Chronology: Date 2002

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 2002, ascending — sort latest first

date	event	tags	firsts
2002 (In the year) 200-	The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a fatwa (edict) that banned Bahá'ís from burying their dead relatives in public cemeteries. Religious violence targeting the Indonesian Bahá'í community began during the Suharto regime that restricted the official religions to only five. Bans on the Faith had been issued earlier in the 1960s and the 1970s. [The Jakarta Post August 8, 2014]	Persecution, Indonesia; - Persecution, Bans; - Persecution; Indonesia
2002 5 Mar 200-	The announcement by the Bahá'í International Community of the murder of three Bahá'ís in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Rashid Gulov was shot and killed on 23 October 2001 while returning home from work. A second man, Mosadegh Afshin Shokoufeh, was shot outside his home on 3 December 2001 and died from his wounds on the way to the hospital. These deaths follow the assassination of 88 year old Abdullah Mogharrabi, a leader in the community, in September 1999. [BWNS153]	Persecution, Tajikistan; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Bahá'í International Community; Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Tajikistan
2002 Ridván 200-	The Universal House of Justice issued a letter addressed to the world's religious leaders warning of "the danger posed by "the rising fires of religious prejudice" and called for decisive action against fanaticism and intolerance". [One Country Vol.14 Issue 1] For the text of the letter see To the World's Religious Leaders. Also see One Country Vol.14 Issue 1 for an abridged version. See also BWNS200; BWNS168, BWNS200; BW'02-'03pg79-98. The essential message was that God is one and all religions are from that same God and that recognition of these truths is a prerequisite that must be at the heart of all religious discourse. Bahá'i institutions throughout the world delivered thousands of copies of this message to influential figures and the major faith communities. Although some were dismissed out of hand, in general the message was warmly welcomed. [One Common Faith p.ii]	Letter to the Worlds Religious leaders (2002); Religious leaders (clergy); Universal House of Justice; Universal House of Justice, Letters and messages; Universal House of Justice, Basic timeline; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - Basic timeline, Condensed; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Interfaith dialogue; Unity of religion; - Bahá'í World Centre
2002 24 Apr 200-	The passing of Barbara Helen Rutledge Sims (b. 17 April, 1918 in San Francisco) in Tokyo. She was a "third generation Bahá'í whose grandmother had been guided to the Faith by John Henry Hyde Dunn and Clara Dunn when they lived in California. [BW02-03p274-275] When the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, issued his call for believers to serve in the first Global Crusade (1953-1963) she and her husband Charles A. "Sandy" Sims (who was not a Bahá'í but had been born and raised in Japan), and her daughter Sandra. (A son, Sheridan, was born a few years later.) She was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tokyo in 1954 and served for many years on that body. In 1957 she was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of North East Asia, and in 1974 she was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of Japan, serving until 1993. She was secretary for many years on those Assemblies. She also served on a number of national committees, developed the National Archives, volunteered in the national office and on the staff of the Publishing Trust, went on teaching trips around Japan and to other Asian countries, and wrote Bahá'í histories of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Macau and Tokyo, and her memoirs. [Barbara Sims' Contribution to Bahá'í Scholarship in Asia Pacific by Sandra S. Fotos; In memoriam Barbara Sims by Universal House of Justice, Sheridan Sims, and Sandra S. Fotos]	Barbara Sims; - In Memoriam; Sandra Sims; Sandra Fotos; Sheridan Sims; John Dunn; Clara Dunn; San Francisco, CA; Tokyo, Japan
2002 1 May 200-	The publication of The Summons of the Lord of Hosts by Bahá'í World Centre Publications. The 272-page book contained authoritative English translations of six major works written by Bahá'u'lláh between 1868 and 1870. Collectively, the works clearly enunciated His claim to prophethood and offered a prescription for peaceful and just leadership in the modern world as offered to the the monarchs and religious leaders of His time. Specifically, the book collects the Súriy-i-Haykal [Súrih of the Temple], Súriy-i-Ra'ís [Súrih of the Chief], Lawh-i-Ra'is [Tablet of the Chief], Lawh-i-Fu'ad [Tablet to Fu'ad Pasha], Lawh-i-Sultan [Tablet to the Shah of Iran], and Súriy-i-Mulúk [Súrih of the Kings]. [One Country Vol.14 Issue 1, BWNS163]	- Summons of the Lord of Hosts (book); * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; - Tablets to kings and rulers; * Translation; * Publications; Lawh-i-Napulyun (Tablet to Napoleon III); Lawh-i-Malikih (Tablet to Queen Victoria); Lawh-i-Sultan (Tablet to Nasirid-Din Shah); Lawh-i-Pap (Tablet to Pope Pius IX); - Bahá'í World Centre; Lawh-i-Malik-i-Rus (Tablet to Alexander II)
2002 6 June 200-	City Montessori School in Lucknow, India won the UNESCO Peace Education award in recognition of its efforts to promote the universal values of education for peace and tolerance and to renew the principles of secularism at a time when these values and principles are increasingly being challenged. The school was founded by Mr. Jagdish Gandhi and his wife Bharti in 1959 with only 5 students and has since earned a reputation for a high level of academic excellence — and for a distinctive program of moral and spiritual education. In 1999 the Guinness Book of World Records recognized City Montessori School as the world's largest school by enrollment. The school had some 22,000 students that year. In 2002 it had 26,000 students in grade levels ranging from pre-primary to college and in 2010-11 enrolment was 39,437. In 2014-14 it was over 47,000. Technically speaking, CMS is not so much a school as a school district, with some 20 branches spread throughout Lucknow. [CMS site, BWNS165, BWNS146, One CountryVol.14,Issue 1]	Awards; UNESCO; City Montessori School, India; - Bahá'í inspired schools; Social and economic development; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Lucknow, India; India
2002 26 Jun 200-	The announcement by the Universal House of Justice of the publication of Gems of Divine Mysteries in English. The book is a letter written in reply to a seeker who asked about the relationship of prophecy to the Bábí Faith, and Bahá'u'lláh used that question as an opportunity to elaborate a number of related subjects. The book relates closely to two other major works of Bahá'u'lláh: The Seven Valleys (Haft-Vadi), an exposition on the progression of the soul, and The Book of Certitude (Kitab-i-Iqan). [BW'02-'03pg37, BWNS174] The volume was originally titled Javahiru'l-Asrar, and was written in Arabic during Bahá'u'lláh's residence in Iraq where He was exiled from 1853 until 1863. [One Country Vol.14 Issue 2]	Javahirul-Asrar (Gems of Divine Mysteries); * Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; * Translation; * Publications; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Haft Vadi (Seven Valleys); Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude); - Bahá'í World Centre
2002 26 Jun – 2 Jul 200-	In commemoration of the Second Bahá'í World Congress 23-26 November in 1992 in New York, a Festival of the Arts was celebrated in that same city. The project was an independent initiative of Global Music, Inc., a Bahá'í-owned company, and associated individuals. It was not under the sponsorship of any Bahá'í institution. The centerpiece event was held at Carnegie Hall featuring a 550-voice choir under the direction of Mr. Tom Price and known as the "Voices of Baha". It was composed of Bahá'ís from some 24 countries. [BWNS162]	Bahá'í World Congress, Second (1992); Carnegie Hall, New York; Tom Price; Choirs; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); New York, USA; United States (USA)
2002 26 Aug – 4 Sep 200-	World Summit on Sustainable Development, a United Nations conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Bahá'í International Community issued a statement, entitled Religion and Development at the Crossroads: Convergence or Divergence?. [BWNS169, BWNS170] For the full text and footnotes see: BIC Web Site.	United Nations; Sustainable development; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; - Statements; * Publications; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); - BIC statements; Johannesburg, South Africa; South Africa
2002 21 Sep 200-	The dedication, at the Green Acre Bahá'í School in Eliot Maine, the oldest permanent Bahá'í school in the world, of a new classroom and lecture hall designated as The Harriet and Curtis Kelsey Center, with an attendant Manny Reimer Hall. [BWNS175]	Green Acre, Eliot, ME; - Bahá'í inspired schools; Curtis Kelsey; Harriet Kelsey; First schools; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Eliot, ME; Maine, USA; United States (USA)	first...oldest permanent Baha'i school in the world
2002 26 Nov 200-	The inauguration of the Bahá'í radio station in Bulac, Philippines, located in a rural district some 30 kilometers from the city of San José on the main island of Luzon. The station operated at 1584 kHz on the AM band, broadcasting at a power of 1,000 watts. Due to the flat topography of the region, it reached a wide area encompassing the entire province of Nueva Ecija and a portion of Tarlac and Pangasinan provinces, with a potential listenership of more than 2.3 million people. [BWNS181; One Country] See BWNS1462 for a story on how this radio station served the community during the 2020 pandemic. Picture of the site.	Bahá'í Radio; Bahá'í-owned radio; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Bulac, Philippines; Philippines
2002 27 Nov 200-	The Bahá'í community of Hungary inaugurated its new national Bahá'í Centre with a reception for government dignitaries, religious leaders and media personalities. The community had made considerable progress since the late 1980s when religious freedom started to become restored. In the 1990's they able to restore the Local Spiritual Assembly of Budapest. As of this date, there were more than 1,200 Bahá'ís in the country spread over some 65 localities. More than 2/3 of that number were of the Roma people. The Hungarian Bahá'í community was involved in a social and economic development project, MESED ("Meselo Edesanyak" - Storytelling Mothers), a program for young Roma mothers. Romas are members of a disadvantaged community, and they are often deprived of proper education. The project provided literacy training for mothers and helps them to read storybooks to their children. [BWNS303]	Haziratul-Quds (Bahá'í centres); Meselo Edesanyak; Storytelling Mothers; Budapest, Hungary; Hungary
2002 4 Dec 200-	University of Bari in Italy established a course on ethics and economics titled Ethics and Economy: Towards a New World Order. The University had appointed Giuseppe Robiati, a member of the Bahá'í community of Italy, as the coordinator of the course. [BWNS182]	Universities; Bari, Italy; Italy


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