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====The Great African Safari 1969 - 1973====
====The Great African Safari 1969 - 1973====
In July 1969 Rúhíyyih visited England and delivered a talk to the London community,<ref>{{citebn|464|10}}</ref> and in August she went to Africa and embarked on her tour of the continent later known as the Great African Safari accompanied by [[Violette Nakhjavani]].<ref>{{citebn|491|5}}</ref> During her tour she met with several Heads of State and other government dignitaries, proclaimed the Faith through public talks to audiences, on the radio, and in other forms of media, consulted with Bahá’í pioneers and institutions, and taught the Faith particularly in rural villages in many of the countries she visited.
In July 1969 Rúhíyyih visited England and delivered a talk to the London community,<ref>{{citebn|464|10}}</ref> and in August she went to Africa and embarked on her tour of the continent later known as the Great African Safari accompanied by [[Violette Nakhjavani]].<ref>{{citebn|491|5}}</ref> During her tour she met with several Heads of State and other government dignitaries, gave public talks on the Bahá’í Faith, spoke on the radio, consulted with Bahá’í pioneers and institutions, and taught in many rural villages of the countries she visited.


She began her tour in Kampala, Uganda, in August 1969,<ref>{{citebn|468|2}}</ref> and she visited Kenya, Tanzania,<ref>{{citebn|468|2}}</ref> and Ethiopia that year,<ref>{{citebn|469|6}}</ref> then Congo,<ref>{{citebn|471|4}}</ref> the Central African Republic, Chad,<ref>{{citebn|471|10}}</ref>, Dahomey,<ref>{{citebn|471|13}}</ref> Togo,<ref>{{citebn|471|14}}</ref> and Ghana in early 1970.<ref>{{citebn|471|15}}</ref>
She began her tour in Kampala, Uganda, in August 1969,<ref>{{citebn|468|2}}</ref> and she visited Kenya, Tanzania,<ref>{{citebn|468|2}}</ref> and Ethiopia that year,<ref>{{citebn|469|6}}</ref> then Congo,<ref>{{citebn|471|4}}</ref> the Central African Republic, Chad,<ref>{{citebn|471|10}}</ref>, Dahomey,<ref>{{citebn|471|13}}</ref> Togo,<ref>{{citebn|471|14}}</ref> and Ghana in early 1970.<ref>{{citebn|471|15}}</ref>

Revision as of 19:32, 1 June 2022

Rúhíyyih Khánum
Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum
Born
Mary Sutherland Maxwell

08 August 1910 (1910-08-08)
New York City, United States
Died19 January 2000 (2000-01-20) (aged 89)
Haifa, Israel
NationalityCanadian
Known forHand of the Cause of God
Spouse
​
(m. 1937)​

Rúhíyyih Rabbání (8 August 1910 – 19 January 2000), born as Mary Sutherland Maxwell and best known by the title Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith, from 1937 to 1957. In 1952, she was elevated to the office of Hand of the Cause of God, for which she attended to issues related to the expansion and protection of the Baháʼí Faith, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957 to 1963.

Rúhíyyih Rabbání was raised in Montreal, Quebec. After two trips to the Baháʼí holy land in Haifa, Israel, she engaged in many youth activities in the Baháʼí community. She married Shoghi Effendi in 1937. After his death, Rúhíyyih Rabbání became for Baháʼís the last remaining link to the family of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, who headed the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 to 1921 and was the eldest son of the faith's founder, Baháʼu'lláh. In 2004, CBC viewers voted her number 44 on the list of "greatest Canadians" on the television show The Greatest Canadian.[1]

Rúhíyyih Khánum was the author of several published books, such as Prescription for Living and The Priceless Pearl.

Early life

Mary in 1926, the year of her second pilgrimage

Rúhíyyih Khánum was born in New York City on August 8, 1910 to William Sutherland Maxwell and May Maxwell,[2] and was raised in Montreal, Quebec where her father was a prominent architect. Through her father, Mary was of Scottish ancestry.[2] The family originated from Aberdeen and Jedburgh. Through her mother, she was primarily of English stock. In 1912, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá visited Canada and stayed in the Maxwells' home. There he met Mary, aged two, and described her as the "essence of sweetness".[3] ʻAbdu'l-Bahá showed much affection to baby Mary.[4]

Her mother wanted to give Mary an education that was free of the rigidity of the traditional educational methods in the country, and established the first Montessori school in Canada at their residence, and Mary attended the school.[2] Maxwell began reading and writing at a young age and her pastimes included writing poetry, novels and plays.[5] She spoke English, French, German and Persian fluently.[2] During her youth, she twice traveled to the Baháʼí World Centre in Palestine for pilgrimage – the first with her mother and the second with her mother's friends, aged fifteen. It was during these pilgrimages that she first met Shoghi Effendi, then head of the Baháʼí Faith.[2]

In her youth, Maxwell was engaged in many Baháʼí activities.[5] At the age of 15, she joined the Executive Committee of the Fellowship of Canadian Youth for Peace.[5] She was also involved in local racial equality conventions, including dances.[6] A spectator, Sadie Oglesby – one of the first African-American Baháʼís [6] – described her as "sixteen-year-old Mary Maxwell, a beautiful and most refreshing girl to know".[6] By twenty-one, she was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Montreal, the local Baháʼí governing council there.[5]

Considered by her contemporaries as attractive and a gifted orator, Mary rapidly established herself as a notable member of the North American Bahá’í community. She made regular trips around the United States and Canada to propagate the religion. From 1932 she began lecturing on The Dawn-Breakers throughout the United States. In May 1933, at the age of 22, she visited Washington, D.C. and insisted all meetings be open to both black and white people.[7] She held talks in Howard University and made an effort to meet African-American’s interested in the Bahá’í Faith. She also attended official functions with her father in Montreal during her twenties, meeting the Governor General of Canada at events such as the Royal Canadian Academy’s Fifty-Fourth Exhibition.[8]

Europe

As a young woman, Mary had expressed a great desire to learn Spanish. However, her plans to travel to Republican Spain were thwarted with the Spanish Civil War.[9] Instead, Mary chose to live with her cousin in Nazi Germany in 1935, a move which was endorsed by Shoghi Effendi. In Germany, Shoghi Effendi encouraged Mary to strengthen the fledgling Baháʼí community. The young Mary assimilated herself in German culture, wearing a dirndl and learning to speak German fluently.[10]

Whilst in Germany, Mary received an invitation from Shoghi Effendi to go on pilgrimage with her mother. Both mother and daughter accepted the invitation. They were initially planning to travel through the Balkans and visit the Baháʼís, but the unrest of the area forced them to travel directly to Haifa.[11]

Marriage

Mary Maxwell in 1934, 3 years before marriage.

Mary had spent long periods of time with Shoghi Effendi prior to marrying, having first met him when she was 12 years of age.[12] She went on pilgrimage again three years later, after which she kept in constant communication with Shoghi Effendi. Arriving in Haifa in January 1937 with her mother, the two began a brief and discreet courtship. In February, the couple were engaged, and Mary cabled her father to come as soon as he could to Haifa. On March 24, at the age of 26, Mary married Shoghi Effendi in a low-key ceremony.[13] It was at this time that Shoghi Effendi entitled her "Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum" (Amatu'l-Bahá means "Handmaiden of Glory".) The official marriage announcement was cabled by Shoghi Effendi's mother, Ḍíyáʼíyyih, to the Baháʼí world:

Announce Assemblies celebration marriage beloved Guardian. Inestimable honour conferred upon handmaid of Baháʼu'lláh Ruhiyyih Khanum Miss Mary Maxwell. Union of East and West proclaimed by Baháʼí Faith cemented. Ziaiyyih mother of Guardian.

As Rúhíyyih was getting used to life in the East, the newlyweds made a trip to Switzerland, and Shoghi Effendi introduced his young bride to his favourite sights in the country. It was initially difficult for her to adjust to her new home and she suffered periods of loneliness and homesickness.[14] With the encouragement of Shoghi Effendi, she studied both the Bible and the Quran and started learning Persian.[15] She later became fluent in the language and was able to deliver talks in Persian. In a letter to her mother a year after her marriage, she wrote that "if anyone asked me what my theme was in life I should say, 'Shoghi Effendi'".[16]

Appointed positions

Rúhíyyih's parents departed the Holy Land two months after the wedding took place and Shoghi Effendi continued to undertake his usual heavy workload,[17] and also personally tutored Rúhíyyih in secretarial duties.[18] In the early years of their marriage Shoghi Effendi's family turned against him and were expelled from the community.[19]

In March 1940 Rúhíyyih's mother passed away while pioneering in Argentina and Shoghi Effendi invited her father to live in the Holy Land.[20] At the same time Shoghi Effendi needed to travel to England for personal reasons. He obtained visas for Italy and the two went to Rome where Rúhíyyih met with her father, who had traveled to Italy to join them, in Genoa.[21] The three of them then traveled to France and the Second World War broke out while they were in Paris. On June 2, 1940, they secured passage to England sailing to Southampton from St. Malo and the day after their departure the Germans occupied St. Malo.[22]

Due to the Second World War Shoghi Effendi, Rúhíyyih, and her father were unable to return to the Holy Land from England through Europe and they instead boarded a ship for Cape Town, South Africa, on July 28, 1940. After arriving in South Africa Shoghi Effendi had William Maxwell sent to the Holy Land by air from Durban due to concern for his health. Rúhíyyih then accompanied Shoghi Effendi on an overland journey across Africa traveling to Juba in Sudan by driving then sailing to Khartoum on the Nile.[23] They also visited the Belgian Congo before arriving back in the Holy Land on December 27, 1940.[24]

Almost immediately after their marriage, she served as the Guardian's secretary, and then in 1941 until 1957 she served as Shoghi Effendi's principal secretary in English.[2] In 1951, she was appointed to the International Baháʼí Council, which was an administrative institution of the Baháʼí Faith created as a precursor to the Universal House of Justice to act as a liaison between the Council and Shoghi Effendi.[25] Later on, on March 26, 1952, she was appointed to the office of Hand of the Cause of God – a distinguished rank in service to the religion[26] – for which she attended to issues related to the propagation and protection of the religion.[2]

In 1940 Rúhíyyih began serving as Shoghi Effendi's official secretary for communication with the West.[27] She served as his principal secretary for the English language until his passing in 1957 and wrote thousands of letters on his behalf as personal and official correspondence which he reviewed and signed before sending. During the Second World War there were heavy restrictions in place in the Holy Land however after 1948 she assisted Shoghi Effendi by hosting events for dignitaries in Haifa.[28]

In 1951 Shoghi Effendi established the International Bahá’í Council as a precursor to the Universal House of Justice and he appointed Rúhíyyih to the body as the liaison between the Council and himself and he appointed her as a Hand of the Cause of God after her fathers passing in 1952.[29] Pilgrimage was resumed in 1952, having been suspended for the duration of WWII, and Rúhíyyih was responsible for welcoming and catering for pilgrims during their stay in the Holy Land.[30]

She was sent to the United States in May 1953 to represent Shoghi Effendi at the Intercontinental Conference in Wilmette, Illinois, and dedicated the Wilmette Temple on his behalf.[29] After the Conference she went to Canada with Amelia Collins and visited her fathers grave in Montreal and saw to her parents estate shipping furniture to Haifa with the permission of Shoghi Effendi and donating their house to the Bahá’í community.[31]

In October 1957 she accompanied Shoghi Effendi on a visit to England and they both fell ill and were diagnosed with Asiatic influenza on October 27. Shoghi Effendi's condition deteriorated and he passed away on November 4. Rúhíyyih immediately contacted the Hands of the Cause in Europe and they saw to funeral arrangements with the funeral being held on November 9, 1957.[32]

After Shoghi Effendi died in 1957, she became for Baháʼís the last remaining link to the family of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, who headed the Faith from 1892 to 1921 and was the eldest son of the Faith's Founder, Baháʼu'lláh.

Ministry of the Custodians

In 1957, her husband, Shoghi Effendi, died without having appointed a successor. Rúhíyyih Khánum was among the 27 Hands of the Cause who stewarded the religion for the six-year interim, before the Universal House of Justice was scheduled to be elected in 1963. The Hands voted among themselves for nine individuals to work at the Baháʼí World Centre to run the administration of the Faith, a position to which Rúhíyyih Khánum was elected; these nine were designated the Custodians.[33][34] During this time, she worked on assuring the completion of the ten-year international teaching plan which was launched by Shoghi Effendi in 1953.[2] Upon the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963, the ending point of Shoghi Effendi's ten-year plan, the nine Hands acting as interim head of the Faith closed their office.[33]

Travels

From 1957 until her death, Rúhíyyih Khánum traveled to over 185 countries and territories working with the world's several million Baháʼís. She especially encouraged members of indigenous peoples to participate in the global Baháʼí community.[2] Her travels took her to all the continents and to small islands. Some of her travels involved extended stays. For four years, she traveled for 58,000 kilometers in a Landrover through sub-Saharan Africa, visiting 34 countries, in 19 of which she was received by the head of state. On another trip, she visited nearly 30 countries in Asia and the Pacific islands during a seven-month span.[2] From January to March 1970, she crossed Africa from east to west, driving 2/3 of the distance herself, visiting many country's communities, meeting with individuals and institutions, both Baháʼí and civic.[35]

In 1975–6, she travelled by boat through the tributaries of the Amazon River of Brazil and visited the high mountain ranges of Peru and Bolivia. Thirty six tribal groups were visited over a period of six months; the trip was called The Green Light Expedition,[36][37][38] which followed Khanum's The Great African Safari.[39] There have also been projects developed from the original expedition – In the Footsteps of the Green Light Expedition[40] and Tear of the Clouds.[41]

Resting place

During her travels, she was received by the following heads of state and government:

The Great African Safari 1969 - 1973

In July 1969 Rúhíyyih visited England and delivered a talk to the London community,[42] and in August she went to Africa and embarked on her tour of the continent later known as the Great African Safari accompanied by Violette Nakhjavani.[43] During her tour she met with several Heads of State and other government dignitaries, gave public talks on the Bahá’í Faith, spoke on the radio, consulted with Bahá’í pioneers and institutions, and taught in many rural villages of the countries she visited.

She began her tour in Kampala, Uganda, in August 1969,[44] and she visited Kenya, Tanzania,[45] and Ethiopia that year,[46] then Congo,[47] the Central African Republic, Chad,[48], Dahomey,[49] Togo,[50] and Ghana in early 1970.[51]

In April 1970 Rúhíyyih suspended her African travels and went to South America to visit the Temple site in Panama and to represent the Universal House of Justice at the first National Convention of Surinam and French Guiana.[52] After the Convention she toured the Caribbean throughout May spending time in Trinidad, Grenada, St. Vincent, Barbados, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, St. Martin, Nevis, and St. Thomas.[53]

She then went to North America where in June 1970 she spoke at the National Bahá’í Youth Conference of the United States in Evanston, Illinois,[54] then visited Milwaukee, attended the Southeastern Summer School in Georgia, then visited Vancouver and Montreal in Canada.[55] From Canada she traveled to South America and briefly visited Ecuador,[56] and Peru,[57] while on her way to Bolivia where she represented the Universal House of Justice at a Continental conference in La Paz in August.[58] She then went to Brazil where she contracted pneumonia due to her extensive traveling and she spent one month recuperating in Rio de Janeiro then went to Florida where she spent an additional two months recuperating on medical advice.[59]

Rúhíyyih resumed her tour of Africa traveling to Ghana in November 1970,[60] and visited the Ivory Coast where she spent three weeks recuperating in Abidjan.[61] and then visited Liberia before the end of the year.[62] In January 1971 Rúhíyyih attended the Continental Conference in Monrovia, Liberia,[63] then visited Mali,[64] and Upper Volta,[65] before returning to Ghana where she visited Tamale and Kumasi in the north.[66] In March 1971 she returned to Liberia,[67] and then visited Sierra Leone,[68] Senegal,[69][70] and Gambia before returning to the Ivory Coast. In May she returned to Ghana.[71][72]

In May 1971 Rúhíyyih again paused her African travels and went to Europe, flying to Switzerland from Ghana,[73] and in June she visited the Frankfurt Temple in Germany.[74] From late July into early August she attended the European Youth Conference in Fiesch, Switzerland, and spoke at it.[75] After the Conference she remained in Switzerland for a brief period of rest to receive medical care.[76]

Rúhíyyih returned to Africa arriving in Ghana in August 1971 and throughout the year she visited Togo and Dahomey. She intended to travel to Nigeria from Dahomey but ran out of travel documents in Dahomey. In September she was able to secure permission to travel into Nigeria and spent the month traveling the country also making a brief visit to neighboring Benin.[77] In October she relocated to Cameroon which had a sizeable Bahá’í community and she traveled the country extensively throughout October and November.[78] In December she went to Zaire and traveled through the country by barge,[79] and she traveled within Zaire and nearby parts of the Congo until traveling to Zambia in February 1972.[80] In March she visited Zimbabwe.[81]

In March 1972 Rúhíyyih had a third interruption to her African tour when she had to travel to South America from Zimbabwe on behalf of the Universal House of Justice.[82] She made an unannounced visit to Bermuda,[83] before going to Barbados where she represented the Universal House of Justice at the establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Windward Islands.[84] She then went to Panama where she dedicated the Panama City House of Worship at the end of April,[85] and after the dedication she participated in a short International Bahá’í Conference held in Panama City in early May.[86]

On May 11, 1972, Rúhíyyih arrived back in Rhodesia and traveled across the country into June.[87] She then traveled across the Kalahari desert,[88] to get to Botswana.[89] At the close of June she traveled from Botswana to South Africa,[90] and also visited what is now Namibia while touring across South Africa.[91] From July to August she visited Lesotho and met the King of the country,[92] then visited Swaziland for six weeks into September,[93] also meeting the King of Swaziland.[94]

From Swaziland Rúhíyyih had to travel to Durban, South Africa, then sail to Mombasa, Kenya, and spent time teaching in Kenya,[95] and made a visit to Malawi.[96] On February 24, 1973, she boarded a plane in Nairobi, Kenya, and flew back to Haifa ending her Great African Safari and many Bahá’ís gathered at the airport to bid her farewell.[97]

Developments in the Holy Land and Further Travels

In April 1973 Rúhíyyih helped facilitate the Third International Convention in Haifa.[98] On June 14 she participated in the first meeting of the International Teaching Centre which was a new Institution established by the Universal House of Justice to oversee the work of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.[99] In late July 1973 she departed the Holy Land again to tour Alaska visiting several communities across the state and attending a Summer School in early August.[100]

In April 1974 she visited Asia where she represented the Universal House of Justice at the establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong and also attended the National Convention of Burma.[101] In June she visited India representing the Universal House of Justice at the National Convention of India and met with the President of India in New Delhi,[102] and she also visited Bangladesh and met with the President the same month.[103] In August she visited the United States and attended the first National Bahá’í Conference for the Five Year Plan in St. Louis.[104]

By the end of 1974 Rúhíyyih had returned to the Holy Land however in December a gathering was held in her honor at which she announced she was embarking on another extended teaching tour similar to her Great African Safari this time throughout the rural regions of South America,[105] and in December 1974 she received a letter from the Universal House of Justice encouraging her to undertake the journey.[106]

The Green Light Expedition

Early in 1975 Rúhíyyih arrived in South America and embarked on her travel tour accompanied by Mas’ud Khamsi, Nosrat Rabbani, and a film crew of four. She first traveled to Puerto Ayacucho, the capital of the Amazonas Territory of Venezuela, arriving on February 6. She then traveled extensively throughout the Amazonas Territory to visit isolated villages traveling up the Orinoco and Ventuari rivers by riverboat and canoe spending thirty-two days traveling by river before returning to Puerto Ayacucho on March 12.[107]

Before the end of March Rúhíyyih flew to Surinam from Caracas, Venezuela,[108] and she again traveled extensively throughout the interior of the country.[109] On April 4 she attended the establishment of a Local Spiritual Assembly in the rural village of Kamaloea.[110] In early April 1975 she traveled to Brazil from Surinam,[111] and spent fifteen days in the country traveling in the state of Amazonas and supporting a Proclamation Plan formulated by the countries National Spiritual Assembly focused on the city of Manaus.[112] From Brazil she flew to Colombia before the end of April,[113] and traveled along the Amazon between Brazil and Colombia to visit communities along the river into May.[114]

Later in the expedition Rúhíyyih traveled to Bolivia,[115] and then to Peru where in August she attended the first International Quechua Bahá’í Conference held near the ruins of Machu-Picchu.[116]

The late 1970s

After her tour of South America Rúhíyyih went to the United States and in November 1975 she spoke at a meeting in New York City at which a film covering the Green Light Expedition was screened,[117] and in January 1976 she consulted with the National Spiritual Assembly on the distribution of materials related to the Expedition that month.[118] Later in January she went to Alaska and visited the town of Barrow where the most northerly Local Spiritual Assembly in the world had recently been established,[119] and in April she attended the U.S. National Convention.[120] In August 1976 she went to Europe and represented the Universal House of Justice at an International Teaching Conference held in Paris, France.[121]

As of August 1977 Rúhíyyih was in the process of planning another teaching tour this time of Asia which would include visits to Hong Kong, India, Japan, Nepal, and Singapore and she embarked on the tour in September. Part of the tour was attending the All Asia Bahá’í Women's Conference in New Delhi, India, in October which she had been invited to by the National Spiritual Assembly.[122] After the Conference she laid the cornerstone of the New Delhi House of Worship,[123] and then traveled to Nepal visiting Kathmandu.[124] As of December 1977 she was in Australia and delivered a talk to the Bahá’ís of Sydney.[125]

As of April 1978 Rúhíyyih had returned to the Holy Land and participated in the Fourth International Convention,[126] but traveled again later in the year to attend the establishment of a Bahá’í Radio station in Ecuador in August,[127][128] and also visited Belfast, Ireland.[129] In January 1979 she visited New Zealand,[130] on her way to Western Samoa to attend the groundbreaking for construction of the Apia House of Worship.[131] Later in 1979 she visited Taiwan for three weeks.[132]

The 1980s

In 1980 Rúhíyyih produced a documentary titled The Pilgrimage which provided an overview of the history of the Bahá’í Faith in the Holy Land and contained footage of some of the Holy places which was released in 1981.[133]

In early 1981 Rúhíyyih toured Central America spending time in Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize, and Honduras between January and February,[134] and Guetamala in March.[135] In April she represented the Universal House of Justice at the establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly of Bermuda in Hamilton,[136] and shortly afterwards she attended the National Convention of the Leeward Islands.[137] In May she visited the Dominican Republic,[138] and Jamaica.[139]

At the end of May 1981 Rúhíyyih went to Canada where she attended the sixth annual Conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies.[140] In early July she attended an international Youth Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, alongside fellow Hand of the Cause Zikrullah Khadem.[141] Later in July she went to Europe and attended a youth conference for the United Kingdom in Sussex,[142] and then toured Scotland beginning her visit in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.[143]

From August to September 1982 Rúhíyyih undertook an extensive teaching tour of northern Canada and also visited Greenland and Iceland,[144] and throughout the course of the tour she visited forty-five communities in every province of Canada visiting many Native American communities.[145] During September she represented the Universal House of Justice at an International Bahá’í Conference held in Montreal, Canada.[146] After her tour of Canada she went to the Caribbean and attended the opening of the Anís Zunúzí Bahá’í School in Lilavoix, Haiti, on October 20, 1982.[147]

In April 1983 Rúḥíyyih Khánum served as the presiding officer of the election of the Universal House of Justice at the Fifth International Convention,[148] and she remained in Israel for the first half of the year addressing the first All-Youth pilgrimage group in the recently constructed Seat of the Universal House of Justice in June.[149] In July she visited Europe addressing a European Youth Conference in Innsbruck, Austria,[150] and in September she visited Italy and attended the Italian Summer School in Cosenza.[151]

In April 1984 Rúhíyyih visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to represent the Universal House of Justice at the formation of the areas National Spiritual Assembly.[152] She visited Western Samoa in September 1984 to dedicate the House of Worship in Apia and during the visit she presented a model of the temple to Malietoa Tanamufili II as a gift from the Universal House of Justice.[153][154]

Rúhíyyih visited South America in early 1985 beginning with attending an International Teaching Conference for the Amazon Region in Manaus, Brazil, in January,[155] and in February she visited Panama attending important public events and meeting with the President of the country.[156] As of October she had returned to the Holy Land and she participated in a ceremony held to reinter Mírzá Muḥammad-Quli in a Bahá’í cemetery that month.[157] In December 1985 she participated in a major Conference for the Continental Counsellors and International Teaching Center to launch the Six Year Plan in the Holy Land.[158]

In August 1986 Rúhíyyih visited London in Ontario, Canada, to attend the Annual Conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies,[159] and in December she visited New Delhi, India, to dedicate the New Delhi House of Worship, also known as the Lotus Temple.[160] In November 1987 she visited France spending time in seventeen cities and towns and participating in a teaching conference in Paris,[161] and in April and May she attended and helped facilitate the Sixth International Convention in the Holy Land.[162]

From 1988 to 1989 Rúhíyyih undertook an extensive teaching tour of Far East Asia spending time in Taiwan,[163] representing the Universal House of Justice at the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Macau,[164] touring mainland China, and visiting Mongolia and the Philippines.[165][166] After visiting the Philippines she returned to Taiwan and visited six cities in the area during August of 1989 then visited Hong Kong.[167]

The 1990s

In February 1990 Rúhíyyih visited Argentina to attend a conference commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the passing of her mother in the country and she visited several rural communities during her stay.[168] She visited Hong Kong later in the year and helped open a local Bahá’í Center in October.[169]

In 1992 Rúhíyyih visited New York to speak at the Second Bahá’í World Congress.[170] She also visited Poland and Bulgaria to represent the Universal House of Justice at both countries first National Conventions.[171][172] She was in the Holy Land when the commemoration of the Centenary of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh was held in the Holy Land that year and placed the honor roll with the names of the Knights of Bahá’u’lláh at the entrance to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh during the ceremony.[173]

In April 1993 Rúhíyyih opened the Seventh International Convention.[174] She visited Turkey in April 1994 and attended a conference which was aired on television,[175] and in July she visited London, England, where she spoke at the World Forestry Charter alongside Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.[176]

In April 1995 Rúhíyyih visited Georgia to represent the Universal House of Justice at the formation of the countries National Spiritual Assembly in Tblisi,[177] then visited England where she represented the Faith at the Summit on the Alliance between Religions and Conservation, before traveling to Albania where she was a guest of honor at a Regional teaching Conference in Tirana.[178] In October 1995 she was keynote speaker at a conference organized by the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland in the United States,[179] and in December she participated in another Counsellors Conference in the Holy Land during which she hosted a banquet in the House of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.[180]

Rúhíyyih made a special visit to Brazil in August 1996 to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith in the country and she was received at a special session of the Brazilian Federal Chamber of Deputies during her visit.[181] She toured the country during the visit including a brief visit to the Amazon marking the first time she had visited the area since the Green Light Expedition twenty years earlier.[182] In September she visited Lisbon, Portugal, to help commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Faith in Portugal.[183]

Rúhíyyih toured Europe in 1997 visiting Spain in July where she attended celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Faith in the country in Madrid,[184] and she visited the Alicante and Basque provinces of Spain after the commemoration.[185] In August she visited Luxembourg,[186] and in September she visited Switzerland where she dedicated the Rabbani Chair for Bahá’í History at Landegg Academy.[187] Rúhíyyih did not undertake anymore international travels after 1997.[188] In 1998 she opened the Eighth International Convention, the last held during her lifetime.[189]

Death

Rúhíyyih Khánum died on January 19, 2000, at the age of 89 in Haifa, Israel. She was buried at the Baháʼí World Centre.[2]

Publications and productions

Rúhíyyih Khánum was also an author; she wrote several books including The Priceless Pearl, which is a biography of Shoghi Effendi;[190] Twenty-Five Years of the Guardianship;,[191] Prescription for Living, which discussed the application of spiritual principles to one's life.[192] and The Desire of the World: Materials for the contemplation of God and His Manifestation for this Day.[193] She was also the editor of the book The Ministry of the Custodians.[194] She produced two full-length documentary films: The Green Light Expedition and The Pilgrimage.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ CBC (2004). "The Greatest Canadian – Top 100 – 11 to 100". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum (1910–2000)". Baháʼí Community of Canada. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
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References

Further reading

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