Tag: religion

Charity saved him from ill-feted Titanic voyage . . .

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‘Abdu’l-Bahá - who didn't take the ill-feted Titanic voyage.
In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent from April to December touring North America. He is shown here (at center) with Bahá’ís at Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1912. Reprinted with permission of the Bahá’í International Community.

There has been some epic storytelling over the past few weeks marking the one hundred years ago since the “unsinkable” Titanic sank into the North Atlantic, taking with her more than 1,500 lives.

Of all the stories, one of the most extraordinary is that of a 68-year-old Persian who was supposed to be on the ill-fated vessel but wasn’t – it turns out – actually there.

Abbas Effendi – known as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or “the Servant of God” – was feted by the press in both Europe and the U.S. as a philosopher, a peace apostle, even the return of Christ. His American admirers had sent him thousands of dollars for a ticket on the Titanic, and begged him to ride in the greatest of opulence.

His saving grace for that ill-feted journey was that he declined and gave the money to charity.

10,000 days in prison

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10,000 days is a long time in anybody’s book, but especially so for Iran’s seven former Baha’i leaders.

Seven Bahá’í leaders - courtesy of Bahá’í International Community
Imprisoned for more than 10,000 days between them. Reprinted with permission of the Bahá’í International Community.

For on 1 April that’s how long they’d spent in prison between them.

Read more about the story of Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm here.

Ms. Sabet was detained on 5 March 2008. Her six colleagues were arrested in early morning raids on their homes on 14 May 2008.