Paul Haney

Paul Haney with Mrs. Hoar, Mrs. de Lagnel and Helen Hoar, circa 1912

Adelaide Sharp - Principal of Tarbiyat School for girls; the first woman to be elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran

Adelaide Sharp

Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum - Hand of the Cause of God

Ruhiyyih Khanum 1933

Amelia Collins - Hand of the Cause of God

Amelia Collins

Amelia Collins was appointed as a Hand of the Cause in 1947 but the appointment was not made public until December 1951. In a letter dated 14 January 1947 written on behalf of the Guardian to Mrs. Collins, his secretary states:

He wants to make clear to you that when he said, in his recent cable,4 that your example might well be emulated by the nine Hands of the Cause, who will in the future be especially chosen to serve the Guardian, he meant that the very services you have been recently rendering the Cause, because of their nature and their intimate association with him, are of the kind which one of these nine might well be called upon to render. So you see you are not only worthy to be a Hand of the Cause, but have rendered a service which ordinarily would be performed by this select body of nine.

Ibn-i-Asdaq - Apostle of Baha'u'llah and one of four Hands of the Cause of God appointed by Baha'u'llah

Mirza 'Ali-Muhammad, known as Ibn-i-Asdaq

Hushmand Fatheazam – former member of the Universal House of Justice

Hushmand Fatheazam

We have learned, with profound sadness, of the passing of our dearly cherished, greatly esteemed former colleague Hushmand Fatheazam. Tenderness of spirit, profound knowledge, noble humility, and tireless endeavour characterized his highly valued services rendered over the course of many decades, whether as a member of the Universal House of Justice for forty years beginning in 1963, as Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of India, or as an enkindled pioneer, avid proponent of teaching among the masses, and inspired author. His wholehearted and resolute defence of the community of the Greatest Name was unwavering, and his determination in the face of adversity unyielding. Gifted with a unique eloquence in Persian prose and verse, he leaves a remarkable legacy of deploying the power of that language in service to the Cause. Beyond a distinguished record of consecrated exertion in the path of the Blessed Beauty, he will also be remembered for his manifold outstanding personal qualities, for his delightful humour, and for his kindly and radiant heart that exuded an all-embracing love.

William S. Hatcher -- "one of the brightest minds" of the worldwide Baha'i community

William S. Hatcher

In a message of condolence, the Universal House of Justice said that Dr. Hatcher will long be remembered for his "stalwart faith, forceful exposition, and penetrating insights which characterized nearly half a century of ceaseless service to the Baha'i Faith." "The Baha'i world has lost one of its brightest minds, one of its most prolific pens," the Universal House of Justice said.

Dr. Hatcher, 70, died of an illness on 27 November 2005, having made substantial contributions in mathematics, logic, philosophy, religion, and ethics. His popular and scholarly writings and talks were infused with a characteristic clarity of expression, wit, and warmth.

Siyyid Husayn-i-Yazdí, surnamed Azíz – “the Báb’s distinguished amanuensis”

[He] had shared His confinement in both Máh-Kú and Chihríq. A man of rich experience and high merit, deeply versed in the teachings of his Master, and enjoying His unqualified confidence, he, refusing every offer of deliverance from the leading officials of Tihrán, yearned unceasingly for the martyrdom which had been denied him on the day the Báb had laid down His life in the barrack-square of Tabríz. A fellow-prisoner of Bahá’u’lláh in the Síyáh-Chál of Tihrán, from Whom he derived inspiration and solace as he recalled those precious days spent in the company of his Master in Ádhirbayján, he was finally struck down, in circumstances of shameful cruelty, by that same Azíz Khán-i-Sardár who had dealt the fatal blow to Táhirih. 
- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

May and Sutherland Maxwell

May and Sutherland Maxwell

May Maxwell

Mirza Muhammad 'Aliy-i-Nahri -- father of Munirih Khanum

Mirza Muhammad 'Aliy-i-Nahri - a devout early believer. His daughter, Munirih Khanum, became the wife of 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Ali Nakhjavani, Musa Banani and Enoch Olinga

Left to right: Ali Nakhjavani, Musa Banani and Enoch Olinga

James Mbu -- pioneering to Northern Ghana

1956: James Mbu -- a Cameroon believer on his way pioneering to Northern Ghana

Louis Gregory - Hand of the Cause of God

Louis Gregory

Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and Lua Getsinger

Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and Lua Getsinger

Thornton Chase - The First American Baha'i

Thornton Chase

Thornton Chase, 1869, Age 22

Munirih Khanum - the "Holy Mother"

Munirih Khanum ('Abdu'l-Baha's wife)

Leroy Ioas with Amin Banani and Firuz Kazemzadeh

Left to right, Amin Banani, Leroy Ioas, and Firuz Kazemzadeh at 1947 Stanford University graduation 

Hands of the Cause Dr. Varqa and Mr. Furutan

Hands of the Cause Dr. Varqa and Mr. Furutan

Edward and Lua Getsinger

Edward and Lua Getsinger

John Eichenauer - the youngest pioneer of the Faith as of 1939

John Eichenauer, the youngest pioneer of the Faith, who in 1939, at the age of seventeen, went to San Salvador to establish a Baha'i center.

A. Mazakmat - the first Papua New Guinean to become a Baha’ì

A. Mazakmat, the first Papua New Guinean to become a Baha’ì

Gerda and Martin Aiff with their six children

German Baha’is, Gerda and Martin Aiff with their six children, following their arrival in South West Africa (today’s Namibia) in 1959.

Gerda Aiff

May Ellis Bolles

May Ellis Bolles, portrait by the well-known artist Pierre-Emile Cornillier, spring of 1900, the year after her pilgrimage to Akka and meeting ‘Abdu’l-Baha.

May Bolles after her first pilgrimage, circa 1899

Mr. Wantok -- the first Panamanian Baha'i

Mr. Wantok, the first Panamanian Baha'i (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)

Ethel Rosenberg -- England’s Outstanding Baha’i Pioneer-Worker

Ethel Rosenberg

Clara Dunn -- Hand of the Cause

Clara Dunn

In 1957

Hand of the Cause John Robarts and Audrey

John and Audrey Robarts

Robarts family

Hand of the Cause John Robarts and Audrey Robarts

Enoch Olinga, Ali Nakhjavani and some early pioneers in Cameroon

Early pioneers in Cameroon. Sitting left to right: Enoch Olinga, Ali Nakhjavani. Standing: Samuel Najiki, David Taonti, Benedict Ebala.

Hands of the Cause: Dorothy Baker, Shu’a’u’llah Ala’i, Ali-Akbar Furutan, Tarazu’llah Samandari, Musa Banani, and Valiyu’llah Varqa

Some of the Hands of the Cause attending the Stockholm Conference, 1953. From left to right: Dorothy Baker, Shu’a’u’llah Ala’i, Ali-Akbar Furutan, Tarazu’llah Samandari, Musa Banani, and Valiyu’llah Varqa

Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali -- 'the Angel of Mount Carmel'

Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali

Born into a -Shaykhi family of Isfahan, Haydar-'Ali was for a time a disciple of Karim Khan, the Shaykhi opponent of the Báb. But after studying the Bab's Writings and seeing the behaviour of the martyrs, Haydar-'Ali became a Bábi. When Baha’u’llah declared Himself to be the Promised One, Haydar-'Ali accepted Him and met Baha'u'llah in Adrianople. He was sent to Egypt where the Persian consul had him arrested. At the end of ten years' imprisonment in the Sudan, he was sent by Baha'u'llah to Persia and Iraq where he spent some twenty-five years travelling throughout the land, encouraging and inspiring the Persian Baha'is. After the passing of Baha'u'llah, Haydar-'Ali devoted himself to 'Abdu'l-Baha and was a staunch defender of the Covenant. He spent his last years in Haifa where he became known as 'the Angel of Mount Carmel' and wrote his memoirs, The Delight of Hearts. He died in 1920 and is buried in the Baha'i cemetery at the foot of Mount Carmel. (A Basic Baha’i Dictionary, by Wendi Momen)