Nawnahálán Company
The Shirkat-i Nawnahálán or Nawnahálán Company was a Bahá’í company in Iran which functioned as the financial arm of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran and as a community savings bank.
History[edit]
The company was founded by Muhammad Labib in Qazvin in 1917 as a trust fund for Bahá’í children attending the Tavakkul School.[1] In 1919 Labib went on pilgrimage and informed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá of his plans for the company and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá approved of the company and gave Labib two gold coins as a contribution to the fund.[2]
The company evolved into a major financial institution,[3] with the Bahá’í community of Iran itself holding fifty percent of the equity of the company with the other fifty percent of shares being owned primarily by individual Bahá’ís but also some Christian and Muslim investors.[4] As of 1979 approximately 15,000 Bahá’ís were shareholders in the company with the majority not being wealthy and relying on income from their stake in the company.[5]
During the 1979 Revolution in Iran the company was seized in February 1979 with its assets being frozen and all staff being dismissed and denied salaries,[6] leaving the Bahá’í community of Iran paralyzed due to the company being the main financial center of the community and many individual Bahá’ís deprived of their savings which had been invested in the company.[7]
References[edit]
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/winters_bahai_glossary
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 751. View as PDF.
- ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha'i Communities of Iran 1851-1921: Volume 1, George Ronald: Oxford, 2015, p 492
- ↑ Baha'i News (1979). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 585, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
- ↑ 17 October 1979 message from the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assemblies
- ↑ Baha'i News (1979). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 582, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1979). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 585, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
