February 21

In principle, a Bahá'í National Haziratu'l-Quds is a major institution with many functions, but the most essential at this time is for it to serve as the seat of the National Spiritual Assembly, where the office of the Secretariat can be accommodated and where its current records can be kept. There should be a room in which the National Assembly can hold its meetings, and possibly one or more other rooms for various purposes such as small gatherings of the friends, committee meetings, book sales, etc. It is not necessary that the Haziratu'l-Quds include meeting halls in which the local community can be accommodated, or where National Conventions and other conferences can be held. The provision of a meeting hall is desirable when resources permit, but should not be regarded as an indispensable element of the National Haziratu'l-Quds. (From a letter dated 16 January 1997 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Bahamas; Compilation ‘Functions and Importance of the Haziratu'l-Quds’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)