| 1900 22 or 23 Mar |
On the 3rd of January, 1990 Sarah Farmer and her friend Maria Wilson boarded the SS Füst Bismark for the Mediterranean. On board they discovered two old friends, Josephine Locke and Elizabeth Knudson who were on their way to pilgrimage. The party sailed to Egypt and while awaiting 'Abdu'l-Bahá's permission to go to Akka, spent time with Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. They arrived in Akka on the 23rd of March, 1900. In preparation Miss Farmer had prepared a list of 15 questions to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá but forgot them in her accomodations when she was called to meet Him. He answered all of questions in order. [GAP27-29; VAB37-39] |
Sarah Farmer; Maria Wilson; Pilgrimage; Haifa, Israel |
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| 1900 8 Mar |
At a meeting in Kenosha, Kheiralla publicly announced his doubts about `Abdu'l-Bahá's leadership of the Bahá'í community. He also said that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was not the return of Christ has be had been teaching. [BFA1:XXIX; SBBH1:96; SBBH2:117; SBBH1p96]
He he had allied himself with Muhammad-`Alí. [SSBH1:96]
The Bahá'ís effectively divided into two camps. There had been two to three thousand believers in North America in 1900, by 1902, 1,700 had left the Faith leaving six or seven hundred of whom three hundred were "Behaists" and the rest "Abbasites" or "Behais" (followers of 'Abdu'l-Bahá). By 1906 the US Census of Religions reported that the number of Bahá'ís had risen to 1,280 and the "Behaists" numbered on forty. The Kenosha Behaists continued to exist until the early 1950s. [SSBH1:96-97; WOB82; SBBH14p7]
To counter the effects of this, Abdu'l-Baha, in 1900 and 1901,
sent teachers to America who were completely loyal to the Center
of the Covenant and well-informed on the teachings of Baha'u'llah.
They were Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and Mirza Asad'u'llah. Mr. Chase wrote, with these teachers came the first opportunity for a correct and
intimate knowledge of the true Bahá'í teachings...rather than
psychic and occult experiments...Many persons who had conceived
views imbued with imaginations and superstitions fell away from
the Cause, but those who remained discovered such spiritual
light,...and power in the teachings, that they were deeply confirmed
in their belief, and clung to it.. ." [from a short paper
entitled 'A Brief History of the American Development of the Bahá'í
Movement,' printed in Star of the West, Volume V, number 17.]
For the changes to the Bahá'í community as a result of this schism see SSBH1:96–9 and SSBH2:117–20. |
Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Mírzá Muhammad Ali; Covenant-breakers; Kenosha, WI; Wisconsin, USA; USA |
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Canada