March 1. On this date in 2017, the Universal House of Justice wrote "the Bahá’ís of the World" a letter regarding economic life noting "Although Bahá’u’lláh does not set out in His Revelation a detailed economic system...the future order conceived by Bahá’u’lláh is far beyond anything that can be imagined by the present generation."

March 1. On this date in 2017, the Universal House of Justice wrote "the Bahá’ís of the World" a letter regarding economic life noting "Although Bahá’u’lláh does not set out in His Revelation a detailed economic system...the future order conceived by Bahá’u’lláh is far beyond anything that can be imagined by the present generation."

The Universal House of Justice
1 March 2017
To the Bahá’ís of the World
Dearly loved Friends,
In an increasingly interconnected world, more light is being cast on the social conditions of every people, giving greater visibility to their circumstances. While there are developments that give hope, there is much that should weigh heavy on the conscience of the human race. Inequity, discrimination, and exploitation blight the life of humanity, seemingly immune to the treatments applied by political schemes of every hue. The economic impact of these afflictions has resulted in the prolonged suffering of so many, as well as in deep-seated, structural defects in society. No one whose heart has been attracted to the teachings of the Blessed Beauty can remain unmoved by these consequences. “The world is in great turmoil,” Bahá’u’lláh observes in the Lawḥ-i-Dunyá, “and the minds of its people are in a state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may graciously illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable them to discover that which will be profitable unto them at all times and under all conditions.” As the Bahá’í community strives to contribute at the level of thought and action to the betterment of the world, the adverse conditions experienced by many populations will more and more demand its attention.
The welfare of any segment of humanity is inextricably bound up with the welfare of the whole. Humanity’s collective life suffers when any one group thinks of its own well-being in isolation from that of its neighbours or pursues economic gain without regard for how the natural environment, which provides sustenance for all, is affected. A stubborn obstruction, then, stands in the way of meaningful social progress: time and again, avarice and self-interest prevail at the expense of the common good. Unconscionable quantities of wealth are being amassed, and the instability this creates is made worse by how income and opportunity are spread so unevenly both between nations and within nations. But it need not be so. However much such conditions are the outcome of history, they do not have to define the future, and even if current approaches to economic life satisfied humanity’s stage of adolescence, they are certainly inadequate for its dawning age of maturity. There is no justification for continuing to perpetuate structures, rules, and systems that manifestly fail to serve the interests of all peoples. The teachings of the Faith leave no room for doubt: there is an inherent moral dimension to the generation, distribution, and utilization of wealth and resources.
The stresses emerging out of the long-term process of transition from a divided world to a united one are being felt within international relations as much as in the deepening fractures that affect societies large and small. With prevailing modes of thought found to be badly wanting, the world is in desperate need of a shared ethic, a sure framework for addressing the crises that gather like storm clouds. The vision of Bahá’u’lláh challenges many of the assumptions that are allowed to shape contemporary discourse—for instance, that self-interest, far from needing to be restrained, drives prosperity, and that progress depends upon its expression through relentless competition. To view the worth of an individual chiefly in terms of how much one can accumulate and how many goods one can consume relative to others is wholly alien to Bahá’í thought. But neither are the teachings in sympathy with sweeping dismissals of wealth as inherently distasteful or immoral, and asceticism is prohibited. Wealth must serve humanity. Its use must accord with spiritual principles; systems must be created in their light. And, in Bahá’u’lláh’s memorable words, “No light can compare with the light of justice. The establishment of order in the world and the tranquillity of the nations depend upon it.”
Although Bahá’u’lláh does not set out in His Revelation a detailed economic system, a constant theme throughout the entire corpus of His teachings is the reorganization of human society. Consideration of this theme inevitably gives rise to questions of economics. Of course, the future order conceived by Bahá’u’lláh is far beyond anything that can be imagined by the present generation. Nevertheless, its eventual emergence will depend on strenuous effort by His followers to put His teachings into effect today. With this in mind, we hope that the comments below will stimulate thoughtful, ongoing reflection by the friends. The aim is to learn about how to participate in the material affairs of society in a way that is consistent with the divine precepts and how, in practical terms, collective prosperity can be advanced through justice and generosity, collaboration and mutual assistance.
Our call to examine the implications of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh for economic life is intended to reach Bahá’í institutions and communities but is directed more especially to the individual believer. If a new model of community life, patterned on the teachings, is to emerge, must not the company of the faithful demonstrate in their own lives the rectitude of conduct that is one of its most distinguishing features? Every choice a Bahá’í makes—as employee or employer, producer or consumer, borrower or lender, benefactor or beneficiary—leaves a trace, and the moral duty to lead a coherent life demands that one’s economic decisions be in accordance with lofty ideals, that the purity of one’s aims be matched by the purity of one’s actions to fulfil those aims. Naturally, the friends habitually look to the teachings to set the standard to which to aspire. But the community’s deepening engagement with society means that the economic dimension of social existence must receive ever more concentrated attention. Particularly in clusters where the community-building process is beginning to embrace large numbers, the exhortations contained in the Bahá’í Writings should increasingly inform economic relationships within families, neighbourhoods, and peoples. Not content with whatever values prevail in the existing order that surrounds them, the friends everywhere should consider the application of the teachings to their lives and, using the opportunities their circumstances offer them, make their own individual and collective contributions to economic justice and social progress wherever they reside. Such efforts will add to a growing storehouse of knowledge in this regard.

A foundational concept to explore in this context is the spiritual reality of man. In the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, the nobility inherent to every human being is unequivocally asserted; it is a fundamental tenet of Bahá’í belief, upon which hope for the future of humankind is built. The soul’s capacity to manifest all the names and attributes of God—He Who is the Compassionate, the Bestower, the Bountiful—is repeatedly affirmed in the Writings. Economic life is an arena for the expression of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, generosity, and other qualities of the spirit. The individual is not merely a self-interested economic unit, striving to claim an ever-greater share of the world’s material resources. “Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue”, Bahá’u’lláh avers, “and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches.” And further: “Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the pursuit of evil and corrupt affection, nor let your endeavours be spent in promoting your personal interest.” By consecrating oneself to the service of others, one finds meaning and purpose in life and contributes to the upliftment of society itself. At the outset of His celebrated treatise The Secret of Divine Civilization, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states:

And the honour and distinction of the individual consist in this, that he among all the world’s multitudes should become a source of social good. Is any larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that by the confirming grace of God he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight.

Viewed in this light, many seemingly ordinary economic activities gain new significance because of their potential to add to human welfare and prosperity. “Every person must have an occupation, a trade or a craft,” explains the Master, “so that he may carry other people’s burdens, and not himself be a burden to others.” The poor are urged by Bahá’u’lláh to “exert themselves and strive to earn the means of livelihood”, while they who are possessed of riches “must have the utmost regard for the poor”. “Wealth”, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has affirmed, “is praiseworthy in the highest degree, if it is acquired by an individual’s own efforts and the grace of God, in commerce, agriculture, art and industry, and if it be expended for philanthropic purposes.” At the same time, the Hidden Words is replete with warnings of its perilous allure, that wealth is a “mighty barrier” between the believer and the proper Object of his adoration. No wonder, then, that Bahá’u’lláh extols the station of the wealthy one who is not hindered by riches from attaining the eternal kingdom; the splendour of such a soul “shall illuminate the dwellers of heaven even as the sun enlightens the people of the earth!” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá declares that “if a judicious and resourceful individual should initiate measures which would universally enrich the masses of the people, there could be no undertaking greater than this, and it would rank in the sight of God as the supreme achievement”. For wealth is most commendable “provided the entire population is wealthy.” Examining one’s life to determine what is a necessity and then discharging with joy one’s obligation in relation to the law of Ḥuqúqu’lláh is an indispensable discipline to bring one’s priorities into balance, purify whatever wealth one possesses, and ensure that the share which is the Right of God provides for the greater good. At all times, contentment and moderation, benevolence and fellow feeling, sacrifice and reliance on the Almighty are qualities that befit the God-fearing soul.
The forces of materialism promote a quite contrary line of thinking: that happiness comes from constant acquisition, that the more one has the better, that worry for the environment is for another day. These seductive messages fuel an increasingly entrenched sense of personal entitlement, which uses the language of justice and rights to disguise self-interest. Indifference to the hardship experienced by others becomes commonplace while entertainment and distracting amusements are voraciously consumed. The enervating influence of materialism seeps into every culture, and all Bahá’ís recognize that, unless they strive to remain conscious of its effects, they may to one degree or another unwittingly adopt its ways of seeing the world. Parents must be acutely aware that, even when very young, children absorb the norms of their surroundings. The junior youth spiritual empowerment programme encourages thoughtful discernment at an age when the call of materialism grows more insistent. With the approach of adulthood comes a responsibility, shared by one’s generation, not to allow worldly pursuits to blind one’s eyes to injustice and privation. Over time, the qualities and attitudes nurtured by the courses of the training institute, through exposure to the Word of God, help individuals to see past the illusions that, at every stage of life, the world uses to pull attention away from service and towards the self. And ultimately, the systematic study of the Word of God and the exploration of its implications raises consciousness of the need to manage one’s material affairs in keeping with the divine teachings.
Beloved Friends: The extremes of wealth and poverty in the world are becoming ever more untenable. As inequity persists, so the established order is seen to be unsure of itself, and its values are being questioned. Whatever the tribulations that a conflicted world must confront in the future, we pray that the Almighty will help His loved ones to overcome every obstacle in their path and assist them to serve humanity. The larger the presence of a Bahá’í community in a population, the greater its responsibility to find ways of addressing the root causes of the poverty in its surroundings. Although the friends are at the early stages of learning about such work and of contributing to the related discourses, the community-building process of the Five Year Plan is creating everywhere the ideal environment in which to accrue knowledge and experience, gradually but consistently, about the higher purpose of economic activity. Against the background of the age-long work of erecting a divine civilization, may this exploration become a more pronounced feature of community life, institutional thought, and individual action in the years ahead.
[signed: The Universal House of Justice]

March 1. On this date in 1951, Shoghi Effendi wrote a letter to the NSA of Canada expressing his "hopes for the eventual consummation of the Plan which its members are so steadfastly prosecuting."

March 1. On this date in 1951, Shoghi Effendi wrote a letter to the NSA of Canada expressing his "hopes for the eventual consummation of the Plan which its members are so steadfastly prosecuting."

Haifa, Israel,
March 1, 1951.

National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada.

Your letters ... with enclosures, have been received; and our beloved Guardian has instructed me to answer you on his behalf...
Although he is finding it so difficult to keep up with his correspondence, owing to the increase of work here at the International Centre, he follows with interest the progress being made by the believers in Canada; and is delighted to see how your Assembly is growing in maturity and capacity to handle the problems which invariably arise in connection with administering the affairs of the Faith in such a vast area as the Dominion of Canada.
He was very happy to know that the work in connection with the Indians and the Eskimos is receiving special attention; and he would like your Assembly to please express to Miss Nan Brandle+E9 his deep appreciation of the unique service she is rendering the Cause, and of the exemplary spirit which is animating her. He hopes other believers will follow in her footsteps, and arise to do work in this very important field of Bahá'í activity.
He was also pleased to see that your Assembly had increased the annual budget, as this expresses the determination of the Canadian believers to expand their activities and carry on their work on a larger scale than ever before.

CONTACT WITH ARCTIC ESKIMOS

He was also very pleased to see that Mr. Bond+E10 had gone north and had been able to contact the Arctic Eskimos. He hopes that the way will open for this devoted believer to establish a more permanent contact in that area in some field of government work.

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He considers the policy of your Assembly of helping delegates from distant points to attend the Convention, an excellent one, as the attendance of these delegates enables them to carry back a very real awareness of the work in hand and the needs of the hour, to their local communities.

STIRRING EXAMPLE OF BRITISH PIONEERS

The Guardian feels that, although the Canadian Bahá'ís are making excellent progress in consolidating their National Assembly and its subsidiary committees, in holding Conferences and Summer Schools, in sending forth travelling teachers, and in contacting the important minority groups, the Eskimos and Indians, that they are not making sufficient progress in the all-important field of pioneer activity. If they are to succeed in accomplishing their plan, a far greater number of Canadian Bahá'ís will have to arise and go into the pioneer field. He feels sure that they can do this, as they have already had the stirring example of how much was done in the British Isles by a community of about their size. In comparing the problem which faced the British Bahá'ís under their Six Year Plan, and that which faces the Canadian Bahá'ís under their Five Year Plan, the friends should bear in mind that they were spared the severest ordeals of the war, the extreme restrictions and rationing which the British believers had to put up with. If the British Bahá'ís, with all their handicaps and suffering real physical and nervous exhaustion from the long war years, could accomplish so much, then surely the Canadian Bahá'ís, who were spared these conditions, are in a much better state to carry on and prosecute their tasks. What was done at the very breaking point in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales could be done--must be done--by the Canadian believers, with much less effort. Although sacrifice is required, he feels sure that the friends are ready and willing to make the necessary sacrifice, and arise to insure that the very first Plan, the very first organized work undertaken by them as an independent National Bahá'í Community, will be carried forward and victory insured by the appointed time.
He assures all the members of your Assembly, and through you, the community that you serve and represent, that your work is very dear to his heart, and that you are often remembered in his prayers. He is waiting to receive the good news that many more objectives have been achieved during this coming Bahá'í year.

With warmest Bahá'í love,

R. RABBANI.

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Dear and Valued Co-workers:

The energy, fidelity and courage, with which the Canadian Bahá'í Community has, in the course of this past year, faced its problems, discharged its duties and expanded the scope of its teaching and administrative activities merit the highest praise, and have greatly raised my hopes for the eventual consummation of the Plan which its members are so steadfastly prosecuting. Though unable, owing to a chain of circumstances beyond my control, to address them more frequently and convey to them my feelings of gratitude and admiration for their recent achievements, I have followed closely the course of their manifold activities, perused, with care and interest, the various publications which testify to their unremitting labours, and remembered them in my prayers in the holy Shrines.

FUTURE OF CANADA VERY GREAT

This community though still in its infancy, is manifesting, in the course of the first years of its existence as an independent administrative entity, a virility, a steadfastness of purpose, a dedication to the Cause it serves, an organizing ability in the administration of its affairs that augur well for the glorious destiny disclosed by the Pen of the Author of the Divine Plan in His epoch-making Tablets. Already in the early stages of its life, when its administrative machinery was still merged with the institutions evolved by the followers of the Faith residing in the great Republic of the West, its fame, through a series of memorable events and noble exploits that have greatly enriched the annals of the Cause of God, had spread far and wide and the shadow of its future glory had run before it to the remotest corners of the Bahá'í World. For was it not `Abdu'l-Bahá's own pen which, as far back as the dark years of the First World War, had forecast the splendor of the memorable achievements which, spiritually and materially, would distinguish and illuminate its annals in the years to come? "The future of the Dominion of Canada ... is very great and the events connected with it infinitely glorious... Again I repeat that the future of Canada is very great, whether from a material or a spiritual standpoint."+E2

IMPERISHABLE RECORD OF INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

It was a Canadian+E11, of French extraction, who through his vision and skill was instrumental in conceiving the design, and delineating the features, of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of the West, marking the first attempt, however rudimentary, to express the beauty which Bahá'í art will, in its plenitude,

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unfold to the eyes of the world. It was a Canadian woman+E12, one of the noblest in the ranks of Bahá'í pioneers, who alone and single-handed, forsook her home, settled among an alien people, braved with a leonine spirit the risks and dangers of the world conflict that raged around her, and who now, at an advanced age and suffering from infirmities, is still holding the Fort and is setting an example, worthy of emulation by all her fellow pioneers of both the East and the West. It was a member+E13 of that same community who won the immortal distinction of being called upon to be my helpmate, my shield in warding off the darts of Covenant-breakers and my tireless collaborator in the arduous tasks I shoulder. It was a Canadian subject+E1, the spiritual mother of that same community, who, though fully aware of the risks of the voyage she was undertaking, journeyed as far as the capital of Argentina to serve a Cause that had honoured her so uniquely, and there laid down her life and won the everlasting crown of martyrdom. It was, moreover, a Canadian+E5 who more recently achieved the immortal renown of designing the exquisite shell destined to envelop, preserve and embellish the holy and priceless structure enshrining the dust of the Beloved Founder of our Faith.
A community which, in the course of less than fifty years, has to its credit such an imperishable record of international service, and standing now on the threshold of a new epoch in its evolution, recognized as a self-governing member of the family of Bahá'í national communities, functioning according to a Plan of its own conceived for its orderly and efficient development, must, if it is to maintain the standard of excellence it has already attained, display on a still wider front, and continue to demonstrate, a no less profound spirit of dedication, as it forges ahead, in the years to come, along the road laid down for it by the Centre of the Covenant Himself in His historic Tablets.

CO-HEIR OF THE TABLETS OF THE DIVINE PLAN

As co-partner with the American Bahá'í Community in the execution of the Divine Plan, it must evince in both the administrative and pioneer fields, a heroism that may be truly worthy of its high calling. In the remote and inhospitable regions of the North, amidst the Eskimos of Greenland and the Indians of the Dominion of Canada; throughout the Provinces of a far flung territory where newly fledged assemblies, and nuclei of future Bahá'í institutions in the form of groups and isolated centres, lie scattered; in its relationships and negotiations with the local, provincial and national representatives of civil authority in issues affecting matters of personal status and the independence of the Faith and the establishment of its endowments; in its contact

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with the masses and in its effort to publicize the Faith, enhance its prestige and disseminate its literature, this community, so young, so vibrant with life, so laden with blessings, so rich in promise, must rise to such heights, achieve such fame as shall eclipse the radiance of its past administrative and pioneer achievements.
Then and only then, will this community acquire the spiritual potentialities that will enable it to discharge, as befits a co-heir of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, the tremendous responsibilities, and fulfil the functions, devolving upon it beyond the oceans, and in all the continents of the globe.
May this community, the leaven placed by the hands of Providence in the midst of a people belonging to a nation, likewise young, dynamic, richly endowed with material resources, and assured of a great material prosperity by `Abdu'l-Bahá, play its part not only in lending a notable impetus to the world-wide propagation of the Faith it has espoused, but contribute, as its resources multiply and as it gains in stature, to the spiritualization and material progress of the nation of which it forms so vital a part.

SHOGHI.

March 1. On this date in 1911, Oothout Zabriskie Whitehead, known as "O.Z." or "Zebby", an American film and stage actor who authored several volumes of biographical sketches of early members of the Bahá'í Faith, was born in New York City.

March 1. On this date in 1911, Oothout Zabriskie Whitehead, known as "O.Z." or "Zebby", an American film and stage actor who authored several volumes of biographical sketches of early members of the Bahá'í Faith, was born in New York City.

Oothout Zabriskie Whitehead was born on March 1, 1911, in New York City. As a child he was fascinated by films and the theatre and decided to make his career as an actor after his father took him to see Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid in 1921. After years in stage, film and television Whitehead struggled in the Hollywood Studio system due to being a pacifist in World War II and became dissatisfied with the roles he was given.

In his career he was a stage and film character actor, and was one of the longest surviving members of John Ford's "stock company" of character actors. His best-known part was as Al in Ford's 1940 adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.

O.Z. Whitehead first heard of the Bahá'í Faith in 1949, and at his first informational meeting on the religion he heard Marzieh Gail speak. He became a Bahá'í in late 1950, and began giving public talks on the religion throughout the 1950's, for example at World Religion Day observances. In 1955 Whitehead went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1963 he attended the first Bahá'í World Congress in London, after which he pioneered to Ireland which allowed him to take advantage of Dublin theatrical opportunities. Whitehead was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Dublin and in 1972, along with Adib Taherzadeh, he was elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of Ireland on which he served for fifteen years.

From about 1973 until the end of his life Whitehead devoted much of his time to the concerns of the religion including work resulting in publishing three books collecting biographies of early Bahá'ís while in his 6th decade but he also supported the Irish Actors' Equity and the Screen Actors' Guild and served on the executive of the Irish branch of PEN, the international writers' club.

Although he never married, he was in a long-term and very private relationship with actress Katharine Hepburn. The couple met through Dick Hepburn, who studied at Harvard University with Whitehead. After they agreed to part, Whitehead was never known to be in another relationship.

O.Z. Whitehead died of cancer in Dublin, Ireland, on July 29, 1998, at the age of 87.

March 1. On this date in 1873, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the "Lawh-i-Rú'yá" (the Tablet of Vision).

March 1. On this date in 1873, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Lawh-i-Rú'yá (the Tablet of Vision).

March 1. On this date in 1905, Shirin Fozdar was born to Zoroastrian parents who had converted to the Bahá'í Faith in Bombay. Along with her husband, Khodadad Fozdar, they were the first Bahá'í pioneers to Singapore. She was an inaugural member of the National Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia.

March 1. On this date in 1905, Shirin Fozdar was born to Zoroastrian parents who had converted to the Bahá'í Faith in Bombay. Along with her husband, Khodadad Fozdar, they were the first Bahá'í pioneers to Singapore. She was an inaugural member of the National Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia.

Shirin Fozdar was born on March 1, 1905 to Persian Zoroastrian parents who had converted to the Bahá'í Faith in Bombay. The family went on a Bahá'í Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1906 when she was eleven months old, and Shirin took her first steps holding onto ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's cloak. The family made a second Pilgrimage in 1911, and Shirin first met Shoghi Effendi. In 1922 she gave a talk on universal education at the Indian Bahá'í National Convention in Karachi.

In 1925 Shirin married Khodadad Fozdar, a medical doctor, and he became a Bahá'í soon after their marriage. The Fozdars had three sons, Jamshed, John, and Minoo, and two daughters. Jamshed was an early pioneer to Sarawak and became the most important Bahá’í writer on the Bahá’í fulfilment of Buddhist prophecies. John became a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for Brunei in 1954.

In 1931 she was elected to the Executive Committee of the All-Asian Women's Conference, a non-Bahá'í group, and in 1934 she was a representative of the Asian Women's Conference at the League of Nations. Shirin met Shoghi Effendi again when she went on Pilgrimage a third time with Khodadad in 1935, and Shoghi Effendi assured them that they were protected by God.

In January 1938 Shirin and Khodadad visited Colombo, Sri Lanka, with Martha Root for ten days. The Fozdars spoke at a local Parsi club. Shirin then accompanied Martha to Mysore and Bangalore. Shirin also visited Burma in the 1930's, and Khodadad's position as Medical Officer of a Railway Company allowed her to travel across India to give talks on the faith and women's rights.

In 1941 Mahatma Gandhi asked Shirin to visit Ahmedabad on his behalf to speak on unity in response to Hindu Muslim tensions in the city. Her work towards women's rights in the 1940's was acknowledged by both Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

In 1950 Khodadad resigned from his job and the Fozdars pioneered to Singapore. They gave talks on the Faith, and Shirin was able to give talks to notable local women's organisations. In 1952 Shirin founded the Singapore Council of Women with 2000 members, and she was appointed as the group's Secretary-General. The group's efforts helped lead to the establishment of the Singapore Women's Charter in 1961. In late 1952 she visited Australia and New Zealand for several months to undertake a teaching tour.

In December 1953 Yankee Leong helped Shirin arrange talks on the Faith in Malacca, Seremban and Kuala Lumpur. He declared during this teaching tour making him the first Bahá'í of Malaya (now Malaysia). In 1953 Khodad became a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for the Andaman Islands. In 1954 she visited Saigon, Vietnam, and became the first Bahá’í to visit French Indochina. She also visited Phnom Penh in Cambodia where she was presented with the country's first medal for being a Champion of Women's Rights.

In 1957 both Shirin and her husband were elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia at the first South East Asia Convention held in Djakarta, Indonesia. Khodadad died the following year, a few days before the second South East Asia Convention. In 1958 she was part of a Singapore Delegation to the Afro-Asian Women's Conference in Colombo, and she was invited to China by the All China Federation of Women in 1959. She was invited to give talks relating to women's rights in the United States by the U.S. State Department after her visit to China.

In 1961 Shirin pioneered to teach the Bahá'í Faith in Bangkok, Thailand, and met with King Bhumibol Adulyadej. She established Santitham Vittayakom School in northeast Thailand. She moved back to Singapore in 1971, and in 1988 she received an award from the Singapore Council of Womens Organisations acknowledging her contribution to the women's movement. She returned to India at some point, where she suffered a heart attack in Bombay, after which she returned to Singapore where she died on September 2, 1992 due to cancer.

March 1. On this date in 1940, May Maxwell died of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An early American Bahá'í, she was married to Hand of the Cause of God William Sutherland Maxwell, who designed the Shrine of the Báb, and was the mother of Mary Maxwell, the future Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum.

March 1. On this date in 1940, May Maxwell died of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An early American Bahá'í, she was married to Hand of the Cause of God William Sutherland Maxwell, who designed the Shrine of the Báb, and was the mother of Mary Maxwell, the future Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum.

May Maxwell was born in Englewood, New Jersey on January 14, 1870. An early American Bahá'í, she was married to Hand of the Cause of God William Sutherland Maxwell, who designed the Shrine of the Báb, and was the mother of Mary Maxwell, the future Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum.
The Sutherland's were active Bahá'ís throughout their lives. For example, on September 2, 1912, during his tour of North America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave a talk in the Maxwell's Montreal home where he presented his views on native cultures, Africans, indigenous North Americans and pre-Columbian America.

May Maxwell died on March 1, 1940, of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she was teaching the Faith. Shoghi Effendi, her son-in-law, gave her the status of martyr. Keith Ransom-Kehler, who died of small pox in Isfahan on October 23, 1933, is considered the first American Bahá’í martyr. But Lidia Zamenhoff, who died in a Nazi concentration camp while teaching the Bahá’í Faith in Poland, was explicitly stated not to be a martyr.

Shoghi Effendi cabled the following about May Maxwell on March 3, 1940...

'Abdu'l-Bahá's beloved handmaid, distinguished disciple May Maxwell (is) gathered (into the) glory (of the) Abhá Kingdom. Her earthly life, so rich, eventful, incomparably blessed, (is) worthily ended. To sacred tie her signal services had forged, (the) priceless honor (of a) martyr's death (is) now added. (A) double crown deservedly won. (The) Seven-Year Plan, particularly (the) South American campaign, derive fresh impetus (from the) example (of) her glorious sacrifice. Southern outpost (of) Faith greatly enriched through association (with) her historic resting-place destined remain (a) poignant reminder (of the) resistless march (of the) triumphant army (of) Baháʼu'lláh. Advise believers (of) both Americas (to) hold befitting memorial gathering.

Shoghi Effendi cabled the following about Lidia Zamenhof on January 28, 1946...

Heartily approve nationwide observance for dauntless Lydia Zamenhof. Her notable services, tenacity, modesty, unwavering devotion fully merit high tribute by American believers. Do not advise, however, that you designate her a martyr.

Shortly after May Maxwell's death in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 1, 1940, plans were made for the construction of a memorial at her gravesite. Designed by her husband, William Sutherland Maxwell, and approved by Shoghi Effendi, the memorial was dedicated on May 10, 1943 by the Bahá'ís of Buenos Aires at Quilmes Cemetery on behalf of the Bahá'ís of North and South America.
On May 12 1943, Shoghi Effendi cabled Argentine Bahá'ís he was "delighted (at the) completion (and) dedication (of the) Maxwell Memorial.

111-Completion and Dedication of Maxwell Memorial
12 MAY 1943
DELIGHTED COMPLETION DEDICATION MAXWELL MEMORIAL SYMBOLIC ACT NOBLY CONSUMMATED CONVEY BUENOS AIRES ASSEMBLY CONGRATULATIONS GRATITUDE ASSURANCE LOVING PRAYERS SPIRITUAL PARTICIPATION HISTORIC CEREMONY. APPRECIATE PHOTOGRAPHS DEDICATION GATHERING.

March 1. On this date in 1897, Shoghi Effendi was born in in the House of Abdullah Pasha in Acre to Ḍíyá'íyyih Khánum, the eldest daughter of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Mírzá Hádí Shírází, a relative of the the Báb. By the time of his death, Shoghi Effendi had declared all of his relatives, including his siblings and cousins, as Covenant-breakers for such offences as marrying or traveling without his permission or maintaining contact with relatives who had previously been declared Covenant-breakers.

March 1. On this date in 1897, Shoghi Effendi was born in in the House of Abdullah Pasha in Acre to Ḍíyá'íyyih Khánum, the eldest daughter of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Mírzá Hádí Shírází, a relative of the the Báb. By the time of his death, Shoghi Effendi had declared all of his relatives, including his siblings and cousins, as Covenant-breakers for such offences as marrying or traveling without his permission or maintaining contact with relatives who had previously been declared Covenant-breakers.

For example, Husayn Ali Rabbani was Shoghi Effendi's brother. In April 1945, Shoghi Effendi sent the following cable to the Bahá'í world: "My faithless brother Husayn, after long period of dishonourable conduct, has abandoned the Master's home to consort with his sister and other Covenant-breakers." In March 1950, Shoghi Effendi would send a further cable: "Faithless brother Hussein, already abased through dishonorable conduct over period (of) years followed by association with Covenant-breakers (in) Holy Land and efforts (to) undermine Guardian's position, recently further demeaned himself through marriage under obscure circumstances with lowborn Christian girl (in) Europe."

 Shoghi Effendi would later defend the use of the term "lowborn Christian girl" as follows: "Regarding his cable concerning Hussein: he has been very surprised to note that the terms 'low-born Christian girl ' and 'disgraceful alliance' should arouse any question; it seems to him that the friends should realize it is not befitting for the Guardian's own brother, the grandchild of the Master, an Afnán and Aghsán mentioned in the Will and Testament of the Master, and of whom so much was expected because of his relation to the family of the Prophet, to marry an unknown girl, according to goodness knows what rite, who is not a believer at all."

Regarding Munib Shahid, his cousin through 'Abdu'l-Bahá's daughter Ruha, Shoghi Effendi sent the following cable to the Bahá'í world in November 1944: "Monib Shahid, grandson of both `Abdu'l-Bahá and the King of Martyrs, married according to the Moslem rites the daughter of a political exile who is nephew of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. This treacherous act of alliance with enemies of the Faith merits condemnation of entire Bahá'í world."

In a letter titled "Old and New Covenant-Breakers," Shoghi Effendi called one brother "my own treacherous, despicable brother Riaz."

Shoghi Effendi would similarly declare as Covenant-breakers all of his remaining siblings and first cousins.