The launching of the Four Year Plan at Ridván 1996

26 December 1995

To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors

Beloved Friends,

With great happiness we welcome you to this momentous conference, which is graced by the presence of three Hands of the Cause of God. It marks the opening of a period of intense activity as the twentieth century, hailed by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá as “a century of life and renewal,” draws to a close, and a new century of enormous challenge for all mankind opens before us. To guide the activities of the Bahá’í world during this period, we have decided to launch a Four Year Plan at Ridván 1996. The provisions of that Plan are to be the focus of your consultations in the coming six days.

The Continental Boards of Counselors have been an integral part of the Administrative Order for over twenty-five years. Your institution has made an essential contribution to the strengthening and evolution of the Bahá’í community, and your role in the protection and growth of the Cause will be of even greater consequence in the years ahead.

If there is any question of the speed with which history is unfolding, we need but recall the events, both within and without the Bahá’í community, which have transpired since the Counselors assembled in conference in 1985. The transformations of this remarkable first decade of the Fourth Epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, seen in the light of the promises in our Sacred Scriptures, throw into sharp perspective the great range of the tasks before us. Can we have any doubt that events will henceforth move at a still more rapid pace and will change the world even more radically than have those of the past decade?

At this crucial point in the fortunes of humankind, your role and that of your Auxiliaries in calling forth the wholehearted endeavors of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, in raising the level of their spiritual awareness, and in promoting the evolution of national and local Bahá’í institutions is of fundamental importance. In that realization we eagerly anticipate the fruits of your deliberations during the coming days. We shall offer fervent prayers at the Sacred Threshold that the confirmations of the Almighty will guide and reinforce your services both now and through the years to come.

The Universal House of Justice

(Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World center)

Preparations for the Four Year Plan

31 December 1995

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Baha’i Friends,

Further to its message of today’s date addressed to the Baha’is of the world, the Universal House of Justice has asked us to send you the enclosed copy of its message of 26 December 1995 addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors. This is intended to place in your hands, particularly for your own understanding and that of your committees which you feel would benefit from it, the text of the guidance given by the House of Justice to the Counselors so as to prepare them for their role in the execution of the forthcoming Four Year Plan. You need not publish this message, but you are free to do so if you wish.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

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

Publication of a Persian Edition of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas

28 December 1995

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The Universal House of Justice announces with great pleasure that a Persian edition of the Most Holy Book is expected to be available for distribution by mid-January 1996.

The text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas itself remains in the original Arabic. This has been written by a skilled calligrapher in Naskh script and appropriately illuminated. The other Sacred Writings comprised in the volume will be in the original language, Arabic or Persian, while the introduction, notes and other supplementary material of the English edition have been translated into Persian.

The Persian edition of 30,000 copies is being published by World Center Publications and will be distributed by Bahá’í-Verlag, the German Bahá’í Publishing Trust. We enclose a copy of a letter from Bahá’í-Verlag giving ordering and price details.

Kindly inform the friends in your community of the imminent release of this publication. To facilitate your communication of this important matter to the Iranian friends in your community, we enclose a translation of this letter into Persian.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

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

Message to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors

26 December 1995

To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors

Beloved Friends,

With great happiness we welcome you to this momentous conference, which is graced by the presence of three Hands of the Cause of God. It marks the opening of a period of intense activity as the twentieth century, hailed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as "a century of life and renewal,” draws to a close, and a new century of enormous challenge for all mankind opens before us. To guide the activities of the Bahá’í world during this period, we have decided to launch a Four Year Plan at Ridván 1996. The provisions of that Plan are to be the focus of your consultations in the coming six days.

The Continental Boards of Counselors have been an integral part of the Administrative Order for over twenty-five years. Your institution has made an essential contribution to the strengthening and evolution of the Bahá’í community, and your role in the protection and growth of the Cause will be of even greater consequence in the years ahead.

If there is any question of the speed with which history is unfolding, we need but recall the events, both within and without the Bahá’í community, which have transpired since the Counselors assembled in conference in 1985. The transformations of this remarkable first decade of the Fourth Epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, seen in the light of the promises in our Sacred Scriptures, throw into sharp perspective the great range of the tasks before us. Can we have any doubt that events will henceforth move at a still more rapid pace and will change the world even more radically than have those of the past decade?

Homosexuality and the Baha’i Faith

11 September 1995

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States

Dear Baha’i Friends,

The Universal House of Justice has considered your letters ... in which you describe the impact of the changing sexual mores and the public debate on homosexuality on some of the members of the American Baha’i community who are homosexuals. We are instructed to provide the following guidance in response to the National Spiritual Assembly’s requests for a clarification of the Baha’i law on homosexual practices and for assistance in guiding the believers.

It is important to understand that there is a difference between the Baha’i attitude towards, on the one hand, the condition of homosexuality and those who are affected by it and, on the other, the practice of homosexual relations by members of the Baha’i community.

As you know, the Baha’i Faith strongly condemns all blatant acts of immorality, and it includes among them the expression of sexual love between individuals of the same sex. With regard to homosexual practices, Bahá'u'lláh, in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, paragraph 107, and Questions and Answers, number 49, forbids pederasty and sodomy. The following extract from one of His Tablets reveals the strength of His condemnation:

“Ye are forbidden to commit adultery, sodomy and lechery. Avoid them, O concourse of the faithful. By the righteousness of God! Ye have been called into being to purge the world from the defilement of evil passions. This is what the Lord of all mankind hath enjoined upon you, could ye but perceive it. He who relateth himself to the All-Merciful and committeth satanic deeds, verily he is not of Me. Unto this beareth witness every atom, pebble, tree and fruit, and beyond them this ever-proclaiming, truthful and trustworthy Tongue.”

In a letter dated 26 March 1950, written on his behalf, Shoghi Effendi, the authorized interpreter of the Bahá’í Teachings, further explicates the Bahá’í attitude towards homosexuality. It should be noted that the Guardian’s interpretation of this subject is based on his infallible understanding of the Texts. It represents both a statement of moral principle and unerring guidance to Bahá’ís who are homosexuals. The letter states:

“No matter how devoted and fine the love may be between people of the same sex, to let it find expression in sexual acts is wrong. To say that it is ideal is no excuse. Immorality of every sort is really forbidden by Bahá’u’lláh, and homosexual relationships He looks upon as such, besides being against nature. To be afflicted this way is a great burden to a conscientious soul. But through the advice and help of doctors, through a strong and determined effort, and through prayer, a soul can overcome this handicap.” 

Emergency Contributions to Mount Carmel Project Funds

20 June 1995

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Baha’i Friends,

An emergency mission undertaken at our request by one of our members, accompanied by a member of the International Teaching Center and the Chief Financial Officer of the Baha’i World Center, who visited the United States, Canada, and Europe and apprised the friends of the possible crisis that could affect the progress of the Mount Carmel Projects if the shortfall of US$40 million was not contributed by the end of the Three Year Plan, has just been completed. With deep satisfaction we are glad to announce that the total sum has been ensured through immediate contributions, firm pledges, and donations in kind, enabling this vital enterprise, which is progressing at full force, to proceed without any need to interrupt the construction work. Heartfelt acknowledgement is due to all those from the areas visited and elsewhere who heroically stepped forward and made sacrificial offerings for the furtherance of this vast undertaking so highly extolled by the beloved Guardian.

From the conclusion of the Three Year Plan, approximately US$10 million annually will still be required until the end of the century, when the projects underway on Mount Carmel are expected to be completed.

If all pledges are duly honored, as anticipated, and more friends in the above-named areas, as well as the rest of the world, will continue to offer their loving contributions towards this historic undertaking during this last year of the Three Year Plan, the estimated amount of US$10 million of annual contributions mentioned above will correspondingly be reduced, enabling the World Center to direct its attention with less anxiety to the vital needs of the expansion, consolidation, and proclamation work of the Faith throughout all continents.

With loving Baha’i greetings,

The Universal House of Justice

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

Ruling of Supreme Court in India Citing the Bahá’í Teachings as a Guideline for Resolving Disputes

5 May 1995

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The Universal House of Justice was overjoyed to receive recently a copy of a judgment by the Supreme Court of India on a religious dispute between the Hindus and Muslims in which the official decision of this highest judicial authority in India cited the Bahá’í Faith as an example and the Teachings of the Faith as guidelines for solving such disputes. As you may recall, the Babri mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya was razed by a group of Hindus because the mosque, built in 1528, had been erected on the spot where the Hindu god Rama is said to have been born thousands of years earlier. The destruction enraged Muslims and ignited a grave crisis in India. Muslim and Hindu mobs attacked each other’s houses of worship, homes and people in a number of cities, resulting in the death of hundreds and the destruction of property not only in India but in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even in Britain.

The relevant excerpt from the judgment of the Supreme Court of India dated 24 October 1994 is enclosed for your information.

The Faith has emerged from obscurity, thanks to the sacrifices of the Bahá’ís in Iran and the solidarity of the Bahá’í world in rallying around its institutions to support and protect the community of the Greatest Name in the cradle of the Faith. Many doors have been opened as a result of campaigns waged to reach government officials to familiarize them with the Faith and the deplorable situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran, as well as through the interaction of the friends in worthy causes for the benefit of their countrymen. Reports have been received that receptive members of governments are now using the life-giving Teachings and principles of the Faith in directing the affairs of their countries. The enclosed excerpt from the judgment is one such indication. The House of Justice is gratified by these accomplishments, and is confident that such efforts will be magnified in the future.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

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

The Supreme Court of India

Civil Original Jurisdiction

Transferred Case (C) Numbers 41, 43 And 45 Of 1993

Writ Petition (Civil) Number 20b Of 1993

Transferred Case (C) Number 42 Of 1993

Writ Petition (C) Number 186 Of 1994

Excerpt from pp. 91-93 of the Judgment of the

Supreme Court of India

Response of Bahá’í community to believer suffering from AIDS

17 April 1995

To a National Spiritual Assembly

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Your letter of 10 January 1995 to the Universal House of Justice was received by fax only on 14 February. It has asked us to convey to you that it was deeply saddened to learn that a member of your Bahá’í community has been diagnosed as being infected with the AIDS virus. If it will not be distressing to this friend to know that the news has been shared with the House of Justice, then you are asked to kindly extend to him (or her) its loving sympathy, and the assurance of its fervent prayers at the Sacred Threshold, beseeching Bahá’u’lláh to shower this servant of the Cause with His tender mercies and protection.

You ask if there is any guidance on this matter. It is not clear from your letter whether the situation of this believer is commonly known in the Bahá’í community. If it is, then the House of Justice hopes you will encourage the Local Spiritual Assembly involved, and the friends in the community, to turn to non-Bahá’í agencies specializing in dealing with AIDS for information and counseling as appropriate or needed. Furthermore, all should draw inspiration and guidance from the peerless example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whose compassion, loving understanding and sincere concern for the welfare of others exemplified the Bahá'í attitude to those who are suffering... .

With loving Bahá'í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

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