Source Materials / **Books**
# **The Knights of Baha'u'llah and the Roll of Honor**
##### *The Baha'i World*, vol. 20 (1986–1992), pp. 102–111, published 1998.
[↓ PDF](https://leland-jensen-info.netlify.app/bahai-world-20-roll-of-honor.pdf)
***
>**Roll of Honor**
>Baha'i World Crusade
>1953 1963
>Leland & Opal Jensen
>III 54 \[March 1954] & X 53 \[October 1953]
>Reunion I \[Island]
(Image detail from The Roll of Honor.)
**Editor's note:** The inscription for Leland and Opal Jensen is found on the Roll of Honor on the far right, second row from the top. The Roll of Honor is the list of Baha'i pioneers who traveled and taught the Faith in unclaimed territories and were dubbed Knights of Baha'u'llah by Shoghi Effendi upon their arrival. The Roll of Honor documents both the location and arrival date of the Knights — Roman numerals for month, two digits for the Gregorian calendar year. Two hundred and fifty-six Knights were dubbed during the early years of the Global Crusade. On the bottom of page 105 of volume 20 of *The Baha'i World* we read;
>\[Reprints of the Roll of Honor as well as the map showing the 132 territories drawn by Shoghi Effendi, are enclosed in the cover pockets of this volume of *The Baha'i World*.]
The detail above is taken from the full scan of the Roll of Honor included with *The Baha'i World* vol. 20 and can be seen and downloaded [here](https://bahai-library.com/roll_honor_knights_bahaullah).
Shoghi Effendi's map of the 132 territories visited — hand drawn on a printed map — can also be seen and downloaded [here](https://bahai-library.com/map_pioneers_crusade_1956).
***
*<b>Editor's note:</b> The full text of this lengthy article is reproduced here as readers less familiar with the period may benefit from the context it provides — both the state of the Faith at the outset of the Ten Year Crusade and the scope of what that campaign accomplished. Passages of particular significance have been highlighted in bold, and key observations are provided in the footnotes.*
### The Ten Year Crusade and the Knights of Baha'u'llah
*Adapted from a talk given by Mr. 'Ali Nakhjavani to the Baha'i World Centre staff in April 1992*
Many of us are working here and abroad to prepare for the events of the coming Holy Year — the Centenary of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah. Among the events which will be held in the Holy Land will be a reception for the Knights of Baha'u'llah. These precious souls had a unique part to play in an extremely important period of Baha’i history, the Ten Year Crusade. As we look back over the development of the Faith during the one hundred years since the passing of the Blessed Beauty, it is appropriate to take the time to review a subject which engaged the entire Baha’i world during the latter years of the ministry of Shoghi Effendi.
The significance of the Ten Year Crusade was described by Shoghi Effendi in a message he sent to the Intercontinental Conference in America on 4 May 1953. It was a long message, read to the assembly by Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, towards the end of which he reviewed the entire spiritual evolution of humanity. He said that this process — this stupendous vast process — consists of ten parts. Part one consisted of all of the Prophets of God before the Bab. Part two began with the Bab, and then followed five parts representing major phases of the Faith up to 1921. The eighth part was his own ministry up to 1953.
Then he wrote:
>The ninth part of this process — the stage we are now entering — is the further diffusion of that same light over one hundred and thirty-one additional territories and islands in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, through the operation of a decade-long world spiritual crusade whose termination will, God willing, coincide with the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the centenary of the declaration of Baha'u'llah in Baghdad.\[1]
The tenth part is everything we will be doing till the end of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah. Shoghi Effendi continues:
>And finally the tenth part of this mighty process must be the penetration of that light, in the course of numerous crusades and of successive epochs of both the Formative and Golden Ages of the Faith, into all the remaining territories of the globe through the erection of the entire machinery of Baha'u'llah’s Administrative Order in all territories, both East and West, the stage at which the light of God’s triumphant Faith shining in all its power and glory will have suffused and enveloped the entire planet.\[2]
Of the entire range of the Baha'i Dispensation, we are in the tenth part. The ninth part — only ten years — was the Ten Year Crusade. And in the entire range of the universal process of spiritual evolution of humanity this stage stands out. This is an indication of the importance of the topic.
**Teaching Plans**
**From 1844 to 1937 there were no Baha'i Teaching Plans. The friends knew about teaching, about traveling to teach, and about martyrdom. 'Abdu'l-Baha had encouraged the friends to form local assemblies and to set up funds and associations, and He had given the American believers the Tablets of the Divine Plan but there was no Administrative Order to prosecute this vision.**
**During the first years of his ministry, Shoghi Effendi began to create the structures that we know today. He named the United States as the cradle of the Administrative Order as there was one National Spiritual Assembly there as well as for Canada, and they had been the recipients of the Tablets of the Divine Plan. Everything in terms of the formal inauguration of the Administrative Order began with the North American Baha'i community. For 16 years, from 1921 to 1937, he said he built up the Administrative Order in the United States and Canada. Then, at Ridvan 1937, he gave them the first Seven Year Plan. Although it was a national plan, the messages were shared with the Baha'i world collectively.**
At the end of the first Seven Year Plan, in 1944, the Guardian gave the American friends a two-year respite. Then he gave them the second Seven Year Plan, from Ridvan 1946 to 1953. During the second Seven Year Plan of the United States, he urged the other ten National Spiritual Assemblies to have Plans, too. Consequently, the second Plan was paralleled by other Plans in Asia, Africa, Europe and Australasia.
In letters from the Guardian, there was reference to a third Seven Year Plan to take place after three years of respite. However, he changed his mind and decided that immediately upon the completion of the second Seven Year Plan there would be a Ten Year Plan, not only for the United States and Canada, but for the entire Baha'i world. Therefore, that third Seven Year Plan was cancelled, and was superseded by the Ten Year Plan. The first Plan with world-wide international collaboration was the Ten Year Crusade.
At the mid-way point of the Ten Year Plan, Shoghi Effendi passed away. The Hands of the Cause of God took over custodianship of the Faith and the Spiritual Crusade was completed. The Universal House of Justice came into existence and it took one year to review the situation before it developed, after consultation with the Hands of the Cause, the Nine Year Plan, from 1964 to 1973. Following Shoghi Effendi's style, the House of Justice gave a year of respite from Ridvan 1973 to 1974, then gave the friends the Five Year Plan to carry out from 1974 to 1979, followed by the Seven Year Plan, 1979 to 1986, and the Six Year Plan, 1986 to 1992. Now we have the Holy Year, Ridvan 1992 to 1993, then we are to have the Three Year Plan, 1993 to 1996. What will happen after that, only Baha'u'llah knows.
**Messages Leading Up to the Ten Year Crusade**
**The Guardian used the word "Crusade" as far back as 1939. Of course, this word has historical connotations in connection with the military expeditions of the European Christians who went to the Holy Land to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim rule. In 1939, two years after the inauguration of the first Seven Year Plan of the American believers, he began to use the term "Crusade" instead of "Plan." In his Persian writings he used the word “Jihad,” which is "Holy War." He subsequently used "Crusade" for the second Seven Year Plan, and then for the Ten Year Plan so that the latter became known as the Ten Year Crusade, even more than the Ten Year Plan. He sometimes referred to the pioneers as "crusaders."**
**Shoghi Effendi did not give the Baha’i world any indication of this Crusade in the earlier years of his Guardianship. However, in 1951, six years before he passed away, when he began to build up the World Centre by inviting outstanding believers to come to the Holy Land to serve on the International Baha'i Council\[3] or to come as Hands of the Cause of God, he started referring to something very great that was going to happen.**
For example, on 25 February 1951, in a letter to the British National Spiritual Assembly (and almost on the same date he sent a cable to the American National Spiritual Assembly repeating virtually word for word what he had told the British Baha'is), he instructed the British Baha'i community to have a Two Year Plan, beginning in 1951 and ending in 1953, to recruit pioneers to Africa.
>On the success of this enterprise, \[the Two Year Plan] unprecedented in its scope, unique in its character and immense in its spiritual potentialities, must depend the initiation, at a later period in the Formative Age of the Faith, of undertakings embracing within their range all National Assemblies functioning throughout the Baha'i World, undertakings constituting in themselves a prelude to the launching of world-wide enterprises destined to be embarked upon, in future epochs of that same Age \[the Formative Age], by the Universal House of Justice, that will symbolise the unity and coordinate and unify the activities of these National Assemblies.\[4]
This was the first hint Shoghi Effendi gave of the Ten Year Crusade. Under the Two Year Plan, he had instructed only five National Assemblies to work together to open Africa south of the Sahara and he put these National Assemblies under the auspices and coordination of the British National Assembly. In this letter he stated that at the end of the Two Year Plan, the Baha'i world was to have undertakings which would involve and engage all National Assemblies, and there were eleven at that time.
**In this letter he also gave the Baha'i world a foreshadowing of two stages: one period with undertakings involving all National Spiritual Assemblies, that is, the Ten Year Crusade; to be followed throughout the Epochs of the Formative Age by enterprises which would be launched by the Universal House of Justice. I remember the discussions in Tihran by the scholars of the Faith about why Shoghi Effendi had said that those enterprises would be embarked upon by the Universal House of Justice. Why didn't he say under the aegis of the Guardianship?**
**In this one short paragraph, Shoghi Effendi told the friends about the future in two ways. First something great was going to happen, then major enterprises were to occur under the aegis of the Universal House of Justice.**
Nine months later, on 30 November 1951, the Guardian sent a message in which he said that the Baha'i World would hold intercontinental conferences for the first time. There had always been local and national conferences. Now, he said, the Faith was entering a new phase.
>Forthcoming celebrations must be signalized through inauguration long anticipated intercontinental stage in administrative evolution of Faith marking its gradual development through successive phases of local, regional, national, international Baha'i activity. **Initiation this highly significant measure further cementing Baha'i National Assemblies in five continents of globe will be acclaimed by posterity as counterpart to consolidation Faith at its World Centre through recent formation International Baha'i Council in Holy Land.**\[5]
**This was another hint that the Baha'is were to engage in collaboration involving all National Spiritual Assemblies very soon.**\[6]
At Naw-Ruz 1952, Shoghi Effendi announced that the eleven National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'i world were to be joined by a twelfth, the ltalo-Swiss National Assembly. He praised the work of Dr. Ugo Giachery in that cable, and said how important it was that at the beginning of this new international phase we had a new National Spiritual Assembly.
>Anticipate entrusting to the youngest among the twelve National Assemblies of the Baha'i World a specific plan enabling it, in conjunction with its sister National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'i World, to promote in the course of the ten years separating the second from the Most Great Jubilee the Global Crusade designed to hoist the standard of Baha'u'llah in the remaining states, dependencies and islands of the whole planet.\[7]
Here it was: the first intimation of the Ten Year Crusade.
The next message I want to quote was written in June 1952 and was heartrending:
>No matter how long the period that separates them from ultimate victory; however arduous the task; however formidable the exertions demanded of them;… however grievous the ordeal of temporary separation from the heart and nerve-center of their Faith which future unforeseeable disturbances may impose upon them, I adjure them, by the precious blood that flowed in such great profusion, by the lives of the unnumbered saints and heroes who were immolated, by the supreme, the glorious sacrifice of the Prophet-Herald of our Faith, by the tribulations which its Founder, Himself, willingly underwent, so that His Cause might live, His Order might redeem a shattered world and its glory might suffuse the entire planet adjure them, as this solemn hour draws nigh, to resolve never to flinch, never to hesitate, never to relax, until each and every objective in the Plans to be proclaimed, at a later date, has been fully consummated.\[8]
That shook the Baha'i world. The friends realized that while there was a wonderful thing happening — there would also be national Plans; each of these twelve National Spiritual Assemblies was going to have its own Plan, just as the ltalo-Swiss was to have its own Plan — and that there would be some rough times ahead.
Then came the auspicious moment, on 8 October 1952, when Shoghi Effendi announced the summary of the Ten Year Crusade. He gave the Baha'i world the Crusades’s objectives, and the preamble of the message read as follows:
>Feel hour propitious to proclaim to the entire Baha'i world the projected launching on the occasion of the convocation of the approaching Intercontinental Conferences on the four continents of the globe the fate-laden, soul-stirring, decade-long, world-embracing Spiritual Crusade involving the simultaneous initiation of twelve national Ten Year Plans and the concerted participation of all National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'i world aiming at the immediate extension of Baha'u'llah's spiritual dominion as well as the eventual establishment of the structure of His administrative order in all remaining Sovereign States, Principal Dependencies comprising Principalities, Sultanates, Emirates Shaykhdoms, Protectorates, Trust Territories, and Crown Colonies scattered over the surface of the entire planet. The entire body of the avowed supporters of Baha'u'llah's all-conquering Faith are now summoned to achieve in a single decade feats eclipsing in totality the achievements which in the course of the eleven preceding decades illuminated the annals of Baha'i pioneering.\[9]
He went on giving a summary of these goals. This message had an electrifying effect on the friends.
By May 1953, Shoghi Effendi had already announced not only the summary but the details of the Ten Year Plan. Intercontinental conferences were held. To each one he sent a special message enumerating all the goals pertaining to that continent. He sent Hands of the Cause to be present at the Conferences, with a designated Hand representing him personally. All of this happened during that Holy Year.
**Holy Years**
The Guardian first used the term "Holy Year" in a letter written on his behalf by his secretary to the American Baha'i community in November 1951. He explained in that letter that the Holy Year was to mark the Year Nine, a reference to the Bab's prophecy that in the Year Nine — that is nine years after 1844, His own Declaration — the Promised One would come and the new Revelation would be born.
The Year Nine began from the time when Baha'u'llah received the intimation of His Revelation in the Siyah-Chal in Tihran. He entered the Siyah-Chal in August of 1852, and stayed in that Black Pit for four months. Shoghi Effendi explained that this intimation — this dream or mystic experience that Baha'u'llah wrote about — occurred at the mid-way point of this period of four months. Baha'u'llah entered the Siyah-Chal approximately on 15 August, so Shoghi Effendi took 15 October as the beginning of the Holy Year.
To better understand the Holy Years, I refer you to this passage from God Passes By:
>The first dawnings of that Light of peerless splendor had … broken in the city of Shiraz. The rim of that Orb had now appeared above the horizon of the Siyah-Chal of Tihran. Its rays were to burst forth, a decade later, in Baghdad, piercing the clouds which immediately after its rise in those somber surroundings obscured its splendor. It was destined to mount to its zenith in the far-away city of Adrianople, and ultimately to set in the immediate Vicinity of the fortress-town of 'Akka.\[10]
In these three short sentences, Shoghi Effendi described the process of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. What happened during the period of the Bab should be considered as the period of the dawn. As the rim of the orb of the Sun appeared — sunrise — that moment was the birth of the Baha'i Revelation in the Siyah-Chal in Tihran. That began the first Holy Year. The Morning Sun was seen in Baghdad, the Declaration by Baha'u'llah of His Mission. The process reached its zenith in Adrianople, when Baha'u'llah wrote His letters to the Kings, the Proclamation of His Faith; That "Sun" proceeded on its predestined path and then set in the city of 'Akka, at Bahji, in 1892. As to the second Holy Year: sunrise fixed the time for the first Holy Year, and sunset will fix the time for the second Holy Year.
The first Holy Year, announced by Shoghi Effendi, stretched from 15 October 1952 to 15 October 1953, and during this time the first four Intercontinental Conferences were held. The second Holy Year, announced by the Universal House of Justice, is to begin at Ridvan 1992 and end at Ridvan 1993 with commemorative events to be held in the Holy Land in May 1992, and the second Baha'i World Congress in New York in November 1992.
**Centenaries**
Another subject which might be helpful as background is the centenaries we have had so far during the Formative Age. The first was the Centenary of the Declaration of the Bab, the First Jubilee, in May 1944, the highlights of which were celebrations held all over the Baha'i world. The second was the Centenary of the Martyrdom Of the Bab in July 1950, for which Shoghi Effendi called on the entire Baha'i world to hold commemorative events. Next was the Birth of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, the intimation of His Mission, referred to by the Guardian as the Second Jubilee, or sometimes the Great Jubilee. This was the beginning of the first Holy Year, as described above, and its highlights were the first four Intercontinental Conferences.
The fourth centenary was the Centenary of Baha'u'llah's Declaration in April 1963. This was the Third Jubilee, or, as Shoghi Effendi called it in other writings, the Most Great Jubilee. The highlights were worldwide celebrations, particularly culminating in the first Baha'i World Congress held in London. Next was the Centenary of the Revelation of the *Suriy-i-Muluk* in Adrianople where, Shoghi Effendi said, the Sun "had reached its zenith." This was in September 1967, and the highlights were the six Intercontinental Conferences convened by the Universal House of Justice. Hands of the Cause of God went to all of these Intercontinental Conferences. Six of the Hands first visited the House of Baha'u'llah in Adrianople before scattering, carrying with them a copy of the portrait of Baha'u'llah taken in Adrianople, which the friends at these conferences were privileged to view. The Centenary of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah is ahead of us, and the beginning of the Holy Year, Ridvan 1992 to Ridvan 1993. The highlights will be the events here and in New York.
**The Ten Year Crusade**
Shoghi Effendi sent his manuscript of the Ten Year Plan to two National Spiritual Assemblies, the United States and the British Isles, asking each of them to publish it. It is called, *The Baha'i Faith 1844 to 1952, Information Statistical and Comparative*, and it is in two parts. The first part consists of statistics of the Baha'i world as of 1953. The second part is called, "Supplement: Ten Year International Baha'i Teaching and Consolidation Plan 1953-1963." The bottom of the cover reads: "Compiled by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith." From pages 50 to 74 are the details of the Ten Year Crusade as laid out by the Guardian in full detail and in full splendor.
The first goal was, "Adoption of preliminary measures for the construction of Baha'u'llah's Sepulchre in the Holy Land." Some of the friends asked if Shoghi Effendi was planning to build a superstructure for the Shrine of Baha'u'llah. He answered that what he had in mind was to cleanse the surroundings of the Shrine and to create the Haram-i-Aqdas. This was accomplished.
The second goal was the opening of one hundred and thirty-one virgin territories, whose names he specified. At that time roughly the same number of territories had already been opened, so opening one hundred and thirty-one new territories was equal to doubling the number of "countries within the pale of the Faith." There were forty-one countries in Asia, thirty-three countries in Africa, thirty countries in Europe, twenty-seven countries in the Americas. However, during the evolution of the Plan, one new territory was added raising the total to one hundred and thirty-two, as will be explained later.
The next goal was the translation and publication of Baha'i literature into ninety-one additional languages, the names of which Shoghi Effendi specified. There were to be forty in Asia, thirty-one in Africa, ten in Europe, ten in the Americas, and he assigned responsibility for translating and publishing these books and publications to designated National Spiritual Assemblies.
The fourth goal concerned the construction of two Mashriqu'l-Adhkars, one in Tihran and one in Frankfurt. Circumstances in Iran did not permit the construction of the Temple in Tihran so, at a later date, he announced that the Kampala Temple in Uganda would replace the Temple in Tihran as a goal. A few months later he added Sydney, Australia, so two Houses of Worship were erected instead of the one in Tihran.
Next was the acquisition of a site for the Temple on Mount Carmel. Mrs. Amelia Collins provided the funds, and Shoghi Effendi was able to purchase that very precious and important property which had been blessed by the footsteps of Baha'u'llah Himself at the time He revealed the Tablet of Carmel.
Another goal completed was the erection of the first dependency of the Temple in Wilmette, the Home for the Aged.
Next was the purchase of Temple sites in eleven countries, which he named — three on the American continent, three in Africa, two in Asia, two in Europe and one in Australasia.
The eighth goal was, "Development of the functions of the institution of the Hands of the Cause. That became very important as the years went by. During the years that he was alive after launching the Ten Year Plan, Shoghi Effendi added more Hands to the number he had already appointed, then called on them all to appoint Auxiliary Boards of nine for each continent. Later he said that there should be two Auxiliary Boards instead of one — one for protection and one for teaching the Faith. **Towards the end of his life he added more Hands of the Cause, and described them as the Chief Stewards of the Embryonic World Commonwealth. As can be seen, the institution of the Hands developed very rapidly during those four-and-one-half years.**\[9]
**The ninth goal was the establishment of a Baha'i Court in the Holy Land. Shoghi Effendi did not intend for there to be a court which would supervise and oversee the judicial decisions of National Spiritual Assemblies, since the Head of the Faith was supervising and coordinating the work of the National Assemblies. The intention was something different. Just as other religions in Israel had certain rights according to the civil and religious laws of the land and had the right to have religious courts, so too should the Baha'i Faith have a right to a religious court in Israel. But that court never materialized because there occurred a trend in Israel towards referral to secular instead of religious courts, and indeed a reduction of the power and authority of religious courts. This was studied very carefully by the Hands of the Cause, who produced documents explaining why this goal was not feasible under current circumstances.**\[10]
The next goal was the codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas. Shoghi Effendi himself worked on this, and a large pckage of his notes was passed to the Universal House of Justice when it was elected. These form the basis of the present *Synopsis and Codification of the Kitab-i-Aqdas* that was published, almost ninety-five percent of which was the work of Shoghi Effendi. The Universal House of Justice completed and published the book.
**Next was the establishment of six Baha'i courts in chief cities of the Middle East. He named them: Tihran, Cairo, Baghdad, New Delhi, Karachi, Kabul. None of these were possible, some for the same reason that a court could not be established in Israel, and others because in those countries they were ultra-orthodox in their attitudes. The friends tried and were able, for example in Pakistan, to have the Baha'i marriage certificate recognised, which is part of the work of a Baha'i court, so some aspects of the goal were achieved. Likewise in New Delhi it was possible to obtain official recognition of the Baha'i marriage certificate.**\[11]
The twelfth goal was the extension of the international Baha'i endowments in the Holy Land. Shoghi Effendi acquired many parcels of property both in Bahji and in Haifa during the four years he was alive at the beginning of the Plan. Had he not acquired these properties on Mount Carmel we would not be able to work on the Arc and Terraces as we are now.
Construction of the International Baha'i Archives Building was a goal which caused tremendous problems. Shoghi Effendi had the design made by Mason Remey, under his own supervision, and had it erected but could not complete it. During the last few years of the Plan, after the passing of Shoghi Effendi, the building was completed under the direction of the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land and all the archives that had been kept in the three rooms to the south of the Shrine of the Bab were transferred to the new location.
It was a goal to construct a Tomb for the Wife of the Bab in Shiraz. The National Spiritual Assembly of Iran did its best, but until today it has not been possible to achieve this important goal of the Ten Year Plan.
The next goal was the transfer of the remains of the Father of Baha'u'llah and the Mother and the Cousin of the Bab to the Baha'i cemetery in Baghdad. The remains of the Father of Baha'u'llah were actually transferred and they are now in the Baha'i cemetery. But the remains of the Mother and the Cousin of the Bab have still not been identified. These are among the last wishes of Shoghi Effendi that will have to be carried out in future years.
The sixteenth goal was the acquisition of four Baha'i Holy Places in Iran and Iraq. Circumstances did not permit any progress in realizing the goal in Iraq. In Iran, however, although it was possible to acquire two of the properties, these were subsequently confiscated by the authorities after the Revolution.
The seventeenth goal was the establishment of forty-eight new National Spiritual Assemblies. All of these were established during the Ten Year Crusade.
The next goal was met with the acquisition of forty-nine new Haziratu'l-Quds.
The acquisition of forty-nine national endowments and the framing of national Baha'i constitutions for each of the new National Spiritual Assemblies was the next goal. Unfortunately in some countries, such as Iran, it was not possible to incorporate the National Assembly. However, national constitutions were drawn up and the National Assemblies operated within the terms of these documents.
Next was the incorporation of fifty-one National Spiritual Assemblies, which is related to the goal above. As was explained, some of these National Assemblies could not be incorporated.
The twenty-first goal was the establishment of six national Publishing Trusts. All of these were established — two in the Americas, two in Asia, one in Africa and one in Europe.
Next, "Participation by the women of Persia in the membership of National and Local Assemblies," was accomplished with flying colors. The first year that this permission was made effective two Baha'i women were elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran. (Incidentally, Shoghi Effendi gave the same instruction to the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt and Sudan, one year after Persia.)
**The next goal was the establishment of seven Israeli branches of National Spiritual Assemblies. This was very interesting. Shoghi Effendi established under Israeli law what are today called "friendly societies." Instead of calling them, let us say, "Baha'i Holding Societies," he had each one named after a National Assembly operating at that time: for example, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States — Israel Branch. One of the wonderful things that he did was to incorporate one of these "friendly societies" in the name of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Israel — Israel branch. Shoghi Effendi used to say that in Iran the authorities did not recognize us but in Israel the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran had been incorporated. He transferred property in the names of these various legal entities. On Panorama Road, above the Shrine of the Bab, there is still a piece of land recorded in the land registry in the name of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran — Israel branch.**
The twenty-fourth goal was the establishment of a national Baha'i Printing Press in Tihran. This was with the understanding that the National Assembly of Iran would be incorporated and have its own printing press. This was not possible. However, the National Assembly of Iran succeeded in establishing an informal publishing house which published Baha'i books without actually owning a printing press. The books were typed, mimeographed, bound and distributed. Many books in our Baha'i library today are those published during that period of the Ten Year Crusade. It was not official, but it was on the path to the fulfilment of this goal formulated by the Guardian.
Baha'is had ties with the United Nations, but Shoghi Effendi made it a goal to reinforce them. Two years before he passed away, the persecutions in Iran allowed the friends to develop much closer connections with various UN agencies such as the Security Council, the Human Rights Commission and other agencies in New York. The Guardian seemed to have anticipated this development, and urged the friends to build on those relationships. This process has continued, and now we have an efficient office in New York, another in Geneva, yet another in the Pacific, and so on.
For the purposes of the Ten Year Crusade Shoghi Effendi treated the Soviet Union as two parts, the European section which he counted as part of Europe, and the Asian republics which he regarded as part of Asia. According to his reports, there were thirteen unopened republics in the Soviet Union and he named them. It was subsequently learned that there were Baha'is in some of these areas, whose presence had not been reported to him. A few territories were opened by traveling teachers. We will discuss these matters later.
The last goal, the twenty-seventh goal, was the convocation of the Baha'i World Congress in 1963 in Baghdad. As events unfolded, it was not possible to have the Congress in Baghdad and it was held in London. In retrospect it seems so appropriate that it was held in London because that was where Shoghi Effendi had passed away. Many Baha'is went to that first Congress, on the one hand to pay their respects to their Guardian who had passed away while labouring for the Cause at the mid-way point of his Spiritual Crusade, and on the other to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Baha'u'llah.
After giving the friends the objectives of the Ten Year Crusade, Shoghi Effendi explained that it was to have four phases. **The first phase was the opening of the virgin territories, to occur over the first year. During the year he named the Knights as they arrived at their pioneer posts.** Second was the acquisition of national Haziratu'l-Qudses and endowments, over a period of two years. There was a tremendous effort by the Baha'is all over the world to win these goals. Third, the multiplication of Baha'i localities and the formation of sixteen new National Spiritual Assemblies over a period of two years. This was done. And then, just before his passing, he said the fourth phase was to witness a vast increase in the number of believers and localities and the erection of the Temples of Africa, Australasia and Europe. The Hands of the Cause of God continued working on this fourth phase for the rest of the ten years.
**The Knights of Baha'u'llah**
**The word translated as "knights" was used by Baha'u'llah in His Writings. 'Abdu'l-Baha also used the word, as well as the word "horsemen." By knights they meant heroes: they used the word as translated by Shoghi Effendi with a lower case "k." Shoghi Effendi took this word and used it as an accolade. It became a title, with a capital “K.” After announcing the goals of the Ten Year Crusade, Shoghi Effendi made this announcement on 28 May 1953:**
>**Planning inscribe, chronological order, names spiritual conquerors illuminated Roll of Honor, to be deposited entrance door inner Sanctuary Tomb of Baha'u'llah, as permanent memorial contribution champions His Faith victorious conclusion opening campaign Global Crusade…**\[12]
**This was the first time he had used the words "Roll of Honor." It was a new term for the Baha'is, as were "Holy Year" and "Crusade," and of course, "Knights" as a title. As we just saw, Shoghi Effendi wanted one hundred and thirty-one countries and territories of the world opened to the Faith during one year. To encourage the friends to arise, he said he would open a list upon which he would inscribe the names of those pioneers who would go to these unconquered regions. This caught the imagination of Baha'is all over the world.**
**About a month later, Shoghi Effendi explained what he had in mind. In letters written on his behalf, he gave many explanations, two of which I will quote from:**
>**There are no objections to more than one pioneer settling in these areas \[meaning these virgin areas]. If the original one to whom the territory has been assigned \[meaning the NSA] cannot proceed at this moment, they will still be reaching their goal even though someone else might reach that point sooner than they. All who proceed to these points at this time will be designated as Knights of Baha'u'llah and their names be carried on the Roll of Honor to be deposited permanently in the Shrine of Baha'u'llah.**
>
>**All pioneers reaching virgin areas at this time are carried on the honor roll as Knights of Baha'u'llah. In other words, there may be four or five Knights of Baha'u'llah for one country. The Guardian has been considering how long this period of settlement by the Knights of Baha'u'llah should continue, but has not yet set the date. Up until that time, every individual settling in a virgin area will be carried on the honor roll.**
**Friends started rushing: they longed to be on the Roll of Honor and among the Knights of Baha'u'llah. When you examine the Roll of Honor today you will see that some of the difficult countries only have one solitary Knight, and some of the easier countries have five, six, seven Knights.**
Then, in May 1954, came this ominous announcement:
>The Roll of Honor, after the lapse of one year since the launching of the World Crusade, is now closed, with the exception of pioneers who have already left for their destination, as well as those first arriving in the few remaining virgin territories…\[13]
When Mr. Abbas and Mrs. Rezvanieh Katirai went to the Sakhalin Islands in 1990, they became Knights since it was the last unopened territory left from the Ten Year Crusade. They set the seal on the Knights of Baha'u'llah.
The total number of territories opened by Knights was 122, with a footnote which reads, "Including the Gulf Islands, supplementing the Anticosti Islands, both in Canada." The story of this footnote is as follows.
Shoghi Effendi had named 131 territories to be opened, including Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada. The National Assembly wrote to Shoghi Effendi to state that no pioneer could go to Anticosti as it was owned and entirely controlled by a paper company. Only people employed by that company could go there, and Baha'is had been unsuccessful in obtaining jobs. Two further possibilities were for hunters or for people related to the islanders to go there, but neither of these were opened to Baha'is. Shoghi Effendi wrote back to tell them to choose another island. They consulted and chose the Gulf Islands, which Shoghi Effendi approved.
In the end, the National Assembly was able to open Anticosti Island, as originally envisaged. Shoghi Effendi named a Knight for Anticosti and it is on the Roll of Honor. Because the Gulf Islands had already won the honor of being a virgin territory Which produced a Knight, the Baha'i world ended with 132 virgin territories instead of the original 131.
One may note that 122 territories opened by Knights of Baha'u'llah do not equal the 132 virgin territories named by Shoghi Effendi. This is because 10 were opened by other means. There were some countries where there were Baha'is about whom Shoghi Effendi had never received reports. When he learned of these he announced in one of his Ridvan messages that he now considered these countries already opened. As the Baha'is there had gone before the opening of the Ten Year Crusade they could not be named Knights. In other cases, countries were opened by traveling teachers who could not reside there — Baha'is who went back and forth — and through them people enrolled in the Faith. Usually it was not just one person, but a whole group of people who went at different times. Together there were 10 territories in these categories which explains the 122.
The total number of Knights was 257: 131 men; 126 women. The total number of Knights still alive is 159. The total number still living at pioneering posts is 14. The number settled during the lifetime of Shoghi Effendi and still at their post is 10 — God bless them. The number of Knights intending to be present at the Centenary events in the Holy Land is 108.
**The Roll of Honor**
**The Roll of Honor is on a parchment that Shoghi Effendi himself ordered. He also found the artist who would put the names on the Roll. It has spaces, like cartouches, for each country, in four columns. If there was more than one Knight of Baha'u'llah for a country their names were written in smaller letters, and if there was just one name, that name enjoyed the full space of the cartouche. This Roll of Honor will be displayed when the Knights of Baha'u'llah come to the World Centre. The next day, it will be placed in a special sealed box and then laid by Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum at the entrance to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah. We know where Shoghi Effendi had planned to deposit it because when he sent a picture of the new door to the Shrine (the present door to the Shrine) to the American National Assembly he asked them to publish the picture and describe it and to add that immediately behind this door the Roll of Honor would be deposited.**
A map has also been made. It is in the style of the maps of Shoghi Effendi, and shows the 132 territories. From each country there is a line on which the name of each Knight is written, and like an arrow the line pierces the country. It is in color, and will also be displayed. A copy will, of course, be made available to the friends.
***
**Endnotes**
**1.** *Messages to the Baha'i World, A compilation of letters from Shoghi Effendi* (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1958), pp. 154–155.
**2.** ibid. p. 155.
**3.** \[Editor's note: Nakhjavani writes that Shoghi Effendi, "in 1951, six years before he passed away, … began to **build up** the World Centre by inviting **outstanding believers to come to the Holy Land to serve on the International Baha'i Council**." (Emphasis added.) This characterization is telling. To describe the members of the First International Baha'i Council as "outstanding believers" invited to "serve" reveals a fundamental misreading of that body's nature and purpose — namely, that it was Shoghi Effendi's appointed successor and the embryonic Universal House of Justice.]
**4.** *Unfolding Destiny: The Messages from the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith to the Baha'i Community of the British Isles* (London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1981), p. 261.
**5.** *Messages*, p. 17.
**6.** \[Editor's note:
Shoghi Effendi writes:
>Initiation this highly significant measure further cementing Baha'i National Assemblies in five continents of globe <b>will be acclaimed by posterity as counterpart to consolidation Faith at its World Centre through recent formation International Baha'i Council in Holy Land</b>. (Emphasis added.)
To which 'Ali Nakhjavani responds:
>This was <b>another hint</b> that the Baha'is were to engage in <b>collaboration involving all National Spiritual Assemblies</b> very soon. (Emphasis added.)
What Nakhjavani characterizes as "another hint" and describes as a "collaboration" is, on closer reading, something far more precise. Shoghi Effendi's language — that this relationship "will be acclaimed by posterity" as a counterpart to the consolidation of the Faith "at its World Centre through recent formation International Baha'i Council" — points not to a vague future cooperation but to a deliberate structural act. The First International Baha'i Council, which Nakhjavani treats as a gathering of outstanding believers, was in fact the embryonic Universal House of Justice, with the guardian as its president and member for life.
What Shoghi Effendi is doing here is establishing the relationship between that Supreme Body and the National Spiritual Assemblies — bodies that would in time evolve into Secondary Houses of Justice. In doing so, he is laying the administrative architecture of the future Baha'i Commonwealth: the global order foreshadowed in the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and initiated by Bahá'u'lláh himself.]
**7.** *Messages*, p. 23.
**8.** ibid., pp. 38–39.
**9.** ibid., p. 41.
**10.** Shoghi Effendi, *God Passes By* (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 2nd ed., 1987), pp. 102–103.
**11.** \[Editor's note: "Chief Stewards" is not a title or formal position within the Baha'i administrative order but a descriptive term used by Shoghi Effendi to characterize the role the Hands of the Cause played in the day-to-day affairs of the Faith. It conferred no additional authority and did not alter their function.
With the passing of Shoghi Effendi, the role of the Hands as such ceased, and administrative authority passed to the First International Baha'i Council and the succeeding Guardian, who would himself nominate and appoint his own Hands of the Cause per the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha.
It is further worth noting that a majority of the members of the First International Baha'i Council were themselves Hands of the Cause — and it was this group that led the Faith into violation by rejecting Shoghi Effendi's appointments. The nature of that action is candidly acknowledged by Ruḥiyyih Khanum herself in Ministry of the Custodians, where she writes of the decision to "assume the reins of authority, with no document to support us, other than the general theological statements \[Chief Stewards] about the Hands."]
**12.** \[Editor's note: Nakhjavani's comments concerning the establishment of a Baha'i Court are misleading and technically incorrect.
He states:
>Shoghi Effendi did not intend for there to be a court which would supervise and oversee the judicial decisions of National Spiritual Assemblies, since the Head of the Faith was supervising and coordinating the work of the National Assemblies.
This statement is misleading as it fails to explain that the only court that would "supervise and oversee the judicial decisions of the National Spiritual Assemblies" could only be the appointed first International Baha'i Council which was destined to evolve into an [[1951-01-09 Proclamation First IBC|"officially recognized Baha'i Court"]] and that this body was his appointed successor and the "Head of the Faith." This why the first International Baha'i Council would "forge link with authorities of newly emerged State" of Israel. The "Baha'i Court in the Holy Land" would be the first International Baha'i Council, the embryonic Universal House of Justice
We have previously discussed the matter of a Baha'i Court as one of Shoghi Effendi's goals in our comments on paragraph 9 of the [[1959-11-04 1959 Conclave Message|Hands Conclave Message of November 4, 1959]]. We will share it here for the readers better understanding.
***
**Paragraph 9:** The Hands excuse themselves from accomplishing stage two of Shoghi Effendi's plan — a Baha'i Court:
>We wish to assure the believers that every effort will be made to establish a Baha'i Court … might not be achieved.
The goal of a Baha'i Court had long been anticipated by Shoghi Effendi. Writing in March 1936:
>**The day may not be far distant** when in certain countries of the East, in which religious communities exercise jurisdiction in matters of personal status, Baha'i Assemblies may be called upon to assume the duties and responsibilities devolving upon officially constituted Baha'i courts. They will be empowered, **in such matters as marriage, divorce, and inheritance**, to execute and apply, within their respective jurisdictions, and with the sanction of civil authorities, such laws and ordinances as have been expressly provided in their Most Holy Book.
>
>(Shoghi Effendi, *World Order of Baha'u'llah*, 200, emphasis added.)
On July 27, 1962, the Hands followed up with a statement suggesting they had never seriously pursued this goal:
>Aside from those \[goals] which our Beloved \[Shoghi Effendi] himself felt **were doubtful of accomplishment**, such as establishment of the Baha'i courts…
>
>(Universal House of Justice, *Ministry of the Custodians 1957–1963*, 472, emphasis added.)
The reality contradicted the Hands' claims. Charles Mason Remey and Shoghi Effendi had already worked [[1951-01-09 Proclamation First IBC|"to forge link with authorities of newly emerged State"]] of Israel, and the results were documented in the official Israel Government Year-Book for 1957.
>THE DIVISION FOR THE BAHAI COMMUNITY
>
>The principal holy shrines of the Bahai religion and its spiritual and administrative world centre are situated in Israel. The Bahai community, numbering about 200, continued to embellish its holy places and completed the construction of the magnificent building that will house its documents and manuscripts. Bahai pilgrims from all parts of the world visited their shrines in Haifa, Acre and near Nahariya.
>
>…
>
>BAHA'I COMMUNITY
>
>CHARLES MASON REMEY, President of International Baha'i Council
>
>(Israel Government Year-Book 5718 (1957) \[Jerusalem: Government Printer, December 1957], 376, 382.)
Charles Mason Remey was appointed president–guardian of the International Baha'i Council, "its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body," (W&T) with the Council evolving into an "officially recognized Baha'i Court." The listing appears in the chapter for the Ministry of Religious Affairs alongside Rabbinical Courts, Shari'a Courts, and Christian Religious Courts, with mentions of the Druze Community, the Karaites, and the Samaritans.
After serving as Guardian of the Baha'i Faith for over 35 years, there is no mention of Shoghi Effendi in this listing. **This is not an error — Shoghi Effendi could not and did not sit on the body of the International Baha'i Council / Universal House of Justice.**
It was clear that a Baha'i Court was attainable and was **anticipated** by the listing in the Israel Government Year-Book.]
***
**13.** \[Editor's note: As the Hands chose not to pursue the Baha'i Court in Israel (see previous endnote), which was already in process at the time of Shoghi Effendi's passing, it's no surprise no effort was given here.]
**14.** *Messages*, p. 49.
**15.** *Messages*, p. 69.
***
**Source:** **Source:** *The Baha'i World*, vol. 20 \[1986–1992]: 93–105. *See* [[Bibliography]]. Emphasis added.
**Note:** This excerpt is frequently cited in discussions of Drs. Opal and Leland Jensen and is provided here as supplementary reference material for researchers, teachers, and students. This limited reproduction is presented for educational and scholarly purposes under fair use (17 U.S.C. § 107).
***
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**See Also**
- [[1960-02 Baha'i News, Joplin|Knights of Baha'u'llah, Drs. Opal and Leland Jensen Elected to Joplin LSA]] — April 21, 1959, Baha'i News (February 1960)
- [[Roll of Honor - Baha'i World 20|Roll of Honor]] — *The Baha'i World*, vol. 20 (1986–1992)
- [[Two Knights - Baha'i World 13|Two Knights]] — *The Baha'i World*, vol. 13 (1954–1963)
- [[1959-04 Baha'i News, Mauritius|Pioneering on Mauritius Island]] — December, 1955, *Baha'i News* (April 1959)
- [[1955-11 Baha'i News, Election|Reunion Island First Spiritual Assembly]] — April 21, 1955, *Baha'i News* (November 1955)
- [[1955-09 Baha'i News, Naw-Ruz|Reunion Island Celebrates Naw-Ruz]] — March 1955, *Baha'i News* (September 1955)
- [[1953-11-11 Roll of Honor|Shoghi Adds Opal and Leland Jensen to the Roll of Honor]] — Cablegram, November 11, 1953
- [[1953-05-28 Paramount Issue|Shoghi Effendi Calls for Pioneers]] — Cablegram, May 28, 1953
***
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