The hour is indeed propitious, as the climax of the world-wide rejoicings
signalizing the Holy Year approaches, for the national spiritual
assemblies of these same communities to gird up their loins, in
collaboration with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
'Iraq, in a supreme effort to launch, on the morrow of this fateful
conference, that phase of the Ten-Year Crusade which, God willing, will
culminate in the introduction of our glorious Faith in all the remaining
territories of that vast continent as well as the chief neighboring
islands lying in the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans. The decade on whose
threshold they now stand must, circumstances permitting, witness:
First, the erection of three additional pillars within the confines of
that continent and its neighboring islands, designed to support, together
with no less than forty-five other national spiritual assemblies to be
established in other parts of the world, the final unit in the erection of
the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, namely: The National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central and East Africa, to be formed
under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the
British Isles, with its seat in Kampala; the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha'is of South and West Africa, to be formed under the aegis of
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of
America, with its seat in Johannesburg; the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Baha'is of North West Africa, to be formed under the aegis of the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and Sudan, with its
seat in Tunis.
Second, the initial purchase of land for the future construction of three
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kars, one in Cairo, one in Kampala and one in
Johannesburg, situated respectively in the north, the heart and the south
of the African continent.
Third, the opening of the following thirty-three virgin territories and
islands: Cape Verde Islands, Canary Islands, French Somaliland, French
Togoland, Mauritius, Northern Territories Protectorate, Portuguese Guinea,
Reunion Island, Spanish Guinea, St. Helena, and St. Thomas Island,
assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United
States of America; Ashanti Protectorate, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Italian
Somaliland, Southern Rhodesia and Swaziland, assigned to the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; French Equatorial Africa,
French West Africa, Morocco (International Zone), Rio de Oro, Spanish
Morocco and Spanish Sahara, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Baha'is of Egypt and Sudan; Comoro Islands, French Cameroons, Gambia,
Ruanda-Urundi and Socotra Island, assigned to the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of India, Pakistan and Burma; the British
Cameroons, British Togoland, Madeira and South West Africa, assigned to
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles; and
Seychelles Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'is of 'Iraq.
Fourth, the translation and publication of Baha'i literature in the
following thirty-one languages to be undertaken by the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles: Accra, Afrikaans, Aladian,
Ashanti, Banu, Bemba, Bua, Chuana, Gio, Gu, Jieng, Jolof, Kuanyama,
Krongo, Kroo, Luimbi, Malagasy, Nubian, Pedi, Popo, Ronga, Sena, Shilha,
Shona, Sobo, Suto, Wongo, Xosa, Yalunka, Yao and Zulu.
Fifth, the consolidation of the twenty-four following territories already
opened to the Faith in the African continent: Angola, Belgian Congo, Gold
Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zululand,
allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British
Isles; Abyssinia, Algeria, Eritrea, Libya, French Morocco, Somaliland,
Sudan and Tunisia, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'is of Egypt and Sudan; Madagascar, Mozambique and Zanzibar, allocated
to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, Pakistan and
Burma; Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, allocated to the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; Liberia and South Africa,
allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United
States of America.
Sixth, the establishment, circumstances permitting, of a national Baha'i
Court in the capital city of Egypt, the recognized center of both the
Islamic and Arab worlds, officially empowered to apply, in matters of
personal status, the laws and ordinances revealed in the Kitab-i-Aqdas,
the Mother-Book of the Baha'i Revelation.
Seventh, the incorporation of the three above-mentioned regional national
spiritual assemblies.
Eighth, the establishment by those same national spiritual assemblies of
national Baha'i endowments.
Ninth, the establishment of a national Haziratu'l-Quds in Johannesburg and
one in Tunis and the conversion into a similar institution of the local
Haziratu'l-Quds of Kampala.
Tenth, the formation of a national Baha'i Publishing Trust in Cairo.
Eleventh, the formation of an Israel branch of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and Sudan, authorized to hold, on behalf
of its parent institution, property dedicated to the holy shrines at the
World Center of the Faith in the state of Israel.
Twelfth, the appointment, during Ridvan 1954, by the Hand of the Cause in
Africa, of an Auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction
with the six national spiritual assemblies participating in the African
campaign, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Baha'i
centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the plans formulated for
the prosecution of the teaching campaign in the African continent.