Bahá’í World/Volume 20/Hedayatoullah Ahmadiyeh
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HEDAYATOULLAH AHMADIYEH
(Hidéyatu’llah Ahmadiyyih) 1933—1990
PROFOUNDLY DEPLORE TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANCES SUDDEN PASSING DEARLY LOVED, WHOLLY DEVOTED, INDEFATIGABLE SERVANT BAHA’U’LLAH HEDAYATOULLAH AHMADIYEH. HIS CONSTANT PROMOTION SACRED CAUSE THROUGH HIS INTENSIVE IMMENSELY SUCCESSFUL INVOLVEMENT TEACHING WORK INCLUDING HIS AUTHORSHIP WIDELY USED TEACHING BOOKLET WAS AT CORE HIS DYNAMIC SERVICES AS CONTINENTAL COUNSELLOR IN AMERICAS, AS MEMBER AND CHAIRMAN FOR MANY YEARS OF NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY BELIZE AND AS PIONEER DURING HIS YOUTHFUL YEARS IRAN. OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS HIS EXTENSIVE TEACHING TRIPS THROUGH CENTRAL, NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA WILL FOREVER BE ASSOCIATED WITH BRILLIANT CHAPTERS DEVELOPMENT FAITH THESE AREAS. DEEPLY SYMPATHIZE MEMBERS HIS BELOVED FAMILY WHOSE WHOLEHEARTED SUPPORT HIS ACTIVITIES WAS EXEMPLARY. PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD THAT HIS SOUL MAY RECEIVE RICH REWARDS MAY BE IMBUED WITH ETERNAL HAPPINESS THROUGHOUT DIVINE WORLDS.
ADVISING MEMORIAL SERVICES BE HELD TEMPLES PANAMA CITY AND WILMETTE AND IN COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICAS IN HIS HONOUR.
Universal House of Justice 29 August 1990
Hidayatu’llah Ahmadiyyih was born into a Persian Bahá’í family on 11 July 1933, in the Village of Tizirj an, near the city of Yazd. Both of his parents had become Bahá’ís on their own, and were the only Bahá’ís in their families.
Although his parents practised the Faith, they would not talk about it to the children, fearing that they would speak to their schoolmates and cause difficulties and persecution. As a result, Hidéyatu’llah and his older
IN MEMORIAM 985
brother, being under the influence of their maid who was a devoted Muslim, were brought up as Muslims and practised Islamic laws.
The family moved to the small town of Barn in the province of Kirman. When Hidayatu’lláh was 11 years old, a pioneer family moved to Bam and encouraged the Ahmadiyyihs to send their children to Bahá’í children’s classes. The first class that Hidayatu’lláh attended brought many questions to his heart, and it was then that his mother explained the Faith to him.
He studied the Faith for several years, and was intellectually convinced but still had doubts. Then one day, at the age of 16, he was studying T he Dawn-Breakers when he came across the story of the seven martyrs of Tihran. Among these martyrs was Haji Siyyid~‘Ali, the uncle of the Báb, who was His custodian from His childhood. Hidayatu’llah was shaken by the story of his martyrdom, and, his heart moved, he became convinced of the truth of the Cause of God. To him, the conclusion became clear; even if thousands of martyrs could have been deceived by the Báb, His uncle who was like a father to Him, could not have been.
Hidayatu’lláh’s conviction was so strong that nothing could change it. He became very active in the Faith and served on several national committees in Tihran. He was in the last year of high school when the Ten Year Crusade began. He became very anxious and eager to leave everything behind and go pioneering, but the national committees and institutions of the Faith that he consulted advised him to continue his studies.
Hidayatu’llah wrote to Dr. Luṭfu’lláh Ḥakím requesting him to ask the beloved Guardian about his obligations and the obligation of the other young students like him. The answer written by Dr. Ḥakím was brief but clear:
Write to Mr. Ahmadiyyih that he should
now concentrate all his thoughts on pio neering because it is more important than
anything else and other youth likewise
should follow the same path. [Translated
from the original letter in Persian]
After receiving these instructions, he became very anxious and restless. After one year of unsuccessful efforts to arrange a pioneering post, he decided to continue his studies and also to pursue his pioneering goal on the homefront. Immediately after his acceptance at Shiréz University, he, along with a group of Bahá’í medical students, pioneered to a nearby Village called Qasru’dDasht and formed a new Local Spiritual Assembly there.
The following year their number increased to 11 students and two Bahá’í families. Since they were not all needed in that locality, they encouraged and invited other friends from Shiraz to pioneer to new localities. These efforts resulted in the formation of five new Local Spiritual Assemblies. Hidayatu’llah moved to a Village called Puglti—Mulih. Among the individuals on this new Assembly was Mr. Mihdi Anvari who, years later, gave his life heroically as a martyr.
After graduating from medical school in 1960, Dr. Ahmadiyyih passed the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates examination and left for the United States in 1961 to further his education.
He studied for five years in the pediatric field. After passing the American Board of Pediatrics examinations with excellence, he was awarded the Diploma of the American Board of Pediatrics. While in the United States, he served on the Local Spiritual Assemblies of St. Louis, Missouri, and Nashville, Tennessee.
Upon finishing his studies in 1966, he decided to go pioneering. He wrote a letter of inquiry to British Honduras [known as Belize after June 1973], and when the friends there responded his decision was made.
He arrived in British Honduras in December 1966. He had to wait for two years before he was given permission by the government to work. Finally, he was hired as a Medical Officer in the Belize City Hospital.
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Hedayatoullah Ahmadiyeh
Working with much dedication, he became known as “Angel of Mercy” by the nurses with whom he served.
At that time, the population of British Honduras was only 140,000, with 80 believers and two Local Spiritual Assemblies. Most teaching efforts had been concentrated in the areas of Belize City and Burrell Boom. Dr. Ahmadiyyih travelled around the country taking the Message of Baha’u’llah to the towns and Villages. Soon two more Assemblies were formed, and the National Spiritual Assembly was established in April 1967.
The first National Convention of Belize was held in the presence of the Hand of the Cause Dr. Ugo Giachery. Dr. Ahmadiyyih was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly and was its chairman until 1969, when he was appointed to the Auxiliary Board. As an Auxiliary Board Inember he was very active and made regular trips to the Villages and towns in Belize and also travelled abroad.
In 1970, he made an extensive teaching trip through Central and South America, Visiting Colombia, San Andres, Providencia
THE Bahá’í WORLD
Island, Peru, Brazil and Guyana. Later he travelled to Paraguay and Bolivia.
In 1971, after receiving the news of the passing of his father, he made a trip to lran, and it was there that he married Riḍván Rahimi, who had been pioneering in India.
Dr. Ahmadiyyih travelled again in 1974. This trip lasted for six weeks, and took him to Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nevis, Panama, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, and St. Vincent.
In October 1976, he was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors in Central America.
Towards the end of the Five Year Plan, in 1978, he closed his medical practice for eighteen months and travelled extensively in Central America and among the Caribbean islands trying to help the friends to win their teaching goals. At the end of September of the same year, having instructions from the Universal House of Justice and an invitation from the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, he Visited that country, and with the active participation of the friends and constant help and guidance from the National Assembly and the National Teaching Committee, more than 320 Local Assemblies were formed in eight weeks. Later, in December 1978 and then in February 1979, he Visited Canada and helped the friends there attain all their teaching goals.
In November 1980, the Universal House of Justice appointed five Boards of Counsellors, one for each continent. Dr. Al_imadiyyih was appointed to the Board of Counsellors for the Americas, and was reappointed in November 1985. He was also a Deputy of Ḥuqúqu’lláh for seven countries in Central America for several years.
He travelled very often to the countries assigned to him as Counsellor; especially to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. He also made occasional trips to other countries in the Americas, such as Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States. His private practice
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IN MEMORIAM 987
was affected by these repeated absences and they caused financial difficulties for him and his family, but this fact was accepted by all involved.
During the last two months of his life, he travelled to Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. While he was in Canada, a permanent teaching team was formed for the first time. In Mexico, he met with the Mayan Teaching Committee in Merida and a team for teaching among the Mayan was formed.
After leaving the meeting of the friends in Merida to go back to Belize on 26 August 1990, he met his untimely death. At the border of Mexico and Belize, crossing the bridge that separates the two countries, he fell through an opening which was left unguarded and unlit and drowned in the river below. He attained his wish, which was to die while serving Baha’u’llah.
Among his many achievements was the creation of a teaching booklet, the result of an extensive teaching project in the Western Highway in Belize. The format is based on a quotation from a letter written by the Universal House of Justice and sent to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 13 July 1964:
When teaching among the masses.... The prime motive should always be the response of man to God’s Message, and the recognition of His Messenger.... The declarants need not know all the proofs, history, laws, and principles of the Faith, but in the process of declaring themselves they must, in addition to catching the spark of faith, become basically informed about the Central Figures of the Faith, as well as the existence of laws they must follow and an administration they must obey.
The first copies were written by hand using postcards as pictures. These were given to the graduates of a week-long teaching institute as gifts to be used by them. Soon, the National Teaching Committee of British Honduras had copies of the booklet printed for use by teachers around the country. It proved an extremely successful teaching
tool, so a copy was sent to the Universal House of Justice in 1978, and the booklet was then printed in different languages and adapted for use in many countries around the world.
Dr. Ahmadiyyih also put together a booklet based on the Bahá’í Writings for the deepening of Local Spiritual Assemblies which was tested in a few communities in Belize. He was in the process of writing a deepening course suited for home-based study which was left unfinished with his untimely death.
Another achievement was his role in establishing permanent teaching teams in several countries in the Americas. The idea had first been suggested by the Hand of the Cause Dr. Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir on one of his Visits to British Honduras in March 1976, and it came into reality in October 1988 when Dr. Ahmadiyyih offered the idea during a joint meeting of the National Assembly and the National Teaching Committee. By the end of the consultation the first permanent teaching team of Belize was formed; It immediately started functioning, With tremendous and exciting results, so he took the idea to other countries including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and later to Canada and Mexico. These countries adopted the idea and, based on their resources and needs, established permanent teaching teams Which brought thousands of souls into the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
REZVAN AHMADIYEH (Riḍván Ahmadiyyih)