God Passes By

Chapter XXII: The Rise and Establishment of the Administrative Order

Prev List Next

The coffin containing the remains of "Abdu"l-Baha was borne to its last resting-place on the shoulders of His loved ones. The cortege which preceded it was led by the City Constabulary Force, acting as a Guard of Honor, behind which followed in order the Boy Scouts of the Muslim and Christian communities holding aloft their banners, a company of Muslim choristers chanting their verses from the Qur"an, the chiefs of the Muslim community headed by the Mufti, and a number of Christian priests, Latin, Greek and Anglican. Behind the coffin walked the members of His family, the British High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, the Governor of Jerusalem, Sir Ronald Storrs, the Governor of Phoenicia, Sir Stewart Symes, officials of the government, consuls of various countries resident in Haifa, notables of Palestine, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Druze, Egyptians, Greeks, Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Europeans and Americans, men, women and children. The long train of mourners, amid the sobs and moans of many a grief-stricken heart, wended its slow way up the slopes of Mt.

Carmel to the Mausoleum of the Bab.

Close to the eastern entrance of the Shrine, the sacred casket was placed upon a plain table, and, in the presence of that vast concourse, nine speakers, who represented the Muslim, the Jewish and Christian Faiths, and who included the Mufti of Haifa, delivered their several funeral orations.

These concluded, the High Commissioner drew close to the casket, and, with bowed head fronting the Shrine, paid his last homage of farewell to "Abdu"l-Baha: the other officials of the Government followed his example.

The coffin was then removed to one of the chambers of the Shrine, and there lowered, sadly and reverently, to its last resting-place in a vault adjoining that in which were laid the remains of the Bab.

During the week following His pa.s.sing, from fifty to a hundred of the poor of Haifa were daily fed at His house, whilst on the seventh day corn was distributed in His memory to about a thousand of them irrespective of creed or race. On the fortieth day an impressive memorial feast was held in His memory, to which over six hundred of the people of Haifa, Akka and the surrounding parts of Palestine and Syria, including officials and notables of various religions and races, were invited. More than one hundred of the poor were also fed on that day.

One of the a.s.sembled guests, the Governor of Phoenicia, paid a last tribute to the memory of "Abdu"l-Baha in the following words: "Most of us here have, I think, a clear picture of Sir "Abdu"l-Baha Abbas, of His dignified figure walking thoughtfully in our streets, of His courteous and gracious manner, of His kindness, of His love for little children and flowers, of His generosity and care for the poor and suffering. So gentle was He, and so simple, that in His presence one almost forgot that He was also a great teacher, and that His writings and His conversations have been a solace and an inspiration to hundreds and thousands of people in the East and in the West."

Thus was brought to a close the ministry of One Who was the incarnation, by virtue of the rank bestowed upon Him by His Father, of an inst.i.tution that has no parallel in the entire field of religious history, a ministry that marks the final stage in the Apostolic, the Heroic and most glorious Age of the Dispensation of Baha"u"llah.

Through Him the Covenant, that "excellent and priceless Heritage"

bequeathed by the Author of the Baha"i Revelation, had been proclaimed, championed and vindicated. Through the power which that Divine Instrument had conferred upon Him the light of G.o.d"s infant Faith had penetrated the West, had diffused itself as far as the Islands of the Pacific, and illumined the fringes of the Australian continent. Through His personal intervention the Message, Whose Bearer had tasted the bitterness of a life-long captivity, had been noised abroad, and its character and purpose disclosed, for the first time in its history, before enthusiastic and representative audiences in the chief cities of Europe and of the North American continent. Through His unrelaxing vigilance the holy remains of the Bab, brought forth at long last from their fifty-year concealment, had been safely transported to the Holy Land and permanently and befittingly enshrined in the very spot which Baha"u"llah Himself had designated for them and had blessed with His presence. Through His bold initiative the first Ma_sh_riqu"l-A_dh_kar of the Baha"i world had been reared in Central Asia, in Russian Turkistan, whilst through His unfailing encouragement a similar enterprise, of still vaster proportions, had been undertaken, and its land dedicated by Himself in the heart of the North American continent. Through the sustaining grace overshadowing Him since the inception of His ministry His royal adversary had been humbled to the dust, the arch-breaker of His Father"s Covenant had been utterly routed, and the danger which, ever since Baha"u"llah had been banished to Turkish soil, had been threatening the heart of the Faith, definitely removed. In pursuance of His instructions, and in conformity with the principles enunciated and the laws ordained by His Father, the rudimentary inst.i.tutions, heralding the formal inauguration of the Administrative Order to be founded after His pa.s.sing, had taken shape and been established. Through His unremitting labors, as reflected in the treatises He composed, the thousands of Tablets He revealed, the discourses He delivered, the prayers, poems and commentaries He left to posterity, mostly in Persian, some in Arabic and a few in Turkish, the laws and principles, const.i.tuting the warp and woof of His Father"s Revelation, had been elucidated, its fundamentals restated and interpreted, its tenets given detailed application and the validity and indispensability of its verities fully and publicly demonstrated. Through the warnings He sounded, an unheeding humanity, steeped in materialism and forgetful of its G.o.d, had been apprized of the perils threatening to disrupt its ordered life, and made, in consequence of its persistent perversity, to sustain the initial shocks of that world upheaval which continues, until the present day, to rock the foundations of human society. And lastly, through the mandate He had issued to a valiant community, the concerted achievements of whose members had shed so great a l.u.s.tre on the annals of His own ministry, He had set in motion a Plan which, soon after its formal inauguration, achieved the opening of the Australian continent, which, in a later period, was to be instrumental in winning over the heart of a royal convert to His Father"s Cause, and which, today, through the irresistible unfoldment of its potentialities, is so marvellously quickening the spiritual life of all the Republics of Latin America as to const.i.tute a befitting conclusion to the records of an entire century.

Nor should a survey of the outstanding features of so blessed and fruitful a ministry omit mention of the prophecies which the unerring pen of the appointed Center of Baha"u"llah"s Covenant has recorded. These foreshadow the fierceness of the onslaught that the resistless march of the Faith must provoke in the West, in India and in the Far East when it meets the time-honored sacerdotal orders of the Christian, the Buddhist and Hindu religions. They foreshadow the turmoil which its emanc.i.p.ation from the fetters of religious orthodoxy will cast in the American, the European, the Asiatic and African continents. They foreshadow the gathering of the children of Israel in their ancient homeland; the erection of the banner of Baha"u"llah in the Egyptian citadel of Sunni Islam; the extinction of the powerful influence wielded by the _Sh_i"ah ecclesiastics in Persia; the load of misery which must needs oppress the pitiful remnants of the breakers of Baha"u"llah"s Covenant at the world center of His Faith; the splendor of the inst.i.tutions which that triumphant Faith must erect on the slopes of a mountain, destined to be so linked with the city of Akka that a single grand metropolis will be formed to enshrine the spiritual as well as the administrative seats of the future Baha"i Commonwealth; the conspicuous honor which the inhabitants of Baha"u"llah"s native land in general, and its government in particular, must enjoy in a distant future; the unique and enviable position which the community of the Most Great Name in the North American continent must occupy, as a direct consequence of the execution of the world mission which He entrusted to them: finally they foreshadow, as the sum and summit of all, the "hoisting of the standard of G.o.d among all nations" and the unification of the entire human race, when "all men will adhere to one religion ... will be blended into one race, and become a single people."

Nor can the revolutionary changes in the great world which that ministry has witnessed be allowed to pa.s.s unnoticed-most of them flowing directly from the warnings which were uttered by the Bab, in the first chapter of His Qayyumu"l-Asma, on the very night of the Declaration of His Mission in _Sh_iraz, and which were later reinforced by the pregnant pa.s.sages addressed by Baha"u"llah to the kings of the earth and the world"s religious leaders, in both the Suriy-i-Muluk and the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The conversion of the Portuguese monarchy and the Chinese empire into republics; the collapse of the Russian, the German and Austrian empires, and the ignominious fate which befell their rulers; the a.s.sa.s.sination of Na?iri"d-Din _Sh_ah, the fall of Sul?an "Abdu"l-?amid-these may be said to have marked further stages in the operation of that catastrophic process the inception of which was signalized in the lifetime of Baha"u"llah by the murder of Sul?an "Abdu"l-"Aziz, by the dramatic downfall of Napoleon III, and the extinction of the Third Empire, and by the self-imposed imprisonment and virtual termination of the temporal sovereignty of the Pope himself. Later, after "Abdu"l-Baha"s pa.s.sing, the same process was to be accelerated by the demise of the Qajar dynasty in Persia, by the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy, by the collapse of both the Sultanate and the Caliphate in Turkey, by a swift decline in the fortunes of _Sh_i"ah Islam and of the Christian Missions in the East, and by the cruel fate that is now overtaking so many of the crowned heads of Europe.

Nor can this subject be dismissed without special reference to the names of those men of eminence and learning who were moved, at various stages of "Abdu"l-Baha"s ministry, to pay tribute not only to "Abdu"l-Baha Himself but also to the Faith of Baha"u"llah. Such names as Count Leo Tolstoy, Prof. Arminius Vambery, Prof. Auguste Forel, Dr. David Starr Jordan, the Venerable Archdeacon Wilberforce, Prof. Jowett of Balliol, Dr. T. K.

Cheyne, Dr. Estlin Carpenter of Oxford University, Viscount Samuel of Carmel, Lord Lamington, Sir Valentine Chirol, Rabbi Stephen Wise, Prince Mu?ammad-"Ali of Egypt, _Sh_ay_kh_ Mu?ammad "Abdu, Mi_dh_at Pa_sh_a, and _Kh_ur_sh_id Pa_sh_a attest, by virtue of the tributes a.s.sociated with them, the great progress made by the Faith of Baha"u"llah under the brilliant leadership of His exalted Son-tributes whose impressiveness was, in later years, to be heightened by the historic, the repeated and written testimonies which a famous Queen, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, was impelled to bequeath to posterity as a witness of her recognition of the prophetic mission of Baha"u"llah.

As for those enemies who have sedulously sought to extinguish the light of Baha"u"llah"s Covenant, the condign punishment they have been made to suffer is no less conspicuous than the doom which overtook those who, in an earlier period, had so basely endeavored to crush the hopes of a rising Faith and destroy its foundations.

To the a.s.sa.s.sination of the tyrannical Na?iri"d-Din _Sh_ah and the subsequent extinction of the Qajar dynasty reference has already been made. Sul?an "Abdu"l-?amid, after his deposition, was made a prisoner of state and condemned to a life of complete obscurity and humiliation, scorned by his fellow-rulers and vilified by his subjects. The bloodthirsty Jamal Pa_sh_a, who had resolved to crucify "Abdu"l-Baha and raze to the ground Baha"u"llah"s holy Tomb, had to flee for his life and was slain, while a refugee in the Caucasus, by the hand of an Armenian whose fellow-compatriots he had so pitilessly persecuted. The scheming Jamalu"d-Din Af_gh_ani, whose relentless hostility and powerful influence had been so gravely detrimental to the progress of the Faith in Near Eastern countries, was, after a checkered career filled with vicissitudes, stricken with cancer, and having had a major part of his tongue cut away in an unsuccessful operation perished in misery. The four members of the ill-fated Commission of Inquiry, despatched from Constantinople to seal the fate of "Abdu"l-Baha, suffered, each in his turn, a humiliation hardly less drastic than that which they had planned for Him. arif Bey, the head of the Commission, seeking stealthily at midnight to flee from the wrath of the Young Turks, was shot dead by a sentry. Adham Bey succeeded in escaping to Egypt, but was robbed of his possessions by his servant on the way, and was in the end compelled to seek financial a.s.sistance from the Baha"is of Cairo, a request which was not refused. Later he sought help from "Abdu"l-Baha, Who immediately directed the believers to present him with a sum on His behalf, an instruction which they were unable to carry out owing to his sudden disappearance. Of the other two members, one was exiled to a remote place, and the other died soon after in abject poverty.

The notorious Ya?ya Bey, the Chief of the Police in Akka, a willing and powerful tool in the hand of Mirza Mu?ammad-"Ali, the arch-breaker of Baha"u"llah"s Covenant, witnessed the frustration of all the hopes he had cherished, lost his position, and had eventually to beg for pecuniary a.s.sistance from "Abdu"l-Baha. In Constantinople, in the year which witnessed the downfall of "Abdu"l-?amid, no less than thirty-one dignitaries of the state, including ministers and other high officers of the government, among whom numbered redoubtable enemies of the Faith, were, in a single day, arrested and condemned to the gallows, a spectacular retribution for the part they had played in upholding a tyrannical regime and in endeavoring to extirpate the Faith and its inst.i.tutions.

In Persia, apart from the sovereign who had, in the full tide of his hopes and the plenitude of his power, been removed from the scene in so startling a manner, a number of princes, ministers and mujtahids, who had actively partic.i.p.ated in the suppression of a persecuted community, including Kamran Mirza, the Na"ibu"s-Sal?anih, the Jalalu"d-Dawlih and Mirza "Ali-A?_gh_ar _Kh_an, the Atabik-i-A"?am, and _Sh_ay_kh_ Mu?ammad-Taqiy-i-Najafi, the "Son of the Wolf," lost, one by one, their prestige and authority, sank into obscurity, abandoned all hope of achieving their malevolent purpose, and lived, some of them, long enough to behold the initial evidences of the ascendancy of a Cause they had so greatly feared and so vehemently hated.

When we note that in the Holy Land, in Persia, and in the United States of America certain exponents of Christian ecclesiasticism such as Vatralsky, Wilson, Richardson or Easton, observing, and in some cases fearing, the vigorous advances made by the Faith of Baha"u"llah in Christian lands, arose to stem its progress; and when we watch the recent and steady deterioration of their influence, the decline of their power, the confusion in their ranks and the dissolution of some of their old standing missions and inst.i.tutions, in Europe, in the Middle East and in Eastern Asia-may we not attribute this weakening to the opposition which members of various Christian sacerdotal orders began, in the course of "Abdu"l-Baha"s ministry, to evince towards the followers and inst.i.tutions of a Faith which claims to be no less than the fulfilment of the Promise given by Jesus Christ, and the establisher of the Kingdom He Himself had prayed for and foretold?

And finally, he who, from the moment the Divine Covenant was born until the end of his life, showed a hatred more unrelenting than that which animated the afore-mentioned adversaries of "Abdu"l-Baha, who plotted more energetically than any one of them against Him, and afflicted his Father"s Faith with a shame more grievous than any which its external enemies had inflicted upon it-such a man, together with the infamous crew of Covenant-breakers whom he had misled and instigated, was condemned to witness, in a growing measure, as had been the case with Mirza Ya?ya and his henchmen, the frustration of his evil designs, the evaporation of all his hopes, the exposition of his true motives and the complete extinction of his erstwhile honor and glory. His brother, Mirza ?iya"u"llah, died prematurely; Mirza aqa Jan, his dupe, followed that same brother, three years later, to the grave; and Mirza Badi"u"llah, his chief accomplice, betrayed his cause, published a signed denunciation of his evil acts, but rejoined him again, only to be alienated from him in consequence of the scandalous behavior of his own daughter. Mirza Mu?ammad-"Ali"s half-sister, Furu_gh_iyyih, died of cancer, whilst her husband, Siyyid "Ali, pa.s.sed away from a heart attack before his sons could reach him, the eldest being subsequently stricken in the prime of life, by the same malady. Mu?ammad-Javad-i-Qazvini, a notorious Covenant-breaker, perished miserably. _Sh_u"a"u"llah who, as witnessed by "Abdu"l-Baha in His Will, had counted on the murder of the Center of the Covenant, and who had been despatched to the United States by his father to join forces with Ibrahim _Kh_ayru"llah, returned crestfallen and empty-handed from his inglorious mission. Jamal-i-Burujirdi, Mirza Mu?ammad-"Ali"s ablest lieutenant in Persia, fell a prey to a fatal and loathsome disease; Siyyid Mihdiy-i-Dahaji, who, betraying "Abdu"l-Baha, joined the Covenant-breakers, died in obscurity and poverty, followed by his wife and his two sons; Mirza ?usayn-"Aliy-i-Jahrumi, Mirza ?usayn-i-_Sh_iraziy-i-_Kh_ur?umi and ?aji Mu?ammad-?usayn-i-Ka_sh_ani, who represented the arch-breaker of the Covenant in Persia, India and Egypt, failed utterly in their missions; whilst the greedy and conceited Ibrahim-i-_Kh_ayru"llah, who had chosen to uphold the banner of his rebellion in America for no less than twenty years, and who had the temerity to denounce, in writing, "Abdu"l-Baha, His "false teachings, His misrepresentations of Bahaism, His dissimulation," and to stigmatize His visit to America as "a death-blow" to the "Cause of G.o.d," met his death soon after he had uttered these denunciations, utterly abandoned and despised by the entire body of the members of a community, whose founders he himself had converted to the Faith, and in the very land that bore witness to the multiplying evidences of the established ascendancy of "Abdu"l-Baha, Whose authority he had, in his later years, vowed to uproot.

As to those who had openly espoused the cause of this arch-breaker of Baha"u"llah"s Covenant, or who had secretly sympathized with him, whilst outwardly supporting "Abdu"l-Baha, some eventually repented and were forgiven; others became disillusioned and lost their faith entirely; a few apostatized, whilst the rest dwindled away, leaving him in the end, except for a handful of his relatives, alone and unsupported. Surviving "Abdu"l-Baha by almost twenty years, he who had so audaciously affirmed to His face that he had no a.s.surance he might outlive Him, lived long enough to witness the utter bankruptcy of his cause, leading meanwhile a wretched existence within the walls of a Mansion that had once housed a crowd of his supporters; was denied by the civil authorities, as a result of the crisis he had after "Abdu"l-Baha"s pa.s.sing foolishly precipitated, the official custody of his Father"s Tomb; was compelled, a few years later, to vacate that same Mansion, which, through his flagrant neglect, had fallen into a dilapidated condition; was stricken with paralysis which crippled half his body; lay bedridden in pain for months before he died; and was buried according to Muslim rites, in the immediate vicinity of a local Muslim shrine, his grave remaining until the present day devoid of even a tombstone-a pitiful reminder of the hollowness of the claims he had advanced, of the depths of infamy to which he had sunk, and of the severity of the retribution his acts had so richly merited.

FOURTH PERIOD: THE INCEPTION OF THE FORMATIVE AGE OF THE BAHa"i FAITH 19211944

Chapter XXII: The Rise and Establishment of the Administrative Order

With the pa.s.sing of "Abdu"l-Baha the first century of the Baha"i era, whose inception had synchronized with His birth, had run more than three quarters of its course. Seventy-seven years previously the light of the Faith proclaimed by the Bab had risen above the horizon of _Sh_iraz and flashed across the firmament of Persia, dispelling the age-long gloom which had enveloped its people. A blood bath of unusual ferocity, in which government, clergy and people, heedless of the significance of that light and blind to its splendor, had jointly partic.i.p.ated, had all but extinguished the radiance of its glory in the land of its birth.

Baha"u"llah had at the darkest hour in the fortunes of that Faith been summoned, while Himself a prisoner in ?ihran, to reinvigorate its life, and been commissioned to fulfil its ultimate purpose. In Ba_gh_dad, upon the termination of the ten-year delay interposed between the first intimation of that Mission and its Declaration, He had revealed the Mystery enshrined in the Bab"s embryonic Faith, and disclosed the fruit which it had yielded. In Adrianople Baha"u"llah"s Message, the promise of the Babi as well as of all previous Dispensations, had been proclaimed to mankind, and its challenge voiced to the rulers of the earth in both the East and the West. Behind the walls of the prison-fortress of Akka the Bearer of G.o.d"s newborn Revelation had ordained the laws and formulated the principles that were to const.i.tute the warp and woof of His World Order. He had, moreover, prior to His ascension, inst.i.tuted the Covenant that was to guide and a.s.sist in the laying of its foundations and to safeguard the unity of its builders. Armed with that peerless and potent Instrument, "Abdu"l-Baha, His eldest Son and Center of His Covenant, had erected the standard of His Father"s Faith in the North American continent, and established an impregnable basis for its inst.i.tutions in Western Europe, in the Far East and in Australia. He had, in His works, Tablets and addresses, elucidated its principles, interpreted its laws, amplified its doctrine, and erected the rudimentary inst.i.tutions of its future Administrative Order. In Russia He had raised its first House of Worship, whilst on the slopes of Mt. Carmel He had reared a befitting mausoleum for its Herald, and deposited His remains therein with His Own hands. Through His visits to several cities in Europe and the North American continent He had broadcast Baha"u"llah"s Message to the peoples of the West, and heightened the prestige of the Cause of G.o.d to a degree it had never previously experienced. And lastly, in the evening of His life, He had through the revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan issued His mandate to the community which He Himself had raised up, trained and nurtured, a Plan that must in the years to come enable its members to diffuse the light, and erect the administrative fabric, of the Faith throughout the five continents of the globe.

The moment had now arrived for that undying, that world-vitalizing Spirit that was born in _Sh_iraz, that had been rekindled in ?ihran, that had been fanned into flame in Ba_gh_dad and Adrianople, that had been carried to the West, and was now illuminating the fringes of five continents, to incarnate itself in inst.i.tutions designed to ca.n.a.lize its outspreading energies and stimulate its growth. The Age that had witnessed the birth and rise of the Faith had now closed. The Heroic, the Apostolic Age of the Dispensation of Baha"u"llah, that primitive period in which its Founders had lived, in which its life had been generated, in which its greatest heroes had struggled and quaffed the cup of martyrdom, and its pristine foundations been established-a period whose splendors no victories in this or any future age, however brilliant, can rival-had now terminated with the pa.s.sing of One Whose mission may be regarded as the link binding the Age in which the seed of the newborn Message had been incubating and those which are destined to witness its efflorescence and ultimate fruition.

The Formative Period, the Iron Age, of that Dispensation was now beginning, the Age in which the inst.i.tutions, local, national and international, of the Faith of Baha"u"llah were to take shape, develop and become fully consolidated, in antic.i.p.ation of the third, the last, the Golden Age destined to witness the emergence of a world-embracing Order enshrining the ultimate fruit of G.o.d"s latest Revelation to mankind, a fruit whose maturity must signalize the establishment of a world civilization and the formal inauguration of the Kingdom of the Father upon earth as promised by Jesus Christ Himself.

To this World Order the Bab Himself had, whilst a prisoner in the mountain fastnesses of a_dh_irbayjan, explicitly referred in His Persian Bayan, the Mother-Book of the Babi Dispensation, had announced its advent, and a.s.sociated it with the name of Baha"u"llah, Whose Mission He Himself had heralded. "Well is it with Him," is His remarkable statement in the sixteenth chapter of the third Vahid, "who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Baha"u"llah, and rendereth thanks unto his Lord! For He will a.s.suredly be made manifest..." To this same Order Baha"u"llah Who, in a later period, revealed the laws and principles that must govern the operation of that Order, had thus referred in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Mother-Book of His Dispensation: "The world"s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this Most Great Order. Mankind"s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System, the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed." Its features "Abdu"l-Baha, its great Architect, delineated in His Will and Testament, whilst the foundations of its rudimentary inst.i.tutions are now being laid after Him by His followers in the East and in the West in this, the Formative Age of the Baha"i Dispensation.

The last twenty-three years of the first Baha"i century may thus be regarded as the initial stage of the Formative Period of the Faith, an Age of Transition to be identified with the rise and establishment of the Administrative Order, upon which the inst.i.tutions of the future Baha"i World Commonwealth must needs be ultimately erected in the Golden Age that must witness the consummation of the Baha"i Dispensation. The Charter which called into being, outlined the features and set in motion the processes of, this Administrative Order is none other than the Will and Testament of "Abdu"l-Baha, His greatest legacy to posterity, the brightest emanation of His mind and the mightiest instrument forged to insure the continuity of the three ages which const.i.tute the component parts of His Father"s Dispensation.

The Covenant of Baha"u"llah had been inst.i.tuted solely through the direct operation of His Will and purpose. The Will and Testament of "Abdu"l-Baha, on the other hand, may be regarded as the offspring resulting from that mystic intercourse between Him Who had generated the forces of a G.o.d-given Faith and the One Who had been made its sole Interpreter and was recognized as its perfect Exemplar. The creative energies unleashed by the Originator of the Law of G.o.d in this age gave birth, through their impact upon the mind of Him Who had been chosen as its unerring Expounder, to that Instrument, the vast implications of which the present generation, even after the lapse of twenty-three years, is still incapable of fully apprehending. This Instrument can, if we would correctly appraise it, no more be divorced from the One Who provided the motivating impulse for its creation than from Him Who directly conceived it. The purpose of the Author of the Baha"i Revelation had, as already observed, been so thoroughly infused into the mind of "Abdu"l-Baha, and His Spirit had so profoundly impregnated His being, and their aims and motives been so completely blended, that to dissociate the doctrine laid down by the former from the supreme act a.s.sociated with the mission of the latter would be tantamount to a repudiation of one of the most fundamental verities of the Faith.

The Administrative Order which this historic Doc.u.ment has established, it should be noted, is, by virtue of its origin and character, unique in the annals of the world"s religious systems. No Prophet before Baha"u"llah, it can be confidently a.s.serted, not even Mu?ammad Whose Book clearly lays down the laws and ordinances of the Islamic Dispensation, has established, authoritatively and in writing, anything comparable to the Administrative Order which the authorized Interpreter of Baha"u"llah"s teachings has inst.i.tuted, an Order which, by virtue of the administrative principles which its Author has formulated, the inst.i.tutions He has established, and the right of interpretation with which He has invested its Guardian, must and will, in a manner unparalleled in any previous religion, safeguard from schism the Faith from which it has sprung. Nor is the principle governing its operation similar to that which underlies any system, whether theocratic or otherwise, which the minds of men have devised for the government of human inst.i.tutions. Neither in theory nor in practice can the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha"u"llah be said to conform to any type of democratic government, to any system of autocracy, to any purely aristocratic order, or to any of the various theocracies, whether Jewish, Christian or Islamic which mankind has witnessed in the past. It incorporates within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the three recognized forms of secular government, is devoid of the defects which each of them inherently possesses, and blends the salutary truths which each undoubtedly contains without vitiating in any way the integrity of the Divine verities on which it is essentially founded. The hereditary authority which the Guardian of the Administrative Order is called upon to exercise, and the right of the interpretation of the Holy Writ solely conferred upon him; the powers and prerogatives of the Universal House of Justice, possessing the exclusive right to legislate on matters not explicitly revealed in the Most Holy Book; the ordinance exempting its members from any responsibility to those whom they represent, and from the obligation to conform to their views, convictions or sentiments; the specific provisions requiring the free and democratic election by the ma.s.s of the faithful of the Body that const.i.tutes the sole legislative organ in the world-wide Baha"i community-these are among the features which combine to set apart the Order identified with the Revelation of Baha"u"llah from any of the existing systems of human government.

Nor have the enemies who, at the hour of the inception of this Administrative Order, and in the course of its twenty-three year existence, both in the East and in the West, from within and from without, misrepresented its character, or derided and vilified it, or striven to arrest its march, or contrived to create a breach in the ranks of its supporters, succeeded in achieving their malevolent purpose. The strenuous exertions of an ambitious Armenian, who, in the course of the first years of its establishment in Egypt, endeavored to supplant it by the "Scientific Society" which in his short-sightedness he had conceived and was sponsoring, failed utterly in its purpose. The agitation provoked by a deluded woman who strove diligently both in the United States and in England to demonstrate the unauthenticity of the Charter responsible for its creation, and even to induce the civil authorities of Palestine to take legal action in the matter-a request which to her great chagrin was curtly refused-as well as the defection of one of the earliest pioneers and founders of the Faith in Germany, whom that same woman had so tragically misled, produced no effect whatsoever. The volumes which a shameless apostate composed and disseminated, during that same period in Persia, in his brazen efforts not only to disrupt that Order but to undermine the very Faith which had conceived it, proved similarly abortive. The schemes devised by the remnants of the Covenant-breakers, who immediately the aims and purposes of "Abdu"l-Baha"s Will became known arose, headed by Mirza Badi"u"llah, to wrest the custodianship of the holiest shrine in the Baha"i world from its appointed Guardian, likewise came to naught and brought further discredit upon them. The subsequent attacks launched by certain exponents of Christian orthodoxy, in both Christian and non-Christian lands, with the object of subverting the foundations, and distorting the features, of this same Order were powerless to sap the loyalty of its upholders or to deflect them from their high purpose. Not even the infamous and insidious machinations of a former secretary of "Abdu"l-Baha, who, untaught by the retribution that befell Baha"u"llah"s amanuensis, as well as by the fate that overtook several other secretaries and interpreters of His Master, in both the East and the West, has arisen, and is still exerting himself, to pervert the purpose and nullify the essential provisions of the immortal Doc.u.ment from which that Order derives its authority, have been able to stay even momentarily the march of its inst.i.tutions along the course set for it by its Author, or to create anything that might, however remotely, resemble a breach in the ranks of its a.s.sured, its wide-awake and stalwart supporters.

The Doc.u.ment establishing that Order, the Charter of a future world civilization, which may be regarded in some of its features as supplementary to no less weighty a Book than the Kitab-i-Aqdas; signed and sealed by "Abdu"l-Baha; entirely written with His own hand; its first section composed during one of the darkest periods of His incarceration in the prison-fortress of Akka, proclaims, categorically and unequivocally, the fundamental beliefs of the followers of the Faith of Baha"u"llah; reveals, in unmistakable language, the twofold character of the Mission of the Bab; discloses the full station of the Author of the Baha"i Revelation; a.s.serts that "all others are servants unto Him and do His bidding"; stresses the importance of the Kitab-i-Aqdas; establishes the inst.i.tution of the Guardianship as a hereditary office and outlines its essential functions; provides the measures for the election of the International House of Justice, defines its scope and sets forth its relationship to that Inst.i.tution; prescribes the obligations, and emphasizes the responsibilities, of the Hands of the Cause of G.o.d; and extolls the virtues of the indestructible Covenant established by Baha"u"llah. That Doc.u.ment, furthermore, lauds the courage and constancy of the supporters of Baha"u"llah"s Covenant; expatiates on the sufferings endured by its appointed Center; recalls the infamous conduct of Mirza Ya?ya and his failure to heed the warnings of the Bab; exposes, in a series of indictments, the perfidy and rebellion of Mirza Mu?ammad-"Ali, and the complicity of his son _Sh_u"a"u"llah and of his brother Mirza Badi"u"llah; reaffirms their excommunication, and predicts the frustration of all their hopes; summons the Afnan (the Bab"s kindred), the Hands of the Cause and the entire company of the followers of Baha"u"llah to arise unitedly to propagate His Faith, to disperse far and wide, to labor tirelessly and to follow the heroic example of the Apostles of Jesus Christ; warns them against the dangers of a.s.sociation with the Covenant-breakers, and bids them shield the Cause from the a.s.saults of the insincere and the hypocrite; and counsels them to demonstrate by their conduct the universality of the Faith they have espoused, and vindicate its high principles. In that same Doc.u.ment its Author reveals the significance and purpose of the ?uququ"llah (Right of G.o.d), already inst.i.tuted in the Kitab-i-Aqdas; enjoins submission and fidelity towards all monarchs who are just; expresses His longing for martyrdom, and voices His prayers for the repentance as well as the forgiveness of His enemies.

Obedient to the summons issued by the Author of so momentous a Doc.u.ment; conscious of their high calling; galvanized into action by the shock sustained through the unexpected and sudden removal of "Abdu"l-Baha; guided by the Plan which He, the Architect of the Administrative Order, had entrusted to their hands; undeterred by the attacks directed against it by betrayers and enemies, jealous of its gathering strength and blind to its unique significance, the members of the widely-scattered Baha"i communities, in both the East and the West, arose with clear vision and inflexible determination to inaugurate the Formative Period of their Faith by laying the foundations of that world-embracing Administrative system designed to evolve into a World Order which posterity must acclaim as the promise and crowning glory of all the Dispensations of the past. Not content with the erection and consolidation of the administrative machinery provided for the preservation of the unity and the efficient conduct of the affairs of a steadily expanding community, the followers of the Faith of Baha"u"llah resolved, in the course of the two decades following "Abdu"l-Baha"s pa.s.sing, to a.s.sert and demonstrate by their acts the independent character of that Faith, to enlarge still further its limits and swell the number of its avowed supporters.

In this triple world-wide effort, it should be noted, the role played by the American Baha"i community, since the pa.s.sing of "Abdu"l-Baha until the termination of the first Baha"i century, has been such as to lend a tremendous impetus to the development of the Faith throughout the world, to vindicate the confidence placed in its members by "Abdu"l-Baha Himself, and to justify the high praise He bestowed upon them and the fond hopes He entertained for their future. Indeed so preponderating has been the influence of its members in both the initiation and the consolidation of Baha"i administrative inst.i.tutions that their country may well deserve to be recognized as the cradle of the Administrative Order which Baha"u"llah Himself had envisaged and which the Will of the Center of His Covenant had called into being.

It should be borne in mind in this connection that the preliminary steps aiming at the disclosure of the scope and working of this Administrative Order, which was now to be formally established after "Abdu"l-Baha"s pa.s.sing, had already been taken by Him, and even by Baha"u"llah in the years preceding His ascension. The appointment by Him of certain outstanding believers in Persia as "Hands of the Cause"; the initiation of local a.s.semblies and boards of consultation by "Abdu"l-Baha in leading Baha"i centers in both the East and the West; the formation of the Baha"i Temple Unity in the United States of America; the establishment of local funds for the promotion of Baha"i activities; the purchase of property dedicated to the Faith and its future inst.i.tutions; the founding of publishing societies for the dissemination of Baha"i literature; the erection of the first Ma_sh_riqu"l-A_dh_kar of the Baha"i world; the construction of the Bab"s mausoleum on Mt. Carmel; the inst.i.tution of hostels for the accommodation of itinerant teachers and pilgrims-these may be regarded as the precursors of the inst.i.tutions which, immediately after the closing of the Heroic Age of the Faith, were to be permanently and systematically established throughout the Baha"i world.

No sooner had the provisions of that Divine Charter, delineating the features of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha"u"llah been disclosed to His followers than they set about erecting, upon the foundations which the lives of the heroes, the saints and martyrs of that Faith had laid, the first stage of the framework of its administrative inst.i.tutions. Conscious of the necessity of constructing, as a first step, a broad and solid base upon which the pillars of that mighty structure could subsequently be raised; fully aware that upon these pillars, when firmly established, the dome, the final unit crowning the entire edifice, must eventually rest; undeflected in their course by the crisis which the Covenant-breakers had precipitated in the Holy Land, or the agitation which the stirrers of mischief had provoked in Egypt, or the disturbances resulting from the seizure by the _Sh_i"ah community of the House of Baha"u"llah in Ba_gh_dad, or the growing dangers confronting the Faith in Russia, or the scorn and ridicule which had greeted the initial activities of the American Baha"i community from certain quarters that had completely misapprehended their purpose, the pioneer builders of a divinely-conceived Order undertook, in complete unison, and despite the great diversity in their outlook, customs and languages, the double task of establishing and of consolidating their local councils, elected by the rank and file of the believers, and designed to direct, coordinate and extend the activities of the followers of a far-flung Faith. In Persia, in the United States of America, in the Dominion of Canada, in the British Isles, in France, in Germany, in Austria, in India, in Burma, in Egypt, in "Iraq, in Russian Turkistan, in the Caucasus, in Australia, in New Zealand, in South Africa, in Turkey, in Syria, in Palestine, in Bulgaria, in Mexico, in the Philippine Islands, in Jamaica, in Costa Rica, in Guatemala, in Honduras, in San Salvador, in Argentina, in Uruguay, in Chile, in Brazil, in Ecuador, in Colombia, in Paraguay, in Peru, in Alaska, in Cuba, in Haiti, in j.a.pan, in the Hawaiian Islands, in Tunisia, in Puerto Rico, in Balu_ch_istan, in Russia, in Transjordan, in Lebanon, and in Abyssinia such councils, const.i.tuting the basis of the rising Order of a long-persecuted Faith, were gradually established. Designated as "Spiritual a.s.semblies"-an appellation that must in the course of time be replaced by their permanent and more descriptive t.i.tle of "Houses of Justice," bestowed upon them by the Author of the Baha"i Revelation; inst.i.tuted, without any exception, in every city, town and village where nine or more adult believers are resident; annually and directly elected, on the first day of the greatest Baha"i Festival by all adult believers, men and women alike; invested with an authority rendering them unanswerable for their acts and decisions to those who elect them; solemnly pledged to follow, under all conditions, the dictates of the "Most Great Justice" that can alone usher in the reign of the "Most Great Peace" which Baha"u"llah has proclaimed and must ultimately establish; charged with the responsibility of promoting at all times the best interests of the communities within their jurisdiction, of familiarizing them with their plans and activities and of inviting them to offer any recommendations they might wish to make; cognizant of their no less vital task of demonstrating, through a.s.sociation with all liberal and humanitarian movements, the universality and comprehensiveness of their Faith; dissociated entirely from all sectarian organizations, whether religious or secular; a.s.sisted by committees annually appointed by, and directly responsible to, them, to each of which a particular branch of Baha"i activity is a.s.signed for study and action; supported by local funds to which all believers voluntarily contribute; these a.s.semblies, the representatives and custodians of the Faith of Baha"u"llah, numbering, at the present time, several hundred, and whose membership is drawn from the diversified races, creeds and cla.s.ses const.i.tuting the world-wide Baha"i community, have, in the course of the last two decades, abundantly demonstrated, by virtue of their achievements, their right to be regarded as the chief sinews of Baha"i society, as well as the ultimate foundation of its administrative structure.

"The Lord hath ordained," is Baha"u"llah"s injunction in His Kitab-i-Aqdas, "that in every city a House of Justice be established, wherein shall gather counsellors to the number of Baha (9), and should it exceed this number, it doth not matter. It behoveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men, and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of G.o.d for all that dwell on earth. It is inc.u.mbent upon them to take counsel together, and to have regard for the interests of the servants of G.o.d, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly." "These Spiritual a.s.semblies," is "Abdu"l-Baha"s testimony, in a Tablet addressed to an American believer, "are aided by the Spirit of G.o.d. Their defender is "Abdu"l-Baha. Over them He spreadeth His Wings. What bounty is there greater than this?" "These Spiritual a.s.semblies," He, in that same Tablet has declared, "are shining lamps and heavenly gardens, from which the fragrances of holiness are diffused over all regions, and the lights of knowledge are shed abroad over all created things. From them the spirit of life streameth in every direction. They, indeed, are the potent sources of the progress of man, at all times and under all conditions." Establishing beyond any doubt their G.o.d-given authority, He has written: "It is inc.u.mbent upon every one not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual a.s.sembly, and all must a.s.suredly obey with heart and soul its bidding, and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged." "If after discussion," He, furthermore has written, "a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, a majority of voices must prevail."

Having established the structure of their local a.s.semblies-the base of the edifice which the Architect of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha"u"llah had directed them to erect-His disciples, in both the East and the West, unhesitatingly embarked on the next and more difficult stage, of their high enterprise. In countries where the local Baha"i communities had sufficiently advanced in number and in influence measures were taken for the initiation of National a.s.semblies, the pivots round which all national undertakings must revolve. Designated by "Abdu"l-Baha in His Will as the "Secondary Houses of Justice," they const.i.tute the electoral bodies in the formation of the International House of Justice, and are empowered to direct, unify, coordinate and stimulate the activities of individuals as well as local a.s.semblies within their jurisdiction. Resting on the broad base of organized local communities, themselves pillars sustaining the inst.i.tution which must be regarded as the apex of the Baha"i Administrative Order, these a.s.semblies are elected, according to the principle of proportional representation, by delegates representative of Baha"i local communities a.s.sembled at Convention during the period of the Ridvan Festival; are possessed of the necessary authority to enable them to insure the harmonious and efficient development of Baha"i activity within their respective spheres; are freed from all direct responsibility for their policies and decisions to their electorates; are charged with the sacred duty of consulting the views, of inviting the recommendations and of securing the confidence and cooperation of the delegates and of acquainting them with their plans, problems and actions; and are supported by the resources of national funds to which all ranks of the faithful are urged to contribute. Inst.i.tuted in the United States of America (1925) (the National a.s.sembly superseding in that country the inst.i.tution of Baha"i Temple Unity formed during "Abdu"l-Baha"s ministry), in the British Isles (1923), in Germany (1923), in Egypt (1924), in "Iraq (1931), in India (1923), in Persia (1934) and in Australia (1934); their election renewed annually by delegates whose number has been fixed, according to national requirements, at 9, 19, 95, or 171 (9 times 19), these national bodies have through their emergence signalized the birth of a new epoch in the Formative Age of the Faith, and marked a further stage in the evolution, the unification and consolidation of a continually expanding community. Aided by national committees responsible to and chosen by them, without discrimination, from among the entire body of the believers within their jurisdiction, and to each of which a particular sphere of Baha"i service is allocated, these Baha"i National a.s.semblies have, as the scope of their activities steadily enlarged, proved themselves, through the spirit of discipline which they have inculcated and through their uncompromising adherence to principles which have enabled them to rise above all prejudices of race, nation, cla.s.s and color, capable of administering, in a remarkable fashion, the multiplying activities of a newly-consolidated Faith.

Nor have the national committees themselves been less energetic and devoted in the discharge of their respective functions. In the defense of the Faith"s vital interests, in the exposition of its doctrine; in the dissemination of its literature; in the consolidation of its finances; in the organization of its teaching force; in the furtherance of the solidarity of its component parts; in the purchase of its historic sites; in the preservation of its sacred records, treasures and relics; in its contacts with the various inst.i.tutions of the society of which it forms a part; in the education of its youth; in the training of its children; in the improvement of the status of its women adherents in the East; the members of these diversified agencies, operating under the aegis of the elected national representatives of the Baha"i community, have amply demonstrated their capacity to promote effectively its vital and manifold interests. The mere enumeration of the national committees which, originating mostly in the West and functioning with exemplary efficiency in the United States and Canada, now carry on their activities with a vigor and a unity of purpose which sharply contrast with the effete inst.i.tutions of a moribund civilization, would suffice to reveal the scope of these auxiliary inst.i.tutions which an evolving Administrative Order, still in the secondary stage of its development, has set in motion: The Teaching Committee, the Regional Teaching Committees; the Inter-America Committee; the Publishing Committee; the Race Unity Committee; the Youth Committee; the Reviewing Committee; The Temple Maintenance Committee; the Temple Program Committee; the Temple Guides Committee; the Temple Librarian and Sales Committee; the Boys" and Girls" Service Committees; the Child Education Committee; the Women"s Progress, Teaching, and Program Committees; the Legal Committee; the Archives and History Committee; the Census Committee; the Baha"i Exhibits Committee; the Baha"i News Committee; the Baha"i News Service Committee; the Braille Transcriptions Committee; the Contacts Committee; the Service Committee; the Editorial Committee; the Index Committee; the Library Committee; the Radio Committee; the Accountant Committee; the Annual Souvenir Committee; the Baha"i World Editorial Committee; the Study Outline Committee; the International Auxiliary Language Committee; the Inst.i.tute of Baha"i Education Committee; the World Order Magazine Committee; the Baha"i Public Relations Committee; the Baha"i Schools Committee; the Summer Schools Committee; the International School Committee; the Pamphlet Literature Committee; the Baha"i Cemetery Committee; the Haziratu"l-Quds Committee; the Ma_sh_riqu"l-A_dh_kar Committee; the a.s.sembly Development Committee; the National History Committee; the Miscellaneous Materials Committee; the Free Literature Committee; the Translation Committee; the Cataloguing Tablets Committee; the Editing Tablets Committee; the Properties Committee; the Adjustments Committee; the Publicity Committee; the East and West Committee; the Welfare Committee; the Transcription of Tablets Committee; the Traveling Teachers Committee; the Baha"i Education Committee; the Holy Sites Committee; the Children"s Savings Bank Committee.

The establishment of local and national a.s.semblies and the subsequent formation of local and national committees, acting as necessary adjuncts to the elected representatives of Baha"i communities in both the East and the West, however remarkable in themselves, were but a prelude to a series of undertakings on the part of the newly formed National a.s.semblies, which have contributed in no small measure to the unification of the Baha"i world community and the consolidation of its Administrative Order. The initial step taken in that direction was the drafting and adoption of a Baha"i National const.i.tution, first framed and promulgated by the elected representatives of the American Baha"i Community in 1927, the text of which has since, with slight variations suited to national requirements, been translated into Arabic, German and Persian, and const.i.tutes, at the present time, the charter of the National Spiritual a.s.semblies of the Baha"is of the United States and Canada, of the British Isles, of Germany, of Persia, of "Iraq, of India and Burma, of Egypt and the Sudan and of Australia and New Zealand. Heralding the formulation of the const.i.tution of the future Baha"i World Community; submitted for the consideration of all local a.s.semblies and ratified by the entire body of the recognized believers in countries possessing national a.s.semblies, this national const.i.tution has been supplemented by a similar doc.u.ment, containing the by-laws of Baha"i local a.s.semblies, first drafted by the New York Baha"i community in November, 1931, and accepted as a pattern for all local Baha"i const.i.tutions. The text of this national const.i.tution comprises a Declaration of Trust, whose articles set forth the character and objects of the national Baha"i community, establish the functions, designate the central office, and describe the official seal, of the body of its elected representatives, as well as a set of by-laws which define the status, the mode of election, the powers and duties of both local and national a.s.semblies, describe the relation of the National a.s.sembly to the International House of Justice as well as to local a.s.semblies and individual believers, outline the rights and obligations of the National Convention and its relation to the National a.s.sembly, disclose the character of Baha"i elections, and lay down the requirements of voting membership in all Baha"i communities.

The framing of these const.i.tutions, both local and national, identical to all intents and purposes in their provisions, provided the necessary foundation for the legal incorporation of these administrative inst.i.tutions in accordance with civil statutes controlling religious or commercial bodies. Giving these a.s.semblies a legal standing, this incorporation greatly consolidated their power and enlarged their capacity, and in this regard the achievement of the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha"is of the United States and Canada and the Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha"is of New York again set an example worthy of emulation by their sister a.s.semblies in both the East and the West. The incorporation of the American National Spiritual a.s.sembly as a voluntary Trust, a species of corporation recognized under the common law, enabling it to enter into contract, hold property and receive bequests by virtue of a certificate issued in May, 1929, under the seal of the Department of State in Washington and bearing the signature of the Secretary of State, Henry L. Stimson, was followed by the adoption of similar legal measures resulting in the successive incorporation of the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha"is of India and Burma, in January, 1933, in Lah.o.r.e, in the state of Punjab, according to the provisions of the Societies Registration Act of 1860; of the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha"is of Egypt and the Sudan, in December, 1934, as certified by the Mixed Court in Cairo; of the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha"is of Australia and New Zealand, in January, 1938, as witnessed by the Deputy Registrar at the General Registry Office for the state of South Australia; and more recently of the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha"is of the British Isles, in August, 1939, as an unlimited non-profit company, under the Companies Act, 1929, and certified by the a.s.sistant Registrar of Companies in the City of London.

Parallel with the legal incorporation of these National a.s.semblies a far larger number of Baha"i local a.s.semblies were similarly incorporated, following the example set by the Chicago Baha"i a.s.sembly in February, 1932, in countries as far apart as the United States of America, India, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Burma, Costa Rica, Balu_ch_istan and the Hawaiian Islands. The Spiritual a.s.semblies of the Baha"is of Esslingen in Germany, of Mexico City in Mexico, of San Jose in Costa Rica, of Sydney and Adelaide in Australia, of Auckland in New Zealand, of Delhi, Bombay, Karachi, Poona, Calcutta, Secunderabad, Bangalore, Vellore, Ahmedabad, Serampore, Andheri and Baroda in India, of Tuetta in Balu_ch_istan, of Rangoon, Mandalay and Daidanow-Kalazoo in Burma, of Montreal and Vancouver in Canada, of Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands, and of Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Kenosha, Teaneck, Racine, Detroit, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Winnetka, Phoenix, Columbus, Lima, Portland, Jersey City, Wilmette, Peoria, Seattle, Binghamton, Helena, Richmond Highlands, Miami, Pasadena, Oakland, Indianapolis, St.

Paul, Berkeley, Urbana, Springfield and Flint in the United States of America-all these succeeded, gradually and after submitting the text of almost identical Baha"i local const.i.tutions to the civil authorities in their respective states or provinces, in const.i.tuting themselves into societies and corporations recognized by law, and protected by the civil statutes operating in their respective countries.

Just as the formulation of Baha"i const.i.tutions had provided the foundation for the incorporation of Baha"i Spiritual a.s.semblies, so did the recognition accorded by local and national authorities to the elected representatives of Baha"i communities pave the way for the establishment of national and local Baha"i endowments-a historic undertaking which, as had been the case with previous achievements of far-reaching importance, the American Baha"i Community was the first to initiate. In most cases these endowments, owing to their religious character, have been exempted from both government and munic.i.p.al taxes, as a result of representations made by the incorporated Baha"i bodies to the civil authorities, though the value of the properties thus exempted has, in more than one country, amounted to a considerable sum.

In the United States of America the national endowments of the Faith, already representing one and three-quarter million dollars of a.s.sets, and established through a series of Indentures of Trust, created in 1928, 1929, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1942 by the National Spiritual a.s.sembly in that country, acting as Trustees of the American Baha"i Community, now include the land and structure of the Ma_sh_riqu"l-A_dh_kar, and the caretaker"s cottage in Wilmette, Ill.; the adjoining Haziratu"l-Quds (Baha"i National Headquarters) and its supplementary administrative office; the Inn, the Fellowship House, the Baha"i Hall, the Arts and Crafts Studio, a farm, a number of cottages, several parcels of land, including the holding on Monsalvat, blessed by the footsteps of "Abdu"l-Baha, in Green Acre, in the state of Maine; Bosch House, the Baha"i Hall, a fruit orchard, the Redwood Grove, a dormitory and Ranch Buildings in Geyserville, Calif.; Wilhelm House, Evergreen Cabin, a pine grove and seven lots with buildings at West Englewood, N.J., the scene of the memorable Unity Feast given by "Abdu"l-Baha, in June, 1912, to the Baha"is of the New York Metropolitan district; Wilson House, blessed by His presence, and land in Malden, Ma.s.s.; Mathews House and Ranch Buildings in Pine Valley, Colo.; land in Muskegon, Mich., and a cemetery lot in Portsmouth, N.H.

Of even greater importance, and in their aggregate far surpa.s.sing in value the national endowments of the American Baha"i community, though their t.i.tle-deeds are, owing to the inability of the Persian Baha"i community to incorporate its national and local a.s.semblies, held in trust by individuals, are the a.s.sets which the Faith now possesses in the land of its origin. To the House of the Bab in _Sh_iraz and the ancestral Home of Baha"u"llah in Takur, Mazindaran, already in the possession of the community in the days of "Abdu"l-Baha"s ministry, have, since His ascension, been added extensive properties, in the outskirts of the capital, situated on the slopes of Mt. Alburz, overlooking the native city of Baha"u"llah, including a farm, a garden and vineyard, comprising an area of over three million and a half square meters, preserved as the future site of the first Ma_sh_riqu"l-A_dh_kar in Persia. Other acquisitions that have greatly extended the range of Baha"i endowments in that country include the House in which Baha"u"llah was born in ?ihran; several buildings adjoining the House of the Bab in _Sh_iraz, including the house owned by His maternal uncle; the Haziratu"l-Quds in ?ihran; the shop occupied by the Bab during the years He was a merchant in Bu_sh_ihr; a quarter of the village of _Ch_ihriq, where He was confined; the house of ?aji Mirza Jani, where He tarried on His way to Tabriz; the public bath used by Him in _Sh_iraz and some adjacent houses; half of the house owned by Vahid in Nayriz and part of the house owned by Hujjat in Zanjan; the three gardens rented by Baha"u"llah in the hamlet of Bada_sh_t; the burial-place of Quddus in Barfuru_sh_; the house of Kalantar in ?ihran, the scene of Tahirih"s confinement; the public bath visited by the Bab when in Urumiyyih, a_dh_irbayjan; the house owned by Mirza ?usayn-"Aliy-i-Nur, where the Bab"s remains had been concealed; the Babiyyih and the house owned by Mulla ?usayn in Ma_sh_had; the residence of the Sul?anu"_sh_-_Sh_uhuda (King of Martyrs) and of the Ma?bubu"_sh_-_Sh_uhada (Beloved of Martyrs) in I?fahan, as well as a considerable number of sites and houses, including burial-places, a.s.sociated with the heroes and martyrs of the Faith. These holdings which, with very few exceptions, have been recently acquired in Persia, are now being preserved and yearly augmented, and, whenever necessary, carefully restored, through the a.s.siduous efforts of a specially appointed national committee, acting under the constant and general supervision of the elected representatives of the Persian believers.

Nor should mention be omitted of the varied and multiplying national a.s.sets which, ever since the inception of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha"u"llah, have been steadily acquired in other countries such as India, Burma, the British Isles, Germany, "Iraq, Egypt, Australia, Transjordan and Syria. Among these may be specially mentioned the Haziratu"l-Quds of the Baha"is of "Iraq, the Haziratu"l-Quds of the Baha"is of Egypt, the Haziratu"l-Quds of the Baha"is of India, the Haziratu"l-Quds of the Baha"is of Australia, the Baha"i Home in Esslingen, the Publishing Trust of the Baha"is of the British Isles, the Baha"i Pilgrim House in Ba_gh_dad, and the Baha"i Cemeteries established in the capitals of Persia, Egypt and Turkistan. Whether in the form of land, schools, administrative headquarters, secretariats, libraries, cemeteries, hostels or publishing companies, these widely scattered a.s.sets, partly registered in the name of incorporated National a.s.semblies, and partly held in trust by individual recognized believers, have contributed their share to the uninterrupted expansion of national Baha"i endowments in recent years as well as to the consolidation of their foundations. Of vital importance, though less notable in significance, have been, moreover, the local endo

Prev List Next