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What happened on this day in 1863? Who was the first Baha'i in your country? Join us for a look back at the fascinating history of the Baha'i Faith.

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5

1915 history of the Baha'i Faith in North America, by Thornton Chase

Star of the West , vol, X, no. 17: 19 January 1915

A brief history of the American development of the Bahai Movement

Thornton Chase

(published posthumously)

In the month of June, 1894, a gentleman in Chicago desired to study Sanskrit, in order to further pursue his search into ancient religious teachings. While seeking an instructor he met a Syrian who had come to Chicago from Egypt a short time before, and who told him of the Bahá'í Movement.

As the statements of the life and teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, and his son, Abbás Effendi, the "Greatest Branch", otherwise known as 'Abdu'l-Bahá, accorded with the declarations of numerous sacred prophecies, and with the age-long expectations of mankind, it was deemed of value to investigate those claims as far as possible

Other seekers for truth became attracted to the study of these matters, with the result that five accepted the teachings as true during the year 1894. In 1895 a number of earnest students became interested, classes were formed, and several became "believers", and in 1896, the followers of the Bahá'í Cause in Chicago were numbered by hundreds.

A class of Truth Seekers was begun in Kenosha, Wis., another in Milwaukee, and individuals from New York, Cincinnati, Washington, and other points, came in touch with the Movement in Chicago, and carried information of it to their friends at home, so that in 1898 many students in eastern cities were eagerly seeking knowledge of God through this channel.

On 4 November 1900, there arrived in New York, Mírzá Asadu'lláh, a Persian teacher of authority from 'Akká, in Palestine, and Hájí Hasan-i-Khurásání, a prominent merchant of Cairo, Egypt; with Mírzá Husayn Ruhí, and Mírzá Burzurg, as interpreters. They remained in New York" meeting and teaching large numbers of people, until 26 November, when they visited Johnstown, New York, for two days, and reached Chicago at 4 p.m., Thanksgiving Day, 29 November, where they made their headquarters for a year and a half.

A little later came another Persian gentleman, Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl, a scholar and historian, famous in the Orient for his learning and sincerity, one who had given up a position of the highest honour in Persia, as president of the Royal College of Tihrán, to embrace the Bahá'í Cause, which resulted in his imprisonment for three years in Persian dungeons. Two young Persians, Mírzá 'Alí Qulí Khán and Mírzá Amín'u'lláh also arrived to act as interpreters.

With these teachers came the first opportunity for a correct and intimate knowledge of the true Bahá'í teachings. The salient facts,-the mission of the Báb as the forerunner and proclaimer of the coming of "He Whom God Shall Manifest", his life, and early martyrdom; the appearance of Bahá'u'lláh, the Manifestation, and Revealer of the Divine Word, the station and authority of Abbás Effendi, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as the Centre of the Covenant, the Interpreter and the Establisher of the Sacred Law; these were known and believed; but, as yet, there had been but little translation of their writings, and but a small portion of their beautiful and comprehensive teachings of religion and life was known until they were disclosed by these visitors from the Centre of the Cause. The young interpreters, assisted by Mr Anton [Antún] Haddád of Syria, busied themselves in translating the Bahá'í Writings from Persian and Arabic into English, and a wonderful treasury of wisdom and knowledge was opened, which has been the delight and satisfaction of thousands of hungry souls in America.

The instructions given by Mírzá Asadu'lláh and Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl were thoroughly sane and practical, and so insisted on righteousness, right living-as the essential of religion, rather than psychic and occult experiments, that many persons, who had conceived views imbued with imaginations and superstitions, fell away from the Cause-but those who remained discovered such spiritual light, guidance, richness, and power in the teachings, that they were deeply confirmed in their belief, and clung to it as the most valuable instruction possible for man to obtain.

The classes and assemblies which had diminished in number, again began to grow, and to spread the knowledge of the Bahá'í Cause; until at the present time its adherents in the United States are numbered by thousands-there are believers in many cities and towns, from the Atlantic to the Pacific-all earnest and sincere in their faith, and in their acceptance of this modern revelation of Divine (continued to page 265)

p.263

Knowledge, and striving with their lives to carry out the Bahá'í teachings of love to God expressed in love to man.

There are assemblies of believers in Chicago and New York, in Boston and Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia, in Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Kenosha, Minneapolis, Spokane, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and in many towns of lesser fame; in all of which this wonderful, religious, ethical, moral, and practical teaching of the age, is received and loved as the great solvent of religious, social, and economic problems, and the joy and beauty of life.

#

p. 265

0 Comments
2023/03/28
22:58 UTC

24

Haji Ahkund used to get into his finest clothes every time there was a crisis in Persia. He knew the mullas would blame the Baha’is and he would be arrested and tortured as a scapegoat. So he would get dressed up and wait to be arrested.

2 Comments
2021/08/28
01:04 UTC

8

Haji Ahkund

Every religion has them. People so grounded in love that no external ordeal perturbs their inner peace.

Here is an example.

Haji Ahkund used to get into his finest clothes every time there was a crisis in Persia. He knew the mullas would blame the Baha'is and he would be arrested and tortured as a scapegoat. So he would get dressed up and wait to be arrested.

One of these times, the "best" torturers in the country worked for days on him with the most exquisite tortures. They were frustrated in that he never cried out.

Perplexed, they sent a message to the Shah asking him to come see this man who, despite the worst treatment, was never disturbed. His inner calm was completely constant.

They dressed him up and sat him in front of a decorated drop cloth in chains and his foot in a stock. The Shah himself came to view him as he was seen as a complete oddity for not screaming for his life.

This is not to suggest anything miraculous. Only to say that we humans are capable of far more than what our commercial driven society tells us. We can develop our capacity for inner peace.

0 Comments
2021/08/28
01:02 UTC

7

1880s: Jamál Effendi and Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí travel to Indonesia where they assist in combating an outbreak of smallpox.

Jamál Effendi and Sayyid Mustafá then travelled on to the town of Sedendring, which is situated inland on a large lake, and beyond that to the province of Padalia and Fammana, where they found a warm welcome from the ruler King Fatta Chikourdi (or Fatta Padali Arong Fammana) and Queen Diammarala but little response to the Bahá'í message. They were planning to leave again when there was an outbreak of small-pox. The king called upon Jamál Effendi for assistance and the latter used scabs from children who were recovering together with breast milk from a woman to make a vaccine with which to inoculate the children. This reduced the death-rate to one percent. [It is not clear from where Jamál Effendi obtained his medical knowledge, but his use of carbolic soap to treat psoriasis and his use of scabs from cases of small-pox with the active virus neutralised by antibodies from the milk of a nursing mother to inoculate children shows the workings of a knowledgeable and resourceful mind.]

Source: https://www.bahai-library.com/momen_jamal_effendi

“To our surprise, suddenly there came news that a smallpox epidemic had broken out in the principal towns of Padali Fammana and in the houses close to the palace. The loss of many children alarmed the king and he implored us for assistance. I had no knowledge about smallpox but Jamál Effendi instructed me to get some ordinary needles and tie them tightly together and pick some live scabs from the affected children, put them in a small phial, and add to it a little milk. With these needles I then scratched the arms of the children. In this way we daily vaccinated up to five hundred children. One percent could not be cured but the lives of the remaining ones were saved.”

Source: Siyyid Muṣṭafá Rúmí: Hand of the Cause of God, Apostle of Bahá’u’lláh: Hand of the Cause of God, Apostle of Bahá’u’lláh (Iran Furútan Muhájir)

0 Comments
2021/08/19
02:22 UTC

5

Essays on Baha'i Topics

"Essays on Baha'i Topics" by James J Keene, the Kindle eBook on Amazon, is scheduled to be FREE from Friday to Sunday, June 16-18.

The "Essays..." hope to promote growth of the Baha'i community. Learn more about the universal currency, real money (gold/silver), creating your own central bank, how Baha'i elections balance power between voters and elected, 'Abdu'l-Baha's "proclamation 1,2,3" method, investigative reports on Ruhi, Palabra and more. Oh, and for students, how to make straight A's.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096TQ2SXQ

The Baha'i Faith was founded in 1863 by a remarkable figure known as Baha'u'llah (Glory of God). A century later, this young religion had grown into an international movement. Its top administrative unit, The Universal House of Justice, was first elected in 1963. This insider's view documents controversial issues currently challenging Baha'is as well as the general public.

4 Comments
2021/07/14
22:16 UTC

7

Beautiful eye witness account of the Master

https://bahai-library.com/thur_history_bahai_arizona
At the time of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s visit to America, I with my wife and four
children resided at 4746 Langley Ave., Chicago. Living with us at the time
was Mrs P.[aul] K.[ingston] Dealey [Dealy], Mrs. Dealey was totally blind,
having met with a serious accident by falling off a high platform on[to] her
back, injuring her spine. Mrs Dealey was a devout follower of ‘Abdu’lBaha,
and had received several Tablets from Him while He was in the
prison of Acca.

When we heard that ‘Abdu’l-Baha was to be in Chicago, and that he was
to give an address in Drill Hall in the Masonic Temple, and were anxious to
see and hear the one who became known to us as “the Master”, all the
members of my family including Mrs Dealey went early to the hall on that
Sunday morning of April 30th, 1912. We got seats in the third row from
the front. There were seven of us; I was sitting in the first seat from the
end, then Mrs Ruppers with Nina82 on her lap, next sat Mrs Dealey, then
the three boys. The hall soon became filled. Lua Getsinger was giving the
preliminary talk prior to ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s arrival. Suddenly everyone in that
hall arose as one person, for there on the threshold with his interpreters
stood the Master. Every eye was turned towards that “Unusual, Majestic
Personality; A World Commanding Figure had appeared for the Uplift,
Unification, and Peace of Mankind.

Majestically He walked to the rostrum, and with a gesture of His hand,
signaled the audience to be seated; then glancing over the assemblage. His
eyes fell on that of Mrs Dealey. Like a flash He came down to where we
were sitting and reaching across Mrs. Ruppers and I, He grasped both of
Mrs. Dealey's hands in His, saying: “O Mrs. Dealey, so happy am I to see
you, so very happy.” She was so thoroughly overcome that she couldn't
utter a word for a few moments, then with tears streaming down her
cheeks she said, “O, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, I am so happy to be so near you. Will I
ever be able to see again?” He answered: “Physically, no, but spiritually
you will see wondrous things.”83 At that he returned to the rostrum and
delivered about a 20-minute talk. I marvelled at the time, and have often
wondered since; how could he know and pick out Mrs Dealey out of that
vast audience, not ever having seen her before.

The next day was the dedication of the Temple [Bahà’i House of Worship]
grounds, and the laying of the Temple comer stone. It was a cheerless day,
cold wind blowing off the lake, yet quite a crowd was there for the
occasion.

The next day Mrs Ruppers and I called on ‘Abdu’l-Baha at his suite in the
Plaza Hotel. He welcomed us with outstretched arms, and asked us a few
questions. Then He said to Mrs. R. [uppers], “You have been in very poor
health, but your health will be much better for some years to come.” (Her
health was much better as he had predicted.) Then after giving us His
blessing with His hand on each of our heads and then a fatherly embrace to
each of us, we left His Holy Presence. To me, it was a great joy and
privilege to have talked with Him, and to have had that loving close contact
with Him. My family had the joy of being with Him on another occasion
when the children gathered in the Plaza Gardens to meet with Him.

I had the pleasure of hearing Him give two more addresses - one before the
Theosophical Society, and another at the All Saints Church.

0 Comments
2021/05/03
19:19 UTC

3

April 20th, 2021....the beginning of the 12 Days of Ridvan

Festival of Festivals. Baha'u'llah, the Founder of World Civilization, had been exiled by the Persian government for 10 years in Baghdad under house arrest. In 1863, because of a further exile from both The Ottoman government and the Persian government, he was now being sent to Adrianople (now Edirne) and eventually would be imprisoned for the rest of his life in the prison fortress of Akka in then Palestine. This video commemorates the First Day in the Garden of Ridvan where He announced his Mission and his station as a Divine Messenger of God.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPaQISYwDfQ

0 Comments
2021/04/25
02:30 UTC

2

Tahirih, Forerunner of The women’s liberation Movement of the East

0 Comments
2020/12/13
18:39 UTC

2

Abdul-Baha in America (NYC) part 1

0 Comments
2020/12/13
16:22 UTC

2

1844: Convergence in Prophecy for Judaism, Christianity and the Baha’i Faith

0 Comments
2020/12/06
16:31 UTC

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