Muhammad Labib
Muhammad Labíb (1893 - March 14, 1981) was a Bahá'í author and photographer. He was also a notable Esperantist.
Life[edit]
Muhammad Labíb was born into a Bahá'í family in Yazd in 1893. In 1903 the Bahá'í's of Yazd were attacked by the populace, and Labíb's families shop was destroyed and his mother was imprisoned for three days. Muhammad hid in the canals of Yazd with his brother and also in the cellar of another Bahá'í. In 1905 he and his family moved to Tehran, where Labíb received an education at a Bahá'í school.
Labíb learnt Esperanto in 1914. He later taught the language at the Bahá'í Tavakkul School in Qazvín, and was an official representative of the World Esperanto movement.
In 1916 Labíb decided to found the Nawnahálán Company as a trust fund for the children at the Bahá'í Tavakkul School to help them save their money. Muhammad asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá's permission to found the trust fund while on pilgrimage in 1919, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave Labíb His blessing, and also contributed two gold coins to the company. The company eventually received investments from many Bahá’ís in Iran, and moved to Tehran where it evolved into a national financial institution.[1] The assets of the company were seized by the post-revolution government of Iran in February of 1979, and the company's offices were stormed later in the year.[2]
Labíb accompanied Effie Baker on her journey to take photographs of important Bahá'í sites throughout Iran from 1930 to 1931. He also had the Risalih-'i Siyasiyyih, a Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, published in Tehran in the early 1930's.[3]
He pioneered to Hiroshima in 1955, and taught the faith in Japan for the next nine years. In 1961 he converted six people of Ainu ancestry who were leaders of the Ainu community to the faith, which was an early breakthrough for the Faith in Japan.[4] In 1963 he moved to the Greek island of Rhodes.
He wrote many books in his later life which included many photographs he had taken. Only one of his books, The Seven Martyrs of Hurmuzak, has been published in English.
His mind was sound up until his passing on March 14, 1981.
Family[edit]
Muhammad Labíb's father was Muhammad-Husayn Ulfat (known as 'Attár). He was a Shaykhí who converted to the Bahá'í Faith.[5] Muhammad-Husayn passed away in 1926.[6]
Publications[edit]
- 1968 - Map of Stages in Baha'u'llah's Successive Exiles from Tihran to Akka
- 1981 - The Seven Martyrs of Hurmuzak
References[edit]
- ↑ http://www.bahai-encyclopedia-project.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72:tehran&catid=38:history
- ↑ http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/feed/publications/reports/3149-a-faith-denied-the-persecution-of-the-baha-is-of-iran.txt?p=29
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/cole_risalih_siyasiyyih_introduction
- ↑ http://www.bahai-library.com/east-asia/traces/64-67.html
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/memoriam_bw_18#ml
- ↑ http://www.momen.org/relstud/yazd.htm
