Her Majesty Queen of Rumania
From an autographed photograph presented to Martha Root
November 26, 2011
November 25, 2011
Haji Amin -- Apostle of Baha'u'llah, Hand of the Cause, the Trustee of Huququ'lláh
Hand of the Cause Mulla Abu'l-Hasan-i-Ardikani, surnamed Amin, Apostle of Baha'u'llah, the Trustee of Huququ'lláh
Mulla Abu'l-Hasan-i-Ardikani, who is known as Haji Amin or Amin-i-Ilahi, was born in about the year AH 1232 (AD 21 November 1816 -- 10 November 1817) in Ardikan, a small town near Yazd. At seventeen years of age he married into a family of Bábís of the town. He was persuaded to investigate the new religion and eventually, shortly after the martyrdom of the Báb, he declared his belief. When news of the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh came, he accepted immediately and travelled throughout Iran meeting other Bábís and teaching them of the advent of Bahá'u'lláh. After a time he became the assistant of Haji Shah-Muhammad Manshadi, Aminu'l-Bayan, who was the Trustee of the Huququ'lláh.[1] He would travel about the country, earning his living by trading and also by acting as a writer for those who could not write. At the same time he collected the Huququ'lláh and any letters that the believers wished to forward to Bahá'u'lláh, and also distributed Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh when these were received. He came to 'Akká while Bahá'u'lláh was still imprisoned in the citadel and succeeded in establishing contact with the exiles. He was the first Bahá'í from the outside world to be able to meet Bahá'u'lláh in 'Akká (in the Public Baths). He returned to 'Akká on several further occasions. When Haji Shah-Muhammad Manshadi was killed in 1880, Haji Abu'l-Hasan was appointed Trustee (Amin) of the Huququ'lláh. In 1891 he was imprisoned with Haji Akhund for three years in Tihran and Qazvin. In the time of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he continued his travels, visiting 'Akká and Haifa on several occasions. Towards the end of his life he resided in Tihran and Haji Ghulam-Rida, Amin-i-Amin, was appointed his assistant. He died in 1928 and was posthumously named a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi. (Balyuzi, ‘Eminent Baha’is in the Time of Baha’u’llah’, p. 263)
[1]. The 'Right of God' -- a payment by believers instituted in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
November 24, 2011
Sarah Farmer -- Founder of Green Acre
Sarah Farmer
Sarah Farmer was one of America's early religious
innovators. She owned the Green Acre Inn in Eliot, Maine, and offered
conferences on progressive subjects in the sciences, arts, and religion. These
gatherings brought together leading writers, educators, and philosophers.
Farmer eventually became a Baha'i and travelled to Akka for pilgrimage at the
turn of the century. When 'Abdu'l Baha visited America in 1912, he stayed at
Green Acre.
Tablet from ‘Abdu'l-Baba to Sarah Farmer
O Maid-servant of God! Be rejoiced at this glad tidings, whereby the hearts of the people of the Kingdom of Abha are moved with joy. Verily, I beseech God to make Green Acre as the Paradise of Abha, so that the melodies of the Nightingales of Sanctity may be heard from it, and that the chanting of the Verses of Unity may be raised therein, to cause the clouds of the great Gift to pour upon it the rains falling from heaven, to make those countries become verdant with the myrtles of Truth and Inner Significances, and to plant therein blessed trees, with the Hand of Providence, which may bring forth pure and excellent fruits wherefrom the Fragrances of God may be diffused throughout all regions. These signs shall surely appear, and these lights shall shine forth.
(The Baha’i World 1936-1938)
(The Baha’i World 1936-1938)
November 12, 2011
Lady Sara Louise Blomfield – Sitarih Khanum
Lady Sara Louise Blomfield – Sitarih Khanum
Prominent British Baha'i, named Sitarih ('star') Khanum by 'Abdu'l-Baha. Of mixed Catholic-Protestant Irish background, she became Part of London high society, marrying the architect Sir Arthur William Blomfield, a son of the bishop of London. After her husband's death in 1899 she became increasingly interested in movements such as Theosophy and in 1907 encountered the Baha’is in Paris. Her home (97 Cadogan Gardens) was 'Abdu'l-Baha's base during His visits to Britain (1911, 1912-1913). She and her daughters also attended 'Abdu'l-Baha in Paris and published their notes on his talks (Talks by Abdu'l-Baha Given In Paris, 19L2;later re-titled Paris Talks). After World War I she became involved in the work of the Save the Children Fund and sought to pro mote the Bah a'i teachings within League of Nations circles. She accompanied Shoghi Effendi back to Haifa after 'Abdu'l-Baha's death and wrote with him the memorial booklet ‘The Passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha (1922)'. She was amongst the group of prominent 'Western Baha’is who consulted with Shoghi Effendi about the future progress of the Faith in 1922, and was subsequently involved with the development of the Baha'i administration in Britain. During lengthy stays in Haifa she gathered notes on Baha’i history - many of them from the sister, wife and one of the daughters of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. These were subsequently published as ‘The Chosen Highway (1940)’.
(Adapted from ‘A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith’, by Peter Smith)
(Adapted from ‘A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith’, by Peter Smith)
November 5, 2011
October 29, 2011
Robert Turner -- One of the 19 Disciples of 'Abdu'l-Baha and the first member of the negro race in the Western Hemisphere to embrace the Faith
Robert Turner
Born on October 15, 1855 or 1856, he was the first member of the negro race in the Western Hemisphere to embrace the Faith.[God Passes By, p. 259]. Since it is estimated that Robert was born in Virginia in about 1855-56, it is possible that he was born enslaved.[The American Baha’i, November 23, 2005] He was for some 35 years a butler in the household of Phoebe Hearst (eventually becoming her personal butler -- a position of considerable responsibility). Shortly before 1898, Phoebe Hearst received Lua Getsinger in her San Francisco home. Lua introduced the Faith to her while Robert was in attendance serving tea. Naturally, he overheard the conversation and, like Mrs. Hearst, was touched by what he heard. He was with Phoebe Hearst when, in 1898, she arranged for the first group of Baha’i pilgrims to visit 'Abdu'l-Baha in 'Akka. On 10 December 1898 Robert was warmly received by 'Abdu'l-Baha Who raised him to his feet and embraced him when, on first seeing the Master, he had dropped to his knees calling out, "My Lord! My Lord! I am not worthy to be here. On a later occasion 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "Robert, your Lord loves you.” [Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, p. 72] Robert later encountered many difficulties, but remained staunch in his new faith; he died in 1909 not many years after his return from the Holy Land. (Adapted from ‘The A to Z of the Baha’i Faith, by Hugh Adamson)
October 9, 2011
Dr. Susan Moody and Elizabeth Stewart
Dr. Susan Moody (left) with Elizabeth Stewart, the faithful Baha'i nurse who served with Dr. Moody in Tihran, Persia for many years.
August 7, 2011
July 31, 2011
Rafieh Mansour -- patient handmaiden of God
Rafieh Mansour
In 1889, when Rafieh was three years old, her family had the joy of being invited by Baha'u'llah to move to the Holy Land where she lived until 1938. During the first three years of her stay in 'Akka, she was many times permitted into the presence of Baha'u'llah. Her uncle, Muhammad Hasan had served Baha'u'llah as a secretary when He was in Adrianople. Baha'u'llah had sent him back to Baghdad with a promise that he would be invited to rejoin Him in one Vahid (nineteen years) -- which happened in 1889! Her grandfather, 'Abdu'l-Rasoul was one of the famed martyrs of the Heroic Age of the Faith. Her mother, Zekrieh, was asked by 'Abdu'l-Baha to take on the responsibility for caring for the House of 'Abud. Her mother's parents were the first believers in Baghdad. They accepted the Faith in the days of Tahirih and it was her grandfather who helped to escort Tahirih from Baghdad back to Iran. (Adapted from Baha'i News, April 1974)
July 24, 2011
Kanichi Yamamoto: the world's first Japanese believer
Kanichi Yamamoto: the world's first Japanese believer (Baha'i News July 1977)
July 23, 2011
July 17, 2011
July 16, 2011
May Bolles Maxwell and daughter Mary
May Bolles Maxwell and daughter Mary
May Bolles Maxwell was one of that first group of pilgrims
from the West who, in 1898-99, visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá while He was still a
prisoner in ‘Akká. She records her memories of the occasion in the
following pages.
Those days in the prison-city oriented forever the course of
her life. She gave her heart, her entire being to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and served
Him and His appointed successor, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith, to
the end of her days. Her first mission, under ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s direction,
was to teach the Faith in Europe, particularly France. She returned to
Paris and quickly gathered about her a group, which by 1901-02 numbered some
thirty Bahá’ís. Among them were Edith MacKaye (the first convert), Herbert
Hopper, Marie Squires, Helen Cole, Laura Barney, Edith Jackson, Thomas
Breakwell (first English believer), Hippolyte Dreyfus (first French believer),
Agnes Alexander.
July 10, 2011
Hand of the Cause Corinne True and her daughters
Hand of the Cause Corinne True and her daughters at the time of the dedication of the House of Worship in Chicago on May 1, 1953. From left, Dr. Katherine True, Arna True Perron, Mrs. True, and Edna True. Both Katherine and Edna were members of the National Spiritual Assembly at that time. Edna was appointed a Continental Counsellor by the Universal House of Justice in 1968. (Baha'i News, February 1976)
Corinne True, "Mother of Temple" in Chicago
May 30, 2011
May 28, 2011
May 26, 2011
Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga with members of his family
Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga (second from left) with members of his family; to his left, his daughter, Florence, a student at Tororo Girls' School; to his right, his wife, Elizabeth; and extreme right, his son, George (Baha'i News July 1972)
Enoch Olinga and his wife Elizabeth during a Baha'i conference in Brazil in 1977. (Baha'i News, December 1979)
Enoch Olinga was the first member of the Teso tribe to
declare his faith in Baha’u’llah in Uganda and one of the first three Africans
to become Baha’is. As Mrs. Banani, wife of the Hand of the Cause Musa Banani, in
whose home he declared his faith mentioned that he became a Baha'i through the prayers
of the Guardian. While on pilgrimage the Bananis had asked the Guardian to pray
for the success of a fireside which they were holding on a specific day. The
Guardian had assured them that he would do so, and on that evening in Africa,
Enoch Olinga made his declaration of faith.
Mr. Olinga was one of
the few fortunate Africans of his time to receive a complete education and as a
result was many times offered high positions in government. He refused post
after post in order to consecrate his life to the Cause, and out of respect for
the Baha'i principle of avoidance of involvement in politics.
May 22, 2011
Mustafa Baghdadi
Mustafa Baghdadi
Mustafa Baghdadi lived for many years In Beirut, Syria. He was one of the earliest followers of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. He provided countless services for the Faith. Throughout his life he was firm and full of zeal. His house was at the disposal of all pilgrims and his services to them were invaluable. Many of the American friends, passing through Beirut to visit ‘Abdul-Bahá in Akka and Haifa, bear testimony to the nobility of his spirit and the strength of his character. All loved and revered him and looked up to him as one of the spiritual souls of the earlier days. His winsome manner and gentleness of heart attracted all those who came in contact with him and carried away the sweet fragrance of his life. He had three sons, Hussein Ighbal, Ali Ehsan and Zia Baghdadi, who studied sciences and were active servants in the Cause. Zia Baghadi was loved and respected by all the American friends for his earnestness and enthusiasm. He studied medicine in the US and assisted with the Persian section of the Star of the West magazine.
(Adapted from the Stat of the West, vol. 1, no. 17, Jan. 19, 1911)
(Adapted from the Stat of the West, vol. 1, no. 17, Jan. 19, 1911)
May 21, 2011
Martha Root - "Herald of the Kingdom"; “the foremost Hand raised by Bahá'u'lláh since 'Abdu'l-Bahá's passing”; “the first, finest fruit which the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh has as yet produced”; “that archetype of Bahá'í itinerant teachers”
Martha Root
Martha's unnumbered
admirers throughout Bahá'í world lament with me the earthly extinction of her
heroic life. Concourse on high acclaim her elevation to rightful position in
galaxy of Bahá'í immortals. Posterity will establish her as foremost Hand which
'Abdu'l-Bahá's will has raised up in first Bahá'í century. Present generation
of her fellow-believers recognize her to be the first, finest fruit which the
Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh has as yet produced. Advise hold
befitting memorial gathering in Temple to honor one whose acts shed
imperishable lustre on American Bahá'í community. Impelled share with National
Assembly expenses of erection of monument in symbolic spot,[1] the
meeting-place of East and West, to both of which she unsparingly dedicated the
full force of her mighty energies.
- Shoghi Effendi (Cablegram
October 3, 1939, ‘Messages to America’)
[1 Honolulu]
To Martha Root, that
archetype of Bahá'í itinerant teachers and the foremost Hand raised by
Bahá'u'lláh since 'Abdu'l-Bahá's passing, must be awarded, if her manifold
services and the supreme act of her life are to be correctly appraised, the
title of Leading Ambassadress of His Faith and Pride of Bahá'í teachers,
whether men or women, in both the East and the West.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God
Passes By’)
May 3, 2011
April 30, 2011
Nettie Tobin & the "corner stone" for Chicago Temple
Nettie Tobin kneeling by the stone which she carried as her contribution to the Chicago Temple in the very early days. 'Abdu'l-Baha chose it as the "corner stone" when He visited the site in 1912. The stone is now incorporated into the building, and serves as a special place for prayer and meditation. (The Baha'i World 1932-1934)
April 27, 2011
April 24, 2011
Louise and John Bosch
Louise and John Bosch
John David Bosch was born at Neu-St. Johann, Canton St. Gall, Switzerland, on August 1, 1855. His parents were Michael Johann Bosch and Maria Biegmann; he had three brothers and three sisters, and was his parents' fifth child. When he was nine, his mother died, and he was then brought up by his oldest sister, whom he loved all his life. After attending elementary and “repletitionary" school in Neu-St. Johann, he left Switzerland with a sister and her husband (the Zuberbuhlers), arrived in America in 1879, and went to Amboy, Nebraska where on arrival the Zuberbuhlers purchased a farm. He practised his trade of cooper. "helped with the building of the railroad, and also farmed." He was in Los Angeles, California between 1884 and 1889, and became a citizen of the United States in Los Angeles County in 1887, the document also being registered in Sonoma County in 1892. He married Kathe Krieg in '85 or '86, the marriage ending in divorce around '89. It was about this period that he went to Germany, France and Spain to study winemaking. After holding various good positions in the Valley of the Moon, he purchased the thirty-five acres constituting the original extent of his Geyserville property on October 26, 1901 from Emily B. Smith of Geyserville.
April 23, 2011
Badi - (Wonderful); Pride of Martyrs; Apostle of Baha’u’llah
Aqa Buzurg of Khurasan
Badi (Wonderful); Pride of Martyrs; Apostle of Baha’u’llah. Born Aqa Buzurg-i-Nishapuri, the son of a devoted Babi, he was later given the title Badi' (unique, wonderful) by Baha’u’llah. Reputed to be a wild, unruly youth, he had no interest in his father's affairs until, during the visit to his home of a traveling teacher, Mulla Muhammadi-Zarandi (Nabil-i-A'zam), he listened to some verses from a long poem by Baha’u’llah and was so entranced that he devoted the balance of his life to serving Him. After his conversion he set out to visit Him, traveling on foot from Mosul to 'Akka. It was during this visit that he was chosen to deliver a letter (Tablet) from Baha’u’llah to Nasiri'd-Din Shah . (The A to Z of the Baha’i Faith by Hugh Adamson)
April 22, 2011
Dr. Furutan - One of the Principals of Tarbiyat School, Secretary of Iranian National Spiritual Assembly for 24 years, One of the Nine Custodial Hands of the Cause
Hand of the Cause Dr. 'Ali-Akbar Furutan
In the face of sustained persecution, Dr. Furutan's family left their native city of Sabzivir in Khurasan, Persia, in 1914 and settled in Ashkhabad, Russia. As a youth he became an active member of the local Baha'i community and, whilst still in his teens, became a teacher in its school. In 1926 he won a scholarship to the University of Moscow to study education and child psychology. In 1930 he returned to Iran where he established a school for Baha'i children in one of the villages. Dr. Furutan was appointed as principal of the Tarbiyat school for boys until its closure in 1934, and wrote study books for Baha’i children’s classes which are still in use. In April 1934 he was elected to the newly formed National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Iran and served as its secretary until the passing of Shoghi Effendi in November of 1957. Dr. Furutan was appointed a Hand of the Cause by Shoghi Effendi, in the first contingent of Hands, in December 1951. In 1957 he became one of the nine custodial Hands of the Cause in Haifa. Dr. Furutan’s Persian publications are extensive, and several have been translated into English. (Adapted from ‘A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith’, by Peter Smith)(See also Baha'i Calendar - this month in history)
From the Universal House of Justice:
April 20, 2011
Keith Ransom-Kehler with Zikrullah Khadem
Keith Ransom-Kehler with Zikrullah Khadem (right) and Salim Nounou. Mrs. Ransom-Kehler is holding a picture of Shoghi Effendi, whom she and Zikrullah Khadem both served with exemplary devotion
April 16, 2011
Morassa Rawhani - First woman to become a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Alexandria, Egypt
Morassa (Yazdi) Rawhani
Mrs. Morassa (Yazdi) Rawhani was born in 1887 and named Akkawiya (the one who belongs to 'Akka) by 'Abdu'l-Baha. She was the granddaughter of Haji Abderrehim Yazdi, one of the first bearers of the Sacred Standard. Born in the fortress of 'Akka, she grew up in the Sacred Household under the shelter of the Greatest Holy Leaf.
With her mother, she moved to Alexandria, Egypt where for a few months she was in charge of cleaning the private room of 'Abdu'l-Baha and was asked by Him several times to sew some of His clothes. She was entrusted to be the Early Prayer Reader of His private quarters.
Mrs. Rawhani was the first woman to become a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Alexandria, Egypt, and dedicated her time to deepening the women in her locality.
April 14, 2011
Albert Hall - President of Bahai Temple Unity and Chairman of Annual Convention of the Baha’is of the United States and Canada – 1910 to 1914
Albert Hall
Albert Hall will ever be remembered for his services in the early development of the Bahai Temple Unity, the body entrusted with the building of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar in America.
From 1910 to 1914, Albert H. Hall was selected each year as chairman of the Annual Convention; he was elected a member of the Baha’i Temple Unity during the same period, and was chosen as its president in 1911, which position he held up to and during the year 1914.
April 12, 2011
April 9, 2011
Jamal Effendi - The spiritual father of India and Burma -- the first Baha'i teacher sent to India and Burma by Baha'u'llah in 1875
Sulayman Khan Ilyas, Jamal Effendi
The man whom Providence had destined to become the spiritual father of the subcontinent of India and of Burma was a nobleman of the same province of Iran which had been the home of the ancestors of Bahá'u'lláh. His name was Sulayman Khan and he was a native of Tunukabun. But when he set out in the world to serve the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, he left behind the garb of a nobleman and attired in the garment of a humble man of the cloister travelled far and wide. 'Abdu'l-Bahá says that he 'was given the title of Jamali'd-Din'. He became known as Jamal Effendi.
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