Nusrat Ardikání
Nusrat Ardikání (b. 1931) was a Persian Bahá’í who was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for Morocco.
Biography[edit]
Ardikání was born in 1931 into a Bahá’í family and her parents were ‘Alí Akbar Rafí‘í Rafsanjání and Sháyistih Rafí'í. At some point she married Ḥusayn Ardikání and in 1949 they had a daughter, Shahla.[1]
In 1953 the Ten Year Crusade was launched and Ardikání wanted to pioneer to support the Crusade. She consulted with Ḥusayn and they concluded that they could not due to his business commitments and instead they provided financial support for another Bahá’í to pioneer. Later in the year Ḥusayn went on pilgrimage and Shoghi Effendi advised him to pioneer so when he arrived back in Iran the family began preparations to pioneer.[2]
The Ardikání's traveled to Switzerland, then Madrid, Spain, before arriving in Tangier, Morocco, in November 1953. Nusrat's parents also pioneered to Morocco arriving three days later.[2] A Local Spiritual Assembly of Tangier was formed in 1954 and they then pioneered to Casablanca where they helped establish an Assembly later the same year however they were denied the necessary visas to remain in Casablanca and pioneered to Tenerife in the Canary Islands the next year.[3]
In 1955 a Local Spiritual Assembly of Tenerife was established and the police became suspicious of the Ardikání's teaching activities so they moved to Larache in Morocco where they helped establish a Local Spiritual Assembly in 1956. They later moved to Meknes where they helped form a Local Spiritual Assembly in 1959. They departed Morocco in 1962 and pioneered to Senegal but were unable to secure long term visas forcing them to return to Morocco after six months.[3]
In 1966 the Ardikání's returned to Senegal and Nusrat began studying French in order to secure a student visa allowing them to remain in the country long-term.[3]
