Chronology: Date 2005-1

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

World Canada
any all exact phrase

Date 2005-1, ascending — sort latest first

date	event	tags	firsts
2005 01 Oct 200-	The Search for Values in the Age of Transition was written on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the UN and contained recommendations for UN reform in the areas of development, human rights and the rule of law, democracy, and collective security. Freedom to Believe: Upholding the Standard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written about the same time, called on the United Nations to affirm unequivocally the right of an individual's to change his or her religion under international law.	United Nations; Bahá'í International Community; - BIC statements; New York, USA; United States (USA)
2005 15 Oct 200-	The Constitution of Iraq was approved by referendum to replace the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period (TAL), previously adopted by a Governing Council appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the Iraq War. The Constitution guaranteed the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guaranteed the full religious rights of all individuals to freedom of religious belief and practice such as Christians, Yazedis, and Mandi Sabeans. It made no mention of the Bahá'ís as an acknowledged religious minority. The Law No.105 of 1970 which prohibited all Bahá'í activities was not rescinded therefore it entered into force despite its being unconstitutional under the new constitution. Also problematic for the Bahá'í community was Regulation 358 of 1975 by the Department of Civil Status that prohibited the issuance of new identity cards to followers of the Bahá'í faith and altered their civil status so that they were registered as Muslims. [Al-Monitor 11 December, 2018; Washington Post 12 October, 2005] .	Persecution, Iraq; Iraq
2005 29 Oct 200-	Letter from the Iranian military headquarters to various Revolutionary Guard and police forces and security agencies instructing them to identify and monitor Bahá'ís around the country. [BWNS473] A copy of the letter can be obtained from the BIC website. This document was authored by Major General Seyyed Hassan Firuzabadi in his capacity as Chief of the Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Iran. His letter was addressed to a range of military and security agencies, including the Commander of the Revolutionary Guard, the Commander of Basij militia, the Commander of Law Enforcement and the Commander of the Armed Forces inter alia. The letter instructed these agencies to 'acquire a comprehensive and complete report of all the activities of these sects (including political, economic, social and cultural) for the purpose of identifying all the individuals of these misguided sects. Therefore, we request that you convey to relevant authorities to, in a highly confidential manner, collect any and all information about the above mentioned activities of these individuals and report it to this Headquarters.' This extended to children and students, and individual children and young people are identified by their religious beliefs and targeted for ideological harassment, exclusion from education, abuse and even physical assault on some occasions. [See: Faith and a Future]	Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Human rights; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution, Education; - Persecution; Human rights; Faith and a Future (CSW); Iran
2005 Nov 200-	Dr. John Grayzei was appointed to the Bahá'í Chair for Peace at the University of Maryland in the United States. He succeeded Suheil Bushrui who held the position since its inauguration in 1992. [BWNS404]	John Grayzei; Suheil Bushrui; Bahá'í Chair for World Peace; University of Maryland; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Maryland, USA; United States (USA)
2005 1 Nov 200-	The celebration of the opening of the new Bahá'í Centre at 44 Albany Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. [BWNS347, BWNS395] The weekend's events coincided with the 92nd anniversary of the visit in 1913 by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.	Haziratul-Quds (Bahá'í centres); Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Edinburgh, Scotland; Scotland; United Kingdom
2005 27 Nov 200-	The passing of prolific author and founding member of the Association for Bahá'í Studies of North America, Dr. William S. Hatcher, in Stratford, Ontario. (b. 20 September, 1935 in Charlotte, NC). He served on the National Spiritual Assemblies of Switzerland (1962-65), Canada (1983-91) and the Russian Federation (1996). He was an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Toledo for three years before coming to Canada in 1968 with his wife Judith. He served as professor of mathematics at the Université Laval until 1995. He was appointed to the first Board of Trustees of the Huqúqu'lláh for Canada in November of 1991. [CBNJan92 p2; 14 November, 1991] He was the author of vast number of articles and books including, Logic and Logos (1990), Love, Power and Justice (1998), and The Bahá'í Faith, The Emerging Global Religion (co-authored with Douglas Martin). [BWNS416, BW05-06p240-241] The Universal House of Justice wrote in tribute: "The Bahá'í world has lost one of its brightest minds, one of its most prolific pens. He will long be remembered for his stalwart faith, forceful exposition, and penetrating insights." The family of Dr. Hatcher built an on-line repository of his collected works. Contributions of recordings of his talks or other works by William Hatcher can be submitted for consideration for the site by using the contact form.	William Hatcher; In Memoriam; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Stratford, ON; Canada
2005 1 Dec 200-	The president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Kessai Note, and his wife, Mary Note, paid an official visit to the Bahá'í World Centre. [One Country; BWNS410]	Visitation; * Bahá'í World Centre; Marshall Islands
2005 15 Dec 200-	The death of Mr. Dhabihu'llah Mahrami, 59, who had been held in a government prison in Yazd under harsh physical conditions at the time of his death. First arrested in 1995, Mr. Mahrami served in the civil service but at the time of his arrest was making a living installing venetian blinds, having been summarily fired from his job like thousands of other Bahá'is in the years following the 1979 Iranian revolution. Although Iranian officials have asserted that Mr. Mahrami was guilty of spying for Israel, court records clearly indicate that he was tried and sentenced solely on charge of being an "apostate," a crime which is punishable by death under traditional Islamic law. While Mr. Mahrami had been a lifelong Baha'i, the apostasy charge apparently came about because a civil service colleague, in an effort to prevent Mr. Mahrami from losing his job, submitted an article to a newspaper stating that he had converted to Islam. When it later became clear to Iranian authorities that Mr. Mahrami remained a member of the Bahá'í community, they arrested him and charged him with apostasy for allegedly converting from Islam to the Bahá'í Faith. On 2 January 1996, he was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court, a conviction that was later upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court. The death sentence against Mr. Mahrami stirred an international outcry. The European Parliament, for example, passed a resolution on human rights abuses in Iran, making reference to Mr. Mahrami's case. The governments of Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States also registered objections. [BWNS415]	Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Human rights; Court cases; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Yazd, Iran; Iran
2005 27 – 31 Dec 200-	The gathering, at the Bahá'í World Centre, the members of the Continental Boards of Counsellors [BWNS418]	Counsellors; Conferences, Bahá'í; Conferences, Counsellors; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); * Bahá'í World Centre
2005 28 Dec 200-	In its message to all National Spiritual Assemblies the Universal House of Justice said "we have reached the conclusion that the books of the Ruhi Institute should constitute the main sequence of courses for institutes everywhere..." [28 December 2005]	Ruhi Institute; - Institute process; Training Institutes; * Bahá'í World Centre


Home Site Map Tags Search Series Chronology Links About Contact RSS