The National Bahá'í Centre of Malta

Historic background

The Maltese Bahá'í Community from its beginning felt the need for a place to meet and invite friends. Although the Maltese are a very friendly people towards visitors from abroad and they will stop and talk with great joy, they tend to be hesitant if they are invited over to homes of their acquaintances. If the invitation is to a club or a centre, it is considered a visit to an official gathering rather than a private event. Because the law of the land declares the premises to be used for that purpose and thus a visit is safe and free of any obligations.

In the time of the Knights of Bahá'u'lláh, Olga Mills, Una Townshend, John Mitchell met for prayers and Feasts at their residences in apartments or hotels in Sliema. As the first Malta Bahá'í Community started to grow around the city of Sliema, various locations in the area were rented over the years to serve as a centre. In these locations activities were organised with a good attendance of friends and seekers.

Eventually the Jarrah family, who had close connections with Malta in that some of their children were receiving their education on the island, decided to present the Malta Community with a Centre. Mr. Jarrah asked at the World Centre where the Haziratu'l-Quds for Malta should be. Having been told that in the centre of Malta will be a good location he literally made a cross over the length and breadth of a map of Malta and the intersection went through the village of Attard. There Mr. Jarrah built a semi-detached Villa and presented it to the Malta community.

Years later Mr. Jarrah suffered a stroke which effected badly his health. The deed of ownership of the Bahá'í Centre was still in the name of the Jarrah family. As his health worsened it was decided that the property be sold and the money kept in a fund by the Universal House of Justice for a later date when another property could be purchased.

The Malta community was again without a Centre and soon a place was found again close to the town of Sliema and using the interest of the money from the sale of the previous Centre the flat was hired. The Centre was officially opened on 24 October 1985. The Ambassador of the United States to Malta, Mr. Gary Matthews, was invited as well as Mr. John Sant, the translator of the book of Gloria Faizi 'The Bahá'í Faith', the secretary of the Malta Esperanto society, and representatives of other religions. This Centre was an active place for many years hosting Counsellors, the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy, Auxiliary Board members and offering temporary home for many travel teachers and pioneers. Also for many Sabbaths it was the venue for the Jewish community when they lost their Synagogue. After eight years the owner of the flat decided to upgrade the block and wanted to increase the rent drastically. Again the Malta community started the packing procedure. Items like books and files were placed under the care of community members in their homes and the furniture went in storage at a cost.

Meetings again started to be held in homes. But community members still yearned for a Centre where friends would be more willing to come. The need for a permanent place owned by the community was getting stronger, but, being a small community and the cost of property high, it seemed just like a dream.

The National Bahá'í Centre

Then in a letter to the National Spiritual of the Bahá'ís of Italy dated 28 June 1994 the Universal House of Justice confirmed the goal for the Malta Community. In its letter the Universal House of Justice  "... decided that your Assembly's generous offer should be dedicated to the achievement of the following international collaboration goal."

In collaboration with the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom, assist the Bahá'í community of Malta to acquire a National Haziratu'l-Quds.

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Malta under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly decided that the Centre will serve as the seat of the future National Institution for Malta and should be located in the capital, Valletta. A committee for the purpose of purchasing the property was given the guidelines and went to work, and over a period of time visited all the  property on the market in Valletta and in Floriana, the city just outside the capital.

One property stood out, it had an imposing entrance with a two-level grand hallway,  arches supporting the roof, a small central yard having three rooms leading from it and another entrance to a room under the stairs. On the right, wide stairs lead to the first floor hallway, with big windows, overlooking the yard space all around. Six rooms have their entrance from this hallway : two rooms occupy the space over  entrance hall  and have a balcony overlooking the road. Another big room have a 2-storey ceiling  with two upper level windows opening on to the roof top. At the roof top a long narrow corridor will take you to two rooms with two windows, one overlooking the roof top and another overlooking the road. On the rooftop stone balustrades surround the opening of the yard space.

The recommendations of the committee to the Spiritual Assembly, supported by another delegation of the local Institution that visited the property, was that this building, with refurbishment work done to it, would be a prestigious place for a National Bahá'í Centre. The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Malta endorsed the recommendations, and this decision was communicated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Italy. A delegation of the National Institution visited the property and approved  the purchase. A 'promise of sale' contract was signed by the Local Institution and the owner.

There existed the possibility that the Local Institution would be considered a foreign entity and restricted in the purchase of property as such. If that were the case, in addition to the normal stamp duty on signing of the contract, the Assembly would have to pay another 10% as a fee for a foreigner buying property. The Local Spiritual Assembly wrote a  letter to the Minister of Finance appealing for exemption from this fee, and contacted the Attorney General to say that, as in the case of other religious denominations, the Spiritual Assembly is a local entity which can require guidance from higher Institutions abroad. Eventually the Minister of Finance  not only exempted the Local Institution from paying the 10% fee as a foreign entity but exempted it from paying even the normal stamp duty on contracts. A saving of a total of 17% on the expenses.

To quote again the advice of the Universal House of Justice of  28 June 1994 : "In collaboration with the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom, assist the Bahá'í community of Malta to acquire a National Haziratu'l-Quds.". We can conclude that at the moment we have a building that one day will be the prestigious National Haziratu'l-Quds for Malta. However we cannot say that the directives of the Universal House of Justice have been completed.

The building requires a lot of work. The small community of Malta has already undertaken much  of  the  structural work : wall separating two rooms was removed and in the process an arch was built to support the ceilings, turning two small rooms into a beautiful large room; plaster in the main entrance hall removed, exposing a unique structure of the walls; on one whole ceiling beams and stone slabs were renewed;  stairs from first floor to roof top were constructed;   three arches and the removal of walls in first floor hallway gave back the use of the whole hall; structures for a kitchenette and bathroom were built in the caretaker's quarters; structure for toilets under the main stairs ground floor was built; the rooftop was resurfaced and a number of corroded stones were replaced. All these endeavours were carried out. Now to move forward to the next stage, which once completed should see the Malta Bahá'í Centre being used.

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