Abdul Hussein Taslimi

Treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran ʻAbdul-Hussein Taslimi',, was born in Qazvin on 16 November 1921 (in Persian: Aban 25th, 1300; بیست و پنجم آبان ماه ۱۳۰۰).

Early life
Abdul-Hussein Taslimi is the son of Sakineh Khanum and Mirza Mohammad Khan. His father, Mirza Mohammad, was a merchant and a large land owner, and served for many years as a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Bahai's of Qazvin. His mother, Sakineh Khanum, was the daughter of Haji Nazar Ali, one of the earliest Baha'is of Qazvin. He had six sisters and two brothers. He spent the early years of his life in Qazvin.

Education
Abdul-Hussein completed his elementary and secondary education in Qazvin. He attended The University of Tehran College of Engineering in Tehran, and received his degree in civil engineering. Throughout his university studies, he served with great love and devotion in Baha'i activities as a member of both the National Youth Committee of Iran and the Baha'i Youth Committee of Tehran.

Career
In 1948, he was employed in the Technical Department of Tehran Municipality where he rose to the post of Director General of the Department. He also taught physics at Alborz School.

In 1959, he was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tehran and for three years served as secretary of the body. That same year he resigned from the Tehran Municipality and became a partner in a construction company.

In 1962, he resigned from the Tehran Assembly due to a move to Sahebqaranieh (Niyavaran). He was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Niyavaran and subsequently to the Assembly of Sahebqaranieh. He was also serving on several Baha'i National Committees. About the same time, he was appointed the Executive Director of the Trustees Corporation (an organization established to manage all the Baha'i holy and historical places and properties in Iran). He was also made a Deputy of Huququ'llah. It has been noted that Abdul-Hussein's work in the Trustees Corporation was pivotal in transforming the organization into one that was in line with the ideal Baha'i values. The Trustees Corporation, like all other Baha'i institutions and properties, was confiscated by the Islamic Republic during the Iranian Revolution.

In 1978, Abdul-Hussein was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran and made the Treasurer of that body. He had the privilege of making the pilgrimage to the Sacred Shrines in the Holy Land on several occasions. He also traveled extensively in Europe, America, and the Arab countries.

From the beginning of the Iranian Revolution for nearly two years, the national Assembly met almost daily. Abdul-Hussein worked tirelessly to take care of the Holy Places and Baha'i properties, and to handle the affairs of the Huququ'llah. Left with few coworkers to aid in his representation of the interests of the Baha'i Faith, he took it upon himself to meet and deal with the leadership of the Islamic Republic on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran. He traveled twice to Qom as a representative of the National assembly to meet with Ayatollah Khomeini. When Khomeini refused to see him, he was forced to deliver the Assembly's letter to Khomeini's son, Ahmad.

Abdul-Hussein fought nobly to protect Baha'i properties and holy sites on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly during the days of the Iranian Revolution. He is responsible for mobilizing a group of brave Baha'i youth who rescued the family of the caretaker of the House of Baha'u'llah in Tehran from hostile Revolutionary Guards when it came under siege and was confiscated.

Victim of kidnapping
On the afternoon of August 21, 1980, Abdul-Hussein Taslimi was kidnapped alongside all present members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran, and two Auxiliary Board members. The kidnappers identified themselves as the Strike Force of the Revolutionary Guards. Despite repeated appeals to all the official authorities, The Government of the Islamic Republic claimed to have no knowledge of their arrest.

Abdul-Hussein's fate is unknown.

By the testimony of his friends, family, and associates, Abdul-Hussein was a generous, loving, and magnanimous man. He was faithful, self-sacrificing, and courageous. Although many of his friends and non-Baha'i business partners insisted that to save his life he should leave the country, he held to his belief that when a man accepts a responsibility, that he must remain steadfast even at the cost of his own life.

Taslimi Foundation and Abdul Hussein Taslimi Scholarship at University of California, Los Angeles
Abdul-Hussein Taslimi's Iranian-born sons Shidan and Mehran Taslimi emigrated to the United States in the 1970s. They settled in the Greater Los Angeles Area and studied engineering sciences at The University of California, Los Angeles. They founded the Taslimi Construction Company in 1985. The construction company specializes in sophisticated and high end commercial office renovations and construction. Among other things, the construction company has received numerous industry awards and recognition of excellence in their field.

Abdul-Hussein's arrest by the Iranian regime moved his children to found the non-profit Taslimi Foundation based in Santa Monica. The foundation is funding projects that benefit the Baháʼí community, such as Iranian Taboo (2011), To Light a Candle or Tell Me of the Seas or the Baháʼí studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, The foundation is also responsible for establishing a lectureship in the department of Near Eastern Studies for Baha’i Faith in Iran.

Biographical source

 * Tablature and adaptation of the letter from Mrs. Bahereh's submission (Ataee). Source: The Grand Duchy of Law.