Background
Hají Ákhúnd was born in the village of Shahmírzád, Iran. He was the son of a Mullá, and after some preliminary studies, he went to Mashhad to attend a religious college.
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Haji Akhund
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Career
He was appointed a Hand of the Cause, and identified as one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá"u"lláh. In 1861, he encountered Bábís and converted to the Báb"s religion, which caused his immediate expulsion from the college and the city. Upon his return to his home village, he was also expelled and sent away by the local clergy.
He settled in Tihrán, where he accepted Bahá"u"lláh and became a Bahá"í.
He was arrested many times in Tihrán: in 1886 on the orders of Mulla ‘Ali Kani, in 1872 for seven months by Nayibu"s-Saltanih, in 1882 for two years by Nayibu"s-Saltanih, in 1887, and in 1891 for two years with Hájí Amín. He visited ‘Akká, where Bahá"u"lláh and his family were prisoners, on three occasions: in 1873, 1888, and 1899.
He was given the task of transferring the remains of the Báb from various secret locations to ‘Akká, where they remained for several years until they were eventually entombed in the Shrine of the Báb. He was one of the four Hands of the Cause appointed by Bahá"u"lláh himself, and was responsible for much of the Bahá"í activity in Iran until his death on 4 March, 1910.
