In the face of sustained persecution, Dr. Furutan's family
left their native city of Sabzivir in Khurasan, Persia, in 1914 and settled in
Ashkhabad, Russia. As a youth he became an active member of the local Baha'i
community and, whilst still in his teens, became a teacher in its school. In
1926 he won a scholarship to the University of Moscow to study education and
child psychology. In 1930 he returned to Iran where he established a school for
Baha'i children in one of the villages. Dr. Furutan was appointed as principal
of the Tarbiyat school for boys until its closure in 1934, and wrote study
books for Baha’i children’s classes which are still in use. In April 1934 he
was elected to the newly formed National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of
Iran and served as its secretary until the passing of Shoghi Effendi in
November of 1957. Dr. Furutan was appointed a Hand of the Cause by Shoghi
Effendi, in the first contingent of Hands, in December 1951. In 1957 he became
one of the nine custodial Hands of the Cause in Haifa. Dr. Furutan’s Persian
publications are extensive, and several have been translated into English.
(Adapted from ‘A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith’, by Peter Smith)(See
also Baha'i Calendar - this month in history)
From the Universal House of Justice:
Born in Sabzivar, Iran, on 29 April 1905, 'Ali Akbar Furutan
moved with his family to Ishqabad in what was then Russian Turkestan, and,
through his years of school and university, be took an active part in the work
of the Baha'i communities of Ishqabad, Baku, Moscow and other parts of Russia.
In 1930 he was expelled from the Soviet Union for his involvement in Baha'i
activities and, from that time on, played an ever more significant role in the
work and administration of the Iranian Baha'i community. In December 1951 he
was among the first to be appointed by Shoghi Effendi as Hands of the Cause of
God. Following the passing of the Guardian, he was one of the nine Hands of the
Cause selected, at their first Conclave, to serve as Custodians in the Holy
Land. For the remaining forty-six years of his life he laboured strenuously at
the World Centre, undertaking journeys throughout the world, assisting,
advising and enthusing the friends and their national and local institutions.
These journeys culminated in 1990 and 1991 with visits to the newly re-emerging
Baha'i communities of the countries of the Soviet Union.
'Ali Akbar Furutan's single-minded devotion to the Faith and
its Guardian, the vital role he played in the establishment of the
Administrative Order in Iran, his contribution to the spiritual and material
education of children, his services as a Hand of the Cause of God, and his
unswerving support of the Universal House of Justice together constitute an
imperishable record of service in the annals of the Cause. His penetrating
mind, his loving concern and his sparkling humour are ineffaceable memories in
the hearts of the thousands of believers with whom he spoke.
(The Universal
House of Justice (From a message dated
27 November 2003)
