2015

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Categories:	Births - Deaths - Declarations Establishments - Publications
Media:	2015 (Events)

2015 was a common year of the Gregorian calendar, the 2015th year of the Common Era (CE), the 15th year of the 21st century, and the 6th year of the 2010s decade. 2015 corresponds to the years 171–172 of the Bahá'í Era (BE) according to the Badi calendar.

Events

The design of the House of Worship in Battambang, unveiled on July 17.

• January 20: An updated version of the official website of the worldwide Bahá’í community, www.bahai.org, is launched.
• February 12: The Afnan Library opens in Sandy, United Kingdom.
• July 9: The last in the worldwide series of 114 youth conferences takes place in Bangui, Central African Republic, after it was postponed for two years following a widespread outbreak of politically motivated violence in the country.
• July 17: The design of the first local Bahá’í House of Worship, to be built in Battambang, Cambodia, is unveiled in a ceremony attended by over 300 people.
• August 3: The Bahá’í community of Ireland hosts a conference entitled "The New Irish as 'Us' — Identity and Integration in Modern Ireland".
• November 14: Ground is broken for the local Bahá’í House of Worship in Battambang, Cambodia.
• December 29: The Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors opens at the Bahá’í World Centre.

Persecution of Bahá’ís

Main article: Persecution

In Iran

• February 1: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African social rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, issues a statement condemning the denial of the right of Bahá’ís to higher education by the government of Iran.
• February 27: The Education is Not a Crime campaign marks its worldwide Day of Action.
• March 13: Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, and Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, report that members of minority groups, including Bahá’ís, continue to face persecution and discrimination in Iran, despite promises by the government to the contrary.
• May 4: Four Baha'is involved with the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), unjustly imprisoned in Iran four years prior, are released after completing their sentences. They include: Ramin Zibaie, Farhad Sedghi, Noushin Khadem and Mahmoud Badavam. Seven others remain in jail.
• October 20: The documentary Iranian Revolutionary Justice is broadcast, making public for the first time footage of the trial of eight members of Iran's National Spiritual Assembly which took place in 1981.
• November 15: Fifteen Bahá’ís are arrested in three Iranian cities after their homes were raided and searched: Sahba Farnoush, Negar Bagheri, Nava Monjazeb, Yavar Haghighat, Navid Aghdasi and Helia Moshtagh in Tehran; Keyvan Nik-Aien, Parvin Nik-Aien, Yeganeh Agahi, Matin Janamian, and Arshia Rowhani in Isfahan; and Sanaz Eshaghi, Nika Pakzadan, Farzaneh Daneshgari, and Nagmeh Zabihian in Mashhad. Additionally, more than 5 shops are closed down by the authorities in the cities of Ghaem Shahr, Kerman and Rafsanjan.
• December 21: Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani, a senior Muslim cleric in Iran, dedicates a piece of calligraphy showing a passage from the Hidden Words to the Bahá’ís who were recently arrested on baseless charges.

In Yemen

• January 16: Following more than a year of imprisonment, during which he was held without charge and subjected to torture and intense psychological abuse, Yemeni Bahá’í Hamed bin Haydara is indicted under baseless charges of spying for Israel and converting Muslims to the Bahá’í Faith.
• November 8: Hamed bin Haydara is permitted by a judge to attend a hospital to have health problems diagnosed.
• November 24: Hamed bin Haydara is evaluated by a medical doctor, who says that he requires surgery to remove his gallbladder and also needs heart surgery.
• December 6: A planned court hearing for Hamed bin Haydara is cancelled because the judge was on medical leave.

Deaths

• July 12: Mrs. Baji Muhammadifard, a Bahá'í from Sanandaj, Iran, passes away. Officials refuse her family permission to inter her body in the Baha'i cemetery in Sanandaj, insisting—against existing laws in Iran—that she be buried in Ghorveh, a town more than an hour away, which would force the family to ignore Baha'i burial laws.
• September 2: Suheil Bushrui, first incumbent of the Baha'i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland.

Publications

Books

• The Department of Truth by James D. Connolly.
• Building a World Federation: The Key to Resolving Our Global Crises by Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing.
• Islam at the Crossroads by Lameh Fananapazir.
• The Half of It Was Never Told by Carolyn Sparey Fox.
• The Riddle of the Hollow Reed by Charlotte J. Harman, illustrated by Taurus Burns.
• Healing Hasan's Heart by John S. Hatcher.
• Moral Leadership: An Introduction for Bahá’ís by Joan Hernandez.
• Daily Reflections and Stories for Children: Book 4 compiled by Munirih Hodge, illustrated by Margo Styan.
• The Covenant and You by John Kolstoe.
• The Divine Art of Meditation by Farnaz Masumian.
• The Greatest Instrument for Promoting Harmony and Civilization edited by Gregory P. Meyjes.
• The Bahá'í Communities of Iran 1851-1921 Volume 1: The North of Iran by Moojan Momen.
• A Tutorial on the Kitab-i-Iqan: A Journey Through the Book of Certitude by Fazel Naghdy.
• The Skylark Life Skills Manual for Women and Girls by Phyllis K. Peterson.
• The Divine Curriculum, Volume 1: Divine Design by Edward Price.
• Shoghi Effendi Through the Pilgrim's Eye: Volume 1, Building the Administrative Order, 1922-1952 by Earl Redman.
• Champions of Oneness: Louis Gregory and His Shining Circle by Janet Ruhe-Schoen.
• Insistent Self: How to Nurture Your Spirit by Lesley Shams.
• Little Book of Comfort by Lesley Shams.
• The Supreme Remedy by Deborah Walters.
• Friendship, Fellowship and Transformation by Michael Winger.

Albums

• Beyond Borders by Randy Armstrong & Volker Nahrmann.
• Arraynes by Arraynes.
• Sacred Songs IX by Bahá’í Choral Festival.
• Esto Es Fe by Leonor Dely & Millero Congo.
• Creation by Peter Held & Corinne Bahia.
• Cellar & Sky by Yosi Mesbah.
• Circling Spirits: Contemporary Apache Songs by Roman Orona.
• Wave by Rose-Marie Peterson.
• I Loved Thy Creation by the Remembrance Ensemble.
• The Second City by Shameem.
• This Newborn Child by Ramine Yazhari.
• The One by Zinnia.

Videos

• Carole Lombard directed by Vargha Mazlum.
• Liao Chongzhen: A Bright Candle of the World of Humanity directed by Vargha Mazlum.
• The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá’í Faith released by Spring Green Films.
• Bobo & Kipi: Season 2 released by Westwind Pictures.

References

• 2015 Publications at BahaiBooks.com.au