Shahab Zahrai
Shahab Zahrai (d. c. 1986) was a Persian Bahá’í who pioneered to several posts in Arabia and served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Arabian Peninsula and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Near East. He was abducted during the Lebanese Civil War and it is unknown what happened to him.
Background[edit]
Zahrai was born into a Bahá’í family in Iran. He was raised by his mother as his father passed when he was young.[1] He spent much of his youth in Qazvin and was close with his cousins through his mothers brother including Ezzatu’llah Zahra’i.[2] In his youth he was inspired by the example of Abu’l-Qásim Faizí and emulated him by volunteering to visit rural villages in Iran to provide education to Bahá’í children.[3] In the late 1940's he pioneered to the Persian Gulf.[4]
Zahrai married Rúḥíyyih al-Tahhan in Iraq in 1955 and they had five children. Shortly after marrying they pioneered to Oman, in 1959 they pioneered to Kuwait, and in 1960 they pioneered to Qatar.[5] He had been elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Arabian Peninsula as of the early 1960's and he cast a vote in the establishment of the Universal House of Justice in 1963, sending a postal vote as he was unable to attend the First International Convention in person.[6]
In 1967 the Zahrai's pioneered to Lebanon settling in Beirut.[5] While in Beirut he wrote and published several Arabic books about the Bahá’í Faith and was elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Near East as secretary after it was formed in 1970.[7] In June 1986, during the Lebanese Civil War, two individuals who claimed to be members of the Progressive Socialist Party visited the Zahrai's and they ask for the car plate number. Ten days later the two men came and they said they represent the Hizbullah Party. This time they requested that he accompany them to the militia office. He was never seen again. All local militia claimed they had no knowledge of the two individuals and no ransom was ever demanded from the family.[2]
Zahrai's family remained in Lebanon attempting to locate him for several years but emigrated to Canada in 1989 concluding that he had been murdered according to the International Red Cross.[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ Kudith Kaye Logdson-Dubois, Knight with a Briefcase, George Ronald: Oxford, 2012, p 19
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kudith Kaye Logdson-Dubois, Knight with a Briefcase, George Ronald: Oxford, 2012, p 300
- ↑ Kudith Kaye Logdson-Dubois, Knight with a Briefcase, George Ronald: Oxford, 2012, p 33
- ↑ Kudith Kaye Logdson-Dubois, Knight with a Briefcase, George Ronald: Oxford, 2012, p 41
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2000). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 27 (1998-1999), Pg(s) 315. View as PDF.
- ↑ Rabbani, Ruhiyyih (Ed.) (1992). The Ministry of the Custodians 1957-1963. Bahá’í World Centre. ISBN 0-85398-350-X., p 406
- ↑ Kudith Kaye Logdson-Dubois, Knight with a Briefcase, George Ronald: Oxford, 2012, p 258
