| |
[ 20 Articles ] |
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• 25 March A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
Shoghi Effendi marries Mary Maxwell, Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih K̲h̲ánum. [PP151; UD115]
- For a description of the simple wedding see GBF68–9 and PP151–2.
- Shoghi Effendi stresses that the marriage draws the Occident and the Orient closer together. [GBF69–70; PP153]
- The American Bahá'í community sends $19 from each of its 71 Assemblies as a wedding gift. [GBF70; PP153]
- An
extension is built onto Shoghi Effendi's apartment on the roof of
‘Abdu'l-Bahá's house in Haifa to accommodate the couple. [BBD107; DH152]
- See also MA89.
|
 |
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• Ridván A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
The First Seven Year Plan is launched in North America. [BBD180; BBRSM158; BW7:17–18; MA9]
- For the role of individuals, local spiritual assemblies and the National Spiritual Assembly see MA11–12.
- The Plan calls for:
- the completion of the exterior of the Wilmette Temple. BW7:17–18; PP385]
- the establishment of a local spiritual assembly in each state and province of the United States and Canada. [PP385]
- the establishment of a centre in each of the republics of Latin America. [PP385]
|
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• May A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
Several prominent Bahá'ís are arrested in Yazd. [BW18:389]
- They are imprisoned in Ṭihrán for four years; one dies in prison. [BW18:389]
|
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• May A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
All Bahá'í activities and
institutions are banned in Germany by order of the Gestapo owing to the
Faith's ‘international and pacifist teachings'. [BBRSM185]
- PP305 says this was June.
- Bahá'í books, archives and records are confiscated and a number of Bahá'ís are later tried and imprisoned. [BBRSM185]
|
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• May A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
Fred Schopflocher contributes and
additional $100,000 (see 16 March, 1929) to the goal of $350,000 to
complete the exterior ornamentation of the House of Worship. For is
dedication to the construction the Guardian designated him as "Chief
Temple Builder". [LoF 388-390, BW12p664] |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• 2 May A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
The Yerrinbool Bahá'í School (originally known as ‘Bolton Place') is officially opened in Australia. |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• July A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
Nine Bahá'ís are imprisoned in Sangsar, Khurásán, Iran, for closing their shops on Bahá'í holy days. [BW18:389]
- They are imprisoned for two months. [BW18:389]
|
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• December A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
The writing of Episodes in the History of the Covenant by Shoghi Effendi originally written as "Waqáy-i-Tárikhiyyih dar 'Ahd
wa Mitháq-i-Iláhi" for the friends in Iran. In 1997 it was translated by
Khazeh Fananapazir and edited by Mehdi Wolf. [Episodes in the History of the Covenant |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• 20 December A.D. 1937
• A.M. |
Muḥammad-‘Alí, half-brother of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and Arch-breaker of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, dies. [CB355; GPB320; MA11]
- For details of his death and funeral see DH117 and GPB320.
|
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1938 / 1955
• A.M. |
The fourth Trustee of the
Huqúqu'lláh was Jináb-i-Valíyu'lláh Varqá, the third son of Varqá the
martyr. He was born in Tabriz and after the death of his father and
brother he was raised by his grandmother, a fanatical Muslim. At the
age of 16 his uncle removed him from the home and taught him the Faith.
He attended the American University at Beirut and spent summers with
'Abdu'l-Bahá and accompanied the Master to America and served as His
interpreter. He returned to Iran where he served on local and national
assemblies and was made a Trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh in 1938 at a time
when the observance of the law spread throughout Iran. [Message from
the Universal House of Justice dated 25 March, 1985]
He
was elevated to a Hand of the Cause of God in 1951 and passed away in
Tubingen, Germany in 1955 while taking a treatment for an illness.
[BW13p831-834] |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
Persecution of the Bahá'ís of Iran continues throughout the country. [BW18:389]
- Bahá'ís
marrying without a Muslim ceremony are investigated, including several
hundred in Ṭihrán alone. Most are imprisoned pending trial and are
imprisoned for six to eight months afterwards and fined.
- Bahá'í meetings in Kirmánsháh, Záhidán, Mashhad and other towns are harassed by the police.
|
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
William DeForge becomes the first Bahá'í to visit the Dominican Republic. He has made a one-day trip from Puerto Rico. |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
The first native person to become a Bahá'í in Canada, Melba Loft (née Whetung), a Chippewa, accepts the Faith. |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
The first Bahá'í to be resident in Finland, Aminda Josephine Kruka, an American nurse, arrives in the country. |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
Shoghi Effendi remains in Europe for the year owing to terrorist activities in Palestine. [PP219] |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
The publication of Prayers and Meditations of Bahá'u'lláh. [P&M] |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1938 / 1939
• A.M. |
Shoghi Effendi disbands the Haifa
Spiritual Assembly which had been in operation since at least 1922, and
sends the local community away. [PP348]
- The disbanding of the
spiritual assembly apparently did not mean the end to the publication of
the "Haifa News Letter" in which news from the World Centre had been
forwarded to all the Bahá'í centres in the East in Persian with an
English translation of the publication distributed in the West. The last
known mention of the Haifa News Letter is in Bahá'í News Dec. 1945 p780. [PP50, 282,348]
|
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• January A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
The National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand incorporate. [GPB336] |
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• February A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
Felix Ricardo Maddela, a school
teacher and draftsman from Solano, Philippines, and the first Filipino
Bahá'í, accepts the Faith in Manila. |
|
|
• Jalál 18 Sulṭán 94 B.E.
• Yawm as-Sabt 4 Dhū al-Ḥijjah A.H. 1356
• Saturday 5 February A.D. 1938
• Yom Shabbat 4 Adar Beit A.M. 5698
|
Bahá'ís in the Soviet Union are persecuted by the authorities. [BBR473, BW8p87-90, 179-81, BW14p479-481, SETPE1p155]
- Five hundred Bahá'í men are imprisoned in Turkistán. [Bw8p89]
- Many Persian Bahá'ís living in various cities of the Soviet
Union are arrested, some are sent to Siberia, others to Pavladar in
northern Kazakhstan and yet others to Iran. [BW8p87, 179, 184]
- Six hundred Bahá'í refugees-women, girls, children and a few old men, go to Iran, most to Mas̲h̲had. [BW8p89]
- The Bahá'í Temple in Is̲h̲qábád (now Ashgabat, Turkmenistan) is confiscated and turned into an art gallery. [BDD122, BW8p89]
- The Bahá'í schools are ordered closed. [BW8p89]
- Spiritual Assemblies and all other administrative institutions in the Caucasus are ordered dissolved. [BW8p89]
|
|
|
• 94 B.E.
• A.H.
• 15 March A.D. 1938
• A.M. |
Mary Virginia Thornburgh-Cropper (Maryam K̲h̲ánum), the first Bahá'í of the British Isles, passes away in Kensington, London.
She was
known to her friends as Minnie and first heard
of the Bahá'í Faith in 1898 when she was 41.
She was an American living in London and
had been married to an Englishman.
Shortly after reading about the Báb in an
encyclopedia, by coincidence, she was invited
by her friend Phoebe Hearst to be part of
the first group of Western Bahá'í pilgrims to
visit ‘Abdu'l-Bahá in the Holy Land.
She is considered to be the first person to
become a Bahá'í in the UK and throughout
her life was a very active member of the
community. She was a member of the first
elected National Spiritual Assembly of
England (later Great Britain).
She made her motor-car available to
‘Abdu'l-Bahá during His visits.
[SBR30, BW4p375, In the Footsteps of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá p9]
- For details of her life see BSR17–30.
- For her obituary see BW8:649–51.
- Notes: It is possibly she, rather than her mother, Mrs
Thornburgh, who is referred to as a Disciple of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá in
BW3:84–5. The picture is not that of Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper.
|
| |
|
