`Abdu'l-Bahá

Abdu’l-Bahá' (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language" title="Arabic language" >Arabic</a>: عبد البهاء‎‎, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h" title="Bahá'u'lláh" >Bahá'u'lláh</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1#cite_note-1" >[1]</a> the founder of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_Faith" title="Bahá'í Faith" >Bahá'í Faith</a>. In 1892, Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablets_of_Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h#Kit.C3.A1b-i-.60Ahd_.28Book_of_the_Covenant.29" title="Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh" class="mw-redirect" >will</a> to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1#cite_note-iranica_abdulbaha_b-2" >[2]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1#cite_note-Smith_2000_14.E2.80.9320-3" >[3]</a> Abdu'l-Bahá was born in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran" title="Tehran" >Tehran</a> to an aristocratic family of the realm. At the age of eight his father was imprisoned and the family's possessions were looted, leaving them in virtual poverty. Along with his father, Abdu'l-Bahá was exiled to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad" title="Baghdad" >Baghdad</a>where the family lived for nine years.

During his youth he was faithful to his father and was regarded as an outstanding member of the Bahá’í exile community. As a teenager he was his father’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanuensis" title="Amanuensis" >amanuensis</a> and was regularly seen debating theological issues with the learned men of the area. In 1863 Bahá'u'lláh was again exiled to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople" title="Constantinople" >Constantinople</a>. During the 1860s the family was banished from Constantinople to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrianople" title="Adrianople" class="mw-redirect" >Adrianople</a>, and then finally to the penal-colony of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acre,_Palestine" title="Acre, Palestine" class="mw-redirect" >Acre, Palestine</a>.

With his father's death in 1892, and his appointment as head of the Bahá’í faith, there was much opposition to him, including virtually all his family members. Notwithstanding this, practically all of the worldwide Bahá’í community accepted his leadership. In 1908, at the age of 64 and after forty years imprisonment, Abdu’l-Bahá was freed by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Turks" title="Young Turks" >Young Turks</a> and he and his family began to live in relative safety. His <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1%27s_journeys_to_the_West" title="Abdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West" >journeys to the West</a>, and his "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablets_of_the_Divine_Plan" title="Tablets of the Divine Plan" >Tablets of the Divine Plan</a>" spread the Bahá'í message beyond its middle-eastern roots, and his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_and_Testament_of_%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1" title="Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá" >Will and Testament</a> laid the foundation for the current "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_administration" title="Bahá'í administration" >Bahá'í administrative order</a>. Many of his writings, prayers and letters are extant, and his discourses with the Western Bahá'ís emphasize the growth of the faith by the late 1890s. Abdu'l-Bahá's<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Given_name" title="Given name" >given name</a> was Abbás, but he preferred the title of Abdu'l-Bahá (servant of the glory of God). He is commonly referred to in Bahá'í texts as "The Master", and received the title of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_British_Empire" title="Order of the British Empire" >KBE</a> after his personal storage of grain was used to relieve famine in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine" title="Palestine" >Palestine</a>following <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I" title="World War I" >World War I</a>, but never used the title.

`Abdu'l-Bahá

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