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EBN
AS®DAQ,
MÈRZAÚ
¿ALÈ-MOHáAMMAD
(b.
Maæhad
1267/1850;
d.
Tehran,
1347/1928),
prominent
Bahai
missionary.
He
was
given
the
honorific
designation
Ebn(-e)
Asádaq
in
certain
Bahai
scriptural
writings.
Toward
the
end
of
his
life
Baha@÷-Alla@h
counted
him
a
living
martyr
and
referred
to
him
as
ˆah^d
ebn-e
ˆah^d
("martyr,
son
of
a
martyr").
He
was
a
son
of
the
ˆaykò^,
Ba@b^
and
Baha'i
Molla@
S®a@deq
Moqaddas-e
Kòora@sa@n^
(d.1306/1889),
who
was
entitled
Esm-Alla@h
al-Asádaq
by
the
Ba@b.
The
father
was
posthumously
referred
to
as
one
of
the
Aya@d^-e
Amr-Alla@h
(q.v.;
"Hands
of
the
Cause
of
God")
by
¿Abd-al-Baha@÷
in
1919,
and
Ebn-e
Asádaq
was
so
designated
by
Baha@÷-Alla@h
around
1305/1887.
Around
1278/1861-2,
he
was
imprisoned
with
his
father
for
over
two
years
in
the
S^a@h
Ùa@l
(dungeon)
in
Tehran.
During
this
time
he
was
attended
by
the
Jewish
physician
H®ak^m
Mas^há,
who
was
subsequently
converted
and
is
often
considered
to
be
the
first
Jewish
[Ba@b^]
Bahai.
As
a
Bahai
missionary,
Ebn-e
Asádaq
visited
many
parts
of
Persia,
Iraq,
India,
Burma,
and
Caucasia,
as
well
as
Ashkhabad
and
Marv.
He
was
a
permanent
member
of
the
first
Central
Spiritual
Assembly
established
at
¿Abd-al-Baha@÷'s
direction
in
Tehran
in
1316/1897.
During
his
lifetime
he
frequently
visited
Baha@÷-Alla@h
and
¿Abd-al-Baha@÷
in
Palestine.
The
latter
entrusted
him
with
various
tasks
such
as
the
presentation
of
his
Resa@la-ye
S^a@s^ya
("Treatise
on
Politics"
written
in
1311/1893)
to
Na@sáer-al-D^n
Shah,
to
contemporary
religious
authorities,
and
to
Persian
notables.
His
wife,
¿Ad¨ra@÷
K¨a@nom
Z˜µ^a@÷-al-H®a@j^a,
a
great-granddaughter
of
Moháammad
Shah,
was
the
sister-in-law
of
Entez®a@m-al-SaltÂana,
a
socially
prominent
Bahai.
In
1919
¿Abd-al-Baha@÷
gave
him
and
Ahámad
Yazda@n^
the
responsiblity
of
delivering
his
Tablet
addressed
to
the
Central
Organization
for
a
Durable
Peace,
The
Hague
(Lawhá-e
la@ha).
Shoghi
Effendi
reckoned
Ebn-e
Asádaq
the
nineteenth
of
the
nineteen
Apostles
of
Baha@÷-Alla@h. Bibliography: ¿Abd al-Baha@÷, Memorials of the Faithful, tr. M. Gail ,Wilmette, Ill., 1971, pp. 5-8 (Esm-Alla@h al-AsÂdaq). ¿Abd-al-¿Al^ ¿Ala@÷^, ed., Mo¿assesa-ye Aya@d^-e Amr-Alla@h, Tehran, 130 Bad^¿/1973-4, pp. 465-93. Hasan Balyuzi, Eminent Baha‚÷ís in the Time of Baha‚÷u÷lla‚h, Oxford, 1985, pp. 171-176. M^rza@ Asad-Alla@h Fa@zµel Ma@zandara@n^, Ta@r^kò-e záohu@r al-háaqq VI, MS in Afna@n Library (England), fols. 34 -37, VIII/1, Tehran, 131 Bad^¿/ 1974, pp. 375-77. M. Momen, ed., "Esslemont's Survey of the Baha@÷^ Community, 1919-1920, pt. 1: Iran by Ibn-i Asádaq and ¿Az^zu÷lla@h Varqa@," Baha@÷^ Studies Bulletin 1/1, June 1982, pp. 2-10. ¿Az^z-Alla@h Solayma@n^, Masáa@b^h-e Háeda@yat VII, pp. 374-418 (Esm-Alla@h al-Asádaq), Tehran, 129 Bad^¿/1973. Shaikh Ka@záem Samandar, Ta@r^kò-e Samandar o molháaqa@t, Tehran, 1975, pp. 163-71. Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha‚÷u÷lla‚h IV, Oxford, 1987, pp. 301-04.
(STEPHEN LAMBDEN)
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