Baha'i Biography Notable Believers

“History is a powerful instrument. At its best, it provides a perspective on the past and casts a light on the future. It populates human consciousness with heroes, saints and martyrs whose example awakens in everyone touched by it capacities they had not imagined they possessed.”

Century of Light (pages 65-83)
This presentation highlights the teaching experiences of early African American Bahá’is with a special focus on the contributions of African American women. Drawing on oral histories and archival documents, this talk highlights African Americans’ courageous efforts and sacrifices in advancing the Cause of God in the U.S. and abroad. What can we learn from the relatively unknown history of black Baha’is to assist us in exploiting this “moment of historic portent”** for the good of mankind and the establishment of race unity?

126 African American Women In The Bahá’í Faith- Intersectionality, Myths And Restorative History

Dr. Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE (1889-1982) was arguably the first global conservationist, blazing a trail for contemporary environmental leaders such as Jane Goodall. He began his mission to save the world’s forests in 1922, when he started the first international NGO, Men of the Trees, in Kenya.

Baker was a visionary pioneer of concepts/practices such as sustainable development, agroforestry, agroecology, desert reclamation, fair trade, and ecotourism. Starting in 1931, he wrote thirty books about these ideas. A great adventurer, he travelled the world continuously from 1929-1982, networking with conservationists and lecturing on the need to plant trees to save the planet. In addition to kings and presidents, his extraordinary networks of contacts included leaders of thought, visionaries, and eminent scientists and artists. Starting in 1929, he worked with the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, to promote public discourse and social action on conservation.

He has been recognized as one of the outstanding figures of the conservation movement by environmental leaders such as Prince Charles, Jane Goodall, Wanjira Maathai (Green Belt Movement), Philippe Cousteau (EarthEcho International), Richard Leaky (International Centre for Research in Agroforestry), Sir Ghillian Prance (International Tree Foundation), Elizabeth Dowdeswell (Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, UN Under Secretary General, UNEP), and Peter Wohlleben (forester, author The Hidden Life of Trees). In 1969, The World Wildlife Fund appointed Baker its first Member of Honour.

124 The Man Of The Trees- Richard St. Barbe Baker | Paul Hanley

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the son of the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh. Before His passing, Bahá'u'lláh wrote a document telling the Bahá'ís to turn to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and that He would inspire His son with whatever He needed to know.

Today we can’t meet ’Abdu’l-Bahá, but we can get to know more about Him  through the words of those who did meet Him. These stories are about the interactions of the pilgrims and visitors who met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, both in America and the Holy land, and the emotions of those encounters. They illustrate dramatically the spiritual powers and prescience of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. He would answer questions before they were asked, convert atheists into believers, know the thoughts of His visitors and read the reality of their hearts. For those with receptive hearts, He would guide and educate with profound and uplifting talks. The stories attempt to show a little of what it had been like to be in His Presence.

Presenters: Earl Redman and Sharon O'Toole have been traveling and telling stories from their books. They have done their story-telling in the United Kingdom, Israel, Ireland, Iceland, Poland, Germany, Finland, Tunisia, Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US and Alaska.

129 Stories Of Abdul Baha | Earl Redman and Sharon O'Toole

The talk will start with a brief examination of the major sources used in researching the book "A Seed in Your Heart: The Life of Louise Mathew Gregory" by Janet Fleming . This will be followed by an overview of the life story of Louise Mathew Gregory, an English woman born in the Victorian era, whose marriage to Louis Gregory, an African American lawyer, is considered the first Bahá’í interracial marriage. Unusually for the time, she was an educated woman and worked as a teacher in Luxembourg and Paris before her marriage. Her later travels, over a 14-year period, took her to Hungary where she was the first to teach the Faith, and to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia where she acquired the distinction of being the first Bahá’í pioneer to those countries. Janet will expand and explore some features of the book including:

some aspects of Louise’s personality – was she shy? She was a modern independent woman – how did this affect her marriage?
some of the difficulties Louise and Louis had to face in their marriage
Louise’s husband Louis was an outstanding Bahá’í and later appointed a Hand of the Cause. Was she overshadowed by her brilliant husband and has she now begun to emerge from obscurity?

More resources:
https://wilmetteinstitute.org/louise-mathew-gregory-sowing-the-seeds-of-racial-harmony/

097 Louise Mathew Gregory- Sowing The Seeds Of Racial Harmony - Janet Fleming Rose

Hussein Ahdieh, 'The Life and Martyrdom of Vahíd, the Báb’s Best Known Follower'

The great Muslim cleric Siyyid Yahyá-i-Dárábí (known as Vahíd, which means ‘unique’ or ‘peerless’) converted to the Bábí Faith in 1846. He spent years traveling and teaching around Persia, and arrived in Nayriz in 1850 to bring the news of the new faith. In Nayriz he led an upheaval at Fort Khajih and gave his life for the Cause on the streets of the town.

Presenter:
Hussein Ahdieh
Dr. Hussein Ahdieh was born and raised in Nayriz, Iran, He is a sixth generation Bahá'í, his ancestors figuring among the first in Nayriz to accept the Bábi and later Bahá'í Faith. Hussein immigrated to the United States as a young man of 19. Like many immigrants seeking a better life in America, he worked and attended college in the New York area. Hussein eventually completed a Masters Degree in European Intellectual History and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts. Dr.Ahdieh has had a distinguished career in education in New York. His proudest achievement is to have been one of the founders and Assistant Headmaster of the Harlem Preparatory School--a world renowned charter high school for disadvantaged students. The school is credited with helping numerous disadvantage young people to rise from poverty to a better life. Dr. Ahdieh also served as Director of Educational Programs at Fordham University. Hussein has been a resident of New York City for all of his adult life. He served as Treasurer of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York for many years and several times has represented his area at the U.S. Bahá'í National Convention. In addition to “Awakening. History of the Babi and Baha’i Faiths in Nayriz”, which has been translated into 6 languages, Dr. Ahdieh is the author of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York (translated into three languages), a concise, informative history of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's activities during his visits to the area; “A Way out of No Way: Harlem Prep –Transforming Dropouts into Scholars-1967-1977, a Baha’i inspired institute. His other book “The Calling” is comprehensive study about the life of Tahirih and her American contemporaries in English and Persian languages. His newest book: Foreigner: From an Iranian village to New York City tells the story of an Iranian Baha’i immigrant to the United States in a series of moving and humorous episodes set against the backdrop of a changing Iran, the plight of Baha’is there, the tumult of the 60’s and 70’s in the U.S. The book has been released by George Ronald Publisher. For more info visit: HusseinAhdieh.com

108 The Life And Martyrdom Of Vahíd, The Báb’s Best Known Follower- Hussein Ahdieh

Jan Jasion, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Other

This presentation is based on reflections on Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of the Land of Bá and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement published in Paris Talks and His activities in America. ʻAbdu’l-Bahá met with people of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds and He delighted in doing so. The Bahá’ís are very proud of this, and justly so. Many scholars have investigated the travels of ʻAbdu’l-Bahá in America: Alan Ward, Hassan Balyuzi, Robert Stockman, Earl Redman, Steven Kolins, Amín Egea. The latter two concentrated their efforts on newspaper coverage. Yet despite their efforts and the efforts of more localized research there appears a void which in a real sense undermines the intentions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s efforts toward establishing the unity and dignity of all peoples. This void concerns the hundreds of non-English newspapers which existed at that time.

More resources: https://wilmetteinstitute.org/abdul-baha-and-the-other/
Firstly there are no articles from the newspapers of the groups whom He met in their venues: the Armenians, the Jews and the Japanese. Secondly there are very few articles, less than a score, from all the other diverse ethnic groups represented in the American Bahá’í community of that time: Syrian, French, Turkish, Norwegian, Polish, German, Swedish, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, etc. The importance of these other newspaper articles is based on the statement from Bahá’u’lláh, and their demise is a reflection of the perniciousness of the virus attacking the body politic.

This presentation will attempt to explore the causes of this situation and its consequences and possible restoration and utilization of these articles.

Contributors
Jan Jasion

Jan Teofil Jasion is a retired librarian. He was born in Canada of Polish parents. His varied career included working as a roofer in housing construction and as a labourer at an iron-ore smelter, as a librarian in a remote Labrador town, a library technician at the National Library of Canada, at the Library of the University of New Brunswick and later at a college in Cardiff, Wales; as an economic journalist and translator in Warsaw, Poland, as an acquisitions and periodicals librarian at the Bahá’í World Centre Library, as an editor at the Department of Philosophy, Warsaw University; and as a cataloguer for a library vendor in England. He was educated at universities in Ontario, Newfoundland, England and Poland. His Bahá’í activities include pioneering to Labrador (1967-70) and Poland (1970-72; 1992-1999), and service on numerous national committees and local assemblies and lately as an editor at Librarie bahá’íe, Paris, France. He currently lives with his wife Annie-Joëlle in a southern suburb of Paris. Jan has published over 35 articles in journals in Canada, USA, UK, France, Poland and Pakistan in the field of library studies, economics, human rights, biography, corporate structures and bio-bibliography.  He has authored and edited a dozen monographs including An International Guide to Legal Deposit (2nd ed. 2019); Never Be Afraid to Dare (George Ronald, 2001), ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in France (English 2016 and French 2017); ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the West (English 2012 and French 2015); Táhirih In History (2004). His latest article was a bio-bibliography of John E. Esslemont for The Book Collector (2020).

118 Abdu’l - Bahá And The Other - Jan Jasion

A conversation with Dr. Richard Thomas on his recently published book chapter “How the Bahá’í Teachings on Racial Unity Influenced My Academic Focus on Race Relations in the United States.”

The Bahá’í Faith and African American Studies: Perspectives on Racial Justice, edited by Loni Bramson and Layli Maparyan – Contributions by Layli Maparyan; Richard Hollinger; June Thomas; Richard W. Thomas; Loni Bramson; Michael McMullen and Gwen Etter-Lewis

Dr. Richard Thomas  (Speaker)
Chitra Golestani (Moderator)

https://wilmetteinstitute.org/how-bahai-teachings-on-racial-unity-influenced-my-academic-focus/


How Bahá’í Teachings on Racial Unity Influenced My Academic Focus

Baha’is in South Carolina, like Baha’is around the world, are working to make the world a better and more peaceful place in which to live. Through the publication of “Trudy and the Baha’is’ Spiritual Path in South Carolina,” Annette Reynolds hopes readers will realize that everyone can work together to build peaceful spiritual communities no matter what belief and background one comes from.  This recording covers most of the Question and Answer session from Annette's Wilmette Institute Web Talk of Sunday, 22 January, 2017.

Trudy and The Baha'is: Q and A with Annette Reynolds

Part 2 of "Todd Lawson Web Talk Series on the Báb, His Artistry, His Audience, and His Commentary on the Súrih of Joseph"

In this session:  The Islamic philosophic or mystical tradition, frequently indistinguishable from the Islamic tradition in general, has long been distinguished by the intensity with which it venerates and celebrates certain specific divine teachings from the Qur’án or the Hadith on the spiritual value of beauty. “God is beautiful and loves beauty” is just one such teaching. There are countless others. The purpose of this web talk is to link the Islamic veneration of beauty with the coming of the new revelation of the Báb and, later, Bahá’u’lláh, who is widely known and referred to by Bahá’ís as the Blessed Beauty. 

The study of “beauty” as such is, of course, impossibly broad. In the course of the web talk we will focus on two aspects, revelation and manifestation as “messengers” of divine beauty. First, there will be a summary and elucidation of the aesthetic dimension of the Qur’anic revelation. Secondly, we will present the Islamic belief that Joseph, the subject of the Báb’s proclamatory Commentary introduced in web talk #1, was a unique embodiment of both spiritual and physical divine or blessed beauty. Muhammad, prophet and divine manifestation (and founder of Islam) is seen by the Islamic tradition as a reappearance of such spiritual and moral beauty. 

As we know, the Bahá’í Faith emphasizes the quality of beauty as elements of both the revelation and person of the divine manifestations, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. The role of beauty as religious or spiritual value, then, may be seen to be inherited, enriched and universalized by the Bahá’í revelation.

See Also:
Part 1: https://youtu.be/JAUzFdDHAfs
The Báb’s Artistry in His Commentary on the Súrih of Joseph   Todd Lawson

051 Part 2: Understanding the Báb’s Audience- Blessed Beauty in Islam | Todd Lawson

Part 3 of "Todd Lawson Web Talk Series on the Báb, His Artistry, His Audience, and His Commentary on the Súrih of Joseph"

In the Kitáb-i-Íqán Mulla Husayn is referred to by Bahá’u’lláh thus: But for him, God would not have been established upon the seat of His mercy, nor ascended the throne of eternal glory. This suggests, among other things, that had Mulla Husayn not recognized the Báb’s station and accepted His claims the new era would not have begun. We know from Bahá’í history that what enabled Mulla Husayn to acknowledge the truth of the Báb’s claims was in fact the first chapter of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’, also known as the Commentary on the Súrih of Joseph. In this web-talk we will enumerate in detail the various features of this brief composition, features that we may assume were of such striking originality and obvious divine authority (another way to translate the Arabic word mulk) that Mulla Husayn had no choice but to become the Báb’s first follower or, as he is sometimes referred to, the gate of the Gate.

052 Part 3: The Báb’s Great Announcement to Mulla Husayn- Cpt 1 of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’- Todd Lawson

The song, “Youthful Báb/One Human Race” is a collaboration from individuals spanning the globe and stands as an example of the effort of love, prayer, meditation, consultation and belief in the capacity of everyone involved. It is a showing of the beautiful work that can be created when people around the world work together as one human race.

Youthful Bab/One Human Race

Womanism is a worldview that emerged from African American women’s culture-based belief systems and historical experiences spanning Africa and the global African diaspora. Within the last 40 years, womanist scholars have documented the manifold dimensions of this worldview and also articulated its social / environmental / spiritual movement implications for all humanity. Understanding this worldview has the potential to illuminate dimensions of the Black experience – inside and outside the Bahá’í community – that shape the contours of community life, teaching, interpersonal relations, and even our ability to make progress on the Most Challenging Issue. In this web talk, major contours of womanism will be outlined and brought into dialogue with Bahá’í themes and issues.

Layli Maparyan

Layli Maparyan, PhD, is the Katherine Stone Kaufmann ’67 Executive Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women and Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. She is best known for her scholarship in the area of womanism and is the author of two groundbreaking texts in the field of womanist studies, The Womanist Reader (Routledge, 2006) and The Womanist Idea (Routledge, 2012); a third book is forthcoming. Maparyan has also published significantly in the areas of adolescent development, social identities, (including biracial/biethnic identity and the intersections of racial/ethnic, sexual, spiritual/religious, and gender identities), Black LGBTQ studies, Hip Hop studies, and history of psychology.

Maparyan’s scholar-activist work interweaves threads from the social sciences and the critical disciplines, incorporating basic and applied platforms around a common theme of integrating identities and communities in peaceable, ecologically sound, and self-actualizing ways.

065 African American Womanism And The Bahá’í Faith: New Approaches | Layli Maparyan |

Feeling anxious? Find out the real cause of anxiety and how to lessen its impact on the mind, body and soul.

Achieving Inner Peace

Dealing with Anxiety and Inner Turmoil (Part 1)

The Wilmette Institute was founded in 1995 to provide basic and advanced courses on the Bahá’í Faith. In 1998, the Wilmette Institute moved to a largely online study approach in order to provide educational classes to a broader student body. It now offers more than 50 unique courses on the web to an average of 30 students per course.

126 African American Women In The Bahá’í Faith- Intersectionality, Myths And Restorative History

Wilmette Institute

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