September 23, 2010

Mid-July 1920: Shoghi Effendi arrived in the United Kingdom

Shoghi Effendi arrived in the United Kingdom in mid-July 1920 and was welcomed by a community of devoted believers and admirers of the Faith who had been nurtured by their loving Master. Prominent among the believers and admirers of the Master were Lady Blomfield, Major Tudor-Pole and Lord Lamington.

Lady Blomfield, one of the pillars of the Cause in England, had been among the first to recognize the new revelation. She was a woman whose considerable influence traced back to her father-in-law, Dr Charles James Blomfield (1786-1857), the Bishop of London and the tutor of Queen Victoria. Lady Blomfield and her daughter Mary had been introduced to the Faith at a reception in Paris in 1907. Their teacher was Miss Bertha Herbert. Both had embraced the Faith upon their return to England and were nurtured by a Baha'i community comprising two people: an American believer living in London, Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper, and Miss. Ethel Rosenberg, the first British woman to accept the new Earth of God.

September 14, 2010

Baha’i Magazines in circulation in 1923

With reference to the following excerpt from a letter written by the beloved Guardian on 12 March, 1923, the following Baha’i magazines were in circulation in 1923:

In America: “Star of the West” and the “Magazine of the Children of the Kingdom”;
India: the “Bahá’í News” of India;
Turkestan: the “Sun of the East” (Khurshid-i Khavar);
Japan: the “Star of the East”; and in
Germany: the “Sun of Truth”.

“They [Assemblies] must encourage and stimulate by every means at their command, through subscription, reports and articles, the development of the various Bahá’í magazines, such as the “Star of the West” and the “Magazine of the Children of the Kingdom” in the United States of America, the “Bahá’í News” of India, the “Sun of the East” (Khurshid-i Khavar) in Turkestan, the “Star of the East” in Japan, the “Sun of Truth” in Germany.” 
(Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 12 March, 1923, to the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout America, Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Japan and Australasia; Baha’i Administration, p. 38)

September 8, 2010

Baha’u’llah rented a house in Baghdad

Baha'u'llah arrived in Baghdad on 8 April 1853. The journey from Tehran had been very difficult and had lasted three months. After a few days in Baghdad, Baha'u'llah moved to Kazimayn, a Shi'i shrine city which at that time was some five kilometers north-west of Baghdad (it has since become incorporated into the city). The Iranian consul suggested to him that since Kazimayn tended to be full of rather fanatical elements, it would be safer for Baha'u'llah if he lived in Baghdad itself in the mainly Persian-speaking quarters on the west bank of the Tigris river. Baha'u'llah consented to this and rented a house there. 
(Moojan Momen, 'Baha’u’llah A Short Biography')