“it is to overcome the problems of humankind that the Bahá’í community has been brought into being”

There are tasks to which you must now set your hands to prepare for the achievements of tomorrow. Do not permit the problems in your way to dismay you or deflect you from your goals; it is to overcome the problems of humankind that the Bahá’í community has been brought into being. Your vital task is to immerse yourselves in the study of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, to enrich your spiritual lives and to discover thereby the best direction for your endeavors, to express them in your actions, and to convey them to those who thirst for guidance. You are the instruments of the purpose of God, the channels of His grace, the bearers of His Message, the holders of the key to the challenges of the age. Follow His guidance and the successes you will achieve will be an inspiration to your fellow-believers and the quickener of hope in the hearts of the people.

Be assured that as you arise for the promotion of His Cause, the confirmations of Bahá’u’lláh will surround you, and you will witness the truth of these exalted words uttered by Him in His Most Great Prison:

Verily, We behold you from Our realm of Glory, and shall aid whosoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favored angels.

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 21 November 1990 addressed to the ‘Friends gathered at the Moscow Conference’; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001’)

Akka June 1992: “the widest diversity of human beings ever to have assembled on a Bahá’í occasion”

7 June 1992

To the Bahá’ís of the World

As we reflect on the events which a few days ago marked the commemoration in the Holy Land of the Centenary of the Ascension of Baha’u’llah, we feel impelled to express to the Bahá’í world our sense of wonderment at the exalted character of what transpired. The nature of the Anniversary was in itself awe-inspiring and evocative of profound emotion. But the gathering of some 3,000 Bahá’ís, including 113 Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, representing no less than 200 countries and dependent territories—the widest diversity of human beings ever to have assembled on a Bahá’í occasion—filled the eyes with the vision of a garden of humanity that overwhelmed the senses, inducing a spirit of beauty, joy and splendor. Bahjí was never more resplendent. And we offer prayers of thanksgiving to our beloved Lord that so fitting an assemblage could have been realized on this special Anniversary, indicating the amazing extent to which the pervasive power of His influence has triumphed throughout the world.

May the evident blessings flowing from this heavenly experience infuse the dear friends everywhere with new strength and fresh encouragement, emboldening their efforts and enlarging their capacity to proclaim the Name and promote the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh during the course of the Holy Year so auspiciously begun.

The Universal House of Justice

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)

1991: Affirmations of “the emergence of the Faith from obscurity” – “a distinctive feature of the advancement of the Faith in the fourth epoch of the Formative Age”

• 
  Another illustration of the rising authority of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh in the public mind emerges from Germany, where the Federal Constitutional Court, the highest legal authority in the land, rendered a decision of capital importance to the recognition of the Faith. A series of lower courts had refused to register the by-laws of a Local Spiritual Assembly on the grounds that the authority granted to the National Spiritual Assembly in that document violated the legal principle requiring the autonomy of all legally incorporated associations. The issues involved are indeed complex and cannot be elaborated here. Suffice it to say that the Federal Constitutional Court upheld the appeal of the Local Spiritual Assembly in a long, closely reasoned decision in which, among other things, it affirmed the right of the Bahá’í community to gain legal capacity in the very shape ordained in the scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith and stated that its nature as a recognized religion was unquestionably confirmed by its inherent character, by public knowledge, and by the testimony of scholars of comparative religion. So significant was the verdict in the Court’s own estimation that it took the rare step of issuing a statement to the press explaining its decision. This outstanding act will have implications for the Bahá’í community far beyond the borders of a united Germany.

• Yet another instance of the growing public appreciation for the penetrating perspectives of the Cause involves the Republic of South Africa, where the National Spiritual Assembly, taking advantage of the initiatives of the Government towards resolving the decades-long problem of apartheid, decided to submit its views for the drafting of a new constitution for the country. The President of the South African Law Commission, the judge acting on behalf of the Government, who received the National Spiritual Assembly’s submission from a delegation appointed by it, commented that the Bahá’ís were the only group thus far whose ideas had provided a spiritual and moral foundation for a constitution.

1996-2021: Some of the undertakings of Baha’i community "inspired by framework for action"

• “raised aloft the banner of firmness and constancy and charged forth in the arena of servitude and built new capacities for service to the world of humanity.
• The spirit of learning born of action, reflection, and consultation became the axis of endeavours. 
• Systematically and earnestly the younger generation was made the focus of special attention by the community.
• Children learned virtues and spirituality, and junior youth developed spiritual and moral attributes and eagerness for service.
• The youth, through the acquisition of a deep appreciation of their spiritual mission and a broad vision of the implications of the divine teachings for this new age, rushed to the fields of service and attained their rightful place in the vanguard of a vibrant and purposeful community.
• The unity and solidarity of all the members of the community was, through the pulsating force of the Covenant and Testament, increased, and cooperation and mutual support reached a high level.
• Through profound reflection on the Writings, attention to the guidance, and adherence to the foundational principle of consultation, perspectives became harmonized, the different endeavours of the community became coherent, and the various labours of the believers in the path of service yielded abundant fruit.
•  The outward-looking culture of the community was strengthened to a considerable degree and led to a level of participation, greater than ever before, by the believers in the constructive discourses of their society.
• The valuable lessons acquired by those much-loved friends in the course of an entire century of determined endeavour in the path of building a dynamic community were with great sincerity shared selflessly with others.
• The experience gained as a result of efforts to apply Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings in this radiant age for the achievement of the equality of women and men, social justice, the eradication of extremes of wealth and poverty, unity among different ethnicities, the empowerment of younger generations, and the refinement of character was offered to interested individuals without making any claims to perfection or superiority.
•   And the friends, to the extent possible, became involved in consulting and collaborating with their fellow citizens in order to address various social ills. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 20 March 2021 addressed to Baha’is in Iran; authorized translation from Persian)

Bahá’u’lláh’s reference to the Báb, Quddús, and Mullá Husayn

All praise, O Lord my God, be unto Him Who is the Manifestation of Thine Essence, the Dayspring of Thy oneness, the Mine of Thy knowledge, the Source of Thy Revelation, the Repository of Thine inspiration, the Seat of Thy sovereignty, and the Dawning-Place of Thy Divinity—He Who is the Primal Point, the Most Exalted Countenance, the Ancient Root, and the Quickener of nations; and glory be upon him[1] who was the first to believe in Him and in His verses, whom Thou didst make a throne for the ascendancy of Thy most sublime Word, a focal-point for the manifestation of Thy most excellent names, a dayspring of the radiance of the Sun of Thy providence, a dawning-place for the appearance of Thy names and attributes, and a treasury of the pearls of Thy wisdom and Thy commandments.  And all honor be upon him [2] who was the last to come unto Him, whose arrival was like His arrival, and Thy manifestation in him [3] like Thy manifestation in Him,[4] except that he was illumined with the lights of His face and prostrated himself before Him and testified to his servitude unto Him; and glory be upon those who were martyred in His path and who offered up their lives for love of His beauty. 

- Baha’u’llah  (compilation: The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

[1] Mullá Husayn

[2] Quddús

[2] Quddús

[4] The Báb

Long Obligatory Prayer: Repetition of the Greatest Name & Raising hands – explanation by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice

Repetition of the Greatest Name in the Long Obligatory Prayer

The National Spiritual Assembly observes that in the Long Obligatory Prayer, there are three occasions on which one has to repeat the Greatest Name three times. While it is clear that, on the first occasion, the believer has to raise his or her hands once and repeat the Greatest Name three times, the National Assembly enquires whether it is also necessary to raise one's hands on (1) the other two occasions.

In relation to the first of the three instances, the Universal House of Justice stated on 22 April 1991 that, in following the instruction "Let him then raise his hands, and repeat three times the Greatest Name", the believer is required to raise his hands once and to repeat the Greatest Name three times in conjunction with that act. In relation to the second and third occasions, the Research Department has not, to date, been able to locate any specific guidance. It is, however, informative to consider the wording of the instructions:

"Let him then repeat the Greatest Name thrice, and bend down with hands resting on the knees, and say..." "Let him then repeat the Greatest Name thrice, and kneel with his forehead to the ground, and say..."

In contrast to the first occasion where the raising of the hands forms part of the explicit instructions, in the second and third instances no mention is made of raising the hands.

Raising hands twice in supplication

The National Spiritual Assembly refers to the instruction to stand and raise one's hands twice in supplication, and say the words that follow. It enquires "whether one should say each (of the two) phrase(s) each time one raises one's hands". While the intent of the question is not exactly clear to the Research Department, we provide the following extract from the letter dated 22 April 1991 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice. The letter addresses a question about the performance of this particular part of the Long Obligatory Prayer:

Regarding the direction "Let him then stand and raise his hands twice in supplication, and say; ...", the believer does not have to read twice the paragraph which follows. Whether the believer raises his hands twice before the reciting of the passage, or commences the reciting after having raised his hands once, and raises them a second time soon thereafter, is left to his choice.

(Memorandum from the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice dated 28 November 2000 re: ‘Questions about Obligatory’; Baha’i Library Online)

(1) Bahá'í Prayers: A Selection of Prayers Revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 10; 14 and 15.

Some of the Heroines and Heroes of the Faith...

• 
  Adelaide Sharp – “dedicated [and] steadfast promoter [of the] Cause”; principal of Tarbiyat School for girls; the first woman to be elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran
• Agnes Baldwin Alexander (1875-1971) – Hand of the Cause; “the daughter of the Kingdom”, and “the beloved maid-servant of the Blessed Perfection” (‘Abdu’l-Baha); the only Hand of the Cause mentioned in the Tablets of the Divine Plan; The first Baha’i to set foot on Hawaiian soil; the first Baha’i to settle in Japan; and the first Baha’i to teach the Faith in Korea.
• Agnes Parsons (1861-1934) – She arranged the first “Amity Convention”, termed by the Master "the mother convention", for unity of the colored and white races in America
• Albert R. Windust (1874- 1956) – “Herald [of the] Covenant”; the first publisher of the Writings of the Faith in America; the founder of Star of the West; assisted with the publication of ‘Promulgation of Universal Peace’, and the first five volumes of 'The Baha'i World', 1926 to 1934
• Alfred Eastman Lunt – “esteemed beloved Lunt”; “a precious, ardent and capable champion of our beloved Faith”; “the living embodiment of such a rare combination of qualities as few can display and none can surpass”
• Amelia E. Collins (1873-1962) – Hand of the Cause; “lady of the Kingdom”; “indomitable spirit of faith and love"; "single-minded and wholehearted devotion"; “profound sense of devotion”; "passionate fervor”; “calm sanity”; “very generous offerings”; “prized co-worker”; her “inner deep spiritual relationship and devotion” to the Guardian; “The high rank” she occupied “which no Baha'i has ever held in his own lifetime”; “so distinguished a handmaid of Baha'u'llah and Hand of His Cause”
• Dorothy Beecher Baker (1898-1954) – “distinguished Hand (of the) Cause, eloquent exponent its teachings, indefatigable supporter its institutions, valiant defender its precepts”