member of the European Baha'f Business Forum (EBBF), a
group that is working to change practices by integrating practical
business needs with the principles of the Baha'f Faith.
Though the combination of religion and business will seem
incongruous to some, members of the EBBF believe that religionspecifically its moral and spiritual influence- are just what is needed

1 The Progressio Foundation is dedicated to "crafting strategic enterprise
initiatives that advance human progress." It has been involved in developing
agendas for international social development projects such as the State
of the World Forum, the UNESCO Business Forum, and Habitat II.

THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

to guide the business world as old ways of business are confronted
with the challenges of globalization and a collapsing moral
framework.
The group began in 1990 as an informal network based in
Paris, with the intent of bringing together Baha'is in business to
discuss ways to deal with ethical problems they encountered in
their work. Gradually, though, the organization began to expand
its focus. The group's charter was written in 1992, and in 1993
the EBBF was registered in France as a nonprofit organization.
It has since grown from its inital 15 members to include nearly
300 people involved in business and management in some 50
countries. There are affiliates of the EBBF in nine European nations,
and in Brazil, Ecuador, Russia, Turkey, and the United States. 2
"The EBBF's work," said Mr. Palazzi, "is about the values and
principles which unite men from all religions and countries in
their practice of business. Good business, like good governance,
rests on these values and principles. Without them, there is nothing."
George Starcher, Secretary-General of the organization, said
that "a major transformation will be required on the part of
individuals and the values that govern the world economy.
Appropriate global approaches and institutions will have to develop
to solve global problems."
Mr. Starcher, who has been with the group since its beginning,
has an MBA from Harvard and spent two decades with a leading
international management consulting firm before founding his
own management consulting practice. He is now a member of
the Board of Directors of the European Center for Continuing
Education (CEDEP) at Fontainebleau, France.
The mission of the EBBF, according to its Web site, is "to promote
ethical values, personal virtues, and moral leadership in business
as well as in organizations of social change." Its seven essential
values are "ethical business practices; the social responsibility of
business; stewardship of the earth's resources; partnership of women
and men in all fields of endeavor; a new paradigm of work; nonadversarial decision-making through consultation; the application

2 A full list of affiliates and contact information is available on the EBBF's
Web site, <www.ebbf.org>.
EUROPEAN BAHA'f BUSINESS FORUM 151

of spiritual principles, or human values, to the solution of economic
problems."
''All seven of our core values exemplify Baha'i principles," said
Mr. Starcher, "and all are fundamental to achieving a responsible
business community." Some of these motivating ideas are unique
to the Baha'i Faith, which holds that work is a form of worship.
While it is motivated by Baha'i principles, the organization is
open to anyone who shares the same values and seeks to promote ethical and responsible interests. These ideas are not exclusive
to religion, but the EBBF is proving that spirituality can be a strong
motivator for change. Mr. Palazzi, who is not a Baha'i, says that
what is needed is "an active engagement of more faiths from around
the world."
"My foundation," he said, "is working with the EBBF to do so
in a new initiative, the Spirit in Business World Institute, which
aims to integrate business leaders from as many faiths as possible ....
Whilst not new, this need is more pressing than ever, in the wake
of the Enron scandal, the Argentinean economic collapse, stock
market deflation, and the general divorce of business from ethics.
Its professionalism, integrity, good management, and networking
capacity have created a unique community of committed business
leaders."
Wendi Momen, President of the EBBF, has been involved with
the group since it was founded in 1990. Dr. Momen is a nonexecutive director of the Bedfordshire Health Authority and a
member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the
United Kingdom.
"The main functions, it seems to me," Dr. Momen said, "are
to enable people in business who are non-Baha'ls to become familiar
with and to adapt to their own situation the ethical and economic
principles found in the writings of the Baha'i Faith and to help
Baha'is who are in business to use these principles ever more fully
in their businesses. [The EBBF] also needs to reach out to young
people who are entering business with these values and principles."
The organization's first participation in a major conference
took place in March 1995, at the World Summit for Social
Development in Copenhagen, Denmark, where EBBF members
delivered six symposia on such themes as "Basic Values for a
152 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Prosperous World," "Developing an Ethical Business Environment,"
and "Encouraging Entrepreneurship in Women." The EBBF was
also involved in the development of the follow-up conference,
Copenhagen + 5, which was hosted in Geneva in July 2000. There
the Forum again sponsored six sessions, addressing ethics, prosperity,
and the changing role of business.
Since the EBBF's initial participation in the World Summit
for Social Development, its prestige and profile have grown, and
the organization has expanded its collaboration with other, likeminded groups.
"The most positive reception is from students of business and
economics,'' said Mr. Starcher. That response has come most notably
from AIESEC (Association Internationale d'ttudiants en Sciences
Economiques et Commerciales), the world's largest student-run, nongovernmental organization. AIESEC consists of more than 30,000
students of business and economics representing 85 nations and
some 800 universities.
This relationship grew out of workshops that the EBBF facilitated
at Habitat II in Istanbul. It led directly to collaboration on AlESEC's
general theme conference that year, where EBBF representatives
made presentations to the students and distributed its paper "Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Success" to the 500 conference
part1c1pants.
The EBBF recently assisted with organizing AIESEC's largest
international event, the 53rd International Congress in Lenk,
Switzerland, held 17-25 August 2001, titled "Youth Leadership
Shaping the Global Village." George Starcher and EBBF member
Daniel Schaubacher spoke at the conference on the subjects of
moral leadership and future leadership trends.
"Our feeling is that generally, probably students are more open
to the values we're trying to promote than our own generation,"
said Mr. Starcher. Of the EBBF's collaboration with AIESEC, he
said, "We give it a very high priority. [AIESEC's] values are the
same as ours. "
Lawrence Miller, a member of the EBBF, now serves as a top
advisor to the AIESEC board and is involved with evaluating and
overhauling its management scheme, while Mr. Starcher is a member
of the International Advisory Group of AIESEC International.
EUROPEAN BAHA'f BUSINESS FORUM 153

Another of the EBBF's major cooperative efforts was coauthoring, with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the
120-page "Joint Working Paper on Socially Responsible Enterprise
Restructuring," which was first published in April 2000 and has
now appeared in a condensed form and has been translated into
several languages.
The Russian translation of the joint paper was used as the
basis of a two-week training program on the subject of socially
responsible enterprise restructuring, which was jointly administered
by the EBBF and the ILO. Nine members of Russia's Parliament
were among the 18 participants at the conference, held in November
2001 at the International Training Center of the International
Labour Organization in Turin, Italy. Other participants included
an economist working for the President of Russia and representatives from offices involving social and labor policy in that country.
Additional collaboration along these same lines is planned,
with the possibility of doing restructuring training in some Central
and Eastern European countries in the near future.
Michael Henriques, Director of the ILO's Job Creation and
Enterprise Department, said that the venture between the EBBF
and the ILO has little to do with the religious orientation of the
group, but "more because we had a meeting of minds on the issues
of restructuring."
"I think that ethical issues are coming to the forefront in a
whole range of different areas," he said. "What we call corporate
social responsibility has a sense of wider responsibility attached
to it-of ethics and so on. I think that we see those issues becoming
an increasingly important part of the agenda."
Socially responsible business practices were also the basis for
collaboration between the EBBF and the European Commission
(EC), in the form of the EBBF's response to the Green Paper on
"Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social
Responsibility. " The EBBF response outlines guiding principles in
corporate responsibility and gives proposals for further collaboration
between the EBBF and the European Union. 3

3 The submission can be read on the European Commission's Web site, at
<europa.eu.intfcomm/employment_social/soc-dial/csr/ebbf_eu_enOll212.htm>.
154 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The broadening appeal of the EBBF was demonstrated at its
11th annual conference, held 22-24 September 2001 at the dePoort
Conference Center in the Netherlands. More than one-third of
the nearly 100 participants were not members of the EBBF but
still responded to its message of social responsibility and its pursuit
of global prosperity. The conference, titled "The Role of Business
in Enhancing the Prosperity of Humankind, " was dedicated to
exploring the group's vision "to enhance the well-being and
prosperity of humankind."
In addition to organizing such conferences and collaborating
with other organizations, the EBBF also publishes documents such
as "Emerging Values for a Global Economy," "The Role of Business
in Enhancing the Prosperity of Humankind," "Towards a New
Paradigm of Management," "Ethics and Entrepreneurship-An
Oxymoron?", and ''A Spiritual Approach to Microcredit Projects."
All of the EBBF's publications are meant to articulate its valuesbased approach to business and how that approach can be
successfully applied to modern businesses.
The Forum's ideas are still new and surprising to some, but
both the EBBF and its approach are rapidly gaining acceptance
and recognition.
"When the EBBF started," said Dr. Momen, "hardly anyone
was talking about spirituality in the workplace-now it is a
commonplace; similarly with values and moral leadership. So the
EBBF is a much more comfortable 'fit' now in the business world
and is much more readily accepted .... I believe that society needs
the values and ideas that the EBBF promotes. It is hard to get
across to some that business ethics make good business sense and
are not a luxury. It is only when a big company collapses as a
result of unethical dealings that people seem to understand this."
ESSAYS~ STATEMENTS~
AND PROFILES
World Order and
Global Governance
A BAHA'f PERSPECTIVE

Paul Vreeland suggests that a convergence offeatures of
a new world order proposed by contemporary scholars
with those offered by the literature of the Bahd 'i Faith
will lead to reformulated definitions of world order
and global governance.

T he call for a new world order, or at least for global structural
transformation, is not a late-breaking news item. "It appears
we are now at the threshold of a new era in world politics,"
write the authors of a popular university text. 1 When the Iron
Curtain collapsed upon the world stage, ending the drama of the
Cold War, political analyst Francis Fukuyama announced "the end
ofhistory,"2 and in 1992 former US President George Bush described
the changes in the global political arena as being of "biblical

1 Charles W Kegley and Eugene R. Wittkopf, World Politics: Trend and
Transformation, 6th ed. (Boston: St. Martins Press, 1997).
2 "What we may be witnessing [is] not just the end of the Cold War, or

the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of
history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution
and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form
of human government." Francis Fukuyama, "The End of History?" in
The National Interest (Summer 1989), available at <WWW. wku.edu/ ~sullib/
history.htm>.

THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

proportions." What writer has not supported a consensus that we
are at a critical juncture in world history? Regardless of the theories
used to describe historical precedents and visions offered for the
future, our world order is in a turbulent transition.
Whisperings for reform grow louder. Whether we tinker with
the mechanisms of the United Nations system to tune their
functionality or we deconstruct and re-engineer the overall organization, a sense of urgency is building. The present moment is
viewed by some as a "window of opportunity" for serious reform
and by others as the last chance to cut short a string of failures
leading to an impending collapse. What will happen if the
opportunity is missed or the chance lost? An environmental disaster
of biospheric proportions? A Marxist-styled class revolution led
by the Third World in an attempt to overthrow the "apartheid"
of the global economy? A proliferation of ethnic violence and massive violation of human rights? While predictions of our future
differ, agreement regarding our present need is growing. There
is little doubt that we need a new world order. Agreement is
strengthening, too, with regard to common ground criteria
describing that order.
There is growing recognition of the need for "top-down"
governments to better accommodate the voices of grassroots
organizations and other "bottom-up" structures of civil society.
James N. Rosenau, author of "Governance in the Twenty-first
Century," suggests:
In order to acquire the legitimacy and support they need to
endure, successful mechanisms of governance are more likely
to evolve our of bottom-up than top-down processes. As such,
as mechanisms that manage to evoke the consent of the governed,
they are self-organizing systems, steering arrangements that
develop through the shared needs of groups and the presence
of developments that conduce to the generation and acceptance
of shared instruments of control. 3
Protests outside the barricades and locked doors of recent summits
such as those held by the World Trade Organization and the

3 James N. Rosenau, "Governance in the Twenty-first Century," Global
Governance, vol. 1, no. 1 (Spring 1995), p. 17.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 159

International Monetary Fund may be seen as grassroots calls for
the shared instruments of control mentioned by Rosenau.
While voices of civil society are crying to be heard, others are
demanding a lessening of control by top-down structures through
the curtailment of the powers of national sovereignty. Yoshikazu
Sakamoto, a political scholar presently Professor Emeritus of
International Politics at the University of Tokyo, writes,
These resonance effects [of global democratization] are creating
a world situation where, despite inevitable occasional setbacks,
democracy and human rights are assuming the character of
international/global norms that may transcend a state's sovereignty
and go beyond the sum total of the norm of individual states. 4
The effectiveness of a global organization such as the United Nations
is dependent upon the degree of unanimity among member states
ceding to it shares of their national sovereignty.
While one criterion is the accommodation of the voices of
grassroots organizations and other bottom-up structures of civil
society, another criterion gaining acceptance is that the new world
order will have to assure an equity of powers granted to its member
nations and, at the same time, grant powers to local and regional
interests. This means that the authority of a global order will have
both horizontal and vertical integration: horizontal among state
powers and vertical between bottom-up and top-down organizations. If the power of grassroots organizations is to be given
legitimate recognition and that of nation states limited, how then
will they be balanced? W Andy Knight, editor of Global Governance
journal and a scholar who has written extensively on the United
Nations and conflict resolution, observes:
Given the complexity of this issue, whatever form of governance
we envision for the future should support the view that the
institutions designed to manage human problems must be
developed at every level: global, regional, national, and local.

4 Yoshikazu Sakamoto, "A Perspective on the Changing World Order: A
Conceptual Prelude," in Global Transformation: Challenges to the State
System, ed. Yoshikazu Sakamoto (Tokyo: United Nations University Press,
1994), p. 34.
160 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

It should also include all potential actors that play a role in
governing (states, regional bodies, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, and individuals of civil society). This can be
done by embracing the normative notion of panarchy, i.e. "rule
of all by all for all." A subsidiarity model of global governance
can be used as an overarching framework within which this
"new" governance structure can develop. 5
Subsidiarity has played an important role in the development
of the European Union, whose Commission defines it "as a guiding
principle to imbed multilevel input in a bottom-up fashion,
especially in on-the-spot sourcing of policies on water, energy,
transport, etc." 6 Looking at its application in the division of labor
and in conflict resolution, Knight sees subsidiarity as a principle
by which "a central authority" performs "only those tasks which
cannot be performed at a more immediate or local level." With
the subsidiarity model, the delegation of state powers to a local
or regional institution or agency is made possible when that agency
aligns its will with that of the overarching global body.
A third criterion for the future world order is the acceptance
of unity in diversity as a governing principle. York University scholar
Robert W Cox, a theorist in the fields of international organization
and political economy, claims that a posthegemonic or new world
order would need to be established upon the search for shared
values. In Approaches to World Order, which he coauthored with
Timothy Sinclair, Cox writes that with the acceptance of unity in
diversity as a governing principle, two conditions must be met:
"The first condition would be mutual recognition of distinct

5 W Andy Knight, "Towards a Subsidiarity Model for Peacemaking and
Preventive Diplomacy: Making Chapter VIII of the UN Charter Operational," Third World Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 1 (1996), p. 42. See also
Adapting the United Nations to a Postmodern Era: Lessons Learned (London:
MacMillan/Pal grave, 2001); A Changing United Nations: Multilateral
Evolution and the Questfor Global Governance (London: Macmillan/Palgrave,
2000); and United Nations and Arms Embargoes Verification (Lewiston:
Mellen Press, 1998).
6 European Commission, Secretariat-General, Terms of Reference for Working

Group V (Brussels: 16 November 2000), available at <europa.eu.im/comm/
governance/areas/group 11 /mandate_en. pdf>.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 161

traditions of civilization ... mutual recognition implies a readiness
to try to understand others in their own terms. " But mutual
recognition and openness to other traditions are not enough. Cox
goes on to say that collectively we must press further to arrive at
a consensus of understanding of shared principles. Those shared
principles, while protecting a diversity of cultures, will maintain
unity and facilitate the coexistence of traditions. This governing
principle, he says, is driven by "requisites of survival and sustained
equilibrium in global ecology," "restraint in the use of violence to
decide conflicts," and the need "to develop procedures for coping
with conflict that would take account of distinct coexisting
normative perspectives. "7 Beyond mutual recognition, then, lies
an accord for mutual cultural protection-an accord that must
be attained if we are to survive.
What we need, in other words, is a new world order rooted in
present-day reality yet radically different in conception. We need
something that, by virtue of its historical precedents, is recognizable,
yet carries none of the flaws, weaknesses, and failures of presentday mechanisms. What we want is the promised kingdom of God
on earth without the associated apocalypse. And yet the only faith
many seem to have is in the latter.
There is a wealth of literature describing the nature and
characteristics of the disintegrative crises of our times. That body
of observation will not be augmented here. Rather, three paths of
change will be examined-paths anticipated by the literature of
the Baha'i Faith. The first path leads to a collective political peace
agreement termed the Lesser Peace. The second path, developing
simultaneously with rhe first, leads to an emerging global, nonpartisan, supranational administrative structure. The third is the
convergence of the two other paths leading to rhe formulation of
a new definition of global governance. Bur what of the old

7 Robert W Cox, "Towards a Posthegemonic Conceptualization of World
Order: Reflections on the Relevancy of Ibn Khaldun" (1992), in Robert
W Cox and Timothy Sinclair, Approaches to World Order (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1996) , pp. 152-53. Here, Cox suggests, "A
posthegemonic order would have to derive its normative content in a
search for common ground among constituent traditions of civilization .... "
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

definition? What is the current distinction between world order
and global governance? James Rosenau writes:
In sum, while politicians and pundits may speak confidently or
longingly about establishing a new world order, such a concept
is meaningful only as it relates to the prevention or containment
of large-scale violence and war. It is not a concept that can be
used synonymously with global governance if by the latter is meant
the vast numbers of rule systems that have been caught up in the
proliferating networks of an ever more interdependent world. 8
Thus, until the definitions are reformulated, the function of world
order is to maintain universal peace while that of global governance
is to administer the complex affairs of the planet.

Path 1: The Lesser Peace
Unlike the League of Nations and the United Nations, the goal
of the Baha'i world order is not limited to global collective security,
which is an intermediate yet critically important stage in the
development of a new system of global governance. That stage
will be inaugurated when the heads of sovereign states formalize
a peace agreement, a solemn and sacred pact, which Baha'u'llah
(1817-92), the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith, described
as "the chief instrument for the protection of all mankind." 9 The
fundamental principle of the pact is that all governments must
enforce the submission of any government that violates any provision
of the agreement, 10 one of which is that all states cede any and all

8 Rosenau, p. 17.
9 Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing
Trust, 1988), p. 30.
10 "The fundamental principle underlying this solemn Pact should be so

fixed that if any government later violate any one of its provisions, all
the governments on earth should arise to reduce it to utter submission,
nay the human race as a whole should resolve, with every power at its
disposal, to destroy that government. Should this greatest of all remedies
be applied to the sick body of the world, it will assuredly recover from
its ills and will remain eternally safe and secure." The settlement of national
boundaries is one of the conditions of this pact. 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Secret
ofDivine Civilization (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1994), p. 65.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 163

claims to make war. 11 What Baha'u'llah envisioned during the latter
half of the twentieth century was a multilateral structure with
teeth. Both the agreement and the period it introduces are termed
the Lesser Peace.
Simultaneous and universal disarmament will be one of the
features of that political unity, as will the limitation of arms to
insure internal security. Other features will include an empowered
international police force, the implementation throughout the
nations of programs of education for peace, the ceding of certain
rights to impose taxation, and the reallocation of defense funds
for socioeconomic development. Economic, travel, and transportation sanctions will be imposed against governments engaging
in armed conflicts. The political unity will see the evolution of
super-state institutions such as an international court of arbitration
with representation from all nations and an international border
commission. Decisions of the tribunal will be binding and enforced
by compulsory support of all governments. The germ of such an
international tribunal foreseen by Baha'u'llah has already been
realized. 12
While the Lesser Peace recognizes the moral right of the individual
and grassroots institutions to a voice, it cannot claim to be a bottomup world order because its focus is not solely on the empowerment
of the individual. It also demands the accountability of political
institutions to establish consensus. As 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote: "The
sovereigns of the world ... must conclude a binding treaty, and establish
a covenant, the provisions of which shall be sound, inviolable, and

11 "Some form of a world super-state must needs be evolved, in whose favor
all the nations of the world will have willingly ceded every claim to make
war, certain rights to impose taxation, and all rights to maintain armaments,
except for purposes of maintaining internal order within their respective
dominions." Shoghi Effendi, The World Order ofBahd'u'lldh: Selected Letters,
2d rev. ed. (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 40.
12 "A world tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final

verdict in all and any disputes that may arise between the various elements
constituting this universal system." Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of
Bahd'u'lldh to the Kings and Leaders of the World (Haifa: Baha'i World
Centre, 1967), p. xi.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

definite. They must proclaim it to all the world, and obtain for it
the sanction of all the human race." 13
Baha'i literature does not offer a blueprint for the attainment
of the Lesser Peace, which the Baha'i Faith views as a secular and
political accomplishment. That is, the Baha'i Faith does not see
itself as a principal actor. However, its literature does identify a few
of the more salient features from which certain reforms can be
envisioned. One such reform would be the establishment of a single
super-state power. The super-state entity must represent all countries
of the planet and be sanctioned by the entire human race.
Another example of reform would be the discontinuation of
the right of state sovereignty to the power of veto. Such a right
maintains the power of member states at the expense of a collective
authority represented by a majority vote. In essence, the exercise
of a veto nullifies the power of a transcendent political unity,
presently limited to the five permanent members of the Security
Council. Chapter VII, Article 43 of the UN Charter calls upon
members for voluntary cooperation in actions of peace-enforcement.
The Baha'i call for a "solemn pact" implies a more than occasional
cooperation among "all countries." For the security of the collective,
no member will be able to opt out of an agreement sanctioned by
the entire human race.
The enforcement of peace by an international police force should
not depend upon the willingness of member states to volunteer
their military resources. The present practice also maintains the
status quo powers of states at the expense of the collective. In the
future, member states will have been disarmed and the super-state
will have autonomous resources, perhaps managed by a mechanism
such as an empowered Military Staff Committee.

13 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 192. Loni
Bramson-Lerche provides another example of that political accountability,
writing: " ... soldiers must require from their governments clear explanations
as to first, how and why conditions have degenerated to such a state
that war has become necessary, and second, that the war to be waged is
just." Loni Bramson-Lerche, ''An Analysis of the Baha'i World Order
Model," Emergence: Dimensions ofa New World Order, ed. Charles Lerche
(London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1991), p. 24.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 165

Similarly, because it sacrifices the power of the collective for
the preservation of state sovereignty, Article 51, 14 which treats the
issue of self-defense, would need to be repealed. No member would
have the right to self-help in the event of armed aggression from
another member. All members would be required to trust in the
principle of collective self-defense.
Implications of the Lesser Peace for constructive UN reform
pose some challenging questions. What mechanism(s) would be
used to secure the "sanction of all the human race"? How would
the super-state deal with member states abstaining from peace
enforcement actions? Where would an international police force
and its military resources be stationed? What mechanisms would
ensure the protection of the civil and human rights of groups
within states? As difficult as these questions may be, the gap between
the ideals of the Lesser Peace and movement towards their realization
is bridgeable.
There is a growing body of criticism of the weaknesses and
failures of the United Nations to meet contemporary challenges.
Similarly there is a growing number of proposals for UN reform.
One "selected bibliography on United Nations reform" lists 189
significant works. 15 Among the more notable studies is Our Global
Neighbourhood: The Report of the Commission on Global Governance, 16 which was prepared on the occasion of the 50th anniversary
of the United Nations. The UN Gmeral Assembly itself had also

14 Article 51, Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter reads, "Nothing

in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or
collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of
the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by
Members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately
reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the
authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present
Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to
maintain or restore international peace and security."
15 Independent Working Group on the Future of the United Nations, Yale

University Library and Social Science Statistical Laboratory, available at
<www.library.yale.edu/un/un2a6a.htm>.
16 New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
166 THE BAHA.'f WORLD 2001-2002

appointed five working groups to study reform in preparation for
the anniversary.
In October 1995 the Baha'i International Community offered
its statement Turning Point for all Nations, in which it supports
appeals for the redistribution of UN General Assembly representation
to reduce the influence of state sovereignty, calls for compliance
with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a minimum
standard for membership, and endorses an expanded notion of
collective security so as to include responses to such threats to
world order as are posed by unsustainable environmental actions
and international drug trafficking. 17
An earlier statement by the international governing body of
the Baha' is, while expressing confidence in the future, describes
the concerted actions required for the Lesser Peace as being blocked
by a "paralysis of will." In the document entitled The Promise of
World Peace, the Universal House of Justice writes:
Certainly, there is no lack of recognition by national leaders of
the world-wide character of the problem, which is self-evident
in the mounting issues that confront them daily. And there are
the accumulating studies and solutions proposed by many
concerned and enlightened groups as well as by agencies of the
United Nations, to remove any possibility of ignorance as to
the challenging requirements to be met. There is, however, a
paralysis of will; and it is this that must be carefully examined
and resolutely dealt with. This paralysis is rooted, as we have
stated, in a deep-seated conviction of the inevitable quarrelsomeness of mankind, which has led to the reluctance to
entertain the possibility of subordinating national self-interest
to the requirements of world order, and in an unwillingness to
face courageously the far-reaching implications of establishing
a united world authority. It is also traceable to the incapacity
of largely ignorant and subjugated masses to articulate their

17 See Turning Point for all Nations: A Statement of the Bahd 'i International
Community on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations
(New York: Baha'i International Community, 1995); reprinted in The
Baha'i World 1995-96, pp. 241-83.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 167

desire for a new order in which they can live in peace, harmony,
and prosperity with all mankind. 18
A stalemate exists between the forces promoting the interests
of UN reform and those vested in the maintenance of the political
status quo. The confidence of the Baha'i community is that the
stalemate will be broken. Reformists are divided in two groups.
The first includes those who see a "window of opportunity" and
envision the end of the paralysis prompted by the recognition of
the need to avert an imminent global catastrophe. The second
group comprises those who see an impending collapse of the UN
structure and who fear that political unity may be an
accomplishment required to respond to the aftermath of such a
catastrophe. Whether proactive or reactive, any movement towards
Lesser Peace ideals must be reformist and substantially more
constructive than a limited tinkering to optimize a functionality
which is, at best, situational. W Andy Knight observes:
... the fifty-year-old UN system is now left with two basic choices:
dissolution or succession. Given the persistence of the idea that
the fate of humankind depends on state-society collaboration
and cooperation around common security issues, dissolving the
UN can be considered nothing more than "throwing out the
baby with the bathwater." As several commentators have noted
in the past, the elimination of the UN today may only result in
the reinvention of the wheel tomorrow.... The problem [of
reform] ... is that, given the turbulence of the present transitional
period, the required task will not be unlike "trying to change
the wing of an airplane while it is still in flight." It is an assignment
that demands every ounce of our imagination and that will have
to involve both reflexive adaptation and learning strategies if
we are to prevent a disastrous crash. 19

18 The Universal House ofJustice, The Promise ofWorld Peace (Haifa: Baha'i
World Centre, 1985), p. 9.
19 W Andy Knight, "Beyond the UN System? Critical Perspectives on Global

Governance and Multilateral Evolution," Global Governance 1, (1995),
pp. 251-52.
168 THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

The UN Millennium Summit and Assembly was convened in
September 2000 with the United Nations structure a topic high
on its agenda. At this gathering the Commission on Global Governance presented another study, "The Millennium Year and the
Reform Process," in which it notes:
... by and large the UN's member governments have been less
ready to countenance change than we had urged. Prolonged
discussions in working groups set up by the General Assembly
have produced meagre agreement. The status quo remains
undisturbed in the Security Council, where key dispositions
stay frozen in their 1945 mould. The call for democratic oversight
of the global economy has gone unheeded. In some respects,
developments since we issued our report have made the need
for changes in governance more compelling. 20
Still the paralysis. The essential consideration for the reformists
is that they have but one system with which to work. What
multilateral system of governance other than that of the United
Nations exists today?

Path 2: The Baha'i Administrative Order as an
Emerging Global Structure and Model of World Order
In October 1985 the international governing body of the Baha'i
community addressed the peoples of the world: "If the Baha'i
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 srudy." 2 1 The model offered by that experience is one
that asserts the dependency of planetary survival upon our
recognition of the end of nationalism and upon an emerging global
consciousness of the unity of mankind. That model is called the
Baha'i administrative order.
In 1936, well before former US President George Bush gave
the international media the phrase "new world order" to add to
its glossary, Shoghi Effendi, who devoted his ministry to

20 The Commission on Global Governance, available at <www.cgg.ch
millenium.htm>.
2 1 The Universal House of Justice, Promise of World Peace, p. 20.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 169

implementing the Baha'i administrative order, wrote of it as "the
very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the
fullness of time the whole of mankind." 22 The existence of a tangible
base for this prediction is perhaps the most convincing argument
for the study of the Baha'i model. It is an organic entity, a worldembracing structure in which at least 235 independent nations
and major territories are represented, a structure described as
"embryonic and steadily unfolding. "23 The UN, with 191 member
states, has also been described as "an embryonic or primitive form
of such governance. "24
The Baha' I administrative order has been characterized by Shoghi
Effendi as "fundamentally different than anything ... previously
established." "It would be utterly misleading to attempt a comparison
between this unique, divinely conceived Order and any of the diverse
systems which the minds of men, at various periods of their history,
have contrived for the government of human institutions." 25 In other
words, the administrative order is not to be measured by the faulty
yardsticks of failed systems of the past. It is, of itself, a standarda standard that has yet to be fully embodied.
Second, it would be a mistake to claim that a spiritually
principled order does not have a historical legacy. Robert W Cox
suggests a closer examination of the tradition of Islam, the legacy
of which sets the framework for our understanding of the role of
the divine in world order and, more specifically, in the Baha' I
administrative order. Because the Baha' I administrative order is
not a system of secular political governance, it may challenge the
understanding of Westerners in whom the concept of the separation
of church and state is deeply entrenched. While the Baha'i
administrative order will not be compared with Islamic institutions,
the forces leading to the rise of Islam may offer clues to an
understanding of how the Baha' I administrative order and the

22 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 144.
23 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahd 'i World 1950-1957 (Wilmette: Baha' f
Publishing Trust, 1971), p. 60.
24 W Andy Knight, "Towards a Subsidiarity Model. .. ," p. 34.

25 Cited in Individual Rights and Freedoms in the World Order of Bahd 'u'lldh

(Haifa: Baha'i World Centre, 1988), p. 5.
170 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Lesser Peace will evolve. Some of those forces will be examined
momentarily.
Last, the Baha'i administrative order calls for a redefinition of
present-day concepts of freedom, individual rights, democracy,
and the nature of man. Yoshikazu Sakamoto, writing in Global
Transformation, recognizes the "need for a new way of conceptualizing democratization in a time of internationalization." 26 Old
world constructs are permeated with beliefs founded in classical
realism, which holds that international systems are anarchic and
that competition and conflict are the norm. Driven by needs for
domination and exploitation, the natural state of man is one of
"war of all against all." 27 This is the "deep-seated conviction of
the inevitable quarrelsomeness of mankind," contributing to the
paralysis of will. The most significant challenge posed by the Baha'i
administrative order is the one it offers to classical realism's view
of human nature.
This examination of the Baha'i model is premised upon two
assumptions: divinity is a source of active forces within the system,
and the nature of man is essentially noble.

Divinity in World Order

Robert W Cox is well known among scholars for his suggestion
that "Theory is always for someone and for some purpose. " 28
According to Cox, there are two categories of world order theory.
One is concerned with problem solving, taking the existing world
order as a given and addressing itself to its maintenance. The othercritical theory-is concerned with change and the structural
evolution or transformation of world orders. Within Cox's notion
of critical theory is the view of historical structures as elements of

26 Sakamoto, p. 34.
27 From Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. Other major contributors to the
philosophy of political classical realism include Machiavelli, Rousseau,
Carr, and Morgenthau.
28 Robert W Cox, "Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond Inter-

national Relations Theory," Millennium: Journal ofInternational Studies,
vol. 10, no. 2 (1981) , p. 128.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 171

world order, entmes compnsmg a constellation of interacting
material forces, ideas, and institutions. Of interest here is the role
of ideas, ideologies, cultural values, and what Cox calls inter-subjective
meanings. Intersubjective meanings, the understandings shared by
people within the structure, cannot be separated or isolated from
the historical structure. For example, the concept of human nature
as driven by self-interest cannot be isolated from the social order
that it serves to justify. Cox asserts that ideas and understandings
are "the intersubjective meanings that constitute the order itself." 29
Critical theorists such as Cox want to understand how historical
structures emerge and transform, an interest pursued here.
If we accept the role of ideas and ideologies in the evolution
of world orders and apply Cox's definition of historical structure,
we see that the Baha'i model is one in which divinity as a systemic
force is as much an influential element as other nonhuman,
regulatory forces such as climatic variation. While divine forces
do not lend themselves to formulations of empirical statements,
they exist within historical contexts, and the world orders they
have spawned can be examined in the light of the critical theory. 30
The function of religion is transformational, and the nature
of governance systems inspired by religion is to realize changes in
normative and ethical values revealed by sources of the divinesources viewed as exogenous to traditional models of world order.
The need for transformation-personal and collective-is assumed,

29 Robert W. Cox, "Multilateralism and World Order"(l992), in Cox and

Sinclair, Approaches to World Order, p. 514.
30 Divinities and their kingly representatives were manifest in the political
structures of Sumeria, ancient Egyp t, classical Greece, the Mayan and
Aztec civilizations of the West, and the French monarchy. Socrates acknowledged his responsibility to the gods of the state, and Zeno formul ated a
concept of a universal city under a deity of the universe. As the Roman
civilization weakened, St. Augustine (354-430 CE) proposed De civitate
Dei which has been credited as Charlemagne's inspiration for the Holy
Roman Empire. A Christian state was later suggested by St. Thomas
Aquinas (1225-74 CE) in his De regimine principum, Evangelia S. Matthaei
Commentaria, and Scriptum super Sententiis. In practical terms, the influence
of the Christian church in the governance of loosely associated European
feudal states during the Middle Ages needs also to be considered.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

for if the need did not exist, then what is the raison d'etre of religion or of the divinity? World orders, like religions and the
civilizations they inspire, follow a cycle of growth and decay, "from
barbarians to bureaucrats." 3 1 Divinely inspired new world orders
are necessary from time to time to revitalize human civilization.
Dead civilizations can no more effect their own resurrection than
plants can grow in the absence of light. Yoshikazu Sakamoto,
describing state sovereignty as a myth because it refuses to admit
to endogenous revolutions and external interventions, writes, "No
significant political transformation can take place without this
'externality' of the sources of change." 32
The emergence of the Bahf f administrative order coincides
with the end of the period of nation building-a period that began
with the advent of Islam in 622 CE. The nations of Islam are
theocracies, and they include many present-day governments. On
the other hand, the Western concept of nationhood, beginning
with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, is that of a secular institution. Ibn Khaldun of Tunis (1332-1406), an Islamic historian
and theoretician on the rise and fall of political powers, describes
the difference between Christianity as a social force and Islam as
a political one. He writes:
... in view of the need for authority in every human grouping
and society, a chief is needed who will guide men towards objects
which are advantageous to them and will force them to keep
away from those things that are harmful. Such chiefs are known
as Kings .... Hence, in Islam, Caliphate and Kingship are
conjoined, in order to unite all efforts towards a common end.
[The leaders of religions other than Islam] do not concern
themselves with political affairs, but leave the temporal power in
the hands of men who have seized it by chance or for some reason
with which religion has nothing to do. Sovereignty exists among
such peoples owing to social solidarity ... their religion as such,
however, does not impose any sovereignty on them seeing that

31 This expression is derived from the tide of a book Barbarians to Bureaucrats: Corporate Life Cycle Strategies: Lessons from the Rise and FaLl of
Civilizations, Lawrence M. Miller (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc.,
1989).
32 Sakamoto, p. 33.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 173

it does not demand of them dominion over other peoples, as is
the case with Islam, but merely the establishing of their faith
among themselves. 33
Khaldun is suggesting that the "common end" of Islam is a
unity-a political order and system of governance in which the
religion of the state exists for the collective well-being of Muslims
"and other peoples." Because other religious leaders focus their
attention on the social solidarity of their own peoples, they exert
no influence over others, and create and sustain no political order
that would unite them under a more global umbrella.
Robert W Cox explains the role of Muhammad's prophethood
as a function of that political order. Divinity, he says, plays a part
in the historical structure. He observes:
The Law, revealed by the Prophet as the guidelines for human
life, was the basis for the state. Politics, the construction and
maintenance of the state, was a matter for rational scientific
enquiry. A prophet, indeed, to be effective, would need to function
rationally in being able to communicate and to build the human
foundation for the revealed message.34
Regardless of whether religions have developed into social or
political forces, the question is how does the appearance of a Christ
or Muhammad seed the creation of a new order? From his analysis
of Ibn Khaldun's work, Robert W Cox explains that there are
two essential elements in the historical structures of the Christian
and Islamic orders. Divinity as a systemic force is one. The other
is what Khaldun terms 'asabiya-a term translated variously as
tribal solidarity, community spirit, nationalism, and !'esprit de corps.
Khaldun asserts that without the state, the concept of 'asabiya is
superfluous and that the rise and fall of the state is a function of
the strength of 'asabiya. Cox goes further to suggest that prophecy,
in the epistemology of Ibn Khaldun, is inoperative without this
intersubjective meaning or 'asabiya.

33 Nosratollah Rassekh, "Islam : The First 138 Years, " World Order, vol. 15,
no. 1/2 (Fall 1980/Winter 1981), p. 7.
34 Robert W Cox, "Towards a Posthegemonic Conceptualization of World

Order, " in Cox and Sinclair, Approaches to World Order, p. 145 .
174 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Do energies such as 'asabiya, as intersubjective meanings, exist
prior to the revelations they welcome? After all, every advent has
been awaited by those claiming to follow the prophecies of the
preceding one; the function of prophecy being to create the
anticipatory and welcoming 'asabiya and to prepare the way for
the new messenger. The argument would maintain that these forces,
as intersubjective meanings, are derived from within the system
and are the means by which the exogenous forces of the prophet
are accommodated. There is a chicken-and-egg argument here.
Do historical structures contain the seed of divinely revealed
ideologies, which in the fullness of time become the foundation
of their intersubjective meaning-or do the revelations contain
the seed of the new historical structures they will foster?
From the Baha'i perspective, the world order of Baha'u'llah is
inseparable from His revelation. It cannot consider itself to be an
order actualized by an outside influence. Rather it demands an
expansion of the definition of world order to accept the influence
of divinity within it. The source of 'asabiya is as divine as the
revelation that it embraces-a revelation that fuels the continuing
evolution of shared values. In other words, each world order contains
within it the germ of the culture that will accept its successor. To
borrow from the language of Cox, "supraintersubjectivity" as a
global consciousness exists in God's Master Plan. The historical
succession of orders is leading humanity towards the emergence
of the consciousness of the oneness of mankind. Cox asks: " ... is
the only model of the future one in which differences become
absorbed into a new unity, a new global hegemony, perhaps the
creation of a new global Mahdi? (The global Mahdi could take
the form of a collectivity rather than an individual.)" 35 Just what
is this Mahdi? In Islamic tradition, the Mahdi is the messiah. For
Baha'!s the new global Mahdi is Baha'u'llah, and the Mahdi as
a collectivity suggested by Cox may be the administrative orderan order that is inseparable from Baha'u'llah's revelation.

35 Robert W Cox, "Towards a Posthegemonic Conceptualization of World
Order," in Cox and Sinclair, Approaches to World Order, p. 168.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 175

The failure of religious political orders of the past has been
the corruption of their powers by representative temporal successors.
No prophet or founder of a major faith has detailed provision for
religious-state succession. The "effectiveness" of the revealed "Law"
depends upon institutions that carry on the functions of the prophet
or founder after his passing. As sociologist Max Weber would have
it, the charisma of the prophet must become "routinized" or
institutionalized. 36 For example, the intention of the institutions
of the papacy and the caliphate is to perpetuate and reflect the
charismatic authority of Jesus Christ and Muhammad. However,
because these institutions lack scriptural legitimacy, they have failed
to protect Christianity and Islam from schisms. That is, lack of
scriptural legitimacy has opened the doors of dissension, fragmenting
their world orders.
Baha'is, on the other hand, possess a body ofliterature revealed
by the central figures of their Faith that legitimizes their
administrative order. The Baha' ( model is initially described in
Baha'u'llah's book of laws, the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and in the Will and
Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah's appointed successor.
Recalling the distinction made earlier between world order and
global governance-that world order maintains universal peace
while global governance administers the complex affairs of the
planet-we see that the Baha' f model is one of both world order
and governance. It is a system of world order in the sense that the
revelation describes the succession of divine authority and the nature
of institutions that inherit it. Serving to protect the Faith from
schism, the Baha'i administrative order can be viewed as system
preserving its integrity and maintaining an internal and presently
limited collective security. It is also a system of governance in the
sense that it anticipates the need for future societal administration.

36 For a further exploration, see Peter Smith, "The Rourinization of Charisma?

Some Comments on 'Motif Messianique et Processus Social dans le
Bahaisme,'" Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Bdbi, and Baha 'i Studies vol.
3, no. 6 (November 1998), available at <www2.h-net.msu.edu/ ~ bahai/
bhpapers/vol2/ motif.htm >.
THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

The Nature of Man

The other assumption guiding our examination of the Baha'f model
is that man, created in the spiritual image of God, is noble.
Baha'u'llah tells us: "O Son of spirit! Noble have I created thee,
yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou
wast created." 37
The Baha'f view of human nature does not reject the role of
realism's will to power as a motivational force in the lives of
individuals and sovereign states. Rather, it finds that realism presents
only half the picture. While man does possess a material
(animalistic), self-serving, and aggressive nature, he also possesses
a spiritual nature that must, as he matures, subdue and subordinate
the forces of the former. The concept of the nobility of humankind
is essential to Baha'f world order. Baha'u'llah writes, "All men have
been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization." 38
The Baha' f view accepts the notion that the whole of world
order cannot be inconsistent with its constituent parts. It would
assert that the failure of contemporary realism is the failure of
competitive nation-states, hungry for sovereignty, to accommodate
a grassroots consensus desiring peace. This inconsistency exists both
between and within nations. The nobility of humankind begs us
to consider a noble form of global governance in which realism's
ideas of competition for power and dominance would be viewed as
a form of self-destruction. The concept of man's nobility allows us
to assert universal peace as the reflection of both sovereign and
popular will. A world order of liberal pluralism is sustainable.
There are at least two problems that the practical demonstration
of this nobility must confront. There is the necessity to divorce
ourselves from culturally ingrained practices of responsible
democracy and comply with the requisite spiritual practices of
representative but non-responsible democracy called for by a Baha'f
system of governance. That is to say, can we elect our representatives

37 Baha'u'llih, The Hidden Words ofBahd'u'lldh (Wilmette: Baha'f Publishing
Trust, 1994), Arabic no. 22, p. 9.
38 Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahd'u'lldh (Wilmette: Baha'f

Publishing Trust, 1994), p. 215.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 177

and entrust them with the freedom to vote according to their
consciences rather than requiring them to sort out a melange of
constituency opinion on every matter? The second problem is that
global liberal pluralism has no historical precedents. A world
citizenship has not yet been empowered.
The normative model of Baha'i world order and global governance
is characteristically both top-down and bottom-up. It is also composite
in that it embraces features of democratic, autocratic, and aristocratic
systems-features that will be described subsequently. As noted earlier,
it sees two related paths or processes of development, which will
eventually converge. One is the administrative order practiced today
by the Baha'i community, and the other is evident in secular trends
of globalization and integration-trends that will see the attainment
of an enforceable and universal peace agreement.

The Baha'i Administrative Order
Does the community serve the individual or does the individual
serve the community? The Baha'i model reflects aspects of
communitarianism as described by proponent Michael Sandel,
author of Liberalism and the Limits ofjustice. 39 Comm unitarianism
claims that individuals are "constituted by their obligations to
communities rather than that communities are constituted by the
participation of rights-bearing persons." 40 In the debate between

39 Cambridge: Cambridge Universiry Press, 1982.
40 The relationships between communiry, individuals, and institutions are
described by the Universal House of Justice as follows: "The individual's
relationship to society is explained by Shoghi Effendi in the statement
that 'The Baha'i conception of social life is essentially based on the principle
of the subordination of the individual will to that of soc iety. It neither
suppresses the individual nor does it exalt him to the point of making
him an antisocial creature, a menace to society. As in everything, it follows the 'golden mean'. ... Among the responsibilities assigned to Baha'i
institutions which have a direct bearing on these aspects of individual
freedom and development is one which is described in the Constitution
of the Universal House ofJustice: 'to safeguard the personal rights, freedom,
and initiative of individuals.'" The Universal House ofJustice, Individual
Rights and Freedoms, pp. 20-21.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

statist sovereignty and the morality of individual rights and freedoms
of the libertarians, comm unitarianism is the middle ground. Bruce
Frohnen is a critic who has led the libertarian-communitarian debate.
In a review of communitarian thought, one commentator describes
Frohnen's approach as follows:
[He] argues that the communitarians' proposed remedies-such
as more democratic deliberation about the common good and
rhetorical appeals to self-sacrifice-will be ineffective without
a belief in a transcendent source of substantive values. In effect,
communitarians seek to create a religion of the state, "to instill
in us a faith in civil or political rather than spiritual religion."
Such a project, Frohnen believes, is doomed to failure, for
politicians "cannot replace God." They are at least as flawed as
those whom they seek to lead. 41
The Baha'i administrative order, by positing a belief in a
"transcendent source" of normative values, answers Frohnen's
criticism. The Baha'i model would spiritualize the order. Those
elected to serve the Baha'i'. administration are assumed to be
conscious of their responsibility and accountability to God for
their actions and decisions. Intent on rational and dispassionate
discourse, they pray that they will be divinely inspired when making
decisions affecting the community.
The basic unit of the Baha'i'. administrative order is the local
Baha'i'. community, which includes of families, individuals, and
local institutions. 42 Concepts of power and authority are separated

41 Tom Palmer, review of Bruce Frohnen, The New Communitarians and
the Crisis of Modern Liberalism (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas,
1996) in The Globe and Mail (Saturday, 6 October 1996), 010.
42 In a message to the Baha'fs throughout the world, the Universal House

of]ustice writes: "A community is more than the sum of its membership;
it is a comprehensive unit of civilization composed of individuals, families,
and institutions that are originators and encouragers of systems, agencies,
and organizations working together with a common purpose for the
welfare of people both within and beyond its own borders; it is a
composition of diverse, interacting participants that are achieving unity
in an unremitting quest for spiritual and social progress. Since Baha'fs
everywhere are at the very beginning of the process of community building,
enormous effort must be devoted to the tasks at hand." The Universal
House of Justice, Ri4van message 153 BE (April 1996), para. 25.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 179

in the Baha'i model. Authority is invested in the elected institutions
of Local and National Assemblies and the international governing
body ordained by Baha'u'llah. The power to actualize the authority
and the decisions and guidance of those institutions is exercised
by individuals. Noting this relationship, Shoghi Effendi "explained
that without the support of the individual, 'at once wholehearted,
continuous and generous,' every measure and plan of his [National
Assembly] is 'foredoomed to failure."' 43 The relationship between
individuals and institutions is manifest in the ongoing consultative
dialogue between communities and their Local Assemblies.
The Baha'i view holds that traditional models of liberal
pluralism, expressed in the ideals of representative and responsible
democracy, are untenable. How can an elected official represent
the divergent views of his constituents? Given a multitude of issues
and influences of different interest groups, how can that official
be said to be responsible to all who elected him? Elections are
costly affairs through which the voice of the electorate is counted
on a relatively occasional basis. Representative democracy exists
only at the moment that the "batch" process of election is conducted.
In the Baha'i administrative order, members of Assemblies are
elected by a nonpartisan process of secret ballot. They are not
responsible to the electorate; rather they are accountable to themselves and to their relationship to God, to Whom they turn for
guidance.
Practical application of these spiritual principles requires the
members to divorce themselves from traditional influences of
responsible democracy. The spiritualization of elections is reinforced
by procedures of prayer and secret ballot. The campaigns and nominations of partisan politics are prohibited. Baha'is are encouraged
to vote for character-those who best exemplify five qualifications:
1) unquestioned loyalty, 2) selfless devotion, 3) a well-trained mind,
4) recognized ability, and 5) mature experience. Baha'is regard
issue-centered political campaigns as divisive and contrary to the
spiritual principle of the power of unity. In an issues-based system,
the reasons a person is elected at the outcome of a campaign are
not always applicable to the issues that arise later in his or her

43 Cited in the Universal House of Justice, Ric:lvan message 153 BE, para. 22.
180 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

term. We may find that the person represents our views on abortion
but that he or she subsequently fails to support our concerns about
anti-tobacco legislation. And who knows what questions will be
put on the table tomorrow?
While Assemblies are elected annually, community members
have the opportunity to address their Assembly at least once each
Baha'i month at gatherings that are also legitimized institutions
of the Baha'i Faith. 44 Dialogue is entertained following guidelines
of "consultation," which are more spiritual than procedural. 45 Baha'i
consultation cannot be compared with Robert's Rules of Order
or other notions of adversarial or parliamentary procedures.
Addressing a session of the United Nations Commission, the Baha'i
International Community explains: "The goal of consultation is
not to win, but to find the truth. Therefore, opinions are to be
offered humbly, not as definitive and final, but as contributions
to the collective effort." 46 Just as Baha'is must disentangle themselves
from older concepts of democratic elections if they are to practice
the ideals promulgated by their literature, so too must their
application of the principles of consultation be freed from popular
Western concepts of individual rights and freedoms that undermine

44 The community gathering, termed the Nineteen Day Feast, is held every

19 days-once a month on the Baha'i calendar. "The Nineteen Day
Feast is an institution of the Cause, first established by the Bab, later
confirmed by Baha'u'llah, and now made a prominent part of the
administrative order of the Faith." Letter written on behalf of Shoghi
Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and Austria ,
28 May 1954, in Lights of Guidance, ed. Helen Hornby (New Delhi:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1983), no. 509, p. 191.
45 Shoghi Effendi, Bahd'i Administration (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust,

197 4), p. 88. Consider also: the qualifications or "prime requisites for
them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit,
detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances,
humility, and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering
in difficulties, and servitude to His exalted Threshold. " 'Abdu'l-Baha,
cited in Bahd 'i Administration, p. 21.
46 Baha'i International Community, Equality in Political Participation and

Decision-Making: A Statement to the 34th Session of the United Nations
Commission on the Status of Women (Vienna: Baha'i International
Community, 1990).
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 181

the authority of their institutions and the greater interests of their
communities.
In addition to those community gatherings, members can
correspond at any time with the institutions at any level. Similarly,
the international governing body communicates with National
Assemblies and with individual members. This order promotes a
vertical flexibility in both communication and the execution of
tasks, a flexibility that is not characteristic horizontally. There is
less communication or shared execution between National
Assemblies or between Local Assemblies, unless there is an assignment of a collaborative task by a higher institution. Cooperative
linkages and liaisons within the Baha'i order are ad hoc and taskoriented. This practice is a limited demonstration of W Andy
Knight's subsidiarity model of global governance, "in which lower
levels of governance are not denied of their competencies as long
as they are capable of carrying out specific tasks assigned them. "
For example, the National Assemblies of Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and the northern countries of the former Soviet Republic
may be assigned a specific arctic project by the international
governing body. As Knight notes, this model "would allow the
more immediate levels (those most affected by a decision-making
fallout) to be responsible for carrying out global governance tasks
which they can effectively and efficiently handle." 47
Other components of the Baha'i community are appointed
Counsellors and their assistants. They are not invested with authority
but function rather as advisors and facilitators charged with the
responsibility of community development and of encouraging
members to participate in building and strengthening the order.
This appointed institution of the Counsellors is an indispensable
component of the administrative order, and the degree of success
in significant undertakings is attributed to the quality of the
collaboration between the elected and appointed institutions. 48

47 W Andy Knight, "Towards a Subsidiarity Model. .. ," p. 32.
48 The relationship between the various components of the Baha'i administrative order is captured in the following passage: ''Authority and direction
flow from the Assemblies, whereas the power to accomplish the tasks
resides primarily in the entire body of the believers. It is the principal (cont'd)
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The model of the Baha' I administrative order is recursive. The
structure of the national community is a macrocosmic replica of
the structure of the local community. The differences between
the local and national communities are differences in scope of
jurisdiction. On the local level, the community gathering is the
institutionalized interface between individuals and the governing
body. On the national level, that interface is the national convention
where communities are represented by their elected delegates who
are charged with the responsibility of electing the members of
the National Assembly. The same spiritual practices and procedures
that are applied on the local level are applied here. The work of
advisory members serving on local and regional levels is coordinated
by Counsellors working in national and international arenas. Thus
the basic structure of the community is descriptive of the local,
national, and global components of the administrative order. The
cells of the global structure are the national and territorial
communities and the interfacing institution is the international
convention, where the members of all National Assemblies elect
the nine members of the supreme governing body.
The Baha'i administrative order is a model of governance
presently limited in the sense that its only practical application is
in governing the affairs of the Baha'i community. As an embryonic
order, its activities focus on expansion and consolidation. On the
local level community efforts may range from the organization of
social events to village literacy campaigns. At higher levels the
administrative order may be concerned with the appointment of
delegations to represent the Faith in meetings with ministers of
state and other high ranking officials and with the participation
in world summits such as those on sustainable development
(Johannesburg, 2002) and world peace (New York, 2000).

task of the Auxiliary Boards to assist in arousing and releasing this power.
This is a vital activity, and if they are to be able to perform it adequately
they must avoid becoming involved in the work of administration .... "
The Universal House of Justice, letter to the Continental Boards of
Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies, 1 October 1969, in Messages
from the Universal House ofjustice, 1968-1973 (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing
Trust, 1976), p. 30.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 183

Shoghi Effendi, the visionary responsible for developing the
Baha'i administrative order as conceived by the Faith's Founders,
observed that it is "the very pattern of the New World Order
destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind."
The Baha'i administrative order is organic and elastic, and it will
expand as the community it serves expands.

Convergence

Recalling the distinction between world order and global governance
made earlier and Rosenau's observation that world order is a
meaningful concept "only as it relates to the prevention or
containment of large-scale violence and war," then our demands
for collective security should be met by the Lesser Peace. Why
then is the Lesser Peace not sufficient as a new world order? Why
would the Baha'i administrative order as a system of governance
need to evolve and expand? Why even consider the convergence
of the Lesser Peace and the administrative order?
In the Baha'i view, the applicability of James Rosenau's
conception of world order breaks down after the attainment of
the Lesser Peace. The goal of the Lesser Peace is collective security,
but the goal of the Baha'i world order is world unity-unity being
more broadly defined than simple political accord. The unity of
the Baha'i world order will demand an allegiance to the sustainability of a planetary state that supersedes any allegiance one would
give to a sovereign nation. The cessation of war and the containment
of armed aggression is not enough. The meaning of "disarmament" is conditioned by our definition of "violence"-but
disarmament should be applied to all the weapons in contemporary
arsenals-weapons that include poverty and economic oppression,
environmental negligence, the inequitable distribution of rights
to education, and the suppression of the voice of women.
Containment and disarmament now escape the bounds of James
Rosenau's definition of world order and require the application
of "a vast number of rule systems" of social institutions for global
governance.
The Lesser Peace will be a political achievement. The international governing body of the Baha'i Faith has noted, "Mankind
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

at that time can be likened to a body that is unified but without
life .... [T]he task of breathing life into this unified body ... is that
of the Baha'is." 49 According to James Rosenau's definitions, our
discussions of the administrative order have described a system
oflimited global governance. If, however, the expansion of Baha' f
communities requires the Assemblies of the administrative order
to take on more of the responsibilities of polities, then that system can be described as both a world order and a system of global
governance. When its present function of maintaining the integrity
of the Baha'i community and safeguarding it from schism is applied
to the entire global community, its goal can be said to be broader
than the confinement of violence. Its goal then becomes the
maintenance of a world unity that now defines a new world ordera maintenance that must consider the intentions and impact of
the full range of governance decision-making.
Consider then, the following characteristics of the new world
order described by Baha' f literature, not from the viewpoint of
the containment of violence, but the maintenance of world unity.
The new order will be a super-state commonwealth of nations
with a world legislature to which are ceded certain responsibilities
such as the authority to enact new laws and to create new
institutions. The members of the legislature will "as the trustees
of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire resources
of all the component nations .... " 50 There will be "an international
executive adequate to enforce supreme and unchallengeable
authority" 51 "backed by an international Force . .. [that] will safeguard
the organic unity of the whole commonwealth." 52 Embracing both
top-down and bottom-up interests, the new order will establish a
world parliament with members elected by civil society and
confirmed by national governments. A supreme tribunal will have
the power of binding (compulsory) adjudication of a single code

49 The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance: Messages 1963-
1968 (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1976), pp. 133-34.
50 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 203.

51 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 40.

52 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 203.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 185

of international law sanctioned by "the instant and coercive
intervention of the combined forces of the federated units." 53
The maintenance of world unity, within a community composed
of members cognizant that they are world citizens, is to be promoted
by the adoption of a world currency, script, systems of weights
and measures, and a universal auxiliary language. The world order
will see the coordinated development of economic resources and
markets, the elimination of economic barriers, and the recognition
of "the interdependence of Capital and Labor." 54
In the Baha' { perspective, the two evolving models of the Lesser
Peace and Baha' { administrative order will merge to form a future
cosmopolitan (top-down and bottom-up) world order. The topdown model of the Lesser Peace will accommodate nation-states
into the new world order, but national sovereignty will be limited
with many powers ceded to the institution of the super-state. The
model of Baha'i administration will contribute the bottom-up
democratic features of republicanism, with National Assemblies
evolving into agencies of sovereign states. The model is composite,
too, in that it contains elements of autocratic and aristocratic
systems, while being distinct from them. 55 Aspects of autocracy

53 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd 'u'lldh, p. 41.
54 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 41.
55 "Neither in theory nor in practice can the administrative order of the
Faith ofBahfu'llah be said to conform to any type of democratic government,
to any system of autocracy, to any purely aristocratic order, or to any of
the various theocracies, whether Jewish, Christian, or Islamic, which mankind
has witnessed in the past. It incorporates within its structure certain elements
which are to be found in each of the three recognized forms of secular
government, is devoid of the defects which each of them inherently possesses,
and blends the salutary truths which each undoubtedly contains without
vitiating in any way the integrity of the Divine verities on which it is
essentially founded. The hereditary authority which the Guardian of the
administrative order is called upon to exercise, and the right of the
interpretation of the Holy Writ solely conferred upon him; the powers
and prerogatives of the Universal House ofJustice, possessing the exclusive
right to legislate on matters not explicitly revealed in the Most Holy
Book; the ordinance exempting its members from any responsibility to those
whom they represent, and from the obligation to conform to their (cont'd)
186 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

are present in the system as the elected representatives of an
international legislature can be said to have exclusive rights to
legislate on matters not specified by the authority of Baha'i scripture.
Aspects of aristocracy, or "rule by the best," are manifest in the
election of delegates to national conventions, who in turn, elect
those who will participate in international conventions and the
election of the members of the supreme governing body. Baha'u'llah
also maintains kingship within the future world order. 56
As noted earlier, Baha'i literature does not offer a blueprint of
the Lesser Peace. Nor does it describe in detail the future world
order. The revelation of Baha'u'llah, containing laws and ordinances
that are to be implemented by the new world order, places its
emphasis on the administrative order that is its "structural basis."
The administrative order, as it grows and matures, is seen to be
the link to the future world order, the "golden age" of humankind
predicated not upon collective security, but upon unity.
The Baha'i model challenges present notions of "democracy"
and "individual freedoms." It calls us to broader definitions of
"world order" and "global governance." It sees, in unity, the
foundation of an enduring peace. Political unity and peace and
the cessation of war are not the goals of an enlightened collective
security. Unity, in the world order of Baha'u'llah, must be observed
in all aspects of collective endeavor. Unity, as the goal of world

views, convictions or sentiments; the specific provisions requiring the
free and democratic election by the mass of the faithful of the Body that
constitutes the sole legislative organ in the world-wide Baha'i communitythese are among the features which combine to set apart the Order identified
with the Revelation of Baha'u'llah from any of the existing systems of
human government." Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1995), pp. 326-27.
56 "According to the fundamental laws which We have formerly revealed

in the Kitab-i-Aqdas and other Tablets, all affairs are committed to the
care of just kings and presidents and of the Trustees of the House of
Justice .... The system of government which the British people have adopted
in London appeareth to be good, for it is adorned with the light of both
kingship and of the consultation of the people." Bahi'u'llah, Tablets of
Bahd'u'lldh revealed after the Kitdb-i-Aqdas (Haifa: Baha'i World Centre,
1982), p. 93.
WORLD ORDER AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 187

order, accommodates interconnected economic, environmental,
social, and political spheres. Global governance is thus the means
of a unified world order, not its end.
"O ye children of men," He [Baha'u'llah] thus addresses His
generation , "the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of
God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote
the unity of the human race .... " The well-being of mankind
He declares, "its peace and security are unattainable unless and
until its unity is firmly established. " "So powerful is the light
of unity," is His further testimony, "that it can illuminate the
whole earth .... This goal excelleth every other goal, and this
aspiration is the monarch of all aspirations. " "He Who is your
Lord, the All-Merciful," He, moreover, has written, "cherisheth
in His heart the desire of beholding the entire human race as
one soul and one body.... " 57

What are the obstacles to the fulfillment of the Baha'i promise?
Those who presently influence political dynamics must renounce
the constraints of a Hobbesian view of brutish human nature and
demonstrate a willingness to accept the nobility of mankind. Nor
will the promise be fulfilled if we fail to develop a consciousness
of the essential unity of mankind and to strip religion of irrational
dogma and to critically examine it as a contributing force to the
renewal of civilization. A tall order, yes. But perhaps the forces
compelling globalization are the winds that presently fill the sails
of the ark of world order. Obstacles? One would do better to ask,
where are the fruits of Enlightenment thinking and materialistic
theory? What other systems of global governance invite critical
examination? What other promises? What other alternatives?

57 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, pp. 202-03 .
Fostering the Spiritual
Education of Children
Barbara Johnson discusses the importance of
spiritual and moral education in child
development, Looking at similarities between
Bahd 'f efforts and the thinking of current
experts in the field.

W; hile the spiritual education of children has been an
ntegral part of Baha'i activities from the earliest days
o the Baha'i Faith, since 2000 the worldwide Baha'i
community has redoubled its efforts on behalf of children
everywhere. Stimulated by a letter written by the Universal House
of Justice in April of that year, Baha'is are responding to the call
to undertake "urgent and sustained effort in the interests of children
and the future. " In that letter, the Universal House of Justice
observes:
In the current state of society, children face a cruel fate. Millions
and millions in country after country are dislocated socially.
Children find themselves alienated by parents and other adults
whether they live in conditions of wealth or poverty. This
alienation has its roots in a selfishness that is born of materialism
that is at the core of the godlessness seizing the hearts of people
everywhere. The social dislocation of children in our time is a
sure mark of a society in decline; this condition is not, however,
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

confined to any race, class, nation, or economic condition-it
cuts across them all. 1
In response to that letter, Baha'i communities around the world are
striving to address this critical need according to their circumstances.
In Cape Town, South Africa, for example, a small weekly Englishlanguage class for Congolese and Rwandan refugees has expanded
to include an after-school Baha'i children's enrichment program
that has attracted 25 children of refugee, 'colored,' and 'black'
South African backgrounds, as well as devotional gatherings open
to all, regular study circles for adults, and a small but sustainable
social and economic development project. Nearby communities
have requested help in initiating similar projects in their own
localities. 2
With support from government and nongovernmental
organizations, an Education for Peace project in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, initiated by Landegg International University in
Switzerland, has provided training in the principles and skills of
peacemaking to 6,000 students, 10,000 parents, and 400 teachers
of Bosnian, Croat, and Serb ethnic groups in three cities. The
goal is to break down the cycle of violence that has afflicted the
children of the Balkans in places such as Ilidza, where some 70
percent of the children in the primary school have lost one or
both parents to ethnic conflict.
The President of the Navajo Nation appealed for help from
the Native American Baha'i Institute in the southwestern United
States after learning that the Institute offered training for parents.
As a nearby community had just lost a youth to suicide, the
community, the school board, and the local political leadership
invited the Institute to adapt and offer its spiritual parenting
program, part of the US Baha'i community's core curriculum for
spiritual education, to the population at large.

1 The Universal House of Justice, message to the Baha'{s of the world,
Ri4van 157 BE (April 2000).
2 Information in this essay about Baha'i educational initiatives around the

world has been taken from reports gathered by the Baha'i World Centre
and by national Baha'i institutions and agencies.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION

Residents of the mountain village of Quebrada Venado on the
Ngabe-Bugle (Guaymi) reservation in Panama, appreciative of the
efforts of teachers-one of whom has volunteered full-time for
seven years-in their only school, say, "I cannot read or write,
but my children will learn to read and write," and "With this
school, our children will be freed from the darkness of ignorance.
These children are our future ."
As the Baha'i community undertakes these grassroots efforts
on behalf of children, it is attempting to explore a preliminary
series of questions to assist it to increase the effectiveness of these
efforts: What can be learned from the extensive scriptural references
and history of the Baha' 1 Faith about the process of spiritual
education? What can be learned from other educators? What sorts
of community and institutional support reinforce these efforts?
How can Baha'i communities collaborate with like-minded
organizations so that all children increasingly "shine as the emblems
of a better future?" 3
Regarding the importance of spiritual education, Baha'u'llah
teaches: "That which is of paramount importance for the children,
that which must precede all else, is to teach them the oneness of
God and the laws of God." 4 'Abdu'l-Baha observes that children
"are even as young plants, and teaching them the prayers is as
letting the rain pour down upon them, that they may wax tender
and fresh, and the soft breezes of the love of God may blow over
them, making them to tremble with joy." 5 He further states that
spiritual education adorns the human spirit with attributes of the
divine, 6 and it includes instructing children in all the beneficial
arts and sciences as well as "teaching them altruism" and "service

3 The Universal House of Justice, message to the Baha'fs of the world,
Ric;lvan 157 BE.
4 Baha'u'llah, cited in "Baha'i Education," The Compilation of Compilations,

vol. 1 (Ingleside: Baha'i Publications Australia, 1991), no. 565, p. 248.
5 'Abdu'l-Baha, cited in "Baha'i Education," no. 603, p. 268.
6 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-

Bahd during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, rev. ed.
(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995) , p. 350.
THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

to the oneness of the world of humanity." 7 From a Baha'i perspective,
then, spiritual education may be seen as the application of the
Word of God to human experience. Education becomes "spiritual"
when it is undertaken in light of a deep conviction that the universe
came into being through the creative power of an "unknowable
Essence" called God, that educating one's inner reality prepares
an individual for a life beyond this material existence, that the
world's great religions have provided the impetus for human
development throughout the ages, and that all of the world's
diversified peoples make up "a single human race" with the earth
as its "common homeland. "8

Historical Perspective

Baha'u'llah's writings have guided the spiritual education of children
from the earliest days of the Faith, inspiring the creation of local
Baha'i classes since the mid-nineteenth century. Baha'u'llah Himself
provided for the education of His extended family while still in
Tehran and throughout His life in prison and exile, according to
His extremely limited means. In Acre, the children of His large
extended family "looked upon Baha'u'llah as another loving Father;
to Him we carried all our little difficulties and troubles. He took
an interest in everything which concerned us."9
'Abdu'l-Baha shared His Father's interest in the education of
children. He arranged for their schooling in Haifa and Acre, in
the village to which they were removed for their safety during
World War I, and in Egypt, England, and Lebanon as they grew
older. He arranged special meetings with children in each of the
major cities He visited during His extended travels in the West.
And He taught them Himself:

7 'Abdu'l-Baha, cited in Lights of Guidance, ed. Helen Hornby (New Delhi:
Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1988), p. 212.
8 The Universal House of Justice, letter to the world's religious leaders,

April 2002.
9 Tuba Khan um, quoted in Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway (Wilmette:

Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1967), p. 98 .
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 193

Despite the enormous press of work, the Master ['Abdu'l-Baha]
found time once in every week to hold a class for small Baha'f
children. Here they would recite the short Tablets they had learned
by heart and bring samples of their handwriting to show Him.
He loved them. He showed great concern, wishing them to learn
the principles of Baha'i conduct. Although He was firm, He
strictly forbade anyone to strike a child or use the customary
rod and punish them. He told their parents and teachers to
emphasize the importance of good conduct and said that in
this way, if the child failed in some particular, the very reminding
the child that he had failed would impress that child as a severe
punishment. The child would thus learn to avoid even the slightest
failure in good conduct and grow up and recognize good conduct
as the true mark of a Baha'i. 10
After the passing of Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha's numerous letters
to Baha'fs in both the East and the West encouraged them to
foster the spiritual education of children. While the Baha'fs in
the West focused on spiritual education classes, Baha' !s in the
East established schools emphasizing literacy and academic studies
as well as spiritual education. In many cases they were the only
schools available to children in those communities. In Ashkhabad,
Russia, Baha'!s had founded schools for both girls and boys by
1907. These were the first modern schools to be established in
that region and earned a reputation for excellence. In the early
years of the twentieth century, Baha' { schools were also founded
in some 40 cities and villages throughout Iran, including the Tarbiat
Schools for boys and girls in the capital city.
Although the Iranian government suspended these schools in
1934, the Baha'f community has continued to provide systematic
spiritual education classes for children, combined with tutoring
as needed in academic subjects and periodic visits to learn the
accomplishments and needs of each child. This system of spiritual
education and training became so effective that at the time of the
1979 revolution in Iran, the Baha' is had achieved full literacy in
their community and demonstrated a resiliency and depth of faith

10 Marzieh Gail, Summon up Remembrance (Oxford: George Ronald, 1987),
p. 138.
194 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

that enabled them to endure persecution for their Faith. Their
steadfastness and courage included all social classes, men, women,
youth, and children. 11

Studying the Word of God
The Baha'i community in Iran achieved so outstanding a result
that when the Universal House of Justice called on Bahi'is around
the world to eliminate illiteracy from the Baha'i community as a
whole, they were encouraged to follow the example set by their
fellow believers in the cradle of their Faith. The Baha'i community's
success stems from its understanding of literacy, which it sees as
more than "the set of knowledge, qualities, skills, attitudes, and
capacities that enable individuals to preserve self-esteem by assuming
both control over their own growth, and by becoming active
participants in a process of social change that will lead to a more
peaceful, just, and harmonious society," 12 as the term has been
defined by a United Nations committee. For Bahi'is, literacy
provides the human soul with direct access to the transformative
influence of the Word of God.

11 A letter written from Iran in 1981 provides numerous examples of the
courage of these children, including the following:
Akram, the 11-year-old daughter of 'Alf Mutahhari, one of the seven
martyrs of Yazd, is another example of such heroism. After her father
and the six others were martyred, she went to school and the teacher
asked the students in her class to write an essay about their experiences
during the summer vacation. Akram wrote a sweet and factual essay
about what had happened to her family during the summer-how
the Revolutionary guards and others came to their house and took
her beloved father away, how they kept him in prison for some time,
how she met him in prison, and finally about his martyrdom.
Although her essay was "so moving that it brought tears to the
eyes of the teacher and the children in her class," Akram was threatened
with dismissal for writing about her experience. Eventually she was
permitted to stay in school after complying with the requirement to
write an essay on another topic.
From "Baha'i Children: Courageous, Steadfast," US Baha'i News (November
1981) , p. 3 .
12 Statement by the International Committee on Literacy, United Nations

International Literacy Year, 1990.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 195

Psychiatrist and writer Robert Coles, who has spent the last
30 years listening to children and recording his observations of
their thoughts about life's journey, has written: "The longer I've
known children, the more readily I've noticed the abiding interest
they have in reflecting about human nature, about the reasons
people behave as they do, about the mysteries of the universe as
evinced in the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars." 13 It is these
mysteries that the Word of God addresses.
The scriptures of the world's great religions extol the Word of
God "as the medium of celestial power and the wellspring of all
spiritual, social, and material progress." 14 It unlocks "the doors of
the hearts of men," 15 moves human souls, and harmonizes "the
divergent thoughts, sentiments, ideas, and convictions of the children
of men." 16 Baha'u'llah instructs parents, institutions, and every
member of the Baha'i'. community to assure that each child learns
to read and write. 17
For this reason, spiritual education programs must also foster
the development of literacy in areas where other schooling is not
available. In these simple neighborhood schools-open to both
Baha'i children and children of other Faiths-basic reading and
writing is taught along with moral lessons based on study of brief
selections from Baha'i and other scriptures that young learners
learn to apply to their own lives.
Many children around the world begin their Baha'i studies
with a Baha'i kindergarten program developed by the Ruhi Institute
in Colombia. In Nepal, the Sardar community has benefited from
this approach. Although Sardar children had access to a school,
they had never enrolled simply because "it was not done," but

13 Robert Coles, The Spiritual Life of Children (Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1990), p. 332.
14 The Universal House of Justice, A Wider Horizon: Selected Messages of

the Universal House ofjustice (Riviera Beach: Palabra Publications, 1992),
p. 142.
15 Baha'u'llih, Tablets ofBahd'u'lldh revealed after the Kitdb-i-Aqdas (Wilmette:

Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 173.
16 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of'Abdu'l-Bahd (Wilmette: Baha'i

Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 291.
17 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, pp. 90, 128.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

after seeing the effects of Baha' { kindergarten classes on their
children, the Sardars enrolled them in the public school as well.
The most widespread use of tutorial schools occurs in localities
where there are no other schools at all, including communities in
Cambodia, China, Colombia, India, Panama, and many other areas
throughout the world. In the village of Tafatafa, on the island of
Upolu, Western Samoa, the small Baha'f children's classes, attended
by both Baha'!s and other village children, have attracted the
attention of the mayor, who has requested that they expand to
include the study of mathematics and English as well. In Guyana,
more than 10,000 young people, ages 10-16, have participated
in a literacy program that "enables youth to read the text, feel the
power of the words, understand them, and put them into action."
Literacy programs for adults may also include components for
children, as in Uganda. And moral education programs for teachers
may include literacy components, as has occurred in Ghana.
When Baha'f spiritual education classes take place within staterun schools or other academic settings, they serve children of many
different faiths. These schools make use of such curriculum materials
as The Virtues Guide or Thoughts: Education far Peace and One
World because these materials utilize brief quotations from many
of the world's scriptures along with stories and other activities.
Communities in Bermuda, Canada, the Canary Islands, Honduras,
India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Sabah, the Solomon Islands,
Taiwan, and the United States have all used these materials. Other
school-based spiritual education programs create materials tailored
to their circumstances. In Australia, some 3,400 children participate in Baha' { classes in state schools each year. Individual Baha' {
schools in Canada, India, Macau, Panama, Tanzania, Thailand,
and Zambia have designed curriculum materials that foster the
spiritual development and service capabilities of their students.
In areas where a public school system can be counted on for
basic literacy, Baha'f approaches to moral and spiritual education
may utilize some of these same materials to attract the children's
hearts to the beauty of the Word of God. Such communities also
make extensive use of the systematic, sequential spiritual education
materials developed originally by Hand of the Cause of God 'AH-
Akbar Furutan for Baha'i schools in Iran, or by the National Spiritual
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 197

Assemblies of Australia, the United Kingdom, or the United States.
In Australia, Internet-based Baha'i classes for children are posted
on a monthly basis.

A Teacher's Influence
During this time of transition to a global society, when more than
half of the world's population is under the age of 25 and children
bear the brunt of social problems that they did not create, they
need more than access to the Word of God. They need caring
adults to intervene in their behalf. Children are not meant to
grow up alone, yet increasingly "the extended family of traditional
societies is giving way to nuclear families, which in turn are dissolving
into single-parent families and the no-parent families of many
street children. " 18
Studies of children's resilience in such highly challenging
circumstances indicate that many factors can increase their chances
for success. These factors range from qualities of the individuals
themselves, to the structure of their family lives, to their interpersonal
skill development, to the level of care that other individuals provide.
Summarizing studies of resilient children, Julius Segal calls our
attention "to the presence in their lives of a charismatic adult-a
person with whom they can identify and from whom they gather
strength. And in a surprising number of cases, that person turns
out to be a teacher." 19
The significance of caring adults in the lives of children can
be demonstrated by the disastrous effects of their absence. Following
World War II, Reuven Feuerstein accepted the new state of Israel's
challenge to educate children freed from Nazi concentration camps.
For all practical purposes these children had lacked father and
mother, extended family, and teacher. They were not culturally
different; they had been deprived of the process of enculturation.

18 Richard R. Schubert and Rick R. Little, "Our Children Are the Community
of the Future," in The Community ofthe Future, ed. Francis Hesselbein, et al,
Drucker Foundation Future Series (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998), p. 242.
19 Julius Segal, "Teachers Have Enormous Power in Affecting a Child's

Self-Esteem," The Brown University Child Behavior and Development
Newsletter, no. 4 (1988) , p. 2.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

They had endured unspeakable cruelties and had neither family
nor community to welcome them when they were released from
the horrors of the camps. What could education mean for them?
For these children, and later for many other refugees, Feuerstein
established special treatment groups in Youth Villages "where
incoming Jewish children from various parts of the world could,
under intense educational and ideological pressure, become Israeli
in a very short period of time." 20 The unconditional acceptance,
focused discipline, hard work, intense interactions, and eventual
mainstreaming in the Youth Villages produced remarkable results,
as these children were successfully integrated into Israeli society
after an average of two years.
Similar interventions transfer to a wide variety of settings. When
caring adults assist children to find meaning and significance in
the events of their lives, the children are later able to discover
meaning, value, and purpose in their own experiences. As Deborah
Meier, founder and principal of excellent small schools in Harlem,
has noted, adults have "important things to teach children, not
just a mission to get out of their way." 21 Feuerstein observes that
for children at risk "a vicious cycle of rejection, disturbed behavior
and further rejection continues unabated unless adults, and
environments constructed by adults, can intervene to break this
compulsive repetition. "22
Far from remaining neutral to the topic at hand, Feuerstein
encourages teachers to make every effort to focus the students'
attention and engage their volition by building bonds of affection,
providing clear structure, and clearly articulating the purpose of
educational activities. He observes that "children have a need to
discover meaning in stimuli and are often left unsatisfied ....
Meaning ... is the nee.dle that carries the thread through the cloth." 23
In the words of educational theorist Shulamit Reinharz, "meaning

20 Howard Sharron, Changing Children's Minds (London: Souvenir Press,
1987), p. 267.
2 1 Deborah Meier, The Power of Their Ideas (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995),

p. 21.
22 Reuven Feuerstein, quoted in Sharron, p. 269.
23 Reuven Feurestein, quoted in Sharron, pp. 41-42.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 199

is created in between action and reflection. " 24 And according to
cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner, "It is when the child fails
to grasp the structure of events that he adopts an egocentric
framework. " 25
This perspective gains further support from educational theorists
such as LS. Vygotsky, a cognitive scientist who demonstrates that
children are able to address more complex issues "under adult
guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers" than when
left to their own devices. 26 Learning, then, becomes an interactive
process. Inspired by Vygotsky's work, Ann Brown and Roberta
Ferrara draw the following conclusions from their own observations
of interactions between children and teachers:
Via the intervention of a supportive, knowledgeable other, the
child is led to the limits of her own understanding. The tutor
did not, however, tell the child what to do; she entered into an
interaction where the child and the tutor were mutually
responsible for getting the task done. As the child adopts more
of the essential skills initially undertaken by the adult, the adult
relinquished control. Transference of power is gradually and
mutually agreed upon. 27
'Abdu'l-Baha writes, "Know ye the value of these children, for
they are all my children," 28 thereby reminding teachers of the great
importance of children and of the attitude of teachers toward chem.
The attitudes and skills of effective teachers in the spiritual education
process cannot simply be learned once and for all. They become
part of teachers' ongoing process of spiritual development. The

24 Shulamit Reinharz, On Becoming a Social Scientist (New Brunswick:
Transaction, 1984), p. 355.
25 Jerome Bruner, Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (Cambridge: Harvard

University Press, 1986), p. 68.
26 LS. Vygotsky, Mind in Society (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,

1978), pp. 85-86.
27 Ann Brown and Roberta Ferrara, "Diagnosing Zones of Proximal

Development" in Culture, Communication, and Cognition, ed. J. Wertsch
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp. 300-01.
28 'Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 54.
200 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Baha'i writings speak clearly to the importance of one's personal
transformation. Baha'u'llah writes: "Whoso ariseth among you
to teach the Cause of his Lord, let him, before all else, teach his
own self, that his speech may attract the hearts of them that hear
him." 29 Discussing the responsibilities of a teacher, 'Abdu'l-Baha
says: "If one should, in the right way, teach and train the children,
he will be performing a service than which none is greater at the
sacred Threshold .... You must, however, struggle unceasingly to
perfect yourself and win ever higher achievements." 30 And further:
"The teacher should not see in himself any superiority; he should
speak with the utmost kindliness, lowliness, and humility, for such
speech exerteth influence and educateth the souls." 31
The Baha'i writings also assist teachers to recognize the power
of love in the spiritual education process. 'Abdu'l-Baha urged one
individual to become "a teacher of love, in a school of unity" 32
and in another letter explained that "love is the cause of unfoldment
to a searching mind." 33 When teachers believe that love is "the
most wonderful, the greatest of all living powers," 34 they may strive
to cultivate its growth in their own hearts. And through the power
of their example, they may encourage children and youth to "bring
those who have been excluded into the circle of intimate friends." 35
The genuine efforts of a teacher to create a loving environment
do not go unrewarded. Students describe a teacher as 'caring' when
the teacher makes special efforts to make class interesting, talks
with students and listens attentively to their responses, takes an
interest in the lives of students outside the classroom, provides

29 Bahi'u'llih, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahd'u'lldh (Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1994), p. 277.
30 'Abdu'l-Bahi, cited in "Baha'i Education," no. 608, p. 272.
31 'Abdu'l-Bahi, Selections, p. 30.

32 'Abdu'l-Bahi, cited in "Baha'i Education," no. 612, p. 273.

33 'Abdu'l-Bahi, Tablets of'Abdu'l-Bahd (Chicago: Baha'i Publishing Society,

1916), vol. 3, p. 526.
34 'Abdu'l-Bahi, Paris Talks: Addresses given by 'Abdu'l-Bahd in Paris in 1911-

1912 (London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 179.
35 'Abdu'l-Bahi, cited in "Extracts Relating to the Subject of Youth," The

Compilation of Compilations, vol. 2, no. 2234, p. 415.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 201

help as needed, and sets a tone of encouragement in the classroom. 36
Teachers show that they care through such simple means as greeting
the students as they arrive, saying farewell when they depart; learning
to correctly say, spell, and use the students' names; learning and
caring about the students' families and friends; and teaching the
students what they came to learn. A caring teacher demonstrates
courtesy, respect, and reason in making requests and does not
tolerate mistreatment of others or of the learning environment.
Whatever meets and then exceeds the requirements of teaching
conveys love to the learners.
While a loving environment enhances learning in any educational
setting, it is crucial for the success of programs for spiritual education.
Participation in spiritual education programs is most often entirely
voluntary, a choice made by the students themselves or their families.
They are attracted through invitation, love, engaging and maintaining
their interest, and by assisting them to discover a venue for offering
their contributions to the world around them. 'Abdu'l-Baha explains
that "man reacheth perfection through good deeds, voluntarily
performed, not through good deeds the doing of which was forced
upon him." 37 One purpose of the spiritual education process is to
engage the volition of the students, assist them to develop a plan
for their own spiritual development, and teach them strategies to
become successful in a lifelong process of learning.
Baha'u'llah explains that when the heart of a teacher is illumined
with the light of the love of God, this love becomes "the key"
that unlocks "the hearts of men." 38 Similarly, He explains that
the Word of God, the divine scriptures, functions as "the master
key" for unlocking the human heart. 39 As teachers strive to develop
in themselves the love of God, share that love with children, engage

36 See Kathryn Wentzel, "Student Motivation in Middle School: The Role
of Perceived Pedagogical Caring," Journal ofEducational Psychology, vol.
89, no. 3, (1997), pp. 411-19; also Dick Corbett and Bruce Wilson,
"What Urban Students Say about Good Teaching," Educational Leadership
(September 2002), pp. 18-22.
37 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 115.

38 Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 205.

39 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 173.
202 THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

them in dialogue about their own experiences, and assist them to
understand their experiences in light of the Word of God, teachers
become a powerful and positive influence in the lives of the children
they serve.
Spiritual education is not a simple process. 'Abdu'l-Baha states
that it is "very difficult to undertake this service, even harder to
succeed in it." 40 Like those engaged in other avenues of service
within the Baha'i Faith, teachers would be well served to remember:
"Look ye not upon the seed, look ye upon the tree." 41

Learning in Groups

The writings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha variously describe
the human family as "waves of one sea" and "stars of one heaven";
"d rops o f one ocean" ; "fl owers o f one gar d en" an d " rays o f one
sun"; and "trees of one orchard." 42 'Abdu'l-Baha further explains
that in an orchard of fruit trees, it is
the diversity and variety that constitutes its charm; each flower,
each tree, each fruit, beside being beautiful in itself, brings out
by contrast the qualities of the others, and shows to advantage
the special loveliness of each and all.43
Consciousness of the oneness and wholeness of the entire human
race and recognition of the value of diversity carry profound
implications for the spiritual and practical education of children.
The Universal House of Justice has written:
Acceptance of the oneness of mankind is the first fundamental
prerequisite for reorganization and administration of the world
as one country, the home of humankind. Universal acceptance
of this spiritual principle is essential to any successful attempt
to establish world peace. It should therefore be universally
proclaimed, taught in schools, and constantly asserted in every

40 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 133.
41 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 82.
42 See, for example, 'Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 181; Bah a' u'llah, Tablets

of Bahd'u'LLdh, p. 27; 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace,
pp. 24 and 116; and 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 88.
43 'Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 52.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 203

nation as preparation for the organic change in the structure
of society which it implies. 44
As diversity in learning groups around the world continually
increases as a result of the movement of peoples in this age of
global crisis and opportunity, teachers can take advantage of these
diverse backgrounds, experiences, talents, and capacities to enhance
the learning of the group as a whole. The vital interplay between
individual diversity and group unity is affirmed by peace educator
Elise Boulding, who writes that "each of us comes into the world
as a unique individual with unique perceptions, needs, and
interests" 45 and by critical theorist Maxine Greene, who observes
in The Dialectic ofFreedom that "[h]uman consciousness ... is always
situated; and the situated person, inevitably engaged with others,
reaches out and grasps the phenomena surrounding him/her from
a particular vantage point and against a particular background
consciousness." 46 The particularity of our perceptions is not at all a
handicap, for, as the Baha'i writings state, "Man is not intended to
see through the eyes of another, hear through another's ears nor
comprehend with another's brain. Each human creature has individual
endowment, power, and responsibility in the creative plan of God." 47
Students with diverse talents and varied backgrounds have much
to offer each other. Sociologist Robert Bellah observes, "We find
ourselves not independently of other people and institutions but
through them. We never get to the bottom of ourselves on our
own. We discover who we are face to face and side by side with
others in work, love, and learning. " 48 As children learn to ask each
other "What are you going through? What is your experience?
What makes sense to you?" they learn about the reality that connects

44 The Universal House of Justice, M essages 1963- 1986 (Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1996), p. 690.
45 Elise Boulding, Building a Global Civic Culture (New York: Teachers

College Press, 1988), p. 140.
46 Maxine Greene, The Dialectic of Freedom (New York: Teachers College

Press, 1988), p. 20 .
47 'Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 293.

48 Robert Bellah, et. al., Habits of the Heart (New York: Harper and Row,

1985), p. 84.
204 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

all human beings. In Paolo Friere's words, "dialogue seals the
relationship." 49 And in this context, too, the Baha'i writings state:
"The injury of one shall be considered the injury of all; the comfort
of each, the comfort of all; the honor of one, the honor of all." 50
'Abdu'l-Baha describes the importance of dialogue among
students in the following passage. He writes:
Most ideas must be taught them through speech, not by book
learning. One child must question the other concerning these
things, and the other child must give the answer. In this way,
they will make great progress .... Even so in Godlike affairs.
Oral questions must be asked and the answers must be given
orally. They must discuss with each other in this manner. 5 1
The dynamism inherent in any attempt to learn from varied
points of view requires the development of a hearing ear that
recognizes differences and honors diversity, while always returning
to the whole. The unity of the group is critical, within which the
friendships of students become a powerful forum for spiritual
education. A well-established body of literature affirms the power
of group learning for increased academic progress, cooperative
behavior, self-esteem, friendships among learners from diverse social
groups, and moral development. 52
Teachers and parents observing the steadfastness, dedication,
and perseverance that children display in nurturing friendships
cannot doubt the power of these friendships for the spiritual and
moral development of children. Negotiations over games,
expectations, and who does what are sincerely conducted,

49 Paulo Friere in Ira Shor and Paulo Freire, A Pedagogy for Liberation (South

Hadley: Bergin and Garvey, 1987), p. 99.
50 'Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 168.
51 'Abdu'l-Baha, cited in "Baha'i Education," no. 696, p. 310.
52 Many authors have discussed strategies for effective use of cooperative

learning groups, including David and Roger Johnson, "Motivational
Processes in Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualistic Learning
Situations" in Research on Motivation in Education, ed. Carole and Russell
Ames (Orlando: Academic Press, 1985); Jeanne Gibbs, Tribes (Santa Rosa,
California: Center Source Publications, 1987); Robert Slavin, Cooperative
Learning (New York: Longman, 1983); Carl Rogers, Freedom to Learn
(Columbus: Merrill Publishing Co., 1983).
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 205

emotionally intense, and sustained over time. According to William
Damon in The Moral Child, these friendships are "highly effective
in large part because children engage so eagerly in them and because
the emotional stakes are so high. Children care about their
friendships and take seriously the norms and standards expected
in the relationship." 53 Likewise, from his study of cooperative
learning, Robert Slavin concludes:
Succeeding in a group activiry is one of the most exhilarating
experiences in life. Working with others to attain an important
goal is so rewarding because not only do we experience success
ourselves, but we help others to do so. As a result, groupmates
respect and value one another. 54
The spiritual education process draws extensively on the positive
power oflearning groups, for 'Abdu'l-Baha expresses the hope that
children will be "tended by one who traineth them to love." 55
Perhaps the most frequently used pattern for Baha'i classes is that
of an individual adult or youth working with a small group of
children on a regular basis to study together the Word of God,
share moral stories or stories from the history of the Faith, and
explore together how to apply these teachings in their own lives.
In addition to these simple structural arrangements, the curricula
utilized by many of these classes provide explicit practice in the
skills of unity building and group consultation.
Some programs report more specialized training for a global
vision, consultation, and conflict resolution. These include Landegg
University's Education for Peace project in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
junior youth programs of the Ruhi Institute in Colombia, the
Santitham School in Thailand, the Maxwell International Baha'i
School in Canada, and for older students, the Multi-Racial Unity
Living Experience in residence halls at Michigan State University
in the United States. The City Montessori School in Lucknow,
India, the world's largest school with some 25,000 students, promotes the vision of globalism so that, upon graduation, students

53 William Damon, The Moral Child (New York: The Free Press, Macmillan,
1988), p. 77.
54 Robert Slavin, Cooperative Learning, p. 5.
55 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 134.
206 THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

will be equipped and empowered to take up positions where they
can change the world. 56

Teacher Support for Learning Groups

'Abdu'l-Baha explains that "the first condition" for effective
consultation is "absolute love and harmony." 57 And love and
harmony in a learning group require an environment of fairness,
decorum, courtesy, and mutual respect. Perhaps for these reasons,
the Baha'i writings say that "the children's school must be a place
of utmost discipline and order." 58
One effective strategy for establishing order and discipline,
fairness, courtesy, and respect is to provide the students with the
Baha'f writings that define these standards, such as the following:
"Schools must first train the children in the principles of religion,
so that the Promise and the Threat recorded in the Books of God
may prevent them from the things forbidden," 59 and "The child
must not be oppressed or censured because it is undeveloped; it
must be patiently trained." 60
In light of the natural responsiveness of the human heart to
the Word of God and the authentic experiences of learners within
the group, the group itself can become highly effective in outlining
these standards and helping to maintain them. 61 When the teacher

56 One Country, the quarterly newsletter of the Baha'i International
Community, features many srories about Baha'i educational projects.
For more on Landegg's Education for Peace Project, for example, see
One Country, vol. 13, no. 2 (July-October 2001); for more on the
Montessori School in Lucknow, see One Country, vol. 13, no. 3 (October-
December 2001) and vol. 14, no. 1 (April-June 2002); for more on the
Santitham School, see One Country, vol. 10, no. 1 (April-June 1998) .
These and other stories are also available on the One Country Web site,
at <www.onecountry.org>.
57 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 87.
58 'Abdu' l-Baha, Selections, p. 137.

59 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 68.
60 'Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 181.

61 See such authors as Deborah Meier, The Power of Their Ideas (Boston:

Beacon Press, 1996), Thomas Likona, Education for Character (New York:
Bantam Books, 1991), Alfred Alschuler, School Discipline (cont'd)
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 207

provides access to sacred scriptures on this topic, poses questions
honestly, listens with attention and care, and contributes her own
views to the conversation, a group of children or junior youth
can be counted on to describe the sort of environment necessary
for learning and to evolve mutually agreed-upon standards and
strategies for discipline. At the same time, the teacher must accept
responsibility for initiating the discussion and providing the
conceptual framework to assure its success, and must accept the
trust placed in her by the students to enforce these standards when
necessary. Far from being arbitrary or imposing her will, in those
instances the teacher is actually serving the group, because without
standards, the group will cease to exist. It is a role distinction,
not a valuation of character. Where consultation does not lead to
an outcome satisfactory to all, the teacher has the responsibility
of upholding the mutually agreed-upon standards with appropriate
reward and punishment. The Baha'i writings provide the basis
for such action, stating:
Whensoever a mother seeth that her child hath done well, let
her praise and applaud him and cheer his heart; and if the slightest
undesirable trait should manifest itself, let her counsel the child
and punish him, and use means based on reason, even a slight
verbal chastisement should this be necessary. It is not, however,
permissible to strike a child, or vilify him, for the child's character
will be totally perverted if he be subjected to blows or verbal
abuse. 62
If disciplinary questions are not resolved through consultation
and firm but gentle direction, the teacher may consider involving
the parents or sponsoring institution, exploring the broader
community or family context for the misbehavior, and seeking the
advice of other collaborators, including professionals in the field.
Baha'{s regard spiritual learning as too important to allow the
disruptive forces of a society in transition to rob this generation
of children of its benefits. In its letter to the Baha'ls of the world

(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980), and William Glasser, Choice Theory
(New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998) for more information about
these strategies.
62 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, pp. 124-25 .
208 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

at Riqvan (April) 2000, the Universal House of Justice calls the
entire community to its responsibilities on behalf of the world's
children:
Children are the most precious treasure a community can possess,
for in them are the promise and guarantee of the future. They
bear the seeds of the character of future society which is largely
shaped by what the adults constituting the community do or
fail to do with respect to children. They are a trust no community
can neglect with impunity. An all-embracing love of children,
the manner of treating them, the quality of the attention shown
them, the spirit of adult behavior toward them-these are all
among the vital aspects of the requisite attitude. Love demands
discipline, the courage to accustom children to hardship, not
to indulge their whims or leave them entirely to their own devices.
An atmosphere needs to be maintained in which children feel
that they belong to the community and share in its purpose.
They must lovingly but insistently be guided to live up to Baha'i
standards, to study and teach the Cause in ways that are suited
to their circumstances. 63
When Baha'is are able to establish such a loving and disciplined
environment for children in their homes, spiritual education classes,
and Baha'i community life, these children will surely learn habits
that will increase their ability to contribute their talents to society
as a whole.

Spiritual Learning through Arts, Sciences, and Crafts
The effort to acquire human perfections is linked in the Baha'i
writings not only to loving support and encouragement, a disciplined
environment, and direct study of the Word of God, but also to
engagement in the arts and sciences, hard work, the capacity to
overcome hardships, and the development of the capacity to serve
others. 'Abdu'l-Baha writes:
Give them [the children] the advantage of every useful kind of
knowledge. Let them share in every new and rare and wondrous
craft and art. Bring them up to work and strive, and accustom

63 The Universal House of Justice, message to the Baha'fs of the world,
Ri4van 157 BE.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 209

them to hardship. Teach them to dedicate their lives to matters
of great import, and inspire them to undertake studies that will
benefit mankind. 64
The Baha'i writings encourage students to learn "beneficial
arts and skills, various languages, speech, and contemporary technology. "65 These writings suggest the full range of teaching and
learning strategies, including direct study of the sacred writings,
independent investigation of the truth, peer questioning, and
consultation, as well as learning through such means as memorization, recitation, meditation, reflection, storytelling, music,
drama, creativity and the arts, science, technology, nature, travel,
and play. 66 Shoghi Effendi affirms that "every child, without
exception," must learn "according to his own tastes and inclinations
and the degree of his capacity and powers."67
In studies of optimal experiences, students report that they
are happiest when their activities are simultaneously like work
and like play and are experienced both as very challenging and as
doable. 68 As cognitive psychologists Mihaly and Isabella
Csikszentmihalyi have noted, "When a person's skill is just right
to cope with the demands of a situation-and when compared to
the entirety of everyday life the demands are above average-the
quality of experience improves noticeably." 69 In direct contrast to
the self-preoccupation that "prevents people from recognizing
opportunities and using skills," 70 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and
his collaborators write, this condition of peak performance, deep
enjoyment, and harmony of self with environment is attained

64 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 129.
65 Shoghi Effendi, cited in "Baha'i Education," no. 656, p. 296.
66 The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'ls of the United States,

Foundations for a Spiritual Education (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1995), pp. 152-67.
67 Shoghi Effendi, cited in "Baha'i Education," no. 656, p. 296.
68 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Barbara Schneider, Becoming Adult (New

York: Basic Books, 2000), pp. 75-77 .
69 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Isabella Csikszentmihalyi, Optimal Experience:

Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1988), p. 32.
7°Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, p. 371.
210 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

"simply by the gradual focusing of attention on the opportunities
for action in one's environment." 71 This view is also expressed by
'Abdu'l-Baha, who observes, "So long as the thoughts of an individual
are scattered he will achieve no results, but if his thinking be
concentrated on a single point wonderful will be the fruits thereof "72
Skill development in the arts, sciences, technology, or a sport
requires students to focus intensely on the activity itself, not on
themselves or on the rules. Vigorous training and real-life, factual
feedback assist them to achieve their goals. 'Abdu'l-Baha explains
that the training process occurs gradually, through the mastery of
increasingly difficult tasks over a long period of time: "For by
exercise the spirit grows stronger, more capable of withstanding,
just as the muscle of the outer body increases its fiber through
continual action. "73
Baha'i-sponsored performing arts workshops provide one widely
utilized venue for junior youth and youth to undertake the serious
work of perfecting their art in service to the community at large.
All over the world, from Los Angeles to the Andes, from Australia
to India, these workshops combine intensive study of the sacred
writings with long hours of practice to prepare public performances
that showcase the application of spiritual principles to social issues.
In the United States, for example, where racial issues challenge
every aspect of community life, youth workshops utilize drama,
music, and dance to illustrate the harmful effects of racism and
the positive power of individual action for race unity. Baha' { schools
and institutes also cultivate the arts in their programs, as the
Universal House of Justice has called for increased use of "the
graphic and performing arts and literature," observing that "at
the level of folk art, this possibility can be pursued in every part
of the world, whether it be in villages, towns or cities." 74
A few examples serve to illustrate diverse applications of the
arts to the spiritual education process. In 1994, The Happy Hippo
Show premiered as a live weekly television program in Kazan, Russia.
71 Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, p. 382.
72 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 110.
73 'Abdu'l-Baha, Star of the West, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 104-05.

74 The Universal House of Justice, message to the Baha'fs of the world,
Ri~van 153 BE.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 2II

It featured dramatic presentations on contemporary moral issues,
followed by audience consultation that was seeded by trained hosts
and hostesses. In the years since, the format of the program has
been adapted to a wide variety of programs and situations, notably
in southeastern Europe, where it has been used to help train
educators and media representatives seeking to overcome ethnic
conflict. To date, more than 1,000 people in 40 countries have
participated in training sessions to assure sustainability of this
creative approach to moral education. 75 In Ontario, Canada, the
Nancy Campbell Collegiate Institute, a Baha'i-inspired school,
believes that integrating character education with the performing
arts and academic studies provides students with the best kind of
preparation for life-an approach borne out by the school's being
awarded first place ranking for academic excellence in Ontario in
2001. In the United States, teachers trained in the Baha'i community's core curriculum have championed the integration of arts
and sciences into the spiritual education process with increasing
success since 1992. And in New York City, the highly diverse
Children's Theater Company has been so well received for promoting
racial unity and virtues through the arts that its members have
performed for the United Nations and on television on Sesame
Street and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The Teacher as Coach

It is obvious that just as children's interests and talents vary, it is
also the case, as stated in the Baha'i writings, that "children of
the same age, the same country, the same race, indeed of the same
family, and trained by the same individual, still are different as to
the degree of their comprehension and intelligence."76 For this
reason, "the teacher must . . . arrange the children in groups, and
instruct each group according to its capacity." 77

75 For more on this project, see The Bahd'i World 1996-97, pp. 229-33;
The Bahd'i World 1998-99, pp.145-50; and One Country, vol. 10, no. 3
(October-December 1998).
76 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 131.

77 'Abdu'l-Baha, cited in "Baha'i Education," no. 627, p. 280.
212 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Because of this natural variation in capacity, capability, and
interests, educators have found that students achieve a higher level
of mastery through "group instruction supplemented by frequent
feedback and individualized help." 78 When the teacher structures
varied activities for the full range of interests and abilities of the
students, "students can pursue interests in depth and with a minimum of time limitations .... Learners can function as teachers,
researchers, apprentices, resident experts, or as learning managers. "79 In this educational model, the teacher circulates among
the students, providing direct instruction, assistance, and encouragement as needed.
As a practical example of this model, a teacher may assist learners
to prepare a community-wide devotional program by organizing
a variety of activities so that some children read aloud to each
other as they select inspirational quotations for the program; a
few students work together to prepare answers to the questions
they anticipate from their guests; several others create decorations
and arrange the environment; still others prepare written invitations
to the program and create a plan for building participation from
the community at large; and the rest of the class works directly
with the teacher to practice telling the stories they plan to share.
Later, all the students might practice singing together and then
rehearse the entire program from beginning to end.
Baha' is certainly recognize that no single pedagogical model
assures success. A wide variety of approaches to classroom organization, methods of instruction, and modes of discipline can all
be successful in a variety of circumstances. Whether teaching
individuals about the Baha'i Faith or fostering the spiritual education
of children, the Baha'i writings explain that "it is the sign of an
able teacher to know how to best adapt his methods to various
types of people. "80

78 Benjamin Bloom, Alf Our Children Learning (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1981), p. 140.
79 Barbara Clark, Optimizing Learning (Columbus: Merrill, 1986), p. 48.

80 Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, cited in "G uidelines for

Teaching" in The Compilation of Compilations, vol. 2, no. 1941 , p. 308.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 213

Service: The Fruit of Spiritual Education
Baha'u'llah writes: "Man is like unto a tree .... The fruits of the
human tree are exquisite, highly desired and dearly cherished. Among
them are upright character, virtuous deeds and a goodly utterance. "8 1
In one passage, He offers the following admonishment:

Strain every nerve to acquire both inner and outer perfections,
for the fruit of the human tree hath ever been and will ever be
perfections both within and without. It is not desirable that a
man be left without knowledge or skills, for he is then but a
barren tree. Then, so much as capacity and capability allow, ye
needs must deck the tree of being with fruits such as knowledge,
wisdom, spiritual perception, and eloquent speech. 82

Baha'is believe that just as the tree's fulfillment lies in its
production of fruit, so the individual's fulfillment lies in contributing
to society. The Baha'i writings state that there is "no greater bliss,
no more complete delight" than for the individual to see that he
has "become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and
advantage to his fellow men." 83
The vision and capabilities to make such contributions can
be learned from the earliest age, whether at home, at school, or
in the community. Since cooperative behavior is seeded within
the human spirit, a proper beginning sets the pattern for a lifetime
of bearing fruit. As educational theorist Alfie Kohn notes,

This tendency to cooperate, to work actively with rather than
against others, has been found among toddlers and even infants.
So-called "prosocial behaviors"-cooperating, helping, sharing,
comforting, and so on-occur in almost every child, even though
research in this area has been practically nonexistent until very
recently. Regular examples of children under three years of age
giving their toys to playmates, spontaneously taking turns in

81 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 257.
82 Baha'u'llah, cited in "Baha'i Education," no. 560, p. 247.
83 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Secret ofDivine Civilimtion (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing

Trust, 1994), p. 3.
214 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

games, and so on must give pause to any one who assumes
competitiveness is the natural state of the human. 84

The Baha'i writings suggest that teachers promote 'pro-social
behaviors' through encouraging direct study of the Word of God;
establishing a warm and nurturing environment with reasonable
rules and order; training children to develop their talents and
capacities; and learning to serve others. Such an approach is borne
out by William Damon, who writes, "Only through real service
can children learn what it means to have others rely on them, to
be entrusted with an important function, and to bear the credit
or blame for a job well or poorly done." 85 Beginning with the
care of plants, animals, and the classroom environment, for example,
young children can move naturally into caring for each other both
individually and in small groups. From there it is a series of small
steps until children can offer service to groups in other classrooms,
the school as a whole, the larger community, and gradually find
ways to connect with and offer some small service to the whole
of humanity.
In light of the fundamental purpose of spiritual education to
benefit humanity, virtually all Baha'i efforts for the spiritual
education of children are intended to result in service. Whether a
weekly Baha'i class, a Baha'i academic school, or a more general
spiritual education program based on the varied scriptures of all
religions, service is the result, for "the students must show the
results of their study in their deportment and deeds; otherwise
they have wasted their lives." 86
It is this element of service that mobilizes Baha'is' efforts in
the wider community. In the "Clean Water, Live Dam" campaign
in Evora, Portugal, for example, Baha'is were able to organize a
project to clean the dam that provides drinking water to the city
by collaborating with local schools and government agencies. In
Zambia, where the Baha'i community has operated a long-standing
volunteer community health worker training project, a public health

84 Alfie Kohn, No Contest (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986), p. 19.
85 William Damon, The Moral Child, p. 130.
86 'Abdu'l-Baha, cited in "Deepening," in The Compilation of Compilations,

vol. I , no. 424, p. 203.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 215

nurse for the Ministry of Health observed that, in her experience,
health workers "willingly volunteer to get trained, but they are
not wholeheartedly prepared to serve. They need something to
sustain their zeal. They don't seem to know who they are really
serving." In contrast, "the Baha'i-trained health educators know
that they are serving." The difference, she said, is "the spiritual
stand."
Students with a deep understanding of the principle of the
oneness of humanity, who are practicing the art of consultation
and developing their God-given talents and capacities in service
to others, become ready to undertake lines of action beyond their
own small learning group. And when students begin to consult
with members of the community at large and to explore with
them simple actions to improve their communities, those students
become powerful agents for positive change.
Robert Coles, who has recorded his more than 30 years of
careful observations of children in a wide variety of settings, writes,
''A major consequence of community service for many, young and
old alike, is an inclination to think about those words 'community'
and 'service,' to seek in them a larger vision .... " 87 An illustration
of this point is seen in Chicago, when community leaders initiated
a citywide process of appreciative inquiry to discover the best of
that city's strengths and build on them. Children played an
important role in that process, and to the team's surprise, "the
very best interviews-the most inspiring stories, the most passion
filled data, the most textured and well illustrated examples, the
most daring images of possibility-were all conducted by children
of Chicago." 88 As the children's questions inspired profound thought
and generated excitement in adults, the children and adults together
began to plan and carry out small but important improvements
in their city.

87 Robert Coles, The Call ofService (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993), p.
280.
88 David Cooperrider, "The Child as Agent of Inquiry," OD Practitioner

On-line, <connection.cwru.edu/ai/uploads/Child_As_Agent.pdf>, p. 3.
216 THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

The Teacher as Collaborator
When students initiate service and collaborate with others in it,
they learn, in the words of community development psychologists
Lynne Bond, Mary Belenky, and Jacqueline Weinstock, that
"knowledge is best constructed in collaborative action projects where
people work together to experiment, test, elaborate, and articulate
goals, values and ideas." 89 And as community activist Dorothy Day
observes, they "get to know each other, to learn of each other, to be
part of a community over a meal, to serve and be served." 90 While
teacher and learner are engaged in service, as with so many other
aspects of spiritual education, their roles eventually merge, for, as
Shoghi Effendi has written, "the keynote of the Cause of God is
not dictatorial authority but humble fellowship, not arbitrary power,
but the spirit of frank and loving consultation." 91
When a learning group is walking a path of service to the
community over an extended period of time, its consultation
becomes "group action-reflection; ... exploration of reality, experimentation, deliberation on concrete directions of activity as well
as the principles and concepts that must guide it; it is raising the
level of awareness, community self-diagnosis and self-education." 92
As a result, "people begin to move forward together with renewed
clarity and vigor. "93
Teachers striving to participate in this process of community
growth and development, and to foster the engagement of children
as active participants in it, cannot simply study the Baha'i writings
on spiritual education, consult with others, and move forward in
service to the community. The process of action and reflection
must become continuous both for the group and for individuals

89 Mary Belenky, Lynne Bond, and Jacqueline Weinstock, The Tradition
that Has No Name (New York: Basic Books, 1997), p. 17.
90 Dorothy Day, quoted in Robert Coles, The Call of Service, p. 283.

91 Shoghi Effendi, Bahd 'i Administration: Selected Messages 1922-1932 (Wil-

mette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 63.
92 Farzam Arbab, "The Process of Social Transformation," The Bahd'i Faith

and Marxism (Ottawa: Baha'i Studies Publications, 1987), p. 16.
93 Mary Belenky, et. al, Womens Wtzys ofKnowing (New York: Basic Books,

1986), p. 8.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 217

within it. For Baha'is, this process includes regular study of the
Baha'i writings as a source of spiritual insight and as a standard
by which to evaluate the results of these actions, and then to modify
their plans as necessary.

Children in a Learning Community
Baha'u'llah describes humanity as "a mine rich in gems of inestimable
value" and notes that "education can, alone, cause it to reveal its
treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom." 94 Hence the
process of spiritual education must actively search out the special
excellence, the "gems" of talent and capacity in children, and assist
them to contribute their talents to the well-being of the whole.
Baha'u'llah further explains: "The fundamental purpose
animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the
interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster
the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men." 95 In this global
age, Baha'ls believe that spiritual education must include direct
instruction about the principle of the oneness of humanity, "a
spiritual truth which all the human sciences confirm," because
"world order can be founded only on an unshakeable consciousness
of the oneness of mankind." 96
Children are thus encouraged to cultivate a world-embracing
vision, while educators are advised: "Of all the arts and sciences,
set the children to studying those which will result in advantage
to man, will ensure his progress and elevate his rank. "97 When
children are cared for and educated spiritually, they can play their
part in this viral process, "so that once they come of age, they
will cast their beams like brilliant candles on the world." 98

94 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 162.
95 Baha' u'llah, Tablets, p. 168.
96 The Universal House of Justice, The Promise o/World Peace (Haifa: Baha'i

World Centre, 1985), p. 13.
Tablets, p. 168.
97 Baha' u'llah,

98 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 136.
218 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The Universal House of Justice has noted that when "children
feel that they belong to the community and share in its purpose," 99
when they contribute their acts of service, recite their prayers,
and share their talents in community gatherings, they bring joy
to their parents, create "a true sense of belonging ... in the hearts
of those present," 100 and provide a clear focus for the community's
vision of a better future. Reports submitted to the Baha'i World
Centre give evidence of an increasing vitality of community life
in many countries around the world. Through participation in
community activities, children are surrounded by the love of the
community and, as part of that community, contribute to it.
Spiritual education and community involvement are not limited to Baha'is, and Baha'u'llah's message was "never intended to
reach or to benefit one land or one people only." 101 In the Five
Year Plan, in which the Baha'i community is currently engaged,
the Universal House of Justice continues to provide guidance
for the direction and process of Baha'i spiritual education. In
2002, the Universal House of Justice noted progress along lines
of action related to spiritual education and training: "The culture
now emerging is one in which groups of Baha'u'llah's followers
explore together the truths in His Teachings, freely open their
study circles, devotional gatherings, and children's classes to their
friends and neighbors, and invest their efforts confidently in plans
of action .... " 102
The clear focus on three core activities in the Five Year Planstudy circles, devotional meetings, and children's classes-is already
generating new levels of action. More than 100 national Baha'i
communities have given careful consideration to the selection of
a spiritual education curriculum, many of them adopting one of
the curricula already described in this essay, with the plan to gradually
adapt it as necessary to serve the needs of that area. Other countries,

99 The Universal House of Justice, message to the Baha'fs of the world,
Ridvan 157 BE.
100 The Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963-1986, p. 310.

101 Baha'u'Ilah, Tablets, p. 89.

102 The Universal House of Justice, message to an individual believer,

22 August 2002.
SPIRITUAL EDUCATION 219

such as Niger, continue a vigorous curriculum development process.
The series of books created by Hand of the Cause of God 'AH-
Akbar Furutan has been translated into English and made widely
available. New educational materials have been prepared in Albania,
Brazil, Italy, and Romania. In the United States, nine new lesson
planning guides, the first three volumes of an illustrated storybook
series for children, and a clearly articulated curriculum scope and
sequence enhance the effectiveness with which the core curriculum
can be implemented in that country and elsewhere.
Similarly, training institute programs for teachers and parents
continue to increase the numbers of classes available for children.
In many parts of the world "the regular holding of Baha'i children's
classes ... is the first activity in a process of community building
which, if pursued vigorously, gives rise to the other developments." 103
In due time, as community after community around the world
arises to promote the spiritual education of children, as experience
is gained among the "increasing number of educators working in
varied cultural and ecological settings throughout the world," 104
as these educators share the results of their diverse activities with
each other and Baha'i institutions, and as they engage in this process
with educators from the community at large, the Baha'i community
shall gradually learn and become effective in a wholly new and
truly universal spiritual educational process.

103 Message of the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of Continental Boards of Counsellors, 26 December 1995.
104 Statement approved by the Universal House of Justice, "Baha'i Social

and Economic Development: Prospects for the Future," 16 September
1993.
World Watch
Ann Boyles looks at various aspects of
corruption and what the Bahd '{
community can contribute to bolster
current efforts to address this rampant
social epidemic.

H eadlines trumpet the misdeeds of high-profile figures and
organizations in the business world, politics, religion,
entertainment, and the media. Apparent misbehavior even
of entire governments has been exposed. Viewed through the lens
of these numerous stories, corruption would appear to be one of
the most rampant social epidemics of our time. But while rampant,
is it inevitable-or is there perhaps hope for a cure?
Certainly, corruption is widespread. The arenas in which it is
practiced are as wide and varied as humanity's social and economic
institutions. They range from government and public office to
business to religion to cultural and academic life to social and
economic development.
"Next to tyranny, corruption is the great disease of government,"
states Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., in his 19 84 classic study, Bribes. 1
And while corruption (particularly corruption in public life) may
be more generally associated in the public mind with poor and
transitional societies, it is certainly not particular to them. "It
occurs in democracies and military dictatorships and at all levels

1 John T. Noonan, Jr., Bribes: The Intellectual History ofa Moral Idea (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1984), p. 700.

22!
222 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

of development and in all types of economic systems, from open
capitalist economies such as that of the United States to centrally
planned economies such as the former Soviet Union's," 2 economist
Kimberly Ann Elliott points out.
Corruption "is a symptom that something has gone wrong in
the management of the state," says political scientist Susan Rose-
Ackerman. "Institutions designed to govern the interrelationships
between the citizen and the state are used instead for personal
enrichment and the provision of benefits to the corrupt. "3 The result
is that the legitimacy and effectiveness of government are undermined.
At the highest levels of public office around the world, "grand
corruption" involves major government initiatives, in which
governments award certain private firms with concessions and
contracts in repayment for bribes, which are generally split between
private investors and the corrupt officials. Studies reveal that the
process of privatization of public services is a particularly vulnerable
time for corrupt insider deals, as investors and officials quietly
stake out their "rent-seeking" territory. 4 Hence, countries "in
transition" from socialist to capitalist forms of government are
perhaps at the greatest risk from corruption, as evidenced by the
rise of organized crime in former Soviet bloc countries, for example.
In countries where corruption is widely practiced in the public
sector, certain characteristics are common: public investment is
preferred to private investment; capital-intensive public projects are
plentiful; projects that do not promote economic development but
that bring in large amounts of foreign money are popular; and the
infrastructure is of a lower quality, because less is spent on operations
and maintenance. 5 The effects of such policies on education and
health structures can be particularly acute. While construction projects
such as bridges, roads, and large buildings are lucrative sources for
bribes, teachers', doctors', and nurses' salaries are not, and so less

2 Kimberly Ann Elliott, introduction to Corruption and the Global Economy,
ed. Kimberly Ann Elliott (Washington, D.C.: Institute for International
Economics, 1997), p. 1.
3 Susan Rose-Ackerman , Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences,

and Reform (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 9.
4 Rose-Ackerman, p. 27.

5 Rose-Ackerman, p. 30.
WORLD WATCH 223

money is likely to be assigned to health and education. Corruption
in the public sector has many other ripple effects, too. One writer
points out that it "bypasses due process and weakens civil rights,
blocking off legitimate channels of political access and accountability
while opening up (and concealing) illicit new ones." 6
When foreign governments and international aid agencies enter
into agreements with such corrupt regimes to deliver social and
economic development projects, their aid-presumably aimed at
bettering conditions in the target country-often perpetuates the
problem by fuelling corrupt practices. According to a 1998 World
Bank study, for example, Tanzania received $2 billion in Western
aid over 30 years to maintain its roads, but during that time the
condition of its roads actually deteriorated. 7 Clearly, the money
was somehow misdirected. In fact, it is believed that corruption
claims at least 10 percent of global aid, although some would put
the figure much higher. 8
Over the past decade or so, a spate of books on the topic of
corruption in the social and economic development field have
detailed how aid organizations have perpetuated corrupt system
governments by bribing officials in order to operate within countries;
how donor agencies have turned a blind eye to human rights abuses
in order to continue their operations; how the common practice
of "tied aid" ensures that contracts for aid relief enrich the donor
country; how many of the projects are irrelevant to the real needs
and concerns of those in recipient countries; and how international
organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and
the International Monetary Fund often do more damage than good
in their aid efforts. 9 In the face of such evidence, "it is no longer
possible to maintain the belief that the approach to social and

6 Michael Johnston, "Public Officials, Private Interests, and Sustainable
Democracy: When Politics and Corruption Meet," in Elliot, Corruption
and the Global Economy, p. 63.
7 Gregg Easterbrook, "The Case for Foreign Aid: Safe Deposit," The New

Republic (29 July 2002), pp. 16-17.
8 Easterbrook, p. 17.

9 See, for example, Graham Hancock, Lords ofPoverty: The Power, Prestige,

and Corruption of the International Aid Business (New York: The Atlantic
Monthly Press, 1989).
224 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

economic development to which the materialistic conception of
life has given rise is capable of meeting humanity's needs." 10
Lest developed nations mistakenly think that corruption is a
feature of the developing world, however, recent newspaper headlines
have served to disturb such complacency. Revelations of less-thanhonest practices in the highest echelons of corporate power in
the Western world have become almost daily fare, and even
institutions and corporations previously perceived as the quintessence
of respectability or as the darlings of the stock markets have been
tainted. A small sampling of cases will suffice to illustrate the
point. One recalls the exposure of the Lockheed Corporation in
the 1970s for having paid $25 million in bribes to Japanese officials
to ensure the sale of its Tristar L-1011 aircraft. For over a decade
the Swiss National Bank has been dealing with revelations that it
laundered the equivalent of some $4 billion of Nazi gold, about a
sixth of it from Jews destined for the death camps and most of
the remainder looted from banks in occupied countries.
Furthermore, Swiss banks have been exposed as deliberately
withholding, for more than 50 years, the contents of "dormant"
accounts of Holocaust victims and their families. 11 Germany's GM
subsidiary Adam Opel saw 65 of its executives investigated for
bribe-taking in the mid-1990s. Around that same time a Canadian
company, Bre-X-which claimed to have discovered the world's
largest gold deposit in Indonesia-perpetrated a fraud that saw
stock values escalate rapidly and then plunge scarcely two or three
years later when tests from the site revealed that it held little or
no gold. Investors' stocks that had traded at more than $200 per
share became worthless almost overnight.
But these examples of fraud and corruption are dwarfed by
those contained in the names Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Adelphia,
Vivendi, and lmClone, which have become household words over
the past year or so and which represent the latest-and most
spectacular-in a long string of corporate scandals. They seem

10 The Baha'i International Community, The Prosperity of Humankind
(London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 3.
11 See, for example, Amos Elon, "Switzerland's Lasting Demon," The New

York Times M agazine (12 April 1998), pp. 40-44.
WORLD WATCH 225

most notable for the massive scale of the corruption practiced.
Astonishingly, Enron was able to overstate its earnings by some
$600 billion between 1997 and 2001, hiding huge debts through
"off balance sheet partnerships,'' while WorldCom has the dubious
distinction of having suffered the world's largest corporate
bankruptcy after the revelation that it moved costs from operating
to capital accounts to keep investors from discovering the
corporation's increasing expenses and falling profits. In most of
these scandals top executives themselves directed the corrupt
practices.
In an insightful editorial in the International Herald Tribune,
William Pfaff characterizes Enron not only as a scandal but also
as "the product of a pathological mutation in capitalism," in which
"owners' capitalism" has been replaced by "managers' capitalism."
Disregarding the long-term interests of their companies and their
stockholders, these managers pursued short-term gains with
disastrous results for everyone but themselves, as share values
plummeted and employee pension funds-tied to company
investments through stock options-became worthless. 12
Pfaff concludes, "Owners' capitalism failed in practice because
the markets have so diffused corporate ownership that no responsible
owner exists. Managers exploited that void to turn corporations
into mechanisms for their personal enrichment. This is morally
unacceptable, but it is also a corruption of capitalism itself, and
of the society in which it functions." Reform, he asserts, "is useless
when the system itself has failed."
Nor do the realms of religion and science escape accusations
of serious corruption. If headlines in Western media are not occupied with the likes of Enron and WorldCom, they may well be
broadcasting the sexual abuse of children by priests in the Roman
Catholic Church and seeming efforts by bishops to cover it up

12 William Pfaff, ''A Pathological Mutation in Capitalism," International Herald
Tribune (9 September 2002). Harper's index provides some hard figures
that make Pfaff's point eloquently. It states that the maximum amount
each ofEnron's 4,500 laid-off employees would receive as part of a proposed
settlement is $13,500, while the company paid its 140 top executives an
average of $5,300,000 last year (Harper's Index, November 2002).
226 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

and protect the perpetrators. And in the supposedly objective field
of scientific research, some study results have been found to be
skewed in favor of the corporations funding the studies. Large
pharmaceutical companies, for example, have been implicated, as
they race to get new drugs approved and out into the marketplace
before their competitors.
In short, if we didn't realize it already, such a catalogue clearly
reveals that no area of human life is immune from the temptations
of corruption. In response, cynics shrug their shoulders and cite
the oft-quoted statement by the British historian John Emerich
Edward Dahlberg, Lord Acton, that "power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely" and that "great men are almost
always bad men." Indeed, the perception that corruption is part
of human nature and therefore must remain an inevitable part of
life is very commonly held throughout the contemporary world.
But is it necessarily true?
The problem, in essence, is not political or economic.
Corruption is, as defined by Webster's dictionary, the "impairment
of integrity, virtue, or moral principle,'' and when the term is
applied to those holding positions of responsibility and trust, it
refers specifically to "inducing a violation of duty by means of
pecuniary considerations." To dismiss corruption merely as "human
nature" is to remove it from the realm in which it properly belongs:
that of free will and moral choice.
The distinction between these two perceptions is one of great
importance, since the consequences of corruption are so injurious
to both society and the individual. As John T. Noonan, Jr., writes,
" ... the common good of any society consists not only in its material
possessions but in its shared ideals. When these ideals are betrayed,
as they are betrayed when bribery is practiced, the common good,
intangible though it be, suffers injury," while at the same time,
"[h]uman beings do not engage in such acts without affecting
their characters, their view of themselves, their integrity." 13
An individual clearly must possess some degree of power in
order to be presented with opportunities to engage in corrupt
practices, but the absence of clearly articulated, widely enforced

13 Noonan, p. 700.
WORLD WATCH 227

ethical standards is also an important factor, as it establishes a
climate for such behavior. This has proven to be the case in both
developing and developed countries, as the influence of traditional
values and religion have declined.
In many cases, the moral basis of human relationships has
been superseded by an economic one, in which people are regarded
as either suppliers or consumers. Greed is fuelled by this prevailing
materialistic view of existence, which gauges "worth'' solely according
to material criteria such as wealth, prestige, property, and influence.
Corruption proliferates as perpetrators seek advantage over others
with no clear ethical foundations to hold them in check.
The result? Corruption's costs are felt everywhere:

In poor countries, corruption may lower economic growth,
impede economic development, and undermine political
legitimacy, consequences that in turn exacerbate poverty and
political instability. In developed countries, the economic effects
may be less severe; however, even in rich countries diverted
resources will not be available for improving living standards.
Corruption also tends to exacerbate income inequalities by
increasing the power of those willing and able to pay bribes to
the detriment of those who cannot, and this issue is of increasing
concern in many developed and developing countries today.
Finally, corruption can undermine political legitimacy in
industrialized democracies as well as in developing ones by
alienating the citizenry from its political leadership and making
effective government more difficult. Corruption may have the
most deleterious effects in countries in transition, such as Russia,
where, left unchecked, it could undermine support for democracy
and a market economy. 14

Given such consequences, assessing and addressing corruption
are of the utmost importance. While some have argued that assessing
what is a bribe depends on cultural particularities, such factors
are losing ground in the face of economic liberalization, democratic reforms, and increasing global integration, which, as Kimberly
Ann Elliott notes, "are combining to expose corruption and
raise awareness of [corruption's] costs" and have "sparked an

14 Elliott, pp. 1-2.
228 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

anticorruption backlash that is spreading around the world." 15 It
seems clear, then, that what constitutes corrupt behavior is more
generally understood across societies than ever before.
With regard to addressing that behavior, two general approaches
can be taken. The first treats the problem in a more mechanical
way, dealing with existing incidents of corruption by exposing
them, devising and enacting legislation that discourages corrupt
practices, or promoting structures within organizations that eliminate
opportunities for corruption.
Exposure, by organizations of civil society such as Transparency
International, has begun to have some effect. TI, formed in 1993
and modeled after Amnesty International, seeks to deter corrupt
governments and agencies by exposing them to the public gaze.
While the organization operated in obscurity for the first few years,
now major media pay attention to its annual Global Corruption
Report, its Corruption Perception Index, and its Bribe Payers
Indexes. The Corruption Perception Index ranks the world's most
corrupt countries according to a set of verifiable criteria drawn
from polls and surveys conducted by independent institutions.
Its object is to publicize how much public sphere corruption is
perceived to exist in countries for which TI can gather adequate
data, drawing on surveys conducted by independent institutions
among business people, country analysts, and local and expatriate
residents. The Bribe Payers Index reports on bribery in multinational
corporations, identifies those business sectors where bribery is most
widely practiced, investigates awareness of and compliance with
the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, and looks at other unfair
practices used by businesses in their efforts to secure contracts.
Transparency International's experience seems to indicate that
exposure is an effective deterrent. Indeed, the German public reacted
with dismay to Tl's 1995 report, which rated that country as more
corrupt than the UK or Switzerland-although less so than the
US-and the issue quickly became a leading issue of public concern. 16

15 Elliott, p. 1.
16 See Patrick Glynn, Stephen J. Kobrin, and Moises Nafm, "The
Globalization of Corruption," in Elliott, Corruption and the Global Economy,
p. 23.
WORLD WATCH 229

Legislation, penalties, and other punishments can also serve
to deter corruption. The 1977 US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
(FCPA) aims to curtail transnational bribery by American businesses
abroad. Unfortunately, however, American corporations have
complained bitterly about the disadvantages of being "the lonely
boy scout" among foreign competitors who do not operate under
such regulations. At the level of domestic corruption, judges and
prosecutors in Italy launched a "Clean Hands" campaign in the
early 1990s, which has been effective in netting corrupt politicians
and those who sponsor them. Worry exists, however, that the
country's new government is not committed to continuing the
campaign. And that is one of the chief difficulties with legislation,
penalties, and other similar punishments: they require vigilant
monitoring, and many anticorruption laws look good on paper
but are not enforced.
International and transnational organizations such as the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
have begun to play an important role in developing and enforcing
wider-reaching standards. In 1997 OECD members signed a
convention outlawing bribery by officials of multinational companies
living abroad. The Anti-Bribery Convention came into effect in
1999, with 35 signatory countries, and Transparency International
has hailed it as "a landmark measure." One direct positive result
is that signatory states can no longer treat bribes as legitimate
tax-deductible business expenses. On the other hand, however,
the Convention is not yet taken seriously because no convictions
have resulted from it, and it is still largely unheard-of in countries
where corruption is most widely practiced. Other international
organizations such as the Organization of American States, the
Southern African Development Community, the Economic
Community of West African States, and the European Union have
also put corruption on their agendas. And the European Union
has insisted that countries seeking to join the EU-largely those
from the central and southern parts of the continent-clean up
their acts before they can be admitted. (Cynics may argue that
some of the current member states, such as Italy, rank among the
most corrupt on the planet, but nevertheless, one must applaud
the EU for attempting to set some standards.)
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Codes of conduct-whether in the public or the private sector,
in professions, or in organizations of civil society-have proven
to be another useful tool in combating corruption. As Transparency
International notes, they "play an important part in the development
of national integrity systems. " In the public sector, such codeswhich may outline specific rules or may simply provide basic ethical
guidelines-can cover the public service sector at all levels from
ministers and parliamentarians to specific departments and agencies,
or even certain professions within the public service. In the private
sector, such codes establish standards both for employees and third
parties, so they know what is to be expected from the company.
And finally, codes help ensure that organizations of civil society
apply the same standards to their own functioning that they demand
from those serving in public life. 17
Another mechanical deterrent to corruption is the restructuring
of organizations and even governmental agencies in order to make
them more accountable. Often this involves changing the
hierarchical structure of the organization so that influence is not
vested only in people occupying key positions. Privatization of
publicly owned companies can also eliminate opportunities for
bribery. Political, economic, and bureaucratic reforms all play a
part in this process. Writing on the latter, James E. Rauch proposes
the development of a bureaucratic "virtuous circle" through
promotions of those deputies who show themselves to be more
interested in exercising power than in acquiring wealth through
low-level corruption. As department heads, those promoted "spend
more time supervising their deputies and are thus more likely to
weed out corrupt ones, leaving only those who restrain their
corruption available for promotion." 18

17 See <www.transparency.org/building_coalitions/conducr.htmb. For a discussion on the development of codes of conduct in organizations of
civil society, see Martha Schweitz and Bill Barnes, "Dimensions of Unity
in an Emerging Global Order" in The Baha'i World 1998-99 (Haifa:
World Centre Publications, 2000), pp. 198-211.
18 James E. Rauch, "Comments," in Elliot, Corruption and the Global Economy,

pp. 115- 16.
WORLD WATCH 231

While all of these actions-restructuring, exposing corruption,
enacting and enforcing legislation, and formulating codes of
conduct-are necessary and beneficial, they focus on relieving the
symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of the disease.
For that reason, efforts to address corruption need to be bolstered
through more long-term, vision-based strategies. Addressing the
issue of corruption in public life, the Baha'i International
Community has described the challenge of overcoming it as
"multidimensional in nature." It writes:
The adoption of administrative procedures and legal safeguards,
however important such measures may be, will not bring about
enduring changes in individual and institutional behavior. For
governance, in essence, is a moral and spiritual practice whose
compass is found within the human heart. Thus, only as the
inner lives of human beings are transformed will the vision of
a "genuine civilization of character" be realized. 19
The basis of such a 'civilization of character' is what Stephen
L. Carter would call integrity, which he defines as requiring three
steps: "(1) discerning what is right and what is wrong; (2) acting
on what you have discerned, even at personal cost; and (3) saying
openly that you are acting on your understanding of right from
wrong." 2°Corruption (which Carter terms "unimegrity") can always
be practiced by those ingenious enough to circumvent regulations,
but if society can nurture integrity in its citizens from an early
age, then it stands a better chance of inhibiting corruption because
they will recognize that such behavior is morally repugnant and
injurious to the whole of society.
This perspective sees human beings as essentially noble in nature.
It asserts the need for the systematic development of the moral
capacity of individuals, communities, and social institutions through
training in all aspects of life, whether the educational sector, public
life, business, or development. A strategy for rewarding good as

19 The Baha'i International Community, "Overcoming Corruption and
Safeguarding Integrity in Public Institutions: A Baha'i Perspective." See
pp. 263-71 for the text of this statement.
20 Stephen L. Carter, Integrity (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), p. 7.
232 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

well as punishing bad behavior would also assist in strengthening
a "civilization of character." Meaningful recognition of those
pursuing honest and trustworthy practices could become as powerful
a tool of encouragement as penalties are a deterrent. In this way,
a culture of encouragement could emerge. Indeed, with members
from highly diverse backgrounds and institutions functioning in
all parts of the planet, the Baha'i community can be viewed as a
kind of "global workshop" in this area of human advancement.
In the area of governance, the Baha'i administrative order derives
its structure and mode of functioning directly from the Faith's
Founder, Who Baha' is believe was divinely inspired. It was elaborated
and implemented by His appointed successors, 'Abdu'l-Baha and
Shoghi Effendi. For this reason, Baha' is have confidence in the
integrity of their system of governance. The relationship between
individuals serving as administrators and the community is one
of trusteeship, which encompasses ideals of trustworthiness, service,
and selflessness. Baha'i governing councils are called "Houses of
Justice,'' although at the local and national levels they go by the
"temporary appellation" of Spiritual Assemblies. 2 1 Referring to
members of these councils, Baha'u'llah's Book of Laws admonishes:
"It behoveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among
men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God
for all that dwell on earth." When they consult, they are admonished
"to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His
sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that
which is meet and seemly. " 22
Writing in 1926 to the Baha'is of the East, Shoghi Effendi
reminded them of the responsibilities of their Local Spiritual
Assemblies, including the following: "to aim to enhance the efficient
management of their affairs, and observe purity and refinement
in all circumstances; to show their commitment to truthfulness
and honesty, and their ability to conduct themselves with frankness,
courage and resolution"; and "to adhere in all dealings to a standard

21 Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahd 'u'lfdh: Selected Letters, 2d rev.
ed. (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 6.
22 Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas (Haifa: Baha'i World Centre, 1993), para.

30, p. 29.
WORLD WATCH 233

of scrupulous integrity." The letter points out how the Baha'i sacred
writings emphasize "the virtue of trustworthiness and godliness,
of purity of motive, kindliness of heart, and detachment from
the fetters of this material world," and how they call upon Baha'is
"so to sanctify themselves that they will rise above the corrupt
and evil influences that exercise so powerful a sway over the Western
world," "to concentrate their attention on serving the general
interests of the people," and "to refrain from entering into the
tangled affairs of political parties and to have neither concern for,
nor involvement in, the controversies of politicians, the wranglings
of theologians or any of the ailing social theories current amongst
men." Such behavior and actions, the letter concludes, are "the
basic, the binding, the inescapable responsibilities of the trustees
of the Merciful, the representatives of the Baha'i communities,
the members of the Spiritual Assemblies." 23
To ensure that their elected institutions rise to such a level of
service, Baha'i electors play their part by voting only for those
who "can best combine the necessary qualities of unquestioned
loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized
ability and mature experience." 24 Cautioning the Baha'is to "exercise
the utmost vigilance" to carry out their elections "freely, universally
and by secret ballot," Shoghi Effendi states emphatically, "Any
form of intrigue, deception, collusion and compulsion must be
stopped and is forbidden." 25

23 Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi on 30 January 1926 to the
Spiritual Assemblies throughout the East, translated from the Persian,
published in "Trustworthiness: A Cardinal Baha'i Virtue," in The
Compilation ofCompilations, vol. 2 (Ingleside: Baha'i Publications Australia,
1991), no. 2079, pp. 347-49 .
24 Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Convention

of the Baha'ls of the United States and Canada, 3 June 1925, published
in Shoghi Effendi, Bahd'i Administration: Selected Messages 1922-1932
(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1998) , p. 88.
25 Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi on 8 March 1932 to a Local

Spiritual Assembly, translated from the Persian, published in "The Sanctity
and Nature of Baha'i Elections," in The Compilation of Compilations,
vol. 3 (Ingleside: Baha'i Publications Australia, 2000), no. 253, p. 147.
234 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The advantages of such a system are numerous. A letter written
on behalf of Shoghi Effendi details how Baha'i electoral procedures
help members to develop a spirit of responsibility. Since individuals
are free to vote for whomever they choose, they must become
active and well-informed community members, for how otherwise
can they make wise choices during the election? In this way, "true
social consciousness" can develop. In fact, "Baha'l community life
thus makes it a duty for every loyal and faithful believer to become
an intelligent, well-informed and responsible elector, and also gives
him the opportunity of raising himself to such a station." The
importance of preserving the integrity of the system and of the
individual's freedom of choice is also stressed. For this reason,
"since the practice of nomination hinders the development of such
qualities in the believer, and in addition leads to corruption and
partisanship, it has to be entirely discarded in all Baha'i elections." 26
There is a marked difference between the attitude of Baha'i
community members towards their institutions and attitudes found
in the wider society towards those in positions of authority and
power. With regard to the attitude of the institution members
themselves, the Universal House of Justice has written:

There needs to be a recognition on their part of the Assembly's
spiritual character and a feeling in their hearts of respect for
the institution based upon a perception of it as something beyond
or apart from themselves, as a sacred entity whose powers they
have the privilege to engage and canalize by coming together
in harmony and acting in accordance with divinely revealed
principles. With such a perspective the members will be able
better to acquire an appropriate posture in relation to the
Assembly itself, to appreciate their role as Trustees of the Merciful
and to counteract any impression that they have assumed
ownership and control of the institution in the manner of major
stockholders of a business enterprise. 27

26 Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, 4

February 1935, published in Shoghi Effendi, The Light ofDivine Guidance
(Hofheim-Langenhein: Baha'i Verlag, 1982), p. 68.
27 The Universal House of]ustice, letter to the National Spiritual Assembly

of the Baha'fs of the United States, 19 May 1994.
WORLD WATCH 235

For their part, community members must carefully examine
their attitudes towards the exercise of authority. The House of
Justice writes, "People generally tend to be suspicious of those in
authority. The reason is not difficult to understand, since human
history is replete with examples of the disastrous misuse of authority
and power. A reversal of this tendency is not easily achievable,
but the Baha'i friends must be freed of suspicion toward their
institutions if the wheels of progress are to turn with uninterrupted
speed." 28
Since the principles of unity and justice lie at the heart of
administrative activity, it is imperative for community members
to free themselves from suspicion and a sense of alienation from
their institutions. Shoghi Effendi cautioned both electors and those
elected:

To repudiate the validity of the assemblies of the elected ministers
of the Faith of Baha'u'llah would be to reject those countless
Tablets of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha wherein They have
extolled the station of the "trustees of the Merciful," enumerated
their privileges and duties, emphasized the glory of their mission,
revealed the immensity of their task, and warned them of the
attacks they must needs expect from the unwisdom of their
friends as well as from the malice of their enemies. Ir is surely
for those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been
committed to prayerfully watch lest the tool should supersede
the Faith itself, lest undue concern for the minute details arising
from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its
promoters, lest partiality, ambition, and worldliness tend in the
course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity, and
impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. 29
What safeguards exist, then, against corruption in Baha'i
administration? Are there mechanisms by which corrupt individuals
can be removed and the interests of the community protected?
At the international level, the seminal document is the
constitution of the Universal House ofJustice, which outlines the

28 Universal House of Justice, letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Baha'fs of the United States, 19 May 1994.
29 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahd'u'lldh, p. 10.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

responsibilities of that body. Among these are "to safeguard and
enforce that rectitude of conduct which the Law of God enjoins,"
"to be responsible for ensuring that no body or institution within
the Cause abuse its privileges or decline in the exercise of its rights
and prerogatives," and "to provide for the receipt, disposition,
administration and safeguarding of the funds, endowments and
other properties that are entrusted to its care." 30 The Universal
House of Justice, then, is required by its constitution to safeguard
the integrity of Bahf 1 institutions at all levels as well as the
community's material assets, and to enforce laws relating to behavior.
Furthermore, the constitution includes a provision allowing the
removal of any of its own members from the Universal House of
Justice for the commission of"a sin injurious to the common weal." 31
This stress upon the "common weal" is present at all levels of
Baha'i administration. As Shoghi Effendi writes: "The members
of these Assemblies, on their part, must disregard utterly their
own likes and dislikes, their personal interests and inclinations,
and concentrate their minds upon those measures that will conduce
to the welfare and happiness of the Baha' { Community and promote
the common weal." 32 Local and National Spiritual Assemblies possess
similar kinds of legislative power and authority at the local and
national levels, but there are some important differences between
these institutions and the Universal House of Justice. First, as a
matter of faith, Baha'!s believe that the decisions of the Universal
House of Justice are indisputable, since Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-
Baha affirmed that that institution is divinely protected from error; 33

30 The Universal House of Justice, Constitution of the Universal House of

Justice (Haifa: World Centre Publications, 1972), p. 5.
31 The Universal House of Justice, Constitution, p. 12.
32 Shoghi Effendi, letter to the Baha'fs of America, Australasia, rhe British

Isles, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland, dated 12 March
1923, published in Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration, p. 41.
33 Referring to the Universal House of]ustice, Baha'u'llah writes in the eighth

Ishraq of the Tablet of Ishraqat, "They that, for the sake of God, arise to
serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen
Kingdom. It is incumbent upon all to be obedient unto them ." Baha'u'llah,
The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 91. 'Abdu'l-Baha states, "Whatsoever they decide is
of God." 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 11.
WORLD WATCH 237

Local and National Assemblies are not. Second, the Universal House
of Justice has the authority both to enact and to repeal laws on
"matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book." 'Abdu'l-
Baha states, "Whatsoever they decide has the same effect as the
Text itself." 34 Local and National Assemblies, on the other hand,
have no such power. Nevertheless, it is crucial to note that the
Universal House ofJustice does not possess the authority to abrogate
or change any law revealed by Baha'u'llah. To do so would be to
corrupt the sacred texts of the Faith.
Since it is entrusted with the authority to uphold Baha'u'llah's
laws, the Universal House of Justice can be regarded as a court of
final appeal for Baha'is who disagree with decisions made by their
local or national institutions. Once the Universal House of Justice
rules on a matter, however, its decision must be obeyed.
To uphold those laws that promote the common weal and to
deal with behavior that is "injurious" to it, Baha'i institutions are
empowered to apply sanctions. In response to violations of Baha'i
law and standards of conduct, Baha'i institutions-including
National Spiritual Assemblies-are empowered to apply administrative sanctions such as the suspension of an individual's
membership rights. In such cases the individual remains a Baha'i
in belief but may not have the privilege, for example, of donating
to the Baha'i funds or participating in the election of-or being
elected to-Baha'i institutions until the cause of the removal of
his or her rights is rectified. At that point, the individual becomes
a fully participating member of the community once again. 35
Baha'is believe that the administrative order of their Faith is
perfect in its form, but not perfect in all its acts, in recognition
that individuals are not flawless. Sanctions exist to provide corrective
measures to those imperfections while safeguarding the integrity

34 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 20.
35 The application of sanctions by Baha'i administrative institutions is handled
on a case by case basis, usually following repeated attempts to counsel
the individual. Behavior for which sanctions may be applied includes,
for example, the knowing violation of Baha'i marriage or divorce laws,
blatant immoral behavior, and conduct that damages the reputation or
causes disunity in the Baha'i community.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

of the system. But while the principles practiced in the Baha'i
community may be workable within its confines to safeguard it
from corruption, what applicability does the Baha'i experience
have in the wider community, which does not necessarily share
its values?
Building moral capacity in individuals, beginning with the
education of children, is one important way in which Baha'fs can
contribute to the wider society in which they live. Such initiatives
"draw upon both scientific and religious resources in cultivating
the concepts, values, attitudes, and skills necessary for creating
an ethos of rectitude and integrity," the Baha'i International Community has written, noting that "[t]he formulation of pedagogical
approaches and methods that systematically promote moral
development has been a particular focus of Baha'i efforts. "36
Collaboration between Baha'i and governmental or public
agencies in a number of countries has been fruitful. In Bolivia,
Nur University's Just Governance Program offers moral leadership training to government and other public officials as well as
members of grassroots organizations to strengthen the capacities
of public sector workers; in Brazil, the Justice in Education project
of the Human Plenitude Program is working with the country's
Ministry of Education and the National Association of Judges
and Prosecutors to implement training for legal professionals,
focusing on ethical issues surrounding the protection of children
and youth involved in the justice system; in southeastern Europe,
under the umbrella of the European Union's Stability Pact, Stop
and Act (formerly The Happy Hippo Show) has used interactive
drama to train educators, media representatives, journalists, and
organizations of civil society in finding positive ways of overcoming
prejudice and dealing with ethnic conflict; the European Baha'i
Business Forum has conducted seminars on business ethics in eastern
Europe and has collaborated with the International Labour Organization in an effort to train workers in "Socially Responsible

36 Baha'i International Community, " Over~oming Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity in Public Institutions: A Baha'i Perspective," see pp.
263-71.
WORLD WATCH 239

Enterprise Restructuring." 37 Other efforts are ongoing around the
world. Local Baha'i communities' efforts to develop and implement
programs for the spiritual education of children, whether in public
school systems or in Baha'i classes, are offered in the hope of creating
future citizens in whom corruption will not be able to take deep
root. 38
In their approach to social and economic development work,
Baha' is strive to use skills such as consultation and to apply the
same spiritual principles that uphold their Faith's administrative
structure. Instead of promoting large-scale projects whose genesis
comes from outside the local community, Baha'is believe that the
impetus for development work should come from "natural stirrings
at the grassroots of the community. "39 Grassroots activities may
evolve organically into more complex sustained projects and possibly
even full-fledged development organizations, but no matter what
the level, "it is the right of every people to trace its own path of
development and direct its own affairs"-a right protected by the
Faith's global administrative structure. 40
In the context of developing skills that contribute to healthy
patterns of community functioning, Baha'i consultation is of interest.
This discipline, which can be learned and applied in a variety of
settings, aims to build consensus in a manner that unites various
constituencies instead of dividing them, and encourages diversity
of opinion while acting to control the struggle for power that is
so common in traditional decision-making systems.

37 The statement "Overcoming Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity in
Public Institutions: A Baha'i Perspective" provides further information
on efforrs to develop moral capacity around the world. See also pp. 149-
54 for an article on the European Baha'i Business Forum. An article
about Nur University's moral leadership training program appeared on
pp. 249-54 of The Baha'i World 1998-99.
38 An essay on pp. 189-220 looks at the wide variety of Baha'i efforts to

foster the spiritual and moral education of children.
39 The Baha'i International Community, .. .for the Betterment of the World:

The Worldwide Bahd 'i Community's Approach to Social and Economic Development (New York: Baha'i International Community, 2002), p. 6.
40 The Baha'i International Community, . . .for the Betterment of the World,

p. 6.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Certain principles are central to the art of consultation. First,
the group should seek information on the topic from a wide range
of courses and points of view, including those of specialists where
helpful. Second, those participating in the consultation are enjoined
to be candid in presenting their own views but also courteous
and attentive to the views of others. Personal attacks, ultimatums,
and prejudicial statements are not permitted. Third, once advanced,
an idea no longer belongs to the individual who voiced it but
becomes the property of the entire group. Thus, no subgroups or
constituencies exist within the consultative group. Fourth, while
the group strives to achieve unanimity in its decision-making, a
majority can carry the decision. Nevertheless, all group members
are required to support that decision, whether they voted for or
against it. By upholding this principle, community members will
know with certainty that if problems arise, they must lie in the
decision itself and not in a lack of support or active opposition
from any group member. 41 Such assurance gives participants
confidence in the integrity of their decision-making process.
Training children, youth, and adults to become social actors
whose behavior springs from an ethical basis is a contribution
that the Baha'i community can make to decreasing corruption in
today's and tomorrow's world. In the conviction that all behavior
is moral in its basis, Baha' {s are emphasizing that aspect of leadership
in the programs they offer to those who work in the public and
corporate sectors and in the moral education programs they provide
to children. In this way, the Baha'i community is systematically
promoting the evolution of a culture in which corrupt practices
substantially diminish. In describing the differences between
prevailing current conditions and the future "divine" civilization,
'Abdu'l-Baha writes:
... material civilization, through the power of punitive and
retaliatory laws, restraineth the people from criminal acts; and

41 For more on the topic of consultation, see William S. Hatcher and
J. Douglas Marrin, The Bahd 'i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion, rev.
ed. (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1998) , pp. 165-67, and
<www.bahai.org>, the official Web site of the Baha'i International
Community.
WORLD WATCH

notwithstanding this, while laws to retaliate against and punish
a man are continually proliferating, as ye can see, no laws exist
to reward him ....
Divine civilization, however, so craineth every member of
society that no one, with the exception of a negligible few, will
undertake to commit a crime. There is thus a great difference
between the prevention of crime through measures that are violent
and retaliatory, and so training the people, and enlightening
them, and spiritualizing them, that without any fear of
punishment or vengeance to come, they will shun all criminal
acts. They will, indeed, look upon the very commission of a
crime as a great disgrace and in itself the harshest of punishments.
They will become enamored of human perfections, and will
consecrate their lives to whatever will bring light to the world
and will further those qualities which are acceptable at the Holy
Threshold of God. 4 2

Baha'fs, wherever they live, are bending their energies earnestly
and energetically towards the realization of such a world.

42 'Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of'Abdu'l-Bahd (Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1997), sec. 105, pp. 132-33.
PROFILE:
Bayan Association

W hat are the most effective means by which a community
can be assisted to develop? How can a development
o ganization remain flexible enough to grow and modify
its work as the needs of the community it is serving change? And
how can it effectively increase its resources to carry out the work
that needs to be done?
These are some of the questions that Asociacion Bayan, a small
Baha'i-inspired development organization in Honduras, has been
challenged to answer throughout the course of its existence over
the past 18 years. Its experience highlights the process through
which rural community development can be assisted and offers
an example of how development organizations can best promote
that objective.
Bayan's beginnings go back to 1985, when two Baha'i families
established a small rural hospital in the village of Palacios in the
Department of Gracias a Dios. This Department is situated in
the northern coastal region of Honduras, which lies in the middle
of the Mesoamerican ecological corridor at the edge of the Rio
Platano Biosphere. Most of the 12,000 inhabitants in the 20-odd
villages served by Bayan are predominantly Miskitos (indigenous
Indians), Garifunas (of Black Carib descent), and Mestizos who

244 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Volunteer doctors
from the Irish army
treat a child in the
operating room of
Hospital Bayan.

earn their living by subsistence fishing and farming. Because the
area is quite isolated, with access only by boat or airplane until
very recently, most of the development agencies that work in this
remote region are based outside. However, Bayan is different, as
its base of operations is located within the zone itself. No medical
services were available locally before the hospital was established,
so it met an urgent need.
The vision of Bayan's founders, however, was always that the
scope of the organization's activities would expand beyond provision
of medical aid to the fostering of grassroots development in the
region. The goal was that the hospital would move from being
strictly a service provider to a testing ground for development. In
this way, Bayan followed the same path as other Baha'i development
efforts that have begun as sustained projects focused on a single
track and have gradually evolved into development organizations
with relatively complex programmatic structures and larger spheres
of influence. Over time, these organizations learn how to
systematically train human resources and manage a number of
lines of action, taking a coordinated, interdisciplinary approach
to problems of local communities and regions.
The concept of development embraced by Bayan seeks to
promote both the material and the spiritual well-being of the
individual and the community. Consultation, collaboration, and
reciprocity are seen as the basis for the establishment of social
justice. Towards this end, local institutions are strengthened and
universal participation in community activities is encouraged.
BAYAN ASSOCIATION 245

Because mutual cooperation is central to the process, decisions
are made through a process of consultation. The central role of
the farmer in the economic life of the zone and in the conservation
of the environment is given serious attention, as are the principles
of unity and trustworthiness in all development efforts.
On this foundation, Bayan's initial efforts were built. An early
milestone in the project occurred in 1987, when the government
of Honduras legally recognized Bayan as a nonprofit organization,
Asociacion de Desarrollo Socio-Economico Indigena - Bayan (Bayan
Association of Indigenous Social and Economic Development).

Hospital Bayan

Hospital Bayan began offering services with formal Ministry of
Health approval in 1986 and was finally completed in 1988. A
small facility containing two inpatient rooms, a pediatric bed, an
examination room, surgical facilities, a small pharmacy, an x-ray
room, and a laboratory, it was nevertheless able to offer 24-hour
emergency service to the people of the area.
Through the years, the project experimented with different
means to increase access to health services- including a community
health worker training program, a mobile clinic, and a community
water, sanitation, and health education program. Some of these
were successful and others were not, but all contributed to Bayan's
process of learning.
In the hospital's early days, volunteers from the USA collected
used medical equipment that was donated to the hospital, and the
National Guard coordinated the shipping of the equipment to the
zone. More recently, in December 2000 and January 2001, the army
of the Republic of Ireland transported and supported the installation of surgery, dentistry, and laboratory equipment at the hospital.
The Irish army also supplied a shipment of medicine and a medical
brigade for more than three weeks.
Medical specialists, both Baha'is and members of other faiths,
have made five- to ten-day visits to the hospital to conduct clinics,
allowing Bayan to offer services in a variety of medical specializations
which, in turn, have enhanced the hospital's reputation in the
area. Some of the specialization clinics offered have been in dental
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

care, general surgery, cardiology, ophthalmology, obstetrics and
gynecology, and pediatrics.
In 1993 the Honduran Ministry of Health entered into an
agreement with Bayan to support 20 community health volunteers,
training them as outreach primary care providers throughout the
region, and the hospital was requested to serve as an agency for
the unsupervised distribution of food on behalf of CARE
International in Honduras. Bayan assisted in the establishment
of a volunteer council to work with CARE, which involved a number
of organizations (including local churches), to conduct health
surveys, education programs, and to distribute food. Unfortunately,
after the surveys were completed and the need established, it was
discovered that there were no funds or donors to support the cost
of shipping the food to the region for distribution.
The hospital was a much-needed and well-used facility, but it
regularly lost money on its patients, who were used to a paternalistic
development agency model and originally did not understand that
the hospital could not continue to function indefinitely if it did

Students learn to prepare tortillas as part of the community training
program.
BAYAN ASSOCIATION 247

not become sustainable. When the shortfall between fees and
expenses grew to the point that closure became a real possibility,
however, the local residents made unprecedented efforts to secure
additional funding and thus ensure the continuation of the hospital,
signalling that it was truly their own.
In 1998, Bayan entered into an agreement with the Honduran
Ministry of Health, two municipalities, and the local community
council of Palacios for the joint management of the hospital.
Recently the Minister of Health recognized the Bayan Hospital
as a model of community participation.

Structure and Programs Evolve in Response to
Community Needs

As Bayan's activities were growing in scope and complexity, a more
formal organizational structure evolved. In 1994 Project Bayan
evolved into Asociaci6n Bayan, and that same year it undertook a
process of community evaluation to assess the region's specific
challenges and needs. The results provided a basis on which possible
future initiatives could be formulated.
Bayan's own experience and the 1994 community evaluation
painted the following picture: The population suffered from severe
malnourishment and poverty, which was worsened by underdeveloped agriculture and a lack of knowledge concerning appropriate
agricultural techniques. Poor sanitation and the infestation of water
supplies by parasites from human and animal waste were causing
high rates of disease, which, in turn, resulted in a high infant
mortality rate. Increasing environmental degradation was threatening
the region and the adjacent biosphere reserve. A significant number
of women were subordinated and prevented from acquiring
education by their men, which was retarding the region's
development. Men commonly behaved irresponsibly towards their
families and communities-for example, spending income on drugs
and alcohol-which increased the level and conditions of poverty.
The final observation from the evaluation was that appropriate
education, organizational skills, and leadership were lacking in
the communities, preventing members from addressing problems
on their own in a systematic, effective manner.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Given these challenges, Bayan decided that the most effective
starting point would be to provide appropriate education that would
allow the region's population to chart its own course forward.
Bayan had taken action in the field of education from its earliest
years in the region. In 1987 it began conducting an annual training
course for primary and secondary teachers in the zone on themes
such as moral education, the environment, health, and the teacher's
role in community development. Ir also collaborated with other
nongovernmental organizations and departmental officials of the
Ministry of Education in these courses and assisted the Palacios
Community Council in working with the Ministry of Education
to establish a secondary school in the region.
Following the community evaluation, however, efforts were
increased. The Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial (SAT) program was
launched in 1996, with the legal authorization of the Ministry of
Education (allowed formally in 1997) and the understanding that
it would serve as a prototype for other rural areas of the country.

SAT: An Appropriate Educational Program for Rural
Communities
SAT was originally developed by the nongovernmental organization
Fundacion para la Aplicacion y Ensefianza de las Ciencias or FUNDAEC
(Foundation for the Teaching and Application of the Sciences) in
Cali, Colombia. There, the program was approved by the Ministry
of Education in 1982 and has been so successful that in some 10
regions (departments) of the country it has been jointly adopted
by state institutions and private, nongovernmental organizations,
with partial funding from local and regional governments.
In contrast to most secondary education curricula in Latin
America, SAT was designed specifically for rural communities.
Traditional education trains young people for an urban lifestyle
rather than addressing the needs of rural and indigenous peoples,
and as a result, poor rural youth have little incentive to stay in
school. When faced with economic pressures from the family, most
rural youth leave school and engage in subsistence farming or work
in fishing or other local industries-and many join the flood of
urban migration. In the SAT program, particular emphasis is placed
BAYAN ASSOCIATION 249

Students prepare the land for cultivation as part ofAsociacion Bayan's
agricultural program.

on the inclusion of women. Girls, who are undervalued and lack
self-esteem, are particularly disadvantaged in rural communities.
Often denied schooling, they cannot gain even basic literacy and
math skills or knowledge of basic nutrition or health care or
sanitation. In this way, conditions are ripe for the perpetuation
of generational poverty through uneducated mothers.
In contrast to the traditional model, FUNDAEC's curriculum
is designed to train rural and indigenous people to address their
own problems, find solutions to them, and build sustainable
communities. Thus, it provides a pragmatic alternative to the
traditional secondary education system. The curriculum is ruralfocused and trains students in practical skills that they can apply
immediately to the problems around them: production , health,
environmental degradation, and community organization. Rather
than relegating rural and indigenous lifestyles to secondary
importance, the curriculum incorporates the region's history, culture,
needs, and aspirations. It also provides practical knowledge that
will equip students to make their rural communities both sustainable
and progressive. The program focuses on education and rural
development, including themes such as attitudinal change, selfsustainability, heightened respect and value oflocal culture, critical
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

thinking, teamwork, problem resolution, and skills trammg. It
includes a rigorous academic program as well as community service
and a strong, practical agricultural production component. The
curriculum integrates five basic subject areas: math, sciences,
language and communication, agricultural technology, and service.
The SAT program is not just a presence in the community: it is
integrated into the community through a participatory methodology.
The full secondary curriculum is six years in duration. No
sophisticated infrastructure is required, as classes can meet in open
areas or community centers. Schedules are flexible, to allow students
to continue productive activities at the same time that they are
acquiring their education. Both youth and young adults who do
not have secondary education are invited to participate. And while
students do study from texts, courses also involve interaction with
other students, the community, and local resources. Local
community members who serve as tutors work with each SAT group
to facilitate the process of learning, to explain concepts where
needed, and to organize training activities, but their role is quite
different from that of the traditional classroom teacher.
Workbooks cover mathematics, sciences, health, literacy,
agriculture, farming, social studies, and reading, with all subjects
integrated. Training activities focus on small-scale animal tending
and demonstration plots that allow students to apply appropriate
technology to agricultural pursuits. Educational resources supplied
by the program include dictionaries, world atlases, and a small
laboratory.

Students study SAT
rural education
materials.
BAYAN ASSOCIATION

In SAT, education is viewed as preparation for useful work
and service to the community. Leadership, personal growth, the
equal participation and education of women, and values that include
responsibility and unity within the community are all emphasized.
Bayan's adoption of the FUNDAEC curriculum has been very
successful. By April 2002, more than 1,000 students were enrolled
in SAT with 49 groups from more than 100 communities. SAT
has gained approval from the Honduran government through an
agreement of mutual cooperation and financial coparticipation
between Bayan and education directors in three departments in
the northern part of Honduras. Evaluation of the quality of the
program and its curriculum carried out by the Ministry of Education
has been very positive, and as a result SAT was authorized not
only to continue to operate existing programs but also to expand
to other regions of the country. Recognition of each grade in the
SAT program as equivalent to those of the official system was also
granted. Early in 2002 meetings between Bayan and the Ministry
of Education led to the development of a proposal for the further
expansion of SAT to other areas where there is a high index of
poverty-with the proviso that in order to be self-sustaining the
program should reach out from strong central points to outlying
communities, growing and developing local human resources in
an organic fashion.
Bayan is increasingly catching the attention of donors. A recent
organizational profile developed by the InterAmerican Development
Bank noted that Bayan is a "reputable" NGO with "well-known
transparency in handling project financing," and its "institutional
interest is local development and poverty alleviation." As a notfor-profit organization, Bayan has received funding and in-kind
donations through the years from a number of different donors
and agencies, including the Department for International
Development of the United Kingdom, the Canadian International
Development Agency, the British Embassy, Health for Humanity,
the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Kellogg
Foundation, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'{s of
the United Kingdom, Fundacion Vida of Honduras, Partners of
the Americas, the World Development Foundation, International
Health Services, Agency for Personnel Services Overseas, Madame
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The Minister and
Vice-Minister of
Education of
Honduras (first and
second from left,
respectively), stand
with staff members
from the Ministry and
Asociaci6n Bayan.

Ru};.!yyih Rabbani, the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Hutchinson,
Kansas, and Wrangell, Alaska, and the Office of Social and Economic
Development at the Baha'i World Centre.
Funding for SAT in Honduras was secured from sources such
as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the
Kellogg Foundation, and the United Kingdom's Department for
International Development, as well as the Honduran Ministry of
Education. The Canadian International Baha'i Development Services
(CBIDS) and the Baha'i Agency for Social and Economic
Development in the United Kingdom (BASED-UK) have served as
partners of Bayan in their relationships with governmental agencies.
While the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 saw
the reallocation of some funds to relief efforts, nevertheless Bayan
managed to sustain its activities while assisting with aid distribution
for some time after the storm.

Other Responses to the Needs Assessment

The 1994 community evaluation indicated a concern and need
for the protection of the aquatic life of the Bacalar Lagoon and
inland waterway because of their importance to the lifestyle, health,
and economy of the region. Fundaci6n Vida of Honduras is financing
a three-year biological study of the fauna and aquatic life of the
lagoon with educational and social components. The findings will
serve for the development of a SAT text and for the future
management and protection of this water resource by a newly
created community-based organization. This activity required the
BAYAN ASSOCIATION 253

approval of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the third Honduran
Ministry with which Bayan has established formal agreements.

Future Plans

The Bayan Association does not plan to rest on its laurels. Future
plans, in addition to SAT expansion, include training courses for
public school teachers, the eventual establishment of a Rural
University, and the carrying out of demographic, social, and
economic research related to the Miskito communities. The research
findings will be shared with local agencies to help them improve
their services. These studies also help Bayan and the educational
authorities to refine the SAT materials by improving their focus
on regional concerns.
To facilitate the concept of learning as the organization itself
grows and develops, Bayan has begun to hold annual "reflection
meetings," bringing together the directors and coordinators of
different projects, members of the organization's board of directors,
and the founders of Bayan to discuss the functioning and progress
of their work over the past year and to formulate future plans.
Bayan's experience and flexibility will no doubt enable it to adapt
further to meet new challenges as they arise.
Belief and Tolerance
LIGHTS AMIDST THE DARKNESS

This statement of the Baha'i International
Community was presented to the International
Consultative Conference on School Education in
relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief,
Tolerance, and Non-Discrimination, held in
Madrid, Spain, 23-25 November 2001.

T he human spirit must be free to know. Apprehending who
we are, for what purpose we exist, and how we should live
our lives, is a basic impulse of human consciousness. This
quest for self-understanding and meaning is the essence of life
itself. The innate and fundamental aspiration to investigate reality
is thus a right and an obligation of every human being. It is for
this reason that the Baha'i teachings affirm that the "conscience
of man is sacred and to be respected." 1
To search for truth-to see with one's "own eyes and not through
the eyes of others"2-is to undertake a process of spiritual discovery
with a keen sense of justice and openness. It is by its very nature
a process that is creative and transformative; if pursued with sincerity
and fairness, it can bestow upon the seeker of knowledge "a new
eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind." 3 The rational soul

1 'Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative (Wilmette: Baha'f Publishing Trust,
1980), p. 91.
2 Baha'u'llah, The Hidden Words ofBahd'u'LLdh (Wilmette: Baha'f Publishing

Trust, 1985), Arabic no. 2, p. 4.
3 Baha'u'llah, The Kicib-i-fqan (Wilmette: Baha'f Publishing Trust, 1983), p. 196.

THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

is thereby awakened to the capacities of kindness, forbearance,
and compassion that lie within it. Clearly, the human yearning
for truth is a power that cannot be shackled, for without the freedom
to know, human nature remains the prisoner of instinct, ignorance,
and desire.
In the midst of an age convulsed by moral crisis and social
disintegration, the need for understanding about who we are as
human beings is viral to the achievement of lasting peace and
well-being. Historically, such insight about human existence and
behavior has been provided by religion. Its indispensable function
in addressing the universal inclination towards transcendence and
its essential role in civilizing human character throughout the ages
have been central to defining human identity as well as promoting
social order. Through its cultivation of humanity's spiritual nature,
religion has ennobled the lives of peoples everywhere and has
engendered cohesion and unity of purpose within and across
societies. Religion, in a very real sense, provides the warp and
woof of the social fabric-the shared beliefs and moral vision that
unite people into communities and that give tangible direction
and meaning to individual and collective life. The right to exercise
freedom of conscience in the matters of religion and belief is
therefore nor only crucial to satisfying the spiritual promptings
of the aspiring soul, bur to the enterprise of building harmonious
and equitable patterns of living.
Coercion in matters of faith vitiates the very principles of
religion. For commitment can only be born of belief that is freely
chosen. The right to freedom of thought, conscience, and belief
now codified in international human rights instruments directly
finds its roots in the scriptures of the world's religions. This fact
should assure each of us that truth need nor be feared, as it has
many facets and shelters all of our diverse expressions of faith. If,
after all, people of religious faith believe that the Creator is eternal
and the center of all existence, then they must also believe that
the unfettered and genuine search for truth will lead to truth.
The elimination of all barriers to the free exploration, acceptance, and expression of religious belief is critical to the objective
of creating a universal culture of human rights.
BELIEF AND TOLERANCE 257

However, to clear the way for a constructive dialogue about
the role of religion in establishing social justice, an historical
accounting must be taken. That religion has been responsible for
immense suffering cannot be denied. Much darkness and confusion
can be attributed to those who have appropriated the symbols
and instruments of religion for their own selfish purposes. Fanaticism
and conflict poison the wells of tolerance and represent corrupt
expressions of true religious values. Consequently, vigilance is
necessary in safeguarding the transformative power of religion from
the forces of extreme orthodoxy on one hand, and irresponsible
freedom on the other.
"The purpose of religion," Baha'u'llah states" ... is to establish
unity and concord amongst the peoples of the world; make it not
the cause of dissension and strife." 4 In unity-a unity that embraces
and honors the full diversity of humankind- all problems can be
solved. When applied on a universal basis, the teaching that we
should treat others as we ourselves wish to be treated, an ethic
variously repeated in all the great religions, will undoubtedly reveal
the salutary power of unity. The building of a global society based
on cooperation, reciprocity, and genuine concern for others is the
ultimate expression of unified action. In short, the core spiritual
values held in common by the world's religions contain within
them the principal means for the reconciliation and advancement
of the earth's peoples. Through these values and the commitment
they inspire, "Minds, hearts and all human forces are reformed,
perfections are quickened, sciences, discoveries and investigations
are stimulated afresh, and everything appertaining to the virtues
of the human world is revitalized." 5
In order to play its part in overcoming the prejudices and
suspicions now afflicting the world's faith communities, religious
leadership must devote attention to these commonly shared spiritual
precepts rather than doctrinal differences or claims of exclusivity.

4 Baha'u'llah,Tablets ofBahd'u'lldh revealed after the Kitdb-i-Aqdas (Wilmette:
Baha' I Publishing Trust, 1988), p. 129.
5 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-

Bahd during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, rev. ed.
(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 278.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Let each religion demonstrate its capacity to guide the world's
inhabitants to peaceful coexistence, moral rectitude, and mutual
understanding, rather than spreading enmity, fear, and intolerance.
The recent trend towards interfaith dialogue around the globe
offers a positive example of how disparate communities can work
together to broaden vision and shape public discourse in a unifying
way. Religious leaders are uniquely placed to draw attention to
the potentialities and promise of the present moment in human
affairs, and challenge all key societal players to action. Increasing
interchange among spiritual leaders and their followers, especially
children, will no doubt lead to new understandings of what is
possible for human beings and how peaceful patterns of collective
life can be nurtured. "Shut your eyes to estrangement, then fix
your gaze upon unity," is Baha'u'llah's counsel. "Cleave tenaciously
unto that which will lead to the well-being and tranquillity of all
mankind. This span of earth is but one homeland and one
habitation. "6
For the global Baha'i community, the protection of human
freedoms is part of a larger spiritual undertaking of fostering a set
of attitudes and practices that truly release human potential. Genuine
social progress, it believes, can only flow from spiritual awareness
and the inculcation of virtue. From this perspective, the task of
creating a universal ethos of tolerance is intimately bound up with
a process of moral and spiritual development.
Education, then, emerges as an indispensable tool-a tool of
active moral learning. To accomplish the broad objectives of ensuring
the "full development of the human personality and the sense of
its dignity" and promoting "understanding, tolerance, and friendship
among all nations, racial, ethnic, or religious groups," education
must strive to develop an integrated set of human capabilitiesintellectual, artistic, social, moral, and spiritual. 7 There is no other
way to raise up positive social actors who are builders of amity
and agents of service and probity. "Regard man as a mine rich in

6 Bahi'u'llih, Tablets, p. 67.
7 Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights; article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
BELIEF AND TOLERANCE 259

gems of inestimable value," Bahfu'llah urges, "Education can,
alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit
therefrom." 8 These "treasures" must be consciously developed
because even though nobility, goodness, and beauty are innate
aspects of our nature, human beings can fall prey to inclinations
that corrupt the inner self and quench the light of love.
Educational curricula cannot therefore be solely concerned with
the knowledge of physical and social phenomena, but must also
be directed towards the goal of moral and spiritual empowerment.
As a consequence of the deep connection between individual and
social well-being, programs of education need to instill in every
child a two-fold moral purpose. The first relates to the process of
personal transformation-of intellectual, material, and spiritual
growth. The second concerns the complex challenge of transforming
the structures and processes of society itself. To pursue this dual
purpose of individual and collective transformation, specific moral
capabilities must be developed. The capabilities of a moral person
encompass the concepts, values, attitudes, and skills that enable
the person to make appropriate moral choices and to promote
creative and cooperative patterns of human interaction. 9 Underpinning all such capabilities is a commitment to discover and apply
truth in every domain of human endeavor. Since moral behavior
is a concrete expression of humanity's spiritual nature, moral
education efforts should draw in a systematic way on both the
methods of science and the insights of religion.
An integral feature of any educational initiative having a moral
and spiritual focus must be the notion of the oneness and
interdependence of the human race. Oneness and diversity are
complementary and inseparable. That human consciousness
necessarily operates through an infinite diversity of individual minds
and motivations detracts in no way from its essential unity. Indeed,
it is precisely an inhering diversity that distinguishes unity from

8 Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahd'u'lldh (Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1983), p. 260.
9 The educational philosophy of Nur University, the second largest private

institution of higher learning in Bolivia and Baha'i-inspired, is largely
based on this idea of moral capabilities.
260 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

homogeneity or uniformity. Hence, acceptance of the concept of
unity in diversity implies the development of a global consciousness,
a sense of world citizenship, and a love for all of humanity. It
induces every individual to realize that, since the body of humankind
is one and indivisible, each member of the human race is born
into the world as a trust of the whole and has a responsibility to
the whole. It further suggests that if a peaceful international
community is to emerge, then the complex and varied cultural
expressions of humanity must be allowed to develop and flourish,
as well as to interact with one another in ever-changing patterns
of civilization. "The diversity in the human family," the Baha'i
writings emphasize, "should be the cause of love and harmony, as
it is in music where many different notes blend together in the
making of a perfect chord." 10
The rich religious heritage of humankind can also be viewed
through the lens of unity. Baha'u'llah states: "There can be no
doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or
religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and
are the subjects of one God." 11 The world's religions can thus be
seen to be one in their nature and purpose with each being a
wellspring of knowledge, energy, and inspiration. They each have
served to unlock a wider range of capacities within human
consciousness and society-a process that has impelled the human
race towards moral and spiritual maturity. Accordingly, curricula
exploring the history and teachings of religion may wish to highlight
the complementary aims and functions of the world's faith systems
as well as the theological and moral threads that link them. In
this regard, the right to investigate religion and the spiritual roots
of human motivation can be understood to be a vital element of
an integrating framework of collaboration and conciliation.
The promotion of tolerance and mutual understanding among
the diverse segments of the human family cannot be a passive or
rhetorical exercise. All forms of provincialism, all insularities and
prejudices must be directly confronted. It is unfortunately the

10 'Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks: Addresses given by 'Abdu'l-Bahd in Paris in 1911-
1912 (London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 53.
11 Baha' u'llah, Gleanings, p. 217.
BELIEF AND TOLERANCE 261

case that religious prejudice is a particularly virulent influence
that continues to block human progress. Overcoming its corrosive
effects will require deliberate and sustained effort. Towards this
end, innovative and substantive programs of education are essential.
But so too is an attitude of true humility among all those who
believe in a loving and almighty Creator.
Let us be assured, and let it be communicated to the world's
children, that it is possible to both tread the path of religious
faith and to be tolerant. Civilization's future course depends on
it. In the words ofBaha'u'llah, "observe tolerance and righteousness,
which are two lights amidst the darkness of the world and two
educators for the edification of mankind." 12

12 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 36.
Overcoming Corruption
and Safeguarding Integrity
in Public Institutions
A BAHA'f PERSPECTIVE

Prepared by the Bahd 'i International
Community and presented at the
Intergovernmental Global Forum on Fighting
Corruption in The Hague, the Netherlands,
28-31 May 2001.

humanity emerges from a century of upheaval and startling
change, its need for moral and spiritual renewal becomes
ever more apparent. That the twentieth century was a
century of both darkness and light-revealing the capacity for
human depravity as well as human achievement-underlies the
confusion that pervades our times. A deepening moral disorientation
threatens social institutions and the fundamental bonds that define
human relations. In the Baha'i view, the displacement of a
transcendent understanding of life by an ascendant materialism
is responsible for the skepticism, alienation, and anomie that
characterize contemporary existence.
Over a century ago, Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i Faith,
warned against the inevitable spiritual and moral aridity that would
emerge from the marginalization of religion. "In truth," He wrote,
"religion is a radiant light and an impregnable stronghold for the
protection and welfare of the peoples of the world .... Should the
lamp of religion be obscured, chaos and confusion will ensue,
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

and the lights of fairness and justice, of tranquility and peace cease
to shine." 1
Social advancement, we know, arises from the ideals and shared
beliefs that weld society together. Meaningful social change results
as much from the development of qualities and attitudes that foster
constructive patterns of human interaction as from the acquisition
of technical capacities. True prosperity- a well-being founded on
peace, cooperation, altruism, dignity, rectitude of conduct, and
justice-flows from the light of spiritual awareness and virtue as
well as from material discovery and progress.
To distinguish the vital characteristics of religion from the
distortions that falsely pose in its name is challenging. Yet, religion
is an indispensable source of knowledge and motivation- a
wellspring of values, insights, and energy without which social
cohesion and collective action are difficult if not impossible to
achieve. Through the teachings and moral guidance of religion,
great segments of humanity have learned to discipline their baser
propensities and to develop qualities that conduce to social order
and cultural advancement. Such qualities as trustworthiness,
compassion, forbearance, fidelity, generosity, humility, courage,
and willingness to sacrifice for the common good have constituted
the invisible yet essential foundations of progressive community
life. Religion provides the bricks and mortar of society-the ethical
precepts and vision that unite people into communities and that
give tangible direction and meaning to individual and collective
existence.
Clearly, the set of capacities necessary for building up the social,
economic, and moral fabric of society depends upon the resources
of both mind and spirit. The civilizing virtues of honesty, duty,
and loyalty so central to human progress are cultivated by the
language of the heart and the voice of conscience. Legal imperatives
and penalties, while essential, are limited in their efficacy. To draw
upon the spiritual roots of motivation that lie at the heart of human
identity and purpose is to tap the one impulse that can ensure
genuine social transformation. From the Baha'i perspective, then,

1 Baha'u'llah, Tablets ofBahd'u'lldh revealed after the Kitdb-i-Aqdas (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1988), p. 125.
OVERCOMING CORRUPTION

the emergence of public institutions that engender public trust
and that are devoid of corruption is intimately bound up with a
process of moral and spiritual development. As Baha'u'llah confirms:
"So long as one's nature yieldeth unto evil passions, crime and
transgression will prevail. "2
Baha'ls see the entire enterprise of civilization as a spiritual
process involving the progressive awakening of humanity's moral
and creative capacities. The creation of a "corruption-free" public
milieu consequently depends on the building up of moral capacity
within individuals, communities, and social institutions.
How is it possible to build moral capacity? What are the practical
strategies societies can adopt that will raise up from within their
populations positive social actors who choose to lead lives of service
and probity? Education is an indispensable tool. The fact that
the world community is pluralist in character should not deter
governments and international agencies from giving serious attention
to the question of moral development. The growing collaboration
among religious communities, nongovernmental organizations, and
public institutions in addressing major social challenges provides
evidence of the possibility for effective action.
The Baha'i community has undertaken a number of initiatives,
although modest in scope, in the area of ethical leadership and
moral education. These programs draw upon both scientific and
religious resources in cultivating the concepts, values, attitudes,
and skills necessary for creating an ethos of rectitude and integrity.
The formulation of pedagogical approaches and methods that
systematically promote moral development has been a particular
focus of Baha'i efforts. Nur University, the second largest private
institution of higher learning in Bolivia, integrates academic
knowledge with both practical experience and ethical training,
giving particular emphasis to community service, social justice,
and a respect for human diversity. Nur was founded, in large part,
to help develop leaders who understand the linkage between
individual and social transformation. Its educational philosophy
is based on concepts and principles drawn from the Baha'i teachings.
NU.r's moral leadership program teaches participants that they have

2 Baha' u'llah, Tablets, p. 70.
266 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

the obligation to search for, adopt, and live by moral precepts.
Leadership is shown to be a responsibility that is exercised by all
members of society and requires the development of specific moral
capabilities. Underpinning such capabilities is a commitment to
pursue and apply truth in all areas of human endeavor. This program
has reached some 400 rural communities in Bolivia and more
than a dozen Latin American countries.
Through its Just Governance Program, Nur is providing training
to public officials, government technical staff, and members of
community-based organizations. It seeks to promote good
governance by exploring the different dimensions of moral
leadership, strengthening administrative and decision-making
capacities in the public sector, and by promoting dialogue concerning
the future development of Bolivian society. Many regional
government departments and local municipalities have taken part
in the program. A related initiative involves some 5,000 public
high school students in promoting youth leadership. The program
works to limit youth involvement in crime, violence, and alcohol
and drug consumption by preparing young people for active
community service. N ur has also worked to train school teachers
as community development agents. To date, more than 2,000
teachers from Bolivia, Argentina, and Ecuador have participated
in the program, which has received much positive feedback from
its participants. One student wrote:
The study of this course has helped me, above all, to understand
the importance of guiding my life according to principles. I
now try to serve those in need without expecting recognition,
to forgive those who may have offended me without holding
grudges, and to share with others what I have learned, and thereby
contribute to my own happiness and theirs.

The Justice in Education project being carried out by the Human
Plenitude Program in Brazil is another Baha'i effort that focuses
on promoting ethical leadership in government. The Brazilian
Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the National
Association of Judges and Prosecutors, has approved a training
program developed by Human Plenitude staff that targets
approximately 6,000 legal professionals who are working directly
OVERCOMING CORRUPTION

with youth and junior youth who have become involved in Brazil's
court system. The initial module of this training initiative is
comprised of materials that address ethics and values relating to
the protection of children and youth.
Under the auspices of the Royaumont Process [now known as
the Stability Pact] of the European Union, the Baha'i International
Community has undertaken a multiyear moral education initiative
aimed at promoting ethnic harmony and social cohesion in several
countries in southeastern Europe. Through the adaptation of The
Happy Hippo Show [now known as Stop and Act], a unique dramabased interactive television and radio program designed to explore
moral and ethical issues, the Baha'i International Community has
conducted training seminars for educators, media representatives,
journalists, and nongovernmental organizations. The program has
become quite popular with both the public and government officials
in providing examples on how to approach life problems by finding
positive solutions. Developing constructive ways of overcoming
intergroup conflict and prejudice has been a principal theme of
the initiative. The success of training seminars in Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania,
and Slovenia has led to several follow-up projects. Radio and
television programs in Croatia and Bulgaria, as well as primary
education curricula in Romania, are now using the techniques of
the show to demonstrate how morality is central to the question
of social stability and prosperity. Recently, the UN Administrator
and Special Representative to the Secretary-General for Kosovo
expressed the wish that a Happy Hippo Show project be started
in Kosovo. The Happy Hippo format has also been adapted for
use in values education programs in Finland, Italy, Russia, Sweden,
Moldova, Norway, and Malaysia.
In collaboration with the International Labour Organization
(ILO), the European Baha'i Business Forum, a voluntary association
of Baha'i business professionals, recently produced a joint working
paper entitled "Socially Responsible Enterprise Restructuring." The
report has served as a basis for several training sessions organized
by the ILO and has been disseminated to governments, employers
associations, and workers' organizations throughout the world.
The European Baha'i Business Forum has also conducted a series
268 THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

of seminars on business ethics in eastern Europe and has formed
an educational partnership with AIESEC, one of the largest
organizations of business students in the world.
As a practical step in contributing to a dialogue about
development and social transformation that explicitly takes account
of spiritual values and perspectives, some 100 influential development organizations, international and government agencies, religious
representatives, and academics recently gathered in New Delhi to
participate in a colloquium on the theme of Science, Religion,
and Development. The primary goal of the event was to explore
how a unified interaction between scientific methods and religious
insights can promote the building of human capacity, particularly
in the areas of governance, education, technology, and economic
activity. The event was organized by the Baha'f community of
India and the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity, a research
agency of the Baha'f International Community. At the global level,
Baha'fs have also been involved in the very constructive World
Faiths Development Dialogue between the World Bank and major
religions.
Although it strictly abstains from involvement in partisan
politics, the Baha'i community does seek to contribute to public
discourse about what it considers to be fundamental issues of
principle. Over the past few years, for example, the Baha' f
community, through its 182 elected national governing councils,
has sought to encourage governments around the globe to adopt
comprehensive programs of human rights education. In some cases,
Baha' f national councils have made specific recommendations for
promoting human rights curricula in schools and, in others, have
tried to create awareness on the part of government officials about
the crucial role of human rights education in fostering a culture
of justice in their societies. Once such a culture begins to evolve,
practical issues such as training in the administration and
enforcement of justice, equitable distribution of community
resources, and the upliftment of persons and groups historically
excluded from the benefits and opportunities offered by society
can be effectively addressed.
Ultimately, Baha'fs believe, the emergence of a peaceful and
just social order animated by moral principle is contingent upon
OVERCOMING CORRUPTION

a fundamental redefinition of all human relationships- among
individuals themselves, between human society and the natural
world, between the individual and the community, and between
individual citizens and their governing institutions. In particular,
outmoded notions of power and authority need to be recast. A
basic reconceptualization of social reality is thus envisioned, a reality
that in spirit and practice reflects the principle of the oneness of
humankind. To accept that "the body of humankind is one and
indivisible" is to recognize that every human being is "born into
the world as a trust of the whole. "3
Governance is referred to in the Baha'i writings as an expression
of trusteeship, as the administering of a trust. Baha'u'llah speaks
of the governors and administrators of society as "trustees" or the
"trusted ones" of God. He also warns leaders that the vulnerable
and the poor "are the trust of God in your midst." 4 The concept
of trusteeship implies, in some sense, a covenant between those
who are in positions of authority and the members of the social
polity that they are obligated to protect and serve. Consequently,
trustworthiness is a vital characteristic of governance; it is the source
of true accountability. Baha'u'llah describes trustworthiness as the
"greatest portal leading unto the tranquility and security of the
people" and "the supreme instrument for the prosperity of the
world." 5 "All the domains of power," He avers, " ... are illumined
by its light." 6
While governance is often equated with government, it in fact
involves much more. Governance occurs at all levels and encompasses the ways that formal government, nongovernmental groups,
community organizations, and the private sector manage resources
and affairs. Three factors that largely determine the efficacy of
any system of governance are the quality of leadership, the
characteristics of the governed, and the nature of the structures
and processes employed to exercise authority and meet human

3The Baha'i International Community, The Prosp erity ofHumankind, 1995.
4 Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahd'u'lldh (Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1983), p. 251.
5 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, pp. 37-38.
6 Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 37.
270 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

needs. In this regard, the Baha'i community offers its own
administrative system as a model for study. Baha' is attach great
importance to cooperative decision-making and assign organizational
responsibility for community affairs to freely elected governing
councils at the local, national, and international levels. This hierarchy
devolves decision-making to the lowest practicable level- thereby
instituting a unique vehicle for grassroots participation in
governance- while at the same time providing a level of
coordination and authority that makes possible collaboration on
a global scale. A unique feature of the Baha'i electoral process is
the maximum freedom of choice given to the electorate through
the prohibition of nominations, candidature, and solicitation.
Election to Baha'i administrative bodies is based not on personal
ambition but rather on recognized ability, mature experience, and
a commitment to service. Because the Baha'i system does not allow
the imposition of the arbitrary will or leadership of individuals,
it cannot be used as a pathway to power. Decision-making authority
rests with corporate bodies. All members of the Baha'i community,
no matter what position they may temporarily occupy in the
administrative structure, are expected to regard themselves as
involved in a learning process, as they strive to understand and
implement the laws and principles of their Faith. Significantly, in
many parts of the world, the first exercises in democratic activity
have occurred within the Baha'i community.
The capacity of any institution to effect and manage change,
and to respond creatively to challenges that lie before it, emails
the development of a number of critical skills. These include the
ability to maintain a clear perception of social reality and of the
forces operating in it; to properly assess the resources of the community; to consult freely and harmoniously as a body and with
one's constituency; to realize that every decision has both a material
and spiritual dimension; to arrive at decisions in a manner that
preserves and promotes institutional unity; to win the confidence,
respect, and genuine support of those affected by these decisions;
to effectively use the energies and diverse talents of the members
of the community it serves; to integrate the diversity of initiatives
of individuals and groups into one forward movement that benefits
all; to uphold standards of fairness and equity; and to implement
OVERCOMING CORRUPTION

decisions with an openness and flexibility that avoid all traces of
dictatorial behavior. This constellation of skills must obviously
draw on both intellectual and moral resources.
In the Baha'i writings, those individuals who are engaged in
government service are exhorted to "approach their duties with
entire detachment, integrity, and independence of spirit, and with
complete consecration and sanctity of purpose."7 Their personal
fulfillment comes not from material reward but from "the devising
of methods to insure the progress of the people," from experiencing
the "delights of dispensing justice," and drinking from "the springs
of a clear conscience and a sincere intent." 8 In the end, the "happiness
and greatness, the rank and station, the pleasure and peace" of
the public servant does not consist in "his personal wealth, but
rather in his excellent character, his high resolve, the breadth of
his learning, and his ability to solve difficult problems." 9
The challenge of overcoming corruption in public life is
multidimensional in nature. The adoption of administrative
procedures and legal safeguards, however important such measures
may be, will not bring about enduring changes in individual and
institutional behavior. For governance, in essence, is a moral and
spiritual practice whose compass is found within the human heart.
Thus, only as the inner lives of human beings are transformed
will the vision of a "genuine civilization of character" be realized. 10

7 'Abdu'l-Baha, cited in Trustworthiness: A Cardinal Bahd'i Virtue, compiled

by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, January
1987.
8 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Secret ofDivine Civilization (Wilmette: Baha' f Publishing

Trust, 1970), pp. 19, 21.
9 'Abdu'l-Baha, Secret of Divine Civilization, pp. 23-24.

10 'Abdu'l-Baha, Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 62.
One Same Substance
CONSCIOUSLY CREATING
A GLOBAL CULTURE OF UNITY

This written statement was submitted by the
Baha'i International Community to the
World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related
Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, from
31 August to 7 September 2001.

cism originates not in the skin but in the human mind.
Remedies to racial prejudice, xenophobia, and intolerance
must accordingly address first and foremost chose mental
illusions chat have for so many thousands of years given rise to
false concepts of superiority and inferiority among human populations.
At the root of all forms of discrimination and intolerance is
the erroneous idea that humankind is somehow composed of
separate and distinct races, peoples, or castes, and that those subgroups innately possess varying intellectual, moral, and/ or physical
capacities, which in turn justify different forms of treatment.
The reality is that there is only the one human race. We are a
single people, inhabiting the planet Earth, one human family bound
together in a common destiny, a single entity created from one
same substance, obligated to "be even as one soul."
Recognition of this reality is the antidote to racism, xenophobia,
and intolerance in all its forms. Ir should, accordingly, be the guiding
principle behind the discussions, deliberations, and ultimate output
of the World Conference against Racism.

274 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

A proper understanding of this fact of existence has the capacity
to carry humanity not merely past racism, racial and ethnic prejudice,
and xenophobia bur also beyond intermediate notions of tolerance
or multiculturalism-concepts that are important stepping-stones
to humanity's long-sought goal of building a peaceful, just, and
unified world but insufficient for the eradication of such deeply
rooted afflictions as racism and its companions.
The principle of human oneness strikes a chord in the deepest
reaches of the human spirit. It is not yet another way of talking
about the ideal of brotherhood or solidarity. Nor is it some vague
hope or slogan. It reflects, rather, an eternal spiritual, moral, and
physical reality that has been brought into focus by humanity's
collective coming of age in the twentieth century. Its emergence
is more visible now because, for the first time in history, it has
become possible for all of the peoples of the world to perceive
their interdependence and to become conscious of their wholeness.
The reality of human oneness is fully endorsed by science.
Anthropology, physiology, psychology, sociology, and, most recently,
genetics, in its decoding of the human genome, demonstrate that
there is only one human species, albeit infinitely varied in the
secondary aspects of life. The world's great religions likewise uphold
the principle, even if their followers have, at times, clung to fallacious
notions of superiority. The Founders of the world's great religions
have all promised that one day peace and justice would prevail
and all humanity would be united.
The contemporary realization of humanity's collective oneness
comes after a historic process in which individuals were fused into
ever greater units. Moving from clans, to tribes, to city-states, to
nations, the next inevitable step for humanity is nothing less than
the creation of a global civilization. In this new global civilization,
all people and peoples are component parts of a single great
organism-an organism that is human civilization itself. As stated
by Baha'u'llah more than 100 years ago, "The earth is but one
country, and mankind its citizens."'

1 Baha'u'llah, Tablets ofBahd'u'lldh revealed after the Kitdb-i-Aqdas (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 167.
ONE SAME SUBSTANCE 275

Further, as explained in the Baha'i writings, the oneness of
humanity
implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society,
a change such as the world has not yet experienced .... It calls
for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of
the whole civilized world-a world organically unified in all
the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual
aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and
yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its
federated units. 2

In considering the themes of the World Conference against
Racism, a proper understanding of the reality of the oneness of
humanity holds a number of implications.
It implies that any law, tradition, or mental construct that
grants superior rights or privileges to one grouping of humanity
over another is not only morally wrong but fundamentally at odds
with the best interests of even those who consider themselves to
be in some way superior.
It implies that nation-states, as the building blocks of a global
civilization, must hold to common standards of rights and take
active steps to purge from their laws, traditions, and practices any
form of discrimination based on race, nationality, or ethnic origin.
It implies that justice must be the ruling principle of social
organization, a corollary principle that calls for widespread measures
on the part of governments, their agencies, and civil society to
address economic injustice at all levels. The Baha'i writings call
for both voluntary giving and government measures, such as the
"equalization and apportionment" of excess wealth, so that the
great disparities between the rich and the poor are eliminated.
The Baha'i writings also prescribe specific measures, such as profitsharing and the equation of work with worship, that promote
general economic prosperity across all classes.
Issues of xenophobia before the Conference in relation to
contemporary problems of minority diasporas, the uneven

2 Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahd'u'lldh: Selected Letters, 2d rev.
ed. (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 43.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

application of citizenship laws, and refugee resettlement can likewise
best be addressed in the light of humanity's oneness and, as
Baha'u'llah indicated, the concept of world citizenship.
Further, the principle of the oneness of humanity exposes any
attempt to distinguish separate "races" or "peoples" in the contemporary world as artificial and misleading. While racial, national,
and/or ethnic heritage can be considered as sources of pride and
even a backdrop for positive social development, such distinctions
should nor become a basis for new forms of separation or superiority,
however subtle.
Over the years, in statements to the United Nations, the Bahf i
International Community has supported or called for specific actions
in support of human oneness and the fight against racism, including:
• The widespread promotion of international educational
campaigns that would teach the organic oneness of
humankind, urging specifically that the United Nations
itself facilitate such an effort, involving national and local
governments, as well as nongovernmental organizations.
• The widespread ratification of-and adherence t o -
internarional instruments, which represent humankind's
collective conscience, that might contribute to a comprehensive legal regime for combating racism and racial
discrimination, especially the International Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

• The worldwide promotion of human rights education, with
the aim of creating a "culture of human rights."
The Baha'i International Community has also sponsored or
participated extensively in activities aimed at the eradication of
racism and racial discrimination. Working largely through its
national affiliates, which currently number 182, the Community
has, for example, sponsored numerous public meetings, conferences,
educational programs, newspaper articles, radio programs, and
exhibits that specifically seek to combat racism.
Further, drawing on the creative spirit of grassroots participation,
Baha'is in a number of countries have established race unity
committees, with multiracial membership, which have developed
ONE SAME SUBSTANCE 277

programs to combat racial prejudice and to create bonds of mutual
respect among peoples of different races in their local communities.
These committees have attempted to assist Baha'is to free themselves
of their own racial prejudices and, beyond that, to contribute to
the elimination of racial prejudice in society at large through
extensive collaboration with leaders in government, education,
and religion. More specifically, Baha'i communities around the
world have sponsored numerous youth workshops that promote
racial unity, held thousands of public "race unity day" observances,
launched television and video campaigns to promote race harmony,
sponsored neighborhood race unity dialogues, and participated
in various national commissions to combat racism.
Those seeking to understand more fully how the oneness of
humanity can be brought into practice might find it useful to
examine the experience of the Baha'i International Community
itself, which offers a continuously advancing model for how diverse
individuals can live together in harmony and unity. With a
membership of more than five million, the worldwide Baha'i
community is composed of individuals from virtually every
background. More than 2, 100 different racial and tribal groups
are represented, as are individuals from virtually every nationality,
religious background, and social class.
Despite this great diversity, which is reflective of the world's
population at large, the worldwide Baha'i community is among
the most unified bodies of people on earth. This sense of unity
goes beyond a shared theology. Individuals from many of these
backgrounds have intermarried, for example, something which is
promoted in the teachings of the Baha'i Faith, and/or they work
together closely in local Baha'i communities, serving together on
its local- and national-level governing institutions. A careful
examination of the worldwide Baha'i community will reveal a
surprisingly widespread and yet singularly committed body of people
who are consciously creating a global culture, one that emphasizes
peace, justice, and sustainable development, and puts no group
in a position of superiority.
Baha' is believe that their own success at building a unified
community stems solely from its inspiration by the spiritual
teachings of Baha'u'llah, Who wrote extensively about the
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

importance of unity, the reality of oneness, and the imperative
need for creating a peaceful world civilization. More than 100
years ago, He wrote the following, which stands as a cornerstone
of Baha' { belief:
0 Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from
the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other.
Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since
We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent
on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat
with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from
your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness
and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. 3

3 Bahi'u'llah, The Hidden Words ofBahd'u'lldh (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing
Trust, 1994), Arabic no. 68, p. 20.
Sustainable Development
THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION

This statement by the Baha'i International
Community was presented to the first session of
the Preparatory Committee of the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, held in
New York City .from 30 April to 2 May 2001.

S ome nine years ago, over the course of the Earth Summit
process, the governments of the world, with significant
contributions from global civil society, crafted Agenda 21, a
remarkably forward-looking strategy for the achievement of
sustainable development worldwide.
Some nine years later, the work of determining the next steps
in the evolution of Agenda 211 has been placed upon the shoulders
of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The Summit
has been called to "identify major constraints hindering the
implementation of Agenda 21" and to "address new challenges
and opportunities that have emerged since the United Nations

1 Conscious of the fact that more knowledge and experience would emerge
as the world community sought to implement this strategy-and that a
higher level of international cooperation was still possible-Agenda 21
was defined, in its preamble, as a "dynamic program" which "could evolve
over time in the light of changing needs and circumstances." (Agenda
21, Chapter 1.6, Preamble).

280 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Conference on Environment and Development." 2 It is in identifying
these major constraints, challenges, and opportunities that the
Summit's Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) must necessarily come
face to face with spiritual issues.
"No matter how far the material world advances," the Baha'i
writings state, "it cannot establish the happiness of mankind. Only
when material and spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated
will happiness be assured. . .. for in material civilization good and
evil advance together and maintain the same pace." 3
The Baha'i International Community is convinced that unless
and until spiritual issues become central to the development process,
the establishment of a sustainable global civilization will prove
impossible. For the vast majority of the world's people the idea
that human nature is fundamentally spiritual is an incontrovertible
truth. Indeed, this perception of reality is the defining cultural
experience for most of the world's people and is inseparable from
how they perceive themselves and the world around them. 4 It is,
therefore, only by bringing a focus on the spiritual dimension of
human reality that development policies and programs can truly
reflect the experiences, conditions, and aspirations of the planet's
inhabitants and elicit their heartfelt support and active participation.
On the one hand, the governments of the world have,
collectively, begun to acknowledge a spiritual dimension to
development. This can be seen in the global action plans that
emerged from the great world conferences held in the 1990s by
the United Nations. Agenda 21, for example, calls for "social,

2 Ten-year review of progress achieved in the implementation of the outcome
of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
(NRES/55/199, 15c-d, 20 December 2000).
3 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-

Bahd during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, rev. ed.
(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 109.
4 This perception of reality can be discovered in the earliest records of

civilization and has been cultivated for several millennia by every one of
the great religious traditions. Its enduring achievements in law, the fine
arts, and the civilizing of human intercourse are what give substance and
meaning to history. In one form or another its promptings are a daily
influence in the lives of most people on earth.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

economic, and spiritual development," recognizing that "individuals
should be allowed to develop their full potential, including healthy
physical, mental, and spiritual development. " 5 Subsequent
declarations and action plans have reinforced this call and gone
further. For example, in the Copenhagen Declaration the governments
of the world unambiguously affirm that "our societies must respond
more effectively to the material and spiritual needs of individuals,
their families , and the communities in which they live ... not only
as a matter of urgency but also as a matter of sustained and
unshakeable commitment through the years ahead. " 6 In the Beijing
Platform for Action they agree that "[r}eligion, spirituality, and belief
play a central role in the lives of millions of women and men, in
the way they live and in the aspirations they have for the future. " 7
And in the Habitat Agenda, the world's governments commit to
"achieving a world of greater stability and peace, built on ethical
and spiritual vision. "8
On the other hand, beyond such general statements and
commitments, these global agreements offer little understanding
of what the terms "spirituality," "spiritual vision," and "spiritual
development" mean in principle or in practice. If, indeed, spirituality
is as crucial to sustainable development as these global action plans
have avowed, then it is time to move beyond generalities, to explore, in depth, the spiritual principles at the heart of development
and to consider fully their ramifications for all stages of the
development process.
This exploration of spiritual principles is completely in line
with the PrepCom's mandate to " identify major constraints
hindering the implementation of Agenda 21" and to "address new
challenges and opportunities that have emerged" since the Earth
Summit. Any strategies for overcoming such constraints and
challenges as war, poverty, social disintegration, extreme nationalism, greed, corruption, and apathy, which do not take into account

5 Agenda 21, chapters 6.3 and 6.23. Emphasis added.
6 Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, no. 3. Emphasis added.
7 Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women, chapter 2,
no. 24. Emphasis added.
8 Habitat Agenda, chapter l, no. 4, Preamble. Emphasis added.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

spiritual principles, will prove ephemeral, at best. In considering
new opportunities for overcoming these constraints and challenges,
the PrepCom should look to the remarkable development of
interfaith relations and the expansion of interfaith initiatives.
Religious and spiritual traditions are increasingly coming together
to foster friendliness, fellowship, and understanding among their
diverse communities. They are also increasingly working together
on policies, programs, and initiatives with secular bodies ranging
from private enterprises and organizations of civil society to
governments and international institutions. In such work, religious
and spiritual value systems are viewed not as separate from "real
world concerns," but as vital sources of knowledge and motivation,
as wellsprings of values, insights, and energy without which social
cohesion and collective action are difficult, if not impossible, to
achieve. 9
This blossoming of interfaith work can be seen in such
initiatives as the World Faiths Development Dialogue; 10 the
World Conference on Religion and Peace; 1 1 the Alliance of
Religions and Conservation; 12 the Parliament of the World's

9 Meaningful social transformation cannot come from political prescriptions
or technical recipes alone. An approach to development that incorporates
moral and spiritual imperatives will more likely lead to enduring changes
in both individual and collective behavior rhan an approach that ignores
these requirements. There is, therefore, much to be gained by seriously
and systematically examining the role of religious resources and spiritual
values in building human capacity.
10 The World Faiths Development Dialogue is a collaborative initiative at

the national and international levels between the World Bank and several
world religions . Its mission is to assist in combating poverty and to bring
spiritual principles into development thinking and practice.
11 The World Conference on Religion and Peace is an international orga-

nization in which numerous world religions cooperate to promote peace
and understanding. Ir is organized on an international, regional, and
national basis.
12 The Alliance of Religions and Conservation brings together 11 world

faiths for consultations on conservation issues. It also encourages
collaborative efforts between rhe religions and environmental organizations.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Religions; 13 and the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious
and Spiritual Leaders. 14 It can be read in the numerous joint
declarations and agreements in which the religions have articulated
a common vision of humanity's future based on such universal
principles as love, justice, compassion, moderation, humility, sharing,
service, peace, and the oneness of the human family. 15
In seeking to incorporate spiritual principles into its
deliberations, the PrepCom should take advantage of this new stage
in the relations among the world's religions. It might do so by
making the topic "Sustainable Development: The Spiritual
Dimension" one of the "main themes for the Summit." 16 It could

13 The 1999 Parliament of the World's Religions brought together over
7,000 people in Cape Town, South Africa. The goal of the Parliament
was to create greater respect, understanding, cooperation, and harmony
among the world's peoples and religions. Participants rook part in a wide
range of activities discussing, learning, sharing, and discovering. The
sem-inal document, A Call to Our Guiding Institutions, was issued during
the Parliament (see footnote #15).
14 Held in part in the UN General Assembly Hall, in August 2000, the

Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders brought
rogether some 1,000 religious and spiritual leaders from around the world.
The gathered leaders discussed pressing issues facing the world community,
including the challenges of fostering peace and encouraging interreligious
understanding and cooperation. A major theme of the Summit was how
the religions could work with the United Nations in its mission for human
rights, development, peace, and justice. At a historic plenary session,
"Engaging Religious Leadership in the Work of the United Nations,"
members of the panel, composed of several high level UN officials, voiced
their conviction that spirituality and the insights and vision of religion
were greatly needed in the policies and programs of the United Nations.
15 These documents include the Final Statement by the Co-Chairs, Second

Meeting of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (the World Faiths
Develop-ment Dialogue) <WWW. worldbank.org/html/extdr/extme/
ps l l l 599a.htm>; A Call to Our Guiding Institutions (the 1999 Parliament
of the World's Religions) <www.cpwr.org/calldoc.htmb; and the
Commitment to Global Peace (the Millennium World Peace Summit of
Religious and Spiritual Leaders) <www.millenniumpeacesummit.org/
aboutframe.htmb.
16 A/RES/55/199, 15g.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

then initiate a major review of international agreements, proclamations, and statements which focus on religious and spiritual
values, particularly as they relate to and impact the development
process. This review should begin with the global action plans of
the world conferences of the 1990s, since it was here that the
governments of the world publicly acknowledged the importance
of spiritual values in development. 17 It should then be expanded
to include major interfaith declarations and agreements and other
relevant initiatives. 18
While this review is being conducted, the PrepCom could
facilitate a series of consultations involving both representatives
and leaders of various religious and spiritual traditions. These
consultations, which might be held before the next PrepCom,
should focus on spiritual principles as they relate to Agenda 21
and sustainable development. A series of regional consultations
followed by an international consultation might be held, or, if
that is not feasible, then, at the very least, an international
consultation should be organized. The results of these consultations
and of the "documents review" should be issued as a UN document
for use by the PrepCom in its deliberations.
Although these proposed efforts are modest, the world's
governments would, by supporting them, be sending a clear message
that they are serious about their previous commitments to
incorporate spiritual considerations into the development process.
More important, however, the "documents review" and the global
consultations would undoubtedly produce innovative ideas and

17 In fact, the PrepCom is to "take into account, as appropriate, the outcomes
relevant to sustainable development of other United Nations conferences
and summits and their follow-up activities." A/RES/55/199, Preamble.
18 Two initiatives which might be considered in this review are: the October

1994 seminar on "Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of Social Progress,"
organized by the UN Secretariat for the World Summit for Social
Development (the document produced is entitled "Ethical and Spiritual
Dimensions of Social Progress"); and the November 2000 "Colloquium
on Science, Religion, and Development," organized by the Institute for
Studies in Global Prosperity of the Baha'i International Community (the
document produced is entitled "Statement of Preliminary Findings of
the Colloquium on Science, Religion, and Development").
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

approaches and might possibly generate a powerful vision based
on spiritual principles-principles which, because they resonate
with the human soul, have the power to motivate the sacrifices
and changes that will be needed if humanity is to overcome the
seemingly intractable problems it faces.
Ultimately, the creation of a peaceful and just global civilization,
in which the diverse peoples of the world live in harmony with
one another and with the natural world, will require a significant
reorientation of individual and collective goals and a profound
transformation in attitudes and behaviors. Such far-reaching changes
will come about only by addressing the nonmaterial dimension
of reality and drawing on humanity's vast spiritual resources.
HIV/AIDS and Gender Equality
TRANSFORMING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS

This statement by the Bahd'i
International Community was prepared
for the United Nations General Assembly
Special Session on HIV/AIDS, held in New
York City 25-27 June 2001.

T he relationship between the AIDS pandemic and gender
nequality is gaining recognition globally. New HIV/AIDS
nfections are now increasing faster among women and girls
than among males; therefore, last year half of all new cases occurred
in females. At the recent 45th session of the Commission on the
Status of Women, where HIV/AIDS was one of the main thematic
issues, the complexity of the challenges in addressing the issue
was underscored by the undeniable association of AIDS with such
an intractable problem as sexism. There is no denying the importance
of research, education, and cooperation among governments and
civil society. However, awareness is growing that a profound change
of attitude-personal, political, and social-will be necessary to
stop the spread of the disease and ensure assistance to those already
infected and affected. This statement will focus on two of the
more significant populations who need to be represented in these
global discussions: men, because of the control they have
traditionally exercised over women's lives; and faith communities,
because of the power they have to influence the hearts and minds
of their adherents.
288 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

In order to curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS among women,
concrete changes need to occur in the sexual attitudes and behavior
of both men and women, but especially men. Fallacious notions
about the naturally voracious sexual appetites of men must be
addressed. The real consequences to women-and men-of the
practice of satisfying one's sexual desires outside of marriage must
be fully understood. Educating women and girls is critically
important, but the current power imbalance between men and
women can prevent a woman from acting in her own interest.
Indeed, experience has shown chat educating women without
educating the men in their lives may put the women at greater
risk of violence. Efforts are needed, therefore, to educate both
boys and girls to respect themselves and one another. A culture of
mutual respect will improve not only the self-esteem of women
and girls, but the self-esteem of men and boys as well, which will
lead towards more responsible sexual behavior.
The denial of equality to women not only promotes in men
harmful attitudes and habits thar affect their families, the workplace,
political decisions, and international relations; it also contributes
substantially to the spread of HIV/AIDS and retards the progress
of society. Notice how culturally accepted social inequalities conspire
with economic vulnerability to leave women and girls with little
or no power to reject unwanted or unsafe sex. Yet, once infected
with HIV/AIDS, women are often stigmatized as the source of the
disease and persecuted, sometimes violently. Meanwhile, the burden
of caring for people living with HIV/AIDS and for children orphaned
by the disease falls predominantly on women. Traditional gender
roles that have gone unquestioned for generations must now be
reexamined in the light of justice and compassion. Ultimately,
nothing short of a spiritual transformation will move men- and
women-to forego the behaviors that contribute to the spread of
AIDS. Such a transformation is as important for men as it is for
women, because "As long as women are prevented from attaining
their highest possibilities, so long will men be unable to achieve
the greatness which might be theirs."'

1 'Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks: Addresses given by 'Abdu'l-Bahd in Paris in 1911-
1912 (London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 133.
AIDS AND GENDER EQUALITY

Because the cultivation of humanity's noble, spiritual core has
always been the province of religion, religious communities can
play an important role in bringing about the change of heart and
the consequent change in behaviors that will make possible an
effective response to the AIDS crisis.
The leaders of faith communities are especially equipped to
address the moral dimension of the AIDS crisis both in terms of
its prevention and its treatment. The spread of HIV/AIDS would
be significantly reduced if individuals were taught to respect the
sanctity of the family by practicing abstinence before marriage
and fidelity to one's spouse while married, as underscored in most
faith traditions.
Religious leaders and people of faith are also called to respond
with love and compassion to the intense personal suffering of those
either directly or indirectly affected by the AIDS crisis. However,
a tendency on the part of society as a whole to judge and blame
those afflicted has, since the onset of this disease, stifled compassion
for its victims. The subsequent stigmatization of individuals thus
afflicted with HIV/AIDS has fostered a profound reluctance on the
part of infected individuals to seek treatment and of societies to
change cultural attitudes and practices necessary for the prevention
and treatment of the disease. Such judgments can be particularly
pronounced in religious communities struggling to uphold a high
standard of personal conduct. One of the seeming paradoxes of
faith is the individual obligation of believers to adhere to a high
standard of personal conduct while loving and caring for those
who fall short-for whatever reason-of that same standard. What
is often forgotten is that "moral conduct" includes not only personal
restraint but compassion and humility as well. Faith communities
will need to strive continually to rid themselves of judgmental
attitudes so that they can exert the kind of moral leadership that
encourages personal responsibility, love for one another, and the
courage to protect vulnerable groups in society.
We see signs of hope in increased interfaith dialogue and
cooperation. Among faith communities there is a growing
recognition that, as Baha'u'llah states, "the peoples of the world,
of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one
heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God." It is, indeed,
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

the transcendent nature of the human spirit, as it reaches towards
that invisible, unknowable Essence called God, which galvanizes
and refines mankind's capacity to achieve the spiritual progress
that translates into social progress. As dialogue, cooperation, and
respect among religious communities increase, cultural and religious
practices and traditions that discriminate against women, no matter
how entrenched, will gradually give way. This will be an essential
step towards retarding the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Indeed, it is in the recognition of the oneness of the human
family that hearts will soften, minds will open, and the attitudes
of men and women will be transformed. It is out of that
transformation that a coherent, compassionate, and rational response
to the worldwide HIV/AIDS crisis will be made possible.
Baha' is in Iran
CURRENT SITUATION

This oral statement was presented by the
Bahd'i International Community to the
United Nations Commission on Human
Rights in Geneva in April 2002.

hough there have been some recent improvements, the Baha'i
International Community must report to the Commission
that the Baha'i community in Iran is still the object of
clear and systematic human rights violations. These violations are
both collective and individual, and they concern not only civil
and political rights, but also a wide range of social, economic,
and cultural rights.
Recent improvements have come in the situations of individual
Baha'is who have been imprisoned. All death sentences have been
commuted, and some prisoners have been released. At this time,
however, five Baha'is are still in prison for their religious beliefs,
two of them sentenced to life imprisonment for apostasy.
The extensive, persistent, systematic persecution of the Baha'i
community has been documented over the years in the various
reports issued by the Special Representatives on Iran. Iran's policy
towards the Baha'is is a matter of public record. Back in 1993,
Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, who was then Special Representative on
Iran, uncovered a secret document that laid out specific procedures
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

for Iranian officials to follow in dealing with the Baha'is. The
goal of this policy, endorsed in writing by Mr. Khamenei himself,
was the annihilation of a community of 300,000 people. Who
could have imagined then that these guidelines would still be in
force 10 years later?
When this policy document came to light, more than 200
Baha' {s had already been executed and many more tortured, Baha' {
holy places had been destroyed, and a large number of properties
had been confiscated. This policy memo signaled, not a change
in attitude toward the Baha'!s, but a shift in strategy. The Supreme
Revolutionary Cultural Council's approach was to deal with "the
Baha'i question" in more subtle ways, so that Baha'i "progress
and development shall be blocked. " It was, in fact, a carefully
conceived blueprint for the slow strangulation of the community,
a blueprint that guides the actions of government officials to this
day.
The Baha'!s pose no threat to the Iranian authorities. Baha'isas a principle of their faith-must obey the government of their
country. The Baha'is in Iran seek no special privileges. They simply
wish to live as ordinary citizens: to enjoy their civil rights, as well
as their economic and social rights, and to be able to profess and
practice their religion peacefully.
The Baha' {s in Iran yearn to be free of the daily threat of arrest
and arbitrary detention. Since 1998, the Iranian authorities have
relied less on long-term imprisonment than on a widespread pattern
of short-term detentions. Baha'is go through each day not knowing
whether they or a loved one will be arrested and, if so, whether
they will be imprisoned for a few days, weeks, or months. This
practice wears them down with a constant feeling of insecurity
and uncertainty.
The Baha' is in Iran would like to be able to work, to receive
their pensions when they retire, to have access to higher education,
to own property, and to meet freely as a community. They want
their religious institutions to be reestablished, because it is around
these institutions that their spiritual, communal, and social activities
revolve.
The wishes of this peaceful community are endorsed by the
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Abdelfattah
BAHA'fS IN IRAN: CURRENT SITUATION 293

Amor, and can be found in the conclusions and recommendations
of the report published on his visit to Iran in 1996. Year after year,
Mr. Amor's recommendations have been endorsed by the Special
Representative on Iran, Maurice Copithorne. Unfortunately, however,
neither Mr. Amor nor Mr. Copithorne can report to us today that
any of their recommendations have been fully implemented.
During the past few years, representatives of the Iranian
government have referred to legislation, reportedly adopted in 1999,
which grants all Iranian citizens equal rights. They indicated that
this "right to citizenship" legislation could potentially be very
significant to Bah:i'!s. Although the Baha'i community is the largest
religious minority in Iran, its members are not included with the
Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians as religious minorities protected
under the Iranian constitution. We have yet to see any evidence
that the "right to citizenship" legislation is being implemented.
Bah:i' {s remain "unprotected infidels" under Iranian law.
Today the only protection the Bah:i'!s in Iran have is the attention
of the international community. Until clear and documented steps
to eliminate the persecution of the Bahci'is have been taken by
the Iranian Government and implemented by its officials, the human
rights violations perpetrated against this beleaguered community
must continue to be monitored by the international community.
The Destiny of America
AND THE PROMISE OF WORLD PEACE

This statement by the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahd'is of the United States
was addressed to the citizens of that country as a
response to the tragedies of 11 September 2001.
It first appeared in The New York Times on
23 December 2001.

M ore than a hundred years ago, Baha'u'llah, the founder
of the Baha'i Faith, addressing heads of state, proclaimed
that the age of maturity for the entire human race had
come. The unity of humankind was now to be established as the
foundation of the great peace that would mark the highest stage
in humanity's spiritual and social evolution. Revolutionary and
worldshaking changes were therefore inevitable.
The Baha'i writings state:
The world is moving on. Its events are unfolding ominously
and with bewildering rapidity. The whirlwind of its passions is
swift and alarmingly violent. The New World is insensibly drawn
into its vortex .... Dangers, undreamt of and unpredictable,
threaten it both from within and from without. Its governments
and peoples are being gradually enmeshed in the coils of the
world's recurrent crises and fierce controversies .... The world
is contracting into a neighborhood. America, willingly or
unwillingly, must face and grapple with this new situation. For
purposes of national security, let alone any humanitarian motive,
she must assume the obligations imposed by this newly created

THE BAHA'I WORLD 2001-2002

neighborhood. Paradoxical as it may seem, her only hope of
extricating herself from the perils gathering around her is to
become entangled in that very web of international association
which the Hand of an inscrutable Providence is weaving. 1
The American nation, Baha' is believe, will evolve through tests
and trials to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership,
a champion of justice and unity among all peoples and nations,
and a powerful servant of the cause of everlasting peace. This is
the peace promised by God in the sacred texts of the world's religions.
Establishing peace is not simply a matter of signing treaties
and protocols; it is a complex task requiring a new level of
commitment to resolving issues not customarily associated with
the pursuit of peace.
Universal acceptance of the spiritual principle of the oneness
of humankind is essential to any successful attempt to establish
world peace. Racism, one of the most baneful and persistent evils,
is a major barrier to peace.
The emancipation of women, the achievement of full equality
of the sexes, is one of the most important, though less acknowledged,
prerequisites of peace.
The inordinate disparity between rich and poor keeps the world
in a state of instability, preventing the achievement of peace.
Unbridled nationalism, as distinguished from a sane and legitimate patriotism, must give way to a wider loyalty, to the love of
humanity as a whole.
Religious strife, the cause of innumerable wars and conflicts
throughout history, is a major obstacle to progress. The challenge
facing the world's religious leaders is to contemplate, with hearts
filled with compassion and the desire for truth, the plight of
humanity, and to ask themselves whether they cannot, in humility
before their God, submerge their theological differences in a great
spirit of mutual forbearance that will enable them to work together
for the advancement of human understanding and peace.
Baha'is pray, "May this American Democracy be the first nation
to establish the foundation of international agreement. May it be

1 Shoghi Effendi, The Advent ofDivine justice (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing
Trust, 1990), p. 87.
DESTINY OF AMERICA 297

the first nation to proclaim the unity of mankind. May it be the
first to unfurl the standard of the Most Great Peace. " 2
During this hour of crisis, we affirm our abiding faith in the
destiny of America. We know that the road to its destiny is long,
thorny, and tortuous, but we are confident that America will emerge
from her trials undivided and undefeatable.

2 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-
Bahd during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, rev. ed.
(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 36.
INFORMATION
AND RESOURCES
Obituaries

DORIS BALLARD
On 2 May 2001, in Alexandria, Virginia, the United Stares. Doris Copeland
was born 26 January 1914 in Vernon, Texas. She became a Baha'i in 1949
and from that rime dedicated much of her energy to spreading the Baha'i
teachings. Pursuing her desire to teach the Faith, she traveled to South
Africa in 1954 and lived in various countries in southern Africa for 15
years. Her service on Baha'i institutions included membership on Local
Spiritual Assemblies in South Africa and the United States, on admin istrative
committees in the United Kingdom, and on the National Spiritual Assembly
of Zambia. It was as a member of that Assembly that she served as a delegate
to the International Baha'i Convention in Haifa in 1968. She returned to
Haifa in 197 4 to work at the Baha'i World Centre and remained there for
five years. She married Irving Ballard in the 1940s, but the two later divorced.
Professionally, she worked for the US civil service in a number of different
positions, including a period with the American consul general in
Johannesburg. Later in her life she returned to the United Stares, where
she stayed until her passing. After her death, the Universal Ho use ofJusrice
wrote of the "indelible traces" she left on the development of the Baha'i
Faith through her teaching efforts.

302 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

GIOVANNI BALLERIO
On 15 December 2001, in Geneva, Switzerland. Giovanni Ballerio, born
in Asmara, Eritrea, on 15 February 1943, became a Baha'i in Eritrea in
1971 and began his Baha'i service on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Asmara.
For the remainder of his life, he served the Baha'i Faith in many capacities,
including as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy and as
a representative of the Baha'i International Community's Office at the
United Nations in Geneva from 1981 to 2001. He also undertook, in
1998, a four-month-long mission on behalf of the Universal House of
Justice to meet with heads of state and prominent individuals throughout
the Pacific islands. During his early years, he worked as a junior high
school teacher but eventually retired from this to give his efforts fully to
the Faith, first on the NSA of Italy, in 1979, and then for the BJC's United
Nations Office. He also served on Local Spiritual Assemblies in Italy, where
he moved in 1978, and Switzerland, where he lived from 1981 until his
death. His landmark work with the Baha'i International Community included
developing a working relationship between the BIC and the World Health
Organization, and establishing a permanent BIC representation to the United
Nations in Geneva. Shortly after his passing, in March 2002, a plaque
recognizing his achievements with the BIC was dedicated by the NGO
Committee on the Status of Women, recognizing "his outstanding work
to promote gender equality, for serving with devotion the Committee,
and helping individual members without distinction and beyond the call
of duty. " He is survived by his wife, Gail Madjzoub, and by three children
from a previous marriage.

DONALD BARRETT
On 22 August 2001, in Edmund, Oklahoma, the United States. Donald
Barrett was born in Berkeley, California, in 1927 and became a Baha'i in
1951. He married Barbara Jewkes in 1949 and the couple had two children.
Along with his family, he was active in spreading the Baha'i teachings
throughout many countries in South America and assisted in the formation
of many Local and National Spiritual Assemblies while pioneering
to Colombia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela during the 19 50s,
and Ecuador in the 1970s. In 1978-79 he was appointed to the Auxiliary
Board in the United States. Most notable of all his services, perhaps, was
Mr. Barrett's work as the Secretary-General of the Baha'i International
Community, which the Universal House ofJustice described as "indefatigable
service." His law degree and experience in practicing international law
were particularly useful during that period, when he was called upon to
negotiate the official status of the Baha'i World Centre with the Israeli
government in 1987. After returning to the United States, he eventually
OBITUARIES 303

settled in Oklahoma, teaching English at the University of Oklahoma,
volunteering his English-reaching skills to Iranian Baha'i immigrants in
the community, and serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Edmund.

PALLE BISCHOFF
On 24 January 2002, in H0rsholm, Denmark. Palle Bischoff was born in
Humleba::k, Denmark, on 16 April 1925. His contributions to the Baha'i
Faith centered on his activities in his own and in other European countries
and as a Deputy Trustee of l:luququ'llah in Denmark. In 1951, four years
after joining the Baha'i Faith, Mr. Bischoff moved to Greenland, where
he became one of the first Baha'ls to settle in that country. Despite having
a degree in commercial science, he began his career in Greenland as a
fisherman , later working as a manager in a fishing station, and then opening
a ski school. Returning to Denmark in 1954, he worked for various companies
before establishing his own consulting firm with the Agricultural Council
of Denmark in 1989. He and his wife, Ingegerd Saxlund, whom he married
in 1960, raised three children. The couple offered their mountain residence
in Norway as a venue for Baha'i classes and summer schools. Mr. Bischoff
was a member of the first Local Spiritual Assembly in Copenhagen and
the Regional Assembly of Scandinavia and Finland from 1957 until 1963,
when he was elected to Denmark's first National Spiritual Assembly. He
served either on that body or as an Auxiliary Board member from 1963 to
2000 and also, from 1964 to 1998, as a member of the Local Spiritual
Assembly of S0llernd, Denmark. In its message after his passing, the Universal
House of Justice recalled his "outstanding services" that "earned him an
imperishable place in the annals of the Danish Baha'i community."

SHIRIN BOMAN
On 12 February 2002, in Indore, India. Shirin Irani was born 6 October
1911 in Mumbai, India, and became a Baha' I at a young age. Her more
than six decades of service to the Baha'i community included membership
on the National Spiritual Assembly oflndia from 1953 until her appointment
to the Continental Board of Counsellors in Asia in 1968. She married
Behram Boman Mehrbani in 1926 and the couple had six children. Her
husband died in 1963. Mrs. Boman lived in many cities in India, serving
as a homefront pioneer to Ujjain and Gwalior, and also undertook trips
to other countries, including Bangladesh, Canada, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Uganda, and the United States, to spread the Baha'i teachings. Many people
in India learned of the Faith through her efforrs, and she initiated many
large-scale teaching campaigns in the country. · Her services to the Faith
also included acting as a companion and interpreter to 'Amatu'l-Baha
Ru~lyyih Khanum during the latter's travels in India, Nepal, and Sikkim
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

in 1964. After Mrs. Boman's death, the Universal House of Justice wrote
that her efforts to promote the Baha'i Faith were "inspiring" and that she
had "enriched the annals of the Indian Baha'i community." It also requested
that a memorial gathering be held in her honor at the House of Worship
in New Delhi and in other pans of India.

GERTRUDE EISENBERG
On 8 September 200 l, in Duarte, California, United States. Gertrude
"Trudy" Eisenberg was born 13 June 1906 in Sag Harbor, New York. She
learned of the Faith as an adult and was inspired to travel to share its
teachings. In 1953, she was named a Knight of Baha'u'llah by Shoghi
Effendi in recognition of her arrival as the first Baha' f in the Canary Islands.
Her other travels included trips to Brazil, Guatemala, Paraguay, and the
Hawaiian Islands. In its message after her passing, the Universal House of
Justice praised her "courage and steadfastness," which it said would "inspire
generations to come."

RASHID GULOV
On 23 October 2001, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Born in Tugarak, Vose
Region, Tajikistan, in 1971, Rashid Gulov became a member of the Baha'i
Faith in 1995. He served as a pioneer to Georgia in 1997- 98 and then as
a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Dushanbe, the National Teaching
Committee, and the Training Institute in Tajikistan. Mr. Gulov was killed
while returning home from work-the victim of an element in the country
that sought to harm the Baha'is and the Baha'i community. Because of
this, the Universal House of Justice deemed his death as martyrdom. He
is survived by his wife, Parvina Murodova, whom he married in 1994.
The murder of Mr. Gulov was followed only two months later by the
death of another Baha'i in Dushanbe, which, in turn, came two years after
the killing of 'Abdu'llah Mogharrabi in the same city. 1

PHILIP HAINSWORTH
On 16 December 2001, in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Philip Hainsworth
was born on 27 July 1919 in Bradford, Yorkshire. He became a Baha'i in
1938, when there were fewer than 100 Baha'fs in the UK, and from that
time on dedicated his life to service of the Faith, first bringing the Faith
to cities in England and Northern Ireland and assisting in the formation
of many Local Spiritual Assemblies. Mr. Hainsworth served in the Royal
Army Medical Corps of the British Army in World War II, fulfilling his

1 See the obituary of Afshin Shokoufeh Mosadegh on p. 308. Mr. Mogharrabi's obituary appears in The Baha'i World 1999-2000, pp. 306-07.
OBITUARIES

duty to his country while abstaining from combat because of his Faith.
Then in 1951, responding to the request of Shoghi Effendi that Baha'ls
arise to teach the Faith, Mr. Hainsworth traveled to the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda
in Africa. He was named as a Knight of Baha'u'llah by virtue of his being
among the first group of Baha'fs to travel to Uganda, and Shoghi Effendi
referred to him as "the spiritual Stanley of Africa." In 1956 he married
Lois Houchin and the couple had three children. He was a member of the
National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa from 1956 to 1966
and served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles for a
total of 32 years, both before and after his African trips. His other efforts
included authoring several books about the Faith, including coauthoring
The Baha'i Faith, which became a standard text in some schools, and editing
the collection of Shoghi Effendi's letters to the Baha'fs of the UK, Unfolding
Destiny. Shortly before his death he returned to Uganda for the 50th
anniversary celebration of the Baha'i community there. 2 After his passing,
the Universal House of Justice recalled his "staunch perseverance" and
"indefatigable efforts" and asked that memorial gatherings be held throughout
the United Kingdom and Uganda.

PHILIP HARVEY
On 13 April 2002, in Harare, Zimbabwe. Philip Desmond Harvey was
born in London, England, on 4 August 1927. He served in the Royal
Navy as an aircraft technician and lacer focused his career on avionics and
electrical engineering. He learned of the Faith while in the military and
became a Baha'i in 1952, after which he began to concentrate his energies
on service to the Baha' I Faith. He met his wife-to-be, Pary Vahid-Tehrani,
in 1953 and the two married later that year-the first Anglo-Persian marriage
in the British Baha'i community. The couple had one son. In 1966, the
family moved to South Africa, and so began more than 36 years of pioneer
service in South West Africa (later Namibia), Swaziland, and Rhodesia
(later Zimbabwe). Mr. Harvey was a member of the National Spiritual
Assembly of Swaziland, Lesotho, and Mozambique during his time in
Swaziland and was also honored by King Sobhuza II for his work in assisting
with the country's independence celebrations. The family moved to Rhodesia
in 1971, where Mr. Harvey became the manager of the Air Zimbabwe
Technical Training School and later served on the government's aviation
regularory body. After his death, the Universal House of Justice wrote
that his "distinguished" services in Africa would be "long remembered."

2 For an account of Uganda's 50rh anniversary and more about Mr. Hainsworth's efforts in chat country, see pp. 117-22.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

ABBAS KATIRAI
On 3 May 2001, in Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Mr. Katirai
was born on 5 May 1923 in Hamadan, Iran, to Baha'i parents. He married
Rezvanieh Alizadeh in 1947, with whom he had three children, and in
1953 the family pioneered to Japan, seeking to assist in the development
of the Baha'i community there. His services included membership on the
National Spiritual Assembly of Japan from 1965 to 1988 and on the
Continental Boards of Counsellors of Asia from 1990 to 2000. In 1958,
he donated the land for the first Baha'i cemetery in Japan, in Ashiya, the
place where he was finally laid to rest. After spending time between Iran
and Japan, he moved with his family in 1990 to the Sakhalin Islands.
There, he and his wife spent five years helping to establish the first Baha'i
communities in that region, an act for which they were named Knights of
Baha'u'llah. Among his numerous other services were representing the
Universal House of Justice at the formation of the first National Spiritual
Assembly of Armenia and helping to establish the first National Spiritual
Assembly of Georgia. After his passing, the Universal House of Justice
urged that memorial gatherings be held in his honor at the House of Worship
in New Delhi, India, as well as in Armenia, Georgia, and Russia, in
recognition of his contributions to the development of those national Baha'i
communiues.

CORNELIUS KHONOU
On 9 April 2002, in Ga Rankuwa, South Africa. Cornelius Christopher
Khonou was born 27 October 1929 near Bleskop, Rustenberg, South Africa.
He became a Baha'i in 1957 and that same year married Paulina Huma,
with whom he had seven children. Elected as one of the founding members
of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Luka, South Africa, he went on to serve
as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa
for five years, the National Spiritual Assembly of Bophuthatswana for 12
years, and the National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa for seven years.
Mr. Khonou worked in education, beginning as a primary school teacher
and eventually becoming a principal before earning a post as Inspector of
Adult Education. He traveled to many towns and villages within South
Africa in his efforts to teach the Baha'i Faith and also served as the Deputy
Trustee of f:Iuququ'llah of South Africa beginning in 2000.

PATRICIA LOCKE
On 20 October 2001 , in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Patricia Ann
McGillis was born on 21 January 1928 in Idaho, of Hunkpapa Lakota
and White Earth Chippewa heritage. Her native name was Tawacin Waste
Win, which means "she has a good consciousness, compassionate woman. "
OBITUARIES

She worked in education for most of her life, teaching at all levels fro m
elementary school to universiry, and was actively involved in promoting
native practices and languages. In 1978, she was instrumental in lobbying
for the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and soon after was appointed
as cochair of a US government Task Force on Indian Education Policy.
Ms. Locke also helped to organize 17 tribal colleges on native reservations
in the United States, served on the National Indian Education Association
and numerous other advisory boards for education, human rights, and
environmental issues, and acted as chair of the Indigenous Woman's Caucus
at the 1995 UN Women's Conference in Beijing. She was much in demand
as a lecturer and is recognized as one of the most influential Native Americans
of the twentieth century. She had two children from a 23-year marriage
and became a Baha'i at age 63, taught by her son. Elected to the National
Spiritual Assembly just two years later, she served on that body until her
death. The Universal House of Justice praised her "outstanding endeavors
as an educator and administrator" who championed the needs of America's
native peoples.

ZYLPHA MAPP-ROBINSON
On 12 May 2001, in New York Ciry, New York, United States. Zylpha 0.
Mapp was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 25 August 1914 and
was raised in a Baha'i family. The message from the Baha'i World Centre
after her death recalled her "spirit of selfless devotion" in her service to
the Baha'i Faith, which was notable in her extensive travels to teach the
Faith. She lived for more than 20 years in Uganda, where she pioneered in
1970, having previously served on Baha'i institutions in both the United
States and Canada. Elected as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly
of Uganda in 1976, she also served on several Local Spiritual Assemblies
and on various national Baha'i committees. Her professional training was
as an educator, having earned a master's degree and Ph.D. in education.
She applied her training to helping humaniry, developing health and nutrition
projects in India and Burkina Faso, authoring handbooks on development
and education, and assisting in the creation of Baha'i training institute
programs in Uganda. Another of her significant services in Uganda was as
secretary to Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga. She undertook
trips to many countries in Africa to spread the Baha'i teachings and also
traveled in Asia and the Caribbean region. Her husband, Robert Robinson,
died in 1994. She is survived by one daughter. After her passing, a message
from the Baha'i World Centre requested that a memorial gathering be
held for her in the House of Worship in Uganda.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

ELENA MARSELLA
On 13 March 2002, in Kailua, Hawaii, the United States. Elena Maria
Marsella was born in August 1913 in Providence, Rhode Island. She became
a Baha'i in 1939 and in 1945 began her travels to promote the Faith and
its interests, going first to the Dominican Republic. She lived primarily in
the Caribbean, Micronesia, and Polynesia, and in 1954 she and her husband,
Roy Fernie, were named Knights of Baha'u'llah when they moved to the
Gilbert and Ellice Islands (now known as Kiribati and Tuvalu), as they
were the first Baha'ls in that region. She served on a variety of Baha'i
institutions, including the National Spiritual Assembly for Central America
and the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands. She
later relocated to Asia and was appointed to the Continental Board of
Counsellors for Northeastern Asia in 1973, a post she occupied until 1980.
She pursued several careers in her life, working as a teacher, a member of
the Foreign Service, and a pianist. After her passing the Universal House
of Justice lauded her "enrichment of Baha'i literature through her scholarly
endeavors," which included aurhoring the book The Quest for Eden, and
praised her "ardent commitment to the promotion" of the Baha'i Faith.

AFSHIN SHOKOUFEH MOSADEGH
On 3 December 2001, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Born in Rasht, Iran , on
23 September 1968, Afshin Shokoufeh Mosadegh was only 33 years old
when he gave his life as a Baha'i martyr. He was shot outside his home in
Dushanbe and died en route to the hospital. The government's inquiry
into the murder determined that he was killed by a member of a fanatical
element in the country that wished to harm the Baha'ls. A Baha'i for 10
years, Mr. Mosadegh was actively involved in advancing the Baha'i community
in Tajikistan and served several terms as a member of the National Spiritual
Assembly and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Dushanbe. He is survived
by his wife, Soheilah Mehrabhani, whom he married in 1991, and two
children. His tragic death followed the murder, under similar circumstances,
of Rashid Gulov the previous October and the killing of 'Abdu'llah
Mogharrabi in 1999, all in Dushanbe. 3

QUDRATU'LLAH RAWHANf
On 30 September 2001, in Gaborone, Botswana. Qudratu'llah Rawhfol
was born in 1922 and was living in India when he arose in 1954 to pioneer
to the Island of Mahe, in the Seychelle Islands, an act for which he was

The Baha'i
3 Seep. 304 of this volume for the obituary of Mr. Gulov and

World 1999-2000, pp. 306-07, for Mr. Mogharrabi's obituary.
OBITUARIES

named a Knight of Baha'u'llah by Shoghi Effendi. In 1993 he moved to
Botswana to live with his daughter, who survives him, as does a son in
Chile. After his passing, the Universal House of Justice wrote, "His services in the Indian subcontinent and in Africa are remembered with loving
appreciation."
Statistics

GENERAL STATISTICS

Worldwide Baha'i'. population More than
five million
Countries/dependent territories where 190 countries/
the Baha'i'. Faith is established 46 territories
Continental Counsellors 81
Auxiliary Board members serving
throughout the world 990
National/Regional Spiritual Assemblies 182
Local Spiritual Assemblies 11, 746
Localities where Bahfi'.s reside 127,555
Indigenous tribes, races, and ethnic groups
represented in the Baha'i'. community 2,112
Languages into which Baha' u'llah's
writings have been translated 802
Publishing Trusts 33

3II
312 T HE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Geographic Distribution of
Local Spiritual Assemblies by Continent

Asia 2,957

Australasia 856

Africa 3,808

Growth in the Number of Localities
Where Baha' is Reside
140,000

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000 .
.......... di
STATISTICS 313

Growth in the Number of National and
Regional Spiritual Assemblies

200 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20 "II
,111111111111111111111111111111111111
~~~~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Social and Economic Development

Baha'i development activities are initiated either by Baha'i
administrative institutions or by individuals or groups. Together,
these activities contribute to a global process of learning about a
Baha'i approach to social and economic development. They presently
fall into three general categories.
ACTIVITIES OF FIXED DURATION
Most Baha'i social and economic development efforts are fairly simple
activities of fixed duration in which Baha'is in villages and towns
around the world address the problems and challenges faced by
their localities through the application of spiritual principles. These
activities either originate in the Baha'i communities themselves or
are a response to the invitation of other organizations. It is estimated
that in 2001-02 there were more than 2,200 endeavors of this kind,
including tree-planting and clean-up projects, health camps,
workshops and seminars on such themes as race unity and the
advancement of women, and short-term training courses.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

SUSTAINED PROJECTS
The second category of Baha'i social and economic development
consists of approximately 475 ongoing projects. The vast majority
are academic schools, while others focus on areas such as literacy,
basic health care, immunization, substance abuse, child care,
agriculture, the environment, or microenterprise. Some of these
projects are administered by nascent development organizations
which have the potential to grow in complexity and in their range
of influence.
ORGANIZATIONS WITH CAPACITY
TO UNDERTAKE COMPLEX ACTION
Certain Baha'i development efforts have achieved the stature of
development organizations with relatively complex programmatic
structures and significant spheres of influence. They systematically
train human resources and manage a number of lines of action to
address problems oflocal communities and regions in a coordinated,
interdisciplinary manner. Also included in this category are several
institutions-especially large schools-which, although focusing
only on one field, have the potential to make a significant impact.
In this category there are currently 45 such organizations.
Directory

Associations for
Baha' 1 Studies
Argentina Colombia
Centro de Estudios Baha'ls Asociaci6n de Estudios Baha'ls
Otamendi 215 Apartado Aereo 51387
1405 Buenos Aires Santa Fe de Bogota o.c.
Argentina Colombi a
E-mail: bahaicol@colombianet.net
Australia
Association for Baha'i Studies East, Central, and Southern
173 Mona Vale Road Africa
Ingleside NSW 2101 Baha'i Studies Association
Australia P.O. Box 42846
E-mail: Nairobi
secretariat@bnc.bahai.org.au Kenya

Brazil Ecuador
Association for Baha'i Studies Asociaci6n de Estudios Baha'ls
Rua Dom Pedro II, 1641 clo Peter Newton
C.P. 233 Apartado 1142
90,000 Porto Alegre Quito
Brazil Ecuador

Chile English-Speaking Europe
Asociaci6n de Estudios Baha'ls Association for Baha'i Studies
Casilla 3731 27 Rutland Gate
Santiago 1 London SW7 lPD
Chile Uni ted Kingdom
E-mail: nsa@bahai.org.uk
316 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Francophone Europe New Zealand
Comite de !'Association pour Jes Association for Baha'i Studies
Etudes baha'ies P.O. Box 21-551
4 5 rue Pergolese Henderson
F-75116 Paris Auckland 1231
France New Zealand
E-mail: natsec@nsa.org.nz
German-Speaking Europe
Gesellschaft fur Baha'i Studien North America
c/o Markus Mediger Association for Baha' f Studies
Wirichsbongardstr. 40 34 Copernicus Street
52062 Aachen Ottawa, Ontario KlN 7K4
Germany Canada
E-mail: medi@gi.rwth-aachen.de E-mail: abs-na@bahai-studies.ca

Ghana Persian
Association for Baha'i Studies Association for Baha'i Studies in
P.O. Box 7098 Persian
Accra-North 596 Upper Sherman
Ghana Hamilton, Ontario L8V 3M2
Canada
India
Association for Baha'i Studies Puerto Rico
c/o Professor M.D. Teli Asociaci6n de Estudios Baha' fs
Flat 16, New Building c/o Dr. Cesar Reyes
Mumbai University's UDCT Campus Chemistry Dept.
Matunga-400 019 University of Puerto Rico
India Mayaguez 00708
E-mail: absindia@bom5.vsnl.net.in Puerto Rico

Japan Russian Federation
Association for Baha'i Studies Association for Baha'i Studies
c/o Jane Nishi Goldstone P.O. Box 55
Banberu 603 Moscow 129515
2-8-4 Momijigaoka Russia
Fuchu-shi, Tokyo E-mail: secretariat@bnc.glasnet.ru
Japan
Spain
Malaysia Asociaci6n de Estudios Baha'fs de
Association for Baha' { Studies Espana
4 Lorong Titiwangsa 5 Matias Turri6n, 32
Setapak 53000 ES-28043 Madrid
Kuala Lumpur Spain
Malaysia E-mail:
E-mail: nsa-sec@nsam.po.my aen.secretaria@com-bahai.es
DIRECTORY

Trinidad and Tobago Belgium
Association for Baha'i Studies Maison d'Editions Baha'ies
P.O. Box 755 205 rue du Trone
Port of Spain B-1050 Brussels
Trinidad, West Indies Belgium
E-mail: nsabahaitt@wow.net E-mail: meb@swing.be

Venezuela Brazil
Association for Baha'i Studies Editora Baha'i do Brasil
Apartado 934 Caixa Postal 198
Barquisimeto, Edo. Lara, 3001-A Mogi Mirim, SP
Venezuela 13800-000
E-mail: dwitzel@sa.omnes.net Brazil
E-mail: editbahai@mogi.com.br
West Africa
Association for Baha'i Studies Cameroon
c/o P.O. Box 2029 Baha'i Publishing Agency of
Marina-Lagos Cameroon
Nigeria P.O. Box 145
E-mail: ngrbahai@hotmail.com Lim be
Cameroon
Zambia E-mail: niazbushrui@doualal.com
Association for Baha'i Studies
c/o Mr. Vahdat Alavian Cote d'Ivoire
Box 511 70 Maison d'Editions Nur
Lusaka 08 B.P. 879
Zambia Abidjan 08
Cote d'Ivoire
Baha'i Publishing Trusts E-mail: asnci@aviso.ci

Argentina Fiji Islands
Editorial Baha'i Baha'i Publishing Trust
Indolatinoamericana (EBILA) P.O. Box 639
Otamendi 215 Suva
1405 Buenos Aires Fiji Islands
Argentina E-mail: nsafiji@connect.com.fj
E-mail: ebila@ciudad.com.ar Germany
Australia Bah a' I-Verlag
Baha'i Publications Australia Eppsteiner Strasse 89
173 Mona Vale Road D-65719 Hofheim
Ingleside NSW 2101 Germany
Australia E-mail: office@bahai-verlag.de
E-mail: bpa@bahai.org.au
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Hong Kong Lebanon*
Baha'i Publishing Trust
Malaysia*
C-6, 11th Floor, Hankow Center
1C Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui Netherlands
Kowloon Stichting Baha'i Literaruur
Hong Kong Riouwstraat 27
NL-2585 GR
India
The Hague
Baha'i Publishing Trust
The Netherlands
F-3/6, Okhla Industrial Area
E-mail: nsa@bahai.nl
Phase-I, New Delhi 110 020
India Niger
E-mail: bptindia@del3.vsnl.net.in Maison d'Editions Fada'il
B.P. 12858
Italy
Niamey
Casa Editrice Baha'i
Niger
Via Filippo Turati, 9
E-mail: mef@intnet.ne
I-00040 Ariccia (Rome)
Italy Nigeria
E-mail: ceb.italia@pcg.it Baha' I Publishing Trust
P.O. Box 2029
Japan
Marina-Lagos
Baha'i Publishing Trust
Nigeria
7-2-13 Shinjuku
E-mail: bptnigeria@yahoo.com
Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 160-0022 Norway
Japan Baha'i Forlag
E-mail: nsajpn@tka.att.ne.jp Drammensveien 110 A
N-0273 Oslo
Kenya
Norway
Baha'i Publishing Agency
E-mail: bahaiforlag@c2i.net
P.O . Box 47562
Nairobi Pakistan*
Kenya
E-mail: bpakenya@alphanet.co.ke Philippines
Baha'i Publishing Trust
Korea P.O. Box 4323
Baha'i Publishing Trust 1004 Manila
249-36 Huam-Dong Philippines
Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-190 E-mail: nsaphil@skyinet.net
Republic of Korea
E-mail: nsakorea@nuri.net

*Address communication to Baha'i World Centre, P.O. Box 155, Haifa
31 00 l, Israel.
DIRECTORY 319

Poland Sweden
Baha'i Publishing Trust Baha'lforlaget AB
ul. Barbackiego 9 3 Solhagavagen 11
33-300 Nowy Saez SE-163 52 Spanga
Poland Sweden
E-mail: nsa@bahai.org. pl E-mail: forlaget@bahai.se

Portugal Taiwan
Edirora Baha'i de Portugal Baha'i Publishing Trust
Avenida Ventura Terra, No. 1 3/F, # 149-13 Hsin Sheng South
1600-780 Lisboa Road
Portugal Section l, Taipei 106
E-mail: aen@bahai.pt Taiwan,
R.O. C.
Romania E-mail: bpt@ms38.hinet.net
Casa de Editura ~i Tipografia
Baha'i Uganda
C.P. 124 OP l Baha'i Publishing Trust
3400 Cluj-Napoca P.O. Box 2662
Romania Kampala
E-mail: bahai@mail.soroscj.ro Uganda
E-mail:
Russian Federation bahai@spacenetuganda.com
Unity Baha'i Publishing Trust
P.O. Box 288 United Kingdom
198 013 St. Petersburg Baha'i Publishing Trust
Russia 4 Station Approach
E-mail: unitybpt@mail.wplus.net Oakham
Leicestershire LE15 6QW
South Africa England
Baha' I Publishing Trust E-mail: bpt.enquiries@bahai.org.uk
P.O. Box 468
Elsie's River 7480 United States
South Africa Baha' I Publishing Trust
E-mail: bpt@bahai.org.za 415 Linden Avenue
Wilmette, IL 60091
Spain USA
Arca Editorial E-mail: bpt@usbnc.org
Joan d'Austria, 95-97, 5' 1°
ES-08018 Barcelona
Spain
E-mail: edibahai@arrakis.es
320 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Miscellaneous Addresses Baha'i International Community,
Haifa Offices:
Association medicale baha'ie • Secretariat
c/o Mirabelle Weck • Office of Public Information
26 rue de Paris P.O. Box 155
F-78560 Paris 31 001 Haifa
France Israel
E-mail: opi@bwc.org
Bahaa Esperanto-Ligo (BEL) Web: <www. bahai.org> and
Eppsteiner Strasse 89 <www. bahaiworldnews.org>
D-65 7 19 Hofheim
Germany Baha'i International Community,
E-mail: bahaaeligo@bahai.de New York Offices:
• United Nations Office
Baha'i Association • Office for the Advancement of
for the Arts Women
Dime! 20 • Office of the Environment
7333 MC 866 United Nations Plaza
Apeldoorn Suite 120
The Netherlands New York, NY 10017-1822
E-mail: abuys@wxs.nl USA
Web: <bahai-library.org/bafa> E-mail: bic-nyc@bic.org
Web: <www.onecountry.org>
Baha'i Computer and and <www.bic-un.bahai.org>
Communications Association
c/o New Era Communications Baha'i International Community,
attn: Don Davis Geneva Office:
5 Ravenscroft Drive • United Nations Office
Asheville, NC 28801 Route des Morillons 15
USA CH-1218 Grand-Saconnex
E-mail: bcca-cc@bcca.org Geneva
Web: <www.bcca.org> Switzerland
E-mail: bic@geneva.b ic.org
Baha'i Health Agency
27 Rutland Gate Baha'i International Community,
London Paris Office:
SW7 lPD • Office of Public Information
United Kingdom 45 rue Pergolese
F-75116 Paris
France
E-mail: op iparis@cl ub-interner. fr
DIRECTORY 321

Baha'i Justice Society International Environment
P.O. Box 79684 Forum
Houston, TX 77279 c/o Sylvia Karlsson
USA Sigmund Freudstrasse 36
E-mail: D-53127 Bonn
info@bahaijusticesociety.org Germany
Web: <www.bahaijustice.org> E-mail: ief@bcca.org
Web : <www.bcca.org/ief>
Baha'i Medical Association
of Canada Hong Kong Baha'i Professional
931 Beaufort Avenue Forum
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3X8 C-6, 11th Floor, Hankow Center
Canada Middle Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui
Baba' i Office of the Kowloon
Environment for Taiwan Hon g Kong
149-13 Hsin Sheng South Road
Section 1, Taipei 10626 Landegg International University
Taiwan CH-9405 Wienacht/AR
E-mail: tranboet@asiaonline.net. tw Switzerland
E-mail: info@landegg.edu
European Baha'i Business Forum Web: <www.landegg.edu>
clo George Starcher, Secretary
35 avenue Jean-Jaures Mottahedeh Development
F-73000 C hambery Services
France Baha'i Unity Center
E-mail: ebbf@ebbf.org 2370 Wesley Chapel Road
Web: <www.ebbf.org> Decatur, GA 30035
USA
European Baha'i Youth Council E-mail: mdssed@msn.com
45 rue Pergolese Web: <www.mdssed.org>
F-75 116 Paris, France
E-mail: secreteria@ebyc.org World Community Foundation
Web: <new.ebyc.org> 3 15 West 70th Street
Suire 14C
Health for Humanity New York, NY 10023
415 Linden Avenue, Suite B USA
Wilmette, IL 60091-2886
USA
E-mail: health@usbnc.org
Selected New Publications

The Bab{ Question You Mentioned: The Origins of the Baha'i
Community of the Netherlands
Jelle de Vries. Herent, Belgium: Peeters, 2002. 362 pp.
Presents a detailed and illustrated history of the Baha'f Faith in the
Netherlands. Parr of the New Religious Identities in the Western World
sen es.

A Few Minutes a Day
Dicy Reaugh Hall. Illustrated by Brittany Virott. Oxford: George Ronald,
2002. 290 pp.
Designed to help parents of primary-school-age children educate their
children in the Baha'i Faith and contribute to their spiritual growth. For
each day, there is a short prayer or reading for children to learn, an activity
to undertake, and a subject for consultation.

Global Governance and the Lesser Peace
Foad Katirai. Oxford: George Ronald, 2001. 148 pp.
Explores issues involved in global governance and peace and elucidates
the means set out in the Baha'f teachings to establish the foundation of a
system of international governance.

THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

The Great African Safari: The Travels of 'Amatu'l-Baha Ru~lyyih
Khanum in Africa
Violette Nakhjavdnf. Oxford: George Ronald, 2002. 608 pp.
An eyewitness account of 'Amatu'l-Baha Ru):iiyyih Khanum's historic threeyear journey across Africa, told from the diaries of the author, who
accompanied Ru):iiyyih Khanum on these travels. Together they visited 34
African countries, driving a Land Rover over 36,000 miles through cities,
towns, and remote villages, and meeting people in all walks of life, from
emperors and kings to rural farmers.

Never Be Afraid to Dare: The Story of "General Jack," Marion
Elizabeth Jack
Jan Teofil jasion. Oxford: George Ronald, 2001. 352 pp.
Recounts the life of Marion Jack, a Canadian artist and "immortal heroine"
of the Baha'i Faith who traveled with the message of the Baha'i teachings
to the Balkans and spent nearly 30 years in Bulgaria. The latest in the
Baha'i Heritage series.

On the Front Lines: Baha'i Youth in Their Own Words
Edited by Aaron Emmel and Heather Brandon. Oxford: George Ronald,
2002. 181 pp.
Stories and interviews from the Baha'i youth magazine One, with articles
and essays touching on concerns of youth throughout the world, such as
relationships, careers, personal transformation , and the challenges of the
rwenty-first century.

Pathways to Transformation: The Baha'i Journey
Compiled by john Davidson. Ingleside: Baha'i Publications Australia,
2001. 335 pp.
Selections from the Baha'i writings on subjects related to personal, spiritual,
and societal transformation, with sections on spiritual civilization, Baha'i
administration, teaching the Baha'i Faith, and character development.

The Poetry of 'filiirih
john S. Hatcher and Amrollah Hemmat. Oxford: George Ronald, 2002.
202 pp.
Gives a brief biographical account of an early heroine and martyr of the
Baha'i Faith and provides the Persian originals and translations of some of
her poems, along with notes and commentary.
NEW PUBLICATIONS 325

Prayers of Ecstasy: Selections from the Baha'i Sacred Writings
Bahd 'u'lldh. Los Angeles: Kalimdt Press, 2001. 136 pp.
New Baha'i prayerbook emphasizing the mystical experience of prayer with
sections on love, fire, rapture, ecstasy, sorrow, and joy.

Sacred Earth: Passages from the World's Scriptures regarding the
Spiritual Nature of our Material World
Compilation by Sarah Clive, with photographs by Rob Weinberg. Rutland,
United Kingdom: Bahd 'i Publishing Trust and Arts for Nature, 2001. 90 pp.
Shows how nature has been used in sacred scriptures to illustrate spiritual
realities. It contains extracts from the Baha'i Faith, Buddhism, Christianity,
Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Taoism.

The Summons of the Lord of Hosts
Bahd'u'lldh. Haifa: Bahd'i World Centre, 2002. 272 pp.
Contains authoritative English translations of six major works written by
Baha'u'llah in the latter half of the nineteenth century, which clearly enunciate
His claim to prophethood and offer a prescription for peaceful and just
leadership in the modern world. The book collects the Suriy-i-Haykal,
Suriy-i-Ra'ls, Law~-i-Ra' ls, Law~-i-Fu'ad, and Suriy-i-Muluk.

The Tablet of the Holy Mariner: An Illustrated Guide to
Baha'u'llah's Mystical Writing
Michael Sours. Los Angeles: Kalimdt Press, 2002. 101 pp.
An illustrated guide to one of Baha'u'llah's most well-known mystical works.
Drawing on the Sufi tradition, the Tablet describes each soul's spiritual
journey to God as a voyage on the Ark of eternity, guided by a Holy Mariner.

Thornton Chase: First American Baha'i
Robert H. Stockman. Wilmette: Bahd'i Publishing Trust, 2002. 284 pp.
Biography of one of the most significant figures in early American Baha'i
history. It examines his early years and spiritual search, his discovery of
the Baha'i Faith, and his efforts to promote the Faith throughout his life.

To Be a Father
Compiled by Wendi Momen. Oxford: George Ronald, 2002. 209 pp.
Collection of scriptures, prayers, poems, aphorisms, and literary pieces
from the Baha'i Faith and other religions about fatherhood. It contains
passages on subjects such as childbirth, the importance of fathers, and
fathers and their families. A companion volume to To Be a Mother.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Visions of a New World Order: Paradise Created
Brenton Edwards, with text by Wendi Momen. Foreword by Peter]. Khan.
Oxford: George Ronald, 2001. 180 pp.
Photographs of places associated with the Baha'i Faith, primarily holy places
in Israel, with accompanying text outlining the history of the Faith. The
book is divided into sections related to the Bab, Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha,
Shoghi Effendi, and the Baha'i administrative order.

Youth: Channels for Change
Various. Riviera Beach: Palabra Publications, 2001. 119 pp.
Compilation of extracts from the writings of the Bab, Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-
Baha, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice relating to youth.

ERRATUM: In Selected New Publications in The Bahd'f World 2000-2001,
the publishing information for Nader Saeidi's book Logos and Civilization
should read: Bethesda, MD: University Press of Maryland, 2000.
A Basic Baha'i Reading List

The following list has been prepared to provide a sampling of works conveying
the spiritual truths, social principles, and history of the Bahd 'i Faith. It is by
no means exhaustive. For a more complete record of Bahd 'i literature, see Bibliography of English-language Works on the Bab! and Baha'i Faiths,
1844-1985, compiled by William P Collins (Oxford: George Ronald, 1990).

Selected Writings of Baha'u'llih

The Kitab-i-Aqdas
The Most Holy Book, Baha' u'llah's charter for a new world civilization.
Written in Arabic in 1873, the volume's first authorized English translation was released in 1993.

The Kitab-i-fqfo
The Book of Certitude was written prior to Baha'u'llah's declaration of
His mission as an explanation of progressive revelation and a proof of the
station of the Bab.

The Hidden Words
Written in the form of a compilation of moral aphorisms, these brief verses
distill the spiritual guidance of all the divine Revelations of the past.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Tablets of Baha'u'llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas
A compilation of Tablets revealed between 1873 and 1892 which enunciate important principles of Bahf u'llah's Revelation, reaffirm truths He
previously proclaimed, elaborate on some of His laws, reveal further prophecies, and establish subsidiary ordinances to supplement the provisions of
the Kitab-i-Aqdas.

Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah
A selection of Baha'u' llah's sacred writings translated and compiled by the
Guardian of the Baha'i Faith to convey the spirit of Baha' u'llah's life and
teachings.

Writings of the Bab

Selections from the Writings of the Bab
The first compilation of the Bab's writings to be translated into English.

Selected Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha

Paris Talks: Addresses given by 'Abdu'l-Baha in Paris in 1911-1912
Addresses given by 'Abdu'l-Baha to a wide variety of audiences, in which
He explains the basic principles of the Baha'i Faith.

The Secret of Divine Civilization
A message addressed to the rulers and people of Persia in 1875 illuminating the causes of the fall and rise of civilization and elucidating the spiritual
character of true civilization.

Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha
A compilation of selected letters from 'Abdu'l-Bahfs extensive correspondence
on a wide variety of topics, including the purpose of life, the nature of
love, and the development of character.

Some Answered Questions
A translation of 'Abdu'l-Bahfs answers to a series of questions posed to
Him during interviews with Laura Clifford Barney between 1904 and 1906.
The topics covered include the influence of the Prophets on the evolution
of humanity, the Baha'i perspective on Christian doctrine, and the powers
and conditions of the Manifestations of God.
BAHA'I READING LIST

Selected Writings of Shoghi Effendi
God Passes By
A detailed history of the first 100 years of the Baha'i Faith.

The Promised Day Is Come
A commenrary on Baha' u'llah's letters to the kings and rulers of the world.

The World Order of Baha'u'llih: Selected Letters
An exposition on the relation between the Baha'i community and the entire process of social evolution under the dispensation of Baha'u'llah, in
the form of a series of letters from the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith to the
Baha' ls of the West between 1929 and 1936.

Introductory Works

Baha'u'llah
Baha'i International Community, Office of Public Information, 1991.
A brief statement detailing Baha'u'llah's life and work issued on the occasion of the centenary of His passing.

Baha'u'llih and the New Era
john Esslemont. 5th rev. paper ed. Wilmette: Baha 'i Publishing Trust, 1980.
The first comprehensive account of the Baha'i Faith, written in 1923 and
updated for subsequent editions.

The Baha'i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion
William S. Hatcher and]. Douglas Martin. Rev. ed. Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1998.
Textbook providing an overview of Baha'i history, teachings, administrative structure, and community life.

All Things Made New
john Ferraby. 2d rev. ed. London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1987.
A comprehensive outline of the Baha'i Faith.

Most of the books listed above have been published by various Baha'i Publishing Trusts and are available in bookshops, libraries, or from the Trusts. Please
see the Directory on pp. 317-19 for addresses.
Glossary

'Abdu'l-Baha: ( 1844-1921) Son of Baha' u'llah, designated His successor
and authorized interpreter of His writings. Named 'Abbas after His grandfather, 'Abdu'l-Baha was known co th e general public as 'Abbas Effendi.
Baha'u'Ilah gave Him such tides as "the Mose Great Branch," "the Mystery of God," and "the Master." After Baha'u'llah's passing, He chose the
name 'Abdu'l-Baha, meaning "Servant of Baha'u'llah."

Administrative Order: The system of administration as conceived by
Baha'u'Ilah, formally established by 'Abdu'l-Baha, and realized durin g the
G uardianship of Shoghi Effendi. It consists, on the one hand, of a series
of elected councils, universal, national, and local, in which are invested
legislative, executive, and judicial powers over the Baha'i community, and,
on the ocher hand, of eminent and devoted Baha'fs appointed for the specific purposes of propagation and protection of the Faith under the guidance
of the H ead of chat Faith, the Universal House of Justice.

'Amatu'l-Baha Rlll:ilyyih Khanum: (1910-2000) Mary Sutherland Maxwell,
an eminent North American Baha'i who became the wife of Shoghi Effendi
Rabbinf, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, in 1937, after which she became
known as Ru}:ifyyih Khinum Rabbinf. ('Amacu'l-Baha is a tide meaning
"Handmaiden ofBaha'u'Ilah.") She served as the Guardian's secretary during
his lifetime and was appointed a Hand of the Cause of God in 1952.
After Shoghi Effendi's passing in 1957, she traveled extensively co teach
the Baha'i Faith, consolidate Baha'i communities, and serve as a representative
of the Universal House of Justice at major events.

332 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Arc: An arc cut into Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, along which the international administrative buildings of the Baha'i Faith have been built.

Auxiliary Boards: An institution created by Shoghi Effendi in 1954 to
assist the Hands of the Cause of God. When the institution of the Continental Boards of Counsellors was established in 1968 by the Universal
House of Justice, the Auxiliary Boards were placed under its direction.

Bab, the: The title, meaning "Gate," assumed by Siyyid 'Alf-MuJ:iammad,
Who was the Prophet-Founder of the Bab! Faith and the Forerunner of
Baha'u'llah. Born 20 October 1819, the Bab proclaimed Himself to be
the Promised One of Islam and announced chat His mission was to alert
the people to the imminent advent of "Him Whom God shall make manifest," namely, Bah:i'u'llah. Because of these claims, the Bab was executed
by order of Na~iri'd-Oln Shah on 9 July 1850.

Baha'i Era (BE): The period of the Baha'i calendar beginning with che
Declaration of the Bab on 23 May 1844, and expected to last until the
next appearance of a Manifestation (Prophet) of God after the expiration
of at least 1,000 years.

Baha'i International Community: A name used generally in reference
to the worldwide Baha'i community and officially in that community's
external relations. In the latter context, the Baha'i International Community is an association of the National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the
world and functions as an international nongovernmental organization.
Its offices include its Secretariat at the Baha'i World Centre, a United
Nations Office in New York with a branch in Geneva, an Office of Public
Information, an Office of the Environment, and an Office for the Advancement of Women.

Baha'i World Centre: The spiritual and administrative center of the Baha'i
Faith, comprising the holy places in the Haifa-Acre area and the Arc of
administrative buildings on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel.

Baha' u'llah: T itle, meaning "Glory of God," assumed by Mirza J::Iusayn-
'Alf, Founder of the Baha'i Faith. Born on 12 November 1817, H e declared
His mission as the Promised One of All Ages in April 1863 and passed
away in Acre, Palestine, on 29 May 1892 after 40 years of imprisonment,
banishment, and house arrest. Bah:i'u'llah's writings are considered by Bah:i'fs
to be direct revelation from God.
GLOSSARY 333

Bahji: Arabic for "delight." Located near Acre, it is a place of pilgrimage
for Baha'is which comprises the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, the mansion which
was His last residence, and the surrounding gardens that serve to beautify
the site.

Calendar, Baha'i: Year consisting of 19 months of 19 days each, with the
addition of certain "intercalary days" (four in ordinary and five in leap
years) between the 18th and 19th months in order to adjust the calendar
to the solar year. Naw-Ruz, the Baha'i new year, is astronomically fixed,
commencing at the vernal equinox (21 March). The Baha'i era (BE) begins
with the year of the Bab's declaration ( 1844 CE).

Consultation: A form of discussion between individuals and within groups
which requires the subjugation of egotism so that all ideas can be shared
and evaluated with frankness, courtesy, and openness of mind, and decisions arrived at can be wholeheartedly supported. Its guiding principles
were elaborated by 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Continental Boards of Counsellors: An institution created in 1968 by
the Universal House of Justice to extend into the future the work of the
institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, particularly its appointed
functions of protection and propagation. With the passing of Shoghi Effendi,
the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, there was no way for additional Hands
of the Cause to be appointed. The duties of the Counsellors include directing
the Auxiliary Boards in their respective areas, advising and collaborating
with National Spiritual Assemblies, and keeping the Universal House of
Justice informed concerning the conditions of the Faith in their areas .
Counsellors are appointed for terms of five years.

Convention: A gathering called at a regional, national, or international
level for consultation on matters affecting the welfare of the Baha'i community
and for the purpose, respectively, of electing delegates to a National
Convention, electing members of a National Spiritual Assembly, or electing
members of the Universal House of Justice.

Hands of the Cause of God: Individuals appointed by Baha'u'llah, and
later by Shoghi Effendi, who were charged with the specific duties of protecting and propagating the Faith. (Four individuals were recognized
posthumously as Hands of the Cause by 'Abdu'l-Baha.) With the passing
of Shoghi Effendi, there was no further possibility for appointing Hands
of the Cause; hence, in order to extend into the future the important
functions of propagation and protection, the Universal House of Justice
334 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

m 1968 created Continental Boards of Counsellors and in 1973 established the International Teaching Centre, which coordinates their work.

Holy Days: Eleven days commemorating significant Baha'i anniversaries,
on nine of which work is suspended.

I:Iuququ'llah: Arabic for "the Right of God." As instituted in the Kid.b-i-
Aqdas, payment to "the Authority in the Cause to whom all must turn"
(at present, the Universal House of Justice) of 19 percent of what remains
of one's personal income after one's essential expenses have been covered.
Funds generated by the payment of ~uququ'llah are used for the promotion of the Faith and for the welfare of society.

International Teaching Centre: An institution established in 1973 by the
Universal House of Justice to bring to fruition the work of the Hands of
the Cause of God in the Holy Land and to provide for its extension into
the future. The duties of the International Teaching Centre include coordinating, stimulating, and directing the activities of the Continental Boards
of Counsellors and acting as liaison between them and the Universal House
of Justice. The membership of the Teaching Centre comprises the surviving Hands of the Cause and also nine Counsellors appointed by the Universal
House of Justice. The seat of the International Teaching Cen tre is located
at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel.

Knight of Baha' u'llah: Title initially given by Shoghi Effendi to those
Baha'ls who arose to open specified new territories to the Faith during the
first year of the Ten Year Crusade (1953-1963) and subsequently applied
to those who first reached the remaining unopened territories on the list
at a later date.

Lesser Peace: A political peace to be established by the nations of the world
in order to bring about an end to war. Its establishment will prepare the
way for the Most Great Peace, a condition of permanent peace and world
unity to be founded on the spiritual principles and institurions of the World
Order of Baha'u'llah and signalizing humanity's coming of age.

Local Spiritual Assembly: The local administrative body in the Baha'i Faith,
ordained in the Kid.b-i-Aqdas. The nine members are directly elected by
secret ballot each year at Ri4van from among the adult believers in a community.

Monument Gardens: Beautifully landscaped gardens at the heart of the
Arc on Mount Carmel where befitting monuments have been erected over
GLOSSARY 335

the graves of the daughter and the wife of Baha' u'llah, His son who died
in prison in Acre, and the wife of 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Mount Carmel: The mountain spoken of by Isaiah as the "mountain of
the Lord." Site of the Baha'i World Centre including several Baha'i holy
places, the most important of which are the Shrine of the Bab and the
Monument Gardens.

National Spiritual Assembly: The national administrative body in the Bahi'f
Faith, ordained in the Baha'i sacred writings, with authority over all activities and affairs of the Baha'i Faith throughout its area. Among its duties
are to stimulate, unify, and coordinate the manifold activities of Local
Spiritual Assemblies and of individual Baha'ls within its jurisdiction. The
members of National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world constitute the electoral college for the Universal House of Justice. At Ri4van
2002, there were 182 National or Regional Spiritual Assemblies. See also
Regional Spiritual Assembly.

Nineteen Day Feast: The principal gathering in each local Baha'i community, every Baha'i month, for the threefold purpose of worship ,
consultation, and fellowship.

Pioneer: Any Baha'i who arises and leaves his or her home to journey to
another country for the purpose of teaching the Baha'f Faith. "Homefront pioneer" describes those who move to areas within their own country
that have yet to be exposed to the Baha'i Faith or where the Baha'i community needs strengthening.

Regional Baha'i Council: An element of Baha'i administration between the
local and national levels, established at the discretion of the Universal House
ofJustice in countries where the condition and size of the Baha'i community
warrant. A means of decentralizing the work of the National Spiritual Assembly,
a Regional Council may be formed either by election or by appointment,
depending on local requirements and the condition of the Bahi'f community.
It provides for a level of autonomous decision making on both teaching and
administrative matters. In some countries, Stat~ Baha'i Councils perform
these tasks within specific civic jurisdictions.

Regional Spiritual Assembly: An institution hlentical in function to the
National Spiritual Assembly but including a number of countries or regions in its jurisdiction, often established as a precursor to the formation
of a National Spiritual Assembly in each of the countries it encompasses.
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Ri4van: Arabic for "Paradise." Twelve-day festival (from 21 April through
2 May) commemorating Baha'u'llah's declaration of His mission to His
companions in 1863 in the Garden of Riqvan in Baghdad.

Shoghi Effendi Rabbanl: (1897-1957) The Guardian of the Baha'i Faith
after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1921, designated in His Will and Testament as His successor in interpreting the Baha'i writings and as Head of
the Faith.

Shrine of Baha'u'llah: The resting place of Baha'u'llah's mortal remains,
located near the city of Acre, Israel. The Shrine is the holiest spot on
earth to Baha'is and a place of pilgrimage.

Shrine of the Bab: The resting place of the Bab's mortal remains, located
on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, a sacred sire to Baha'is, and a place of
pilgrimage.

State Baha'i Council: See Regional Baha'i Council.

Tablet: Divinely revealed scripture. In Baha' f scripture, the term is used
to denote writings revealed by Baha'u'llah, the Bab, and 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Ten Year Crusade: (1953-1963) Ten Year Plan initiated by Shoghi Effendi
for reaching the Baha'i Faith, which culminated with the election of the
Universal House of Justice during the centenary of the Declaration of
Baha'u'llah. The objectives of the Crusade were the development of the
institutions at the World Centre, the consolidation of the communities of
the participating National Spiritual Assemblies, and the spread of the Faith
to new regions. See also Knight of Bahd'u'lldh.

Universal House of Justice: Head of the Baha'i Faith after the passing of
Shoghi Effendi, and the supreme administrative body ordained by Baha'u'llah
in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, His book of laws. The Universal House of Justice is
elected every five years by the members of all National Spiritual Assemblies, who gather at an International Convention. The House of Justice
was elected for the first time in 1963. It occupied its permanent seat on
Mount Carmel in 1983.

Some entries adapted from A Basic Baha 'i Dictionary, ed. Wendi Momen
(Oxford: George Ronald, 1989).
INDEX 337

A Arc 31, 38,46,47,48, 59, 61 , 69, 332,
'Abdu'l-Bah:i 9, 38, 56, 232, 235, 236- 334. See also Baha'i World Centre;
37, 331,333, 335, 336 Mount Carmel
ARD German Radio 49, 140
life of 9, 58, 192-93
passing of 10, 336 Argentina 15 1, 266, 315, 317
Will and Testament of 10, 12, 175, Armenia 306
237, 336 Nationa l Spiritual Assembly of 306
writings and utterances of 10, 26-28, arts 7, 8, 4 1, 46, 48, 68, 88-92, 105-06,
55, 58, 70, 76, 97, 101, 109, 191, 116, 208-11
192, 195, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, Arts for Nature 89
204, 205, 206, 207, 209,210, 212, Arturo, Lawrence 134
213, 215, 237, 241, 255,257, 260, Asma of Kakombe School 86
271, 280, 288, 328 Associated Press 49
Abercorn, Duchess of 89 Association for the Cohesive Develop-
Abraham 13 ment of the Amazon (ADCAM) 79-
Adelphia 224 80
Association medicate bahd'fe 320
adminstration, Baha'f. See Baha'i Faith:
administrative order of Associations for Bah:i' f Studies 315-17
Australia 15, 83, 88, 98, Ill, 146, 196,
advancement of women 76-78, 87, 117,
119, 121, 137-38, 249, 287-90 197, 210, 315, 317
Advocates for African Food Securiry 138 National Spiritual Assembly of 88,
African Action on AIDS 137 197
Agard, Nadema 116 Austria 7, 42, 95, 96, 98, 134
Agence France Press 49 Auxiliary Boards 30, 107, 302, 303, 311,
Agency for Personnel Services Overseas 332, 333
Awards for Publication Excellence (Apex)
Ahderom, Techeste 134 142
AJ ESEC (Association Internatio nale B
d'.Etudiants en Sciences Economiques
Bab, the 8, 11 , 56, 180, 332, 336
et Commerciales) 152, 268
birch of 332
Airaku C hurch 110
declaration of 8, 4 1, 52, 332, 333
'Alff, Diane 128, 132
life of 8, 43, 44, 52-54
Albania 90, 98, 219, 267
marryrdom of 8, 65-67, 332
Alexander, Agnes. See Hands of the
Shrine of 11, 36, 38, 42-43 , 50, 56,
Cause of God
59, 63, 66, 69, 111, 335, 336. See
All Party Friends of the Bah:i'f Faith I 03
also Terraces of the Shrine of the
Alliance of Religions and Conservation
Bab
(ARC) 282
writings of 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 328
Amanat, Husayn 46
Bab! religion 9, 11
'Amatu'l-Baha Ru~iyyih Kh:inum
Bad! School 87
See Hands of the Cause of God 331
Bah:i'f Agency for Social and Economic
Amin, !di 118
Development (BASED-UK) 252
Amor, Abdelfattah 143, 292-93
Bah:i'f Association for the Arts (BAFA)
Anglin, John 118, 121-22
Annan, Kofi 100
Bah:i'f Center of Learning, Western
Anti-Bribery Convention 229
Australia 88
apartheid 129
Bah:i'f Chair for World Peace 96
Arbab, Farzam 216
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Baha'i community 11, 13, 14, 15 Baha'i Jusrice Society 321
anniversaries of 113-23 Baha'i Medical Associarion of Canada
development of 101-05 321
expansion and consolidarion of 12, Baha'i Office of rhe Environment for
13, 70, 71, 101 Taiwan 321
introducrion ro 8 Baha'i Publishing Trusrs 317-19
involvement in rhe life of society 92- "Baha'i quesrion, rhe" 292. See also Iran:
97 siruarion of Baha'i community in
srarisrics 8, 311 Baha'i World Centre 10, 11, 31, 44, 59-
Baha'i Compurer and Communicarions 61, 68, 69, 111-12, 190, 301, 332,
Associarion (BCCA) 320 334, 335, 336. See also Terraces of
Baha'i Council, Regional 335 rhe Shrine of the Bab
Baha'i era 332, 333 Centre for rhe Srudy of rhe Texrs 31,
Bahaa Esperanto-Ligo (BEL) 320 48
Baha'i Fairh Internarional Baha'i Archives 11, 38
adminisrrarive order of 10, 11-13, 70, Monumenr Gardens 334, 335
168-70, 177- 83, 232-41, 268, Office of Social and Economic
331, 333-34, 336. See Developmenr 252
also Spirirual Assemblies, visirors ro 139-40
Narional; Spirirual Assemblies, Baha'i World N ews Service 30, 142, 320
Local; Universal House of Jusrice Bahd'f World Web sire J 33, 142, 320
aims of 15, 18 Bal1a'I Yourh Movement 106-07
epochs and ages of 30 Bal1a'u'llah 9-10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 38,
Guardian of See Shoghi Effendi 54-56, 61, 65, 69, 71, 72, 162,
holy days of 334, 336 174, 175, 180, 232, 236, 331, 332,
laws and moral reachings of 14 333,335, 336
prayer and fasring in 14 birrh of 332
spirirual and moral reachings of 13- 18 declararion of 332
Baha'i Funds 32 life of 9, 55-56, 192
Baha'i Healrh Agency 320 passing of 9, 193, 332
Baha'i Insrirure of Higher Educarion Shrine of 30, 40, 48, 111, 112, 333,
(BIHE) 145. See also Iran: siruarion 336
of Baha'i community in Wi ll and Tesrament of (Kirab-i-'Ahd)
Baha'i Inrernarional Community 8, 15, 9
17, 30, 89, 126-27, 128, 132-42, wrirings of 9, 21-26, 33, 42, 51, 52,
147, 267, 268,280,284, 302,332 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61,66,69,
Office for rhe Advancement of 70, 72-73, 75, 82, 88, 90, 105,
Women 15, 134, 137-38, 302, 127, 162, 163, 175, 176, 186, 191,
320, 332 195,200,201,206, 213, 217, 218,
Office of Public Informarion 15, 41, 232, 237, 255, 257, 258, 259, 260,
133, 139-42, 320, 332 261,263, 264,265, 269, 274, 278,
Paris Office 140-41, 320 289,311,325, 326, 327-28, 332
Office of rhe Environment 15, 134, Baher, Sima 90
320, 332 Bal1jf 40, 111, 112
sraremenrs of 131, 135, 166, 180, Mansion of 333
224, 231, 238, 239, 255-61, 263- Visirors' Informarion Cenrer ar 111-
71, 273-85, 287-90, 291-93 12
Unired Narions Office 15, 128, 133- Baki, Perer 87
39, 302, 320,332 Bakoru Bakoko, Zoe 121
INDEX 339

Ballard, Doris 301 Bruner, Jerome 199
Ballerio, Giovanni 134, 302 Buddhism 9, 13, 98, 99
Banani, Musa. See Hands of rhe Cause of Bulgaria 98, 141, 267
God Burkina Faso 307
Banani, Sami'ih 117 Bush, George H.W. 157, 168
Banff Center for Continuing Education 92 Bushrui , Suheil 96
Bangladesh 303
Barli Vocational Institute for Rural
c
Women 137-38 Cambodia 196
Baumann, Urs 98 Cameroon 78, 90, 107, 317
Barrett, Donald 302 National Spiritual Assembly of 107
Barrie, John 103 Canada 7, 79, 84-85, 90, 91-92, 98,
Bayan Association of Indigenous Social 107, 110, 114, 145, 196, 211, 224,
and Economic Development 243- 303, 307, 316, 321
53 National Spiritual Assembly of 181
BBC Radio 49, 140 Canadian Internacional Baha'i Develop-
Bedfordshire Health Authority 151 ment Services (CBIDS) 252
Beijing Platform for Action 281 Canadian International Development
Beijing University 86 Agency (CIDA) 79, 251, 252
Belarus 38, 139 Canary Islands 196, 304
Belenky, Mary 216, 217 Cape Verde I 06
Belgium 317 Caner, Stephen L. 231
Bellah, Robert 203 Casely-Hayford, Leslie 82
Bermuda 196 CBC-TV (Canada) 49
Bischoff, Palle 303 CBS-TV (US) 49, 140
Blair, Tony 103 CCTV (China) 140
Bloom, Benjamin 212 Central and East Africa, National
Blumenthal, Karin 91 Spiritual Assembly of 305
Bolivia 39, 82, 142, 238, 259, 265-66 Children's Theater Company 211
Boman, Shirin 303-04 Chile 31, 134, 309, 315
Bonara Community School (Papua New China 81, 86, 114, 139, 196
Guinea) 87-88 Christianity 9, 13, 93 , 98, 99, IOI, 105,
Bond, Lynne 216 !JO, 143, 171, 172, 173, 175, 185,
Bosnia and Herzegovina 142, 190, 205, 226
267 City Montessori School 142, 206
Botswana 93, 309 Clark, Barbara 212
Boulding, Elise 203 CNN International 49, 140
Boyles, Ann 221 Coles, Robert 195, 215
Brazil 7, 72, 76, 78-79, 80, 83, 86, I 06-- Colombia 88, 94, 195, 196, 205, 248,
07, 110, 128, 130, 150, 219, 238, 302, 315
266, 304, 315, 317 Commission on Global Governance 168
Brazilian Association of Judges and Congo, Republic of the (Brazzaville) 139
Prosecutors for Children and Youth Congo, Democratic Republic of the
(ABMP) 76 (Kinshasa) 41, 43, 44, 68, 86, 305
Centro Feminista de £studios y Asesoria consultation 180, 239-40
77 Continental Boards of Counsellors 30,
Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar 107, 122, 181, 303, 306, 308, 311,
Association 76 332, 333, 334
Brown, Ann 199 conventions, Baha'i 301, 333, 336
THE BAHA'I WORLD 2 00 1-2002

Cooperrider, David 216 use of arts and sciences in 208-11
Copithorne, Maurice 144--45, 146, 293 Egypt 139, 146, 147, 171, 192
corruption, 263-71 situation of Baha'f community in
Baha'f response ro 231--41 136, 147
effects of 222-24, 227-28 Eisenberg, Gertrude 304
features of 222- 24, 226, 227 elections, Baha'i 270
in business 151, 224-26, 229 Elliott, Kimberly Ann 222, 227, 228
in governments 222, 223 Elliute, Jackie 83
solutions to 228--41, 265- 67 Encyclopedia Britannica 8
Costa Rica 302 Enron 151, 224, 225, 226
Core d'Ivoire 31 7 Equatorial Guinea 105
Cox, Robert W 160, 161, 169, 170, National University of 105
171, 173, 174 Eritrea 302
Croatia 267 ethics
Cruz, Ernie 116 in business 149-54
Csikszenrmihalyi, Isabella 210 role of religion in 149, 151
Csikszenrmihalyi, Mihaly 209, 210 Ethiopia 7, 78-79, 134
CTV (Uganda) 121 National Spiritual Assembly of 79
Czech Republic 81, 90, 139 Etop (Uganda) 121
European Baha'i Business Forum (EBBF)
D 149-54, 239, 267, 321
Dahlberg, John Emerich Edward, Lord collaboration with Al f.SEC 152
Acron 226 collaboration with ILO 153
Daliri, Farvadin 83 conferences 154
Damon, William 205, 214 European Baha'i Youth Council 141,
Dawn-Breakers, The 11, 59, 62 321
Day, Dorothy 216 European Broadcasting Union 49
D enmark 18, 303 European Centre for Continuing
National Spiritual Assembly of 303 Education (CEDEP) 150
Department for Inrernarional Develop- European Commission (EC) 153, 160
ment of the United Kingdom 251 European Public Information Managedirectory of Baha'i agencies 315-21 ment Seminar 141
Dominican Republic 308 European Union (EU) 153, 160, 229,
Dugal Gujral, Bani 134, 137 267
Evans, Beverley 89
E
Earth Summit 281 F
Easterbrook, Gregg 223, 224 Fatheazam, Hushmand 46
Economic Community of West African Fattakhov, Shami! 95, 96, 14 1
States 229 Ferrara, Roberta 199
Ecuador 90, 150, 266, 302, 315 Feuerstein, Reuven 197- 99
Edinburgh, Duke of 89 Fiji 105, 317
education 7, 84, 85- 88, 116, 121, 247- Finland 267
52, 255-61 National Spiritual Assembly of 303
moral education 7, 8, 14, 82, 189- "Fire in the Pacific" See Hawaiian
220, 240--41 , 251, 265-68 Islands: 1OOth anniversary of Baha'f
group learn ing in 202- 05 community in
teacher's role in 197-202, 206- 08, Five Year Plan 31, 219 See also Universal
212- 13, 216-17 House of Justice: Plans of
INDEX 341

Flanagan, Barry 116 Greene, Maxine 203
Folha de Sao Paulo 83 Greenland 92
Foundarion for World Erhics 98 National Spiritual Assembly of 93
Four Year Plan 29, 30, 33. See also Groza, Corne! 42
Universal House of Jusrice: Plans of Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. See Shoghi
Fozdar, Jarnshed 122 Effendi
Fozdar, Paravati 122 Guatemala 304
France 91, 101 , 139, 140, 150, 171, Gulov, Rashid 32, 146, 304
316, 320, 321 Guyana 86, 90, 196
Narional Spirirual Assembly of 140
Friere, Paulo 204
H
Frohnen, Bruce 178 Habitat II 152, 281
Fukuyama, Francis 157 Hain, Rob 90
funds, Baha'i See Baha'i Funds Hainsworth, Lois 121
Fundacion Vida 251, 252 Hainsworth, Philip 117, 120, 121, 304
FUNDAEC (Fundacion para la Applicacion Hanaiali'i, Amy 116
y Ensefzanza de las Ciencias) 94, Hands of the Cause of God 12, 331,
248-52 332, 333, 334
Furutan, 'Alf-Akbar See Hands of the Agnes Alexander 114, 115, 116
Cause of God 'Alf-Akbar Furutan 40, 41, 196, 219
'Alf-Mul).arnmad Varqa 40
G 'Amaru'l-Baha Ru]:ifyyih Khanum 48,
Gail, Marzieh 193 88-89, 304, 331
Gambia, the Enoch Olinga 117, 307
National Spirirual Assembly of 102 Martha Root 115
General Morors 224 Musa Banani 117
Georgia 139, 306 Happy Hippo Show, The. See Stop and Act
National Spiritual Assembly of 306 Harris, Jeremy 115
German Buddhist Union 98 Harvey, Philip 305-06
German National Radio WDR 140 Hatcher, Benjamin 91-92
Germany 7, 15, 91, 97, 139, 224, 228, Hatcher, William S. 240
316, 317, 320, 321 Hawaiian Islands 109, 113, 114-17,
Central Jewish Council of 98 304, 308
Central Muslim Council of 98 lOOrh anniversary of Baha'i commu-
National Spirirual Assembly of 97 nity in 11 4-17
Ghana 7, 81, 82, 139, 316 National Spiritual Assembly of 114-
global governance 157-87 17, 308
Global Governance journal 159 Health for Humanity (HH) 80-81 , 251,
GLOBart 95, 96 321
glossary of Baha' f terms 331-36 Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the 86
God Passes By 11, 54, 111, I 86, 329 Henry Stimson Center 97
governance 232, 269-71. See also global Hindu, The 140
governance Hinduism 9, 13, 93, 98, 99, 101
requirements for 159-62 Hinton, Philip 116
subsidiarity model of 160, 181 HIV/AJDS 137, 287-90
Greece 78, 94, 171 role of gender in 287-88
NGO Fair ofVolunteerism and role of religion in preventing 289-90
Humanitarianism 94-95 Hobbes, Thomas 170, 187
Green, Parricia 42 Honduras 139, 196, 243-45, 246, 247
342 THE BAHA'f WORLD 200 1-2002

Hong Kong 98, 318, 321 International Convention on me
Hong Kong Baha'i Professional Forum Elimination of All Forms of Racial
321 Discrimination (ICERD) 131
Honor All Nations Drum and Dance International Environment Forum (IEF)
Group 84 81-82, 321
Hospital Bayan 244, 245-47 fnternational Health Services 251
Houses ofWorship 14, 15, 3 1, 117-18, International H erald Tribune 225
120 International Labour Organization (ILO)
in Apia, Samoa 100 139, 153, 239. 267
in Kampala, Uganda 118, 120, 121, International Monetary Fund 159, 223
308 International Teaching Centre 111, 334
in New Delhi, India 90, 104, 304, establishment of 334
306 seat of 30, 334
in Samiago, Chile 31 interreligious dialogue 7, 77, 93, 97-
Howe, Stuart 42 101, 282, 283
Human Plenitude Program 266 Iran 9, 52, 53, 65, 66, 128, 130, 147,
human rights 134-36, 256, 291-93 192, 196, 292, 306, 308
Universal Declaration of Human situation of Baha'i community in 17,
Rights 166 110, 136, 143-47, 193-94, 29 1-
humanism 99 93
Hungary 106, 139, 141, 267 Supreme Revolurionary Cultural
National Spiritual Assembly of 141 Council 292
I:Iuququ'llah 303, 306, 334 Iraq 9, 12
Ireland 98, 146, 244, 245
Isaiah 44
Iceland 93, 102-03 prophecies of 37, 51, 335
National Spiritual Assembly of 103 Islam 8, 9, 13, 93, 97, 98, 99, 101, 143,
Iceland University of Education 93 146, 169, 172- 75, 185
Ighani, Ghazal 91 Israel 8, 49, 126, 139, 197-98, 320,
lmC lone 225 332, 334, 336
India 15, 30, 77, 94, 98, 104, 108, 142, Israel Northern Symphony, Haifa 42
196, 206, 210,268, 303,307, 316, Italy 91, 98, 134, 136, 153, 219, 229,
318 230, 267, 302
Indian Medical Association 77 National Spiritual Assembly of 302
National Commission for Women 77 !tar-Tass 49
National Spiritual Assembly of 303 Ives, Howard Colby I 16
indigenous peoples 83, 84-85, 116, 117,
129, 190-91 , 243, 249, 307, 31 I J
Indonesia 122 Japan 110, 114, 224, 306, 316, 318
National Spiritual Assembly of 30-31 National Spiritual Assembly of 306
Institute for Social Cohesion (UK) 104 Japan International Cooperation Agency
Institute for Studies in G lobal Prosperity 87
30, 268, 284 Johnson, Barbara 189
Colloquium on Science, Religion, and Johnston, Michael 223
Development 284 Jospin, Lionel 101
lnteramerican Development Bank 251 Judaism 9, 13, 93, 98, 99, 101, 143,
Intergovernmental Global Forum on 146, 185
Fighting Corruption 263 justice 21-28
INDEX 343

K Macedonia 267
Katirai, Abbas 306 Mah-Kt'.1 56
Kellogg Foundation 251 Malaysia 7, 93, 109, 122-23, 196, 267,
Kenya 44, 128, 134, 305, 315, 318 316, 3 18
Kepner, John 82 Spiritual Assembly of 122
Khadem-Missagh, Bijan 42 Malietoa, His Excellence Susuga
Khadem-Missagh, Martha 42 Tanumafili II of Samoa 11 4, 115
Khadem-Missagh, Vahid 42 Malietoa, Princess To'oa Tosi 114, 115
Khaldun,Ibn 172-73 Manifestations of God 13
Khamenei, Ayatollah 292 Mapp-Robinson, Zylpha 307
Khan um, Tuba 192 Marsella, Elena 308
Khonou, Cornelius 306 Marrin Luther King, Jr., Day 84
Kiribati 109, 116, 308 Marrin , ]. Douglas 240
Kitab-i-Aqdas 14, 33, 55, 57, 94, 175, Masiga, Edward 121
186,232, 237, 327, 334,336 Maxwell International Baha'i School 9 1
Kitab-i-fqan 54, 327 McDonald, Fiona 88
Knight, Annabel 89 Medecins du Monde 78
Knight ofBaha'u'llah 304, 305, 306, Meier, Deborah 198
308, 309, 334 Mensah, Ranzie 91
Knight, w Andy 159-60, 167, 181 Merchant, Ali K. 77
Kohn, Alfie 214 Mexico 44
Korea, South 318 Michigan State University
Kosovo 267 Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience
Kung, Hans 98 205-06
Millennium World Peace Summit of
L Religious and Spiritual Leaders 238
La Stampa 49 Miller, Lawrence 152
Landegg International University 85-86, Miller, Layli 77
142, 190 Mills, Jalal 87
Education for Peace project 142, 190, Mitzna, Am ram 41
205 Mogae, Festus 93
Larvia 139 Mogharrabi, 'Abdu'llah 32, 147, 304
Le Montie 49, 140 Moldova 141, 267
Lebanon 51, 192, 318 Momen, Wendi 151, 154
Leith, Barney 104 Mongolia 80, 81, 98
Lerche, C harles 141 Mongolian Baha'i Doctors Association
Lesotho 8, 90-91 80
Local Spiritual Assemblies See Spi ritual Monitor (Uganda) 121
Assemblies, Local moral education See education
Locke, Kevin 46, 84-85 Mosadegh, Afshin Shokoufeh 32, 147,
Locke, Patricia 307 308
Lockheed Corporation 224 Morrahedeh Development Services 321
Luxembourg 86, 95 Mount Carmel 10, 38, 47, 48, 5 1, 55,
Luxemburger Wort 95 56, 59, 65 , 67, 69, 72, 332, 334,
335, 336
M Baha'i projects on. See Baha'i World
MacArrhur Foundation 97 Centre; Arc; Terraces of the Shrine
Macau 196 of the Bab
344 THE BAHA'f WORLD 2 001-2002

architects of 46 Just Governance Program 266
Baha'u'llah's Tabler to (Tabler of
Carmel) 42, 55, 60, 72
Mozambique 136 Ocean of Light project 109
Mukula, Michael 118, 119, 120 Oklahoma, University of 303
Museveni, Yoweri Kagura 118- 19, 119 Olinga, Enoch. See Hands of the Cause
Murahhari, Akram 194 of God
Murahhari, 'Ali 194 Olinga Foundation for Human Development 82
N Olinga, George 120
N~iri'd-Dfn Shah 332 One Country 133, 141-42, 142, 206
Na'auao, Sean 116 Oprah Winfrey Show, The 211
Nakhjavfoi, 'Ali 117, 119, 120 ORF (Austria) 49, 140
Nakhjavfoi, Violette 117, 120 Organization for Economic Cooperation
Namibia 305 and Development (OECD) 229
Nancy Campbell Collegiate Institute Organization of American States (OAS)
211 229
Nathan, S.R. 102, 103 Oslo Declaration on Freedom of Religion
National Academy of Sciences (US) 97 or Belief 99-100
National Council of Women's Societies Oxford University 11
(Nigeria) 78
p
National Geographic TV 140
National Public Information Officers Pahinui, Marrin 116
139 Pakisran 98, 303, 318
National Spiritual Assemblies. See Palazzi, Marcello 149, 150, 15 1
Spiritual Assemblies, National Palra McGilligan, Janak 137
Native American Baha'i Institute (NAB!) Panama 15, 87, 99, 191 , 196
190 Papua New Guinea 7, 87-88
Naw-Rliz 103-05, 333 National Spiritual Assembly of 87
NBC-TV (US) 49, 140 Paraguay 304
Nepal 142, 195,304 Parliament of the World's Religions 282,
Netherlands, the 100-01, 154, 263, 318, 283
320, 323 A Call to Our Guiding Institutions 283
National Spiritual Assembly of I 01 Partners of the Americas 251
New Vision, The (Uganda) 121 Pamik, Naveen 94
New York Post, The 140 peace 17, 27
New York Times, The 49, 92, 295 Lesser Peace 30, 161, 162-68, 183,
New Zealand 98-99, 128, 196,316 185, 334
Niger 219, 318 features of 163-64
Nigeria 78, 317, 318 Most Great Peace 334
Nineteen Day Feast 14, 335 Peru 84, 110
Noonan, John T. Jr. 221, 226 Pfaff, William 225
Norway 41, 99-100, 267, 303, 318 Philippines, the 114, 318
Cooperation Council of Religions and pilgrimage, Baha'i 30, 336
Life-Stance Communities 99 pioneers, Baha'i 31-33, 335
National Spiritual Assembly of 99 Pohl, Reynaldo Galindo 291
Nur University 82, 142, 238, 239, 259, Poland 319
265 Polegaro, Brett 42
INDEX 345

Porter, K.C. 116 s
Portugal 215, 3 19 Sabah 122, 196
Progressio Foundation 149 SABC (South Africa) 49
Promise a/World Peace, The 17, 166, 168, Sadkaoui, Atef 46
217 Sahba, Fariborz 46, 104
"Promoting Positive Messages through Saint Augustine 171
the Media" See Stabiliry Pact for Saint Mungo Museum of Religious Life
Southeastern Europe; "Stop and andArt 89
Act"
Saint Thomas Aquinas 171
Prosperity ofHumankind, The 18, 224 Sakamoto, Yoshikazu 159, 170, 172
PT! India News Agency 49
Sakhalin Islands 306
publishing trusts, Baha'i 317-19 Samoa, Western 15, 109, 115, 196
Puerto Rico 302, 316 National Spirirual Assembly of 100
R Sandel, Michael 177
Sanderson, John 88
race unity 82-85, 119, 125-32, 135,
Sarawak 113, 122-23
190, 210, 273-78
50th anniversary of Baha'i communiry
Rassekh, Nosrarollah 173
in 122-23
Rauch, James E. 230, 231
Spiritual Assembly of 122
Rawhfoi, Qudratu'llah 309
SAT 1 Germany 140
Regional Baha'i Council. See Baha'i
Save the Children Fund UK 91
Council, Regional
Schaubacher, Daniel 152
Reinharz, Shulamit 199
Schneider, Barbara 209
religion
Schramm, John 79
freedom of 255-61, 291-93
Scodand 89-90
origin of 13
Baha'i Council for 90
purpose of 13, 21- 22, 26-27, 256,
Segal, Julius 197
Sesame Street 211
Religion Communicarors Council 142
Seychelle Islands 103, 140
Religion News Service 49
Shahidi, Tolibkhon 41-43
Reunion Island I 01
Sharron, Howard 198
Ridvfo 29, 336
Shoghi Effendi 10-11, 12, 31, 38, 47,
Robinson, Mary 126, 127, 130, 131
56, 57, 59, 69, 70, 71, 72, 117,
Rockefeller Brothers Fund 97
183, 185,232,304, 305, 309, 331,
Romania 42, 141, 219, 267, 319
332, 333,334, 336
Roohizadegan, Olya 110-11
passing of 12, 333, 336
Root, Martha See Hands of the Cause of
writings of 11, 16, 33, 42, 52, 53, 54,
God
56, 57, 60, 61, 111, 163, 164, 169,
Rose-Ackerman, Susan 222
177, 180, 184, 185, 186, 187, 209,
Rosenau, James N. 158-59, 162, 183,
213, 2 16,232, 233, 234, 235, 236,
275, 329
Royaumont Process See Stabiliry Pact
Sikhism 99
Rualrn School 86-87
Sinclair, Timothy 160
Ruhi Institute 195, 205
Singapore ' l 02, 103, 122
Ruhi srudy materials 88, 104, 110
Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial (SAT)
Russia 7, 150, 153, 193, 196, 210, 267,
248, 250
306, 316, 319
Siyah-Chal 54, 69
Rwanda 190, 305
Slavin, Robert 205
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

Slovakia 99 National Spiritual Assembly of 305
Slovenia 267 Sweden 267, 319
social and economic development 7, 8, Switzerland 85, 99, 130, 134, 138, 140,
78-82, 120, 215, 239, 243-53, 152, 190, 224, 229, 291, 302, 320,
265, 279-85 321
statistics 313-14
Solomon Islands 196
T
Sorabjee, Zena 122 Tablet 336
South Africa 90, 125, 129, 135, 190, Tablet of the Holy Mariner, The 325
273, 283, 301, 306,319 Tablets of the Divine Plan 10
National Religious Leaders Forum 'fahirih 91
129 Tahirih Justice Center 77
National Spiritual Assembly of 129 Taiwan 196, 319, 321
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Tajikistan 32, 41, 146-47, 147, 304,
129 308
Southern African Development Commu- National Spiritual Assembly of 147,
nity 229 308
Spain 41, 68, 128, 135, 255, 316, 319 Tanzania 86-87, 196, 223, 305
Sperber, Stanley 42 National Spiritual Assembly of 86
Spirit in Business Institute 149, 151 Ten Year Crusade 12, 334, 336
World Conference 149 Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab
Spiritual Assemblies, Local 11 , 13, 115, official opening of 30, 31, 37-73,
123, 179-81, 184, 232, 232-35, 111, 140
236-37,237, 311, 312, 334 delegates to 38, 39, 43-46, 48, 50,
election of 179-81, 233-34, 333 63, 64
Spiritual Assemblies, Narional 11, 12, media coverage of 49
13, 15, 102, 133, 134, 136, 137, Thailand 108, 134, 196
151 , 179-81, 182, 184, 232-35, Thomas, Ka'ulu Kukui 115
236-37, 237, 268, 308, 311, 313, Thoresen, Lasse 41-42
336 Togo 104
election of 179-81, 233-34, 333, 335 Tokyo, University of 159
Spiritual Assembly, Regional 335 Tonga 105, 109
Sri Lanka 303 Townshend International School 81
Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe Townsville Migrant Resource Center 83
95-96, 140, 238, 267 training institutes 108, 109-10, 219
Stilsett, Gunnar 100 tranquillity zones 90
Searcher, George 150, 151, 152 Transparency International (Tl) 228,
Scace Bah:i'f Councils. See Bah:i'f 229, 230
Council, Regional Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir
Srate University of Sergipe (Brazil) 86 42
Stop and Act (formerly The Happy Hippo Trinidad and Tobago 317
Show) 140, 211,238, 267 Trouw (Amsterdam) 49
Strandlie Thoresen, Britt 99 Turkey 9, 150, 152
Sunrise (Uganda) 121 Turning Point for ALL Nations 18, 166
Suriname 38 Tuvalu 308
sustainable development 279-85. See Twelve Month Plan 29, 30, 32, 33. See
also Agenda 21 also Universal House of Justice:
spiritual dimension of 280-85 Plans of
Swaziland 305 Tyco 224
INDEX 347

u Convention on the Elimination of All
Uganda 15, 39, 113, 11 7-22, 303, 305, Forms of Racial Discrimination
319 128
50c:h anniversary of Baha'i community Copenhagen Declaration 281
in 117-22, 305 Decade for a Culture of Peace 141
National Spiritual Assembly of 118, Decade for Human Rights Education
307 134, 135, 136
Union Luxembourgeoise tks Femmes Declaration of Human Rights 127
Bahd'ies 95 "Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of
United Kingdom 88-90, 90, 99, 103- Social Progress" semi nar 284
04, 151, 192, 229, 251, 304, 305, Fourc:h World Conference on Women
315, 319,320 281
Department for International Human Rights Committee 139
Development 252 International Consultative Conference
National Spiritual Assembly of 104, on School Education in relation
151, 197, 251 , 305 with Freedom of Religion and
United Nations 15, 17, 30, 97, 100, Belief, Tolerance, and Non-
104, 125, 127, 143, 146, 158, 159, Discrimination 135, 255
166, 167-68, 180, 194, 223, 283, International Year of Peace 15
284, 302 Mi llennium Assembly, Summit, and
50th anniversary of 18 Forum 30, 168
NGO Committee on the Status of
Agenda 21 279, 280, 281 , 284
Charter of 164, 165 Women 302
Office of the High Commissioner for
Commission for Social Development
Human Rights 127, 130
Commission on Human Rights 138, Security Council 164
145, 146, 147 Special Rapporteur on Freedom of
Commission on Sustainable Develop- Religion or Belief See Amor,
ment 138 Abdelfattah.
Commission on the Status of Women Special Representative on Iran See
Copithorne, Maurice
Special Session on Children 137, 138
Committee on Freedom of Religion or
Belief 138 Special Session on HN/AIDS 137, 287
Committee on Social, Economic, and World Summit on Social Development 18, 142, 151-52, 279
Cultural Rights 139
Com mittee on the Elimination of World Conference against Racism 83,
125-32, 135, 138, 142, 273
Racial Discrimination 139
Committee on the Rights of the Child Baha'i International Community's
statement to 131, 273-78
Committee on the Status of Women World Conference on Human Rights
Conference on Environment and World Health Assembly 139
World Health Organization 134, 139,
Development 280
Conference on the Least Developed 302
Countries 138 World Youth Forum 138
Convention on the Elimination of United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) 77, 134, 138, 139
Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) 138, 139
United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM) 134, 137, 138
THE BAHA'f WORLD 2001-2002

United Nations Economic and Social Venezuela 302, 317
Council (ECOSOC) 15, 134, 139 Virtues Guide, The 196
United Nations Foundation 97 Vivendi 225
United Nations High Commission for Vreeland, Paul 157
Refugees (UNHCR) 139 Vygotsky, LS. 199
United States 10, 15, 84, 86, 90, 91 , 92,
96-97, 98, 110, 114, 126, 128,
w
134, 140, 149, 150, 190, 196, 206, WBS (Uganda) 121
210,211,219, 279, 287, 301, 302, Weber, Max 175
303, 304, 307, 308, 319, 320, 321 Weinberg, Matrhew 41, 51
Agency for International Development Weinstock, Jacqueline 216
(USAJD) 97, 251 Who Is Writing the Future? 18
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) World Bank 223, 268, 282
229 World Faiths Development Dialogue
National Spiritual Assembly of 92, 268, 282
97, 197, 209, 307 WorldCom 224, 225, 226
Unity Foundation 86, 95 World Community Foundation 321
Universal House ofJustice 8, 10, 12, 15, World Conference on Religion and Peace
18, 29, 37, 41, 47, 48, 60, 111, 282
122, 181, 186, 208, 218, 236, 237, World Development Foundation 251
301, 302, 303, 304,305,306, 307, world order
308, 309, 331 , 332,333,334,336 divinity in 170-75
authority of 12, 236 'asabiya 173-75
constitution of 177, 236 models of 168-70
election of 12-13, 59, 333, 335, 336 "new world order" 161 , 162, 168,
members of 46, 73 183, 184, 185
messages of 17, 29-33, 43, 46, 47, of Bah:i'u'llah. See Baha'i Fairh:
49, 65-67, 69-73, 166-67, 168, administrative order of
177, 178, 182, 190, 191, 192, 195, World Religion Day 94, 97, 97-99
203, 208, 211,217, 218, 219 World Rural Women's Day 78
plans of 29, 31, 32, 33, 218, 219 World Trade Organization 158
seat of 38, 48, 336 World Wide Fund for Nature-UK 89
University of Maryland y
Center for International Development
and Conflict Management (CIDCM) York University 160
96 Young Turk Movement 10
University ofTubingen 98 youth 7, 80, 90-91, 105-08, 122, 326
University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh 86 youth workshops
UPI 49 Beyond Words 90
UPLIIT (Uganda) 120 Pacific Flame 105-06
Uruguay 90, 140 Puzzle 106
UTV (Uganda) 121 z
Uzbekistan 140
Zambia 196, 215
v National Spiritual Assembly of 301
Vanuatu 79, 99, 140 Zhu, Ming Ying 46
Varqa, 'Alf-Mul)ammad See Hands of the Zimbabwe 305
Cause of God Zoroaster 13
I 1--; .$"l'/ I

I 1-
THE BAHA l WORLD

2001- 2002

158 OF THE BAHA'f ERA
n just over one hundred years, the Baha'i Faith has grown from

I an obscure movement in the Middle East to the second-most widespread
of the independent world religions. Embracing people from more than
2, 100 ethnic, racial, and tribal groups, it is quite likely the most diverse
organized body of people on the planet today. Its unity challenges prevailing
theory about human nature and the prospects for our common future.
The Faith's central message is that of unity. Its Founder, Baha'u'llah,
teaches that there is only one God, that there is only one human race, and
that all the world's religions have been stages in the revelation of God's
purpose for humankind. Today, humanity has collectively come of age:
"The earth is but one country," Baha'u'llah asserts, "and mankind its citizens."
The emergence of the Baha'i community offers persuasive evidence that
the human race, in all its diversity, can learn to live and work as a single
people in its planetary homeland.
The Bahd'i World is the principal public record of the community's
growth and development. The volumes reproduce major documents and
provide statistical data and other information on the Baha'i Faith's wideranging program of activities, which are illustrated by many photographs
and charts. In-depth articles focus on major areas of Baha'i concern.
For the serious researcher and the general student alike, the dramatic
growth of the Baha'i Faith raises new and interesting questions about the
role of religion in social development. The Bahd'i World is designed primarily
to help answer these questions.

ISBN 0-85398-974-5