Orkney is a cluster of islands lying roughly sixteen kilometres north of the north coast of Scotland. The Baháʼí faith first arrived in the main town, Kirkwall in 1953, having been established on the Scottish mainland about a decade earlier.
Historyedit
In September 1953 English Bahá’i Charles Dunning[1] arrived in Kirkwall, inspired by the Guardian of the Bahá’i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, who encouraged believers to settle in unopened territories during the Ten Year Crusade. As the first Bahá’i to open the Orkney Islands to the Bahá’i Faith during the Ten Year Crusade he was appointed as a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh by the Guardian.
Charles Dunning was 68 years of age when he arrived in Kirkwall, and over the following four years he supported himself as a travelling salesman, attending churches and meetings and making friends where possible, despite being regarded with suspicion by many people in the local community.[2] Eventually poor health required him to leave the island, and in February 1958 his place was taken by Daryoush Mehrabi,[3] who travelled the 500 miles from Nottingham to Aberdeen by motorbike before catching the overnight ferry to Orkney.
In February 1960 Daryoush married Jacqueline Thomas, a Bahá’i pioneer who was living in Aberdeen at the time. Together they settled in Kirkwall, starting a family and beginning to establish a Bahá’i community, until at Ridván 1969, they were able to form the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Kirkwall.
The Bahá’í Centre on Orkney is situated on Old Scapa Road, in Kirkwall. The building had previously belonged to an Orcadian homeopathic doctor, Dr Foubister,[5] who had a practice in Wimpole Street, London, was Consultant Paediatrician at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, and had attended the Guardian in London during his final illness in 1957. When his house in Kirkwall came up for sale in 1979 it was bought by a Bahá’í living in Spain with the intention of moving to Orkney. Realising that the Bahá’ís were looking for a suitable property, she sold the house to them at a reasonable price.
The Bahá’í Centre is a focal point in Kirkwall both for meetings and activities run by the Bahá'í community, and for other groups with similar values and interests.[6]
Referencesedit
^"Bahá'í World/Volume 14/In Memoriam – Bahaiworks, a library of works about the Bahá'í Faith". bahai.works. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
^"The Bahá'í Centre | Bahá'ís of Orkney". Retrieved 2021-07-21.
October 26, 2023
baha, faith, orkney, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, general, notability, guideline, please, help, demonstrate, notability, topic, citing, reliable, secondary, sources, that, independent, topic, provide, significant, coverage, beyond, mere, trivial, men. The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s general notability guideline Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Baha i Faith in Orkney news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Orkney is a cluster of islands lying roughly sixteen kilometres north of the north coast of Scotland The Bahaʼi faith first arrived in the main town Kirkwall in 1953 having been established on the Scottish mainland about a decade earlier History editIn September 1953 English Baha i Charles Dunning 1 arrived in Kirkwall inspired by the Guardian of the Baha i Faith Shoghi Effendi who encouraged believers to settle in unopened territories during the Ten Year Crusade As the first Baha i to open the Orkney Islands to the Baha i Faith during the Ten Year Crusade he was appointed as a Knight of Baha u llah by the Guardian Charles Dunning was 68 years of age when he arrived in Kirkwall and over the following four years he supported himself as a travelling salesman attending churches and meetings and making friends where possible despite being regarded with suspicion by many people in the local community 2 Eventually poor health required him to leave the island and in February 1958 his place was taken by Daryoush Mehrabi 3 who travelled the 500 miles from Nottingham to Aberdeen by motorbike before catching the overnight ferry to Orkney In February 1960 Daryoush married Jacqueline Thomas a Baha i pioneer who was living in Aberdeen at the time Together they settled in Kirkwall starting a family and beginning to establish a Baha i community until at Ridvan 1969 they were able to form the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Kirkwall The Baha i Centre in Orkney editIn 1976 The Universal House of Justice sent a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom with instructions to either purchase or rent modest buildings in Orkney Shetland and the Western Isles with a view to establishing Baha i centres 4 The Baha i Centre on Orkney is situated on Old Scapa Road in Kirkwall The building had previously belonged to an Orcadian homeopathic doctor Dr Foubister 5 who had a practice in Wimpole Street London was Consultant Paediatrician at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital and had attended the Guardian in London during his final illness in 1957 When his house in Kirkwall came up for sale in 1979 it was bought by a Baha i living in Spain with the intention of moving to Orkney Realising that the Baha is were looking for a suitable property she sold the house to them at a reasonable price The Baha i Centre is a focal point in Kirkwall both for meetings and activities run by the Baha i community and for other groups with similar values and interests 6 References edit Baha i World Volume 14 In Memoriam Bahaiworks a library of works about the Baha i Faith bahai works Retrieved 2021 04 30 The Baha i World April 1963 1968 p 306 In Memoriam 1992 1997 Daryoush Mehrabi Bahaiworks a library of works about the Baha i Faith bahai works Retrieved 2021 07 21 Islands of the North Sea bahai library com Retrieved 2021 07 21 Donald McDonald Foubister 1902 1988 www sueyounghistories com Retrieved 2021 07 21 The Baha i Centre Baha is of Orkney Retrieved 2021 07 21 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Baha 27i Faith in Orkney amp oldid 1141542616, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
