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 27 (1998-1999), Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 2000, bahai-library.com.
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THE B AHA f WORLD

1998-99

155 OF THE BAHA'I ERA
THE,,
BAHA'I ,,
WORLD
1998á99
AN
INTERNATIONAL RECORD

BAHA'I WORLD CENTRE
HAIFA
©2000 World Centre Publications

Order department: 46 High Street
Kidlington
Oxford OX5 2DN
England

Photo credits : cover, pp. 71 , 251 , and 252- Francisco Gonzalez Perez; pp.
69, 70, 94, 95, 148 and 149-courtesy One Country magazine; pp. 124 and
135-Robert Novak; p. 114 (bottom)- Mieke Schlaman; p. 90---courtesy the
American Bahti 'i; p. 129- courtesy Bahti 'i Canada; p. 250---courtesy Nur
University; p. 97, 133 and 134----courtesy the Baha'i International Community
United Nations Office. Other photos provided by the Audio-Visual Department
of the Baha'i World Centre.

ISBN 0-85398-981-8 (Hardcover)
ISBN 0-85398-982-6 (Softcover)

A Cataloguing-in-Publication number
is available from the British Library.

BTHE,,
AHA'I
,
WORLD
1998á99

Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Biddies Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn
CONTENTS
Introduction to the Baha'i Community 7

WRITINGS AND MESSAGES
Baha'i Sacred Writings 21
From the Universal House of Justice 29

EVENTS 1998-99
Eighth International Baha'i Convention 39
Conference of Baha'i Counsellors 49
New National Spiritual Assemblies 53
Mount Carmel Projects: Progress 1998-99 59
The Year in Review 67
1998-99: A Year of Retrospect and Prospect 121
The Baha'i International Community: Activities 1998- 99 131
Baha'i Involvement in the Royaumont Process 145
Update: The Situation of the Baha'is in Iran 151

ESSAYS, STATEMENTS, AND PROFILES
Russia and the Baha'i Faith: A Historic Connection
by Nancy Ackerman and Graham Hassall 157
Dimensions of Unity in an Emerging Global Order
by Martha Schweitz and Bill Barnes 193
World Watch, by Ann Boyles 229
Profile:
Nur University, Bolivia 249
Statements by the Baha'i International Community:
Who Is Writing the Future?
Reflections on the Twentieth Century 255
Religious Values and the
Measurement of Poverty and Prosperity 269
Current Situation of the Baha'is in Iran 279
The Baha'i Institute for Higher Education:
A Creative and Peaceful Response to
Religious Persecution 287
Promoting Women's Health 295
Protection of Minorities 299

INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
Obituaries 305
Statistics 317
Directory 321
Selected New Publications 329
A Basic Baha'i Reading List 333
Glossary 337

Index 343
INTRODUCTI9N
TO THE B AHA'I
C OMMUNITY

A group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots gather joyously for a
Holy Day feast, their obvious delight in each other's company
contrasting with the ethnic tensions on that divided island. Young
people in Angola, unable to attend school because of the war, participate in a workshop that gives them a vision of the important role
they have to play in society. A princess from Western Samoa travels
to Fiji to offer tribal chiefs and elders a document outlining a process
of development that respects the dignity of all peoples. Women and
men gather in Garoua Boulai, a rural region of eastern Cameroon,
to discuss how they can work together to alleviate some of the
burdens placed on the women with regard to child care. A young
Mongolian woman who has never before left her province walks
seventy kilometers in the snow, then travels by truck, and finally
catches a plane to Ulaan Baatar, where she participates in the election of her religion's national administrative body. A youth group
performs a dance about the terrible consequences of racism to a rapt
audience of children in a school auditorium on Vancouver Island,
Canada. In Colombia, a conga musical group imbues its traditional
Latin rhytluns with a spiritual message about the unity of humankind,

THE BAHA'I WORLD

to the delight of listeners in open-air venues. After two weeks of
basic health-care training, a woman in Zambia returns to her village
and shares what she has learned with her neighbors. These people,
though they have in all probability never met one another, share a
united view of the world and its future, as well as their own role in
shaping that future. They are Baha'is.
The Baha'i international community, comprising members of
the Baha'i Faith from all over the globe, now numbers some five
million souls. They represent 2, 112 ethnic and tribal groups and
live in more than 127,000 localities in 190 independent countries
and 45 dependent territories or overseas departments. What was
once regarded by some as a small, obscure sect was reported by
the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1992 Yearbook to be the secondmost 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.
From what source do the members of the Baha'i Faith draw
their spiritual strength and their organizational structure? What are
the tenets of faith that can so attract and unify such a diverse group
of people? How do they see the future? This brief introduction to the
Baha'i community, its history, its spiritual teachings, and its aims
and objectives, provides information in response to these questions.
Origins
In 1844, in Persia, a young siyyid (a descendant of the Prophet
Mul:tammad) named Mirza 'Ali-MuI:tammad declared Himself to
be the Promised Qa'im awaited by Shi'ih 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 over the next number of years, but the growth of the
new religion continued even after the Bab Himself was imprisoned

THE BAHA'f COMM UNITY

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, and travelers, who
expressed their admiration for the character and fortitude of the
victims of the persecution.
The Babi religion sprang from Islam in the same manner that
Christianity sprang from Judaism or Buddhism from Hinduism. 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 ofBabi
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 the religious dispensations of the past.
Mirza l:fusayn- '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. 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 l:fusayn- '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 "the 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
some forty years later in Acre, in May 1892, although the authorities
had gradually loosened their restrictions as they became acquainted
with Hirn and the nature of His teachings. During the long years of
His exile Baha'u'llah revealed the equivalent of over one hundred
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 ("the Servant
ofBaha"), as His successor and sole authoritative interpreter of His

THE BNiA'f W ORLD

teachings . 'Abdu'l-Baha had shared His Father's long exile 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 1911 to 1913, 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 just
such an eventuality. ' 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, although He declined to use
it. 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 fourteen 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 of ' Abdu'l-Baha's legacies was His Will and Testament,
which Baha'is regard as the charter of the administrative order conceived by Baha'u'llah. In this document, 'Abdu'l-Baha appointed His
eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as His successor, to act as Guardian
of the Baha' i Faith and authorized interpreter of its teachings .
During the period of his Guardianship, from 1921to1957, Shoghi
Effendi concentrated his attention 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; and the implementation of' Abdu '1-Baha's plan for the
propagation of the Baha'i Faith around the world.

TH E B AHA'I C OMMUNITY

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,
particularly the site ofBaha'u 'llah's grave near Acre, with gardens
of striking beauty, and initiated construction of the International
Baha'i Archives building to house artifacts from the early days of
the Baha'i Faith. This building, the first structure built along the
arc-shaped path on the site designated as the world administrative
center of the Baha' i community, was completed in 1957.
In concert with the actions he took to develop the Baha'i World
Centre and lay the foundations , literally and figuratively, for the
further course of that development, Shoghi Effendi was also instrumental in interpreting the writings ofBaha'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 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 a history
of the Babi Faith, authored a history of the first century of the Baha'i
Faith, God Passes By, and wrote thousands of letters to communities and individuals around the world, elucidating passages
from the writings and thus giving direction and impetus to Baha'i
activities.
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' i councils , known as Spiritual Assemblies, would
eventually be established. The Guardian effected this global expansion of Baha'i communities through a series of international

THE BAHA'I WORLD

plans of varying duration, during which twelve 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 Ri<;lvan in Baghdadthe goal was to open 132 new countries and major territories to
the Faith and expand existing communities in 120 countries and
territories that had previously been opened to the Faith. These
ambitious targets were 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 ofBaha'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 Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha.
Shoghi Effendi had no children and died without designating such
a Guardian to follow him. He had, however, taken steps toward the
election of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing
body of the Baha'i Faith which was to function, with him, as one
of the two authorized successors provided for in the writings of
Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu ' l-Baha. 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 the duty of protecting the unity of the faith and collaborating with the 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 election, by the members of the
fifty- six National Spiritual Assemblies that existed in April 1963,
clearly demonstrated the principle of unity so central to the Baha'i

THE B M IA'i COMMUNITY

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 stands as the acknowledged
central authority in the worldwide Baha'i community and has,
during the past thirty-six years, launched six global plans for the
advancement of the Faith. From a worldwide population of 408,000
in 1963, the Baha' i community has grown to approximately five
million members; the number of National and Regional Spiritual
Assemblies has grown from 56 to 179; and the number of Local
Spiritual Assemblies has increased from 3,555 to some 12,500.
Baha'is live in 235 countries and territories around the planet.
Spiritual and Moral Teachings and Baha'i Community Life
The force that unites this diverse body of people is a unity of vision
achieved through 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 one Divine Reality-Abraham, Krishna,
Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, and MuI:iammad-who have
been sent by the Creator throughout history to deliver a divine
message commensurate with humanity's stage of development. The
spiritual essence of all the major religions, in the Baha'i view, is the
same: humanity has been created to know and to worship God.
Only the religions' social teachings change through this process of
progressive revelation. The Baha'i perspective is optimistic, seeing
the cumulative benefits of progressively revealed religions as fundamental to an "ever-advancing civilization." What divides various
religious communities, Baha'is believe, comes not from God but
from humanity and its accretions to the essential religious teachings
brought by each divine Messenger.
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 be eliminated,
and the age-old promise of universal peace must be realized.
Likening the development of the human race to that of a child, the

THE BAHA'f W ORLD

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, 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 upon believers. Baha'is
between the ages of fifteen and seventy, with certain exceptions ,
observe an annual nineteen-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 in their relationships
with others, and to avoid gossip and backbiting. He forbade lying,
stealing, adultery, sodomy, and promiscuity. The importance of the
family is central to Baha'i community life, as is the moral and
spiritual education of children.
Baha'is 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 the local Baha'i center. The Baha'i writings call for
the erection in each community of a beautifully designed House of
Worship, set in exquisite gardens and functioning as a spiritual
center of activity. A variety of social and humanitarian institutions
are also to be established around it. A Baha'i House of Worship

TH E B AH.k l C OM MUNITY

presently exists on each continent, and sites have been purchased
around the world for the construction of many more. They are open
to people of all faiths-or 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 world faiths and music by an a capella choir.
This preserves for worshippers 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 on the eve of 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 extremely active non-governmental organization
(NGO) that represents the collective voice of the 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 Offices of the Environment and for the Advancement of Women, collaborate with
National Spiritual Assemblies around the world in various projects
and representations at international gatherings. 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 national and international representatives have
taken active roles in the major world summits and NGO forums
sponsored by the United Nations during the past decade.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

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
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

1. Shoghi Effendi , The World Order of Baha 'u '!!ah: Selected Letters, 2d ed.
(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1991), p. 203.
2. Ibid., p. 204.

THE B AHA'I C OMMUNITY

its perspective on various issues, the Baha'i International Community
not only collaborates with like-minded organizations in and out 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, considered as heresy by the regime, and thousands
more have been imprisoned, fired from their jobs, or have 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 Iran- the 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 of World
Peace, sparked a worldwide campaign of presentations and public
education projects throughout the International Year of Peace and
since, aimed at government figures, leaders of thought, and the
general population. The centenary ofBaha'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.
Other events of that signal year included a gathering in the Holy
Land in May, involving some three thousand participants from all
over the world, and the Baha'i World Congress, held in New York
City in November, which brought together some 27,000 Baha'is
from all regions of the globe. A statement presenting the Baha'i
perspective on social development, The Prosperity of Humankind,
was disseminated at the World Summit for Social Development in

3. See pp. 151 - 54, 279- 86, and 287- 93 for further information on the continuing persecution of Iran 's Baha'i community.

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 that marked the
organization's fiftieth anniversary. Most recently, the Baha'i International Community has 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 ofthis faith and resolve is the message of hope offered
to humanity by the teachings of Baha'u'llah. It is a message that
deserves the thoughtful consideration of all those who yearn for
peace and justice in the world.

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

WRITINGS
MESSAGES
BAHA'I
SACRED
WRITINGS

From the Writings of Baha' u'llah
T his is the Day whereon naught can be seen except the splendors of the Light that shineth from the face of Thy Lord, the
Gracious, the Most Bountiful. Verily, We have caused every soul to
expire by virtue of Our irresistible and all-subduing sovereignty. We
have, then, called into being a new creation, as a token of Our grace
unto men. I am, verily, the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.
This is the Day whereon the unseen world crieth out: "Great is
thy blessedness, 0 earth, for thou hast been made the foot-stool of
thy God, and been chosen as the seat of His mighty throne." The
realm of glory exclaimeth: "Would that my life could be sacrificed
for thee, for He Who is the Beloved of the All-Merciful hath established His sovereignty upon thee, through the power of His Name
that hath been promised unto all things, whether of the past or of the
future." This is the Day whereon every sweet smelling thing hath
derived its fragrance from the smell of My garment-a garment
that hath shed its perfume upon the whole of creation. This is the
Day whereon the rushing waters of everlasting life have gushed
out of the Will of the All-Merciful. Haste ye, with your hearts and
souls, and quaff your fill , 0 Concourse of the realms above!

Say: He it is Who is the Manifestation of Him Who is the
Unknowable, the Invisible of the Invisibles, could ye but perceive
it. He it is Who hath laid bare before you the hidden and treasured
Gem, were ye to seek it. He it is Who is the one Beloved of all
things, whether of the past or of the future. Would that ye might set
your hearts and hopes upon Him!

Justice is, in this day, bewailing its plight, and Equity groaneth
beneath the yoke of oppression. The thick clouds of tyranny have
darkened the face of the earth, and enveloped its peoples. Through
the movement of Our Pen of glory We have, at the bidding of the
omnipotent Ordainer, breathed a new life into every human frame,
and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things
proclaim the evidences of this worldwide regeneration. This is the
most great, the most joyful tidings imparted by the Pen of this
wronged One to mankind. Wherefore fear ye, 0 My well-beloved
ones? Who is it that can dismay you? A touch of moisture sufficeth to dissolve the hardened clay out of which this perverse
generation is molded. The mere act of your gathering together is
enough to scatter the forces of these vain and worthless people .. .
Every man of insight will, in this day, readily admit that the
counsels which the Pen of this wronged One hath revealed constitute the supreme animating power for the advancement of the
world and the exaltation of its peoples. Arise, 0 people, and, by
the power of God's might, resolve to gain the victory over your
own selves, that haply the whole earth may be freed and sanctified
from its servitude to the gods of its idle fancies-gods that have
inflicted such loss upon, and are responsible for the misery of, their
wretched worshipers. These idols form the obstacle that impedeth
man in his efforts to advance in the path of perfection. We cherish
the hope that the Hand of Divine power may lend its assistance to
mankind, and deliver it from its state of grievous abasement.

Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the
Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God
hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted
up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every

BAHA'I S ACRED WRITINGS

idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze , with an open
and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of
His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.
Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred
Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every
Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this
wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise,
yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His
Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God's Will, than all,
except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found
dumbfounded and heedless.
0 thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil hath
shut out the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them
from hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may
envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, "the Kingdom is God's,"
may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.

He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful, cherisheth in His heart
the desire of beholding the entire human race as one soul and one
body. Haste ye to win your share of God's good grace and mercy
in this Day that eclipseth all other created Days. How great the
felicity that awaiteth the man that forsaketh all he hath in a desire
to obtain the things of God! Such a man, We testify, is among God's
blessed ones.

0 friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have
been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. Suffer
not your labors to be wasted through the vain imaginations which
certain hearts have devised. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing
waters upon which must depend the very life of all men, the letters
inscribed upon His sacred scroll. With the utmost unity, and in a
spirit of perfect fellowship, exert yourselves, that ye may be enabled
to achieve that which beseemeth this Day of God . Verily I say,
strife and dissension, and whatsoever the mind of man abhorreth
are entirely unworthy of his station. Center your energies in the
propagation of the Faith of God . Whoso is worthy of so high a

calling, let him arise and promote it. Whoso is unable, it is his duty
to appoint him who will, in his stead, proclaim this Revelation,
whose power hath caused the foundations of the mightiest structures
to quake, every mountain to be crushed into dust, and every soul to be
dumbfounded. Should the greatness of this Day be revealed in its
fullness , every man would forsake a myriad lives in his longing to
partake, though it be for one moment, of its great glory-how much
more this world and its corruptible treasures!
Be ye guided by wisdom in all your doings, and cleave ye tenaciously unto it. Please God ye may all be strengthened to carry out
that which is the Will of God, and may be graciously assisted to
appreciate the rank conferred upon such of His loved ones as have
arisen to serve Him and magnify His name. Upon them be the glory
of God, the glory of all that is in the heavens and all that is on the
earth, and the glory of the inmates of the most exalted Paradise,
the heaven of heavens.
From the Writings and Utterances of 'Abdu'l-Baha
Do ye know in what cycle ye are created and in what age ye
exist? This is the age of the Blessed Perfection and this is the time
of the Greatest Name! This is the century of the Manifestation, the
age of the Sun of all horizons and the beautiful springtime of the
Eternal One!
The earth is in motion and growth; the mountains, hills and prairies are green and pleasant; bounty is overflowing; mercy universal;
rain is descending from the clouds of compassion; the brilliant sun
is shining; the full moon adometh the ethereal horizon; the great
ocean-tide is flooding every little stream; gifts and favors follow
one upon the other and a refreshing breeze is blowing, wafting the
:fragrant perfume of the blossoms.
If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season shall we wait and for what other time shall we look?
Boundless treasure is in the hand of the King of Kings! Lift the
hem of thy garment to receive it.
This is the time for growing; the season for joyous gathering!
Take the cup of the Testament in thy hand; leap and dance with
ecstasy in the triumphal procession of the Covenant! Place your
confidence in the everlasting bounty, tum to the presence of the

B AHA'I S ACRED WRITI NGS

generous God ; ask assistance from the kingdom of Abha; seek
confirmation from the Supreme World; tum thy vision to the horizon of eternal wealth; and pray for help from the Source of Mercy!
Soon shall ye see the friends attaining their longed-for destination and pitching their tents, while we are but in the first day of our
Journey.

Thank divine Providence that thou hast been assisted in service
and hast been the cause of the promulgation of the oneness of the
world of humanity, so that the darkness of differences among men
may be dissipated, and the pavilion of the unity of nations may
cast its shadow over all regions. Without such unity, rest and comfort, peace and universal reconciliation are unachievable. This
illumined century needeth and calleth for its fulfillment. In every
century a particular and central theme is , in accordance with the
requirements of that century, confirmed by God. In this illumined
age that which is confirmed is the oneness of the world of humanity.
Every soul who serveth this oneness will undoubtedly be assisted
and confirmed.

Soon will the Western regions become as radiant as the horizons of the East, and the Sun of Truth shine forth with a refulgence
that will cause the darkness of error to fade away and vanish. Great
is the multitude who will rise up to oppose you, who will oppress
you, heap blame upon you, rejoice at your misfortunes, account
you people to be shunned, and visit injury upon you; yet shall your
heavenly Father confer upon you such spiritual illumination that
ye shall become even as the rays of the sun which, as they chase
away the sombre clouds, break forth to flood the surface of the
earth with light. It is incumbent upon you, whensoever these tests
may overtake you, to stand firm, and to be patient and enduring.
Instead of repaying like with like, ye should requite opposition with
the utmost benevolence and loving-kindness, and on no account
attach importance to cruelties and injuries, but rather regard them
as the wanton acts of children. For ultimately the radiance of the
Kingdom will overwhelm the darkness of the world of being, and
the holy, exalted character of your aims will become unmistakably

apparent. Nothing shall remain concealed: the olive oil, though
stored within the deepest vault, shall one day bum in brightness
from the lamp atop the beacon. The small shall be made great, and
the powerless shall be given strength; they that are of tender age
shall become the children of the Kingdom, and those that have
gone astray shall be guided to their heavenly home.

This period of time is the Promised Age, the assembling of the
human race to the Resurrection Day and now is the great Day of
Judgement. Soon the whole world, as in springtime, will change
its garb. The turning and falling of the autumn leaves is past; the
bleakness of the wintertime is over. The new year hath appeared
and the spiritual springtime is at hand. The black earth is becoming a verdant garden; the deserts and mountains are teeming with
red flowers; from the borders of the wilderness the tall grasses are
standing like advance guards before the cypress and jessamine
trees; while the birds are singing among the rose branches like the
angels in the highest heavens, announcing the glad-tidings of the
approach of that spiritual spring, and the sweet music of their voices
is causing the real essence of all things to move and quiver.
0 my spiritual friend! Dost thou know from what airs emanate the
notes sung by those birds? They are from the melodies of peace and
reconciliation, of love and unity, of justice and security, of concord
and harmony. In a short time this heavenly singing will intoxicate all
humanity; the foundations of enmity shall be destroyed; unity and
affection shall be witnessed in every assembly; and the splendors of
the love of God will shine forth in these great festivals.
Therefore, contemplate what a spirit of life God hath given that
the body of the whole earth may attain life everlasting! The Abha
Paradise will soon spread a pavilion in the midmost heart of the
world, under whose shelter the beloved shall rejoice and the pure
hearts shall repose in peace.

In the estimation of historians this radiant century is equivalent
to one hundred centuries of the past. If comparison be made with
the sum total of all former human achievements, it will be found
that the discoveries, scientific advancement and material civilization

BAHA'I S ACRED WRITINGS

of this present century have equaled, yea far exceeded the progress
and outcome of one hundred former centuries. The production of
books and compilations of literature alone bears witness that the
output of the human mind in this century has been greater and more
enlightening than all the past centuries together. It is evident, therefore, that this century is of paramount importance. Reflect upon
the miracles of accomplishment which have already characterized
it: the discoveries in every realm of human research. Inventions,
scientific knowledge, ethical reforms and regulations established
for the welfare of humanity, mysteries of nature explored, invisible
forces brought into visibility and subjection-a veritable wonderworld of new phenomena and conditions heretofore unknown to
man now open to his uses and further investigation. The East and
West can communicate instantly. A human being can soar in the
skies or speed in submarine depths . The power of steam has linked
the continents. Trains cross the deserts and pierce the barriers of
mountains; ships find unerring pathways upon the trackless oceans.
Day by day discoveries are increasing. What a wonderful century
this is! It is an age of universal reformation. Laws and statutes of
civil and federal governments are in process of change and transformation. Sciences and arts are being molded anew. Thoughts are
metamorphosed. The foundations of human society are changing and
strengthening .. .it is our duty in this radiant century to investigate the
essentials of divine religion, seek the realities underlying the oneness of the world of humanity and discover the source of
fellowship and agreement which will unite mankind in the heavenly bond of love. This unity is the radiance of eternity, the divine
spirituality, the effulgence of God and the bounty of the Kingdom.
We must investigate the divine source of these heavenly bestowals
and adhere unto them steadfastly. For if we remain fettered and
restricted by human inventions and dogmas, day by day the world of
mankind will be degraded, day by day warfare and strife will
increase and satanic forces converge toward the destruction of the
human race.

0 ye handmaids of the Lord! In this century- the century of the
Almighty Lord- the Day-Star of the Realms above, the Light of

Truth, shineth in its meridian splendor and its rays illuminate all
regions. For this is the age of the Ancient Beauty, the day of the
revelation of the might and power of the Most Great Name- may
my life be offered up as a sacrifice for His loved ones.
In the ages to come, though the Cause of God may rise and grow
a hundredfold and the shade of the Sadratu'l-Muntaha 1 shelter all
mankind, yet this present century shall stand unrivaled, for it hath
witnessed the breaking of that Morn and the rising of that Sun.
This century is, verily, the source of His Light and the dayspring of
His Revelation. Future ages and generations shall behold the diffusion of its radiance and the manifestations of its signs.
Wherefore, exert yourselves, haply ye may obtain your full share
and portion of His bestowals.

1. One of the titles of Baha' u' llah, literal ly meaning "the tree beyond which
there is no passing."

FROM THE
UNIVERSAL
HOUSEoF
JUSTICE

T he establishment of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing council of the Baha'i Faith, was called
for in the writings of Baha'u'llah, Who vested the institution with
authority "to take counsel together regarding those things which
have not outwardly been revealed in the Book, and to enforce
that which is agreeable to them." 1
While the Universal House of Justice does not have the right to
nullify laws or alter teachings revealed by Baha'u'llah, it is authorized to legislate on matters not dealt with in the Baha'i writings,
and it can abrogate its own laws. 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah's Son
and appointed successor, explained this right of abrogation thus:
"The wisdom of this is that the times never remain the same, for
change is a necessary quality and an essential attribute of this
world, and of time and place. Therefore the House of Justice will

1. Tablets of Baha 'u 'llah Revealed aft er the Kitab-i-Aqdas (Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1994), p. 68.

take action accordingly." 2 In His Will and Testament, 'Abdu'l-Baha
affinned it to be "incumbent" upon members of the Universal House
of Justice to "deliberate upon all problems which have caused
difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not
expressly recorded in the Book," concluding that "Whatsoever
they decide has the same effect as the Text itself." 3 Consequently,
since the Universal House of Justice was first elected in 1963, the
Baha'i community has turned to it with respect and trust, regarding
obedience to its decisions as obedience to the will of God.
Since its establishment, the Universal House of Justice has carried
on a voluminous correspondence with individuals, institutions, the
Baha'i community as a whole, and other organizations. By this
means it provides clarification and elucidation of issues relating to
the development of the Baha'i community, guidance concerning
the gradual application of Baha'u'llah's laws, encouragement to
believers to arise and promulgate their Faith, and directives concerning the further development of the Baha'i administrative system.
Ri<f,van 155 B.E. Message
The Ric;lvan 155 B.E. message (April 1998) of the Universal House
of Justice to the Baha'is of the world reviewed the community's
accomplishments at the midpoint of the Four Year Plan, analyzed
this moment in history, and focused on what is necessary in order
for the Baha'i community to move ahead.
Highlighted accomplishments included the following: a strengthened faith, spiritual identity and commitment to service seen in
Baha'is who have participated in training institute courses around
the world; the maturation of the institution of the Local Spiritual
Assembly, now elected only on the first day of Ric,ivan by local
communities around the world; new confidence and an increase in
the methodical approach to teaching among Baha'is throughout
the world; rapid progress on the construction projects on Mount
Carmel in Haifa; the establishment in May 1998 of three new

2. Cited in Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963- 1986: The
Third Epoch of the Formative Age (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1996), p. 85.
3. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu 'l-Baha (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing
Trust, 1971 ), p. 20.

National Spiritual Assemblies-in Sabah, Sarawak and Slovakiaand the re-establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly in
Liberia. 4
The House of Justice noted that the "widespread desolation of the
human spirit," so prevalent at this moment in history, has prompted
masses of people to search for spiritual truth. At the same time, "a
growing sense of an irresistible movement towards global unity
and peace" is evident in developments such as the United Nations'
increasing involvement-backed by powerful governments-in
urgent world problems, and world leaders' recognition of the
interconnectedness of their countries in areas such as trade and
finance. Thus, the House of Justice points out, the Major Plan of
God, while "associated with turbulence and calamity," is nevertheless "inexorably driving humanity towards unity and maturity."
Given this confluence of factors, Baha'is find themselves, at
the midpoint of the Four Year Plan, in a dynamic situation. To
capitalize on it and bring about significant and sustained growth
and development of their community, they must not only rely on
faith, prayer, and divine assistance, but be realistic and systematic
in their approach. In pursuing the systematic development of human
resources that can maintain a balance of continuous expansion and
consolidation of the community, the House of Justice points out
that training institutes are invaluable.
In the last analysis, however, teaching the Baha'i Faith is the
sacred duty of each member, in fulfillment of which he or she is
directly responsible to Baha'u'llah. Thus, the individual occupies
an "irreplaceable role in the advancement of the Cause" and must
consciously decide what, how, where, and when to contribute to the
Plan. The House of Justice further urges individuals to acquire
the habit of reflection upon actions they have taken, which "lends
meaning and fulfillment" to their lives. This is the moment, the
House of Justice states, for all Baha'is "to be consciously involved
in a vast historic process, the like of which has not ever before
been experienced by any people," and in which the Baha'i community has an "inescapable responsibility."

4. See pp . 53- 58 for further information on the establishment of these
National Spiritual Assemblies.

The Eighth International Baha'i Convention
On the occasion of the Eighth International Baha' i Convention,
held in Haifa, Israel, in April 1998, the Universal House of Justice
addressed two letters to the delegates. The first, dated 23 April
1998, welcomed them and drew their attention to the "extraordinary
conjunction of Baha'i Holy Days" occurring during the gatheringthe Birthdays of the Bab and of Baha'u'llah falling, according to
the lunar calendar, on 28 and 29 April (the latter coinciding with
the Ninth Day of Ri<;ivan) . The House of Justice further highlighted the opportunity given to delegates to visit the Baha' i holy
places, preparing them to take up the "sacred responsibility of
electing the Universal House of Justice" and engage in consultations on "vital issues" of concern to the Baha'i community.
At this Convention, while consultation would not be limited
to specific topics and delegates were urged to "open [their] minds
and hearts" on the topics that seemed to them to be most vital, the
House of Justice also asked them to remain conscious of the central aim of the Four Year Plan: namely, advancing the process of
entry by troops. In this regard, the House of Justice noted, analysis
of circumstances leading to and maintaining that process would be
especially useful, as would evaluations of different programs and
methods adopted by permanent training institutes and suggestions
regarding effective ways of mobilizing individuals, communities,
and institutions in teaching the Baha'i Faith.
In sum, Convention consultations should help delegates "deepen
[their] understanding of the aim and processes of the Plan, and
acquire ideas and perspectives that will reinforce the ability of
[their] National Spiritual Assembly to play its full part in the collective enterprise which is preparing the Cause of God to meet the
challenges of a new century."
At the conclusion of the International Convention, on 2 May, the
House of Justice addressed a second letter to the delegates , commenting particularly on how their conduct reflected "a degree of
love and unity rare for so variegated a gathering of humanity" and
seeing in the "clarity, cogency and discipline" of the consultations
"indications of an accelerated process of maturation ... that must
in the fullness of time play a major role in guiding the destiny of
nations." Identifying the Convention as "the defining moment for

THE U NIVERSAL HOUSE OF J US TICE

the Four Year Plan"-a turning point at which "the full range of
its aim and possibilities" were realized-the House of Justice
expressed the hope that the unity experienced at the Convention
would permeate all Baha'i institutions in every country. Thus it
would be evident that "in contrast to the contentious attitudes of
the world, the unity of the Baha'i community is an outer reflection
of that inner reality that motivates the divinely ordained institution
charged with directing and coordinating the community's affairs."
On 3 May, the Universal House of Justice sent a brief message
to all National Spiritual Assemblies, announcing the results of
the election carried out at the International Convention, in the
following words: "NEWL y ELECTED MEMBERS UNIVERSAL HOUSE
OF JUSTICE 'ALI NAKHJAVANi, PETER KHAN, ADIB TAHERZADEH,
GLENFORD MITCHELL, IAN SEMPLE, HOOPER DUNBAR, F ARZAM
ARBAB, DOUGLAS MARTIN, HUSHMAND FATHEAZAM." 5
Counsellors' Conference and the International Teaching Centre
Immediately following the International Convention, the members
of the Continental Boards of Counsellors from around the world
held a conference in the Holy Land, and on 3 May 1998 the Universal House of Justice addressed a letter to that gathering. The
House of Justice noted the "dramatic advance in maturity" evident
in the prosecution of the Plan and stated, "Your work has brought
honor to your institution and immense joy to our hearts."
Reviewing the Counsellors' activities since their previous
conference in December 1995, at which the Four Year Plan and
its objectives were announced, the House of Justice noted how their
"selfless, inspiriting and intelligent contributions" had prepared
the Baha'i world to develop detailed national plans and praised
the ways in which they and the members of their Auxiliary Boards
had promoted systematic and focused action on the Plan's goals.
Now the energies generated and skills developed through training
institute programs must be used to meet the needs of the Plan, and
the Counsellors' experience must be "examined and correlated" to
foster further progress throughout the world and in the institutional
capacity of the Counsellors themselves.

5. For a full report on the Eighth International Baha'i Convention, see pp. 39-47.

Shortly after the conference, on 13 May, an electronic mail
message announced the appointment of the Counsellor members
of the International Teaching Centre for the five years beginning
23 May 1998 and thanked the outgoing members for their "distinguished self-sacrificing labors."
On 2 July, a letter from the House of Justice to all National
Assemblies reported that the newly appointed Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre, Hands of the Cause of
God Amatu'l-Baha Rul)iyyih Khanum and 'Ali-Akbar Furutan,
and members of the Universal House of Justice had met to pray
at the Shrine of Baha'u'llah on 13 June, followed by a week of
"intense consultation" about the work ahead. The International
Teaching Centre-the twenty-fifth anniversary of which was
noted-was described as a "cardinal institution" that has "exercised increased responsibility in relation to the protection of the
Faith," has "stimulated pioneering and travel-teaching, as well as
the production and distribution of literature and audiovisual aids,"
and has "imparted a fundamental impetus to the establishment
and sound functioning of training institutes."
Other Letters
In its efforts to educate and raise the Baha'i community's consciousness on particular issues, the Universal House of Justice
this year distributed several important documents to National
Spiritual Assemblies, including one entitled "Training Institutes"
and compilations on "The Importance of the Arts in Promoting
the Faith" and "Aspects of Traditional African Culture"; the latter
was intended to assist Baha'is in Africa to understand how to deal
with certain traditional practices in light of the Baha'i teachings.
In February 1999, the Secretariat of the Universal House of Justice
released a statement prepared by the Baha'i International Community's Office of Public Information entitled Who Is Writing the
Future?, which reflects on the twentieth century through the lens of
Baha'u'llah's teachings and looks ahead to the challenges humanity
faces as it enters a new century.7

6. See pp. 49- 52 for further infonnation about the Counsellors' conference
and the appointment of the International Teaching Centre.
7. For the full text of this statement, see pp. 255---68 .

A letter dated 29 March 1999 to National Spiritual Assemblies
around the world announced the establishment of a Chair of
Baha'i Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, following
a brief signing ceremony at the Baha'i World Centre. The House
of Justice remarked that this "concluded discussions initiated by
the University nearly a year ago" and cited the University's recognition of "the importance of the field and of the need to provide
an institutional basis for the continuation and development of this
work on both the teaching and research levels." As a historical
note, the House recalled that in 1925 Shoghi Effendi had written
a letter "of warm encouragement" to the University's founders upon
the establishment of the institution. 8

8. For further information about the establishment of the Baha'i Chair at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem , seep. 74.

EVENTS
1998-99
The Eighth International Bahri 'i
Convention, held to elect the Universal
House of Justice, took place in the spring
of 1998 in Haifa, Israel.

EIGHTH
INTERNATIONAL
BAHA'f cONVENTION
B etween 29 April and 2 May 1998, Baha'i representatives
from 161 countries gathered in Haifa, Israel, to elect the
Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of
the Baha'i Faith. The Eighth International Baha'i Convention
was marked by focused consultation, universal participation, and
warm fellowship among the delegates, whose task was to elect
the members of the institution that will continue to guide the
Baha'i world in the work of building a global community. Held
every five years since the establishment of the Universal House
of Justice in 1963, the International Baha'i Convention is an integral component of the process that safeguards the unity and strength
of the worldwide Baha'i community.
'Abdu'l-Baha first specified how the Universal House of Justice
was to be established, writing, "At whatever time the beloved of
God in each country appoint their delegates, and these in turn elect
their representatives, and these representatives elect a body, that
body shall be regarded as the Supreme House of Justice." This
process begins at the grassroots of the Baha'i community, when

THE BAHA'I W ORLD

Baha'is establish governing councils called Local Spiritual Assemblies. Local communities of each country, in tum, elect delegates
who vote for the members of their national Baha'i governing body,
the National Spiritual Assembly. The members of the world's
National Spiritual Assemblies constitute the electorate of the
Universal House of Justice. Local and National Spiritual Assembly elections occur annually, while the election of the Universal
House of Justice takes place every five years, when members of
the National Spiritual Assemblies serve as delegates to the International Convention. Believers in local Baha' i communities
throughout the world thus contribute to the process that ultimately
results in the election of the head of their Faith.
The first International Baha' i Convention, in 1963, was attended
by representatives of 56 National Spiritual Assemblies; the
Eighth Convention involved 175, each comprising nine members.
The full membership of many National Assemblies journeyed
from nearly every territory on earth to come to Convention, some
at great personal sacrifice. In all, 986 delegates representing 161
Assemblies were able
to come to Haifa; others mailed their ballots.
The sacrifices made by
many members in order
to participate was a
source of inspiration to
their fellow attendees. ""--~
Armen Khachatryan, Delegates from all over the world, in Haifa to elect
the Universal House ofJustice, gathered in front of
for example, was the the Pilgrim House near the Shrine of the Bab.
only member of the
Armenian National Spiritual Assembly able to come to Israel.
Traveling via several different countries and methods of transportation, it took him more than two weeks to arrive. Edna
Banda from Zambia, the only female member of her National
Assembly, was able to represent her country through the lastminute financial support of her fellow Africans. Jesus Coba, of
Cuba, was another lone representative. "This is a miracle of God,"

EIGHTH I NTERNATIO NAL B AHAáf cONVENTION

During the Convention, delegates
and invited guests from around the
world were able to meet, consult,
and visit the Baha 'i holy places.

he said. "It was a miracle that I could even leave my country and
come to participate in this Convention."
Five days were set aside prior to the Convention for delegates
to visit the Baha'i shrines and holy places in and around Acre and
Haifa. To prepare spiritually for the important task lying ahead
of them, delegates prayed and meditated in the resting places of
the Bab and Baha'u'llah and were able to see the history of their
Faith preserved in the houses occupied by Baha'u'llah, His prison
cell, the gardens He frequented in His later years, and relics preserved in the International Baha'i Archives. Tours of the unfinished
terraced gardens and the Centre for the Study of the Texts were
also included in their program.
Throughout the Convention, delegates seized the opportunity to
consult closely with their fellow Baha'is from around the world.
During the main sessions, two microphones were placed in the
main hall for delegates to report on events in their countries and
raise issues of concern with
the entire assembly. Simultaneous translation was provided via radio headphones .
Some were able to learn that
problems and challenges
facing them at home had
been overcome elsewhere in
the world, or could offer so-
During one of the Convention s main ses- lutions that could be implesions, a delegate from India shared his mented in other countries.
community s experience in implementing One of the distinguishing
the training institute process. features of the Eighth International Convention was the dramatic increase in participation
by indigenous believers, enabling National Spiritual Assemblies
of large Baha'i communities to learn from the experiences of
their newly-established counterparts, particularly regarding the
Baha'i community 's ongoing effort to systematically develop its
human resources. Indigenous participation was evident not only in
the membership of many Natim)al Assemblies, but also in frequent
contributions of these delegates to the formal consultative sessions
and meetings of the Convention. Many delegates represented

EIGHTH I NTERNATIO AL B AHA'I CO NVENTION

Delegates-many
from newly established National
Spiritual Assemblies- listen
during one ofthe
Convention :S
main sessions.

newly formed National Assemblies. The National Spiritual Assemblies of Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Eritrea, Sicily, Sao Tome and
Principe, Slovenia and Croatia, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Moldova have all been established
since the last International Convention, making this the first Convention in which representatives from these countries were able
to participate. Counsellor Lee Lee Ludher of Asia commented,
"I'm so glad to see the diversity, the number of women that have
come to Convention, and the number of young people. I think it
is great to see the maturity of the new National Assemblies."
The Baha'i International Community's Office of Public Information produced a video called Creating a Culture of Growth
specially for the Convention, which chronicled the way eight Baha'i
communities around the world are expanding and developing the
spiritual and material resources of their populations . It was
shown to the delegates on the Convention's second day.
The Election
As an electoral institution, the International Baha'i Convention is
an example of democracy at the global level. Delegates, who are
freed from the hindrances of campaigning and electioneering, elect
the members of the Universal House of Justice by secret ballot. No
one is nominated. Male Baha'is aged twenty-one or over are eligible
to be elected. The Baha'i writings state that delegates should vote
for the nine men who they feel have the requisite experience,

spiritual insight, and capacity to serve on the House of Justice. 1
The Eighth International Baha'i Convention began on 29 April
1998 with an opening address by Hand of the
Cause of God Amatu'l-Baha Rlli:llyyih Khanum.
She began by praising the delegates for their
achievements, noted the state of the Baha'i community, and exhorted them to "begin to enroll
humanity under the banner

Amatu 'l-Baha
ofBaha'u'llah." Later during the Convention
proceedings, Hands of the
Cause of God Mr. 'Ali-
Akbar FurUtan and Dr.
Ruf;iyyih Khanum 'Ali-Mulfammad Varga ~á-
. I
•« '

.
also addressed the Convention. Mr. Fumtan
spoke of the importance of educating children, ~

and Dr. Varga spoke of the institution of
I:Iuququ'llah.
A bouquet of ninety- Mr. 'Ali-Akbar Fur.utan
five red roses, sent to the
Convention from the still-circumscribed
Baha'i community oflran, was placed at the
front of the stage for the duration of the proceedings, serving as a reminder of the
persecution still endured by those living in the
birthplace of the Baha'i Faith. In a letter
accompanying the bouquet, the Baha'is of
Dr. 'Ali-Muf;ammad Varqa Iran, "though deprived for a third successive
occasion, through God's great wisdom, from participating in the
International Convention,'' sent their "deepest heartfelt greetings
and felicitations" to the assembly. "Though physically distant, yet
in the world of spirit," they wrote, they were "united and at one
with that sacred gathering." A brief counterpoint to the poignancy

1. While women serve in every other arena of Baha'i administration,
Baha'u'llah ordained membership of the Universal House of Justice to be
restricted to men. The reason for the restriction, 'Abdu'l-Baha stated, will
later become "as manifest as clearly as the sun at high noon."

EIGHTH I NTERNATIONAL B AHAáf c O NVENTION

of their letter was occasioned by a letter of
greetings and encouragement sent from
His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II, the
Head of State of Western Samoa who
accepted the Baha'i Faith more than two
decades ago , which was read to the assembly. His daughter, a member of the
National Spiritual Assembly of Samoa,
attended the Convention as a delegate.
The election itself was ushered in by
prayer; ballots were distributed, and dele- _...
gates sat in a silent, reverent attitude to
____
reflect on the names they would write on Her Highness Susuga
their ballots . When the voting had been To 'oa Tosi Malietoa,
completed, all delegates walked to the daughter of His Highness
stage, in alphabetical order according to Malietoa Tanumafili II of
their country of origin, and deposited their Western Samoa, attended
ballots in a lockbox. The procession made the Convention as a member
of the National Spiritual
a powerful display of the diversity of the
Assembly of Samoa.
human family as the delegates appeared
in the variety of their native costumes.

Baha 'is from the Central African Republic cast their ballots during the Convention.

As the results of
the election were
announced, the
members of the
Universal House of
Justice, elected to
serve for the next
five years, gathered
_ on the main stage.
-----"'----

Penelope Walker, chief teller for the Convention and a delegate
from the Nepalese National Assembly, announced the election
statistics and results the next day. Farzam Arbab, Hooper Dunbar,
Hushmand Fatheazam, Peter Khan, Douglas Martin, Glenford
Mitchell, 'Ali Nakbjavaru, Ian Semple, and Adib Taherzadeh were
elected to serve as members of the Universal House of Justice from
Ridvan
. 1998 to Ridvan
. 2003.
On 2 May, 1998, the Universal House of Justice sent a message to the assembled delegates. "We hail," the body said, "with
uplifted hearts, what you have done
here. For through your participation in a uniquely conceived electoral
process, you have fortified the crown
of that world-embracing administrative structure of which your
Assemblies are the indispensable
pillars. But what has impressed us
even more deeply is that the manner of your conduct has reflected a
degree of love and unity rare for so
variegated a gathering of humanity
as you represent."
No fewer than four Baha'i holy
days fell during this International
Convention. The anniversary of the The First Lady ofthe Seychelles,
birth of the Bab fell the day before Mrs. Sarah Rene, attended the
Convention began, on 28 April, and Convention as a delegate.

E IGI-ITH I NTER NATIONAL BAHA'f c ONVE NTIO N

the anniversary of the birth of Baha'u 'llah was celebrated on 29
April. 2 The ninth day of Ric;lvan, 3 on 29 April, also áfell during
the Convention, and three days later- on the final day of the
Convention-the twelfth day of Ric;lvan was celebrated. It seemed
appropriate that such a notable advancement in the affairs of the
worldwide Baha'i community as was demonstrated during the
Convention should be mirrored by such a concentration of sacred
anniversaries; the final International Baha'i Convention of the twentieth century-a century 'Abdu'l-Baha called "the century of
light"-will be remembered as a celebration not only of the
strength and unity of the Baha'i community, but also of the noble
history of its Founders.

2. In the Holy Land, the twin holy days commemorating the birthdays of
Baha' u' llah and the Bab are celebrated according the lunar calendar, which
moves forward eleven days a year relative to the Gregorian calendar.
3. The Ric;!van festival is the name given to the twelve days Baha'u ' llah spent
in Baghdad just before His exile to Adrianople, the first time Baha' u' llah
publicly announced His prophetic mission. The first, ninth, and twelfth
days of the Ric;!van festival are celebrated as Baha' i holy days.

This article reports on the Conference of
Bahri 'i Counsellors held 3- 6 May 1998
in Haifa, Israel, following
the Eighth International
Baha 'i Convention.

CONFERENCE
of BAHA'I
COUNSELLORS

S ince Ri<;lvan 1996 the Baha'i world community has been
engaged in a comprehensive process unlike any it had previously undertaken-the systematization of the approach taken to
the development of its human resources. The process began with a
single letter. On 26 December 1995, the Universal House of Justice
addressed the members of the Continental Boards of Counsellors
gathered ata special conference in the Holy Land, informing
them of the imminent inauguration of the Four Year Plan and outlining the goals that the Baha'i world would be pursuing for the
final four years of the twentieth century. "The development of human
resources on a large scale," the House of Justice said, "requires that
the establishment of institutes be viewed in a new light." The time
had come for the Baha'i world to extend its planning work into the
field of community education.
The Plan, as called for by the Universal House of Justice, has as
its primary goals the training of Baha'is to manifest more completely the teachings of Baha'u'llah in their daily lives, to create
vibrant, unified Baha'i communities "characterized by tolerance and
love and guided by a strong sense of purpose and collective will,"

and to stimulate the maturation of Baha'i institutions, whose purpose is to further these processes of growth with wise, loving
guidance. On 3 May 1998, under the aegis of the International
Teaching Centre, seventy-six members of the Continental Boards
of Counsellors gathered again in the Holy Land to evaluate the
progress of the goals outlined in the December 1995 letter and to
consult on ways of consolidating and expanding the victories
achieved in the first two years of the Four Year Plan. Held immediately following the Eighth International Baha' i Convention, 1
the six-day-long conference was an opportunity for the Counsellors
to engage in intensive consultation with their fellow Counsellors
in the field, members of the Universal House of Justice, and the
International Counsellors serving at the World Centre, and to
visit the Shrines and holy places at the Baha'i World Centre.
The members of the Continental Boards of Counsellors serve as
vital channels of stimulation and advice to the rank and file of the
Baha' i community. They offer encouragement to individual Baha'is
and communities, consult and collaborate regularly with National
Spiritual Assemblies on matters related to community development,
and act as representatives of the Universal House of Justice at inaugural National Conventions and other special occasions. Counsellors
are in a unique position to identify trends and opportunities, assess
often quickly changing conditions, and share their observations with
National Spiritual Assemblies and the Baha'i World Centre. Living
and serving all over the world, they come from a wide range of racial
and ethnic backgrounds, as do the Baha'i communities they serve.
Their effectiveness is further enhanced by the fact that one third of
all Counsellors are women. The International Teaching Centre, based
at the Baha'i World Centre, coordinates the activities of the Continental Counsellors and serves as the liaison between the Counsellors
and the Universal House of Justice.
In a 3 May 1998 letter addressed to the Counsellors' conference,
the Universal House of Justice praised the "ardor and effectiveness"
of the Counsellors' response to the Four Year Plan, citing the proceedings of the Eighth International Baha'i Convention and the

1. See pp. 39-47 of this volume for an account of the Eighth International
Baha'i Convention.

C ONFE RENCE O F B AH A:f C OUNSELLORS

"clarity and vigor with which the National Spiritual Assemblies are
addressing the tasks of the Plan" as proof of a dramatic advance in
the capacity of the Baha'i world community to undertake systematic
planning and action. The House of Justice also advised that the
Baha'is must "take advantage of the momentum thus achieved,''
noting that every measure must be taken to ensure that training is
undertaken by the Baha'i community on a scale commensurate to
its expanding needs .
Consultation at the Counsellors' conference centered around
the work of Auxiliary Board members and their assistants , how
the relationship between the International Teaching Centre and
Counsellors in the field could be profitably developed, and the
defense of the Baha'i community from those inimical to it. A significant amount of time was spent analyzing different training
methods and curricula used in Baha'i communities and correlating lessons learned in one part of the world to those in another.
Attention was also given to administrative details related to the
Counsellors' jurisdiction and functioning . One of the emphases
of the Four Year Plan is on systematic planning that, in the words
of the House of Justice, goes " beyond the mere enumeration of
goals to include an analysis of approaches to be adopted and
lines of action to be followed." The Counsellors' conference was
an opportunity to evaluate the success of various approaches of
systematization used around the world and to consider how the
capacities and needs of different regions affected these goals .
Consultation during the conference was greatly aided by a document
on training institutes-dated 8 April 1998, given to all Counsellors
and delegates to the Eighth International Convention, and prepared
under the auspices of the Universal House of Justice- which deals
specifically with questions of regional planning and systematization
in the institute process.
Hands of the Cause of God Amatu ' l-Baha Rlli:llyyih Khanum,
Mr. 'Ali-Akbar Furutan, and Dr. 'Ali-Mu}:larnmad Varqa- themselves
members of the International Teaching Centre- attended the conference and contributed to its proceedings. Dr. Varqa, as Trustee of
the institution of J::Iuququ'llcih, was particularly interested in hearing
about the Baha'i community's evolving response to the law of
J::Iuququ'llah and the development of its administration.

In the December 1995 letter to the Counsellors announcing
the Four Year Plan, the House of Justice called upon the Continental
Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies to deepen their
consultative relationship, especially in the organization and operation of training institutes. Training institutes are to be agencies of
National Spiritual Assemblies, but their planning and operation will
benefit from the advice of the Continental Counsellors and cooperation with Auxiliary Board members, who, through their intimate
relationship with local and regional communities, are in a unique
position to assist in the development of institutes. The fact that
more than 344 training institutes have already been established
and more than 70,000 Baha'is have completed institute courses
provides ample testimony to the strengthened relationship between
Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies and the organizing
power of the institute boards .
International Baha'i Conventions also mark the time that the
Universal House of Justice
renews the membership of the
International Teaching Centre .
Ten days after the start of the
Counsellors ' conference , the '
House of Justice announced that
Mr. Kiser Barnes, Mr. Rolf von
Czekus , Mr. Hartmut Grossmann, Mrs. Violette Haake, Dr.
Firaydoun Javaheri, Mrs . Lauretta King, Mrs. Joan Lincoln,
Dr. Payman Mohajer, and Dr.
Penelope Walker would constitute the Counsellor members of
the International Teaching Centre
for the nex.t five year s, and
thanked outgoing members Mr. Newly appointed members of the
Shapoor Monadjem, Mr. Donald International Teaching Centre with
Rogers, Mr. Fred Schechter, Mrs. Hands of the Cause Amatu 'l-Bah6.-
Ruhiyyih Kh6.num and 'A li-Akbar
Kimiko Schwerin, and Mrs. Joy Furntan .
Stevenson for their services.

New
NATIONAL
SPIRITUAL
ASSEMBLIES

I n the spring of 1998, the Baha'i communities of Slovakia, Sabah,
and Sarawak gathered to participate in their communities' first
national Baha'i Conventions. In Africa, the Baha'is of Liberia held
their first national Convention in seven years, postponed due to the
protracted civil war in that country. At these annual gatherings
Baha'i communities elect the governing councils responsible for
supervising and organizing their affairs at the national level. The
establishment of these National Spiritual Assemblies brings the
total number of these institutions, as of Rid van 1998, to 179.
'Abdu'l-Baha began the process ofBaha'i administration building more than seventy-five years ago, when He first called for the
establishment of "secondary Houses of Justice," whose members act
as the electors of the Universal House of Justice and which function
as the national governing institutions of the Faith in their respective
countries. In 1923, Shoghi Effendi began to establish secondary
Houses of Justice in communities which were sufficiently developed,
and temporarily designated them "National Spiritual Assemblies."
Now the Universal House of Justice decides when a Baha'i community is ready to establish its own National Assembly.

Through their close association and communication with the
Baha'i World Centre, National Spiritual Assemblies provide the
link binding national communities to the House of Justice. As
bodies charged with directing, coordinating, and unifying the affairs
of the Faith throughout their respective jurisdictions, they have
the flexibility to adapt to changing native conditions, designing
plans and imparting guidance appropriate to the needs and
strengths of their Baha'i population. The National Assembly is
also the official representative of its community in relation to its
national government and to other national Baha'i communities; it
plans and coordinates national teaching programs, sponsors and
guides national institute programs, approves and supervises nationallevel social and economic development projects, disseminates and
supervises the translation of Baha'i literature into local languages, and is the trustee of national Baha'i funds and properties.
The establishment of a National Spiritual Assembly is a signal
point in the growth of a Baha'i community, one that casts a wide
net of spiritual and administrative benefits.
Liberia
Africa's first independent black republic, Liberia saw its first
Baha'i settlers arrive in the early 1950s. Julius Edwards from
Jamaica pioneered to Liberia and Guinea for over twenty-three
years, contributing significantly to the development of the Liberian
Baha'i community. In 1954, the country's Baha'is were brought
under the jurisdiction of the newly established National Spiritual
Assembly of North-West Africa, an evolutionary step which no
doubt helped influence the Liberian government to grant legal
recognition, in the 1950s, of Baha'i holy days and marriages
and, iri 1957, to the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Monrovia and
Bomi Hills. President William V. S. Tubman of Liberia in 1962
visited the Baha'i World Centre, becoming the first foreign Head
of State to do so. 1
In 1971 the Monrovian Baha' is hosted the first Baha'i Continental Conference of Africa, which was attended by Hands of the

1. President Ben Zvi of Israel had previously visited the Bah a' f World Centre
in 1954.

NE W NATIONAL SPIRITUAL A SSEMBLIES

Cause of God Amatu'l-Baha Rul:iiyyih Khanum and Rahmatullah
Muhajir. Monrovia hosted another significant gathering, the West
African Baha'i Women's Conference, in 1978. By 1975 the Baha'i
communities of Liberia and Guinea had developed sufficiently to
require their own Regional Spiritual Assembly, which operated until
1982. That year witnessed the election of Liberia's own National
Spiritual Assembly, which existed until the civil war of 1991-1998
forced the suspension of its operations. Even in the midst of that
conflict, however, Liberian Baha'is continued to establish Local
Spiritual Assemblies and hold Baha'i activities within their refugee
camps. The first Baha'i radio station in the eastern hemisphere,
which began broadcasting from Monrovia in 1986 and contributed
to the nascent process of Baha'i social and economic development in
Western Africa, was destroyed during the war.
After an enforced seven-year hiatus, the Liberian Baha'i community gathered for its twenty-seventh national Baha'i Convention,
which was held 23- 24 May 1998 in an atmosphere of joyous celebration at the Radio Baha'i building in Monrovia. The sixteen
delegates who were able to attend elected the National Assembly
on 23 May. Counsellor Beatrice Asare, who represented the Universal House of Justice at the Convention, praised the spirit
animating the delegates , who "until recently were embroiled in
tribal conflicts" and were "now dancing together in a spirit of love
and unity under the umbrella of Baha'u'llah." The following day
the Convention attendees consulted on the Ric;Ivan message from
the Universal House of Justice. The Convention was preceded by a
two-day training institute on topics such as the role of the individual in the Baha'i community, Baha'i history and administration,
and prayer.
Slovakia
When Czechoslovakia achieved independence in 1991 with the
fall of the Soviet Union, the rapid expansion of the country's
Baha'i community moved the Universal House of Justice to call
for the establishment of a National Spiritual Assembly. Two years
later, when Czechoslovakia split into the ethnically distinct Czech
and Slovak Republics, the National Assembly became a Regional
Spiritual Assembly, with its jurisdiction unchanged. During the

past decade, the Slovakian Baha'i community advanced to a point
of requiring its own National Assembly, and in 1997 the House
of Justice called for its establishment. When the new National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Slovakia was formed in
1998, the existing Regional Spiritual Assembly became the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the Czech Republic.
Between 22 and 24 May 1998, nine delegates from various communities throughout Slovakia gathered in Bratislava to elect the
country's first National Spiritual Assembly. Hand of the Cause of
God Dr. 'Ali-Mul).ammad Varqa represented the Universal House of
Justice at the occasion. Also attending were Counsellor Shapour
Rassekh, four members of the Auxiliary Board, members of the outgoing Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Czech and Slovak
Republics, and almost 150 Baha' is from neighboring countries.
During the evening of 22 May the assembled delegates and observers first celebrated the anniversary of the declaration by the Bab of
His prophetic mission and gathered the next day to elect the National
Spiritual Assembly. The election, wrote one attendee, "took place in
a charged atmosphere of deepest devotion, and its results were
announced amidst many tears of gratitude to the Blessed Beauty."
The Assembly and delegates then consulted on how to build the
Slovakian community's vision of its collective future and other vital
topics.
Throughout the years of its development, the Czech and Slovak
Baha'i communities have reached out to leaders of government,
undertaken programs of systematic training, and sought to reach
out to the wider community. For their part, Czech and Slovak leaders have long responded positively to contact with Baha'is,
beginning in the early decades of this century with the efforts of
Baha'i traveling teacher Martha Root, who met personally with
Presidents Masaryk and Benes. As part of its response to the Four
Year Plan, the Slovak community has been engaged in building a
nation-wide system of training institutes. In addition to the day-today activities taken to proclaim the Baha'i Faith to the Slovak people, on 8 February 1999 the National Assembly launched the
official website of the Slovak Baha'i community. 2

2. Accessible at <www.bahai.sk>.

NE W NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES

Sabah and Sarawak
The roots of the Baha'i community of Malaysia reach back to
1951, when Jamshed and Parvati Fozdar arrivedá as permanent
settlers in Kuching, in the Malay state of Sarawak. The Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Malaysia was established in 1964. More
recently, the high level of Baha'i activity in Sabah and Sarawak
prompted the Universal House of Justice to call for the establishment of separate administrative bodies in each state, called the
Spiritual Assembly of Sabah and the Spiritual Assembly of
Sarawak.
Delegates elected the first Spiritual Assembly of Sabah on 23
May 1998 in Kota Kinabalu. Present at the Convention were
Counsellor Vicente Samaniego, representing the House of Justice;
Dr. Inderjit Singh Ludher of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is
of Malaysia; six members of the Auxiliary Board; and more than
one hundred Baha'i observers. The Universal House of Justice, in
its message to the Convention, wrote, "this gathering will be
looked upon by future generations as one of the turning points in the
history of the Cause of God in your land," and expressed the hope
that "the Baha'i community in Sabah will flourish like a beautiful

The members of the.first Spiritual Assembly of the Baha 'is ofSabah, elected
on 2 3 May 1998 in the state's capital, Kot a Kinabalu.

garden, abundant with flowers of many kinds, all watered from
the clouds of bounty ofBaha'u'llah."
Twenty-eight delegates traveled to Kuching to elect the first
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Sarawak during a Convention
held 22-24 May 1998 . This event was attended by Counsellor
George Soraya, representing the Universal House of Justice; Dr. P.
Sreedharan, representing the Spiritual Assembly of Malaysia; five
members of the Auxiliary Board in Asia; and more than three
hundred Baha'i observers from throughout the state. Following
the announcement of the election results on 23 May, delegates
offered the newly elected Spiritual Assembly suggestions regarding
the Convention, training institutes, the extension and development of the Sarawak Baha' i community, the holding of children's
classes and adult literacy classes, and the translation of the Baha'i
writings into local languages. The assemblage also gave generously to the Sarawak Baha'i fund . The Universal House of Justice,
in its message to the Convention, called upon "all the Baha'is of
Sarawak to rally around their newly formed Spiritual Assembly
and to give it all possible support, to enable it to carry out its Godgiven responsibility of raising the banner of the unity of mankind
to new heights. "

MOUNT
CARMEL
PROJECTS:
Progress 1998-99

T o the more than five million followers of Baha'u'llah around
the world, the edifices and terraces being built on Mount
Carmel represent not just another construction project, but the
fulfillment of a divine promise. When Baha'u'llah visited Mount
Carmel in the late 1800s, a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire, He
stood on the mountain and not only chose the spot where the Shrine
of the Bab would be built, but also stated that Mount Carmel
would become the center of the Baha'i administrative order. Today
His followers are laboring to enhance the beauty of the Bab 's
shrine and to build structures that will befittingly house the highest
Baha' i administrative institutions.
The Eighth International Baha'i Convention in April 1998
gave Baha' is from around the world the opportunity to witness
firsthand the progress made on the Mount Carmel Projects at the
Baha' i World Centre since work began in May 1990. Prior to the
formal Convention program, delegates from more than one hundred and sixty countries toured the terraces above the Shrine of
the Bab and sections of the Centre for the Study of the Texts. The

Universal House of Justice later noted in its Ric;lvan message to
the Baha'is of the world that" .. . the construction projects on
Mount Carmel, beheld with such thrilling astonishment by the
delegates to the International Convention, press onward to their
scheduled completion at the end of the century."
Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab
Since its completion in 1953, the unique architecture of the Shrine
of the Bab, blending Eastern and Western design principles, has
attracted the interest and admiration of hundreds of thousands of
pilgrims and visitors each year. Its surrounding gardens, whose
blend of structure and spontaneity also draws close attention, have
recently undergone major renovation and expansion, with the construction of nine terraced gardens above and nine below the Shrine.
With Hatzionut Street lowered and repaved, facilitating better
traffic flow and creating additional space between the street and
the projects, sections of the former road were then freed up for
incorporation into the gardens adjacent to the Shrine. In the process,
ducts for water and telephone lines were also installed.
More than one hundred and fifty tons of steel reinforcement
and approximately one thousand cubic meters of concrete were

A view of the Shrin e of the Bab fro m one of the lower terraces,
showing the vibrant colors fo und throughout the gardens.

M OUNT C ARMEL P ROJECTS

This detail of one
of the lower
terraces shows
the exquisite
design f eatures
that characterize
each level.

used to raise the structure of the trapezoid-shaped bridge over
Hatzionut Street. A five-pointed star made from the structural
beams, each point fitted with a light fixture, is now visible from
the street underneath. By March 1999 all stonework on the bridge
was finished, including the delicately carved pedestals and balustrades, at which point landscaping of the bridge's surface began.
With most of the street-level work completed, normal traffic was
restored on the thoroughfare.
As the terraces approach completion and the mountain is transformed from stone to garden, more and more areas become ready
for planting. In all, more than fifty thousand square meters of gardens on the terraces were brought under cultivation this year. To
meet this suddenly larger demand for plants, an additional nursery
was established to support the planting carried out on several of
the terraces. As a tribute to the Bab, two seedlings propagated
from an orange tree planted by Him in the courtyard of His house
in Shiraz, Iran, were placed on the ninth terrace. Stone for some of
the large ornamental fountains on the upper terraces was sent to
Italy for cutting, while kilometers of stone that had been cut for
stairs, runnels, inner paving, and fountain pools were installed.
The final stage of the projects, the entrance plaza, lies at the
foot of the terraces where Ben Gurion Street meets Mount Carmel.
In keeping with the significant role that water plays in the overall
design of the terraces, pools, fountain jets, and cascades are all
planned for this area. After the successful testing of a full-scale
mockup of the plaza's elaborate central fountain, which features á

This landscaped
courtyard leads to the
tunnel connecting the
Louis Promenade on
Yefe Nof Street to
the nineteenth
terrace.

two concentric star-shaped bowls, detailed drawings were prepared for its production.
Appreciation for the Terraces
As the terraces are completed, revealing by degrees their grace
and majesty, the residents of Haifa are paying increasing attention.
In response to a request by the Mayor of Haifa, and with approval
from the Universal House of Justice, the nineteenth terrace at the
top of Mount Carmel was opened to the public in September 1998.
Since then, thousands of people have visited the site, which affords
a clear view of the entire mountain.
Shortly after the opening, the Municipality of Haifa released a
brochure on the city, which prominently features the terraced
gardens and buildings on the Arc and describes the Baha ' i
projects as "the eighth wonder of the world. " The brochure was
soon followed by a twenty-page booklet entirely devoted to the
Baha' i projects, entitled The Baha 'i Shrine and Gardens on
Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel. Published in English by the Municipality of Haifa, with the assistance of the Mount Carmel Baha'i
Projects office, the booklet is directed at tourists visiting the city
and features beautiful photographs of the Shrine of the Bab, the
terraces , and the buildings on the Arc. It also provides basic
information on the Baha'i Faith, introducing it as an independent
world religion and explaining its historical connection to the
Holy Land. By April 1999, French, German, Hebrew, Russian,
and Spanish editions were also available, and Arabic , Chinese,
Italian, and Japanese translations were in preparation. Baha'is

M OUNT C ARMEL PROJECTS

around the world have ordered more than sixty thousand copies,
and Haifa's Tourist Board is distributing it widely.
The Baha'i projects and their contribution to the beautification
of Haifa were also recognized through the presentation of the 1998
Ephraim Lifshitz Award of the City of Haifa, to the Baha'i World
Centre. Instituted in the name of an esteemed citizen of Haifa, this
prestigious award is granted annually for outstanding work in the
fields of education and culture.

The Shrine of the Bab and lower terraces, as seen from the air, with the city of
Haifa and the German Templer Colony in the background.

Buildings on the Arc
When Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, initiated construction of the International Baha'i Archives, he envisaged that the
other buildings which would eventually be built nearby would be
designed in a harmonious style of architecture. The establishment of
the Seat of the Universal House of Justice was the first step in the
realization of the Guardian's vision. With the construction of the
Centre for the Study of the Texts and the progressive completion of
the International Teaching Centre, the harmony of the buildings on
the Arc is now visible. Designed and constructed according to the
highest building standards, equipped in all areas with state-of-the-art

With its
surroundings
landscaped, the
Centre for the
Study of the
Texts appears
as a delicate
pavilion in the
gardens.

technology, and incorporating the latest requirements for the disabled,
the administrative buildings on the Arc have been built to withstand
the tests of time and use by the hundreds of staff who will eventually
occupy them.
The Centre for the Study of the Texts
During the spring of 1999, the electrical infrastructure for lighting
control, fire alarms, closed circuit television, and access control
was installed in the Centre for the Study of the Texts and the
Archives Extension, in preparation for occupation. The nerve
center for the telephone and computer systems for the Terraces and
Arc buildings, located to the west of the International Teaching
Centre building in a small structure known as the Arc and Terraces
Communication Centre, was also completed. Office partitions,
furniture, computers, and maintenance equipment were ordered,
while the design of fitouts like chandeliers and carpets was
finalized and production commenced.
Outside, landscaping around the buildings began in earnest.
The ground in front was graded to a gentle slope, topsoil was
added, and vistas of green gradually began to emerge. By April
1999, more than sixteen thousand square meters of land around
and above the Centre for the Study of the Texts and the Archives
Extension was under cultivation. A panorama of different shades,
from the emerald green of the grass and silver green of the olive
trees to the various shades and textures of junipers and cyads, dotted in between with the reds, purples, lavenders, blues, pinks, and

M OUNT CARMEL PROJECTS

yellows of flowering plants, began to dot the landscape. The
mountain's colors, muted throughout the winter, became more
vibrant with the approach of spring. To prevent erosion and consequent soil run-off into the buildings , an extensive network of
shallow depressions was created to provide drainage on the slopes
above.
On the roof of the Centre for the Study of the Texts, green
tiles similar to those on the roof of the International Teaching
Centre building and the Seat of the Universal House of Justice
were installed. Marble pedestals, which will eventually receive
ornamental vases, were put in place, and the roof garden was
graded, covered in gravel, and made ready for planting.
The International Teaching Centre
The International Teaching Centre building is located at the east end
of the Arc path and oriented towards the Shrine of the Bab. The
installation of marble cladding on its vaulted roof finished efforts to
complete most of the building's external marble work by the end of
1998. Cladding on the front and rear fac;ades and the walls of the

The entrance p ortico of
the Centre for the Study
of the Texts.

An interior view of one
of the levels of the
Archives Extension.

east and west wings had been completed earlier, and window
frames, entablature above the columns, and precast marble soffit
panels had been put in place. External wooden windows were
installed before onset of the rainy season, making the building
weatherproof for internal finishing work on all levels. By March
1999, the entrance portico was also paved with marble.
Inside, all finishing items such as drywall partitions, glazing,
windows, doors, hardware , and ceilings were completed on the
first level of the building, with similar work well underway on
the next two levels. Stonework on the walls and columns inside
and outside the auditorium was completed and made ready for
wood panelling, and light fixtures were placed in the ceiling. The
auditorium, which occupies levels four and five and has a seating capacity of about four hundred, will be equipped with the
latest audiovisual equipment, translation tools, and a satellite
broadcast system. Also on level four is a communal kitchen and
dining area, now almost complete. The dining room will provide
an audiovisual link to the auditorium, enabling larger audiences
access to programs taking place there .

The completion of external marble work reveals the International Teaching
Centre building in its pristine beauty.

v:;THE
iEARrN
REVIEW

B aha'is around the world, operating within the administrative
framework outlined by Baha'u'llah, are working to initiate
social and economic development projects; advance the status of
women; promote the cause of peace and intergovernmental cooperation; implement programs of moral education; develop human
resources through training institutes; increase racial, ethnic, and
tribal harmony through dialogue and cooperation; support human
rights; foster use of the arts in all their endeavors; promote scholarship; and propagate the ideals of the Baha'i world community.
The "Year in Review" explores how these activities are being carried out across the world, details some of the ways Baha'is are
being recognized by the world at large, and highlights landmark
achievements in the development of Baha'i communities. The
sheer volume of Baha'i activities prevents the "Year in Review"
from being a comprehensive record; it instead aims to provide a
general survey of their evolving range and sophistication, and
perhaps some insight into the challenges of building a global
community.

During the year between Ric;lvan 1998 and Ric;lvan 1999, local
Baha'i communities took more responsibility for initiating
development projects and adapting national plans to their own
skills and capacities; many national communities saw greater
participation by indigenous peoples in administrative affairs; the
relationship between the media and the Baha'i community in
many parts of the world saw significant signs of evolution; and
greater attention was paid to the proposals and ideas of the Baha'i
International Community by other non-governmental organizations.
Social and Economic Development
In the Baha'i view, social and economic development is a collaborative process designed to empower individuals, families, and
communities to support themselves materially, progress spiritually,
and create new patterns of social interaction. Through consultation,
action, and reflection, Baha'i development strives to inspire
communities to discover and capitalize on their own potential. By
sharing knowledge and experience, establishing schools, literacy,
and health projects-some small, some large; some permanent,
others designed to last only a short tirne-Baha'is engage in social
and economic development. Seminars, conferences, and workshops
focusing on development are also part of the process of learning
through consultation.
The Azemikhah Institute has its permanent quarters near Bangui
in the Central African Republic. In 1996, a national training program was established for the institute. The courses of study follow
two main tracks. The first series helps the participants develop
their capacities to combine study of the Baha'i writings with scientific research in order to stimulate the spiritual and material
development of the community. Particular attention is given to
the education of children, youth, and women. In 1996 and 1997,
eighteen communities organized literacy classes for five hundred
participants; classes have continued throughout 1998. Another
focus of the Azemikhah Institute is to encourage and assist rural
communities to plan and implement their own social and economic
development projects. During the program's first year, thirty communities and over four hundred individuals took part in grassroots
development efforts. Of these communities, thirteen operate literacy

Y EAR IN R EVIEW

classes with three hundred adults and one hundred youth attending.
In addition, more than two hundred and fifty people have been
involved at the local level in formal education programs for children as a result of their participation in the institute's courses.
In Kenya, approximately twenty Baha'i women have been chosen to travel to Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany. Two of these

Women ofMatinyani,
Kenya, have
achieved economic
independence in part
through the use of
devices such as these
mango driers, which
have increased their
income as much as
four hundred percent.

participants will report on how their villages have achieved economic
independence through Baha'i-inspired development projects,
which for twelve years have promoted literacy and children's
classes, the construction of a health center and bakery, and businesses based on fruit drying and candle making.
The Unity Center, which has its headquarters in Los Angeles,
California, United States, and functions under the aegis of the
Local Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles, is now home for two
ambitious projects. The Multicultural Organization for Neighborhood Arts is a non-profit organization which, since 1996, has
sought to provide a safe harbor for youth to develop skills and
become involved in community service. The Children's Enrichment Program is another non-profit organization which has been
offering tutorial classes to children since 1992 and has just
moved its operations to the Unity Center.
Mel Chester, a former resident of Los Angeles, moved to
Namibia several years ago as a Baha'i pioneer. He has for some
time been collecting leftover food from restaurants and grocery
stores every week and bringing it to the homeless children of
Swakopmund. Mr. Chester now feeds five hundred children a

week and has recently begun to feed the elderly. Several African
dignitaries , in Namibia for the Southern African International
Development conference, visited the Mondesa Clinic, now the
center of his efforts, during their stay.
Guyana's "On the Wings of Words" literacy project began in

---
1994 as a cooperative effort on the part of nine Local Spiritual
The training offered
by "On the Wings of
Words " makes use of
the arts, such as
songs, skits, and
dance, to convey
ideas. Here a singing
group prepares to
demonstrate songs at
a training session for
facilitators.

Assemblies, committed to eradicating illiteracy from their communities. It has since expanded to include the entire country,
attracted significant media attention, and enlisted over nine hundred volunteer facilitators to help train Guyanese youth aged ten
to sixteen to develop literacy skills. An editorial in the Guyana
Chronicle noted that the Baha'i initiative was exceptional because
"along with teaching the mechanics of reading, facilitators help
their charges to develop a spiritual and moral consciousness." 1
The Civilization Advancement Center, or CAC, in Sabah,
Malaysia, coordinates several schools for rural students-those
without access to any other form of formal education-and teaches
standard elementary school subjects within a moral framework .
The organizers of the Center envision a future in which every
rural child will have easy access to education and view the three
tutorial schools they operate as part of that future. They plan to
operate tutorials schools soon in six other villages. The State
Advisory Council for Religious Affairs invited the CAC to conduct

1. See The Baha 'i World 1996- 97, pp. 236- 39, for more information on the
" Wings of Words" project.

courses in four major towns of Sabah on "Women and Savings," the
training module for which was developed by a group of Baha'is
commissioned by the Central Bank of Malaysia and the Ministry
for National Unity and Social Development.
In a short-term effort, more than two hundred people were
given dental treatment in Bangladesh for two weeks in November
by volunteer Baha'i dentists . The project was aided by Bangladesh's National Baha' i Development Institute.
International conferences on social and economic development
were held in Bolivia, where Baha'is from twelve countries gathered,
and in Malaysia, where representatives from fourteen countries
reported on the progress and aims of different development projects,
participated in workshops, consulted on the role of native peoples in
development, and gave talks on related subjects. On the occasion of
the first UNESCO Business Forum on Enterprise, Human Development and Culture, held
in Stockholm, Sweden,
the European Baha'i
Business Forum (EBBF)
brought together nearly
one hundred leading
practitioners, specialists,
donors, NGOs, financial
institutions , and business people from some
Baha'i radio stations, like this one in Caracollo, twenty-five countries
Bolivia, are one wcy ofstrengthening social and for a three-day "Global
economic developm ent at the regional level.
Dialogue on Microfinance and Human Development." Microfinance is the burgeoning
science of granting small loans to individuals in developing
areas, with the aim of stimulating sustainable, flexible, grassroots
development. This strategy of empowering families, individuals,
and small businesses is meeting with success in areas such as
Bangladesh. Although the EBBF is not a development organization, the Forum saw an opportunity to expand the horizons of
microfinance by emphasizing cultural and social development as
goals that are equally as important as the alleviation of poverty.

Scholarship
Scholarship, as described in the Baha'i writings, is an integral
part of humanity's attempt to arrive at an understanding of the
nature of God, human beings, and the natural world, and gains its
greatest vitality, creativity, and relevance when directed towards
the service of humanity. According to 'Abdu'l-Baha, the teachings
of Baha'u'llah "are not merely theoretical and intended to remain
in books. They are the principles of action ... When practical
activity has been manifested, the teachings of God have borne
fruit." 2 Animated by the belief that social and spiritual advancement flows from the generation and application of knowledge, a
goal of the Baha'i community is to foster new patterns of scholarship devoted to a holistic approach to scholarly investigation.
Publications
For many years, one of the only accepted sources on the history
and teachings of the Baha'i religion extant in German was the
book Der Baha 'ismus-Weltreligion der Zukunft? Geschichte,
Lehre und Organisation in Kritischer An/rage (Baha 'ism-
World Religion of the Future? History, Teachings, and Administration in Critical Terms). Written by a self-described "embittered
enemy" of the Faith and replete with inaccuracies and distortion,
Der Baha 'ismus was authored by Francesco Ficicchia, who in
1978 chose to leave the Baha'i community and devote his life to
"fight[ing]" the Baha'i administration "by all means whenever
possible." In 1995, three German Baha'i scholars-Udo Schaefer,
Nicola Towfigh, and Ulrich Gollmer-wrote Desinformation als
Methode: die Baha 'ismus-Monographie des F Ficicchia (Disinformation as Method: The Monograph on the Baha 'is by F
Ficicchia). Published by Georg Olms Verlag as volume six of its
"Religionswissenschaftliche Texte und Studien" ("Theological
Texts and Studies") series, the book is a systematic response to not
only Ficicchia's book, but also to several other points of contention
raised by writers opposed to the Baha'i Faith. Desinformation

2. Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Baha During
His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912 (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 155.

has recently been reviewed positively in several publications,
including the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Journal
of Contemporary Religion, welcomed not only for its correction
of the untruths propagated by Ficicchia's book, but also for
addressing such topics as the role of the Kitab-i-Aqdas in Baha'i
literature, the reliability of certain early chronicles of Baha'i history, the relationship of E.G. Browne to the Baha'i Faith, and
Baha'i conceptions of possible systems of world governance.
The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society says the book "authentically and in the best scholastic tradition responds to the largest
accumulation of issues raised in polemical writings against the
Baha'is ... during the last one hundred years," and the Journal of
Contemporary Religion marks the book as "an important contribution to the critical study of the Baha'i religion in the history of
religions." An English edition of the book is in translation.
In the spring of 1999, two graduates of the Order of St.
Augustine in Spain published La Fe Baha'i: Una Nueva Religion
Mundial? (The Bahri 'i Faith: A New World Religion?). Aldo
Marcelo Caceres and Luis Javier Reyes wrote the book as their
thesis for their Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology, as part of
their studies to become Catholic priests. The three hundred and
twenty pages of the book explore in detail the history and teachings
of the Baha'i religion, including the Faith's perspective on several
theological topics significant to Catholics. The authors' seminary
advisor, Father Jose Demetria Jimenez, writes in the book's introduction, "What the authors of this book offer us is the possibility of
an enriching dialogue which invites us to listen before making
controversy, to make the effort to understand what the other person
wants to tell us about his beliefs, and to let us be known by him."
The book focuses mainly on similarities between the two Faiths,
reserving only the last chapter for a discussion of the differences
between Christianity and the Baha'i Faith. La Fe Bahri 'i is available for ordering directly from the Augustine Fathers.3

3. Augustine Fathers, Ediciones Religion y Cultura, Cl Columela 12, 28001
Madrid, Spain. E-mail : olandia@hotmail.com .

Establishment of Chair in Baha'i Studies
A milestone in the institutionalized study of the Baha'i Faith was
reached on 29 March 1999 when the first academic Chair
devoted to the study of the writings and history of the Baha'i
Faith was created by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A ceremony to mark the occasion was held at the Baha'i World Centre
and was attended by Baha'i representatives, University President
Menachem Magidor and other senior officers, including the University's Rector and Vice-President, and Professor Moshe Sharon,
the first incumbent of the Baha'i Chair. 4 At the ceremony, President Magidor spoke of the significance of the Chair's establishment
to The Hebrew University, which fulfilled the University's aim of
promoting interreligious dialogue and reconciliation. The Secretary-General of the Baha'i International Community, Mr. Albert
Lincoln, delivered a few remarks on behalf of the Baha'i World
Centre, briefly outlining the history behind the creation of the
Baha'i Chair and noting the potential for scholarly advancement
inherent in such a cooperative institution.
Baha'i Chair for World Peace
The Baha'i Chair for World Peace was established at the University
of Maryland, in the United States, in 1993 and operates under the
aegis of the University's Center for International Development
and Conflict Management. The purpose of the Baha'i Chair is
"to promote alternatives to the violent resolution of conflict through
conflict management, global education, international development,
spiritual awareness, and world trade; to share the experience of
the Baha'i world community in building a global society; and to
offer that community as a model for study."

4. Professor Sharon, who earned his Doctorate from the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem in 1971 , now teaches in the University's Islamic and Middle
Eastern Studies department, and has published extensively in Arabic,
Hebrew, and English. His research interests include the early Baha'i Faith,
Islamic history with an emphasis on the birth of Islam , the origins and
development of Shf'ih Islam, the history of the Holy Land under Islam,
messianic thought in Islam, Arabic epigraphy and papyrology, desert rock
drawings and architecture, and the interaction between Judaism , Christianity, and Islam.

The fifth annual Lecture of the Baha'i Chair took place on 7
May 1998 at the University of Maryland, College Park, when
more than three hundred and fifty attendees gathered to listen to
H.E. Amine Gemayel, former President of Lebanon, for whom
the Chair's incumbent, Dr. Soheil Bushrui, was the principal Cultural Advisor during the President's tenure. During his address,
President Gemayel expounded upon the goals of the Baha'i Chair
by speaking of the need for a "synthesis of religious tenets" as
"an essential prerequisite for conflict resolution on a global scale"
and stating decisively that "it is the spiritual dimension that governs humanity's conduct and behavior."
The Baha'i Chair recently inaugurated the Spiritual Heritage
series, which is devoted to interfaith studies. The first book published in the series is Essays on Hinduism by H .E. Dr. Karan
Singh, a prominent Indian intellectual and political leader.
In other university news, Canada's network of Campus Associations for Baha'i Studies played a key role in mobilizing Canadian
university faculty and staff to take action in support of the Baha'i
Institute for Higher Education in Iran 5 and in organizing the threemonth-long cross-Canada university speaking tour of Baha'i
author Dr. William Hatcher in the fall of 1998. Dr. Hatcher spoke
on "authentic morality," the necessity of determining whether
one's moral standard is reckoned according to a higher authority
or merely self-conceived.
Schools
"The greatest means," wrote Baha'u'llah, "to the advancement of
the world of being and the uplift of souls,'' is the "education of the
child." 6 Baha'is around the world are affirming the cardinal position of the principle of education by establishing and organizing
permanent universities, primary and secondary schools, seasonal
schools, children's classes, training institutes, and programs of
religious and moral education.

5. See pp. 151 - 54, 279- 84, and 287- 93 of this volume for more on the
attempted closure of the Baha' i Institute for Higher Education.
6. Cited in Education: A Compilation (Thornhill , Ontario: Baha'i Community
of Canada, 1977), p. 4

Students at the New Dawn Model Nursery and Primary School in Benin City,
Eda State, Nigeria. The school is operated by the Local Spiritual Assembly of
the Baha 'is of Benin.

Permanent Schools
Several Baha'i or Baha'i-inspired permanent schools underwent
notable points of development, including expansion in enrollment
and courses offered and the passing of significant anniversaries.
In April 1998, the Ric;lvan School in Colon, El Salvador, celebrated
nine years of recognition by the El Salvadoran Ministry of Education as one of the country's official schools. The surrounding
rural population has reacted positively to the school's diversity of
curriculum, and enrollment has grown to include one hundred
pupils from kindergarten through grade six. Ethiopia's Baha'iinspired Unity College, which until late 1998 was the only private
college in the country, saw its enrollment swell to five thousand
students during the year. Courses offered include accounting,
business administration, marketing, personnel management, hotel
management and hospitality, and language training in Amharic,
English, and Arabic. The Baha'i Study Center in Papua New Guinea
graduated thirty-five grade ten students in December, the highest
number since the school's establishment fourteen years ago. The

Secretary for Agriculture and the Provincial Minister of Education
both spoke at the graduation ceremony. The Center is registered
with the College of Distance Education in Papua New Guinea
and is financially self-sufficient.

The Baha'i-run
Santitham school in
Yasathon, Thailand, was
recently declared by the
Ministry ofEducation to
be the second best
medium-sized school in
northeast Thailand.

The Baha'i-inspired Landegg Academy in Switzerland, which
began granting academic degrees in 1988, expanded its course
catalog this year. Landegg offers undergraduate and graduate
programs of study in consultation and conflict resolution, the
integrative study of religion, economics, ethics and development,
and "applied spirituality," and has affiliations with universities in
the United States and China. Its status as an institution of higher
learning was affirmed in November 1998 by the Ministry of Education of the Swiss Canton of Appenzell Ausserhoden. More than
one hundred students from all around the world have attended
Landegg since 1996, when it began offering master of arts degrees
through a combination of distance-learning and in-residence study.
Seasonal Schools
Held usually during the summer or winter, the seasonal school offers
Baha'i individuals and families the opportunity to gather in fellowship and study for several days or more. Many Baha'i communities
held seasonal schools during the past year, some for the first time.
The Baha'is of the Czech Republic, for example, held their first
Baha'i summer school in the village of Trojanovice from 5 to 9
August 1998. The eighty-three attendees studied 'Abdu'l-Baha's
book Some Answered Questions, practiced their public speaking
skills, and engaged in recreational activities in the surrounding

mountains . In July, the Baha'i community of the Western Caroline Islands held its first Baha'i summer school, in Yap. The first
Macedonian Baha'i winter school was attended by fifty-three
people in Bitola, and the Baha' is of Slovenia and Croatia held
their winter school in December, near Cerknica, Slovenia. Most
of the forty-three participants were attending for the first time.
The twenty-five participants of Denmark's winter school , held
from 24 December 1998 to 1 January 1999, gathered at the
Baha'i center in Hellerup and studied the balance between the
physical and spiritual aspects of life.
Timed to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the passing of Queen Marie of Romania, who had acclaimed Baha'u'llah
in her published writings , the Baha'i summer school in the
Romani an town of
Sinaia was attended
by eighty-five people . Also in July,
150 Baha'is from
several parts of the
world gathered in
Riga, Latvia, for the
- regional summer
school of the Baltic
States. The school
Participants in the Romanian summer school, was preceded by a
held July 1998 in Sinaia.
training institute
course and was notable for its evening music and the warm fellowship of the participants . The arts were emphasized in the
series of three summer schools held in August in the Guyanan
towns ofBerbice, Demerara, and Essequibo, where between fifty
and one-hundred youth and children attended. Thirty Baha'is
gathered at the Baha'i winter school in Hisarya, Bulgaria, in January 1999 , which featured dramatic performances, artistic
workshops , and a panel discussion concerning the goals of the
Four Year Plan with members of the Bulgarian National Spiritual
Assembly.
Four hundred Baha'is composed Zimbabwe's International
Summer School in Harare. Lectures, study sessions , artistic

workshops and performances left the participants feeling inspired
and invigorated. Baha'i author Adib Taherzadeh, a member of
the Universal House of Justice, attended and shared his perspective on the Covenant of Baha'u'llah and the Baha'i World
Centre. A successful summer school was held in the war-torn
African nation of Angola, where thirty-six Baha'is were able to
gather. In Uruguay, 109 people from eight countries came
together at the regional winter school in February, where twelve
youth accepted the Baha'i teachings. The Baha'i community of
Myanmar held a small, focused summer school for three days in
April, and one hundred Baha'is in Japan attended their own summer school.
Moral Education
Governments and school systems around the world are increasingly awakening to the society-building power of moral education.
Throughout March and April 1999, two Baha'is, Dr. Farzin Davachi and his wife Nancy, toured Botswana, Kenya, and Swaziland
and consulted with officials there about ways of improving their
AIDS prevention programs through moral education. In
Botswana, they met with President Fetes Mogae, Government
ministers, the Bishop of the Catholic Church, educators, and
addressed a session of the Parliament; in Kenya, they met with
the Ministers of Health and Education, university professors, and
the Council of Bishops of the Anglican Church; in Swaziland,
the Baha'is met with the Queen Mother, several Government
ministers, UN officials, and educators. The Davachis spoke of
AIDS as a public health issue intimately bound up with society's

Farzin and Nancy
Davachi met with the
Queen Mother of
Swaziland and other
African leaders in the
spring of 1999 to
consult about the
relationship between
moral education and
Africa :SAIDS crisis.

moral health. Moral education, they said, particularly when
directed at children, is the most effective way a society can be
convinced of the benefits of refraining from promiscuity, adultery,
and drug abuse. Many influential officials, including President
Mogae and the Queen Mother, reacted enthusiastically to these
ideas and expressed a desire to shift the emphasis of their activities
to spiritual, rather than exclusively material, values.
In September and October, Sandra Rowden-Rich, an Australian
Baha'i, traveled to five cities in Russia conducting moral education workshops based on the popular book The Virtues Guide.
Students, business and civic leaders, and educators deepened
their understanding of the role that strong morals play in a
healthy society through role-playing, study, and consultation.
Later in the year, Linda Kavelin Popov, the author of the The Virtues
Guide, and her husband Dan Popov traveled to the Cook Islands
to conduct a three-day intensive training session on the topic
"Awakening the Gifts Within," in which thirty people participated. Dr. Hoda Mahmoudi, a Baha'i sociologist from the United
States, traveled throughout Belize to speak about moral education in November. She facilitated workshops on moral education
for teachers and school principals, visited organizations such as
the Belize National Teachers Union, the National Organization
for the Prevention of Child Abuse, the National Department for
Women, and various United Nations offices.
With increased governmental recognition and approval of
Baha'i-inspired curricula, Baha'is and Baha'i ideas are increasingly becoming involved in the creation of curricula for use in
state school systems. In January 1999 the Finnish National Board
of Education approved the official Baha'i curriculum for religious education at the secondary school level. By promoting
universal values andáa spiritual understanding of reality, Finnish
Baha'is hope to prepare students for life in an evolving global
society. Upon completion of a sixteen-hour training program,
550 facilitators were asked on 6 August 1998 to conduct training
sessions in the 415 municipalities of Bahia, Brazil, using a manual entitled "Colegiado Escolar na Bahia-Gestao Participativa"
(School Board in Bahia-Participatory Management). The aim of
the one-day training session, held 27 August 1998, was to reach

y EAR IN REVIEW

twenty-thousand school board members in the state of Bahia,
who represent teachers, parents, students, and staff members of
all the state's schools. The textbook used was published by the
Secretary of Education of the Government of the State of Bahia
and contains selections from the writings of Baha'u'llah and
'Abdu'l-Baha regarding the art of consultation. Nearly twentyfive thousand copies of the manual were distributed. Teachers in
the Nicaraguan Department of Carazo completed eight Baha'isponsored seminars on such subjects as "the teacher as an agent
of change," "global prosperity," "laws for a new world order,"
"environmental challenges and solutions," and "family life."
Other governments also have expressed interest in Baha'i perspectives on moral education. In Liberia, the Education Ministry
has invited Baha'i representatives to join Christians and Muslims
in generating moral and religious curricula for the country's schools.
In November, Baha'is in India were asked to train school teachers
in moral education in five hundred schools in the state of Maharashtra. The following month Chile's Ministry of Education
approved a Baha'i religious education curriculum for use in public
schools, and extensive contacts with the Ministry of Education have
been made in Jamaica, where the Governor General is interested in
establishing a nation-wide teacher training program under the
stewardship of the Baha'is and modeled on Baha'i moral education
programs already functioning in Ecuador.
Training Institutes
Training institutes are the tool through which the Baha'i community
systematically promotes the development of its own human
resources. Through carefully designed curricula and activities,
believers are trained in how to contribute effectively to the spiritual and administrative development of their local communities,
participate in interfaith activities, express their faith through the
arts and music, and teach their faith. Training institutes also
focus on promoting such vital goals as literacy, primary health
care, and the equality of men and women. Three hundred and
forty-four national and regional Baha'i training institutes are
now in operation throughout the world and have trained over one
hundred thousand Baha'is in the past three years alone.

THE B AI-IA'f W ORLD

Songs enlivened the atmosphere of a training institute course held from 24 to
30 July 1998 at the Laos National Baha 'i center.

An example of a well-functioning permanent training institute
can be seen in the Dominican Republic, where for ten years the
Olinga Institute has been conducting courses on the Baha'i teachings. Last year the Institute refined its administrative structure
and expanded its course offerings. In Africa, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Eritrea decided that all Baha'is
in that country should complete at least one institute course by
Ric;lvan 2000. Attendance has increased over the past year, with
ten courses organized in towns where many Baha' is live. In Chad,
several graduates of a training institute were able to use their
increased faith in and knowledge of the Baha'i teachings to welcome over one thousand of their fellow citizens to membership
in the Baha'i community. After years of financial sacrifice, the
Baha'is of Sarawak were finally able to open the building housing their permanent "Apau Institute." More than four hundred
Baha'is gathered in September for a conference to dedicate the
building. The Baha'is of Guatemala, Cape Verde, the East Leeward Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, and Tonga also exerted
special efforts to develop their permanent institutes.

The first training course at the national Auki Baha'i institute
in the Solomon Islands was held in January, using curriculum
developed at the Yerinbool Baha'i Center of Leaming in Australia.
Twenty-four Baha'is, including several facilitators of regional
institutes from around the islands , gathered to spend a week
studying a course on
_ ,.....,,..,..... the Baha'i teachings
before administering
the same curriculum
in their local communities. Similar courses
were held for four days
in September in Sri
Lanka and throughout
the year in the Mariana
Islands . The National
Spiritual Assembly of
Participants in an institute course held at the
the Baha' is of Papua
Bahci 'i center of Funafuti, Tuvalu, in April 1999.
New Guinea expanded its network of training institutes by appointing boards of directors for three more permanent institutes to augment the four
already in operation. Counsellor George Allen convened similar
weekend conferences in Gabon and the Republic of Congo in September and November, respectively. Members of the National
Spiritual Assemblies, members of the Auxiliary Board, and other
Baha' is consulted on how to improve their country's institute
process.
Advancement of Women
To the degree that women are empowered to take their rightful
place in the organization and enrichment of society, humankind
will achieve its Jong-awaited unity, stability, and prosperity.
Although the role that women must play in the establishment of
world peace has as yet been only dimly realized, it is possible to find
women and men working together to promote equality all around
the world. From informal study circles and home visits among
women in Senegal to a formal round table discussion on the role
of women in a global civilization for leaders in Brazil, Baha'is

around the world are promoting the advancement of women, well
aware of the gender gap but confident of the reality of equality.
A five-day workshop in Kenya in April 1998 called "Traditional
Media as Change Agent" trained Baha'is to use folk theater,
songs, storytelling, and dance to promote the equality of men and
women. The conference was part of a long-term project, initially
sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women
and now led by the African Baha'i community, designed to
empower women through the use of traditional media. 7 An identical
conference was held later in the summer in Zimbabwe, and a
similar one on the role of women in social and economic development was held in Chad near the end of 1998.
The first South American Baha'i conference devoted to the
advancement of women, called "Men and Women United for the
Development of the World of Women" was held in Rosario,
Argentina, for three days in November. More than 230 men,
women, youth, and children from seven countries, both Baha'is
and non-Baha'is, consulted on past and future contributions of
women to society and the creation of a program of social and economic development
for South American
women. Baha'is in
the Andoman and
•
Nicobar Islands
sponsored a conference entitled "The
Role of Women in
Imparting Moral
Education to Children" in October, in
which eighty peo- 1, ,.,..'he 8 aha"'1 womensá group o1,r the L ocaISp1ntua
á á IA ssemp 1e t O Ok Part. bly ofLumumbashi, Katanga, Republic of Congo.
Another important
conference was held for women in the Sahel, the southern fringe of
the Sahara desert, in August. Forty Baha'i women from Benin,

7. See The Baha 'i World 1996- 97, pp. 294- 97, for more information on this
project.

Burkina, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo gathered
for a week in Bamako, Mali, to discuss their role in promoting
the Baha'i teachings in the region. Organized by the Women of the
Sahel Regional Committee, the conference was notable for the
spirit of empowerment and animation present among the participants, and the continued, coordinated action it inspired. Twelve
women met in the Baha'i center of Latrikunda-Sabij i, Gambia, in
March to consult on similar topics. They studied the curriculum
"Leaming at Home and at School, a Baha'i Program for Mothers,"
which addresses parenting and moral education issues.
Several activities took place in March to commemorate International Women's Day, including conferences, public discussions,
seminars, and workshops. In India, the Baha'i Office for the
Advancement of Women played a critical role in sponsoring and
organizing some of these activities, which were designed to be

On 21 December
1998, the India
Bahti 'i Office
for the
Advancement
of Women held
afull day
seminar on the
theme of the
Girl Child.

accessible to both the public and leaders of thought and government. Baha'is in Cameroon celebrated International Women's
Day with a parade, special T-shirts and brochures, an exhibition
stand, and a public meeting, which included an interfaith prayer
gathering, public talks, and a dance exhibition. The Baha'i communities of Uganda and Trinidad and Tobago marked the occasion
with similar activities. Baha'i representatives from the latter country
appeared on national television and radio to offer their perspective on gender relations.
Baha'is are also involved in the activities of like-minded
peace organizations. Baha'is have provided input to the Turkish-

Greek Women's Peace Initiative (WINPEACE), for instance, since
its inception. Founded by Margarita Papandreou, former First
Lady of Greece, and several prominent Turkish journalists, the
Initiative is designed to bring together Greek and Turkish women
in dialogue about their role in promoting peace between their
countries. Fifteen Greek and fifteen Turkish delegates, including
several Baha'is , attended the spring meetings in Greece and
Turkey.
A 16 October 1998
observance of World
me:!~~ Food Day in eastern
Uganda, with the theme
of " Women Feed the
World, " was organized
by the Ugandan Baha 'i
National Committee fo r
the Advancement of
Women.

To learn how to support and enforce legislation designed to
prevent domestic violence, a delegation from the Modem Women's
Foundation of Taiwan visited other women 's organizations in the
United States in February. Jan Huang of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Taiwan was the only religious representative invited to be part of the delegation, which included
parliamentarians, judges, other representatives from the judiciary, and officers from the Ministries of Justice, the Interior, and
Foreign Affairs. The Baha'is of Taiwan have long supported the
Foundation's activities.
The Baha'i community of Mauritius was among ten non-governmental organizations invited as observers to the third Conference
of African Women Ministers and Parliamentarians, a follow-up
meeting to the 1994 UN International Conference on Population
and Development. Baha'is found the meeting a good opportunity
to establish cordial relations and acquaint government representatives with the work that African Baha'is are performing to
promote gender equality. Thirty-eight countries were represented
at the conference, the purpose of which was to assess the role of

YEAR L REVIEW

female Ministers and parliamentarians in influencing policy development in the fields of population, sustainable development, women's
empowerment, and legislative reform. Baha'is contributed three
statements to the proceedings. Similar Baha'i representation
occurred at the Thai Women's Forum, attended by more than one
thousand women leaders from all parts of the country in October;
and in the spring of 1999, three Baha'i women in the East Leeward
Islands submitted a statement to a Parliamentary Committee
responsible for drafting a bill on domestic violence.
The International Council of Women (ICW), the oldest international mainstream women's non-governmental organization,
convened its International Seminar on Women's Leadership from
18 to 23 October in Haifa, Israel. Held at the Golda Meir Mount
Carmel International Training Center, the seminar was attended by
two Baha' is , Mrs . Lee Lee Ludher, a member of the Continental
Board of Counsellors for Asia, and Mrs . Janak McGilligan from
India. The Secretary-General of the Baha' i International Community, Mr. Albert Lincoln, attended the opening ceremony, along
with other representatives of the Baha'i World Centre.
Institutional Commitment
As part of their commitment to advancing the station of women,
several national Baha'i communities operate full-time Offices for
the Advancement of Women. New offices were established last
year in Malawi, South Africa, Taiwan, and Trinidad and Tobago,
and three local task forces were formed in Mexico to coordinate
their communities ' responses to International Women's Day. The
recently created National Association of Baha'i Women in Ireland,
an initiative of the Irish National Spiritual Assembly, was formed
to foster a sense of identity among Irish Baha'i women and to
provide a platform for the sharing of Baha'i principles regarding
the relationship of women to society at large . On the regional
level , the European Task Force for Women was created in 1992
with the aim of encouraging cooperation and consultation among
European Baha'i women. Since its inception, the Task Force has
annually sponsored international seminars for female representatives
from each European country. The Task Force's third International
Women's Training Seminar was held in June in Acuto, Italy, and,

like the other seminars and workshops sponsored by the Task
Force, has inspired a number of activities throughout Europe.
Seminar participants afterwards held similar gatherings for their
compatriots in Cyprus, the Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Iceland,
Italy, Portugal, several regions in Russia, and Switzerland.
Human Rights
The Baha'i International Community has been involved in the
human rights work of the United Nations since its inception, and as
a non-governmental organization since 1948. The fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was especially
significant to the Baha'i community; it represented an important
landmark in the quest to create a universal moral ethic and a structure
of governance appropriate for such an ethic. Baha'i communities
the world over promote human rights by working in collaboration
with United Nations agencies and affiliates, organizing campaigns
of public education, and contributing to conferences, public events,
and other consultative forums.
In collaboration with the United Nations and the Ministry of
Education and Culture, Baha'is in Paraguay initiated a human
rights education project among Asunci6n's thirty thousand secondary school students. The project is the first of a four-stage
program that will eventually encompass all two hundred thousand
secondary school students in the country. UN representatives have
said this may be the first project of its kind in the world and are
giving it their enthusiastic support. Another notable instance of
Baha'i/governmental collaboration occurred in Australia, where
the Baha'i Office of External Affairs wrote to the Australian Local
Government Association to suggest ways that local governments
could celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Seventeen local councils in Australia are
known to have followed the suggestions, which included adopting
resolutions, mounting public displays, and publicizing the anniversary through local media.
Public celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights were organized or supported by a
number of national Baha'i communities, including Belgium, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Hawaii, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the

Y EAR IN R EVIEW

Philippines, Turkey, and Zambia. In December the Baha'i community of Zambia issued a special statement, "The Spiritual
Foundations of Human Rights," to all of Zambia's major media
outlets. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Burkina
wrote a similar public declaration in March.
In Norway, two hundred delegates from a number of religions,
including a Baha'i delegation, attended the Oslo Conference on
Freedom of Religion or Belief in August. Sponsors of the conference
included the Norwegian government and the Church of Norway.
The Norwegian Minister of International Development and Human
Rights opened the conference with a plea for greater respect for
human rights by saying, "Every government needs to examine
the status of human rights within its own jurisdiction. In fact, the
call to start with yourself, by critically examining your own behavior from a moral perspective, is a central tenet of all of history's
great religious teachers, such as Confucius, Buddha, Moses, Jesus
and Muhammad." The Baha'i presentation, which focused on justice, unity, and equality as the basis for conflict resolution, was
made particularly poignant by the religiously-motivated execution
of Mr. Ruhu'llahRawhani, a Baha'i in Iran, only a few days before.
Race Unity and Indigenous Peoples
The past century has seen a sea change in humanity's understanding of itself: definitions of concepts such as race, ethnicity, and
culture have evolved in the face of the global melding of civilizations, and barriers to unity have been tom down by the recognition
of the material and spiritual oneness of humanity. As community
after community steadily awakens to the possibility of unity in
diversity, the pain caused by centuries of racial and ethnic violence
is being openly acknowledged and addressed, and the first glimmerings of healing can be discerned.
Two important steps towards racial reconciliation and unity
were taken in the Pacific region last year. In Australia, two thousand people attended the "Healing Humanity Festival" in the
Canberra Convention Center at the end of 1998. Billed as a celebration of Australian cultural diversity, the festival was an opportunity
to explore the challenges facing the individual, the community,
and the nation, especially concerning racial harmony. At one point

a Maori Baha'i from New Zealand spoke to the assembly, calling
for dispassionate reflection and collective atonement on the part
of Australian society. "Each one of us here," she said, "has an
interest in the process of healing. There are many problems
plaguing our society but the biggest is the recognition and
accomplishment of the oneness of humanity." Baha' is also participated in the second "World Indigenous People's Pathways
Conference" in Queensland during the same period. In New
Zealand, the National Spiritual Assembly took a leading role in
the process of racial reconciliation by authoring a paper entitled
Indigenous Peoples and Minorities in the Baha 'i Faith and distributing it to all of New Zealand's Baha'is. The document
frankly acknowledged the struggle facing the Baha'is of New
Zealand in promoting racial unity within their community, lovingly
called for new patterns of behavior based on an understanding of
the oneness of humanity, and addressed from a Baha'i perspective attempts to promote the advancement of indigenous peoples
through political activism.

Four Bloomington,
Indiana, Baha 'i
children at a race
unity event in the
United States wearing T-shirts reading
"No room in my
heart fo r prejudice. "
A nationally coordinated campaign
to raise awareness
of issues related to
race unity in the United States, sponsored by the Baha'i community, has been underway since March 1998. A specially produced
television program, "The Power of Race Unity," has aired on
several national and many local and regional stations; the document "Race Unity: The Most Challenging Issue," written by the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States,
has been mailed, along with an information packet, to several
thousand households; and calls to the toll-free information hotline

On 25 November 1998, Ruth Rydstedt presented American civil rights hero
Rosa Parks with a copy of "Race Unity: the Most Challenging Issue, " a
statement authored by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States.
and visits to the American Baha'i website 8 have been steadily
increasing. Some eighty percent of local Baha'i communities in
the United States have sponsored activities in support of the campaign, including private viewings of the video, workshops, and
public discussions about race unity.
Twelve years ago, several black Baha'i men, concerned about
the state of race relations in the United States and unity among black
Baha'is, met for a weekend to consult, reflect, and pray. Empowered and inspired by that first meeting, they met again the following
year and invited others to join them. Since then, the Black Men's
Gathering, as it became known, has been held annually at various
locations, including the Louis Gregory Institute in Hemingway,
South Carolina, and the Green Acre Baha'i School in Eliot, Maine.
Through focused consultation, augmented by music and prayer,
the men have become unified in their desire to support one another
in the work of achieving race unity and the equality of men and

8. 1-800-22-UNITE and <www.us.bahai.org>, respectively.

women, both within the Baha'i community and in society at large.
In its Ri9van 1996 message to the Baha'is of North America, the
Universal House of Justice exhorted Baha'is of African descent to
travel to Africa, where they could be a "unique source of encouragement and inspiration to their African brothers and sisters." In
obedience to the House of Justice, groups of Baha'i men from the
Black Men's Gathering have gone on teaching trips to Africa
every year for the past three years. In the summer of 1998, a group
of twenty began their trip by visiting the Baha'i House of Worship
in Kampala, Uganda, and journeyed elsewhere by foot, bus, and
truck to capital cities and small villages alike, visiting the local
Baha'is and telling others about Baha'u'llah.
The first national meeting of the Rom and Sint Gypsy groups,
an "extraordinary event in the history of the Gypsy peoples" that
has been awaited "for six hundred years," in the words of one
Gypsy leader, was held for two days in Lanciano Terme, Italy, in
June 1998. Baha'i representation was specially requested by the
participants, who consider the European Baha'i community to be
the " standard bearer and an example to follow for the unity principle it pursues" and who were inspired by the Baha'i teachings
on unity to form their own "Transnational Federation" of the
Gypsy peoples . Spanish Baha'is have long been aware of the
vital role that music plays in preserving Romani culture. In collaboration with Miguel Hernandez University, Baha' is gathered
top musicians to help organize a course entitled "Music as a Cultural Feature of the Gypsy People," designed to build a bridge
between Gypsy musicians and the academic world. The course
took place for ten days in July and was the first time the University
had sponsored an activity for the exclusive benefit of the Gypsy
peoples.
Baha'is in Canada's Northwest Territories released a compact
disc of the Baha'i sacred writings in the Innuinaqtun language,
the translation of which was two and a half years in the making.
Designed to make the Baha'i teachings available to the Cambridge
Bay community, the CD was presented by Baha'i representatives
to an Inuit elder at a special ceremony in July, who accepted it on
behalf of all Inuit elders in the area. Later, 360 copies were distributed among the community's 1,200 residents. Baha'is in Peru

translated a book of prayers, institute materials, and biographies
of the central figures of the Baha'i Faith into the indigenous languages of Aymara and Quechua.
The Arts
Poetry, calligraphy and music all played vital roles in early Baha' i
history, and different forms of arts and crafts continue to be cultivated in Baha'i communities. 'Abdu'l-Baha is reported to have said,
" It is natural for the heart and spirit to take pleasure and enjoyment
in all things that show forth symmetry, harmony, and perfection ...
all things that have in them grace or beauty are pleasing to the
heart and spirit." 9
Two volunteer choir groups undertook major tours last year:
the "Voices of Baba" choir continued its annual practice of travel
with a March- April concert tour through several countries in
Europe. The sixty-eight member group, with singers from seventeen countries , sang to large audiences in England, Portugal,
Spain, France, Italy, and Greece with a repertoire of spirited
devotional songs from all over the world . Many of the show's
proceeds went to local charities. The summer concert tour undertaken by the "Lights of Unity" group brought together more than
fifty Baha'is from sixteen countries, most from the former Soviet
Union. The performers
gathered in Almaty,
Kazakhstan, to perform
the first concert and continued on to tour Russia,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, and Uzbekistan.
The program combined
fourteen choral pieces, a
A marimba band played on the opening night of slide show documenting
a Baha'i-sponsored "Unity in Diversity " arts the history of the Central
f estival in Capetown, South Africa. Asian Baha'i community,

9. Quoted in A Brief Account of My Visit to Acea (Chicago: Baha'i Publishing Society, 1905), pp. 11 - 14.

THE B AHA'f W ORLD

and dance. Audience
responses to both tours
were enthusiastic and
often deeply emotional,
with many people witnessing their own hopes
expressed in the artists'
message of beauty,
unity, and spiritual transcendence.
Several smaller per- Noted Baha 'i artist and development specialist
forming arts groups Geraldine Robarts stands with some of her art in
also toured: in May, an exhibition in Nairobi, Kenya.
the Turkish "Sound of Unity" group gave four performances in
Ankara to nearly eight thousand people and later that summer
took its dance and music to audiences in Romania and Moldova;
the "Patchwork" choir from Belgium spent two weeks in July
touring several towns in Hungary; the "Generation of Hope"
choir performed in several Russian cities for the sixth year running; and the first Portuguese dance workshop was formed and
toured the entire country during July and August. In response to
the performances of the "Light of Unity" musical group in
Ghana, thirty-six people declared their faith in Baha'u'llah in two
regions of the country in August. An estimated twenty thousand
people saw Reunion's newly launched "Unity Power" dance
group perform in a parade held in December to celebrate the
anniversary of the abolition of slavery.
Native American Baha'i performing artist Kevin Locke toured
Suriname and French Guiana for two weeks in January. He visited
several Baha'i communities, met with religious and governmental leaders, granted interviews to the media, and facilitated arts
workshops in Baha'i centers.
An institute course designed to train Baha'is capable of creating and performing music in the service of their Baha'i communities
was held for three days at the end of May in Kinshasa, Democratic
Republic of Congo. Held at the Baha'i national center, the twentysix participants spent the conference studying musical theory
and the Baha'i writings on music and gained skills concerning

the organization and successful performance of choirs. The
weekend ended with a public concert at the national center with
music composed and performed by the participants. The first
arts, music and drama workshop took place at the national Baha'i
center in Nairobi, Kenya, on 24-25 January. Twenty-two people
participated, including eight members of the Auxiliary Board and
Baha'is from other countries.
In May, Baha'is took part in a religious musical competition
organized by the Association for Peace between Religions in
Romania. One of the prizes went to a former Baha'i pioneer to
Romania, Arsham Evoghli. Prizewinners were invited to perform
their music at a gala concert, and several European National
Spiritual Assemblies were also invited to participate. The writings of Baha'u'llah featured prominently in the concert, which
was broadcast on Romanian television. The work of Bijan Khadem-
Missagh, an Austrian Baha'i author and musician, led to his
involvement in Allegro Vivo, a prestigious annual chamber
music festival in Austria. The 19 August opening concert was
dedicated to the theme of"Unity in Diversity" and featured excerpts

One ofNorway's top classical composers, Lasse Thoresen is known for writing
music with spiritual themes. During a visit to the home of Edvard Grieg,
Norway's most famous composer, Dr Thoresen was invited to play Grieg's piano.

from the Baha'i writings and an award ceremony, during which
Mr. Khadem-Missagh received the Austrian Cross for Sciences
and Arts from Thomas Klestil, President of the Austrian Republic .
The Queen of Sweden opened "Warsaw Autumn," an annual
Polish music festival held in September, which included in its
program Fire and Light, an opera/ballet inspired by the Baha'i
martyrs in Iran that was written by Norwegian Baha' i composer
Lasse Thoresen.
American Baha'i jazz pianist Bob Bellows spent most of September and part of October making new jazz fans in the heart of
Mongolia. He visited three cities, performed at universities, cultural
centers, an orphanage, and schools, and conducted a workshop at
a music college. The visit culminated in a collaborative concert with
the State Philharmonic Orchestra and other Mongolian musicians
in Ulaan Baatar. An estimated three hundred thousand television
viewers in Panama watched a documentary on Jamboree '98, a
Panamanian arts festival. The show included segments profiling
the Baha'i community, including footage of dances from Panama's
Baha'i art workshop.
Youth
The Baha'i community counts as one of its special responsibilities
that of nurturing the spiritual life of its youth, whose energy and
enterprising spirit enables them to make special contributions to
the establishment of world peace. Baha'i youth are often called
upon to organize workshops, conferences, and other development
projects. Many youth are suited to express the ideals of their Faith
through the arts, prompting some to participate in dance or music
workshops. Several travels and performances of such workshops
took place over the course of the year. A Hawaiian dance workshop toured the Mariana Islands in June, sixty members of the
Sarawak Baha'i youth workshop traveled throughout southeast
Asia in December after completing a training course, and the
Irish Diversity Dance Workshop performed for several summer
days in the city of Cork. On 6 February 1999, the Anchorage,
Alaska, Baha'i youth workshop was one of several recipients of the
"Spirit of Youth" award. Presented by the city of Anchorage to
youth who had made outstanding contributions to the community

The Third World
Youth Forum of the
United Nations
System, held in
Braga, Portugal,
from 2 to 7 August
1998, included
Bahd '[International
Community representatives from Canada, Sudan/Sweden,
and the United
States.

during the previous year, the award was given in the category of
Dance Theater. The Baha'i youth group in the Eastern Caroline
Islands garnered an arts award in November, winning the Pohnpei
Youth Talent Show with its performance of drama, dance, and
music. The Badi Youth Group of Macau won a similar Youth
Service Award, and three Canadian Baha'i youth living for a year
in the Bahamas formed the first youth dance workshop there,
which performed in two schools on the island of North Andros.
Youth from Haiti, Guadeloupe, and Martinique also formed a
performing arts group and, after completing a training course on
the arts in December, performed at a youth club and arts center in
Abymes, Guadeloupe, in March 1999 to an enthusiastic audience.
An example of the power of the spirit of Baha'i youth occurred
in Mexico, where six Mayan youth, all under the age of sixteen,
on their own initiative, organized and carried out a local community development project. The youth systematically chose the
methods through which they intended to achieve their goals,
which were to witness an increase in the number of Baha'is,
study circles, children's classes, and activities on the part of the
Baha'i Local Spiritual Assembly. Through their efforts, which
lasted thirteen days, all these goals were achieved. In Sri Lanka, ten
Tamil youth created and performed dramatic skits that depicted
the harmful effects of alcohol and explored family issues for
audiences in two neighboring towns. Following a visit of the
Scottish Diversity Dance Theater to Alford Academy in Aberdeenshire, two Baha' i youth returned to the school for two weeks
in October to lead dance theater workshops. At the end of the

Children in Pakistan hold up signs with Baha 'i principles written on them
during a Baha 'i event.

process, while watching a performance by the newly trained students, the Academy's headmaster reportedly exclaimed, "This is
what I call education!"
The first national youth conferences of Cuba, Mexico, and
Zambia were held during the spring and summer of 1998. Using
workshops, collective study, consultation, dance, and drama,
attendees explored the role that youth can play in the development
of their Baha'i communities. Thirty-five Baha'i youth attended the
first youth training institute course in American Samoa in March,
where they studied the Baha'i writings and created artwork, songs,
and short plays. Other international youth conferences were held
in Cameroon, India, Luxembourg, the Mariana Islands, Sweden,
and Venezuela. Some focused on the arts, others on community
development. Through these conferences, youth have been able to
identify four key areas in which they have gained wide experience: teaching children's classes, using the arts in service to their
Baha'i communities, facilitating institute courses and local study
circles, and spreading the Baha'i teachings in areas populated by
indigenous peoples.

YEAR IN R EVIE W

Involvement in the
Life of Society
Baha'is strive to contribute to the discourse
of society by participating in activities and
dialogue of governments, other religions,
. .
progressive orgamza- ...,,....,..,.
tions, and leaders of
thought. As part of a
governmental sym- Bahri 'i youth ofIringa, Tanzania, with sf!Veral
posium on "Poverty Baha 'iyouthfrom other parts of the world, after
and Consumerism- six months of teaching in the summer of 1998.

Rallying for Change," the non-Baha'i author of a report entitled
"Our Future Prosperity" included in her report to the government
of Trinidad and Tobago an appendix containing the full text of a
relevant statement prepared by the Baha'is of that country and
included suggestions for further reading in Baha'i literature. The
document was sent to all government ministries, UN and NGOs,
and the University of the West Indies. In South America, Baha'is
provided input and organizational support to the formation of El
Salvador's "Plan for the Nation," a long-term social and cultural
development plan for the country. The Baha'i view on the theme
"The Earth, One Village" was solicited by the Office of the President of Senegal for its December panel presentation on the
subject. The Baha'i member was the panel's only religious
representative.
Throughout the spring of 1999, the government of Sierra
Leone invited all civic groups, including religious organizations,
to provide concrete recommendations on how to further the
peace process aimed at ending the political unrest that has raged
in the region for years. The Baha'i community was given a
unique opportunity to provide input when two of its representatives were invited to participate in a thirty-minute interview on
state television, during which they spoke about Baha'i strategies
of conflict resolution, recounted what the Baha'is had been doing to
support peace in the region, and outlined the history of the

Baha'i community in
Sierra Leone. North,
in Guinea-Bissau, the
newly sworn-in Prime
Minister sought the
i,. ...
á.., ~ views of the Baha' i
community when the

~
BAHA'I FAITH
country's transitional
government was
formed in February.
On I May 1998, the S aha.'is of S amenda, Cameroon, Hurricane Mitch,
were invited, along with other groups who have the worst Atlantic
radio programs on the provincial radio station, to storm in the last two
participate in a Labor Day p arade through the
center of town. The banner mentions the Saha 'is' hundred years, swept
broadcasts: "Mothers, Fath ers and Children " and through Honduras in
"Living the Life. " October 1998. Honduran Baha'is assisted in directing aid to those areas most badly
hit by the storm and accurately informed aid organizations and
the government of the rapidly changing situation. One aid
worker commented, "The Baha'is have been instrumental in
helping us clarify where the help was needed most and how to
distribute it well." The national Baha' i center, because of its
proximity to an airport, served as a focal point for the distribution of food and vital medical supplies to the region's citizens, as
did Baha' i buildings elsewhere in the country. Following the
storm, Baha'is around the world initiated an informal fund-raising
campaign on the internet, sending more than sixty thousand dollars
and eight thousand kilograms of food and supplies to the country's
peoples.
Interfaith Activities
"Consort with the followers of all religions," is Baha'u'llah's
exhortation, " in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship." 10 Interfaith activities are critical to the creation of a world defined by
justice, unity, and understanding. In what may be a world first, one

I 0. Tablets of Saha 'u 'llah Revealed afler the Kitab-i-Aqdas (Wilmette, Baha' f
Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 22.

nation's religious leaders gathered to discuss ways of combating
the decline perceived in their country's morality. Traditional
African leaders and representatives from the Baha'i, Buddhist,
Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Faiths in South Africa met in October at a Moral Summit to prepare and sign a collective "code of
conduct" aimed at preventing violence , corruption, and other
signs of moral decay in their country. President Nelson Mandela
attended the signing. A similarly diverse panel discussion, broadcast
on Austrian radio, was held over the Easter holidays to discuss
the words " It is done," the purported last utterance of Christ.
The organization of the May conference in Kenya of the All
African Council of Churches was aided by the participation of
Baha'is, who were asked to coordinate the components that dealt
with unity, peace, and justice. Representatives of the Baha'i community of Germany were invited to take part in two important
interfaith events : the "Mainz Dialogue,'' at which high-ranking
religious officials met to discuss interreligious cooperation and
the creation of a joint statement, and the "Inter-Cultural Council
of Germany," an initiative of the Lutheran Church with similar
aims . Baha'i artists participated in the 25 May ecumenical concert organized by the Association for Peace Between Religions
in Romania.
On the three-hundredth anniversary of an important Sikh holiday, five million Sikhs gathered in Punjab , India, for a major
At a 6 March 1999
UN celebration of
international
Womens Day,
several Cypriot
Saha 'is distributed ll~i
carnations with "a
message ofp eace
and hope" attached
to them, and were
able to meet with
Dame Ann Hercus
(2nd left), Chief of
Mission of the UN
Peacekeeping
Force in Cyprus.

Refugee children listen to a concert organized by the Ba ha' is of Manukau
City, New Zealand, for residents of the Government's Mangere Refugee
Hostel. Left to right: Jerome from Rwanda, Mustafa from Somalia, and Saiid
from Ethiopia. Two Baha 'is from Tonga sit behind them.

celebration. Mrs. Lee Lee Ludher, a member of the Continental
Board of Counsellors in Asia, Dr. I. S. Ludher from the National
Spiritual Assembly of Malaysia, and Dr. Ali Merchant from the
National Spiritual Assembly of India represented the Baha'i
International Community at the gathering's Conclave of Spiritual Leaders. The Baha'i delegation was given the opportunity to
speak during the closing ceremony, which was attended by nearly
one million people. Mrs. Ludher and Dr. Merchant chose to
address the assemblage together, he in Hindi, she in English.
Other Activities
Administrators of the Baha'i-run Montessori school program in
Western Samoa were invited by the government to contribute
ideas to the National Seminar on Early Childhood Education in
November. Some of the more than one hundred and fifty highranking participants in the seminar were clearly enthused by the
Baha'i presentation and by their visits to the Montessori schools

operated by the Baha'is. The Government of Samoa also asked
the Baha'i educators to help create a standard curriculum for all
Samoan pre-schoolers. Two government-owned radio stations in
Liberia have contacted the Liberian Baha'i information center
requesting Baha'i participation in their religious programs. In
January the Baha'is of Antigua/Barbuda were asked by a committee of the Antigua/Barbuda Parliament for their feedback on a
proposed domestic violence bill. The Baha' is were the only religious group to make a presentation in support of the bill, thus
contributing a spiritually grounded perspective to the debate.
A Baha' i-sponsored "Peace and Unity Rally" attracted more
than three thousand of Fiji's residents. After the march, talks
were given by the local Mayor, representatives from Government
ministries, and a Baha'i. During the 6 February 1999 Proclamation
for Justice in Equatorial Guinea, Baha'is recited selections from
the Baha' i writings on peace. A Baha' i in the village of Slabodka,
Belarus, organized a well-received celebration of International
Children's Day in June, which included sports, games, exhibitions
of children's art work, contests, and a concert. As a result, several other villages have invited the Baha' is to organize similar
events in their areas .

The ceremony granting the fo urth annual World Citizenship Awards, sp onsored
by the Bahri 'i community of Brazil, was held I 5 December I 998 in Brasilia. The
winners, from 3rd left to 2nd right, were Rabbi Henry Sobel, Mrs. Raimunda of
the Women s Education Network, Dr. Silvestre da Silva of the Brazilian Bar
Association of Silo Paulo, and Mr. Marcia Gontijo ofAmnesty International.

The European Baha'i Business Forum (EBBF) and the Baha'i
community of Bulgaria participated in the Sixth International
Conference on Moral and Ethical Principles in a Social Market
Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria, in October 1998. Sponsored by the
EBBF, the Bulgarian National Spiritual Assembly, and eight
other organizations, the conference brought together more than
one hundred business leaders, academics , NGOs, journalists, and
students to discuss business ethics, corruption, organized crime,
microfinance, and corporate social responsibility.
Following the tragic 15 August bombing in Omagh, Baha'is
in Northern Ireland organized a memorial evening for the victims and their families in October. As each victim 's name was
read aloud, a rose was placed in a vase, followed by a minute of
silence. The program ended with prayers and readings from the

Parade float made
by the Bah6 '[
communities of
Port Coquitlam
and Langley,
Canada, on the
theme 'A Violence-
Free Family' in the
spring of 1998.

Baha'i writings . Baha'is in Canada organized a conference for
the deaf and hard-of-hearing in St. John's , Newfoundland, in
October. The "Points of Contact" conference hosted 153 people
and featured not only keynote talks, but also an original dramatic
work and extensive consultation among the participants on social
issues facing the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. Throughout last year, Korean Baha'is were very much involved in the
preparations for the first global NGO forum in South Korea, to
be held in 1999 in Seoul. Representatives from NGOs, universities,
and the media were expected from all over the world to consult
on ways of achieving social peace.

YEAR IN REVIEW

As part of commemorations honoring the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic, the Baha'i Women's
Community of Adana, Turkey, in cooperation with the local government and the Adana Women's Union, organized a day-long
festival. The Baha'is also participated in the main parade in
Adana, bringing the largest number of participants. On 24 January
President Cassam Uteem of Mauritius gave the keynote address at
the World Religion Day observance sponsored by the country's
Baha'i community. Talks by representatives of several world Faiths,
centering around the theme "Towards a Caring and Prosperous
Community," followed the address.
Community Development
The work of creating distinctive Baha'i communities involves a
wide variety of activities, such as establishing local and national
Baha'i centers, gaining legal recognition for Baha'i institutions,
strengthening relationships with other religions and leaders of
thought, translating and disseminating the Baha'i writings, gathering in regional and national Baha'i conferences to consult and
build wider bonds of unity, training Baha'i administrators, and
sharing the Baha'i message with society through public exhibitions,
meetings, and other activities. Baha'i community development is
designed to stimulate creativity and capacity at the grassroots level
and is intimately bound up with the work of developing new patterns of society.
Throughout the year under review, Baha'is in Cambodia saw
their community grow noticeably in strength and maturity. In cities
Participants in a
30 August 1998
consultative conference in Kampot
province, Cambodia, drew up plans
for the development oftheir Baha 'i
community. Such
gatherings help
promote unity and a
sense ofshared
responsibility.

such as Seam Reap, Kampot, Battamban, and Sihanoukville,
where special efforts at community development have been
made since summer 1998, Baha'is are now hosting training institute courses using standardized Baha'i curricula, holding regular
Nineteen Day Feast gatherings, enjoying stronger relationships
with local government, witnessing an increase in the attendance
of children's classes, and an expansion in the number of Baha'is.
Poverty, ethnic and political strife, and environmental degradation are just a few of the challenges that have inspired daily
occasions of sacrifice and dedication by Bahci'is in different parts
of the world. Unrest in the Congo Republic has upset traditional
patterns of life, but the Baha'is of Dolisie report rapid progress
in the functioning of their community. Strong interest in the
Baha'i teachings is being shown by the local population, fueled
by frequent public meetings, a series of training courses, public
showings of Baha'i films, and an exhibition in a youth cultural
center of Baha'i writings concerning education and the role of
women. In a nearby village, the government has banned all gatherings except Baha'i ones. In spite of the unrest that has racked
Rwanda in recent years, Baha'is there have made great strides in
continuing their activities. On 19 April 1999 the Baha'i Radio
program in Rwanda resumed its regular broadcast schedule after a
five-year hiatus. In Costa Rica, the Regional Conference of Talamanca was scheduled to be held on a piece of forested land
recently cleared by the community. As the Baha'i center planned
for the space had not yet been built and no other suitable meeting
place existed, the local Baha'is spent the day before the conference building benches, a simple kitchen, and a meeting room
from the felled trees.
In 1995 , Hurricane Marilyn devastated parts of the Virgin
Islands , causing many to lose their jobs and homes. Many
Baha'is were forced to leave the islands, and the national Baha'i
. center was destroyed. Three years later, in August, the community
held the first teaching conference since the 1995 storm. Held at
the reconstructed national Baha'i center, the conference marked
a turning point in the process of reconstruction. Attendees studied
the most recent Ric;ivan message from the Universal House of

Justice, consulted on ways of meeting the needs of their community, and shared their love of music and the arts.
The Baha'is of Canada marked the ten-year anniversary of
Baha'i programming on the Vision TV network, a nationally broadcast channel that reaches more than seventy percent of Canadian
homes. Baha'i program highlights include the four-hour broadcast
of the Second Baha'i World Congress in New York in November
1992, which attracted an audience of more than three hundred
thousand viewers; a documentary about the construction of the
Baha'i House of Worship in New Delhi, India; and the first Baha'i
video image broadcast via satellite, of Amatu'l-Baha Rul:iiyyih
Khanum walking through the gardens surrounding the Shrine of
Baha'u'llah for the program Baha 'u 'llah: A Glimpse of His Life
and Teachings. One hundred and twenty-two broadcasts of sixtyseven Baha'i programs have aired on Vision TV since 1988.
Conferences
Local, national, and regional Baha'i conferences are designed to
raise participants' awareness of shared goals and to foster consultation, fellowship, and bonds of unity among people who live
far apart. Inspired by the long-running Black Men's Gatherings
organized by Baha'is in the United States, Botswanan Baha'is
held their first similar gathering in May. Participants explored
their role as black men from a Baha'i perspective by studying the
Baha'i writings to and about the black race, and afterwards spoke
of regaining their "sense of nobility." They also consulted about
ways of better supporting their Baha'i sisters and plan to incorporate
the gatherings into the larger process of community transformation. The Malaysian Baha'i community's "Mid-Point Congress,"
so named because it fell during the mid-point of the Four Year
Plan, was held in August 1998. The conference brought together
some thirteen hundred Baha'is, a member of the Continental
Board of Counsellors, five Auxiliary Board Members, and all
members of the Malaysian Spiritual Assembly. The Spiritual
Assembly prepared for the congress by organizing a nine-day
prayer vigil among all ninety-seven of the country's Local Spiritual
Assemblies.

Training conferences for Baha'is serving in administrative
positions are used to systematize and streamline the day-to-day
functioning of Baha'i administrative bodies and build a unified
vision among their members. In the fall of 1998, such a conference
was held in Taraz, Kazakhstan, and was attended by forty Kazakh
Baha'is from eleven communities. In Kiribati, for eleven days in
mid-summer, nearly eighty members of the Auxiliary Board ,
their assistants, and other Baha'is studied the principles that govern the Baha'i administrative system. Ten assistants to Auxiliary
Board members in Laos met for a one-day training session in
September to learn how to facilitate local, informal study groups
on the Baha'i teachings. In Lesotho , Counsellors Garth Pollock
and Daniel Ramoroesi led a conference for two days in December, where they explored ways of inspiring growth, action, and
reflection in Baha'i communities and also outlined budgeting
methods and other organizational concerns. Twenty-five Baha'is
attended, including Auxiliary Board members, members of
National and Local Spiritual Assemblies and members of the
Lesotho Institute Board. Twenty-five Baha'is in St. Vincent and
the Grenadines, including six members of the National Spiritual
Assembly, attended a conference to learn more about the law of
I:Iuququ'llah in March.
Baha'i Writings
The writings ofBaha'u'llah, the Bab, and 'Abdu'l-Baha form the
sacred textual basis not only for the existence of the worldwide
Baha'i community, but for its continued development and spiritual
vitality. Study of the Baha'i writings is an integral part of community life and access to them is promoted through translations
into local languages. Several communities have underscored the
importance of increased availability of the Baha'i writings through
formal ceremonies honoring the launch of new publications . One
hundred and forty Baha'is attended a two-day devotional meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, in November, at which Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha 'u 'llah, recently translated into Icelandic, was formally presented to the Icelandic community. A
public presentation to a Russian audience of the Russian translation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the most important book of the Baha'i

u mpur
1998
r.ontinue to ac'
r?"

The thirty-f ifth National Convention of the Bahri 'is of Malaysia, held
29- 31May 1998, witnessed the presentation of the newly completed Tamil
translation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas to Counsellor Rosalie Tran, who accepted it
on behalf of the Universal House ofJustice.

revelation, took place in November. More than three hundred
prominent guests filled the hall at the House of Friendship in Moscow to listen to a presentation by Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh , a
member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the
United States, Professor Emeritus of Yale University, and an
expert in Russian history, as he described the content, significance, and history of the Kitab-i-Aqdas . Other segments of the
program included the formal presentation of the book to the
Director of the Library of the Duma, the President's Human
Rights Commission, and the Parliamentary Committee on Religious Affairs ; performances of classical music; readings from the
Kitab-i-Aqdas; the performance of a scene from a play written by
an early Baha'i; and a choral quintet set to a selection from the
writings of Baha'u'llah. A similar ceremony was held in September in Pakistan to introduce the Kitab-i-Aqdas to the residents of
Azad Kashmir, Muzaffarab , with the respected Muslim scholar
Allama Siyyid Kifayat Hussain N a.qvi presenting the keynote
speech.

Baha'i Centers
National, regional, and local Baha'i centers fulfill several important functions and are designed to serve the communities in
which they are established through a diverse array of activities,
including devotional and religiou s gatherings , classes, public
service projects, art and music exhibitions, and public health and
literacy initiatives. Several new local and national Baha'i centers
were established this year. The Baha'i community of Thailand

Dr. Utairat
Chaumrattanakul
of the Spiritual
Assembly of Th ailand presented the
Kitab-i-Aqdas, the
Peace Statement,
and a copy of The
Hidden Words to
HRH Princess
Soamsawali at the
inauguration of the
new Thai national
Baha'i center.

was honored by the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess
Soamsawali at the official opening of the Thai national Baha'i
center in Bangkok on 26 November, 1999. Upon her arrival, the
Princess was welcomed by members of the Thai National Assembly
and then opened the curtain covering the center's front door to
mark the center's inauguration. This was the first royal visit to a
Baha'i event in Thailand, which was also attended by representatives of the Japanese, Malaysian, and Singapore National Spiritual
Assemblies and by Zena Sorabjee, a member of the Continental
Board of Counsellors in Asia.
The Baha'i communities of Albania, Bermuda, Sicily, St.
Helena, and the West Leeward Islands all opened the doors of
their new national Baha'i centers last year as well. The Albanian
Baha'i center is located in downtown Tirana near the Tirana
International Hotel, the most prominent of the city's landmarks;
the ceremony marking the expansion of Bermuda's Baha'i center,
which occurred on the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the

The role that Bahci 'i
centers play in the
development of the '
local community is
considered to be
very important. On
9 April 1998 in
Talamanca, Costa
Rica, a group of Bri
Bri Indians held a
prayer gathering at ,
the site on which
they plan to build
their Bahci 'i center.

Members of the
St. Helena Baha 'i
community, along
with several y outh
volunteers from
abroad, held a
special celebration
on 20 June 1998 to
commemorate the
opening of St.
Helenas new
Baha 'i center.

Bermudan Baha'i community, was attended by several highranking officials, including the Premier, the Governor, and the
Roman Catholic Bishop of Bermuda; Sicily's inauguration coincided with the occasion of the community's first Baha'i summer
school; and St. Helena's building had been constructed the previous
summer largely by the volunteer labor of Baha'i youth, several of
whom came from overseas to help. The inauguration of the
national Baha'i center for the West Leeward Islands occurred during the National Convention in April 1998. Ground was also
broken for the construction of a new national center in Trinidad.
Other local Baha'i centers were established last year in places as
far flung as Lubaini, Malawi; Arto Atoll, in the Marshall Islands;
Patangata, Tonga; and Keningau, Sabah.

Legal Recognition
The Baha'i communities of Austria, Georgia, and Russia all
achieved long-sought goals of legal recognition during the year.
In January 1999, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
Russia received formal recognition as a "centralized religious organization" under a new law passed in the fall of 1997 governing
religions in Russia. This legal recognition enables the Russian
Baha'i community to rent and own property, and to publish, import,
and distribute Baha'i literature. Similar privileges were granted
to the Austrian and Georgian Baha'i communities through their
registrations.
After a long period of trying to acquire land for a Baha'i cemetery, the Baha'is of Colombo, Sri Lanka, received a letter in
November from their local government, allocating a plot of land
to be set aside as "Baha'i Burial Ground."
Contact with Prominent People
Several meetings took place between representatives of the Baha'i
community and royalty, heads of state, traditional chiefs and
leaders of thought last year. During a special campaign in April,
each of Fiji's Paramount Chiefs received a copy of The Prosperity
of Humankind, a statement of the Baha'i International Community, to inaugurate the next stage in the Baha'i community's
efforts to raise the Chiefs' awareness of the Baha'i teachings. More
than twenty-five Chiefs of American Samoa attended the dedication ceremony in honor of the newly reconstructed national
Baha'i center in December and, during one part, led a traditional
ceremony in honor of the center and the gathering. In August, two
Chiefs on the Ni-Vanuatu island of Tanna wrote strongly-worded
letters to Vanuatu's National Spiritual Assembly regarding the
July execution of a Baha'i in Iran. 11 Governor Roy Schneider of
the Virgin Islands met with a Baha'i delegation on 15 April. During the meeting, after reading Baha'i literature and speaking
with the Baha'i representatives, he instructed his aide to ensure
that Baha'i information sheets would be distributed to all government agencies, schools, and libraries for posting and suggested

11. See pp. 151-54, 279- 86, and 312 for more on,the Baha'is in Iran.

to members of the delegation that they coordinate a public information campaign throughout the islands to raise people's awareness
of the Baha'i teachings.
Meetings with heads of state in various countries have served
to strengthen relationships between Baha'i communities and their
governments and as a way of acquainting leaders with the goals
of the Baha'i community. The first instance of Baha'i representation at a meeting with a Malaysian head of state occurred on 27
November in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, when Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad, along with several chief ministers , met with

On 23 March 1999,
Baha 'i representatives met with Mr.
Cassam Uteem,
President of
the Republic of
Mauritius.

religious leaders from around the country. Mr. Young Syh Fwu,
Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bah a' is of Sabah, represented the Baha'i community. During the meeting the Prime
Minister stressed the importance of religious tolerance, and Mr.
Young Syh Fwu spoke of the Baha'i principle of obedience to
government, afterwards presenting the Prime Minister with Baha'i
literature.
Several other meetings took place in Europe, Africa and Asia:
During the "Women and Work" exhibition of the Dutch Women's
Council on 27 November, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands visited several booths , including that of the Baha'is. The Queen
spoke with the Baha'is there for several minutes about world
peace, education, and human rights and accepted a copy of the
latest edition of The Baha'i World. President Yoweri Museveni
of Uganda likewise accepted Baha'i literature during his visit to

the Baha'i booth at the International Women's Day commemoration in Kampala on 8 March. Several members of the Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Hong Kong met with the Honorable
Secretary for Home Affairs David Lan on 2 September. The Secretary was interested in learning about the Baha'i teachings and
requested more Baha'i literature to augment his office's research
library. On 13 December, a Baha'i delegation made a courtesy
call to the Honorable Hilarion Davide, newly appointed Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. In the course of
the forty-five minute conversation, the Chief Justice made several references to possible word-plays between the word "Baha'i"
and similar words in the Philippine language, likening the Baha'i
Faith to a dwelling ("bahay" in Filipino) which houses all the
religions under one roof, and the first two syllables of Baha'u'llah
(baha) to the Visayan term of the same pronunciation, which
means "flood," saying the Baha'i teachings could be considered a
"flood of love, justice, and grace."
As a representative of the
Universal House ofJustice,
Mr. Giovanni Ballerio
toured the southern Pacific,
meeting with Kings and
Heads of State, including
His Majesty King To/a 'ahau
Tupou 1V of Tonga.

Her Majesty
Queen Beatrix
of the
Netherlands
visited the
Baha'i stand at
an exhibition in
Amsterdam in
November
1998. The
Queen was presented with the
latest copy of
The Baha'i
World.

Public Recognition
Several notable instances of an increasing respect accorded to the
Baha'i community and its teachings by the media occurred in
Europe last year. To commemorate the one hundredth anniversary
of the founding of the Baha' i community in France, the Baha'is
organized several events , including a gala concert, an interfaith
colloquium entitled "France, a Land of Faith," and a public celebration of France's Baha' i centenary. French media coverage of the
celebrations was substantial. National publications such as Le
Monde, Liberation, L 'Express, Panorama, Notre Histoire, Phosphore, and La Vi e all took advantage of the occasions to write
about the Baha'i community; national radio stations broadcast
interviews and news reports about centenary activities, and several
television stations repeatedly aired similar segments. The British
Broadcasting Corporation aired a twenty-five minute interview
with Olya Roohizadegan, a Baha'i from Iran, four times in July
and August. Mrs. Roohizadegan spoke of her experiences as a
Baha'i living under the post-revolution Iranian government, the
Baha'i women martyrs of her home town, and the Baha' i teachings. A milestone was reached in Greece when the best-selling
newspaper To Vima positively portrayed the Baha'i Faith in an
interfaith article, "Five gods in the same city: People begin from
different starting points and end up with common values."
Two multidenominational schools in Limerick and Cork City,
Ireland, both now close each year for a Baha'i holy day. One of
the schools ' calendars marks 12 November, the anniversary of
the birth of Baha'u 'llah, as "Baha'i Day," and suspends operations on that day. The other school closes for a different Baha'i
holy day each year. In both schools, prior to the closure, Baha'i parents are invited by the school to speak to students about the Faith.
In April, the national television station in Barbados and the
Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation contacted the Baha'is of
Barbados to tape readings of the Baha'i writings for regular
broadcast on radio and television, under the titles "Thoughts for
Today" and "Evening Meditations. " For ten to fifteen minutes
every Sunday morning, Namibia's Radio Ovambo airs a presentation on some aspect of the Baha'i teachings. Each program is first
translated into the local language by the National Broadcasting

Corporation. On 15 May Norwegian Radio broadcast a new composition by Baha' i composer Lasse Thoresen of selections from
the writings ofBaha'u'llah set to music.
In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Singapore's
Inter-Religious Organization, a body formed to promote peace,
understanding and goodwill among people of different faiths ,
three specially-designed stamps were issued in January 1999,
depicting nine of the major religions in Singapore. The Baha' i
Faith was honored through its inclusion. Elsewhere, the post office
of Hungary issued a one-day franking stamp on 21 November
1998 to celebrate the eighty-fifth anniversary of the establishment
of the Baha'i Faith in that country.

Muslim Muslim
Sikh Sikh
Baha'i Bah"'.~

Three stamps which f eature Singapore s main religions were issued by the lnter-
Religious Organization of Singapore in honor of its fiftieth anniversary.

Slovenia's national TV 1 network aired a half-hour program
about the Baha'i Faith in February. The program was commissioned
by the Office of Religious Affairs and contained three interviews
with Baha'is, a Baha'i dance workshop performance, excerpts
from a moral education initiative, and photographs of Baha'i
holy places in Israel. In September, Evangelische Kommentare , a
Protestant publication in Germany, published an article profiling
Germany's religious minorities. Members of the Jewish, Muslim,
Buddhist, Hindu, and Baha'i communities had the opportunity to
write about their experiences with Germany's Christian majority.
The article was a product of the increasing dialogue between the
Baha'i community and established churches in Germany, attained
after a long period of misunderstanding. In the words of the magazine's editor, after the German Baha'i community "succeeded in
correcting incorrect representations that had been circulated
about it among the general public, the Baha'is have more recently
been appreciated as religious partners, by the churches as well."

The Yad Vashem ("Righteous among the Nations") award is the
most prestigious award given to a gentile, honoring those who
risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. The award for
1998 was given on 17 December in San Francisco, California, to
Martha Forgeur-Henkart, a Baha'i living in Sacramento. Mrs.
Forgeur-Henkart provided shelter for a number of Jews in Belgium
fleeing from the Nazi regime by establishing safe houses and distributing false identity papers. Her name is to be engraved on a special
Wall of Honor at the Yad Vashem memorial center in Jerusalem.
Sharing the Baha'i Message
Over the course of the year in review, many communities have
developed their educational and cultural lives and the functioning
of their administrative institutions; other Baha'i communities
have broken through barriers in the way of dialogue and understanding between them and their governments and countrymen.
Still others have initiated large increases in the size of their communities, and other smaller communities, like the Baha'is in
Greenland, have seen an exponential rise in Baha'i activity this year
in the form of traveling teachers and regular public talks. An integral part of Baha'i life is teaching the Faith ofBaha'u'llah, both in
organized campaigns and on an individual basis.
Among the countries that have witnessed a substantial expansion
of their Baha'i communities during the course of the year is Ethiopia, where more than one thousand new believers were enrolled
during the month of March. Many were members of two tribes,
the Agnwak and Gniwar, which had spent years fighting each
other. Their newfound adherence to the Baha'i teachings, however, enabled them to set aside their traditional animosity and
begin living in peace. The government noted the change in the
tribes' attitude and has now granted permission for them to live in
the same area. Tribal members are now bringing the Baha'i message to other warring factions, as far south as the Sudan. Colombia
is another country in which large-scale expansion took place; more
than fourteen hundred people accepted the Baha'i teachings in
thirty-two of the country's departments during the summer.
A teaching campaign in Madagascar during two weeks in
August succeeded in reaching more than seventy-two thousand

Udaga Narayan Singh, left, Knight of Baha 'u 'llah for Tibet, who is now
pioneering in Biratnagar, Nepal, with Kalsang Ranzun, a new Tibetan Baha'i
who traveled from Lhasa to Kathmandu to visit Udaga.

people, including three thousand prominent people and leaders
of thought. Nearly five hundred of those contacted became Baha'is.
The Baha'i community of Bangladesh welcomed 620 new members in a campaign lasting from July to September. The Baha'i
teachings were first introduced to the local government, which then
assented to the Baha'is' activities. A Baha'i from the United States
spent twelve days touring the southeast and north-central areas of
Guinea in November. He met with the many Baha'is there, gave
public talks, and facilitated the establishment of children's classes.
Mozambique is home to more than six hundred new Baha'is,
thanks to the efforts of ten Baha'is who traveled throughout
twelve provinces in March, informing people of the teachings of
Baha'u'llah. Two new Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed, one
of which has already built a Baha'i center. Projects to strengthen the
new believers' understanding of the Baha'i teachings are underway.
Members of a traveling group of local Baha'is in Haiti slept on
woven mats, endured extremely hot temperatures, daily torrential
rains, mosquitos, and illness with patience and good humor. They
succeeded in attracting sixty-four people to the Haitian Baha'i
community during July and August.

YEAR IN REVIEW

Following the success of the Baha'i booth at the first International Book Fair held last year in Puerto Rico , the Baha'is were
invited by the Puerto Rico Museum of Religious Anthropology
to organize a booth in its exhibition at the largest shopping mall
in the area. The Baha'is have been invited to participate in several
subsequent exhibitions sponsored by the Museum. This has proven
to be an unprecedented opportunity for the Puerto Rican Baha'i
community to proclaim the Baha'i message and has resulted in
several opportunities to raise the public's awareness of the Baha'i
teachings. The Baha'is of the Canary Islands used the occasion
of a book fair in Los Cristianos, Arona, to make Baha'i literature
available to the public for the first time.
After twenty-six Baha'is completed a one-month training
course at the Enoch Olinga Institute in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, two
groups were formed to undertake a two-week-long public awareness campaign in February. One group traveled to the west and
the other to the north of the country, where they organized children's classes, public classes on the life of Baha'u'llah, interviews
with several radio stations and newspapers, and youth workshop
presentations in public and on television. Thirty-seven people
declared their belief in Baha'u'llah during the course of the campaign. Audiences in Mbozi, Tanzania, were treated to several
performances of the Ruaha Secondary School Dance Workshop
for eight days in June and July. Seventy-one people felt inspired
to join the Baha'i Faith during the workshop's tour, which was
augmented by public talks and children's classes. There was
near-constant teaching activity in the Central Asian country of
Moldova, where one hundred people became Baha'is over the
course of the year. Thirteen travel teachers from within the country
and twenty-nine from elsewhere contributed to the growth.
Some of the smaller campaigns and teaching conferences that
took place around the world are indicative of the type of activities
that thousands of local Baha' i communities undertook during the
year. Among these were the efforts made for three days in April
by ten Baha'is from five communities in Nepal. They traveled to
the southern Chitwan district, a region without any Baha 'is,
where they set up a Baha' i book stall, distributed literature, and
held public meetings as part of a public information campaign.

Seven people became Baha'is, thus establishing the district's
first Baha'i community. In the Seychelles, twenty people joined
the Baha'i community during a nine-day September campaign,
and in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, fifty new Baha'is
were welcomed between August and September. Baha'is in
lquique, Chile, proclaimed their community's allegiance to
achieving the goal of world peace through an organized proclamation campaign in the fall, and a Baha'i from Barbados spent
two and one-half weeks in July in Dominica traveling and telling
people about Baha'u'llah.

The Baha 'i communities ofBelgium, Canada,
France, Germany, Ireland, and the United
Kingdom celebrated notable anniversaries
this year. Robert Weinberg reports on their
commemorative activities.

1998-1999
A Year of Retrospect
and Prospect

W bile a large proportion of humanity has taken the opportunity
during the past year to anticipate the turn of a century and
the beginning of a new millennium, several national Baha'i communities have spent the period reflecting on their origins, celebrating
their achievements , and initiating dialogue on their country'sindeed the whole planet's-future.
The last twelve months saw significant celebrations of the centenary of the establishment of the Baha'i Faith on the European
continent, most particularly in France and the United Kingdom.
Germany, meanwhile, acknowledged the seventy-fifth anniversary of
the foundation of its Baha' i community, Belgian Baha' is marked
their fiftieth birthday, and in Ireland, events were held to celebrate
half a century of the establishment of Baha' i institutions in that
country. Canada, meanwhile, observed a double commemoration,
marking the centenary of the arrival of the Baha'i Faith in Canada
and the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Canadian
National Spiritual Assembly.
Millennia, centenaries, and anniversaries are all, of course, a
human invention. The Nobel Prize-winning novelist Thomas Mann
wrote, "Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never
a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of
a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only
we mortals who ring bells or fire off pistols." Yet, for Baha'is, a
significant anniversary is something to celebrate. It gives community members an opportunity to contemplate how far they have
come, who their spiritual forebears were, and how they managed
to achieve what they did. Anniversaries can provide a lesson in
how to transmit the experiences of the past to the future.
The first Baha'i center in Europe was established by May
Maxwell (nee Bolles). Born in 1870 in the United States, Mrs.
Maxwell spent many years resident in Paris with her mother and
brother. In February 1899, she was among the first group of
western pilgrims to go to Acre (in what was then Palestine) to visit
'Abdu'l-Baha, the son of Baha'u'llah and leader of the Baha'i
Faith, who was still being held as a prisoner of the Ottoman
Empire. On her return to the French capital, she began to tell others
of the new religious movement she had discovered. A significant
group of Baha'is emerged around her, among them a number of

Jn I 9 I 3, 'A bdu 'f-Bahil visited Paris for approximately jive months.
He is pictured here with His companions al the Eiffel Tower.

RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

Jn November 1998, more than one thousand Bahri'is gathered beneath the
Eiffel Tower to commemorate 'Abdu 'l-Baha :S visit to Paris in 1913
and to inaugurate a conference marking the centenary of
the Baha'i Faith in Paris.

artists and artisans, and believers of various nationalities, including
the early English Baha'i Thomas Breakwell.
To mark the centenary of these momentous events, the Baha'i
community of France held an ambitious conference in Paris from
27 to 29 November 1998. The celebrations began when more than
one thousand Baha'is gathered beneath the Eiffel Tower for a
photograph, on the same spot where 'Abdu'l-B aha had been photographed during His historic visit to Paris in 1913. Later, the
conference opened with the participation of two thousand people,
including more than two hundred guests of the Baha'is and six
hundred Baha'is from outside France. The structure of the program, which was modeled on the Second Baha'i World Congress
held in New York in 1992, included talks, film and video presentations, and theatrical and musical segments. A high point of the
conference was the colorful public concert "La Nuit de l' espoir"
("The Night of Hope"), held at the Salle de la Mutualite, one of
the largest halls in Paris. Before the event, more than two hundred and fifty special guests, including ambassadors, politicians,
religious and civil dignitaries, journalists, and representatives of

Civic dignitaries and
Saha 'is in the north of
England gathered in
Liverpool s St Georges
Hal/for a regional
celebration of the
centenary of the Baha'i
Faith in the
United Kingdom.

major non-governmental organizations attended a reception and
expressed great interest in and admiration for the work of the
Baha'i community. Another highlight of the event was a dedication and reception held immediately after the conference at the
Paris apartment where 'Abdu'l-Baha had stayed.
Also marking the French centenary, a colloquium entitled
"France, a Land of Faith," was held on 5 December in the prestigious Palais du Luxembourg. The goal of the event was to show
how spiritual values have played an important role in the nation's
growth and to point out the necessity, if France is to meet the
challenges posed by the accelerating pace of global development,
for balance between material civilization and spiritual values.
Nine speakers representing the main religions of the country took
part, including the Grand Mufti of Marseilles and the Director of
the Institute of Science and the Theology of Religions at the Catholic Institute of Paris. Some one hundred and seventy people
attended the colloquium.
Media coverage of the centenary celebrations was unprecedented for the French Baha'i community, with a three-minute
report shown on one of France's major television stations, a
dozen radio programs, and a large number of newspaper articles,
including a lengthy piece in Le Monde and another in the weekly
L'Express.
Among the participants in the French festivities were many
visitors from the United Kingdom who, on their side of the English
Channel, spent much of the past year celebrating the centenary of
the establishment of the Baha'i Faith in Britain. The first Baha'i

R ETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

A production tracing the history of Britain :S relationship with
the Baha'i Faith was held at London:S historic
Hackney Empire Theatre.

of the British Isles, the American-born Mary Virginia Thomburgh-
Cropper, was among the first party of Western pilgrims to visit
'Abdu'l-Baha. Soon after returning from her visit she taught Ethel
Jenner Rosenberg, a distinguished painter of miniatures, about
the Baha'i teachings. The two of them formed the nucleus of the
first Baha'i community in Britain. Many of the dedicated early
British believers were upper-class women who expressed their
newfound faith through involvement in humanitarian and charitable causes. The most distinguished of them- Sara Louisa, Lady
Blomfield-was an avid supporter of women's suffrage, campaigned for the rights of prisoners, animals and children, and was
an active early participant in the formation of the Save the Children Fund. As part of the United Kingdom's centenary activities ,
plans have been developed to restore the grave of Lady Blomfield in London.
The extraordinary achievements of these women inspired dozens of gatherings throughout the year, as communities all around
the United Kingdom held celebratory events. A special centenary
website was established featuring useful information, historical

Irish President 4",
Mary McA leese
attended a
reception in
•m•
Dublin Castle :S St.
Patrick:s Hall on
22 April 1998 to
celebrate the f tftieth anniversary of
the founding of
Bahci 'i institutions
in Ireland.

To mark the seventyf tfth anniversary
of the establishment of the
National Spiritual
Assembly, a
Baha'i delegation
met with
German President
Roman Herzog
(far left).

articles , and illustrations for communities to draw upon. Many of
the year 's activities made use of the exceptional artistic talent to
be found in the United Kingdom's Baha'i community. The inspiring multinational choir "One World Rhythm" performed throughout
the country; a youth dance workshop based in Northeast England,
"Express Freedom,'' impressed audiences around the region; and a
creative and often comical celebratory production written by Baha'is
was performed at London 's historic Hackney Empire Theatre.
Youth also featured in the celebrations, as one hundred and seventy-five young Baha'is and their friends attended a centenary
conference in Warrington.
In Northern Ireland, more than two hundred Baha'is gathered in
Belfast for a program that included a presentation on the history
of the Faith in the territory. Participants also looked to the future
and discussed methods by which the Baha'i teachings could be
more effectively applied to the problems troubling the region.

R ETROS PECT AND PROSPECT

On 22 March 1999, Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed a letter
to the United Kingdom's National Spiritual Assembly, saying. "I
congratulate the Baha'i community on the centenary of its establislunent in this country. I share your principle of equality between
all people and welcome your encouragement of dialogue between
those from different faiths and cultures. I hope your Centenary and
New Year celebrations are a great success."
On 22 April 1998, Irish President Mary McAleese attended a
reception in Dublin Castle's St. Patrick's Hall to celebrate the fiftieth
anniversary of the founding of Baha'i institutions in Ireland. Representatives of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of
Ireland attended, along with dignitaries from the Methodist Church,
the Sikh, Jewish, and Buddhist communities, the Department of
Foreign Affairs, the Dutch Ambassador, the Bulgarian Charge
d' Affaires, local schools, and several Irish non-governmental organizations. The President delivered a heartfelt and moving speech
about the Baha'i teachings and the history of the Irish Baha'i community, enlivened by spontaneous comments and reflections,
speaking far beyond the time originally scheduled. This was the

Jn commemoration oftheftftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Baha 'i
Faith in Belgium, a conference entitled "Spiritual Sources and a New Order of
Values fo r the 21st Century" was held at Brussels ' Palais des Congres.

first time an Irish President had attended a Baha'i event, an occasion
which coincided with the first time other Irish religious representatives had officially acknowledged a Baha'i presence in the country
by participating in Baha'i activities.
Elsewhere in Europe, to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of
the establishment of Germany's National Spiritual Assembly, a
Baha'i delegation met with President Roman Herzog. For threequarters of an hour the three Baha'i representatives talked with
the President about the writings of Baha'u'llah, Baha'i social
and economic development projects, the situation of the Baha'i
community in Iran, and Baha'i involvement in the United Nations.
In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Baha'i
Faith's introduction to Belgium, a conference entitled "Spiritual
Sources and a New Order of Values for the 21st Century" was
held at Brussels' Palais des Congres. One hundred and fifty people
attended, of whom half were guests of the Baha'is. The keynote
speaker of the evening was Chingiz Aitmatov, the Kyrghyz
Ambassador to Belgium and the European Community. Aitmatov
is one of the most widely read contemporary writers, with novels
translated into more than one hundred and fifty languages. During the colloquium he gave an inspiring presentation in which he
offered an analysis of the world's religions and contemporary
cultures. He referred to competition among the religions and
bemoaned the afflictions occasioned when "each religion endeavors to affirm itself at the expense of the others." Other speakers
at the event included Andraz Laszlo of the Club of Budapest, Professor William Hatcher from Canada, Professor Anne Morelli from
the Institute of the History of Religions of the Universite Libre
de Bruxelles (Free University of Brussels), and Dr. Christine
Samandari-Hakim of the Baha'i International Community's Office
of Public Information in Paris.
Many of these European Baha'i communities owe much to
their coreligionists from North America, whose pioneering efforts
in many instances brought about the birth and subsequent growth
of the Baha'i Faith in European territories. While May Maxwell's
historic role in establishing the first Baha'i center in Paris was
being remembered during the past year, her adopted home in
Canada had its own occasion to celebrate.

R ETROS PECT AND PROS PECT

Canada's Baha'is took the opportunity of their National Convention in Montreal, held from 14 to 18 May 1998, to mark the
fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the country's first National
Spiritual Assembly. A number of invited guests who had rendered
distinguished service to the community, as well as those who had
been at the Convention in 1948, were present. In a special message to the gathering the Universal House of Justice called upon
the Canadian Baha'is to maintain their position in the forefront
of the development of the worldwide Baha'i community and particularly emphasized the need to involve the First Nations people
of Canada in the unfolding processes towards world unity.
A heartfelt letter was also received from May Maxwell's daughter, Amatu'l-Baha RuJ:iiyyih Khanum, the Baha'i community's
foremost dignitary. "My ardent hope," she wrote, "is that the new
generation, as well as those who have recently embraced the
Divine Message of Baha'u'llah and entered into the tabernacle of
His world-protecting, world-guiding teachings, may distinguish
themselves , at home and abroad, in its service, and prove themselves worthy of the many blessings they have received as one of
the oldest Baha'i communities in the Western World, whether of
Europe or the American continent.
We all know that the fastest runner,
the most valiant exponent, the most
steadfast protagonist is in any event
likely to win the palm of victory."
The other cause for celebration
in Canada during the year was the
one hundredth anniversary of the
introduction of the Baha'i Faith to
the country. In September 1898 a
young woman named Edith Magee
returned as a Baba' i to her home in
London, Ontario after learning about
the Baha'i Faith in Chicago. During
the anniversary year, local communities around the country took the Mrs. Francoise Smith, center, who
opportunity to hold public birth- attended the first National Convention in Canada, with members of
day celebrations and show special the current National Assembly.

archival displays about the history of the Faith in Canada. Dr. Will
van den Hoonaard, author of The Origins of the Baha'i Community
of Canada 1898- 1948, also traveled to various towns and cities to
lecture about Canadian Baha'i history.
In reflecting during this year of anniversaries on their past glories and achievements, these Baha'i communities have not simply
been paying nostalgic tribute to their spiritual forebears. All these
events have served to remind Baha'is of the responsibilities they
will shoulder in the coming years when, it is anticipated, more and
more of humanity will turn to the Baha'i community for the insights
and guidance to be found in Baha'u'llah's teachings. Remembering
the achievements of the past reminds Baha'is of the foundation of
sacrifice and dedication that built the good standing and reputation
of the Baha'i community in the world today. Baha'is all over the
world know that no less a sacrificial outpouring of commitment is
required to continue the movement towards world peace and
unity called for and initiated by the revelation of Baha'u'llah.

THEBAHA,f
INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY
Activities 1998-99

T he Baha' i International Community (BIC) is the non-governmental organization that represents the more than five million
Baha'is living in at least 235 countries and dependent territories
around the world . Its 179 national and regional affiliates work
through a variety of forums to give practical expression to the
Baha'i Faith 's central principles of peace and justice. Among the
wide range of issues it addresses, the BIC is especially concerned
with four major themes: human rights , moral development, the
advancement of women, and global prosperity. Whether at the
local, national, or international level , these foci give shape and
substance to the Baha'i International Community's activities.
Both the Baha'i International Community's United Nations
Office and its Office of Public Information play important roles in the
promotion of this work. The United Nations Office, with fifty years
of diplomatic experience offering Baha'i perspectives on global
issues and supporting UN programs , has in recent years worked
with its national affiliates to enhance their efforts in these four focal
areas. The Office of Public Infonnation, which also represents the

- - -- -- -- -- -- -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - --

Baha'i community internationally, disseminates information about
the Baha'i Faith around the world, oversees production of the
award-winning newsletter One Country, and maintains the official
Baha'i web site.
United Nations
The Baha'i International Community maintains offices at the United
Nations in New York and Geneva, as well as representations to
United Nations regional commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok,
and Santiago, and to UN offices in Nairobi, Rome, and Vienna. In
1988 the BIC established an Office of the Environment, and in 1992
added an Office for the Advancement of Women as departments
of its United Nations Office.
As part of the community of international non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) in special status (formerly called "consultative status") with the United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) since 1970 and with the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) since 1976, the Baha'i International Community
participates in a wide range of UN activities. It offers Baha'i perspectives on the work of the UN and its agencies and works with
both its national affiliates and other NGOs.
During the 1990s, the base of Baha'i diplomatic work has
broadened to rely more heavily on National Spiritual Assemblies,
as a result of the involvement of a number of national Baha'i communities in various United Nations conferences. Since then national
Baha'i communities, with the support of other like-minded organizations, have been finding ways to ensure that the promises of
those conferences are translated into reality. As national Baha'i
communities have begun to take on responsibility for influencing
governmental attitudes and policies on matters of global, not merely
national, importance, the Baha'i International Community's United
Nations Office has sought to provide them with support and
training.
Human Rights
The Baha'i International Community has been associated with the
UN since 1947, and its focus on human rights education is part of
its long-term efforts to promote respect for and understanding of a
full range of basic human rights and responsibilities. In the Baha'i

B AHA' I I NTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

view, a willingness to respect and safeguard the rights of all people
is essential to the establishment of global order and sustainable
peace in the world.
The Human Rights Education initiative, a global campaign
involving Baha'i National and Local Spiritual Assemblies in an
effort to influence the processes towards world peace, was launched
by the Baha'i International Community in 1997 and gathered
momentum during 1998-99. National Spiritual Assemblies that
have chosen to participate in the campaign have begun finding
ways to encourage their governments, often in cooperation with
other organizations, to undertake activities in support of the UN
Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004).
The Human Rights Education Reference Manual, recently
developed by the Baha'i International Community's United Nations
Office, was distributed to 145 National and Regional Spiritual
Assemblies. The manual, which discusses both Baha'i diplomatic
work generally and human rights education specifically, is being
used as the basis for a systematic program of diplomatic training
offered to external affairs personnel of National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world. The first such seminar was held at the
Green Acre Baha'i School in Eliot, Maine, USA, in October 1998.
At UN Headquarters in New York, the Baha'i International
Community cosponsored a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at which the need
for human rights
education was addressed by a number of prominent
officials. The
United Nations
High Commissioner for Human
Rights, H.E. Ms.
Mary Robinson,
acknowledged in
H.E. Ms. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for her keynote ad-
Human Rights, speaking at the 30 October 1998
symposium "Towards a Universal Culture of Human
dress the contri-
Rights: the Role of Human Rights Education. " butions of the

TKE BAHA:f WORLD

Graduates of a diplomatic training seminar, sponsored by the
Bah6 'i international
Community s UN office
and designed to train
Baha 'is to influence
. the processes towards
j world peace at the gov-
. ernmental level, held
11- 17 October 1998 at
the Green Acre Baha'i
School in Eliot, Maine,
United States.

Baha'is towards human rights education and mentioned the arrests
of Baha'i university professors in Iran. The meeting was co-sponsored by the NGO Committees on Human Rights, the Status of
Women, and Freedom of Religion or Belief.
At the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on Human Rights,
held March-April 1999, three Baha'i International Community statements were circulated as official UN documents. One addressed
the protection of minorities; another the human rights situation of
the Baha'i community in Iran in general; and the third the creation
and subsequent crackdown on the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education in Iran. 1 The plight of the Baha'is in Iran was also addressed
in an oral intervention during the Commission's deliberations.
With other NGOs, the BIC signed joint statements on the Girl
Child, the Draft Report of the Working Group on the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance, and on the need for a Special Rapporteur on
Human Rights Defenders.
Protecting the religious freedom of Baha'is throughout the
world is an important aspect of the work of the Baha'i International
Community's office in New York and the primary focus of work
for the BIC office in Geneva. Working through the UN offices,
commissions and committees that monitor compliance with the
various UN human rights agreements, the Baha'i International

I. These statements appear on pp. 299- 302, 279-86, and 287- 93 of this volume,
respectively.

B AHA' f I NTERNATIONAL C OMMUNITY

Community has for twenty years directed international attention
towards the persecution of the Baha'is in Iran by providing the UN
and national governments with reliable information regarding the
current status of the beleaguered Iranian Baha'i community. 2
Interest in religious freedom is growing among governments
and NGOs , and the situation of the Baha'is in Iran is seen by some
as a perfect example of intolerance and discrimination based solely
on belief. At the August 1998 Oslo Conference on Freedom of
Religion or Belief, for example, held to create an international coalition to fund programs that support religious freedom, the situation
of the Baha'is was considered. In his address to that conference,
the Principal Representative of the Baha'i International Community's United Nations Office, Mr. Techeste Ahderom, described the
Baha'is as "a peaceful community whose members strictly adhere
to the teachings of their Faith, which enjoins them to avoid partisan
political involvement, subversive activity and all forms of violence.
The Baha'i community," he assured those gathered, "is not aligned
with any government, ideology or opposition movement." After
offering an overview of the situation of Iran's Baha'i community,
the country's largest religious minority, Mr. Ahderom narrated
briefly the circumstances surrounding the execution of Mr. Ruhu'llah
Rawhani, noting that during the last nineteen years more than two
hundred similar executions have taken place, all in the name of the
Islamic Revolution.
Environment, Development, and Global Prosperity
The World Faiths and Development Dialogue, initiated jointly by the
President of the World Bank and the Archbishop of Canterbury,
began in February 1998 at Lambeth Palace and continued this year
with two meetings: one in Rome in December 1998 and the other in
Johannesburg in January 1999. The Lambeth Palace gathering
brought together development experts and spiritual leaders from nine
major religions for two days of consultation on the relationship
between material and spiritual development. The Rome meeting continued themes raised at Lambeth Palace and also set the framework

2. See pp. IS 1- 54, 279- 86, and 287- 93 for further information regarding
recent developments in the human rights situation of the Baha' is in [ran .

THE BAHA'I WORLD

for the faiths' participation in the larger meeting in Johannesburg
between World Bank officials, organizations from African civil society, and various religious groups, which was held by the World Bank
to garner ideas and suggestions for the World Development Report
2001(WDR2001).
Because the Rome meeting was small the fifteen participants
were able to present ideas directly to members of the WDR 2001
drafting team but also to discuss issues in some detail. The Baha'i
International Community representatives in both Rome and Johannesburg emphasized the importance of basing development work
on a broadly conceived and widely shared positive vision for the
future instead of focusing on narrowly defined problems. For
example, the faiths were encouraged first to define prosperity (or
progress or development) and only then to seek to define poverty.
Similarly, drafters of the WDR 2001 were urged to define social
harmony and well-being before trying to measure social exclusion
and vulnerability. Moreover, it was proposed that any approach to
development must be animated by the conviction that, since
humanity is one, each child born into the world is a trust of the
entire human race.
At the Johannesburg meeting the question of how to measure
the application of spiritual principles in development was addressed
by the Baha'i International Community in the form of the statement Religious Values and the Measurement of Poverty and
Prosperity. This paper was presented at a workshop sponsored
jointly by the World Faiths and Development Dialogue, Cornell
University, the MacArthur Foundation, the Swiss Development
Corporation, and the World Bank. 3
Baha'i youth are also active participants in UN activities around
the world. Representatives of the Baha'i International Community
at the Third World Youth Forum of the United Nations System,
held in August 1998 in Braga, Portugal, facilitated one of eight
working groups . Representatives of the European Baha'i Youth
Council and the Baha'i Youth Committee of Portugal were also
active participants in the working groups, contributing substan-

3. See pp. 269- 77 for the full text of this statement.

B AHA'f I NTERNATIONAL C OMMUN ITY

tially to the Braga Youth Action Plan, the document prepared by
the forum for ultimate presentation to the UN General Assembly.
The BIC also participated in the historic First World Conference of
Ministers Responsible for Youth in Lisbon in August 1998.
Advancement of Women
In keeping with the trend toward greater activity at the national
level, the number of national Offices for the Advancement of Women
grew this year to forty-nine, an increase of almost twenty-five percent since last year. The efforts of these offices are encouraged by a
newsletter circulated by the Baha'i International Community's
Office for the Advancement of Women, which includes stories of
Baha'i projects, news from the UN, and information about opportunities for involvement in regional activities to promote equality.
The BIC has been active in a variety of different activities pertaining to women at the UN . Since 1988, it has convened the
Advocates for African Food Security: Lessening the Burden for
Women; it was invited to attend the International Conference on
Educating Girls: A Development Imperative, sponsored by UNICEF,
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the
Inter-American Development Bank, held in May 1998 in Washington , D .C. ; and the Baha'i International Community was the
only religious NGO present at an invitational seminar held in
Beijing in June 1998, hosted by the All China Women's Federation
(ACWF). The seminar, which was attended by approximately one
hundred and eighty NGO participants, was called to discuss follow-up actions to the Fourth World Conference on Women and
featured reports on largely grassroots activities to implement the
Beijing Platform for Action.
One topic of interest noted by some members of the ACWF was
strengthening national mechanisms for the advancement of women,
one of the issues addressed at the Commission on the Status of
Women held in March 1999 in New York. At the request of the UN
Division for the Advancement of Women, the Baha'i International
Community organized an evening panel discussion during the Commission entitled "Building National Machinery for the Advancement
of Women: The Role of Civil Society." It was cosponsored by the
Division and the NGO Committee on the Status of Women. The

THE B AHA'I W ORLD

BIC also signed a joint statement by the NGO Committee on the
Status of Women's Task Force on Institutional Mechanisms for the
Advancement of Women. As convenor of the Task Force on
National Machineries for the Advancement of Women for the NGO
Committee on the Status of Women, the Director of the Baha'i
International Community's Office for the Advancement of Women,
Ms. Bani Dugal-Gujral, attended the expert group meeting on that
topic, held in September 1998 in Santiago, Chile, where she presented to the experts the Task Force's recommendations.
Women and health, the second topic considered at this year's
Commission, has long been a concern of the Baha'i International
Community. The expert group meeting on that topic, held in September 1998 in Tunis, Tunisia, to prepare for the Commission,
focused on providing assistance to governments wishing to design
and implement gender-sensitive national action plans for the
health sector. BIC representatives attended the expert group meeting and contributed a written statement. 4
Tlze Future of tlze United Nations
As the United Nations moves into the new millennium, it is taking
full advantage of what Secretary-General Kofi Annan calls "a
unique and symbolically compelling moment for Member States
to articulate and affirm an animating vision for the United Nations
in the new era." 5 The General Assembly session convened in the
year 2000, designated "The Millennium Assembly," will include a
"Millennium Summit" for heads of state and government and will
be preceded in May 2000 by a "Millennium Forum," through which
organizations of civil society can have input into the Millennium
Assembly. The Baha'i International Community, as Co-Chair of the
organizing committee, hopes that through the Millennium Forum
organizations of civil society will contribute to a new vision for
the future of the United Nations and an organizational structure
whereby the peoples of the world can participate effectively in
global decision-making.

4. See pp. 295- 97 for the text of this statement.
5. From a report to the UN General Assembly (A/52/850).

B AHA' f I NTER ATIONAL C O MMU NITY

Meetings
The Baha'i International Community chaired five NGO committees
and task forces in New York and Geneva this year: the NGO Committees on Human Rights, on UNIFEM, and on Freedom of
Religion or Belief, and the Task Force on UN-NGO Relations for
CONGO (Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations in
Consultative Status with ECOSOC). In Geneva the Community
chaired the Sub-Group on Education, Literacy and Mass Media of
the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The
BIC attended a seminar of experts on an Islamic Perspective on the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights held November 1998 in
Geneva, which followed Sub-Commission Working Groups on
Indigenous Populations, Minorities, and Contemporary Forms of
Slavery. Other meetings and UN sessions monitored by the Baha'i
International Community this year include the seventh session of
the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice;
the twenty-seventh session of the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean; the fifty-first World Health Assembly;
UN General Assembly Special Session Devoted to the Fight against
the Illicit Production, Sale, Demand, Trafficking and Distribution
of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances; United Nations
Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment
of an International Criminal Court; the fifty-fifth session of the
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific; the
Substantive Session of the United Nations Economic and Social
Council; meetings of the UNICEF Executive Board; the Executive
Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR)
Programme; the second session of the Ad Hoc Committee on the
Elaboration of a Convention Against Transnational Organized
Crime; and the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development.

Public Information
Based at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel, with a bureau in
Paris, the Baha'i International Community's Office of Public
Information stimulates public information work throughout the
worldwide Baha'i community.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

The major publication of the Office during the year was Who is
Writing the Future? Released in February 1999, this statement
both reflects upon the events of the twentieth century in the light of
Baha'i teachings and relates global developments during the past
one hundred years to the challenges now facing humanity, providing a Baha'i perspective on events at this critical point in human
history. 6
The visitors' program at the Baha'i World Centre continued to
grow. Between RiQvan 1998 and Ri9van 1999, the Office of Public Information coordinated and welcomed more than two hundred
visits and welcomed some 2,595 visitors from eighty-five countries.
The Speaker and several members of Israel's Knesset, the State
Comptroller, senior officials from several government ministries,
and a former Supreme Court justice were among the Israeli guests.
Ambassadors from Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Spain, Thailand, the Ukraine, and the
United States, and Embassy officials from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
China, Korea, and Thailand visited, as did government ministers
and officials from Australia, China, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Hungary, India, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Thailand, the
Ukraine, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe. Visitors from the field of academia included the Dean of the Catholic Faculty of the University
of Vienna and several delegations from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, including the President, the Vice President, the Dean of
the Faculty of Humanities, professors, and students. In October
1998, at the time of a seminar on the theme "Women's Development,
Help Women Help Themselves," sponsored by the International
Council of Women, the executive committee of the ICW and conference participants visited the Baha'i World Centre. Journalists,
media representatives, mayors from cities in the United States and
Cyprus, and others also came during the year.
The Office, which was responsible for the production of the
video Creating a Culture of Growth, shown at the Eighth International Baha'i Convention in April 1998, subsequently distributed
copies of the video to Baha'i communities throughout the world.
Another initiative of the Office was the establishment of a pilot

6. For the full text of this statement, see pp. 255---68.

BAl-J.A'f J NTERNATIO AL C OMMUNITY

video bureau in the Congo
Republic, which has produced
short videos on Baha'i projects
in Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania,
and Uganda.
The Bahri 'i World website,
now in its third year, added two
new sections-one on social
action, focusing on human
rights, moral education, and
the situation of the Baha'is in
Iran, and the other featuring
perspectives and profiles. The
number of visits to the site doubled during the year. Plans are
underway for the launch of an
Arabic language version of the
site. 7
One Country, the official HE. Dr. Specioza Wondira Kazibne,
Vice-President of the Republic of
newsletter of the Baha'i Inter- Uganda and Minister of Agriculture,
national Community, entered Animal Industry, and Trade,
its tenth year of publication . shown with the Secretary-General
Published quarterly in English, of the Baha 'i International Community,
Mr. Albert Lincoln, visited
French, Spanish, Chinese, Rus- the Baha'i World Centre
sian and German, One Country on 18 April 1998.
reached an estimated 50,000
subscribers in more than 180 countries and garnered many more
readers through its site on the World Wide Web. 8 During 1998-99,
One Country won an "Award of Excellence" for its overall content
and design in the Apex '98 Awards for Publication Excellence.
During the year, One Country reported on major international conferences , including the Oslo Conference on Freedom of Religion or
Belief (Norway, August 1998), which brought together governments , academics and non-governmental organizations to talk

7. The URL for the Baha'i World website is <www.bahai.org>.
8. The URL for the One Country website is <www.onecountry.org>.

about religious tolerance, and the Global Dialogue on Microfinance and Human Development (Stockholm, April 1998), which
was co-sponsored by the European Baha'i Business Forum. Major
feature stories during the year focused on the highly successful
"On the Wings of Words" literacy project sponsored by the Baha'i
community of Guyana; a distinctive grassroots community vegetable growing project undertaken by the Baha'i community of
Mongolia, which has become a model for the nation; and the global approach of the Santitham School, a Baha'i-sponsored primary
school in provincial Thailand. One Country also carried major
news features on the efforts of the Honduran Baha'i community to
marshal international aid and disaster relief assistance following
Hurricane Mitch in November 1998 and on the efforts of the Iranian
government to shut down the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education.
The Paris bureau of the Baha'i International Community's
Office of Public Information was engaged in a wide variety of
activities during the year. The office assisted the French Baha'i
community in its centenary celebrations, particularly in connection with the artistic evening "La nuit de l' espoir," and continues
to liaise with the company "9 Productions" on a number of projects,
including the organization of a second "Nuit de l' espoir." "9 Productions" is a joint effort of Baha'i and non-Baha'i artists with the
aim of promoting the universal message contained in the teachings
of the Baha'i Faith to large audiences.
One of the Paris bureau's other major undertakings during the
year was coordination of the "Promoting Positive Messages through
the Media" project, which operates through the Royaurnont Process.
Office staff made preparatory visits to Bosnia Herzegovina and the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and received approval
from the Government of Luxembourg to undertake the second phase
of the project, including a multinational seminar to be held in Romania in the fall of 1999 and pilot projects in a selected number of
schools in Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania. 9
Training Baha'i communities to undertake public information
work is another thrust of the bureau's activities. This year, it
hosted a three-day public information training program in Paris for

9. For a full account of this initiative, see pp. 145- 50.

B AHA'I I NTERNATI ONAL C OMM UN lTY

representatives from Baha'i communities in the francophone
world and provided ongoing public information support to European and French-speaking National Spiritual Assemblies outside
Europe, the European Baha'i Business Forum (EBBF), and the
German National Assembly in conjunction with the Expo 2000
project in Hannover.
Conclusion
More than a century ago, Baha'u'llah called for the creation of a
system of international governance, based on the principle of collective security, which would encompass all of the nations of the
world and lay the foundations for a lasting and universal peace. The
Baha'i International Community, through both its United Nations
Office and its Office of Public Information, actively promotes this
concept and seeks to engender justice, peace and prosperity at the
international level. The Community's activities during 1998-99
bear witness to its commitment to these world-unifying ideals.

This article reports on the Bahri 'i
contribution to a European Unionsponsored moral education
initiative now underway in
Southeastern Europe.

BAHA'I
INVOLVEMENT
IN THE ROYAUM ONT
PROCESS

A fter the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the
1992-1995 war in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the
European Union pledged to mobilize civil society in a "soft" diplomatic effort to relieve the ethnic tensions that had roiled the religious,
cultural, and economic landscape of the continent, and in particular,
Southeastern Europe. Beyond the military and economic initiatives
that successfully ended the fighting, other measures are necessary
to end the war against intolerance; one can bring pressure to bear on
a militia leader to lay down his weapons, but one cannot force him
to stop hating his neighbor. The Dayton Agreements thus raised
an age-old dilemma: in the quest to create a culture conducive to
democracy and ethnic harmony, how can governments eradicate
divisive attitudes and prejudice? Out of the crucible of this question
was born the Royaumont Process.
Named after the French town in which the Process was created,
the Royaumont initiative was established on 12 December 1995
by the European Union with the goal of creating a "framework of
dialogue and cooperation" in order to "promote stability and good

THE B AHA'f W ORLD

neighborliness" among the nations of Southeastern Europe. Since
much of the past and present conflict in the area is based on ethnic
tension, Royaumont has focused on using non-governmental organizations to relieve ethnic strife through the promotion of interethnic
dialogue and cross-border cooperation and promotes initiatives in
such fields as education, art and culture, religion, science, technology,
and recreation. The Royaumont administration is responsible for
establishing projects in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Hungary, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Romania, Slovenia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Russia,
Turkey, the United States, and all fifteen European Union member states are also active members of the initiative. The Process is
coordinated by Panagiotis Roumeliotis, a Greek diplomat. 1
After the creation of the Royaumont Process, a two-year search
ensued to find suitable projects to fulfill its goals. In 1997, the Baha'i
International Community-an accredited NGO with the United
Nations--offered its expertise to the organizers of the Royaumont
Process, proposing that a moral education initiative created by a
Baha'i in Russia might be adapted to fit the Process's goals . For
several years the "ZIPOP0" 2 program- in English, "The Happy
Hippo Show"-had been successfully motivating Russian audiences to consider the application of moral principles to their day-today problems. "The Happy Hippo Show" is a unique drama-based
interactive tele-vision/radio program that has been developed and
implemented by Shami! Fattakhov, a television journalist from
Kazan, Russia. With "The Happy Hippo Show," Mr. Fattakhov
has been using broadcast media to explore points of ethnic and
cultural unity and to stimulate public dialogue on the unifying
power of morality. The English name of the program alludes to a

1. Dr. Roumeliotis was appointed to coordinate the Royaumont Process by the
Council of the European Union. Other organizations involved in the planning
and implementation of the Royaumont agreement include the European
Commission, the European Parliament, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Eastern
Europe , the Central European Initiative, and the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation collective.
2. "ZlPOPO" is an acronym of the Russian words "Zaochniy institut pozitivnovo
povedeniya," or "The Academy of Positive Behavior."

B AHA'I I NVO LVE ME NT IN THE R OYAU MONTpROCE SS

remark attributed to 'Abdu'l-Baha, who is reported to have said to
a crying child, "Don't be sad, be a happy hippopotamus!" 3
On 1 April 1998, representatives of all countries involved in
the Royaumont Process gathered at a summit in Athens, Greece,
to discuss potential Royaumont projects. There, the details of the
Baha'i initiative-"Promoting Positive Messages through the Media:
'The Happy Hippo Show'"-were first presented and approved for
financing. In the words of Dr. Roumeliotis, "'The Happy Hippo
Show' was one of the first projects to be submitted for evaluation to
the Member Summit since it was the first to be so well prepared and
comprehensive. " 4
Baha'i involvement with the Royaumont Process is coordinated
through the Paris Branch of the Baha'i International Community's
Office of Public Information and is funded by the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg. Ambassador Ronald Mayer of the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg, who has been involved with the Baha'i project, has
said that it "fits perfectly with the objectives of Royaumont, as its
aim is precisely to promote values, messages, and ideas encouraging reciprocal understanding and comprehension." "The Happy
Hippo Show" has also received high praise and enthusiastic pledges
of support from Balkan host governments.
"The Happy Hippo Show" draws upon the power of drama and
consultation, presenting brief, evocative sketches that spark discussion between the host and audience. One play performed last year
in Zagreb, Croatia, was called simply "Cold Coffee." Set in a
local coffeehouse, the piece featured three Croatians-two men
and a woman. During their meal , they speak several times in
derogatory terms about their Serb waiter. At the drama's climax, the
waiter accidentally spills coffee on one of the Croatians, and the

3. See pp. 229- 33 of The Baha 'f World 1996- 97 for further information on
the ZIPOPO project.
4. More than twelve other projects under the Royaumont Process have since
been established, including a program to strengthen ties between Southeastern European human rights NGOs (sponsored by the Internationa l
Helsinki Federation for Human Rights), an educational initiative to train
culturally sensitive leaders (sponsored by the Hellenic Foundation for
European Foreign Policy), and a plan to encourage cooperation among
Southeastern European universities.

THE BAHA'I W ORLD

To fulfill the Royaumont Process s goals of stimulating public dialogue and
consultation on ethnic issues, graduates of the November 1998 Happy Hippo
training seminar in Zagreb, Croatia, performed the short play
"Cold Coffee" for the public and media.

two men rise to attack him. At that point in the performance, the
host shouted "Freeze!"; the drama stopped and the host and the
audience took over. The following segment of the show was
devoted to discussion among audience members, with the host
asking questions and occasionally interjecting ideas or quotations
to spur discussion. The exchange that followed the performance
centered around ethnic relations between Serbs and Croats, with
audience members offering everything from simple pleas for tolerance to the observation that ethnic differences are an undeniable
reality with ramifications that demand careful attention. The program ends with the actors presenting one or two possible positive
solutions. One audience member, a university student from Zagreb,
said of the show, "I thought it was excellent in that it was actually
trying to solve the issue, and people were speaking openly. Sometimes in your family, you are not allowed to speak, but if you can
come here, to events like this , you can be heard."
The basic format of "The Happy Hippo Show,'' with its live
drama, audience response, and spontaneous discussion between the
host and audience is remarkably adaptable. Virtually any subject,

B AHA'f I NVO LVEMENT IN THE R OYAUMONT PROCESS

from the causes of local ethnic conflicts to premarital sex, can be
explored in depth, and more than two hundred scripts for the show
have already been written. The format welcomes grassroots participation and is designed to be particularly accessible to youth. The
goal of Baha'i involvement in the Royaumont Process is to train
journalists, education professionals, members of non-governmental organizations, those who work with youth, and other interested
people to work towards the fulfillment of the Royaumont objectives. One of the ways of doing that is by establishing "Happy
Hippo" programs throughout Europe.
In the initial phases of the project, Mr. Fattakhov conducts local
training workshops for prospective hosts. In a few days of intense
instruction, participants are taught the basics of organizing and
managing a television or radio show, how to write and solicit
scripts, direct actors, and serve as their show's host. As facilitators
of the discussion segment of the show, hosts are trained in the art
of successful consultation and are encouraged to adapt the "Happy
Hippo" format to the needs and capacities of their own communities.

After "Cold Coffee" was halted, audience members discussed issues related to
inter-ethnic tolerance. Seen in the center of the photo, to the right ofthe white
signboard, a host wearing the Happy Hippo costume rewarded audience
members who made positive statements.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

Training seminars have been conducted in six countries thus far:
Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia,
with more planned for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In
addition to airing on television, the show has been produced in the
business community, in kindergartens, youth camps, schools, hospitals, and universities. In Croatia, the weekly "Happy Hippo" radio
program, which addresses such issues as multiculturalism and
women's rights, was nominated best radio talk show of the year
in the spring of 1999.
Of the seminars, Dr. Roumeliotis writes, "The implementation of
this project was a success and the reports we have been receiving
demonstrate a profound interest by the target countries in the work
proposed by the Baha'i International Community." In countries
where seminars have taken place, plans are in process to identify
and support promising follow-up projects, to produce "The Happy
Hippo Show" on television, to implement "Happy Hippo"-inspired
moral education curricula in the school system, and to hold additional, more comprehensive training seminars.
The "Happy Hippo" format has also been adapted for use in
moral education programs in countries as diverse as China, Finland,
India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, the Malay states
of Sabah and Sarawak, Sweden, the Ukraine, and the United States.

Update: The Situation of
THEBAHA'fS
rN!RAN

T he situation of the Baha'is in Iran during 1998-99 was marked
by several major crises. The first of these was the execution of
Mr. Ruhu'llah Rawhani in July 1998, and the second was the government's attempted closure of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education
(BIHE) in October. In addition, government authorities confirmed death sentences on two Baha'is.
Two comprehensive written statements by the Baha'i International Community, presented at the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights in the spring of 1999, summarize these events
and are included in this volume. 1
The execution of Mr. Rawhani brought condemnation from all
comers of the globe. The United Nations Commissioner for Human
Rights, Mary Robinson; the President of the United States, Bill
Clinton; the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Australia, Alexander
Downer; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Canada, Lloyd

I. One, a report on the Baha' i Institute of Higher Education, appears on pp.
287- 93 ; the other, an update on the current situation in Iran, can be found
on pp. 279- 86 .

Axworthy, all issued statements expressing their disapproval.
Mr. Axworthy stated, "This brutal action is a grave disappointment," while the White House Press Secretary's statement said,
"The United States condemns this action, which violates the most
basic international norms and universal standards of human rights."
Media coverage of the execution was extensive, with articles
appearing in the International Herald Tribune; France's Le
Monde, Liberation, and La Croix; London's Sunday Telegraph;
Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Die Tageszeitung;
Australia's Sydney Morning Herald and the West Australian;
Canada's Globe and Mail and the Montreal Gazette; and other
newspapers in India, Uganda, Botswana, Malta, and Turkey. The
Tehran Times printed a denial of the execution, while the headline in the independent paper the Iran Times, published in
Washington D.C., read "First Baha'i is reported executed in six
years." A Jerusalem Post editorial mentioned the execution in
the context of hard-line opposition to reform in Iran. Wire services around the world, including AP (the Associated Press), UPI
(United Press International), Reuters, Agence France Presse, dpa
(the German press agency), the BBC Newsfile, and ARGUS in
Switzerland also followed the story.
Radio coverage included pieces on a number of BBC stations,
Radio France Internationale and Radio Orient (an Arab radio
service in Paris), Radio Canada (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's French-language radio service), Voice of America, a
number of Australian Broadcasting Commission stations, and radio
stations in Uganda and Botswana. The Australian Broadcasting
Commission carried the story as a major item on its television
news broadcasts in Western Australia and Victoria, and Botswana's
only television channel reported on the execution in both Setswana
and English.
In late August several European newspapers-notably Liberation in France and Neue Zurcher Zeitung in Switzerland-again
focused on the situation oflran's Baha'is, referring to the "brutal
persecution of the Baha'i religious community" in the context of
France's efforts at rapprochement with Iran.
When the raid on the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education
(BIHE) occurred at the end of September, the White House Press

B AHA'fs IN I RAN

Secretary again issued a statement of condemnation, as did Canada's
Minister of Foreign Affairs. The government of the United Kingdom
also expressed its support for the Institute through an Early Day
Motion in the House of Commons.
The raid, which was preceded by the confirmation of death
sentences against more members of Iran's Baha'i community,
again attracted significant media attention. In late September and
early October, the Times of London, the Luxemburger Wort and
the Journal, and the Irish Times all reported on the death sentences. UPI in Washington and Reuters in Washington and Paris
picked up the story, as did dpa.
The New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the
Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and the Iran Times all did stories
on the raid, and the Washington Post published an op-ed piece
protesting Iran's treatment of the Baha'is. The Times of London
published a letter to the editor, signed by five senior professors at
Oxford University, expressing their distaste at the actions of the
Iranian government in relation to the BIHE. The Statesman in
India published an article on the closure, as did Le Monde and La
Chronique d 'Amnesty International. Several Brazilian newspapers
also ran articles.
Wire service coverage came from UPI in Toronto and Reuters
in Paris, which both reported on the action, while AP and dpa did
dispatches based on U.S. State Department spokesman James
Rubin's statement condemning this latest suppression of the Baha'i
community in Iran. The Voice of America broadcast an editorial
report in support of the Institute and of Iran's Baha'is, which
reached Iran, and the BBC World Service issued a press release
based on the U.S. State Department's statement. An interview on
the situation took place on German national radio.
Later, when prison sentences were pronounced against four
faculty members of the BIHE in April 1999, AP in Washington
again reported the story.
In response to the closure of the Baha'i Institute for Higher
Education, Baha'is around the world developed a campaign to
bring the situation to the attention of university administrators,
academics, students, and journalists, urging them to take action
to publicize the denial of human rights to the Baha'is and to express

their support for the Institute. As a result, twenty-six university
and college presidents, rectors, and deans took action; prominent
academics and administrators wrote letters of support; influential
academic and administrative unions wrote letters and informed
their membership of the situation; student and faculty senates
passed resolutions concerning the situation oflran's Baha'fs; and
a number of media events took place. Other kinds of responses
included candlelight vigils, petitions, open letters, information meetings, and interfaith expressions of solidarity. While the campaign
involved many countries, Canada, the U.S.A., Australia, Brazil,
Germany, Ireland, and Norway were particularly involved in it.
At the United Nations, UNESCO Director-General Federico
Mayor wrote several responses to appeals directed to his office
as a result of the campaign, assuring correspondents that the
agency "is taking its responsibility very seriously in this matter,"
and the most recent report of the Special Representative on Iran
to the UN Commission on Human Rights cited the "orchestrated
raid" on the Institute as evidence of a deterioration of the situation oflran's Baha'is.

EssAYS,
STATEMENTS I

PRoANFr1Es
Nancy Ackerman and Graham
Hassall recount the historical
connections binding the Baha '[
Faith to Central Asia and,
specifically, to Russia.

RussIA AND THE
BAHA'f FAITH
A Historic Connection

0 ver the past decade, the world has watched with a mixture
of fascination and dismay as the countries of the former
Soviet Union have emerged from the yoke of totalitarian regimes,
in most of which religion was either banned altogether or barely
tolerated. Within those countries , the reaction which greeted the
restoration of many religious communities was characterized at
first by immense curiosity and excitement that was later replaced
by a more wary skepticism. This article traces the historic relationship of the Baha'i community to the largest of these countries,
Russia, 1 which has enjoyed a special relationship to the Baha'i
Faith from the religion's earliest beginnings in the mid-nineteenth
century.

1. Both Russia before the October 1917 revolution and the Soviet Union from
1917- 1991 included many territories which are now independent countries.
Several of them are mentioned in this brief sketch, although the detailed history of the development of the Baha' i communities in each of them has yet
to be written.

The record of Russia's involvement has earned for her a rank in
Baha'i history enjoyed by only three other countries of the world. 2
Her role in the early history of the new religion may be seen as an
index of her spiritual and cultural potentialities. In 1852, alone
among the nations of that day, Russia offered refuge to the Faith's
Founder, Baha'u'llah, when He was unjustly imprisoned; in the
1880s, a Russian court was the first to recognize the independent
character of the Baha'i Faith and to defend the rights of its persecuted
believers; a number of Russia's nineteenth and early twentieth
century scholars and artists played a role in acquainting the West
with the existence of the new religion; and it was under a Russian
administration in Turkestan, in the first decade of the twentieth
century, that the first Baha' i House of Worship in the world was
erected, and one of the most outstanding early Baha'i communities
enjoyed the freedom to develop.
Witnesses to the Persecution of Baha'is in Persia
It should not be surprising, given their proximity to Persia, the
birthplace of the Baha'i Faith, that Russia and its territories should
have been among the first areas of the world to be informed about
the new religion. The presence of representatives of the Russian
government in Persia during the ministries of both the Bab and
Baha'u'llah meant that Russian observers were witness to crucial
early episodes of the community's evolution.
In 1844, when the Bab declared His mission, the Russian legation
was one of a very few European diplomatic missions in Teheran. 3
One diplomat, Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov, Russian Minister to the Persian court from 1846 to 1854, was well aware of the
commotion which the Bab's teachings were creating in Persia as
well as of the atrocities committed against followers of the new
movement. Dolgorukov frequently included information about these
historic events in his reports to his superiors in St. Petersburg.

2. The other three are Iran , the birihplace of the Faith , the Holy Land , where
its Founders are buried and the spiritual and administrative headquarters
of the Faith are located, and North America, because of its special role in
the establishment of the Baha ' i pattern of administration.
3. For a list of Russian Ministers from 1839 to 1916, see Mooj an Momen ,
Th e Babi and Baha 'i Religions, 1844- 1944, Some Contemporary Western
Accounts (Oxford: George Ronald, 1981), p. 483 .

Dolgorukov was apparently aware of the religious nature of the
movement, but as he lacked firsthand knowledge of the teachings
of either the Bab or, later, Baha'u'llah, his accounts are frequently
distorted, as were almost all early accounts of the Faith written by
outside observers in Iran . As one historian explained:

Until the time when, in the early years of the twentieth century,
Baha' i communities arose in the West and were able to publish
accurate accounts of the new religion , it was rare to find an
undistorted statement of its history and teachings, for the most
part, because in the Persia of the latter half of the nineteenth
century it was very difficult to obtain firsthand information about
the religion. Severe persecutions had virtually driven the movement underground; even the words "Bab" and "Baha'i" could
not be mentioned in public. Thus Westerners travelling or residing
in Persia found it almost impossible to contact the Baha'is .. . the
majority of writers were forced to borrow accounts from other
writers. This resulted in fabrications and inaccuracies being perpetrated and through much repetition becoming regarded as the
truth. 4

Moved by a desire to avoid disturbances, real or imagined,
within or near Russian territory, Dolgorukov made representations to the Shah asking that the Bab's place of imprisonment be
moved away from the borders of Russia. However, the interest of
foreign observers in the new religious movement was growing and
the Russian Consul in Tabriz was ordered by the Tsar (Nicholas I) to
obtain as much information as possible about the Bab and His
followers. However, this instruction could not be carried out, as
the Bab was executed in 1850. The Russian Consul in Tabriz,
perhaps sensing the historic significance of this dramatic event,
himself went to view the Bab 's remains as they lay in a moat outside
the city, bringing along with him an artist, whom he commissioned
to make a drawing of them. This sketch was apparently later sent to
the court in St. Petersburg and may still be kept in historical archives.
It is clear from Dolgorukov's later actions that he deplored the
torture and gruesome public executions of the Babis. In 1852,
when Baha'u ' llah was sentenced to exile by the Shah of Persia,

4. Mom en , The Ba bi and Baha 'i Religions, p. 3.

Prince Dolgorukov, who "left no stone unturned to establish the
innocence ofBaha'u'llah," 5 offered Him refuge on Russian territory
and every assistance for His safe removal from Persia. Baha'u 'llah
chose instead exile to Iraq. On His three-month journey to Baghdad,
He was accompanied, by order of Dolgorukov, by an official representing the Russian Legation.
While Baha'u'llah and His followers proceeded on their journey from Baghdad to Constantinople and Adrianople, and finally
to the penal colony of Acre in Palestine, diplomats and orientalists
continued to correspond on what they regarded as an intriguing
contemporary religious movement. On rare occasions they even
provided the Baha'is within Iran protection from the continuing
persecution of the government and clergy. 6
Russian diplomats, among others, continued to extend protection
to Baha'is in later years, prior to the revolution of 1906. In I~fahan
in 1903, Baha'is took refuge from mobs in the Russian Consulate,
and the acting Consul, M. Voronovskii, petitioned the Persian
authorities on their behalf. 7 It was out of such humanitarian assistance to both Baha'u'llah and to the later Baha'is, that the accusation
was made by religious authorities in Persia of "Russian support
for the Baha'is." In an irony of history, this same false chargebut more generally of"foreign support"- was adopted by the later
Soviet regime against its own Baha'i community. When the Shah
expressed his displeasure to Russian diplomats, blaming them
for showing favoritism to the Baha' is, the official reply came
that "the [Russian] government shows no favoritism to the Baha'is,
but also does not persecute them."
Growth of the Early Baha'i Communities
The teachings of the Baha'i Faith spread into Russia, the Caucasus
and Central Asia, brought largely by travellers, 8 pilgrims on their
way to the Holy Land through Turkey, and by Persian Baha'is

5. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette: Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1970),
p. 104.
6. For details and other instances, see Momen, The Babi and Baha 'i Religions ,
pp. 378- 85 .
7. Momen, Th e Babi and Baha 'i Religions, pp. 376, 378- 85 .
8. See H.M . Balyuzi, Eminent Baha 'is in the Time of Bah6 'u 'llah (Oxford:
George Ronald, 1985), p. 180.

seeking refuge from the continuous persecution by the clergy and
authorities in their homeland. By 1938, records show that Baha'i
Assemblies had been established in at least fourteen cities, including
Moscow, Bukhara, Ashgabat, Tashkent, Baku and Tiflis, although
some ceased to exist during the Soviet era. Smaller groups ofBaha'is
had formed in at least twenty-two other localities, including Orel,
Leningrad, Samarkand, Erevan and Batum. The most developed
of these centers was , without doubt, Ashgabat, in what is today
Turkmenistan.
In the 1880s, the newly established city of Ashgabat became the
administrative center of the Russian-administered Transcaspian
District. The first Baha'is to settle there, in 1882, were refugees
from Sabzivar who were escaping religious persecution in Persia.
Baha'u'llah Himself encouraged Baha'i settlement in Ashgabat, 9
and within a short time some four to five hundred Baha'is had emigrated from Iran. By 1890 that number had reached one thousand.
The Baha'i community established a cemetery and constructed
buildings for community functions; one eminent Baha'i from Yazd,
I:Iaji Mirza Mul).ammad-Taqi, who had for some time been a
commercial agent in Yazd, bought a large tract of land, a part of
which Baha'u'llah requested be reserved for a Baha'i House of
Worship. Many of the Baha'is in the city were skilled masons
and construction workers and so contributed not only to the construction of the Temple, but to the building of the rapidly growing
city. In a relatively short period of time, they became known as
hardworking, honest, and reliable.
In September 1889 an event occurred which was to be of great
significance for members of the Baha'i community and for the Russian government under which they lived. Imitating the killings of
Baha'is in Persia, a group of Shi'ite Muslims residing in Ashgabat

9. The existence of this settlement in neighboring Russia may be connected to
one of the favorite early charges against the Baha'i Faith by its antagonists:
that of supposed "favoritism" by foreign powers, first laid by the Faith 's enemies in Persia, and later imitated by other individuals and regimes. Baha'is
were not favored by Russian authorities in the Romanov period, neither were
they discriminated against. This neutrality of interest was quite possibly a
major reason for Baha'u'llah's encouragement for this settlement; cited in
Momen, The Bab[ and Baha 'f Religions, pp. 299- 300.

murdered a prominent Baha'i of the city, "stabbing him in 32 places,
exposing his liver, lacerating his stomach and tearing open his
breast," 1o in full view of a crowd of five hundred who cheered the
murderers on. The Baha'is, with Mirza Abu'l-Fac,11-i-Gulpaygini as
spokesman, sought the protection of the authorities in the person of
the governor, General Komarov, who gave orders to put down the
disturbances caused by the attack and brought the ruffians to trial for
the murder.
The reaction of the Baha'is must have been remarkably restrained, for Baha'u 'llah Himself praised the actions of His followers,
who refused to seek revenge, adding that "none of the faithful
transgressed My commandment, nor raised his hand in resistance." 11
The trial took place in November 1890. Recognizing the distinctness of the Baha'i religion, the judges at the trial required
the Baha'i and Muslim communities to sit in separate sections,
with the Baha'is receiving full recognition as an independent
religious community. The court's verdict was death for two of
the accused and Siberian exile and banishment for the rest. The
Muslim community then begged the Baha'is to enter a plea for
clemency. The Baha'is agreed to intercede, and their appeal for
clemency came as a great surprise to the authorities . 12 Over the
protests of the defendants, who were apparently unwilling to be
spared death on a plea by Baha'is, the sentences were commuted
to Siberian exile. Russia thus became the first country whose legal
system extended a measure of justice, recognition and protection
to the followers of the Baha'i religion.
This dramatic episode attracted the attention of Russian orientalist-academicians Baron Viktor Rosen and Captain Alexander
Tumanskii, and its details appeared also in the correspondence of
British diplomats of the period. 13
In 1902, the Son ofBaha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha, gave instructions
for the erection of a House of Worship in Ashgabat-the first in the

10. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 202-03.
11. Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (Wilmette: Baha' i Publishing
Trust, 1986), p. 338.
12. See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 202- 03.
13. Momen, The Bab[ and Baha 'i Religions , pp. 40-43.

world-on land which had been reserved by Baha'u'llah. 'Abdu'l-
Baha Himself approved the design, and its final execution was carried
out by a Russian architect named Volkov. The foundation stone
was laid in November 1902, in the presence of General Subotich, the
Military Governor of Transcaspia, who represented the Tsar at the
ceremony.
Over the thirteen-year period between 1907 and 1920, before the
completion of the dome, the exterior, and the interior, the temple
was open for weekly prayers and Baha'i holy day observances. The
stories of devotion and sacrifice entailed in its construction became
legend: ordinary believers sold their most precious possessions; a

General Subotich,
Military Governor of
Transcaspia, served
as a representative of
the Tsar at the laying
of the fo undation
stone of the Bahci 'i
House of Worship in
Ashgabat, November .
1902. }-~;

businessman committed his entire fortune; a widow in Persia lovingly offered half of the tiny daily sum she earned for herself and
her children. 14 Erection of this temple ranked as "one of the most
brilliant and enduring achievements in the history of the first
Baha' i century." 15
Ashgabat was one of the first Baha'i communities anywhere
in the world to achieve a high level of social development. By
1918 the Baha'is had not only erected a House of Worship, but
had also planted extensive gardens, had built a meeting hall, a
pilgrim house, medical facilities and a cemetery, and were operating two elementary schools, one for girls and another for boys ,
as well as two kindergartens . These schools, open to children of
all religious backgrounds and giving special emphasis to the

14 .Star of the West, Vol. 13 , No. IO (January 1923), pp. 263- 64.
15 . Shog hi Effendi , God Passes By, p. 300.

....................
á~ equal education of girls , eliminated illiteracy within the Baha'i
community and contributed sigl nificantly to raising the general
~ level of education among the
, surrounding population, of which
only fifteen percent of males and
~~-- virtually no women could read
and write. There were also libraries and a public reading room,
The community published the
first Baha'i magazine on the Asian
continent, entitled Khurshid-i-
Khavar (Sun of the East). There
were active Baha'i youth soci-
Entrance to the Baha'i House
of Worship in Ashgabat.
eties, open to all irrespective of
belief and engaging in social and
humanitarian activities. Reflecting the fundamental Baha'i teaching
of tolerance towards others , the Baha' is of Ashgabat showed
respect for the traditions and customs of the local largely Muslim
community, with which they enjoyed warm relations. In other
centers where they were free to speak about their beliefs, 16
Ashgabat's Baha' is held open meetings where large numbers of
people of various ethnic backgrounds could engage in vigorous
dialogue on spiritual matters. Many of the community's younger
members traveled to other cities and towns throughout the Caucasus
and Central Asia to hold similar meetings with interested people
of the region. And in the early years of the Revolution, Baha'is were
active with others in the public defence of freedom of conscience
which was coming under increasing attack by the authorities.
Thus, for its outstanding philanthropists, for the early growth
and maturation of its Baha'i institutions, the building of the first
Baha'i House of Worship in the Baha'i world, the remarkable
social and educational advancement of its members , the stimulation and promotion of youth and women's activities , the initiation
of Baha' i publications, and for the contributions of leading Baha'i

16. Reported in Star of the West, Vol. 14, No. 1 (February 1924), p. 346.

scholars to the advancement of the society around them, Ashgabat,
even in the early 1920s, could indeed be considered a leading
center of learning and intellectual life in the Baha'i world. 17
Elsewhere in the region, for example in Tashkent, the Baha'is
undertook projects somewhat more modest in scale, such as
opening libraries and language schools and publishing literature.
The members of these communities supported themselves through
honest work and trade, practicing their spiritual and social principles in complete freedom.
Although personal memoirs abound and much archival material remains, little has been published about the detailed Baha'i
history in Azerbaijian, Armenia, Georgia, and the countries of
Central Asia. But there is ample documentation that by the time
of the passing of Baha'u'llah in 1892, there were adherents not
only throughout Persia, the Ottoman territories and as far east as
India and Burma, but that the number of Baha'is was increasing
throughout Asiatic Russia as well. 18 In the 1880s Baha'is were
living in Baku, Tbilisi, Yerevan, and other communities, where
they also had greater freedom than in Persia itself. The Baha'is in
these regions, while not possessing a House of Worship and its
dependent institutions, established Baha'i administrative bodies
and maintained small facilities for publishing Baha'i materials.
Russian and Soviet Literary Figures and Orientalists
Along with the development of Baha'i communities within Russia's
borders, knowledge of the Babi and Baha'i religions spread in
Russian-speaking intellectual, literary, and artistic circles. This, in
tum, resulted in research papers, voluminous correspondence
discussing the new religious movement, translations of Baha'i

17. For a detailed description of the Baha'i community of Ashgabat, its history
and achievements, see Moojan Momen, "The Baha'i Community of Ashkhabad; its Social Basis and Importance in Baha'i History," in S. Akiner,
ed., Cultural Change and Continuity in Central Asia (London: Kegan Paul
International, 1991), pp. 278- 305.
18. This documentation is found in early newsletters, correspondence from
' Abdu'l-Baha, travelers' accounts, historical literature such as Walter
Kolarz's Religion in the Soviet Union (London: Macmillan and Co., 1961)
and in The Bahri 'i World volumes for the relevant years .

literature into Russian and other languages, and artistic interpretations of heroic episodes in Baha'i history. All these efforts played
an important part in spreading information about the religion
throughout Europe as well as within Russia itself. The excellence
of some of this work is remarkable when one remembers that most
source material on the Baha'i Faith during this early period originated with biased governments, antagonistic clergy and missionaries,
inveterate enemies, and Western travelers who viewed events in
Iran through the prism of their own prejudices and misconceptions.
The distinction of being the first to have an entire book published
on the Babi religion belongs to Mirza Aleksandr Kazem-Big, Professor of Persian Literature at the University of St. Petersburg
from 1849 to 1860. 19 His work Bab i Babidy appeared in 1865 and
°
was printed one year later in French. 2 Kazem-Big recounted the
experience of a learned man (a siyyid, descendant of the Prophet
MuJ:iammad) who had become a Babi in Iraq and subsequently
traveled in the Caucasus, attracting several individuals to the
Faith. For this the Babi was arrested by the Russian government
and exiled to Smolensk, as it was at that time against the law for
Russian citizens to convert from Christianity. 21 Kazem-Big appears
also to have inspired a later French writer, de Bellecombe, to write
an article about the great Babi heroine Tahirih. 22
In 1869, after the young emissary named Badi' was tortured and
executed at the order of Na~iri'd-Din Shah for having attempted to
present him with a Tablet from Baha'u'llah, the document was
acquired by Russian consular officials in Persia and sent to St.
Petersburg, where the original is now preserved in the archives
of the University's Department of Oriental Studies. Through the

19. Mirza Aleksandr Kazem-Big, 1802- 1870; Lecturer in Oriental Languages
at Kazan University 1827- 1844; Professor of Persian Literature, University of St. Petersburg 1849- 1860; Dean, Faculty of Oriental Languages ,
University of St. Petersburg, which he helped found .
20. Published in Journal Asiatique, 1866, cited in Momen , The Babi and
Baha 'i Religions, p. 26.
21. See Momen, " The Baha'i Community of Ashkhabad . .. ," p. 284 .
22. A. de Bellecombe, " Une Reformatrice Contemporaine: La Belle Kourret
oul Ain , ou La Lumiere des Yeux ," which appeared in L 'fnv estigateur in
1870; cited in Mom en , The Ba bi and Baha'i Religions, p. 27.

diligence of Russian diplomats and the interest of contemporary
scholars, notably M. Gamazov 23 and Baron Viktor R. Rosen,24 the
exact text of the letter conveyed by Badi' to the Shah was preserved
and widely circulated. It was Rosen who forwarded a catalogue
containing Baha'u'llah's Tablet to the Shah to the Cambridge
orientalist Edward Granville Browne, one of the greatest early
scholars of the Babi and Baha'i Faiths, further contributing to the
English scholar's interest in the Babi movement. Browne was
later to become one of very few Westerners ever to meet with
Baha'u'llah.
Rosen also translated Baha'u'llah's "Bisharat" ("Glad-Tidings"),25
among many other works, 26 and supervised the preparation of
Pervyi sbornik poslanii Babida Bekhaullakha, a collection of
sixty-three Tablets by Baha'u'llah, which was published in 1908,
after Rosen's death, by the Oriental Department of the Russian
Imperial University in St. Petersburg.
In the early 1890s, Captain Alexander Tumanskii 27 first learned
of the Baha'is from a geography text he was studying during his
officer's course at the military Oriental Languages Training Section. When he learned of the murder of Haji MuJ:iammad-Ric;la in
Ashgabat and of the intervention of the Baha'is on behalf of the
murderers, he was inspired to investigate their Faith more closely.
Having received special permission to proceed to Transcaspia, he
met the Baha'is of Ashgabat and, after studying the Faith more
intensively, began to publish Baha'i works, including the Arabic

23. Head of the Oriental Languages Section of the Asiatic Department of the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
24. Baron Yiktor Romanovich Rosen, 1849- 1908; lecturer at the University of St.
Petersburg, 1872; Founder of the Oriental Section of the Imperial Russian
Archaeological Society and Editor of the Notes of the Oriental Division of the
Russian Imperial Archaeological Archives, 1886-1908.
25 . "Blagiya Yesti," Zapiski vostochnogo otdelenie russkogo imperatorskogo
arkheologicheskogo obshchestvo, Vol.7, 1892, pp. 183- 92.
26. See list in Momen, The Babi and Baha 'i Religions, p. 42.
27. Captain A lexander G. Tumanskii, died 1920, soldier and orientalist; spent
several years in Ashgabat, where he came into contact with some of the
great early scholars of the Faith, including Mirza Abu'l-Fac;ll-i-Gulpaygani;
after a number of missions into Persia, he taught Arabic in Tbilisi.

text and a Russian translation of Baha'u'llah's Kitab-i-Aqdas
(Most Holy Book), 28 with a forty-eight-par introduction, and
the Kitab-i-Ahd (Book of the Covenant). 2 These represented
the first translations of these works into any foreign language.
The former was first presented to the faculty of the History and
Philology Department of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St.
Petersburg in 1894. When Tumanskii visited the Baha'is in Ashgabat again, one month after the passing of Baha'u' llah in 1892,
he touchingly described their sadness on this occasion, the moving
memorial ceremony and readings and even their warm hospitality
and delicious refreshments.30
Among the other noted orientalists in Russia who contributed
descriptions of Babi and Baha'i historical events was a German,
Professor Johann Albrecht Bernhard Dom, 31 Conservator of the
Imperial Russian Library and Director of the Asiatic Museum in St.
Petersburg in 1842. During his travels in Persia in 1860, he obtained
firsthand accounts of the upheaval at Fort Shaykh Tabarsi. In his
assessment of these documents, he describes the intricacies of
weighing the testimonies of those trying to exterminate the Babis
and of the victims themselves.
Professor V.A. Zhukovski not only wrote about the executions
of a number of prominent Baha'is in Yazd, 32 but also produced an
important article 33 about Consul F.A. Bakulin, the diplomat who
served at the Russian missions in Astarabad and Tabriz at the time
of the Bab's execution.
In 1904, the Russian writer S.I. Umanets made an important
contribution by refuting the allegation of contemporary Russian

28. "Kitabe Akdes," Zapiski Akadem ii Nauk St. Petersburg, 8th ser., Vol. 3,
No. 6, 1899.
29. " Poslednee slovo Bekha-ully," Zapiski, Vol. 7, 1892, pp. 193-203.
30. " Poslednee slovo Bekha-ully," pp. 1- 3.
31. Johann Albrecht Bernhard Dom , German orientalist, 1805- 1881 , Professor of the History and Geography of Asia at the Oriental Institute at St.
Petersburg in 1835.
32. "Nedavnya kazni babidov v gorode Ezde," cited in Momen , The Babi and
Baha 'i Religions, p. 43 .
33. "Rossiskii Imperatorskii Konsul F.A. Bakulin v istorii izucheniya babizma,"
in Zapiski, Vol. 24, 1916, pp. 33- 90.

newspapers that the assassina- S.lllllC6U HMllEl'.11'01'()~011 UiA,J,f.Hlll 11"11i'L.
~OrRES
tion of Nasiri'd-Din Shah had II~:
J,'.AOADf:~lll:: l~Jl'f:IUALE ))fo.:8 st::U:'\Ct;~ llL :ST.-1'&'1'1'J!lSTIOUH(l.

been carried out by a Babi. He \ ' Ill • fiF.ttná~

UO llt'TllPllMO~IUO.l••Ml~lt'Cllllr f1TA•UIUKI Olo•~ltll Hl9'.l'ORl!Xi-l'fl/l,(11AA!1\1U11.
ár ,, ...... 111 . á'" o • •ou••ol• ,.,..,,,,.,, 1 n . .!\~ u "4'1'1!1o"
describes the evolution of the
Babi movement into the Baha'i lt YITABE ACtJi; CC'b

Faith , calling it a "separate ,,CBRUIEHH1iHWAR KHH fA" CGBPEMEHHWrh WHAGB li

religion." 34
r . '.l "Y>f.llU c.! l<lU--0
The Soviet period is character- A .

ized by an almost complete
absence of research conducted
with a fair-minded perspective or .,~, 0~";:,'""':::-:á:::2:áá
based on factual sources . Men- ,~"''-á'--''"""'"'.:":.~.:-',;'..:,;;'"""'""
tion can be made of Mikhail S. u.-Jlh'TEl'IJYl'C"b 1hm sT.-1•1oáF,1is1""'"'
I vanov, w h ose 193 9 t h es1s on
0 llpoJ.0,.,..,.01~=::~l;•tlU'~t•"'2t<lil(\.01.i..,lt&aJ1"<ool<~i.::~:~'á bU•oHO

'"''"""'"'""'' "g.. ""á '"áá~á"'"'m""á"'""'"'
II.I.~=~~ ~l:r~~ M<>«~t
.. lar~il1.J't'~~1 11!itn
• J,I~...,.
), ,,..,,, tt

Bahaism [sic] at the University of ~i:.;;:~""..c;;..n:i!.~~~ 10•k. ~--~..~~..::Já~~~,,
~;:'1.~~:r~.,......__.
..., ~
;:.1-::\!.~1 :á(, ~-l)•h•~"'I
1 .. , ..

Leningrad relies on wholly inac- ,,...,,, ..... ,~,.,,
curate and antagonistic sources Title page ofTumanskii's translation of
and is couched in Marxist-Lenin- the Kitab-i-Aqdas, thefirst foreign transist ideological terms. He dis- lation of Baha 'u 'llah's Book oflaws.
misses the Babi movement as an "uprising"- a characterization
which, unfortunately, still persists in the work of some contemporary orientalists. Ivanov's work does, however, contain the text of
some important dispatches of Prince Dolgorukov. 35
Perhaps the only exception to this record is Evgenii E. Bertels
(1890- 1957), whose 1925 review of a work by a Baha'i named
Mirza 'Abdu'l-I:Iusayn Avarih36 contains an unusually concise and
unprejudiced description of the Baha'i Faith. A specialist in Persian
language at the Oriental Institute in Moscow until his death in
1957 and a prolific author of works on Persian and Tadjik literature
as well as an analysis of Sufism, Bertels writes with a combination
of scholarly restraint and keen psychological insight about the
motives of the enemies of the Baha'i Faith, who were jealous of the

34. Cited in Momen , The Babi and Baha'i Religions, p. 59.
35. Mikhail Sergeevich Ivanov, Babidskie vosstaniva v lrane 1848- 1852,
(Moscow: Akademia Nauk SSSR, 1939).
36. Evgenii E. Bertels, "A Baha' i on the History ofBabism," in Vostok, Zhurnal
literatury, nauki i iskusstva, Vol. 5, 1925 , pp . 202-07 .

THE BAHA:f WORLD

rising authority and influence of Baha'u' llah and later of' Abdu'l-
Baha, and urges his colleagues to undertake a dispassionate and fair
analysis of all sources.
A prominent member of the early Russian Baha'i community
was the St. Petersburg poet and playwright Isabella Grinevskaya,
of the then fashionable Philosophical, Oriental and Biblical Society.
In the early years of the twentieth century, already a poet of considerable reputation, she wrote two dramas based on episodes in
the lives of the Bab and Baha'u'llah. With her keen interest in
things Eastern, she had first learned of their teachings and about
the dramatic early history of the Faith through the writings of
Kazem-Big, Gamazov, and Tumanskii.
The first play in verse, entitled Bab: Dramaticheskaya poema
iz istorii Persii (The Bab: A Dramatic Poem from the History of
Persia), was published in 1903. 37 The second was called Bekhaulla: Poema tragediia v stikhakh iz istorii Persii (Baha'u'llah: A
Tragic Poem in Verse from the History of Persia), 38 published in
1912. Although the play about Baha'u'llah was never performed,
the somewhat shorter drama about the Bab was staged in the
Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg in 1904 and 1917, and later, in
translation, in both London and Paris.
Not only did the performance itself cause a stir-the author being
called out onto the stage after each act and showered with flowersbut the work also caused something of a sensation in literary and dramatic circles both in St. Petersburg and other Russian cities,
including Ashgabat. Dozens of newspapers and journals devoted
lengthy articles to a detailed analysis of the style, subject matter, and
dramatic presentation. Writers, playwrights, and critics wrote ecstatically about the "rare subject matter," the author's "originality,"
"beauty and refinement of humanitarian thought," and her "depth,
seriousness and warmth of feeling," calling it a "work of rare artistic
beauty," "the best play of the current season," "deserving of the
attention of Western as well as our own theatregoers and critics."

37. Isabella Grinevskaya, Bab: Dramaticheskava poema iz istorii Persii (St.
Petersburg: Khudozhestvennoi Pechati, 1903), izd.2-e .
38. Isabella Grinevskaya, Bekha-ulla: Poema tragediia v stikhakh iz istorii
Persii (St. Petersburg: I. G. Braude, 1912).

One Professor Khakhanov, writing in the Russian News, after
praising the author's sensitive portrayal of a subject "foreign to her
own culture and spirit," predicted that "when the wider public
becomes familiar with the teachings of the Bab, they will discover
the means by which Christians and enlightened Muslims can reach
out to each other." Under the pseudonym "Homunculus," another
writer responded warmly to the universality of the subject matter:
"In the message of this as yet unknown hero--coming as he does
from an unfamiliar people-in this passionate idealist, there is yet
something close and common to us all, perhaps because he sought
to lead us to that which is true for all people." In an Odessa newspaper, L.E. Obolenskii devoted a lengthy feature article to the play,
in which he wrote: "I shall not speak about the idea of the play; but
it is well able to raise the spirit of the reader or listener to such
heights such as one rarely feels in recent times from literary or theatrical works." Gabriel de Wesselitsky, president of the Foreign
Press Association, writing in English, French, German, and Russian, described how he was "accosted by a lady who begged to
present me with a book of poetry" and that when he finally read it,
he was "at once struck by the rare combination of philosophical
thought with a great power of expression, beauty of imagery and
harmony of verse. I keenly felt the delight of reading a new great
poem and of discovering a new first-rate poet. .. Amidst the sorrows
of disastrous war ...that book was my only happy impression, and
it has remained since a permanent source of joy and comfort as a
manifest proof of the vitality of Russia and its creative genius." 39
In 1914, Grinevskaya attended a research conference dedicated
to the tenth anniversary of the opening of the play and spoke of a
somewhat different reaction to her work: "One very well-known
professor told me that the name of my poem, "Bab," is not suited
to the Russian ear. I answered him that the names of people who
teach the ideals of love and for which they have given their lives,
should be suited to all who hear them. Noble ideals are so rare

39. All quotations are from Otzyvy pechati o dramaticheskoi poeme 'Bab' Jsabelly
Grinevskoi (Reviews in the press of the dramatic poem 'Bab' by Isabella
Grinevskaya), compiled by I. Sh. (St. Petersburg, 1910). (Translation
N.A.)

THE BAHA'I WORLD

these days, that it has been necessary to stage the play again, so
as to reawaken the memory of these ideals. We, the people of the
West, awaken to such things too slowly and yet we know that it is
in the East that the sun rises." 40
Leo Tolstoy was reported to have given the play "The Bab" to
one of his visitors at Yasnaya Polyana for night-time reading, 41
and himself wrote to Grinevskaya that he was delighted with the
play, adding "I have known about the Babis for a long time and have
a long-standing interest in their teachings: Because (Babism) has
set aside the old superstitions and not substituted new ones which
divide people ... and because it strives to create one religion for all
mankind ... and has as its main goal the transformation of people's
world view, it has a great future: I wholeheartedly sympathize
with Babism to the extent that it teaches people brotherhood and
equality and the sacrifice of worldly life for the service of god
. ) ,,42
( SlC .
Her success brought Grinevskaya into contact with members of
the Baha'i community, the first of whom was 'Ali-Akbar Nakhjavani of Baku. Through these contacts, she received permission
from 'Abdu' 1-Baha to visit Him in Alexandria in 1911. Later she
wrote a memoir of her two-week stay, describing it as "the realization of my secret wish, my most cherished dream, to see with my
own eyes those people about whom I had written and who love all
humankind ... When I left Russia in December of 1910, I already
had a draft of my manuscript for the poem 'Baha'u'llah' and my
goal was to see the object of my dreams-to see Abdu'l-Baha!"
After her departure, 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote to Grinevskaya, praising
her "services to the world of humanity" and expressing the hope
that the seeds she was sowing would bear fruit. "Although the
conditions may not be appropriate now," He continued, "no doubt
they will be in the future."
Grinevskaya completed a five hundred-and-fifty page book
about her meeting with 'Abdu'l-Baha, entitled Travels to the

40. The Baha 'i World, Vol. VI , p. 707.
41. The Bahil 'i World, Vol. VI, p. 6.
42. L. N. Tolstoy, letter to Isabella A. Grinevskaya, in Po/nae sobranie sochinenii
(PSS) , Vol. 74 (Moscow, 1954), pp. 207-08 .

Land of the Sun. But the war intervened,
and then the Revolution, and the book
was never published. She also had the
good fortune to meet Shoghi Effendi,
with whom she corresponded devotedly for many years. Grinevskaya was
the initiator of Baha'i activities in Leningrad well into the 1930s.
Both Russia's literary giants Ivan
Turgenev 43 and Leo Tolstoy knew of
the Baha'i Faith, but much more is
known about the latter author's longstanding interest. Tolstoy first heard
about the Babis in 1894 from O.S. Leb- Isabella Grinevskaya
edova. His correspondence and diaries over a span of sixteen years
until his death in 1910 contain a number of references to his investigation of the Babi and Baha'i teachings, prompted by his
fascination with spiritual matters and his search for a religion based
on reason. Tolstoy's relationship to the Faith is only now becoming
more clearly understood by contemporary researchers. 44
With so few direct sources at his disposal, it is understandable
that Tolstoy had difficulty differentiating the terms "Babi" and
"Baha'i." Moreover, his own inner contradictions and philosophical
attachments led him to make comments about the Faith ranging
from high praise verging on personal commitment to outright dismissal, when he found it did not conform to certain of his own
cherished beliefs. In one letter he calls the Baha'i Faith "the highest
and purest form of religious teaching" 45 and in another says that he

43 . Turgenev, who was in Oxford in 1879 to receive an honorary degree, apparently mentioned the Faith " often" to the Countess of Wemyss, one of the
European intellectuals who took an interest in the Baha'i Faith following the
publication of Count de Gobineau's book Les Religions et !es Philosophies
dans L 'Asie Centrale in 1865. During his 1879 visit to Oxford, he conversed
about the new religion to the head of Balliol College, Dr. Benjamin Jowett;
cited in Momen, The Babi and Baha '£Religions, p. 52.
44. William P. Collins and Jan T. Jasion, " Lev Tolstoi and the Babi and Baha ' i
Faiths, A Bibliography," published in The Journal of Baha '£Studies , Vol.
3, No. 3 ( 1991 ), Association for Baha'i Studies, Ottawa, Canada.

THE BAHA'f WORLD

is "disenchanted with the teachings of Baha'u'llah." 46 Within one
two-month period he extols the "y,ure and lofty teachings of the
disciple of the Bab-Baha'u'llah" 7 and then tells another correspondent that the more he becomes acquainted with the Baha'i
teachings, the less he "appreciates it. "48
In his corre~ondence with a number ofBaha'is as well as fellow
investigators , 9 Tolstoy pursued an active discussion on many
specific issues, such as the nature of God, patriotism, the station
of the Messengers of God, the unity of religion and the relationship between reason and spirituality. He was spurred in his quest
by the urgent conviction that a world religion was necessary for
humanity, but one shorn of ritual and based on the individual
search for truth. As he stated in his reply to the Persian Ambassador in Russia, who had sent him one of his own poems, entitled
"Peace," Tolstoy believed that "the cause of evil is selfishness
and ignorance .. .ignorance of the true religion ... I believe that
everywhere, like the Babis in your homeland, Persia, there are
people who profess the true religion and that, despite the persecutions to which they are always and everywhere subjected, their
ideas will increasingly spread and triumph in the end over the
barbarity and ferocity of governments ... " 50
One of the Baha'is who had the privilege of an interview with
Tolstoy, describing it in minute and humorous detail, asked the
famous author, at the end of their lengthy discussion, what his
opinion was ofBaha'u'llah, to which Tolstoy replied: "How could I
deny him? ... Obviously this cause will conquer the whole world.

45. L. N. Tolstoy, Pisma (Fridun Khan Badalbekov), 1908, 12.28. PSS, Vol. 78, pp.
306--D7; cited in Collins and Jasion, "Lev Tolstoi and the Babi and Baha'i
Faiths," p. 7.
46. To Hippolyte Dreyfus, an early French Baha' i, cited in Luigi Stendardo,
Leo Tolstoy and the Baha'i Faith (Oxford: George Ronald, 1985), p. 34.
47. L. N. Tolstoy, Pisma (Fedor Alekseevich Zheltov), 1909, 10.12, PSS, Vol.
80, pp. 138-39; cited in Collins and Jasion, "Lev Tolstoi and the Babi and
Baha'i Faiths," p. 2.
48. Letter to Na~avani ; cited in Collins and Jasion , "Lev Tolstoi and the
Babi and Baha'i Faiths," p. 2.
49. This correspondence is reviewed in detail by Stendardo, Leo Tolstoy and
the Bah6 'i Faith, chapters 3 and 4.
SO. Stendardo, Leo Tolstoy and the Baha'i Faith, pp. 20- 21.

I myself have already accepted Muhammad" and ended with the
request, "Send me more writings. " 51
Despite his own ambivalence, and because of his own stature
among literary figures, Tolstoy can be credited, through this correspondence, with introducing a number of contemporary writers,
philosophers, and fellow-seekers to the Baha'i teachings. He is
recorded as having received a number of books on the Baha'i Faith,
which he immediately read or sent to some of his correspondents
who were also interested in religious subjects.
'Abdu'l-Baha was aware of Tolstoy's interest and knowledge
of the Faith and encouraging a number of Baha'is to contact him.
'Ali-Akbar Nakbjavani from Baku, mentioned earlier, was one of
those who entered into correspondence with him and sent him literature. In his reply to Nakhjavani, 52 Tolstoy mentions that he
was contemplating the publication of a book on the Babi-Baha'i
religion. Through another Baha'i, Mirza Azizu'llah Jadhdhab of
Khurasan, 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself sent a message to Tolstoy in
which He said, "Act that your name may leave a good memory in
the world of religion. Many philosophers have come, each one
raising a flag, let us say five meters high. You have raised a flag
ten meters high; immerse yourself in the ocean of unity, so that
you may remain confirmed eternally." 53
Although never himself accepting the Faith, Tolstoy, toward the
end of his life, came to the conclusion that the teachings of the
Bab had found their fullest development in the works ofBaha'u'llah,
that they "present us with the highest and purest form of religious
teaching," 54 and that "they are deep. I know of no other religion that
is so deep." 55
Instead of seeing the range of Tolstoy's commentaries about

51. Report of Mirza Azizu' llah Jadhdhab Khurasani in Stendardo, op. cit., p. 30.
52. L. N . Tolstoy, PSS, Vol. 80, p. 102; cited in Stendardo, Leo Tolstoy and the
Baha'i Faith, p. 50.
53. Cited in Stendardo, Leo Tolstoy and the Baha'i Faith, p. 30.
54. L. N. Tolstoy, Pisma, Fridum Khan Badalbekov, 1908.12.28, PSS, Vol. 78,
pp. 306- 07; cited in Stendardo, Leo Tolstoy and the Baha'i Faith, p. 7.
55. D. P. Makovitskii, "U Tolstovo (With Tolstoy): 1904-191 O," Yasnopolyanskie
zapiski (Notes from Yasnaya Polyana), Vol. 4 (Nauka, 1979), p. 255.

THE BAHA'I W ORLD

the Baha'i Faith in the context of his own individual spiritual
search, antagonists of the Baha'i Faith have tended to fasten on
one or another of Tolstoy's negative remarks to lend weight to
their charges, just as its proponents and friends have emphasized
his more admiring statements. But whatever case may be made
for his own commitment, which we will never know, it is clear
that his view of the Faith as "prophetic" and "profound," and the
span of his continuing involvement, indicate the depth of his fas -
cination with the new religion.
Mention of Russia in the Baha' i Writings
Beginning during His exile in Adrianople, and continuing through
His incarceration in the barracks in Acre, Baha'u'llah addressed
majestic letters to the individual kings and rulers of mid-nineteenth
century Europe and America, among them Tsar Alexander II of
Russia. Baha'u ' llah warns him, as He did the other sovereigns,
not to ignore the Messenger of God and to arise with justice "in
the name of this all-compelling Cause." But in contrast to His
powerfully-worded exhortations to the other rulers , Baha'u'llah
begins His Tablet to the Tsar in a more intimate tone : "We, verily,
have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord ,
whilst secretly communing with Him," referring evidently to the
Tsar's earnest prayer for military victory over the Ottomans. In
another significant passage, Baha'u'llah warns him not to "barter
away" the "sublime station" which God has ordained for him as a
result of the magnanimous offer of refuge made by his "minister"
(Dolgorukov) when Baha'u'llah was unjustly imprisoned.
The Baha'i view of the explosive political and ideological ferment of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in
which the early Baha' i communities were growing, bears close
examination because of the insight it offers into contemporary
events. Although the overwhelming majority of 'Abdu'l-Baha's
writings and talks deal with explanations, interpretation, and the
specific application of Baha'i teachings and principles, He was
deeply concerned about the cataclysmic changes that were taking
place in Russian society and in her political thinking.
However, it was the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi
Effendi, who wrote extensively over the next two decades about
these events, including the fall of the Russian monarchy. His wide-

ranging analysis of the historical events of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries sets them in the context both of Baha'i
teachings in general and of Baha'u'llah's stem warnings to the
kings and rulers of His day and their responses to His communications. Shoghi Effendi observed with deep anxiety the impact of
communism on re ligion and on the whole fabric of Russian (later
Soviet) society.
In keeping with the universal nature and humanitarian goals of
the Baha'i teachings, Shoghi Effendi's interpretation of events in
both Tsarist Russia and the communist regime are unequivocal and
consistent. He describes the later policies of Alexander II as "retrogressive," proving "fatal to both himself and his dynasty" and
causing widespread disillusionment, giving rise to nihilism, terrorism of unexampled violence, leading ultimately to the several
attempts on his life, and culminating in his assassination. 56
His successor, Alexander III, is characterized as having "assumed
an attitude of defiant hostility to innovators and liberals." 57 The
continuation of his repressive policies "paved the way for a revolution which ... swept away on a bloody tide the empire of the Tsars,
brought in its wake war, disease and famine, and established a militant
proletariat which massacred the nobility, persecuted the clergy,
drove away the intellectuals, disendowed the state religion .. . and
extinguished the dynasty of the Romanovs." 58
Outlining the progression of events that ultimately exploded
in revolution, Shoghi Effendi wrote in 1944:

The tradition of unqualified absolutism, of extreme religious
orthodoxy was maintained by the still more severe Nicolas II,
the last of the Czars, who, guided by the counsels of a man who
was "the very incarnation of a narrow-minded, stiff-necked
despotism," and aided by a corrupt bureaucracy, and humiliated
by the disastrous effects of a foreign war, increased the general
discontent of the masses, both intellectuals and peasants. Driven
for a time into subterranean channels, and intensified by military

56 . Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Com e (Wilmette : Baha' i Pub lishing
Trust, 1941 ), p. 56.
57 . Shoghi Effendi , Promised Day is Come, p. 57 .
58. Shoghi Effendi , God Passes By, pp. 226- 27.

reverses, it exploded at last in the midst of the Great War, in the
form of a Revolution which, in the principles it challenged, the
institutions it subverted, and the havoc it wrought, has scarcely
a parallel in modem history.
A great trembling seized and rocked the foundations of that
country. The light ofreligion was dimmed. Ecclesiastical institutions of every denomination were swept away. The state religion
was disendowed, persecuted, and abolished. A far-flung empire
was dismembered. A militant, triumphant proletariat exiled the
intellectuals, and plundered and massacred the nobility. Civil
war and disease decimated a population, already in the throes
of agony and despair. And, finally, the Chief Magistrate of a
mighty dominion, together with his consort, and his family, and
his dynasty, were swept into the vortex of this great convulsion,
and perished. 59

The decline ofreligion in society in general (and at the hands of
the Revolution in particular) became one of Shoghi Effendi's
enduring themes, reflecting and emphasizing the importance of
Baha'u'llah's command to His followers to "uphold the cause of
religion. " 60 During the Second World War the Guardian wrote
about the condition of religious institutions, deploring the "steady
deterioration of their influence, the decline of their power, the
damage to their prestige, the flouting of their authority . ..the relaxation of their discipline, the restriction of their press, the timidity
of their leaders, the confusion in their ranks, the progressive confiscation of their properties ... " 61
He noted the "dechristianization of the masses in many Christian
countries" and held accountable the "forces which the Communist
movement has unloosed, reinforced by the political consequences
of the last war, accelerated by the excessive, the blind, the intolerant, and militant nationalism which is now convulsing the nations,
and stimulated by the rising tide of materialism, irreligion, and
. ,,62
pagamsm .. .
In a passage vividly describing the effects of these forces

59. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, p. 57 .
60. Baha'u ' llah, Tablets of Bahri 'u 'llah Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas
(Haifa : Baha'i World Centre, 1978), p. 63.
61. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, p. I 07 .
62. Shoghi Effendi , Promised Day is Come, p. I 08 .

throughout the world, Shoghi Effendi identifies the humiliation
inflicted upon the religious institutions in Russia, the swift, conscious and organized assault launched against the Orthodox Church,
the creed of "religious irreligion" which

precipitated the disestablishment of the state religion, that massacred a vast number of its members, ... that pulled down, closed
or converted into museums, theatres and warehouses, thousands upon thousands of churches, monasteries, synagogues
and mosques, that stripped the church of its six and a half million acres of property, and sought, through its League of
Militant Atheists and the promulgation of a "five-year plan of
godlessness," to loosen from its foundations the religious life
of the masses. 63

Finally, in one of his most celebrated passages, the Guardian
describes the communist creed, "which, by its negation of God,
His Laws and Principles, threatens to disrupt the foundations of
human society," 64 and names it one of "those false idols, untruths
and half-truths, which are obscuring its religions, corrupting its
spiritual life, convulsing its political institutions, corroding its
social fabric, and shattering its economic structure." 65
Speaking ofreligion as the source of true civilization, he says:

This vital force is dying out, this mighty agency has been
scorned, this radiant light obscured, this impregnable stronghold abandoned, this beauteous robe discarded. God Himself
has indeed been dethroned from the hearts of men, and an idolatrous world passionately and clamorously hails and worships
the false gods which its own idle fancies have fatuously created, and its misguided hands so impiously exalted. The chief
idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other than
the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism, at
whose altars governments and peoples, whether democratic or
totalitarian, at peace or at war, of the East or of the West, Christian
or Islamic, are, in various forms and in different degrees, now
worshiping. Their high priests are the politicians and the worldly-

63. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, p. 108.
64. Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha 'u '!!ah, 1st pocket ed. (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 31 .
65. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, p. 112.

wise, the so-called sages of the age; their sacrifice, the flesh and
blood of the slaughtered multitudes; their incantations outworn
shibboleths and insidious and irreverent formulas; their incense,
the smoke of anguish that ascends from the lacerated hearts of
the bereaved, the maimed, and the homeless.
The theories and policies, so unsound, so pernicious, which
deify the state and exalt the nation above mankind, which seek
to subordinate the sister races of the world to one single race,
which discriminate between the black and the white, and which
tolerate the dominance of one privileged class over all othersthese are the dark, the false, and crooked doctrines for which
any man or people who believes in them, or acts upon them,
must; sooner or later, incur the wrath and chastisement of
God. 06

From the October Revolution of 1917 to 1928
The overthrow of the Tsarist government by the communists and
the consolidation of Bolshevik power at first had the effect of
assisting the growth of the Baha'i communities that were flourishing
inside Russia's borders, but eventually led to their subjugation.
With the victory of the Bolshevik forces and the end of the civil
war, the Baha'is throughout the country found themselves in a
period of unprecedented freedom. The Faith had already expanded
outside of the Persian ethnic community and had now been embraced
by ethnic Russians, Tatars, and others. Active communities had
been founded in both Petrograd-Leningrad and Moscow, 67 the
latter having a Local Spiritual Assembly.
In its early years, the new Soviet government did not interfere with
the Baha'i community or oppose its organization and meetings,
despite the early "anti-religious" decrees which nationalized ,
without compensation, all land, including that of churches, prohibited religious instruction in state schools, and denied recognition
of religious marriage and divorce. In 1922, the Soviet Union's
official gazette published an article stating that Baha'is were

66. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, pp. 117- 18.
67. Documentation, in both reports and photographs, of the early communities
may be found in the volumes of The Baha '£ World and Star of the West covering the years in question.

turning the thoughts of Soviet youth away from Bolshevism and
toward Baha'i beliefs and suggesting that Baha'i efforts be stopped.
It was almost ten years, however, before the full impact of the
communist regime's opposition was felt by the Baha'is. 68 The
first indication came in 1926 when a Baha'i visited Moscow on a
tour to speak to Baha'i and public audiences about the religion.
The speaker was summoned by an official of the political bureau
(the State Political Directorate or G.P.U.- the political police that
conducted state terrorism against those the Bolsheviks regarded
as enemies) and directed to cease all Baha'i meetings. The G.P.U.
spokesman especially questioned why members of the public were
attending. The visitor explained that Baha'i meetings are not secret
and are open for all to inspect; therefore, the Soviet authorities
should have nothing to fear about Baha'is holding any secret
meetings. Moreover, he explained, the Baha'is are expressly forbidden by the principles of their Faith to interfere in political matters,
nor do they allow anyone to speak against government affairs .
The official, nevertheless, insisted that the public be prohibited
from attending any Baha'i meetings in Moscow. A few days later the
police entered a Baha'i home and confiscated a printing press that had
been placed in this house, with government permission, in order
to print Baha'i books. Two people attending a Baha'i meeting
were also arrested and sentenced to prison terms of four years.
Beginning in 1926, Baha'is of Iranian background were expelled
from the country on the charge of belief in the Baha'i religion. The
systematic harassment and deprivation of the most basic rights of
Baha'is throughout the territories under Soviet rule had begun in
earnest. Meetings were broken up , and those attending were
arrested and held for questioning. Prohibitions were placed on
the raising of funds. Documents and books were confiscated by
the G.P.U. Though the police found, after careful examination, that
the Baha'is were not guilty of any subversive, anti-Soviet, or political

68 . Walter Kolarz, in Religion in the Soviet Union (London : Macmillan , 1961),
posits that what attracted the authorities' attention was not the threat of the
Baha ' i communities ' numerical strength , but the fact that the characteristic
tolerance, broad-mindedness and internationalism of the members of the
community contradicted the prevailing communist view that religion is an
outmoded remnant of the past.

activity, they nevertheless ordered that Baha'i meetings not be held
without police permission. Ironically, the meetings at which the
Baha'is were arrested had been held only after such government
permission had been obtained.
The printing press belonging to the local Baha'i council in Ashgabat was confiscated. The magazine Khurshid-i-Khavar, printed
in Ashgabat, was heavily censored and then finally suspended.
Baha'i mail, both incoming and outgoing, was confiscated, read,
copied, and then sent on to the addressees. Agents sent by the
G.P.U. to pose as inquirers at Baha'i meetings would arrest the
Baha'is for speaking about their religion with others.
In April 1928, after the election of Local Spiritual Assemblies in
the Central Asian and Caucasian republics, the government unilaterally abrogated the Baha'i Assemblies' constitutions and substituted
a text not in harmony with the responsibilities and functions of
these councils as defined in the Baha'i teachings. After lengthy
negotiations and the rejection by both sides of clauses deemed
unacceptable, a constitution was imposed that dissolved all Baha'i
committees, called for copies of all minutes and proceedings of
meetings to be submitted to the authorities, and required that Baha'i
children not be instructed in their religion until the age of eighteen. 69 Baha'i schools were proscribed and all Baha'i teachers
were gradually expelled and replaced, despite the fact that in the
classes of the Baha'i schools, in accordance with the requirements
of the law, there was no religious content or instruction.
During the same year, the government issued an order that all
synagogues, churches and other places of worship must be considered state property. Subsequently, after lengthy negotiations, the
Baha'is were permitted only to "rent" their House of Worship
from the state, for five-year periods, with the Baha'i community
forced to bear all the costs of upkeep and repair. 70

69. The closure of Baha'i schools in Ashgabat, Merv, and Qahqahih is
described in detail, along with the effects on the general education in the area,
in The Baha'i World, Vol. V (1932-34), pp. 41--43.
70. In 1930 Shoghi Effendi called on the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'is of the United States and Canada to appeal to the Soviet authorities,
stressing the international character of the House of Worship in Ashgabat,
but their efforts had no effect on Soviet policy.

In February 1928, a devoted Baha'i, I:Iusayn Big Qudsi, who had
corresponded with Shoghi Effendi and who in earlier years had
taken the Baha'i teachings to many parts of Russia, was arrested.
In October, two members of the Ashgabat Local Assembly were
also arrested and held for three months; another twenty-four Baha'is
were detained the following July. One of these, Ashraf Big, was
not heard of again and was presumed murdered; a further sixteen
were released after six months. During the same period, Baha'is
from Tashkent, Baku and Burda were either interrogated or imprisoned. Two believers from Baku were banished for three years to
the Arctic Circle, while Aqa I:Iabibu'llah Bagirov of Tashkent was
sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. 71 Numerous other believers
were deported to Iran. 72
One might assume that under such oppressive conditions the
Baha'is would simply dissemble their Faith or "go underground."
However, even in this chaotic, unpredictable and unjust situation,
the Baha'is were bound by the laws of their Faith, among which
are non-involvement in politics (non-partisanship) and civil obedience. In accordance with these principles, the Baha'is were
required to be law-abiding citizens, to be trustworthy and obedient to the civil authority of the country in which they lived, and
to refrain from taking sides in or making statements on political
matters. This principle applies even in situations where civil law
restricts the observance of some aspect of the Faith, such as Baha'i
burial laws or the holding of the Nineteen Day Feast, the regular
monthly community meeting. Baha'is must abide by the requirements of civil law so long as it does not require them to violate a
fundamental spiritual principle. "Dissimulation," or recantation
under conditions of danger or pressure, is forbidden by the Baha'i
teachings as a violation of the principle of honesty. A fundamental
distinction is made between the legitimate rights of governments
to set necessary regulations, to ensure order and administer justice

71. Letters from survivors of this persecution were reproduced in The Baha'i
World, Vol. IV ( 1928- 30).
72. The authors wish to express their grateful acknowledgement of the work of
Feizullah Namdar in supplying valuable information covering the Soviet
period .

within their jurisdictions, and the realm of individual conscience.
In strict conformity with these principles, the Baha'is of the
Soviet Union continued throughout this dark period to negotiate
with the duly constituted local and national authorities for the
right and permission to carry out their spiritual and humanitarian
activities. When the authorities required that the Baha'is disband
their administration and change the nature of meetings (or cease
meeting altogether), the Baha'is obeyed the requirements of the law
while seeking freedom, under the terms of the federal constitution,
to function as a religious community. They abstained entirely from
political activity and agitation, seeking redress instead through
appeal to the legally constituted authorities. The Baha'i representatives in Ashgabat, Moscow, and Baku, for example, explained the
nature of their organization and activities to these authorities, to no
avail. 73
From 1928 to the Early 1960s
Throughout what he called the "momentous convulsions" of the
early 1920s, Shoghi Effendi provided a steady stream of loving
reassurance to the Baha'is that their patience and forbearance
would ultimately "brighten the eyes of the faithful throughout the
world." 74 He told the Baha'is of the world that in these disturbing
current events there lay "mighty and consummate mysteries"
which would be "revealed to men's eyes in the days to come,"
that Russia would in the future become a "delectable paradise,"
and that the Baha'i Faith would eventually continue to develop
in that land "on an unprecedented scale." 75
With far-seeing confidence, he wrote in 1929 to the Baha'is of
the West, that the persecuted Baha'is in Russia were possessed of
a "hope that no earthly power can dim, and a resignation that is
truly sublime" and that they had

73 . Shoghi Effendi , letter to the Baha' is of the West, 1 January 1928 ; cited in
Baha 'i Administration: Selected Messages 1922-1932 (Wilmette: Baha' i
Publishing Trust, 1974) , p. 160.
74. Shoghi Effendi, unpublished letter to the Baha ' is of Ashgabat, 11 January
1923, quoted in a letter dated 21 November 1990 from the Universal House
of Justice to a December 1990 Baha ' i conference in Moscow.
75. Shoghi Effendi , letter to the Baha ' is of Ashgabat, 2 January 1930, Australian Bahci 'i Bulletin (March , 1991 ), p. 4.

committed the interests of their Cause to the keeping of that
vigilant, that all-powerful Divine Deliverer, Who, they feel
confident, will in time lift the veil that now obscures the vision
of their rulers , and reveal the nobility of aim, the innocence of
purpose, the rectitude of conduct, and the humanitarian ideals
that characterize the as yet small yet potentially powerful Baha'i
communities in every land and under every govemment. 76
But there were even darker days ahead. The Baha'i communities
continued to operate, insofar as possible under these oppressive
conditions, maintaining the very limited organization of Assemblies
in Ashgabat and in Baku. It was apparent, however, during the
1930s, that plans were being laid to remove the Baha'is from these
locations.
Official publications misrepresenting the Baha'i Faith as a bourgeois, anti-socialist movement began to appear. The first, in 1930,
was Bekhaizm-novaya religia vostoka (Bahaism-New Religion
of the East) by I. Darov, printed in Leningrad by the Oriental Institute, and "Bekhaizm," by A. Arsharuni, printed in Bezbozhnik (the
"Atheist" newsletter) in Moscow. Later, in 1938, the same Arsharuni
wrote "Babizm-Istorichesky Ocherk" (an historical essay) for the
journal Moskovskii rabochii (The Moscow Worker). These pamphlets
claimed, according to the authorized Marxist-Leninist interpretation,
that Baha' i beliefs represented a "bourgeois" ideology, adding the
fantastic allegation that Baha'is claimed their own teachings as
the "source of socialism" and were camouflaging themselves as
socialists! 77
The Small Soviet Ency clopaedia, published in 1933, repeated
these same fabrications , adding an imaginative twist, to the effect
that the "new religion" was a fashionable front in the fight against
the ideas of socialism and communism. 78
The years 1934-1936 saw a brief respite from government intimidation. Religious buildings could be leased by their owners,
and the Baha'is came into full possession once more of the Ashgabat

76. Shoghi Effendi, letter to the Baha' is of the West, 1January1929, in Baha'i
Administration, p. 162.
77. Kolarz, Religion in the Soviet Union, p. 471 .
78 . Small Soviet Encyclopaedia, I st ed., Vol. 1 (Moscow, 1933), p. 895 ; cited
in Kolarz, Religion in the Soviet Union, p. 472 .

House of Worship, having first fulfilled the requirement that
extensive repairs be made within six months. Assembly elections
and public activities also resumed.
However, this unexpected moment of leniency by the Soviet
regime came to an abrupt end in 1936 with fierce new attacks
against the Baha'is. By February 1938, all members of the central council in Ashgabat and about five hundred other Baha'is
had been arrested, and their books and Baha'i records confiscated. All were detained on "political" charges of having "worked
to the advantage of foreigners." Those arrested were ordered to
sign confessions, which they refused to do. Some five hundred
believers, including some women, were imprisoned and sent to
camps. From the fact that large numbers of the men were never
heard from again and no trace of them could be found, it appears
that many died. The overwhelming majority of their wives and
children were exiled to Iran.
Survivors of the period recount their experiences searching for
those who disappeared. One such account tells of a promising
young cellist at the Moscow Conservatory named Haji 'Abdu'l -
Rasul Sarrafi, who was abducted from his residence. Years later,
when his passport was finally discovered, it was learned from a
fellow prison-camp inmate who survived that, in an effort to force
him to confess his "crimes," his tormentors, before killing him,
had broken each one of his fingers. 79
In order to petition authorities for official recognition, Soviet
Jaw required any religious community to have fifty members of
over the age of eighteen, and so the imprisonment and deportation
of such great numbers of Baha'is left the community depleted .
The Baha'i communities throughout the Soviet Union were, to
all intents and purposes, reduced to remnants after 193 8, and
little is yet known of their fate. An October 1939 report in Baha'i
News stated:

The National Assembly (of the Baha'is of the United States
and Canada) has learned with deep grief of the sufferings of
the Baha'i communities in Turkestan (sic) and the Caucasus.

79. Private communication from Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh.

Some years ago their Assemblies and Committees were dissolved, as reported at that time, and their literature and records
confiscated. At present many of the friends have been imprisoned, including women, and some have died in incarceration,
while the majority have been deported to Iran, and a few to
Siberia. Baha'i activities and teaching are forbidden. 80

In the post-World War II years, Baha'i principles continued to be
attacked in Soviet literature. The Large Soviet Encyclopaedia now
charged the Baha'is with denying the principle of national independence and state sovereignty, of advocating the abolition of
national boundaries and the creation of a "united world state." 81
In this article there appeared another novel invention, the charge
that the Baha'is were supported by "British and American imperialists," that they received support in the form of"foreign subsidies,"
and, reflecting the political alliances of the period, that "Bahaism"
was an "instrument serving the spiritual disintegration of the peoples
of the Middle East." 82
The House of Worship in Ashgabat was seized in 193 8 on the
pretext of the Baha'is' failure to maintain the building, whereupon
it was used, for the next ten years, as a museum of cotton culture.
The violent earthquake of 1948 severely damaged the building,
and yearly rains further weakened it. In the early 1960s, the Soviet
authorities demolished the edifice and cleared the site. Shortly
after its establishment in April 1963, the Universal House of Justice
appealed to the then Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the
USSR, Nikita Khrushchev, to set aside as a public park the land on
which the House of Worship had stood and to erect a suitable
marker pointing out the significance of the site to the worldwide
Baha'i community. No reply was ever received, but the site is now a
public park.

80. Bahci 'i News , October 1939, p. 2. For a more detailed account of the situation
of the Baha' is in the Caucasus and Russia, see the 1938- 39 Annual Report
of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha' is oflran, reprinted in The
Baha 'i World, Vol. VIII (1938--40), p. 181.
81. Large Soviet Ency clopaedia, 2nd ed. (Moscow, 1950), Vol. V, p. 129.
82. N. A Kuznetsova, "K istorii izucheniya babizma i bekhaizma v Rossii ,"
Ocherki po istorii russkogo vostokovedeniya, Vol. VI (1963), pp. 89- 133.

The Restoration of the Baha'i Community in Russia
While the Baha'i communities inside Soviet Russia were being
forcibly dispersed and repressed, the rest of the Baha'i world,
from the late 1940s until 1963, was engaged in a coordinated
universal effort to bring the Baha'i teachings to an increasing
number of countries and to specific regions, cities and towns.
In his letters to the North American Baha'is written during the
First World War, 'Abdu'l-Baha had mentioned Russia, Byelorussia, and Asiatic Russia among those regions to which he hoped
Baha'is would travel to share the message of Baha'u'llah with
those interested in learning more about it. During the ministry of
Shoghi Effendi, and under his guidance, Baha'i communities around
the world continued systematically to implement 'Abdu'l-Baha's
"Divine Plan," establishing new Local and National Spiritual
Assemblies.
This worldwide undertaking required sustained and detailed
planning and much sacrifice on the part of the members of existing
Baha'i communities and their administrative institutions, which
were given specific international goals, and on the part of the individual "pioneers" who responded to this call and voluntarily settled
in far-flung and remote parts of the world, thus opening new areas
to the Baha'i Faith and strengthening earlier beginnings.
With a vision of world unity that transcended the limited political
and socio-religious ideologies of the 1940s and 50s, as well as full
confidence in the ultimate opening of the communist countries
about which he had written with such clarity almost twenty years
earlier, the Guardian included objectives within Soviet territory
with the aim of establishing a nucleus, however small, in those
republics and islands (all in Europe) where there were still no
Baha' is. Because of the exceedingly precarious situation of the
Baha'is living in countries under communist rule, their participation
in this endeavor, deprived of all means of community sustenanceliterature, fellowship, institutions, communication-and in the
face of every conceivable external threat, called for extraordinary
courage.
By 1963, isolated centers had been reactivated in Azerbaijan,
Armenia, and Georgia, in addition to the five remaining centers in

Turkmenia, as it was then known. Through the sacrificial efforts
of the Persian Baha'i community, centers were also strengthened
in Kirgizia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Despite the severe limitations placed on any religious activities
during the period of the communist regime, opportunities to promote the Baha'i teachings were nonetheless explored during the
1970s in various republics of the Soviet Union. With the assistance
of the Baha'i communities of Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany,
Iran, Sweden, and the United States, Baha'is gradually returned to
or settled in the Baltic States, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine.
The gradual relaxation of travel restrictions, beginning in the
1980s, and the dismantling of communist rule made possible the
strengthening of many Baha'i communities throughout the Soviet
Union. Citizens who identified themselves as Baha'is, some of them
after decades of enforced silence, began to rebuild and form new
communities, which then elected their Local Spiritual Assemblies.
The historic passage of the law on freedom of religion in August
1990 made possible the election of the first National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the USSR in May 1991. The establishment of the new state boundaries of the Commonwealth of
Independent States following the coup attempt of August 1991
resulted in the formation in spring 1992 of four new regional
bodies to administer the religious affairs of the Baha'is: one in
Russia, Georgia, and Armenia; a second in the three Baltic States;
a third for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova; and a fourth in Central
Asia. The fifth, a new National Assembly, was elected in Azerbaijan. In 1993, the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
Russia, Georgia, and Armenia was duly registered under federal
law as a recognized religious organization. It was in this year that
all the members of this Spiritual Assembly participated for the
first time in the International Baha'i Convention, during which
the Universal House of Justice is elected every five years. The next
year, 1994, saw the inauguration of separate National Spiritual
Assemblies in each of the Central Asian republics. Over the succeeding three years, as the number of local Baha'i communities
expanded sufficiently to permit the establishment of National Spiritual Assemblies, an additional four were elected in the remaining
states of the former USSR, for a total of fifteen, which now take

The first National
Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahir 'is of the
Soviet Union, elected
in April 1991.

their place alongside their sister National Assemblies in 164
other nations. What better witness to the promise, written by
Shoghi Effendi, in 1923, that

There is no doubt that the day will come when the very people
who are now engaged in destroying the foundations of faith in
God and promoting this baseless doctrine of materialism will
arise and, by their own hand, snuff out the flame of this commotion. They will sweep away the entire structure of their
unrestrained godlessness and will arise with heart and soul, and
with hitherto unmatched vigor, to atone for their past failures.
They will join the ranks of the followers of Baba 'u 'llah and
arise to promote His Cause ... If the friends remain steadfast ...
the veils of God's inscrutable wisdom will be lifted and extraordinary events will be witnessed.83

In 1997, the Baha'i community of Russia faced the challenging
task of reregistering its National Spiritual Assembly after the
passage of a new law on "Freedom of Conscience and Religious
Organizations," which replaced the law of 1990. In January 1999,
the Baha'i community was accorded the status of a centralized
religious organization, providing a continuation of the legal
framework for the registration of its now fifty Local Spiritual
Assemblies. At the time of this printing, there are approximately
3,500 Baha'is living in more than 330 localities across Russia, from

83 . Shoghi Effendi , letter to the Baha ' is of Ashgabat, 11 January 1923; cited
in the Australian Baha'i Bulletin, March 1991 , p.3.

the far east in Kamchatka,
throughout the vast reaches
of Siberia, to the southern
regions of the Caucasus, to
the North Sea in the Murmansk region . 84 Almost
sixty-three percent of the
Baha'is of Russia are women and a wide variety of
Russia's ethnic groups are
currently represented in the Several members of the Bahri 'i community of
community's membership. the Russian Federation with government
. . officials, shortly after the Assembly s legal
An mterestmg feature of re-registration in January 1999.
its present growth (approximately six-and-a-half percent per year) is the fact that more than
fifty-five percent of the Baha'i population is situated in the Asian
part of the country, which represents more than seventy-five percent
of its overall land mass but less than twenty percent of its entire
population.
Gradually, the inherent cultural diversity of these national
communities is becoming more and more apparent, as they each
address in their own unique ways the major challenges of community development: the moral development of all its individual
members, the strengthening of family life, the recognition and
promotion of human rights and responsibilities, the implementation
of the principle of equality of women and men, new processes of
community decision-making and problem-solving, and the application of such spiritual principles as justice, trustworthiness and
moderation to economics, agriculture and environmental protection.
The opening up of the whole of Eastern Europe and Asia to
communication with the wider world provides an unprecedented
challenge to reinvigorate the spiritual life of Russia, with her rich
diversity of peoples and cultures. Human sensitivity, responsiveness,
concern for the common weal-such are the values cherished by
many of her great thinkers, such as Berdyaev, Solovyev, Bulgakov,

84. It is estimated that fifteen thousand Bah a' is live in all countries of the
former USSR.

Florensky, Leontiev, and others, whose works, long hidden, are
taking their rightful place alongside the more familiar classics.
The return of such spiritual values at the core of education and
development will, no doubt, enable the peoples of Russia to
make unique and long-awaited contributions not only to the
rebuilding of this great nation, but also to the establishment of a
global civilization.

Martha Schweitz and Bill Barnes examine
the increasing use of codes of conduct
among non-governmental organizations,
and compare this process of unitybuilding with the experience of the
Bahci 'i community.

DIMENSIONS
of UNITY
in an Emerging Global Order

I n the middle of the last century Baha'u'llah proclaimed that a
new spirit of unity had entered the world, which would, paradoxically, as one of its effects, upset the world's equilibrium. 1
Unification of the family, the tribe, the city, and the nation had
been successfully achieved. The next stage in human social evolution
must be, He announced , unity on a global scale: "The winds of
despair are, alas , blowing from every direction, and the strife that
divideth and afflicteth the human race is daily increasing. The
signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned,
inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably
defective." 2
These words, issued at a time when many imagined only enlightened peace and prosperity increasing through the spread of the great
civilization of the West, must have sounded hollow and strange.
They were, in fact, to prove prophetic.

1. Baha' u' llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha 'u'llah (Wilmette:
Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1994), p. 136.
2. Baha' u' llah, Gleanings, p. 216 .

THE BAHA'I W ORLD

The State System and Civil Society
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, writing between
the convulsions of two world wars, more specifically defined the
fierce storm gathering on the near horizon of state relations and
indicated what humanity had to do to protect itself from its sweeping, chaotic winds of despair:

World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is
striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy
inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A
world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize
the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish once for all the machinerj that can best incarnate this
fundamental principle of its life.

While it is difficult to foresee how humanity will mature to
reach the condition of world unity, it is clear that current structures
and values must change. It is also clear that people--ordinary citizens- must take a large measure of the responsibility for bringing
about this change.
In its February 1999 statement, Who Is Writing the Future ?
Reflections on the Twentieth Century,4 the Baha'i International
Community concluded that unprecedented opportunities are opening to every individual, institution, and community to participate in
shaping the collective future of humanity. In its 1995 statement,
The Prosperity of Humankind, it identified the "efflorescence of
countless movements and organizations of social change at local,
regional , and international levels" as "likely the most important
social phenomenon of our time." 5 It observed the "transformation in
the way that great numbers of ordinary people are coming to see
themselves" in the process of social change and further anticipated
a recasting of present conceptions of what is natural in relationships between members of society and its institutions.
This essay first examines the role of "ordinary people" in

3. Shoghi Effendi , The World Order of Saha 'u 'fl ah, 2nd rev. ed. (Wilmette:
Bah a' i Publishing Trust, 1974), p. 202.
4. See pp . 255- 68 of this volume for the full text of this statement.
5. Baha' i International Community, Office of Public Information, The Prosperity
of Humankind (London : Baha ' i Publishing Trust, 1995), pp. 4- 5.

DIMENS IONS OF U NITY

governance in the context of the present moment in history, as the
global system struggles to transcend narrowly conceived nationalism.
It then considers one highly promising process, the adoption of codes
of conduct by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in
social and economic development. The codes-a useful window to
understanding how people are "writing the future"-explicitly
state the NGOs' chosen values, goals, and methods . Finally, the
essay compares this code process to the approach of the Baha'i community by focusing on unity as its operating principle and describes
how that community achieves, promotes, and expresses unity.
Imperatives in a Disintegrating Order
In 1985, on the eve of the United Nations Year of Peace, the Universal House of Justice issued a statement entitled The Promise of
World Peace. The document addresses many problems associated
with global breakdown and refers to "the achievement since the
Second World War of independence by the majority of all the
nations on earth, indicating the completion of the process of nation
bmá1dámg ... " 6
This statement implies not only that national statehood is finished as a socially integrating process, but, more threateningly, that
the "anarchy inherent in state sovereignty" referred to by Shoghi
Effendi has reached its climax or full measure of danger for
destroying the human community. Humanity must move to the
next stage in its collective social evolution-the stage of a global
civilization-or suffer dire consequences. While the global
imperative is to build a world civilization that fully embodies the
oneness of humanity, to construct a society on this ideal necessitates
"an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a
change such as the world has not yet experienced." 7 The upheavals
affecting every aspect of human life today are symptomatic of
that organic change and characteristic of times of rapid social
evolutionary advance- the dying of an old order through the
emergence of a new one.
The sovereignty of the nation state is under pressure from all

6. The Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace (Haifa:
Bah a' f World Centre Publications, 1985), p. I.
7. Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Baha 'u '!!ah, p. 43.

THE BAHA'I W ORLD

sides, undermined from below by "nationalistic" forces in the
form of ethnic or other groups asserting their desire for autonomy
and pressured from above through participation in treaties, international organizations, and other transnational structures necessary
for dealing with urgent global problems but that also impinge on a
nation's independent decision-making power. Forces of economic
globalization, both in trade and capital, also exert pressure, driven
forward by the collective actions of transnational business, investors, and the governments of the major trading powers, but still
immune to control or even direction by the publics most affected.
Structurally, the state is at the same time both too large and too
small to solve modern problems.
To relieve such pressures, the modern state system must evolve
and develop structurally in two different directions.
It must grow upwards to encompass larger unities within one
commonly accepted system. Similar developments have occurred
in past epochs, but in each case the smaller entity had to cede
some of its sovereignty and governing responsibility to a higher
emerging entity in the name of a larger collective good.
The modern state must also grow in its connection to the people
and communities it is intended to serve. The great surge in democracy during the 1990s, as measured by the number of relatively
free and fair, multiparty electoral systems at the national level, is
accompanied by increasingly strident demands for government at
all levels to be more representative of and accountable to the electorate on a continuing basis-and accountable to all, not just the
majority, the elite, or the influential.
Beyond these two directions of growth, the present state system
faces the imperative of development on the inner plane. The system
of nation states is more than the drawing of boundaries, the establishing of sovereign governments, or the creation and application
of laws and economic regulations. More than the sum of its social
and material arrangements, it has a spiritual dimension of values,
beliefs and principles-a cultural and religious dynamic that has
reached exhaustion. Each nation and people has its own inner tradition, but, in their current form, these cannot co-exist in tolerance
and separation in a globalizing world where interaction is forced
on them. Through the resulting friction and mutual influence, a

DIME SIONS OF UNITY

new consciousness of human rights has made old inequalities and
discrimination on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or
other grounds totally unacceptable. Values and ethical principles
that respect humanity and promote the well-being of all people
must be found or forged, agreed upon, and assimilated. Growth in
consciousness and values can be achieved only if sustained attention is paid to articulating global goals and universal principles,
that is, to promoting a unifying moral discourse.
Hence, to erect a new order, spiritual and material dimensions
of life must be united, higher and lower pressures met, and smaller
and larger problems solved. While it is impossible to predict the
exact steps that need to be taken in our collective human social
evolution, certain points are obvious.
First, it is unrealistic to expect that, acting on their own initiative, existing state structures and those centers of power associated
with them in the cultural, economic, and social realms will respond
soon to the challenges posed to their own power. The nation state
system cannot forge a global order of peace and prosperity as long
as it is also driven by the contradictory purpose of keeping national
identity, sovereignty, and prerogatives intact in the process. As the
Baha'i International Community has written, "It is obvious that,
whatever its past contributions, the longer the nation state persists
as the dominant influence in determining the fate of humankind,
the longer will the achievement of world peace be delayed and the
greater will be the suffering inflicted on the earth's population." 8
Yet, since sovereignty currently resides with the nation state, the
task of determining the form and dynamic of the emerging world
order is an obligation that rests in great part with heads of state and
with governments.
Second, the failures of the present state system provide unprecedented opportunities for people to arise and shape their own future.
The world's peoples must seize these opportunities and take the
initiative to transform the existing order.

8. Baha'f International Community, Who is Writing the Future? Reflections
on the Twentieth Century. (New York: Baha' i International Community,
Office of Public Information, 1999), p. 8.

Civil Society Responds
Civil society refers to the totality of all the groups and organizations,
formal and informal, organized by people outside of government
structures. 9 It has been described as a mosaic. Viewed at close
range, all one can see are separate and irregular, sometimes
peculiar, shapes and colors . Standing back, however, one sees
designs and forms emerge that wholly transcend the sum of the
parts. The depth of civil society has been linked to the strength
of democratic traditions and has been identified as a nation's
"social capital." 10 Because the work and activities of most civil
society organizations are motivated by shared goals or shared
needs, it is where most people pursue what matters most to them
and where they develop the abilities for participating in collective efforts . For this reason, civil society has been described as
comprising the character-forming institutions of human society. 11
Fueled by the aspirations of ordinary people working at the
grassroots to create more responsive social programs, however
small, multifarious independent groupings must at first organize
themselves outside the centers of power of the present order, creating a kind of parallel community that impacts upon established
society and whose goal is the establishment of a just human society. They create social pressure from below on established centers
of power, stemming, in turn, from humanity's impulse to demand its
right to dignity and respect, and knowing its own value irrespective of social or political position or status. Relationships between

9. in many contexts, "civil society" includes all commercial, for-profit enterprises; in others it may not. Civil society includes groups of every description:
bowling leagues, farmers' cooperatives, religious organizations, human rights
advocacy groups, charities, academic institutions, professional associations,
PTAs, labor unions . Many are created to serve a public purpose. Some can
successfully bridge deep, traditional divisions in pluralistic societies. A few
represent the worst elements in a society, such as racist or hate groups.
10. See the writings of Robert D. Putnam, including Making Democracy Work:
Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University
Press , 1992).
11. Don E. Eberly, Americas Promise: Civil Society and the Renewal of
American Culture (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publisher,
1998), p. 128 .

DI MENS IONS OF U NITY

members of society and its institutions are being recast from the
ground up as a result of this transformation in how great numbers
of people are coming to see themselves.
Neither the concept of civil society nor its existence is new.
What is new is the rapid growth in developing countries in the
number of CSOs (Civil Society Organizations) created to serve
local or national development purposes, the increasing professionalism of many CSOs created to serve a public purpose, the growth
in the number of CSOs operating internationally, and the linkages
and networks developing among CSOs within nations or internationally. Although some CSOs have a long tradition of being
actively involved with governments through lobbying or other
activities , a much wider range of organizations is now seeking
some sort of "partnership" relationship with governmental bodies,
from the local level through to the organs of the United Nations.
They work on economic and social development, human rights
and humanitarian assistance, relief of the hungry, and the rescue of
refugees. CSOs (including what are often known as NGOs, voluntary or non-profit organizations, or humanitarian groups) are a
major new force in global society. They represent a powerful initiative taken by citizens to structure their own lives and set their
own goals.
This kind of social grassroots activity in so many places at the
same time is unprecedented in human history, reflecting a deep
desire on the part of individuals everywhere to take a hand in shaping their own destiny. It holds out the hope of the emergence of
new moral vision and forms of leadership in human governance,
through which new civil capacities can be built.
Yet this is not the whole picture, for these multifarious, energetic,
and important movements often work at odds or in competition
with each other, since each has its own agenda, goal, and vision.
One danger in this situation is the potential for these groups simply
to evolve into another form of that which they are attempting to
replace. They are prey to many of the same shortcomings of the
governments they criticize, as can be seen when large NGOs
become increasingly politicized, or when conditions imposed by
funders are allowed to dictate a CSO's policies. That is to say, to

the extent that CSOs come to resemble existing structures of power
they, too, will become increasingly anarchic.
Nevertheless, as a whole, the proliferating roles of CSOs in public
affairs represent experiments in governance with the potential to
permanently reshape the way our governing processes are understood. One indication of the impending shift is the recent popularity
of the term "governance" in place of "government." The latter, as
generally (and rather narrowly) used in public discourse, refers to
the hierarchical structure and set of institutions that wield political
power in a nation, at the local, subnational, or national level, and
how they function. The term "governance" includes this structure
but focuses first on how public affairs are, in fact, managed. Such
focus leads to a heightened emphasis on informal over formal
structures and processes, on change over time, and on the participation and roles of non-governmental actors, such as private
organizations, for-profit business, CSOs, media, academia, citizens'
movements, transnational corporations, and even the global capital
market. 12 Using the term "governance" implies a change in perception, away from our government-centered way of imagining the
world, which has never been entirely accurate and is becoming
less so every day.
Forgoing preoccupation with governments and state sovereignty,
people can open the way to promoting the evolution of the state
system both upwards toward more inclusive structures and downwards towards the citizenry. CSOs are a major force in both of
these processes, as they develop methods to hold governments
accountable to the public and promote global arrangements to
address urgent problems. They are also central to meeting the
challenge faced by the state system on the inner, moral plane.

12. The Commission on Global Governance defines governance generally as
"the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private,
manage their common affairs." Our Global Neighborhood: The Report of
the Commission on Global Governance (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1995), p. 2. Implicit in the term "governance" is a choice not to accord
privilege to the formal, legal, and structural. In other words, when one discusses "governance" (at the local through global levels), one is looking at
how an issue or a geographic area is managed or governed without assuming
that the government is central to it.

DIME NSIONS OF UNITY

One can see how this challenge is being met in recent codes of
conduct that have been adopted by NGOs working in social and
economic development. Many NGOs have grown mature enough
to start defining themselves in terms of codes of conduct that identify
their aims, goals, and purposes, as well as their ethical standards of
conduct. Principles and standards are agreed upon as the basis for
bringing about desired social change, thereby creating civil structures
that form character-perhaps initially a national character, but gradually a more universal, ethical character.
Currently, these codes are in a very early, transitional stage. They
address concrete problems. Although there are many universal elements within them, they also retain much that is culture-specific or
that reflects the local com1ptions against which they define themselves. This is inevitable at this stage in their evolution, but universal
codes will gradually emerge as the world increasingly unites.

Non-Governmental Codes of Conduct
Origins and Character
Recent non-governmental codes of conduct or codes of ethics
have been developed primarily within national groups of organizations (national networks), but in some cases by transnational or
sector-specific networks. They will be referred to here as "NGO
codes," because most of the participating organizations define
themselves as non-governmental organizations dedicated to serving a development-oriented purpose. Codes currently in effect
include the following: 13

Code of Conduct for Non-Government Development Organisations of the
Australian Council for Overseas Aid;
Code of Ethics of the Union of Bulgarian Foundations and Associations ;
Code of Ethics of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation;
• Declaration of Principles of Non-Governmental Organizations of the NGO
Confederation of Colombia;

13 . The codes are listed here alphabetically by the name of the country of the
adopting NG Os or, in the case of the last three, by the name of the transnational organization. They will be referred to hereafter simply by the country
or organization name.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

Voluntary Development Organisation: The Guiding Principles of the Voluntary
Action Network India;
Code of Conduct of the Japanese NGO Center for International Cooperation;
Code of Conduct of the Lesotho Council of Non-governmental Organizations;
• NGO Code of Conduct of the NGO Federation of Nepal;
• NGO Code ofEthics for Social Development Organizations in the Philippines;
Code ofEthics for NGOs of the South African National NGO Coalition;
• InterAction PVO [Private Voluntary Organization] Standards of the American Council of Voluntary International Action in the United States;
• NGO Guidelines for Good Policy and Practice of the Commonwealth
Foundation;
• Relations Between Southern and Northern NGOs: Policy Guidelines of
the International Council for Voluntary Organizations; and
Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
and Non-Governmental Organizations in Disaster Relief.

Similar codes are in various stages of preparation by other networks, including the Arab Network for NGOs and emerging
groups in the former Soviet Union.
It should be noted that these codes have all been adopted by
NGO networks, that is, by established organizations whose members themselves are NGOs. They are not codes adopted by a single
NGO for its own purposes (although those also exist in various
forms) but have been drafted and negotiated among the member
organizations of a particular network. In all cases, the negotiating
process has been highly participatory, generally lasting at least a
couple of years, and involving repeated discussions among the
member organizations followed by redrafting and further discussion. After a code has been adopted, in most cases the member
organizations are requested to certify that they are complying or
bringing their practices into compliance with the code. In many
cases, complying with the code has become a requirement of
membership in the network. Some codes, such as that of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, include highly
developed implementation procedures by which a standards committee can review the practices of a member organization or even
receive complaints that a particular organization is not complying.

DIMENSIONS OF U NITY

The experience with the Philippine code is notable, in that a few
member organizations have been expelled from the network for
noncompliance.
As evident from the names of some of the adopting networks
listed above, they are generally networks of NGOs dedicated to
"social development. " The networks adopting codes in Australia,
Canada, Japan and the United States are composed ofNGOs that
work primarily in overseas aid and development. In developing
countries, the organizations in the adopting networks are, generally
speaking, more diverse in their aims and purposes, but are mostly
working on domestic social and economic development issues ,
including human rights and environmental problems. Many of the
member organizations are themselves networks or associations of
much smaller, local, grass roots "people's organizations."
Traditional charitable organizations have a long history of selfregulation , dating back to the post-World War I era. For example,
standards for charities in the United States were developed to
assure the public that charitable contributions for the benefit of
veterans were being put to their intended use and were not being
wasted or diverted. The recent NGO codes, most of which have
been adopted within the past ten years, are also intended to increase
public confidence in the non-profit sector and thus encourage
financial contributions. NGOs are dependent on financial support
from the public, from foundations , and from other donors , sometimes including governments. The codes all include standards for
responsible use of funds and disclosure of financial records . These
range from the simple statement "We shall exercise scrupulous
management of goodwill donations from fellow citizens and
finances from public sources, make effective use thereof and report
on their use properly" (Japan), to extremely detailed accounting
forms and requirements (Australia).
While in some cases building on this experience with self-regulation of charities , the recent NGO codes go far beyond this
purpose in directions that reflect the rapidly evolving role of the
non-profit sector in public service, both domestically and internationally, and in policy-making. As non-governmental actors
increasingly seek to participate in activities and processes that
have in the past been the exclusive domain of government, they

are being called upon to identify themselves more fully and to justify their participation. The legitimacy of the governing process in
an era of increasing democratization requires as much. NGOs
have typically been very reluctant to risk compromising their own
individual missions and identities by entering into close association with other organizations and have been very protective of
their right of independent decision and action. For many, circumstances are now requiring that this change. While continuing to
capitalize on their uniqueness as separate organizations, and still
entirely free to choose and pursue any legal purpose or mission,
NGOs are coming to understand the necessity for and means to
achieve common positions, strategic alliances, coordinated action,
and proof of accountability in order to work effectively as "partners" of governments and intergovernmental organizations. 14
The recent codes are an exercise in self-identification for the
groups subscribing to them. Some also begin to describe desired
types of relationships between governmental and non-governmental
actors and set forth substantive principles and goals for directing
collaborative development work. As a whole, these codes represent
an early attempt to define the nature and purpose of non-governmental participation in governance in the development field. In the long
term, they may also be seen as early steps to advance governance
generally by promoting moral values and approaches to decision
making and institutional development that mark a substantial
improvement over current practices.
Common Themes
The way in which a number of common themes are treated illustrates the foregoing conclusions about the nature and significance
of the NGO codes. Such treatment varies, of course, from code
to code. What is more surprising, and highly promising in terms
of establishing patterns for a new era in governance, is that they
are often so similar. 15

14. The code in Colombia stresses that NGOs should join "NGOs of higher
rank" (network and umbrella organizations) for the sake of " higher cohesion, cooperation, and projection ."
15. The codes were not, of course, developed in isolation from each other.
NGO networks learned from each other in the process of developing the( cont.)

DIMENSION S O F U NITY

Nature of the Development Process
The NGO codes present a view of social and economic development that is participatory, people-centered, sustainable, and focused
on both the immediate and long-term needs of the poorest and
most marginalized segments of societies. In other words, development is not something that is done "to" a "target population" but
"by" people for themselves , in cooperation with others, as they
develop over time both individual and group capacities for responsible decision making and joint action. The codes in Japan and
Nepal, for example, emphasize the goal of promoting self-reliance
rather than dependency among the socially disadvantaged. The
code in Canada has an extensive section on development principles
that address "the urgent demands of fundamental human rights, the
natural environment and the peaceful management of conflict,"
that focus on the "root causes of global inequality and not merely
its symptoms," and that aim to "promote social justice through the
equitable distribution of power, wealth and access to resources."
The code in the United States provides that even when material
assistance is given in emergencies, the goal should be to avoid creating dependencies and to lay the basis for longer term development.
Value ofNGOs in Development
The NGO codes are founded on the assumption that NGOs are
critical in achieving the goals of development. The code in South
Africa states that "South African society is characterized by inequality" and that "the government will not be able to implement effective
reconstruction and development without strong, informed and
effective NGOs." More explicit than most of the others, the code in
India states:

India, as a nation, is firmly committed to Democracy, and Voluntarism is an essential pillar for Democracy ... There is a visible
erosion of ethics in public life and within the institutions of
governance. This distressing situation, compounded with the
large scale of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, demands

15. (cont.) present codes. A few are very closely related to each other and use
some similar language, but even these have significantly distinctive features .

THE BAHA'I W ORLD

proactive social action to ensure the advancement of the deprived
sections in particular and the well being of the people in general.
At this juncture, Voluntary Organisations, upholding the
basic principles for the general good of the common people,
would be able to play a very crucial role in safeguarding public
interest and advancing human development. Such organisations
with the power of conviction, knowledge and ability, [have]
already demonstrated the viability of voluntary development
action and are dedicating themselves to the task and the challenge of building a nation based on values such as transparent
and accountable governance, social justice, equity and dignity
and respect for diversity.

The code in Nepal defines a social development organization as
a "process of systematic initiatives carried out by the people with
their own decision and desire to improve their quality of life utilizing the human potential to the fullest extent." The guidelines of the
International Council of Voluntary Agencies states that "creation
and strengthening of development institutions at the grass-roots
and national level should be one of the major priorities in development today."
Accountability
Most of the NGO codes make some reference, brief or extensive,
to the concept of "accountability." An "unaccountable" organization would be, for example, one in which decisions are made
behind closed doors by the founders or hereditary leadership,
who in tum are under no duty to the members or anyone else to
justify or explain their actions, use of funds, etc. While this may
be acceptable with members' consent in a private organization
that serves only the interests of its members, it is not acceptable
in an organization that is seeking to participate in governance in
some way. NGOs dedicated to development are making a claim
on the public trust, not only for financial support but also as they
help communities organize and participate in all aspects of development work. Publics are entitled to demand-and they are
demanding-that such NGOs be accountable for their actions .
The most basic requirements of accountability are that the
organization have a clearly specified purpose or mission and a
transparent internal management system, free of conflicts of interest,

DIMENS IONS OF UNITY

discrimination, favoritism, secrecy, corruption, and all other unethical practices . Some of the codes explicitly require an elected,
independent board of directors and specify its responsibilities .
Another critical aspect of accountability is proper, complete, and
open financial accounting which, as mentioned above, is stressed
in all of the codes but with varying degrees of specificity.
Beyond these questions of how an organization is managed,
accountability refers to duties owed by the organization to all
"stakeholders ,'' that is , to everyone who has an interest in or is
affected by the organization's work. The code of the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, for example, says that,
"We ... hold ourselves accountable to both constituencies," meaning those who wish to assist during disasters and those who need
assistance. The code in Bulgaria states that "accountability due to
society goes beyond the narrow requirements of the laws ." The
Commonwealth Foundation guidelines state that an NGO is accountable to the public, to its members , to its beneficiaries, and to its
funders .
In practical application, accountability to all of these stakeholders
generally means that the NGO must report regularly on its activities, publish its financial information, have a system for evaluating
the results of its work, hold meetings where all aspects of its functioning can be discussed, and employ other means as necessary so
that its operations will be transparent to all concerned. Over time,
if an organization is seen to be conducting itself ethically, remaining true to its mission, managing its funds responsibly, and making
progress towards achieving its purposes, trust will be established.
As trust grows , an organization will usually find itself presented
with opportunities to expand its responsibilities and influence. The
converse will be true if an organization is held to account and is
consistently found lacking.

Relationship to Governments
It is quite common for NGOs to be "implementers" of government programs, that is, to receive government funds to carry out
a designated project. Beyond this role , many NGOs wish to have
a say in project design and to participate in general policy-making

as well. The code in the Philippines states that, in relation to governments, the member organizations will "strive to create an atmosphere
of openness and mutual respect based on the perspective that
people's organizations and non-government organizations are
important components of any democratic society, ... foster a continuing dialogue ... [and] insist on mutually agreed upon objectives
and methodologies for specific projects." Some of the codes specifically include advocacy (lobbying or trying in other ways to
influence government decisions or policy through persuasion) as
an appropriate NGO activity. The code in Colombia includes, as
a duty of NGOs, "to respect legitimately constituted authorities"
and "to participate in the design of public policies at all levels, in
order to solve the problems of the country." The Commonwealth
Foundation guidelines, 16 in a section on "good policy and practice
on the part of governments,'' state that "Governments should at all
times endeavor to work in partnership with NGOs." They suggest several governmental structures to facilitate government/
NGO consultation "in the general policy making process and in
the planning and design of relevant government programmes,"
such as desk officers for NGO/government relations in each
ministry and NGO representation on advisory committees.

Participation
"Participatory development," in its broadest sense, means that
people should be in control of their own course of development
at all stages, from determining goals and priorities to actually carrying
out development work. At a minimum it means that the people most
affected by a particular development project should participate in
decision making, as protagonists rather than as a "target population." This generally requires building the capacity oflocal people's
groups, which, as mentioned, should itself be a priority goal of
development. As the code in the United States says, "Participants

16. The Commonwealth Foundation is not in itself an NGO but a govemmentfunded organization. It convenes a Commonwealth NGO Forum every four
years-an NGO "summit" attended by representatives ofNGOs in all Commonwealth countries. Ln 1995, this Forum "endorsed" the guidelines, intended
not only for NGOs but for governments and funding organizations as well.

DIMENSIONS OF U NITY

from all groups affected should, to the maximum extent possible,
be responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of
projects and programs ... A member should give priority to working
with or through local and national institutions and groups, encouraging their creation where they do not already exist, or strengthening
them where they do ." The code in India, in its footnote defining
"beneficiary participation,'' explains that "Participation refers to
power and can be acquired through training. Merely being present
in a decision-making process cannot be called Participation. One
has to contribute to its formulation. Similarly, doing an activity is
not Participation. Taking responsibility for an effective action will
be Participation." The guidelines of the International Council of
Voluntary Agencies recognize that "Participatory development
takes a long time, it is unpredictable, and the long-term impact is
difficult to measure. Donor and intermediary NGOs must allow
sufficient time, funds and flexibility to enable community groups
to carry out their own needs assessment, programme formulation,
implementation and evaluation."

Diversity and lntercultural Relations
Most of the codes include the principle of respecting the diversity of the peoples with whom the organizations work, including
their culture, religion, values , traditions, and history. Many codes
aim for a model of "partnership" among groups, as well. Several
focus on the messages and images conveyed in communications
to the public. The code in South Africa aims to build an organizational culture that will "recognise all cultural groups as equal
Partners in developing the organisation." The Commonwealth
Foundation guidelines require that agencies operating in countries other than their own "avoid acting in paternalistic, sexist,
racist or elitist ways." The code in Japan aims to "establish equal
partnership with people and NGOs of developing countries and
elsewhere." It continues, "Cognizant that we in the North share
responsibility for the problems faced by the people in the South,
we shall promote the learning to be global citizens, so as to deepen
our understanding of the problems of global scale, including the
North-South issues , and reexamine the way we live and [think]."

THE BAHA:1W ORLD

The code in Canada requires organizations to avoid, in their public communications, "messages which generalize and mask the
diversity of situations; messages which fuel prejudice; messages
which foster a sense of Northern superiority; [and] messages
which show people as hopeless objects for our pity, rather than
as equal Partners in action and development." The code in Lesotho
adds to a similar list "idyllic messages (which do not reflect reality,
albeit unpleasant) or 'adventure' or exotic messages; ... apocalyptic
or pathetic messages."
Potential of the Code Process
Admittedly, the NGO codes are not purely an exercise in enlightened governance. In some cases the motivation for adopting them
has been the hope of forestalling restrictive government regulation or redeeming the reputation of the non-governmental sector
after highly publicized incidents of embezzlement or other unethical
and/or illegal conduct. Many of the codes use vague terms without
defining them, few are written as carefully or specifically as a law,
and the adopting organizations may well have varying interpretations of the same code. Although some codes may be enforced
through the sanction of loss of membership in the NGO network,
this is more likely to occur for violating financial reporting requirements than for ignoring a more vague injunction concerning,
for example, participatory decision making or respect for other
cultures.
In spite of all of this, however, the NGO codes remain highly
promising. Since most have been in effect for only a few years, it
is too early to evaluate their impact on the member organizations
or on the non-governmental sector as a whole, let alone any more
far-reaching effect. But the pace at which new codes are being
drafted and adopted is accelerating, and the older codes such as the
one in the United States, now almost ten years old, are spawning
efforts by their networks to raise performance standards further. At
least in the near future, it seems highly likely that efforts toward
non-governmental self-regulation in the development field will
continue to spread, deepen, and produce increasingly enforceable
standards.

DIMENS IONS OF UNITY

In the longer term, the evolution of NGO codes may signal both
the beginning of maturation of certain segments of civil society
and a new stage in relations between government and civil society
organizations. Instead of dismissing CSOs as "special interest
groups" (in a pejorative sense) "lobbying" for their own particular
cause, some governmental institutions at the local, national, and
international levels are coming to view CSOs as vital and indispensable actors in the democratic process. CSOs link people with
their governments and with international institutions in ways that
can ultimately serve the public good. They give voice to public
concerns and priorities that they feel governments are not addressing adequately. The perception, backed by the reality, that the
CSOs are conducting their affairs ethically, openly, for a declared
public purpose and based on explicit human values cannot help but
raise their credibility and strengthen their influence. CSO self-regulation through codes of conduct may also be seen as staking a
claim to the moral high ground, placing human well-being above
private interests and all ideologies, a claim that cannot be ignored
indefinitely by governments and business. 17
It is not suggested, of course, that the present NGO codes will
themselves lead the world to a new era of humane governance. It is
suggested, however, that the perceived need in every region to adopt
such codes, the ability of networks of diverse NGOs to negotiate
and adopt them successfully, and the similar visions and principles
enunciated in codes in radically different societies signify that a
new era is already upon us.
Unity as Operating Principle
Baha'is believe that this new era is one in which old structures are
collapsing and new ones conducive to world unity are being born.

17. At the February 1999 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenged the business community to enter into a Global Compact to embrace core values in human
rights , labor standards, and environmental practices. The International
Chamber of Commerce, which has taken upon itself the role of the "voice of
business" at the UN, responded in July 1999 in a meeting with Annan that
the business community had taken up this challenge.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

The Baha'i writings state that the coming of Baha'u'llah has
imbued humanity with "a new and regenerating Spirit" that "is
manifesting itself with varying degrees of intensity through the
efforts consciously displayed by His avowed supporters and indirectly through certain humanitarian organizations." 18 Given the
impending "organic change in the structure of present-day society,"19 it is not surprising to see in the NGO codes indications of
things to come and striking conceptual parallels to Baha'i teachings.
It is also instructive to explore how the codes and the Baha'i
teachings differ, focusing the analysis on the principle of unity.
Unity First
The one word that stands most closely associated with the Baha'i
Faith, its beliefs, principles, and institutions, is unity. The Baha'i
Faith proclaims that there is one God, that all religions are one in
essence, and that humanity is one people. As Shoghi Effendi
wrote in 1931 :

Let there be no mistake. The principle of the Oneness of Mankind-the pivot round which all the teachings ofBaha'u'llah
revolve-is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an
expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal is not to be
merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the
fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples
and nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than
any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its
message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns
itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships
that must bind all the states and nations as members of one
human family. It does not constitute merely the enunciation of
an ideal, but stands inseparably associated with an institution
adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate its influence. It implies an organic change in the
structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has
not yet experienced. 20

18. Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahci 'u'l/ah, p. 19.
19. World Order of Bahci'u'llah, p. 43.
20. World Order of Baha 'u '!!ah, pp. 42-43.

DlMENSlONS O F U NITY

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Baha'u 'llah wrote,
"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole
earth .. .This goal excelleth every other goal, and this aspiration is
the monarch of all aspirations. " 21 Most who promote peace would
agree that unity in some form is the goal towards which humanity
is striving. But Baha'u'llah also made this startling declaration:
"The well-being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established." 22 How can
unity be both the precondition and the goal?
The Universal House of Justice has written that the "oneness of
mankind ... is at once the operating principle and ultimate goal" of
the Faith ofBaha'u'llah. 23 In Who Is Writing the Future?, the Baha'i
International Community wrote that one of the most deeply entrenched, unexamined assumptions of the twentieth century is that

unity is a distant, almost unattainable ideal to be addressed
only after a host of political conflicts have been somehow
resolved , material needs somehow satisfied, and injustices
somehow corrected. The opposite, Baba 'u' llah asserts, is the
case. The primary disease that afflicts society and generates
the ills that cripple it, He says, is the disunity of a human race
that is distinguished by its capacity for collaboration and
whose progress to date has depended on the extent to which
unified action has, at various times and in various societies,
been achieved. 24

Unity, then, is the primary quality that must characterize any
successful effort to overcome political conflict, material need,
injustice, and other ills of society. Any collective effort at any level,
from the family through international affairs, must be grounded
in unity as its "operating principle" if the effort is to contribute to
the healing of the "primary disease that afflicts society and generates the ills that cripple it."

21. Cited in World Order of Baha 'u 'I/ah , p. 203.
22 . Cited in World Order of Bahci 'u 'I/ah , p. 203.
23 . Universal House of Justice, Letter to the Baha'is of the World, October 20,
1983 , reprinted in Helen Hornby (ed.), Lights of Guidance, 4th rev. ed.
(New Delhi: Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1996), # 1848, pp . 545--46 .
24. Wh o ls Writing the Future? , p. 7.

Dimensions of Unity
To the extent that collaborative action in the past has led to lasting
human progress, at least some degree of one or more of the following
dimensions of unity has been present:

• Knowledge of unity: participants know that they are somehow
connected, interdependent, or sharing a fate.
• Feeling of unity: participants feel unified on some level due to
group identification (family, ethnicity, race, religion, nationality,
gender, etc.), common interests, geography, the presence of
other dimensions of unity in the group, or other circumstances.
• Ethical unity: participants share their most fundamental values
(ethical, moral, spiritual).
• Unity of purpose: participants are agreed on the purpose of
their joint effort.
• Unity of methods: participants subscribe to common methods
for making decisions and resolving conflict.
• Organizational unity: participants are joined in some agreedupon institutional structure.

All of these dimensions of unity are interrelated, but they are
also distinct from each other and one can exist without another. It
is instructive to look again at the NGO codes with this framework
in mind.
An essential aim of the codes is to create or strengthen the basis
for unified, collective action, not only by the adopting NGOs themselves but by the communities and other groups and institutions
with which they work. A Baha'i view would suggest that the most
meaningful measure of the value of the NGO codes is the extent to
which they effectively promote these dimensions of unity. They
are all evident to some extent.
Organizational unity within the existing NGO networks gives
the member groups the institutional framework within which to
create the codes. Unity of purpose and unity of methods are evident in the codes' nearly unanimous espousal of certain essential
goals for development and a participatory approach, broad as
these may be. The essentials of a rudimentary ethical unity are

DI ME SIONS OF U NITY

also apparent, necessarily beginning with primary human virtues:
honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, and respect for others who are
different. The value system is dominated by concern for the wellbeing of those most in need.
The feeling of unity is strong within, and sometimes among,
certain NGOs, due to the deep sense of shared commitment to a
noble purpose, which is at once the source of strength and energy
of effective NGOs and which often distinguishes them from other
sectors or groups in society. Some civil society organizations have
had remarkable success-relative to typical experience in our fractured world-in overcoming traditional barriers between groups in
societies through their focus on a shared purpose that transcends
those differences. Feelings of unity derived from common purpose
may also have a longer term effect in wearing down prejudice and
creating habits of cooperation across barriers.
As for knowledge of unity, the codes' injunctions to respect
other cultures and traditions, to work on a basis of partnership
rather than paternalism, and to present realistic but not pitying or
prejudicial images of those in need all support a world view in
which every individual and group is to be respected, valued, and
treated as an equal. This approach is generally within the stream
of the "multiculturalism" movement, which consists of developing personal character traits, social values, and human relations
that reflect the idea of globalism and can bridge gaps between
cultures. Again, given the experience of our fractured world, this
is a tremendous stride towards creating a climate of mutual tolerance and respect.
The potential for extending all of these dimensions of unity is
evident in the codes, as NGOs carry out their work in countless
communities and endeavor to influence governmental policies.
Development work that does not promote unity within families
and communities, among social groups and organizations, or
across cultural and national lines, may temporarily ameliorate some
of the suffering but will not be able to heal the "primary disease
that afflicts society and generates the ills that cripple it." Future
generations will owe a great debt of gratitude to those who now
have grasped this reality and are struggling to transcend prejudice,
hatred, and suspicion.

Another observation that can be made in looking at the NGO
codes in light of Baha'i principles is that the world is "backing into"
the dimension of unity that the Baha'i Faith places before all else:
consciousness of the oneness of humanity. States and peoples are
willingly or unwillingly being drawn into ever-increasing contact,
with resulting conflict or cooperation, by the forces of environmental
interdependence, technological progress, economic globalization,
and armed threats. Isolation is no longer an option. Excessive competition is destructive to all, and the effects of severe conflict cannot
be contained. One need not be especially prescient to realize that
people need to get along with each other on both a domestic and a
global scale, but this is not possible if a group maintains its superiority to others, its inherent right to special privileges, or its entitlement
to exercise disproportionate or unaccountable authority. Because
the fate of each nation and group is intertwined with that of all others
and with the fate of humanity as a whole, initiatives like multiculturalism, world citizenship movements, people-to-people diplomacy,
and interfaith dialogues have emerged that generally deserve high
praise and broad support and participation.
From a Baha'i point of view, these initiatives must culminate in
a still more all-encompassing and transforming conviction in the
oneness of humanity, as described above by Shoghi Effendi. 25
While the Baha'i community itself can as yet only partially grasp
the implications of this principle, all of its efforts are directed
towards understanding it, living it, and building institutions to
embody it.
"The bedrock of a strategy," writes the Baha'i International
Community in The Prosperity ofHumankind, "that can engage the
world's population in assuming responsibility for its collective
destiny must be the consciousness of the oneness of humankind."
The statement continues:

Deceptively simple in popular discourse, the concept that
humanity constitutes a single people presents fundamental
challenges to the way that most of the institutions of contemporary society carry out their functions. Whether in the form

25. See quotation in text at note 20 above.

DIM EN SIONS OF U NITY

of the adversarial structure of civil government, the advocacy
principle informing most of civil law, a glorification of the
struggle between classes and other social groups, or the competitive spirit dominating so much of modem life, conflict is
accepted as the mainspring of human interaction. It represents
yet another expression in social organization of the materialistic interpretation of life that has ~rogressively consolidated
itself over the past two centuries. 2

Consciousness of the oneness of humanity is the only basis for
unity that cannot itself generate disunity. Many forms of the dimensions of unity mentioned above-in particular, unity based on group
identification----can divide people, creating "us" and "them," "self'
and "other." Some groups and organizations even find their primary
identity in defining themselves in opposition to others. It is only by
recognizing and living the oneness of humanity that all divisions
and all prejudices can be permanently obliterated.
Moreover, the "watchword" of the law of Baha'u'llah is "unity
in diversity," 27 which "distinguishes unity from homogeneity or
uniformity." 28 While an individual can no more live apart from
humanity than a cell can from the body, cells are differentiated ,
and it is their distinction that enables the body as a whole to become
something transcending a collection of parts. This is the organic
unity of humankind.
The Bahll 'i Approach
Because it incorporates all the dimensions of unity discussed earlier, the Baha'i community provides an unusually developed
model of unity from the grassroots to the global level. The Baha'is'
world-wide unity in all the essential dimensions makes their
community a powerful society-building force that addresses the
outer and inner challenges posed by the crumbling nation-state
system.
Baha'is understand that humanity's great task is to transform by
stages the separate nations and peoples of the earth into an organically and spiritually unified world. But while Baha'is share many

26. Prosperity of Humankind, p. 6.
27. Shoghi Effendi , World Order of Bahd 'u 'I/ah, p. 42.
28. Prosperity of Humankind, p. 7.

goals and principles with other people striving to advance society,
the Baha'i approach to realizing these goals stands in contrast to
their approaches, which start from some point within the increasingly anarchic state system and attempt to weld disparate interests
together. While the work of these groups is highly laudable, internal
and inter-group clashes often occur over methods, organization,
procedures, values, and purposes because the participants are not
fully unified in essentials.
In contrast, the Baha 'i community's approach begins from a
state of internal unity and seeks, by developing its understanding
of the Baha'i message and administrative order, to extend the
range and strengthen the bonds of the unity that characterizes it. In
terms of the dimensions of unity listed previously, the Baha'is'
knowledge of unity stems from their shared belief in Baha'u'llah
and His vision of world unity. 29 Their feeling of unity flows from
this belief and vision but also, at the most profound personal level,
from nurturing a love for each person as a spiritual creation and
expression of God's love for us all. Their ethical unity results from
following the universal values enshrined in Baha'u'llah's teachings. Their unity of purpose comes from their common plan of
development for the global Baha'i community, which each local
Baha'i community helps construct and carry out. Their unity of
method, which allows them to act in concert to realize their vision
and plan, originates from the same fundamental principles of action
and decision making found in every Baha' i community. The source
of their organizational unity is the global Baha'i administrative
order. Thus, the Baha'i community's precondition for action is an
established internal unity, its operations are united and unifying,
and its goal is a greater, more developed unity.
The difference between approaches that do not put unity first
and the Baha'i approach is analogous to the difference between
making a necklace by placing pearls in a row and attempting to
string a thread through them, or stringing the pearls one by one

29. Wendy Heller, in her article "Covenant and the Foundations of Civil Society" (The Baha 'i World 1995- 96, pp. 185- 222) explains the historical and
potential role of the religious covenant in organizing "civil society," there
meaning non-religious social institutions.

DIMENSIONS OF U NITY

along the thread. While the goal and final product of each approach
is the same, the organization of the two efforts to complete the
necklace is vastly different. The first method engenders conflict
and frustration and will likely fail, while the second will certainly
end in success.
Global unity must be built in every area in which the existing
nation state system is disintegrating. Shoghi Effendi stated that in
order to stem the anarchy resulting from the breakdown of the state
system, the oneness and wholeness of human relationships must be
established. These relations, being a "fundamental principle oflife,"
create a new dynamic in all areas of social life. Such a dynamic
motivates a broadbased rebuilding of civil society's character-forming
institutions in such a way that they will embody the oneness of
humanity, the pivot of all Baha'u'llah's teachings. 30
These relationships are not new. Social advances never occur in
the absence of unity, and previous societies obviously valued some
form of oneness and wholeness in their relationships. The oneness
of human relationships, arising out of the urge of human beings to
form groups, unifies individuals in a purposeful collective social
experience. The wholeness of human relations allows full play to
humanity's creative drive and fosters expression of the entire range
of human potentialities, because these relations develop in response
to the challenges of novel situations. While there are now and have
been relationships within all societies that meet these definitions,
today, for the first time, the scale is global.
What, then, would the oneness and wholeness of human relationships look like and how would they operate on a global scale?
Though no complete answer to this question can be given, certain
aspects of these relations can be understood because they are
already functioning embryonically within the social order established by Baha'u'llah.

30 . " The Baha'i Faith upholds the unity of God, recognizes the unity of His
Prophets, and inculcates the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the
entire human race." Shoghi Effendi, from his statement prepared for presentation to the United Nations Special Palestine Committee in 1947, cited in
The Bah<i 'i World 1992-93, p. 294.

THEB AHA'I WORLD

The Emergent Baha'i Model
At the foundation of the Baha'i administrative order are the stable,
unchanging forms of the Local Spiritual Assembly, elected everywhere by the same direct method, and the Baha'i Nineteen Day
Feast, which is the common institution of Baha'is around the globe.
National Spiritual Assemblies and the Universal House of Justice
are elected by indirect representation. Members of the appointed
institutions-the Continental Boards of Counsellors and Auxiliary
Board members-serve in their individual capacities as advisors to
Baha'i communities and to the elected institutions at every level,
fulfilling a critical role in the moral education and development of
the community as a whole. Universality of values within this system
(e.g., absence of prejudice, equality of the sexes, truthfulness,
trustworthiness) and purposes (e.g., spiritual development, unity
of all human beings, justice) are essential elements of each part of
this order and its functioning, and the touchstone of its stability
and simplicity. Yet, because each level of the order has its own
sphere of jurisdiction and individuality, it can also continually
modify its secondary aspects to respond innovatively to change.
Besides these formal institutions of the Baha'i administrative
order, 31 a number of experiments in social organization, such as
social and economic development projects, are being organized by
Baha'is on the local, national, and international levels to serve the
needs of their larger communities. Yet this diverse growth occurs
within what the Universal House of Justice calls "a single social
organism, representative of the diversity of the human family,
conducting its affairs through a system of commonly accepted
consultative principles." 32 The diversification that results from
experimentation within social structures shows the dynamic aspect
of oneness and wholeness. The Baha'i community is one example
of this process. 33 But there is more to the concept.

31 . While these are not the only institutions of the Baha ' i administrative order,
others such as the annual Convention and the Baha ' i fund are subsidiary to
our discussion.
32. Promise of World Peace, p. 19.
33. The work ofrebui lding civil society, particularly as exemplified in the rise of
NGOs, can be seen to complement the efforts of the Baha'i community.

DIMENS IONS OF UN ITY

Creating the oneness and wholeness of human relations marks,
historically, the end of an era when separate societies evolved
more or less independently of each other, and the dawn of a global
society that will advance as one unit. The oneness and wholeness
of human relations means that all human beings will be incorporated within a single framework of social relationships, without
sacrificing expression of the diversity of cultural influences. Thus,
the primary identity of every individual will be as a member of the
human race, and all cultural, national, ethnic and racial identities
will be subordinated to and derive their meaning from this . The
Baha' i administrative order exemplifies this aspect of the oneness
and wholeness of human relationships since it is part of the world
order of Baha'u' llah, which "encompasses all units of human society; integrates the spiritual, administrative and social processes of
life; and canalizes human expression in its varied forms towards the
construction of a new civilization." 34
For example, the Baha'i Nineteen Day Feast "may well be seen
in its unique combination of modes as the culmination of a great
historic process in which primary elements of community lifeacts of worship, of festivity, and other forms of togethemess--over
vast stretches of time have achieved a glorious convergence. The
Nineteen Day Feast represents a new stage in this enlightened age
to which the basic expression of community life has evolved." 35
Another primary element of these relations, the incorporation of
spiritual reality into social relations , is conspicuous by its decline in
culture everywhere. Relationships without a spiritual foundation
developed by acts of prayer and meditation as expressions of devotion to and worship of a Sacred Reality cannot nurture the whole
human being. If human relations are truly whole, the inner world
of individual searching for spiritual transcendence, the collective
human world of social interaction, and the natural world of the
body must all be found in them.
At the basic level of Baha'i society, the Baha'i Feast, with its
devotional, administrative and social components, embraces all of

34. Compilation on the Nineteen Day Feast, compiled by the Universal House
of Justice (Thorn.hill , Ontario : Baha' i Can ada Publications, 1990), p. 1.
35. The Nineteen Day Feast, p. 2.

these worlds. Likewise, the Local Spiritual Assembly, operating as
the fundamental unit of the Baha'i administration, is a focal center
of the community's spiritual, social, and material activity.
Since the relationship between the individual and society is a
reciprocal one, entering into social institutions that embrace the
spiritual, social and material worlds of human existence entails an
enlargement of individual social responsibilities. Few societies
today aside from the Baha'i community give individuals so much
responsibility or educate them in the requirements of participation
in these new responsibilities. It is their "divine" institutions that
make the Baha'is an organized moral force. The Feast, for example,
because of its threefold purpose and through the process of community consultation,

links the individual to the collective processes by which a society
is built or restored ... the Feast is an arena of democracy at the
very root of society, where the Local Spiritual Assembly and
the members of the community meet on common ground, where
individuals are free to offer their gifts of thought, whether as
new ideas or constructive criticism, to the building processes of
an advancing civilization. Thus it can be seen that aside from its
spiritual significance, the common institution of the people combines an array of elemental social disciplines which educate its
participants in the essentials ofresponsible citizenship.36

Fuelling these institutions to function effectively as communitybuilders in every part of the world are three closely related and
unifying operative principles of unity: the right of every individual to
an unfettered search for truth; consultation on any and all problems;
and universal participation.
While the independent search for truth implies the right of each
person to his or her own opinion based on that search, these differences must be harmonized ifunity of perception, purpose and action
is to be achieved. Thus, "[ c ]onsultation, frank and unfettered, is
the bedrock of this unique Order." 37 But consultation is not just a

36. The Nineteen Day Feast, p.3 .
37. Shoghi Effendi, cited in Consultation. A Compilation, in The Compilation
of Compilations: Prepared by the Universal House of Justice 1963- 1990
(Mona Yale: Baha'i Publications Australia, 199 l ), Vol. l, # 192.

DIMENS ION S OF U NITY

forum for exchanging thought and opinion, facts and ideas; it is both
a means to and a form of decision making.
As a means of decision making, consultation brings different
individual perspectives together in a spirit of collective search to
discover the whole truth in any situation. The consultative environment is created within an atmosphere of mutual trust and regard on
the part of the participants, regardless of their age and experience.
In true consultation there are no individual leaders and private
interests, because the well-being of everyone is the real object of
discussion. With open discussion welcomed, people can more easily
agree on the true nature of any problem, the desired solution, and
the approach to this end. Hence the Baha'i writings state that "the
shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing
opinions." 38 In full and frank consultation, which is nevertheless
courteous in tone and spirit, individuals find their common mind,
united upon the truth. Thus, consultation is a process of collective
transformation, turning individual insights and perceptions into the
common possession of all.
In short, the consultative process harmonizes the rights of individuals to express their opinions and the requirements of the
collectivity for the stability of a working consensus. It brings out
the cooperative side of human nature, yet does not sacrifice individuality in the process. Baha'u'llah states: "No power can exist
except through unity. No welfare and no well-being can be attained
except through consultation," and "Consultation bestoweth greater
awareness and transmuteth conjecture into certitude. It is a shining
light which, in a dark world, leadeth the way and guideth." 39
The intellectual dynamics of coming to an understanding and
agreement about truth have profound social effects within Baha'i
communities. The process of consultation produces people with an
understanding of public tasks and facilitates their involvement in
larger public affairs because it develops the skills required to participate in solving social problems . Moreover, since each local
Baha'i community sees itself as one part of the world order of

38. 'Abdu ' l-Baha, cited in Shoghi Effendi , Baha 'i Administration (Wilmette:
Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1953), p. 21 .
39. Baha ' u'llah , cited in Consultation: A Compilation, Vol. 1, # 167, p. 168.

THE BAHA'f WORLD

Baha'u'llah and applies to the local situation His universal ethical
and social principles, the work of all communities easily interconnects, thereby developing the collective capacity to solve problems
beyond the local level as well.
The third principle, universal participation, implies that every
individual, regardless of age, social position, educational or family
background, has a right to contribute whatever he or she can to
the community's development, while for its part the community
has the obligation to create opportunities for individuals to contribute. It also implies that every individual has a spiritual and
moral obligation to be of service to the community, for the spiritual strength of any community is measured by the breadth of
participation in the services performed within it.
The last point to be made about the Baha'i model of the oneness
and wholeness of human relationships is its global integration.
Organizational and spiritual unity is achieved structurally and purposively because everywhere in the world, at the local , national
and international levels of Baha'i society, the interconnected institutions of the Baha'i social order function according to like
practices, are constituted by the same set of procedures and make
and communicate decisions through similar channels. Like every
cell and organ of the human body, every Baha'i institution is itself
a ground plan of the complete order. This unity of structure and
harmony of function in Baha'i social institutions both enable and
define new kinds of collective action. From the local through the
regional and national to the global levels of organization, there is a
transfer, accumulation and reorganization of energy, making an
increasingly powerful moral force for unity that seeks to find
greater social expression, while from the global Baha'i institutions
flow the coordinating vision, the inspired guidance and detailed
plans that link and combine every Baha'i purpose with every other.
In light of this organizational structure and purpose, Shoghi
Effendi describes how the Baha'i community's "world-embracing,
continually consolidating activities constitute the one integrating
process in a world whose institutions, secular as well as religious, are
for the most part dissolving."40 This community is weaving an orderly

40. Shoghi Effendi, World Order ofBaha 'u 'llah, p. 194.

DIMENS IONS OF U NITY

world polity that "constitutes the one hope for a stricken society."41
Conclusion
More than one hundred years ago, Baha'u'llah wrote that the "prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective." 42 Today this
has become obvious. The defects and limitations of the nationstate system are generating ethical and structural challenges to
governance and spawning numerous attempts to either repair the
rifts or create a new order.
The next stage in the collective social evolution of humanity is
world unity- as yet only a dimly foreseen system of governance
in which diversity is protected and valued, centralization is kept to
the necessary minimum, and human loyalties and identities are
world-embracing. To move in that direction from our present anarchic nation-state system, current governments need to evolve
upwards into larger functional structures, downwards into stronger
association with the public, and inwards by shifting their ethical
foundation to one that can support global unity. Groups of citizens
dedicated to promoting human well-being are actively responding
to these needs and contributing immensely to both structural and
ethical transformation. Networks of NGOs involved in this work
around the world have matured to the point of being able to agree
on codes of conduct articulating shared goals, values, operating
principles, and ethics. The striking similarities among these codes
and the global outlook and perspective they embrace are promising
signs of a new global order struggling to be born.
Recently, the positive and well-publicized contributions of civil
society to better governance have generated tremendous enthusiasm
for the potential of NGOs to remedy the ills of humanity in the
face of state governments ' incapacity and too-narrow perspective.
This confidence in civil society should not, as some cynics say, be
regarded as a passing fad, but neither should it be espoused without deep consideration of the reasons for non-governmental success
to date. Establishing unity is the prerequisite to solving humanity's
problems at any level , and the more profound and encompassing

41 . World Order of Baha 'u '!!ah , pp. 194-95 .
42 . Baha' u' llah, Gleanings, p. 216.

THE B AHA'f W ORLD

the unity, the more successful any effort for human progress. This
is the fundamental standard by which to evaluate the worth and
potential of modem social movements.
Organizations of civil society will succeed in their efforts to
the extent that they create unity among diverse participants in
order to promote the public good. Since the concept of unity is
susceptible to so many understandings, the six dimensions of
unity outlined in this essay are offered as a way to make the idea
more tangible and to identify degrees and types of unity relevant
to building stable and just social structures. Ultimately, it is the
consciousness of the reality of the oneness of humankind that
can inform the social institutions and patterns of behavior necessary
for a new global order. In contrast, efforts that lack an encompassing framework of unity threaten to dissolve into the same chaos
that characterizes the nation-state system. Evaluating the NGO
codes of conduct from this perspective shows that, to their great
credit, the adopting organizations have generally committed themselves to achieving broader and more inclusive levels of unity than
exist otherwise in their societies.
Examined from the same standpoint, the experience of the
worldwide Baha'i community shows that its teachings require
and are in fact inspiring an unparalleled global system, unified in
all of its essential aspects, both structural and ethical. Each local,
or national, Baha' i community is not an independent social entity
with its own self-defined code of conduct, attempting to link
with others who have undergone a similar process of development.
Each Baha'i community sees itself, and identifies its essential
nature, as constituting one part of the collective reality of the world
order ofBaha'u'llah through the local application of the universal
ethical, social and organizational principles of the Baha'i teachings.
The unifying power of Baha'u'llah's principles enables the Baha'i
community to exhibit perhaps a greater diversity than any other
group in the world .43 It demonstrates a new paradigm of unity
that connects inner spiritual reality with outer social relations and

43 . Baha ' is live in more than 127,000 localities worldwide, and inc lude members of over 2,000 tribes, races, and ethnic groups. See pp. 31 7-20 of this
volume for complete stati stical inform ation .

DIME NS IONS OF U NITY

harmonizes the purposes of the individual with those of the community. Stretching from the grassroots to the global level, the Baha'i
order provides a powerful model of the kind of social structure and
action required to build a new global order upon a comprehensive
ethical foundation .
It is due largely to this tight link between the local and the global that individual Baha'is put such priority on attending Local
Spiritual Assembly meetings and the Nineteen Day Feast, that
they study the Baha'i writings together, that they are committed
to applying Baha' i consultation in all community endeavors, and
that they reach out to the community at large to collaborate in
efforts to promote gender equality and to overcome racism. They
know that their efforts to build and strengthen the Baha'i administrative institutions and to live according to their ethical principles
are directly related to writing humanity's future.
The work of Baha'i individuals and communities is still a quiet
drama, operating at the level of essentials, but it is so indispensable
that the Universal House of Justice has stated: "A Baha'i community
which is consistent in its fundamental life-giving, life-sustaining
activities will .. .exert irresistible influence, will set a new course in
human evolution."44 Baha'is seek opportunities both to learn from
and to teach others in this great endeavor.

44. The Universal House of Justice, 1984 Ri9van Message to the Baha'is of
North America.

Ann Boyles looks at issues surrounding the
entrance of women into leadership roles at
the local, national, and international levels
around the world.

WTWORLD
wATCH

A lthough they continue to face many extremely serious problems, it is clear that women have made great progress
towards achieving equality with men during the twentieth century.
It is remarkable to think that less than a hundred years ago women
still did not have the right to vote and had only recently entered the
realm of higher education, while today women comprise half of the
undergraduates in Western universities and in 1993 earned fortyfour percent of doctoral degrees in American universities. They
have moved in large numbers into many professions, such as
medicine, law, and scientific research, that were not previously
open to them. Between 1983 and 1996, the percentage of women
lawyers and judges in the U.S . doubled to twenty-nine percent, and
the percentage of female physicians rose from sixteen to twentysix percent. Yet there is still much progress to be made . While
women now vote in most of the world's countries, women politicians
are still vastly outnumbered by men; in business, only one in ten
corporate officers is a woman, and fewer than three percent of all
chief executive positions are held by women. The exclusion of

women from these influential areas of civil life means that their
voices and views are still not widely heard.
In many places in the world, however, such problems would be
enviable. While the economic, social, and political situations of
women have improved in some countries, the global picture is
sobering. Of the more than one and a half billion people on the
planet identified as the "rural poor," women comprise at least
seventy percent of this number. And while women make up
approximately half of the world's population and perform twothirds of the work, they earn only one-tenth of the world's income
and hold in their own names less than one-hundredth of the world's
property. 1 Girls make up sixty percent of the 140 million children
around the globe who never attend frimary school, and two-thirds
of the 100 million school dropouts.
Addressing the challenges women face at the close of the twentieth
century is central to the well-being of all, whether the challenge be
the "glass ceiling" in a business corporation or the means to feed
their children even one meal. As Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM),
has said:

The current international system has constructed a world of
inequality, instability and conflict. To change this, the international co1mnunity must generate new development thinking and
practice, a new ethics of governance and new processes of
leadership. Women must be part of this new process in order for
it to work. Women have a high stake in creating new mechanisms
and systems that are equitable and sustainable. Until they are
present at the decision-making table, their concerns will remain
marginalized 'special interests'. 3

This observation recalls 'Abdu'l-Baha's words in 1912, when

1. Janet Momsen, Women and Development in the Third World (London:
Routledge, 1991 ), pp. 1-2.
2. John Rowley, "Judgement Day," People and the Planet, Vol. 7, No. 5 (1998),
p. 3.
3. Noeleen Heyzer, "Bringing a Gender Perspective to Global Governance:
An interview with Noeleen Heyzer," in Development 1995 :4 Journal of
SJD, pp. 44-45 ; p. 45.

He stated unequivocally, "Women have equal rights with men upon
earth; in religion and society they are a very important element. 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." 4 It is a grave mistake, then, to relegate women's
concerns to the realm of "special interests." In 1985 the Universal
House of Justice wrote of the pernicious effects of inequality, saying:

The denial of. .. equality perpetrates an injustice against one half
of the world 's population and promotes in men harmful attitudes
and habits that are carried from the family to the workplace, to
political life, and ultimately to international relations. There are
no grounds, moral, practical, or biological, upon which such
denial can be justified. Only as women are welcomed into full
partnership in all fields of human endeavor will the moral and
psychological climate be created in which international peace
can emerge. 5

Following from this statement, we may well ask what form
women's greater involvement in wider society will take in order to
create such a moral and psychological climate, and how they will
change the way that society and its institutions function. Central to
such questions is the role of women as peacemakers.
Since the early years of this century, when women struggled to
gain the vote, the expectation has always been that their participation in politics would usher in a new era of peace. Francis Fukuyama
takes up this issue in his essay "Women and the Evolution of World
Politics," published in the September/October 1998 issue of Foreign
Affairs. Women, he asserts, have made a difference in the political
sphere, but the "feminization" of politics in developed countries is
not necessarily a good thing. But while feminization has made these
nations less aggressive, violent, competitive, and adventurous ,

4. ' Abdu ' l-Baha, Paris Talks, 10th British ed. (London: Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1961 ), p. 133 ; cited in Women.á Extracts from the Writings of Baha 'u 'llah,
'Abdu 'l-Bah6, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House ofJustice, compiled by
the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice (Thornhill: Baha' i
Canada Publications, 1986), No. 20, p. 11.
S. The Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace (Haifa:
Baha ' i World Centre Publications, 1985), pp . 11 - 12 .

Fukuyama worries that "even if the democratic, feminized, postindustrial world has evolved into a zone of peace where struggles
are more economic than military, it will still have to deal with
those parts of the world run by young, ambitious, unconstrained
men." Thus, "in anything but a totally feminized world, feminized
policies could be a liability," 6 and "masculine policies will still be
required, though not necessarily masculine leaders." 7 At the base
of Fukuyama's argument is the premise that men are inherently
more violent than women, a trait that socialization cannot eliminate
and that dominates leadership paradigms in developing countries.
But are women, in fact, "hardwired" to be less violent and aggressive than men? And do women, if given the opportunity to lead,
lead differently than men? Discussions about the gendered brain
and evolutionary psychology have occupied a central place in many
contemporary discussions about women, the nature of equality,
and leadership. While the subject is hotly debated, Karin Klenke, a
scholar in the field of leadership studies, explains the difficulties in
drawing conclusions on this question from the studies that have
been conducted:

Some traits like aggression or dominance which have been
linked to leadership are also believed to be sex-linked. In other
words, American men presumably are more aggressive than
American women. The biological basis of aggression is derived
from the presence of the Y chromosome and the sex hormone
testosterone, both of which convey maleness. However, behavioral manifestations of aggression in boys and girls, or men and
women, can also be explained culturally and socially, since both
sexes display a variety of aggressive behaviors ranging from
aggressive verbal acts to criminal behavior. 8

Katha Pollitt, in her response to Fukuyama's article, notes that
even for supposedly sex-linked traits, each gender falls along a
bell curve, and the curves mostly overlap. (In the case of aggression

6. Francis Fukuyama, "Women and the Evolution of World Politics," in Foreign
Affairs, Vol. 77, No. 5 (September/October 1998), p. 36.
7. Fukuyama, p. 37.
8. Karin Klenke, Women and leadership: A Contextual Perspective (New
York: Springer Publishing Co., 1996), p. 137.

W ORLD W ATCH

and dominance, which are believed to be genetically based and
which have been linked consistently to male-female differences,
some studies have found that biology or sex accounts only for five
percent of the variability between people.) Such findings, Pollitt
points out, contradict Fukuyama's argument that men are violent
and competitive and women are not. 9 With genetic differences
between men and women in regard to aggressiveness under question, she contends, there is no basis for the conclusion that men and
women, inherently, lead differently. While Fukuyama may worry
"that the girls are about to seize power and tum the United States
into an international wimp," Pollitt says:

American women have had the vote for nearly 80 years. So
far, they have not even won paid maternity leave or affordable
daycare, things taken for granted in other industrialized countries. In light of these failures, the assertion that women will be
transfonning American foreign policy anytime soon, against
the wi 11 of those now in control, strikes me as a fantasy second
only to the notion that genetics will bring it about. It is more
likely that as women become more enmeshed in politics and business, with all their compromises and rewards, whatever modest
inclination they may now possess toward nonviolent conflict
resolution will be swamped by other factors: vanity, §reed,
fear, perceptions of national interest, lust for cheap oil. 1

In some ways her argument, with its speculative assumptions
about women's easy capitulation to forces such as vanity and greed,
is as unsatisfactory as Fukuyama's. Her view of the future, while
different from his, is equally pessimistic.
A much more positive view of the future and women's role in
shaping it can be found in a great deal of the popular literature
recently published on the topic of women and leadership, including
titles such as The Female Advantage: Womens Ways ofLeadership
by Sally Helgesen and Helen Fisher's 1999 best-seller The Natural
Talents of Women and How They Are Changing the World. These
books are based on the premise that women possess special qualities

9. Katha Pollitt, "Father Knows Best," in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 78, No. 1 (January/February 1999), p. 124.
10 . Pollitt, p. 125.

that will be a great advantage to them in assuming leadership roles
in the coming era. Fisher's take on the gendered brain is that women
think contextually, take a more holistic view of problems and issues,
gather pertinent information and connect various details more
quickly, weigh more variables and points of view in their decisionmaking process, and see more options for action than men. Men, on
the other hand, tend to focus on one thing at a time, compartmentalize
their attention, tune out extraneous stimuli, channel their thinking,
focus on the immediate situation rather than the larger picture, and
move in a linear path towards the solution to a dilemma. Fisher
characterizes the women's process as "web thinking" and the men's
as "step thinking." 11
To see how such differentiation translates into "the female advantage," one need only browse through the business section of any
bookstore. Much of the popular business literature is based on the
premise that effective organizations in the coming century will
abandon the hierarchical pyramidal structure, in which most of the
real control resides at the top. Instead, organizations will be composed of a web of interlaced systems in which power is diffused
and there are many centers of decision making. Fisher, Helgesen,
and others contend that women are ideally suited to this new environment and will, in fact, bring further change as they assume more
positions of authority, both in business and in wider society. 12
While this view makes for best-selling books, support for the
argument of women's superior leadership qualities based on the
gendered brain argument (like the argument about male aggressiveness) is unproven . Again, factors such as culture, environment,
and societal norms must be considered in discussions of men's and
women's leadership characteristics. Klenke contends that gender
differences in actual leader behavior are "few and negligible" and
that "the scientific evidence fails to support the notion of a distinctive
'feminine' leadership style portrayed by the popular literature." 13
An alternative to dwelling on gender differences, she suggests, is

11. Helen Fisher, Th e First Sex: The Natural Talents of Women and How Th ey
Are Changing the World (New York: Random House, 1999), pp . 5- 6.
12. See, for example, Fisher, p. 53 .
13 . Klenke, pp. 159- 60 .

W ORLD W ATCH

the active pursuit of equality, which will lead us towards making
changes in the social values and organizational structures that comprise the leadership fabric. 14
Here, then, we have a broad spectrum of positions on male/female
leadership differences: Fukuyama argues that there is difference in
male and female leadership styles, arising incontrovertibly from
biology. Fisher and others also affirm genetic differences underlying
distinctive masculine and feminine leadership styles, but see the
world evolving to a state that accommodates "the female advantage ." Pollitt, on the other hand, argues that no real sex-based
differences have been proven to exist in behavioral traits such as
aggressiveness, so there is no basis for the assumption that men
and women will lead differently, and if put in leadership positions,
women will quickly become as corrupt as the men who now occupy
them. Finally, Klenke contends that it is impossible to disentangle
genetic, social, and cultural factors in the development of behavioral
traits. Furthermore, it is more important to move beyond arguments
about them, which ultimately result in new gender stereotypes,
towards the pursuit of equality.
Klenke's emphasis on pursuing equality between women and
men is a welcome contribution to the leadership discussion. The
promotion of equality is a central principle of the Baha'i Faith,
originating from Baha'u'llah's statements that "women and men
have been and will always be equal in the sight of God" 15 and that
God "hath conferred upon all a station and rank on the same plane." 16
Thus, the Baha'i belief in equality of the sexes rests on a spiritual
foundation, which forms the basis of all efforts made within the
Baha'i community to promote the advancement of women. Believing
that women and men are equal before God, Baha'i communities the
world over strive to practice that spiritual reality on the material plane.
It is important to understand that, for Baha'is, equality does not
mean "sameness." In their efforts, Baha'is promote recognition of
the complementarity, rather than sameness, of men's and women's
roles. Differences in biological functions of the sexes are obvious,

14. Klenke, pp. 162-63 .
15 . From a previously untran slated tablet, in Women, No. 54, p. 26.
16. From a previously untranslated tablet, in Women, No. 2, p. 2.

but Baha' is believe that such differences in no way imply inferiority
or superiority of one sex or the other. Women's roles, functions,
and views must be valued in any society that hopes to achieve full,
meaningful participation of both sexes in its affairs. Social structures that value qualities such as nurturing and caring in both
women and men play an important role in promoting equality and
avoiding the limitations that gender stereotyping has imposed on
human advancement. Equality is not an end in itself, after all; the
goal of achieving "full partnership" of women and men is, ultimately, the progress of all of humanity-"an age in which the
masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly
balanced." 17
"Feminine elements" identified by 'Abdu 'l-Baha include moral
courage and the ability "to govern in moments of danger and crisis." 18 And while women should "strive to show in the human world
that women are most capable and efficient," they should also not
cease to demonstrate "that their hearts are more tender and susceptible than the hearts of men, that they are more philanthropic and
responsive toward the needy and suffering, that they are inflexibly
opposed to war and are lovers of peace." 19 'Abdu'l-Baha stated
many times that men are more inclined to war than women and that
"a real evidence of woman's superiority will be her service and
°
efficiency in the establishment of universal peace." 2 Furthermore,
He said, "as woman advances toward the degree of man in power
and privilege, with the right of vote and control in human government, most assuredly war will cease." 21
Whether, in the final analysis , these qualities are innate or
socialized is less important than the assertion that the entrance and
acceptance on the world stage of women who manifest these qualities will "assuredly" bring peace.
Education and training on various levels are key in effecting the
kinds of changes that will create a climate in which peace can

17. Women, No. 25 , p. 13 .
18. Cited in Women, No. 87, p. 40 .
19. ' Abdu ' l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, rev. ed. (Wilmette,
Illinois: Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 284; cited in Women, No. 84, p. 39.
20. Promulgation, p. 284; cited in Women, No. 84, p. 39.
21. Women, No . 85 , p. 39 .

emerge. A key element in such a process is the education of girls,
which is given great emphasis in the Baha'i teachings. 'Abdu'l-
Baha said, "there must be no difference in the education of male
and female in order that womankind may develop equal capacity
and importance with man in the social and economic equation."22
He absolutely rejected arguments against equality based on women's
supposed inferiority of capacity, saying, "Even granted that woman
is inferior to man in some degree of capacity or accomplishment,
this or any other distinction would continue to be productive of
discord and trouble. The only remedy is education, opportunity;
for equality means equal qualification." 23
Taken in a contemporary Western context, 'Abdu'l-Baha's
statement could well be interpreted as referring to women's access
to higher education or their entrance into "male" professions in
greater numbers. In the context of developing countries, however, the
practice of such a principle might entail widespread literacy training
and family planning, as smaller families allow women opportunities
to better their own lives and those of their families, and to contribute in arenas from which they have traditionally been excluded.
The urgent need for basic education for women is borne out by
the fact that, according to the 1995 World Education report of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults, or some 565
million people, are women. And the gap between male and female
literacy rates seems likely to widen, as almost 25% of primaryschool-aged girls compared to 16.4% of boys in developing countries
do not attend school. In regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, fewer
than half of primary-school-aged girls attend school, and the rate
drops dramatically for older girls .24 The reasons for non-attendance vary, whether they arise from the family's inability to pay for
school fees, uniforms, or books, or from the need for daughters to
work in the home to assist the mother or in the fields to help support

22. Women , No. 79, p. 37.
23 . Women, No. 78, p. 37.
24. Cited in Learning: The Treasure Within , Report to UNESCO of the international Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century (Paris:
UNESCO Publishing, 1996), p. 75.

the family. In many instances, however, the basic fact is that parents
regard daughters as a liability. In China, for example, since government subsidies for schools were removed some ten years ago,
the dropout rate in poor rural areas has risen exponentially, and in
some locations three-quarters of the dropouts are girls. One mother
states categorically, "In our village, girls are not as important." 25
And since, according to tradition in rural China, girls become part
of their husband's family when they marry, parents see little point
in investing in their futures , when their sons are the ones who will
stay at home and support them. In contrast, the Baha'i teachings
stress the importance of educating the girl child, since she will be
the first educator of the next generation. In fact, if parents lack the
means to educate both sons and daughters, the Baha'i writings say
that priority should be given to the education of the girls.
Campaigns around the globe specifically set up to send girls to
school and keep them there as Jong as possible have begun to
address the basic problem of illiteracy, as experts acknowledge the
correlation between women's educational levels and such societal
improvements as health and nutrition and smaller family size. 26
The UNESCO report asserts: "The vicious circle linking poverty
to inequality between men and women has to be broken. In more
general terms , the education of girls and women would appear .. .to
be the basic precondition for active ~articipation by the population
at large in development activities." 7 Such campaigns address the
issue of women and leadership development at the most basic level.
But even where illiteracy rates are high, other options exist for
training women to be leaders. In India, for example, authorities have
instituted a ~uota system for women's participation in village-level
governance. 8 In 1993 , a constitutional amendment set aside onethird of all village council seats and vill age chiefs ' positions for
women. Of those, a certain percentage is reserved for women from

25 . See " In China, School Fees Keep Many Children Away," in the New York
Tim es Web edition <www.nytimes.com>, I November 1999 .
26. Learning: The Treasure Within , p. 75.
27. Learning: The Treasure Within , p. 76.
28. See " In Indi a, Lower-Caste Women Turn Village Rul e Upside Down," in
th e New York Times Web edition , 3 May 1999.

the lowest castes, according to their percentage of the population.
More than five hundred thousand villages and more than six hundred million people are affected by this change, designed to help
break down the traditional hierarchical caste system. Women who
had never previously been given the opportunity to participate in
determining the affairs of their villages have been given a voice
and a forum to bring their concerns to their local councils- an innovation that Noeleen Heyzer of UNIFEM has called "one of the best
innovations in grassroots democracy in the world."
While the system is not working in all cases-estimates indicate
that about one-third of the women council members are simply
obeying their husbands' directions-the other two-thirds are gaining
valuable experience in governance, seeking funds for community
halls, lobbying for medical clinics, fixing hand pumps to ensure a
clean water supply, overseeing the installation of streetlights, and
other projects to improve community life. Many of the lower caste
women serving on the councils are illiterate, but they are gaining
confidence and are not afraid to ask others for assistance, whether
in reading documents, speaking to the men of the village, dealing
with officials, or keeping record books.
While some people object to such affirmative action quotas, it
is clear that in the case of the lower caste women in India, there is
no other means by which they would be able to serve as village
council members or chiefs. The quota system can thus be credited
for pushing villages far ahead of where they would be otherwise
on the path to achieving equality of the sexes. Other countries,
including Peru, Argentina, Germany, and Belgium, are also experimenting with quotas to achieve more participation by women in
the public sphere.
But even in countries where the basic educational needs of girls
and women are met and where women can pursue education to the
highest levels, barriers still remain to positions of leadership. Looking
at the culture of Western business corporations, and the "glass ceiling"
women find blocking their advancement to the upper echelons of
power, a growing number of observers see a need to change the way
that leaders are trained, to promote greater acceptance of different
leadership styles. Klenke writes:

Corporations, educational institutions, government agencies,
and community organizations must be responsive to the development needs, including leadership development, of both
women and men, and incorporate diversity into training programs. They must make a commitment to identify, encourage,
and develop individuals with the desire and motivation to lead,
and promote new and different thinking about leadership so
that women and men can discover pathways to lead themselves
and others effectively. 29

In her view, "women's only" leadership training programs, while
well intentioned, are off the mark. The real issue is "challenging
the dominant cultures in our organizations and institutions" to the
point where both men and women leaders will be comfortable in
affirming the humanitarian values that have long been associated
with women, as well as demonstrating "male" qualities of toughness and drive when appropriate. In such a culture, emphasis on
gender stereotypes will be replaced by a genuine consideration of
individuals. One writer describes it as developing a leadership that
"thinks globally, seeks to embrace all of humanity socially, and acts
to create a future out of the particular situation in which it finds
itself. " 30
It is a small step from the kind of training described above to
that based on the concept of "stewardship," which introduces the
moral element into the leadership discussion. Most notable of the
volumes written on this theme are Robert K. Greenleaf's Servant
Leadership and On Becoming a Servant-Leader, and Stephen R.
Covey's Principle-Centered Leadership. Covey, for example,
identifies aligning oneself with "correct principles," or "self-evident,
self-validating natural laws," as central to one's life and actions "at
all times in all places." To Covey, "principle-centered leadership
is based on the reality that we cannot violate these natural laws
with impunity." 31 Furthermore, he argues, "profound, sustainable

29. Klenke, p. 260.
30. R . Burnside, " Leading creatively into the 21 st century," paper presented at
the International Conference on Creativity and Leadership, Lappeenranta,
Finland, August 22- 24 1990, p. 3; cited in Klenke, p. 264.
31. Stephen R. Covey, Principle-Centered l eadership (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1991), p. 19.

W ORLD WATCH

cultural change can take place within an organization ... only when
the individuals within the organization first change themselves from
the inside out. Not only must personal change precede organizational change, but personal quality must precede organizational
quality." 32 Such value-focused approaches to leadership promote a
new organizational culture -in which a "principle-centered compass"
and a sense of stewardship can guide leaders' actions. 33
Just as education and training play an important role in the
advancement of women and thus in changing perceptions of leadership, economic issues are also key. Without economic means,
how can women advance? The question raises a matter of increasing
concern. Women in developing countries have been most adversely
affected by the changes in the world economic system that have
resulted from changes in technology and industry, the rise of market
economies and global financial markets, and trade deregulation.
All of these factors have contributed to the growing "feminization
of poverty." 34
The Baha'i teachings place great importance on the principle
that everyone-both men and women-should acquire the means
to become economically independent. Baha'u'llah wrote in one of
His tablets, "It is enjoined upon every one of you to engage in some
form of occupation," 35 and 'Abdu'l-Baha urged women to "assist
mankind in that which is most needful," thereby demonstrating
capability and ensuring "recognition of equality in the social and
economic equation." 36 It is then clear that efforts in this area must
go beyond the mere means to earn a living, as important as that is,
and must address the whole relationship between material and
spiritual well-being.
In the 1995 statement The Prosperity of Humankind the Baha'i
International Community identified "a commitment to the establishment of full equality between men and women, in all departments
of life and at every level of society" as "central to the success of

32 . Covey, p. 265.
33. See Covey, pp. 20 and 22.
34. Heyzer, p. 44.
35. Women , No. 76, p. 36.
36. Wom en, No. 83 , p. 39.

efforts to conceive and implement a strategy of global development. "3 7 While the extent to which women have access to "all
avenues of economic endeavor" is an obvious indication of whether
or not a global development strategy is working, it is not the ultimate
goal. "In a world motivated by ideals of unity and justice," the
statement continues,

Society will find itself increasingly challenged to develop new
economic models shaped by insights that arise from a sympathetic understanding of shared experience , from viewing
human beings in relation to others, and from a recognition of
the centrality to social well-being of the role of the family and
the community. Such an intellectual breakthrough-strongly
altruistic rather than self-centered in focus-must draw heavily
on both the spiritual and scientific sensibilities of the race, and
millennia of experience have prepared women to make crucial
contributions to the common effort. 38

Some small steps have already been taken in the direction.
Recent development initiatives such as the microfinance movement
and the promotion of entrepreneurship have helped women to
escape from the vicious cycle of poverty. At the Grameen Bank in
Bangladesh, founded in 1976, for example, ninety-four percent of
the clientele are women who borrow small amounts of money to
invest in some asset capable of generating immediate income.
Borrowers repay their loans in small weekly installments; when
one loan is paid off, a client is free to take out another. The bank's
founder, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, finds that "lending to women,
who traditionally have the least economic opportunity in Bangladeshi society, was much more beneficial to whole families ; and
that women were more careful about their debts." 39 By achieving the
financial means to feed their children and provide for their families,
the women served by the Grameen Bank experience enhancement
of their feelings of self-worth.

37. Baha' i International Community, Office of Public Lnformation, The Prosp erity of Humankind (1995), p. 15.
38. Prosperity, p. 16.
39. Alan Jolis, "The Good Banker," in The independent on Sunday Supplement 5
May 1996; available on the Gran1een Bank website at <www.grameen-info.org>.

The Baha'i community has also initiated microfinance projects
and has found that in these, as well as in other development initiatives, women have consistently demonstrated their capacities to
use resources wisely- in investment, repayment of credit, savings,
and particularly the use of money, which goes to educate their children, and provide their families with food, medical care, and better
housing. As a result, the women have not only improved their sense
of self-worth and standard of living but have also raised their status
in the eyes of their families, their communities, and the world. 40
A unique feature of a microfinance project begun by FUNDAEC
(Fundaci6n para la Aplicaci6n y Ensefianza de las Ciencias, or the
Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences), a
Baha'i-inspired development agency in Colombia, is its emphasis
on community solidarity. One drawback of many programs is that
"the primary focus of most implementing agencies remains on the
progress of the individual rather than community. They tend to laud
the success of each woman, each borrower, rather than seeing the
individual within the context of community."41 FUNDAEC, on the
other hand, has developed training modules on unity, solidarity,
responsibility, honesty, conflict resolution, and the attitude of service
to family and community. These are required pre-credit training for
potential borrowers, and since their inception repayment rates have
improved significantly. In this project, women and men are accorded
equal status, according to the Baha'i principle, and are learning to
work together both for their own individual betterment and for that
of the community.
Another facet of the contribution of women to the community is
their "confident" and "capable" entrance into "the great arena of
laws and politics." The Baha'i writings are filled with passages
exhorting women to enter with men into "full partnership in all
fields of human endeavor," to "participate fully and equally in the
affairs of the world," to "advance and fulfill their mission in all
departments of life." 'Abdu'l-Baha foretold, "They will enter all

40. For a Baha' i perspective on microfinance, see "Microfinance: A Powerful
Tool for Social Transformation ," One Country 8.3 (October- December
1996), pp. 2- 3.
41 . "Microfinance," p. 3.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

the administrative branches of politics. They will attain in all such a
degree as will be considered the very highest station of the world of
humanity and will take part in all affairs." 42 In some parts of the
world women's emergence in the field of governance has occurred
through the efforts of women's groups, as in the women's movement
in the West. In other places it is occurring through the intervention
of the government, as in the village councils in India. In even other
areas of the globe, circumstances-often tragic-have dictated
women's increased political involvement.
Such is the case in the villages of the Ayacucho Province of Peru,
where the "Shining Path" guerilla movement was bom. 43 The traditional lifestyle of the villages was disrupted with the abduction
or murder of great numbers of the men; as a result the women have
become the de facto heads of thousands of families, assuming much
more responsibility than had traditionally been their lot. Taking part
in local government, farming the fields, and playing a central role in
village life, the women have banded together to form "mothers'
clubs," which grow food communally, distribute donated food, form
village banks that provide small loans to farmers and entrepreneurs,
and refer women to government medical clinics where they are
learning about family planning. They are reconstructing their
destroyed villages in a tightly organized grid so that health, sanitation, and educational services can be delivered more easily.
The fact that the women took the lead in resisting the terrorists
has changed men's attitudes and shifted the balance of power in the
region. Women now serve in greater numbers on village councils,
where they can lobby for tougher laws against family violence and
more job opportunities for their female constituents. More than ten
thousand women were widowed during the Shining Path struggle,
but they have acquired confidence and have taken action to provide
for their families and better their communities.
While changes are occurring slowly at the grassroots level of
governance in countries throughout the world, progress is also
apparent at the national level in a number of countries. Throughout

42. Women, No. 91, p. 42.
43. See "A Revolution Peru 's Rebels Didn't Intend," in the New York Times
Web version, 29 August 1999.

W O RLD W ATCH

the twentieth century, only twenty-two women have served as heads
of state or government around the world; 44 the world's first woman
prime minister, Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, was elected only in
1960. Other women who have risen to top positions in their national
communities in the years since include Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir,
Isabel Peron, Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, Corazon Aquino,
Vigdis Finnbogadottir, Gro Harlem Bruntland, Mary Robinson, and
Mary McAleese. The number, while small, continues to grow, and
women are assuming other senior government posts as well. As of
1999, for example, some fourteen foreign ministers of various countries were women, and leaders of both parties in New Zealand's
Parliamentary elections were women.
Of all the regions of the globe, Scandinavia, Germany and the
Netherlands have the highest percentage of female politicians in
their legislatures, averaging more than twenty-five per cent. In contrast, figures in the United States are much lower. Even after "The
Year of the Woman" in 1992, when a record number of female candidates sought elected office, women held only six of one hundred
Senate seats and 47 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.
One explanation for such low numbers is that even in countries
where more women are entering the political arena, they are still
perceived as not "tough enough" to hold office, not as good as men
at handling crises, and not as capable at handling big budgets. On
the more positive side, voters do regard women as more in touch with
and caring about people, better listeners, and better negotiators. 45
It is, perhaps, not surprising that advances are slowest to occur
on the national level. National institutions are more entrenched than
newly evolving international structures, and the smaller size of
local-level structures makes them more adaptable to grassrootsinspired change. The uncertainty of nation states regarding their role
in the emerging new international order may also result in greater
conservatism as they attempt to maintain the status quo.
At the international level, women have had somewhat more success in rising to higher-level positions in organizations such as the

44. Fisher, p. 152.
45 . C. Lake and L. DiYall, " Voter cynicism is a boon for women," USA Today
( 18 November, 1993), p. l 5A ; cited in Klenke, p. 209.

United Nations, the European Union (EU), the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, and the International
Labour Organization, where they have been instrumental in pursuing women's issues .46 Why have women been able to rise more
quickly in these fora? Some writers posit that where women depend
on the broad support of the public for election to public office, it is
more likely for their aspirations to be frustrated by an electorate
still under the sway of gender-based stereotypes. On the other
hand, women stand a greater chance of success in organizations
where people are appointed to senior positions on the basis of their
abilities and experience. Another factor in women's advancement
in this arena is that international organizations are generally perceived as lacking power, and so have been less attractive to men.
This was seen clearly in a 1980 study focusing on the significant
number of women in high-level positions in the European Parliament, where they have had success in raising issues of concern to
them and have influenced policy in the EU institutions.47
At the United Nations, a 1999 survey revealed that women direct
the agencies responsible for human rights, health, refugees, children,
population growth, and food aid. Women also serve as representatives in troubled areas such as Cyprus and Bosnia and Herzegovina,
and as Deputy Secretary-General. 48 And while even in the United
Nations organization women lag behind men in top administrative
positions, the situation is better than in business organizations or
the political sphere around the world. Whatever the shortcomings
of its staffing, the vital role of the United Nations in fostering the
advancement of women at the grassroots level throughout the
world, and thus in promoting the well-being of all the world's peoples, is widely recognized. Noeleen Heyzer notes: "Sustainable
human development cannot even be conceptualized, much less
implemented, when the costs and benefits of development are borne

46. Klenke, p. 215.
47. H. Horburger and F. Rath-Horburger, Europa's Frauen Gleichberechtigt?
Die Politik der EG Lander: Gleichberechtigung der Frau im Arbeitsleben
(Hamburg: Verlag Otto Heinvetter, 1980); cited in Klenke, pp. 220-2 1.
48. See Nina Darnton, " It's a Woman's World," Civilization magazine Web
edition (June 1999) at <www.civmag.com> for brief profiles of each of
these women.

inequitably by men and women. The UN has a key role to play in
advocating for global policies that benefit women and in building
consensus for the implementation of such policies. " 49
Civil society, which is exerting an increasingly strong influence
upon governments and international organizations such as the UN,
provides another new leadership context for women, as Helen
Fisher points out:

Governments are being supplemented, even somewhat undermined, by new social forces . Extragovernmental entities such
as multinational corporations, the global financial marketplace,
the Internet, international judicial tribunals, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly able to control
huge sums of money, sway public opinion, and influence the
policies of national governments ....
Of all these forces that challenge the state, the one that
will give women the most access to power and leadership is
the growth of nongovernmental, nonprofit organizations: civil
society. 50

The rise in influence of organizations of civil society, particularly
NGOs, has provided a globally networked forum in which women
can effectively present their views and promote action on issues of
concern, powerfully extending their range of influence. Says
Fisher: "With their people skills, their compassion, their penchant
for web thinking, and their networking abilities, female leaders in
civil society will bring hope to children, minorities, the disadvantaged, the sick, the elderly, and other women. And they will focus
their attention on far-reaching societal and environmental illsconcems of the female mind." 51
It is a truism to say that today the stage of the world is set for a
new social order based on values such as the global recognition
and protection of human rights, freedom, democracy, free trade,
privatization of industry, sustainable development, and protection
of the environment. In such order, women must both contribute to
and benefit from such development on an equitable footing to men,

49. Heyzer, p. 45 .
50 . Fisher, p. 140.
51. Fisher, p. 166.

and their role in bringing about the development of all peoples,
without regard to gender, ethnicity, race, social class, or religion, is
critical.
The Baha'i writings are clear about the effects consequent to
the participation of women in human affairs. During His travels in
the West, 'Abdu'J-Baha said, " ... it is well established in history
that where woman has not participated in human affairs the outcomes have never attained a state of completion and perfection.
On the other hand, every influential undertaking of the human world
wherein woman has been a participant has attained importance." 52
At this stage in our evolution, what is more urgent than achieving
sustainable human development?
In 1912, 'Abdu'l-Baha commented that "force is losing its weight
and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love
and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy.
Hence the new age will be an age less masculine, and more permeated with the feminine ideals-or, to speak more exactly, will be an
age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization
will be more evenly balanced." 53 From the lowest to the highest
levels of human society, in all walks oflife and professions, we are
slowly moving towards the achievement of such a balance. It is
clear that women, with, as The Prosperity of Humankind says,
their "millennia of experience" in caring for family and community,
are making a profound difference, as they are welcomed as equals
at all levels in the global forum.

52. Wom en, No . 80, p. 37 .
53 . Wom en, No. 25, p. 13.

PROFILE: NOR
U NIVERSITY,
B OLIVIA

N ur University, a private, non-profit university located in Santa
Cruz, Bolivia, not only gives its students the intellectual tools
to reach the top of their fields , but it transforms them into agents
of social change by teaching them about the reciprocal relationship
between the individual and the community. Nur teaches that in order
to better society, each person must be committed to a process of personal transformation. Through this process, individuals will have
an impact on the social groups to which they belong. Conversely,
participating in a group in which the majority of the members are
committed to the twin processes of individual and collective transformation strengthens people's resolve to better themselves.
Nur University was founded to serve the rural needs of Bolivia.
Established in Santa Cruz because the city has a population base
large enough to support a private university, Nur has always had
the goal of expanding its programs into rural areas. Currently, in
collaboration with public and private institutions, the university
provides services that respond to the needs of rural communities.
Initiatives include training in moral leadership, youth leadership,

public administration and just governance; literacy programs; the
Latin American Master's Program in Social Development; and the
training of rural schoolteachers as community development agents.
In reflection papers written by students in Nur's program that
trains rural schoolteachers to be community development agents,
participants share their perceptions of the course's positive impact
on their personal transformation, family life, approach to leadership, and attitude to people from different cultures. One student
writes:

I used to consider that women were specialists in raising children, taking care of the house, cooking, and caring for their
husbands. They could also work professionally, but their first
obligation was to fulfill these traditional responsibilities, which
I considered as predetermined from time immemorial, as if
established by the will of God. My relationship with my wife
and children was based on extreme machismo. As husband and
father I considered that I was always right and should always
make the decisions in the family ... Now I consider that women
are equal in potential to men and that the relationship between

Students outside Nur University in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

N UR u l VE RSITY
the two is interdependent. I try to relate to my wife and children
horizontally. I consider my wife as my companion and as a person that has her own needs and feelings that should also be
considered. As a family, we make deci sions using consultation
and have elaborated a 'Covenant of Shared Responsibilities' in
which we have tried to equitably distribute family responsibilities. As a result of these changes in my attitudes, our home is
much happier and united. I am currently trying to encourage
my wife to develop her own potentialities, but sometimes it is
hard because of the dependency and lack of self-esteem which
my former attitudes have engendered in her.

Nur was founded , in large part, to help create leaders who
would be grounded in this process of self and social transformation.
Having opened its doors to just ninety-seven students in 1985, it
is now the second largest private university in Bolivia and the first to
be granted a Presidential Decree authorizing it to function as a
degree-granting institution.
In addition to providing community college and undergraduate
university programs, Nur has gained a reputation for taking bold
educational development initiatives in response to regional and national needs. In 1986, the university opened Bolivia's first graduate

Nur sfl exible curriculum allows students who cannot study full-time
to continue their studies at a manageable pace.

school. It has also led the way in alternative methodologies in
higher education in Bolivia, including modular format master's
degrees, distance education, virtual education, and seminars
combining cooperative learning groups with practical field work.
Fourteen years after its founding , Ntir has more than 2,600
undergraduate and 500 graduate students working towards formal
degrees or certification in fields such as accounting, education,
social communications, agricultural economics, commercial engineering, computer science, administration, public relations ,
international relations, international commerce, business administration, public health administration, marketing, social development
and sustainable development. Forty-four percent ofNur's students
are women, a figure rare in Bolivia's system of higher education.
Nfu 's philosophy advocates the integration of academic knowledge with both practical experience and the teaching of basic
moral principles, while emphasizing community service, social
justice, global development, and a respect for human diversity.
This educational philosophy is based on universal principles found
in the Baha'i teachings, such as the individual's duty to independently investigate truth, the need for the elimination of prejudice,
the equality of women and men, the unity of humankind, and the
elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty.
This philosophy is evident in the curriculum structure of Nur 's
undergraduate program, which integrates four complementary
elements that it considers central to professional development:
Degree Specific Studies, which are courses that pertain specifically
to the students' fields of study; Development Studies, which are
courses taken by students in all faculties and provide a perspective

Since 1990, undergraduate students
have been required
to complete 120
hours of community
service prior to
graduation. The
UNlRSE program
has the objective of
fostering an attitude
of service.

N UR U NIVERSITY

on personal, community, and societal development; Transdisciplinary Studies, courses in which students work in interdisciplinary
teams that focus on resolving complex social problems associated with development; and a community service component that
requires students to complete a minimum of one hundred and
twenty hours of community volunteer work as part of their degree
requirements .
Nur 's moral leadership program teaches participants that they
have the obligation to search for, adopt, and live by moral principles,
by which they should also shape their communities' institutions.
Leadership is shown to be a responsibility that is exercised by all
members of society and requires the development and exercise of
moral capabilities. This program has been made available to public
health workers, management and field staff of non-governmental
workers, and women's organizations. It has expanded to reach
many rural communities in Bolivia and more than a dozen Latin
American countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, and Honduras.
In 1998 Nur signed an agreement with the Mayor of Santa
Cruz to train 4,800 public high school students in youth leadership
over a three-and-a-half-year period, with the goal of diminishing
growing trends of gang activity, prostitution, violence , juvenile
crime, and alcohol and drug consumption. Like the moral leadership program, this project is directed specifically towards youth
in order to prepare them for active community service and the
promotion of the good of humanity.
The goal of Nur's public administration and just governance
training program is the strengthening of administrative capacities at
different government levels, creating a shared vision for the future
development of the state and developing decision-making capacities
in the public sector. Most of the municipalities and subdivisions of
the Santa Cruz state government have already taken part in this
program.
In conjunction with institutions in eight other countries, Nur
has developed and is carrying out the Latin American Master 's
Program in Social Development. This program, which has been in
operation for the past five years , has involved three hundred students and faculty from eleven countries.
The training of school teachers as community development agents

began in 1993 with the concurrent goals of training school teachers
to fulfill the role of community development agents and to improve
the quality of teaching in the classrooms in rural communities.
The program consists of twenty courses offered in a distance education format. To date, more than two thousand schoolteachers
from Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina have participated in this
program, which has received 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 .

This statement explores the implications of
'Abdu 'l-Baha :S characterization of the
twentieth century as the "Century of
Light. " It was released by the Bahit 'i
International Community s Office of Public
Information in February 1999.

WHO is
WRITING
THE F UTURE?
Reflections on the Twentieth Century

0 n May 28, 1992, Brazil's Chamber of Deputies met in special
session to commemorate the centenary of the passing of
Baha'u'llah, whose influence is becoming an increasingly familiar
feature of the world's social and intellectual landscape. His message
of unity had clearly struck a deep chord with the Brazilian legislators. During the course of the proceedings, speakers representing
all parties in the Chamber paid tribute to a body of writings which
one deputy described as "the most colossal religious work written
by the pen of a single Man," and to a conception of our planet's
future which, "transcending material frontiers," in the words of
another, "reached out to humanity as a whole, without petty differences of nationality, race, limits, or beliefs." 1
The tribute was all the more striking because of the fact that, in
the land of His birth, Baha'u'llah's work continues to be bitterly

1. Remarks by Deputy Luis Gushiken and Deputy Rita Camata. "Sessao
Solene da Camara Federal em Homenagem ao Centenario da Ascensao de
Baha'u'llah," Brasilia, 28 May 1992.

THE BAHA'I W ORLD

condemned by the Muslim clergy who rule Iran. Their predecessors
had been responsible for His banishment and imprisonment in
the middle years of the nineteenth century, and for the massacre
of thousands of those who shared His ideals for the transforming
of human life and society. Even as the proceedings in Brasilia
were under way, refusal to deny beliefs that have won high praise
throughout most of the rest of the world was bringing the three
hundred thousand Baha'is living in Iran persecution, privation,
and, in all too many cases, imprisonment and death.
Similar opposition characterized the attitudes of various totalitarian regimes over the past century.
What is the nature of the body of thought that has aroused
such sharply divergent reactions?
I
The mainspring ofBaha'u'llah's message is an exposition ofreality
as fundamentally spiritual in nature, and of the laws that govern
that reality's operation. It not only sees the individual as a spiritual
being, a "rational soul," but also insists that the entire enterprise
that we call civilization is itself a spiritual process, one in which the
human mind and heart have created progressively more complex
and efficient means to express their inherent moral and intellectual
capacities.
Rejecting the reigning dogmas of materialism, Baha'u'llah
asserts an opposing interpretation of the historical process. Humanity, the arrowhead of the evolution of consciousness, passes through
stages analogous to the periods of infancy, childhood, and adolescence in the lives of its individual members. The journey has
brought us to the threshold of our long-awaited coming of age as
a unified human race. The wars, exploitation, and prejudice that
have marked immature stages in the process should not be a
cause of despair but a stimulus to assuming the responsibilities
of collective maturity.
Writing to the political and religious leaders of His own day,
Baha'u'llah said that new capacities of incalculable power- beyond
the conception of the generation then living-were awakening in
the earth's peoples, capacities which would soon transform the
material life of the planet. It was essential, He said, to make of these

wHo rn WRITI NG THE puTuRE?

coming material advances vehicles for moral and social development. If nationalistic and sectarian conflicts prevented this from
happening, then material progress would produce not only benefits,
but unimagined evils. Some of Baha'u'llah's warnings awaken grim
echoes in our own age: "Strange and astonishing things exist in
the earth," He cautioned. "These things are capable of changing
the whole atmosphere of the earth and their contamination would
prove lethal." 2
II
The central spiritual issue facing all people, Baha'u'llah says, whatever their nation, religion, or ethnic origin, is that of laying the
foundations of a global society that can reflect the oneness of human
nature. The unification of the earth's inhabitants is neither a remote
utopian vision nor, ultimately, a matter of choice. It constitutes the
next, inescapable stage in the process of social evolution, a stage
toward which all the experience of past and present is impelling us.
Until this issue is acknowledged and addressed, none of the ills
afflicting our planet will find solutions, because all the essential
challenges of the age we have entered are global and universal, not
particular or regional.
The many passages of Baha'u'llah's writings dealing with
humanity's coming of age are permeated by His use of light as a
metaphor to capture the transforming power of unity: "So powerful
is the light of unity," they insist, "that it can illuminate the whole
earth." 3 The assertion places current history in a perspective sharply
different from the one that prevails at the end of the twentieth
century. It urges us to find- within the suffering and breakdown
of our times-the operation of forces that are liberating human
consciousness for a new stage in its evolution. It calls on us to reexamine what has been happening over the past one hundred
years and the effect that these developments have had on the heterogeneous mass of peoples, races, nations, and communities who
have experienced them.

2. Baha' u' llah , Tablets of Baha'u'llah Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas
(Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 69.
3. Baha' u ' llah , Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing
Trust, 1988), p. 14.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

If, as Baha'u'llah asserts, "the well-being of mankind, its peace
and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly
established,"4 it is understandable why Baha'is view the twentieth
cenh1ry-with all its disasters- as "the century of light. " 5 For
these one hundred years witnessed a transformation in both the way
the earth's inhabitants have begun to plan our collective future
and in the way we are coming to regard one another. The hallmark
of both has been a process of unification. Upheavals beyond the
control of existing institutions compelled world leaders to begin
putting in place new systems of global organization that would
have been unthinkable at the century's beginning. As this was
occurring, rapid erosion was overtaking habits and attitudes that had
divided peoples and nations through unnumbered centuries of
conflict and that had seemed likely to endure for ages to come.
At the midpoint of the century, these two developments produced
a breakthrough whose historic significance only future generations
will properly appreciate. In the stunned aftermath of World War
II, far-sighted leaders found it at last possible, through the United
Nations organization, to begin consolidating the foundations of
world order. Long dreamed of by progressive thinkers, the new
system of international conventions and related agencies was now
endowed with crucial powers that had tragically been denied to the
abortive League of Nations. As the century advanced, the system's
primitive muscles of international peacekeeping were progressively
exercised in such a way as to demonstrate persuasively what can
be accomplished. With this came the steady expansion throughout the world of democratic institutions of governance. If the
practical effects are still disappointing, this in no way diminishes
the historic and irreversible change of direction that has taken
place in the organization of human affairs.
As with the cause of world order, so with the rights of the world's
people. Exposure of the appalling suffering visited on the victims

4. Baha'u ' llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha 'u 'llah (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 286.
5. ' Abdu ' l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by
'Abdu '/-Bah6 during His Visit to the United Stat es and Canada in 1912 ,
rev. ed. (Wilmette: Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1982), pp. 74, 126.

of human perversity during the course of the war produced a
worldwide sense of shock-and what can only be termed deep
feelings of shame. Out of this trauma emerged a new kind of
moral commitment that was formally institutionalized in the work
of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and its
associated agencies, a development inconceivable to the nineteenth century rulers to whom Baha'u'llah had addressed Himself
on the subject. Thus empowered, a growing body of nongovernmental organizations have set out to ensure that the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights is established as the foundation of normative
international standards and is enforced accordingly.
A parallel process took place with respect to economic life.
During the first half of the century, as a consequence of the havoc
wrought by the great depression, many governments adopted legislation that created social welfare programs and systems of
financial control, reserve funds, and trade regulations that sought
to protect their societies from a recurrence of such devastation.
The period following World War II brought the establishment of
institutions whose field of operation is global: the International
Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade, and a network of development agencies devoted to
rationalizing and advancing the material prosperity of the planet.
At century's end-whatever the intentions and however crude the
present generation of tools-the masses of humanity have been
shown that the use of the planet's wealth can be fundamentally
reorganized in response to entirely new conceptions of need.
The effect of these developments was enormously amplified
by the accelerating extension of education to the masses. Apart
from the willingness of national and local governments to allocate
greatly increased resources to this field and the society's ability
to mobilize and train armies of professionally qualified teachers,
two twentieth century advances at the international level were
particularly influential. The first was the series of development
plans focused on educational needs and massively financed by
such bodies as the World Bank, government agencies, major
foundations and several branches of the United Nations system.
The second was the information technology explosion that has

TH13 B AHA'I W ORLD

made all of the earth's inhabitants potential beneficiaries of the
whole of the race's learning.
This process of structural reorganization on a planetary scale
was animated and reinforced by a profound shift of consciousness.
Entire populations found themselves abruptly compelled to face
the costs of ingrained habits of mind that breed conflict-and to
do so in the full glare of worldwide censure of what were once
considered acceptable practices and attitudes. The effect was to
stimulate revolutionary change in the way that people regard one
another.
Throughout history, for example, experience seemed to demonstrate- and religious teaching to confirm-that women are
essentially inferior in nature to men. Overnight, in the historical
scheme of things, this prevailing perception was suddenly everywhere in retreat. However long and painful may be the process
of giving full effect to Baha'u'llah 's assertion that women and
men are in every sense equal, intellectual and moral support for
any opposing view steadily disintegrates.
Yet another fixture of humanity 's view of itself throughout
past millennia was a celebration of ethnic distinctions which, in
recent centuries, had hardened into various racist fantasies. With a
swiftness that is breathtaking in the perspective of history, the
twentieth century saw the unity of the human race establish itself
as a guiding principle of international order. Today, the ethnic
conflicts that continue to wreak havoc in many parts of the world
are seen not as natural features of the relations among diverse
peoples , but as willful aberrations that must be brought under
effective international control.
Throughout humanity's long childhood, it was also assumedagain with the full concurrence of organized religion-that poverty
was an enduring and inescapable feature of the social order.
Now, however, this mind-set, an assumption that had shaped the
priorities of every economic system the world had ever known,
has been universally rejected. In theory at least, government has
come to be everywhere regarded as essentially a trustee responsible to ensure the well-being of all of society's members.
Particularly significant- because of its intimate relationship with
the roots of human motivation- was the loosening of the grip of

wHo rn WRITING THE puTuRE?

religious prejudice. Prefigured in the "Parliament of Religions"
that attracted intense interest as the nineteenth century was drawing
to a close, the process of interfaith dialogue and collaboration
reinforced the effects of secularism in undermining the once impregnable walls of clerical authority. In the face of the transformation
in religious conceptions that the past hundred years witnessed,
even the current outburst of fundamentalist reaction may come, in
retrospect, to be seen as little more than desperate rear-guard
actions against an inevitable dissolution of sectarian control. In the
words of Baha'u'llah, "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." 6
During these critical decades the human mind was also experiencing fundamental changes in the way that it understood the
physical universe. The first half of the century saw the new theories
of relativity and quantum mechanics-both of them intimately
related to the nature and operation of light-revolutionize the
field of physics and alter the entire course of scientific development.
It became apparent that classical physics could explain phenomena
within only a limited range. A new door had suddenly opened
into the study of both the minute constituents of the universe and
its large cosmological systems, a change whose effects went far
beyond physics, shaking the very foundations of a world view
that had dominated scientific thinking for centuries. Gone forever
were the images of a mechanical universe run like a clock and a
presumed separation between observer and observed, between
mind and matter. Against the background of the far-reaching
studies thus made possible, theoretical science now begins to
address the possibility that purpose and intelligence are indeed
intrinsic to the nature and operation of the universe.
In the wake of these conceptual changes, humanity entered an
era in which interaction among physical sciences-physics, chemistry, and biology, along with the nascent science of ecologyopened breathtaking possibilities for the enhancement of life.

6. Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahir'u'llah (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 217.

The benefits in such vital areas of concern as agriculture and
medicine became dramatically apparent as did those brought
about by success in tapping new sources of energy. Simultaneously,
the new field of materials science began providing a wealth of
specialized resources unknown when the century opened-plastics, optical fibers, carbon fibers.
Such advances in science and technology were reciprocal in
their effects. Grains of sand-the most humble and ostensibly
worthless of materials-metamorphosed into silicon wafers and
optically pure glass, making possible the creation of worldwide
communications networks. This, together with the deployment
of ever more sophisticated satellite systems, has begun providing
access to the accumulated knowledge of the entire human race
for people everywhere, without distinction. It is apparent that the
decades immediately ahead will see the integration of telephone,
television, and computer technologies into a single, unified system
of communication and information, whose inexpensive appliances
will be available on a mass scale. It would be difficult to exaggerate
the psychological and social impact of the anticipated replacement of the jumble of existing monetary systems- for many, the
ultimate fortress of nationalist pride-by a single world currency
operating largely through electronic impulses.
Indeed, the unifying effect of the twentieth century revolution
is nowhere more readily apparent than in the implications of the
changes that took place in scientific and technological life. At
the most obvious level, the human race is now endowed with the
means needed to realize the visionary goals summoned up by a
steadily maturing consciousness. Viewed more deeply, this
empowerment is potentially available to all of the earth's inhabitants, without regard to race, culture, or nation. "A new life,"
Baha'u'llah prophetically saw, "is, in this age, stirring within all
the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its cause
or perceived its motive." 7 Today, more than a century after these
words were written, the implications of what has since taken
place begin to be apparent to thoughtful minds everywhere.

7. Baha' u' llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha 'u 'llah (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 196.

wHo rn WRITI NG THE p u Tu RE?

III
To appreciate the transformations brought about by the period of
history now ending is not to deny the accompanying darkness
that throws the achievements into sharp relief: the deliberate
extermination of millions of helpless human beings, the invention
and use of new weapons of destruction capable of annihilating
whole populations , the rise of ideologies that suffocated the
spiritual and intellectual life of entire nations, damage to the
physical environment of the planet on a scale so massive that it
may take centuries to heal, and the incalculably greater damage
done to generations of children taught to believe that violence,
indecency, and selfishness are triumphs of personal liberty. Such
are only the more obvious of a catalogue of evils, unmatched in
history, whose lessons our era will leave for the education of the
chastened generations who will follow us.
Darkness, however, is not a phenomenon endowed with some
form of existence, much less autonomy. It does not extinguish
light nor diminish it, but marks out those areas that light has not
reached or adequately illumined. So will twentieth century civilization no doubt be assessed by the historians of a more mature
and dispassionate age. The ferocities of animal nature, which
raged out of control through these critical years and seemed at
times to threaten society's very survival, did not in fact prevent
the steady unfoldment of the creative potentialities which human
consciousness possesses. On the contrary. As the century advanced,
growing numbers of people awakened to how empty were the
allegiances and how insubstantial the fears that had held them
captive only short years before.
"Peerless is this Day," Baha'u'llah insists, "for it is as the eye
to past ages and centuries, and as a light unto the darkness of the
times." 8 In this perspective , the issue is not the darkness that
slowed and obscured the progress achieved in the extraordinary
hundred years now ending. It is , rather, how much more suffering
and ruin must be experienced by our race before we wholeheartedly accept the spiritual nature that makes us a single people, and

8. Baha'u' llah , quoted in Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice (Wilmette: Baha'f Publishing Trust, 1990), p. 79.

T HE B AHA'I W ORLD

gather the courage to plan our future in the light of what has been
so painfully learned.
IV
The conception of civilization's future course laid out in Baha'u'llih's
writings challenges much that today imposes itself on our world as
normative and unchangeable. The breakthroughs made during the
century of light have opened the door to a new kind of world. If
social and intellectual evolution is in fact responding to a moral
intelligence inherent in existence, a great deal of the theory
determining contemporary approaches to decision-making is fatally
flawed. If human consciousness is essentially spiritual in nature- as
the vast majority of ordinary people have always been intuitively
aware-, its development needs cannot be understood or served
through an interpretation of reality that dogmatically insists otherwise.
No aspect of contemporary civilization is more directly challenged by Baha'u'llah 's conception of the future than is the
prevailing cult of individualism, which has spread to most parts
of the world. Nurtured by such cultural forces as political ideology,
academic elitism, and a consumer economy, the "pursuit of happiness" has given rise to an aggressive and almost boundless sense
of personal entitlement. The moral consequences have been corrosive for the individual and society alike- and devastating in terms
of disease, drug addiction and other all-too-familiar blights of century's end. The task of freeing humanity from an error so fundamental
and pervasive will call into question some of the twentieth century's
most deeply entrenched assumptions about right and wrong.
What are some of these unexamined assumptions? The most
obvious is the conviction that unity is a distant, almost unattainable ideal to be addressed only after a host of political conflicts
have been somehow resolved, material needs somehow satisfied,
and injustices somehow corrected. The opposite , Baha'u'llah
asserts , is the case. The primary disease that afflicts society and
generates the ills that cripple it, He says, is the disunity of a human
race that is distinguished by its capacity for collaboration and
whose progress to date has depended on the extent to which unified
action has, at various times and in various societies, been achieved.
To cling to the notion that conflict is an intrinsic feature of human

wHo rn WRITI NG THE puTuRE?

nature, rather than a complex of learned habits and attitudes, is to
impose on a new century an error which, more than any other single
factor, has tragically handicapped humanity's past. "Regard the
world," Baha'u'llah advised elected leaders, "as the human body
which, though at its creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted,
through various causes, with grave disorders and maladies." 9
Intimately related to the issue of unity is a second moral challenge
that the past century has posed with ever increasing urgency. In
the sight of God, Baha'u'llah insists, justice is the "best beloved
of all things." 10 It enables the individual to see reality through
his or her own eyes rather than those of others and endows collective decision making with the authority that alone can ensure
unity of thought and action. However gratifying is the system of
international order that has emerged from the harrowing experiences of the twentieth century, its enduring influence will depend
on acceptance of the moral principle implicit in it. If the body of
humankind is indeed one and indivisible, then the authority exercised by its governing institutions represents essentially a trusteeship.
Each individual person comes into the world as a trust of the whole,
and it is this feature of human existence that constitutes the real
foundation of the social, economic and cultural rights that the
United Nations Charter and its related documents articulate. Justice and unity are reciprocal in their effect. "The purpose of
justice," Baha'u'llah wrote, "is the appearance of unity among men.
The ocean of divine wisdom surgeth within this exalted word,
while the books of the world cannot contain its inner significance." 11
As society commits itself-however hesitantly and fearfullyto these and related moral principles, the most meaningful role it
will offer the individual will be that of service. One of the paradoxes
of human life is that development of the self comes primarily
through commitment to larger undertakings in which the self-

9. Baha ' u' llah , Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u 'llah (Wilmette:
Baha ' i Publishing Trust, 1982), pp. 254- 55 .
10. Bah a' u' llah , The Hidden Words ofBaha 'u 'llah (Wilmette: Baha'f Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 3.
11. Baha' u' llah , Tablets of Bahii 'u 'llah Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas
(Wilmette: Baha ' f Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 67 .

even if only temporarily-is forgotten. In an age that opens up to
people of every condition an opportunity to participate effectively in the shaping of the social order itself, the ideal of service
to others assumes entirely new significance. To exalt such goals
as acquisition and self-assertion as the purpose of life is to promote chiefly the animal side of human nature. Nor can simplistic
messages of personal salvation any longer address the yearnings
of generations who have come to know, with deep certainty, that
true fulfillment is as much a matter of this world as it is of the next.
"Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in," is
Baha'u'llah's counsel, "and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements." 12
Such perspectives have profound implications for the conduct
of human affairs. It is obvious, for example, that, whatever its past
contributions, the longer the nation-state persists as the dominant
influence in determining the fate of humankind, the longer will the
achievement of world peace be delayed and the greater will be
the suffering inflicted on the earth's population. In humanity's
economic life, no matter how great the blessings brought by globalization, it is apparent that this process has also created unparalleled
concentrations of autocratic power that must be brought under
international democratic control if they are not to produce poverty
and despair for countless millions. Similarly, the historic breakthrough in information and communication technology, which
represents so potent a means to promote social development and
the deepening of people's sense of their common humanity, can,
with equal force, divert and coarsen impulses vital to the service
of this very process.
v
What Baha'u'llah is speaking of is a new relationship between
God and humankind, one that is in harmony with the dawning
maturity of the race . The ultimate Reality that has created and
sustains the universe will forever remain beyond the reach of the
human mind . Humanity's conscious relationship with it, to the

12 . Baha ' u ' llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha 'u 'llah (Wilmette:
Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 213.

wHo rn WRITING THE p uTuRE?
extent that one has been established, has been the result of the
influence of the Founders of the great religions, Moses, Zoroaster,
Buddha, Jesus , MuJ:iammad and earlier figures whose names are,
for the most part, lost to memory. Through responding to these
impulses of the Divine , the earth's peoples have progressively
developed the spiritual , intellectual, and moral capacities that
have combined to civilize human character. This millennia-long,
cumulative process has now reached the stage characteristic of
all the decisive turning points in the evolutionary process, when
previously unrealized possibilities suddenly emerge: "This is the
Day," Baha'u'llah asserts, "in which God's most excellent favors
have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty
grace hath been infused into all created things." 13
Viewed through Baha'u'llah's eyes, the history of tribes, peoples,
and nations has effectively reached its conclusion. What we are
witnessing is the beginning of the history of humankind, the history
of a human race conscious of its own oneness . To this turning
point in the course of civilization, His writings bring a redefinition of the nature and processes of civilization and a reordering
of its priorities. Their aim is to call us back to spiritual awareness
and responsibility.
There is nothing in Baha'u'llah 's writings to encourage the
illusion that the changes envisioned will come about easily. Far
otherwise. As the events of the twentieth century have already
demonstrated, patterns of habit and attitude which have taken root
over thousands of years are not abandoned either spontaneously or
in response simply to education or legislative action. Whether in
the life of the individual or that of society, profound change
occurs more often than not in response to intense suffering and to
unendurable difficulties that can be overcome in no other way.
Just so great a testing experience, Baha'u'llah warned, is needed
to weld the earth's diverse peoples into a single people.
Spiritual and materialistic conceptions of the nature of reality
are irreconcilable with one another and lead in opposite directions.
As a new century opens, the course set by the second of these

13 . Baha' u' llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahci'u 'llah (Wilmette:
Saha' f Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 6.

two opposing views has already carried a hapless humanity far
beyond the outermost point where an illusion of rationality, let
alone of human well-being, could once be sustained. With every
passing day, the signs multiply that great numbers of people everywhere are awakening to this realization.
Despite widely prevalent opinion to the contrary, the human
race is not a blank tablet on which privileged arbiters of human
affairs can freely inscribe their own wishes . The springs of the
spirit rise up where they will, as they will. They will not indefinitely
be suppressed by the detritus of contemporary society. It no
longer requires prophetic insight to appreciate that the opening
years of the new century will see the release of energies and aspirations infinitely more potent than the accumulated routines, falsities,
and addictions that have so long blocked their expression.
However great the turmoil, the period into which humanity is
moving will open to every individual, every institution, and every
community on earth unprecedented opportunities to participate
in the writing of the planet's future. "Soon,'' is Baha'u'llah's confident promise, "will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new
one spread out in its stead." 14

14. Baha' u' llah, Gleanings fro m the Writings of Bahci 'u 'llah (Wilmette:
Baha' i Publi shing Trust, 1982), p. 7.

The Baha 'i International Community prepared this paper for the Workshop on
Values, Norms and Poverty held in
Johannesburg, South Africa,
12- 14 January 1999.

RELIGIOUS
VALUES
and the Measurement of
Poverty and Prosperity

T he processes of change now shaping hwnan affairs portend an
inevitable transition to a global society. A major challenge
inherent in this transition is creating conditions of social and economic equity among and within the nations of our global community.
Lifting the burden of poverty from the world will require a deep
moral commitment and a fundamental reordering of priorities. But
perhaps most importantly, the materialistic criteria now guiding
development thinking must give way to a new conceptual framework that explicitly acknowledges the spiritual, cultural, and social
forces that define individual and community identity. In this regard,
the World Faiths and Development Dialogue held at Lambeth Palace
in February 1998 and similar initiatives examining the roles of
religion and spirituality in advancing human well-being represent
important contributions to the discourse on social and economic
development. 1

I. The International Development Research Centre (lDRC) has been exploring
the relationship between religion and science and its impact on development.
The Centre recently brought together Dr. Farzam Arbab, a theoretical (cont.)

Over the past several decades workers in the development
field have gradually become cognizant of the complexity of the
development process. This evolution in development thought
can be seen in the shift in focus from capital-intensive programs
aimed at promoting industrialization, to programs emphasizing
health care, new agricultural methods, traditional technology and
environmental preservation, to initiatives promoting participation
and community organization. Yet, despite this growing awareness of the many interrelated factors underlying development,
the international development agenda continues to be governed
by a limited set of assumptions and approaches that fail to take
into account much of what has been learned.
It is clear that another dimension of complexity must now be
incorporated into the development equation. Attention must now
be focused upon that which lies at the heart of human purpose
and motivation: the human spirit. In the Baha'i view, nothing short
of an awakening of the human spirit can create a desire for true
social change and instill in people the confidence that such change
is indeed possible. While pragmatic approaches to problem solving
obviously play a central role in development initiatives, tapping
the spiritual roots of human motivation provides the essential
impulse that ensures genuine social advancement. When spiritual principles are fully integrated into community development
activities, the ideas, values, and practical measures that emerge
are likely to be those that promote self-reliance and safeguard
human dignity, thus avoiding patterns of dependency and progressively eliminating conditions of gross inequality. Broadening
the development process to take into account people's spiritual
perceptions and aspirations represents an essential step toward
creating the conditions necessary for global stability and prosperity.
!. (cont.)
physicist and a Baha' i; Dr. Azizan Baharuddin, a biologist, philosopher of
science and a Muslim ; Dr. Gregory Baum, philosopher, social ethicist and
a Roman Catholic; Dr. Promilla Kapur, a sociologist and a Hindu; and
Father Bill Ryan , a Jesuit priest working in economics and labor relations ,
to begin a consultative process to examine the effectiveness of current
working models and the poss ibility that religion is a critical missing factor
in the development process . The ideas presented herein are in consonance
with the substance of these consultations.

R ELIGlOUS v ALUES AN D PRO SPERITY

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 compassion, forbearance,
trustworthiness, generosity, humility, courage, and willingness to
sacrifice for the common good have constituted the invisible yet
essential foundations of progressive community life. Recognition
and cultivation of humanity's spiritual nature have ennobled and
enriched the lives of peoples everywhere, and have engendered
cohesion and unity of purpose within and across societies. 2 True
civilization does not arise merely from material progress, but rather
is defined by and based upon the transcendent values that hold
society together. Religion, then, in a very real sense provides the
bricks and mortar of society-the shared beliefs and moral values
that unite people into communities and that give tangible direction
and meaning to individual and collective life. "In truth," Baha'u'llah
avers, "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,
and the lights of fairness and justice, of tranquillity and peace cease
to shine. " 3
Individual progress and community development require both
spiritual awareness and material resources. Material advancement is,
therefore, best W1derstood not as an end in itself, but rather as a vehicle
for moral, spiritual, and social progress. Meaningful social change
results not so much from the acquisition of technical skills as from
the development of qualities and attitudes that foster cooperative

2. It may be argued that, since spiritual and moral issues have historically
been bound up with contending theological doctrines which are not susceptible of objective proof, these issues lie outside the framework of the
international community 's development concerns. To accord them any significant role would be to open the door to precisely those dogmatic
influences that have nurtured social conflict and blocked human progress.
There is doubtless a measure of truth in such an argument. To conclude,
however, that the answer lies in discouraging the investigation of spiritual
reality and ignoring the deepest roots of human motivation , is untenable.
3. Baha ' u' llah , Tablets of Bahli'u 'llah Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas
(Wilmette : Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1988), p. 125 .

THE B AHA'f WORLD

and creative patterns of human interaction. In short, the material and
spiritual aspects of daily life are inseparably connected and must
both be addressed.
This understanding of development anticipates the emergence of
communities in which the application of spiritual values such as
justice, trustworthiness and kindness will enhance material wellbeing. At the same time, material resources and advances will make
possible new avenues of spiritual endeavor that will promote both
the development of individual potential and the collective good.
Religion, Science, and Capacity Building
How then can spiritual principles be infused into our understanding, practice and assessment of development? The challenge is not
a new one. Throughout past decades, development thinkers have
repeatedly encountered issues related to values and beliefs. Too
often, however, they have backed away from a thorough examination of the subject.
If the development discourse is to address properly the issue
of values, a rigorous dialogue will be required between the work
of science and the insights ofreligion.4 Such a dialogue is crucial
to the enterprise of building human capacity, an enterprise that is
increasingly recognized as the fundamental purpose of development.
When viewed as capacity building, development is concerned

4. That both science and religion have roles to play in the development process
can no longer be a matter of debate. Sociological and organizational questions relating to social and economic development must, of necessity, refer
to spiritual perspectives and values. However, the manner in which spiritual
perspectives are integrated into development activities must involve the
same logical and rigorous methods employed by science. This will ensure
that development efforts are anchored to tangible and objective outcomes.
Indeed, if religion is to be the partner of science in the development arena,
its specific contributions must be carefully scrutinized. It is unfortunately
the case that established religion is often burdened by doctrines and practices that militate against efforts to improve material conditions. Sectarian
teachings that encourage passivity, acceptance of poverty, social exclusion
or inequality between the sexes must be weighed against more universal
spiritual concepts that emphasize the importance of justice and service to
others. Therefore, a new approach to development must also seek to identify
traditions of paternalism and other patterns of behavior that serve to undermine development initiatives.

R ELIGIOUS V ALUES AND pROSPERITY

principally with the generation, application, and diffusion of knowledge. If it is accepted that knowledge is both spiritual and material,
religion and science can be understood as two interacting knowledge
systems that provide the fundamental organizing principles by which
individuals, communities and institutions function and evolve.5
Placing the generation and application of knowledge at the center
of development planning and implementation makes it possible
to study the practical implications of religious values, including
the role that such values have in alleviating poverty.
It is generally accepted that the materially poor must participate
directly in efforts to improve their own well-being. But the nature
of that participation has yet to be fully explored. From the Baha'i
perspective, this participation must be substantive and creative; it
must allow the people themselves access to knowledge and encourage them to apply it. Specifically, it is not sufficient for the people
of the world to be engaged in projects as mere beneficiaries of
the products of knowledge, even if they have a voice in certain
decisions. They must be engaged in applying knowledge to create
well-being, thereby generating new knowledge and contributing
in a substantial and meaningful way to human progress. 6
The ability of any group to participate fully in its own development process depends on a wide range of interrelated capacities at
the personal and group level. Among the most important are the
capacities to participate effectively in the planning and implementation of development activity ; to use methods of decision making

5. Collaboration between religion and science in the development field can
take many forms. One obvious example is in the area of moral education.
Since moral behavior is a concrete expression of humanity 's spiritual nature,
the formulation of educational theories and methods that systematically
promote moral development is of particular importance. Learning to apply
moral and spiritual concepts to achieve material progress could, in fact, be
regarded as the essential prerequisite of all social and economic initiatives.
6. A first important step in this direction is to foster awareness and respect of
the existing knowledge base ofa community or culture. This will assist the
community to develop confidence in its ability to conceive and implement
innovative solutions to difficult problems. When such confidence exists,
science and technology can more readily be used as tools for prese rving
and extending cultural identity.

that are non-adversarial and inclusive; to think systematically
about problems and search for solutions; to deal efficiently and
accurately with information rather than respond unwittingly to
political and commercial propaganda; to take initiative in a creative
and disciplined manner; to make appropriate and informed technological choices; to organize and engage in ecologically sound
production processes; to contribute to the effective management of
public programs and projects; to promote solidarity and unity of
purpose, thought, and action; to replace relationships based on dominance and competition with relationships based on reciprocity,
collaboration, and service to others; to interact with other cultures
in a way that leads to the advancement of one 's own culture and not
to its degradation; to encourage recognition of the essential nobility
of human beings; to put into place and to participate in educational
processes conducive to personal growth and to the transformation of
society; to maintain high standards of physical, emotional and mental health; to imbue social interaction with an acute sense of justice;
and to manifest rectitude in private and public administration.
Incomplete as it is, this list is suggestive of the constellation
of capacities necessary for building up the social, economic, and
moral fabric of collective life. The list highlights the vital role of
both religious and intellectual resources in promoting development.
It also points us to the types of indicators that might provide useful
insight into the overall well-being of communities.
Measuring Poverty and Prosperity
If development is primarily a process in which individuals and communities become the principal actors in promoting their own physical,
spiritual and social well-being, how can it be measured? Is it even
reasonable to expect to be able to measure an ongoing process of
action, evaluation, and adjustment: one in which communities
gradually improve their ability to define, analyze, and meet their
own needs? In the Baha'i view, the answer is "yes." While concrete
action in any project should be directed toward visible, and therefore
measurable, improvement in some aspect of life, the capacity of a
community to address development issues at increasingly higher
levels of complexity and effectiveness can also be measured, although
perhaps not by traditional means.

R ELIGIOUS V ALUES AND p ROS PERITY

One vital measure of a community 's progress is the extent to
which participation and cooperative methods of decision making are
used to guide the development process. As an illustration, Baha' i
development activities have, from their inception, emphasized collective decision making and collective action at the grassroots
level. Improvement in the ability of all the members of a community
to consult is a primary measure of success in every Baha'i development project. Both the process and the outcomes are observable
and, therefore, in some way measurable. The use of consultative
methods of decision making can lead to novel solutions to community
problems; they can result in greater fairness in the distribution of
community resources; and they tend to involve and uplift those who
have historically been excluded from decision making, such as
women and minorities. Experience has shown that consultation
enables communities to sustain and modify development initiatives,
contributing, thereby, to self-sufficiency and a higher quality of
life. The ability of people to come together in these new and constructive patterns of participation and interaction is, in some respects,
a more important outcome-and, therefore, more important to
measure-than the quantifiable goals traditionally associated with
development projects.
Development initiatives might be assessed on the basis of concrete application of a number of spiritual principles to individual
and community life: among them, unity in diversity; equity and justice;
equality of the sexes; trustworthiness and moral leadership; and
independent investigation of truth. While these are by no means
the only principles to consider, these five contain a sufficient diversity
of concepts to allow a broad overview of community progress. In
their full expression, these spiritual precepts capture many of the
intangible factors that conduce to social and economic advancement.
For example, the principle of unity in diversity as applied to
the area of education could lead to curricula that foster concepts
of tolerance, understanding, compassion and world citizenship.
The principle of the equality of women and men could lead to
policies that unlock capacities of both women and men that have
been hitherto suppressed. The principle of the independent investigation of truth as applied to development projects could ensure that
problems are correctly identified and defined and that solutions

reflect the true needs of the people involved. A detailed discussion
on how these principles might form the basis of tangible indicators
of development can be found in the concept paper, "Valuing Spirituality in Development: Initial Considerations Regarding the Creation
of Spiritually Based Indicators for Development." This paper was
presented by the Baha'i International Community to the World
Faiths and Development Dialogue at Lambeth Palace in 1998. 7
The creation of broad qualitative measures of development
progress will have direct implications for the types of projects
that get funded. Experience has shown that innovative projects
are often deprived of needed funding when evaluation formulas
emphasize a few specific economic or physical parameters. For
example, before pursuing income generating activities, it may be
more important to first engage in goal setting and consultations
regarding community needs and well-being. The adoption and
application of rigid evaluation criteria cannot be considered scientific, especially if they prematurely prescribe optimal outcomes.
In a given community or cultural setting, there may, in fact, be a
variety of pathways that could achieve the same material ends
while promoting other goals such as social cohesion or moral
development.
Clearly the design and evaluation of development projects must
give consideration to a broad set of parameters that go beyond
simple categories of economic performance. Conventional indices
of such factors as economic growth, health, or education are capable
of conveying only a very narrow snapshot of community wellbeing. The most important indicators of successful development
activity might well be whether the views and talents of all members
of a community are utilized, whether consultative processes are
used to formulate and implement community projects, or whether
an atmosphere of dignity, optimism and commitment characterizes
the lives of the people involved. Although such qualitative factors
may, at first, prove difficult to measure, the participants in development endeavors will no doubt be able to assist development
specialists in creating meaningful benchmarks that take account
of these qualitative variables.

7. See The Baha 'i World 1997-98, pp. 233- 59, for the full text of thi s paper.

R ELIGIOUS V ALUES AN D pROSPER fTY

In the final analysis, the measurement of poverty and prosperity
can best be determined by those who are most directly affected.
Certainly, traditional measures can offer valuable insights and can
be used to help identify where resources should be deployed, but by
themselves they are insufficient. Existing development indices fall
far short of bringing into relief the essential spiritual and social
dimensions of life, so fundamental to human welfare. Without a
way to identify and track these essential elements of prosperity,
our development efforts will continue to be dictated by mainly
material considerations and true progress will prove to be illusory. It
is, therefore, not only timely but critical that organizations of civil
society and religious communities be engaged with development
agencies in charting new measures of social progress.

The Baha'i International Community
presented this statement to the 55th
Session of the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights, held in Geneva
22 March- 30 April 1999.

CURRENT
SITUATION
OF THE BAHA'I s
rNIRAN

W ith approximately three hundred thousand members, the
Baha' i Faith, Iran's largest religious minority, is not recognized as a religion by the Iranian Constitution. The Islamic regime
refers to it as a heresy and a conspiracy and designates its followers "unprotected infidels," who have no legal rights, although
Iran is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights which guarantees freedom of religious belief
A secret Iranian Government document published by the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1993 confirms that
Iran 's anti-Baha'i actions reflect deliberate government policy.
Produced by Iran's Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council on 25
February 1991 and approved by the Islamic Republic's Supreme
Leader, this document sets forth specific guidelines for dealing with
"the Baha'i question" so that Baha'i "progress and development
shall be blocked." It is no less than a blueprint for the slow strangulation of the Baha'i community.
The Baha' i community in Iran poses no threat to the authorities.
The principles of the Baha'i Faith require Baha'is to be obedient

to their government and to avoid partisan political involvement,
subversive activity, and all forms of violence. The Baha'i community in Iran is not aligned with any government, ideology or
opposition movement.
The Baha' is seek no special privileges. They desire only their
rights under the International Bill of Human Rights, of which Iran
is a signatory.
Recent Changes in the Situation
The most recent and notable change in the situation of the Baha'is
in Iran has occurred in Mashhad, the capital of the Khurasan
province. On 21 July 1998 a Baha'i prisoner, Mr. Ruhu'llah
Rawhani, was executed; shortly thereafter the death sentences of
two other Baha'i prisoners in Mashhad were confirmed.
Furthermore, there has been a widespread assault on Baha'i
educational activities in Iran, including the arrest of more than
thirty-six faculty members of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education and confiscation of materials, records, and educational
equipment. More than five hundred Baha'i homes throughout Iran
were also recently raided.
In September 1996 we were informed that Baha'i students
had been barred from the final year of high school, which had
been designated a pre-university year. We are now able to report
that this discrimination against Baha'i youth appears to have been
lifted, and they are now able to register for the pre-university
year at their high school.
Executions, Death Sentences and Imprisonment
Since 1979, more than two hundred Baha'is have been killed,
and fifteen others have disappeared and are presumed dead.
Mr. Ruhu'llah Rawhani, executed by hanging on 21July1998
after having served nine months in solitary confinement, stood
accused of converting a woman to the Baha'i Faith. The woman
concerned refuted the accusation, stating that her mother was a
Baha'i and she herself had been raised as a Baha'i. There is no
evidence that Mr. Rawhani was accorded any legal process or
access to a lawyer, and no sentence was announced prior to his
execution.

B AH A' fs I N IRAN: C URRENT SITUATION

Moreover, we have been informed that the death sentences of
two prisoners recently condemned in Mashhad, Messrs. Sirus
Dhabihi-Muqaddam and Hidayat Kashifi-Najafabadi, have been
confirmed, and that they may very soon meet the same fate as
Mr. Rawhani. When confronted by the international community,
the Government of Iran declared these cases to be crimes concerning national security, charges which had not been raised before the
public condemnation of these sentences.
Arbitrary arrests of Baha'is continue, with a marked increase
in the number of short-term arrests in various areas of the country. During the past three years more than two hundred Baha'is
have been arrested and detained for periods ranging from fortyeight hours to six months.
The seventeen being held in prisons because of their religious
beliefs, as of December 1998, are as follows:

Name Date of Arrest Charge Sentence
Mr. Bihnam Mithaqi 29 April 1989 Zionist Baha'i Death
activities
Mr. Kayvan 29 April 1989 Zionist Baha ' i Death
Khalajabadi activities
Mr. Musa Talibi 7 June 1994 Teaching the Faith, Death
apostasy
Mr. Dhabihu ' llah 6 September Apostasy Death
Mahrami 1995
Mr. Mansur 29 February Holding children's 3 years
Haddadan 1996 art exhibition
Mr. Arman Early 1996 Misconduct (refused 8 years
Damishqi to recant)
Mr. Kurush Dhabihi Early 1996 Misconduct (refused 8 years
to recant)
Mr. Nasir Qadiri 5 November Continuing "Family 3 years
1997 Life" Meetings
Mr. Sirus Dhabihi- Oct.IN ov. 1997 Continuing "Family Death
Muqaddam Life" Meetings
Mr. Hidayat Kashifi- Oct.IN ov. 1997 Continuing " Family Death
Najafabadi Life" Meetings
Mr. Ata'u ' llah Oct.IN ov. 1997 Continuing " Family 10 years
Hamid Nasirizadih Life" Meetings
Mrs. Sonia Ahmadi 1May1998 Holding youth 3 years
meetings

Name
Mr. Manuchehr
Ziyai
Date of Arr~ harge
I May 1998 _µ,Holding youth
meetings
= SenteilCe
3 years

,_,M
~r.~z=ia-u~l~
la~
h ---+-=
E- ar~ly-O
~otob" Relotod to the BIHE U nknown I
Mirzapanah 1998
Mr. Farzad Khajeh Early October Related to the BIHE unknown
1998
Dr. Sina Hakiman Early October Related to the BIHE- u nknown I
1998 I

l Mr. Habibullah ---+--
Ferdosian
Early October
1998
Related to the BIH E- unknownl

--

Denial of the Right to Organize as a Peaceful Religious
Community
Since 1983 the Baha'i community has been denied both the right
to assemble officially and the right to maintain its administrative
institutions, those democratically elected governing bodies which in
other countries organize and administer the religious activities of
the community. Since the Baha'i Faith has no clergy, the denial of the
right to elect these institutions threatens the very existence of a
viable religious community. These sacred institutions perform many
of the functions reserved to clergy in other religions and are the
foundational element of Baha'i community life.
The latest events in Khurasan suggest an intensification of
efforts to terrorize members of the Faith and to suffocate the
spiritual life of the Baha'i community in the region by further
curtailing activities aimed at providing education to Baha'i children and youth. A recent example of this abuse was the arrest,
detention, and summary sentence of two teachers in Mashhad ,
the capital of Khurasan, to three years' imprisonment, while their
students were given suspended sentences, to be carried out should
the young people again commit the "crime" of participating in such
classes. In the middle of September, three more Baha'is, Mrs. Nahid
Sabeti, Mr. Manouchehr Sharifi and Mr. Hushrnand Sanani, were
arrested, this time in Bujnurd, northern Khurasan, for participating
in Baha'i "Family Life" gatherings. After spending six days in
prison, they were released, having also been given suspended sentences of five years' imprisonment.

B AHA'fS I N I RAN: C URREN T SITUATION

Confiscation and Destruction of Community Properties
Baha'i cemeteries, holy places, historical sites, administrative centers
and other assets were seized shortly after the 1979 revolution. No
properties have been returned and many have been destroyed.
Seizure of cemeteries throughout Iran has created problems for
Baha'is, who have difficulties burying their dead and identifying
gravesites. They are permitted access only to areas of wasteland,
designated by the Government for their use, and are not permitted
to mark the graves of their loved ones.
Confiscation of Properties Belonging to Baha 'is
The property rights of Baha'is are generally disregarded. Since
1979, large numbers of private and business properties belonging
to Baha'is, including homes and farms , have been arbitrarily
confiscated.
Recently over five hundred Baha'i homes throughout Iran have
been raided at the hands of intelligence officers . When queried
about the seizure of personal household effects like television sets
and pieces of furniture , these officers claimed that they had been
authorized by the Attorney General to take anything they wished.
Denial of Employment, Pensions and Other Benefits
The confiscation of property is only one of the ways in which the
government is systematically weakening the economic base of the
Baha'i community. Many Bahci'is in Iran have also been deprived
of the means to earn a living. In the early 1980s more than ten
thousand Baha' is were dismissed from positions in government
and educational institutions because of their religious beliefs .
Many remain unemployed and receive no unemployment benefits.
The pensions of Baha'is dismissed on religious grounds were
terminated; some of the Baha'is have even been required to return
salaries or pensions paid to them . Baha'i farmers are denied
admission to farmers' cooperatives , which are often the only
sources of credit, seeds, pesticide and fertilizer.
Denial of Access to Education
An entire generation of Baha'is has been systematically barred
from higher education in legally recognized public and private
institutions of learning in Iran.

Having been denied access to higher education for years, in 1987
the Baha'is established their own higher education program to meet
the educational needs of as many of their young people as resources
would allow. Since 1987 almost a thousand young people have
been enrolled and a number have graduated with the equivalent
of a bachelor's degree. Several are presently pursuing graduate
studies in Western colleges and universities.
In late September, more than thirty-six faculty members of the
Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) were reported to
have been arrested in cities across the country. It is understood
that most of these have now been released, but that four in Isfahan remain in custody. The arrests were carried out by officers of
the Iranian Government's intelligence agency, the Ministry of
Information, and also involved the seizure of textbooks, scientific
papers and documentary records, some seventy computers , and
items of furniture useful to students, including tables and benches.
Those arrested were asked to sign a document declaring that BIHE
had ceased to exist as of 29 September and undertaking that they
would no longer cooperate with it. The detainees refused to sign
any such declaration.
Denial of Civil Rights and Liberties
Unlike Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, the Baha'i Faith
is not recognized in the Iranian Constitution; therefore , Baha'is
fall into the category of "unprotected infidels," whose rights can
be ignored with impunity. In general , the pressures placed on
Baha' is by the judicial system have increased.
Neither Baha'i marriage nor divorce is legally recognized in Iran,
and the right of Baha'is to inherit is denied. For example, a Baha'i
was recently prevented from receiving her rightful share in the
inheritance following the death of her daughter. The Ministry of
Justice, Tehran Civil Court, issued a Certification of Inheritance
which states that the only heir of the deceased is her husband, a
Muslim, "because the other inheritors are Baha'is, and subject to
Article No . 881 of the Civil Law." On appeal , the Central Public
Court ruled that this woman's objection to the previous verdict "is
unfounded because she has frankly admitted to the court that she
is a Baha'i." Until 1995, attempts to gain probate were permitted

B AH A.' fs rN I RAN : C URRE NT SITUATION

if carried out in a special way; however, since 1996, Baha'is have
been strictly forbidden to seek probate.
The freedom of Baba' is to travel outside or inside Iran is often
impeded by Iraruan authorities and sometimes denied. Although the
last year has witnessed an increase in the number of Iranian Baha'is
given passports, it is too soon to judge whether there has been a
change of policy on the part of the Iranian government on this
issue.
Such treatment is not confined to Iran itself. Baha'is applying to
Iranian embassies abroad to renew their passports or to obtain visas
to return to Iran have often found officials similarly uncooperative.
However, the Iranian embassies in some countries do not require
the applicants to state their religious affiliation ; in such countries ,
Baha'is are more likely to be able to obtain visas or to renew their
Iranian passports. Passport application forms which require applicants to declare their affiliation with a "recognized religion" have
been used to pressure Baha'is to recant their religious beliefs.
Furthermore, in a number of communities the practice of summoning Baha'is to the security offices on various specious pretexts
and insulting and belittling them, so as to create fear in their families and weaken their spirits, continues unabated.
No Improvement in Situation Since the Election of President
Khatami
Regrettably, since President Mohammad Khatami took office, there
has been no discernible improvement in the situation of the Baha'is
in Iran. Recent events in Mashhad indicate that the persecutions
of Baha' is have indeed intensified . With the execution of Mr.
Ruhu' llah Rawhani on 21 July 1998 , and subsequent confirmation
of death sentences of two more Baha'i prisoners , Messrs. Sirus
Dhabihi-Muqaddam and Hidayat Kashifi-Najafabadi , no other
conclusion can be drawn.
The current circumstances are best understood in the context of
the unique nature of the persecution to which Iranian Baha'is
have been subjected for over a century. The Iranian Baha'i community has frequently served as a scapegoat, used by various factions
struggling for political ascendancy. This has been the case regardless
of the changes in political or dynastic regime. Whenever political

leaders have felt a need to divert public attention from some economic , social , or political issue , they have found the Baha'i
community an easy target because of the senseless hostility and
prejudice inculcated in the public by generations of ecclesiastical
propaganda. It is, therefore, not the actions of the Baha' is but the
circumstances of Iranian history that have conspired to make the
"Baha'i case" a litmus test of sincerity for Iranian public figures
who represent themselves as voices of reform and progress.

The Baha 'i International Community
presented this statement to the 55th
Session of the UN Commission on
Human Rights, held in Geneva
22 March- 30April 1999.

BAHA'I
INSTITUTE
FOR HIGHER

EDUCATION
A Creative and Peaceful Response
to Religious Persecution

S ince 1980, as part of a government-directed attempt to destroy
the intellectual and cultural life of the 300,000-member Baha'i
community, young people who declare their Baha'i identity have
been systematically excluded from colleges and universities in Iran.
Deeply concerned at seeing an entire generation of its best and
brightest languish without the opportunity for higher learning, the
Baha'i community of Iran launched a creative and wholly nonviolent response: the establishment of its own independent, fullfledged, yet completely decentralized, university system. The New
York Times , in an article about the university published on 29
October 1998, called this effort "an elaborate act of communal
self-preservation."
Founded in 1987, the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education
(BIHE) had, until September 1998, an enrollment of more than
nine hundred students , a faculty of more than one hundred and
fifty first-rate academics and instructors , and an "infrastructure"
composed of various classrooms, laboratories and libraries scattered throughout Iran in private homes and buildings.

As has been widely reported in the international news media,
agents of the Iranian government staged a series of sweeping
raids in late September and early October, arresting at least thirtysix members of the BIHE's faculty and staff and confiscating
equipment and records located in over five hundred homes.
As the New York Times noted, "The materials confiscated were
neither political nor religious, and the people arrested were not
fighters or organizers. They were lecturers in subjects like accounting and dentistry; the materials seized were textbooks and laboratory
equipment."
Those who were arrested, many of whom have now been
released, were asked to sign a document declaring that BIHE had
ceased to exist as of 29 September and that they would no longer
cooperate with it. The detainees refused to sign any such declaration.
To informed observers, the recent arrests and confiscations are
clearly part of a long-standing and centrally orchestrated campaign by Iranian authorities to deal with Iran's Baha'i community
"in such a way that their progress and development are blocked."
This is the stated intent of the policy set forth in a secret 1991 government memorandum that instructed authorities in how to deal
with "the Baha'i question." The actions against the BIHE, likewise,
reflect a new and dangerous period for Iran's Baha'i community.
This period was ushered in by the summary execution of Mr.
Ruhu'llah Rawhani, a 52-year-old medical supplies salesman who
was hanged in Mashhad on 21 July 1998 solely for religious reasons, and the subsequent confirmation of death sentences against
two other Baha'is in Mashhad in September.
The secret government memorandum, drawn up by the Supreme
Revolutionary Cultural Council in February 1991 , was obtained
and made public in 1993 by Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, the
United Nations' Special Representative investigating the human
rights situation in Iran. Signed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei, the memorandum established a subtle government policy aimed at essentially grinding the community into non-existence
by forcing Baha'i children to have a strong Islamic education,
pushing Baha'i adults to the economic periphery and forcing them
from all positions of power or influence, and requiring that Baba' i
youth "be expelled from universities, either in the admission

B AI-IA' f I NSTITUTE FO R HIGHER EDUCATION

process or during the course of their studies, once it becomes
known that they are Baha'is."
Not an "Underground" University
It would be incorrect to call the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education an "underground university," since its existence was well
known to the authorities from its earliest years. In fact, in 1996
Iranian authorities conducted far-reaching raids against BIHE
sites, confiscating records and equipment but not moving to shut
down the operation. In keeping with Baha'i religious teachings
on obedience to government, the Baha'is in Iran always answered
forthrightly questions about the Institute and any other activities
when asked. Nevertheless, inasmuch as the Baha'is of Iran have
been blocked from operating their institutions freely and normally,
they resorted to the concept of running an "open university" that
was both highly decentralized and carefully circumspect in its
operation.
Until the government raids at the end of September 1998, the
Institute offered bachelor's degrees in ten subject areas: applied
chemistry, biology, dental science, pharmacological science, civil
engineering, computer science, psychology, law, literature, and
accounting. And within these subject areas , which were administered by five university "departments," the Institute was able to
offer more than two hundred distinct courses each term. In the
beginning, courses were based on correspondence lessons developed by Indiana University, which was one of the first institutions
in the West to recognize the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education. Later on, course offerings were developed internally.
The teaching was done principally via correspondence, or, for
specialized scientific and technical courses and in other special
cases , in small-group classes that were usually held in private
homes.
"At the beginning, the students did not even know the names of
their professors," said one BIHE professor, who, like most others
interviewed, wanted to remain anonymous out of fear for his safety
and that of his relatives in Iran. Even after three or four years, the
students did not know the names of their professors. They had
never seen them because it was very dangerous. If somebody

THE BAHA'l WORLD

knew a professor's name, he or she might tell a friend. So all
courses were conducted by correspondence at the beginning of
this plan.
Over time, however, the Institute was able to establish a few laboratories, operated in privately owned commercial buildings in and
around Teheran. These laboratories included a computer science
laboratory, a physics laboratory, a dental science laboratory, a
pharmacological laboratory, an applied chemistry laboratory and
a language study laboratory. The operations of these laboratories
were kept prudently quiet, with students cautioned not to come and
go in large groups that might give the authorities a reason to object.
An All-Volunteer, Unpaid Faculty
At its peak, the Institute had more than one hundred and fifty faculty
members. Approximately twenty-five or thirty were professors who
were fired from government-run universities after the 1979 Islamic
Revolution . Other faculty members included doctors, dentists,
lawyers and engineers who gave of their time to teach students.
The majority were educated in Iran, but a good number have degrees
from universities in the West, including the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Columbia University, the University of California at
Berkeley, and the Sorbonne. None of the Baha'i faculty members
were paid for their time; all gave it freely as a form of community
service.
"These youth are very precious people," said a faculty member,
explaining why they were willing to take such risks, without monetary remuneration, to establish the Institute. "We all care about
them. They have been through tests and trials and they had no
hope. They have been deprived of many things, so if there is any
chance for us to get something better for them, we did it."
Each of the five departments drew not only on these volunteer
professors for their academic expertise but also on a small and anonymous group of Baha'i academics in North America, Europe, and
Australia. These outside academicians sent in the latest textbooks
and research papers, occasionally made visits to Iran as guest lecturers, and otherwise provided instructional and technical support.
"The Baha'i youth are all raised to want to study and become
professionals," said one of the academics involved in supporting the

B AHA' f I NSTITUTE FOR HIGHER E DUCATION

Institute. "So to sit around and do nothing is a very serious psychological pressure. And before the Open University really got going,
the youth were in a hopeless position." The academic, who is Iranian
born and still has family in Iran, also asked that his name not be used.
High Academic Standards
Entrance examinations for the BIHE were required, and the Institute
established high standards. Of the roughly fifteen hundred students
who applied for admission in its first year of operation, two hundred
and fifty were accepted for the first semester of study. By 1996, a
total of six hundred students had enrolled in the Baha'i Institute
for Higher Education and were pursuing their studies, and, by 1998,
approximately nine hundred students were enrolled.
One former student, who is now living outside of Iran, likened
the attitude of many of the students to Gandhi's attitude of nonviolent resistance. Denied the right to an education by the authorities,
students were determined to study to show the government that
they could study.
Among the indications of the Institute's surprisingly high academic standards and instructional level was the success that a few
Institute graduates had in gaining admission to graduate schools
outside Iran, including major universities in the United States and
Canada. It should be noted, however, that some Institute graduates
and students outside Iran have had a difficult time getting their
credits recognized. Such challenges, which are a fact of life for
Institute graduates , stem directly from the Iranian government's
policy of blocking their access to education and its refusal to recognize the Institute officially.
"In Iran, you have to apply for an examination to go to college,''
said one former BIHE student, who also asked to remain anonymous. "If you are successful at your exam, you can go to university."
The student described the examination form as having a place
which asks , "What is your religion?" The possible answers listed
are "Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism." When the
Baha'i students either didn't write anything or wrote "Baha'i" off to
the side, they were not given an entrance card to go to the examination hall. So they couldn't even take the exam.

Complex Administration
In its day-to-day operation, the Institute functioned basically like a
correspondence school, but with its own delivery service. In its
early years, students and faculty sent homework assignments and
lessons back and forth via the state-run postal system. But the
packages often did not arrive and were assumed to have been
intercepted as part of the government's attempt to interfere with
Baha'i education.
Since professors could not deliver lectures openly, they prepared
their own written notes and compiled textbooks for distribution
to the students. Again, as noted above, some of these texts were
based on the latest Western research. One student in civil engineering , for example , was studying the construction of
earthquake-proof earthen silos-and the Institute's overseas contacts were able to get for him some of the latest research on this
topic from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Our aim was to offer the best courses available in Iran," said a
faculty member.
The entire operation relied heavily on the use of extensive photocopying, and one of the biggest blows in the recent raids was the
confiscation of several large photocopying units.
The Institute system also featured a network of special depository libraries around the country. Numbering more than forty-five,
these libraries existed in the private homes of Baha'is and enabled
students in each district to obtain access to the necessary textbooks for the courses. Some of these libraries were seized in the
recent raids.
Shut Down
Over time, as Institute officials began to feel increasing confidence
about their operation, they started to organize many group classes
along with independent study in private homes . The Institute also
began to publish sophisticated course catalogues, listing not only
course offerings but the qualifications of the faculty members .
Through the international network of Baha'i communities worldwide,
the Institute also began to establish the means by which its
graduates might become fully recognized by other institutions of
higher education outside Iran.

BAHA' I I NSTITUTE FO R HIGHER EDUCATION

It is not clear to the Baha'i community of Iran why the raids
and confiscations were launched in late September. And Iranian
government officials have not been forthcoming with explanations
when asked about the actions. According to the New York Times,
Iranian officials made no comment when asked about the raids
and arrests .
Among other significant human rights conventions, Iran is a
party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on 16 December 1966. Parties to this Covenant "recognize the right of everyone to education" and more specifically
that "higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on
the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means."
The exclusion of Baba' is from access to higher education in Iran
certainly constitutes a gross violation of the Covenant. These latest steps taken to shut down the Iranian Baha'i community's creative
and peaceful response only increases public outrage regarding the
Iranian government's attempt to strangulate the Baha'i community.

The Baha'i International Community
presented this statement to the 43rd
Session of the UN Commission on the
Status of Women, held in New York City
1- 19 March 1999.

PROMOTING
WOMEN'S
HEALTH

T he Baha'i International Community is pleased that women's
health was identified as a critical area of concern in the Beijing
Platform for Action and that the Commission on the Status of
Women is focusing global attention on this vital issue. The Baha'i
International Community, which actively collaborates with the World
Health Organization, UNICEF, UNIFEM, and other UN agencies
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on promoting
women's health, participated most recently in the Expert Group Meeting on Women and Health: Mainstreaming the Gender Perspective
into the Health Sector, held in Tunisia in September-October 1998.
As the Commission consults about actions that governments, UN
agencies, and NGOs might take to improve the health of women,
and to empower women to participate fully in the affairs of the
world, we offer the following points for consideration.

• When women enter the arenas of law and politics and when their
voices are heard in the council chambers of the world, they will
be instrumental in ending war and freeing vast resources for

peaceful pursuits. "The enormous energy dissipated and wasted
on war," the Baha'i writings assert, "will be consecrated to such
ends as ... to the extermination of disease . ..to the raising of the
standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of
the human brain .. .to the prolongation of human life, and to the
furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral , and spiritual life of humanity." 1
• Women's health is important not only to women but to their
families, their communities, and the world as a whole. In the
Baha'i view, the very progress of civilization depends on the
unconstrained participation of women in all aspects of social
life. Participation requires that women and girls be assisted and
encouraged to develop all of their capacities and that they
maintain the ongoing physical, emotional, and spiritual health
essential to contribute as equal partners with men to the
advancement of civilization.
• Avoidable causes of maternal morbidity and mortality, HIV-
AIDS , tuberculosis, depressive disorders, and violence against
women take a heavy toll on the whole community. Women play
fundamental roles in the education of children and in promoting
the health of the family both in the home and through organizations that promote and protect the health and wellbeing of the
community. Healthy families and communities cannot be
achieved without careful attention to creating conditions conducive to sustaining healthy girls and women.
• Consideration must be given to the health of women throughout
their life span. They must be ensured adequate nutrition, especially in the early years, and protected from harmful traditional
practices through the teenage years and into adulthood. The
health of older women must also be paid special attention. With
the marked increase in life expectancy for women, their right to
physical, mental and spiritual health must be safeguarded.

1. Shoghi Effendi , The World Order of Baha 'u 'llah: Selected Letters (Wi lmette, Baha' f Publi shing Trust, 1982), p. 204.

W OME 'S H EALTH

The Baha' i International Community has been active in the process of improving the health of women and girls . Much of this
work includes raising awareness of the rights of women and girls,
raising the discussion of issues to the level of principle, and applying those standards at the local, national, and global levels. We
stand ready to continue to protect and promote the health of women
and girls and are eager to collaborate with the Commission on the
Status of Women, other UN agencies and NGOs in doing whatever will enable women to contribute their share to the advancement
of civilization.

The world of humanity has two wings-one is women and the
other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the
bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. 2

2. Selections from the Writings of 'A bdu 'l-Baha (Wilmette: Baha' f Publishing
Trust 1997), p. 316.

The Baha 'i International Community
presented this statement to the 55th
Session of the UN Commission on
Human Rights, held in Geneva
22 March- 30 April 1999.

PROTECTION
OFM INORITIES

A s conflicts within countries become increasingly prevalent
throughout the world, the international community is awakening to the critical need to address the question of minorities .
Because every country has minorities of some sort, governments are
realizing that the potential for instability may be more widespread
than previously imagined. It is, therefore, highly appropriate that
the issue of minorities should be on the agenda of the United
Nations at this time. The Declaration on the Rights of Persons
Belonging to National, or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted more than five years ago, has already made a major
contribution to this discussion by articulating international standards. It states not only that minorities should not be targets of
discrimination but that cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity
within a country should actually be encouraged and safeguarded.
Now that the standard has been articulated, the next step is implementation. The Baha'i International Community is pleased to note
that the Working Group on Minorities, established by the Sub-
Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of

Minorities, is gradually putting into place the means to review the
implementation of the Declaration and to address the issues its
implementation will raise.
In the view of the Baha'i International Community, the responsibility for ensuring equal rights for minorities falls on both
minorities and majorities. The ruling groups (whether they be the
majority or a minority) have a special responsibility, for the sake of
justice, to bring about the social and political adjustments which
will enable the other components of their society to exercise, to the
fullest extent possible, their common and fundamental rights. Those
groups not in power, on the other hand, have a moral responsibility
to respond honorably to genuine efforts made toward them and to
recognize, accept, and fulfill their responsibilities toward society
at large. As issues arise, both majorities and minorities must view
them in the context of an increasingly interdependent world,
where the advantage of the part is best served by ensuring the
advantage of the whole , and where the whole cannot flourish
when parts are oppressed or deprived.
Governments need to take the lead by proving their determination to accord to minorities the same rights accorded to other
citizens. This they can do by identifying the conditions that tend to
disenfranchise certain minorities and by enacting legislation that
will address those conditions. Such legislation is an important step,
but legislation alone will never, in and of itself, end discrimination
against minorities. Attitudes must change. Groups must learn to
view one another in fundamentally different ways . They must
see each other as partners, as co-workers, as worthy of respect and
just treatment. Majorities must rid themselves of the assumption of
entitlement, and minorities must eventually break free of the helplessness and suspicion induced by prolonged discrimination.
Legislation can actually facilitate changes in attitude by placing
legal sanctions on behavior that was once considered acceptable .
By motivating people to change the way they behave, legislation
can stimulate an examination of the beliefs underlying the old
behavior and consideration of the principles that support the new
behavior. But only a change of both heart and mind will permanently eradicate the willingness to hate those we perceive as
different from ourselves. Such a profound change can be effected

P ROTECTION OF M INORITIE S

only through the influence of spiritual and moral principles. The
foundation for peace, harmony and stability in the world is the
principle of the oneness of humanity. Ignorance of the oneness of the
human family makes one vulnerable to irrational fears and hatreds
that can be easily stirred up by lies, half-truths, distortions and
inflammatory accusations proffered by unscrupulous leaders for
their own benefit.
But unity is not uniformity; the oneness of the human family
implies respect for the diversity within that family. In order to move
toward a world characterized by unity in diversity, children must be
taught to recognize diversity as a source of enrichment, not as a
threat. The Baha' i International Community, therefore, commends
the Working Group for its attention to the promotion of multicultural and inter-cultural education. In our view, an understanding of
cultural diversity as the varied expression of our common humanity
is one of the keys to the peaceful and lasting resolution of conflicts
involving minorities. School curricula should aim at rendering
obsolete old animosities, based upon ethnic, linguistic and religious
differences , by providing instruction about the various cultures
present in each country in a way that highlights those common aspirations that bind us all together as members of the human family.
When children are taught to recognize fundamental human qualities
in a wide variety of cultural forms , they will be able to regard each
culture as enriching society as a whole. They will also be much less
vulnerable to manipulation by those who would pit one group
against another for political reasons .
The Baha'i International Community is convinced that, if the
human rights efforts being made by the United Nations and Governments are to bear fruit , the combined force of political and
legal, spiritual and moral influences must be employed. For its part,
the Baha 'i International Community is attempting to address the
challenge of nurturing the minorities within its own membership
throughout the world. Baha'i communities are obliged by the teachings of their faith not just to tolerate but to nurture , encourage
and safeguard every minority belonging to any faith, race, class or
nation within it. For that reason, the Baha'i writings suggest that
if any discrimination at all is to be tolerated, it should be in favor of
the minority. Guided by the unifying principles of world order

brought more than a century ago by Baha'u' llah, Baha'i communities worldwide are attempting to integrate people of all racial,
national and religious backgrounds into a singe community-a
community that is both unified and diverse.
The Baha'i International Community will continue to collaborate
with the Working Group on Minorities , and it stands ready to
offer its experience in establishing unified communities characterized by respect for diversity.

INFORMATION
REsOURcEs
OBITUARIES

Grace Dean Mayan people of Mexico. Mrs. Dean
4 September 1998 in Ohio, United moved to Panama in l 971 and Mex-
States. Catherine Grace Dean wa s ico in 1979, and in 1989 she pioneered
born 21 December 1913 in Arizona, to Belize, where she taught literacy
United States , and embraced the courses. When too ill or short of
Faith ofBaha'u'llah there in 1951. money to remain in Central America,
She earned a B.A. in Social Studies she would sojourn in the United
and was trained as a fire safety spe- States to rest and earn the funds neccialist and elementary school teacher. essary to return. The Universal House
Soon after her discovery of the Baha'i of Justice wrote to her in 1974, "Your
Faith, she moved to an Apache reser- outstanding record of teaching the
vation outside Gallup, New Mexico Indians of Central America and Panin order to spread the Baba' i teach- ama under trying and frustrating
ings. Because of her knowledge of conditions is well known to us and
Spanish, she was later encouraged to deeply appreciated." Ill health forced
pioneer to Latin America. Mrs. Dean her to return to her family in Ohio
settled in Honduras in 1958 and dis- three months before her death. After
covered that she loved living among her passing the House of Justice
the indigenous peoples of Central wrote that her "heroic work over
America. She spent much of her time period four decades" was marked
with the Garifuna Indians of Hondu- by "sacrificial detachment and selfras, the Guaymi of Panama, and the effacing service in remote regions ...

TI::LE BAHA'I WORLD

The modesty and courage of such a success in the service of our beloved
life provide an enduring example of Faith, your true brother, Shoghi."
devotion to the needs of the world's Tove Deleuran passed away in 1996. 1
poor and downtrodden."
Rouhollah Golmohammadi
Jean Deleuran 16 February 1999 in Uppsala, Sweden.
7 December 1998 in Provence, France. Rouhollah Golmohammadi was
Jean Pierre Louis Deleuran was born born in 1929 in Tehran, Iran, to a
l April 1911 in Copenhagen, Den- Baha'i family. Dr. Golmohammadi
mark, to Emil and Valborg Deleuran. arrived in Sweden on 12 January
In 1934 he graduated from the Royal 1960 as a pioneer, accompanied by
Academy of Fine Arts as an archi- his sister's family. He became a
tect, but soon contracted polio. member of the first Local Spiritual
Despite his limited mobility-he Assembly of the town of Uppsala
used crutches or a cane for the rest the same year, and two years later
of his life-Mr. Deleuran was active was elected to the first National Spirin the French Resistance during the itual Assembly of Sweden. Building
Second World War and later devoted on his experience in Iran as head of a
the majority of his life to serving the textile factory, Dr. Golmohammadi
Baha ' i Faith. In 1944, he married earned his doctorate in organic chem-
Tove Larsen, with whom he raised istry at the University of Uppsala ,
one daughter. They became Baha' is where he also lectured. Dr. Golmoin 1949 and were the first Baha'is to hammadi married Elizabeth Beven
settle in the Balearic Islands, in in 1964. They had two children. In
1953 , thus earning the title Knights 1994, they pioneered to Hungary,
ofBaha'u ' llah. The four years spent where Dr. Golmohammadi soon
in the Balearic Islands interrupted became a member of that National
Mr. Deleuran 's successful career as Spiritual Assembly. He remained on
an architect, a career later resumed the Assembly until his passing. Dr.
in East Pakistan where the family Golmohammadi was able to attend
lived for six years until 1963 . Mr. the first Baha' i World Congress held
Deleuran served on several Spiritual in London in 1963 and the first eight
Assemblies in the Balearic Islands, International Baha'i Conventions as
Denmark, France, and Pakistan, a delegate. The Universal House of
including the first Local Spiritual Justice wrote that his "dedication to
Assemblies of the Balearic Islands the Faith, his many years of devoted,
and Denmark and the National Spir- persevering service in both the teachitual Assemblies of Denmark and ing and administrative spheres .. . in
Pakistan. Appended to a letter dated Sweden and latterly in Hungary, his
29 September 1953 written on behalf gentle, loving, unifying spirit, all
of the Guardian to express his happi- combine to win for him an enduring
ness that Mr. Deleuran had decided
to pioneer, the following was written
in the Guardian's own hand: "Assur- I. See The Baha'i World 1996-97,
ing you of my loving prayers for your p. 307, for her obituary.

OBITUARIES

place in the annals of the Baha'i places. Later, Mr. Hautz served for
communities of those countries." several years as a member of the
National Spiritual Assembly of the
Louise Groger
Baba ' is of the United States and on
22 March 1999 in California, United several national committees. Shortly
States. Louise A. Groger was born after attending the fourth Interna-
11 April 1907 in San Francisco, Cal- tional Baha'i Conference in New
ifornia, to a Catholic family. She Delhi, Mr. Hautz and his wife Carol
became a Baha'i in 1936 and served pioneered to Southern Rhodesia (now
on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Zimbabwe), where they bought a plot
San Francisco from 1938 to 1949. of land and in time founded a motel,
After the untimely passing of her hus- snake park, and an elementary school.
band in 1950, Mrs. Groger pioneered Beginning with about twenty stuto Puntas Arenas, at the southern tip dents, the school's student body grew
of Chile. She remained there for two in time to over four hundred. About
years before returning to the United this school, the National Spiritual
States. After the launch of the Ten Assembly of Zimbabwe wrote, "In
Year Crusade, Mrs. Groger decided the height of racial discrimination in
to return to Chile . She settled on then Rhodesia, Larry took a bold step
Chiloe Island- the first Baha'i to do and against all odds established the
so- and thus became the Knight of first school on the supposedly 'white
Baha' u ' llah. She offered her home owned' property for the indigenous
to young boarders, and sold fruit, children." Mr. Hautz also served on
jam, vegetables, and flowers to earn the first Local Spiritual Assembly of
her living. The Universal House of Harare. Carol Hautz passed away in
Justice wrote after her passing, 1971. "WE SHARE YOUR DEEP SENSE
"DEEPLY SADDENED LOSS VALIANT OF LOSS IN PASSING DEARLY LOVED
KNIGHT BAHA'U'LLAH FOR CH ILO E LARRY HA UTZ," wrote the Universal
ISLAND GREATLY LOVED LOUISE A. House of Justice to the National Spir-
GROGER. H ER SETTLEMENT AND itual Assembly of Zimbabwe, a
LONG YEARS PION EER ING THIS "FAITHFUL, GENEROUS, ENERGET IC
REMOTE ISLAND WILL EVER ADORN SERVANT BLESSED BEAUTY."
ANNALS BAHA'I HISTORY."

Larry Hautz Tahereh Madjzoub
Lawrence Albert Hautz was born 19 8 March 1999 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
August 1908 in Ohio, United States. Tahereh Hezari was born 16 January
He became a Baha'i in 1939, at the 1925 in Qazvin, Iran, to a Baha'i famage of 31. He made his living as an ily. She married Rahrnatollah Madjzinsurance salesman and was able to oub in 1943. In 1954, in response to
visit the Holy Land as a pilgrim after the call of the Ten Year Crusade, Mrs.
the Second World War. He was asked Madjzoub and her husband pioneered
to stay for a total of ninety days to to Turkey, where they remained until
assist the Guardian to acquire prop- 1964, at which time they moved to
erty surrounding several Baha'i holy Germany. In 1983 Mrs. Madjzoub

THE BAHld WORLD

joined her family at their pioneer post Indian and Inuit communities. After a
in Harare, Zimbabwe, where she three-month fellowship with the
resided until her passing. Throughout World Health Organization, spent
her life, Mrs. Madjzoub traveled fre- studying health programs for indigequently throughout Europe and Africa nous people in the United States,
in service to the Faith, was a member Mexico, and Guatemala, she returned
of several Local Spiritual Assemblies to Canada and founded a nationwide
and national and local committees, program to train community health
and was active in organizing Baha ' i workers. She earned her doctorate from
activities wherever she lived. She kept the University of Saskatchewan in
her home open to all and was known 1973, based on research done during
as "dear mother" by the Baha'is of the course of her work with indige-
Zimbabwe. The Madjzoubs had three nous Canadians. Dr. Martens traveled
children. After her passing the Uni- to more than eighty countries in the
versal House of Justice wrote that her service of both her profession and the
"STAUNCH FAITH, HER LONG-SUFFER- Baha'i community. She was instru-
ING ATTITUDE IN HER ADVERSITIES, mental in developing health education
AND HER SACRIFICIAL ATTITUD ES IN programs in Cameroon under the
TEA C HING FIELD WERE TRULY auspices of the Canadian Interna-
EXEMPLARY." tional Development Agency, was the
Baha'i representative to the World
Ethel Martens
Health Organization, and after her
10 December 1998 in Canada. Dr.
retirement in 1979 was one of the
Ethel Gertrude Martens was born 19
July 1916 in The Pas, Manitoba, Can- founders of the Baha' i International
ada. The Martens family was one of Health Agency, serving as its Executive Secretary until 1986. During and
the first Anglo families to live in The
after that period, she assisted Baha'i
Pas, a small northern town built
development projects around the
around a Hudson Bay trading post.
world to develop and implement pri-
During her undergraduate years, at
the suggestion of a fellow Baha'i stu- mary health care programs.
dent at the University of Manitoba, Mary Elizabeth Martin
Dr. Martens began studying the bur- 19 February 1999 in Haifa, Israel.
geoning field of health education . Elizabeth Martin was born in Toronto,
After graduating, she worked as a Canada, on 26 January 1931. From
Health Educator for Manitoba's Min- the time of her enrollment as a Baha'i
is try of Health and later gained a in 1954 until her passing Mrs. Martin
master's degree in public health. Dr. made memorable contributions to
Martens began studying the Baha'i the promotion of the Baha'i Faith.
Faith during World War II but did Noteworthy among these are the assisnot declare her belief in Baha'u'llah tance she rendered on behalf of the
until 1953. In 1958 she was recruited National Spiritual Assembly to the
by the government of Canada to be development of Canadian Local Spirithe first national Health Educator, tual Assemblies; the editing and
with responsibility for indigenous publishing of 'Abdu 'l-Baha in Canada

OBITUARIES

and Messages to Canada (the latter as an opera singer and gave his first
being the first compilation of the profess ional concert in February 1953,
Guardian 's letters to the Canadian but in September of that same year
Baha ' i community); the contribu- he gave up hi s career to pioneer to
tions she made as a writer and director Cyprus. He and his mother Violet
in the field of film production ; her were the first Baha'is to move there,
role in the formation of the National thus earning the title Knights of
Spiritual Assembly of Iceland ; her Baha ' u ' llah. After living for a short
work as a photographer in the pro- period in Ireland, Mr. McKinley pioduction of such items as a national neered next to Greece , where he
advertising camp a ign in the mid- became the literary editor of the Ath-
1980s; the ass istance she gave to the ens Daily Post for over a decade. Mr.
National Assembly of Canada in orga- McKinley was known in the European
niz ing both national and international literary community as an accom-
Baha' i conferences, as well as a series pli s he d poet and editor and wa s
of National Conventions; as assistant included in the Intern ational Who s
to the National Secretary, with corre- Who in Poetry. He edited the book
spondence and other special projects; The Earth Is But On e Country by
and her services as a Baha ' i pioneer. John Huddleston in the 1970s, trans-
These, and the aesthetic contribu- la ted a n abridged version of The
tions she made to the second Baha' i Da wn-B reakers from Persian into
World Congress in New York, as well Greek in 1973, and also translated the
as her efforts at the Baha'i World German writings ofOndra Lysohorsky,
Centre, will make her warmly remem- a friend and fellow writer from Czechbered. In a message written at the time oslov ak ia . Mr. McKinley married
of her passing, the Universal House Deborah Waterfield in 1979. In its
of Justice paid tribute to Mrs. Mar- message after his passing, the Unitin's "MORE THAN FOUR DECADES versal House of Justice said that " 1-11 s
CEASELESS DEVOTION CAUSE INDEFAT IGABLE LAB ORS PIONEER -
BAHA'U'LLA1-1," and wrote that they ING FIELD, HIS TEAC HING ACTIV!TlES
"GRATEFULLY RECALL INTEG RITY COUPLED WITH PROFOUND KNOWL-
Tl-IA T CHA RACTER IZE D HER MANY EDGE OF THE l-I OL Y WRITINGS AND
SERVICES." FIRMNESS IN THE COVENANT BROUGHT
Hugh McKinley GREAT VICTORJES TO THE CAUSE."
9 February 1999 in Suffolk, England.
Hugh McKinley was born 18 February Hedi Moani
1924 to a Baha 'i family in Oxford, October 1999 in Devenport, New Zea-
England. In the course of his life-long land . Hediatollah Moani was born in
serv ice to the Faith, he pioneered to 1944 in Mahmoudabad, Iran, a Cas-
Cyprus, Greece, and Wales, went on pian Sea town to which hi s family
frequent travel teaching trips through- had pioneered. Mr. Moani came from
out western Europe, and was a member a family of pioneers, six of his eight
of seve ral different Local Spiritual brothers having left home to serve in
Assemblies. Mr. McKinley was trained that capacity. Mr. Moani pioneered

THE BAHA'I WORLD

first to Indonesia and then moved to by the Universal House of Justice
Australia in 1963, where he obtained who said also that "his commitmen~
a degree in architecture from Mel- to the upliftment of the Maori peobourne University. He lived in several ple of New Zealand ... will long serve
Australian cities before moving in as an encouragement to others."
1978 to the United States, and then
Jose Moucho
later to New Zealand, where he lived
14 October 1998 in Adelaide, Austhe last seventeen years of his life.
tralia. Jose Maria Marques Moucho
Mr. Moani felt so close to the Maori
was born 13 May 1917 in the Alentejo,
people that he changed the spelling of
Portugal. He became a Baha' i in 1950
his last name-Ma'ani- to resemble
and was named a Knight ofBaha'u'llah
theirs. He was well loved and widely
in 1954 when he pioneered to East
known by the Australasian Baha ' i
Timor, then governed by Portugal.
community, and was described by the
Soon after his arrival, he was impris-
National Spiritual Assembly of New
oned by the local authorities for his
Zealand as one with a "well trained
Baha'i activities. He was able, howmind, an eloquent tongue, and a quick
ever, to smuggle a telegram to the
wit. .. underpinned with warmth, a love
Baha'i World Centre, which enabled
for people, an instant recognition for
Shoghi Effendi to effect Mr. Moucho's
their disposition, and an accepting
release. Mr. Moucho encountered
humanity." In addition to his service
further difficulty as a result of dison several Local Spiritual Assemblies,
crimination by the Catholic Church
he served for a time on the National
and the local government, and found
Spiritual Assembly of New Zealand
it difficult to gain employment. He
and was completing his Ph.D in relirema ined in the country, however,
gious studies at the time of his death.
founded his own coffee plantation,
Mr. Moani was beaten to death in
and was eventually accepted by his
his New Zealand home sometime
neighbors as one of their own. He
between 13 and 17 October 1999. A
lived in East Timor for nineteen years,
member of the predominantly Maori
where he served at different times as
Ratana church, dismayed at the death
the Secretary, Chairman, Vice-Chairof his church's leader and angry at the
man, and Trea s urer of the Local
conversion of several members of the
Spiritual A ssembly of Dili, East
church to the Baha ' i Faith, pleaded
Timor's capital. Mr. Moucho married
guilty to killing Mr. Moani but was
Maria Olga in 1957. Together they
later declared not guilty by reason of
had four children.
insanity. Among the seven hundred
people present at Mr. Moani 's funeral Ali-Akbar Nadji
were members of the Ratana Ringatu 4 December 1998 in Ashgabat,
Anglican, and Muslim faith~, as well Turkmenistan. Ali-Akbar Nadji was
as a large number of Ba ha ' is from born on 5 February 1914 to a Baha'i
around the region. Due to the reli- family in Ashgabat. Mr. Nadji was a
gious motivation behind his death student at the Leningrad Mining In-
Hedi Moani was declared a marty; stitute in 1938 when he was arrested

OBITUARIES

for his ties to the Baha 'i community States. Mr. O'Brien became a Baha'i
and sent to Siberia. He lived there in 1961 and one year later was elected
eighteen years before returning to to the Local Spiritual Assembly of
his home, where he began working Beverly Hills, California. In 1963 he
in the Turkmen Academy of Sciences was invited to become the coordinaas a photographer. He married Malike tor ofactivites at the Baha'i House of
Nadji a year later, in 1957. They had Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, a positwo children. Beginning in 1960, he tion which he occupied until 1966, at
began traveling to Moscow and Len- which time he pioneered with his wife
ingrad in order to educate officials to Ireland. Mr. 0 'Brien served on Lothere about the Baha'i Faith, in the cal Spiritual Assemblies in America,
hopes of gaining official recognition Ireland, and England. Mr. O'Brien
and legal registration of the Baba 'i also served on the National Spiritual
communities in the Soviet Union. He Assembly of Ireland from 1972 to
did not achieve the national recogni- 1979, save for one year in 1975. He
tion he sought, but the Baha'i com- was known by his friends for his sharp
munity of Ashgabat was eventually intellect, by his colleagues for his prorecognized at the state level as a result fessional ism and skill as an actor,
of his efforts. He was a member of and although socially shy, as a comthe first Local Spiritual Assembly of pelling and energetic public speaker.
Ashgabat, formed in 1989, and partic- He married Jane Moore. The couple
ipated in the first National Convention had four children. The Universal
of the Baha 'is of the USSR in 1991. House of Justice lovingly remem-
In the words of the Universal House bered his many achievements in
of Justice, his "EXEMPLARY STEAD- service to the Faith, noting also that
FASTNESS AND DEVOTION KEPT "HIS INDOMITABLE FAITH COUPLED
BANNER FAITH ALOFT FOR DECADES WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR PRODUCED
DURING DIFFICULT TIMES IN REG ION," A JOYOUS AND GALVAN IZING EFFECT
and his "LOVE AND ATTACHMENT TO UPON THE FRIENDS."
THE CAUSE HELPED REVIVAL BAHA 'j
INSTITUTIONS TURKMENISTAN." Hassan Pishrow
Philip O'Brien 9 June 1998 in Ashgabat, Turkmeni-
9 January 1999 in London, England. stan. Hassan Pishrow was born 15
Philip O'Brien was born 23 May 1927 November 1936 in Ashgabat, and was
in Troy, New York, United States, to Assistant Professor of Persian at the
Irish Catholic parents. After com- State Institute of World Languages
pleting degrees in Theater Studies of Turkmenistan. He became a Baha'i
and Psychology, he began working in 1989, at the age of53, and was soon
in the perfom1ing arts industry in New an active promoter of the Baha'i
York City and Los Angeles. An actor, Faith. Mr. Pishrow was a member of
producer, and director, Mr. O'Brien the Local Spiritual Assembly of the
was a well-known figure in the theat- Baha'is of Ashgabat from 1989 until
rical world in Ireland and the United 1992, at which time he was elected

THE BAHA'I W ORLD

to the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Abdu'l-Rahman Rushdy, one of
of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. He the early Egyptian Baha'is. After comattended the seventh International pleting commercial school at the age
Baha' i Convention as a delegate and of sixteen, Mr. Rushdy began working
also served as a member of the Aux- as an accountant. In the years that
iliary Board. In its message after his followed, he undertook further studies
passing, the Universal House of Justice until he became a member of the
said "HIS SERVICES TO RENEWAL French Institute of Chartered Accoun-
BAHA'I ACTIVITIES [in Turkmeni- tants, and later the Chief Accountant
stan) LOVINGLY REMEMBERED." with the British Company in Alexandria. Mr. Rushdy married Hoda
Ruhu'llah Rawhani
Enayatallah Ibrahim Ali in 1952, and
21 July 1998 in Mashhad , Iran .
in 1955 the family pioneered to Ethio-
Ruhu ' llah Rawhani was born in
pia , where Mr. Rushdy worked as
1946 in Najafabad, Iran. He was
Chief of the Finance Division of the
executed by the Iranian government
Imperial Highway Authority. In addiunder questionable circumstances.
tion to serving on the Local Spiritual
He was kept in solitary confinement
Assembly of Addis Ababa, Mr.
for the ten months preceding his
Rushdy served on the Regional Spirexecution, denied a proper trial as
itual Assembly of the Baha 'is of
defined by Iran 's Constitution, and
North-East Africa from 1962 to 1966.
hanged. The Rawhani family was
Having survived an attempt on his
notified after the fact. Mr. Rawhani
life in 1964, and feeling confident
had been an-ested and imprisoned on
that the Ethiopian Baha 'i commutwo prior occasions for participating
nity was firmly established, in 1967
in Baha'i activities. The Iranian gov-
Mr. Rushdy pioneered with his famernment initially denied that it had
ily to Burundi. They remained there
executed Mr. Rawhani, calling him
until 1989. While in Burundi , Mr.
"an imaginary individual," but later
Rushdy served as the legal representaconfirmed it, saying he was guilty of
tive of the Burundi Baha'i community,
"criminal acts against national secuas an Auxiliary Board member, and
rity." Mr. Rawhani was accused of
as a member of the National Spiriconverting a young Muslim woman
tual Assembly of Burundi, from the
to the Baha'i Faith. She later stated
time of its establishment in 1974.
that she was not a convert but had
One of Mr. Rushdy's most significant
been a Baha'i all her life. Mr. Rawhani
accomplishments in Burundi was
supported his family as a medical supachieving the legal recognition of
plies salesman and was the father of
that country's Baha 'i community, in
four children.
the face of repeated bans and restric-
Gamal Rushdy tions on Baha'i activity by the gov-
8 February 1999 in London, England. ernment. After twenty-three years in
Gama! Rushdy was born 6 July 1923 Burundi, the Rushdys moved to Lonin Alexandria, Egypt, the third son don, where Mr. Rushdy coordinated

OBITUARIE S

the Baha' i Office of Arab Affairs until married Qodratullah Soltani in 1948
his passing. The Rushdys had three and later moved with him to Iran. In
children. The Universal House of Jus- 1955 she and her husband left Iran to
tice wrote of its deep grief at the news pioneer to Brazil. They settled in Sao
of his p assing, and said that "HIS Caetano, in Sao Paulo state, where
DEVOTED SERVICES TO CAUSE OF GOD Mrs. Soltani served on the Local
EV ER SI NC E HIS YO UTHFUL Spiritual Assembly for two years . In
YEA RS ... REMEMB ERED WITH HI GH 1963 , they moved to Mogi Mirim. In
ADMIRATION." addition to serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly of that city, Mrs .
John Sargent
Soltani contributed greatly to the con-
12 August 1998 in Zimbabwe. John
struction and operation of the Centro
Sargent was born 18 January 1923 in
Educacional Baha'i Soltanieh, serving
the United States and was a prospecton the school 's administrative council
ing geologist and curator by trade. He
and board. The Soltanis had two chilentered the Baha' i Faith in 1962 and
dren. The Universal House of Justice
three years later pioneered to what was
wrote that " HER DEVOTED SERVICES
then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimba-
NEARLY FOUR DECADES IN PROMOT-
bwe). Edith Anderson, his first wife,
ING VITAL INTER ESTS FAITH BRAZIL
passed away in 1961. They had one
HI GHLY VA LUED. "
son. In 1968, Mr. Sargent married Aili
Honkanen, with whom he had a daugh- Peggy True
ter. Hi s work allowed him to travel 27 May 1998 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife,
often, an opportunity he used to Canary Islands. Marguerite Elizabeth
spread the teachings of the Faith. Mr. Trauger was born 24 October 1912 in
Sargent served on the National Spiri- Middletown, New York, United States.
tual Assembly of the B a ha ' is of She married George True in 1934 and
South-Central Africa from 1967 to became a Baha'i in 1936. In 1953
1969 and on the National Spiritual the Trues were the first Baha ' is to
Assembly of Zimbabwe from 1970 to settle in the Canary Islands, thus earn-
1977, and again from 1980 to 1985. ing the title Knights ofBaha'u'llah.
Before he passed away, Mr. Sargent Mrs . True served on the Local Spirihad completed much research in prep- tual A s sembly of Santa Cru z de
aration for the writing of the first Tenerife and the National Spiritual
Baha ' i history of Zimbabwe, and he Assembly of the Canary Islands. She
had established the country 's first was an author of a guide book and
Baha' i library. He was also the first to several children's books, and was also
successfully introduce the Baha'i Faith a fashion designer and dressmaker.
to a Zimbabwen chief. The Trues raised two children.
Ferdosieh Soltani Peter Vuyiya
26 September 1998 in Mogi Mirim , 7 June 1998 in Eldoret, Kenya. Peter
Brazil. Ferdosieh Badii was born in Vuyiya was born in Kenya 16 March
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on 2 Feb- 1922 to a Quaker family. He was eduruary 1929 to a Baha'i family. She cated at Makarere University in Uganda

THE BAHA'f WORLD

and subsequently earned a bachelor's Local Spiritual Assembly. After the
degree in agriculture from Cambridge passing of the Guardian in 1957, Mr.
University in England and a master's Wade and his wife became the caredegree in agricultural education from takers of Shoghi Effendi's resting
Oregon State University in the United place in London. They raised three
States. From 1948 until his retirement children. In 1965, while he was serving
in 1972, he served with the Kenyan on the National Spiritual Assembly
Civil Service as District Agricultural of the Ba ha' is of the British Isles,
Officer and Provincial Agricultural Mr. Wade was asked to come to the
Officer. Later, with the Ministry of Baha'i World Centre to serve as the
Lands and Settlements, he was Chief first Secretary-General of the Baha'i
Technical Officer at the Ministry's International Community, a position
Nairobi headquarters. He embraced which he filled for fifteen years. Mr.
the Baha'i Faith in 1953, after hearing Wade helped organize the first Baha'i
a passage from the book Baha 'u 'llah World Congress in London in 1963
and the New Era read by a Baha'i to and, while serving in Haifa, the Interone ofMr. Vuyiya's colleagues. "There national Baha'i Conventions of 1968,
was something far-reaching in the 1973, and 1978 . Rose Wade passed
passage on the unity of mankind," away in 1987. Following his return
Mr. Vuyiya later recalled. Mr. Vuyiya to England, Mr. Wade and his secwas elected to the National Spiritual ond wife, Carolyn , took up the
Assembly of the Baha'is of Kenya in editorship of the Baha 'i Journal, the
1969, was appointed by the Universal newsletter of the United Kingdom's
House of Justice as a Continental Baha'i community. After Mr. Wade's
Counsellor for Africa in 1973, and in passing, the Universal House of Justice
1988 was asked by the House of Jus- wrote that "HIS INDOMITABLE FAITH,
tice to serve as a Counsellor member HIS WISDOM, HIS LOVING SPIRIT AND
of the International Teaching Centre TIRELESS S ERVI CE S CAUSE SPAN-
in the Holy Land, a post he held until NI NG OV ER FO UR DEC AD ES WER E
1993. He had four children with his MOTIVAT ED PASSI ONAT E DEVOTION
wife Ruth. The Universal House of BAHA'u'LLAH."
Justice wrote that his decades of se1vice
"BEAR ELOQUENT TESTIMONY STER- Dora Wedge
LING QUALITIES WHICH CHARAC- 3 December 1998 in Whitehorse,
TERIZED HIGHLY VALUED EFFORTS Yukon , Canada. Alice Dora Wedge
THIS DISTINGUISHED PROMOTER was born 29 July 1916 in the southern
FAITH. " Yukon. Mrs. Wedge was a highly
respected, widely loved elder of the
John Wade Tlinget/Tagish Nation who played a
26 November 1998 in Bristol, England. key role in the expansion and devel-
John Wade was born 20 April 1910 opment of the indigenous Canadian
in London. He joined the Baha'i Faith Baha'i community. She became a
in 1955, along with his wife Rose, Baha'i in 1961 and thereafter shared
and was soon elected to London's the Baha'i teachings with many First

OBITUARIES

Nations peoples, and was a member written after Mr. Whitehead's passing,
of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Universal House of Justice said
Carcross for thirty-three years. "Auntie that Mr. Whitehead's "LONG YEARS
Dora's" home was always open to SELF-SACRIFICrNG DEVOTION TO THE
travelers and for Baha'i meetings . CAUSE OF GOD ... CONSTITUTE IMPER-
Around 1950, she married Harold ISHABLE RECORD LIFE EXEMPLARY
Wedge. They had four children. SERVICE."

O.Z. Whitehead Ruhiyyih Zahrai
29 July 1998 in Dublin , Ireland. 19 July 1998 in Verdun, Quebec,
Oothout Zabriskie Whitehead was Canada. Ruhiyyih Zahrai was born
born 18 March 1911 in New York Ruhiyyih al-Tahhan on 1 October
City, United States. Mr. Whitehead- 1928 in Damascus, Syria, to a Baha'i
called "Zebby" by those who knew family. Mrs. Zahrai settled in several
him-grew up in upper-class Man- countries throughout the Arab world
hattan, and defied his family's wishes in order to serve their nascent Baha'i
by dropping out of Harvard University communities. She pioneered to Iraq
to pursue an acting career, becoming in 1949 and married Shahab Zahrai in
an accomplished stage and screen 1955. They had five children. After
actor. From the 1930s through the their marriage they moved to Oman and
1960s he worked with severa l notable then in 1959 to Kuwait. The following
dramatists, including Noel Coward, year they moved to Qatar and finally to
Lillian Gish and John Ford. He was Lebanon in 1967. Mrs. Zahrai worked
probably most famous for hi s role as most of her life as a skilled tailor and
Al in the 1940 film version of The was known for her honesty and integ-
Grapes of Wrath. Mr. Whitehead rity. In 1986, in the midst of the
became a Baha'i in 1950 and was Lebanese civil war, her husband was
able to meet Shoghi Effendi while on kidnapped in Beirut. For three years
pilgrimage in 1955, an experience Mrs. Zahrai stayed in Beirut, trying
about which he spoke of the rest of to find him. In the the interviews she
his life. In 1963, after serving on the conducted about her husband, Mrs.
Local Spiritual Assemblies of both Zahrai did not hesitate to affim1 her
New York and Los Angeles, he left the belief in the Baha'i Faith in front of
United States to pioneer to Ireland. He people from groups often very hostile
served on that country's National Spir- to the Baha ' i Faith and its teachingsitual Assembly from 1972 to 1974 Syrian am1Y officers, Iranian Embassy
and from 1975 to 1987. Mr. Whitehead officials, and local militia leaders.
wrote three collections of biographies During the war, her neighbors would
of early Baha'is-Some Early Bahri 'is often gather in her apartment and ask
of the West, Some Bahri 'is to Remem- her to chant prayers to end the conber, and Portraits of Some Baha 'i stant bombardment. She never found
Women. He also contributed regularly her husband. Finally, in 1989, the
to Baha'i journals. In a letter to the Zahrai family moved to Quebec.
Irish National Spiritual Assembly,

S TATISTICS
General Statistics

Worldwide Baha'i population More than 5 million
Countries/dependent territories where 190 countries/
the Baha'i Faith is established 45 territories
Continental Counsellors 81
Auxiliary Board members serving 990
throughout the world
National/Regional Spiritual Assemblies 179
Local Spiritual Assemblies 12,535
Localities where Baha'is reside 127,683
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
Baha'i Publishing Trusts 31

Geographic Distribution of Local Spiritual Assemblies
by Continent

Africa 3,713

Australasia 815
Europe 947 Americas 3,282

Growth in the Number of Localities Where Baha'is Reside

140,000 ~-------------
I
120,000 , _ _ _ _ _ __
100,000

80 ,000 ----á-- ---

60 ,000

40 ,000 + - - - - - - - -

20,000 -l- - - - - - -

0 nnnnnnnnnn~~
b"::! bro bOJ R:>'l.- Ki~ K>C/J ~" ~~ ~'\ ~<:::J ~"::! ~<o ~OJ R>'l.- R>~ R>C/J
~ 0 0 0 0 0 ~ ~ 0 0 ~ ~ 0 0 0 0

STATISTICS

Growth in the Number of National and
Regional Spiritual Assemblies

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

0 ........ ........,........,.....,.,._._.,.....,......,.,
.,.....,......,.....,......,......,........,..,....,._....,._....,._....,.....,......,........,........,........,......,......,~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Social and Economic Development
Baha'i development activities are initiated either by Bah<i '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 1998- 99 there were some
1,500 endeavors of this kind, including tree-planting and cleanup projects, health camps, workshops and seminars on such
themes as race unity and the advancement of women, and
short-term training courses.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

Sustained Projects
The second category of Baha'i social and economic development consists of approximately 290 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 of local communities
and regions in a coordinated, interdisciplinary manner. Also
included in this category are severa l 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 43 such organizations, which are located in
all continents of the globe.

DIRECTORY

Associations for Baha'i CHILE
Studies Asociacion de Estodios Baha'is
Casilla 3731, Santiago 1
ARGENTINA Chile
Centro de Estudios Baha 'is E-mail: uninet@chilepac.net
Otamendi 215 COLOMBIA
1405 Buenos Aires Asociacion de Estodios Baha'is
Argentina Apartado Aereo 513 87
Santa Fe de Bogota 12
AUSTRALIA Colombia
Association for Baha'i Studies E-mail: bahaicol@colombianet.net
c/o Colin Dibdin, Secretary
P.O. Box 319 EAST, CENTRAL AND
Rosebery, NSW 2018 SOUTHERN AFRICA
The Baha'i Study Association
Australia
c/o Dr. C. Rouhani, Secretary
E-mail: abs@bahai.org.au
P.O. Box 82549
CAMEROON Mombasa, Kenya
Association for Baha 'i Studies ECUADOR
c/o Mr. Enoch Tanyi Asociacion de Estudios Baha'is
B.P.4230-Yaounde Apartado 869-A
Cameroon Quito
E-mail: camabs@hotmail.com Ecuador

ENGLISH-SPEAKING EUROPE ITALY
Association for Baha' i Studies Associazione Italiana per gli
c/o Nazila Ghanea-Hercock Studi Baha'i
27 Rutland Gate Via Stoppani, 10
London, SW7 lPD 00187 Roma
United Kingdom Italy
E-mail: seena.fazel@ Email: segreteria@bahai.it
psychiatry.oxford.ac.uk
JAPAN
FRANCOPHONE EUROPE
Association d 'etudes baha 'ies Association for Baha'i Studies
c/o Tokyo Baha'i Center
c/o Centre baha'i
24 Route de Malagnou 7-2-13 Shinjuku
Geneva, CH-1208 Shinjuku-ku
Switzerland Tokyo 160
Japan
Email: dalai@geneva.bic.org
E-mail: sfotos@gol.com
GERMANY
Nationaler Geistiger Rat der MALAYSIA
Baha ' i in Deutschland e.V. Association for Baha'i Studies
Eppsteiner Str. 89 4 Lorong Titiwangsa 5
65719 Hof11eim Setapak 53000
Germany Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
E-mail: gbs@bahai.de
Email: nsa_sec@nsam.po.my
GHANA
Association for Baha ' i Studies NEW ZEALAND
P.O. Box 7098 Association for Baha'i Studies
Accra-North c/o Paul Friedman
Ghana 40 Malcolm Street
Hamilton
HAWAII New Zealand
Association for Baha ' i Studies E-mail: b.mclellan@auckJand.ac.nz
c/o Robert McClelland
2142 Aluka Loop NORTH AMERICA
Pearl City Association for Baha'i Studies
Hawaii 96782-1317 34 Copernicus Street
USA Ottawa, Ontario KlN 7K4
E-mail: ramabm@aloha.net Canada
E-mail: as929@freenet.carleton.ca
INDIA
Association for Baha ' i Studies PHILIPPINES
c/o Mangesh Teli , Secretary Association for Baha'i Studies
C-12, Vidyanagari c/o Humaida A. Jumalon
Mumbai University 20-D Macopa St
Santacruz (East) Basak Engineering
Mumbai 400 098 6000 Cebu City
India Philippines

DIRECTORY

PUERTO RICO WEST AFRICA
Asociacion de Estudios Baha'is Association for Baha'i Studies
c/o Cesar Reyes, Secretary P.O. Box 2029
Chemistry Dept., University of Marina-Lagos
Puerto Rico Nigeria
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 00708
USA Baha'i Publishing Trusts
RUSSIAN FEDERATION ARGENTINA
Association for Baha'i Studies
Ed itorial Baha'i Indolatino-
Uralskaya St. 6-1 -66
Moscow 107207 americana
Russia Otamendi 215
E-mail : ackerman@glasnet.ru 1405 Buenos Aires
Argentina
SINGAPORE E-mail: ebila@ciudad.com.ar
Association for Baha ' i Studies
c/o Dr. Anjam Khursheed AUSTRALIA
B, #09-02, Kent Vale Baha'i Publications Australia
l 05 Clementi Road 173 Mona Vale Road
Singapore 129789 Ingleside NSW 2101
E-mail: khur@po.pacific.net.sg Australia
E-mail: bpa@bahai.org.au
SPAIN
Asociacion de Estud ios Baha'is BELGIUM
c/o Rima Sheennohamadi-Motlaq Maison d'Editions Baha'ies
Cl Padilla 312 2 2
205 rue du Trone
Barcelona 08025
B-1050 Brussels
Spain
E-mail: du7202@cc.uab.es Belgium
E-Mail: centre.bahai@skynet.be
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Association for Baha'i Studies BRAZIL
3 Petra St. Editora Baha'i do Brasil
Wood brook Caixa Postal 198
Trinidad, West Indies 13800-000 Mogi Mirim, SP
E-mail: hfarabi@carib-link.net Brazil
E-mail: editbahai@mogi.com.br
VENEZUELA
Association for Baha'i Studies CAMEROON
c/o Donald R. Witzel Baha'i Publishing Agency
Apartado 934 P.O. Box 145
Barquisimeto, Edo. Lara Lim be
3001-A Cameroon
Venezuela E-Mail: niazbushrui@
E-ma il : dwitzel@sa.omnes. net compuserve. com

THE BAHA'I WORLD

C6TE D'IVOIRE JAPAN
Maison d'Editions Baha' ies Baha'i Publishing Trust
08 B.P. 879 7-2-13 Shinjuku
Abidjan 08 Shinjuku-ku
Cote d'Ivoire
Tokyo 160-0022
Japan
FIJI ISLANDS
E-mail : nsaj pn@tka.att.ne.jp , or
Baha'i Publishing Trust
schwerin@mail4.alpha-net.ne.jp
P.O. Box 2007
Government Buildings KENYA
Suva Baha'i Publishing Agency
Fiji Islands
P.O. Box 47562
Nairobi
GERMANY Kenya
Baha' i-Verlag
E-mail: mehrazehsani@hotmail.com
Eppsteiner Strasse 89
D-65719 Hofheim
KOREA
Germany
E-mail: verlag@bahai.de Baha' i Publishing Trust
249-36 Huam-Dong
Yongsan-ku
HONGKONG
Baha'i Publishing Trust Seoul 140-190
C-6 11th Floor, Hankow Centre Korea
IC Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui E-mail: nsakorea@nuri .net
Kowloon
LEBANON*
Hong Kong
MALAYSIA*
E-mail: bahaihk@asiaonline.net
NETHERLANDS
INDIA Stichting Baha'i Literatuur
Baha'i Publishing Trust Riouwstraat 27
P.O. Box 19 NL-2585 GR The Hague
New Delhi 110 001 The Netherlands
India
E-mail: nsaneth@tref.nl, or
E-ma i1: bptindia@del3 .vsnl.net. in
milani@gironet.nl
ITALY NIGERIA
Casa Editrice Baha'i Baha'i Publishing Trust
Via Filippo Turati, 9 P.O. Box 2029
I-00040 Ariccia (Rome) Marina-Lagos
Italy Nigeria
E-Mail: ceb.italia@pcg.it E-mail: nakhsh@hyperia.com

*Address communications to Baha'i World Centre, P.O. Box 155 ,
31 00 I Haifa, Israel.

DIRECTORY

NORWAY SPAIN
Baha'i Forlag Editorial Baha'i de Espana
Drammensveien 110 A Bonaventura Castellet 17
N-0273 Oslo ES-08222 Terrassa
Norway Spain
E-mail: bahaiforlag@c2i.net E-mail: edibahai@arrakis.es

PAKISTAN* SWEDEN
Baha ' i forlaget AB
PHILIPPINES Box 60
Baha'i Publishing Trust S-194 21 Upplands Vasby
P.O. Box 4323 Sweden
1004 Manila E-mail: bahaiforlaget@swipnet.se
Philippines
TAIWAN
E-mail: nsaphil@skyinet.net
Baha'i Publishing Trust
Ta Hsueh Road, Lane 18, No. 26
POLAND
Tainan, 701
Baha'i Publishing Trust
TaiwanROC
ul. Nowogrodzka !Sa m4
E-mail: bahaiptt@pristine.com. tw
P0-00-511 Warsaw
Poland UGANDA
E-mail: bahainsa@medianet.com.pl Baha'i Publishing Trust
P.O. Box 2662
PORTUGAL Kampala
Editora Baha'i de Portugal Uganda
Avenida Ventura Terra, No. 1 E-mail: bahai@starcom.co.ug, or
1600-780 Lisbon olinga@starcom.co.ug
Portugal
E-mail: aen@bahai.pt UNITED KINGDOM
Baha'i Publishing Trust
ROMANIA 6 Mount Pleasant
Casa de Editura si Tipografia Baha 'i Oakham
C.P. 124 O.P. 1 Leicestershire
3400 Cluj-Napoca LEIS 6HU
Romania United Kingdom
E-mail: bahai@mail.soroscj.ro E-mail: bpt@bahai.org.uk

RUSSIAN FEDERATION UNITED STATES
Unity Baha'i Publishing Trust Baha'i Publishing Trust
P.O. Box 288 415 Linden Avenue
198 013 St. Petersburg Wilmette, IL 60091
Russia USA
E-mail: unity@mail.wplus .net E-mail: bpt@usbnc.org

THE BAHA'I WORLD

Miscellaneous Addresses Baha'i International Community,
New York Offices:
• United Nations Office
Association medicate baha'ie
• Office for the Advancement of
c/o Mirabelle Weck
26 rue de Paris Women
F-78560 Paris • Office of the Environment
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120
France
New York, NY 10017-1822, USA
Bahaa Esperanto-Ligo (BEL) E-Mail: bic-nyc@bic.org
P.O. Kesto 500133 Web: <www.onecountry.org>, and
D-60391 Frankfurt <www.bic-un.bahai.org>
Germany
E-mail: bahaaeligo@aol.com Baha'i International Community,
Geneva Office:
Baha'i Association for the Arts •United Nations Office
Dintel 20 Route des Morillons 15
7333 MC CH-1218 Grand-Saconnex, Geneva
Apeldoorn Switzerland
Netherlands E-Mail: bic@geneva.bic.org
E-Mail: abuys@wxs.nl
Baha'i International Community,
Baha'i Computer and Paris Office:
Communications Association • Office of Public Information
c/o New Era Communications 45 rue Pergolese
attn : Don Davis F-75116 Paris, France
5 Ravenscroft Drive E-Mail : opiparis@club-intemet.fr
Asheville, NC 28801
USA Baha'i Justice Society
E-mail : bcca-cc@bcca.org c/o Dru Waren, Secretary
P.O. Box 1251
Baha'i Health Agency Poteau, OK 74953
27 Rutl and Gate USA
London
SW7 lPD Baha'i Medical Association of
United Kingdom Canada
E-mail: bahai.health@alton.com 931 Beaufort Ave
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3X8
Baha'i International Community, Canada
Haifa Offices: E-mail: joanne.langley@dal.ca
• Secretariat
•Office of Public Information Baha'i Office of the Environment
P.O. Box 155 for Taiwan
31 001 Haifa 149-13 Hsin Sheng South Road
Israel Section 1, Taipei 10626
E-mail : opi@bwc.org Taiwan, ROC
Web : <www.bahai.org> E-mail: tranboet@asiaonline.net. tw

DIRECTORY

European Baha'i Business Forum Hong Kong Baha'i Professional
c/o George Starcher, Secretary Forum
35 avenue Jean-Jaures C-6, 11th Floor, Hankow Centre
F-73000 Chambery Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
France Kowloon
E-mail: GS 12@calva.net Hong Kong

European Baha'i Youth Council Landegg Academy
c/o Neissan Besharati, Secretary CH-9405 Wienacht/AR
14, Briar Close Switzerland
Palmers Green , E-mail: info@landegg.edu,or
London N 13 5NL rector@landegg.org
United Kingdom
E-mail: ebyc@dawn.joensuu .fi Mottahedeh Development
Services
Health for Humanity 750 Hammond Drive, Bldg. 12
467 Jackson Avenue Suite 300
Glencoe, IL 60022 Atlanta, Georgia 30328
USA USA
E-mail: health@usbnc.org E-mail: mdssed@msn.com
International Environment Forum
World Community Foundation
c/o Sylvia Karlsson
315 West 70th Street,
Arrendagaton 65
Suite 14C
S-58335 Linkoping
New York, NY 10023
Sweden
USA
E-mail: ief@bcca.org

Selected NEW
PUBLICATIONS

A Companion to the Study of the Kitab-i-iqan
Hooper C. Dunbar. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998. 316 pp.
Intended to stimulate the study of the book which, according to Shoghi
Effendi, "occupies a position unequalled by any work in the entire range of
Baha ' i literature, except the Kitab-i-Aqdas." Contains annotations to the
fqan, major themes of the fqan identified by Shoghi Effendi, a new index,
and a suggested course of study.

The Holy Passions
Michael Fitzgerald. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998. 384 pp.
George Ronald's second major collection of poetry by Michael Fitzgerald.

Issues Related to the Study of the Baha'i Faith
Universal House of Justice. Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1998. 45 pp.
The letters in this compilation were written on behalf of the Universal
House of Justice to Baha'is who, conscious of the importance Baha'u'llah
attaches to the pursuit of knowledge and the use of reason, had raised
questions regarding the scholarly study of the Baha' i Faith; specifically,
the relationship between the truths of revelation and the demands of science.

THE BAHA'I WORLD

Leroy Ioas: Hand of the Cause of God
Anita Ioas Chapman. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998. 416 pp.
Biography of eminent Baha'i Leroy Ioas, written by his daughter.
Appointed a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi in 1951, Leroy
Ioas was Secretary-General of the Baha'i International Council until the
Guardian's passing in 1957, and after that served as one of the nine Hands
of the Cause resident in the Holy Land. Includes over seventy photographs.

Like Pure Gold: The Story of Louis Gregory
Anne Breneman. Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1998. 45 pp.
Children 's book that explores the hardships and triumphs of the life of
Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory. Illustrated.

Love, Power, and Justice: The Dynamics of Authentic Morality
William S. Hatcher. Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1998 .
155 pp.
Drawing on the insights of philosophy, science, and religion, the book's
aim is to promote critical thinking on the subject of morality; specifically,
how to determine whether one's moral standard is "authentic"-reckoned
according to a higher authority- and not merely self-conceived.

A Love Which Does Not Wait
Janet Ruhe-Schoen. Riviera Beach: Palabra Publications, 1998.
312 pp.
Explores the lives of nine Baha'is whose lives were transformed through
their contact with ' Abdu ' l-Baha: Lua Getsinger, May Maxwell, Martha
Root, Hyde Dunn, Keith Ransom-Kehler, Susan Moody, Dorothy Baker,
Ella Bailey, and Marion Jack.

Mahmud's Diary
Mirza Ma[.imud-i-Zarqani. (trans. Mohi Sobhani and Shirley
Macias) Oxford: George Ronald, 1998. 530 pp.
The long-awaited translation of the personal diaries of Mirza Mal)mud-i-
Zarqani, who accompanied 'Abdu'l-Baha on His travels through America.
Regarded by the Universal House of Justice as "a reliable account of
' Abdu ' l-Baha 's travels in the West and an authentic record of His utterances," it includes many newly translated public talks of' Abdu'l-Baha
previously unavailable.

NEW P UBLICATIONS

Messages to Canada
Shoghi Effendi. Thornhill, Ontario: Baha'i Canada Publications,
1999. 294 pp.
The expanded second edition of Shoghi Effendi's messages to the Baha'i
community of Canada, covering the years 1923 to 1957.

Paradise and Paradigm: Key Symbols in Persian Christianity
and the Baha'i Faith
Christopher Buck. Albany: State University of New York Press,
1998. 150 pp.
A comparison and analysis of symbols and imagery found in the writings
ofBaha'u'llah and the scriptures ofNestorian Christianity. Distributed by
Kalimat Press as Volume Ten of the Studies in the Babi and Baha'i Religions series.

The Phenomenon of Religion
Moojan Momen. Oxford: Oneworld Publishers, 1998. 640 pp.
Arranged into three main fields of enquiry-the religious experience and
its expression, conceptual aspects of religion, and religion in society-this
study draws examples from all the major religious traditions to introduce
students to the many-sided phenomenon of religion. Includes 350 illustrations.

A Pilgrim's Song
Heather Niderost. Limoges, Ontario: September House, 1998. 114 pp.
A series of personal sketches from the author's pilgrimage to the Holy
Land and a primer on the specifics of the nine-day Baha'i pilgrimage program, including maps.

Planning Progress: Lessons from Shoghi Effendi
June Manning Thomas. Ottawa: Association for Baha'i Studies,
1999. 208 pp.
Explores the spiritual principles of effective planning and the methods that
Shoghi Effendi used to direct the development of the worldwide Baha 'i
community from 1921to1957.

Resonances
Various authors; edited by Sylvie Nantais-Bourdeau. Limoges,
Ontario: September House, 1998. 129 pp.
Anthology composed of winning entries and honorable mentions from a
short fiction contest held in 1997. It also includes twelve photographs.

The Servant, the General, and Armageddon
Roderic and Derwent Maude. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998. 158
pp.
Historical-fictional account of the clos ing years of the First World War,
recounting the brief but significant linking of the lives of 'Abdu ' l-Baha
and British General Sir Edmund Allenby. Published in time to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Palestine.

Servant of the Glory: The Life of 'Abdu'l-Baha
Mary Perkins. Oxford: George Ronald, 1999. 326 pp.
A straightforward, easily readable account of the life of' Abdu' 1-Baha for
young people. Companion to the author 's earlier biographies of the Bab
and Baha'u'llah, Hour of the Dawn and Day of Glory.

Unlocking the Gate of the Heart
Lasse Thoresen. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998. 352 pp.
A thorough examination of the Baha'i writings on spiritual topics, designed
to help readers gain an understanding of their place in creation, learn how
to change attitudes and life styles, and discover methods to use in the
search for greater perfection.

A Basic BAHA'I
R EADING List

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

SELECTED WRITINGS OF BAHA'U'LLAH

The Kitab-i-Aqdas
The Most Hol y Book, Baha'u' llah's charter fo r a new world civilization. Written
in Arabic in 1873 , the vo lume 's first authorized English translation was released
in 1993 .

The Kitab-i-iqan
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 ofBah:i'u'll:ih
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.

Tablets of Bah:i'u'll:ih Revealed after the Kit:ib-i-Aqdas
A compilation of Tablets revealed between 1873 and 1892 which enunciate
important principles of Baha ' 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 Bah:i'u'll:ih
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 Eng lish.

SELECTED WRITINGS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA

Paris Talks: Addresses given by' Abdu'l-Bah:i in Paris in 1911-1912
Addresses given by 'Abdu'l-Baha to a wide variety of audiences in Paris in
1911 - 1912, explaining 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-Bah:i
A compilation of selected letters from 'Abdu' l-B aha's 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-Baha's 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.

B AHA'f R EADING LlST

SELECTED WRITINGS OF SHOGHI EFFENDI

God Passes By
A detailed history of the first one hundred years of the Baha ' i Faith .

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

The World Order ofBaha'u'llah: 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'is of the
West between 1929 and 1936.

INTRODUCTORY WORKS

Baha'u 'llah
Baha' i Internationa l Community, Office of Publi c 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'llah and the New Era
John Esslemont. 5th rev. paper ed . Wilmette: Baha' i Publishing Trust, 1990.
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
W i lli a m S. H a tc her and J. Douglas Martin. rev. ed . Wilme tt e: Baha ' i
Publi shing Trus t, 1998.

Tex tbook providing an overview of Baha'i history, teachings, administrative
strn cture, and community life.

All Things Made New
John F e rraby. 2d rev. ed . London : Baha ' i Publis hing 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 for addresses.

G LOSSARY

'Abdu'l-Baha: (1844-1921) Son ofBaha'u'llah, designated His successor and authorized interpreter of His writings. Named 'Abbas after His
grandfather, 'Abdu'l-Baha was known to the general public as ' Abbas
Effendi. Baha'u'llah gave Him such titles as "the Most 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'llah, fonnally established by ' Abdu ' l-Baha, and realized during the Guardianship 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 other hand, of eminent and devoted Baha'is
appointed for the specific purpose of propagation and protection of the
Faith under the guidance of the Head of that Faith, the Universal House
of Justice.

.
Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum:
-
Mary Sutherland Maxwell, an eminent North American Baha'i who became the wife of Shoghi Effendi
Rabbani, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, in 1937, after which she became

33 7
known as Ruhiyyih Khanum Rabbani. (Amatu'l-Baha is a title meaning " Handmaiden of Baha' u 'llah. ") She served as the Guardian's
secretary during his lifetime and was appointed a Hand of the Cause
of God in 1952. She is the most prominent dignitary of the Baha'i
community.

Arc: An arc cut into Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, along which the international administrative buildings of the Baha'i Faith are being 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 'Ali-Mu]:iammad,
who was the Prophet-Founder of the Babi Faith and the Forerunner
ofBaha 'u'llah. Born 20 October 1819, the Bab proclaimed Himself
to be the Promised One of Islam and announced that His mission
was to alert the people to the imminent advent of "Him Whom God
shall make manifest,'' namely, Baha 'u' llah. Because of these claims,
the Bab was executed by order ofNa~iri'd-Din Shah on 9 July 1850.

Baha'i Era: The period of the Baha 'i calendar beginning with the 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 one thousand 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 non-governmental 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, located in the twin cities of Acre and Haifa, in Israel.

GLOS SARY

Baha'u'llah: Title assumed by Mirza I:Iusayn-'Ali, Founder of the Baha'i
Faith. Born on 12 November 1817, He declared His mission as the
Promised One of all Ages in April 1863 and passed away in Acre,
Palestine, on 29 May 1892 after forty years of imprisonment, banishment, and house arrest. Baha'u'llah 's writings are considered by
Baha ' is to be direct revelation from God.

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 tenns of five years.

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

German Templer Colony: Group of houses with red-tiled roofs at the
foot of Mount Carmel that once housed members of the Society of
the Temple, founded in Germany in the mid-l 800s. Tempters foregathered in Haifa in 1863 to await the second coming of Christ.

Hands of the Cause of God: Individuals appointed first by Baha'u' llah,
and others named later by Shoghi Effendi, who were charged with the
specific duties of protecting and propagating the Faith. With the passing of Shoghi Effendi there is 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 in 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.

~uququ'llah: Arabic for "the Right of God." As instituted in the Kitabi-Aqdas, payment to "the Authority in the Cause to whom all must
tum" (at present, the Universal House of Justice) of nineteen percent
of what remains to one's personal income after one's essential expenses
have been covered. Funds generated by the payment of I:Iuququ '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 all the surviving Hands of the Cause
and also nine Counsellors appointed by the Universal House of Justice. The seat of the International Teaching Centre 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' is 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
institutions of the World Order of BaM'u' llah and signalizing humanity's coming of age.

GLOSSARY

Local Spiritual Assembly: The local administrative body in the Baha'i
Faith, ordained in the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The nine members are directly
elected by secret ballot each year at Ric;lvan 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 the graves of the daughter and wife of Baha'u'llah, His son who
died in prison in Acre, and also 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
Baha' i 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'is
within its jurisdiction. The members of National Spiritual Assemblies
throughout the world constitute the electoral college for the Universal House of Justice. At Ri~van 1998, there were 179 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 ' i Faith. "Homefront pioneer" is used to describe 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 Spiritual Assembly: An institution identical 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 .

Ri<,lvan: 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 Ri<;!van in Baghdad.

Shoghi Effendi Rabbani: (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 site to Baha'is, and
a place of pilgrimage.

Tablet: Divinely revealed scripture. In Baha' i scripture, the tennis used
to denote writings revealed by Baha'u'llah, the Bab, and 'Abdu'l-
Baha.

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 Cannel in 1983.

Adapted from A Basic Baha'i Dictionary, Wendi Momen, ed.
(Oxford: George Ronald, 1989).

I NDEX

A Arbab, Farzam 46
'Abdu'l-Baha 9, 122, 172, 175, 337 Argentina 84, 239, 253 , 321, 323
in Paris 122, 123 ARGUS 152
letter to Leo Tolstoy 175 Annenia 40, 43, 93
view on equality of women and arts 34, 93- 96
men 230, 236- 237 Associated Press 152
writings and utterances of 24- 28, Association for Baha'i Studies 75
334 directory of321 - 23
advancement of women 83- 88 Association medicale baha'ie 325
institutional commitment 87- 88 Australia83,88,89, 140, 151, 154,
Agence France Presse 152 321 , 323
Aitmatov, Chingiz 128 Austria 95, 101, 112
Alaska 96 Auxiliary Boards 338
Albania 110, 142, 146, 150 Axworthy , Lloyd 152
Alexander II, Tsar of Russia Azemikhah Institute 68
Baha ' u'llah's Tablet to 176 Azerbaijan 93
Shoghi Effendi's characterization B
of 177 Bab i Babidy, first book published on
Alexander III, Tsar of Russia Babism 166
Shoghi Effendi's characterization Bab , the 8, 11 , 338
of 177 Shrine of 342
'Ali-MuJ:iammad, Mirza terraces of the Shrine of 60- 63
See the Bab writings of 334
All China Women's Federation Badi, Baha' i martyr 166
(ACWF) 137 Baha ' i Association for the Arts 326
Amatu ' l-Baha RuJ:iiyyih Khanum Baha' i Chair for World Peace, University
See Hands of the Cause of God of Maryland 74
American Samoa 98, 112 Baha'i community 14- 15
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 84 model of unity 217- 27
Angola 7 Baha ' i community life
Annan , Kofi , Secretary-General of the Baha'i centers 110- 11
United Nations 138, 211 Baha'i writings 108- 09
Anniversaries, Baha'i 121 - 30 development of 105- 12
celebrations in Belgium 127, 128 conferences 107- 08
interreligious conference 128 legal recognition 112
celebrations in Canada 128- 30 Baha'i Computer and Communications
celebrations in France 123- 24 Association 326
interreligious colloquium 124 Baha'i Era 338
media coverage 124 Baha ' i Esperanto League 326
celebrations in Germany 128 Baha'i Faith
celebrations in Ireland 126, 127- 28 administrative order of 11 - 13,
celebrations in the United Kingdom 220- 24,337
125- 26 aims of 15- 18
Antigua/Barbuda 103 basic reading list 333- 35
Aquino , Corazon 245 history of 8- 13

holy days 46, 340 Bahamas 97
laws and moral teachings 14 Banda, Edna 40
public recognition of 115- 17 Bangladesh 71 , 118 , 242
sacred writings of 21 - 28 Barbados 115 , 120
spiritual teachings 13- 14 Barnes, Kiser 52
view on equality of women and BBC Newsfile 152
men 235- 37, 241-43, 248 Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands 113 ,
Baha ' i Health Agency 326 114
Baha ' i Institute for Higher Education Beijing Platform for Action 137, 295
75 , 134, 142, 151, 280, 284, 287- 93 Belarus43, 103
See also Iran, situation of Baha ' i Belgium 88 , 94, 121 , 128, 239, 323
community in Belize 80
Baha ' i International Community 8, Bellows, Bob 96
15- 17, 131-43 , 146, 150,241 , 338 Benes , Eduard 56
Geneva Office 139, 326 Benin 84
Office for the Advancement of Bermuda 110, 111
Women 15, 137- 38, 326 Bhutto, Benazir 245
Office of Public Information 139-4 3, Black Men ' s Gathering 91, 92, 107
326 Blair, Tony 127
Paris Office 139, 142 , 147 Blomfield, Lady Sara Louisa 125
Office of the E nvironment 15, 326 Bolivia 71, 140, 249- 54
Secretariat 326 Bosnia-Herzegovina 142, 146, 150,
statements of 255- 68, 287- 93 246
United Nations Office 15,88, 132- 39, Boston Globe 153
326 Boston Herald 153
Baha ' i Justice Society 326 Botswana 79, 107, 152
Baha'i Medical Association of Canada Brazil 80 , 83 , 103 , 140, 154, 255, 323
326 Breakwell , Thomas 123
Baha ' i Office of the Environment for Breneman, Anne 330
Taiwan 326 Browne, Edward Granville 167
Baha'i Publishing Trusts, directory of Bruntland, Gro Harlem 245
323- 25 Buck, Christopher 331
Baha'i schools 75- 79 Bulgaria 78, 104, 142, 146, 150
permanent 76- 77 Burkina 85, 89
seasonal 77- 79 Bushrui, Soheil
Baha'i Studies, Chair in, Hebrew Uni- See Baha'i Chair for World Peace,
versity of Jerusalem 74 University of Maryland
Baha'iWorldCentre8 , 10, 11,338 c
Baha 'i World website 141 Cambodia 43, 105
Baha'u'llah 17, 235, 339 Cameroon 7, 85 , 88 , 98 , 100, 321 , 323
conception of future 255- 68 Canada 7, 75 , 92, 97, 104, 107, 121,
earliest translations of His writings 128- 30, 151, 154, 322, 326
167- 68 Canary Islands 119
Shrine of 342 Canterbury, Archbishop of 135
writingsof21 - 24,257,333- 34 Cape Verde 82

I NDEX

Central African Republic 45 , 68 Dean , Grace 305- 06
Centre for the Study of the Texts 63- 65 Deleuran , Jean 306
Chad 82 , 84 Denmark 78
Chapman , Anita loas 330 development 68- 71 , 195
Chile 81 , 120, 138, 140, 321 religious values in 269- 77
China 140, 238 statistics 319- 20
Chronicle of Higher Education 153 Dhabihi-Muqaddam, Sirus 281, 285
Chronique d 'Amnesty International Die Tageszeitung 152
153 directory of Baha'i agencies 321 - 27
Church of Ireland 127 Dolgorukov , Dmitri Ivanovich
civil society See Russia , history of Baha'i comdefinition of 198- 99 munity
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Dominica 120
199- 219 Dominican Republic 82, 140
civili zation , global 195 Downer, Alexander 151
Clinton, William 151 dpa 152
Coba , Jesus 40 Dunbar, Hooper 46, 329
Colombia 7, 117, 243 , 321 E
Commission on Global Governance East Leeward Islands 82 , 87
200 Eastern Caroline Islands 97
CONGO (Committee of Non-Govern- Ecuador81, 119,321
mental Organizations in Consultative education , moral 79- 81
Status with ECOSOC) 139 Edwards, Julius 54
Congo Republic 83 , 106, 141 Effendi , Shoghi 310
Congo, Democratic Republic of 84, 94 El Salvador 76 , 99 , 140
consultation 39, 42, 222- 24, 227 , 339 Encyclopaedia Britannica 8
Continental Counsellors 339 England 93
conference of 33- 34, 49- 51 environment
Conventions, Baha'i 339 See Baha' i International Community,
Cook Islands 80 Office of the Environment
Cornell University 136 Equatorial Guinea I 03
Costa Rica 88 , 106, 111 , 140 Eritrea 43 , 82
Cote d ' Ivoire 85 , 324 Ethiopia 76, 117
Covey, Stephen R. 240 European Baha'i Business Forum
Creating a Culture of Growth 43 , 140 (EBBF) 71 , 104, 142, 143 , 326
Croatia 78 , 140, 146, 147-48, 150 European Baha ' i Youth Council 136,
Cuba 40, 98 327
Cyprus 7, 88, IOI, 140, 246 European Task Force for Women 87
Czech Republic 56, 77 European Union (EU) 145 , 146, 246
Czechoslovakia 55 European Parliament 246
Czekus, Rolf von 52 Evoghli , Arsham 95
D Expo 2000 , Hannover 143
Davachi, Farzin and Nancy 79 F
Davide, Hilarion 114 Faroe Islands 88
Dayton Peace Accords 145 Fatheazam , Hushmand 46

Fattakhov, Shami! 146 Bekha-ulla: Poema tragediia v
Fiji 7, 103, 112, 324 stikhakh iz istorii Persii 170
Finland 80 , 88 , 245 Travels to the Land ofthe Sun 172- 73
Finnbogadottir, Vigdis 245 See also Russia, history of Baha'i
First World Conference of Ministers community
Responsible for Youth 13 7 Grossmann, Hartmut 52
Fisher, Helen 233- 35 , 247 Guadeloupe 97
Fitzgerald, Michael 329 Guardian of the Baha ' i Faith
Forgeur-Henkart, Martha 117 See Shoghi Effendi
Four Year Plan 30- 33, 49- 52, 107 Guardianship 12
Fozdar, Jamshed and Parvati 57 Guatemala 82 , 140
France 88, 93, 115 , 121, 123- 24 , 325 , Guinea 54, 55 , 118
326 Guinea-Bissau 100
FranA.furter Allgemeine Zeitung 152 Gulpaygani , Mirza Abu'l-Fa91162,
French Guiana 94 167
Fukuyama, Francis 231 - 33, 235 Guyana 70, 78 , 142
FUNDAEC (the Foundation for the Gypsy peoples
Application and Teaching of the See Romani peoples
Sciences) 243 H
Furutan , ' Ali-Akbar Haake, Violette 52
See Hands of the Cause of God Haiti 97 , 119
G Hands of the Cause of God 12, 44, 339
Gabon 83 Amatu ' l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum
Gambia 85 34, 44, 51 , 55, 107, 129, 337
Gandhi, Indira 245 Furutan , 'Ali-Akbar 34, 44, 51
Gemayel, H. E. Amine 75 Muhajir, Rahmatullah 55
General Agreement on Tariffs and Varqa, 'Ali-Mu~ammad 44, 51, 56
Trade 259 "Happy Hippo Show, The" 142, 145- 50
Georgia 43 , 93, 112 See also Royaumont Process
German Templer Colony 339 Hatcher, William 75, 128, 330
Germany 69 , 101, 116, 121, 128, 140, Hautz, Larry 307
143, 154, 239, 322, 324, 326 Hawaii 88 , 96, 322
Ghana 94, 141, 322 Health for Humanity 327
Globe and Mail (Toronto) 152 Hebrew University of Jerusalem 74,
glossary of Baha'i terms 337-42 140
God Chair of Baha ' i Studies 35
relationship to humanity 267 Helgesen , Sally 233- 35
Golmohammadi , Rouhollah 306- 07 Herc us, Dame Ann 101
Grameen Bank 242 Herzog, Roman 128
Greece 86, 93 , 115 Heyzer, Noeleen 230 , 239 , 246
Green Acre Baha ' i School 91 Honduras I 00, 142, 253
Greenland 11 7 Hong Kong 114, 324, 327
Greenleaf, Robert K. 240 Hong Kong Baha'i Professional Forum
Grinevskaya, Isabella 327
Bab: Dramaticheskaya poema iz HouseofWorship, Ashgabat 158, 161,
istorii Persii 170- 72 162- 65

I NDEX

Houses of Worship 14 Javaheri , Firaydoun 52
human rights 88- 89 Jerusalem Post 152
Hungary 94, 116, 140, 146, 150 justice 22, 265
f::!uququ ' llah 51, 108, 340
K
f::!usayn- 'Ali, Mirza
Kashifi-Najafabadi, Hidayat 281, 285
See Baha'u'llah
Kazakhstan 93, 108
Kazemzadeh, Firuz 109
Iceland 88, 108
Kenya 69, 79, 84, 94, 95 , 101, 321, 324
India 81, 85, 98, IOI, 107, 140, 152,
Khachatryan, Armen 40
238- 39,322,324
Khadem-Missagh , Bijan 95
indigenous peoples 89- 93
Khan, Peter 46
individualism 264
Khurshid-i-Khavar (Sun of the East)
International Baha'i Archives 11, 63
164, 182
Archives Extension 64
King, Lauretta 52
International Baha'i Convention
Kiribati 108
32- 33,39-47, 50 , 59, 140
Kitab-i-Ahd 168
consultation in 32- 33, 42
Kitab-i-Aqdas 109, 168
participation by indigenous
Klenke , Karin 232, 234, 235 , 239
believers in 42
Klestil , Thomas 96
International Children's Day 103
Knight ofBaha'u'llah 340
International Council of Women
Korea 140, 324
(ICW) 87, 140
Kyrgy zs tan 43 , 93
International Development Research
Centre (!DRC) 269 L
International Environment Forum 327 la Croix 152
International Herald Tribune 152 "La Nu it de l 'espoir"
International Labour Organization 246 See Anniversaries, celebrations in
International Monetary Fund 259 France
International Teaching Centre 33- 34, Lan, David 114
50- 52,63,65- 66,340 Landegg Academy 77, 327
International Women's Day 85, 87, Laos82 , 108
101, 114 Laszlo, Andraz 128
involvement in the life of society 99- 105 Latin American Master's Program in
interfaith activities 100- 02 Social Development 250
Iran 89, 96, 115 , 256 Latvia 78
situation of the Baha'i community Le Monde 115 , 152, 153
in 17, 44 , 135, 151 - 54 , 279- 86, League of Nations 258
287- 93 Lebanon 324
Iran Tim es 152, 153 Lesotho 108
Ireland 87, 96, 115, 121 , 126, 154 liberation 152
Israel 140, 326 Liberia 31, 53- 55, 81, 103
Italy 88, 92, 93, 322, 324 Lincoln, Joan 52
J Local Spiritual Assembly 222
Jamaica 54, 81 Locke, Kevin 94
Japan 79, 110, 322, 324 Louis Gregory Institute 91

Ludher, Lee Lee 43 Mogae, Fetes 79
Luxembourg 98 , 140, 142 Mohajer, Payman 52
M Mohamad, Mahathir 113
MacArthur Foundation I 36 Moldova 43, 94, I 19
Macau 97 Momen, Moojan 331
Macedonia, Fonner Yugoslav Republic Momsen, Janet 230
of78 , 142, 146, 150 Monadjem , Shapoor 52
Madagascar 118 Mongolia 7, 43 , 96 , 142
Madjzoub, Tahereh 307 Montessori schools 102
Magee, Edith 129 Montreal Gazette I 52
Mahmoudi , Hoda 80 Monument Gardens 341
Mainz Dialogue 101 Morelli , Anne 128
Malawi 87 , 111 Mottahedeh Development Services
Malaysia 57- 58 , 70, 71 , 102, 107, 109, 327
110, 113, 322, 324 Moucho, Jose 310
Mali 85 Mount Carmel 34 I
Malietoa, His Highness Tanumafili II 45 Baha'i projects on 59- 66
Malietoa, Princess Susuga To'oa Tosi Mozambique 1 I 8
45 Mu~ammad-Taqi , f:laji Mirza 161

Malta 152 Museveni,Yoweri 113
Mandela , Nelson 101 Myanmar 79
Manifestations of God 13 N
Mann , Thomas 12 I Na~iri'd-Din Shah 166
Mariana Islands 83, 96, 98 Nadji, Ali-Akbar 3I1
Marie, Queen, of Romania 78 Nakhjavani , 'Ali-Akbar 172, 174, 175
Marshall Islands 111 Nakhjavani , 'Ali 46
Martens, Ethel 308 Namibia 69 , 115
Martin, Douglas 46 Nantais-Bourdeau , Sylvie 331
Martin, Mary Elizabeth 308- 09 Naqvi , A llama Siyyid Kifayat Hussain
Martinique 97 109
Masaryk, Tomas Garigue 56 nation state, development of 195- 97 ,
materialism 256 266
Maude, Roderic and Derwent 332 National Spiritual Assemblies, estab-
Mauritius 86, I 05 , 113 lishment of 53- 58
May Maxwell 122, 128 Nepal 118, 120
Mahmud-i-Zarqani, Mirza 330 Netherlands 88 , 113 , 114, 324, 326
Mayor, Federico 154 New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands
McAleese, Mary 127, 245 120
McKinley, Hugh 309 New York Times 153, 293
Meir, Golda 245 New Zealand 88 , 90, 102, 140, 322
Methodist Church 127 Nicaragua 81
Mexico 87 , 97 , 98 Nicholas l, Tsar of Russia 159
minorities, protection of299- 302 Niderost, Heather 331
Mitchell , Glenford 46 Niger 85
Moani, Hedi 310 Nigeria 76, 323 , 324

I NDEX

Nineteen Day Feast 221, 341 Promoting Positive Messages through
non-governmental codes of conduct the Media
195 ,201 - 11 See Royaumont Process
compared to Baha'i teachings 212- 27 Prosperity ofHumankind, The 18, 112,
Northern Jreland 104 194,2 16,2 17
Norway89,95, 116, 141, 154,245,325 Puerto Rico 119, 323
Nur University 249- 54 Q
0 Qudsi, l:f usayn Big 183
O'Brien, Philip 311 R
Obituaries 305- 16 race unity 89- 93, 260
"On the Wings of Words" literacy Rawhani, Ruhu'llah 89, 135, 151, 280,
project 70, 142 288,312
One Country 141 reading list of basic Baha'i books 333- 35
oneness of humanity 257- 58 religious prejudice 261
Open University Rene, Sarah 46
See Baha'i Institute for Higher Ed - Reunion Island 94
ucation Reuters 152
Organization for Economic Cooperation Ric;lvan 342
and Development, 246 Robarts, Geraldine 94
Oslo Conference on Freedom ofReligion Robinson , Mary 133, 151, 245
or Belief89, 135, 141 Rogers, Otto Donald 52
Ottoman Empire 122 Roman Catholic Church 127
p Romani peoples 92
Pakistan 98, 109, 325 Romania 94, 95 , 101, 142, 146, 150, 325
Panama 96, 140 Roohizadegan, Olya 115
Papua New Guinea 76, 83 Root, Martha 56
Paraguay 88 , 253 Rosenberg, Ethel Jenner 125
Parks, Rosa 91 Roumeliotis, Panagiotis 146
Parliament of World Religions 261 Rowley, John 230
peace 9, 17 Royaumont Process
Lesser Peace 340 See also "Happy Hippo Show"
Perkins, Mary 332 145- 50
Peron, Isabel 245 Ruaha Secondary School, Tanzania 119
Peru 92, 239, 244 Ruhe-Schoen,Janet330
Philippines 89, 114, 322, 325 Rushdy , Gama I 3 12
physical sciences, changes in 261 Russia 80, 88, 93, 108, 112, 146, 323, 325
pioneer 341 communist revolution 164, 177- 81
Pishrow, Hassan 312 history ofBaha'i community 157- 92
Poland 96, 325 Dolgorukov, Dmitri lvanovich
Pollitt, Katha 232- 33, 235 158 , 159, 169, 176
Popov, Linda Kavelin and Dan 80 legal registration of 190
Portugal 88, 93 , 94, 97, 136, 325 persecution by Soviet authorities
poverty 260 180- 87
Promise of World Peace, The 17, 195 , social and economic development
220 in 164- 65

THE BAHA:f WORLD

Tolstoy, Leo 172, 173- 76 Singapore 110, 116, 323
Turgenev, Ivan 173 Singh, H. E. Karan 75
mentioned in the Baha'i writings Sixth International Conference on
176- 80 Moral and Ethical Principles in a
Russian scholars of the Baha'i Faith Social Market Economy 104
Dom, Johann Albrecht Bernhard Slovakia 31 , 53 , 55- 56
168 Slovenia 78, 116, 146, 150
Gamazov, M. 167, 170 Slovenia and Croatia 43
Ivanov, Mikhail S. 169 Soamsawali, Princess of Thailand 110
Kazem-Big, Mirza Alexandr social and economic development
166, 170 See development
Rosen, Baron Viktor Romanovich Solomon Islands 83
162, 167 Soltani, Ferdosieh 313
Tumanskii,Alexander 162, 167, South Africa 87, 93, 101
170 South Korea I 04
Zhukovski, V.A. 168 Southeastern Europe 145- 50
Rwanda 106 Soviet Union
s See Russia
Sabah 31, 53, 57, 70, Ill, 113 Spain 73, 92, 93, 140, 323, 325
Samandari-Hakim, Christine 128 Spiritual Assembly, Local 220, 227,
Santitham School 142 341
Sao Tome and Principe 43 , 82 Spiritual Assembly, National 220, 341
Sarawak 31, 53 , 57- 58, 82, 96 Spiritual Assembly, Regional 341
Sargent, John 313 Sri Lanka 83, 97, 112, 245
Scandinavia 245 St. Helena 110, 111
Schechter, Fred 52 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 108
scholarship 72- 75 Statesman 153
Baha'i Chair for World Peace 74- 75 statistics of the Baha'i world community
Chair in Baha'i Studies 74 317- 20
publications of 72- 73 Stevenson, Joy 52
Schwerin, Kimiko 52 Sudan 97 , 117
science and technology 261 - 62 Sunday Telegraph 152
Scotland 97 Suriname 94
Semple, Ian 46 Swaziland 79
Senegal 83,85,99 Sweden 71, 96, 97, 98, 245, 325, 327
Seychelles 120 Switzerl and 77, 88, 322, 326, 327
Sharon, Moshe Sydn ey Morning Herald 152
See Baha'i Studies, Chair in, He- T
brew University of Jerusalem Tablet 342
Shoghi Effendi 10- 12, 16, 331, 342 Taherzadeh, Adib 46
writings of 176- 80, 184, 190, 335 Taiwan 86, 87, 325, 326
Sicily 43 , 110, 111 Tajikistan 43 , 93
Sierra Leone 99 Tanzania 99, 119, 141
Sikh Conclave of Spiritual Leaders teaching the Baha'i Faith 18, 117- 20
101-02 Tehran Tim es 152

INDEX

Thailand 77, 87, 110, 140, 142 Third World Youth Forum of the
Thatcher, Margaret 245 United Nations System 97, 136
Thomas, June Manning 331 UNESCO Business Forum on En-
Thoresen , Lasse 95, 96, 116, 332 terprise, Human Development
Thornburgh-Cropper, Mary Virginia 125 and Culture 71
Tibet 118 United Nations Children's Fund
Times, The of London 153 (UNICEF) 132 , 137, 295
Tofa 'ahau Tupou IV 114 United Nations Development Fund
Togo 85 for Women (UNIFEM) 84, 230,
Tolstoy, Leo 239,295
See Russia, history of Baha ' i com- United Nations Economic and Social
munity Council (ECOSOC) 132, 139
Tonga 82, 111 , 114 United Nations Educational, Scien-
"Traditional Media as Change Agent" 84 tific and Cultural Organization
training institutes 31, 34, 56, 58, 81 - 83 (UNESCO) 154, 237, 238
Trinidad and Tobago 85 , 87, 99, l 11, 323 United Nations International Con-
True, Peggy 314 ference on Population and Devel-
Tubman , William V. S. 54 opment 86
Tunisia 138, 295 Universal Declaration of Human
Turkey 86, 89, 105, 146, 152 Rights
Turkish-Greek Women 's Peace Initiative fiftieth anniversary of 88 , 133
(WINPEACE) 85- 86 World Health Organization 295
Turning Point for All Nations 18 World Summit for Social Develop-
Tuvalu 83 ment 17
u United Press International 152
Uganda 85, 86, 92 , 113, 141 , 152 , 325 United States 69, 74, 90, 91, 97, 107,
Ukraine 140 109, 118 , 140, 146, 151 , 154, 229,
United Kingdom 121 , 124- 28 , 322, 233,245,325 , 326, 327
325 , 327 unity
Baha 'i community of 124- 27 Baha'i community model of217- 27
early Baha' is 125 dimensions of, for emerging global
United Nations 15 , 31, 88, 246, 247 , order 193- 227
258 , 259 unity of mankind 23
charter of 265 as prerequisite for material advance-
Commission on Human Rights ment 264- 65
134, 151 , 259 Universal House of Justice 8, 12, 329,
Commission on the Status of 342
Women 137, 295 election of 39-4 7
fiftieth anniversary of 18 establishment of 39
Fourth World Conference on messages of29- 35, 46
Women 137 view on equality of women and
International Covenant on Economic, men 231
Social and Cultural Rights 293 Uruguay 79, 140
Millennium Forum, Summit, and Uteem, Cassam 105, 113
Assembly 138 Uzbekistan 43, 93

v See also Baha'i International Comvan den Hoonaard, Will 130 munity, Office for the Advance-
Vanuatu 112 ment of Women
Varqa, 'Ali-Mu~ammad World Bank 135 , 136, 259
See Hands of the Cause of God World Community Foundation 327
Venezuela 98, 323 World Development Report 2001 136
Vienna, University of 140 World Economic Forum 211
Virgin Islands 106, 112 World Faiths and Development Dia-
Virtues Guide 80 logue 135- 36, 269, 276
Vision TV 107 World Religion Day 105
Vuyiya, Peter 314 World War II 258, 259
w y
Wade, John 314 Yad Vashem award 117
Walker, Penelope 46, 52 youth 96- 98
Washington Post 153 youth workshops 7
West Australian 152 Yugoslavia , Federal Republic of 145,
West Leeward Islands 110, 111 146, l 50
á Western Caroline Islands 78 Yunus, Muhammad 242
Western Samoa 7, 102 z
Whitehead , 0. Z. 315 Zahrai , Ruhiyyih 315
Who Is Writing the Future? 34, 140, Zambia 8, 40, 89, 98 , 141
194,213,255-68 Zimbabwe 78, 84, 140
women 7 ZIPOPO
equality of 260 See " Happy Hippo Show"
health of 295- 97