The hour has now struck for this continent, on whose soil, more than a century ago, so much sacred blood was shed, in whose very heart deeds of such tragic heroism were performed, and in many of whose territories such brilliant victories have been won, to contribute, in association with its sister continents, to the progress and ultimate triumph of this global Crusade, in a manner befitting its unrivalled position in the entire Baha’i world.
The various Baha’i Communities dwelling within the borders of this continent and those situated to the south of its shores in the Antipodes, which include the oldest and most venerable among all the communities of the Baha’i world, and whose members in their aggregate constitute the overwhelming majority of the followers of Baha’u’llah, are called upon, in close association with four other Baha’i communities in the Western Hemisphere, to undertake in the course of the coming decade: First, the construction of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkar in Baha’u’llah’s native land, in the City of Tihran, surnamed by Baha’u’llah “Mother of the World”. Second, the purchase of land for the future construction of three Mashriqu’l-Adhkars, one in the city of Baghdad, enshrining the “Most Great House”, the third holiest city of the Baha’i world, one in New Delhi, the leading city of the Indian sub-continent, and the third in Sydney, the oldest and foremost Baha’i Centre in the Antipodes. Third, the formation of no less than eleven National Spiritual Assemblies, one each in Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma; one in Turkey and one in Afghanistan, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Persia; one in Japan, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States of America; one in New Zealand, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia and New Zealand, as well as four regional National Spiritual Assemblies, one in the Arabian Peninsula, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Persia; one in South-East Asia, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma; a third in the South Pacific, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States of America; and a fourth in the Near East, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is in Iraq. Fourth, the opening of the following forty-one virgin territories and islands: Andaman Islands, Bhutan, Daman, Diu, Goa, Karikal, Mahe, Mariana Islands, Nicobar Islands, Pondicherry, Sikkim, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma; Caroline Islands, Dutch New Guinea, Hainan Island, Kazakhstan, Macao Island, Sakhalin Island, Tibet, Tonga Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States of America; Brunei, Chagos Archipelago, Krigizia, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Persia; Admiralty Islands, Cocos Island, Loyalty Islands, Mentawei Islands, New Hebrides Islands, Portuguese Timor, Society Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia and New Zealand; Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Marshall Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Central America; Hadhramaut, Kuria-Muria Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Iraq; Marquesas Islands, Samoa Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Canada; Cook Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of South America. Fifth, the translation and publication of Baha’i literature in the following forty languages, to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma, in association with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia and New Zealand: Abor Miri, Aneityum, Annamese, Balochi, Bentuni, Binandere, Cheremiss, Chungchia, Georgian, Houailou, Javanese, Kado, Kaili, Kopu, Kusaie, Lepcha, Lifu, Manchu, Manipuri, Manus Island, Marquesas, Mentawei, Mongolian, Mordoff, Mwala, Na-Hsi, Nicobarese, Niue, Ossete, Ostiak, Pali, Panjabi, Pashto, Perm, Petats, Samoan, Tho, Tibetan, Tonga, Vogul. Sixth, the consolidation of Aden Protectorate, Adhirbayjan, Afghanistan, Ahsa, Armenia, Bahrayn Island, Georgia, Hijaz, Saudi-Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Yemen, allocated to the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Persia; of Baluchistan, Borneo, Burma, Ceylon, Indo-China, Indonesia, Malaya, Nepal, Pakistan, Sarawak, Siam, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma; of China, Formosa, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Philippine Islands, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States of America; of Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Trucial Sheikhs, Umman, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Iraq; of Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, New Caledonia, Australian New Guinea, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia and New Zealand; of Hong Kong, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the British Isles. Seventh, the incorporation of the eleven above-mentioned National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as those of Persia and Iraq. Eighth, the establishment by these above-mentioned eleven National Spiritual Assemblies of national Baha’i endowments. Ninth, the establishment of a national Haziratu’l-Quds in the capital cities of each of the countries where National Spiritual Assemblies are to be established, as well as one in Suva, one in Jakarta, one in Bahrayn and one in Beirut. Tenth, the establishment of a national Baha’i Court in the capital cities of Persia, of Iraq, of Pakistan and of Afghanistan—the leading Muslim centres in the Asiatic continent. Eleventh, the establishment of two National Baha’i Publishing Trusts, one in Tihran and one in New Delhi. Twelfth, the formation of Israel Branches of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha’is of Persia, of Iraq and Australia; authorized to hold on behalf of their parent institutions property dedicated to the holy Shrines at the World Centre of the Faith in the State of Israel. Thirteenth, the appointment, during Ridvan 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in Asia and in Australia of an auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the eight National Spiritual Assemblies participating in the Asiatic and Australian campaigns, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Baha’i centres, in the efficient and prompt execution of the Plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaigns in the continent of Asia
and in the Antipodes.
The Asiatic continent, the cradle of the principal religions of mankind; the home of so many of the oldest and mightiest civilizations which have flourished on this planet; the crossways of so many kindreds and races; the battleground of so many peoples and nations; above whose horizon, in modern times, the suns of two independent Revelations—the promise and consummation of a six thousand-year-old religious Cycle—have successively arisen; where the Authors of both of these Revelations suffered banishment and died; within whose confines the Centre of a divinely-appointed Covenant was born, endured a forty-year incarceration and passed away; on whose Western extremity the Qiblih of the Baha’i world has been definitely established; in whose heart the City proclaimed by Baha’u’llah as the “Mother of the World” is enshrined; within whose borders another City regarded as the “cynosure of an adoring world” and the scene of the greatest and most glorious Revelation the world has witnessed is embosomed; on whose soil so many saints, heroes and martyrs, associated with both of these Revelations, have lived, struggled and died—such a continent, so privileged among its sister continents and yet so long and so sadly tormented, now stands, at the hour of the launching of a world-encompassing Crusade, on the threshold of an era that may well recall, in its glory and ultimate repercussions, the great periods of spiritual revival which, from the dawn of recorded history have, at various stages in the revelation of God’s purpose for mankind, illuminated the path of the human race.
May this Crusade, launched simultaneously on the Asiatic mainland, its neighbouring islands and the Antipodes, under the direction of eight National Spiritual Assemblies, and through the operation of eight systematic Teaching Plans, and the concerted efforts of Baha’i communities in both the East and the West, provide, as it unfolds, an effective antidote to the baneful forces of atheism, nationalism, secularism and materialism that are tearing at the vitals of this turbulent continent, and may it re-enact those scenes of spiritual heroism which, more than any of the secular revolutions which have agitated its face, have left their everlasting imprint on the fortunes of the peoples and nations dwelling within its borders.—SHOGHI
October, 1953