The Shrine of Baha'u'llah in the time of 'Abdu'l-Baha

The Shrine of Baha'u'llah in the time of 'Abdu'l-Baha

circa 1968: Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga in Colombia

Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga with some Baha'is in Colombia, circa 1968

Tribulations sustained by Baha’u’llah until His arrival in Baghdad – a summary by Shoghi effendi

Was it not He Who, at the early age of twenty-seven, spontaneously arose to champion, in the capacity of a mere follower, the nascent Cause of the Báb? Was He not the One Who by assuming the actual leadership of a proscribed and harrassed sect exposed Himself, and His kindred, and His possessions, and His rank, and His reputation to the grave perils, the bloody assaults, the general spoliation and furious defamations of both government and people? Was it not He—the Bearer of a Revelation, Whose day “every Prophet hath announced,” for which “the soul of every Divine Messenger hath thirsted,” and in which “God hath proved the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets”—was not the Bearer of such a Revelation, at the instigation of Shí’ih ecclesiastics and by order of the Sháh himself forced, for no less than four months, to breathe, in utter darkness, whilst in the company of the vilest criminals and freighted down with galling chains, the pestilential air of the vermin-infested subterranean dungeon of Tihrán—a place which, as He Himself subsequently declared, was mysteriously converted into the very scene of the annunciation made to Him by God of His Prophethood?

The first public persecution

Mullá Sádiq-i-Khurásání, impelled by the injunction of the Báb in the Khasá’il-i-Sab‘ih to alter the sacrosanct formula of the adhán,[call to prayer] sounded it in its amended form before a scandalized congregation in Shíráz, and was instantly arrested, reviled, stripped of his garments, and scourged with a thousand lashes. The villainous Husayn Khán, the Nizámu’d-Dawlih, the governor of Fárs, who had read the challenge thrown out in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá, having ordered that Mullá Sádiq together with Quddús and another believer be summarily and publicly punished, caused their beards to be burned, their noses pierced, and threaded with halters; then, having been led through the streets in this disgraceful condition, they were expelled from the city. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

The speed of the revelation of divine verses by the Báb

…Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Bastamí, one of the Letters of the Living, “the first to leave the House of God (Shíráz) and the first to suffer for His sake…had audaciously asserted that from the pen of his new-found Master within the space of forty-eight hours, verses had streamed that equalled in number those of the Qur’án, which it took its Author twenty-three years to reveal… 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

1941: First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of San Jose, Costa Rica

Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of San Jose, Costa Rica, 1941 (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

Naw-Ruz 1974: The Third Global Plan is launched by the Universal House of Justice

“The Five Year Plan to which this community is now summoned is the opening campaign of these critical years. It is the third global plan embarked upon by the Army of Light in its implementation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Divine Plan, that world-encompassing programme disclosed in His perspicuous Tablets and described by the Guardian of the Cause of God as the Charter for the propagation of the Faith throughout the world.” 

- The Universal House of Justice  (from a message to the Baha’is of the world, Naw-Ruz, 1974)

The other two global Plans were the Ten Year Crusade, 1953 to 1963, and the Nine Year Plan, 1964 to 1973.

Ridvan 1943: India's First Baha'i Youth Conference

First Baha'i Youth Conference of India, Ridvan 1943 (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

April 1974: 115 National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the planet

The victories of that crusade implanted the banner of Bahá'u'lláh throughout the planet and the following Nine Year Plan reinforced and extended the bastions of the Faith and raised the number of National Spiritual Assemblies -- the supporting pillars of the Universal House of Justice -- to one hundred and thirteen, a number increased to one hundred and fifteen by the formation at this Ridvan of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Hong Kong and South East Arabia. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (from a message tothe Baha’is of the world, Naw-Ruz, 1974)

May 1963: Hands of the Cause decided that Auxiliary Board members should be free of administrative responsibilities – The Universal House of Justice approved

The Hands of the Cause at their London Conclave last May decided that Auxiliary Board members should be free of administrative responsibilities in order to devote their full energies to their work as Board members. Those Board members serving on National Assemblies were therefore requested to decide, before Ridvan 1964, in which capacity they could best serve the Cause…

… Should Board members still be elected on National Assemblies after the above explanation, it should rest with each Board member to decide which of the two functions he feels best suited to perform. The Universal House of Justice, therefore, approves the request made by the Hands of the Cause to their Board members that they choose between the two functions. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (from a letter to all National Spiritual Assemblies dated 25 November 1963; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986)