Shu'a, Ray of the Sun by BahaiBookstore.com

Shu‘á Ray of the Sun The Life and Services of Hand of the Cause of God Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í A memoir Shapour Rassekh with the assistance of Nika Ramzi Translated and abridged from the Persian edition by Riaz Masrour

George Ronald Oxford

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George Ronald Publisher, Ltd Oxford www.grbooks.com

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978–0–85398–635–5

Cover design: Steiner Graphics

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Contents A Note from the Translator Preface and Acknowledgements

vii ix

1. Ancestry 2. Beginnings, 1889–1907 3. A Meteoric Rise, 1907–1925 4. Under the Pahlavis, 1926–1944 5. The National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, 1944–1951 6. Appointment as Hand of the Cause, Pilgrimage and Intercontinental Conferences, 1952–1953 7. Travels, and Defence of the Faith, 1954–1957 8. The Passing of the Guardian and the Role of the Hands of the Cause in His Absence, 1957–1963 9. The Nine Year Plan, 1964–1973 10. The Five Year Plan, 1974–1979 11. Last Years, 1979–1984

1 14 17 33 46

Annexes The ‘Alá’í Family References to the Services of Hand of the Cause Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í in Volumes of The Bahá’í World

55 73 86 100 118 129

136 151

Bibliography 157 Notes and References 161 Index 167

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Ancestry The ‘Alá’í family is one of the oldest and most respected families of Iran. The family tree can be traced back to Siyyid ‘Alá, a well-known cleric during the Safavid dynasty who was an openminded scholar and anticipated the approaching appearance of the expected Mahdi. Because of this, he emphasized in his Will that at least one of his male heirs should study theology and attain the rank of mujtahid (doctor of theology) so that he might provide the necessary guidance to other family members on the promised Day. A number of Siyyid ‘Alá’s descendants entered government service rather than the field of religious science. One of these, Mir ‘Alá, became governor of the city of Lahijan in the Caspian province of Gilan, northern Iran, and is known to have left behind two gifts to posterity: the cultivation of silkworms and the growing of tea, both of which he had brought to Iran from China and which became a significant part of that area’s agricultural activities. Years later, one of his great-grandsons, Dr Heshmat ‘Alá’í, founded the Gilan College of Management in that same city. The last mujtahid of that house, who lived in the time of Bahá’u’lláh, was named Aḥmad. Since he was without heir, he took his nephew Siyyid Muḥammad (1852–1920) under his wing and taught him the metaphysical sciences. It is from this time that the family began its connection with the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Siyyid Muḥammad, destined to become the father of Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í, was born in the small village of Kurabjawar near Lahijan. His parents, Riḍá and Furúghíyyih, were well known for their piety and rectitude of conduct. Siyyid Muḥammad had two brothers, ‘Alí, and Mihdí who was the father of Furúghíyyih, the future wife of Mr ‘Alá’í. Regarding his father Mr ‘Alá’í writes: 1

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Siyyid Muḥammad . . . completed his preliminary studies at the age of 19 in Lahijan. As he prepared for his journey to Najaf to continue his religious studies he became acquainted with the famous Bahá’í poet ‘Andalíb and began a year-long investigation, research and study of Bahá’í Writings which eventually led to his conversion to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.1 The first Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, in the handwriting of the His amanuensis, was delivered by the hand of Káẓim Samandar, the father of Hand of the Cause of God Ṭarázu’lláh Samandarí, to Siyyid Muḥammad in Lahijan; it deeply affected him and transformed him into a new man.

Heshmat ‘Alá’í, a grandson of Siyyid Muḥammad, writes: ‘He received the very first Tablet, of the 18 Tablets he was to receive from Bahá’u’lláh, at the age of 19 (1874) and immediately fell to the ground and wept from pure joy.’ A brief translation of the Tablet is as follows: Jináb-i Áqá Siyyid Muḥammad He is the Most Holy, the Most Great, the All-Knowing O thou who art remembered by this Prisoner! Hearken unto the Call of this Hidden Name, He Who hath manifested Himself through the power of truth and Who crieth aloud in the kingdom of creation that verily, there is no God but Him, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Pay no heed to the people and their ways, but fix thine eyes upon that which the EverAbiding Lord hath set forth by His sovereignty – a sovereignty that encompasseth all things whether of the past or of the future. It ill beseemeth thee to be occupied by the vain allusions of men. Rather, thou shouldst turn thy gaze towards the Revealer of Signs, Who calleth thee to attain unto the Supreme Horizon. Thy Lord, verily, is the Almighty, the Loving. Make thine inquiries of those who were present before the Throne at the time of the surging of the Ocean of Revelation. By My Life! The effusions thereof are such that the dwellers of His kingdom 2

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a n c e s t ry

are powerless to record them, yet the generality of the people remain unaware. Cast away that which is current amongst men, and arise to serve thy Lord. Say: O people! By God! There hath appeared in your midst what was never before revealed in the world of creation. The All-Merciful hath come with the hosts of evidence and testimony. Turn your faces towards Him, and follow not those who make a claim to knowledge but are veiled in ignorance. Cleave unto the Source of all knowledge and the root of every mystery. Say: Beware lest your corrupt desires prevent you from attaining the All-Glorious Horizon, or that which pertaineth unto men shut you out from God, the Lord of creation. Know the true worth of these days and pursue the bounties of Thy Lord, which overshadow all things visible and invisible. It behooveth thee to manifest qualities that shall blazon thy name on Our Preserved Tablet. Be not dismayed by the clamouring of the people, but rejoice in the remembrance of the True One Who hath made mention of thee upon His most blessed Seat of glory.2

Siyyid Muḥammad’s son Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í continues: From that day forward he could not keep from teaching the Faith to his old friends and soon he was known by all to be a Bahá’í. The clerics rose against him and complained of him to Lahijan’s great mujtahid, Mírzá Maḥmúd. The mujtahid held a religious class in Lahijan which had over 100 students, and father was one of these. Mírzá Maḥmúd sent father a message saying: ‘Why have you stopped attending the class? Come tomorrow.’

From here Mr ‘Alá’í recounts the story in his father’s words, as recorded in his autobiography: I approached Mírzá Maḥmúd’s house and entered the residence. He showed much kindness, much more than before, and 3

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began the lesson. After completion of the class he asked me to sit next to him and said: ‘I wish to remove from you, in front of this class, the allegation and stigma of being a Bábí/Bahá’í.’ I retorted that investigation of truth is not considered a stigma in the Faith of God, therefore permit me to be so stigmatized, and quoted a verse from the holy Qur’án in support of my argument. Then I asked: ‘What now? What do you expect me to do?’ He countered: ‘They say you are a Bábí.’ I replied: ‘. . . the effects of one’s beliefs flow from what the tongue utters and my tongue says that I am investigating and have not yet attained.’ He said: ‘. . . Curse the names of these three people, ‘AlíMuḥammad [the Báb], Mírzá Ḥusayn-‘Alí Bahá’u’lláh and Mírzá Yaḥyá, known as the Morning of Eternity.’ I replied: ‘I am not acquainted with the claims of these people, how can I curse them?’ He said: ‘Their claims are invalid, they should be cursed.’ I answered: ‘Whom should I obey, your instructions or God’s?’ He said: ‘Are my words inconsistent with God’s?’ I answered in the positive and quoted the Quranic verse: ‘Ascribe not to people disbelief in God,’ in support of my argument. He became enraged at my response and said: ‘You have abandoned the religion of your forefathers. Remove your turban and ‘abá [religious robe] and hand them to me.’ I took them off, folded them and placed them on his knees. Then I told him: ‘Here are the turban and the ‘abá, but they will be with you for no more than a day since I intend to take them back from you!’ Mírzá Maḥmúd rose to throw me out of the house. I said, ‘I will go and none should dare to lay hold of me.’ I left the house. Family members and house servants took me home and brought me a hat to cover my head, and yet at that very time I felt an unexpected joy . . . I said some prayers . . . 4

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Beginnings, 1889–1907 Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í was born on 19 November 1889 to Siyyid Muḥammad (Náẓimu’l-Ḥukamá) and Khadijeh Khánum. In a letter to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá written when Shu‘á‘u’lláh was a small child, his father listed the names of his sons and other family members. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s response included a Tablet to the young boy: O flame of the love of God! The ray [Shu‘á] must shed light and the sun must rise; the full moon must shine and the star must gleam. Since thou art a ray, beseech thou the Lord to enable thee to give illumination and enlightenment, to brighten the horizons and to consume the world with the fire of the love of God. I hope that thou mayest attain such a station, nay surpass it. Upon thee be His glory.1

Many years later Mr ‘Alá’í, in an interview given to his grandson Shidan Rassekh, expressed his thoughts and emotions on receiving the Tablet and the emotional effect it had on him: Even at the age of nine, I was able to write and could write well. One day my father told me ‘If you want, you can write, as a child, a note thanking ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the bounty of His Tablet addressed to you.’ I replied, ‘But father, I have not even seen the Tablet.’ He then removed, with great reverence, the Tablet from its envelope and read it to me. The Tablet was in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s handwriting. It moved me deeply, such that from that moment on the thought of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá lingered in my mind constantly 14

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b e g i n n i n g s , 1889–1907

and although I had been born in a Bahá’í family and both my parents and other members of my family were all Bahá’ís, yet I did not have sufficient knowledge about the Cause of God. From that moment on, therefore, it became important for me to discover what the Bahá’í Faith was all about. So I studied a number of the Tablets with the help of my father and other friends who were well versed in the literature of the Cause such as Mírzá Nasru’lláh, whom I asked to come to our house once a week to instruct me. I was so keen in my study of the Writings that I even studied and completely understood the Aqdas, which was in Arabic, under the tutelage of my brother-in-law, Mr Azíz’u’lláh Mesbah.

Regarding his childhood studies, Mr ‘Álá’í writes: I began to study reading and writing at home with the help of my father and mother and older brother Ziá’u’lláh, who was five years my senior. At the age of 10, along with my brother Nimatu’lláh and my cousins I attended the newly established Tarbíyat School until the age of 16. After that I continued my studies at the Dár ul-Funún College of higher learning and began my preliminary studies in the field of medicine, which I completed in two years. At the time, my brother Ziá’u’lláh was completing his last year of medical school, but since I had no interest in medicine I began my studies in mathematics and office administration.

During this time, Muẓaffaru’d-Dín Sháh, Iran’s sovereign king, issued his decree establishing a constitutional government, and the newly elected government established the first National Bank of Iran. It was therefore of necessity that some students learn modern accounting methods and techniques, for no accurate accounting methods or procedures had previously existed. By order of the government Dár ul-Funún now began to offer courses in accounting, and the young Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í continued his 15

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work in this field, studying commercial and banking accounting under the tutelage of a Russian professor and completing the curriculum in a year and a half. He wrote: My supreme hope was to travel to Beirut and continue my studies there [at the American College]. My father was amenable to this idea, but in the first year of the establishment of the Parliament, a law was passed suspending the financial allowances of people who did not work, such as princes and their children. Moreover, the salaries of the lower-level military personnel and even court physicians were reduced. My father’s salary was cut in half. Since he did not have a separate office and his patients had been members of the royal court, he now had to open an office. However, during that time people typically did not seek the advice of modern doctors; according to established custom they continued to visit local healers and receive their medications without the benefit of a physical examination, for a nominal sum. Of course, my father felt that the sick had to be examined before issuing a prescription. And to those who could not afford his fee, he gave his services free of charge. But not many patients came to him and thus a journey to Beirut was not possible.

Following this disappointment, Mr ‘Alá’í began work in the newly established Ministry of Customs in 1907, when he was only 18 years old.

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A Meteoric Rise, 1907–1925 Early Bahá’í service Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í’s services to the Faith started even earlier than his professional career, when at 17 or 18 years old he was appointed to a committee, the ‘Maḥfil-i-Muratib’, with responsibility for establishing teaching firesides in the homes of the friends and holding Holy Day celebrations in Tehran. He also served on the committee for the two Tarbíyat schools (boys and girls), assisting in keeping the accounts for the boys’ school and serving as deputy principal to the girls’ school, where Lillian Kappes was principal. All this was taking place at an important stage in the evolution of the Bahá’í institutions and administration in Tehran, an event the historical significance of which the young Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í was fully aware. An ‘Assembly of Consultation’ had been established in Tehran on the instructions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1897. This was now to evolve into the Central Assembly of Tehran, the predecessor of both the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tehran and the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran.1 Dr Vahid Rafati, in the third volume of his Sources of Poetry in Bahá’í Writings, quotes a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá revealed in 1907 for Mr Azízu’lláh Varqá:

. . . that which thou hast written was carefully perused. Since

the election of the Universal Spiritual Assembly is not currently feasible, we must make do. Another assembly should be formed if possible to attend to the affairs of the community, and all the friends should abide whole-heartedly by its decisions 17

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. . . In order to achieve this purpose, the Hands of the Cause, upon them be the glory of the Most Glorious, should, together with several wise and impartial friends, consult and choose 81 souls from among the distinguished believers. They should then further divide this assemblage into groups of nine. Each group should, step by step and in different locations, meet and elect one person. Those nine elected souls will, together with the Hands of the Cause, form the Spiritual Assembly. All the friends should obey its decisions, render service to it, and exert themselves to consolidate its influence . . . In that Spiritual Assembly, every Hand of the Cause of God is a permanent member. Without this approach, the assembly’s influence will not be established. 2

Dr Rafati writes that, with respect to the history of the establishment of the Bahá’í Administrative Order and the manner of election of membership in its various assemblies, this Tablet is of great significance, since it provides the details of how these Bahá’í institutions began. Following the receipt of the Tablet in Tehran a ‘Constitution of the Consultative Assemblies of Tehran and other provinces’ in 51 articles was prepared, and was signed in February of 1907 by the Hands of the Cause resident in Tehran: Ḥájí Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar and Mírzá Ḥasan-i-Adíb. This constitution laid down the limits of the duties and responsibilities of the members, the manner of holding meetings, the process of conducting business, and rules related to consultation and decision-making. In his autobiography, Mr ‘Álá’í includes two historical documents: the constitution of the Consultative Assemblies of Tehran and other provinces (1907) which led to the establishment of Local Spiritual Assemblies in those localities; and the constitution of the institution in Tehran that was inaugurated in 1909. Although this Assembly was made up of members of the institution of the Hands of the Cause and other revered community members, and had a constitution, it did not as yet have much of an effect in the general Bahá’í community. It is unclear when elections began to take place.3 Rafati writes that an election 18

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