SPECIAL FEATURE

 

Encountering Ruhíyyih Khánum

 

Following a request in the last issue of Bahá’í Journal UK we have received these personal memories of Ruhíyyih Khánum and reflections on her remarkable life

 

The following text is a spontaneous outpouring of the heart with no planned purpose or audience: We, as Bahá’ís, have ever endeavoured to know ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as our Exemplar. Always we have turned to His model of living when coping with some challenging question of the way we should be, what we should say, how we should think. We love Him, cherish His words, immerse ourselves in His thoughts and prayers. It is no wonder, then, we tend to place Him on a pedestal; though it is intuitively obvious we are making things impossible for ourselves. We hold Him up on that pedestal to an exemplified station that we find impossible to attain. We are an ironic species.

 

How blessed we are that our Guardian appointed Hands of the Cause. From the multitude of ordinary people who were believers in God’s Cause for this day, these women and men of stature in the discerning eye of Shoghi Effendi were selected. These outstanding servants were the sort of people we meet every day. How easy it is to think of Leroy Ioas on the commuter train playing a game of rummy with us. How simple to think of bringing a plate of cookies over to Dorothy Baker’s house and having tea with her. How congenially we can picture meeting Bill Sears at the gas station filling up his car or John Robarts playing with the children on the floor in front of the fireplace. We could see the best of ourselves in them and determine how much we wanted to try in our own lives. We could never know that any of them actually attained the example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but they certainly showed us how it is done. Then, perhaps we recall how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá never wanted a pedestal in the first place.

 

Now we are at a transition point we all knew was coming. Maybe we wondered, in our Bahá’í lives, how we would react, or feel, or think when we witnessed the end of the Hands of the Cause. We knew it was inevitable. That inevitability is so much more vivid, now Death, the messenger of joy, presents her news in a solemn forthrightness. With the passing of this distinctive one, this last of the Holy Family, this grand matron of servitude’s honour, Rúhíyyih Khánum, the triad of Hands we enjoyed in this world is now two. Our link to a glorious past is gradually separating.

 

As the reality of it all settles in, we may sense the spirit within us subside into a quiet, reverent solitude. We feel the lump in the throat begin to swell. We feel the heart on duty within our breasts sustaining our God-given life. Perhaps we even meditate on the sound of it in our ears. Holding the prayer book, we may seek the right words to say. There is an unexpected feeling to realise in this time. It is evident in a declaration in the congregational prayer for the dead. It is, "We all, verily, yield thanks unto God." This is a small cord of reality extended to us by God for our happiness.

 

From all the lives of our Central Figures, of the Guardian’s works, of the burdens borne by the Hands of the Cause, we have an Order that was not in existence a mere four decades ago. We have a spiritual system that has matured to where it stands by itself, substantial and in place, taking on the affairs of the world and of the hearts, a fulfillment of expectations and prophecies for millennium, a supreme culmination to ages past, a channel of God’s love on earth, a bulwark against a world in a hurricane of its own demise. It is real. It is ready. And God the Father would not be removing these cherished ones from our midst if His children were not absolutely prepared to move on to the next part of His grand, divine plan. The last of the Holy Family, this one of the Hands of the Cause of Almighty God, this beloved friend has been taken up to the realm of empowerment and beauty and paradise. Let us all give thanks amidst our tears, for what could be greater than that God, Himself, should so demonstrate His confidence in us? Let us, therefore, be worthy of that confidence. We have not been endowed with promises of our station as believers for nothing. As believers we truly are spiritually descendents of the Dawnbreakers, of the station of such prophets of the house of Israel as are not regarded as Manifestations "endowed with constancy"; and the Prophets of the past do yearn to be in the world in this of all days of God. The Guardian tells us so.

 

God has our beloved Rúhíyyih Khánum in His cherishing embrace. Let us envision her happiness and His effulgence of bounty upon all His creatures in every world. Then, let us shoulder our responsibilities and go to fulfil that for which we have been prepared.

 

D L Drong

 

Israel Postal Authority, Telegraph Center 25-Jan-00

 

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

 

The Universal House of Justice Bahá’í World Centre, PO Box 155, Haifa (31001) Israel

 

From HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

 

I was very sorry to hear the sad news of Madame Rabbani’s death. She will be missed by everyone especially all those who worked closely with her.

 

Philip

 

A letter to the American Bahá’í community from President Clinton:

 

THE WHITE HOUSE Washington

 

February 11, 2000

 

Dr Firuz Kazemzadeh, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States

 

Dear Firuz:

 

Hillary and I were saddened to learn of the death of Rúhíyyih Rabbaní. As the wife of Shoghi Effendi, and later as one of the Hands of the Cause, she made extraordinary contributions to the internal continuity of the Baha’i faith, and her extensive travels fostered the integration of that faith in the global community. She also played an important role in the commitment of the Baha’is to racial reconciliation and the cause of women’s rights. To read of Ruhiyyih Rabbani’s wide-ranging interests in literature, the environment, the arts, and of her pursuits is to understand in small part what her loss means not only to your community, but also to the world. Please know that our thoughts are with you and the entire Baha’i community.

 

Sincerely, Bill Clinton

 

20 June 1995

 

Mrs Lynda M Hill

 

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

 

Thank you for your card of 8 June 1995. Mrs Nakhjavani and I are just off on a trip to Albania and Italy of some weeks’ duration so this is just a note to suggest that, as your daughter Jenny’s pet died, you buy her a guinea pig. I can assure you a guinea pig makes a very rewarding pet! All they need is an empty drawer, a box or a carton; they eat vegetables and bread; they love being petted - and it is good for a child to have a pet! I have had lots of guinea pigs in my life and I have always found them a very rewarding pet. They may not be brilliant intellectually but they are a more or less non-smelly animal if one keeps their cage clean, become very tame and can be cuddled very satisfactorily.

 

The dinner we all attended together in London was a very happy and pleasant occasion and Mrs Nakhjavani and I enjoyed it very much.

 

With warmest Bahá’í greetings, in which you might include your daughter,

 

(signed) Rúhíyyih

 

The day after the Guardian’s funeral

 

An extract from the address given by Rúhíyyih Rabbáni on Sunday, 10th November 1957, at Hazíratu’l-Quds, 27 Rutland Gate, London: Present were Hands of the Cause, Board Members, National Spiritual Assembly members and believers from all quarters of the globe, on the death in London of our Beloved Shoghi Effendi.

 

Friends, I know that it is not only my heart that is broken, but the hearts of everybody - I think that each heart has in it everything that it can hold. You can only take from the ocean of grief your measure, however big the measure may be - (and) fill it. I think that each heart all over the world has filled its cup to the brim of sorrow. There can never be any more sorrow. Now there is only one thing for us to do and that is to cherish this Faith which we love so much - which the Báb died for, which Bahá’u’lláh suffered for, of which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: "from this cage, I am a broken-winged bird", which the Guardian gave thirty-six years of his life for, and which twenty thousand martyrs died for. This Cause is ours - we must protect it, cherish it and if at all possible, die for it. We must love each other - the overwhelming shield of Bahá’u’lláh is the love of the friends for each other. We have never been old enough in the Faith to be united. We have been united sometimes in some circumstances and in some places. At Tarbasi they were united; the martyrs were united when they died; they were united when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away. All the friends have not lived up to this great spiritual injunction of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and (the) Guardian to be united and love each other. This is not a Cause based on instructions - the love in the hearts of Bahá’ís, this is the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh - this is the thing which is to set the world on fire. Most of you are Hands of the Cause and NSA members and Board Members; you all have tremendous responsibility and as you had the privilege of being close to (the) Guardian for the last time yesterday, your responsibility is very sacred. Go out and unite Bahá’ís - love Bahá’ís - take them into your arms and heal Bahá’ís because their hearts are broken - they have lost their father.

 

Re-transcribed 25th February 1997 by Jean Gash

 

Provisional translation from French. This letter from the President of the Republic, Jacques Chirac, was received by the National Spiritual Assembly of France on 7 Feb 2000.

 

I have learnt with sadness the bereavement which you have just suffered. Allow me to convey to you my most heartfelt condolences and my best regards.

 

(signed)

 

 

Rúhíyyih Khánum, Kampala, January 1958

 

Rúhíyyih Khánum accompanied by Philip Hainsworth during a visit to London in 1993 where she addressed the Friends at the Grosvenor Hotel, Park Lane.

 

Friday, 21 January 2000

 

The Universal House of Justice, Bahá’í World Centre

 

Beloved Brethrens in the cause of God,

 

I am deeply touched by your message on the passing away of our beloved sister Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and distinguished Hand of the Cause of God. I cherished joyful memories of my association with her during her two historic visits to Samoa for the laying of the cornerstone and the dedication of the Mother temple of the Pacific. In both visits her influence has greatly illumined my understanding of the spirit of the Faith, and strengthened my resolve to dedicate all of my life to serve the interests of my people and protect the cause of God in Samoa.

 

As you gather to inter her remains in the Holy Land, I wish to convey to you all my heartfelt condolences and join you in fervent prayers to our Heavenly Father for His outpouring of assurances that will lighten our burden of sorrows on this sad occasion and inspire the rededication of our lives to the work of our Faith ’Amatu’l-Bahá Ruhíyyih Khánum has sacrificed all of her life.

 

With loving Bahá’í greetings, (signed)

 

Malietoa Tanumafili II Head of State of Samoa

 

State of Israel The President

 

Jerusalem, 20th January, 2000

 

Mr Albert Lincoln, Bahá’í World Centre,

 

Dear Mr Secretary General,

 

I have learnt with great sorrow of the passing away of Madame Ruhiyyih Rabbani, widow of the late Head of the Baha’i Faith.

 

On behalf of the people of Israel, my wife and myself I would like to extend to you, and through you to the entire Baha’i community throughout the world, my condolences and heartfelt sentiments of participation in your bereavement.

 

Yours sincerely, (signed)

 

Ezer Weizman

 

Her father’s illness

 

"When my father fell desperately ill in the winter of 1949-50 his condition was despaired of by his doctors. He reached a point where he seemed to have no conscious mind left, could not recognize me, his only and idolized child, at all, and had no more control over himself than if he were six months old. If I had needed any convincing on the subject of whether man has a soul or not I received conclusive proof of its existence at that time. When Shoghi Effendi would come in to see my father, although he could not speak, and gave no conscious sign whatever of the Guardian’s nearness, a flutter, a tremor, some reaction wholly ephemeral but nevertheless visible, would pass over him because of the very presence of Shoghi Effendi. It was so extraordinary and so evident that his nurse (the best in Haifa) also noticed it and was greatly puzzled by it. It went against all laws of the mind, which, as it fades, remembers the distant past more vividly than the immediate past. Shoghi Effendi was determined my father should not die. At his insistence, when no one, including me, had the slightest hope, we took him with his nurse to Switzerland, where he rapidly recovered under the care of our own doctor, a recovery so complete that a few weeks later, when his Swiss nurse and I took him for his first drive and he caught sight of a cafe in the midst of a garden, he promptly invited us to go in and have tea with him - an offer I accepted with feelings of wonder and gratitude that are indescribable. It was after this healing had taken place that the Guardian, in a message to America sent in July 1950, reporting progress in the construction of the Shrine of the Báb, was moved to allude to these events:" My gratitude is deepened by miraculous recovery of its gifted architect, Sutherland Maxwell, whose illness was pronounced hopeless by physicians."

 

From "The Priceless Pearl", p155-6, by Ruhíyyih Rabbáni. Submitted by Kamyar Solhjoo