“O people of the world! Build ye houses of worship
throughout the lands in the name of Him Who is the Lord of all religions. Make
them as perfect as is possible in the world of being, and adorn them with that
which befitteth them, not with images and effigies. Then, with radiance and
joy, celebrate therein the praise of your Lord, the Most Compassionate. Verily,
by His remembrance the eye is cheered and the heart is filled with light.”
(Baha’u’llah, the Kitab-i-Aqdas)
During the lifetime of Baha'u'llah, obeying this command was
impossible because the Middle Eastern Baha'is were persecuted. In order to
escape oppression, many Persian Baha'is fled north, to the lands that formed
part of the Russian Empire. Situated twenty-five miles from the border of Iran
was the town of 'Ishqabad, in the modern Turkmenistan. By the turn of the
century a large and prosperous Baha'i community had developed there, protected
by the tsarist government from persecution. In the autumn of 1902 the 'Ishqabad
Baha'is set out to build the first House of Worship in the Baha'i world.
On 28 November 1902 they laid the cornerstone of the
building. The 'Ishqabad Baha'is were in
regular contact with the Chicago House of spirituality and on 29 November wrote
a letter to them, mentioning the event. A second letter with more details
followed on 10 December:
“The Governor of this state [General Krupatkin], with a
number of Russian officials, came in uniform and with decorations, to
congratulate us upon the building of the Mashrak-el-Azcar; and on that day
there were also three photographers taking pictures of the assembly, one after
another and the Governor built with his own hands, in an appointed place, the
date of commencing the Mashrak-el-Azcar in the Russian and Beyan [Baha’i] date,
and which is preserved in a silver box. The writers of the newspapers were
present...When the Governor had finished his own work, he came to the place
reserved for him and [after] they drank tea he spoke for one half hour of what
he had learned of this Cause, and … he said: “I am very glad that in my time
the Mashrak-el-Azcar of the believers of El-Baha has commenced, and I hope that
it will be finished in my epoch, but now because I must depart, I pray you that
when it is finished you will send me photograph of it.” … We delivered two
addresses in the Persian language on that day, which the Governor asked to have
translated into the Russian language and we did so.(The Baha’i Faith in
America, vol. 2, by Robert Stockman)
