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| Phoebe Hearst - 'Mother of the Faithful' |
On April 13, 1919, Phoebe Hearst passed away. She was an early Bahá'í who later became estranged from the Bahá'í Faith due to being extorted for money by other Bahá'ís. She was also a wealthy philanthropist, the wife of Senator George Hearst, and the mother of publisher William Randolph Hearst.
Hearst was raised a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian faith in the 1840s. In 1898 she converted to the Bahá'í Faith, and undertook a Bahá'í pilgrimage to Palestine to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá with other American pilgrims, including Ibrahim George Kheiralla, Lua Getsinger and May Boles. It was during this trip, in Akka, that Kheiralla witnessed firsthand the conflict between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and his brothers, leading him, upon his return to America in 1899, to form the "Society of Behaists" which would later be led by Shua Ullah Behai and to author a book, Beha'u'llah, wherein he states his belief that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was equal in rank to his brothers Mírzá Muhammad `Alí, Díyá'u'lláh, and Badi'u'lláh
Phoebe Hearst helped play a key role in the spread of the Bahá'í Faith in the United States. In October 1912 she invited 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who was travelling throughout the United States, to stay at her home for a long weekend, even though at that time she had become estranged from the Bahá'í faith. During his stay 'Abdu'l-Bahá mentioned that anyone who tried to extort money or goods from others should not be considered a true Bahá'í. Mrs. Hearst had been a victim of such an incident, which had caused her estrangement from the religion.
Source : https://www.reddit.com/user/A35821361
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