Bahá’í World/Volume 18/Muḥammad ‘Alí Falláḥ
MUḤAMMAD ‘ALÍ FALLÁḤ AFNÁN
1888-1980
Mírzá Muḥammad ‘Alí Afnán was the son of Mírzá Muḥammad Báqir Afnán. His mother was the granddaughter of the younger uncle of the Báb, Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí, and his father was the grandson of the elder uncle of the Báb, Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad.
He was born in Yazd, Írán, in the year 1888, on the very day that seven Bahá’ís of that city were martyred. His father died when he was young and he was brought up by his grandfather, Mírzá Muḥammad Taqí Vakílu-Dawlah, the builder of the Bahá’í Temple of ‘Ishqábád. With his mother and sister he travelled from ‘Ishqábád to the Holy Land to reach the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but soon after his arrival in the Holy Land his grandfather passed away and he was sheltered under the loving care of the Master. He was sent by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the same school in Beirut which was attended by Shoghi Effendi and later on, when the Master sent Shoghi Effendi to England to study, He also sent the young Afnán to study agriculture there. In some of the letters Shoghi Effendi wrote while studying in Oxford he mentions the Afnán whom he occasionally visited in Yorkshire.
After completing his studies, Muḥammad ‘Alí Afnán returned to the Holy Land only twenty days before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away. The Afnán remained in Haifa for six months and then returned to Yazd on the instructions of the beloved Guardian. For many years he was elected as a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Yazd and often was privileged to serve as chairman.
Muḥammad ‘Alí Falláḥ Afnán
In 1939 an unfortunate incident occurred. The workman responsible for the heating of the Bahá’í public bath was injured during the course of duty. The enemies of the Faith seized the opportunity of making mischief. The chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Yazd was imprisoned and other members were prosecuted. Fortunately the members were released after a short time. Eleven years later, in a village called Abarqú, soon after a Bahá’í pioneer was sent from Yazd to that village, a woman and her several children were murdered in mysterious circumstances. The enemies of the Bahá’í community attributed this tragic event to the coming of the pioneer to their village. As a result the nine members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Yazd were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. They were confined to prison first in Yazd, then in Kirmán, and finally in the prison of Ṭihrán. After his release from prison the Afnán visited the Holy Land and attained the presence of the beloved Guardian who praised the steadfastness of those who had suffered unjust imprisonment. Through their
incarceration, he said, these believers had followed in the footsteps of the Báb.
Mr. Afnán passed to the Abhá Kingdom in Ṭihrán in his eighty-ninth year and was buried in the Bahá’í cemetery of that city.