Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh
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The Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh were nineteen eminent early followers of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. The apostles were designated as such by Shoghi Effendi, head of the religion in the earlier half of the 20th century, and the list was included in The Bahá'í World, Vol. III (pp. 80–81).
These individuals played a vital role in the development of Bahá'u'lláh's Faith, consolidating its adherents and bringing its teachings around the world. To Bahá'ís, they filled a similar role as the sons of Jacob, the apostles of Jesus, Muhammad's companions, or the Báb's Letters of the Living.
List of Apostles
Many of the stories of the Apostles are well known to Bahá'ís. The names of the apostles were:
- Mírzá Músá - The brother of Bahá'u'lláh
- Badí‘ - The 17-year-old who delivered Bahá'u'lláh's tablet to Nassiru'd-Din Shah and was subsequently killed.
- Sultánu'sh-Shuhada' - The 'King of Martyrs' of Isfahan who was beheaded with his brother.
- Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl - The famous scholar who travelled as far as America and wrote several notable books about the Bahá'í Faith.
- Varqá - The father of Rúhu'lláh. The two were killed at the same time for their adherence.
- Nabíl-i-Akbar - Famous teacher, and recipient of several tablets from Bahá'u'lláh.
- Nabíl-i-A`zam - The author of the historical narrative called The Dawn-breakers.
- Mishkín-Qalam - Noteworthy calligrapher of his time and designer of the Greatest Name.
- Zaynu'l-Muqarrabín - Doctor of Islamic law. He is the one who submitted questions to Bahá'u'lláh regarding the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Bahá'í book of laws, which have been published in an appendix to the book.
- Kázim-i-Samandar- The favourite Apostle of Bahá’u’lláh. He travelled teaching the religion in Persia, the Lawh-i-Fu'ád is addressed to him.[1]
- Hájí Amín - Eminent follower of Bahá'u'lláh who served as the trustee of Huqúqu'lláh.
- Ibn-i-Abhar - He traveled and taught about the religion in countries and regions of Iran, Caucasus, Turkmenistan and India.
- Hají Ákhúnd - He was given the task of transferring the remains of the Báb from various secret locations to ‘Akká. He was responsible for much of the Bahá'í activity in Iran until his death.
- Adíb - After the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, he became instrumental in dealing with the activities of Covenant-breakers in Iran. He later participated in the meetings that evolved into the Central Spiritual Assembly of Tihrán, which later became the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, of which he was the chairman. He travelled to India and Burma to help spread the Bahá'í Faith in those areas.
- Mírzá Mustafá - Served the Baha'is travelling to Akká while living in Beirut on instructions of Bahá'u'lláh. He also met some of the Bab's Letters of the Living.
- Shaykh Muhammad-'Alí - Nephew of Nabíl-i-Akbar. Traveled to India and later Haifa and taught about the Bahá'í Faith. He was later sent to Ishqábád by Abdu'l-Bahá to take care of the education of children there. Along with other followers he helped in completing the unfinished writings of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl.
- Ibn-i-Asdaq - He was addressed by Bahá'u'lláh as Shahíd Ibn-i-Shahíd (Martyr, son of the Martyr). He was the son of Mullá Sádiq, a distinguished martyr of the Bábí movement. Along with Ahmad Yazdani, brought the Tablet to The Hague from Abdu’l-Bahá to the Central Organisation for Durable Peace in The Hague. He was one of the few Apostles to live into the time of Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian.
- Mírzá Mahmúd - He was a well known teacher of the Bahá'í Faith, often dedicating himself to the welfare of the youth.
- Vakílu'd-Dawlih - He was an Afnán, a cousin of the Báb and the chief builder of the first Bahá'í House of Worship in Ishqábád which was initiated by `Abdu'l-Bahá in or about 1902.
Tablets of the Divine Plan
`Abdu'l-Bahá addresses the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada in the Tablets of the Divine Plan with the phrase: "O ye Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh!" He goes on to encourage them to "strive ye with heart and soul so that ye may reach this lofty and exalted position".
He outlines certain conditions for this attainment, namely firmness in the Covenant of God, fellowship and love amongst the believers, and continually travelling to all parts of the continent, "nay, rather, to all parts of the world".
Shoghi Effendi referred to Martha Root as "that unique and great-hearted apostle of Bahá'u'lláh", but she is not considered one of the nineteen Apostles designated as such by Shoghi Effendi. (Baha'i Administration, p. 112)
Photographs
This picture of the Apostles was taken from Balyuzi's book on pg. 262. Individual photos can be seen on each respective biographical page, links to them are in the side box on the right-hand side of this page.
See also
References
- ↑ Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 3, p. 88
- Balyuzi, H.M. (1985). Eminent Bahá'ís in the time of Bahá'u'lláh. The Camelot Press Ltd, Southampton. ISBN 0-85398-152-3.
- `Abdu'l-Bahá (1971). Memorials of the Faithful. US Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-041-1.
- `Abdu'l-Bahá (1993). Tablets of the Divine Plan. US Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-233-3.
- Nabíl-i-A`zam (Effendi, Shoghi Tr.) (1932). Dawn Breakers - Nabil's Narrative. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-900125-22-5.
- Effendi, Shoghi (1995). God Passes By. US Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-020-9.