January
31, 2000
Obituary
– Ruhiyyih Rabbani
Baha'is mourn loss of 'great spiritual lady'
BY TAL ASHKENAZI AND BOB
HARVEY
 Baha'is have lost the
pre-eminent leader of their faith: The Canadian widow of one of the
religion's leader and its last link to the founding family.
Ruhiyyih Rabbani, known to five million Baha'is around the world as
Ruhiyyih Khanum ("great spiritual lady"), was born Mary Sutherland
Maxwell in Montreal and died Jan.19 in Haifa, Israel. She was
89.
She was the only daughter of Canada's first Baha'i family, and married
the world leader of the faith, "Guardian" Shoghi Effendi, in 1937.
For the next 20 years, Mrs Rabbani acted as her husband's right hand,
serving as his secretary and often drafting letters in his name in
response to theological queries. In 1952 Mr. Rabbani
appointed his wife and 26 others as "Hands of the Cause of God" —
people whose duties included travelling the world and spreading the
faith.
When her husband died in 1957, Mrs. Rabbani became Baha'is' pre-eminent
leader and spent much of her life travelling to 185 countries as an
ambassador for the faith. She travelled extensively in remote
areas, and spent 36 months visiting 34 countries in Africa by Land
Rover, often driving the vehicle herself. She also visited
the world's indigenous people, including Canada's Inuit and the native
people's of South America, who were featured in one of two documentary
films she produced.
Mrs. Rabbani's personality was instrumental in her work in spreading
Baha'i teachings around the world, said Ottawa Baha'i Jack
McLean. "She had a very regal presence," he said.
"But she was also very down to earth." Sometimes literally
so. On a trip to the Amazon in the early 1970s, recounted Mr.
McLean, Mrs. Rabbani got out of a jeep she was riding in to help
extricate it from a muddy road.
Mrs. Rabbani's parents, William Sutherland Maxwell and May Bolles, met
in Paris. Both became Baha'is, then returned to Montreal to
start a family and Canada's first Baha'i community.
Mr. Maxwell and his brother, Edwin, were architects and designed the
Château Frontenac in Quebec City, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and
the Saskatchewan legislative building in Regina. The Maxwell
family home is now a Baha'i shrine, the only one of its kind in North
America.
She travelled extensively in her teen years and set up the first Baha'i
youth group in Canada in the 1920s. She met her husband while
on pilgrimage with her mother to the world headquarters of the Baha'i
in Haifa.
When they were married in 1937, there were fewer than a million Baha'is
scattered around the world in 40 countries. Today, there are
more than five million members in 235 countries. She and her
husband had no children.
Her funeral in Haifa yesterday was attended by more than 1,000
dignitaries and believers worldwide. A memorial service was
held in Ottawa.
Printed in the The Ottawa
Citizen, 2000 January 31
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