Farzam Arbab Memorial – Livestream from the Baha’i House of Worship for North America

Farzam Arbab, a beloved former member of the Universal House of Justice, passed away suddenly on September 25, 2020, in San Diego. To honor his memory, the Baha’i House of Worship for the North American Continent shared this virtual devotional program.

Dr. Arbab was born into a Baha’i family in Tehran, Iran in 1941 and studied in the United States before settling in Colombia. He completed a BA at Amherst College, Massachusetts in 1964, and a doctorate in physics at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1968.

From 1970 until 1980 he served as the Chairman for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Colombia. In 1980 he was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Protection and Propagation of the Baha’i Faith in the Americas, on which he served for eight years. In 1988, he was named to the Baha’i International Teaching Centre, which has its seat in Haifa, Israel, and was a member of that body until 1993, when he was first elected to the Universal House of Justice, where he served for two decades.

The program honoring his memory begins with prayers and musical selections recorded at the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. It also includes reading messages from the Universal House of Justice and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States. A series of reminiscences are then be shared by friends who fondly remember him from their service together: Daniel Duhart, Ann Boyles, Gustavo Correa, Joan Lincoln, and Benjamin Schewel.

If you’d like to read more about Dr Arbab, we also shared this tribute to him on Baha’i Blog: A Life of Acquiescence to the Divine: A Tribute to Farzam Arbab

You can also watch one of his talks on Baha’i Blog here: The Intellectual Life of the Baha’i Community – ABS Lecture by Dr. Arbab

Lastly, for more videos like this, please visit the YouTube channel of the Baha’is of the United States and if you’re curious about Baha’i Houses of Worship, you may wish to check out this Baha’i Blog article: Baha’i Temples: A Brief Introduction

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Naysan Naraqi

Naysan is passionate about using the arts and media to explore the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. Back in 2011, Naysan started up the Baha’i Blog project, channeling his experiences in both media and technology companies to help create a hub for Baha’i-inspired content online.