Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1998-0, descending — sort earliest first

date event tags firsts
1998 29 Sep Starting this date until October 2nd, in Iran, the government raided some 500 private homes and the arrested some 30 faculty members in efforts to close the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education, a decentralized university that aimed to give Bahá'í students access to the education they have been otherwise denied.
  • The Institute offered Bachelor's degrees in ten subject areas: applied chemistry, biology, dental science, pharmacological science, civil engineering, computer science, psychology, law, literature, and accounting. Within these subject areas, which were administered by five "departments," the Institute was able to offer more than 200 distinct courses each term.
  • In the beginning, courses were based on correspondence lessons developed by Indiana University, which was one of the first institutions in the West to recognize the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education. Later on, course offerings were developed internally.
  • Teaching was done principally via correspondence, or, for specialized scientific and technical courses and in other special cases, in small-group classes that were usually held in private homes. Over time, however, the Institute was able to establish a few laboratories, operated in privately owned commercial buildings in and around Teheran, for computer science, physics, dental science, pharmacology, applied chemistry, and language study. The operations of these laboratories were kept prudently quiet, with students cautioned not to come and go in large groups that might give the authorities a reason to object.
  • Among other significant human rights conventions, Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966. Parties to this Covenant "recognize the right of everyone to education" and more specifically that "higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means." ["The New York Times" article dated 29 October 1998, One Country Oct-Dec 1998 Vol 10 Issue 3]
  • On the 29th of October, 2019, IranWire featured a story on the BIHE and one of its graduates, Pedram Roushan, a physicist originally from Sari in Mazandaran province. On the 28th of August 2020 Pedram Roushan was featured in another IranWire article about his work with the Google Artificial Intelligence Quantum team. They had just published an article called Hartree-Fock on a superconducting qubit quantum computer in "Science Magazine".
    		• Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution; Human Rights; Education; Pedram Roushan; Iran
    1998 29 Jul The passing of actor and writer O. Z. Whitehead at the age of 87 in Dublin. (b. in New York City on 18 March 1911).
  • His most acclaimed performance and best remembered role remained that of Al in John Ford's classic 1940 film version of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
  • After the World Congress in 1963 he pioneered to the Irish Republic where, among other services to the Faith, he served on the National Spiritual Assembly.
  • He published three volumes of pen portraits, Some Early Bahá'ís of the West (1976), Some Bahá'ís to Remember (1983), and Portraits of Some Bahá'í Women (1996).
  • He is remembered as a champion of the Arts. [Bahá'í Studies Review Vol8, 1998]
  • See Robert Weinberg's O. Z. Whitehead (1911-1998):Actor and writer that was published in Bahá'í Studies Review No 8 in 1998.
    		•  O. Z. Whitehead; Pioneers; NSA; Biographies (general); Dublin, Ireland; Ireland
    1998 21 Jul Mr. Ruhu'llah Rawhani, a 52-year-old medical supplies salesman was hanged in Mashhad solely for religious reasons. Later that morning, Mr. Rawhani's family was summoned to collect his body and required, despite their protests, to complete the burial within one hour, under the supervision of Government intelligence agents.
  • In 1984, Mr. Rawhani was arrested and imprisoned for more than a year. According to an account given by Mr. Rawhani's relatives in the Australian Bahá'í News, Mr. Rawhani was tortured during his first imprisonment. He was arrested a second time in the mid 1990's. The charge was apparently related to his work in the conduct of purely religious activities, such as prayer meetings and children's classes. He was released after 24 hours.
  • Mr. Rawhani was arrested for a third time in September 1997 and placed in solitary confinement in Mashhad. He had been accused of "converting" a woman from Islam to the Bahá'í Faith. The woman, however, denied that she had converted; she explained that her mother was a Bahá'í and that she herself had been raised as a Bahá'í. She was not arrested.
  • The killing of Mr. Rawhani was the first government execution of a Bahá'í in Iran in six years, and was coupled with the widespread arrest of some 32 Bahá'í educators in fourteen different cities throughout Iran in late September and early October. From the Daily Telegraph, August 2nd 1998. [One Country Jul-Sep 1998 Vol 10 Issue 2, One Country Oct-Dec 1998 Vol 10 Issue 3, Archives of Bahá'í Persecution in Iran]
  • See the message from the Universal House of Justice dated 29 September, 1998.
  • See the website of the Rowhani Bahá'í School that was established in the town of Luganville in Vanuatu in his memory. It began in 1999 with 7 students in small room above a stationary store and now (2021) has about 230 students from K to year 10.
    		•  Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; - Persecution, Education; Rowhani Bahá'í School, Vanuatu; Mashhad, Iran; Iran; Luganville, Vanuatu; Vanuatu
    1998 17 Jul The International Criminal Court was established by the Rome Statue on this date and put into force by the United Nations on 1 July, 2002.
  • The Rome Statute established four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Those crimes "shall not be subject to any statute of limitations" (Article 29).
  • The ICC sits in the Netherlands at The Hague.
  • 120 countries have signed on to the treaty. some countries that are not members are: USA, Russia, India, Israel, and China. [Encyclopaedia Britannica]
    		•  International Criminal Court; Rome, Italy; Italy; The Hague; Netherlands
    1998 10 Jun In a message to the International Teaching Centre marking the 25th anniversary of its inauguration, the Universal House of Justice provided an overview of their duties and a general framework for their operations. The attachment was entitled Overview of Duties Exercised by the International Teaching Centre under the Guidance of the Universal House of Justice. [10 June 1998] International Teaching Centre; - Bahá'í World Centre
    1998 3 May The Universal House of Justice announced the election of Mr. Ali Nakhjavani, Mr. Glenford Mitchell, Mr. Adib Taherzadeh, Mr. Ian Semple, Mr. Peter Khan, Mr. Hushmand Fatheazam, Mr. Hooper Dunbar, Mr. Farzam Arbab and Mr. Douglas Martin. The membership remained unchanged from the previous election. [Mess86-01 264.1 p618] Universal House of Justice, Election of; - Bahá'í World Centre
    1998 Ridván The former Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Czech and Slovak Republics was re-formed with the election of the new national assembly in Slovakia and the other became the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Czech Republic with the seat remaining in Prague. [BW26 p34; BW27p55] National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Prague; Czech Republic
    1998 Ridván Three new National Spiritual Assemblies were elected at Ridván, two in Malaysia, the National Spiritual Assembly of Sabah with its seat in Kota Kinabalu, and the National Spiritual Assembly of Sarawak with it seat in Kuching. A third was elected in Europe, in Slovakia with its seat in Bratislava. [Ridán Message 1998; BW26p34; BW27p57 &58]

    With these new assemblies, the number of National Spiritual Assemblies rose to 179. [Ridván 155]

    		 National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Statistics; Sabah, Malaysia; Sarawak, Malaysia; Slovakia
    1998 Ridván The National Spiritual Assembly was re-established in Liberia with its seat in Monrovia. [Ridán Message 1998]
  • The Assembly, which had been established as an independent national spiritual assembly in 1982, had been disbanded during the civil war which began in 1991 and was re-formed as this time when the civil war ended. [BW98-99p54-55]
    		• National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Monrovia, Liberia; Liberia
    1998 Ridván The Universal House of Justice announced in its Ridvan Message the "ten of thousands of individuals have over the last two years completed at least one institute course." [Mess86-01p612] * Institute process; Training Institutes; Growth; Statistics; - Bahá'í World Centre
    1998 8 Apr The passing of Florence Virginia Wilson Mayberry (b. 18 September 1906 in Sleeper, Missouri) in Marshfield, Missouri. She became a Bahá'í in 1941 in Reno, Nevada. From 1954 to 1959 she served on the first Auxiliary Board for North America covering the Western States and Canada. While serving as an Auxiliary Board member, Florence was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States in 1959. Shortly after the Mayberry family pioneered to Mexico in 1961 where Mrs. Mayberry was elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly of that country and participated in the first International Bahá'í Convention in 1963. In 1968 she was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America, then in 1973 she was appointed as one of three Counselors of the newly established International Teaching Center where she served for 10 years. [BW26p275]
  • Her autobiography, The Great Adventure was published by Nine Pines Publishing in 1994.
  • She was a mystery writer. She had a number of stories published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.
  • Find a grave.
    		•  In Memoriam; Florence Mayberry; Auxiliary board members and assistants; Counsellors; International Teaching Centre; Sleeper, MO; Marshfield, MO
    1998 Apr The publication of the booklet Training Institutes by the Universal House of Justice. [TP323342] Training Institutes; * Institute process; * Publications; - Bahá'í World Centre
    1998 25 March The passing of former Universal House of Justice member (1963-1993) Mr. Hugh E Chance (b. 28 December, 1911 in Winfield, Kansas d. 25 March,1998 in Tisdale KS.). [BW97-98p271-272]
  • Mr Chance had been a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States from 1961 to 1963.
  • Kansapedia.
  • He was the co-author of "A Crown of Beauty" with Eunice Braun which was published by George Ronald in 1982.
    		•  Hugh Chance; In Memoriam; Tisdale, KS; Kansas, USA; USA
    1998 2 - 13 Mar During the 42nd Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March, the Bahá'í International Community presented its statement Empowering the Girl Child, which supported the girl child as a critical area of concern. [UN Women] Bahá'í International Community; Women; United Nations; - BIC statements; New York City, NY
    1998 18 -19 Feb World Faiths and Development Dialogue (WFDD) hosted an event at Lambeth Palace in London that brought together spiritual leaders from nine major religions as well as traditional development experts. This gathering was dedicated to discussing development in the context of how faith and development organizations can cooperate to improve development as a process that encompasses both the spiritual and material aspects of life.The Bahá'í International Community contributed a paper entitled Valuing Spirituality in Development: Initial Considerations Regarding the Creation of Spiritually Based Indicators for Development. [BIC History 1 January 1998]
  • Kiser Barnes, Counsellor and member of the International Teaching Centre represented the International Bahá'í Community. Accompanying him was Lawrence Arturo, Director of the Bahá'í International Office of the Environment in New York City and Bahá'í Representative to the United Nations on environmental and development issues. [One Country] .
    		• World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD); Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; Lawrence Arturo; Kiser Barnes; London, England; United Kingdom
    1998 Feb The Bahá'í Open University resumed activities after the seizure of much of their assets four months earlier by the Iranian government.

    The institute seemed to be a relatively safe alternative for non-Islamic students until this time when Iranian government agents arrested 36 BIHE faculty members. The Bahá'ís set up a network of more than 45 private libraries in Baha'i homes so that students could access textbooks discreetly. Raids occurring in 1998 led to officials seizing some of these libraries along with many of the photocopiers used to distribute assignments. [The Borgen Magazine 14 November 2021]

  • It is estimated that by 1998 the BIHE had approximately 150 professors and 900 students. ["Others" In Their Own Land 41min 39sec]
    		• Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE); Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution; Iran
    1998 31 Jan The Spiritual Assembly of Budapest set up a marble plaque in the garden of the National Museum at the site where Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhiyyih Khánum planted a tree during her visit in 1993 to commemorate 'Abdu'l-Bahá's visit in 1913. The ceremony opened the National Spritual Assembly's campaign marking the eighty-fifth anniversary of the Bahá'í Faith in Hungary. [BW1997-98 p 103-104] Amatul-Bahá Ruhiyyih Khanum; Trees; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Travels of; `Abdu'l-Bahá, Second Western tour; Budapest, Hungary; Hungary

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    try also the Chronology Canada — 1998-0 or 1998 or 199

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