November 17. On this date in 1985, the Universal House of Justice wrote about the "Reinterment of Bahá'u'lláh's Faithful Half-Brother," noting "On 12 November 1952 the beloved Guardian jubilantly cabled"... "acquisition of vitally needed property...made possible by the precipitate flight of the former Arab owners."
To the Bahá'ís of the World
Beloved Friends,
It is with a feeling of joy and gratitude that we inform the Bahá'í world of the befitting reinterment of the remains of Mirza Muhammad-Quli, the faithful half-brother and companion in exile of Bahá'u'lláh, and of eleven members of his family, in a new Bahá'í cemetery on a hillside looking across Lake Kinneret and the hills of Galilee towards the Qiblih of the Faith.1 This historic event, coinciding fortuitously with the first formal presentation of The Promise of World Peace to a Head of State, is of especial significance in the annals of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.2
On 12 November 1952 the beloved Guardian jubilantly cabled the Bahá'í world his announcement of the acquisition of vitally needed property surrounding the Most Holy Shrine and the Mansion of Bahji in exchange for land donated by the grandchildren of Mirza Muhammad-Quli. 3
The land referred to in this cable had been in the possession of Mirza Muhammad-Quli on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, at a place called Nuqayb. He and his family lived there and farmed the land for many years and on his passing, at the instruction of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, his remains were buried there, as were subsequently those of members of his family.
In 1937 Kibbutz Ein Gev was established just to the north of the farm, and the two groups of settlers lived as amicable neighbors until the war of 1948 forced the family to leave the land which, lying on the troubled frontier of the new State of Israel, was expropriated by the Government. The grandchildren of Mirza Muhammad-Quli gave their rights in the land to the Faith which received in exchange the much needed land in Bahji. Thus the little cemetery passed out of Bahá'í hands. It remained untouched until 1972 when the decision was made to approach the authorities with a view to embellishing the site and maintaining it as a place of historic significance for the Faith. However, plans had already been made for the extension of the plantings of the kibbutz and the eventual development of the land in a way that would not permit the permanent reestablishment of the cemetery in that place. Negotiations were then entered into, as a result of which another plot of land in the immediate neighborhood, but slightly farther from the shore of the Lake on the slope of Tel Susita, was officially designated a Bahá'í cemetery and given over to the Bahá'í Community. The work of fencing it and planting suitable shrubs and trees was then put in hand and preparations were made to reinter the precious remains of this family.
On the morning of Friday 18 October 1985, as the final stage in this process, the remains of Mirza Muhammad-Quli himself were ceremoniously conveyed from the old cemetery to the new and were reinterred there in the presence of the Hands of the Cause Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum and 'Ali-Akbar Furutan, members of the Universal House of Justice and of the International Teaching Center, and a large gathering of World Center friends as well as representatives of the Israeli authorities and of Kibbutz Ein Gev. Mrs. Husniyyih Bahá'í, the granddaughter of Mirza Muhammad-Quli, who is now pioneering in St. Lucia in the West Indies, accompanied by members of her family, had been especially invited to attend the ceremony in honor of her illustrious forebear, to whom 'Abdu'l-Bahá paid eloquent tribute in Memorials of the Faithful.
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
2. Dr. Rudolph Kirchlaeger, the President of Austria, was the first head of state to receive The Promise of World Peace (see message no. 438).
3. On November 12, 1952, a cablegram sent by Shoghi Effendi announced the "acquisition of vitally-needed property" of the Mansion of Bahji and area around it from "the Development Authority of the State of Israel...The exchange of said property, including land and houses, was made possible by the precipitate flight of the former Arab owners."
Acquisition of Vitally-Needed Property
Announce to Bahá'í communities, East and West, on the joyous occasion of the hundred and thirty-fifth Anniversary of Bahá'u'lláh's Birthday, the successful termination of the protracted negotiations, initiated two years ago and culminating in the signature to the contract providing the eventual, formal transfer by the Development Authority of the State of Israel to the Palestine Branch of the American National Spiritual Assembly of the extensive, long-desired, vitally-needed property surrounding and safeguarding for posterity the Most Holy Tomb of the Founder of the Faith, as well as the adjoining Mansion.
The acquired area, raising Bahá'í holdings on the holy plain of Akka from four thousand to one hundred and fifty-five thousand square meters, was exchanged against property donated by children of Zikrullah, grandchildren of Mírzá Muhammad Quli, Bahá'u'lláh's faithful half-brother and companion in exile.
This spontaneous offer contrasts with the shameful action of the family in the sale to non-Baha'is of the property in the neighborhood of the Jordan valley purchased through the instrumentality of `Abdu'l-Bahá during Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, pursuant to His instructions and alluded to in His writings.
The forty acre property acquired in this single transaction almost equals the entire Bahá'í international endowments purchased in the course of sixty years in the vicinity of the Báb's Sepulcher on the slope of Mount Carmel.
The exchange of said property, including land and houses, was made possible by the precipitate flight of the former Arab owners, traditional supporters of the old Covenant-breakers and descendants of the notorious enemy of `Abdu'l-Bahá who placed his residence at the disposal of the Committee of Investigation.
The signature to the agreement signalized the commencement of large-scale landscaping, aiming at the beautification of the immediate precincts of the holiest spot in the entire Bahá'í world, itself the prelude to the eventual erection, as happened in the case of the Báb's Sepulcher, of a befitting Mausoleum enshrining the precious Dust of the Most Great Name.
Desire to acknowledge the indefatigable efforts exerted by both Larry Hautz and Leroy Ioas enabling the consummation of the initial stage of the enterprise destined to eclipse in its final phase the splendor and magnificence of the Báb's resting-place on Mount Carmel.
--Shoghi
[Cablegram, November 12, 1952]
No comments:
Post a Comment