Faydu'lláh Subhí

Mírzá Faydu'lláh Subhí Muhtadi (1897 - November 18, 1962) was a Persian Bahá’í who served as a Secretary for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but left the religion after His passing and became a critic and opponent of it.

Biography

Subhí was born into a Bahá’í family in Kashan in 1897. He was the grandson of Haji Mulla ‘Ali Akbar, who went on pilgrimage to Mecca at the same time as the Báb, and Hajiyyih ‘Ammih Khanum who was a Bábí and Bahá’í and the aunt of Gawhar Khánum, the third wife of Bahá’u’lláh.

In his youth Subhí attended the Bahá’í run Tarbiyat School in Tehran. He went on an extended travel teaching trip, assisting another Bahá’í, from 1916 to 1917 touring Azerbaijan Province, the Caucusus, and countries in Central Asia. He settled in Ishqabad for a time before returning to Tehran in 1918. He moved to the Holy Land in 1919, traveling with Ibn-i-Asdaq who he reportedly clashed with during the journey, where he served as a secretary for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from 1919 until being dismissed and returning to Iran in 1921 shortly before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Ascension.

Subhí occasionally clashed with the Bahá’í institutions of Iran but initially reconciled with them on occasions of disunity. He was a critic of Shoghi Effendi's appointment as Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, and came to be heavily influenced by ‘Abdu’l-Husayn Ávárih, a prominent Persian Bahá’í who pressed for a position of authority within the Faith, became increasingly hostile towards Shoghi Effendi, then resigned from the religion and wrote several books denouncing it. Subhí likewise resigned from the Faith in the spring of 1928 and became hostile towards it.

Subhí's father attempted to encourage him to reconcile with the Bahá’í community but was unsuccessful. In 1933 and 1956 Subhí wrote books dedicated to criticizing the religion which focused on criticizing the personal conduct of individual Bahá’ís rather than making theological arguments. He did not level serious accusations against ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in his polemic works. He began working as a teacher in Tehran in 1933 and in 1940 he began working for Radio Tehran presenting a children's program.

In later life Subhí wrote a letter to a high-ranking member of the Muslim clergy in Iran denouncing his previous association with the Bahá’í community and participation in Bahá’í activities in which he used disparaging language to vilify Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice. He never married and passed away in Tehran in 1962.