Husayn Nají
Husayn Nají | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1928 Tehran, Iran |
| Died | c. 1980 Iran |
| NSA member | Iran ???? - 1980 |
Dr. Husayn Nají (1928 - c. 1980) was a Persian Bahá’í who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran. He was abducted at a National Spiritual Assembly meeting held in the wake of the 1979 Revolution in Iran and is assumed to have been martyred.
Biography[edit]
Nají was born into a Bahá’í family in Tehran in 1928. His father was Haj Gholamhossein who was a Muslim clergyman before becoming a Bahá’í and he passed shortly before Nají was born. His mother passed in 1940 and he was raised by his older sister Mohtaram.[1] He could not afford to attend university after completing his education so he joined the Iranian army which enabled him to begin studying medicine in 1946. He married fellow Bahá’í Vajdieh Rezvani in 1952 and they went on to have two children and they settled in Rasht where he served on the Local Spiritual Assembly.[2]
After completing his medical degree Nají aimed to complete further studies in the field but was initially denied a scholarship by the military as he was a Bahá’í. After serving as an army doctor for some time he was granted a scholarship to study medicine in England.[1] He enrolled to study cardiology at the Imperial College in London in 1957,[1] and he served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Watford while living in England.[2]
In 1961 Nají graduated from the Imperial College with a degree in cardiology and he returned to Iran where he introduced the procedure of angioplasty to Iran. He left Iran again in 1962 moving to New York with his family to complete further studies and he completed an additional degree in heart disease and worked in a hospital before returning to Iran again in 1964.[1]
After returning to Iran in 1964 Nají settled in Tehran and was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly, established a private clinic, and began working at the Bahá’í established Misaghieh Hospital developing the Hospitals cardiac ward. In 1978 he retired from the Iranian army with the rank of Colonel as Dr. Ayadi, a Bahá’í who served as personal physician to the Shah, had advised him he intended to nominate him as his replacement and Nají did not want to accept the post.[1]
Nají had been elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran as of 1976 and he was serving on the body when persecution of the Bahá’ís of Iran began to intensify during the 1979 Revolution with the Misaghieh Hospital being seized with all Bahá’í staff including Nají being dismissed. He visited Germany for two months in 1979 to visit his children who had settled in the country but returned to Iran to assist in protecting the Bahá’í community.[1]
Shortly after returning to Iran Nají's home was stormed however he was not home at the time and his wife was beaten and arrested and his personal documents and valuables were seized.[1] On August 21, 1980, Nají attended a meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly which was raided by Revolutionary Guards and he was abducted along with the majority of the Assembly and two Auxiliary Board members and never seen again. He is presumed to have been martyred.[3]
