Pilgrimage: The House of the Bab:

Though this is not found in Haifa/Akka with the other places mentioned in this series, it IS one of theoriginal two Houses designated for pilgrimage in the Kitab-i-Aqdas.  Also, since it was totally razed to the ground during the Islamic Revolution in Iran,  I present this for those of us who were unable to visit it before it was destroyed.

"Fourteen-year-old Fazl'ullah captured his feelings about the visit in  these words:
         My last night in Shira was one of the most memorable times of my     life.  We were given the great privilege of visiting the House of the Bab   and saying goodbye to this beautiful and most holy place.  Although we had   come here many times before, it had always been in the daytime.  The house   was normally closed after dark, and so we had to ask special permission   from Mr. Abu'l-Qasim Afnan, the custodian of the House of the Bab, to be   allowed in.  It was like a pilgrimage for us.
         Mrs. Fatimih Haqiqiqatju (who everyone called Naniyyih Aqa Riza), the  caretaker, took us up the stairs by candlelight to the room where the Bab  had declared His mission for the first time.  There could not be too much
    light or too many visitors at the hous for fear of attracting attention in  the tense atmosphere that prevailed in Shiraz at that time.  But despite  this fear, there was the most wonderful spiritual atmosphere in the room as  we stood in the light of a single candle and gazed out at the horizon,
    where the last traces of the sun's orange glow were fading in the west.  We  each said our prayers quietly in the half-light and remained immersed in  our own thoughts.  For my part, I was thinking, `When will I be privileged
    enough to come here again?'
   We came down the stairs with heavy hearts, and after thanking Naniyyih  Aqa Riza we left.  On our way out my brother and I stopped to pick up two  oranges that had fallen from a tree in the outer courtyard of the house.
    We took them with us on our long journey to England as small reminders of  our beloved and holy home town of Shiraz.
. . . . . . They had  known as soon as the trusteeship was claimed by the government, it would   only be a matter of time before the Revolutionary Guards turned their  attention to the House of the Bab.  It had been attacked twice before.
         The first time was in 1942 when it was raided and damaged by fire,
 after which the Baha`is raised funds to restore it to its original condition.  The second was in 1955 when `uncontrollable mobs' stormed the building, looting anything of value and reducing part of it to rubble.
    That day my grandfather had taken me to visit the house, and as we were  walking back down the alley towards the main street, we heard a great commotion behind us.  A large crowd was swarming towards the house armed with guns, pickaxes and shovels, bursting into the Baha`i shops and houses  in the alley.  I was very frightened and we hurried away, but not before we     had seen the first pickaxe fall on that beautiful house.
     The mullahs were well aware of the historical and religious    significance of this building to the Baha`is in Iran.

       Indeed, it was a   place of pilgrimage to Baha`is from all over the world, though all too   often it was not safe for them to visit."
[Olya Roohizadegan, Olya's Story, p. 21-

23.]

 

And there is this touching story, also from "Olya's story", about Mona's reaction to its destruction:

     "The day the House of the Bab was finally destroyed, Mona made a      pilgrimage to the ruins.  When she returned home she said to her mother,     `Mama, can I come into the house with my shoes on today?  They have walked    on the ruins of the House of the Bab.' Then she sat down at her desk and    wrote an article about the sacred house."

[Olya Roohizadegan, Olya's Story, p.127.]

 And there is also this account:

In September 1979 the House of the Bab was seized and emolished by the Islamic authorities.  In 1981 the site was made into a road and public square.     ` However, the focal point of the overall persecution--the attack  upon and desecration of the House of the Bab-finally broke the news embargo. This event occurred in September (1979) and sources suggest it was at first planned and carried out by a group acting with a considerable amount of local independence in Shiraz. Yet, as had  proved to be the case before, the central authorities in the capital stepped in only briefly as a token of order, but eventually concurred completely in a nefarious scheme to obliterate all traces of the holiest Baha`i structure in Iran. For the House of the Bab, assaulted and substantially demolished between the 8th and 10th of September, received a guard appointed by the authorities in Qum, who also promised a committee of enquiry. Nevertheless, two months later the work of destruction was resumed, and the building almost razed to the ground. It was discovered that plans existed for the construction of a square in the vicinity of the mosque adjoining the House of the Bab that would require building on the site of the House. There was no question but that the plans, which were iterated several times later,  were intended to accomplish the removal without trace of this holy Baha`i Shrine. The international publicity given this event by the media certainly embarrassed the authorities in Tihran when the story first broke in September. But neither this nor the cables dispatched to Ayatollah Khomeini in Qum and Ayatollah Beheshti in Tihran, from Baha`is all over the world, resulted in any action being taken torestore the holy place to its rightful owners. " '
[The Baha'i World, vol. 18, pp. 254-255.] 

 

However, the following extract from "Olya's Story" presents an encouraging and hopeful picture for us all:

". . . Architectural plans of the structure remain safe in Bah; `i
    hands.. . .  The House of the Bab will be built again."

[Olya Roohizadegan, Olya's Story, p. 236.]