The
Bahá'ís of the World
Dearly-loved Friends,
1) The Fiftieth Anniversary of the
revelation by `Abdu'l-Bahá, in March and April 1916,
of the first Tablets of the Divine Plan, has witnessed the conclu-
sion of a feat of pioneering unparalleled in the
annals of the Cause. A year ago the call was raised for
four-hundred-and-sixty-one pioneers to leave their homes within twelve months
and scatter throughout the planet to broaden and strengthen the foundations of
the world community of Bahá'u'lláh. There is every
hope that with the exception of thirty-four posts whose settlement is dependent
upon favourable circumstances all the pioneer goals
will be filled by Ri.dván or their settlement will be
assured by firm commitments. The gratitude and admiration of the entire Bahá'í world go out to this noble band of dedicated
believers who have so gloriously responded to the call. These pioneers, who
have arisen for the specified goals, have been reinforced by
a further forty-five believers who have settled in the goal territories,
while sixty-nine more have left their homes to reside in twenty-six other
countries already opened to the Faith. All told, in the course of the year,
five- hundred-and-five Bahá'ís have arisen to pioneer
beyond their homelands, the largest number ever to do so in any one year in the
entire history of the Cause.
2) This is a resounding victory, and
in the light of the Master's statement in the first of the Tablets of the
Divine Plan, "It has often happened that one blessed soul has become the
cause of the guidance of a nation.", of wonderful
portent for the future. Its immediate results are the opening of twenty-four
new territories to the Faith, the resettlement of four others, and the
consolidation of ninety-three more. The newly-opened territories are: Chad and
Niger in Africa; Alaskan Peninsula, Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Chiloé Island, Providencia
Island, Quintana Roo Territory, Saba, St. Andrés
Island, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lawrence Island, Tierra del Fuego,
and Turks and Caicos Islands in the Americas; Laccadive Islands and Marmara
Island in Asia; Niue Island in Australasia; and Bornholm, Capri, Elba, Gotland,
Inner Hebrides, and Ischia in Europe.
3) The re-settled territories are:
4) As announced last Ridván, the first Convention of the Bahá'ís
of
5) A further result of the
confirmations which have rewarded the tremendous teaching effort of the past
two years is the call now made by the House of Justice for the formation at Ridván 1967 of the following nine National Spiritual
Assemblies: in Africa---the National Spiritual Assembly of Algeria and Tunisia
with its seat in Algiers; the National Spiritual Assembly of Cameroon Republic
with its seat in Victoria and with Spanish Guinea, Fernando Po, Corisco and São Tomé and Príncipe
Islands assigned to it; the National Spiritual Assembly of Swaziland,
Mozambique and Basutoland with its seat in Mbabane; the National Spiritual
Assembly of Zambia with its seat in Lusaka. In the
6) This momentous year cannot be
allowed to pass without mention of the tireless and dedicated services of the
beloved Hands of the Cause, the Standard-Bearers of the Nine Year Plan, and the
able support rendered them by their Auxiliary Boards. The special missions
which they have discharged on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, the
teaching tours they have undertaken, the conferences they have organized, their
constant work at the World Centre, and above all their never-ending encouragement
of the friends and watchfulness over the welfare of the Cause of God, have
given distinction and effective leadership to the work of the entire community.
The grievous loss which they sustained in the passing of Hand of the Cause
Leroy Ioas is shared by the whole Bahá'í
world.
7) The splendid achievements in the
pioneering and teaching fields, together with the enthusiastic attention given
to the preparation of plans for the befitting celebration of the centenary of Bahá'u'lláh's proclamation of His Message to the kings and
rulers of the world, have sealed with success the first, and opened the way for
the second phase of the Nine Year Plan, a phase in which the Bahá'í world must prepare and arm itself for the third
phase, beginning in October 1967 when the six intercontinental conferences will
sound the "opening notes" of a period of proclamation of the Cause of
God extending through the remaining years of the Nine Year Plan to the
centenary, in 1973, of the revelation of the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas".
The three-fold purpose of these conferences is to commemorate the centenary of
the opening of Bahá'u'lláh's Own proclamation of His
Mission, to proclaim the Divine Message, and to deliberate upon the tasks of
the remaining years of the Nine Year Plan.
8) Five specific tasks face the Bahá'í world as it enters this second phase of the Plan:
The first is to complete the settlement of the pioneers, and the dispatch of others wherever needed.
The second is intensive preparation for the third
phase of the Plan through development of new teaching measures and expansion of
the various Bahá'í funds at international, national
and local levels.
The third is acceleration of the provision of Bahá'í literature, particularly its translation and
publication in those languages in which, as yet, none has been published or the
supply is inadequate.
The fourth is the acquisition of the remaining
national Hazíratu'l-Quds, Temple sites, national
endowments and teaching institutes called for in the Plan, before the developing inflation
now affecting nearly the whole world adds too greatly to the financial burden
of acquiring these properties.
The fifth is development of the Panama Temple Fund.
The Universal House
of Justice is initiating this Fund with a contribution
of $25,000, and now
calls upon the believers and Bahá'í
communities to contribute liberally and
continuously until the funds for the completion of
this historic structure
are assured. Such contributions should be sent
directly to the National
Spiritual Assembly of Panama. More than fifty designs
have been received,
and the House of Justice is now considering the
recommendations of the
National Assembly. The choice will be announced and
the friends will be
kept fully informed of the progress of this highly
significant and inspiring
project.
9) Every individual
follower of Bahá'u'lláh, as well as the institutions
of the Faith, at local, national, continental and world levels, must now meet
the challenge to raise the intensity of teaching to a pitch never before
attained, in order to realize that vast increase called for in the Plan. For
those believers living in countries where they have freedom to teach their
Faith, this challenge is the more sharply pointed by the oppressive measures
imposed on the Faith elsewhere. In
10) The challenge to the local and
national administrative institutions of the Faith is to organize and promote
the teaching work through systematic plans, involving not only the regular
fireside meetings in the homes of the believers, the public meetings,
receptions and conferences, the week-end, summer and winter schools, the youth
conferences and activities, all of which are so vigorously upheld at present,
but in addition through a constant stream of visiting teachers to every
locality. The forces released by this latter process have been extolled by Bahá'u'lláh in these words:
The movement itself from place to place, when undertaken for the sake of
God, hath always exerted, and can now exert, its influence in the world. In the
Books of old the station of them that have voyaged far and near in order to
guide the servants of God hath been set forth and written down.,
while `Abdu'l-Bahá
in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, says:
Teachers
must continually travel to all parts of the continent, nay, rather, to all
parts of the world...
11) Such plans
must be initiated and developed now, during this period of preparation, so that
they may be fully operative by the beginning of the proclamation period from
which time they must be relentlessly pursued until the end of the Plan.
12) The Universal House of Justice
attaches such importance to this principle of travelling
teaching that it has decided to develop it internationally, and now calls for
volunteers to offer their services in this field. By their visits to lands
other than their own, these friends will lend a tremendous stimulus to the
proclamation and teaching of the Cause in all continents. It is hoped that such
projects will be self-supporting, since the International Deputization
Fund will still be needed for pioneering. However, when a proposal which is
considered to be of special benefit to the Faith cannot be financed by the
individual or the receiving National Assemblies, the House of Justice will
consider a request for assistance from the Deputization
Fund. Offers, which may be for any period, should be made to one's own National
Spiritual Assembly or to the Continental Pioneer Committees, which have been
given the additional task of assisting National Assemblies to implement and
co-ordinate this new enterprise. Let those who arise recall the Master's
injunction to "travel like `Abdu'l-Bahá ...
sanctified and free from every attachment and in the utmost severance".
13) Simultaneous and co-equal with
this vast, ordered and ever-growing teaching effort, the work of consolidation
must go hand in hand. In fact these two processes must be regarded as
inseparable parts of the expansion of the Faith. While the work of teaching
inevitably goes first, to pursue it alone without consolidation would leave the
community unprepared to receive the masses who must sooner or later respond to
the life-giving message of the Cause. The guidance of our beloved Guardian in
this vital matter is, as ever, clear and unambiguous: "Every outward
thrust into new fields, every multiplication of Bahá'í
institutions, must be paralleled by a deeper thrust of the roots which sustain
the spiritual life of the community and ensure its sound development. From this
vital, this ever-present need attention must, at no time, be diverted; nor must
it be, under any circumstances, neglected, or subordinated to the no less vital
and urgent task of ensuring the outer expansion of Bahá'í
administrative institutions." A proper balance between these two essential
aspects of its development must, from now on, as we enter the era of
large-scale conversion, be maintained by the Bahá'í
Community. Consolidation must comprise not only the establishment of Bahá'í administrative institutions, but a true deepening in
the fundamental verities of the Cause and in its spiritual principles,
understanding of its prime purpose in the establishment of the unity of
mankind, instruction in its standards of behaviour in
all aspects of private and public life, in the particular practice of Bahá'í life in such things as daily prayer, education of
children, observance of the laws of Bahá'í marriage,
abstention from politics, the obligation to contribute to the Fund, the
importance of the Nineteen Day Feast and opportunity to acquire a sound
knowledge of the present-day practice of Bahá'í
administration.
14) The onward march of the Faith
requires, and is indeed dependent upon, a very great increase in contributions
to the various funds. All the goals assigned to the World Centre of the Faith,
and particularly those dealing with the development and beautification of the
properties surrounding the Holy Shrines and the extension of the gardens on
15) The challenge to the individual Bahá'í in every field of service, but above all in teaching
the Cause of God is never-ending. With every fresh affliction visited upon
mankind our inescapable duty becomes more apparent, nor
should we ever forget that if we neglect this duty, "others" in the
words of Shoghi Effendi, "will be called upon to
take up our task as ministers to the crying needs of this afflicted world".
Now, it seems, we may well be entering an era of the longed-for expansion of
our beloved Faith. Mankind's growing hunger for spiritual truth is our
opportunity. While reaching forth to grasp it we would do well to ponder the
following words of Bahá'u'lláh:
Your behaviour towards your neighbour
should be such as to manifest clearly the signs of the one true God, for ye are
the first among men to be re-created by His Spirit, the first to adore and bow
the knee before Him, the first to circle round His throne of glory.
16)
As humanity plunges deeper into that condition of which Bahá'u'lláh
wrote, "to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly", so must the
believers increasingly stand out as assured, orientated and fundamentally happy
beings, conforming to a standard which, in direct contrast to the ignoble and
amoral attitudes of modern society, is the source of their honour,
strength and maturity. It is this marked contrast between the vigour, unity and discipline of the Bahá'í
community on the one hand, and the increasing confusion, despair and feverish
tempo of a doomed society on the other, which, during the turbulent years ahead
will draw the eyes of humanity to the sanctuary of Bahá'u'lláh's
world-redeeming Faith.
17) The constant progress of the
Cause of God is a source of joy to us all and a stimulus to further action. But not ordinary action. Heroic deeds are now called for
such as are performed only by divinely-sustained and detached souls. `Abdu'l-Bahá, the Commander of the hosts of the Lord, in one
of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, uttered this cry: "O that I could
travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions and,
raising the call of `Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá'
in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the Divine
teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it." And He
concluded with this heart-shaking appeal, "Please God, ye may achieve
it."
The Universal House of Justice