Lighting the Western Sky by BahaiBookstore.com

Contents Foreword Preface and Acknowledgements 1 Expectations

A Seed Sprouts in America

The Good Fairy

Paris and the Dawning of the Faith in Europe

The Master and Kheiralla

Arrival in the Most Great Prison: ‘Akká

Paying Homage at the Sacred Spot

114

The Master Speaks

124

A Surprise Arrival amidst Farewells to ‘Akká

146

An Egyptian Education

165

Igniting Europe

174

Kheiralla’s Downfall

191

The Sun Comes Out after the Storm

208

Keeping the Candles Ablaze

226

Lives of Service Together and Apart: The Getsingers

246

Mother of the Faithful

266

Annexes 1 Members of the First Western Pilgrimage, with a timeline

269

Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Sarah Farmer

271

The San Francisco Examiner: An Interview with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

273

Bibliography

277

Notes and References

287

Index

339

chapter 2

A Seed Sprouts in America What went through Lua’s mind that interminable Friday in Haifa as she and Edward impatiently fidgeted and paced while awaiting the summons to finally meet her Lord face to face? Did she think back to all that she had experienced since the fateful day in 1893 when she first became aware of the name Bahá’u’lláh? The story of her devotion to the newest of the world’s great religions spans almost the entire period of the establishment of the Faith in the West. How appropriate then that the one who would attain the honour of being named ‘Mother Teacher of the West’ herself first inhaled the faint fragrances of the new blossom just as it began to open. The remarkable story of how the Getsingers came to be in the Holy Land cannot be told without going back in time to the arrival of the Bahá’í Faith in the Americas. It is the tale of how the nascent Faith was transformed from what was ostensibly an obscure Middle Eastern sect to a dynamic world religion. It would be difficult to find a major religion more organized and systematic in its approach to expansion than the Bahá’í Faith; so the serendipitous manner in which it was first introduced to North America was decidedly uncharacteristic. It was as if the breath of God gently blew a seed across the ocean, where it landed in the fertile heartland of a continent and sprouted unnoticed and untended. During the twentieth century, the Bahá’í Faith would be established in almost every country and territory, usually through deliberate, sacrificial action undertaken in response to guidance from the Head of the Faith, but not so in the United States in the beginning. The American Bahá’í community was initially established through seemingly insignificant actions, almost as if brought about by chance, and carried forward by the most unlikely of people. The first Bahá’í to come to the United States had embraced the Cause only weeks before his arrival; consequently, he had very little accurate knowledge of his new faith, and so he proved to be too timid to openly introduce it to others during his first stay. This traveller, whom historians of the future will honour as the first Bahá’í to set foot in the New World, was Anton Haddad,1 an unassuming businessman and professional translator, slight of build, with an olive complexion, dark hair and eyes, and a moustache. He was born in a small 13

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village near Beirut, Lebanon,2 where he was raised as an Orthodox Christian. He acquired a working knowledge of English through a solid education, probably provided by Western Protestant Christian missionaries who established a number of schools in Lebanon during the nineteenth century. The tottering Ottoman Empire offered few opportunities for advancement based solely on merit, and so, like many of his fellow Lebanese Christians, he migrated from coastal Syria first to Egypt and then, a few years later, on to New York City in search of opportunities to make his fortune. By all accounts, he was a man of upright character with a wife and two young children, whom he had to regretfully leave behind near Beirut until his finances allowed him to send for them. At approximately the age of 30 he arrived in New York in late June of 1892. He initially hoped to earn his way by selling inventions concocted by his older business partner, good friend and fellow-countryman, Ibrahim George Kheiralla, the one who had introduced him to the Bahá’í Faith. Both would have a profound influence upon the development of the Faith in the West, one for good and the other, well, it would be true to say that his motives were primarily self-centred.3 Ibrahim Kheiralla was born on 11 November 1849 in the village of Bhamdoun on Mount Lebanon near Beirut and not far from Haddad’s home village, ‘Ayn Zhaltá. While still an infant he lost his father and was raised by his widowed mother. His family had been members of the Orthodox Melkite Christian Church of Antioch for generations, but his mother chose instead for him to be educated primarily in schools run by western Protestants. He had had the good fortune to receive a well-grounded schooling from his earliest years, including a university education at the newly established Syrian Protestant College4 in Beirut; in fact, he was a member of its first graduating class. This school, established by American Presbyterian missionaries, had as its primary mission the betterment of the Arab world through education. But beneath that noble purpose lurked the natural desire to convert Arabs, even those who were already Christians, to the Protestant branch of Christianity. Because Kheiralla had been educated from his childhood primarily in Protestant schools, he had come to identify with that Christian theology, rather than with the Orthodox teachings of his family. However, the Syrian Presbyterian College was unique among educational institutions established by Westerners in the region, because from its earliest years it did not disdain the local Arab culture and heritage but in fact promoted the use of the Arabic language. Because of this liberal approach and philosophy, many of the college’s students became leading proponents of Arab nationalism. Nonetheless, practical realities required that much of the instruction be conducted in English.5 This training would provide Kheiralla with two important 14

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tools when later teaching the Bahá’í Faith in the United States: fluency in English and an intimate understanding of American Protestant Christian ideology and culture. During the time he attended the college, it offered only two tracks of study, medical training or a more general ‘literary’ one, that is, a liberal arts education. Kheiralla chose the latter.6 Jobs for English-speakers were more abundant in Egypt than in Beirut, because during the last years of the nineteenth century Egypt was a British colony in every respect except in name,7 so like many of those educated in mission schools of the Levant, Ibrahim Kheiralla and Anton Haddad migrated to Cairo seeking work and it was there that they met for the first time – drawn to each other by their shared culture from their home villages on Mount Lebanon. Haddad worked for many years as a translator for the Egyptian government. Kheiralla first found employment as a teacher and then tried his hand at business. He worked in both the cotton and sugar industries, and became prosperous enough to own businesses and a large tract of land. It was during this time that he first married and established a family. After his wife died in childbirth, leaving him with two young daughters and a son to raise alone, he remarried. The second marriage was unsuccessful and so, following a divorce, he ventured into marriage a third time.8 His run of bad luck did not end with his family life; he lost his wealth through a lawsuit. Perhaps because of these misfortunes, Kheiralla began a spiritual quest that initially focused upon the occult, especially magic. He was convinced that he possessed special powers and wanted to learn to enhance them. This search led to a man who told him that he was looking in the wrong places, that rather than pursue ‘black’ magic, he should pursue ‘white’ magic, and he directed Kheiralla toward a person who could help. That man was ‘Abdu’l-Karím-i..Tihrání, a Persian businessman who was also one of the leaders of the small Egyptian Bahá’í community. It took some effort on Kheiralla’s part to gain access to ‘Abdu’l-Karím and to get him to agree to speak to him of spiritual truths, because the Egyptian Bahá’ís were ever cautious, wary lest their group be infiltrated by one who meant them harm. The first thing ‘Abdu’l-Karím told Kheiralla was to burn all his books about magic. Only then would he be willing to teach him.9 This was probably in 1889. For the next two years Kheiralla would be an ardent student, coming to him daily for lessons on the teachings and history of the Bahá’í Faith.10 During the late 1880s the tiny Cairo Bahá’í community was composed almost exclusively of Persians who wished to be geographically close to the centre of their Faith, because Bahá’ís had to receive special permission from Bahá’u’lláh or ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to reside in or near ‘Akká. This nearby community of Egypt provided essential services to Bahá’u’lláh, and later the Master, 15

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such as purchasing necessary supplies, assisting pilgrims on their way to and from the Holy Land, and channelling sensitive communications away from the watchful eyes and machinations of the many enemies of the Faith in the postal and telegraph offices in the Levant. Like the Bahá’ís of Cairo, Kheiralla was also a stranger far from home and so was befriended by this group of expatriates. Kheiralla was an eager student, but there was a problem – language. ‘Abdu’lKarím knew very little Arabic and Kheiralla knew no Persian. The common language was English, which neither knew in depth. Like many migrants, the believers in Cairo spoke their native tongue among themselves and learned only the little Arabic that was necessary to get by in the wider community. A few spoke French, which would prove useful when Western believers began to arrive in Cairo. At the time, ‘Abdu’l-Karím’s limited knowledge of English was apparently unique among the friends in Egypt. Even published works were of little help to Kheiralla’s investigations, because few of the massive volumes of Writings of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been printed, and those scant few books were primarily in Persian. So despite his many hours with his teacher, Kheiralla’s understanding of Bahá’í principles never advanced beyond a superficial level. Another problem that would become apparent as Kheiralla began to spread the teachings of the Faith himself was that his own teacher was a convert from Islam and had many incorrect understandings of the Faith which he then passed on to his student, including the erroneous belief that the Bahá’í Faith accepted reincarnation.11 The most beneficial aspect of the education Kheiralla obtained from the Cairo friends was the stories.12 He would listen attentively, with his teacher providing broken-English translations, as the Persian friends sat together either sipping sweet tea or bitter, thick coffee from small ceramic cups and passed the time recounting tales from the early years of their Faith. These surely touched his heart and inspired him. Undoubtedly they included heartwrenching stories of persecution and martyrdoms that had taken place in their native land of Persia, the cradle of the Faith. It must have been instilled into Kheiralla that he should always exercise caution; no one could readily detect who was a spy or who among the friends would be willing to betray his fellow believers. This last lesson would never be forgotten, even in the land of religious freedom, the United States. In 1890, after about two years of study, Ibrahim Kheiralla formally converted to the Bahá’í Faith. Writing years later about his investigation and acceptance, he recounted: [‘Abdu’l-Karím] delivered to me the message of this great truth and proved it from a Mohammedan standpoint, which is not sufficient to convince 16

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one grounded as I was in Christian doctrine and belief. His earnestness, however, commanded my deepest attention and respect. After receiving from him the announcement of the Manifestation of God, I commenced studying the question from a scientific and biblical standpoint, at the same time praying fervently to God for enlightenment and guidance to the truth. My prayers were answered and my researches proved fruitful, for I discovered that all Spiritual truths are reasonable and capable of clearer demonstration than material facts.13

There being no formal method of enrolment, Kheiralla wrote directly to Bahá’u’lláh, as was the custom at the time, stating his acceptance of the Faith, and received a letter (Tablet) from Him in reply. Though no authoritative copy of that Tablet exists, in the translation of it published later by Kheiralla, Bahá’u’lláh made a prophetic promise that ‘. . . Verily We heard your supplications, and granted them to you, and remembered you with such remembrance whereby the hearts will be attracted to you . . .’14 During these same years Kheiralla developed his close friendship with the young Anton Haddad and introduced him to the Bahá’ís. In the beginning, Kheiralla maintained the secrecy of the Faith by only teasing his friend with hints of what he was learning. He let Haddad know that the teachings had to be kept in the strictest confidence and only divulged to those sincere seekers who were first thoroughly vetted. This, not surprisingly, piqued Haddad’s curiosity and he begged to be allowed to become part of the exclusive group. After some time passed, he was finally taken to meet ‘Abdu’l-Karím. As soon as they met, ‘Abdu’l-Karím remarked to Kheiralla, ‘He looks to me to be like unto a piece of pure gold that only needs to be cleaned and polished.’15 Haddad was immediately drawn to the teachings of the Faith and converted to it around the time of the passing of Bahá’u’lláh, in the spring of 1892. Haddad and Kheiralla had dreams of improving their lots in life and both concluded that the best opportunities for doing so were to be found in the West. Kheiralla, an imaginative fellow, had devised several inventions and obtained patents for them through the foreign embassies in Egypt. Several of the Egyptian believers, including ‘Abdu’l-Karím, were willing to provide the two with capital to travel to the West to sell his contraptions and even to care for Kheiralla’s family in Cairo while they were gone. Haddad initially hesitated to leave his steady employment as a translator for the Egyptian government, but was swayed because of ‘Abdu’l-Karím’s enthusiasm for the enterprise and his willingness to back the venture financially.16 ‘Abdu’l-Karím also provided them with a most precious parting gift – copies of several Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh. 17

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