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Search for tag "House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)"

from the chronology

date event locations tags see also
1856 Mar During His absence Mírzá Musá rented a house in the Karkh district in the west of the city. The house was large, two or three stories, and was made of simple mud brick with a surrounding central courtyard. At some point before His departure on the 22nd of April, 1863, the house was purchased. He later named it "The Most Great House" and designated it a place of pilgrimage. It is also referred to as the "Throne of His Glory", and the "Lamp of Salvation between earth and heaven". [CEBF66]
  • After His departure the House was held in the names of various custodians and allowed to fall into disrepair. [CEBF66]
  • Bahá'u'lláh revealed a Tablet to be used when making a pilgrimage to the House. [GWB111-114; 114-115]
    		•  Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Bahaullah, Houses of; Bahaullah, Life of; Pilgrimage; Bahaullah, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Bahaullah, Life of; Sulaymaniyyih
    1862. 5 May Mírzá Mihdíy-i-Káshaní was directed to remain in Baghdad to guard the Holy House. He remained until banished, along with the other Bahá'ís, to Mosul. [MoF96] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Caretakers; Mirza Mihdiy-i-Kashani
    1864 c. After years of imprisonment in Tehran, Àbdu'r '-Rasúl-Qumí visited Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople then took up residence in Baghdad, caring for the garden of the House of Bahá'u'lláh. He was well-known to the Muslims and a target of their attacks. One morning as he was carrying skins of water from the Tigris River he was ambushed by a number of attackers and was mortally wounded. He managed to disperse the assailants, drag himself to the garden where he watered the flowers for the last time.

    His name was mentioned in many Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, consoling his family. His son was appointed caretaker of the pilgrims in 'Akká and he served in this capacity until the days of Shoghi Effendi. [FAA8]

    		 Baghdad; Iraq; Edirne (Adrianople); Turkey; Akka House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Abdur-Rasul-Qumi; Gardeners; Caretakers; Murders
    1867 Sep - Aug 1868 Nabíl-i-A‘zam was dispatched to Iraq and Iran to inform the Bábís of the advent of Bahá'u'lláh. He was further instructed to perform the rites of pilgrimage on Bahá'u'lláh's behalf in the House of the Báb and the Most Great House in Baghdad. [BKG250; EB224; GPB176–7]
  • For details of his mission see EB224–7.
  • On hearing Nabíl's message, the wife of the Báb, Khadíjih Khánum, immediately recognized the station of Bahá'u'lláh. [EB225]
  • Nabil was the first Bahá'í to perform pilgrimage to the house of the Báb in Shiraz in fall 1866, in accordance with the rites prescribed in the Surat al-ḥajj revealed by Bahá'u'lláh. He also went to Baghdad and performed the pilgrimage to the House of Bahá'u'lláh in spring 1867, according to another sura, Surat al-damm written by Bahá'u'lláh for that purpose. Nabil’s pilgrimage to those two houses marked the inception of pilgrimage laws ordained by Bahá'u'lláh later in his Kitāb-i-Aqdas. For the rites of these two pilgrimages performed by Nabíl see SA113–15. [GPB176-177, “Nabil-e aʿzam Zaranadi, Mollā Mohammad,” by Vahid Rafati, Encyclopædia Iranica, DB434-435]
    		•  Shiraz; Iran; Baghdad; Iraq Nabil-i-Azam; Pilgrims; Pilgrimage; First pilgrims; Khadijih Khanum; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1920 (in the year) The House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád was seized by Shí'ís. [BBD109; GBF33; GPB356-7] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1921 (In the year) The Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration or Mandatory Iraq began. It would last until 1932. [Mandatory Iraq] Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1921 (After Mandate) After the establishment of British control of Iraq and the appearance of religious freedom and greater security, 'Abdu'l-Bahá authorized repairs to begin on the House. The renovations attracted the attention of neighbouring Shi'as and, after the passing of the custodian, Muhammad Husayn Bábí, they sued for possession on the grounds that he had no heirs. [SETPE1p25] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1921 Feb The Shi'a petition for the possession of the House in Baghdád was granted and the Bahá'is were evicted. [SETPE1p25] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1921 Apr The Minister of Justice overturned an earlier ruling and possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád was returned to the Bahá'ís. [SETPE1p25] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1921 23 Nov A second suit for the possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad was decided in favour of the Shi'a claimants. This allowed them to apply to the Peace Court in 1922. [SETPE1p25]
  • Before the application went before the Court the Shi'a group prevailed upon King Faisal to give an illegal personal order to the Governor of Baghdád to evict the Bahá'ís and then return the keys to them. All this was against the opinion of the British High Commissioner. [SETPE1p25]
  • The case was passed from court to court and finally brought before the Court of Appeal in Baghdád which, by a majority of four (the Iráqí members) to one (the British Presiding Justice), decided in favour of the plaintiffs. [SETPE1p25]
    		• Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1922 22 Feb Subsequent to the decision of the Court of Appeal the government of Iraq took over the keys for the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. [SETPE1p26] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1922 22 Feb King Feisal of Iraq ordered the Bahá'ís to be turned out of the Most Great House in Baghdád to keep the peace. [BW354; GPB343; PP54] Baghdad; Iraq King Faisal; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1923 (In the year) The keys for the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád were delivered to the Shi'as by the government. [PP94-5, GBF33] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1923 Jul The Bahá'ís appealed to the Peace Court for possession of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. [SETPE1p26] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1923 (In July or earlier) Lorol Schopflocher made a visit to King Feisel as reported in the Ottawa Citizen 13 July, 1923 p16 and The Winnipeg Tribune 31 July 1923 p16. She was accorded several audiences to discuss the question of the seizure of the keys to the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. [Bahá'í Chronicles]
  • See Haifa Talks by Keith Ransom-Kehler and Lorol Schopflocher.
    		• Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Lorol Schopflocher; King Faisal
    1923 20 Dec The Peace Court ruled in favour of giving the Bahá'ís possession of House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, however, the Council of Ministers, with the approval of King Feisal, ordered that the property not be returned until ownership could be established. [SETPE1p26]
  • The Guardian sent 19 cables to various individuals and national bodies with instructions that the Bahá'ís should send cables to the British High Commissioner in Iráq, Sir Henry Dobbs, as well as to the British authorities in Iráq and in London as well as to King Feisal to protest the action of the Council of Ministers. In communities where the numbers are stronger, Persia and America, he instructed that every local assembly protest directly. The Guardian himself sent over 600 pieces of correspondence during the following six months concerning this issue. [PP94-6, GBF33-34 BA94-95]
  • The Iráqí government refused to bow to the pressure put upon them. [PP96]
    		• Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Peace Court; Firsts, Other
    1924 Nov The Supreme Court of Iraq decided against the Bahá'ís in the dispute over the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád. [UD37-8; BN No 9 Dec 1925/Jan 1926 p1] Iraq Court cases; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Persecution, Iraq; Persecution, Court cases; Persecution
    1925 (In the year) Lorol Schopflocher was sent by the Guardian to speak with King Feisal of Iraq. The King was not receiving visitors so she made an unorthodox entrance by driving her car through the gates at high speed and coming to an abrupt stop in front of the palace. [SETPE1p105] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Lorol Schopflocher; King Faisal
    1925 16 Jan Shoghi Effendi reported in a letter that the case of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád was then before the court of the First Instance and had been postponed for some time. He stated that, should the appeal be successful, the opponents were likely to refer the case to the Court of Appeal and, should that happen, the government would likely delay the return of the keys for the House. [BA76] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1925 13 Dec The keys to Bahá’u’lláh’s house in Baghdád were given to the Shí’ís. [UD45] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1926 14 Nov Iraq's highest tribunal ruled against the Bahá'ís in the question of ownership of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. Shoghi Effendi immediately sent a cable urging the American National Assembly and all local assemblies to write or cable the Iraq High Commissioner through the British Consular authorities, to the King of Iraq and to the British central authorities to protest against the injustice. [SETPE1p138] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1927. 7 Jul Mr. Mountfort Mills received a cable from Shoghi Effendi through the Greatest Holy Leaf suggesting the American Assemblies send cables to His Excellency the High Commissioner in Baghdad, Iraq urging that the houses belonging to the Bahá’ís be restored to their rightful owners. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p26] New York; Baghdad House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1928 11 Sep The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Iraq submitted a petition to the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations for the return of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. [BW3:198–206]
  • See BA164-165 for letter from Shoghi Effendi.
  • Text of the Petition
    		• Baghdad; Iraq Petitions; League of Nations; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1928 26 Oct-13 Nov The case of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád was taken before the fourteenth session of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations. [BW3:207]
  • The right of the Bahá’ís to the House was upheld and the government of Iraq was strongly pressed to find a solution but the House was not returned to the Bahá’ís. [BW3:207–9; GBF35; PP96–7]
  • For Shoghi Effendi’s comment on these developments see BW3:206–9.
  • The Shí’ís turned the House into a Husayníyyih, where the martyrdom of the Imám Husayn is mourned. [BBD113–14]
    		•  Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); League of Nations; Imam Husayn
    1928 Nov It was recommended to the Council of the League of Nations to request that the British Government make representations to the Iraqi Government to redress the denial of justice to the Bahá'ís with reference to House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad. [GBF35] Baghdad; Iraq; Geneva House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); League of Nations
    1929 4 Mar The Council of the League of Nations adopted the conclusion reached by the Mandates Commissions upholding the claim of the Bahá’í community to the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. They directed the Mandatory Power (Great Britain) to make representations to the government of Iraq with a view of the immediate redress of the injustice suffered by the petitioners (NSA of Iraq). Also, the International Baha'i Bureau was asked by the League's Publishing Bureau for a short historical account that appeared in that same year's publication. [BW3:50-55; BIC History page 18 Mar 1928]
  • For Shoghi Effendi’s response to this see BW3:206–9 and BA175-180.
    		• Baghdad; Iraq; Geneva League of Nations; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1929 Apr Shoghi Effendi announced that the Council of the League of Nations had pronounced in favour of the Bahá'í petition regarding the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad. Unfortunately, King Faisal, a Sunni, relented under the pressure of the Shi'iah element and the property was never returned. [Bahá'í News Letter, no. 31 (April 1929), p.6, SETPE1p169] Baghdad; Iraq; Geneva; Switzerland House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); League of Nations; King Faisal
    1929 6–26 Nov The case of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád was taken before the sixteenth session of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations. [BW4:237]
  • The text of the petition was conceived and drafted by Monfort Mills. Shoghi Effendi paid tribute to his work in a letter dated March 20, 1929. [BA180]
  • The right of the Bahá’ís to the House was upheld and the government of Iraq was strongly pressed to find a solution but the House was not returned to the Bahá’ís. [BW4:237; GBF35; PP96–7]
    		•  Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); League of Nations; Montfort Mills
    1930 2 Jan Martha Root met with King Faisal of Iraq in Baghdad to discuss the issue of the House of Bahá'u'lláh. The King said that a committee had been formed to study the problem and to settle it in such a way as to satisfy all groups interested in the matter. [MRHK149] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Martha Root; King Faisal
    1932 3 Nov-6 Dec Meeting of the 22nd Session of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations in Geneva at which the Bahá’ís pleaded their case for the possession of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. [BW5:351–4] Geneva; Baghdad; Iraq League of Nations; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1933. 18 Mar After five years of deliberations and intervention from the League of Nations, the Iraqi government decided to protect the house as part of an urban improvement plan. The property was originally designated for destruction. [BIC History page 18 Mar 1933] Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1933 23 Oct-4 Nov The 24th session of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations was held in Geneva at which the case of the possession of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád was again raised. [BW5:354–5] Geneva; Baghdad; Iraq League of Nations; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1947 13 Sep The passing of Haji Mahmúd Qassabchí. In 1933 Qassabchí had suffered a severe attack of paralysis which he narrowly survived and as a result of which he could hardly move or speak for the rest of his life. He was buried at Salman Pak, about thirty miles southeast of Baghdad. [BW11p502-503]
  • He had become a Bahá'í in 1911 after reading accounts of the travels of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the Star of the West. Prior to that he had made the acquaintance of Músá Banání and had been impressed with the young man's honesty. With regard to his service to the Faith, after WWI he undertook the restoration of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad. A few years later he played a leading part in the purchase and the establishment of the Hazíratu'l-Quds of Baghdad and he participated in no small measure to the erection of the Hazíratu'l-Quds in the village of Avasiq, the first built in Iraq.
  • His most imperishable service was the construction of three rooms at the rear of the Shrine of the Báb that were temporarily used as the International Bahá'í Archives before the construction of its permanent seat. [BW11p502-503]
    		• Baghdad; Avashiq; Iraq Haji Mahmud Qassabchi; In Memoriam; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); Bab, Shrine of; Musa Banani
    1949 24 Apr The passing of Montfort Mills.
  • He had been a believer since 1906 and by 1909 he had made two pilgrimages to 'Akká as well as a third in early 1921.
  • In 1922 he and Roy Wilhelm were invited to Haifa to discuss the possibility of calling for the formation of the Universal House of Justice.
  • He was the first chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada when it first formed in 1922 and was elected to that body seven times between 1922 and 1937 and was responsible for the final draft of the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws adopted in 1927.
  • One of his most outstanding achievements was his role in the case of the appeal for possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád. He made two trips to Baghdad and had audiences with King Feisal. During one of these trips he was brutally assaulted and suffered the effects for many years.
  • He met with Professor E. G. Browne and, after hearing Mr. Mills explanation of the evolution of the Faith and of the Covenant, Mr. Browne realized he had been veiled by conflicting claims and disturbances following the martyrdom of the Báb and expressed a desire to translate later Bahá'í works but died before this contribution could be made. [BW11p509-511]
    		•  United States; Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); In Memoriam; Edward Granville Browne; Births and deaths; Covenant-breakers
    1970 26 Sep The passing of Florence Evaline (Lorol) Schopflocher (b. Florence Evaline Snyder in Montreal, d. Kittery Point, ME 24 July,1886).
  • Wife of Hand of the Cause of God Siegfried Schopflocher. For his "In Memoriam" see BW7p664.
  • She circled the globe nine times on travel teaching tours and visited some 86 countries, many of them multiple times. She travelled to Iran twice visiting parts not previously visited by Western Bahá'ís.
  • She visited the Guardian 11 times.
  • She had several audiences with King Faisal in Iraq and discussed the question of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád with him.
  • Favourite themes for her public talks were the World Order letters of Shoghi Effendi and the emancipation and education of women.
  • A radiant star went from the West to the East. [BW15p488-489]
  • Find a grave. She was not interred in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal as stated in this reference. She was buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Eliot Maine.
    		• Montreal; Quebec; Canada Lorol Schopflocher; Siegfried Schopflocher; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    2013 24 - 26 Jun Contrary to the constitution which established the government's commitment to assuring and maintaining the sanctity of holy shrines and religious sites and guaranteeing the free practice of rituals. In addition the penal code that criminalized disrupting or impeding religious ceremonies and desecrating religious buildings, and specified that it applied to religious minorities. In Iraq followers of all religious groups and sects were free in the practice of religious rites and in the management of religious endowments, their affairs, and their religious institutions.
    And contrary to the plans of the Department of Antiquities who had declared it a heritage site in a decree by the Iraqi Culture Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi not two years earlier, the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád was razed to make way for the construction of a husseniya or Shiite congregation hall. [Message from the Universal House of Justice date 17 July 2013, SETPE1p170; Al-Monitor 11 December, 2018]    		 Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    2013 27 Jun In a message from the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies it advised of the news of the destruction of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad. (Bayt-i-A'zam) [Message of 27 Jun 2013; Message of 17 July, 2013]
  • Grieve not, O House of God, if the veil of thy sanctity be rent asunder by the infidels. [GWB114]
  • In truth, I declare, it shall be so abased in the days to come as to cause tears to flow from every discerning eye...And in the fullness of time, shall the Lord by the power of truth exalt it in the eyes of all the world, cause it to become the mighty standard of His domination, the shrine round which shall circle the concourse of the faithful. [BA99-100; BWNS961]
  • See the compilation entitled The House of Bahá’u’lláh, Baghdád ‘Iráq.
  • See "The Most Great House in Baghdad" [SA140-143]
  • See GPB110 for the various designations of the Most Great House.

      Within its walls the “Most Great House of God,” His “Footstool” and the “Throne of His Glory,” “the Cynosure of an adoring world,” the “Lamp of Salvation between earth and heaven,” the “Sign of His remembrance to all who are in heaven and on earth,” enshrining the “Jewel whose glory hath irradiated all creation,” the “Standard” of His Kingdom, the “Shrine round which will circle the concourse of the faithful” was irrevocably founded and permanently consecrated. Upon it, by virtue of its sanctity as Bahá’u’lláh’s “Most Holy Habitation” and “Seat of His transcendent glory,” was conferred the honor of being regarded as a center of pilgrimage second to none except the city of ‘Akká, His “Most Great Prison,” in whose immediate vicinity His holy Sepulcher, the Qiblih of the Bahá’í world, is enshrined.
    		•  Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); BWNS

    from the chronology of Canada

    date event locations tags see also
    1970 (In the year) The passing of Florence Evaline (Lorol) Schopflocher in Montreal (b.1886)
  • Wife of Hand of the Cause of God Siegfried Schopflocher. For his "In Memoriam" see BW7p664.
  • She circled the globe nine times on travel teaching tours and visited some 86 countries, many of them multiple times. She travelled to Iran twice visiting parts not previously visited by Western Bahá'ís.
  • She visited the Guardian 11 times.
  • She had several audiences with King Feisal in Iraq and discussed the question of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád with him.
  • Favourite themes for her public talks were the World Order letters of Shoghi Effendi and the emancipation and education of women.
  • She was interred in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal. A radiant star went from the West to the East. [BW15p488-489]
  • Find a grave
  • See Bahá'í Chronicles.
    		•  Montreal, QC Lorol Schopflocher; Siegfried Schopflocher; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)

    from the main catalogue

    1. Bahá'í Shrines, by John Walbridge, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Volume 3 (1989). [about]
    2. House of Baha'u'llah in Baghdad: Case before the League of Nations, by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq (1928). [about]
    3. Iraq, 1900 to 1950: A Political, Social, and Economic History, by Stephen Hemsley Longrigg (1953). Passing mention of the confiscation of Bahá'í properties in Baghdad in the early 1930s. [about]
    4. Light of the World: Selected Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Abdu'l-Bahá (2021). Tablets of ‘Abdul-Bahá describing aspects of the life of Bahá’u’lláh including the tribulations He suffered, events in His homeland, the purpose and greatness of His Cause, and the nature and significance of His Covenant. [about]
    5. Minutes of the Fourteenth Session, 1928, by Permanent Mandates Commission (1928). Petition to the League of Nations from the Spiritual Assembly of Baghdad regarding confiscation of property. [about]
    6. Minutes of the Sixteenth Session, 1929, by Permanent Mandates Commission (1929). Petition from the Bahai Spiritual Assembly of Baghdad regarding the confiscation of property; measures taken after the Council's decision. [about]
    7. Palestine: A Study of Jewish, Arab, and British Policies, volume 2, by Esco Foundation for Palestine (1947). One-page discussion of Bahá'ís being evicted from properties in Iraq, and their appeal to the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission. [about]
    8. Pilgrimage in Baha'u'llah's Writings, by Ahang Rabbani (2010). On pilgrimage to the Twin Shrines in the Holy Land and their Tablets of Visitation, to the House of the Bab in Shiraz, and to the House of Baha’u’llah in Baghdad. Includes provisional translations of several Tablets of Visitation. [about]
    9. Significance of some Sites Mentioned in Memorials of the Faithful, by Foad Seddigh, in Lights of Irfan, 17 (2016). Abdu'l-Bahá cited many villages and cities: the Most Great House in Baghdád; the ruins of Madaen which Bahá'u'lláh visited many times; Sheikh Tabarsi's tomb; the city of Mosul which is built on the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh. [about]
    10. Tablet of Pilgrimage to the House of Bahá'u'lláh (Suriy-i-Hajj): Baghdad, by Bahá'u'lláh, in Rituals in Babism and Bahá'ísm, Pembroke Persian Series Vol. 2 (1994). A provisional English translation of instructions by Bahá'u'lláh for pilgrimage to the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad. [about]
     
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