1942: First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tegucigalpa, Honduras

First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 1942. (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

A group of early Persian Baha'is imprisoned for their Faith

On the left: Jinab-i-Varqa and his son Ruhu'llah who were later martyred. On the extreme right: Haji Iman-i-Zanjani, a survivor of the Zanjan upheaval. Second from right: Mirza Husayn-i-Zanjani. (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

1912: ‘Abdu’l-Baha comments on the growth of the Baha’i community from Tehran to San Francisco

When they exiled us from Persia, from Tehran to Baghdad, the journey was made in thirty stages and in these thirty stages we did not find one Baha’i. Now in every one of these places there are great numbers of Baha’i friends.

Notwithstanding that the ruler of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey opposed the Cause so violently exercising tyranny and oppression thinking to extinguish the Lamp of God yet this Lamp day by day grew in radiance, its power increased and its illumination became greater, until it reached such a degree that now its lights are spread throughout the world even as far as San Francisco, which is very far from Persia. See what this will mean in the future! 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, San Francisco, October 5, 1912; Star of the West, vol. 10, no. 13, November 4, 1919) 

(To read the entire talk please visit: Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

Táhirih “advocated the emancipation of women in 1848”

Táhirih, that peerless heroine of Iranian history, courageously advocated the emancipation of women in 1848, at a time when efforts to improve the status of women were only beginning to gather momentum in a few parts of the world. 

(The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 20 June 2008 addressed to the Baha’is in Iran)

May 2001: Official Opening of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb -- Devotions by Congo Baha'i Youth Choir

1948: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran, 1948

While besieged within the fort of Shaykh Tabarsi Quddus completed a commentary about Baha’u’llah comprising five hundred thousand verses

Though distant in body, these heroic souls are engaged in daily communion with their Beloved, partake of the bounty of His utterance, and share the supreme privilege of His companionship. Otherwise how could Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim have known of the Bab? How could they have perceived the significance of the secret which lay hidden in Him? How could the Báb Himself, how could Quddus, His beloved disciple, have written in such terms, had not the mystic bond of the spirit linked their souls together? Did not the Báb, in the earliest days of His Mission, allude, in the opening passages of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', His commentary on the Surih of Joseph, to the glory and significance of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh? Was it not His purpose, by dwelling upon the ingratitude and malice which characterised the treatment of Joseph by his brethren, to predict what Bahá'u'lláh was destined to suffer at the hands of His brother and kindred? Was not Quddus, although besieged within the fort of Shaykh Tabarsi by the battalions and fire of a relentless enemy, engaged, both in the daytime and in the night-season, in the completion of his eulogy of Bahá'u'lláh -- that immortal commentary on the Sad of Samad which had already assumed the dimensions of five hundred thousand verses? Every verse of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', every word of the aforementioned commentary of Quddus, will, if dispassionately examined, bear eloquent testimony to this truth. 

(Shoghi Effendi, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)

Baha'u'llah's ancestral home in Takur

Two views of Baha'u'llah's ancestral home in Takur, in the district of Nur, where He usually spent His summers as a boy.

The Author of "the most colossal religious work written by the pen of a single Man" – 29 May 1992: “the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies met in solemn session to pay tribute to” Baha’u’llah

Iran's crisis of civilization will be resolved neither by blind imitation of an obviously defective Western culture nor by retreat into medieval ignorance. The answer to the dilemma was enunciated on the very threshold of the crisis, in the clearest and most compelling language, by a distinguished Son of lran Who is today honoured in every continent of the world, but sadly not in the land of His birth. Persia's poetic genius captures the irony: "I searched the wide world over for my Beloved, while my Beloved was waiting for me in my own home." The world's appreciation of Baha'u'llah came perhaps most explicitly into focus on 29 May 1992, the centenary of His death, when the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies met in solemn session to pay tribute to Him, to His teachings and to the services rendered to humanity by the community He founded. On that occasion, the Speaker of the Chamber and spokespersons from every party rose, successively, to express their profound admiration of One who was described in their addresses as the Author of "the most colossal religious work written by the pen of a single Man", a message that "reaches out to humanity as a whole, without petty differences of nationality, race, limits or belief”.  

(The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 26 November 2003 to the ‘Followers of Baha’u’llah in the Cradle of the Faith)

April 2003: The first time the International Baha'i Convention was cancelled and the election of the Universal House of Justice was conducted through mailed ballots

The Universal House of Justice

4 April 2003

To all National Spiritual Assemblies 

Dear Baha'i Friends,  

We have been following closely developments in the world as they affect the Middle East, in the hope that the passage of events would make it possible for the International Baha'i Convention to be held as planned. However, for the sake of all concerned we can wait no   longer. To our regret, current conditions are such that we feel compelled to cancel the holding of the International Convention, and we write to so inform you.  

This is the first time we have had to implement the provision of the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice that states: "If at the time of an election the Universal House of Justice shall consider that it is impracticable or unwise to hold the International Convention it shall determine how the election shall take place." The ballots of the members of all National   Spiritual Assemblies are arriving daily, and we are arranging for the nineteen delegates chosen to be tellers to come to the Holy Land to count the votes on the Ninth Day of Ridvan. Should circumstances make it impossible for these friends to come, we shall adopt another means for the discharge of this task.  

National Conventions should continue to be held in May, around the Anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb, as currently planned.  

We are confident that the friends, surrounded by the confirmations of Baha'u'llah, will pursue the aim of the Five Year Plan with undimmed zeal.  

With loving Baha'i greetings,

The Universal House of Justice      

1929: Certification of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada

Certification of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada, 1929. (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

Mulla Husayn miraculously finds Baha’u’llah in Tihran and delivers an excerpt from the Báb’s newly-revealed Writings

The glorious mission entrusted to Mulla Husayn was truly enviable. Its nature was intimated to him by the Báb in assuring words:

"In this pilgrimage upon which We are soon to embark, We have chosen Quddus as Our companion. We have left you behind to face the onslaught of a fierce and relentless enemy. Rest assured, however, that a bounty unspeakably glorious shall be conferred upon you. Follow the course of your journey towards the north, and visit on your way Isfahan, Kashan, Qum, and Tihran. Beseech almighty Providence that He may graciously enable you to attain, in that capital [Tihran], the seat of true sovereignty. A secret lies hidden in that city. When made manifest, it shall turn the earth into paradise. My hope is that you may partake of its grace and recognize its splendour.”

When Mulla Husayn reached the capital, Tihran, he lived in one of the rooms of a religious school. The leader of the Shaykhi community of Tihran, who acted as an instructor in that institution was approached by Mulla Husayn but failed to respond to his motivation to accept the Message of the Báb. Mulla Husayn assured him that he had no intention of prolonging his stay in Tihran, that his aim was in no wise to abase or suppress the teachings inculcated by Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim.

During his stay in that capital Mulla Husayn did not appear in public. He limited himself to confidential conversations with those who visited him. He received a fair number of individuals and won over a large number of enquirers. According to the French historian Comte de Gobineau, among the people who showed interest in seeing him were the King, Muhammad Shah and his Minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi. Mulla Husayn presented them with some of the Writings of the Báb.

September 1994: Liberia's first National Baha'i Youth Conference

Baha'is from Gardnersville, Monrovia, and Paynesville, Liberia, attending the first National Youth Conference held in Liberia during 9-11 September 1994. (The Baha'i World 1994-1995)

1942: First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 1942-1943 (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

1966: Regional Spiritual Assembly of North Eastern Africa

Members of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of North Eastern Africa with Auxiliary Board Member Aziz Yazdi, Ridvan 1966, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Andalib, no. 79)

House of Baha'u'llah in Tehran

Baha’u’llah reveals the Tablet of Maryam (Lawh-i-Maryam) soon after His return from Sulaymániyyih

 --provisional translation available at: Baha’i Tablets – provisional translations

Maryam was a cousin of Baha’u’llah. Her mother, Malik Nisá’ Khánum was a sister of Bahá’u’lláh’s father, Mírzá ‘Abbas, better known as Mírzá Buzurg. Maryam was also Baha’u’llah’s sister-in-law because she had married Mírzá Ridá-Qulí, a half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh, and also because her younger sister Fátimih Khánum had become Bahá’u’lláh’s second wife in 1849 after she had become a widow. Fátimih Khánum who is better known as Mahd-i-’Ulyá, the Most Exalted Cradle, was the mother of Muhammad-‘Alí (1852 c.-1937), the unfaithful half-brother of ‘Abdu’l-Baha who rebelled against Him after the ascension of Baha’u’llah.

Maryam’s husband, Mírzá Ridá-Qulí was the son of Kulthúm Khánum-i-Núrí, the third wife of Baha’u’llah’s father. None of her four surviving children became a supporter of Bahá’u’lláh. Mírzá Ridá-Qulí, was a physician, and therefore he was known as “Hakím.”

When Bahá’u’lláh was released from the Síyáh-Chál in Tihran, Mírzá Ridá-Qulí hosted Him and His family in his house. Mírzá Ridá-Qulí had inherited this house from his father, Mirza Buzurg when in the last years of his life he was obliged to sell his complex of houses in Tihran, where he lived with his whole family, to pay the expenses for the divorce from his last wife, princess Sháh Begum, Díyá’u’s-Saltanih. Mírzá Ridá-Qulí’s mother also lived with him in this house. Baha’u’llah, however, prior to His arrest and imprisonment in the Siyah-Chal, lived in a rented house near the northern gate of Tihran along with a number of the family members.

circa 1969: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran with Hands of the Cause Dr. Varqa and Mr. Ala'i, and Continental Counsellor Hadi Rahmani. (Andalib, vol. 10, no. 39)

Baha’u’llah’s paternal uncles

Bahá'u'lláh had four paternal uncles. Among those to whom He taught the Faith of the Báb in Nur were these uncles. Two of them rejected the Cause of God and actively rose up against it. These were Shaykh Aziz'u'llah and Safi Quli Big. The other two, Mulla Zaynu'l-'Abidin and Karbila'i Zaman, became ardent believers. The former accompanied Bahá'u'lláh to the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi, and when Bahá'u'lláh was bastinadoed in Amul, threw himself upon His feet and was beaten so much that he fainted. 

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah vol. 2)

January 19, 2000: The Passing of Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum

The Universal House of Justice

Department of the Secretariat

26 January 2000

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Further to its message of 19 January 2000 concerning the passing of Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, the Universal House of Justice has asked us to convey the following.

On the afternoon of 23 January, in a light rain, the blessed remains of Rúhíyyih Khánum were laid to rest in Haifa, following a funeral service at the House of the Master and graveside prayers attended by more than 1100 believers. The interment took place in a plot of land which had been converted into a garden by Shoghi Effendi, directly across the street from the Master’s House. The participants came from near and far, and included 24 Continental Counselors, representatives of 76 National Spiritual Assemblies, and pilgrims, as well as members of the institutions and volunteers serving at the Bahá’í World Centre. Among them, too, were senior officials from the Canadian and United States embassies, representatives of the Israeli government, the mayors of ‘Akká and Haifa, and other prominent Israeli citizens. 

The House of Justice is deeply gratified that such a wide representation of believers was able to come to the Holy Land on very short notice to pay final respects on behalf of all the friends throughout the world who could not be present. Moreover, it warmly appreciates the various expressions of sympathy and love received at the World Center through many messages and gifts of flowers. It is also pleased that news of Rúhíyyih Khánum’s passing and funeral has been given coverage by the world press and electronic media.

Enclosed for your interest is a copy of the printed program of the funeral service.

Without doubt, the memory of a life so inestimably precious, so extraordinarily dynamic as that of Amatu’l-Bahá will infuse the Bahá’í institutions and individual friends everywhere with renewed resolve and redoubled energy.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

Membership of the Universal House of Justice: 1963-2013

Members of the Universal House of Justice 2003-2013

Members of the Universal House of Justice 1963-2003 

(Prepared by Arjen Bolhuis and Sana Rezai; Baha'i Library Online)

Geographic expansion of the Baha’i Community during the Ten Year Crusade (1953 - 1963)

The number of countries within the pale of the Faith doubled through the opening of:

• 43 in the Asiatic Continent
• 37 in the African Continent
• 21 in the European Continent
• 30 in the American Continent

(Adapted from: ‘The Baha’i Faith 1844-1963, Information Statistical and Comparative’, by Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land)

As of Ridvan 1972 there were 113 National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world

Although the dissolution of the National Spiritual Assembly of 'Iraq has, unhappily, resulted from the persecution of the Faith in that land, the thirteen new National Spiritual Assemblies which will come into being this Ridvan will bring the total number of these pillars of the Universal House of Justice to 113. 

(The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated Ridvan 1972; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986) 

circa 1944: National Haziratu'l-Quds of the Baha'is of Iran was completed

National Haziratu'l-Quds of the Baha'is of Iran, circa 1944 (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

March 1972: The Mother Temple of Latin America is dedicated in Panama

Message from the Universal House of Justice:

19 March 1972

To the Beloved of God gathered in the Conference called on the occasion of the Dedication of the Mother Temple of Latin America

Dear Bahá'í friends,

With praise and gratitude to God the whole Bahá'í world acclaims the dedication of the Mother Temple of Latin America, an edifice which glorifies the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh at that point where, the beloved Master asserted, "the Occident and the Orient find each other united through the Panama Canal," where "The teachings, once established ..., will unite the East and the West, the North and the South."

This historic project, in a hemisphere of infinite spiritual potentiality, fulfils one of the most important goals of the Nine Year Plan, and brings untold joy to the hearts of the friends in every land. Privileged are they who share in the raising of this glorious Silent Teacher with deeds of loving generosity and sacrifice. A crown to the labours of all those who have striven to establish the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in Latin America, this Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the rallying point for the Bahá'ís of those lands, whether they are of the blessed Indian peoples or represent the other races whose diversity enriches the nations of that hemisphere, will be a fountainhead of spiritual confirmations, and this mighty achievement will endow the Bahá'í Community with new and greater capacities, enabling the friends in Latin America, and particularly in this privileged land of Panama, to win victories that will eclipse all their past achievements.