December 6, 2014

Laura Dreyfus-Barney -- “distinguished maidservant”

Laura Dreyfus-Barney
…whose "imperishable service" was to transmit to posterity Some Answered Questions. 
- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated August 1976 addressed to the ‘Friends assembled at the International Teaching Conference in Paris’; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

November 24, 2014

Dr. Susan Moody

Dr. Susan Moody with some Persian Baha'is in Iran

November 12, 2014

Zikrullah Khadem

Zikrullah Khadem, at the time of his his first pilgrimage in 1925 to the Baha'i World Center and the presence of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. That trip made a deep and lasting impression on Zikrullah.

October 1, 2014

Paul Haney

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

September 7, 2014

August 23, 2014

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.

April 2, 2014

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.

February 22, 2014

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.

January 11, 2014

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’)