ABD AL-BAHA (1844–1921)

ABD AL-BAHA (1844–1921)

Abd al-Baha Abbas, also known as Abbas Effendi, was theson of Bahaallah (Mirza Husayn Ali, 1817–1892), the founderof the Bahai religion. In his final will and testament, Bahaallahdesignated him as his successor and authoritative expounderof his teachings. Born in Tehran on 23 May 1844, he grew upin the household of a father committed to the teachings of theBabi movement and consequently shared his father’s fate ofexile and intermittent imprisonment until the Young Turkrevolution of 1909.As a result, Abd al-Baha received little formal educationand had to manage the affairs of his father’s household at avery early age. Despite these setbacks, he demonstrated anatural capacity for leadership and a prodigious knowledge ofhuman history and thought.Abd al-Baha corresponded with and enjoyed the respectof a number of the luminaries of his day, including theRussian author Leo Tolstoy and the Muslim reformer MuhammadAbduh. He left behind a small portion of what is alarge corpus of still-unexplored writings that include socialcommentaries, interpretations, and elaborations of his father’sworks, mystical treatises, and Quranic and biblicalexegeses.Upon his release from house imprisonment in 1909, Abdal-Baha traveled to North Africa, Europe, and North Americaadvocating a number of reforms for all countries, includingthe adoption of a universal auxiliary language, globalcollective security, mandatory education, and full legal andsocial equality for women and minorities. He also warned of acoming war in Europe and called for a just system of globalgovernment and international courts where disputes betweennations could be resolved peacefully.Abd al-Baha died on 28 November 1921. According tohis will and testament, his eldest grandson, Shoghi EffendiRabbani, became the head of the Bahai community and thesole authorized interpreter of his grandfather and greatgrandfather’steachings.See also Bahaallah; Bahai Faith.William McCants