In all other territories of the world, the Bahá’ís have set up Bahá’í communities in towns, cities and villages, and wherever possible they engage in community-building activities designed to bring together people from different backgrounds. But in the Holy Land, where this sort of activity is so desperately needed, there are no local Bahá’í communities at all. This situation arose because of the ban on the Bahá’ís teaching their religion. The Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh is in the Holy Land, as are various other properties which are connected with Bahá’u’lláh and His family, and the Bahá’ís have been allowed to establish the Bahá’í World Centre there, but all the Bahá’ís working at the World Centre are volunteers from overseas. The community-building activities which are the hallmark of the Bahá’ís in so many areas of the world simply do not exist in the Holy Land.
In contrast to the way in which He was treated by the Iranian and Turkish authorities, Bahá’u’lláh’s message to the world was that mankind is one people, that the followers of all religions worship the same God, and that now is the time to end quarrels between religions and between peoples. When Bahá’u’lláh wrote to the political rulers of the time, He said that there should be a world peace conference where all the national boundaries should be agreed and fixed by a universal peace treaty. He said that the rulers should attend the universal peace conference themselves, or send their most important ministers. He explained that all the world’s governments should unite to remove any government which might break the resulting peace treaty. This agreement would result in peace and security for all. Over one hundred and fifty years later, we are still suffering from war and political instability, and this universal peace conference and treaty are needed more than ever.
Bahá’u’lláh was sent to Palestine as a prisoner, but became so respected that before the end of His life, He was allowed to live outside the prison walls. When Bahá’u’lláh died, in 1892, although He was technically still a prisoner, hundreds of the local inhabitants camped outside His house in mourning for nine days. Recognising the far-reaching implications of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, and realising the depths of Bahá’u’lláh’s spiritual insights, the Russian writer Tolstoy wrote that: “We spend our lives trying to unlock the mystery of the universe, but there was a Turkish prisoner, Bahá’u’lláh, in Akká, Palestine, who had the key.”
Bahá’u’lláh’s son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, had been appointed as the one to Whom the Bahá’ís should turn, and He oversaw the spread of the Bahá’í Faith into other parts of the world. He introduced Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings on the oneness of mankind to Europe and to North America, where breaking down the barriers between black and white communities was one of His foremost concerns. Whilst at home in the Akká/Haifa area, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was well-known as someone who personally tended the sick and fed the poor. As He had devoted His life to helping others and to promoting unity, when He in turn passed away in 1921, His funeral was attended by over ten thousand people: Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Bahá’ís (photo below).
