Baha’is believe in the power of prayer and you’ll find Baha’is and their friends, throughout the world, getting together to pray. This is often referred to as a ‘devotional gathering’ or ‘devotional meeting’, and they happen in diverse settings, whether in cities or villages.
In this talk titled ‘What are We Waiting For? Serving Humanity in a World of Extremes’, International Law Professor and former United Nations prosecutor, Dr. Payam Akhavan, talks about his personal experience as a refugee and as a Human Rights lawyer, and he shares how the execution of a young Baha’i woman in Iran would change the course of his life forever.
Payam Akhavan PhD (Harvard) is a Professor of International Law at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is a Member of the International Court of Arbitration and a former UN prosecutor at The Hague. His prior academic appointments were at Yale, Oxford, Paris, and Florence, and he has served with the United Nations in Bosnia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Rwanda, and other conflict zones. He is a founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, and he has also produced and contributed to several notable documentary films on Human Rights. His global career has been featured in the New York Times, BBC World’s HardTalk, Maclean’s magazine, Toronto Star, and Brazil’s TV Globo. In 2005, he was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. In October 2017, he delivered the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Massey Lectures. The companion book, a memoir entitled ‘In Search of a Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey‘, became the #1 bestseller (non-fiction) in Canada.
This talk was given at the Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference, 25 December 2017.
Naysan is passionate about using the arts and media to explore the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. Back in 2011, Naysan started up the Baha’i Blog project, channeling his experiences in both media and technology companies to help create a hub for Baha’i-inspired content online.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia.
We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.
Baha’i Blog is a non-profit independent initiative
The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha’i Faith.