Chronology: Date 2020-09

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 2020-09, sorted by events, descending

date	event	tags	firsts
2020 18 Sep 202-	The passing of Talat Bassari (b. 1923 Babol, Iran) in Los Angeles. She was an Iranian Bahá'í poet, feminist, academic, and writer with a doctorate in Persian language and literature. She was the first woman to be appointed as vice-chancellor of a university in Iran when she worked at the Jondishapur University in Ahvaz (1956–1979). In the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in Iran and because of her Bahá'í faith, she was dismissed from her university position and eventually migrated to the United States. In addition to her critiques on Persian literature she published a biography of Zandokht Shiraizi, a pioneer in the feminist movement in Iran. She resided in New Jersey where she worked on the editorial board of the New Jersey-based magazine, Persian Heritage. Bassari also assisted in books on the life of Táhirih and contributed with Persian to English translations in academia. [Wikipedia]	- In Memoriam; Talat Bassari; Women; Tahirih (Qurratu'l-'Ayn, Zarrín-Táj); Los Angeles, CA; United States (USA); Iran; Biography
2020 28 Sep 202-	The passing of former Universal House of Justice member James Douglas Martin (b. 24 February 1927 in Chatham, Ontario) in Toronto. [CBNS] See Memorial for Douglas Martin - Online Commemoration. He was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada from 1960 to 1985 and served the last twenty years as the general secretary. In 1985. He was appointed director-general of the Bahá'í International Community's Office of Public Information at the World Centre. He served in that capacity until 1993 when he was elected to the Universal House of Justice. He retired from the House of Justice in 2005 due to considerations of age and related needs of the Faith. [BWNS1455] In 1984 he co-authored the introductory text,The Bahai Faith: The Emerging Global Religion with his friend William S Hatcher. His essay, The Missionary as Historian: William Miller and the Bahá'í Faith was a review of William McElwee Miller's book The Bahá'í Faith: Its History and Teachings. His series of talks entitled Historical Consciousness and the Divine Plan was packaged as a compact disc and has been made available on Bahá'í Library. His paper Persecution of the Bahá'ís of Iran 1844-1984 published in Bahá'í Studies in 1984 is available in PDF. His article Humanity's Coming Encounter with Baha'u'llah was published in American Bahá'í in 1992. In 1998 his article Bahá'í Faith was published in Canadian Encyclopedia. The Mission of the Bab: Retrospective 1844-1944 as published in Bahá'í World. [BW23p193] iiiii	Douglas Martin; - In Memoriam; Universal House of Justice, Members of; Toronto, ON; Canada; Chatham, ON; Ontario, Canada; Biography
2020 25 Sep 202-	The passing of former Universal House of Justice member Farzam Arbab (b. 1941 in Tehran) in San Diego where he had been living. He completed an undergraduate degree at Amherst College, Massachusetts in 1964 and obtained a doctorate in physics at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1968 before settling in Colombia as a pioneer. From 1970 until 1980 he served as the Chairman for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Colombia. In 1980 he was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Protection and Propagation of the Faith in the Americas, on which he served for eight years. In 1988, he was named to the Bahá'í International Teaching Centre and was a member of that body until 1993, when he was first elected to the Universal House of Justice. He served until his retirement in 2013. He served as president of Fundacion para la Aplicacion de las Ciencias (FUNDAEC), a nongovernmental development agency in Colombia, from 1974 to 1988, and continued to serve on its board of directors until the end of his life. [BWNS1453; Bahaipedia] Documents by Dr Arbab. Scientific documents by Dr Arbab.	- In Memoriam; Farzam Arbab; Universal House of Justice, Members of; San Diego, CA; United States (USA); Biography
2020 24 Sep 202-	The passing of former member of the International Teaching Centre Violette Haake (b.1928 in Iran) in Melbourne, Australia. She served in the United States and in Australia in the role of Auxiliary Board Member, as a Continental Counsellor in Australasia and ten years as a member of the International Teaching Centre. [BWNS1452]	Violette Haake; - In Memoriam; Auxiliary board members; Melbourne, Australia; Australia; Biography
2020 21 Sep 202-	The German news agency DW obtained a leaked document that appeared to be the minutes of a meeting that was held in the city of Sari in Iran's northern province of Mazandaran. According the document, 19 representatives of key Iranian agencies, including the intelligence services and the police, as well as state authorities responsible for business, commerce and education, gathered in the northern province of Mazandaran for a meeting of the so-called Commission for Ethnic Groups, Sects and Religions. The stated aim: "To gain control over the misguided movement of the perverse Bahá'í sect." The document confirms that the persecution was nothing less than official government policy and that there was a concerted strategy in place in which a government authority provided direction to a whole range of other agencies. When an accusation is made that the persecution of the Bahá'ís is state policy they usually sidestep the issue by saying that there are "various tendencies and groupings in Iranian society' who find the Bahá'í offensive." The document showed a "detailed plan" to ensure that the Bahá'í community is "rigorously controlled", including their "public and private meetings" as well as "their other activities". It was issued by the Commission on Ethnicities, Sects and Religions in Sari, which operated under the aegis of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, a body chaired by Iran's president and responsible for security matters. For the village of Ivel, the home of one of the oldest Bahá'í communities in Iran, the persecution began in earnest in 1983 when they were first driven out when trucks and bulldozers moved in and destroyed fifty houses. They have made periodic visits to the village since that time to tend to their crops and herds. [DW 8Mar21; BIC News 10Mar21]	* Persecution, Iran; Sari, Iran; Iran; Ivel, Mazandaran; Iran
2020 21 Sep 202-	The Bahá'í International Community issued a statement entitled A Governance Befitting: Humanity and the Path Toward a Just Global Order on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. [BIC Publications] The PDF was made available in English. The statement was released following the UN75 Global Governance Forum that was held on the 16 and 17th of September with the theme "the future we want, the UN we need". [UN2020]	Bahá'í International Community; United Nations; New York, USA; United States (USA)
2020 22 Sep 202-	The Association for Bahá'í Studies UK launched a new website. The core focus was on creating and supporting special interest groups: groups that correlate Bahá'í teachings to discourses in society through activities that range from informal study and discussions to publications and seminars.	Bahá'í Studies, Associations for; London, England; United Kingdom
2020 28 Sep 202-	The Kitáb-i-Aqdas was translated and published in Icelandic. The effort to produce the Icelandic translation was a significant undertaking requiring a dedicated team a year and a half to complete the work. [BWNS1536]	Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book); * Translation; Reykjavík, Iceland; Iceland
2020 23 Sep 202-	Progress report on the construction of the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá: A tower crane was erected on the site to facilitate the work of laying the foundations for the edifice. Photo. The support piles that had been driven deep at the center of the site were capped with a layer of concrete to provide stability for the structure to be erected above. Photo. The foundations that will support the north and south entrances leading toward the central structure and the walls that will enclose an inner garden area were taking shape. Photo. The detailed designs needed for future work are taking their final shape while preparations for further stages of construction have begun. Initial tests are underway on innovative techniques needed to build the intricate marble-clad trellis and skylights that will stretch out from the central structure to the surrounding gardens. [BWNS1419] An aerial photo of the site.	`Abdu'l-Bahá, Shrine of; - Bahá'í World Centre
2020 29 Sep 202-	A progress report on the construction of the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá was released. The project continued to progress with appropriate health measures in place to protect the safety of all the personnel from the pandemic. The central foundation of 2,900 square metres was completed in a single concrete pour. It is supported by deep underground piles. Next the base will be laid for the sloping gardens that will rise from the encircling path to culminate over the spot where the sacred remains of 'Abdu'l-Bahá will rest. Permits have been obtained for the final stages of construction. [BWNS1454] Video. YouTube.	`Abdu'l-Bahá, Shrine of; Akka, Israel


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