Family Stories about Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq and His Son Ibn-i-Asdaq

by Shafigheh Fatheazam

About: Join Mrs. Shafigheh Fatheazam in a touching fireside about the life of two Hands of the Cause, whose long life of services to their Beloved was a tribute “…to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote learning, and to improve the character of all men.”

Mrs. Fatheazam is the wife of the late Mr. Hushmand Fatheazam, a former member of the first Universal House of Justice, established in 1963. He served the Supreme Body from the first election until 2003. In the course of her life, Mrs. Fatheazam has been witness to some of the most historic episodes of the first one hundred years of the Formative Age and the unfoldment of the Administrative Order in her native Iran, in her pioneering post in India and, for forty years, in service at the World Centre of the Bahá’í Faith in Israel. She presently resides in West Vancouver, BC, Canada.

As a direct descendent of a distinguished family and granddaughter of Ibn-i-Asdaq, she will be able to share intimate glimpses on the life of her illustrious grandfather, Hand of the Cause of God appointed by Bahá’u’lláh, and himself the son of Hand of the Cause of God, Ism’u’lláh Asdaq, posthumously nominated as such by ‘Abdú’l Bahá, both devout and loyal servants to the Covenant and whose lives are inextricably bound to the Heroic Age of our Faith.

Ibn-i-Asdaq:

Mírzá ʻAlí-Muḥammad-i-K͟hurásání died in 1928). Known as Ibn-i-Aṣdaq, he was an eminent follower of Baháʼu'lláh. He was the first person appointed a Hand of the Cause and identified as one of the nineteen Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh.

Ibn-i-Asdaq was addressed by Baháʼu'lláh as Shahíd Ibn-i-Shahíd (Martyr, son of the Martyr). He was the son of a distinguished martyr of the Bábí movement, and himself requested several times to give his life up for the Baháʼí Cause. The response by Baháʼu'lláh was, "Today, the greatest of all deeds is service to the Cause... This martyrdom is not confined to the destruction of life and the shedding of blood. A person enjoying the bounty of life may yet be recorded a martyr..." (Eminent Baháʼís, p. 172).

In 1920, Ibn-i-Asdaq, brought the Tablet to The Hague from ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to the Central Organisation for Durable Peace in The Hague. Ironically, Ibn-i-Asdaq lived a long life of service, dying in 1928. He was one of the few Apostles to live into the time of Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian.

As his name implies, Ibn-i-Asdaq was the son of Ismu'lláhu'l-Asdaq of Khurásán, also known as Mullá Sádiq-i-Muqaddas. Mullá Sádiq together with Quddús and Mullá Alí Akbar-i-Ardistání were the first three Bábís known to suffer persecution for their faith on Persian soil. He was also a survivor of the Fort Tabarsi engagement in Mazandaran Province (1848).

Ibn-i-Asdaq's daughter, Ruha Asdaq, (Mrs. Shafigheh Fatheazam’s late aunt) later wrote a book about her pilgrimage experiences with her father, called One Life One Memory. [description from youtube.com]