He was an educator, author and, in the words of Shoghi
Effendi, the "establisher and promoter" of the Baha'i Administrative
Order in the Cradle of the Faith. Born in Sabzivar, Khurusan, Persia, in 1905,
when he was but five years old his father became the first Baha'i in the
family, followed immediately by his mother and grandmother. In 1914 he moved
with his family to 'Ishqabad, Russia, and attended the elementary Baha'i boys'
school, where, on his graduation at age 14, he was asked to teach the children
of the first grade. He did this until 1922, when he began his secondary
education. This was completed in 1925, and he went to work as principal of the
Baha'i schools for a year prior to going on to the University of Moscow (where
he graduated in psychology and education). Always active in the Faith, he
traveled widely throughout the Caucasus region even while young and also taught
in Leningrad and other Russian cities. In 1930 he was expelled from the Soviet
Union for his participation in Baha'i activities, an event which seems only to
have strengthened his resolve, because from that time forward he immersed
himself totally in the administrative affairs of the Faith.
A year (1931) after his return to Iran he married Ata'iyyih
Aziz-Khurasani. Together they settled in the remote village of Saysan and
established a Baha'i school for girls and another for boys; this was the first
access to modem education available to these children (eventually the schools
had an attendance of about 700 students). In 1933 he was offered the position
of principal of the Tarbiyat School for boys in Tihran but declined in order to
remain in Saysan. …Read more
(Adapted from ‘Historical Dictionary of the Baha’i Faith’ by
Hugh Adamson)
