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FAZAL MOHAMAD ICHAN
1908—1986
Fazal Mohamad Khan, known to his friends in Australia as Frank, was born in the Village of Khassi Kalan near Ludhiana in the Punj ab region of India on 6 April 1908, and attended the Village school to higher level, studying English. His father, Karim Box, had gone to Australia in 1898 for a period, then went back and forth to India for a few years at a time until he brought his son, F azal, out in 1926 in search of a better life. Frank later returned to India and married Hukoomat Bibi, and brought her and his half—brother Ramzan, to Australia aboard R.M.S. Strathnaver in 1932. The Khans were among the first Indians to settle on the eastern coast of Australia.
Frank was a self—taught and self—reliant man who rose from humble economic circumstances through paying careful attention to saving, and through his genuine concern for others. He was initially a clothing sa1esman, travelling by horse and cart from house to house, to the isolated farming areas of What is now Wingecarribee Shire. In 195253, the Khans moved from Mittagong to Dapto, in the Wollongong area, partly because Frank had come to know every family resident in the rural area and had “exhausted” his market, having sold to each of them the maj or new electrical appliances as they became availablemsuch as radios, washing machines, and refrigerators. In Dapto,‘the Khans bought a dairy farm which they operated for several years until it was subdivided as the township expanded.
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840 THE Bahá’í WORLD
Frank was known throughout the Australian Muslim community for religious devotion and learning. He travelled regularly to Sydney to teach religious classes, and had memorised over two—thirds of the Qur’án. He was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith when Stanley and Mariette Bolton learned that a Muslim family lived in a nearby town, and invited him to address the Bahá’í School at Yerrinbool after they read in a letter from the beloved Guardian that the Australian Bahá’ís should deepen their understanding of Islam.
Before accepting the invitation, Frank consulted the members of his family and they agreed that he should speak to the Bahá’ís. He participated in a series of talks called “Nine great religions of the world” at the Yerrinbool Winter School in September 1947. He and his wife were attracted to the Faith by the respect that the Bahá’ís showed toward Muhammad and their reverence for the Qur’án. However, they felt initially that the Báb and Baha’u’llah were reformers Whose purpose was simply to return Islam to its pristine form, rather than independent Manifestations.
The Australian Bahá’ís procured from India a Bahá’í book entitled Qiyamat (Resurrection) by the distinguished Bahá’í author, Maulvi Mafusu’l—Huq, which was written in Urdu, and which related the claims of the Bab and Bahá’u’lláh to Qur’ánic prophecies. This book was of great assistance to the Khans in their investigation.
Frank’s concerns were dissolved by the explanations of these doctrines from the Bahá’í perspective given him by a Persian Bahá’í, who was travelling through Australia. He was confirmed in his faith by a dream, in which he felt himself being led in the Muslim obligatory prayer by Muharhmad; in
the midst of the prayer Muhammad stopped ’
and said over his shoulder, “Now we will say the prayer this way” and began to recite the Bahá’í Long Obligatory Prayer. He remained firm in his faith when, a few weeks later, the Persian Bahá’í used a sub terfuge to siphon off the bulk of his meagre life savings, and then absconded; some months later, this misguided and deluded person was expelled from the Cause by the Guardian after he had made contact with Covenant—breakers.
Frank and Bibi, together with their children, J 0y and Peter, were the first Muslims to become Bahá’ís in Australia. They declared their faith at the Yerrinbool Summer School in December 1948, and became members of the Yerrinbool Bahá’í community. The summer school committee cabled to Shoghi Effendi:
LOVING GREETINGS THIRTEENTH SUMMER SCHOOL COMMENCED WITH MOSLEM FAMILY ACCEPTING FAITH SUPPLICATING PRAYERS FRUITFUL ACHIEVEMENTS.
To this cable Shoghi Effendi replied:
DELIGHTED ASSURE ATTENDANTS NEWLY ENROLLED F ANHLY LOVING FERVENT PRAYERS MAY SCHOOL SESSIONS PROVE LANDMARK PROGRESS FAITH LEND TREMENDOUS IMPETUS UNFOLDMENT PLAN DEEPEST LOVE.
Upon becoming a Bahá’í, Frank was ridiculed and scorned by his Muslim friends and relatives in Australia, whom he nevertheless continued to Visit and to teach the Faith. Eventually one half—brother became a Bahá’í. On two later occasions Frank Visited the Villages in Pakistan where his Muslim relatives had settled after a forced emigration from India as refugees in the upheaval following the partition of the sub-continent, and he endeavoured to share with them his new understanding of religious truth. On the first Visit no one was prepared to listen, but during the second Visit a cousin in the city of Sialkot accepted the Teachings of Baha’u’llah.
In the following years, Frank Khan became one of Australia’s most devoted and active teachers and administrators of the Bahá’í Faith. His subsequent long association with the Yerrinbool Bahá’í School, as both a speaker and member of the school
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IN MEMORIAM 841
committee, is unparalleled. He was chairman of the committee from about 1950 into the mid 19603. The existence of considerable tensions within the Bahá’í community as to how the school should be developed made this a testing time for Frank and for other members of the committee. Despite innumerable difficulties, however, Frank was proud of the fact that while he was treasurer on the committee, the Yerrinbool School made a profit on its operations.
Over a period of four decades, he was a source of knowledge concerning Islam and the Qur’án for the Australian Bahá’ís, who utilised his learning at both 10Ca1 and national levels. Although his mother tongue was Urdu and his second language English, Frank learned to read and speak Persian and Arabic after becoming a Bahá’í in order to read Bahá’u’lláh’s words in the original. He learned the meaning of words by comparing a text in several languages simultaneously. In the teaching field Frank was most fearless, and continued to call his Muslim brothers to the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. He ordered many books in the Urdu language to teach fellow Indians in Australia.
In 1950, soon after becoming a Bahá’í, Frank was elected as one of two delegates from the Yerrinbool Local Assembly to National Convention. He was elected to the National Assembly and became treasurer. Dulcie Dive, the former treasurer, was appointed his assistant. Frank was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly for three consecutive years 1950—53, and again for two years 1964—66. Frank was subsequently elected delegate to National Convention many times.
As national treasurer, in 1950 he wrote to the Australian Bahá’ís on the “lowness of the funds”: w
Bold decisions and large scale plannings that are required to carry forth the blasts of the Twice Blown Trumpet of
This Mighty and World Wide Resurrec tion cannot be taken because the Funds in
the Treasury will not permit it...
Fazal Mohamad Khan
The Seed is not being scattered in the soil of the mentalities of Australian and New Zealand brothers and sisters in a way that we should if we were to discharge our obligations to our slumbering brethren on this holy soil. The day is coming, my brothers and sisters, when the Cause shall be accepted. The Supreme God, Who sent down this Mother Book, this perfect Law, is most certainly potent of having it accepted and followed. This stage that we are passing through now is but a Passing Phase. ‘Surely with difficulty is Base and surely with Base is difficulty...’
Will each and every brother and sister give this matter their most serious consideration and act now, to gladden the hearts of your brethren, the NSA, to put new and vigorous life into the Cause which assuredly will prevail, which you have fortunately chosen to back, which each nation is now summoned to obey, Which is the Salvation of Mankind, which is the command and Cause of the Potent, the Powerful Mighty God, the Lord of the Worlds.
Humbly in His service, FM. Khan
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842
This eloquent written appeal to the Australian Bahá’ís conveys something of the melodic quality of Frank’s speaking style. He possessed a deep and resonant voice, the sound of which conveyed a conviction to match the words he uttered. He spoke words of praise for the prophets, and conveyed a love of God and of spiritual qualities at all times. He offered his services as a public speaker in the far-flung cities and towns of Australia and the Pacific Islands.
On many occasions he spoke at public events held by the southern New South Wales communities of Mittagong, Bowral, Yerrinbool and Wollongong. For Yerrinbool’s 1953 Naw—Rfiz celebrations, for instance, Frank read an eloquent exposition of the Bahá’í Faith Which was published in the local press. He was a champion at lawn bowls, and through friends made in pursuit of this sport, gave innumerable talks to Apex and Rotary Clubs. On many occasions he made teaching trips to the cities and towns of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales.
In July 1952, Frank made the first of his Visits to Fiji, Where his efforts in teaching both Hindu and Muslim Indian—Fijian communities were quite successful. He gave two talks to the Literary Club of Suva, two radio broadcasts, one in Urdu and another in English, addressed Suva’s Rotary Club, and spoke to a gathering of some 40 Hindus.
In 1958, the National Spiritual Assembly acquainted Frank with the difficulties associated With its attempts to retain Knight of Bahá’u’lláh Bertha Dobbins in Port Vila, in the New Hebrides. To resolve these difficulties, Frank volunteered to provide the funds for a school building Where Mrs. Dobbins could live and teach, and also to have the building prefabricated in Australia and to personally construct it in Port Vila. He accomplished all this through great effort, being aided in the construction by Australian pioneer Mr. Bill Washington, and by Mr. Peter Kaltoli, a Bahá’í of the New Hebrides.
THE BAHA’t WORLD
In the final three years of the Ten Year Crusade, 1960~63, Frank travelled to most of the Australian states to give firesides and public meetings. In 1961, Frank and Bibi left Australia to Visit the resting place of Shoghi Effendi in London, to make their pilgrimage to Haifa, and to Visit Bahá’í communities in Europe and Asia.
When the glorious years of the World Crusade came to a close, the task of consolidating the existing Bahá’í communities in Australia intensified, and the task of proclaiming the Message of Bahá’u’lláh remained. Throughoutthe Nine Year Plan, Frank continued to travel in both Australia and the islands of the Pacific. During his trip to Fiji in 1965, two of his talks were broadcast on the radio, he spoke With Muslims at their centre in Samabula, spoke with Sikhs in their Village at Tamavua and later in their Temple, and was invited to address the Arya Samaj sect of the Hindus.
Throughout the 19603, Frank continued to educate the Australian Bahá’í community through his talks at Yerrinbool School. His ability to convey both the teachings and spirit of Islam greatly aided the friends to increase their awareness of the great station of the Báb and Baha’u’llah.
In 1972, Frank, together with Bibi and grandson David, made his second pilgrimage and then travelled through Iran, Canada, and the United States, addressing Bahá’í meetings and Visiting the House of Worship in Wilmette.
In addition to his ongoing travels with Bibi, Frank was active in his own community, serving as chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly for many years and conducting children’s classes in Wollongong. Through his many years of success in business, he was also able to become benefactor
’ to the House of Worship in Australia, the
Yerrinbool School, and the publishing trusts. He also extended assistance to individuals in need.
Frank passed to the Abhá Kingdom on Wednesday, 10 September 1986, and was
IN MEMORIAM
laid to rest at Shellharbour Cemetery near Wollongong, New South Wales. The following message was sent by the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia on 11 September:
DEEPLY GRIEVED LEARN PASSING DEVOTED SERVANT FAITH FRANK KHAN. HIS OUTSTANDING SERVICES CONTRIBUTIONS FAITH AUSTRALIA AND PACIFIC UNFORGETTABLE. KINDLY CONVEY MEMBERS HIS FAMILY OUR HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES AND ASSURANCE LOVING PRAYERS HIS IMMORTAL SOUL ALL WORLDS GOD.
GRAHAM HASSALL
