Daoud Toeg
Daoud Toeg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1897 Baghdad, Iraq |
| Died | February 1, 1974 Hull, Quebec, Canada |
| NSA member | Iraq ???? - ???? |
| ABM | Asia 1954 - 1970 |
Daoud Toeg (1897 - February 1, 1974) was an Iraqi Bahá’í who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Iraq and as an inaugural Auxiliary Board member for Asia.
Biography[edit]
Toeg was born into a Jewish family in Baghdad in 1897. He was raised in the Jewish religion but later became an atheist. He received a high level of education, learning several languages, and in his professional career he became a merchant working as an adviser to a British trading company based in London.[1]
In approximately 1924 Toeg met Ezra Sofer, a Bahá’í from a Jewish family, and he studied the religion and declared in 1927. He immediately began teaching the religion and when he had introduced the Faith to eight people who also declared they sent a joint letter to Shoghi Effendi.[1] Shoghi Effendi advised him to learn the Persian language in 1927.[2]
In the early 1930's Toeg pioneered to Italy for a year and a half then returned to Iraq and he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iraq and served for twenty-five years.[1] He went on pilgrimage twice in the 1930's with his first pilgrimage taking place while Shoghi Effendi was absent from the Holy Land but he met with Shoghi Effendi on his second pilgrimage in 1935 spending twenty days on pilgrimage.[2]
In 1942 Toeg married a woman named Latifa and they had three sons who became active Bahá’ís and worked with him in his teaching activities.[1] In 1954 Toeg was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for Asia when the position was established and he undertook several important services for the Faith, taking six months away from work to supervise the construction of the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Iraq, securing land for a Temple in Iraq, channeling communications from Shoghi Effendi to Iran when direct communication was not possible, and serving as a Trustee of Huququllah for Iraq.[2]
In addition to his administrative services to the Iraq community Toeg also contributed significantly to recording the history of the Faith in Iraq, visiting Sar-Galu in Sulaymaniyyih where Bahá’u’lláh had lived, where he took several photographs and interviewed locals who remembered Bahá’u’lláh. On one of his visits to Turkey, he located the house Bahá’u’lláh had occupied in Constantinople, and other places where He was kept a prisoner in that country. He also pioneered to Kirkuk during the Ten Year Crusade for a seven year period before being asked to return to Baghdad by the National Assembly of Iraq.[2]
In 1970 local circumstances meant Toeg and his family had to leave Iraq and they moved to Canada in early 1971 settling in Hull, Quebec, at the request of the National Assembly of Canada where they helped reform the Local Spiritual Assembly through holding weekly fireside meetings.[2] Toeg served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Hull until passing away in 1974.[3]
The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after his passing:
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING FAITHFUL OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH DAOUD TOEG HIS RECORD DEVOTED SERVICES FAITH IRAQ UNFORGETTABLE ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERING NATIONAL HAZIRATULQUDS STOP CONVEY FAMILY LOVING CONDOLENCES ASSURANCE PRAYERS SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL . . .[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 527. View as PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 528. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 529. View as PDF.
