Haifa

Haifa
Haifa
	City in Israel
	The Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel
	Location of Haifa
	Related media

Haifa is a city in northern Israel which is home to the world administrative and spiritual centre of the Bahá’í Faith. It is the third largest city of Israel, and now straddles the mountain ridge known as Mount Carmel, which juts out into the sea. One of its epithets is "The city of five religions". The city is home to Muslims and Christians, some of them refugees from other places, uprooted during the upheavals of 1947-8; to Jews, who were increasingly arriving in the Holy Land from the nineteenth century; to Druze, because the city has expanded so much that it has absorbed two Druze villages; and Bahá’ís. It has to be said that there is actually no Bahá’í community in the normal sense - just a large physical presence in the form of the Bahá’í World Centre, and its ever-changing volunteer force. The population of the city in 2013 was given as 292,500, with the wider urban area boasting around 600,000 people. As it is also the home of the Israeli navy, the city is twinned with Portsmouth, a naval city in England.

In the Time of Bahá'u'lláh[edit]

At the time when Bahá'u'lláh was exiled to the Holy Land, it was not much more than a fishing village, but it did have the German Templar colony. The smooth and sandy coastline to the south of Haifa does not offer many docking places, so the ship with the Holy Family on board used Haifa as a point of disembarkation. From there, a local boat took the exiles across the bay to Akká. From certain points in Akká, the view across the bay is towards Mount Carmel, and during the last years of His life, Bahá'u'lláh visited the mountain four times, and there revealed The Tablet of Carmel. While on the mountain, Bahá'u'lláh also indicated to His son the spot where the remains of the Báb should be interred. It was over a period of many years that first 'Abdu'l-Bahá, then Shoghi Effendi, and finally the Universal House of Justice, acquired the land which now comprises the Bahá’í World Centre.

Bahá'u'lláh visited the Templar colony, although the residents did not recognise His station. The colony was one of several places in the Holy Land where the Templars, a Christian group from Germany, had founded institutions intended to assist Christ, upon His return, to govern the world. Their part of the town included a wide avenue, leading to the part of Mount Carmel, (which actually means "Mountain of the Lord", or "Mountain of God"), which Bahá'u'lláh was to designate as the last resting place of the Báb.

During The Ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá[edit]

'Abdu'l-Bahá chose to take up residence in Haifa. A number of buildings associated with His time are centred on Haparsim Street. He was able to establish Haifa as a centre for pilgrimage, and was able to acquire land and commence the building of a mausoleum for the Báb. The remains of the Báb were interred there in 1909. Separate pilgrim houses were established for believers from the East and the West.

During the First World War, General Allenby led the British army into Palestine from Egypt. His forces were seriously delayed by resistance from Turkish troops until a sudden breakthrough allowed a more rapid advance towards Haifa. The Turkish general in Haifa (Kamál Pashá) had threatened that, should he have to abandon the city, his last act would be to crucify 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Meanwhile, in London, a friend of the Bahá'ís appealed to the British government to do everything possible to protect 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Accordingly, instructions to that effect were sent to General Allenby. The general may not have actually known Who 'Abdu'l-Bahá might be, but a detachment of Indian lancers was sent ahead on horseback to arrive in Haifa, establish where 'Abdu'l-Bahá lived, and protect the place. When the General himself arrived, he went to visit the Master himself, and was duly thoroughly impressed! When he confided to 'Abdu'l-Bahá that he had outrun his own supply lines, and had no food for his troops, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told him that there was no problem, and ordered that food be supplied from the stocks which He had built up ready for the war! General Allenby's telegram to London read: "Have today taken Palestine. Notify world Abdu'l-Baha safe."

The capture of Haifa by the Indian cavalry is notable from a military point of view. There was still a Turkish garrison, with heavy guns and machine guns, in the town. This may be the only case in modern military history in which a fortified town was captured by a cavalry charge, at the gallop. It is also unusual in that members of the Royal Engineers rode in the charge, alongside the lancers, taking up spare weapons! To this day, the Indian Army marks 23rd September (1918) as Haifa Day. A large memorial in Delhi commemorates, and names, those who died on that day.

The obvious place for a port, Haifa had also been chosen as a terminus for a railway line before the First World War. From a military point of view, the railway and port were the reasons that General Allenby saw the capture of Haifa as crucial, and indeed urgent. Its transport links were part of what then enabled Haifa to grow rapidly.

Since the Passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá[edit]

The Guardian made his home in Haifa, and received pilgrims there. One of the many tasks he set himself was the expansion of Bahá'í ownership of land on Mount Carmel, and its beautification. During the time of the British mandate, he prepared a statement on what the Bahá'í Faith is and believes, to be presented as a reference for the new authorities.

During the Arab-Jewish war, Haifa was in Arab hands until almost the end. In 1948, a sudden offensive by Jewish forces captured the ridge of Carmel, and the Arab fighters were left in an indefensible position at the foot of the mountain, which they soon vacated. This put all of the Bahá'í holy sites under Jewish control, instead of pilgrims having to try to access two separate countries. When the State of Israel was declared, the Guardian again presented his statement on the Faith, so that the new state would understand the Bahá'í position on political matters, and its goals. Meanwhile, the new city authorities were renaming the streets in Haifa. The street on which the Master had lived seemed to them to be a local centre for the Bahá'ís, so they wanted to name it "Bahá'í Street". Due to the exalted nature of the Faith and its future pre-eminence, Shoghi Effendi felt this to be inappropriate, so it was named "Persian Street" (Haparsim) instead.

In 1967, the Universal House of Justice was elected and duly assumed office. For a number of years, the processing of documents was held up repeatedly by the refusal of the Israeli Department of Religious Affairs (and other government departments) to accept the signature "Universal House of Justice", arguing that there had to be a Chairman or Head of some sort, but eventually they accepted that this was a point of principle for the Bahá'ís.

When the terraces were completed, in 2001, they included two bridges over roads. The Haifa municipality had actually planned for a further road through the Bahá'í garden area, but the Mayor relented. The architect for the terraces (Fariborz Sahba) told the Mayor that these terraces were going to be built, and that he (the Mayor) could either have a footnote in history as the man who prevented the early completion of the terraces, or as the man who made them possible. He chose the latter! The road snaking up the mountain was actually lowered by the authorities, to give headroom for traffic to pass under the (larger) bridge!

Locations in Haifa of Significance to Bahá'ís[edit]

There are numerous buildings which either have a historical connection to the Faith or are built to serve it, and other places of significance. These include:

Mount Carmel
The Shrine of the Báb
The House of the Master
The International Archives Building
The Monument Gardens
The Arc
The Temple Site
The Original Western Pilgrim House, 4, Haparsim Street
The Seat of the Universal House of Justice
The Seat of the International Teaching Centre
The Centre for the Study of the Texts
The Terraces and Bahá'í Gardens
The Second Western Pilgrim House, 10, Haparsim Street
The Eastern Pilgrim House
The Pilgrim Reception Centre
The Templar Colony

Photographs and further details of many of these buildings can be found in the article World Centre buildings.

Additional Information[edit]

When the Terraces were fully opened in 2001, a special bus route was also commenced by the city authorities, which connected the base of the Mountain with the top, via the Shrine of the Báb. This was to enable tourists to more easily reach the starting points for the guided tours which were made available. Young people from the local (non-Bahá'í) community were employed as guides, and tours were offered in Arabic, English, Hebrew and Russian. The guides are trained, and are able to learn as much as they wish about the Faith, in order to answer tourists' questions more thoroughly. The tours are booked in advance through the Haifa municipality. Visitors do not see inside the buildings on the Arc, which from the visitors' point of view constitute "offices". A small suite of rooms incorporating an exhibition is built into the hillside, underneath the section of the gardens adjoining the road.

Haifa is also the centre for the Israeli branch of the Ahmadi (Ahmadiyyah) branch of Islám. The impressive mosque built at Kababir is, unlike the Bahá'í gardens, on the landward side of the mountain.

Bahá'ís can quite legitimately say that the joint city of Haifa/Akká will become the world capital at some point. The capital city of any country (almost without exception) is the place where the seat of government is situated. As the arc on Mount Carmel is the seat of government for the Bahá’í community, and as the "kings" will lay their "crowns" there, this spot will perforce become the worldwide seat of government.

The difference between the biggest cities of Israel is perceived in the following aphorism: "In Tel Aviv they party, in Jerusalem they pray, in Haifa they work."