Editing ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (section)

==Journeys to the West==

[[File:Abdulbaha2.jpg|thumb|upright|ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, during his trip to the United States]]

{{main|ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West}}

The 1908 [[Young Turks]] [[Young Turk Revolution|revolution]] liberated all political and religious prisoners in the Ottoman Empire, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was freed from imprisonment. His first action after his liberation was to visit the [[Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh]] in [[Bahji]].{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|p=131}} While ʻAbdu'l-Bahá continued to live in ʻAkka immediately following the revolution, he soon moved [[House of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá|to live]] in [[Haifa]] near the Shrine of the Báb.{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|p=131}} In 1910, with the freedom to leave the country, he embarked on a three-year journey to Egypt, Europe, and North America, spreading the Baháʼí message.{{sfn|Iranica|1989}}

From August to December 1911, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá visited cities in Europe, including London, Bristol, and Paris. The purpose of these trips was to support the Baháʼí communities in the west and to further spread his father's teachings.{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|pp=159–397}}

In the following year, he undertook a much more extensive journey to the United States and Canada to once again spread his father's teachings. He arrived in New York City on 11 April 1912, after declining an offer of passage on the [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']], telling the Baháʼí believers, instead, to "Donate this to charity."<ref name="Lacroix">{{cite book |last=Lacroix-Hopson |first=Eliane |author2=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá |title=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in New York- The City of the Covenant |publisher=NewVistaDesign |year=1987 |url=http://bahai-library.com/hopson_abdulbaha_new_york |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216001528/http://bahai-library.com/hopson_abdulbaha_new_york |archive-date=16 December 2013}}</ref> He instead travelled on a slower craft, the [[RMS Cedric|RMS ''Cedric'']], and cited preference of a longer sea journey as the reason.{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|p=171}} After hearing of the Titanic's sinking on 16 April he was quoted as saying "I was asked to sail upon the Titanic, but my heart did not prompt me to do so."<ref name="Lacroix"/> While he spent most of his time in New York, he visited Chicago, [[Cleveland]], [[Pittsburgh]], Washington, D.C.,Boston and [[Philadelphia]]. In August of the same year he started a more extensive journey to places including [[New Hampshire]], the [[Green Acre]] school in [[Maine]], and [[Montreal]] (his only visit to Canada). He then travelled west to [[Minneapolis]], Minnesota; San Francisco; [[Stanford University|Stanford]]; and [[Los Angeles]], California before returning east at the end of October. On 5 December 1912 he set sail back to Europe.{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|pp=159–397}}

During his visit to North America he visited many missions, churches, and groups, as well as having scores of meetings in homes of Baháʼís, and offering innumerable personal meetings with hundreds of people.<ref name="Gallagher196">{{Harvnb|Gallagher|Ashcraft|2006|p=196}}</ref> During his talks he proclaimed Baháʼí principles such as the [[God in the Baháʼí Faith|unity of God]], [[Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion|unity of the religions]], [[Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity|oneness of humanity]], [[Baháʼí Faith and gender equality|equality of women and men]], world peace and economic justice.<ref name="Gallagher196"/> He also insisted that all his meetings be open to all races.<ref name="Gallagher196"/>

His visit and talks were the subject of hundreds of newspaper articles.<ref name="Gallagher196"/> In Boston newspaper reporters asked ʻAbdu'l-Bahá why he had come to America, and he stated that he had come to participate in conferences on peace and that just giving warning messages is not enough.{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|p=232}} ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's visit to Montreal provided notable newspaper coverage; on the night of his arrival the editor of the ''[[Montreal Daily Star]]'' met with him and that newspaper along with ''[[The Montreal Gazette]]'', ''[[Montreal Standard]]'', {{Lang|fr|[[Le Devoir]]}} and {{Lang|fr|[[La Presse (Canada)|La Presse]]}} among others reported on ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's activities.<ref name="vanderHoonaard56">{{Harvnb|Van den Hoonaard|1996|pp=56–58}}</ref>{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|p=256}} The headlines in those papers included "Persian Teacher to Preach Peace", "Racialism Wrong, Says Eastern Sage, Strife and War Caused by Religious and National Prejudices", and "Apostle of Peace Meets Socialists, Abdul Baha's Novel Scheme for Distribution of Surplus Wealth."{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|p=256}} The ''Montreal Standard'', which was distributed across Canada, took so much interest that it republished the articles a week later; the Gazette published six articles and Montreal's largest French language newspaper published two articles about him.<ref name="vanderHoonaard56"/> His 1912 visit to Montreal also inspired humourist [[Stephen Leacock]] to parody him in his bestselling 1914 book ''[[Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich]]''.<ref>Wagner, Ralph D. [http://bahai-library.com/leacock_yahi_bahi_society Yahi-Bahi Society of Mrs. Resselyer-Brown, The]. Retrieved 19 May 2008</ref> In Chicago one newspaper headline included "His Holiness Visits Us, Not Pius X but A. Baha,"{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|p=256}} and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's visit to California was reported in the ''Palo Altan''.{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|p=313}}

Back in Europe, he visited London, Edinburgh, Paris (where he stayed for two months), [[Stuttgart]], [[Budapest]], and [[Vienna]]. Finally, on 12 June 1913, he returned to Egypt, where he stayed for six months before returning to [[Haifa]].{{sfn|Balyuzi|2001|pp=159–397}}

On 23 February 1914, at the eve of World War I, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá hosted Baron [[Edmond James de Rothschild]], a member of the [[Rothschild family|Rothschild banking family]] who was a leading advocate and financier of the Zionist movement, during one of his early trips to Palestine.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=February 23, 1914 |url=https://bahai.works/Star_of_the_West/Volume_9/Issue_10#pg107 |newspaper=Star of the West |page=107 |volume=9 |issue=10 |date=8 September 1918 |access-date= 4 December 2016}}</ref>