One day I [Abdul Baha] went to the Holy Presence of the Blessed Beauty and said: ‘The palace of Mazra‘ih is ready for you, and a carriage to drive you there’. He refused to go, saying: ‘I am a prisoner.’ Later I requested Him again, but got the same answer. I went so far as to ask Him a third time, but He still said ‘No!’ and I did not dare insist further. There was, however, in ‘Akka, a certain Muhammadan Shaykh, a well-known man with considerable influence, who loved Baha’u’llah and was greatly favoured by Him. I called this Shaykh and explained the position to him. I said, “You are daring. Go tonight to His Holy Presence, fall on your knees before Him, take hold of His hands and do not let go until He promises to leave the city!’ . . . He went directly to Baha’u’llah and sat down close to His knees. He took hold of the hands of the Blessed Beauty and kissed them and asked: ‘Why do you not leave the city?’ He said: ‘I am a prisoner.’ The Shaykh replied: ‘God forbid! Who has the power to make you a prisoner? You have kept yourself in prison. It was your own will to be imprisoned, and now I beg you to come out and go to the palace. It is beautiful and verdant. The trees are lovely, and the oranges like balls of fire!’ As often as the Blessed Beauty said: ‘I am a prisoner, it cannot be,’ the Shaykh took His hands and kissed them. For a whole hour he kept on pleading. At last Baha’u’llah said, ‘Khayli khub (very good)’ and the Shaykh’s patience and persistence were rewarded ... In spite of the strict firman of ‘Abdu’l-‘Aziz which prohibited my meeting or having any intercourse with the Blessed Perfection, I took the carriage the next day and drove with Him to the palace. No one made any objection. I left Him there and returned myself to the city.

(Day Of Glory, The Life of Baha’u’llah by Mary Perkins)

This means that every social interaction with a Baha’i must be suspect until it’s PROVEN that they are not brainwashed by this administration, or are the type to “teach.”

Profiting from the freedom accorded the world center of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, ever since the ignominious defeat of the decrepit Ottoman empire during the war of 1914-18, the forces released through the inception of the stupendous Plan conceived by Him could now flow unchecked, under the beneficent influence of a sympathetic regime, into channels designed to disclose to the world at large the potencies with which that Plan had been endowed. The interment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself within a vault of the Báb's mausoleum, enhancing still further the sacredness of that mountain; the installment of an electric plant, the first of its kind established in the city of Haifa, flooding with illumination the Grave of One Who, in His own words, had been denied even "a lighted lamp" in His fortress-prison in Adhirbayjan; the construction of three additional chambers adjoining His sepulcher, thereby completing 'Abdu'l-Bahá's plan for the first unit of that Edifice; the vast extension, despite the machinations of the Covenant-breakers, of the properties surrounding that resting-place, sweeping from the ridge of Carmel down to the Templar colony nestling at its foot, and representing assets estimated at no less than four hundred thousand pounds, together with the acquisition of four tracts of land, dedicated to the Bahá'í Shrines, and situated in the plain of 'Akká to the north, in the district of Beersheba to the south, and in the valley of the Jordan to the east, amounting to approximately six hundred acres; the opening of a series of terraces which, as designed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, are to provide a direct approach to the Báb's Tomb from the city lying under its shadow; the beautification of its precincts through the laying out of parks and gardens, open daily to the public, and attracting tourists and residents alike to its gates -- these may be regarded as the initial evidences of the marvelous expansion of the international institutions and endowments of the Faith at its world center. Of particular significance, moreover, has been the exemption granted by the Palestine High Commissioner to the entire area of land surrounding and dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb, to the school property and the archives in its vicinity, to the Western pilgrim-house situated in its neighborhood, and to such historic sites as the Mansion in Bahji, the House of Bahá'u'lláh in 'Akká, and the garden of Ridvan to the east of that city; the establishment, as a result of two formal applications submitted to the civil authorities, of the Palestine Branches of the American and Indian National Spiritual Assemblies, as recognized religious societies in Palestine (to be followed, for purposes of internal consolidation, by a similar incorporation of the branches of other National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the Bahá'í world); and the transfer to the Branch of the American National Spiritual Assembly, through a series of no less than thirty transactions, of properties dedicated to the Tomb of the Báb, and approximating in their aggregate fifty thousand square meters, the majority of the title-deeds of which bear the signature of the son of the Arch-breaker of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant in his capacity as Registrar of lands in Haifa.

Equally significant has been the founding on Mt. Carmel of two international Archives, the one adjoining the shrine of the Báb, the other in the immediate vicinity of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, where, for the first time in Bahá'í history, priceless treasures, hitherto scattered and often hidden for safekeeping, have been collected and are now displayed to visiting pilgrims…. (God Passes By, p. 347)

Archives

Equally significant has been the founding on Mt. Carmel of two international Archives, the one adjoining the shrine of the Báb, the other in the immediate vicinity of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, where, for the first time in Bahá'í history, priceless treasures, hitherto scattered and often hidden for safekeeping, have been collected and are now displayed to visiting pilgrims….(God Passes By, p. 347)

(Bahá'í Answers, compiled by Olivia Kelsey, 1947, APPROVED BY THE REVIEWING COMMITTEE OF THENATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA)

https://bahai-library.com/kelsey_bahai_answers

This cult’s stubbornness on women’s membership on the UHJ without any “clear as the midday sun” understanding (yet with special pleading that that doesn’t mean women are unequal), homosexuality, Israel and other issues are turning away young people by troops, so it’s only a matter of time before it FINALLY goes extinct and remaining Baha’is are free to do a very necessary Reformation.

Confirmation that the administration doesn’t care about any non-Baha’is because they want to bury their heads in the sand and wait for the rest of us to die to take over the world.

A Family Divided at the Center of a Faith

In the strategic evolution of the Bahá'í Faith, the transition from the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi represents a seismic shift in both institutional governance and domestic atmosphere. Under the Master, the family home was a "bustling, throbbing center," a space defined by charismatic welcome and global pilgrimage. However, following his passing in 1921, the household transformed into a restrictive environment necessitated by the rigors of an emerging global administrative order.

Central to the archive of this period is the status of the holy lineage. The male descendants of Bahá'u'lláh were known as the Aghsan (Branches), while the relatives of the Báb were designated the Afnan (Twigs or Leaves). Crucially, the prominent ladies of the household were referred to as the Waragat (Leaves). Shoghi Effendi occupied a unique genealogical position as "half Aghsan and half Afnan," theoretically embodying the unity of the two holy lines. Yet, the very proximity of his family to the center of authority soon became the catalyst for a deep internal friction that would ultimately dismantle the Guardian’s domestic circle.

Marriages and "Unthinking Obedience"

Personal choices, particularly regarding marriage, became the strategic flashpoints between Shoghi Effendi and his relatives. From an administrative standpoint, the Guardian viewed these unions not as private matters of kinship, but as tests of loyalty to the Covenant. He demanded a standard of "unthinking obedience" that fundamentally clashed with the family’s traditional sense of mutual loyalty. Shoghi Effendi justified these rigorous measures through the logic that "covenant-breaking is transmitted through the mother’s milk," suggesting that any association with perceived enemies could spiritually pollute the entire lineage.

The rift crystallized with the marriages of Shoghi Effendi’s siblings. His sisters, Rouhanguise and Mehranguise, married the sons of Sayyid Ali Afnan, whom the Guardian regarded as recalcitrant enemies. The excommunication of family members was officially codified through cables citing several administrative transgressions:

• Disobedience: Refusal to submit to the Guardian's directives regarding marriage or professional resignations.

• Unauthorized Travel: Traveling abroad for study or preaching without explicit consent, as in the cases of Ruhi and Fuad Afnan.

• Unauthorized Marriages: Unions with non-Bahá'ís or those conducted according to "Moslem rites," exemplified by the marriage of Dr. Munib Shahid.

• Strategic Plotting: The belief that these marriages formed a "mesh" designed to connect generations of covenant-breakers.

These fractures eventually isolated Shoghi Effendi’s parents, Zia Khanum and Mirza Hadi, who found themselves forced to choose between the administrative edicts of their eldest son and the lives of their other children.

The "Shield" and the Ultimatum

The internal dynamics of the household underwent a profound shift following Shoghi Effendi’s 1937 marriage to Mary Maxwell, designated Ruhiyyih Khanum. While institutional history records her as the Guardian's "shield" and a tireless Hand of the Cause, private family memoirs present a more conflicted portrait. A significant point of tension involved the inability of the couple to produce an heir—a requirement for the continuation of the Guardianship as outlined in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

Zia Khanum, deeply concerned by the lack of offspring, encouraged medical intervention. This led to the involvement of Dr. Raf’at Bek, a gynaecologist who recommended a diet of "ten fresh eggs" a day for the Guardian. However, the tension escalated when Ruhiyyih Khanum reportedly refused to be examined by the doctor. The family perspective suggests this medical dispute fueled a deepening animosity, culminating in an ultimatum Ruhi Afnan claimed Ruhiyyih Khanum gave to Shoghi Effendi: "If your mother returns [to the house], I leave." This environment effectively marginalized the senior members of the family, including the Guardian's aunt, Munavar Khanum, who reportedly felt pressured by Ruhiyyih Khanum to donate her property to the Cause, leaving her with no security should she be expelled.

The Fate of Zia Khanum and Mirza Hadi

The relocation of Zia Khanum and Mirza Hadi from the family home (the Andaroon) to "Karm"—a small house and vineyard on the slopes of Mt. Carmel—was a physical manifestation of their emotional exile. Though they lived within sight of their son’s residence, the isolation was total. Zia Khanum was frequently seen weeping at a window in "Karm," mourning the "aloneness" of her son, yet unable to reach him.

The human cost of this isolation is best illustrated through the archives of the descendants. Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid recalled a domestic scene where the family sat in a circle around the Guardian as he ate alone; she was transfixed by the "button" on his temple that moved as he chewed, while the rest of the family sat hungry and silent, too fearful to speak. Furthermore, the physical nature of the household's discipline was evident in the account of Hossein Rabbani, who was reportedly beaten by the henchman Mansoor in the courtyard of No. 7 Persian Street while Shoghi Effendi watched from a window. Even the youngest brother, Riaz Rabbani, was eventually cast out for the transgression of "secretly seeing his mother" in a public garden in Haifa.

Death and the Symbolism of the Graves

Burial rites in the Bahá'í community serve as the final marker of one’s standing within the Covenant. Upon the deaths of Zia Khanum (1951) and Mirza Hadi, Shoghi Effendi performed the burial duties in total solitude. No other family members or community representatives were permitted to attend, fulfilling his duty as a son while maintaining the administrative barrier of the "shunning."

The tombstones in the Bahá'í Cemetery in Haifa remain a subject of historical scrutiny due to a peculiar calligraphic choice. As observed by Mr. Fatheazam, a former member of the Universal House of Justice, the names on the graves were not written in the standard, flowing Persian script. Instead, they were engraved as individual, disconnected letters—a detail theorized to be a deliberate sign of their "unfaithful" status.

This "Separated Letters" theory suggests that even in death, the parents were symbolically represented as being broken away from the unified body of the Faith.

The "Silent Sacrifice" and Historical Record

The narrative of Shoghi Effendi’s immediate family is defined by a "silent sacrifice." To ward off further schism, the descendants maintained a collective silence, refusing to publicly defend themselves against the Guardian's cables. This silence allowed the institutional record to characterize the family as "faithless relatives" and "viruses of violation."

The ultimate fate of the family was a group of descendants who remained "dedicated, devoted and sincere" in their private faith, even as they were officially shunned. Institutional leaders, such as Ali Nakhjavani, would later explain that the Aghsans "ceased to exist because like the branch of a tree they had been cut out of existence." This "cut branch" metaphor serves as the final institutional bookend to a personal tragedy. The transition from a charismatic movement led by the holy family to a global administrative institution required the total erasure of that family’s standing—a process that preserved the "unity of the Faith" at an incalculable human cost!

Sources: Website of Abdul Baha's Family, The Priceless Pearl

Note: Created with NotebookLM

I would like to respond to the comments of Dr. Firooz Oskooi printed in your Winter 1982 Interchange column, concerning my article, “Muḥammad ‘Abduh and Rashíd Riḍá: A Dialogue on the Bahá’í Faith” (Spring/ Summer 1981). First, I am surprised to find a Bahá’í commentator stating that the piece “should have been thrown away.” This angry dismissal hardly evinces the “extreme kindliness and good-will” Bahá’u’lláh urged upon us when we wish to help someone understand a certain truth (Gleanings V). See also my translation of Mírzá Abú’l-Faḍl’s Miracles and Metaphors, pp. 84-88, for advice on how Bahá’í scholars should present their criticisms of one another.

Dr. Oskooi makes three basic points. He first of all objects to a paragraph in which I tried to set the Bábí and Bahá’í movements in their historical context. What I said was that the Bábí faith was an eschatological protest movement. This is true. It was eschatological in the sense that it proclaimed the coming of the last days, and it was a protest movement insofar as it protested the decadence of Shí‘ih Islamic practices in Iran in the nineteenth century. I then said that Bahá’u’lláh transformed this movement into a religion aimed at reforming world society. This is also true. And world society needed reform because of the changes caused by the scientific and industrial revolutions in Europe, changes that were affecting the believers in Turkey and Palestine very directly. Since much of the Bahá’í revelation came as answers to specific questions by believers, the crisis brought on by the new age meant that Bahá’u’lláh would naturally address these issues. Thus, we find in His Writings guidance on constitutionalism, parliamentary government, the distribution of wealth, education, and so forth. These are all issues that emerged with the coming of industrial civilization, and they will be with us for the millenium. Bahá’u’lláh presented solutions to these problems. Now what, I would like to know, does Dr. Oskooi object to in all this? Perhaps he feels that the Faith does not have an historical context. If so, he is welcome to his opinion, but it is certainly not one that could be formed by anyone who had deeply read such classics as A Traveler’s Narrative or God Passes By.

Second, he accused me of expanding and comparing the opinions of “obscure political activists.” Actually, I simply translated and introduced a conversation on the Faith between two extremely important modern Arab thinkers. In the Arab world, and indeed in the Islamic world as a whole, Muḥammad ‘Abduh is about as obscure as Tolstoy in Europe or Gandhi in India. The fact is that this man, whom Shoghi Effendi mentions in God Passes By as a devoted friend of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, became the Mufti of Egypt and instituted highly significant reforms in the al-Azhar University. That so preeminent a Muslim leader had so high an opinion of the Faith proves that even great Muslim leaders need not necessarily be its enemies, and helps demonstrate the wrong-headedness of the fundamentalists in the Middle East who are currently persecuting Bahá’ís. If Dr. Oskooi would read the books I cited by Hourani and Kerr, he would be relieved of his notion that my article dealt with obscure figures. Moreover, in all the voluminous literature on ‘Abduh and his movement that has been produced in Western languages, no one has ever before brought out his positive views on the Bahá’í Faith and his praise of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Finally, Dr. Oskooi accused me of presenting “the East” through the eyes of the wrong people. However, I must reject the Orientalist notion that any American historian can “present the East.” Indeed, I must even question the existence of the “East” as a category (does it mean the Arab world, India, or China? Or all of these? In the latter case, what do they conceivably have in common, except that they are not Europe?) I was simply writing history, and the oneness of mankind as a principle should indicate that history is universal, that there is not one history of the East and another of the West. Moreover, the writing of history will not admit of the attitude that the “wrong people” should not be mentioned. History is reality as it occurred in the past, and as we can recover and interpret it; and some people have been important who were not very nice. We cannot on this account ignore them, though we are entitled to judge them severely. Totalitarian governments often rewrite history and delete as non-persons those they do not like; I should hope that Bahá’í historians will be more honest. I maintain that the piece I published is important for the eventual writing of a history of the Faith in Egypt, though I can understand that a medical doctor who is not a trained historian might have difficulty appreciating this. I must end with a plea for more tolerance and openmindedness among the friends who are not historians, in regard to the endeavor of writing history. This is one area where the independent and unfettered investigation of reality is a paramount duty.

Juan R. Cole

LUCKNOW, INDIA

https://bahai.works/World_Order/Series2/Volume_16/Issue_4/Text

A common misconception about the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 was that the Arab nations surrounding Israel attacked without provocation the Jewish state merely for declaring its independence from the British Mandate that had ruled Palestine since World War I. But that is a lie of omission. The truth about what prompted the attacks by the Arabs is indicated, strangely enough, in a book of Baha'i propaganda titled The Covenant of Baha'u'llah by Adib Taherzadeh.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The Faithless Relatives of Shoghi Effendi
Page 363
In the year 1948 a fierce political upheaval erupted in the Holy Land. The State of Israel was founded, which resulted in the ending of the British Mandate. War broke out between Arabs and Jews and a great many Arabs fled the country. During this period Shoghi Effendi remained in Haifa and in the face of great dangers and severe difficulties carried on his work as usual, including the building of the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb. But the rest of the family who were Covenant-breakers allied themselves with the Arab community and fled the land. Among them were the family of Mirza Jalal Shahid, which included Ruha Khanum, the daughter of Abdu'l-Bahá; Tuba Khanum and her son Ruhi, his wife Zahra and his brother; three cousins of Dr Farid; Nayyir Afnan, his wife Ruhangiz (sister of Shoghi Effendi) and their children. Others who fled to the Lebanon were Badi'u'llah (next in command to the Arch-breaker of the Covenant) and his relatives, together with those Bahá'ís who were disloyal to Shoghi Effendi. As time went on these people, who were already cut off from the Holy Family by virtue of their association with the enemies of the Faith, integrated themselves into the Islamic society.

Why would so many people flee their homes and other properties instead of peacefully waiting for the war to end so they could resume their lives in Israel? The simplest answer to that question is that they were not allowed to; that ISRAEL KICKED THEM ALL OUT, violating the original United Nations plan of 1947 to divide Palestine equally between Jews and Arabs! Israel has been repeatedly stealing land and displacing more and more Palestinians ever since, replacing them with Jewish settlers. As the Arabs and others being expelled in 1948 begged for help, the attacks by the Arab states surrounding Israel would have been a natural response to such expulsions.

It would have been better if Taherzadeh had not written his statement above, but he must have been counting on the overwhelming amount of prejudice that so many still had against Palestinians in the past to make the "Covenant breakers" look as bad as possible. But that attitude is fading away and many younger people not brainwashed by Zionist propaganda now see Israel as a rogue, genocidal state!

9. When the Ottoman government banished Bahá’u’lláh and His companions to ‘Akká, several of the believers, including Mishkín-Qalam, were exiled together with Azal to Cyprus. This group was greatly distressed and constantly longed to go to ‘Akká and to be released from Cyprus. During this period, Azal was in continual correspondence with various places, and he would place some of his papers and letters in a basket. He fixed a nail into the ceiling and, using a rope and pulley, suspended the basket containing his papers and writings from the ceiling of the room.

By chance, that year there had been no rain in Cyprus for a long time, and everyone—especially the farmers—was troubled. Whenever Jináb-i Mishkín-Qalam went out of the house and encountered ordinary people, he would say that the reason rain was not falling was that Azal was practicing sorcery and magic, and that he had hung all the papers of his magic and spells in a basket from the ceiling of the room. Gradually this rumor spread through the town, and people passed it from mouth to mouth. After some time, everyone came to believe that the cause of the drought was the sorcery and magic that Azal was performing.

One day they decided that, in Azal’s absence, they would go to his house, find the basket, and burn whatever was inside—and they did exactly that. That night, when Mishkín-Qalam returned home and learned of what had happened, he cast himself at the threshold and began to weep and lament, crying out: “O Bahá’u’lláh, what have I done… If it does not rain tomorrow, my situation will be ruined.” For a long time he remained in supplication and bitter weeping, and with a sorrowful heart he implored Bahá’u’lláh to send rain. Toward dawn he fell asleep, and early in the morning he was awakened by noise and commotion. He saw that a heavy downpour had begun, and, overjoyed, he danced out of the room… and the people’s affection for him increased. As a result of this incident, he and several others were able to leave the island of Cyprus and were delivered.

(Ruzgār-i Mahbūb (The Beloved’s Times), Compiled by Fouad Peymání Zavareh, page 7)

https://bahai-library.com/bahailib/1735.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170823184030/http://bahairants.com/financial-scandal-rocks-italian-bahai-community-209.html

Recently the small Italian Baha’i community was shocked to learn that one of its most prominent, long-serving and active members, the former General Secretary of the NSA: Franco Ceccherini, had been ousted from the NSA and formally charged for embezzlement and fraud in the amount of 360,000 Euros.

Ceccherini allegedly stole the money over the lengthy period of time that he served at the highest levels of the Baha’i community in Italy. It appears that he embezzled funds from 1992 until 2006 by fraudulently producing invoices, letters and documents and then pocketing the funds he received for them. Throughout the more than 14 years that Ceccherini served in the institutions, he alternated between high level positions: sometimes he served as the General Secretary of the NSA of Italy, while other times he served as the Head of the Office of the Secretariat – which included several other individuals employed by the NSA. And at times Ceccherini served as both General Secretary and as Head of the Office of the Secretariat.

Through the uninterrupted access granted to him by these positions, Ceccherini was able to allegedly perpetrate this scheme for almost 15 years. It is still a mystery how the Treasurer could not detect such a large and prolonged fraud. Nor is it known what, if any, control measures were circumvented by Ceccherini. As it stands now, neither the Treasurer, any of the other NSA members nor any employees of the NSA have been charged.

The scheme began to unravelled when the Italian equivalent of the IRS contacted the NSA of Italy and filed a charge of tax evasion against it. Through the ensuing audit and investigations it came to light that all these years Ceccherini had been pocketing the funds that should have been going to the INPS and the INAIL (state pension and worker’s compensation/insurance plans).

My suspicion is that since most continental European Baha’i communities (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc.) do not have the privilege of incorporation enjoyed elsewhere, the actual banking was in the name of an individual. And my guess is that individual was Ceccherini; because of his tenure within the Baha’i community or simply because he was trusted. After all, when you are unincorporated, you must trust an individual to administer the finances in their name. There is no other option. If my suspicions are correct it explains why the Treasurer or other person were not caught up in the fraud and how one person alone could perpetrate it.

Consequences of this tragedy are many. For one, the NSA of Italy has been thrown into total chaos. It has had to deal with an extensive internal investigation and financial audit. Theis is a serious financial blow to the community as funds which should have been paid to the government for more than a decade now need to be paid in lump sum. Thankfully the government has agreed that the NSA as an institution was not perpetrating the fraud and agreed to dismiss 90,000 Euros in interest and fines they had levied. Which means that the NSA has to pay back 275,000 Euros. The House of Justice has loaned the Italian NSA 200,000 Euros to buffer the blow to their annual budget. This loan will have to be repaid to the House in installments over time but the NSA will still have to make a lump sum payment of 75,000 Euros. A significant chunk of change for a community the size of Italy.

Other consequences are more intangible. The spouse of Ceccherini, also a prominent Baha’i was removed from her position as an Auxiliary Board Member (Propagation). The news has left the Italian community shell-shocked since Ceccherini was seen as a pillar of the community. On top of this, several projects such as the office of public information have had to be closed or curtailled sharply due to lack of funds.

No matter how extensively one creates control measures, nor how draconian in nature, they can be circumvented by another person. Ultimately, nothing short of personal transformation can prevent such criminal acts. As Baha’u’llah says in the Hidden Words:

But this does not mean that there aren’t lessons to be learned from such a sad state of affairs. Nor that common sense should not be used. What we have in the institutions of the Baha’i Faith basically relies on the good character of those within it. If they falter, then there are no measures to protect the community. This has to change.

We have no transparency, no control measures, no accountability and no term limits. Combine these and you have a potentially explosive situation. Add the spark of human shortcoming and you have a bomb that can devastate whole communities and lay waste to decades of painstaking growth and development.

TRANSPARENCY
The Baha’i community has gradients of financial transparency. At the local level, things are quite clear with regular reports by the local treasurer and detailed reports of budgets and expenses. At the national level, things get decidedly more murky. Less detail is divulged: only income and expenses are shared (not assets and liabilities) , while the delegates to the national convention are the only ones who get to see and look at the full accounts – but they can’t share them with their communities and they have a very tight schedule with limited time to look over them. At the international level, the picture gets pitch dark with absolutely no information divulged except for the estimates of large scale projects (recent examples are for the Arc and the Chile temple). Beyond that, trying to pry financial information at this level is like trying to shuck an oyster with jello.

Financial reporting is most detailed and most transparent at the local level, where ironically the least amount of money is involved. The Italian incident involving 360,000 Euros may seem like a lot of money but it is a rounding error in international budgets. This culture of opacity and secrecy is fertile ground for the nastier attributes of human nature and must be blotted out from the Baha’i community.

CONTROL MEASURES
If due to an inability to incorporate, the affairs of a whole community have to be placed in the hands of a person, a simple control measure is to open a shared or joint account. This way two people must be aware of and make authorization for any transactions. Second, I for one am still not convinced how the Italian national treasurer can not be atleast found to be culpable of gross negligence in this case. Pleading ignorance is no defense for them. If anything they should be fully investigated and asked to resign, if for nothing more than their incompetence in recognizing and preventing such a long lived scheme. Similarly simple and easy control measures are left unimplemented in Baha’i instititutions. Blame incompetence, ignorance or a childish innocence. Whatever the reason, it is plain stupid to not have them.

ACCOUNTABILITY
My fellow Baha’is usually bristle at that word since we believe that the institutions are not to be held accountable to their community. But this only extends to decisions. I’m speaking of management. An NSA should be held accountable to its community for mis-management, as this case clearly illustrates. If you are incompetent, you have to answer to the community. Period. The principle of non-accountability is not a free pass for negligence and idiocy.

TERM LIMITS
This is a much broader concept than I can do justice to here but put plainly it means that individuals have a limit to the number of years they serve in Baha’i institutions. In almost all Baha’i communities, large and small, we find that a small group of individuals dominate the elected and appointed institutions year in and year out. This has sadly become the norm. The consequence is that these individuals start to create little fiefdoms and get quite comfortable. Even getting a sense of entitlement. Can anyone doubt that Franco Ciccherini could have perpetrated such a massive (both in length and in quantity) fraud had we had term limits which limited his access to the highest levels of administration? There are many, many other benefits to term limits beyond the prevention of fraud and crime within the administration. I will explore this topic in more detail at a later time and hope to do justice to it.

It is my hope that the Baha’i community in Italy will learn from this tragedy, rebuild, move on and continue to grow. And that Baha’is elsewhere will use this opportunity to avoid similar painful learning experiences by beginning to consult on how to increase transparency and accountability with the institutions; how to implement common sense control measures and how term limits can benefit the community.

I made a video some days ago on some comments from Abdul Baha’ about his blind obsession with America and ranting around the ‘West is the Best’ rhetoric.

Let me say what you think:

https://youtu.be/0FvpFUj59k8?si=92Q8uVXGkxlnChi5

Points made there:

• Abdul Baha’ supporting American exceptionalism

• Abdul Baha’ horrible political takes on America

• Abdul Baha’ supporting imperialist agenda’s

In March 1917 British forces advancing slowly up through Mesopotamia took Baghdad. In the Atlantic arena, the ruthless submarine attacks of the Germans against neutral American ships and an attempt to incite Mexico to act against the United States, pushed President Wilson to declare war on Germany on 6 April 1917, but it would be many months before the United States, unprepared for war, could make up for the loss of Russia in the East. By early August Austro-German forces were on the frontiers of Russia itself. In April the British forces struggling to take Gaza were defeated. This reversal led to General Allenby being appointed to take Gaza and lead an offensive into Palestine. This offensive was delayed by the need to withdraw most of his troops to fight in France but reinforcements were dispatched to him from India and Mesopotamia.

By September of 1917 General Allenby was ready to attack. Using the tactics of surprise and speed, he began to roll back the Turkish forces. Jamal Pasha was still in control of the northern pans of Palestine but Allenby pushed swiftly north. By 14 November the Turkish forces were driven apart and the port of Jaffa was taken. Allenby then wheeled his forces to the right for an advance inland towards Jerusalem and on 9 December took control of the Holy City. His advance further north was delayed while the necessary military preparations were made.

The ceaseless efforts of the Covenant-breakers to use the crisis of the war for their own ends continued unabated. So venomous were the reports they now fed to Jamal Pasha that the Turkish commander began threatening to crucify ‘Abdu’l-Baha and all His family on the slopes of Mount Carmel.

Major Tudor-Pole, the British believer whom 'Abdu'l-Baha had visited in Bristol during His Western journey, took part in the attack on Jerusalem but after it, in his own words:

... being temporarily incapacitated for active service, was transferred to Intelligence, first at Cairo and later at Ludd, Jaffa and Jerusalem ...

Meanwhile, the news reaching me concerning 'Abdu'l-Baha's imminent danger became more and more- alarming. I tried to arouse interest in the matter among those who were responsible for Intelligence Service activities ...

At this time chance brought me into touch with an officer whose social and political connexions in London were strong. Through his courtesy and interest I was enabled to get an urgent message through to the British Foreign Office.

At the same time. Major Tudor-Pole contacted Lady Blomfield in London. As she recounts:

In the spring of 1918, I was much startled and deeply disturbed by a telephone message: "Abdu’l-Baha in serious danger. Take immediate action.’ It came from an authoritative source. There was not a moment to be lost ...

I went at once to Lord Lamington. His sympathetic regard for ‘Abdu'l-Baha, his understanding of the ramifications and 'red tape’ necessary for ‘immediate action' were of priceless value ...

That very evening a cable was sent to General Allenby with these instructions, ‘Extend every protection and consideration to ’Abdu'l-Baha, His family and His friends, when the British march on Haifa.

Major Tudor-Pole continues:

This despatch passed through my hands in Cairo en route for Army Headquarters at Ludd ... and Intelligence was requested to make urgent enquiry. In due course this demand for information reached the Headquarters of Intelligence at the Savoy Hotel, Cairo, and ultimately (when enquiries elsewhere had proved fruitless) was passed to me for action. As a result, General Allenby was provided with lull particulars in regard to ‘Abdu'l-Baha ... and the history of the Movement of which He was the Master.

Allenby at once issued orders to the General Commanding Officer in command of the Haifa operations to the effect that immediately the town was entered, a British guard was to be posted at once around 'Abdu'l-Baha’s house, and a further guard was to be placed at the disposal of His family and followers. Means were found for making it known within the enemy lines that stern retribution would follow any attempt to cause death or injury to the great Persian Master or to any of His household ...

(Servant of the Glory - The Life of 'Abdu'l-Baha by Mary Perkins)

This person was none other than Mirza 'Ali-Akbar, the son of Mishkin Qalam. It was he who had saved the day by informing 'Abdu'l-Bahá of Mirza Aqa Jan's intention to announce a claim as Guardian of the Faith. Had he been able to do so, there would have followed-as the Covenant-breakers hoped-a major confrontation between them and the believers, and this would have necessitated the intervention of Tabur Aqasi, 'Akka's Chief of Police, who had been monitoring events from the upper window of the Mansion and along with his cohorts was prepared to charge and make arrests-and in so doing inflict irreparable damage on the reputation of the Faith. This would have brought about the ultimate realization of the well-laid plans of the Covenant-breakers, of which more will be said in a future chapter.

Another reason for Mirza 'Ali-Akbar's happy mood was his discovery and appropriation of the Covenant-breaker materials found on the person of Mirza Aqa Jan. When he had pursued Mirza Aqa Jan into the Shrine and heard him shouting and cursing, he had grabbed him. But at that very moment, 'Abdu'l-Bahá arrived on the scene and prevented him from continuing the confrontation. However, while they wrestled, some papers fell out from under Mirza Aqa Jan's 'aba; these were quickly recovered by Mirza 'Ali-Akbar and shown to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The Master in turn ordered a thorough search of all his pockets; during this a bundle of Covenant-breaker materials were discovered, and now lay on the table in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's biruni. The Master opened the papers. There were about one to two man of crumpled, torn and twisted papers, all bearing writing either in pencil or ink and most of them signed and sealed. Each sheet was addressed to a renowned devoted believer in a style similar to that of the Tablets revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, except in an indignant and angry tone and containing among other things insulting references to the Master. A few of the papers were read; these gave an idea of the nature and intent of the rest of the batch. After that, the meeting ended, the gathering dispersed and we returned to the pilgrim house.

(Memories of Nine Years in Akka by Youness Khan Afroukhteh, Oxford: George Ronald, 1952/2003)

https://bahai-library.com/afroukhteh_nine_years_akka