Khál Asghar
Hájí Mírzá Hasan-‘Alí, better known by the title Khál Asghar meaning Youngest Uncle, was a member of the Afnán family and the youngest maternal uncle of the Báb.
Background[edit]
‘Alí was born some time after the year 1800, his father was Mírzá Muhammad-Husayn. He had a career as a merchant collaborating with his brothers and he established himself in Yazd trading on the families behalf in the east of Iran. He married Hájíyyih Bíbí Gawhar, the daughter of a merchant from Shíráz and sister of Hájí Muhammad-Ibrahim-i-Muballigh, and their children were Bíbí-Zahrá Bagum, Hájí Mírzá Áqá, Hájí Siyyid Mihdí, Hájí Siyyid Husayn, and Hájí Siyyid Ja'far.[1]
When the Báb declared Himself to be the Qa'im in 1844 ‘Alí did not accept His claim. In 1848 his brother Khál A’zam visited him in Yazd and settled their business affairs and gave him the Báb's funds from the family business before traveling to Chihríq to join the Báb.[1]
In 1861 ‘Alí visited Baghdad with his brother Khál Akbar during a journey to Karbala and during the visit Khál Akbar submitted some of his questions about the Báb's claims to Bahá’u’lláh and had the Kitáb-i-Íqán revealed for him, however ‘Alí refused to meet with Bahá’u’lláh during this visit.[1] In the late 1860's he was visited by the prominent Bahá’í teachers Hájí Muhammad-Ibrahim-i-Muballigh (who was also his brother-in-law), Nabíl-i-Akbar, and Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq, and he became a Bahá’í. He passed away in Yazd but his body was transported to Karbala for burial with his gravesite not being known.[1]
