Bahá'í World Centre

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For the buildings, see Bahá'í World Centre buildings

The Bahá'í Arc from the International Archives building

Shrine of the Báb and its associated terraces at the Bahá'í World Centre

Shrine of the Báb

The Bahá'í World Centre is the name given to the administrative centre of the Bahá'í Faith. Based in Haifa, Israel, the Bahá'í World Centre is recognisable by the gardens that dominate the area of Mount Carmel directly above the sea port.

The Bahá'í World Centre is also the current destination for Bahá'í pilgrimage.

[edit] History

The location of the administrative center was a result of the banishment and imprisonment of Bahá'u'lláh, when he was sent to the penal colony of Akká in 1868. He lived out the rest of his life and died in that area, passing away in 1892. The location of the Shrine of the Báb was indicated by Bahá'u'lláh to his son `Abdu'l-Bahá during a visit to Haifa. The establishing of the administrative center on Mount Carmel was indicated also by Bahá'u'lláh in his Tablet of Carmel, which is considered one of the charter documents of the Bahá'í administration.

During Shoghi Effendi's time as the head of the Bahá'í Faith, the British Mandate of Palestine was dealing with a growing conflict between Zionists and Palestinians in the region of Palestine. With the failure of the mandate in 1948, and the resulting 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Bahá'ís were encouraged not to teach the Faith, or settle in Palestine. The agreement reached between Shoghi Effendi and the Israeli government has remained in place, and today the only Bahá'ís in the State of Israel are there on a temporary basis, working for the Bahá'í World Centre.

[edit] Administration

Everything that is done in the Bahá'í Faith on an international level is coordinated at the Bahá'í World Centre. These include decisions that affect the faith on a global level, the channeling of funds and the study and translation of the Bahá'í Holy Writings.

The Universal House of Justice resides in Haifa, representing the supreme governing body of the Bahá'í Faith, along with the International Teaching Centre, which coordinates the activities between the Continental Counsellors and works as a liaison between them and the House of Justice.