Heshmat Vahdat

Heshmat Vahdat (September 25, 1923 - June 27, 2003) was an active pioneer in Japan during the Ten Year Crusade.

Heshmat Vahdat was born into a Bahá’í family in Kashan, Iran. When he was nine years old his family spent one month in Haifa and were often in the presence of Shoghi Effendi. In Iran, he served as a homefront pioneer in Shahreza for five years, before leaving for Japan, where he remained from 1956 to 1978.

He was one of the first Persian Bahá’ís to arrive in Japan during the Ten Year Crusade and serevd on the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Amagasaki, Japan, from 1956 to 1968, and then on the Spiritual Assembly of Nishinomiya from approximately 1971 to 1978.

He supported his family by establishing an import/export business. He held regular weekly firesides at his home in Japan for 22 years and undertook teaching trips in villages in Japan as well as in Korea and Okinawa. He also visited Bahá’í communities in the Arabian countries, offering them his support for their pioneering efforts.

In 1980, he and his family were forced to leave Japan and go as refugees to the United States when the Iranian government refused to renew his passport and the Japanese government would not extend his visa.

From 1990 to 2003 he was a homefront pioneer in Danville, California, and served on the first Spiritual Assembly of that community, which was elected in 1991; he remained a member until 1997. During that time he also held regular devotional meetings and discussions of the Faith in his home.

References

• The Universal House of Justice. The Bahá’í World - An International Record Vol 2003-2004. Haifa, Isreal: World Centre Publications.