BURMA

In 1878, the Blessed Beauty Baha'u'llah sent a great gift to the land of
Burma: two devoted Baha'i teachers. One was named Jamal Effendi and the
other was his recent convert to the Faith, Siyyid Mustafa Rumi. Through the
diligent and persistent efforts of these lovers of Baha'u'llah, a strong
Baha'i community was eventually built up in Burma. In the days of
Abdu'l-Baha, an entire village had become deep believers, and with the
permission of the Master, they officially changed the name of their village
to Abdu'l-Baha's Village.

So strong was the Burmese Baha'i community, and so faithful were they to the
Covenant, that Abdu'l-Baha Himself gave an even greater gift to the Baha'is
in Rangoon when He commissioned Siyyid Mustafa to build the marble
sarcophagus that would hold the Sacred Remains of the Bab in the Shrine of
the Bab on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land in 1909. One can only imagine how
exquisite was the marble from this region for the sacred task it would
fulfill, and on which the illustrious calligrapher Mishkin Qalam was
instructed by Abdu'l-Baha to inscribe possibly the most beautiful ever /"Ya
Baha'u'l-Abha" /and/ "Ya Ali 'ul-Ala"/.

(On an interesting local touch, one of the Rangoon Baha'is who embraced the
Faith through the loving efforts of Siyyid Mustafa was Dr. Latif, the father
of our dear friend and neighbor Dr. Zeena Latif Marshall, and her sisters
and brothers who live in New York and London, all of them devoted and loving
Baha'is.)

In 1978, the Burma Baha'is celebrated 100 years of the Baha'i Faith in
Burma. There were about 1000 local Bahais present in Rangoon, when the
Continental Counselor from Jakarta brought, for that occasion, the
congratulatory message from the Universal House of Justice, which was read
at the conference. There are many inspiring stories about the Burmese
Baha'is, many of whom were also 5th generation Baha'is.

In 1959, the Hands of the Cause wrote the following to the Burmese Baha'i
community:

"It was in the days of 'Abdu'l-Baha, almost sixty years ago, that the
illumined and dedicated teacher of the Cause, Siyyid Mustafa Rumi carried
the Message of Baha'u'llah to Daidanaw, which became the first all-Baha'i
village in the world outside the Cradle of the Faith, and was a great source
of joy to the beloved Master.

"After His Ascension, the beloved Guardian continued to shower that same
love and care upon you. How often he praised the activities and spirit of
the friends of Burma to Baha'is of other lands, extolling you as examples of
purity of heart and steadfastness, encouraging many teachers to visit you,
giving you a special objective of your own--namely, the formation of your
National Assembly in the World Crusade. How greatly he grieved to learn of
your sufferings during the war, the destruction of the Baha'i school and
Haziratu'l-Quds in Daidanaw, the assassination of some of the believers, the
wide-scale spoliation that took place, and particularly of the ruthless
murder of your beloved teacher, Siyyid Mustafa Rumi, that "distinguished
pioneer", that "high-minded and noble soul" as he so beautifully
characterized him, whom he elevated to the rank of Hand of the Cause, whom
he affirmed had attained the station of martyrdom, and whose resting-place
he declared was the "foremost shrine"
of the Burmese Bahá'í Community. And last but not least, how blessed you
have been to have had the date for the election of your historic National
Assembly fixed by the beloved Guardian himself just a short time before his
passing."