- 1878-00-00 — Although He was still a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was allowed to travel to Beirut, Lebanon at the invitation of Midhat Páshá, a brilliant statesman and liberal reformer. There he met with such important figures in the Ottoman reform movement as Midhat Páshá and Shaykh Muhammad `Abduh. He corresponded with them and others and made his own contribution to the literature of the reform movements of Iran and the Ottoman Empire in the form of two books The Secret of Divine Civilization and Risáliy-i-Siyásiyyih (Treatise on Politics, see "Siyásiyyih, Risáliy-i"). ['Abdu'l-Bahá by Moojan Momen]
At this time Bahá'u'lláh revealed Lawḥ-i-'Arḍ-i-Bá (Tablet of the Land of Bá).
[WOBp136; ABp38]
Conflict:"The Extraordinary Life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá" Slide 40/114 says the visit to Beirut took place in June of 1880. - 1879-00-02 —
`Abdu'l-Bahá traveled to Beirut at the invitation of Midhat Páshá, the Válí of Syria. [BKG378]
- `Abdu'l-Bahá was still officially a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire. BKG379]
- Bahá'u'lláh revealed a Tablet marking the occasion. [BKG378–9; GPB243; TB227–8]
- Among the important figures `Abdu'l-Bahá met in Beirut were Midhat Páshá and Shaykh Muhammad `Abduh, the future Grand Muftí of Egypt. [BKG379]
- 1892-06-19 —
- 1912-10-00 — Shoghi Effendi was enrolled in the preparatory school associated with the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut. The 1912-1913 academic year was a turbulent time in the Middle East region because the Italo-Turkish war had spilled over into the area. Owing to the fact that the Syrian Protestant College flew an American flag it had some degree of protection from the warring factions. [PG8-9]
- 1913-10-00 — Shoghi Effendi returned to Beirut and the Syrian Protestant College to start his college education in an Arts program. [PG9]
- 1914-02-15 — Dr Howard Bliss, the president of the Syrian Protestant College, visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá in part, to arrange for the Bahá'í students to spend their upcoming spring break in Haifa in the vicinity of the Shrines of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, affording them an opportunity to meet and learn from ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. [AB405]
By this time, Bahá'í students from Haifa and 'Akká, as well as Persia, Egypt, and Beirut, had attended SPC (later called the American University at Beirut) for about a decade, in increasing numbers over the previous few years. There were no comparable institutions in their own countries, and attending universities in Europe or America was not yet practical for most. As SPC became a popular choice, the prospect of joining an existing group of Bahá'í students was an additional attraction. A sizable group of students as well attended the Université Saint-Joseph (USJ), also in Beirut. Together, they constituted a single coherent group, meeting together, visiting each other, and collaborating, for example, in the activities of the "Society of the Bahá'í Students of Beirut," which had been formed in 1906.
['Abdu'l-Bahá and the Bahá'í Students] - 1914-08-00 — Shoghi Effendi returned to Haifa after completing his first year of college at the Syrian Protestant College just as war was breaking out in Europe. [PG12]
- 1914-10-00 — Shoghi Effendi returned to Beirut from Haifa to take up his sophomore year of university at the Syrian Protestant College. As a result of the fear of unrest in Beirut, enrollment was down. The College was instrumental in the relief work being done for wounded soldiers or other casualties who were treated free of charge. As a result of this work it became a place of relative safety. The number of Bahá'í students at the Syrian Protestant College increased to 35, many of whom were sent by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [PG15]
- 1915-08-00 — Shoghi Effendi returned from the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut to Haifa. Because of the naval blockade many of Persian students were unable to return home so they were invited to spend their summer vacation in Haifa where they were accommodated in the anteroom to the Shrine of the Báb. [PG15]
- 1916-05-06 — In response to the perceived threat from within the Ottoman Empire, the authorities took harsh measures against leading nationalist persons, intellectuals and activists. On this day, 21 were publicly hanged in Beirut and 10 in Damascus on the order of Jamal Pasha, the commander in chief of the Turkish forces in Greater Syria, (Present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine).
These individuals were accused of collaborating with the British and the French and were seen as leaders of the Arab nationalist movement. The day has become to be known as "Syrian Martyrs Day". [Wikipedia; Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p21] - 1916-10-00 — Shoghi Effendi attended his senior year of university at the Syrian Protestant College. Due to the continuing war conditions further deteriorated in the region. More than 300,000 people lost their lives in Syria due to starvation and disease. [PG17-18]
- 1917-06-13 —
Shoghi Effendi graduated from the Syrian Protestant College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. [PG18; DH148; GBF9]
- For pictures of Shoghi Effendi at this time see BW13:131, GBF50-1 and PP88-9.
- See The Moore Collection for a collection of 80 photos of the campus taken by Dr Moore who was a professor at the college between 1892 and 1915.
- For more images of the college see The Blatchford Collection of Photographs, photos # 192 and 204 -> 221.
- An aerial view of the campustoday and live webcam views.
- 1917-10-09 — Shoghi Effendi registered at the Syrian Protestant College and started the term as a graduate student. He left in the summer of 1918 after completing the year of study. [PG18-19]
- 1925-11-21 —
On his way from Iran to study at the American University of Beirut (then called the Syrian Protestant College) the 17-year-old Hasan Balyuzi spent two days in Haifa. Although from a prominent Bahá'í family he was neither knowledgeable nor confirmed in his faith. After having spent more than one hour with Shoghi Effendi his faith was confirmed and the course of his life was set. [SETPE1p110-111, BW18p637-651]
- See BKG232 footnote for a by Hasan Balyuzi with a story about Mírzá Ahmad, a son of Mírzá Yahyá.
- 1927-00-00 — Abu'l-Qásim Faizi, a 19-year-old student who had attended the Tarbiyát School in Tehran but was now enrolled at the American University at Beirut, visited Haifa to meet Shoghi Effendi. Like Hasan Balyuzi before him, he was immediately possessed by a great desire to serve him. [SETPE1p146-7]
- 1937-04-11 —
The passing of Dr. Zíá Bagdádí (b. February 9, 1882, Beirut, Lebanon) in Augusta, Georgia. He was buried in Westover Memorial Park, Augusta, Georgia.
- Dr. Bagdádí attended the American University of Beirut and graduated as a physician. In September 1909, on 'Abdu'l-Bahá's advice, he moved to Chicago to further his medical studies and soon emerged as a pillar of the Chicago Bahá'í community. A major translator of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's tablets into English and the editor of the Persian pages of Star of the West, he accompanied 'Abdu'l-Bahá on much of His North American travels in 1912.
In the year 1929, Dr. Bagdádí wrote a book telling of his birthplace and travels in the Orient under the title, Treasures of the East. He wrote of his experiences in the presence of Bahá'u'lláh as a child.
- He married Zeenat Khanum who was the daughter of Hasan Aqa Tabrizi, aunt of Ali Nakhjavani who went to the Holy Land to give information relating to the restoration of the house of 'Abdu'llah Pasha. Zeenat's sister was Fatimih Khanum (Ali Nakhjavani's mother) who spent her youth in service to the Greatest Holy Leaf. These two sisters, when they were young girls in 'Akka, nine and eleven years old, were accepted into the household of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. They were married in the first Bahá'í marriage in Montreal, Canada which took place on April 30, 1914. [Bahá'í Chronicles] iiiii
- 1938-00-00 —
The fourth Trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh was Jináb-i-Valíyu'lláh Varqá, the third son of Varqá the martyr. He was born in Tabriz and after the death of his father and brother he was raised by his grandmother, a fanatical Muslim. At the age of 16 his uncle removed him from the home and taught him the Faith. He attended the American University at Beirut and spent summers with 'Abdu'l-Bahá and accompanied the Master to America and served as His interpreter. He returned to Iran where he served on local and national assemblies and was made a Trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh in 1938 at a time when the observance of the law spread throughout Iran. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 25 March, 1985]
- He was elevated to a Hand of the Cause of God in 1951 and passed away in Tubingen, Germany in 1955 while taking a treatment for an illness. [BW13p831-834]
- 1969-08-02 —
The Bahá'í Faith was legally recognized in Lebanon when the Local Spiritual Assembly of Beirut was incorporated. [BW15:173]
- This was the first time any Arab government has granted the Faith recognition. [BW15:173]
- 1970-04-21 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Near East was formed with its seat in Beirut, Lebanon with jurisdiction over Lebanon, Jordon and Syria. [BW15:146; BW16:264]
- For picture see BW15:146.
- 1975-04-21 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of Jordan was formed with its seat in Amman. From 1970 it was a part of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Near East with its seat in Lebanon and jurisdiction over Lebanon, Jordon and Syria. This left the National Spiritual Assembly of Lebanon with its seat in Beirut and jurisdiction over Syria. [BW16:264]
- For picture see BW16:452.
- 2007-10-00 — In an email to Hossam Bashgat, author of Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom, Bani Digal, the principle representative of the Bahá'í International Community at the United Nations, is quoted as saying that in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, and the UAE, Bahá'ís have national identity card. [Prohibited Identiities p26 footnote 44]
- 2019-10-11 —
'Ali Nakhjavani, (b. 19 September, 1919 in Baku, Azerbaijan) former member of the Universal House of Justice (1963-2003), passed away in Molsheim, Alsace, France. He was 100 years old. The Universal House of Justice requested all National Assemblies that memorial services be held for him. [BWNS1361]
- After his father's death when he was two years old, his family was advised by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to move to Haifa where he grew up. In 1939 he received the Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction from the American University of Beirut, and then in the early 1940s he relocated to Iran, residing first in Tehran, then Tabriz and finally in Shiraz. In 1950 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís Iran where he served until the following year.
-
In 1951 he and his family moved to Uganda to assist with the development of the Bahá'í community in that country. He made his living as a teacher and lecturer. During his early years there, Enoch Olinga became a Bahá'í, and in 1953 Mr Nakhjavání and his wife Violette, along with Mr Olinga and two other Bahá'ís, travelled from Uganda to Cameroon to help spread the Bahá'í Faith in that country.
- From 1954-61 he was a member of the Auxiliary Board in Africa, and later from 1956 to 1961 he was served on the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa.
-
In 1961 he was elected to the International Bahá'í Council and so moved to Haifa. In 1963 he was elected to the Universal House of Justice during its inaugural convention, and served as a member of that body until 2003.
[Find a grave]
- For a video tribute to Mr Nakhjavani see YouTube.
- See Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of His Pen by 'Ali Nakhjavani.
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