SILENCE STARTED CREEPING ON US

Bahai house of worship at Samoa a country in Oceania     On the 9th of July 1850 (Friday, 28th Sha'ban, 1266 A.H.), the Bab Himself, who was then in His thirty-first year, fell a victim to the fanatical fury (extreme wild and violent anger) of His persecutors. With a devoted young follower named Aqa Muhammad 'Ali, who had passionately begged to be allowed to share His martyrdom, He was led to the scaffold (a raised wooden platform used formerly for public execution of people) in the old barrack square (a drilled ground) of Tabriz (most populated city in northwest Iran). About 2 hours before noon the two were suspended by ropes under their armpits in such a way that the head of Muhammad 'Ali rested against the breast of his beloved Master. A regiment (permanent unit of an Army) of Armenian soldiers was drawn up and received the order to fire. Promptly (with no delay) the volleys (number of bullets) rang out, but when the smoke cleared, it was found that the Bab and His compa...

Bahai House of Worship at Colombia.          In consequence of these declarations of the Bab and the alarming rapidity with which people of all classes, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, were eagerly responding to His teaching, attempts at suppression became more and more ruthless and determined. Houses were pillaged (robbery with violence) and destroyed. Women were seized and carried off. In Tihran, Fars, Mazindaran, and other places great numbers of the believers were put to death. Many were beheaded (execute by cutting off ones head), hanged, blown from the mouths of cannon, burned or chopped to pieces. Despite all attempts at repression (suppression), however, the movement progressed. Nay (or rather), through this very oppression the assurance of the believers increased, for thereby many of the prophecies concerning the coming of the Mihdi were literally fulfilled. Thus in a tradition recorded by Jabir, which the Shi'ihs regard as authentic (genuine), we...

Bahai house of worship at Panama.          The hostility (opposition) aroused by the claim of Babhood was redoubled when the young reformer proceeded to declare that He was Himself Mihdi/Mahdi (in popular Muslim belief, a spiritual leader who will rule before the end of the world and restore religion and justice) whose coming Muhammad had foretold. The Shi'ihs identified this Mihdi with the 12th Imam ( The Imam of the Shi'ihs is the divinely ordained successor of the Prophet whom all the faithful must obey. Eleven persons successively held the office of Imam, the first being 'Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet. The majority of the Shi'ihs hold that the 12th Imam, called by them the Imam Mihdi, disappeared as a child into an underground passage in A.H. 329, and that in the fullness of time he will come forth, overthrow the infidels (unbelievers) and inaugurate an era of blessedness) who, according to their beliefs, had mysteriously disappeared from the...

Bahai house of worship at Santiago, Chile.     The first 18 disciples of the Bab (with Himself as 19th) became known as "LETTERS OF THE LIVING." These disciples He sent to different parts of Persia and Turkistan to spread the news of His advent. Meantime He Himself set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where He arrived in December 1844, and there openly declared His mission. On his return to Bushihr(City in Iran) great excitement was caused by the announcement of His Babhood. The first of His eloquence (powerful speech), the wonder of His rapid and inspired writings, His extraordinary wisdom and knowledge, His courage and zeal(energy) as a reformer, aroused the greatest enthusiasm among His followers, but excited a corresponding degree of alarm and enmity among the orthodox Muslims. The Shi'ih doctors vehemently (forcefully) denounced (criticized and attacked) Him, and persuaded the Governor of Fars(Governor of Fars Province in Iran), named Husayn Khan, a fanatica...

Bahai house of worship at Papua New Guinea

Bahai house of worship at Sydney, Australia

"Verily the oppressor hath slain the Beloved of the worlds that he might thereby quench the Light of God amidst His creatures and withhold mankind from the Stream of Celestial Life in the days of his Lord, the Gracious, the Bountiful. "- BAHA'U'LLAH, Tablet to Ra'is . BIRTHPLACE OF THE NEW REVELATION.      Shrine of Bab    Persia, the birthplace of the Baha'i Revelation, has occupied a unique place in the history of the world. In the days of her early greatness she was a veritable queen among nations, unrivalled in civilization, in power and in splendour. She gave to the world great kings and statesmen, prophets and poets, philosophers and artists. Zoroaster, Cyrus and Darius, Hafiz and Firdawsi, Sa'di and 'Umar Khayyam are but a few of her many famous sons. Her craftsmen were unsurpassed in skill; her carpets were matchless, her steel blades unequalled, her pottery world-famous. In all parts of the Near and Middle East she has left traces of her forme...