Ḥají Mullá ʻAlí-Akbar S͟hahmírzádí ( fa, ‎ 18421910), known as Ḥají Ák͟húnd, was an eminent follower of

Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Persia, and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Bábí Faith. In 1863, in I ...

, the founder of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

. He was appointed a

Hand of the Cause Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá who died in 2007. Hands of ...

, and identified as one of the nineteen

Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh The Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh were nineteen prominent early followers of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. The apostles were designated as such by Shoghi Effendi, head of the religion in the earlier half of the 20th century, an ...

Background

Hají Ákhúnd was born in the village of S͟hahmírzád,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. He was the son of Mullá Abbas who was a Bábí. Hají Ákhúnd thus grew up in a household where there was some mention of this new religion. After some preliminary studies, he went to

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

to attend a religious college. In 1861, he encountered Bábís and converted to the

Báb The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed ...

's religion, which caused his immediate expulsion from the college and the city.

Imprisonment

Upon his return to his home village, he was also expelled and sent away by the local clergy. He settled in Tihrán, where he accepted

and became a Baháʼí. It is recorded that when there was an outburst against the Baháʼís in Tihrán, he would wrap his cloak around himself and sit waiting for the guards to come and arrest him. He was arrested many times in Tihrán: in 1886 on the orders of Mulla ʻAli Kani, in 1872 for seven months by Nayibu's-Saltanih, in 1882 for two years by Nayibu's-Saltanih, in 1887, and in 1891 for two years with

Hájí Amín Mullá Abu'l-Hasan-i-Ardikání ( fa, ‎, surnamed Amín-i-Iláhí; 18311928), better known as Hájí Amín, was an eminent follower of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith. Amín served as the trustee of Huqúqu'lláh, was posthumous ...

Travels

He visited ʻAkká, where Baháʼu'lláh and his family were prisoners, on three occasions: in 1873, 1888, and 1899. He was given the task of transferring the remains of the

from various secret locations to ʻAkká, where they remained for several years until they were eventually entombed in the

Shrine of the Báb The Shrine of the Báb is a structure on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, where the remains of the Báb, founder of the Bábí Faith and forerunner of Baháʼu'lláh in the Baháʼí Faith, are buried; it is considered to be the seco ...

. He was one of the four

Hands of the Cause Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá who died in 2007. Hands of ...

appointed by Baháʼu'lláh himself, and was responsible for much of the Baháʼí activity in Iran until his death on 4 March, 1910.

Notes

References

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External links

Biography
by

Moojan Momen Moojan Momen is a retired physician and historian specializing in Baháʼí studies who has published numerous books and articles about the Baháʼí Faith and Islam, especially Shia Islam, including for Encyclopædia Iranica* * * the British Li ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhund 1842 births 1910 deaths Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh Hands of the Cause Iranian Bahá'ís Converts to the Bahá'í Faith from Shia Islam 19th-century Bahá'ís 20th-century Bahá'ís