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Contents 1 Bahá'í Faith in Samoa 1.1 Early history 1.2 Developing community 1.2.1 Bahá'í House of Worship 1.3 Modern community 1.3.1 50th Anniversary 1.3.2 King Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa 1.4 See also 1.5 References 1.6 External links 2 Bahá'í Faith in Bahrain 2.1 Early period

[edit] Bahá'í Faith in Samoa

Bahá'í Faith

Central figures

Bahá'u'lláh The Báb · `Abdu'l-Bahá

Key scripture

Kitáb-i-Aqdas · Kitáb-i-Íqán The Hidden Words The Seven Valleys

Institutions

Administrative Order The Guardianship Universal House of Justice Spiritual Assemblies

History

Bahá'í history · Timeline Bábís · Shaykh Ahmad

Notable individuals

Shoghi Effendi Martha Root · Táhirih Badí‘ · Apostles Hands of the Cause

See also

Symbols · Laws Teachings · Texts Calendar · Divisions Pilgrimage · Prayer Index of Bahá'í Articles This box: view • talk • edit

[edit] Early history

The first mention of the Samoan Islands in Bahá'í literature, is in a series of letters, or tablets, to the followers of the religion in the United States in 1916-1917 by `Abdu'l-Bahá, head of the faith until 1921 when he died, asking the followers of the religion to travel to other countries; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan. The seventh of the tablets was the first to mention several island nations in the Pacific Ocean. Written in April 11, 1916, it was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of the First World War and the Spanish flu. The seventh tablet was translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab on April 4th, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12th, 1919.^[1]

"A party speaking their languages, severed, holy, sanctified and filled with the love of God, must turn their faces to and travel through the three great island groups of the Pacific Ocean—Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia, and the islands attached to these groups, such as New Guinea, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Philippine Islands, Solomon Islands, Fiji Islands, New Hebrides, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, Bismarck Archipelago, Ceram, Celebes, Friendly Islands, Samoa Islands, Society Islands, Caroline Islands, Low Archipelago, Marquesas, Hawaiian Islands, Gilbert Islands, Moluccas, Marshall Islands, Timor and the other islands. With hearts overflowing with the love of God, with tongues commemorating the mention of God, with eyes turned to the Kingdom of God, they must deliver the glad tidings of the manifestation of the Lord of Hosts to all the people."^[2]

Following this call to pioneer in 1919, Clara and Hyde Dunn moved from the United Kingdom to Australia in 1920 and stopped briefly in Samoa on their way.^[3] Shoghi Effendi, head of the religion after the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá, launched the Ten Year Crusade and during this plan, 34 years after the first Bahá'ís of Australia had stopped at Samoa, a woman named Lilian Wyss pioneered to Samoa from Australia in January of 1954.^[4] leaving behind a position on the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia^[5] at age 24 while her brother, Frank Wyss, introduced the Faith that year to the Cocos Island. For their service, Shoghi Effendi awarded both of them the accolade of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh.^[6] Saialala Tamasese was one of the first local Bahá'ís. The first Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Iliili in 1961.^[7] Many of the early Bahá'ís were well educated and some had Christian theological training and on conversion later held positions of high office in the religion.^[8]

[edit] Developing community

In 1962 the religion had come the island of Savai'i.^[7] Also In 1962 a Bahá'í was refused admittance into the country but by 1968 King Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa privately became a Bahá'í and announced it so publicly in 1973.^[9] Russell Garcia and wife visited in 1967 on their way ultimately to New Zealand.^[7] In 1970 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Samoa was elected and in 1976 was registered with the United States.

By the 1990's there were youth workshops (see Oscar DeGruy) performing.^[7]

[edit] Bahá'í House of Worship

Thirty years after the first Bahá'í came to the islands of Samoa the Bahá'í House of Worship in Tiapapata, 8 km from Apia, Samoa, was completed in 1984 and serves as the Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands. The corner stone was laid and the Temple later dedicated by King Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa who was the first reigning Bahá'í monarch.^[10] Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khanum was also present at the laying of the cornerstone and it's dedication. The temple is open to the public for individual prayer, commemoration of Bahá'í holy days, and weekly devotional meetings. The structure is completely open to the island breezes.^[11] The lands of the Temple are also the resting place of Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery.^[12] The Samoan Bahá’í Temple Choir has been recorded.^[13] There are also some of the dependencies of the Bahá'í Temple - a Baha'i cemetery and the Baha'i school.^[6]

[edit] Modern community

"O le Kuka Samoa," Samoa's first television series dedicated to a healthy diet, was launched on 16 October 2000 with Samoan comedian Sumeo, alias "O le King Kuka," and produced by the Samoan Bahá'í Charitable Trust for Social and Economic Development.^[14] and was aimed at rejuvenating Samoan cultural food practices to help provide better nutrition as well as reliance on local resources.^[15] The Bahá'í community also maintains five Bahá'í pre-schools across all the islands of Samoa.^[16][6]

Small community.^[17]

Sydney lawyer, Penny Taylor, gave up a high-flying corporate law job in Sydney to relocate to Samoa.^[18] Across Samoa and American Samoa there are Bahá'í communities in Puleia, Papa-i-Palauli-le-Falefa, Sasina, Pu'apu'a, Faleasi'u-Uta, Faeasi'u-Tai, Laleta, Lepea, Pago Pago, Iliili, Tafuna, and Leone.^[7] According to a profile by the World Council of Churches the Bahá'í population in Samoa is 2% of the nation - some 3600 people.^[19]

[edit] 50th Anniversary

Representatives of the National Assemblies of Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Tonga as well as other dignitaries of the religion and Bahá'ís from the islands of Savai'i and Upolu and Bahá'í members of the royal family - King Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa and daughter Susuga To'oa Tosi Malietoa - attended the 50th anniversary of the Bahá'ís Faith in Samoa in 2004 along with various members of the government of Samoa who highlighted many of the services the Bahá'ís have given to the general community.^[6] Indeed the influence of the Bahá'ís of this royal family have had effect in other Pacific Island groups - in Tonga and Fiji high chiefs either becoming Bahá'ís or have an intimate knowledge of and respect for the Bahá'í Teachings and it's institutions - Sir Tom Davis, when Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, became the first head of government to formally consult with the Universal House of Justice, and he himself later joined the Community. In 1993 Sir Julius Chan (then deputy Prime Minister and later Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea), reported to Parliament on his visit to the Bahá'í World Centre. Amata Kabua, President of the Marshall Islands gave an address to the United Nations General Assembly in October 1991 calling for visions of a global society.^[8]

[edit] King Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa

On the passing of King Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa in 2007, the international governing body of the Bahá'ís, the Universal House of Justice wrote: "His service to the people of Samoa as Head of State was distinguished by the high principles, genuine compassion and personal humility that characterized the constancy of his concern for the welfare of all. As the first reigning sovereign to accept the Message of Bahá'u'lláh, he set a record that will forever illumine the annals of our Faith, one that future generations will increasingly extol. His great interest for well-nigh four decades in the Faith's progress was reflected in the enthusiastic affirmation of his belief whenever the opportunity presented itself and in the abiding joy with which he regarded the construction in 1984 of the Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands in Samoa...."^[20]

[edit] See also

• History of Samoa
• History of Western Samoa
• History of American Samoa

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Temple Website
• Second Temple Website
• More information on the Temple and it's history

Bahá'í FaithBahá'í FaithSamoa

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[edit] Bahá'í Faith in Bahrain

Bahrain is a modern country built on an ancient area of the Persian Gulf with degrees of relationship among neighboring small countries like the United Arab Emerites, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. Several of these countries gained independence in the 1960s but only into late 1971 do the various nations and cities of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain become known as the United Arab Emerites (UAE). See History of Bahrain, Persian Gulf Residency, Gulf rupee and the History of the United Arab Emirates.

As part of the region of Bahrain, the history related to the Bahá'í Faith begins with Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í who was educated in Bahrain and died in 1826.^[1] By 1944 there are pioneers known in Bahrain.^[2]

[edit] Early period

Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í who founded a 19th century Shi`i school in the Persian and Ottoman empires, whose movement was known as Shaykhism. He was a native of the a native of the Al-Ahsa region (Eastern Arabian Peninsula), educated in Bahrain and the theological centers of Najaf and Karbala under the Mamluk rule in Iraq.^[1] Spending the last twenty years of his life in Iran, he received the protection and patronage of princes of the Qajar dynasty.^[3] In the mid 19th century many Shaykhis converted to the Bábí and Bahá'í religions, which regard Shaykh Ahmad highly.^[4][2]