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EBN
ABHAR,
MOH®AMMAD-TAQÈ
(1270-1337/1854-1919),
Bahai
teacher
and
one
of
the
"hands
of
the
cause"
(see
AYAÚDÈ-E
AMR-ALLAÚH).
He
was
one
of
two
Bahai
sons
of
Mirza
¿Abd-al-Rahá^m
Esáfaha@n^
(d.
1290/1872),
the
Shi¿ite
mojtahed,
a
crypto-Babi
and
Bahai,
and
Belq^s
Kòa@nom.
His
zealous
Bahai
teaching
in
Zanja@n,
Qazv^n,
Tehran,
Yazd,
Kerma@n,
and
elsewhere
led
to
his
frequent
imprisonment,
for
the
first
time
in
1295/1878.
At
various
times
resident
or
imprisoned
in
Abhar,
between
Qazv^n
and
Zanja@n,
he
was
entitled
Ebn(-e)
Abhar
("son
of
Abhar")
by
Baha@÷-Alla@h
(q.v.)
in
about
1300/1883.
Around
1305/1887
Baha@÷-Alla@h
appointed
him
one
of
the
"hands
of
the
cause."
Ebn(e)
Abhar
was
imprisoned
in
Tehran
in
1308-12/1890-94,
and
because
he
was
chained
with
the
same
heavy
chain
that
Baha@÷-Alla@h
had
worn
in
1268-69/1852,
the
latter
referred
to
him
as
his
"chainmate"
(ham-zanj^r).
He
became
a
permanent
member
of
the
first
Central
Spiritual
Assembly
established
in
Tehran
at
¿Abd-al-Baha@÷'s
direction
in
1314/1897.
In
1316/1899,
on
the
advice
of
¿Abd-al-Baha@÷,
he
married
Mon^ra
(d.
1326/1918),
a
daughter
of
a
"hand
of
the
cause,"
¿Al^-Akbar
ˆahm^rza@d^
(q.v.).
As
a
Bahai
teacher,
he
visited
Turkey
and
the
Caucasus
and
lived
for
a
while
in
Ashkhabad.
He
went
to
India
in
1325/1907
accompanied
by
M^rza@
MahÂmu@d
Zarqa@n^
and
two
American
Bahais,
Harlan
Ober
and
Hooper
Harris.
In
1331/1913
he
settled
in
Tehran.
He
visited
Baha@÷-Alla@h
or
¿Abd-al-Baha@÷
on
more
than
ten
occasions.
He
and
his
wife
were
active
supporters
of
female
education
and
emancipation. Bibliography: ¿A. ¿A. ¿Ala@÷^, ed., Mo÷assasa-ye Aya@d^-e Amr-Alla@h, Tehran, 130 B.E./1973, pp. 402-49. H. Balyuzi, Eminent Baha‚÷ís in the Time of Baha‚÷u÷lla‚h, Oxford, 1985, p. 268. Ebn-(e) Abhar [as told to his nephew Fakòr-al-D^n], "The Story of Ebn Abhar," Star of the West 13/12, March 1923, pp. 333-39. A. Fa@zµel Ma@zandara@n^, Ta@r^kò-e záohu@r al-háaqq VI, Baha‚'í World Center MS, fols. 329ff.; VIII/1, Tehran, 131 B.E./1974, pp. 321-27. M.-Tá. Ma@lm^r^, Ta@r^kò-e æohada@-ye Yazd, Cairo, 1343/1924, p. 80. Idem, K¨a@táera@t-e Ma@lm^r^, Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany, 149 B.E./1992. K. Samandar, Ta@r^kò-e Samandar o molháaqa@t, Tehran, 1975 pp. 236-43. A. Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha‚÷u÷lla‚h IV, Oxford, 1987, pp. 304-12.
(STEPHEN LAMBDEN)
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