A memorial service for the most distinguished member of the Baha’i International Community, Dr Ali-Muhammad Varqa, will be held at the Baha’i House of Worship in Sydney on Friday 2 November at 8 pm for 8.30 pm.
Dr Varqa passed away on the evening of 22 September at his home in Haifa.
In 1955, Dr Varqa was appointed to the high rank of “Hand of the Cause of God” by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith.
Dr Varqa served in that capacity, on the international level, for 52 years until his passing. He was the last survivor of the 27 Hands of the Cause who were alive when Shoghi Effendi passed away in 1957. No further Hands of the Cause could be appointed following the passing of the Guardian.
Many Australian Baha’is visiting the Holy Land on pilgrimage met Dr Varqa and heard him deliver his inspiring talks to pilgrims.
In a tribute to Dr Varqa, the Universal House of Justice, the international governing council of the Baha’i Faith, said “his manner was imbued with a luminous gentleness, a genuine kindliness and a natural dignity which combined to reflect the character of a saintly personality. For these exemplary traits he will ever be remembered.”
Dr Varqa came from a well-known Iranian family that has served the Baha’i Faith with distinction for generations. After obtaining a doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris in 1950, he taught in Iran at the universities of Tabriz and Tehran and served the Baha’i community there in various administrative capacities. In 1979 he moved to Canada, and later established his residence in Haifa to serve at the Baha’i World Centre.
He was born in 1912 in Tehran and received his name in memory of his grandfather, who had been killed for being a Baha’i.
Dr Varqa travelled to many countries as a representative first of Shoghi Effendi, then of the Universal House of Justice.
Dr Varqa is survived by three daughters and six siblings. His funeral took place on the morning of 24 September, with burial in the Baha’i cemetery in Haifa.