Siyyid Ahmad Afnán

Siyyid Ahmad was a member of the Afnán family who was an active member of the Bahá’í community during the lifetimes of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Biography

Ahmad was a son of Afnán-i-Kabír and like his father he became a merchant in Yazd later establishing himself in Istanbul. In 1889 Ahmad went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and met Bahá’u’lláh however during his pilgrimage he was accused of business corruption and Bahá’u’lláh directed him to go to Istanbul to clear his name. He won a legal case in the Ottoman courts proving his innocence using business records.

After Ahmad had cleared his name Bahá’u’lláh sent Áqá ‘Azízu’lláh-i-Jadhdháb to request that he depart Istanbul for the Holy Land and then go to 'Ishqábád to sell some land owned by the Afnán family. Ahmad received the message in August 1891 however he delayed his departure and another falsified legal case was launched against him in which he was accused of having a servant rob another merchant and flee to Akka with the funds. Jadhdhab reminded Ahmad that he had been instructed to leave Istanbul and he immediately boarded an Austrian steamer for the Holy Land with Jadhdhab remaining to handle the legal situation. After arriving in the Holy Land he remained until after the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh and then undertook teaching trips to propagate the Bahá’í Faith before making a third pilgrimage where he was honored by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for his work for the Faith.

In 1898 Ahmad moved to Yazd briefly where he helped establish a Local Spiritual Assembly although it lapsed after a short time. In 1899 he moved to 'Ishqábád where he worked in commerce and when his brother Hájí Siyyid Mírzá, who had broken the Covenant, attempted to move to the city to promote the claims of Mírzá Muhammad ‘Alí he prevented him from doing so. He later settled in Shiraz where he was murdered when someone broke into his house at night and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá named him a Martyr and revealed two Tablets and a Tablet of Visitation in his honor. He had not had any children.