UK Bahá’í Community Pays Tribute on the Passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II
Bahá’í Community of the United Kingdom
Office of Public Affairs
27 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1PD
Tel: 020 7019 7780 | email: opa@bahai.org.uk
Press Release For immediate release
14 September 2022
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom has expressed its condolences, on behalf of all of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom, to His Majesty King Charles III on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
In a letter to the King, the National Spiritual Assembly recalled the outstanding and sacrificial services rendered by Queen Elizabeth II to the “peoples of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, to humanity and to God.”
The letter highlighted the many remarkable qualities that HM Queen Elizabeth II brought to bear on the duties she undertook for 70 years. These included: her dignity and nobility, her steadfastness in matters of principle, her dedication to and concern for her people, her humour, and her warm and heartfelt connection with the public. “We honour her and prayerfully thank God for the gift of such an outstanding monarch,” wrote the National Spiritual Assembly.
The National Assembly also offered its loyalty and support to HM The King, offering quotations from the Bahá’í Sacred Writings that laud the station and qualities of a just monarch. Letters of condolence have also been sent to HRH The Prince of Wales, Their Royal Highnesses The Princess Royal and The Earl of Wessex, and to the Duke of York and Prince Harry. Comforting passages from the Bahá’í Writings concerning the journey of the soul after death were also shared in these letters.
About the UK Bahá’í community
The Bahá’í Faith was first established in the United Kingdom in 1898. Britain’s system of constitutional monarchy was praised by Bahá’u’lláh, the Faith’s Founder, in a letter to Queen Victoria. Bahá’u’lláh’s son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made extended visits to Great Britain in 1911 and 1912-1913, after being released from more than 50 years of imprisonment and exile under the Ottoman Empire. Today the UK Bahá’í community numbers more than 7000 Bahá’ís –representative of the UK’s rich cultural and ethnic diversity – who, with a few thousand friends and neighbours, are working together to contribute to the spiritual and material progress of society. Together they are striving to establish a pattern of community life that embodies the principle of the oneness of humanity. There are some eight million Bahá’ís around the world.
For further information, contact Padideh Sabeti, Director, Office of Public Affairs at opa@bahai.org.uk
