Bahai Library Online

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

World Canada
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Date 201-, descending sort earliest first

date event tags firsts
2019 (In the year)
201-
Bahá'í Communities in a number of countries experienced persecution during 2019:
  • In Egypt where it had been estimated that there were between 1,000 and 2,000 believers, the law does not recognize the Bahá'í Faith or its religious laws and bans Bahá'í institutions and community activities. The law does not stipulate any penalties for banned religious groups or their members who engage in religious practices, but these groups are barred from rights granted to recognized groups, such as having their own houses of worship or other property, holding bank accounts, or importing religious literature. Since a 2009 court order, Baha'is are identified on their national identity cards by a dash where it indicates "Religion". Since the state does not recognize Bahá'í marriage, married Bahá'ís are denied the legal rights of married couples of other religious beliefs, including those pertaining to inheritance, divorce, and sponsoring a foreign spouse's permanent residence. Bahá'ís, in practice, file individual demands for recognition of marriages in civil court. The government continued to ban the importation and sale of Bahá'í literature and to authorize customs officials to confiscate their personally owned religious materials. [US State Department report]
  • In Brunei the Bahá'í community was banned as the Faith was considered "deviant."
  • In Iran, Bahá'ís faced multiple restrictions and were barred from certain types of work, especially in the food industry, because they were considered "unclean." Members of the faith also were blocked from government jobs, higher education institutions and receiving national pensions. They could not inherit property or have their marriages fully recognized.
  • In Eritrea, only four religious groups were officially recognized: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Sunni Islam, the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea. Other religious groups cannot register and are treated as illegal. [Pew Research Centre report 15 November 2021]
  • * Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Egypt; Persecution, Brunei; Persecution, Eritrea; Egypt; Brunei; Iran; Eritrea
    2019 19 Dec
    201-
    The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated for sanctions, two judges presiding over branches of the Iranian regime's Revolutionary Court who, for years, had punished Iranian citizens and dual-nationals for exercising their freedoms of expression or assembly. In many cases, these judges sentenced political prisoners to death. Through their respective branches of the Revolutionary Courts, Abolghassem Salavati and Mohammad Moghisseh oversaw the Iranian regime's miscarriage of justice in show trials in which journalists, attorneys, political activists, and members of Iran's ethnic and religious minority groups were penalized for exercising their freedom of expression and assembly and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, lashes, and even execution.
  • Both Salavati and Moghisseh had been sanctioned by the European Union for presiding over a series of show trials following the June 2009 Iranian presidential election, which imposed long prison sentences and several death sentences for political activists and journalists.
  • Moghisseh, Head of Tehran Revolutionary Court, Branch 28, had also pressed questionable charges against several members of Iran's Bahá'í religious minority, prosecuting them for supposed participation in activities such as propaganda against the state and assembly and collusion against national security, after they reportedly held prayer and worship ceremonies with other members. [US Dept of the Treasury; Iran Press Watch 30 June 2017]
  • As the Head of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, Judge Abdolghassem Salavati had been responsible for multiple human rights violations by presiding over unfair trials, suppressing protests, persecuting ethnic and religious minorities, making excessive use of the death penalty, and issuing heavy prison sentences for activists. He had prosecuted and delivered harsh sentences, including many death sentences, to scores of political prisoners, human rights activists, and peaceful demonstrators, earning him the moniker "the Judge of Death." Salavati is responsible for executing prison sentences for Bahá'í professors on the basis of their faith after they were charged with national security-related charges for their work at a virtual Bahá'í university. [ifmat.org]
  • Abolghassem Salavati; Mohammad Moghisseh; * Persecution, Iran; Washington, DC, USA; United States (USA); Iran
    2019 24 Nov
    201-
    Progress Report on the construction of the national Bahá'í House of Worship for Papua New Guinea the first Mashriqul-Adhkár to be designated as a national Temple.

  • The House of Worship will be situated on a hilltop in the country's sprawling capital city, Port Moresby. It will be located on the same property as the Bahá'í community's national offices and will include gardens and other meditative spaces. The central edifice will have nine gabled-roof entrances made of timber.
  • After receiving formal approval to commence construction from National Capital District's building board in August, the excavation work began. At the time of the report, the Temple's foundation was being laid and it was expected to be complete by December. Work on the steel superstructure was scheduled to begin in January.
  • Slideshow. Mashriqul-Adhkar
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Port Moresby; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, National; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Architecture; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Papua New Guinea
    2019 17 Nov
    201-
    About 2,000 people were joined by representatives of the national government and members of the National Spiritual Assembly for the groundbreaking ceremony at the Temple site at Lenakel, on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu. A traditional wooden spade called a kakel was used to turn the soil symbolizing the start of construction on the local Bahá'í House of Worship. Local chiefs had presented the kakel to the Bahá'í community in a customary ceremony the day before to honour the eight tribes of Tanna that together offered the land for the Temple. [BWNS1373]
  • Slideshow of the event.
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Vanuatu; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Architecture; Foundation stones and groundbreaking; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Lenakel, Vanuatu; Vanuatu
    2019 29 Oct
    201-
    The commemoration of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb gave rise to an outpouring of artistic expressions from people on every continent, a sure reminder of the profound influence that the life and mission of the Báb continues to have, and will increasingly exert, on artistic expression worldwide. This includes the following Bahá'í World articles:
  • Tales of Magnificent Heroism: The impact of the Báb and His followers on writers and artists by Robert Weinberg.
  • A Twofold Mission: Some Distinctive Characteristics of the Person and Teachings of the Báb by Elham Afnan.
  • * Báb, The (chronology); - Bahá'í World volumes
    2019 29 Oct
    201-
    The British Library published a blog to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb. It is a commentary on the Star Tablet of the Báb or the Haykal. British Museum and British Library; * Báb, Writings of; Talismans; Haykal and daira; Exhibitions of Bahá'í manuscripts and relics; Moojan Momen; Haykal (Star Tablet of the Báb); London, England; United Kingdom
    29 Oct
    201-
    Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb

    The Bahá'í world commemorated the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Báb. The bicentenary website chronicled just some of the thousands of celebrations.
  • In early October the Universal House of Justice sent a message to all who have come to honour the Herald of a new Dawn.
  • A film called Dawn of the Light was commissioned. It was made available in 10 languages in a variety of formats. The film portrayed several individuals from different continents as they related their own personal search after truth and meaning. They shared their discovery that God had sent two Divine Manifestations Whose teachings were revolutionizing human thought and behaviour, changing darkness into light. The film showed glimpses of how this same discovery was inspiring the efforts of many across the globe to serve humanity and to contribute to building a new pattern of life.
  • The site also featured four articles The Mission of the Báb by former Universal House of Justice member Douglas Martin, Religion Renewed, Divine Revelation, and Bahá'í Teachings in Action...
  • ...and small sample from among the countless artistic expressions created by individuals and communities around the world for the occasion of the bicentenary.
  • During the celebrations there was live streaming of the services held the Bahá'í Houses of Worship.
  • In addition there was an official Facebook page and an Instagram account.
  • Some national communities had their own Facebook page such as the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom and the Bahá'ís of the United States.
  • On the 8th of November the Universal House of Justice sent a message to the Bahá'ís of the World commenting on the celebrations and activities held by the worldwide Bahá'í community to commemorate the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb.
  • See the English translation of the message of the Universal House of Justice dated the 24th of October addressed to the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the sacred land of Iran.
  • Twin Holy days; Holy days; Báb, Birth of; Centenaries; Dawn of the Light (film); Internet; - Basic timeline, Expanded
    2019 22 Oct
    201-
    The Bahá'í World News Service provided an update on the progress of the construction of the local Bahá'í House of Worship in Matunda, Kenya. Located just west of the town of Matunda, the site of the Bahá'í Temple is in a region that is home to some of Kenya's earliest Bahá'í communities, where patterns of worship and service to humanity have been fostered over decades.
  • The foundation of the central edifice has been laid and work on other structural elements of the building was advancing. The 1.5-meter central mound on which the 18-meter-tall Temple will stand had been completed. Work on columns had begun and construction of its auxiliary structures, such as a visitor's center, was well underway. [BWNS1363]
  • Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Matunda Soy, Kenya; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Kenya
    2019 11 Oct
    201-
    'Ali Nakhjavani, (b. 19 September, 1919 in Baku, Azerbaijan) former member of the Universal House of Justice (1963-2003), passed away in Molsheim, Alsace, France. He was 100 years old. The Universal House of Justice requested all National Assemblies that memorial services be held for him. [BWNS1361]
  • After his father's death when he was two years old, his family was advised by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to move to Haifa where he grew up. In 1939 he received the Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction from the American University of Beirut, and then in the early 1940s he relocated to Iran, residing first in Tehran, then Tabriz and finally in Shiraz. In 1950 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís Iran where he served until the following year.
  • In 1951 he and his family moved to Uganda to assist with the development of the Bahá'í community in that country. He made his living as a teacher and lecturer. During his early years there, Enoch Olinga became a Bahá'í, and in 1953 Mr Nakhjavání and his wife Violette, along with Mr Olinga and two other Bahá'ís, travelled from Uganda to Cameroon to help spread the Bahá'í Faith in that country.
  • From 1954-61 he was a member of the Auxiliary Board in Africa, and later from 1956 to 1961 he was served on the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa.
  • In 1961 he was elected to the International Bahá'í Council and so moved to Haifa. In 1963 he was elected to the Universal House of Justice during its inaugural convention, and served as a member of that body until 2003. [Find a grave]
  • For a video tribute to Mr Nakhjavani see YouTube.
  • See Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of His Pen by 'Ali Nakhjavani.
  • `Alí Nakhjavání; - In Memoriam; American University of Beirut; Enoch Olinga; Violette Nakhjavani; International Bahá'í Council; Auxiliary board members; Bandar Anzali, Iran; Azerbaijan; Beirut, Lebanon; Lebanon; Molsheim, France; France
    2019 2 Oct
    201-
    The British Library marked the bicentenary of the birth of the Báb with various initiatives alongside the launch of a new website, Discovering Sacred Texts. With the launch of this website there were companion exhibitions which featured examples of the Faith's original texts.
  • The library displayed three rare and exquisite pieces in its Treasures Gallery: an original of the Báb's own handwriting, in the shape of a five-pointed star; calligraphic exercises written by Bahá'u'lláh in His childhood; and an example of "Revelation Writing", the form in which Bahá'u'lláh's words were recorded at speed by His secretaries as they were revealed. These manuscripts were on display at the library for six months.
  • Coinciding with the launch of the site and the exhibition was the publication of an article by Moojan Momen, specially commissioned by the library for the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Báb. Dr. Momen wrote about the three original works on display at the exhibition, set in the context of a brief historical account of the life of the Bab.
  • To further mark the bicentenary, the library invited actor and comedian Omid Djalili to stage his one-man show A Strange Bit of History written by Annabel Knight. The play recounts events surrounding the appearance of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. This performance ran for four days. It was first performed at the 1993 Edinburgh Festival, where it won the Spirit of the Fringe Award. Over the next four years it was performed 109 times in 10 different countries. [BWNS1358]
  • Annabel Knight; Omid Djalili; Moojan Momen; Exhibitions of Bahá'í manuscripts and relics; British Museum and British Library; London, England; United Kingdom
    2019 1 Oct
    201-
    The Bahá'í International Community announced the appointment of Dr. David Rutstein as its new Secretary-General. He succeeded Dr. Joshua Lincoln who had been serving in this capacity since 2013. The role of the Secretary-General is to act on behalf of the Universal House of Justice in the conduct of its external affairs, including its relations with Israel. [BWNS1357] David Rutstein; Joshua Lincoln; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC Secretary-Generals; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 1 Oct
    201-
    The publication of the message from the Universal House of Justice marking the bicentenial of birth of the Báb.
  • An audio file of the message in English can be found on YouTube.
  • Twin Holy days; Holy days; Báb, Birth of; Centenaries; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 26 Sep
    201-
    By a resolution of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations the international community condemned the Houthi persecution of Bahá'ís on the basis of their religion or belief. This resolution passed just two weeks after the prosecutors in a Houthi-controlled appeals court in Sana'a, Yemen who defended a previous death sentence of a Bahá'í on the basis of his beliefs, argued for the expulsion of all Bahá'ís from the country and the confiscation of their properties. [BIC News 30 September, 2019] Hamed bin Haydara; Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Court cases; United Nations; Human Rights Council; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2019 20 Sep
    201-
    The film Dawn of the Light, a feature film commissioned by the Universal House of Justice for the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Báb, was released on the bicentenary website. It was made available in nine languages. [BWNS1354]
  • It was also made available on YouTube.
  • - Film; Dawn of the Light (film); Twin Holy days; Báb, Birth of; Centenaries; - Documentaries; - Documentaries, BWC; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 19 Sep
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice released the design concept for the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Hossein Amanat to all National Spiritual Assemblies.

    "'Abdu'l-Baha had expressed His wish regarding where He should be buried," explains Mr. Amanat, a distinguished Iranian-Canadian architect. "He had said to an early believer that if something should happen to Him and He should pass away, 'Abdu'l-Baha wanted to be buried under the sands between Haifa and Akka, which He described as the pathway trodden by the loved ones and the pilgrims." [BWNS1353]

  • Images
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shrine of; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Ascension of; Hossein Amanat (Husayn Amanat); - Bahá'í World Centre buildings, monuments and gardens; - Basic timeline, Expanded; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 17 Sep
    201-
    The prosecutor in Mr. Haydara's appeal not only restated its support of the lower court decision to execute Mr. Haydara but also called to "immediately deport… all who are considered Bahá'ís" and to "ban their entry" into Yemen, significantly escalating the scope of the judicial prosecution far beyond the mandate of the appeal. In its written statement, the prosecution further requested the court to adopt any additional measures to discourage Bahá'í beliefs and their expression in the country. At a court hearing on 1 October 2019, the judge called for the listing of the assets of Mr. Haydara and of the Bahá'í National Assembly in advance of their seizure. [BIC News 10 October, 2019] Hamed bin Haydara; - Persecution, Court cases; Persecution, Yemen; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2019 10 Sep
    201-
    In the 42nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, the International Bahá'í Community presented an Oral Statement addressing the High Commissioner report on Yemen.
  • See as well the BIC's statement to the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on the 20th of March, 2019.
  • Persecution, Yemen; Bahá'í International Community; New York City, NY; Yemen
    2019 6 Sep
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice announced the launch of a new website to provide information about the events held to commemorate the Twin Holy Days. The site was revealed over an eight week period and was made available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Hindi, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili. It provided live streaming during the hours that the Bahá'í communities around the world commemorated the Birth of the Báb and the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh on the 29th and 30th of October. [BWNS1350] Twin Holy days; Holy days; Báb, Birth of; Centenaries; Websites; Internet; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 30 Aug
    201-
    The passing of Dr Udo Schaefer (b. October 19, 1926 in Heidelberg, Germany). He enrolled as a Bahá'í in 1948 and became one of the most important contemporary theologians of the Bahá'í Faith, well known for his scholarship and his defence of the Faith. He came from a family of musicians and his early studies were in in that field but he changed streams and became a lawyer. [FaceBook]
  • English translations of his work include:
  • His publications in German.
  • His publications in French
  • His publications in Spanish
  • His publications in other languages, (Russian, Portuguese, Dutch and Farsi).
  • His articles.
  • His website.
  • Wikipedia.
  • - In Memoriam; Udo Schaefer; Heidelberg, Germany; Germany
    2019 16 Aug
    201-
    The United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief sent a message to the Government of Qatar. The letter brought forth allegations concerning the discriminatory treatment of the Bahá'í religious minority in Qatar, specifically involving deportations, blacklisting, the inability to build a cemetery, and issues with personal legal status.

    The Special Rapporteur's letter also discussed the restrictions on the construction of a Bahá'í cemetery on land that was granted by the Municipality of Doha. This cemetery has been an ongoing issue since 2009, when authorities broke into the cemetery, exhumed the remains, and relocated them on the instructions of the Doha Municipality. This caused many families emotional stress and has led to the inability to identify some remains. Later that year, the Minister of the Municipality did eventually apologize and stated that new land would be allocated. In 2010 and 2015 new locations were identified and budgets were allocated, however despite regular follow up from the Bahá'í community, there has been no construction and no progress made.

    Additionally, the Allegation Letter addressed the difficulties the Bahá'í community faces in upholding their personal legal status. Qatari authorities do not recognize Bahá'í documents like marriage licenses, divorces, or inheritance papers unless they have been attested to or obtained abroad. This requires extensive and expensive travel that delays and complicates legal obligations. An attempt has been made by the Bahá'í community to have the Ministry of Justice accept and authenticate Bahá'í documents, however the Minister has not decided on the matter.

    The government of Qatar did not respond to the Special Rapporteur's letter. [ Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain website]

    Persecution, Qatar; Qatar
    2019 8 - 11 Aug
    201-
    The 43rd Annual Conference of the Association for Bahá'í Studies–North America was held in the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Canada. The four day conference was attended by some 1,400 persons. [BWNS1347]
    • Plenary session recordings of past sessions are available for free streaming and downloading on the ABS Vimeo page.
    • Photos.
    Association for Bahá'í Studies (North America); Bahá'í Studies, Associations for; Ottawa, ON; Ontario, Canada; Canada
    2019 Aug
    201-
    Religions for Peace is the world's largest inter-religious coalition. Their mandate is to work to transform violent conflict, advance human development, promote just and harmonious societies. It is comprised of a world council of religious leaders and bodies from over 125 countries. Its organization, built over its 50-year history, comprises of six regional Interreligious Councils and is built on the principle of religious representation that reflects the fabric of religious demography.
  • The Bahá'í International Community's Principal Representative, Ms. Bani Dugal, was elected as a co-president and member of the World Council of Religions for Peace to become part of the 51 member council of co-presidents. The election, which is held every five years, was held in August in Lindau, Germany. Ms. Dugal was elected by over 700 voting delegates.
  • Dr. Azza Karam, Professor of Religion and Development at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, Netherlands and former senior advisor on culture at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was elected as the body's new secretary-general, becoming the first woman to hold the post. At UNFPA, she also served as chairperson of the UN task force on engagement with faith-based organizations. [BIC News]
  • Bahá'í International Community; Bani Dugal; Religions for Peace; Azza Karam; Lindau, Germany; Germany; Interfaith dialogue
    2019 26 Jul
    201-
    In a message from the secretariat of the Universal House of Justice to selected National Assemblies it was announced that a new portal had been opened on the pilgrimage website (pilgrimage.bahai.org) that would allow Bahá'ís to submit, track and update pilgrimage and visit requests directly. [CBN Vol 32 No 3 Fall 2019 p6] Pilgrimage; Internet; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 20 Jul
    201-
    The social media platform Twitter suspended several accounts linked to Iranian state media—including the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Mehr, and Young Journalists Club (YJC), which was run by the state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)—over their coordinated and targeted harassment of Bahá'ís. It was estimated that since 2014 more than 26,000 pieces of anti-Bahá'í media have appeared on official or semi-official Iranian television channels. [Aljazeera 21 July 2019] * Persecution, Iran; Twitter; Iran
    2019 Jun
    201-
    More than 30 representatives from Australia, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Germany, India, Panama, Samoa, Uganda, and the United States gathered for the consultations at the Bahá'í World Centre to explore what is being learned about every one of the Houses of Worship. The consultations touched on a range of topics, from practical requirements of managing a Temple to its profound spiritual and social impacts on surrounding populations. [BWNS1334]
  • The Baha'i World News Service interviewed representatives of Houses of Worship in Chile, India, and Uganda, which can be heard in a two-part podcast. Part one of the podcast, which focuses on the spiritual experiences people are having at Temples, can be found on SoundCloud.
  • An in depth exploration of Houses of Worship can be found in a newly published article For the Betterment of the World, to the Glory of God; The Emergence of Bahá'í Houses of Worship by Ann Boyles
  • * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 18 Jun
    201-
    About 8,000 people attended the European Development Days conference in Brussels. It was co-organized by World Vision International, ACT Alliance, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Brot für die Welt, EU-CORD Network, and the Bahá'í International Community. The Bahá'í International Community moderated one of the EDD panel discussions called What's religion got to do with it?
  • The panel discussion can be heard on SoundCloud.
  • Bahá'í International Community; - Conferences; Brussels, Belgium; Belgium
    2019 23 May
    201-
    The Baha'i World publication website was launched online this date.
  • The website made available a selection of thoughtful essays and long-form articles on a range of subjects of interest to the wider public, conveying advancements in Bahá'í thought and action and reflecting the Faith's purpose in the world. [BWNS1329]

    See 1996-07-01

  • - Bahá'í World volumes; bahai.org; Websites; Internet; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 19 May
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice announced the appointment of the members of the International Board of Trustees of Ḥuqúqu'lláh for a five-year term to commence on the anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb, 24 May 2019.
  • Those appointed were: Ho Yuet Mee, Enos Makhele, Manijeh Reyhani, Adam Robarts, and William Wieties.
  • The Universal House of Justice express profound gratitude for the exemplary service rendered by Marzia Rowhani Dalalto the institution. [Bahá'í Canada posted 2019/05/27]
  • Huqúqu'lláh; Huququllah, Trustees of; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 7 May
    201-
    In a letter to all National Spiritual Assemblies, the House of Justice announced the appointment of Hossein Amanat as the architect chosen for the design of the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The distinguished Iranian-Canadian architect is best known for his designs of three of the buildings of the Arc on Mount Carmel in Haifa as well as the Azadi Tower in Tehran.
  • They also announced the inauguration of a Fund dedicated to the construction of the Shrine. [BWNS1325]
  • Photo Hossein Amanat.
  • Photo Ridván Gardens 1.
  • Photo Ridván Gardens 2.
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shrine of; Hossein Amanat (Husayn Amanat); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 28 Apr
    201-
    The passing of Don Otto Rogers (b. 1935 in Kerrobert, Saskatchewan) a former member of the International Teaching Centre, in Picton, Ontario. He was buried in the Rose Cemetery in Waupoos, Ontario.
    • He enrolled in the Faith in 1960 while a resident of Saskatoon. [CBN No 124 May 1960 p6]
    • He served as an Auxiliary Board member and then as a Continental Counsellor followed by a decade as a member of the International Teaching Centre and upon returning to Canada, served on the National Spiritual Assembly. [BWNS1323; Wikipedia.]
    • As an accomplished artist, he was known as "Otto Rogers". He taught at the University of Saskatchewan (1959-1988) after receiving his MA in Fine Art from the University of Wisconsin. Mr Rogers helped sustain the Emma Lake Workshops, a meeting place for some of North America's leading artists including Barnett Newman, Jules Olitski and Mr Rogers himself. His work was held in more than 30 public collections including: the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
    • His website.
    • His works at the Oeno Gallery in Prince Edward County.
    • Canadian Art.
    • Video The Artist In Us Interview—Painter Otto Rogers.
    • A talk by Otto Rogers entitled Artist's Studio.
    • The Canadian Encylopedia.
    • The National Gallery of Canada.

    His publications:

    A publications about his work.

    Don Rogers; Otto Rogers; Counsellors; - In Memoriam; Auxiliary board members; Kerrobert, SK; Milford, ON; Ontario, Canada; Waupoos, ON
    2019 Ridván
    201-
    In its Ridván Message the Universal House of Justice announced the intention of constructing a Shrine for 'Abdu'l-Bahá near the Ridván Garden on the crescent traced between the Holy Shrines in 'Akká and Haifa. The day after His passing in Haifa on 28 November 1921, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's remains were placed in a vault within the sacred Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel, a temporary arrangement until such time that a separate shrine would be erected in His honor.
  • "...Ridvan messages: As early as 1923 Shoghi Effendi sent a letter of encouragement and greeting to the American national Bahá'í convention at Ridvan. Later it was his regular practice to write a Ridvan letter to the Bahá'ís of the world summarizing the progress of the Faith in the previous year and setting out general directions for the coming year. The Universal House of Justice has continued this practice. Other Bahá'í institutions, especially national spiritual assemblies, also sometimes issue Ridvan letters." [SA241]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shrine of; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Ascension of; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 6 - 7 Apr
    201-
    The Heroes Teaching Conference was an historic gathering of over 1,000 Baha'i adults, youth, junior youth and children, as well as some of their like-minded friends from all over Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales, Australia. It was organised by the Regional Bahá'í Council and Board of Counsellors, the program aimed to help its participants find their place in service to Bahá'u'lláh and humanity, by drawing on the heroism of the past, inspiring them to arise, through humble service, and become heroes of the Faith for this age. [Conference Website] Conferences, Teaching; - Conferences; Regional Bahá'í Councils; Brisbane, Australia; Australia
    2019 23 Mar
    201-
    A gathering of about 1,200 people attended the groundbreaking of the first local Bahá'í House of Worship in Africa located about 4 kilometers west of the town of Matunda in the Matunda Soy district of Kenya.
  •       Ruth Vuyiya, a much-loved Bahá'í known affectionately as "Mama Ruth", set the temple's cornerstone on the red soil. Ms. Vuyiya was joined by her daughter, members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Kenya, construction contractors and the temple's architect Neda Samimi. After the ceremonial groundbreaking, attendees celebrated the moment in song and ululations.
  •      The groundbreaking took place almost one year after its elegant and simple design, inspired by the region's traditional huts, was unveiled at the same site. The design incorporated an intricate and expressive pattern that used the diamond shape, a familiar motif in Kenyan culture. Exposed roof beams punctuating the nine sides of the edifice will be drawn together at an apex skylight. Inside, the skylight will sit atop a Greatest Name symbol, and 250 people can be seated. The temple will be built from local materials. [BWNS 1317]
  • Concept Drawing.
  • Progress Report dated October 23rd: The foundation of the central edifice had been laid and work on other structural elements was advancing. [BWNS1363]
  • Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Matunda Soy, Kenya; Foundation stones and groundbreaking; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Kenya first local Baha’i House of Worship in Africa
    2019 28 Feb
    201-
    Faruq Izadinia, Bahá'í scholar and translator, wrote an Open Letter after his court hearing in Tehran in which he described the process of his trial and the details of the court session. [Open Letter]
  • Subsequently, on 19 June 2020 Branch 36 of the Tehran Province Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and Mr. Izadinia was charged with "acting against national security through the Bahá'í Organization". He was sentenced to ten years in prison. [Faruq Izadinia Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison]
  • * Persecution, Iran; Faruq Izadinia; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2019 28 Feb
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice announced the publication of a compilation of extracts on prayer and devotional life drawn from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá and from the letters of the Guardian and the House of Justice that had been prepared by the Research Department at its request. It was made available on the Bahá'í Reference Library with a plan to produce printed editions. Prayer; Meditation; - Compilations; * Publications; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 2 Feb
    201-
    Hamed Bin Hayadara, who was facing a death sentence, appeared in a Sana'a court where he was charged with "foreign espionage" and "abandonment of religion". The judge adjourned the session until 12 March. He was among the six Bahá'ís detained in Sana'a. [SBSWorldNews] Hamed bin Haydara; - Persecution, Court cases; Persecution, Yemen; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2019 7 Feb
    201-
    An estimated 5,760 members of the Bahá'í Faith had been charged (and some even executed) for 'membership of a sect' in Iran between 1979 and 2009 according to a report by press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders. The Paris-based watchdog based their report on leaked digital files. [i24NEWS 7 February, 2019] * Persecution, Iran; Iran
    2019 5 Feb
    201-
    The announcement of the publication of The Call of the Divine Beloved by the Bahá'í World Centre. The book contained revised translations of The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys as well as five newly published selections from Bahá'u'lláh's writings, including Rashḥ-i-'Amá (The Clouds of the Realms Above). This tablet is considered to be among the first if not the first revealed by Bahá'u'lláh after being apprised that He was to be the Manifestation of God.
  • For more information about this Tablet and its significance see 1852 (between Aug - Nov).
  • - Call of the Divine Beloved (book); Haft Vadi (Seven Valleys); Chahar Vadi (Four Valleys); Rashh-i-Ama (Sprinkling from the Cloud of Unknowing); * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; * Publications; * Translation; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Mysticism; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2019 18 Jan
    201-
    On this, the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the Paris Peace Conference, the Universal House of Justice released a message regarding World Peace.
  • See BWNS1368 for a short video entitled 100 years on, remembering 'Abdu'l-Baha's call for peace in the First Tablet to The Hague. The Central Organization for a Durable Peace in The Hague was one of the preliminary steps taken that lead to the Paris Peace Conference.
  • Universal House of Justice, Letters and messages; Paris Peace Conference (1919); - International peace conferences; Promise of World Peace (statement); Peace; World peace; - Bahá'í World Centre; The Hague, Netherlands; Netherlands
    2019 08 Jan
    201-
    Imprisoned Bahá'í Hamed bin Haydara, 55, who had been sentenced to death, appeared in court in Sana'a for an unexpected hearing. Mr Haydara had been in Houthi detention in central Sana'a since December 2013. UN human rights representatives called for the rebels to overturn his death sentence.
  • In addition to Mr Haydara, five other Bahá'ís were held by the rebels in Sana'a, two of whom had been hidden since last April, They were Waleed Ayyash, 51, and Wael Al Al Ariki, 41, a human-rights activist, Sheikh Akram Ayyas, 37, had been in Houthi detention since October 2017, Badea Senai, 66, who was an urban planning adviser for the government, had been in prison since May 2017 and Qwan Mohammad Qadri, 45, who was arrested by the Houthis in August 2016. He is of Iranian descent and was an employee of the British Council in Yemen.
  • Under a prisoner exchange deal agreed at UN-led peace talks in Sweden in December, the government had repeatedly requested the release of all Bahá'í detainees held by the Houthi rebels. Each side submitted 8,000 names of Yemeni people they believe to be detained, dead or missing for the other side to locate and release as a confidence-building measure but the Iran-backed rebels have not responded to the government's request on the Bahá'í detainees. [The National 13JAN2019]
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; - Persecution, Court cases; Hamed bin Haydara; Yemen
    2019 (In the year)
    201-
    During the year, Edward Manasyan, a prominent member of the Bahá'í community, continued to face charges of facilitating illegal migration to the country by advising Iranians wishing to settle in Armenia.
  • He had been arrested and charged in 2017 and held under pretrial detention for eight months before the trial court judge released him on bail in July 2018.
  • Local NGOs and human rights lawyers shared concerns about the surveillance of Bahá'í community members preceding Manasyan's arrest, which they believed was approved in violation of the law because it violated lawyer-client privilege.
  • In April the Bahá'í community filed a countersuit against the NSS with the Court of Appeals, stating the National Security Service (NSS) illegally used wiretaps to surveil a Bahá'í community member and the community's office and used the information gathered as the basis to charge Manasyan. According to the documents provided to the Bahá'í community, the surveillance authorizations were approved based on the assertion that Manasyan was the head of a "religious-sectarian" organization and was "soul-hunting," but no charges were proffered on these grounds. [Armenia 2019 International Religious Freedom Report from the US Embassy]
  • Persecution, Armenia; Armenia
    2018 20 Dec
    201-
    The last imprisoned member of the former leadership body of the Bahá'í community in Iran was released from prison after serving a 10-year prison sentence. He was arrested on 14 May 2008 and charged with, among other false claims, espionage, propaganda against Iran, and the establishment of an illegal administration. Mr. Naeimi and the other six former members of the Yaran faced those charges more than a year after their arrest in a sham trial without any semblance of legal process. Authorities sentenced Mr. Naeimi and the other former members of the Yaran to 10 years in prison. While detained, Mr. Naeimi experienced severe health problems, often receiving inadequate treatment. Authorities made a cruel determination that the brief time Mr. Naeimi, a father of two from Tehran, spent in a hospital recovering would not be counted as part of his sentence. [BWNS1302] Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Human rights; - Persecution; Human rights; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2018 Dec
    201-
    During a dialogue with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as it considered a report on measures taken to implement the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination the Iraqi Deputy Justice Minister, Hussein al-Zuhairi, said Bahaism is not a religion or faith. He further expressed the Iraqi government's commitment to legislation prohibiting the Bahá'í religion in 1970 and added that there was no religion above Islam since the Iraqi Constitution set the tenets of Islam as a source of law. He said that as Iraqi society was Muslim, it was not possible to ignore the tenets of Islam in legislation.
  • Zuhairi's statement angered representatives of civil society and the delegations of organizations that presented parallel reports to the government's report in which they outlined the Iraqi government's and the Kurdistan Regional Government's violations of the rights of minorities. His statements raised concerns for the Bahá'ís and indicated that the Iraqi government cannot solve the conflict between respecting human rights called for in its constitution and the Islamic principles that are a key source of legislation. [Al-Monitor 11 December, 2018]
  • Iran
    2018 19 - 22 Nov
    201-
    The second annual Arab Sustainable Development Week was held in Cairo from 19 to 22 November to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030. More than 120 diplomats, government officials, representatives of regional and international organizations, businesses, and academics attended the event. Speakers included Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, among a number of other leaders in the Arab region.
    It was the first time the Bahá'í community had an official presence at a space convened by the Arab League, a regional organization of about 20 nations in North Africa and the Middle East. Bahá'í International Community representatives were Dr. Solomon Belay, from the BIC Addis Ababa office, Shahnaz Jaberi from BIC-Bahrain and Hatem El-Hady from BIC-Egypt. The BIC statement, Summoning Our Common Will: A Baha'i Contribution to the United Nations Global Development Agenda, was distributed at the event. [BWNS1299]
    Solomon Belay; Shahnaz Jaberi; Hatem El-Hady; Bahá'í International Community; Arab League; Sustainable development; Ahmed Aboul-Gheit; Mostafa Madbouly; - BIC statements; Cairo, Egypt; Egypt first time the BIC had an official presence at a meeting convened by the Arab League.
    2018 15 Nov
    201-
    The passing of Shapoor Monadjem, (b. 3 October, 1933, Shiraz, Iran) at his last pioneer post in Maringá, Brazil. He had been a member of the International Teaching Center, a pioneer and member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Brazil (1963-1983), a Continental Councillor (1983-1993) as well as a Deputy Trustee of Ḥuqúqu'lláh. [BWNS1296; Bahaipedia] Shapoor Monadjem; International Teaching Centre; Counsellors; - In Memoriam; Maringá, Brazil; Brazil
    2018 9 Nov
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice announced that the Office of Social and Economic Development would be succeeded by the Bahá'í International Development Organization with a five-member board of directors to serve a five year term of service with appointment to be made on the Day of the Covenant.
  • In addition a new fund, the Bahá'í Development Fund, was inaugurated which will be supported by the Universal House of Justice, individuals and institutions. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 9 November, 2018]
  • Three days later the Universal House of Justice announced the appointment of the members of the Board of Directors for the Bahá'í International Development Organization for the five-year term beginning 26 November 2018: Elisa Caney, Maame Brodwemaba Nketsiah, Lori McLaughlin Noguchi, Sina Rahmanian, and George Soraya.
  • See also BWNS1308.
  • Social and economic development; Social action; Bahá'í International Development Organization; Funds; Bahá'í Development Fund; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre; Office of Social and Economic Development (OSED)
    2018 1 - 7 Nov
    201-
    More than 7,500 people attended the Parliament of the World's Religions held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This forum began in 1893 at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago as an effort to promote an emerging international movement devoted to promoting dialogue among religions. Since that time, it has been held in Cape Town (1999), Barcelona (2004), Melbourne (2009) and Salt Lake City (2015). [Website] Bahá'í presenters were:
    • Bani Dugal: "The Equality of Women and Men: Divine Imperative for an Age of Transition."
    • Hugh Locke: "Half the Sky, Half the Land: The Role of Women Farmers in Transforming Agriculture,"
    • Payam Akhavan: "Equality and Justice, Global Perspectives" and "Countering War, Hate, and Violence Assembly."
    • Emily Wright: "Making Interreligious Chaplaincy Education Meaningfully Inclusive" and "A New Cup of Grace—A Ukulele Opera
    • Hooshmand Badee: "Interfaith Peacemaking Perspectives from Across the World."
    • Nader Saiedi: Presenting the new documentary film The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá'í Faith.
    • Paul Hanley: "Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Environmentalist."
    • JoAnn Borovicka: "Amazing Faiths! An Interactive Workshop on Interfaith Dialogue."
    • Robert Atkinson: "New Thoughts in Interfaith Spirituality."
    • Robert Stockman: "The Characteristics of Bahá'í Interfaith Dialogue."
    • Candace Hill: "From Shiraz to Chicago: Bahá'í Women of the East and the West"
    • Edward Price: "The Divine Curriculum: Understanding the Báb, Divine Educator for the Modern Era."
    • Sovaida Maani Ewing: "Achieving World Peace: Bahá'í and Catholic Teachings."
    • Jean Muza: "Bahá'í Civic Engagement: How to Maneuver in America's Divisive Political Landscape."
    • Robert Atkinson: "The Golden Rule as the Basis for a Global Justice System: An Interfaith Perspective with a Call to Action."
    • Edward Price: "The Divine Curriculum Concept as a Framework for Interfaith Inclusion and Love." [CBN-Preparation; CBN-Inclusion; CBN-Films]

    During the conference the Hindu Swami Agnivesh said that instead of spending trillions of dollars on the war system, the peoples of the world need to unite and create a world parliament based on an Earth Constitution. He said that "without a world government, we cannot solve our major world problems." [History News Network 13 Feb 2022]

    Parliament of the World's Religions; Toronto, ON; Canada
    2018 24 Oct
    201-
    The body of a Bahá'í citizen, Shamsi Aghdasi Azamian, from Gilavand, a suburb of the city of Damavand was exhumed by unknown individuals several days after being buried in the Gilavand Bahá'í Cemetery and abandoned in the deserts of Jaban in the suburbs of that city. No individual or institution has accepted responsibility for this action, although security forces had told the Gilavand Bahá'ís earlier that they had no right to bury their deceased member in this place, and that they should perform burials only in Tehran. Her son refused to move the body but found that it had been taken to Tehran which is a distance of some two hours away. [Iran Press Watch 19720]
  • Subsequently, a group of progressive Muslims strongly condemned the "desecration and excavation of the grave of a Bahá'í compatriot." In their statement the "systematic and deeply rooted denial of Bahá'í citizens' rights" was denounced, and the violation of their citizenship rights was called a "hateful" act, "born of ignorant prejudice." The signatories of the statement called for an open investigation and prosecution of perpetrators and facilitators. The message can be seen at Iran Press Watch19731.
  • Shamsi Aghdasi Azamian; - Persecution, denial of burial; Damavand, Iran; Iran
    2018 11 Oct
    201-
    Abdullah Al Olofi, member of the Bahá'í community in Yemen, was on his way to the market in Sana'a when suddenly he was surrounded by armed soldiers in a pick-up truck. He was blindfolded and taken away. [Counterpunch 9 November, 2018] `Abdu'lláh Al Olofi; Persecution, Yemen; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2018 Oct
    201-
    The announcement of the translation and publication of the Kitab-i-Aqdas into the Philippines' second most widely spoken language, Cebuano. (Translation into Tagalog was completed in 2003.) This translation was done by Dr Gil Tabucanon and was completed after ten years of effort. Publication was done by the Philippines Baha'i Publishing Trust.
  • Among the languages into which the Kitab-i-Aqdas had been translated, in addition to English, were Albanian, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Marathi, Norwegian, Oriya, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. [BWNS1294; BWNS646]
  • * Translation; Cebuano language; Tagalog language; Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book); Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Manila, Philippines; Solano, Nueva Vizcaya; Philippines first translation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas into Cebuano
    2018 Oct
    201-
    The publication of Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Conservationist. by Paul Hanley. It was published by the University of Regina Press.
      Richard St. Barbe Baker was an inspirational visionary and pioneering environmentalist who is credited with saving and planting billions of trees. He saved lives, too, through his ceaseless global campaign to raise the alarm about deforestation and desertification and by finding effective, culturally sensitive ways for people to contribute to a more peaceful and greener world. He was also an Edwardian eccentric whose obsession with trees caused him to neglect his family; the devout son of an evangelical preacher who became a New Age hero; an unapologetic colonial officer fired for defending indigenous Africans; a forester who rarely had a steady income; a failed entrepreneur and inventor; a proud soldier and peace activist; a brilliant writer, speaker, and raconteur who made wild claims about the effectiveness of his conservation efforts. His encounters with historical figures like FDR, Nehru, and George Bernard Shaw are eye-popping, as were his accomplishments.
  • See BWNS1292.
  • See 9 June 1982.
  • See Paul's presentation on the Wilmette Institute site.
  • Richard St. Barbe Baker; Man of the Trees; Paul Hanley; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Regina, SK; Saskatchewan, Canada; Canada
    2018 29 Sep
    201-
    In the second court hearing presided over by judge Abdu Ismail Hassan Rajeh, three additional Bahá'ís were sentenced to death. Five of the indicted Bahá'ís were in attendance at the court where the judge requested the prosecutor to publish the names of 19 others indicted in a newspaper, further endangering the lives of the Yemeni Bahá'í community. The judge also ordered that all of the properties belonging to the Bahá'ís indicted be frozen until the court verdict was issued. He furthermore objected to a request by the lawyer for the five to be released on bail and deferred any such decision to the next hearing to be held in a month and ten days.
  • The actions undertaken by the Houthis were condemned in two recent United Nations resolutions, one of which called for the immediate release of all Bahá'ís detained in Yemen due to their religious beliefs and to cease any harassment they are subjected to. [Iran Press Watch 4 October, 2018]
  • United Nations; Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2018 21 Sep
    201-
    The Bahá'í World Centre announced the release of three short films that highlighted aspects of the community building endeavours of Bahá'ís and like-minded friends around the world. Totaling about 32 minutes, the new films covered three themes: nurturing younger generations, exploring the empowerment of junior youth, and communities learning to advance together. The films complement the recently produced documentary film A Widening Embrace released in April. [BWNS1286]

    The films can be downloaded using the link below:
    Nurturing younger generations
    Exploring the empowerment of junior youth
    Communities learning to advance together

    Widening Embrace, A (film); - Institute process; Childrens classes; Youth empowerment program; Ruhi Institute; - Film; - Documentaries; - Documentaries, BWC; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2018 15 Sep
    201-
    Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi authorities held a court hearing that targeted some 20 or 24 Bahá'ís, most in absentia, with a string of baseless charges which included espionage and apostasy. The charges were primarily made against individuals who held administrative roles in the Bahá'í community but extended to other Yemeni Bahá'ís including a teenage girl. In a subsequent hearing on September 29, the judge asked the prosecutor to publish the names of the accused in a newspaper and ordered their properties frozen. The judge in the case was Abdu Ismail Hassan Rajeh, the same judge who presided over Mr. Haydara's in January of 2018.
  • Subsequently the governments of Australia, Canada, and Germany issued a joint statement calling for the immediate release of all Bahá'í prisoners. [Global Affairs Canada Joint Statement on the Bahá'ís in Yemen; BWNS1285]
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution, Court cases; Court cases; Human rights; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2018 9 Sep
    201-
    Ētahi Karakia Bahá'í (Book of Bahá'í Prayers) was launched at the Pūrekireki Marae in Pirongia to coincide with the beginning of Māori Language Week. For Dr. Tom Roa, professor of Maori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato, it was the fourth significant translation of canonical Bahá'í texts he and his team have undertaken. This endeavour came amid broader efforts to revive the Maori language. Dr. Roa, who has been at the forefront of these efforts, said that Maori speakers were a declining share of New Zealand's population. Maori people made up only 15 percent of the population, and only a fifth of them can have a conversation in Maori, he noted.
  • Providing access to prayers in Maori was a key motivation for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New Zealand when it undertook the process in 2004. A small team of Bahá'ís worked with Dr. Roa, who had translated other spiritual texts into the Maori language, including the Bible and the Quran. The 14-year translation project began first with The Hidden Words, Bahá'u'lláh's preeminent ethical work, and then Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, an introduction to the Faith.
  • Bahá'í writings have been translated into some 800 languages to this date. [BWNS1287; Raglan23 18SEP2018]
  • Prayer; Maoris; * Translation; * Publications; Pirongia, New Zealand; New Zealand
    2018 6 Sep
    201-
    The passing of Lily Ayman (b. 17 May 1929 in Tehran) in Chicago. She was buried in the Oakwood cemetery near the resting place of Hand of the Cause Corrine True. She was a prominent Iranian educationalist who later became a Bahá'í in 1975 and left Iran with her family after the Revolution and finally settled in the USA where she become actively involved in various Bahá'í educational projects. See her "In Memoriam" published in Lights of Irfan, 20, 2019 p. 264-269.

    She was considered the "Mother of Persian Textbooks" [Iran Wire 10 April 2013]

  • Listen to the audio story The threat of being executed seven times and other stories on the Northwestern University website.
  • - In Memoriam; Lily Ayman; Tehran, Iran; Iran; Chicago, IL; United States (USA)
    2018 31 Aug
    201-
    To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival in the Holy Land the Bahá'í World News Service published a series of podcasts. Akka, Israel
    2018 summer
    201-
    Starting with the summer of 2018, Romania hosted the Seminars of the Institute for Global Prosperity Studies for Eastern European students. Young people from the following countries participated: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary. [Romanian Bahá'í website] Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP); Romania
    2018 22 Jul
    201-
    The dedication of the second local Bahá'í House of Worship in the world in Norte del Cauca, Colombia. News of this project was announced in 2012 along with other projects in Battambang, Cambodia; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Bihar Sharif, India; and Tanna, Vanuatu. (For information on the first local Mashriqu'l-Adhkár see here.) The event marked the opening of a month-long inauguration period. In a series of weekly visits to the Temple, 1,500 people were expected to participate in a special program called "My First Visit to the Bahá'í House of Worship."
  • In the Ridván Message of 2012 the Universal House of Justice announced that national Mashriqu'l-Adhkárs would to be raised up in two countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Papua New Guinea and that the first local Houses of Worship were to be built in Battambang, Cambodia; Bihar Sharif, India; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Norte del Cauca, Colombia; and Tanna, Vanuatu. This was the second of those local Mashriqu'l-Adhkárs to have been completed. [Ridván 2012 Message]
  • See the message from the Universal House of Justice dated 1 August 2014 where they pointed out the "the dynamic interaction between worship and endeavours to uplift the spiritual, social, and material conditions of society" and recalled the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkárs in Turkistan and in America.
  • The local Bahá'í House of Worship in Norte del Cauca, Colombia, included a budding native forest, called the Bosque Nativo, that aimed to restore the region's indigenous plants. This video in Spanish describes the Bosque Nativo's features.
  • The Universal House of Justice was represented by Mrs. Carmen Elisa de Sadeghian who read a letter addressed to the attendees. "This House of Worship stands now as a symbol of the beauty inherent in the noble people of this region and its design evokes the generosity of their land," stated the letter, dated 22 July 2018. Also in attendance were Mr. Gustavo Correa and Dr. Farzam Arbab, two former members of the Universal House of Justice, as well as the mayors of four neighbouring towns. [BWNS1275]
  • A musical group sang and dancers performed a piece titled "The Soul of Norte del Cauca," about the arrival of the Bahá'í Faith to the region and how Bahá'u'lláh's teachings are given expression in the hopes and aspirations of the people. The group also performed a song called "La Cumbia del Jardinero" which was made available on SoundCloud.
  • See photo of the Greatest Name.

    Specifics

      Location: Aqua Azul, Notre del Cauca, Columbia
      Property acquired:December, 2013
      Design unveiled: 13 September, 2014
      Groundbreaking: 22 May, 2016
      Construction Period: January 2017 to July 2018
      Site Dedication: 22 July, 2018
      Architect:Mr. Gutierrez Chacón
      Architectural firm:CUNA Engineering and Sustainable Architecture
      Seating:
      Dimensions:The Temple is 18 metres tall. Inside height is 15 metres.
      Cost:
      Dependencies:
      References: BWNS1020; BWNS1047; BWNS1109; BWNS1153; BWNS1168; BWNS1222; BWNS1240; BWNS1249; BWNS1268, BWNS1277.
  • * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Quick facts; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Norte del Cauca, Colombia; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Dedications; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Agua Azul, Colombia; North Caucasus; Colombia; Gutierrez Chacon first...the dynamic interaction between worship and endeavours to uplift the spiritual, social, and material conditions of society
    2018 8 Jul
    201-
    The opening of the play about Tahirih called Daughter of the Sun to an audience of 450 people at the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama. The dramatic presentation was produced by journalist Kamale Selim Muslimgizi and came at a time when the life of Tahirih was gaining renewed attention and interest in Azerbaijani society due, in part because a book on Tahirih's life and works that were translated and published in 2016 which catalyzed a growing interest among the people of Azerbaijan about the life of this iconic champion of women's emancipation.
  • Tahirih wrote in Persian, Arabic, and Azeri, a widely spoken language in Qazvin and the surrounding region. Azeri is also the main language of Azerbaijan. Tahirih has long attracted interest among scholars. Western Orientalists of the 19th century wrote of her influence on literature and gender equality. In recent years, there have been numerous academic articles and books about her as well as translations of three volumes of her poetry into English.
  • The play continued its run in Baku and in the following months on stage in other cities across the country. [BWNS1276; 30 April, 1960]
  • Tahirih (Qurratu'l-'Ayn, Zarrín-Táj); - Drama; - Plays; * Arts and crafts; Kamale Selim Muslimgizi; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Bandar Anzali, Iran; Azerbaijan
    2018 6 Jul
    201-
    Mr. Javaid Rehman was appointed as the third Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran since re-establishment of the mandate. The former mandate holder, Ms. Asma Jahangir assumed the mandate from November 2016 until her sudden passing in February 2018.
    Mr. Rehman was a Professor of International Human Rights Law and Muslim Constitutionalism at Brunel University, London. Mr Rehman taught human rights law and Islamic law and continued to publish extensively in the subjects of international human rights law, Islamic law and constitutional practices of Muslim majority States. Several of his published works have been translated into various languages. Overview of the mandate The Human Rights Council Resolution 37/30 requested the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran to submit a report on the implementation of the mandate to the Human Rights Council at its fortieth session and to the General Assembly at its seventy-third session and calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur, to permit access to visit the country, and to provide all information necessary to allow the fulfillment of the mandate.
    In the discharge of his mandate, the Special Rapporteur will:
    a) Monitor and investigate human rights violations, transmits urgent appeals and letters to Iran on alleged violations of human rights; b) Seek to undertake country visits to Iran and to the region and engage with relevant stakeholders; c) Submit reports to the General Assembly and Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; and d) Engage publicly on issues of concern, including through press releases. [Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights]
    Javaid Rehman; United Nations; United Nations; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; New York City, NY
    2018 22 Jun
    201-
    Following the recitation of prayers, the carved teak Greatest Name symbol was raised 15 meters to be placed at the inner apex of the dome inside the local Bahá'í House of Worship in Agua Azul, Colombia. This marked the near-completion of the world's second local House of Worship. [BWNS1268] Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Norte del Cauca, Colombia; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Agua Azul, Colombia; North Caucasus; Colombia
    2018 13 Jun
    201-
    Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on charges of collusion and propaganda against Iran's rulers. [Al Jazeera]

    On 29 August 2018, Sotoudeh began a hunger strike to protest her detention and government harassment of her family and friends.

    On 11 March 2019 Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced in two different trials to 38.5 years in prison and 148 lashes and was denied access to a copy of the verdict against her. She was only permitted to see the text of the sentence and to note the charges of which she was convicted. One of the charges against her was "membership in an illegal group", referring to her membership of Legam, a campaign to abolish the death penalty in Iran. According to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, and given the high number of charges against her, only the most severe punishment will be enforced. However, given the high number of charges against her, it is unclear how much of the sentence she will have to serve. [Front Line Defenders]

    On 27 July 2020, her husband, Reza Khandan, reported that his wife's bank accounts had been blocked by the Tehran Prosecutor's Office. Reza Khandan believed this to be the beginning of the seizure of the family's assets.

    On 10 August 2020, Nasrin Sotoudeh began a hunger strike to protest the continued imprisonment of human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience in Iran. In a letter outlining her reasons, she highlighted that COVID-19 has only served to exacerbate the already poor conditions for prisoners in Iran. In September she was hospitalised after her physical condition worsened following weeks of hunger strike. Her strike ended in late September after 46 days.

    On October 20, Sotoudeh was transferred from Evin Prison in Tehran to Qarchak, a women's prison outside the city that has been blacklisted under United Nations human rights sanctions.

    7 November 2020. Sotoudeh was temporarily released from prison after concerns mounted over her deteriorating health. Her temporary release came weeks after she was moved to intensive care in a hospital in Tehran following a lengthy hunger strike. [Al Jazeera]

    2 December 2020: Nasrin Sotoudeh was returned to Qarchak prison despite the fact that medical experts recommended the extension of her medical leave for a further two weeks. [Al Jazeera]

    Queen's University conferred an honorary doctorate of Law. Accepting it on her behalf was Irwin Cotler, Sotoudeh's international legal counsel and former Minister of Justice of Canada. [Queen's Gazeette 23 January 2021]

    * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Human rights; Nasrin Sotoudeh; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2018 9 May
    201-
    The premiere of the film The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá'í Faith in Los Angeles. The first ever documentary about the origins of the Bahá'í Faith. On May 23rd, Bahá'í communities in multiple locations showed the film as part of their Holy Day observance. The film was directed by Bob Hercules, written by Ed Price, and the producers were Steve Sarowitz, Ed Price and Adam Mondschein. [Film Website]
  • Later, about October, 2019, the film would be used to produce The Gate, Dusk of the Baha'i Faith as propaganda against the Faith.
  • * Báb, The (chronology); Bábí history; - Documentaries; - Film; The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá'í Faith (film); Bob Hercules; * Persecution, Iran; Los Angeles, CA; United States (USA) The first documentary about the origins of the Bahá’í Faith.
    2018 (post International Bahá'í Convention)
    201-
    Some 80 members of the Continental Boards of Counsellors met for a conference at the Bahá'í World Centre following the 12th International Bahá'í Convention. On that occasion, the Counsellors were able to reflect on major developments in Bahá'í communities around the world. In order to share their experiences some of their stories were recorded and made available via podcasts. The Counsellors discussed the impact of spiritual and moral education programs offered by the Bahá'í community on youth and the communities in which they live, drawing on experiences in Cambodia, Kiribati, India, Norway, Spain, and Timor Leste (or East Timor). [BWNS1264]
  • Counsellors in Africa, Alain Pierre Djoulde, Clément Thyrrell Feizouré, Maina Mkandawire, and Judicaël Mokolédiscuss discussed endeavours in the field of education in that continent. [BWNS1269]
  • The podcasts can be found here or on SoundCloud.
  • Counsellors; Conferences, Counsellors; - Institute process; Youth; Podcasts; Education; Conventions, International; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel; Cambodia; Kiribati; India; Norway; Spain; Timor Leste, East Timor,
    2018 30 Apr
    201-
    The announcement of the election of the 12th Universal House of Justice. Those elected were Paul Lample, Chuungu Malitonga, Payman Mohajer, Shahriar Razavi, Stephen Hall, Ayman Rouhani, Stephen Birkland, Juan Francisco Mora, and Praveen Mallik. [BWNS1258]
  • The twelfth International Bahá'í Convention was held from the 29th of April until the 2nd of May. In the election of the Universal House of Justice over 1,300 ballots were cast by representatives of 160 national communities. [BWNS1256, BWNS1257, BWNS1259, BWNS1261]
  • See Vimeo for a short film of the International Convention by Farideh Baki-Nasseri.
  • The film A Widening Embrace was screened at the Convention, enriching the consultations of the delegates. It is a documentary film about the community-building efforts of the Bahá'í world. Many of the themes discussed over the days of the Convention were highlighted in the practical examples presented in the documentary which tells the story of the transformation of communities unfolding throughout the world by featuring the process in 24 communities representing different realities and contexts. The 77-minute film, which was commissioned by the Universal House of Justice, was made available in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Persian. [BWNS1260] .
  • Paul Lample; Chuungu Malitonga; Payman Mohajer; Shahriar Razavi; Stephen Hall; Ayman Rouhani; Stephen Birkland; Juan Francisco Mora; Praveen Mallik; Universal House of Justice, Election of; Universal House of Justice, Members of; Conventions, International; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Widening Embrace, A (film); - Documentaries; - Documentaries, BWC; - Institute process; Social action; Social and economic development; Farideh Baki-Nasseri; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    2018 27 Apr
    201-
    The publication of the booklet entitled For the Betterment of the World by the Office of Social and Economic Development to be made available to the more than 1,300 delegates at the International Bahá'í Convention. As with the editions published in 2003 and 2008, it provided an illustration of the Bahá'í community's ongoing process of learning and action in the field of social and economic development. [BWNS1255] - Institute process; Social and economic development; Social action; For the Betterment of the World (document); - Basic timeline, Expanded; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2018 23 Apr
    201-
    Afif Naeimi, the seventh and last imprisoned member of the Yaran, returned to Rajaee Shahr Prison (also known as Gohardasht Prison) near Tehran at the end of his medical leave despite suffering from life-threatening ailments.
  • On May 1 the judiciary's medical experts had ruled that the 57-year-old was too ill to be incarcerated.
  • Naeimi, who had completed his 10-year prison sentence, should have been released by that time but the judiciary extended his term by more than nine months—the period he was out of prison on furlough receiving medical treatment. He had hypertrophy, a condition where the heart muscle thickens and he was afflicted with Syncope disease, which causes temporary losses of consciousness. [Iran Press Watch 18975; Iran Press Watch 18975]
  • Yaran; Rajai Shahr prison; Prisons; * Persecution, Iran; Karaj, Iran; Iran
    2018 22 Apr
    201-
    The announcement of the retirement of Universal House of Justice members Mr. Gustavo Correa, 70, and Dr. Firaydoun Javaheri, 72. Mr. Correa was from Colombia. He was elected to the House of Justice in 2008. Dr. Javaheri was born in Iran and spent much of his life in Africa—first in The Gambia and subsequently in Zambia. He was elected to the Universal House of Justice in 2003. [BWNS1253] Gustavo Correa; Firaydoun Javaheri; Universal House of Justice, Members of; Retirements; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2018 15 Apr
    201-
    The design for the local Bahá'í House of Worship was unveiled at a gathering in Matunda Soy, Kenya attended by about 1,000 people. The temple will accommodate about 250 people and the design incorporated the diamond-shaped pattern, a motif commonly found in Kenyan culture. It will be built of construction materials found locally; the roof will be made of local state and the walls from from stone quarried nearby. The Temple's architect, Neda Samimi, was the first female architect whose design for a Baha'i House of Worship was selected. [BWNS1251]
  • Concept Drawing.
  • * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Matunda Soy, Kenya; Architecture; - Architects; Women; Firsts, other; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Matunda Soy, Kenya; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Kenya first woman to design a Bahá'í House of Worship
    2018 12 Apr
    201-
    The premiere of the documentary film, An American Story: Race Amity and The Other Tradition in a television broadcast on station WBGH, channel 2 in Boston, MA. [Trailer]
  • From the film website...."The primary purpose of the documentary project, An American Story: Race Amity and The Other Tradition, is to impact the public discourse on race. To move the discourse from the "blame/grievance/rejection" cycle to a view from a different lens, the lens of "amity/collaboration/access and equity."
  • Race; Unity; Race amity; Race unity; Racism; - Documentaries; Boston, MA; Massachusetts, USA; United States (USA)
    2018 4 Apr
    201-
    A major milestone in the construction of the local Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Agua Azul was reached. The crown on the topmost part of the roof was installed. [BWNS1020, BWNS1109, BWNS1168, BWNS1109, BWNS1248, BWNS1249] Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Norte del Cauca, Colombia; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Agua Azul, Colombia; North Caucasus; Colombia
    2018 1 Apr
    201-
    The launch of a fierce campaign of hatred against members of the Bahá'í Faith, as well as other against peaceful religious minorities was proclaimed by Houthi activist Ahmad Ayed Ahmed in a public Tweet. The campaign coincided with the threats made by the leader of Ansaruallah, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, against the Bahá'ís, Ahmadis, Christians and a number of Islamic sects during his Friday speech on the occasion of Rajab Friday. This marked a clear call for a sectarian war against minorities and specifically the Bahá'í's and parallelled the already ongoing systematic attack against Bahá'ís including arbitrary arrests, persecution, and torture. This indicated a new stage in Houthi persecution, until this time they had exercised a degree of "political dissimulation" to conceal their direct involvement, however, since al-Houthi's public speech, Houthis were openly spearheading as well as escalating the systematic persecution of Bahá'ís. [Iran Press Watch 1 April, 2018] Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Yemen
    2018 23 Mar
    201-
    Sayyid Abdul-Malik Badreddin Al-Houthi, the Secretary-General of Yemen's Shia political party Ansar Allah, accused the Bahá'ís of seeking to create disunity among Muslims. In a televised speech broadcast to a wide audience within and outside of Yemen, he vehemently vilified and denounced the Bahá'í Faith, further intensifying the ongoing persecution of the Bahá'ís in that country. It was reported that the Houthis had also launched a social media campaign against Bahá'ís. "The Yemeni Initiative for Defending Bahá'í Rights", a human rights organization, said in a Facebook post that Al-Houthi's incitement coincided with incitements against Ahmadis, Christians, intellectuals, scientists, and activists, as well as "a number of Islamic doctrines." [Conatus News 28 March, 2018]
  • See BIC News.
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Sayyid `Abdu'l-Malik Badreddin Al-Houthi; Yemen
    2018 21 Mar
    201-
    The design for the national Bahá'í House of Worship of Papua New Guinea (PNG) was unveiled.
  • Originally from New Zealand, Rodney Hancock—one of two individuals who brought the Bahá'í Faith to PNG in the 1950s—was asked to unveil the temple design before the audience of over 300 visitors.
  • The architectural team—composed of indigenous architect from PNG Henry Lape and Saeed Granfar—also addressed the audience. They explained that the "search for a universal theme" for the temple was "a profound challenge in a country with more than 700 distinct cultural groups.
  • The central edifice of the House of Worship will have a seating capacity of 350. [BWNS1246, EMTV.com 3 April, 2018]
  • Concept photo's.
  • From the website of the department of External Affairs for the Bahá'ís of Papua New Guinea.
  • * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, National; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Port Moresby; Architecture; - Architects; Rodney Hancock; Henry Lape; Saeed Granfar; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Papua New Guinea
    2018 19 Mar
    201-
    The release of Mr. Vahid Tizfahm from the Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj after having completed his 10-year sentence. He was the sixth of the seven Bahá'í leaders to be released from prison.
  • At this time the 10 year term of the remaining prisoner, Mr Afif Naeimi, had two months yet to serve. Due to a serious illness he was released to the custody of his family while receiving medical treatment under the proviso that he would return to prison when deemed medically fit. [BWNS1245, Iran Press Watch, 29 March, 2018, Iran Press Watch 30 March, 2018]
  • For his personal history see Iran Watch 11557.
  • According to BIC, there were 97 Bahá'ís in prison as of 1 March. [Middle East Eye Tuesday 20 March 2018 12:39 UTC]
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Human rights; Court cases; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2018 16 Mar
    201-
    Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, at 85 the oldest member of the Yaran to be imprisoned, was released after serving his 10-year sentence. [BWNS1244] Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Court cases; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2018 15 Mar
    201-
    The Bahá'í cemetery in the city of Kerman was sealed by order of the Kerman judicial authorities and the burial of deceased Bahá'ís was prevented. [Iran Press Watch 19720] - Persecution, denial of burial; Kerman, Iran; Iran
    2018 12 Mar
    201-
    The Bahá'í International Community in New York released the statement "Beyond Mere Economics: A Moral Inquiry into the Roots of Empowerment" to the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (12 to 23 March 2018). [BWNS1243] Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; * Publications; Women; Empowerment; Economics; United Nations; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2018 22 Feb
    201-
    A progress report on the construction of the Mashriqul-Adhkar in Norte del Cauca was made. The main structural components of the central building had been completed and work had begun on the finishing of the floor and the walls as well as the placement of the roof tiles. Construction had begun in a number of auxiliary buildings. [BWNS1240] Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Norte del Cauca, Colombia; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Agua Azul, Colombia; North Caucasus; Colombia
    2018 20 Feb
    201-
    Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, a former member of the Yaran, was transferred from Evin Prison to a hospital as per directions of the prison doctor after experiencing heart issues. He underwent surgery and, after spending a few days in the ICU, was transferred back to prison. Mr. Khanjani suffered from old age and multiple ailments. He had been in prison since May 18, 2008. Throughout his 10-year term he had not been allowed a single day of leave. Security and Judicial authorities did not even allow him to attend his wife's funeral. His sentence was completed on March 22. [Iran Press Watch 18815] Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Court cases; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2018 18 Feb
    201-
    In an open letter, twenty-five prominent international lawyers and human right activists appealed to Mohammad Javad Larijani, the Secretary-General of the High Council for Human Rights in Iran, to take steps to end the persecution of the Bahá'ís in Iran. In the letter they made reference to the new website, "Archives of the Bahá'í Persecution in Iran", stating that it "vividly demonstrates the depth and breadth of unjust, relentless, and systematic oppression against a religious minority". [BICNews10Feb2018] Human rights; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Open letters; Websites; Internet; * Publications; Iran; - Worldwide
    2018 16 Feb
    201-
    The release of Saeid Rezaie, one of the seven members of the Yaran, the former leadership group of the Bahá'ís in Iran after completing his 10-year sentence. He was the fourth person from among the Yaran to be released. [BWNS1238] Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Court cases; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2018 Feb
    201-
    Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), an NGO working to promote the right to freedom of religion or belief of all and raising awareness about the persecution of Christians and other religious groups around the world, published a shocking report that revealed the influence of religious persecution on religious minority children. In its Faith and a Future report, CSW focused on the situation of religious minority children in educational settings in Burma, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan. The report scrutinized three common acts of persecution in the educational setting specifically bias, discrimination and abuse.
  • In Iran, bias can be seen across various educational materials in the country. School textbooks were focused on the Shi'a Muslim perspective and were silent on any other religions. This had an adverse effect on religious minorities. Children belonging to the Bahá'í religion were denied access to schools and often access to higher education. Bahá'í children that were lucky to be enrolled in schools were not free to learn or partake in their religious belief. According to the CSW report, a memorandum from the Iran government stated that Bahá'í children 'should be enrolled in schools which have a strong and imposing religious [Shi'a] ideology.' The situation for children partaking in higher education is no better. According to Article 3 of the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council's student qualification regulations (1991), students were to be expelled if they were found to be Bahá'í. Only Muslim or students belonging to recognized religions were allowed to take the national enrolment exam. The report further alleged that some Bahá'í children had been subjected to physical abuse at schools. [Iran Press Watch 18838]
  • * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Human rights; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution; Human rights; Faith and a Future (CSW); Iran
    2018 29 Jan - 7 Feb
    201-
    The 56th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development focused on strategies for eradicating poverty. It explored many dimensions of this complex and vexing issue, including the necessity of realizing the equality of women and men, the promise and potential pitfalls of technology, issues of disability and inclusion, as well as the special role of families, communities, and youth.

    The BIC prepared a statement for the Commission calling for a profound shift in thinking. Referring to the Commission's aim of "eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all," the statement explains that it "is not simply a matter of expanding access to material resources, challenging as that can be. Rather, it is an endeavor of structural and social transformation on scales never attempted before. And the magnitude of that work calls for new ways of understanding individual human beings and society as a whole."

    The statement, Towards a Just Economic Order: Conceptual Foundations and Moral Prerequisites was made available on the BIC website.

    United Nations; Bahá'í International Community; - Statements; New York, USA; New York, USA
    2018 25 Jan
    201-
    By way of a contribution to the 7th Annual ECOSOC Youth Forum at the United Nations, the Bahá'í International Community presented a statement titled, Rising Generations: Weaving a New Tapestry of Community Life in which our current systems of governance, economics, health, and education, among others were discussed and thought given to what these systems would have to be like in the future. Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2018 25 Jan
    201-
    Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Asma Jahangir, in her report, shared with that country on this date, listed the names of some 77 Bahá'ís imprisoned in that country.
  • Report.
  • United Nations; Asma Jahangir; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; New York City, NY
    2018 25 Jan
    201-
    The announcement of the opening of an educational centre at the Bahá'í Lotus Temple. The educational facility, which can accommodate hundreds, will be used to host camps, courses, and seminars for youth and young adults who are involved in efforts to improve their communities. With the opening of the new educational facility, many more will be able to attend these programs than was previously possible.
  • Shaheen Javid, General Manager of the House of Worship reported that the Temple, which opened in 1986, received 10,000–15,000 visitors on weekdays and over 35,000 on weekends. [BWNS1234]
  • Shaheen Javid; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Delhi; Lotus temple, New Delhi; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Statistics; Youth; New Delhi, India; India
    2018 18 Jan
    201-
    The publication of A Vision of Peace: Stories from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a brief history of the struggles and successes of the Bahá'í community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
  • The podcast associated with this Bahá'í World News Service story, can be found here.
  • Community building; Congo, Democratic Republic of
    2018 2 Jan
    201-
    The Specialized Criminal Court of the Houthi militia in Yemen sentenced 52 year-old detainee Hammed bin Haidara to death on the basis of his Bahá'í beliefs, allegedly for collaborating with Israel and forging official documents. His execution was to be a public event. He had been tortured and ill-treated in custody since being incarcerated in December of 2013. The judgment issued by the Houthi-controlled Criminal Court in Sana'a also confiscated the funds of Hammed bin Haidara and shut all Bahá'í centres in the country. The persecution of Bahá'ís in the area controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia reflected the pattern of persecution in Iran.
  • The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) estimated that the number of Bahá'ís in Yemen was about 2,000 people in several Yemeni provinces. [Al Arabiya English 3 January, 2018, BIC 5 January, 2018, Amnesty International 28 April, 2017, Defending Bahá'í Rights facebook page]
  • "The Yemini Initiative for Defending Bahá'í Rights", a activist group launched in April of 2017, gained tens of thousands of followers. Prominent media groups in the Arab world have publicized the case. In addition to Mr bin Haidara there were six other Bahá'ís in prison in Sana'a. [BWNS1232]
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution, Court cases; Court cases; Human rights; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Yemen
    2018 (In the Year)
    201-
    The publication of
    2018 Jan
    201-
    Southern Yemeni separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates seized control of Aden. Yemen, Recent history; Aden, Yemen; Yemen
    2018 (In the year)
    201-
    The Bahá'í International Community established a web site, Archives of Bahá'í Persecution in Iran to document the persecution of the Bahá'ís in Iran. Each document is available as a digital scan of the original and in a text-searchable format. In time, all materials will be available in both Persian and English. The site was established in response to rising interest both internationally and within Iran to understand the depth and breadth of this persecution. The documents shed light on the decades-long, systematic, and ongoing persecution of the Baha'is, instigated by the clergy and by the government.

    Although most of the documents on this website are related to the decades following the Islamic revolution in 1979, there are many that date back a long time prior to the revolution. They cover a wide range of persecutions, including systematic discrimination, arrest and imprisonment, execution, economic oppression, exclusion from education, acts of destruction and violence, and incitement to hatred. Over time, the archive will contain thousands of documents, mostly text documents, but also audio and visual records, many of which were being made publicly available for the first time.

    One can subscribe to receive an email with weekly updates.

    On the 9th of May 2023 the Universal House of Justice wrote to all National Assemblies announcing that this resource had been made available. iiiii

    * Persecution, Iran; Bahá'í International Community; Iran
    2018 (In the year)
    201-
    The population of the Bahá'ís of the world was given as 8,327,581 or 0.10% of the population.
    1. India 2,011,510
    2. USA 543,635
    3. Kenya 448,148
    4. Vietnam 412,130
    5. Democratic Republic of the Congo 299,890
    6. Philippines 291,573
    7. Iran 266,194
    8. Zambia 255,578
    9. South Africa 252,843
    10. Bolivia 228,280

      ["Truth of Life" channel on YouTube]

    Statistics
    2017 17 Dec
    201-
    The announcement by the Universal House of Justice of the passing of former House member Mr. Hartmut Grossmann.

    "...he poured out his life in uninterrupted service to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, as a teacher, pioneer, and member of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Germany (1963-1969) and Finland (1977-1980), the Continental Board of Counsellors in Europe, (1980-1988) the International Teaching Centre (1988-2003) and, ultimately, of the Universal House of Justice (2003-2008)." [BWNS1228]

  • He was the son of Hand of the Cause of God Hermann Grossmann (1899-1968). He was predeceased by his wife Ursula. [BWNS622; Bahá'í Chronicles]
  • Hartmut Grossmann; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Germany
    2017 5 Dec
    201-
    The release of Behrooz Tavakkoli, 66, from prison after serving a 10-year term. He was the third member of the Yaran to be released. [Iran Press Watch18533; Iran Press Watch18536; BWNS1225]
  • See Iran Press Watch February 1, 2009 for an interview with his son, Naeim.
  • See Iran Press Watch February 5th, 2009 for an article that appeared in McLean's Magazine two days earlier.
  • See Iran Press Watch 1387 for the text of a talk given by his son Naeim about his father's imprisonment on February 18, 2009 in Ottawa.
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Court cases; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2017 3 Dec
    201-
    Ali Abdullah Saleh, the ousted strongman who once governed Yemen and then conspired with Iranian-backed rebels to claw his way back to power, was killed after a bomb blew up his family's compound in the capital, Sana'a. After fighting along side the Iran-backed Houthis for two years it appeared that he had switched sides to join the Saudi-led coalition. [New York Times headline Monday, December 4, 2017 10:10 AM EST] Yemen, Recent history; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2017 30 Nov
    201-
    Bahá'ís celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh in a ceremony in Baghdad attended by representatives from the Iraqi parliament, the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, civil society as well as media activists.
  • This was considered the most prominent ceremony where Bahá'ís officially announced themselves for the first time in 47 years, as the Baathist Revolutionary Command Council issued Decree No. 105 in 1970 to ban Bahá'í activities. As a consequence, Bahá'í administrative institutions in Iraq were dissolved and any activity where Bahá'ís declared their religious identity was punishable by imprisonment.
  • During the proceedings they asked for support to rescind the law on prohibiting Bahá'í activity, which was still in effect despite the fact that the law contradicted the 2005 constitution, which guaranteed freedom of belief to all citizens.
  • Millions of Bahá'ís around the world celebrated the honorary bicentennial of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh on Oct. 21-22. Bahá'ís in Baghdad celebrated after one month of postponements given the security difficulties and challenges surrounding the ceremony. [Al-Monitor.com]
  • Bahá'u'lláh, Birth of; Twin Holy days; Holy days; Centenaries; Websites; Persecution, Iraq; - Persecution, Bans; - Persecution; Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    2017 17 Nov
    201-
    A committee of the United Nations General Assembly condemned Iran by a vote of 83 to 30 with 68 abstentions for its continuing violations of human rights, the 30th such resolution since 1985.
  • The Third Committee of the General Assembly approved a five-page resolution expressing concern over illegal practices ranging from torture, poor prison conditions, arbitrary detention, and curbs on freedom of religion or belief, to state-endorsed discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities as well as women.
  • The resolution expressed specific concern over Iran's treatment of members of the Bahá'í Faith and highlighted the economic and educational discrimination against them and called on Iran to release the more than 90 Bahá'ís who were unjustly held in Iranian prisons.
  • The resolution followed a strongly worded document from the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Asma Jahangir. Her 23-page report, released earlier this session, she catalogued a broad range of rights violations by Iran. [BWNS1221]
  • United Nations; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2017 15 Nov
    201-
    Progress report on the construction of the local Bahá'í House of Worship in Norte del Cauca. [BWNS1222]
    • See BWNS1047 for information on the reforestation project in the vicinity of the Temple.
    Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Norte del Cauca, Colombia; Environment; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); North Caucasus; Colombia
    2017 6 Nov - 22 Jan
    201-
    An exhibition of Bahá'u'lláh's writings opened at the John Addis Gallery in the British Museum.
  • One of the central themes was the power of the Word, which refers to divine revelation, a concept fundamental to the origins of all the world's great faiths. The exhibition showed original handwriting of Bahá'u'lláh, as well as other archival items associated with His life such as His reed pens and examples of "revelation writing" by His scribe as he tried keep up with Bahá'u'lláh's dictation.
  • The exhibition, timed to commemorate the period of celebration of the 200th anniversary of His birth, was open to the public until the 22nd of January. [BWNS1220]
  • See the British Museum blog entitled Displaying the Bahá'í Faith: the pen is mightier than the sword.
  • British Museum and British Library; Exhibitions of Bahá'í manuscripts and relics; Relics; * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; Exhibitions; Reed pens; Reed; - Calligraphy; Revelation writing; Kalimat-i-Maknunih (Hidden Words); Bahá'u'lláh, Pen portraits of; Pen portraits; E. G. Browne; Gifts; London, England; United Kingdom; Hidden Words
    2017 4 Nov
    201-
    Three young Iranians who complained to state officials after being denied university entrance for being followers of the Bahá'í Faith have each been sentenced to five years in prison. Rouhieh Safajoo (21), Sarmad Shadabi (22), and Tara Houshmand (21) were convicted of the charges of "membership in the anti-state Bahá'í cult" and "publishing falsehoods." [IFMAT 14NOV17] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2017 near the end of Oct
    201-
    Fariba Kamalabadi, a member of the former leadership group of the Bahá'ís called the "Yaran", concluded her ten-year prison sentence. She was the second individual from among the former Yaran to be released. She, along with five others, were arrested on the 14th of May, 2008.
  • Mrs. Kamalabadi had graduated from high school with honours but was barred from attending university because of her Faith. In her mid-30s, she embarked on an eight-year period of informal study and ultimately received an advanced degree in developmental psychology from the Bahá'í Institute of Higher Education (BIHE), an alternative institution established by the Bahá'í community of Iran to provide higher education for its young people. She worked as a developmental psychologist before her arrest and imprisonment. She was married with three children. Along with the deprivations of imprisonment itself (she had spent 2 1/2 years of the 10-year sentence in solitary confinement), Mrs. Kamalabadi was also deprived of irreplaceable family moments, including the birth of her first grandchild and the weddings of her daughters. She was 55 years old upon her release. [BWNS1217]
  • See Huffington Post for an article entitled "Iran's Bahá'í Problem" by Payam Akhavan about the visit of Ms. Faezeh Hashemi, the well-known daughter of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who made a visit to her home while she was on leave from prison.
  • Ms Hashemi, herself a former MP, was heavily criticized after she met with Ms Kamalabadi while the latter was on leave from prision. See the article in The Guardian for details.
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); Court cases; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; - Persecution, Education; Court cases; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2017 22 Oct
    201-
    Yemeni security forces raided a Bahá'í gathering in Sana'a opening fire on the small group of people assembled to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh. The attack occurred in the family home of prominent tribal leader Walid Ayyash, who had been abducted in April and whose whereabouts were unknown. The attackers were reportedly in four cars and an armored vehicle which they used to break down the front door of the house. They arrested Mr. Ayyash's brother, Akram Ayyash.
  • This event proved unequivocally the extent of Iran's role in the persecution of the Bahá'ís in Yemen, especially in Sana'a, which was under the control of Iranian-backed militias. Similar attacks occurred in Iran during the period of celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of Bahá'úlláh. [BWNS1215]
  • Persecution, Yemen; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Bahá'u'lláh, Birth of; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Walid Ayyash; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen; Iran
    2017 22 Oct
    201-
    The bicentenary of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh was commemorated around the world. A multi-lingual web page was implemented to track the celebrations. [BWNS1212] Bahá'u'lláh, Birth of; Twin Holy days; Holy days; * Bahaullah (chronology); Centenaries; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2017 20 - 22 Oct
    201-
    Bicentenary of the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh

    From the time of the setting of the sun on October 21st in Kiribati, an island republic in the Central Pacific just west of the International Date Line, until sunset in Hawaii on the 22nd of October, 72 hours later, celebrations were held in thousands of localities throughout the world commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh.

    Coverage on the bicentenary website began soon after 8:00 GMT on 20 October and concluded at 4:00 GMT on 23 October documenting some of the thousands of celebrations. [BWNS1201, BWNS1203, BWNS1205, BWNS1206, BWNS1207, BWNS1208, BWNS1209, BWNS1210, BWNS1211, BWNS1221, BWNS1213, BWNS1214, BWNS1216, BWNS1218]

  • A number of countries issue commemorative stamps to mark the occasion of the bicentenary of Bahá'u'lláh's birth.
  • Bahá'u'lláh, Birth of; Twin Holy days; Holy days; Centenaries; Websites; Internet; * Publications; Stamps (philately); Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Basic timeline, Expanded; - Worldwide
    2017 18 - 22 Oct
    201-
    The Iranian Bahá'í community was targeted during the bicentenary period. Between 18 and 21 October, some 19 individuals were arrested in Kermanshah, Tehran, and Birjand, and the homes 25 Baha'is were raided. Twenty-six Bahá'í-owned shops around the country were sealed off by authorities because the owners observed the Holy Day on 21 October. These closures occurred in Shiraz, Marvdasht, Gorgan, and Gonbad. [BWNS1215] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Bahá'u'lláh, Birth of; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Iran; Kirmánsháh, Iran; Tehran, Iran; Bírjand, Iran; Shíráz, Iran; Marvdasht, Iran; Gorgan, Iran; Gonbad, Iran
    2017 18 Oct
    201-
    The release of the film Light to the World. The 51 minute film recounted the story of Bahá'u'lláh's remarkable life and the impact of His teachings on communities around the world. [BWNS1208] Light to the World (film); - Film; - Documentaries; - Documentaries, BWC; * Bahaullah (chronology); - Institute process; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Basic timeline, Expanded; Centenaries; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2017 Sep
    201-
    Arrests of Bahá'ís in Yemen drew international censure which led to a United Nations resolution, titled "Human Rights, Technical Assistance and Capacity-building in Yemen". It was introduced by Egypt on behalf of the Arab Group and supported by the entire UN Human Rights Council—calling for the immediate release of all Bahá'í detainees. The Council was the principal human rights body at the UN and was composed of 47 members who are elected by the General Assembly based on equitable geographic distribution.
  • At the time of the resolution there were seven Bahá'ís in prison in Yemen, most of whom are held in undisclosed locations and one of which has been detained for nearly four years due to repeatedly postponement court-hearings. Arrest warrants had been issued for over a dozen others, while a number of families had been forced to leave their homes. Developments in Yemen indicated that the authorities' prosecution of individuals had broadened in scope to be against the Bahá'í community in general and that efforts were being made to turn public opinion against all of the Bahá'ís under the premise that they are secretly plotting to stir unrest in Yemen.
  • The resolution established a Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts tasked with monitoring and reporting on the situation on human rights in Yemen. It was also mandated to carry out a comprehensive examination of all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights in the country. [BIC News 3 October 2017, UN Human Rights Council – 36th Session, Agenda Item 10]
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; United Nations; Human rights; Geneva, Switzerland; Switzerland; Yemen
    2017 28 Sep
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice announced the launch of a new website, created in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Persian. This portal will be used to share news of the commemoration of the Twin Holy Days throughout the world.
  • Included on that portal was the Message from the Universal House of Justice date October 2017 regarding the celebration of the Bicentenary of the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh.
  • Bahá'u'lláh, Birth of; Centenaries; Twin Holy days; Holy days; Websites; Internet; * Publications; * Translation; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2017 19 Sep
    201-
    Mahvash Sabet, one of the seven members of the former leadership group of the Bahá'ís in Iran known as the Yaran, was released after 10 years of confinement in Iran's notorious Evin and Raja'i Shahr prisons.
  • She had been arrested in March 2008 and was now 64 years old. Mrs. Sabet distinguished herself by the loving care and kindness she extended to her fellow prisoners. As has occurred with prisoners of conscience, writers, thought-leaders, and poets who have been wrongly imprisoned throughout history, the power of Mrs. Sabet's ideas and beliefs was only amplified by her persecution. The plight of its author attracted attention to this deeply moving collection of poetry, inspiring PEN International to feature Mrs. Sabet in a campaign to defend persecuted writers. Her poems also inspired a musical composition by award-winning composer Lasse Thoresen, performed at an international music festival in Oslo earlier this year. [BWNS1198]
  • See Prison Poems. For this publication she was recognized by PEN International at its 2017 International Writer of Courage.
  • See CNN article Writing to survive: Bahá'í woman's poetry was her best friend in Iranian jail.
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Court cases; Human rights; Evin Prison; Rajai Shahr prison; Prisons; - Poetry; Lasse Thoresen; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Karaj, Iran; Iran
    2017 18 Sep
    201-
    The release of the film entitled World Peace - A Bahai Vision.
  • Produced by Radiant Century Productions, Executive Producer, Cyrus Parini.
  • - Documentaries; Los Altos, CA; United States (USA)
    2017 1 - 2 Sep
    201-
    The opening of Cambodia's first "Local House of Worship" in Battambang, just over two years after the design of the building was unveiled in July 2015. News of this project was announced in 2012 along with other projects in Bihar Sharif, India; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Norte del Cauca, Colombia; and Tanna, Vanuatu.
  • The Mashriqul-Adhkár was designed by Phnom Penh-based architect Tang Sochet Vitou. It is situated on a 9-hectare property of which 1.5 hectares is used for the temple, an administrative building as well as gardens and ponds. The temple is a frequent topic of conversation among the local population. Even before its completion, it had galvanized action towards the betterment of the community and brought neighbours together. it will help provide for the spiritual needs of Cambodia's growing Bahá'í community which, according to the Ministry of Cult and Religion's most recent annual report, numbers about 12,000 although some adherents say the figure may now be closer to 20,000. Bahá'í communities were first recorded in the kingdom in the 1920s and since 1992 they have grown steadily with the help of aid workers and Asian immigrants.
  • In a letter dated 18 December 2014, the Universal House of Justice explained that a Bahá'í House of Worship is a "collective centre of society to promote cordial affection" and "stands as a universal place of worship open to all the inhabitants of a locality irrespective of their religious affiliation, background, ethnicity, or gender and a haven for the deepest contemplation on spiritual reality and foundational questions of life, including individual and collective responsibility for the betterment of society."
  • The dedication was marked by a two-day conference bringing together over 2,500 people from Battambang and every other region of Cambodia. A number of Cambodian dignitaries attended along with representatives of other Bahá'í communities in Southeast Asia. The Universal House of Justice was represented by Ms. Sokuntheary Reth who served on the Continental Board of Counsellors in Asia.
  • See the letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated 1 September, 2017, for the message to the gathered friends.

    Specifics

  • * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Battambang, Cambodia; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; Architecture; - Architects; Tang Sochet Vitou; - Basic timeline, Expanded; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Quick facts; Dedications; Firsts, other; Gardens; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Battambang, Cambodia; Cambodia first Local Mashriqu’l-Adhkar in the world.
    2017 Sep
    201-
    The statement and compilation titled The Institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár was released by the Bahá'í World Centre.

    See also the message of 2014 to the Bahá'ís of Iran on the subject of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, prayer, and devotional meetings.

    * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Prayer; Devotional gatherings; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2017 25 Aug
    201-
    The announcement of the opening of the new Pilgrim Reception Centre.
  • The three-story stone structure, which is located immediately to the west of the Shrine of the Bab, was opened in time to receive the season's first pilgrim group in October, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh. [BWNS1188]
  • Pilgrimage; Pilgrim Reception Centre (Haifa); Pilgrim Houses; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre buildings, monuments and gardens; - Bahá'í World Centre; Pilgrims; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    2017 1 Aug
    201-
    The release of the film The Cost of Discrimination by Arash Azizi and Maziar Bahari which compared the social costs of discrimination in present day Iran to South Africa under the apartheid regime where, like in Iran, the Dutch Reform Church used their Holy Texts to justify the suppressive measures taken against people of "non-European" origin. - Film; - Documentaries; Cost of Discrimination (film); Arash Azizi; Maziar Bahári; Race; Apartheid; Discrimination; - Christianity; - Islam; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; South Africa; Iran
    2017 Jul
    201-
    The men who admitted to stabbing and killing Farhang Amiri, a 63-year-old father of four children, in September 2016 in Yazd on the street outside his home in public view were sentenced by a court in Yazd.
  • The two brothers immediately admitted to have been motivated by religious hatred. "He was a Baha'i, we killed him to buy paradise for our seven generations". The older brother was sentenced to just 11 years in prison and two years away from home. The court justified the sentence by stating that according to the Islamic penal code, the accused and the victim are not equal for the general purpose of retributive justice. This astonishing provision clearly and deliberately deprives non-Muslims of the legal right to seek justice on equal-footing with the country's Muslim majority.
  • The younger man was sentenced to half of his brother's sentence for aiding in the murder. [BWNS1182]
  • Farhang Amiri; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution, Court cases; Court cases; Human rights; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Yazd, Iran; Iran
    2017 18 Jun
    201-
    The plan for the design of the local Mashriqul-Adhkár in Tanna, Vanuatu was announced. Ashkan Mostaghim of Mostaghim & Associates, a firm from Sydney, Australia, was chosen as the Temple's architect. His design was on the shortlist for the Continental Mashriqul-Adhkár in Santiago. [BWNS1175]
  • No less than a hundred design ideas had been offered for the Temple. [Ridván Message, 2014]
  • In the same message, the House of Justice highlighted Tanna as an example of a community where an entire population is moving toward a vision of material and spiritual prosperity, for which Baha'is around the world are striving.
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Vanuatu; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Architecture; - Architects; Ashkan Mostaghim; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tanna, Vanuatu; Vanuatu
    2017 Jun
    201-
    The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative was launched as an international, multi-faith alliance that works to bring moral urgency and faith-based leadership to global efforts to end tropical deforestation. They provide a platform for religious leaders to work hand-in-hand with indigenous peoples, governments, civil society organizations and businesses on actions that protect rainforests and safeguard the indigenous peoples that serve as their guardians.

    The initiative was launched in June of 2017 at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway in a first-of-its-kind summit of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist religious leaders, climate scientists, rainforest experts and indigenous peoples' representatives from Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Meso-America and Peru.

  • Their website.
  • On World Environment Day, June 5th, 2020, resource guides, perspectives from ten religious traditions, were launched. The Bahá'í Faith Toolkit, a toolkit on Forest Protection is available in PDF in English, Portuguese and in Spanish. [webpage on the Parliament of the World's Religions site]
  • See BW33 (04-05)p117-133.
  • Environment; Parliament of the World's Religions; Oslo, Norway; Norway
    2017 Jun - Nov
    201-
    In Yemen an outbreak of cholera killed 2.100 and affected almost 900,000 others. Yemen, Recent history; Cholera; Yemen
    2017 15 May
    201-
    Hundreds of Yemenis gathered in front of the Criminal Prosecution building in the capital city of Sana'a. They were denouncing the arrest of Yemeni citizens of the Bahá'í faith and calling for their release. The demonstrations were not led by the usual human rights crew but by tribal leaders of some of the most influential tribes in the country, prominently that of the Bani Mattar.
  • What brought the tribes out was the arrest of Sheikh Walid Saleh Ayyash, who has the distinction of being both a prominent tribal figure and one of the 2,000 or so Yemenis who practice the Bahá'í faith. It was Ayyash's faith that led to his arrest on April 19, as he was driving from the city of Ibb to the port of Hudaydah. Along with another Bahá'í who was in the car, Ayyash was arrested by Houthi forces and transferred to the Hudaydah prison. A statement by the tribal leaders called Ayash "a distinguished personality among the Arab tribes … well-known for his integrity and wisdom, for his love, loyalty and devotion to his country, for his tolerance and respect for the government and the law."
  • The leaders had previously met with Khalid Al-Mawari, the Houthi government's Chief of Special Criminal Prosecution. He had promised them that Ayyash would be transferred to Sana'a. When that failed to happen, they organized the demonstration. [TRACKPERSIA 25 Aug 2017]
  • Sheikh Walid Saleh Ayyash; Khalid Al-Mawari; Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2017 12 May
    201-
    The Bahá'í International Community launched a global campaign calling for the immediate release of the seven Iranian Bahá'í leaders, unjustly imprisoned for nine years as of the 14th of May.
  • The theme of the campaign, "Not Another Year," was intended to raise awareness about the seven women and men unjustly arrested in 2008 and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for their religious beliefs. This sentence was reduced to 10 years in 2015 after the overdue application of a new Iranian Penal Code. [BWNS1167]
    • The official video of the Bahá'í International Community to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment of seven Iranian Bahá'í leaders - Not Another Year.
  • Yaran; Court cases; Human rights; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; Iran
    2017 5 May
    201-
    The film Changing the World, One Wall at a Time was premiered in Harlem on the 5th of May and in Los Angeles on the 5th of June. The film evolved from shorter videos that were posted from the "Education is not a Crime" campaign and was made by Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Maziar Baharie. [BWNS1173] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution; - Documentaries; Education is not a Crime (campaign); Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Changing the World, One Wall at a Time (film); Harlem, NY; New York, USA; Los Angeles, CA; California, USA; United States (USA)
    2017 May
    201-
    The International Teaching Centre published The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning that had been prepared under their supervision. It elaborated on the accomplishments of the Five Year Plan under the headings: Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops, Social Action, Participating in the Discourses of Society, and Developments at the Bahá'í World Centre. Five Year Plan; - Teaching Plans; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2017 28 Apr
    201-
    Amnesty International sent a Joint Public Statement to the Huthi-Saleh authorities in Yemen calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Hamid Haydara. The document can be downloaded from the Amnesty International site. Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Amnesty International; Yemen
    2017 25 Apr
    201-
    The formation of the human rights organization, "The Yemeni Initiative for Defending Bahá'í Rights". [Facebook page] Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Yemen
    2017 19 Apr
    201-
    Houthi-Saleh political security officers arrested Walid Ayyash, Mahmood Humaid, and Badi'u'llah Sanai, all members of the Bahá'í community, at a checkpoint near the city border of Hudiedah. Sanai was released one week later, but was re-arrested in May. All three remain detained, their whereabouts unknown. [UN News Centre 22 May 2017]
  • In total over 25 Bahá'ís, including many prominent members of the Bahá'í community who assisted with organization of community affairs at the national level were arrested around the time. In October it was reported that eight Bahá'ís were still detained but the place of detention was not known. [BWNS1215]
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Yemen
    2017 3 Mar
    201-
    The publication of Toward Prosperity The Role of Women and Men in Building a Flourishing World Civilization, the Bahá'í International Community's contribution to the 61st United Nations Commission on the Status of Women which took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017 as a follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century". [BIC Statements] Toward Prosperity; New York, USA; New York, USA
    2017 23 Feb
    201-
    Plans for the construction of the local Bahá'í House of Worship in Agua Azul, a village in Norte del Cauca, Colombia, reached an important milestone. Construction officially began in January after building contracts were formalized with a local firm in the region. [BWNS1153]
  • Concurrent with the building the House of Worship has been the reinforcement of activities that contributed to the spiritual and material progress of communities in and around Norte del Cauca. Inspired by the Temple, these community-building activities multiplied, and a spirit of prayer, devotion, and participation begun to increasingly permeate the area.
  • Parallel to this, the community undertook a reforestation project, designated for a "Bosque Nativo" or native forest on an 11-hectare piece of land adjacent to the Temple site to reintroduce native vegetation which had been decimated by years of monoculture plantations of sugarcane.
  • For pictures see BWNS1153
  • For development report dated the 14th of May, 2017 see BWNS1168.
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Norte del Cauca, Colombia; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Agua Azul, Colombia; North Caucasus; Colombia
    2017 15 Feb
    201-
    The Bahá'í International Community announced the launch of a website for the Bahá'ís of Iran at Bahaisofiran.org. "Although the official website of the worldwide Bahá'í community had recently been made available in Persian and a number of other languages, the new "Baha'is of Iran" website was the first website of the Bahá'í community of Iran. This development was especially important at a time when a large volume of anti-Bahá'í propaganda had proliferated in that country. Since 2013 alone, more than 20,000 such pieces had been disseminated in Iran's media." [BWNS1152, The Baha'i Question Revisited]
  • Web sites for other national communities can be found at A Global Community.
  • Websites; Internet; * Publications; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; Iran
    2017 18 Jan
    201-
    The announcement of the publication of Days of Remembrance: Selections from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh for Bahá'í Holy Days by the Bahá'í World Centre. It is also made available in electonic format from Bahá'í Reference Library at Days of Remembrance: Selections from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh for Baha'i Holy Days. [BWNS1148] - Days of Remembrance (book); Holy days; * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; * Publications; * Translation; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2017 7 Jan
    201-
    The body of Ahmad Fanaiyan was found with numerous burns all over his body in Semnan, Semnan Province. He was a respected and elderly man. [Persian-Bahá'í1147 * Persecution, Iran; Ahmad Fanaiyan; Semnan, Iran; Iran
    2017 Jan
    201-
    The publication of Training Institutes: Attaining a Higher Level of Functioning by the International Teaching Centre. This comprehensive document prepared by the International Teaching Centre in January 2017 provides an in depth analysis of the guidance about the main sequence of courses, the junior youth spiritual empowerment program, the program for the spiritual education of children and the processes involved in developing institutional capacity. Training Institutes; - Institute process; * Publications; - International Teaching Centre, Publications; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2016 27 Nov
    201-
    In Yemen, Nadim al-Sakkaf and his brother Nader, who were detained from August 10th, were unexpectedly released from prison in Sana'a. Their release, it was believed, was in no small part due to the relentless advocacy of their wives Ruhiyeh al-Sakkaf and Nafheh al-Sakkaf. Their friend Kaiwan Mohamed Ali Qadri, who was arrested in the same raid, remained in custody. [Religion News Service 20161129]
  • Photos of the four can be found on the same page.
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2016 25 Nov
    201-
    In a message addressed to the Bahá'ís of the World on of the Day of the Covenant, the Universal House of Justice marked the beginning of a new five-year term of service for the Auxiliary Board Members and announced an augmentation in the number of members by 144 bringing the total to 1,134 members distributed evenly between the Propagation and the Protection Boards.
  • In the same message it announced plans for a series of conferences called by the International Teaching Centre where the Auxiliary Board Members would be assisted in the deepening of their understanding of the spiritual nature of their work and the wide-ranging responsibilities they will shoulder.
  • Auxiliary board members; Assistants; Statistics; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2016 24 Nov
    201-
    From her cell in Evin prison, In a open letter to her six-month old granddaughter, Bajar, Fariba Kamalabadi one of the members of the imprisoned Yaran of Iran, wrote about the suffering of the Bahá'í citizens and of her dreams for humanity. [Iran Press Watch 16140] Yaran; Evin Prison; Prisons; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2016 26 Oct
    201-
    The report from the offices of the Bahá'í International Community entitled The Bahá'í Question Revisited: Persecution and Resilience in Iran was formally released.
  • The full report can be read on-line here.
  • A list of resolutions by the United Nations and United Nations bodies that referenced the situation of Bahá'ís in Iran since 1980 can be found at this location.
  • An annex to The Bahá'í Question Revisited is the report called "Inciting Hatred". It is an analysis of approximately 400 anti-Bahá'í articles, broadcasts, and webpages from late December 2009 through May 2011 and can be found here.
  • A list of the 222 Bahá'ís who have been killed in Iran since 1978 can be read here.
  • * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Bahá'í International Community; Human rights; United Nations; - BIC statements; Iran; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2016 13 - 16 Oct
    201-
    The public dedication of the Mother Temple of South America in Santiago, Chile. The opening ceremonies were attended by over 5,000 people from 110 countries. Live video coverage of the public opening ceremony was provided on the Bahá'í World News Service website for approximately 90 minutes and the video recording has been made available at that website.
  • The Mashriqul-Adhkár (Dawning-Point of God's Remembrance) is located outside of Santiago in Peñalolen, a commune whose name means "reunion of brothers" in the local language. [BWNS1128].
  • The temple was built in the foothills of the Andes, between mountains and city. The 2,415 square-metre edice (26,000-square-feet) is essentially one large room with nine doors made of bronze. The interior is surrounded by a dome that is made up of nine elements – called petals. These begin wide at the bottom of the building and then narrow upward to meet in a spiral at the top, separated by crescent-shaped windows and a round window at the top. The outer surfaces of these petals are made of 32-millimetre-thick panels of cast glass, which have a ruddy, milky quality to them; the inner surfaces are made of smooth Portuguese marble. Both layers are translucent.
  • Each of the nine wings of the building has two surfaces – one of cast glass and one of stone both of which rest on the steel structure. Each of those two surfaces has more than 1,000 separate components in more than 150 different shapes categorized as droops, slumps, bullnoses, shoulders, elbows, or spines. Each piece, which had to be crafted in three dimensions, was shaped using digital models. [BWNS1126]
  • Canadian architect, Siamak Hariri, began work on the $20-million project in 2003. [BWNS1127] The landscape architect was Juan Grimm, one of the most well-known landscapers of Latin America.
  • The Universal House of Justice was represented by Counsellor Antonella Demonte from the International Teaching Centre.
  • Message from the Universal House of Justice.
  • Pictures
  • Day 1
  • Day 2
  • Day 3

    Specifics

      Location: Santiago, Chile
      Foundation Stone:
      Construction Period: 2013 – October 2016
      Site Dedication:13-16 October 2016
      Architect: Siamak Hariri
      Landscape Architect: Juan Grimm
      Seating:
      Dimensions:2,415 square-metre (26,000 square-feet)
      Cost: approximately $30m
      Dependencies:
      References: BWNS800, BWNS921, BWNS940, BWNS959, BWNS982, BWNS1123, BWNS1125, BWNS1055, BWNS1199
    • Since its dedication in October 2016, the Temple has been a recipient of an International Architecture Award as well as awards for structural artistry from the Institution of Structural Engineers, for innovation in architecture from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, for innovation from the American Institute of Architects, for design excellence from the Ontario Association of Architects, for "Best in Americas, Civil Buildings," from World Architecture News, and for Architectural and Cultural design from American Architecture Prize. [BWNS1262]
    • The Temple design won the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) International Prize. This renowned prize is awarded every two years and was created to celebrate socially transformative, respectful, uplifting and inclusive architecture. [FloorNature site.]
      • This site states that since the opening some 1.4 million people have visited. Some weekend have had up to 36,000 visitors.
      • This site has some spectacular photographs.
      • The announcement that Hariri Pontarini Architects had won the prize on the 25th of October, 2019.
    • Some spectacular pictures, some of which were taken during the construction.
    • See a short video made by Hariri Pontarini Architects.
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Santiago; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Mother Temples; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Quick facts; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Siamak Hariri; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; Architecture; Awards; - Architects; Juan Grimm; Counsellors; Marble; Gardens; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Dedications; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Santiago, Chile; Chile
    2016 11 Oct
    201-
    The final newsreel on the construction of the Bahá'í House of Worship for South America was released as the time for the highly-anticipated dedication of the Temple approached. The video highlighted major developments over the previous year and the growing connection of the community to the Temple and the activities of service and worship that it inspired. [Video; Architect Siamak Hariri] Siamak Hariri; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Santiago; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; Architecture; Santiago, Chile; Chile
    2016 Oct
    201-
    An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a crowded funeral in Sana'a killing 140 mourners and injuring another 500. Yemen, Recent history; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2016 26 Sep
    201-
    The murder of Farhang Amiri in Yazd. [BWNS1133; Archives of Bahá'í Persecution in Iran]
  • See also Iran Wire4167.
  • In a message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís in Iran dated the 19th of October, 2016, it stated

    And at the age of sixty-three, that pure soul, that radiant and magnanimous soul, offered up his life in absolute meekness, hoisted the ensign of martyrdom and attained his Beloved's presence in the realms above, and in the Abha Kingdom joined the company of the other martyrs of this Faith--among whom number his own noble father and six other relatives who, sixty-one years ago in Hurmuzak, near Yazd, sacrificed their lives in the path of the Blessed Beauty.

  • At the time of the murder of his father, Farhang was 13 months old. See entry for July 28th, 1955 for details of The Seven Martyrs of Hurmuzak.
  • See a paper by Kamyar Behrang entitled "Extrajudicial killings supported by law and Islamic jurisprudence" for an explanation of how a Bahá'í might be murdered with near impunity in Iran.
  • * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Farhang Amiri; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Hurmuzak, Yazd; Yazd, Iran; Iran
    2016 16 Sep
    201-
    For a progress report on the construction of the Local House of Worship in Battanbang, Cambodia see BWNS1120
  • See BWNS1120 for pictures.
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Battambang, Cambodia; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Battambang, Cambodia; Cambodia
    2016 6 Sep
    201-
    In a letter the BIC called on Iranian President Rouhani to end systematic economic oppression. The letter signed by Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Bahá'í International Community to the United Nations, drew attention to the stark contradiction between statements espoused by the Iranian government regarding economic justice, equality for all and reducing unemployment on one hand, and the unrelenting efforts to impoverish a section of its own citizens on the other. Bani Dugal Gujral; Bahá'í International Community; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2016 10 Aug
    201-
    Armed officers, masked in balaclavas from Yemen's National Security Bureau (NSB) intelligence agency, which worked hand in hand with the armed Houthi authorities, (also knowns as Ansar Allah) stormed a Bahá'í youth educational workshop in Sana'a. The event was part of a nine day, cross country moral and educational program for Bahá'í youth organized by the Bahá'í -run Nida Foundation for Development. Sixty-five people were arrested including 14 women and six people under 18 without an arrest warrant. Half were Bahá'ís and, at the time of this writing, it was believed some fourteen remained in prison, including young mothers. Further arrests were carried out later and within a week all but 10 of those who had been incarcerated had been released.
  • Among those detained are Nadim Tawfiq Al-Sakkaf, (British Council's country manager in Yemen), his brother Nader Tawfiq Al-Sakkaf and Kaiwan Mohamed Ali Qadri. [UN Human Rights 4 Oct 2016, BWNS1118, publicaffairs.bahai.us, UN Human Rights, Defending Bahá'í Rights facebook page]
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Youth; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2016 4 Aug
    201-
    In a letter to National Spiritual Assemblies, communities were encouraged to establish electoral units on the basis of the cluster. The population of the country is divided by the number of National Convention delegates allowed by the Universal House of Justice to determine the number of electors per delegate. [4 August 2016]
  • See 21 July 1985.
  • Elections; Conventions, National; Clusters; Electoral unit system; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2016 14 Jul
    201-
    The Ghorveh Bahá'í cemetery, in the province of Kurdistan, was destroyed by government agents. [Iran Press Watch 19720] - Persecution, denial of burial; Ghorveh, Kurdistan; Kurdistan; Iran
    2016 6 Jun
    201-
    The publication of Lady Blomfield: Her Life and Times by Robert Weinberg. It was published by George Ronald Publishers.

    Robert Weinberg's detailed research has yielded a fascinating insight into the life of Lady Blomfield, her family and her circle, and into the life of Àbdu'l-Bahá as it touched the lives of the British Bahá'ís. Punctuated by glimpses into London society and the rapidly developing Bahá'í community, Weinberg's book provides compelling grounds for Lady Blomfield's inclusion in the 'galaxy of unforgettable women' who 'became the principal exponents of the Bahá'í message on both sides of the Atlantic'.

    Oxford, England; United Kingdom
    2016 23 - 24 May
    201-
    The first World Humanitarian Summit was held in Istanbul, Turkey. The summit, organized by the United Nations, called on government leaders as well as those from business, aid agencies, civil society and faith-based organizations to consult on the question of disaster relief.
  • A statement released by the Bahá'í International Community for the occasion, titled "Rising Together: Building the Capacity to Recover from Within" is available at their website.
  • United Nations Summits; United Nations conferences; - Conferences; Calamities and catastrophes; Charity and relief work; Capacity building; Social and economic development; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; - Statements; * Publications; Istanbul, Turkey; Turkey
    2016 22 May
    201-
    Some 700 people gathered on the temple land in the small village of Agua Azul, in the municipality of Villa Rica near Norte del Cauca, Colombia to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony of the first local Bahá'í House of Worship. [BWNS1109]
  • See BWNS1100 for pictures.
  • Following the groundbreaking ceremony the three-meter high central mound on which the 18-meter tall Temple will stand will be completed, and the foundational work for the surrounding auxiliary structures will be laid. In time, these structures will be painted in the bright colors traditional to buildings in Colombia.
  • - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Norte del Cauca, Colombia; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Foundation stones and groundbreaking; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Agua Azul, Colombia; North Caucasus; Colombia first local House of Worship in Colombia, first local Mashriqu’l-Adhkar in Columbia
    2016 13 May
    201-
    Fariba Kamalabadi, while on a five-day furlough from Evin Prison, met with former Tehran MP Faezeh Hashemi. It was the first temporary leave she had been granted during her eight years of imprisonment.
  • Faezeh Hashemi was the activist daughter of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and she previously shared a prison cell with Kamalabadi in Evin Prison. Hashemi was strongly condemned by politicians and religious leaders for meeting with Mrs Kamalabadi. A high-ranking member of the Iranian Judiciary vowed that action would be taken against her. Despite the widespread criticism she received from powerful quarters in Iran, Faezeh Hashemi publicly defended her decision to meet with Kamalabadi. [Iran Press Watch, from NY Times, BWNS1108]
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Evin Prison; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2016 12 May
    201-
    In commemoration of the incarceration of the Yaran in Iran in 2008 the International Bahá'í Community (BIC) released a video entitled Enough! Release the Baha'i Seven Now. Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í International Community; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2016 7 May
    201-
    The passing of Jenabe Esslemont Caldwell, 89 in Wailuku, Hawaii. (b. August 7, 1926 in Butte, Montana). He and his wife Elaine were named Knights of Bahá'u'lláh for pioneering to the Aleutian Islands in July, 1953 where they started a king crab and salmon cannery. They sponsored the Bahá'í­ singing group Windflower that toured Europe, including the United Kingdom, in the 1980s. He was the author of the books: The Story of the Báb & Bahá'u'lláh, From Night to Knight, Follow the Instructions and Reflections. He is well-known for his mass teaching successes. [Bahaipedia] Jenabe Caldwell; Elaine Caldwell; - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Windflower (group); Mass teaching; Butte, MT; Montana, USA; Aleutian Islands, AK; Wailuku, HI; Hawaii, USA
    2016 29 Apr
    201-
    In observance of the eighth anniversary of the arrest and incarceration of seven Iranian Bahá'í leaders, the Bahá'í International Community was launched a global campaign calling for their immediate release. Taking the theme "Enough! Release the Bahá'í Seven," the campaign emphasized the fact that, under Iran's own national penal code, the seven were now overdue for conditional release. [Enough!]
  • A special campaign page was established with information about their current legal situation and other resources. [Enough! Release the Bahá'í Seven].
  • The campaign included an account on FaceBook.
  • and a Twitter handle. The hashtag for the campaign was: #ReleaseBahai7Now.
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2016 25 Apr
    201-
    The passing of former member of the International Teaching Centre, Joy Stevenson (b. 1919) in Queanbeyan, Australia. She made a distinctive contribution to the advancement of Bahá'í communities in Australasia as a Counsellor and an Auxiliary Board member and as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia. [BWNS1103]
  • Bahaipedia.
  • - In Memoriam; Joy Stevenson; International Teaching Centre, Members of; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Auxiliary board members; Queanbeyan, New South Wales; Australia
    2016 25 Apr
    201-
    Mr. Hamed Bin Haydara, who had been imprisoned without trial since December 2013, was again brought to court for a hearing but the trial was again postponed, this time to 1 August 2017. Reports indicate that he had been sent to solitary confinement in the National Security Prison on the orders of Mr. Rajeh Zayed, the prosecutor who had caused the delays which have kept him in jail for more than three years and who had been largely responsible for the arrest and persecution of Bahá'ís in Yemen. Mr. Rajeh Zayed had stated that he planned to delay Mr. Hamed Bin Haydara's court hearings and treatment until he "dies in jail." He was suffering from serious health conditions that required proper medical attention. He stood accused of 'compromising the independence of the Republic of Yemen', including spreading the Bahá'í faith in the Republic of Yemen as well as "apostasy" (He has been a Bahá'í from birth.) and "insulting Islam" . [BIC 30 Apr 2017; BWNS1285] Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Court cases; Human rights; Yemen
    2016 Ridván
    201-
    The launch of the Fourth Five Year Plan (2016-2021).
  • The principal goals of the Plan were to "seek to raise the number of clusters where a programme of growth has become intensive to 5,000 by Riḍván 2021" and to add "several hundred more" to some two hundred clusters that have already advanced beyond the third milestone. [Message dated 29 December 2015 from the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.

    Other messages related to the Plan are:

    • 2 January 2016 – To the Bahá'ís of the World
    • 26 March 2016 – To the Bahá'ís of the World acting under the Mandate of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
    • 26 March 2016 – To the chosen recipients of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan, the Bahá'ís of the United States and the Bahá'ís of Canada
    • Riḍván 2016 – To the Bahá'ís of the World

      Objectives

    • institute process to gain strength
    • strengthen the pattern of life (Nucleus of friends 29 December2015)
    • build the capacity to accompany
    • widen the circle of participation
    • to have 5,000 intensive programs of growth
    • there will be "Precious possibilities that will not return" (Ridván2016)
    • the Area Teaching Committes to rise to a new level of functioning
    • the Local Spiritual Assemblies development for increased capacity
    • to commemorate the Bicentenials in 2017 and 2019, the Ascension in 2021
    • All the the followers of Bahá'u'lláh have learned in the last 20 year will culminate in the accomplishments of the next 5. [29 December 2015]
  • Five Year Plan (2016-2021); - Teaching Plans; - Institute process; Statistics; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2011 - 2016 (The Five Year Plan)
    201-
    The annual number of seminars for undergraduate students offered by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity rose from 21 at the start of the Plan to 39. More than 4,000 youth in more than 60 countries were served.
  • The seminar for university graduates and for young professionals, first offered in North America in 2008, was extended to Australia, Europe, Latin America and south and Southeast Asia over the duration of the Plan. As of this date more than 700 individuals had taken part. [The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning pg113] iiiii
  • Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP); Statistics; Australia; - Europe; Latin America; Southeast Asia; South Asia; North America
    2016 Apr
    201-
    In Yemen th UN-sponsored peace talks began between the government on one side and the Houthis and form President Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) on the other. Yemen, Recent history; President Saleh; Yemen
    2016 8 Mar
    201-
    The earthworks for the Local Bahá'í House of Worship in Battambang, Cambodia was completed. [BWNS1100]
  • See BWNS1100 for pictures.
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Battambang, Cambodia; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Battambang, Cambodia; Cambodia
    1979 - 2016
    201-
    The Islamic Republic of Iran has been responsible for the deaths of at least 225 Bahá'ís since its establishment, as documented by the House of Anti-Bahá'í Documents Iran Open Data research shows.

    Statistical research on documented reports available on the website "House of Anti-Baha'i Documents" shows that after the Iranian Revolution, 158 Baha'is have been executed by firing squads or hanged on court orders. Twelve individuals have lost their lives in prison due after being tortured. Another 16 individuals disappeared after being threatened by members of the religious establishment or government agents, and 39 individuals were killed with the support of religious and political government entities.

  • See IranOpenData website for more details such as number of documented violations of Bahá'ís' rights by category, and number of Bahá'í students denied access to education in schools and universities.
  • * Persecution, Iran; Iran
    2016 (In the year)
    201-
    Asma Jilani Jahangir was selected as the Special Rapporteur in 2016. She was a human rights lawyer of Pakistani origin and a former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. She suffered from cardiac arrest in Lahore on 11 February 2018 and later died at the hospital. [Wikipedia] United Nations; Asma Jahangir; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; Bahá'í International Community; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2016
    201-
    The conflict in Yemen continued to rage throughout the year. UN-sponsored peace talks began in Kuwait in April but broke down in early August. On 8 October, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition killed more than 100 people attending a funeral gathering in Sana'a and injured more than 500 others – one of the largest death tolls in any single incident since the start of the coalition's bombing campaign. Yemen, Recent history; Yemen
    2015 21 Dec
    201-
    Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani, a senior Muslim cleric in Iran, had courageously called on his nation's people to uphold a higher standard of justice and dignity for all of their countrymen and women. In an article on his website, he dedicated a new piece of calligraphy—a passage from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh—to the Bahá'ís who were arrested on baseless charges in November 2015. [BWNS1089, BWNS987] Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani; - Ayatollahs; - Calligraphy; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Iran
    2015 15 Nov
    201-
    The arrest and disappearance of Navid Aqdasi, a cousin of 'Ata'ollah Rezvani who was murdered on the 24th of August, 2013. Mr Aqdasi had been demanding justice for his cousin. [175YP322n3] Ataollah Rezvani; * Persecution, Iran; Navid Aqdasi; Bandar Abbas, Iran; Iran
    2015 15 Nov
    201-
    The groundbreaking ceremony of the first local Bahá'í House of Worship in Battambang, Cambodia was attended by some 200 community members. The event coincided with the commemoration of the Twin Holy Birthdays—the Birth of the Báb and the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh. [BWNS1082]
  • See BWNS1082 for pictures.
  • * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Battambang, Cambodia; Foundation stones and groundbreaking; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Battambang, Cambodia; Cambodia first local house of worship in Cambodia
    2015 6 Nov
    201-
    The première of Mercy's Blessing, a film by May Taherzadeh in Lilongwe, Malawi. To date it has won 12 film awards and has been distributed for use in 115 countries. [Official Web Site]
  • See the trailer.
  • The film can be purchased on Vimeo.
  • See her Ted Talk entitled The Power of Film to Inspire Social Change and her foundation Inspire Courage for Change.
  • Mercys Blessing (film); - Film; - Documentaries; * Arts and crafts; Awards; May Taherzadeh; Inspire Courage for Change Foundation; TED Talk; Lilongwe, Malawi
    2015 30 Oct
    201-
    The cemetery of the 20,000 strong Bahá'í community of Rajasthan, located in Jaipur, was violently attacked and vandalised by a vigilante group of 50 to 60 persons allegedly led by the local right wing political party. They damaged a building that was under construction and threatened the caretaker physical harm. [The Wire 01/11/2015] Persecution, India; - Persecution, Destruction; - Persecution; Cemeteries and graves; Jaipur, India; Rajasthan, India; India
    2015 27 Oct
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice announced the appoint of the Counsellors (81) who will serve for the next five years. [Bahá'í Canada October 2015] Counsellors
    2015 15 - 19 Oct
    201-
    The sixth Parliament called upon the world to Reclaim the Heart of Our Humanity and took place in Salt Lake City, Utah. There were 9,806 attendees, performers, and volunteers from 75 countries, 30 major religions and 548 sub-traditions participated in the Parliament. [Salt Lake City 2015] Parliament of the World's Religions; Salt Lake City, UT; United States (USA)
    2015 1 Oct
    201-
    2015 saw an unprecedented number of refugees to Europe fleeing the conflict in the Middle East, particularly from Syria. In response for their request for guildance, the Universal House of Justice in its message to the National Spiritual Assemblies, defined the principles to assist the Bahá'í communities through the social changes that must need follow such a migration. It stated that the Bahá'í community had insufficient resources at this stage of development for a response at the institutional level however the situation presented an opportunity for some individual believers to become involved to lend humanitarian assistance. Universal House of Justice; Refugees; - Europe; Syria
    2015 25 Sep
    201-
    The UN further defined its Sustainable Development goals at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
  • Subsequently, on the 15th of November, the Bahá'í International Community published the statement, Summoning Our Common Will: A Baha'i Contribution to the United Nations Global Development Agenda.
  • Sustainable development; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; - Statements; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2015 8 - 9 Sep
    201-
    The Baha'i International Community and representatives of 23 other major religious traditions offered to the United Nations ideas and action plans in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — called Agenda 2030, the UN's primary development agenda for the next 15 years.

    Referred to as "the Bristol Commitments", contributions from the various religious groups were presented and discussed at a two-day event, titled "Faith in the Future", in Bristol, UK. The event was co-hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC).

    Daniel Perell, a representative of the BIC to the UN, spoke about the transformational power of religion, which can tap human motivation at the deepest levels. [BWNS 1067]

    Bahá'í International Community; United Nations; Faith in the Future (conference); Daniel Perell; - BIC statements; Bristol, England
    2015 Sep
    201-
    President Hadi returned to Aden after Saudi-backed government forces recaptured the port city from Houthi forces. Yemen, Recent history; Hadi; Aden, Yemen; Yemen
    2015 Sep
    201-
    As of this date the Bahá'í community in the United States had about 175,000 Bahá'ís (less than one percent of the nation's population), residing in more than 9,000 localities. The makeup of the Faith's adherents was very diverse. The largest communities were in California, Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina, and Texas. There were Bahá'í communities in every state. (From 'Information about the Bahá'í Faith for Funeral Directors', a document available at US National website)[ Bahá'í Historical Facts MARCH 4, 2018] Statistics; United States (USA)
    2015 26 Aug
    201-
    See Iran Press Watch for an article entitled Shi'ite Clerics and The "Problem" of Baha'ism for an insight into the basis for criticism of the Bahá'í Faith by the clergy. The writer, Maryam Dadgar, speculates what Iran would have been like today if not for their intervention. * Persecution, Iran; Maryam Dadgar; Iran
    2015 24 Jul
    201-
    The Qom Seminary* announced the planning of classes called "Understanding Baha'ism" and "Understanding Ahl-e Haqq". These classes, which presented a one-sided view of religious minorities, had the sole purpose of destroying the Bahá'í Faith and the Ahl-e Haqq**.
  • Subsequently, the Qom Seminary started extensive propaganda on these subjects in most government centres and government sponsored news websites. In an advertisement on its site, Tasnim news agency announced that the Qom Seminary intended to hold online introductory courses on the Bahá'í Faith and the Ahl-e Haqq for all seminary students in the country. Similar to other classes held in previous years, these courses provided an entirely one-sided view and no Bahá'í or Ahl-e Haqq citizen had the right to defend his religion. [Iran Press Watch 12642]

    *The Qom Seminary is the largest seminary, or traditional Islamic school of higher learning, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Ha'eri Yazdi in Qom. [Wikipedia]
    **Ahl-e Haq (Dervishes)– "The People of the Absolute Truth" ‒ People treading the Ahl-e Haqq Muslim ascetic path, known for their extreme poverty and austerity. Their focus is on the universal values of love and service deserting the illusions of ego to reach God. [Wikipedia]

  • Opposition; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; Qom, Iran; Iran
    2015 17 July
    201-
    Some 300 people attended the unveiling of the design of the first local Bahá'í House of Worship in Battambang, Cambodia [BWNS1062]
  • See BWNS1062 for pictures.
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Battambang, Cambodia; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Architecture; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Battambang, Cambodia; Cambodia first local house of worship in Cambodia
    2015 14 May
    201-
    A global campaign called "Seven Days in Remembrance of Seven Years in Prison for the Seven Bahá'í Leaders" to call attention to the long and unjust imprisonment of seven Iranian Bahá'í leaders was launched on the seventh anniversary of their arrest. Each day of the week-long campaign, starting 14 May 2015, was dedicated to one member of the seven: Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm. [7 Days] Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í International Community; Tehran, Iran; Iran; New York, USA; United States (USA); - Worldwide
    2015 22 Apr
    201-
    Pressures on Jamaleddin Khanjani's family had increased since his arrest in 2008. Their country home in Semnan was demolished by Security Forces. The family had been given 48 hours to evacuate the house and even though they had succeeded in obtaining a ruling from the Supreme Court to stop the demolition, the home was destroyed. Authorities objected to a house that had been built with a City permit 18 years previously claiming that the owner of this property is unknown and the deed was not acceptable. The farmland, where the house was situated, had belonged to the family for more than 200 years.
  • Their farm had more than 40 thousand fruit trees, however, in recent years the authorities had blocked the road during harvest time to prevent more than 200-300 Tons of apples and peaches from reaching the market. A few years prior they had demolished a water storage facility that the family had legally constructed (the government permit and other documents were all available). More than 100 million Liters of water had been stored for agricultural purposes. The family had a thirty-year permit for a pasture for their cattle however they were forced to sell some and purchase forage for the remainder.
  • About two weeks prior the CEO of the family's farming company had been sentence to a one-year imprisonment. He had been in prison a few times before and was now back in prison again.
  • Although the Khanjani family included both Bahá'ís and Muslims, systematic confrontations and harassment of the family continued during his incarceration. The authorities erected a security station at the entrance to the property where they inspected the cars of family members and did bodily searches. Everyone had to be inspected to be able to go to his/her home. Even the 85-year old mother of Mr Kanjani had to obtain an access card to go to her residence.
  • Semnan's Revolutionary Guard and Ministry of Information declared the farm to be a military area. They built a duty post next the site of the demolished family home. Authorities prohibited the transfer the animals to a warmer climate in a truck. As a result a number of the sheep died.
  • With respect to the condition of Jamaleddin Khanjani in prison; he was over 80 years old and on one occasion, had to be transferred to the hospital once for a heart surgery. He was immediately returned to prison although having a medical furlough would have been the usual procedure.
  • Mr. Khanjani's family members had been the objects of persecution as well. Foad, his grandson had been in prison for four years and his granddaughter, Leva, had just completed her sentence. His nephew, Navid, who had filed a complaint with the judicial system for having been deprived of education, was faced with fictitious charges and had been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. He has had a number of medical issues for which he has not received adequate treatment.
  • The workplace of Mr. Khanjani's son, who worked in the optical field, had been raided a few months prior. All his belongings and property were confiscated based on unfounded accusations of illicit transactions. He had spent some time in prison and had been recently been released.
  • Mr. Khanjani's brother had a factory in Semnan and had imported equipment for making prescription lenses from Germany. He had suspended work in his factory for the anniversary of passing of Bahá'u'lláh and the authorities closed his business based on different excuses. The Ministry of Information asked him why the factory had been closed and he said it was his religious holiday. They shuttered the factory permanently, confiscated all the equipment and auctioned it all without any compensation.
  • Although a large number of their family members were Muslim they lived together, the Muslims participating in the Bahá'í commemorations and the Bahá'ís participating in theirs. [Iran Press Watch 11853]
  • See the report from the Bahá'í International Community on the persecution of the Bahá'ís of Semnan.
  • Jamaloddin Khanjani; - Persecution; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; Semnan, Iran; Iran
    2015 (Ridván)
    201-
    In its Ridván Message the Universal House of Justice announced the establishment of the Office for the Development of Administrative Systems to assist National Assemblies to build up their administrative capacity. [Ridván 2015] Office for the Development of Administrative Systems; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2015 21 Mar
    201-
    The implementation of the Badí' Calendar on the first day of the tenth Váhid of the first Kull-i-Shay' of the Bahá'í Era.

    "Báb introduced the calendar and its broad pattern of periods and cycles, months and days. Bahá'u'lláh provided essential clarifications and additions. Aspects were elucidated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and arrangements for its adoption in the West were put in place at the direction of Shoghi Effendi, as described in the volumes of The Bahá'í World. Still, ambiguities surrounding some Islamic and Gregorian dates, as well as difficulties in the correlation of historical observances and astronomical events with explicit statements in the Text, left certain issues unresolved. When responding to questions concerning the calendar, both 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi left these matters to the Universal House of Justice. Of its many features, three required clarification for the calendar's uniform application: the means for the determination of Naw-Rúz, the accommodation of the lunar character of the Twin Holy Birthdays within the solar year, and the fixing of the dates of the Holy Days within the Badí' calendar." [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 10 July, 2014] (notes below extracted from the message)

    The Festival of Naw-Rúz: The birthplace of the Abhá Beauty, will be the spot on the earth that will serve as the standard for determining, by means of astronomical computations from reliable sources, the moment of the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere and thereby the day of Naw-Rúz for the Bahá'í world.

    The Festivals of the Twin Birthdays: They will now be observed on the first and the second day following the occurrence of the eighth new moon after Naw-Rúz. This will result in the observance of the Twin Birthdays moving, year to year, within the months of Mashíyyat, 'Ilm, and Qudrat of the Badí' calendar, or from mid-October to mid-November according to the Gregorian calendar.

    The dates of the Holy Days are: Naw-Rúz, 1 Bahá; the Festival of Riḍván, 13 Jalál to 5 Jamál; the Declaration of the Báb, 8 'Aẓamat; the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, 13 'Aẓamat; the Martyrdom of the Báb, 17 Raḥmat; the Day of the Covenant, 4 Qawl; and the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 6 Qawl. These dates have been fixed within the solar calendar in accordance with explicit statements of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 10 July, 2014]

  • See Introduction to Badí' Calendar.
  • - Badi calendar; Bahá'u'lláh, Birth of; Báb, Birth of; Naw-Ruz; Holy days; Twin Holy days; - Gradual implementation of laws; Laws; - Basic timeline, Expanded; - Bahá'í World Centre first use of the Badí calendar
    2015 Mar
    201-
    Clashes escalated between pro and anti-Huthis allied with security forces loyal to Mr Saleh, who was thought to have backed his erstwhile enemies in a bid to regain power. Southerners took to arms and formed resistance to further advance their cause for independence by fighting in order to defend their territory from northern control and a coup of the legitimate government. President Hadi was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia in March. He appealed to Gulf and Arab states to intervene militarily.
  • A Saudi Arabian-led military coalition of Arab states backed by the United States launched air strikes against the Huthi armed group positions in Sana'a and Sa'da with ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh in support of Hadi's government.
  • The Islamic State carried out its first major attacks in Yemen, two suicide bombings targeting Shia mosques in Sana'a in which 137 people were killed. Houthi rebels started to advance towards southern Yemen and it was at that point that President Hadi fled to Aden. The Saudi-led coalition of Gulf Arab states launched air strikes against Houthi targets and imposed a naval blockade on Aden.
  • Over the next six months the conflict spread across Yemen.
  • In the southern part of the country, the United Arab Emirates, which was part of the Saudi-led coalition, set up its own security forces, running virtually a state-within-a-state and fuelling the south's independence movement.
  • The Houthis were dislodged from most of the south, but remained in control of Sana'a and much of the north.
  • Yemen, Recent history; `Alí `Abdu'lláh Saleh; Sanaa, Yemen; Aden, Yemen; Yemen
    2015 27 Feb
    201-
    The premiere of the film To Light a Candle by Iranian-Canadian filmmaker and journalist, Maziar Mahari. The gala in Los Angeles was part of a campaign called "Education is Not a Crime", started in 2014, to highlight the plight of Bahá'í students in Iran and their recourse to the denial of education, the Bahá'í Institute of Higher Education. The film was also screened in some 300 locations around the world. [BWNS1041, BWNS1025]
  • See also Not a Crime.
  • * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution; - Documentaries; Education is not a Crime (campaign); Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); Los Angeles, CA; United States (USA)
    2015 12 Feb
    201-
    The official opening of the new location of the Afnan Library Trust at Sandy, close to Cambridge. The Afnan Library Trust was established in 1985 to manage the collection bequeathed by Hasan Balyuzi when he passed away in 1980. It consists of some 10,000 books, as well as a vast quantity of manuscripts, original letters, maps, documents, periodicals, and unpublished items – some of them dating back to the nineteenth century. [BWNS1040]
  • The official website can be found here.
  • "In a letter dated the 10 November and the 20 November 1979 he (Hasan Balyuzi) left instructions that all his books and document were to be kept together perpetually... and that they are to form the nucleus of the Afnán Library, founded in the name of his father, Muvaqqari'd-Dawlih, and dedicated to Khadíjih Bagum". [KBWBix]
  • Included in the collection were volumes of photographic copies of Tablets by the Central Figures of the Faith, as well as historical and doctrinal works by individual Bahá'ís, 104 volumes in all, that had been compiled by the National Committee for the Preservation of Bahá'í Writings and Archives of Iran in the years just prior to the Iranian revolution. The Library worked closely with the Research Department of the Bahá'í World Centre to make digitized transcripts of these volumes. The digitized volumes contain some 4,000 works of Bahá'u'lláh, more than 3,000 works of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and many writings of the Báb. The index and the links to the volumes can be found on the Afnan Library site.
  • Afnan Library; Afnan; Hasan Balyuzi; Libraries; Archives; Bahá'í studies; Scholarship; Muvaqqarid-Dawlih; Khadijih Bagum (wife of the Báb); Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Sandy, England; Cambridge, England; United Kingdom
    2105 Feb
    201-
    In Yemen, Houthis appointed a presidential council to replace President Hadi who fled to Aden. Adbrabbuh Mansour Hadi; Yemen, Recent history; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen; Aden, Yemen
    2015 20 Jan
    201-
    The website of the worldwide Bahá'í community at www.bahai.org was launched in a new version, representing the latest stage in the development of an official presence on the Web that extended back to 1996. [BWNS1037] bahai.org; Websites; Internet; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2015 8 Jan
    201-
    The first trial hearing of Hamed bin Haydara was held. Legal and human rights NGOs witnessed tampering and interference on the part of the prosecution. The prosecutor, Rajeh Zayed, threatened to detain and execute Bahá'ís. More were arrested. [Defending Bahá'í Rights Facebook page]

    The Specialized Criminal Prosecution of Yemen indicted Mr. Hamid Kamali (also known as Hamed Kamal bin-Haydara) for "compromising the independence of the Republic of Yemen", reportedly in relation to his work for the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'ís based in Israel. Mr. Kamali was also accused of spreading the Bahá'í faith in the Republic of Yemen.

    On 8 March 2015, at his first hearing, Mr. Kamali denied all charges against him and his case was adjourned to 4 April 2015, and subsequently to 8 November 2015. At that hearing, the judge allegedly rejected evidence of torture that Mr. Kamali had been subjected to while he was under the jurisdiction of the National Security Agency. However, following the request of his lawyer, Mr. Kamali was released on bail on medical grounds.

    On 12 February 2016, Mr. Kamali appeared in a closed hearing where the General Prosecutor pursued the maximum punishment for the charges brought against him, namely execution and asset forfeiture. The next court hearing was set for 3 April 2016. [OHCHR Report]

    Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Court cases; Hamed bin Haydara; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2014 12 Nov
    201-
    Message from the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies dated 12 November 2014: We are pleased to announce the news of the purchase of a major property adjacent to the main terrace of the Shrine of the Báb. The building, a three-storey stone structure just west of the Shrine, stands on over 2,600 square metres of land. Inquiries were made almost sixty years ago at the direction of the beloved Guardian regarding its purchase, but owing to limited resources the matter could not be pursued. The property was acquired at that time by the city of Haifa and served as a school until it ceased operations a few years ago. The Bahá'í world will rejoice to know that this property, so close to the sacred precincts, which the Guardian had hoped to acquire, is now in the Faith's possession. Purchases and exchanges; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2014 Nov
    201-
    Fariba Kamalabadi, after having her fourth request to join her daughter Taraneh for her wedding denied, wrote her a letter from Evin Prison. [Iran Press Watch]
  • See Iran Press Watch 11274 for Taraneh's story of how she grew up without her mother.
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Evin Prison; Prisons; Human rights; Taraneh Kamalabadi; Fariba Kamalabadi; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2014 3 Oct
    201-
    Hamed bin Haydara had been held at an undisclosed location since his arrest by National Security Forces on the 3rd of December, 2013. During this time he was held in prolonged solitary confinement, severely tortured and electrocuted, and forced to sign documents while blindfolded. In September of 2014 NGOs discovered where he was being detained so the National Security was forced to relocate him to the Criminal Investigation Detention Centre in the Central Prison in Sana'a. [Defending Bahá'í Rights facebook page] Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Hamed bin Haydara; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2014 21 Sep
    201-
    The Houthi movement, which championed Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority and had fought a series of rebellions against Mr Saleh during his tenure as president in the previous decade, took advantage of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's weakness by taking control of their northern heartland of Saada province and neighbouring areas overthrowing the internationally-recognised government. By February 2015 the group had dissolved parliament and announced plans for a transitional government.
  • See the essay Allies of Convenience or Birds of a Feather? by Oved Lobel for a discussion of Iran and the Houthis.
  • Yemen, Recent history; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2014 16 Sep
    201-
    Subsequent to his arrest on the 15th of October, 2014, Mr. Kamali was interrogated by the lead judge on his case in connection with the charges against him in the presence of his attorney, who, despite objections raised, was not allowed to speak. Concerns are raised in relation to the independence of the members of the judiciary and their reported discriminatory and intolerant speech towards religious minorities. [OHCR Report] Persecution, Yemen; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2014 14 Sep
    201-
    Some 500 people attend the unveiling of the design of the first local Bahá'í House of Worship in Norte del Cauca, Colombia [BWNS1020]
  • Julian Gutierrez Chacon was the architect for the House of Worship.
  • The relationship between the environment of the region and the community was also expressed in the design of the House of Worship, which was inspired by the shape of the cocoa pod, a plant that grows abundantly in Colombia and was integral to the identity of the landscape and the lives and economy of the people.
  • See BWNS for pictures.
  • Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Norte del Cauca, Colombia; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Architecture; - Architects; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Agua Azul, Colombia; North Caucasus; Colombia first local Baha’i House of Worship in Colombia
    2014 8 Sep
    201-
    Ayatollah Hamid Masoumi Tehrani presented an illuminated calligraphic work of the words of Bahá'u'lláh to the Bahá'ís of the world. [BWNS1017; One Country 23.2] Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani; - Ayatollahs; - Calligraphy; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Iran
    2014 Sep
    201-
    The exclusion of Shadan Shirazi, an exemplary student who placed exceptionally well in the college entrance exams administered to students throughout Iran. The Iranian government deployed new tactics in their treatment of Bahá'í students to deny them access to higher education without raising the concern of the international community. The new procedure entailed identifying Bahá'í university applicants and then calling them in so they could quietly be confirmed as ineligible under the government's unjust policies and then be sent away without any documentation or proof that it was done because they were Bahá'ís that they were prevented from enrolling. [BWNS1021] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Iran
    2014 8 Aug
    201-
    The official ban on the Bahá'í Faith in Indonesia was lifted. [The Jakarta Post August 8, 2014] Persecution, Indonesia; - Persecution, Bans; - Persecution; Jakarta, Indonesia; Indonesia
    2014 1 Aug
    201-
    "The erection of the continental House of Worship for South America was moving towards its completion in Chile. The steel-frame superstructure had been almost entirely installed, the placement of the interior translucent stone panels was under way, and the landscaping and the construction of auxiliary facilities were progressing according to schedule. The friends in Santiago, supported by others from throughout the Americas, had been diligently striving to prepare the surrounding population for the emergence of the House of Worship; increasing numbers were participating in the community-building endeavours, and a stream of visitors were being welcomed to the Temple site for prayer and discussion on the practical and spiritual dimensions of the enterprise. Measures were being put in place in Chile in anticipation of the many demands that were sure to arise once the Temple had been inaugurated in 2016." [Message from The Universal House of Justice dated 1 August, 2014 to the Bahá'ís of the World] Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Santiago; Santiago, Chile; Chile
    2014 6 Jun
    201-
    At her request, the Universal House of Justice sent a message to Her Excellency Ms. Dilma Rousseff, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil on the occasion of the World Cup of football. [BWNS] Sports; Dilma Rousseff; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Brazil
    2014 28 May
    201-
    In the presidential election in Egypt, former Egyptian defence minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was elected with 97% of the vote according to government sources. The subsequent 2014 Constitution of the Sisi government, while guaranteeing the 'inviolable' right of freedom of religion, extended this only to Islam, Christianity and Judaism – meaning that Bahá'i were still prohibited from many basic freedoms, such as practicing their religious laws and constructing places of worship. Though Bahá'í representatives lobbied during the constitutional drafting processes to expand religious freedoms to their community, this did not occur.
  • In December 2014, a public workshop was held by the Ministry of Religious Endowments to warn of the dangers of the spread of the Bahá'i faith in Egypt.
  • Opposition; Persecution, Egypt; - Persecution; Human rights; History (general); Constitutions (general); Egypt
    2014 9 May
    201-
    Vahid Tizfahm, a former member of the imprisoned Yaran, wrote to his son, Samim, in which he recounted the imprisonment and martyrdom of his own father when he was yet a child. For the full text of the letter see Iran Press Watch10181. Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; Vahid Tizfahm; Gohardasht, Iran; Iran
    2014 8 May
    201-
    Despite a worldwide outcry, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards continued destroying an historic Bahá'í cemetery in Shiraz. Between 2005 and 2012 some 42 Bahá'í-owned cemeteries were desecrated in a similar fashion. [BWNS993, BWNS1016; One Country] Cemeteries and graves; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Destruction; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Shíráz, Iran; Iran
    2014 7 May
    201-
    The imprisoned Yaran addressed a letter to Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Human Rights Division of the Judiciary Branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding his claim that "No one is in prison for being a Bahá'í and if Bahá'í s do not commit illegal acts their citizenship rights will be protected". They reiterated some of the acts of oppression and discrimination, security force encounters and human rights violations imposed on the Bahá'í citizens and have asked the officials to change their view toward citizens and minorities.
    The full text of the letter can be viewed at Iran Press Watch 9946
    Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; Mohammad Javad Larijani; Iran
    2014 21 Apr
    201-
    The release of the film Samoa: Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow on the sixtieth anniversary of the Faith in that country. The film was directed and produced by Ken Zemke, edited and written by Tara Jabbari, and narrated by Fuma Tuiletufuga.
  • The first Bahá'ís to visit the islands were Hyde and Clara Dunn who stopped over in Samoa enroute to Australia sometime in 1920.
  • On the 14th of January 1954 Lilian Wyss arrived in Apia from Australia and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Samoa Islands. [BW13:455]
  • - Documentaries; Samoa
    2014 Apr
    201-
    In Shiraz, the Revolutionary Guard began excavation of some 200 square meters of the Bahá'í cemetery. The site, which had been in use since the 1920s, had been confiscated by the government in 1983 and the Revolutionary Guard had taken ownership of the site some three years earlier with plans to build a cultural and sports centre. It is the site of the remains of the ten Bahá'í of Shiraz who were hanged in 1983 for the crimes of being Zionists and teaching children's classes. [BWNS993, BWNS994] Cemeteries and graves; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Destruction; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Shíráz, Iran; Iran
    2014 13 Mar
    201-
    From Rejai Shahr Prison Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli wrote a letter to his first grandchild who had just been born three days prior in Canada. The letter can be found at Iran Press Watch 9766. Behrouz Tavakkoli; Yaran; Rajai Shahr prison
    2014 Mar
    201-
    The Bahá'í cemetery in Ahwaz was closed and the alley leading to it was blocked by heavy cement blocks. No organization has accepted responsibility for this action. [Iran Press Watch 19720] - Persecution, denial of burial; Ahvaz, Iran; Iran
    2014 (In the year)
    201-
    The publication of the new, extensively retranslated edition, of Some Answered Questions. It is a collection of transcriptions of table talks given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká between 1904 and 1906 in response to questions posed by Laura Dreyfus-Barney. It was first published in 1908.

    In the Foreword to this edition the Universal House of Justice explained:

      The main objective of this retranslation has been to better represent the substance and the style of the original, in particular by capturing more clearly the subtleties of 'Abdu'l‑Bahá's explanations, approximating more closely a style that is at once conversational and elevated, and by rendering more consistently the philosophical terms used throughout the text. While not bound by the original translation, this version nevertheless strives to retain many of its elegant expressions and felicitous turns of phrase. [SAQxvi]
    • For a Spanish translation, Contestación A Unas Preguntas of the 1994 edition
    • Some Answered Questions 1990 edition.
    • Some Answered Questions: Study Outline compiled by Brett Zamir.iiiii
    • See the message from the Universal House of Justice dated 21 February 2016 addressed to an individual in response to a question regarding evolution.
    Some Answered Questions (book); Laura Clifford Barney; * Publications; * Translation; Evolution; * Science; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2014 (In the year)
    201-
    The release of the film To Light a Candle produced by Maziar Bahari which exposed the persecution of the Baha'is in Iran through the story of Keyvan Rahimian and his family as well as through the creation of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE).

    On the 18th of July 2023 security forces arrested Keyvan Rahimian in Tehran and transferred him to Evin Prison. He has a history of previous arrests and convictions related to his activism. Notably, he also serves as a lecturer at an online university affiliated with the Bahá'í community. [IranWire 19 July 2012]

    - Film; To Light a Candle (film); Maziar Bahári; * Persecution, Iran; Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); Candles; Iran
    2014 (In the year)
    201-
    The Baha'i International Community opened a Regional Office in Jakarta. The Office engaged inter-governmental associations such as ASEAN as well as various governmental agencies, civil society organizations and research institutes in the region with a view to convening gatherings, creating spaces devoted to collective inquiry, and meaningful discussion of contemporary issues in the region of Southeast Asia.
  • The present work of the Office is built on the long-time presence of the Baha'i Faith in this part of the world, dating back more than a century to the 1870s. Today, Baha'is are present in all Southeast Asian countries and are actively working for the spiritual and social advancement of their neighborhoods and villages. [BIC website; BIC News]
  • Bahá'í International Community; Jakarta, Indonesia; Indonesia
    2014 (In the year)
    201-
    An office of the Bahá'i International Community was opened in Addis Ababa to work in collaboration with governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental agencies operating on the African stage. The office maintained strong ties with the African Union, which traced its roots to Addis Ababa in 1963. At the 50th anniversary of that founding, African leaders commissioned Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. This document painted a vivid picture of where Africans would like to see their continent in 50 years' time.
  • The Office worked in five thematic areas: peace and security, the environment and climate change, inequalities between the materially rich and poor, the equality of men and women, and education for all. [BIC website; BIC News]
  • Bahá'í International Community; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Ethiopia
    2013 12 Dec
    201-
    After confirmation of a court order in Sanandaj and confiscation of the land belonging to the Bahá'ís which had been used as a cemetery, the site was demolished by a bulldozer. [Iran Press Watch 19720] - Persecution, denial of burial; Sanandaj, Iran; Iran
    2013 3 Dec
    201-
    Mr. Hamed Kamal Muhammad bin Haydara (sometimes referred to in the media as "Hamed Merza Kamali Serostani ") was snatched by security forces from his workplace, at Balhaf gas terminal in the southern province of Shabwa in south Yemen. It was suggested that he was arrested on the orders of Mr. Khaled al-Mawari, the Chief Prosecutor who was involved in the unwarranted arrest and detention of another member of the Yemeni Bahá'í community. He was detained at the National Security Prison in Sana'a. Mr. Kamali has allegedly been subjected to forty-five days of "electric torture", severe beatings and starvation in detention. [Arab News 20 November 2020; OHCHR Report]
  • The family of Hamed bin Haydara had lived in Socotra since 1945, when his father arrived on the Yemeni island from Iran as a doctor under British colonial rule and was granted Yemeni citizenship.
  • The National Security Office raided his home and seized laptops and documents. He was transferred after nine months to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) prison in Sana'a and officially charged with endangering national security. It was during this time that he managed to make his first phone call to his family and inform them that he was still alive. Reports indicated that he had been tortured (beaten and electrocuted).
  • Soon after, Houthi forces gained control of Sana'a, including the prison. Initially, the Houthis acknowledged that the allegations against him were unproven. However, Houthi officials subsequently leveled similar accusations against Haydara, except this time, he was accused of spying for Israel instead of Iran. Haydara was brought before the court multiple times, but each time the judge dismissed the case due to a lack of evidence. He remained incarcerated for four years until, finally, in January 2018, the judge issued a death sentence against him and confiscated his assets.
  • According to Bahá'í estimates, there were about 2,000 Bahá'ís in Yemen [BIC website, Reuters]
  • Persecution, Yemen; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Sanaa, Yemen; Yemen
    2013 Dec
    201-
    The imprisoned members of the Yaran sent a letter addressed to Iranian President, Dr. Hassan Rouhani in response to the invitation that President Rouhani extended to the citizens of Iran to comment on the draft Charter of Citizens' Rights on the president's website.
  • A copy of the letter in English can be found online at BWNS977.
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; Hassan Rouhani; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2013 Nov
    201-
    The announcement by the Universal House of Justice of the retirement of Dr. Farzam Arbab and Mr. Kiser Barnes. Mr. Arbab was first elected in 1993 and Mr. Barnes was elected in 2000. [BWNS948] Farzam Arbab; Kiser Barnes; Retirements; Universal House of Justice, Members of; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2013 28 Oct
    201-
    The release of the video Violence with Impunity: Acts of Aggression Against Iran's Bahá'í Community based on the report of the same name. [BWNS972]
  • Engish
  • Farsi
  • * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Justice; Bahá'í International Community; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Film; Violence with Impunity
    2013 1 Oct
    201-
    The Bahá'í International Community announced the appointment of Joshua Lincoln as its new Secretary-General. This announcement followed the announcement of the retirement of Mr. Albert Lincoln who had served as Secretary-General for 19 years. [BWNS968, BWNS969] Bahá'í International Community; Joshua Lincoln; Bahá'í International Community, Secretaries-General; Albert Lincoln; Retirements; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    2013 26 Sep
    201-
    The publication of Leaves of Twin Divine Trees - An In-depth Study of the Lives of Women Closely Related to the Bab and Baha'u'llah by Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani and published by George Ronald.

    Over two and half decades she worked to gather all the known information about the women whose lives were intertwined with those of the Manifestations of God for this age, mothers, wives, sisters, daughters. Looking beyond published sources, she was given permission by the Universal House of Justice to consult original documents in the Bahá'í International Archives and to make provisional translations of more than 50 Tablets, letters, memoirs and papers not previously published in English, many never before published in any language.

    2013 20 Sep
    201-
    Deloria Bighorn, chairperson of the National Spiritual Bahá'ís of Canada, presented, on behalf of the Bahá'í Community of Canada, a submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the BC National Event held in Vancouver from September 18th to the 21st. The formal presentation followed a panel organized by the Canadian Bahá'í Community and Reconciliation Canada. The previous week 250 people listened to Chief Doug White, Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, and Dr. Paulette Regan from the Commission discussing the challenge of reconciliation. [T&R website, CBN 24 September, CBN 9 February, 2018, BWNS1248]
  • For the text see Submission of the Bahá'í Community of Canada to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission or download PDF.
  • The Bahá'í community also produced a short film, The Path Home, which it screened in Ottawa in association with the final national gathering.
  • Native Americans; - Indigenous people; Reconciliation; Human rights; - Documentaries; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Film; The Path Home (film); Vancouver, BC; Canada
    2013 31 Aug
    201-
    The release of Luminous Journey: 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America - 1912 produced by Anne and Tim Perry. The feature-length documentary film chroniclied 'Abdu'l-Bahá's 1912 journey through the United States and Canada. It was some five years in the making. [Part 1; Part 2]
  • The motion picture sound track was made available 14 August 2013 and is available at Amazon.
  • See an interview with the artists at 239 Days.
  • See a review by J A McLean.
  • Luminous Journey (film); - Film
    2013 24 Aug
    201-
    Mr. Ataollah Rezvani, a well-known Bahá'í in the city of Bandar Abbas disappeared and the next day the Criminal Investigation Office of that city informed the family that his body had been found in his car outside the city. The report of the forensic physician determined the cause of death to be "a hard trauma on the brain tissues, due to being hit with some penetrating object, such as (a bullet)" and ruled it as a suicide. Strong evidence exists to indicate that it was not. [Archives of Bahá'í Persecution in Iran]

    It is of note that a few years before his murder, the Friday prayer Imam had incited the local population against the Bahá'ís, referring to them as un-Islamic. He further called on the people of the city to rise up against the Bahá'í community. [BWNS987; BWNS1031; Message from the Universal House of Justice 27 August 2013; Iran Press Watch 27 August 2013; Iran Press Watch 9306; Iran Press Watch 16 September 2013]

    The assassins were never identified. The murder was not reported in the Iranian newspapers and did not raise any protest except among prisoners of conscience at Rejaee prison who condemned the assassination in a statement and demanded justice. [Iran Press Watch 1 September 2013; 175YP266-267]

    Ataollah Rezvani; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Bandar Abbas, Iran; Iran
    2013 13 Aug
    201-
    The passing of former Universal House of Justice member Mr. Hushmand Fatheazam in Vancouver, Canada. He served on the Universal House of Justice for forty years since 1963. [BWNS964]
  • See Life of Hushmand Fatheazam as told by Fariborz Sahba.
  • Hushmand Fatheazam; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Vancouver, BC; Canada
    2013 28 July
    201-
    The passing of Amin Banani (b. 23 September 1926 in Tehran) in Santa Monica. He was survived by his wife Sheila Wolcott (m. 1951)and daughters Sussane and Laila. Find a grave.
  • During World War II, like a number of other young Persian men, Amin was sent to study in the United States. He graduated with a BA, majoring in history from Stanford University in 1947. During his study at Stanford he became familiar with western music and read philosophy and world literature. He obtained his MA from Columbia University in 1949 and returned to Stanford for his PhD degree, which he received in 1959.
  • In 1953 Amin and Sheila became Knights of Bahá'u'lláh for being among the first Bahá'ís to settle in Greece. In Athens Dr. Banani taught history at the Overseas Program of the University of Maryland in Athens until 1958 when his work permit expired and they were obligated to leave the country.
  • A list of some of his publications can be found on Bahá'í Library.
  • A tribute to Dr Banani Professor Amin Banani, 1926–2013: A Prominent Scholar of Iranian Studies by Ehsan Yarshater.
  • His three-part lecture on Shoghi Effendi's letters entitled The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh can be found on Soundcloud. Another talk The Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha can be found at "Bahá'í Talks".
  • In the late 1940s he accepted assignments to represent the Bahá'í community at a UN conference of nongovernmental organizations and a human rights commission. In the early 1950s he also served the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly on its National Youth Committee. For more complete biographical information see his eulogy on the US Bahá'í site and another in the Lights of Irfan.
  • - In Memoriam; Amin Banani; Sheila Wolcott; - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Santa Monica, CA; United States (USA)
    2013 24 Jul
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice addressed a message the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada regarding the Association for Bahá'í Studies. The Universal House of Justice reiterated a number of issues that the Association had addressed since its inception in 1975...
    -an appreciation for the importance of personal study of the Revelation,
    -correlating the teachings with contemporary thought,
    -defending the Cause,
    -encouraging young believers in their academic pursuits,
    -attracting the interest and involvement of non-Bahá'í academics to the extent possible, a
    -providing a forum for Bahá'í academics to collaborate with one another, thereby helping to raise capacity among those who participate within a wide range of disciplines and, particularly, in specific fields associated more directly with the study of the Faith, such as history, the study of religion, and translation.
    ...and provided guidance for an evolving conceptual framework.
    Bahá'í Studies, Associations for; Association for Bahá'í Studies (North America); Canada; United States (USA); North America
    2013 15 Jul
    201-
    Iranian filmmaker and blogger as well as a former Islamist hardliner who has become an outspoken critic of the government, Mohammad Nourizad, kissed the feet of 4 year old Artin whose parents had been arrested for participation in the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education. [Wikipedia entry; Faith and a Future p38-39]
  • Some years later Mr Nourizad repeated this gesture, kissing the feet of a six year old boy named Bashir whose parents, Azita Rafizadeh and Peyman Kushak Baghi had been sentenced to four year prison terms for teaching at the BIHE.
  • Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution; Human rights; Education; Mohammad Nourizad; Iran
    2013 Jul – Oct
    201-
    The holding of 114 Youth Conferences around the world at the request of the Universal House of Justice. The purpose of the gatherings were to explore such themes as the characteristics inherent to the period of youth, the historical contribution of young people to the transformation of society, the responsibilities of the present generation of youth, the society-building power of the Bahá'í Teachings, and the importance of faith and tenacity to a life of service. [List of places and dates for Youth Conferences]
  • See The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning pg46-43.
  • Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Youth; - Conferences, International; Youth; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Worldwide
    2013 27 Jun
    201-
    In a message from the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies it advised of the news of the destruction of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad. (Bayt-i-A'zam) [Message of 27 Jun 2013; Message of 17 July, 2013]
  • Grieve not, O House of God, if the veil of thy sanctity be rent asunder by the infidels. [GWB114]
  • In truth, I declare, it shall be so abased in the days to come as to cause tears to flow from every discerning eye...And in the fullness of time, shall the Lord by the power of truth exalt it in the eyes of all the world, cause it to become the mighty standard of His domination, the shrine round which shall circle the concourse of the faithful. [BA99-100; BWNS961]
  • See the compilation entitled The House of Bahá'u'lláh, Baghdád 'Iráq.
  • See "The Most Great House in Baghdad" [SA140-143]
  • See GPB110 for the various designations of the Most Great House.

      Within its walls the "Most Great House of God," His "Footstool" and the "Throne of His Glory," "the Cynosure of an adoring world," the "Lamp of Salvation between earth and heaven," the "Sign of His remembrance to all who are in heaven and on earth," enshrining the "Jewel whose glory hath irradiated all creation," the "Standard" of His Kingdom, the "Shrine round which will circle the concourse of the faithful" was irrevocably founded and permanently consecrated. Upon it, by virtue of its sanctity as Bahá'u'lláh's "Most Holy Habitation" and "Seat of His transcendent glory," was conferred the honor of being regarded as a center of pilgrimage second to none except the city of 'Akká, His "Most Great Prison," in whose immediate vicinity His holy Sepulcher, the Qiblih of the Bahá'í world, is enshrined.
  • House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    2013 24 - 26 Jun
    201-
    Contrary to the constitution which established the government's commitment to assuring and maintaining the sanctity of holy shrines and religious sites and guaranteeing the free practice of rituals. In addition the penal code that criminalized disrupting or impeding religious ceremonies and desecrating religious buildings, and specified that it applied to religious minorities. In Iraq followers of all religious groups and sects were free in the practice of religious rites and in the management of religious endowments, their affairs, and their religious institutions.
    And contrary to the plans of the Department of Antiquities who had declared it a heritage site in a decree by the Iraqi Culture Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi not two years earlier, the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád was razed to make way for the construction of a husseniya or Shiite congregation hall. [Message from the Universal House of Justice date 17 July 2013, SETPE1p170; Al-Monitor 11 December, 2018]
    House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    2013 14 May
    201-
    The Bahá'í International Community launched the Five Years Too Many campaign to protest the 20-year prison sentences given to the Bahá'í leaders in Iran, the longest sentence given to prisoners of conscience under the current regime. The harshness of the sentences reflected the Government's resolve to completely oppress the Iranian Bahá'í community, which faced a systematic, "cradle-to-grave" persecution that was among the most serious examples of state-sponsored religious persecution in the world. [Five Years Too Many, BWNS954] Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í International Community; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - BIC statements; Tehran, Iran; Iran; - Worldwide
    2013 29 Apr – 2 May
    201-
    The 11th International Bahá'í Convention in Haifa and the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Convention in 1963 at which the first Universal House of Justice was elected. Those elected were Paul Lample, Firaydoun Javaheri, Payman Mohajer, Gustavo Correa, Shahriar Razavi, Stephen Birkland, Stephen Hall, Chuungu Malitonga, and Ayman Rouhani. [BWNS950, BWNS951, BWNS953]
  • More than a thousand members of one hundred and fifty seven National Spiritual Assemblies attended, and nearly five hundred more, including those from an additional fourteen countries, participated in the election by mail. [Letter from the Universal House of Justice to the delegates gathered at Bahá'í National Conventions dated 16 May, 2013]
  • Universal House of Justice, Election of; Elections; Universal House of Justice, Members of; Conventions, International; Paul Lample; Firaydoun Javaheri; Payman Mohajer; Gustavo Correa; Shahriar Razavi; Stephen Birkland; Stephen Hall; Chuungu Malitonga; Ayman Rouhani; Anniversaries and jubilees; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    2013 Ridván
    201-
    "In Santiago, Chile, where the Mother Temple of South America was being erected, the building work continued apace. The concrete construction of the foundations, basement, and service tunnel was completed, as were the columns that will bear the superstructure. The anticipation associated with this project was growing..."[Riḍván 2013 To the Bahá'ís of the World ] Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Santiago; Santiago, Chile; Chile
    2013 Ridván
    201-
    The announcement by the Universal House of Justice in the Ridván Message of the creation of the Office of Public Discourse. [Ridván 2013]
  • As an example of their work here are a few lines of action that were identified by the Office of Public Discourse at the Bahá'í World Center as being particularly helpful capacities to build at the national level in the United States:
    • Reading the reality of society and its discourses on race. This includes not only visiting cities as described above to learn about current programs, but also discovering how people in various parts of society are talking about race.
    • Entering established social spaces, such as conferences and workshops. A wide variety of opportunities are open for Baha'i participation, Andrews notes — not just groups that study the dynamic between white and African-American communities, but also institutes for studies concerning Native Americans, Asian Americans and Latin Americans.
    • Developing sincere friendships with people active in social justice work. Working with others over a number of years, OPA has found a nucleus of groups "with whom we can build relationships and who are interested in engaging with us," Lample says. Those collaborations help the office participate effectively in high levels of discourse.
    • Convening spaces for a variety of people and agencies and creating content to stimulate sharing of thoughts. Right now the most active Baha'i-sponsored space is the Dialogue on Faith and Race, which OPA hosts every three months. While that attracts about 20 participants in an average session, "about 50 organizations are loosely part of the community that we bring together," Andrews says. Usually the content that starts conversations at those gatherings is in the form of a document or white paper, but the team is looking at learning to create podcasts and videos for a wider audience.
    • Learning how to engage small, knowledgeable groups of Bahá'ís. The race discourse team has started conversations with Baha'is across the country who have expertise and experience taking part in the national discourse on race. "This aspect of our work will likely grow and develop as the American Baha'i community continues to gain more experience in translating the writings of Baha'u'llah into action and the power to articulate what it is learning," Lample says. [NSA USA website]
  • Office of Public Discourse; Public discourse; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    2013 11 Apr – 5 Dec
    201-
    The commemoration of the centenary of the visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to North America. [BWNS918] Centenaries; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Travels of; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Wilmette, IL; United States (USA)
    2013 April
    201-
    The publication of Insights from the Frontiers of Learning by the International Teaching Centre.

    At this point there were more than 3,600 clusters where the friends were striving to establish new programmes of growth or to advance existing ones. An analysis of developments in some 200 of the most advanced of these clusters—particularly the strongest 20—suggested effective strategies for growth and demonstrated the efficacy of pursuing lines of action in a coherent manner. This publication offered a close examination of the pattern of action characteristic of the clusters at the forefront of learning.

    - International Teaching Centre, Publications; * Publications; Insights from the Frontiers of Learning; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2013 5 Mar
    201-
    The passing of Mas'ud Khamsi, former Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre in Lima, Peru. [BWNS943; In Memoriam: Mas'úd Khamsí (1922-2013), Spiritual Father of Peru, Mentor and Counselor by Boris Handal translated by Samuel Duboisme]
  • Photo.
  • Slideshow in Spanish.
  • Bahaipedia.
  • He was the son of one of "The Five Siyyids" (Sádát-i-Khams in Arabic), so named by Bahá'u'áh. For the story of this family see The Khamsis: A Cradle of True Gold by Boris Handal. Mas'ud Khamsi's story is told in this book (p111-239).
  • Masud Khamsi; Baqirof-Khamsi (Sadat-i-Khams); Counsellors; International Teaching Centre, Members of; - In Memoriam; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Lima, Peru; Peru
    2013 Mar
    201-
    The publication of the report entitled Violence with Impunity: Acts of Aggression Against Iran's Bahá'í Community published by the Bahá'í International Community. The report documents a rising tide of violence directed against the Iranian Bahá'í community - and the degree to which attackers enjoy complete impunity from prosecution or punishment.
  • From 2005 through 2012, for example, there were 52 cases where Bahá'ís have been held in solitary confinement, and another 52 incidents where Bahá'ís have been physically assaulted. Some 49 incidents of arson against Bahá'í homes and shops, more than 30 cases of vandalism, and at least 42 incidents of cemetery desecration were also documented. [BWNS972]
  • Report in English.
  • Report in Farsi.
  • * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Justice; Bahá'í International Community; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - BIC statements
    2013 (In the year)
    201-
    The publication of the article George Ronald: A Bibliographic Historyby Jan T Jason. The article lists their publications from the founding in 1950 until 2012. - Publishing; Oxford, England; United Kingdom
    2013 - 2017
    201-
    In 2013 the United Kingdom Bahá'ís undertook a multi-year project to restore and improve the Resting Place of Shoghi Effendi. It was carried out in three phases, the restoration of the area immediately around the Resting Place, the arboricultural aspects of the property and the construction of a permanent Reception Area and office for the custodian. [Reference website no longer available.]

    Here you will find information on The Guardian's Resting Place and directions to the Southgate Cemetery.

    Shoghi Effendi, Resting place of (London); United Kingdom
    2013 (In the Year)
    201-
    The Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity initiated a line of action conceived as "areas of inquiry". Through this initiative the Institute aimed to develop capacity to describe and examine, in the light of the Revelation, social phenomena that were pressing and crucial to the life of humanity. Working with collaborators such topics as the global movement of populations, peace and justice in societies in transition, and the role of religion in migration. [The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning pg113] Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP)
    2012 Dec (mid)
    201-
    Sangesar's old Bahá'í cemetery was thoroughly covered in soil and rubble by bulldozers and trucks and all the graves were covered by dirt and rocks so that no more graves could be seen. [Iran Press Watch 19720] - Persecution, denial of burial; Sangesar, Iran; Iran
    2012 26 Nov
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice shared, in a message to all National Assemblies, a statement prepared by the Office of Social and Economic Development at the Bahá'í World Centre, a statement on the subject of and with the title of, Social Action. The statement offered a brief overview of the involvement of the Bahá'í community in the area of social and economic development, placing it in the context of current activity at the level of the cluster. In this connection, the House of Justice requested the Bahá'í Community to make clear that the distribution of the document should not be seen as a call for widespread action in this area; it was intended as an instrument to further raise consciousness about the nature of social action and some of the methods it employed. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 26 November, 2012] - Institute process; Social action; Social and economic development; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2012 15 Nov
    201-
    In contribution to the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women the Bahá'í International Community issued a statement entitled Towards the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls.
  • PDF..
  • Bahá'í International Community; Equality; Women; - Statements; New York, USA; New York City, NY
    2012 29 Oct
    201-
    The Bahá'í International Community published a special report on The Baha'is of Semnan: A Case Study in Religious Hatred. (Video) This video report highlighted the effect on one community of the Iranian government's methodical and organized campaign to incite hatred against the Bahá'ís and eliminate them as a viable social entity.
  • The Bahá'ís of Semnan had been the focus in recent years of intensifying persecution, facing an array of economic, physical, and psychological attacks. While these types of attacks on Bahá'ís were not confined to Semnan, the situation there was noteworthy for its particular intensity and the mobilization and coordination of official and semi-official elements -- including the police, the courts, local officials, and the clergy. [BWNS]
  • The report was also made availalble in hard copy. (PDF).
  • * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; Semnan, Iran; Iran
    2012 Jul
    201-
    The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace was assumed by Professor Hoda Mahmoudi who previously headed a research department at the Bahá'í World Center in Israel. [Bio Professor Hoda Mahmoudi]

    She studied structural racism and root causes of prejudice, equality of women as a prerequisite to peace, human nature, global governance, and globalization and the environment. Professor Mahmoudi collaborated with a wide range of scholars, researchers, and practitioners to advance interdisciplinary analysis and open discourse on global peace. Before joining the University of Maryland faculty, Professor Mahmoudi served as the coordinator of the Research Department at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel. Prior to that, Dr. Mahmoudi was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northeastern Illinois University, where she was also a faculty member in the Department of Sociology. Professor Mahmoudi's books include: A World Without War: 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Discourse for Global Peace, co-authored with Dr. Janet Khan; Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Human Rights.

  • The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace website.
  • Publications.
  • Hoda Mahmoudi; Bahá'í Chair for World Peace; University of Maryland; Maryland, USA; United States (USA)
    2012 19 Jun
    201-
    Over 100 people gathered to mark the re-dedication of the "Peace Monument," which contains soil brought from nearly 150 countries and is a symbolic representation of the oneness of humanity and the global cooperation needed to achieve lasting peace. The monument was built by the Bahá'í International Community and the Bahá'í Community of Brazil in 1992 for the 1992 Earth Summit. Members of the Baha'i International Community's delegation attending were: Duncan Hanks, Daniel Perell, May Akale, Ming Hwee Chong, Peter Adriance. [One Country; BIC HIstory 2012] United Nations; Bahá'í International Community; Peace Monument; Duncan Hanks; Daniel Perell; May Akale; Ming Hwee Chong; Peter Adriance; Earth Summit; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Brazil
    2012 Jun
    201-
    After the January 25th revolution against Mubarak and a period of rule by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the Muslim Brotherhood took power in Egypt through a series of popular elections with Egyptians electing Islamist Mohamed Morsi to the presidency in June 2012.

    On 3 July 2013, Morsi was deposed by a coup d'état led by the minister of defense General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The situation of Egypt's Bahá'í community remained uncertain. The prescriptions of the 1960 Presidential Decree, despite the revolution, had yet to be annulled. This meant that despite the 2009 lifting of the restrictions on identification documents, the Bahá'í Faith still had not received actual recognition as a religion and Bahá'í were frequently subjected to public vilification. It was a period of extreme unrest. It is estimated that between Sisi's overthrow of Morsi and the 2014 presidential elections, an estimated 20,000 activists and dissidents were arrested by the police under the interim government. El-Sisi went on to become Egypt's president by popular election in 2014.

    Persecution, Egypt; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; History (general); Egypt
    2012 11 May
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice sent a message to the Bahá'ís of Iran near the four-year anniversary of the illegal arrest and imprisonment of the former members of the Yárán and the more recent injustice meted out against the co-workers of the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE). [BWNS823, Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 11 May, 2012, In Farsi] Yaran; Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Universal House of Justice; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Persecution; - Persecution, Education; Iran
    2012 21 Apr
    201-
    Plans were announced that the Universal House of Justice was entering into consultations with respective National Spiritual Assemblies regarding the erection of the first local Houses of Worship in each of the following clusters: Battambang, Cambodia; Bihar Sharif, India; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Norte del Cauca, Colombia; and Tanna, Vanuatu.
  • It was announced in the Ridván Message that a Temples Fund was established at the Bahá’í World Centre to support the construction of the two national and five local Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs, as well as other such projects. The friends everywhere are invited to contribute to it sacrificially, as their means allow. [BWNS906; Riḍván 2012 To the Bahá'ís of the World]
  • In a message from the Universal House of Justice dated 1 August 2014 it was announced that the Office of Temples and Sites had been created in 2012.
  • * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Battambang, Cambodia; Cambodia; Bihar Sharif, India; India; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Kenya; North Caucasus; Colombia; Tanna, Vanuatu; Vanuatu; Temples Fund; Office of Temples and Sites First local Mashriqul-Adhkar
    2012 21 Apr
    201-
    Plans were announced for the building of the first two national Mashriqul-Adhkárs that were to be raised up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Papua New Guinea. [Riḍván 2012 To the Bahá'ís of the World; BWNS906] Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Port Moresby; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, National; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Kinshasa; - Bahá'í World Centre; Congo, Democratic Republic of; Papua New Guinea first national Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs
    2012 24 Feb
    201-
    The inaugural screening of Iranian Taboo by Dutch-Iranian filmmaker Reza Allamehzadeh in Los Angeles. [Iranian Taboo, BWNS890] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; - Documentaries; Iranian Taboo (film); Reza Allamehzadeh; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Los Angeles, CA; United States (USA)
    2012 20 Feb
    201-
    The passing of Anneliese Bopp, former Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre at Bad Bruckenau, Northern Bavaria, Germany. [BWNS892]
  • First appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors at Ridván 1970, she served at the International Teaching Centre from 1979 until 1988.
  • See Vimeo for a short biographical film on Anneliese Bopp entitled Miss Anneliese Bopp: A Champion of Faith.
  • Bahaipedia.
  • Anneliese Bopp; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; International Teaching Centre; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Bad Bruckenau, Germany; Germany
    2012 15 Feb
    201-
    Queen Elizabeth II launched the Diamond Jubilee of her reign with a multifaith reception at Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Highlighting the ongoing centenary commemorations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's travels to Egypt and the West, the Bahá'í community displayed a robe that He had worn. The exhibit also included a framed calligraphic rendering of words from 'Abdu'l-Bahá's first ever public speech, delivered on 10 September 1911 at London's City Temple: "The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of mankind and of the fundamental oneness of religion."

    The Bahá'í delegation was lead by Shirin Fozdar-Foroudi and also consisted of Patrick O'Mara – Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom, Nasrin O'Kane from Northern Ireland and Liam Stephens from the Isle of Skye. [BWNS889]

    Queen Elizabeth II; Shirin Fozdar-Foroudi; Patrick O'Mara; Nasrin OKane; Liam Stephens; London, England; United Kingdom
    2012 1 Feb
    201-
    The announcement of the publication of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh in Korean. [BWNS885] Korean language; - Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh; * Translation; * Publications; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Korea
    2012 Feb
    201-
    Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi was elected as president initiating a two-year transitional period. However, government forces continued to commit human rights violations, including unlawful killings and enforced disappearances, against supporters of secession in south and a conflict with the Huthi armed group in north was renewed. Yemen, Recent history; Yemen
    2012 (In the year)
    201-
    The release of the film, The Gardener by Mohsen Makhmalbaf in Farsi with English subtitles. The Gardener (film); Mohsen Makhmalbaf; - Film
    2012 (In the year)
    201-
    Stanford University's Bahá'í Collection was the first university-based collection of its kind in the United States and is a premier research resource of all topics Bahá'í related.
  • The Stanford Libraries preserves and makes accessible to all students and researchers a wealth of rare and unique archival materials and books on the Bahá'í Faith. The initial donation of the Jack H. Lee and Arden T. Lee Baha'i Collection in 2012, one of the most extensive private libraries of materials related to the Bahá'í Faith, includes thousands of books, letters, newspaper clippings, photographs and early Bahá'í publications from many countries and in various languages, from Urdu to Japanese to Greenlandic.
  • Holdings in the Bahá'í Collection also include the personal materials from the life's work of renowned educator, psychologist and philosopher Daniel C. Jordan (which include the only original 16 mm film of his ballet, Metamorphosis of the Owls, as well as the Bahá'í Library of Hourolain and Nasrollah Maghzi, an important collection of Persian rare books.
  • Donations to the physical collection or monetary contributions can be made. [Bahá'í Collection]
  • Stanford University; Universities; Libraries; Nasrollah Maghzi; Hourolain Maghzi; Dan Jordan; Arden Lee; Jack Lee; United States (USA) the first university-based collection of Baha'i resources of its kind in the United States
    2012 (In the Year)
    201-
    The Office of Temples and Sites was established at the Bahá'í World Centre. The purpose of the office was to coordinate initial preparations for the temple builds with the respective National Spiritual Assemblies.
  • Firstly a committee is formed in each country, entrusted with identifying, together with institutions and agencies at all levels of the community, means to promote widespread participation and to channel the enthusiasm engendered among the friends following the announcement of the projects.
  • Another practical step in these national and local projects has been the selection of a suitable piece of land, one which is modest in size, strategically located, and easily accessible. Then a construction office for the project is established to assist with the management of technical, financial, and legal issues.
  • The next step is to call for the preparation of a design for the Temple edifice. This begins with the selection of potential architects and the formulation of an architectural brief defining the requirements for the structure which will ultimately result in a contract for the final design. Architects are presented with the singular challenge of designing Temples "as perfect as is possible in the world of being" that harmonize naturally with the local culture and the daily lives of those who will gather to pray and meditate therein. The task calls for creativity and skill to combine beauty, grace, and dignity with modesty, functionality, and economy and consideration for local customs and practices. [The Universal House of Justice message dated 1 August, 2014]
  • * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Design; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, National; - Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Local; Architecture; Beauty; Economics; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Ishqabad; - Basic timeline, Expanded; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    2011 11 Dec
    201-
    The announcement by the Universal House of Justice of the creation of "an International Advisory Board to assist the Ruhi Institute in overseeing its system for the preparation, production, and distribution of materials, the content and structure of which now draw extensively on Bahá'í experience worldwide in applying the teachings and principles of the Faith to the life of humanity. As it gradually takes up its work, the Board will be able to respond to related issues and follow the development of supplementary materials that are aligned with the direction set by the global Plans". [December 11, 2011] Ruhi Institute; - Institute process; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel
    2011 1 Dec
    201-
    The head of state of the Republic of Palau, President Johnson Toribiong, paid an official visit to the Bahá'í World Centre. [BWNS870] - Presidents; Prominent visitors; Johnson Toribiong; - Islands; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre; Palau
    2011 1 Dec
    201-
    The passing of former Universal House of Justice member Mr. Ian C. Semple (b. 2 December 1928 in New Barnet, Hertfordshire) in Switzerland. He served as a member of the Universal House of Justice from its inception in 1963 until his retirement in 2005. [BWNS871]
  • See UK Bahá'í Histories.
  • See Bahá'í Blog.
  • Bahaipedia.
  • Some publications by Ian Semple.
  • Ian Semple; Universal House of Justice, Members of; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Switzerland
    2011 16 Nov
    201-
    The release of the documentary film Iranian Taboo about the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran. It was written and directed by Reza Allamehzadeh and produced by Mansour Taeed and Bijan Shahmoradi. It is in Farsi with English subtitles.
  • Reza Allamehzadeh, an Iranian-Dutch filmmaker banned from entering his homeland, enlisted the aid of friends who clandestinely filmed inside Iran in order to explore this century-old taboo. Iranian Taboo tells the story of an Iranian Baháʼí woman, Nadereh and her 14-year-old daughter who decide to sell all of their belongings and leave their homeland to take refuge in the West. IThe film takes us across continents from Turkey to Israel and from the U.S. to Iran and gives us a unique insight into the persecution of Baháʼís of Iran, from the underground Baháʼí University (BIHE) to the oppressed Baháʼí peasants of the Eival village in the northern province of Mazandaran. The film includes never seen before interviews with some of the most respected Iranian scholars, authors and politicians, speaking about the persecution of Baha'is in Iran.
  • Trailer.
  • The film is available for sale on Amazon.
  • - Film; Iranian Taboo (film); Reza Allamehzadeh; Mansour Taeed; Bijan Shahmoradi; Netherlands
    2011 1 Nov
    201-
    The film Education Under Fire by Jeffrey Kaufman and co-sponsored by Amnesty International, profiles the persecution on the Bahá'ís of Iran, with a special focus on growth, struggle, and inspiring spirit of the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education. - Film; Education Under Fire (film); Amnesty International; Jeffrey Kaufman; New York, USA; United States (USA); Iran
    2011 21 Oct
    201-
    The release of the report entitled Inciting Hatred by the Bahá'í International Community which summarized each of the 400-plus documents or articles that were collected during the period of this survey, from 17 December 2009 to 16 May 2011 to prove that the Iranian regime has a systematic programme to demonize the Bahá'í community in the eyes of their compatriots.

      The report says in part "Despite this prolonged and systematic attack on its integrity and values, Iran's Bahá'í community is not dispirited, demoralized or downtrodden. Nor have they risen up to counter-attack their oppressors with force or any trace of bitterness. Rather they have calmly stated their case and called for their fundamental human rights with dignity and courtesy, winning the admiration of their compatriots, observers and, in some cases, even those who are obligated to oppress them under government policy."

  • Inciting Hatred: Iran's media campaign to demonize Bahá'ís is available in English and Farsi.
  • United Nations; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; New York City, NY
    2011 24 Sep
    201-
    The arrest of Abdolfattah Soltani, a senior member of the legal team (4 lawyers) representing a number of Bahá'ís in Iran awaiting trial for providing higher education to youth barred from university. Soltani is a co-founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, along with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi and others. The Tehran-based Centre was shut down in a police raid in December 2008. [BWNS849]
  • In 2008 when Shirin Ebadi took the defense of seven Bahá'ís she was accused of changing her religion and her law office was attacked and faced other problems. [Iran Press Watch]
  • U.S Bahá'í Office of Public Affairs Press Release.
  • See interview with Mr Soltani by Iran Press Watch.
  • Abdolfattah Soltani; Lawyers; Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); - Persecution; Human rights; Education; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Yaran; - Persecution, Education; Iran
    2011 11 Sep
    201-
    A follow-up conference dubbed "Durban III" took place in New York City. It was boycotted by Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, United States and the Czech Republic, along with Austria, Bulgaria, France, and the United Kingdom.
  • UN website
  • Wikimilli.
  • United Nations; Racism; Discrimination; Bahá'í International Community; UNESCO; New York, USA; New York, USA
    2011 27 – 28 Aug
    201-
    The Bahá'ís of Geneva commemorated the 100th anniversary of the start of 'Abdu'l-Baha's journeys to the West. [BWNS854] `Abdu'l-Bahá, Travels of; Centenaries; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Geneva, Switzerland; Switzerland
    2011 Aug
    201-
    As of this time the Bahá'í community of Tabriz had been prohibited from burying their dead in that city and the bodies were being transferred by intelligence officers to the city of Miandoab, in West Azerbaijan province some 175km away. [Iran Press Watch 19720] - Persecution, denial of burial; Tabríz, Iran; Miandoab, Iran; Iran
    2011 15 Jul
    201-
    The passing of former Universal House of Justice member Dr. Peter J. Khan (b. 2 November, 1936 in New South Wales) in Brisbane, Australia. He was buried in the Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane. Dr Khan served as a member of the Universal House of Justice from 1987 until April 2010. [BWNS840, BWNS841]
  • See Dr Peter J. Khan Memorial video.
  • See the tribute on Bahá'í Blog.
  • See Wikipedia.
  • See Bahaipedia.
  • Find a grave. He was buried in the Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane.
  • Peter Khan; Universal House of Justice; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2011 6 Jul
    201-
    Mahvash Sabet and human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh as well as other victims of human right abuses in Iran were featured on a series of special postage stamps issued in the Netherlands. Nasrin Sotoudeh was a prominent lawyer who has represented numerous victims of human rights abuses, including prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. In January of 2011, authorities sentenced her to 11 years in prison for charges that include "activities against national security" and "propaganda against the regime." Additionally, she has been barred from practicing law and from leaving Iran for 20 years. [BWNS838] Mahvash Sabet; Nasrin Sotoudeh; Yaran; Netherlands
    2011 18 Jun
    201-
    Representatives from government, religious communities and civil society organizations were among the 800 human rights supporters who gathered to call upon Iran to cease its persecution of Bahá'ís and other religious minorities. Almost 8,000 images depicting the faces of Iran's seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders (Yaran) were on display on the Copacabana beach, corresponding to the number of days of detention the seven had suffered after three years in prison. [BWNS834]
  • Photo 1, Photo 2, and Photo 3.
  • Yaran; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Brazil
    2011 30 May
    201-
    The passing of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Gayle Wollson (b. 2 June 1913 Crookston MN) in Wilmette, IL. She was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery and Crematorium, Skokie, Illinois [Find a grave]

    Born in the USA to Muslim, Arab-speaking parents of Syrian origin she learned of the Faith through her father. Mr Abas had been introduced to the Bahá'í Faith by a Syrian friend. As a youth she taught children's classes and was one of the very first youth travelling teachers in the US accompanying Marguerite Reimer (later Sears) and Mable Ives. She had already been pioneering in Latin America for fourteen years when in early 1954 she opened the Galápagos Islands to the Bahá'í Faith, thus earning the title 'Knight of Bahá'u'lláh'. Although her time there was brief, the story of her rich and varied life, dedicated to building up Bahá'í communities throughout Latin America, serving and empowering others, makes fascinating and inspiring reading. Her work with children's education, particularly through the Children's Public Speaking Project where she taught children to memorize passages from the Bahá'í Writings, to present them in public, and to express what they learned in service, was a precursor of the process of learning and practice now finding systematized expression in the worldwide Bahá'í community.

    She was appointed to the Auxillary Board and served for 14 years in Ecuador. In 1961 sh was elected to the National Assembly.

    From 1970 she served for five years at the World Centre where she did translation work. 'Future generations will extol your labours, follow in your footsteps, and derive inspiration from your pioneer activities.' Shoghi Effendi to Gayle Woolson in Costa Rica, 1942 [KoG224-225]

    In 1971 her book, Divine Symphony was published by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust of New Delhi. The book was reprinted in 1976 and 1977. [Collins7.2771; p156]

    For her biography see The Art of Empowering Others – A Biography of Knight of Baha'u'llah Gayle Woolson by Juliet Gentzkow and published by George Ronald.

    - In Memoriam; Gayle Woolson; Crookston, MN; Minnesota, USA; United States (USA); Wilmette, IL; Illinois, USA; United States (USA); - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh
    2011 29 May
    201-
    The inauguration of the UNESCO Square for Tolerance and Peace, situated at the point where Haifa's historic German Templar colony met the terraced gardens of the Shrine of the Báb. [BWNS828]
  • Photo.
  • Over the next year the Square was developed through the addition of upgraded stonework and decorative floral plantings in the centre of the traffic circle. [The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning pg113]
  • UNESCO for Tolerance and Peace Square (Haifa); UNESCO; Tolerance; Peace; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Haifa, Israel; Israel
    2011 20 May
    201-
    Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet were returned to Evin Prison in Tehran. They had spent a brief time in the appalling conditions at Qarchak prison, (from 3 May) some 45 kilometers from Tehran. [BIC Evin; BWNS826]
  • The five men were still being held under close scrutiny in a wing of Gohardasht prison, reserved for political prisoners. [BIC Report]
  • Yaran; Evin Prison; Gohardasht prison; Qarchak prison; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Prisons; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2011 3 May
    201-
    After conviction, the two women of the Yaran were transferred from Evin Prison to the even more notorious Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj, near Tehran. In that prison, Fariba Kamalabadi, Mahvash Sabet, and a number of political prisoners were locked up in the communal ward with hundreds of ordinary female prisoners — inmates incarcerated for crimes not linked to politics. When authorities closed the women's ward of that prison, the prisoners were all transferred to Gharchak Prison in Varamin near Tehran, where the conditions were even worse than those at Rajaei Shahr Prison. [IranWire4985; BWNS821] Yaran; Mahvash Sabet; Fariba Kamalabadi; Rajai Shahr prison; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Karaj, Iran; Varamin, Iran
    2011 May
    201-
    Some 39 homes of Bahá'ís associated with the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) were raided in a coordinated attack. Educator Kamran Mortezaie served a five-year jail term. Mahmoud Badavam, Noushin Khadem, Farhad Sedghi, Riaz Sobhani and Ramin Zibaie were each sentenced to four year prison terms. The judgments against them cast their activities in support of BIHE as crimes and as "evidence" of their purported aim to subvert the state. Two psychology teachers, Faran Hesami and her husband Kamran Rahimian, were also sentenced to four years in prison. Another BIHE administrator Vahid Mahmoudi was released on 8 January 2012 after his five-year sentence was reportedly suspended. [BWNS910] * Persecution, Iran; Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); - Persecution, Education; Iran
    2011 Ridván
    201-
    The Preparation for Social Action programme was implemented under the Five Year Plan.

    The programme drew on the learning of three decades of experience of FUNDAEC (Fundación para la Aplicación y Enseñanza de las Ciencias), in Columbia. It was an approach to social and economic development that addressed both the material and the spiritual dimensions of human existence. The programme aimed at assisting youth to understand certain concepts, learn a range of relevant facts, and acquire certain qualities, attitudes and skills that would enable them to promote the well-being of their people in fields as diverse as health, education, the environment, secondary production and community organization.

  • At the beginning of the Plan, the programme was being implemented in nine countries, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Uganda and Zambia and involved some 1,500 to 3,000 participants. [5YPSumPage94-95]
  • For further information see video entitled 2017 Teach For All Global Conference - Grassroots Stirrings in the Preparation for Social Action Program, Colombia
  • See the thesis Knowledge Sharing for Community Developement: Educational Benefits at the Community Level through Networks of Knowledge Flow and Communities of Practice by Emily Lample.
  • For further information please see Uplifting Words.
  • Five Year Plan (2011-2016); - Teaching Plans; Preparation for Social Action (PSA); - Bahá'í World Centre; Cameroon; Colombia; Costa Rica; India; Kenya; Papua New Guinea; Uganda; Zambia
    2011 Ridván
    201-
    Burundi elected its first National Spiritual Assembly in 17 years. Civil war and unrest during recent decades made it difficult for the Bahá'í community to administer its affairs. [BWNS816, BWNS822] National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Re-election; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Burundi
    2011 - 2016
    201-
    The launch of the Third Five Year Plan (2011-2016).
  • The main goals of the Plan were:
      - To raise the number of clusters with a Programme of Growth from 1,500 to 5,000
      -The institutions will mature their own dynamic process.   -The individuals will spare no effort to increase participation. Habits of thought will evolve to reduce dichotomies and learn process.   -With the maturity of the institutions, cooperation and reciprocity will increase among the three protagonists.   - will be continued expansion of the programs of intensive growth as well as material development.   - centennial of the writing of the Tablets of the Divine Plan will be commemorated.   - National Mashriqu'l-Adhkárs to be constructed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Papua New Guinea
      - Local Mashriqu'l-Adhkárs planned for clusters. The first five were to be in Battambang, Cambodia; Matunda Soy, in Kenya; in Bihar Sharif, India; Norte del Cauca, in Colombia; and in Tanna, Vanuatu.
  • See the message from the Universal House of Justice dated 28 December, 2010 addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors. Other message are:
  • Five Year Plan (2011-2016); - Teaching Plans; - Institute process; Programmes of growth; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2011 Apr
    201-
    After more than two years of extensive restoration work the Shrine of the Báb was complete. The project required the restoration and conservation of the interior and exterior of the original 1909 structure, as well as measures to strengthen the Shrine against seismic forces. An entirely new retrofit design – combining concrete, steel and carbon fibre wrap technology was needed for the whole building, from its foundation and original masonry to its octagon, drum and dome. More than 120 rock anchors were fixed into the mountain behind newly fortified retaining walls. [BWNS816; 12 April 2011] Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); - Restoration and renovation; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre; - Bahá'í World Centre buildings, monuments and gardens; - Bahá'í World Centre; Haifa, Israel; Mount Carmel
    2011 9 Apr
    201-
    The debut of the film A Deeper Calling: Reflections on the transformative power of Prayer. This film was created for the 2022 World Conference in Brisbane, Australia (8-10 April, 2022), and was one of hundreds of global conferences taking place after being called for by the Universal House of Justice. It is is a short film which shares the stories of five youth from Inala, a small neighbourhood in Brisbane, Australia. It explores what each of these young people have learnt about the power of prayer through their involvement in the Ruhi Institute Process and Baha'i community life. - Film; Ruhi Institute; - Institute process; Ruhi Institute; Brisbane, Australia; Australia
    2011 Apr
    201-
    In an open letter to their fellow citizens, the Bahá'ís of Egypt offered some advice regarding the future of their nation. [BWNS817]

    Blogspot.

    Open letters; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Egypt
    2011 30 Mar
    201-
    Six months after Iran's Appeal Court reduced their sentences from 20 to 10 years, the seven Bahá'í leaders were told that the Appeals Court sentence was recognized as being in contrast with the law and that their original 20-year sentences had been reinstated. [BWNS814] Yaran; Court cases; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2011 24 Mar
    201-
    The UN Human Rights Council voted to create a Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran. [Iran Press Watch 7657] Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Human rights; United Nations; UNHCR; Special Rapporteur; Iran
    2011 21 Mar
    201-
    The launch of "Half Light Media". The mandate of this not-for-profit entity was to serve the Bahá'í Faith through the arts and various avenues of media. Founder Naysan Naraqi was assisted by fellow board members Collis Ta'eed and Fuad Ta'eed and scores of collaborators.
  • Their flagship project was called "Bahá'í Blog" but it was more than a blog. It was a knowledge repository with almost 1,500 articles by more than 100 contributors. It was also a Video Bank with its own YouTube Channel. Through "Studio Sessions", they invited Bahá'ís and their friends to film and record themselves singing/playing something based on the Bahá'í Writings.
  • Baha'i Blogcast with host Rainn Wilson was a collection of interviews with Bahá'ís and their friends. They established a presence on Sound Cloud where one could listen or download talks and music that appeared on the site.
  • There was a page where they showcased photography, design and imagery from around the web that focused on the Bahá'í Faith and Spirituality themes and another called Personal Reflections, a project that captured portraits of people coupled with excerpts from interviews with them about how the Bahá'í Faith had touched their lives.
  • There was a calendar page and and another for quizzes where one could challenge oneself on a variety of topics.
  • Another service they provided was a directory with links to Official Bahá'í Sites, Non-Government Organizations, Education and Training sites, Blogs, Publications and Communities as well as other Bahá'í resources.
  • Internet; Social media; Naysan Naraqi; Collis Taeed; Fuad Taeed; Rainn Wilson
    2011 10 Mar
    201-
    The passing of Mrs. Ashraf Khanjani, wife of imprisoned Jamaloddin Khanjani at the age of 81 In Tehran. The couple had been married for more than 50 years. Mr. Khanjani, 77, who was serving a ten-year jail term at Iran's notorious Gohardasht prison, was not granted leave to attend his wife's funeral which was held the next day in Tehran. It attracted between 8,000 and 10,000 mourners from all walks of life. Ministry of Intelligence officers were also reportedly present, filming the proceedings.
  • Prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution, Mr. Khanjani was a successful factory owner. His brick-making factory – the first automated such facility in Iran – employed several hundred people before he was forced to shut it down and abandon it, because of the persecution he faced as a Bahá'í. The factory was later confiscated by the government.
  • Mr. Khanjani was able to establish a mechanized farm but the authorities made it difficult for him to operate. Their restrictions extended to his children and relatives and included refusing loans, closing their facilities, limiting business dealings, and banning travel outside Iran.
  • Mr. Khanjani had been arrested and imprisoned at least three times before his latest incarceration in May 2008. [BWNS811; Iran Press Watch 7454]
  • Yaran; Ashraf Khanjani; Jamaloddin Khanjani; - In Memoriam; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2011 Mar
    201-
    In March 2011, the UN Human Rights Council re-established the mandate of Special Rapporteur to Iran, which they had terminated in 2002, under the title "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran". The Commission had stopped appointing investigators for Iran in an effort to encourage a dialogue with the country on human rights. Then, in 2005, the Commission was disbanded in favour of a new entity, the Human Rights Council, which, for a variety of reasons, was considerably more reluctant to criticize individual countries. Human rights activists believed the moral authority behind having such a UN-appointed special rapporteur was a critical step in bringing to light the severity of rights violations in Iran. [One Country]
  • Ahmed Shaheed was appointed and his mandate lasted from 2011 to 2016 when he went on to become the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
  • An Iranian parliamentarian referred to the United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed as a Zionist and CIA agent. [Islamic Republic News Agency 29 March 2014]
  • Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; Ahmed Shaheed; United Nations; United Nations; Bahá'í International Community; New York City, NY
    2011 12 Feb
    201-
    Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi were transferred to the notorious Section 200 of Gohardasht Prison. The circumstances of the move raised concerns that it may have been orchestrated as a means of creating an insecure environment that threatens their lives.
  • Since their arrival at Gohardasht, the Bahá'í women – despite their own extremely challenging situation – had nonetheless been a constant source of comfort and hope to other inmates. The prison authorities apparently became alarmed that the two women began to receive signs of respect from a growing number of prisoners. As a justification for the increased harsh treatment, the authorities accused the two of teaching the Bahá'í Faith.
  • While Gohardasht was infamous for its harsh and unsanitary conditions, the Bahá'í prisoners were at first kept segregated from some of the more violent elements at the complex. They also had relatively frequent access to outdoor exercise areas. [BWNS807; BWNS821]
  • Fariba Kamalabadi; Mahvash Sabet; Gohardasht prison; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Yaran; Mashhad, Iran; Iran
    2011 22 Feb - 4 Mar
    201-
    The 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York. [UN Women; One Country].
  • The Bahá'í International Community contributed the statement Education and training for the Betterment of Society ]
  • Bahá'í International Community; United Nations; Commission on the Status of Women (CSW); - BIC statements; New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2011 25 Jan
    201-
    January 25th marked the beginning of the revolution in Egypt where millions of protesters from all socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The security of the Bahá'ís during this period of unrest remained an issue. In February 2011, Bahá'í homes in Shouraneya were again set on fire, with some reports alleging the involvement of state security officers in the attack. Salafi leaders (an ultra-conservative reform branch within Sunni Islam) also continued to agitate against Bahá'ís as a threat to national stability. Persecution, Egypt; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Shouraneya, Egypt; Egypt
    2011 1 Jan
    201-
    The publication of Abraham One God Three Wives Five Religions by Frances Worthington. It was published by the US Bahá'í Publishing Trust.

    A groundbreaking examination of Abraham, one of the most beloved and significant religious figures in history. Author Frances Worthington researches the three wives/concubines (Sarah, Hagar, and Keturah) of Abraham, and traces their lineage to five different religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam, the Bábi Faith, and the Bahá'í Faith. Examining the scripture and traditions of these five "Abrahamic" faiths, this complex story also draws heavily from a rich variety of historical sources that provide a fascinating backdrop.

    2011 (In the year)
    201-
    Hundreds were killed in a crackdown on mass protests that called for fall of President Saleh and an end to corruption and repression and accountability for human rights violations. The longtime authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to resign and signed a power-transfer deal to hand over power to his deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. The new president Hadi struggled to deal with a variety of problems, including attacks by al-Qaeda, a separatist movement in the south, the continuing loyalty of many military officers to Mr Saleh, as well as corruption, unemployment and food insecurity. Yemen, Recent history; Yemen
    2010 28 Dec – 1 Jan
    201-
    The conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors was held at the World Centre attended by 79 of the world's 81 Counsellors, from some 58 countries. [BWNS804]
  • See the message from the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors dated 28 December, 2010.
    • As of this date there were 170 Regional Councils in 45 countries.
  • Counsellors; Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Counsellors; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Regional Council; - Bahá'í World Centre
    2010 7 Dec
    201-
    In an open letter to Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq Larijani, the Head of the Judiciary, the Bahá'í International Community today contrasted the country's persecution of Bahá'ís with Iran's own call for Muslim minorities to be treated fairly in other countries. [BWNS801]
  • In English: BIC Letter.
  • In Farsi: BIC Letter (Farsi).
  • Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq Larijani; Open letters; Bahá'í International Community; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - BIC statements; Iran
    2010 28 Nov
    201-
    Excavation work began on the new Bahá'í House of Worship for the South American continent, at a location in the hills of Peñalolén, a "commune" within metropolitan Santiago, at the foot of the Andes. [BWNS800] Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Santiago; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Santiago, Chile; Chile; Peñalolén, Chile
    2010 29 Oct
    201-
    After three years the restoration, work was completed on the Ridván Garden some two kilometers southeast of the old city of Acre. The work included the restoration of a circulating water system that recreated the island as well as an Ottoman flour mill that was in use during the time of Bahá'u'lláh. That site, designated by Him as "Our Verdant Isle", was once again open to pilgrims, who will have the opportunity to experience the tranquillity of the surroundings that greeted the Blessed Beauty when He visited it at the termination of His nine-year confinement within the walls of the prison-city of 'Akká. [BWNS797; 29 October 2010] Ridván garden (Akká); - Restoration and renovation; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre buildings, monuments and gardens; - Bahá'í World Centre; - Bahá'í World Centre; Akka, Israel; Bahji, Israel; Haifa, Israel
    2010 Sep
    201-
    Following the reduction of his sentence, Vahid Tizfahm was transferred to Rajai-Shahr prison, where he remained until his release. Rajai-Shahr is located in the Alborz Province, and was at the time a maximum-security prison, a place for the "dangerous" individuals. According to Iran's Department of Prisons, Security and Corrections' Regulations, and based on the principle of Segregation of Crimes, Tizfahm's transfer to Rajai-Shahr was not legal. [Iran Press Watch 29 March, 2018] Yaran; Vahid Tizfahm; Rajai Shahr prison; Prisons; * Persecution, Iran; Karaj, Iran; Iran
    2010 15 Sep
    201-
    In the face of the chorus of condemnation from governments and human rights organizations around the world for the 20-year sentence for the seven Bahá'í leaders, the Appeals court reduced the sentences from 20 to 10 years by removing charges such as "Espionage and Collaboration with Israel". This information was verbally released to Ms. Sabet's lawyer. [BWNS793, BIC Report]
  • See Violations of Legal Procedures details on how the treatment of the Yaran (and other Bahá'ís) has violated their legal and constitutional rights.
  • See Voices of Support for a sampling of expressions of support from international figures and institutions as well as BWNS810.
  • Amnesty International called for immediate support by asking for messages to be sent to the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. [Amnesty International appeal]
  • Yaran; Court cases; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2010 4 Sep
    201-
    A prominent human rights lawyer in Iran, Nasrin Sotoudeh, was detained by the authorities on charges of "acting against national security," "assembly and collusion to disrupt security," and "cooperation with the Defenders for Human Rights Center." Ms Sotoudeh has represented Iranian opposition activists and politicians, as well a prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were under the age of 18. She was taken to Tehran's Evin prison was being held in solitary confinement.

    She launched a hunger strike at the end of September to protest being denied visits and phone calls from her family. Her family convinced her to end the hunger strike on the 23rd of October. This was one of two hunger strikes she staged during her first term in prison. The other was to protest against the conditions in Evin. [Web Citation]

    In January 2011, Iranian authorities sentenced Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison, in addition to barring her from practicing law and from leaving the country for 20 years. Later that year, an appeals court reduced her sentence to six years and her practice ban to ten years in August of 2014. [Wikipedia]

    Sotoudeh was released on 18 September 2013 along with ten other political prisoners, days before an address by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the United Nations. The Iranian authorities have given no reason for her release and no indication of whether it is unconditional. [Amnesty International]

    * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Human rights; Nasrin Sotoudeh; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2010 8 Aug
    201-
    The sentence of 20 years in prison was announced for members of the "Yaran-i-Iran" or "Friends of Iran" in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Moqayesseh (or Moghiseh)*. The charges were several: "espionage", "collaborating with enemy states", "insulting the sacred", "propaganda against the state" and "forming an illegal group". The prominent civil and human rights lawyer who defended them was Mr Abdolfattah Soltani. He would later serve a 13-year sentence in the Evin Prison for engaging in his profession. Another member of their legal defense team was the attorney Hadi Esmailzadeh who died in 2016 while serving a 4-year prison term for defending human rights cases. After the sentencing the seven Bahá'í leaders were sent to Raja'i prison in the city of Karaj (Gohardasht) , about 50 kilometers west of Tehran. [BWNS789]
  • Raja'i prison in Mashhad has frequently been criticized by human rights advocates for its unsanitary environment, lack of medical services, crowded prison cells and unfair treatment of inmates by guards. [Wikipedia; Iran Press Watch 6315].
  • Soon after their arrival four of the Yaran were transferred to room 17 in Section 6 of this notorious prison. Section 6 is infamous in human rights circles. It has often been the scene of bloody fighting among prisoners and it is considered extremely dangerous. It is where certain political prisoners have been sent to vanish. At first the Mafia-like gangs incarcerated in the same facility began to refer to the Yaran as "infidels". The authorities also tried to pressure other prisoners to insult and belittle the newly-arrived Bahá'ís, but it appeared that most other prisoners refused to comply with this suggestion. In fact, it was reported that most other prisoners were showing considerable respect to the Bahá'ís and tried to be hospitable. [Iran Press Watch 667]
  • * For a profile of Judge Mohammad Moghiseh see Iran Press Watch 17764 .
  • Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Court cases; Evin Prison; Gohardasht prison; Abdolfattah Soltani; Hadi Esmailzadeh; Moghiseh; Human rights; Prisons; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Mashhad, Iran; Iran
    2010 24 Jul
    201-
    The imprisonment of seven Bahá'í leaders in Iran was extended for a further two months after the lawyers made a request for bail. At this point they had been held for more than two years under a series of successive orders for their 'temporary' detention, which by law, must not exceed two months. The trial of the seven consisted of six brief court appearances and began on 12 January after they had been imprisoned without charge for 20 months. During this period they were allowed barely one hour's access to their legal counsel. The trial concluded on 14 June. [BIC Report] Yaran; Court cases; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Human rights; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2010 2 Jul
    201-
    The UN General Assembly voted unanimously to create UN Women, (General Assembly resolution 64/289) a new entity merging the four UN offices focusing on gender equality: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women. Following the passage of the resolution, the Bahá'í International Community, as one of the core NGOs leading the campaign for the new gender entity, received congratulatory notes from NGOs and women around the world expressing their appreciation and support for its role in the four-year campaign. [BIC History; UN Women]
  • See as well A short history of the Commission on the Status of Women (PDF).
  • United Nations; Bahá'í International Community; UN Women; Commission on the Status of Women (CSW); - BIC statements; New York City, NY; United States (USA)
    2010 Jun (late)
    201-
    Homes belonging to some 50 Bahá'í families in the remote village of Ivel in northern Iran have been demolished as part of a long-running campaign to expel them from the region. The demolitions were the latest development in an ongoing, officially-sanctioned program in the area which has targeted every activity of the Bahá'ís.

    Most of the Baha'i homes in Ivel have been unoccupied since their residents fled after previous incidents of violence or as a result of official displacement. In 2007, for example, six of their houses were torched. in 1983, a few years after the Iranian revolution, at least 30 families from this and neighboring villages were put on buses and expelled. Persistent government attacks on Baha'is in all the mass media – along with inaction by local officials to protect them – have continued to incite hatred against the Bahá'ís in the region and throughout Iran. [BWNS780; BWNS782; Iran Press Watch 6202]

    * Persecution, Iran; Ivel, Mazandaran; Mazandaran, Iran; Iran
    2010 12 Jun
    201-
    The seven Bahá'í leaders imprisoned for more than two years in Iran made their fourth court appearance. [BIC Report] Yaran; Court cases; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Human rights; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2010 10 May
    201-
    New information was obtained regarding the conditions in which the seven Bahá'í prisoners were being held-two small rancid-smelling cells. They had not been given beds or bedding. There was no natural light in their cells so when the light was turned off during the day they are held in darkness. [Video "The Story of the Bahá'í Seven" 13 May 2016 BIC] Yaran; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Human rights; Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2010 May
    201-
    The publication of Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism," for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The statement can be read at BIC10-0503. [BWNS770] Sustainable development; Prosperity; Consumerism; Materialism; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; - Statements; * Publications; United Nations; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); New York, USA; United States (USA)
    2010 30 Apr
    201-
    The visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary McAleese, to the World Centre. [BWNS774] - Presidents; Prominent visitors; Mary McAleese; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre; Ireland; Haifa, Israel
    2010 27 Apr
    201-
    The passing of Dr Nossrat Peseschkian (b. 18 June, 1933 in Iran d. 27 April, 2010 in Wiesbaden, Germany). He came to Germany in 1954 for his studies in medicine at the universities of Freiburg, Frankfurt am Main and Mainz. After his medical specialization and his dissertation, he had his postgraduate training in psychotherapy in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the United States. Prof. Peseschkian was the founder and leading figure in the growth and development of Positive Psychotherapy for almost 40 years. As an international lecturer, he had traveled to 67 countries worldwide. A global network of over 100 local, regional and national centres of Positive Psychotherapy has been established in 33 countries to date. Among his works is the book "Oriental Stories as Tools in Psychotherapy: The Merchant and the Parrot", which included short stories from Persia and other countries that can be used in psychotherapy. [Wikipedia]
  • See Iranwire.
  • Nossrat Peseschkian; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Psychology; Stories; Family; Cultural diversity; Parrots (metaphor); Iran; Wiesbaden, Germany; Germany
    2010 22 Apr
    201-
    Earth Day Network launched https://www.earthday.org/billion-acts-green-reduce-ecological-footprint/"> A Billion Acts of Green and The Canopy Project. Earth Day 2010 engaged 75,000 global partners in 192 countries. [Earth Day website] Earth Day
    2010 12 Apr
    201-
    The seven imprisoned Iranian Bahá'í leaders arrived at the court for their third appearance and their families were not allowed to enter, signalling a closed hearing. Inside the courtroom, however, the prisoners saw numerous officials and interrogators from the Ministry of Intelligence – along with a film crew which had already set up cameras. Concerned over the presence of non-judicial personnel in a supposedly closed hearing, the Bahá'ís – with the agreement of their attorneys – declined to be party to the proceedings. The judge adjourned the session and did not announce a date for continuing the trial. [BWNS767] Yaran; Court cases; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2010 20 Mar
    201-
    The Universal House of Justice announced the retirement of Mr. Peter Khan (member since 1987) and Mr. Hooper Dunbar (member since 1988). [BWNS763]
  • Stephen Birkland and Stephen Hall were elected to the Universal House of Justice to replace retiring members. [BWNS762]
  • Peter Khan; Hooper Dunbar; Universal House of Justice, Members of; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Bahá'í World Centre
    2010 7 Feb
    201-
    Seven imprisoned Bahá'í leaders appeared in court for a second session of their trial. The session was once again closed and family members were not permitted in the courtroom. The hearing lasted just over one hour but did not go beyond procedural issues. No date was given for any future sessions. [BWNS756] Yaran; Court cases; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2010 1 Feb
    201-
    On February 1st, 2010, Iran's Channel 3 began to air a series named "Saalhaaye Mashrooteh," which could roughly be translated as "The Years Leading to the Persian Constitutional Revolution [of 1905-1911]." The series begins with the significant historical events that lead up to the Constitutional Revolution, beginning with the ascension of the Qajar ruler Nasiri'd-Din Shah to the throne in 1848. In the process, two of the Central Figures of the Bahá'í Faith, the Báb (1819-1850) and Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), are also inserted in the series not to offer authentic history but to bolster age-old anti-Bahá'í conspiracy theories regarding the genesis and development of the Bábi and Bahá'í religions. This short essay will address some of the historical inaccuracies present in the series, so readers can assess whether this is an attempt at portraying accurate history or simply another premeditated attack on the Bahá'í Faith.
  • See the paper entitled Iranian Television Series Defames the Bahá'í Faith by Adib Masumian.
  • Adib Masumian; * Persecution, Iran; Iran
    2010 12 Jan – 14 Jun
    201-
    The trial of Iran's seven Bahá'í leaders, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm began in Tehran. The seven were charged with "espionage", "propaganda activities against the Islamic order", "the establishment of an illegal administration", "cooperation with Israel", "sending secret documents outside the country", "acting against the security of the country", and "corruption on earth". [BWNS748, BWNS778]

  • The profiles of the accused: Profiles.
  • The trial was closed to the public. A film crew and known interrogators were permitted entry. [Video "The Story of the Bahá'í Seven" 13 May 2016 BIC]
  • Yaran; Court cases; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution; Human rights; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tehran, Iran; Iran
    2010 In the Year)
    201-
    The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) provided data from the World Christian Database (2010) regarding the distribution of the Bahá'í population throughout the world.

    Nations (population 200,000+) with the highest percentage of their population Bahá'ís:

          1) Belize, 7,742 adherents indicating 2.5% of the population.

          2) Bolivia, 215,359 adherents indicating 2.2% of the population.

          3) Zambia, 231,112 adherents indicating 1.8% of the population.

    Nations (population 200,000+) with the highest number of Bahá'ís:

          1) India, 1,897,651 believers (0.2% of the population).

          2) United States, 512,864 believers (0.2% of the population).

          3) Kenya, 422,782 believers (0.1% of the population).

    For the full dataset go to the ARDA website. [ARDA]

  • A chart showing world religions by adherents for 1910 and 2010 was published in The World's Religions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography, by John Wiley & Sons, 2013 pages 10, 59-62
  • Statistics
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