Husayn Ardikání | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1922 |
| Died | 2007 |
| NSA member | North West Africa 1964 - 1966 West Africa ???? - 1968 |
| Counsellor | Northwestern Africa 1968 - 1975 Western Africa 1975 - 1980 Africa 1980 - 1990 |
Ḥusayn Rawhani Ardikání (1922 - 2007) was a Bahá’í who was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for pioneering to Morocco and helped develop the administration of the early Bahá’í community in the region of Northwest Africa.
Biography[edit]
Ardikání served on the National Teaching Committee of Iran up until the early 1950's. When the Ten Year Crusade was launched in 1953 his wife, Nusrat, wanted to pioneer for the Faith however for the sake of Husayn's business they instead decided to pay for someone to pioneer in their place.[1]
During 1953 Husayn went on pilgrimage and met Shoghi Effendi who encouraged him to pioneer that year and the Ardikání's decided to pioneer to North Africa with their four year old daughter, Shahla, sending their furniture ahead of them to Tangier, Morocco. They visited Switzerland where Husayn received a medical examination then went to Madrid, Spain, where they secured passage to Tangier, Morocco, arriving in November, 1953. They were advised by Shoghi Effendi to focus on teaching the Arabic speaking Berbers of Morocco.[1]
The Ardikání's had brought several carpets with them and when their luggage was inspected upon arriving in Morocco they were charged a large sum as the officials concluded they had too many carpets for them to be for private use and concluded they must be being imported for sale. They opened a store from which they attempted to sell some of their carpets to recoup the sum they had been charged. While the business was unsuccessful a Spanish woman they hired to help in the store declared and became the first Bahá’í of Tangier.[2]
In April 1954 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tangier was established and the Ardikání's went to Casablanca to help the Bahá’í community there however they were unable to secure the necessary visas to move to the city. They pioneered to Tenerife in 1955 and helped establish a Local Spiritual Assembly, then moved to Larache in Spanish Morocco, and then to Meknes in Morocco where they helped establish a Local Spiritual Assembly in 1959.[2]
Husayn assisted the National Spiritual Assembly of North West Africa in the late 1950's shortly after the body was formed and was asked to assess the situation in Senegal on behalf of the Assembly in the early 1960's. He found that there was no Bahá’í presence in the country, and as he felt the Moroccan community was well established he decided to pioneer to the country.[2]
In January 1962 the Ardikání's pioneered to Senegal but were only permitted to stay for six months. In 1966 they returned to Senegal and Husayn enrolled to study medicine so that he could remain in the country as a student,[2] and at some point he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of West Africa.[3] In June 1968 the Universal House of Justice appointed him as an inaugural Counselor for Northwestern Africa designating him the Trustee of the Continental Fund.[4]
In 1975 when the Universal House of Justice split the Continental Board for Northwestern Africa into two bodies and Ardikání was again appointed as a Counselor for the new jurisdiction of Northern Africa and as Trustee of its Continental Fund.[5] In 1980 the Universal House of Justice merged the Boards of Counselors for Africa into one jurisdiction and introduced five year term limits and Ardikání was appointed for a five year term,[6] and reappointed in 1985.[7]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press, London. p 19
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press, London. p 20
- ↑ Baha'i News (1968). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 450, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ 24 June 1968 Letter from the Universal House of Justice
- ↑ 6 January 1975 Letter from the Universal House of Justice
- ↑ Baha'i News (February 1981). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 599, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (December 1985). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 657, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
