Members of the Baha’i Faith in Snoqualmie Valley have suffered

two losses recently with the death of Ruhiyyih Khanum, born in the

United States and wife of the late head of the Baha’i Faith, and the death of

Adib Taherzadeh originally from Iran. These worldwide, acknowledged

elder statesmen of the faith have played a pivotal part in the emergence of

the Baha’i Faith from obscurity through their leadership roles during a

transition of governance and thereafter, and in the published scholarship of

their writings.

Ruhiyyih Kahnum is fondly remembered by the Baha’is in the

western part of the world as she traveled extensively here. On journeys

elsewhere, she wrote many letters to her co-religionists in the United States.

Of particular interest to her over many years were the American Indians.

She visited many tribes here and in Canada, advocated for their

unique spiritual gifts, and raised our level of consciousness by introducing them

as full members of human society prior to the civil rights activities of the

late 1960s and 1970s.

Adib Taherzadeh is likewise known to friends in the West.

Walk into most Baha’is homes in the Valley and you will find at least one of

his four-volume history of the Baha’i Faith. With the eye of an historical

visionary, he chronicaled events as they happened both in the present and

the past, giving a very contemporary voice to historical works.

Members of the Baha’i Faith from the Valley of the Moon and other

areas around Issaquah attended memorial services at the regional center

on Front Street, Issaquah. Similar memorials were held around the world.

It is fitting that both leaders are remembered not only for their gifts

of service to the cause of universal peace, fellowship and brotherhood; but

for the hardships they endured on their pathway to this end. Baha’is of

the Valley submit this sentiment in memory of their work on behalf of

all peoples of the world: “If all the inhabitants of the whole country

develop peaceable hearts, and if with their hearts and souls they yearn to

cooperate with one another and to live in unity, … that country will

achieve undying joy and lasting glory.”

MARY LILLEJORD

Fall City