1920: American believer Lillian Kappes, a Disciple of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, passed away in Tihran

Lillian was among that first group of American Baha’is to be active in teaching the Faith at the turn of the 20th century. She pioneered to Persia, in 1911 to serve Dr. Susan Moody. Lillian had spent years in the face of unnumbered difficulties to build up Persia's Tarbiyat School for Girls in Tihran. She was much loved by students and staff, and her services highly valued, by 'Abdu'l-Baha.  She died of typhus on December 1st, 1920. Hundreds of weeping mourners accompanied her coffin to its place near the Tomb of great Varqa. Soon a cable soon came from the Master in which He indicated that “Miss Kappes [is] very happy. I invite [the] world [to] be not grieved.” 

(Adapted from ‘Historical Dictionary of the Baha’i Faith’ by Hugh Adamson and ‘Arches of the Years’, by Marzieh Gail)

April 1970: First National Convention of the Baha'is of Ghana

(Baha'i News, July 1970)

December 1892: The second Baha’i arrives in the United States

Ibrahim Kheiralla was a Syrian Christian who declared his Baha'i allegiance in 1890, and quickly convinced his friend and business partner, Anton Haddad, to declare as well. In search of ways to promote their inventions and business, the two left Cairo, Egypt, in 1892. Haddad went directly to the United States, arriving in the summer of 1892 as the first Baha'i in the New World; Kheiralla joined him in December of the same year. Following unsuccessful business endeavours, they moved on, eventually arriving in Chicago, the "Windy City." Chicago exercised a magnetic attraction for other reformers. In the 1880s it was the fastest growing city in America. In the 1830s there were 100 people living in the middle of a "stinking wild onion swamp," but by 1880 half a million could already be found in the city, growing by some 50,000 every year. The high percentage of those with foreign parentage (80%) illustrates the far-reaching magnetism of the city.

Some Baha'is in Chicago in about 1912

circa 1912: Teachers and Iranian Bahai Students at Beirut School

Shoghi Effendi is third from the left in the second row

December 1871-January 1872: Munirih Khanum (future wife of ‘Abdu’l-Baha) leaves Isfahan, Persia, for the Holy Land

Soon after the transfer of the exiles from the barracks to houses in the city, there was renewed concern in the Holy Family for the twenty-seven-year-old 'Abbas, 'Abdu'l-Baha, that it was timely for Him to marry. Not long thereafter, a girl from a distinguished family" of Isfahan, Fatimih Khanum, was called by the Blessed Beauty to the Holy Land. In Shavval 1288 (December 1871-January 1872), she travelled with her brother Siyyid Yahya and the courier Shaykh Salman via Shiraz, where she was privileged to be often with the wife of the Báb during a two-weeks' stay; then by steamer to Jiddah and on to Mecca for pilgrimage, to conceal their real destination; next, to Alexandria; and finally, when it was prudent, they were directed by Baha'u'llah to come by boat to 'Akka. Upon arrival in 'Akka, they were met by 'Abdu'l-Ahad, Aqay-i-Kalim (Mirza Musa, Baha’u’llah’s brother)) and Ilyas 'Abbud, and the very next day she attained the presence of Baha'u'llah. Fatimih Khanum lived for some five months in the house of Aqay-i-Kalim, during which time the Blessed Beauty often received her. He Himself bestowed upon her the name of Munirih (The Illumined One). 

- David Ruhe  (‘Door of Hope’)

1912: Abdu'l-Baha standing before Agnes Parson's house in Washington DC

1968: Legal Recognition Granted to NSA of Spain

It was with hearts overflowing with joy that the Baha'is of Spain received official notification on July 13, 1968 that the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Spain had been legally recognized and given registry number 2 in the Register of Non-Catholic Religious Associations in the Ministry of Justice. This recognition of the National Assembly carries with it the automatic legal recognition of all Local Spiritual Assemblies duly formed in accordance with the Statutes of the National Spiritual Assembly.

This represents the fulfillment of one of the goals of the Ten Year Global Crusade of our beloved Guardian which, in spite of continuous efforts and great expense beginning in 1954 had proved impossible of accomplishment. From 1954 through 1963, legalization proceedings went through various government levels and to the Supreme Court with continuous denials. This goal was then included in the Nine Year Plan.

In December, 1966 a new basic law of the land was approved by national referendum, and one provision of the new law provided for government protection of all religions. To implement this new concept, a Law on Religious Liberty was passed by the national Parliament on June 28, 1967.

March 12, 1923: The Guardian calls for the establishment of local and national Baha’i Funds

And as the progress and execution of spiritual activities is dependent and conditioned upon material means, it is of absolute necessity that immediately after the establishment of local as well as national Spiritual Assemblies, a Bahá’í Fund be established, to be placed under the exclusive control of the Spiritual Assembly. All donations and contributions should be offered to the Treasurer of the Assembly, for the express purpose of promoting the interests of the Cause, throughout that locality or country. It is the sacred obligation of every conscientious and faithful servant of Bahá’u’lláh who desires to see His Cause advance, to contribute freely and generously for the increase of that Fund. The members of the Spiritual Assembly will at their own discretion expend it to promote the Teaching Campaign, to help the needy, to establish educational Bahá’í institutions, to extend in every way possible their sphere of service. I cherish the hope that all the friends, realizing the necessity of this measure, will bestir themselves and contribute, however modestly at first, towards the speedy establishment and the increase of that Fund.

- Shoghi Effendi  (Excerpt from a letter dated March 12, 1923, to the Baha’is throughout America, Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Japan and Australasia; ‘Baha’i Administration’)

April 30 - May 2, 1967: First Baha'i National Convention in Sikkim

The historic first Baha'i National Convention in Gangtok, Sikkim, April 30 - May 2, 1967. 'Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, special representative of the Universal House of Justice, is shown in second row, center. Of the 58 delegates 33 were present and fifty-four votes were cast. This tiny state situated in the Himalayan mountains had approximately 3000 believers in 1967 and 48 local spiritual assemblies. 

(Adapted from Baha'i News January 1968 and March 1968)

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.

1948: The Human Rights Day is declared

Human Rights Day on December 10 is a United Nations-sponsored special event day. It is the anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.  This Day is observed by many Baha'i communities around the world, as well as by United Nations Associations. 

(Adapted from ‘A Basic Baha’i Dictionary’)

Shoghi Effendi brought forth a vast array of emotions

William and I had the privilege of visiting the Guardian for the first time in 1953. We came away with the realization that Shoghi Effendi brought forth a vast array of emotions, and that whoever met him came away with stronger feelings than could be aroused by anyone else on the face of the earth. 

- Marguerite Sears  (From Introduction to ‘About Shoghi Effendi, Our Beloved Guardian' by Lowell Johnson)

Summer of 1919: Photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Baha taken by an English officer

December 1938: Shoghi Effendi writes a general letter to the Baha’is of North America which appears in 1939 under the title of ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’

Immediately after the publication of this diamond-mine of communion with God[Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh], unsurpassed in any religious literature of the world, Shoghi Effendi set to work on a longer general letter than he had ever before written, which appeared in 1939 under the title of The Advent of Divine Justice. With a kind but firm hand Shoghi Effendi held up before the face of the North American Community the mirror of the civilization by which they were surrounded and warned them, in terms that riveted the eye and chilled the heart against its evils, pointing out to them a truth few of them had ever pondered, namely, that the very evils of that civilization were the mystic reason for their homeland having been chosen by God as the cradle of His World Order in this day. As the warnings contained in The Advent of Divine Justice are an integral part of the vision and guidance Shoghi Effendi gave to the faithful throughout his ministry, they cannot be passed over in silence if we are to obtain any correct understanding of his own mission. In no uncertain terms he castigated the moral laxity, political corruption, racial prejudice and corrosive materialism of their society, contrasting it with the exalted standards inculcated by Bahá'u'lláh in His Teachings, and enjoined by Him upon His followers. It warned them of the war so soon to come and admonished them to stand fast, in spite of every trial that might in future afflict them and their nations, and discharge their sacred trust by prosecuting to a triumphal outcome the Plan they had so recently inaugurated throughout the Western Hemisphere. 

- Ruhiyyih Khanum  ('The Guardian of the Baha'i Faith')

It is interesting to know that this document – the Advent of Divine Justice – became known among the early Baha’is in the West as “the Bible of Baha'i pioneers”. (Marzieh Gale, ‘Arches of the Years’)

The Báb revealed a Commentary on a Surih of Qur’an - Tafsir-i-Suriy-i-Va'l-'Asr: Commentary on the Surih of the Afternoon

The Báb revealed this commentary in October or November of 1846 while He was in Isfahan -- during the time that He was a guest at the residence of the ‘Imam Jum'ih of that city. It was at the request of His host that the “Báb, one night, after supper, revealed His well-known commentary on the surih of Va'l-'Asr. Writing with astonishing rapidity, He, in a few hours, had devoted to the exposition of the significance of only the first letter of that surih -- a letter which Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i had stressed, and which Bahá'u'lláh refers to in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas -- verses that equalled in number a third of the Qur'án, a feat that called forth such an outburst of reverent astonishment from those who witnessed it that they arose and kissed the hem of His robe.” (God Passes By, p. 14) Interpreting various parts of the short Qur'ánic surih, the Báb discusses many fundamental issues in religion including how to recognize spiritual truth, the nature of the human being, the meaning of faith, the nature of good deeds, and the preconditions of spiritual journey. 

(Adapted from ‘God Passes By’, by Shoghi Effendi; and ‘Gate of the Heart’, by Nader Saiedi)

Facsimile of Letters of Recommendation issued in 1852 by the Turkish Legation in Tihran and delivered to Baha'u'llah prior to His departure for Baghdad

(The Baha'i World 1930-1932)

Bahá'u'lláh didn’t attend any schools

The education and instruction which Bahá'u'lláh received was limited both in nature and extent, as He Himself states in the Tablet addressed to Nasir’d-Din Shah: 'The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely.'

In those days, the scions of noble houses were taught such matters as befitted their station in life, such as riding, handling a gun, wielding a sword, calligraphy, acquaintance with the works of the great classical poets of the land, a good reading knowledge of the Holy Book, the Qur'an, and hardly ever anything more. They were given such instruction by tutors, specially engaged by the parents, who were also required to teach them good manners. 

- Balyuzi  (‘Bahá'u'lláh, The King of Glory’)

The Citadel of 'Akka

Erected during the Turkish region at the end of the 18th century on Crusader foundation, this citadel acted as the central prison of Palestine during the British mandate after World War I.

Baha'u'llah's room in the house of Abbud

Hand of the Cause Dhikru’llah Khadem

He was born into a distinguished Baha'i family in Tihran, Iran, in 1904. While receiving his formal education he showed considerable aptitude as a linguist, becoming proficient in Persian, Arabic, English, and French. For many years he was chief interpreter and director of the Education Department of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and developed an accelerated method of teaching Persian to English speakers. He later became secretary of the 'Iraqi Embassy in Tihran. He became known as an Old Testament scholar and was well versed in the history of the Baha'i Faith and other world religions. He was author of several books about the Baha'i Faith in Persian and English. In 1933 he married the secretary, friend, and companion of Keith Ransom-Kehler, Javidukht Javid.

At the relatively young age of 34 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran and served on that body for the next 21 years. He made trips to the Holy Land in 1939 and 1940, and served as the receiving and distribution conduit for communications from Shoghi Effendi for the Iranian believers -- a service he discharged for 17 years. He was also instrumental in securing many precious Babi and Baha'i archives for safe preservation in the Holy Land. These included the famous sword wielded in defense of the Babis by Mulla Husayn at Barfurush in 1848, when with one stroke he cut through a tree, the barrel of a gun and his adversary.

Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Baha

‘Abdu’l-Baha passed away in Haifa on 28 November, 1921, shortly after 1:00 AM.

In the land that we know as the Holy Land, in all its turbulent history of the last two thousand years, there had never been an event which could unite all its inhabitants of diverse faiths and origins and purposes, in a single expression of thought and feeling, as did the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Jews and Christians and Muslims and Druzes, of all persuasions and denominations; Arabs and Turks and Kurds and Armenians and other ethnic groups were united in mourning His passing, in being aware of a great loss they had suffered. 

- H.M. Balyuzi  ('Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant')

Please visit the Baha’i Stories site for the following two accounts:

1.   Less than five months before His ascension, ‘Abdu’l-Baha had beseeched God for release from this world

2.   ‘Abdu’l-Baha Knew the Time of His Passing

November 1907: First National Baha’i Gathering

The first Baha’i national conference was held in Chicago on 26 November, 1907. Delegates from various local communities in America attended this event, including a dozen Baha’is from Chicago. It was held at the house of Corinne True. The purpose of this informal gathering was to choose a suitable site for the Temple. It should be noted that they didn’t visit the site in Wilmette where the Temple was eventually built. 

(‘The Baha’i World’, volume X; ‘The Baha’i Faith in America’, vol. 2, by Robert Stockman)

1912: ‘Abdu'l-Baha with His entourage and Arthur P. Dodge walking along Riverside Drive, New York

First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'Iraq 1931-1932

(The Baha'i World 1930-1932)

April 22, 1898: The Baha'is of Mandalay, Burma, with their gift of marble casket for the remains of the Báb

The Baha'is of Mandalay, Burma, with the marble casket offered by them for the remains of the Báb, April 22, 1898.

On the morning of March 21st 1909, the day of Naw-Ruz, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had the marble sarcophagus -- gift of the Bahá'ís of Rangoon -- carried up the mountain and placed in the vault. That evening He laid in the sarcophagus the wooden casket which contained the inseparable remains of the Báb and the disciple who had died with Him. A solitary lamp lit the scene, so poignant and yet so exultant. The Báb had been cruelly maligned, cruelly wronged, cruelly put to death. His torn and smashed body had had no home for many long years. Now the heart of Carmel was receiving it forevermore. Of this event Zechariah had written: 'Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord'. How mysteriously and indubitably had his prophecy come true. 'The Branch' had built 'the temple of the Lord', had raised His 'tabernacle' on His Mountain -- on Carmel -- the Mountain of God. 

- Balyuzi  (‘Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant’)

Shoghi Effendi with sister and cousin

Shoghi Effendi (on the left) with sister Ruhangiz and cousin Ruhi Afnan

Province of Mazandaran – home of Bahá'u'lláh’s family

Bahá'u'lláh's family came from Nur, a district in the Iranian province of Mazandaran, the province in north Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea. This province has high mountain peaks in the south descending to the northern coastal plain bordering the sea. Because of the dense sub-tropical jungles of the lower parts of the province (a stark contrast to the dry desert conditions in much of the rest of Iran), it was always a difficult area for invaders to penetrate. The Zoroastrian royalty and nobility fled to these parts after the Arab Islamic invasion of Iran in the seventh century and Bahá'u'lláh's family are said to have been descended from the last Zoroastrian monarch of Iran. Even when the people of this area finally converted to Islam centuries after that invasion, they mainly converted to the Zaydi form of Shi'i Islam as distinct from the Sunni Islam of most of the rest of Iran. It was only when the Safavid monarchs imposed Twelver Shi'i Islam on the whole country that Mazandaran fell into line with the rest of Iran.

The noble families of the Nur district, including Bahá'u'lláh's family, had for generations provided the kings of Iran with well-educated government officials: civil servants who would collect taxes, keep accounts, pay the army and generally administer the government. Bahá'u'lláh's father, Mirza Buzurg Nuri, rose in the ranks of these civil servants to become the minister to a royal prince who was the commander of the royal guards. He was later a vizier (minister), an official responsible for the collection of taxes, in a province. He was given the village of Takur in the Nur region in lieu of salary and he built a fine mansion there by the side of the Nur river as a family home. 

- Moojan Momen  (‘Bahá'u'lláh, a Short Biography’)

November 1964: The Universal House of Justice arrives at two major decisions concerning the Hands of the Cause

In its November 1964 message to the Bahá'ís of the world, The Universal House of Justice announced that “after study of the sacred texts and hearing the views of the Hands of the Cause themselves, has arrived at the following decisions:

a. There is no way to appoint, or to legislate to make it possible to appoint, Hands of the Cause of God.

b. Responsibility for decisions on matters of general policy affecting the Institution of the Hands of the Cause, which was formerly exercised by the beloved Guardian, now devolves upon the Universal House of Justice as the supreme and central institution of the Faith to which all must turn.”

- The Universal House of Justice  (‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963 to 1986’)

Hand of the Cause Mulla Abu'l-Hasan, surnamed Amin

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’)

[1]. The 'Right of God' -- a payment by believers instituted in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

1848: The Báb is bastinadoed in Tabriz

The courtyard of the house of the Shaykhu’l-Islam in Tabriz where the Báb was bastinadoed. 

(The Baha’i World 1930-1932)