Hakím Masíh

Hakím Masíh.

Hakím Masíh was a physician from Iran who was the first Jew to become a Bahá’í.

Background

His birth name was Masíh, and Hakím was a title indicating that he was a skilled physician. He was the physician at the court of Muhammad Sháh.

Masíh's first exposure to the Bábí religion occurred when he accompanied Muhammad Sháh on a journey to Baghdád. While in the city he attended a lecture given by Táhirih, he was impressed by her speech and later said of the encounter:

"My visit to Baghdád coincided with the time that Táhirih was in that city. Through some circumstances I was present at some of the meetings where she conversed with the divines. I was astonished and awestruck by the way she talked, by the manner in which she conducted her conversations, and by the power of her utterances..."

In 1861 he acted as a physician for Ibn-i-Asdaq, a young Bábí imprisoned in the Siyah Chal, as he was the only physician who would agree to treat a Bábí. During the two months that he treated Ibn-i-Asdaq, the boys father, Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq, taught him about the religion and Masíh continued to visit the Siyah Chal after Ibn-i-Asdaq's illness had passed to learn. He became a Bábí, and later became a Bahá’í.

Bahá'u'lláh revealed several tablets for him, however Masíh hid them so that they would not be taken by enemies of the Faith and when they were recovered most of them had been destroyed by moisture.

Family

Hakim Sulayman was his only son, and he also became a Baha'i. Sulayman's sons included Aflátún, Dr. Arastú Khán Hakím and Luṭfu’lláh Ḥakím, who was an inaugural member of the Universal House of Justice.