Remembering Amatu’l Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum and small gesture of the State of Israel at her funeral

The Widow of Guardian of the Baha’i Faith
Hand of Cause of God

On March 24, 1937 aged 26 she married the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, and it was at this time that she was given the name "Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khanum" by Shoghi Effendi. ("Amatu'l-Bahá" means "Handmaiden of Glory".) Almost immediately after their marriage, she served as the Guardian's secretary, and then in 1941 until 1957 she served as Shoghi Effendi's principal secretary in English. In 1951 she was appointed to the International Bahá'í Council, which was an administrative institution of the Bahá'í Faith created as a precursor to the Universal House of Justice, to act as a liaison between the Council and Shoghi Effendi. Later on March 26, 1952, she was appointed to the office of Hand of the Cause of God — a distinguished rank in service to the religion — for which she attended to issues related to the propagation and protection of the religion.

Shoghi Effendi and Ruhiyyih Khanum did not have any children; therefore, when Shoghi Effendi passed away unexpectedly in 1957, Ruhiyyih Khanum not only had a personal crisis to manage, but also had to deal with the earth shattering devastation that occurred within the world wide Baha’i community. Shoghi Effendi had died without a will, and without a designated successor as Guardian of the Baha’i Faith. Ruhiyyih Khanum and the other Hands of the Cause of God also had to deal with the anxiety and confusion that this circumstance created. There was a risk of a schism because of what was happening, but Ruhiyyih Khanum was a true leader in these dark times, helping to steer the Baha’is toward a democratically elected governing institution, preordained by Baha’u’llah in the Kitab-i-aqdas, which represented the entire Baha’i community: the Universal House of Justice.

In 1963, more than 4 years after Shoghi Effendi’s passing, the first Universal House of Justice was elected. Ruhiyyih Khanum, rather than take a vacation continued to work often to the point of exhaustion in service to the Baha’i Faith. She visited communities in North America, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia.

Ruhiyyih Rabbani died in January 19, 2000 in her home in Haifa, Israel. She was 90. Haifa, (January 23) — She was buried in Haifa, Israel, in a garden facing the home where she lived since 1937.

About 1000 people attended the funeral, including Mr. Chris Greenshields, Minister-Counsellor of the Canadian Embassy; Mrs. Marsha Von Duerckheim, Consul-General of the US Embassy; Mr. Ariel Kenet of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Roman Bronfman, Member of the Knesset; Mr. Amram Mitzna, the Mayor of Haifa; and Mr. Shmaryahu Biran, the Mayor of Acre. Dr. Nissim Dana of the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs represented the Israeli Government.

Failing to Recognize Bahá'u'lláh by Jews is their “spiritual blindness”

When Christ appeared, twenty centuries ago, although the Jews were eagerly awaiting His Coming, and prayed every day, with tears, saying: "O God, hasten the Revelation of the Messiah," yet when the Sun of Truth dawned, they denied Him and rose against Him with the greatest enmity, and eventually crucified that divine Spirit, the Word of God, and named Him Beelzebub, the evil one, as is recorded in the Gospel....

(J. E. Esslemont, "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era", 5th rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1987), p. 6)

A Bahá'í asked : "How do I respond when a Jew says we are anti-Semitic because we believe the Jews crucified Christ?" He notes that Jews defend Judaism by saying that the Romans, not the Jews, crucified Christ.

In responding to such a criticism it would be helpful to point out that followers -- and the clergy in particular -- of all the religions have opposed the coming of the succeeding Manifestation. The Bahá'í writings point out the crucifixion of Jesus to emphasize not the criminal act itself but the spiritual blindness of a people who rejected the very Messiah they sought, for although the Romans committed the actual act of crucifying Christ, the crucifixion was caused by the rejection of Jesus by the Jews and their accusation of Him before Pontius Pilate.

Such spiritual blindness has not been limited to the Jews, but has been witnessed in every Dispensation. Thus, in the following extract Bahá'u'llah addresses the Jews as the crucifiers of Jesus, and similarly addresses the followers of the Christian, Islamic and Bábí Faiths. It is not the Jews in particular who have failed to recognize the Manifestations of God, but all of humanity throughout the Dispensations of the Prophetic Cycle. It is not the actual crime that is emphasized, but the relationship between the people and the promised Manifestation of God, and not the material aspect of the rejection but its more fundamental spiritual significance.

O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once again Jesus, the Spirit of God, put Me to death, for He hath once more, in My person, been made manifest unto you. Deal with Me as ye wish, for I have vowed to lay down My life in the path of God. I will fear no one, though the powers of earth and heaven be leagued against Me. Followers of the Gospel! If ye cherish the desire to slay Muhammad, the Apostle of God, seize Me and put an end to My life, for I am He, and My Self is His Self.

Do unto Me as ye like, for the deepest longing of Mine heart is to attain the presence of My Best-Beloved in His Kingdom of Glory. Such is the Divine decree, if ye know it. Followers of Muhammad! If it be your wish to riddle with your shafts the breast of Him Who hath caused His Book the Bayán to be sent down unto you, lay hands on Me and persecute Me, for I am His Well-Beloved, the revelation of His own Self, though My name be not His name. I have come in the shadows of the clouds of glory, and am invested by God with invincible sovereignty. He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. I, verily, anticipate from you the treatment ye have accorded unto Him that came before Me. To this all things, verily, witness, if ye be of those who hearken. O people of the Bayán! If ye have resolved to shed the blood of Him Whose coming the Báb hath proclaimed, Whose advent Muhammad hath prophesied, and Whose Revelation Jesus Christ Himself hath announced, behold Me standing, ready and defenseless, before you. Deal with Me after your own desires.

("Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh" (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing ,Trust, 1983), sec. 47, pp. 101-2)