When Ghodrat was but an infant, his family moved to Tihran, where he attended public schools and Bahá’í classes. As a youth he had the privilege of studying with Riyad Qadimi, a very inspiring teacher, and he became totally involved in Bahá’í activities. On Thursdays, for example, he went to villages on the outskirts of Tihran and gave Bahá’í lessons to the children. While serving on a teaching committee, he met Raf’at Ra’fat, another active Bahá’í youth. He would meet her again after they had both pioneered.
Determined as he was, it took some time for Ghodrat to obtain all of the permissions needed for him to leave Iran. Finally in April 1953 he was able to go to Dubai, and after three months there he received permission to enter Al-Hasa, the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. On the way he spent a week in Bahrain with Abu'l Qásim Faizi, who was pioneering in this island nation with his wife and children and who was later named a Hand of the Cause of God.
In the city of Ad-Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Ghodrat learned the trade of 'joining' (Traditionally a joiner is a woodworker specializing in the cutting and fitting of joints without nails or mechanical fasteners.) to support himself. After seven months he moved to Hafuf, where he helped to form the first Spiritual Assembly.
Later he moved to Ta’if, a resort town in the mountains neat Mecca, where there were several Bahá’í families including that of Raf’at Ra’fat, a fourth generation believer whom he had met in Ṭihrán. When she was only five years old, her father had taken the family pioneering to Sulaymaniyyih, instilling in her a love for pioneering as strong as Ghodrat’s.
In 1954 Ghodrat participated in the ritual of Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, and then he moved to Medina. He asked for Raf’at’s hand in marriage, and they became engaged at Naw-Ruz 1955. The first Spiritual Assembly of Medina was formed at Riḍván, and on June 1 the wedding took place. Two days later he was imprisoned together with all of the other Persian Bahá’í men—the result of the resumption of the persecutions of the Bahá’ís in Iran. The National Bahá’í Center in Tihran had been pillaged, and a list of Bahá’í pioneers in Saudi Arabia had been sent to the national government of Saudi Arabia. The prisoners were freed two weeks later but were ordered to leave Saudi Arabia within four months.
Ghodrat and Raf’at traveled to Baghdad, ‘Iráq, and their eldest daughter Sharzad was born in March 1956 in a hospital built on the site of the Riḍván Garden. Later the family moved to Karbila, where Ghodrat opened a small joiner’s shop. They lived modestly and were rewarded a year and a half later when the first Spiritual Assembly was formed there.
https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File%3AIn_Memoriam_1992-1997.pdf&page=241
Determined as he was, it took some time for Ghodrat to obtain all of the permissions needed for him to leave Iran. Finally in April 1953 he was able to go to Dubai, and after three months there he received permission to enter Al-Hasa, the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. On the way he spent a week in Bahrain with Abu'l Qásim Faizi, who was pioneering in this island nation with his wife and children and who was later named a Hand of the Cause of God.
In the city of Ad-Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Ghodrat learned the trade of 'joining' (Traditionally a joiner is a woodworker specializing in the cutting and fitting of joints without nails or mechanical fasteners.) to support himself. After seven months he moved to Hafuf, where he helped to form the first Spiritual Assembly.
Later he moved to Ta’if, a resort town in the mountains neat Mecca, where there were several Bahá’í families including that of Raf’at Ra’fat, a fourth generation believer whom he had met in Ṭihrán. When she was only five years old, her father had taken the family pioneering to Sulaymaniyyih, instilling in her a love for pioneering as strong as Ghodrat’s.
In 1954 Ghodrat participated in the ritual of Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, and then he moved to Medina. He asked for Raf’at’s hand in marriage, and they became engaged at Naw-Ruz 1955. The first Spiritual Assembly of Medina was formed at Riḍván, and on June 1 the wedding took place. Two days later he was imprisoned together with all of the other Persian Bahá’í men—the result of the resumption of the persecutions of the Bahá’ís in Iran. The National Bahá’í Center in Tihran had been pillaged, and a list of Bahá’í pioneers in Saudi Arabia had been sent to the national government of Saudi Arabia. The prisoners were freed two weeks later but were ordered to leave Saudi Arabia within four months.
Ghodrat and Raf’at traveled to Baghdad, ‘Iráq, and their eldest daughter Sharzad was born in March 1956 in a hospital built on the site of the Riḍván Garden. Later the family moved to Karbila, where Ghodrat opened a small joiner’s shop. They lived modestly and were rewarded a year and a half later when the first Spiritual Assembly was formed there.
https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File%3AIn_Memoriam_1992-1997.pdf&page=241