• The text of Mr. Ahderom's speech can be found on the BIC's website and at BW00-01p243-247.
• Millennium Declaration (in all UN working languages)
• The Millennium Development Goals are to: (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieve universal primary education; (3) promote gender equality and empower women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal health; (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; (7) ensure environmental sustainability; and (8) develop a global partnership for development.
• UN website.

The Resolution formally acknowledged the changing nature of warfare, in which civilians are increasingly targeted, and women continue to be excluded from participation in peace processes. It specifically addressed how women and girls are disproportionally impacted by violent conflict and war and recognized the critical role that women can and were playing in peacebuilding efforts. UNSCR 1325 affirmed that peace and security efforts are more sustainable when women are equal partners in the prevention of violent conflict, the delivery of relief and recovery efforts and in the forging of lasting peace.

When Shoghi Effendi was interred in November 1957 London's Great Northern Cemetery (since renamed New Southgate Cemetery) was larger than it is now. Over the years parts were sold off for development, and it was in response to this process that a sizeable portion around the Guardian's Resting Place was subsequently bought for the Faith so that it could be preserved and developed suitably. The cemetery opened a new entrance and the one through which the Guardian's funeral cortege passed fell into disuse. The gates and pillars of this entrance were purchased by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom, acting on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, and a long process to have them reinstalled in a more suitable place came to fruition in 1998. [Reference links no longer in existence.]

• Available online at Bahá'í Library.

• Available online at Bahá'í Library.

"The Centre for the Study of the Texts . . . will be the seat of an institution of Bahá'í scholars, the efflorescence of the present Research Department of the World Centre, which will assist the Universal House of Justice in consulting the Sacred Writings, and will prepare translations of and commentaries on the authoritative texts of the Faith." [AWH p52]

"The building was completed and occupied in 1999. It now houses the Research Department, and is the temporary home of the International Bahá'í Library and other offices." [Visiting Bahá'í Holy Places p. 35; BW99-00p38-39]

The main focus of the evening was a theatrical performance entitled A Life So Noble, which had been inspired by Ruhiyyih Khanum's life. Written by Canadian-born actress/writer Beverley Evans and directed by Annabel Knight, the show took four major aspects of Khanum's life and character and personified them in four women actresses, Maria Friedman, Beverley Evans, Sarah Clive and Kerry-Ann Smith, who told her story using words taken from Ruhiyyih Khanum's own lectures and writings.[BWNS124]

Holding a musical concert outdoors was not like doing it with the natural acoustics of a hall. To counter wind noise, wind socks had to be fitted on all the microphones on all of the instruments of the orchestra and then reverberation and other effects added on a mixing console. [BWNS118; BWNS120]

"…we have decided to set up the World Centre Endowment Fund, for the preservation, upkeep, and security of the edifices and precincts of the Spiritual and Administrative Centres of the Faith — activities that currently form so large a part of the responsibilities of the Bahá'í International Fund. This decision follows the example of Shoghi Effendi, who during his ministry dedicated the income from lands in the environs of the Jordan Valley for the upkeep of the Holy Shrines." • The Universal House of Justice, 2001 Nov 12, International Endowment Fund

In 1990 there were only 70 Bahá'í in Hungary. At the time of the opening of the new national centre there were more than 1,200 spread among some 65 localities. More than two-thirds of the membership are members of the Roma people. [BWNS187]

In view of the critical world situation the Universal House of Justice advised the friends to:'

Let them strive to understand more deeply the Teachings that are relevant by reviewing letters of Shoghi Effendi which have been published in The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, particularly those entitled "The Goal of a New World Order," "America and the Most Great Peace," and "The Unfoldment of World Civilization."

Dr Kelly, an Oxford-educated microbiologist, had spent the majority of his career as a consultant to the MoD and other government departments and agencies, advising them on his area of expertise - arms control. He had been scientific adviser to the Proliferation and Arms Control secretariat for more than three years and, following the first Gulf War, he had worked as a weapons inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998. He became the senior adviser on biological warfare for the UN in Iraq in 1994, holding the post until 1999.

Dr Kelly apparently committed suicide after being named as the source of a BBC report suggesting that intelligence on Iraq's weapons was "transformed" on the orders of Downing Street shortly before its publication. Such was the conclusion of a controversial inquiry conducted by Lord Hutton. [The Hutton Report] [BBC News 27 January 2004; BBC News 2 September 2003; BBC News 30 October 2003; BBC News 13 May 2004]

She first encountered the Faith on board a ship from fellow passengers, Martin and Gerda Aiff and their children, who where on their way to Windhoek. She retuned to Germany after three years and accepted the Faith in about April of 1963 and after the opening of the Frankfurt Temple in the summer of 1964 she returned to Windhoek, eventually settling in Elizabeth Bay where she served by teaching children's classes. After four years he returned to Germany and locate in Ulm. While preparing to return to Windhoek she received the news of her appointment as an Auxiliary Board Member.

In 1971 she pioneered to Manaia, Romania where she worked as a tourist guide for 4 1/2 seasons. She did international travel teaching in Korea, Thailand, Rangoon, where she visited Daidanaw, known as Àbdu'l-Bahá's Village. [information from "Thursday Night@7PM" 7 December 2023]

Lights Of The Spirit is a groundbreaking work that uncovers a piece of history that until now has gone unwritten-the role played by Black people in the emergence of the Bahá'í Faith in North America. Drawing on a wide range of sources including personal essays, letters, and journals, it offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of some extraordinary individuals who devoted themselves to a common cause and made outstanding contributions toward building a unified society.

For further exploration of this term see:

Bahá'í Library: Constructive Resilience: The Bahá'í Response to Oppression by Michael Karlberg (Also published in Peace and Change, 35:2 pages 222-257 2010-04. (PDF)

See his presentation on the same subject to the Bahá'í Studies Conference at the Ezri Centre for Iranian and the Persian Gulf Studies of Haifa University in 2016 on YouTube.

Constructive Resilience by Firaydoun Javaheri was published in the Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 28 April 2018 and can be found on Bahá'í Library.

A Master's thesis titled Exploring Constructive Resilience: A Qualitative Investigation of the Bahá'i Response to Oppression was presented by Mark Kazemzadeh at the University of Massachusetts in Boston in 2019.

Constructive resilience in response to oppression: the strategy of Bahá'ís in Iran by Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian 31 May 2022 was published in the Community Development Journal.

"The Universal House of Justice, in a letter dated 20 October 2008, announced the convocation of a series of 41 regional conferences over a four-month period. The letter – which marked the midway point of a five-year effort to expand activities at the grassroots level – indicated that the purpose of the conferences is to celebrate achievements during the first half of the Five Year Plan and to deliberate on the next phase." [Bahá'í Community News]

Beth, a teacher by training, has taught English in Arizona, China, Japan, and Sakhalin Island, then pioneered to Nunavut where she, among many other things, started a painting project, "The Arctic Youth Art initiative," which has reached youth in many Inuit settlements and led to her winning this award.

The International Archives Building was reopened for visits by pilgrims after a three-year programme for its restoration and improvement. The exterior stonework was repaired. The foundations of the building have been waterproofed, and the entire structure made earthquake resistant through incorporation within it of a reinforced concrete and steel frame, not visible to visitors, extending from the foundations to the roof level.

Interior improvements included installation of an attractive granite floor at the main level; use of high-quality display cabinets similar to the original cabinets, designed to ensure preservation of the objects on display far into the future; development of basement facilities for receiving pilgrims; provision of means for persons with a physical disability to have access to the building; and installation of complete environmental, safety, and security systems.

Progress was made with the restoration of the edifice of the Shrine of the Báb. A comprehensive programme for the structural reinforcement of the original building and the superstructure for earthquake resistance was nearing completion. Restoration and repair work to the exterior stonework and the ornamental metal balustrades was ongoing. Work was advancing on the preparation for use by pilgrims and other visitors of the three rooms on the southern side of the Shrine, and arrangements were being made for restoration of the dome and replacement of its golden tiles to recover the original lustre. Installation of a new electrical and environmental control system was in progress.

In the Akka work was continuing in both the Riḍván Garden and the newly acquired land surrounding the resting-place of Bahá'u'lláh, the Qiblih of the Bahá'í world. [15 December 2009]

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]

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]

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]

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.

Blogspot.

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.

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.

  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."

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]

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.

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.

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

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.

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]

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.

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]

In the Foreward 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.

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]

"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]

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]

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.

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'.

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.

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

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]

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