Hand of the Cause Dhikru’llah Khadem

He was born into a distinguished Baha'i family in Tihran, Iran, in 1904. While receiving his formal education he showed considerable aptitude as a linguist, becoming proficient in Persian, Arabic, English, and French. For many years he was chief interpreter and director of the Education Department of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and developed an accelerated method of teaching Persian to English speakers. He later became secretary of the 'Iraqi Embassy in Tihran. He became known as an Old Testament scholar and was well versed in the history of the Baha'i Faith and other world religions. He was author of several books about the Baha'i Faith in Persian and English. In 1933 he married the secretary, friend, and companion of Keith Ransom-Kehler, Javidukht Javid.

At the relatively young age of 34 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran and served on that body for the next 21 years. He made trips to the Holy Land in 1939 and 1940, and served as the receiving and distribution conduit for communications from Shoghi Effendi for the Iranian believers -- a service he discharged for 17 years. He was also instrumental in securing many precious Babi and Baha'i archives for safe preservation in the Holy Land. These included the famous sword wielded in defense of the Babis by Mulla Husayn at Barfurush in 1848, when with one stroke he cut through a tree, the barrel of a gun and his adversary.

Dhikru’llah was elevated to the rank of Hand of the Cause in the second contingent appointed by Shoghi Effendi in February 1952. For the remainder of his life, in addition to his general duties as a Hand of the Cause for the promotion and protection of the Faith as well as the general encouragement of the Baha'is in achieving their global teaching plans, he undertook an enormous number of assignments on behalf of the Guardian, and later for the Hands of the Cause, and the Universal House of Justice. He was an inspirational speaker who seemed always to convey to his audience his deep love and knowledge of the Faith as well as his devotion to Shoghi Effendi and later, to the Universal House of Justice. His discharge of whatever duties or tasks were assigned to him was known always to be characterized by "instant, exact and complete obedience."

Children under fifteen of non-Bahá'í parents attending Feasts

Concerning your inquiry asking if children under fifteen of non-Bahá'í parents could attend Nineteen Day Feasts or other events held exclusively for Bahá'ís when the children consider themselves as Bahá'ís, such children may be permitted to attend Bahá'í functions provided that their parents have given their consent. This applies only, of course, to children under the age of fifteen years. 

- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 4 August 1970 to the National Spiritual Assembly of Nicaragua; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, The Nineteen Day Feast)

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit"(John 3:6) – ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s explanation

Christ announced, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," meaning that man must be born again. As the babe is born into the light of this physical world, so must the physical and intellectual man be born into the light of the world of Divinity. 

- 'Abdu'l-Baha (From a talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

1958: First NSA on European Continent

First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of France, elected on April 26, 1958 (Baha'i News July 1958)

“True joy comes from the tranquility of heart, and this state comes from faith!”

Then He spoke at length of the "Composure of Heart," or "Tranquility of the Soul":

"This is a state of true faith which gives man such assurance and conviction of God's bounty, that all the trials and sufferings of this earth cannot affect him."

Speaking of true joy and happiness. He said in part:

"… True joy comes from the tranquility of heart, and this state comes from faith! Praise be to God who gave us tranquility of heart! This is why we are always happy. I pray and supplicate to the Beauty of Abha to bless all the servants and maid-servants with true happiness resulting from the tranquility of heart."

- 'Abdu'l-Baha  (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, recorded by Ali-Kuli Khan, one of His secretaries, during his pilgrimage in 1906)

Eskil Ljungberg, a Knight of Baha'u'llah in the Faroe Islands

(Baha'i News, February 1985)

The power to “hoist on the high summits the banners of love and peace”

Know thou that all the powers combined have not the power to establish universal peace, nor to withstand the overmastering dominion, at every time and season, of these endless wars. Ere long, however, shall the power of heaven, the dominion of the Holy Spirit, hoist on the high summits the banners of love and peace, and there above the castles of majesty and might shall those banners wave in the rushing winds that blow out of the tender mercy of God. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha’; The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. II, Peace)

'Abdu'l-Baha in the garden of His house in Haifa

Local Spiritual Assemblies worldwide, as of 1928

Australia: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Brazil: Bahia

China: Shanghai

Egypt: Port Said

England: London, Manchester, Dorset

France: Paris

India and Burma: Burma, Mandalay, Rangoon; India: Bombay, Calcutta, Camp Karachi, Poona

Japan: Robe

Korea: Seoul

Palestine: Haifa

Persia: Hamadan, Kirman, Kashan, Mashhad, Sultan-Abad (Aragh)

Russia: Moscow

South Africa: Pretoria

Switzerland: Assembly of Lausanne

Syria: Alexandretta, Beirut

Tasmania: Hobart

Turkey: Constantinople

United States and Canada

The Master defines “the attributes of the sincere” and “the truthful”

Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Bahá, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you show justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you attract them to yourself, should they show their enmity be friendly towards them, should they poison your lives sweeten their souls, should they inflict a wound upon you be a salve to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the truthful. 

- ‘Abdu'l-Bahá ('The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá') 

Features of the concluding years of the Báb’s Ministry

These concluding years of His [the Báb’s] earthly life will go down in history as the time when the new Dispensation attained its full stature, when the claim of its Founder was fully and publicly asserted, when its laws were formulated, when the Covenant of its Author was firmly established, when its independence was proclaimed, and when the heroism of its champions blazed forth in immortal glory. For it was during these intensely dramatic, fate-laden years that the full implications of the station of the Báb were disclosed to His disciples, and formally announced by Him in the capital of Ádhirbáyján, in the presence of the Heir to the Throne; that the Persian Bayán, the repository of the laws ordained by the Báb, was revealed; that the time and character of the Dispensation of “the One Whom God will make manifest” were unmistakably determined; that the Conference of Badasht proclaimed the annulment of the old order; and that the great conflagrations of Mázindarán, of Nayríz and of Zanján were kindled. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)

1927: Delegates and friends attending the Nineteenth Annual Convention of Baha'is of the United States and Canada, Montreal, Canada

 

November 1907: First Baha’i National Gathering

The first Baha’i national conference was held in Chicago on 26 November, 1907. Delegates from various local communities in America attended this event, including a dozen Baha’is from Chicago. It was held at the house of Corinne True. The purpose of this informal gathering was to choose a suitable site for the Temple. It should be noted that they didn’t visit the site in Wilmette where the Temple was eventually built. 

(‘The Baha’i World’, volume X; ‘The Baha’i Faith in America’, vol. 2, by Robert Stockman)

"My name is 'Abdu'l-Bahá ..."

My name is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My qualification is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My reality is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My praise is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Thraldom to the Blessed Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all the human race my perpetual religion... No name, no title, no mention, no commendation have I, nor will ever have, except 'Abdu'l-Bahá. This is my longing. This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting glory." 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi, ‘The World Order of Baha'u'llah’)

Is there anything in the Bible to prove that religion must be in agreement with reason?

Answer by George Townshend, Hand of the Cause (sometime Cannon of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland):

Yes. Isaiah shows that God Himself wishes man to reason with Him. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord ..." (Isa. 1:18)

Peter, too, wrote ". . .be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you . . .” ( I Pet. 3:15)

Paul likewise wrote, "Prove all things: hold fast that which is good." (I Thess. 5:21) He acted accordingly himself when "...he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." (Acts 18:4), and again when he "...three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." (Acts 17:2)

Jesus Christ taught men to use reason to support faith when He said, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field , which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" (Matt. 6:30) (Also see Luke 12:27) 

- George Townshend ('Questions About the Second Coming Asked by Baha'is of Kampala, Uganda, Africa: Answers by George Townshend'; Wilmette Baha'i Publishing Committee, 1953)

“Bahá’ís of America”: - “to engage their fellow citizens in a process of working for the healing and betterment of their nation”; "not only for the Bahá’ís of America, but for the Bahá’ís of the world"

In The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi explained to the Bahá’ís of America that, given the restricted size of their community and the limited influence it wielded, they must focus, at that time, on its own growth and development as it learned to apply the Teachings. He promised, however, that the time would come when they would be called upon to engage their fellow citizens in a process of working for the healing and betterment of their nation. That time has now come. And it has come not only for the Bahá’ís of America, but for the Bahá’ís of the world, as the society-building power inherent in the Faith is released in ever-greater measures. 

- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 28 November 2023 addressed to the Bahá’ís of the World; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

“Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances”

...'Abdu'l-Bahá asserts: "In this divine age the bounties of God have encompassed the world of women. Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances, has been fully and categorically announced. Distinctions have been utterly removed." That men and women differ from one another in certain characteristics and functions is an inescapable fact of nature; the important thing is that He regards such inequalities as remain between the sexes as being "negligible". 

- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 8 January 1981 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Women)

A táj of Bahá’u’lláh displayed in His room at Bahjí

God "shall not be asked of His doings"

God testifieth to the unity of His Godhood and to the singleness of His own Being. On the throne of eternity, from the inaccessible heights of His station, His tongue proclaimeth that there is none other God but Him. He Himself, independently of all else, hath ever been a witness unto His own oneness, the revealer of His own nature, the glorifier of His own essence. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the Beauteous.

He is supreme over His servants, and standeth over His creatures. In His hand is the source of authority and truth. He maketh men alive by His signs, and causeth them to die through His wrath. He shall not be asked of His doings and His might is equal unto all things. He is the Potent, the All-Subduing. He holdeth within His grasp the empire of all things, and on His right hand is fixed the Kingdom of His Revelation. His power, verily, embraceth the whole of creation. Victory and overlordship are His; all might and dominion are His; all glory and greatness are His. He, of a truth, is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful, the Unconditioned. 

- Baha’u’llah (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

A suggested quote to memorize: Essential qualities for those who take counsel together

The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)

There were 1,280 Baha'is and 24 Spiritual Assemblies in USA in 1906

According to the Government Census Bureau statistics gathered in 1906, dealing with the religious life of the United States, and now in press at Washington, D.C., Baha'is have twenty-four assemblies, aggregating a membership of 1,280.

(Star of the West, vol. 1, No. 9, August 20, 1910)

“Nature is God's Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world.”

Say: Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God's Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world. It is a dispensation of Providence ordained by the Ordainer, the All-Wise. 

- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Conservation of the Earth’s Resources)

1912: ‘Abdu’l-Baha viewing the animals at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago

circa 1938 the Holy Land: Perilous situation and its effect on the Baha’i Community

And now recently in the Holy Land itself, the heart and nerve-center of a world-embracing Faith, the fires of racial animosity, of fratricidal strife, of unabashed terrorism, have lit a conflagration that gravely interferes, on the one hand, with that flow of pilgrims that constitutes the lifeblood of that center, and suspends, on the other, the various projects that had been initiated in connection with the preservation and extension of the areas surrounding the sacred Spots it enshrines. The safety of the small community of resident believers, faced by the rising tide of lawlessness, has been imperiled, its status as a neutral and distinct community indirectly challenged, and its freedom to carry out certain of its observances curtailed. A series of murderous assaults, alternating with outbursts of bitter fanaticism, both racial and religious, involving the leaders as well as the followers of the three leading Faiths in that distracted country, have, at times, threatened to sever all normal communications both within its confines as well as with the outside world. Perilous though the situation has been, the Bahá’í Holy Places, the object of the adoration of a world-encircling Faith, have, notwithstanding their number and exposed position, and though to outward seeming deprived of any means of protection, been vouchsafed a preservation little short of miraculous. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

"The Cause of God is like a house. As long as man has not entered therein, he does not know what it contains."

The Cause of God is like a house. As long as man has not entered therein he does not know what it contains. In the house there are many precious jewels, many rare objects the like of which cannot be found anywhere in this world. But the men in the street may pass by the house a 1000 times and know nothing about it. Only the one who has the key can enter. That key is the love of God. 

- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha recorded by one of His secretaries, Ahmad Sohrab; ‘Abdu'l-Baha in Britain, 1913’)