Zikrullah Khadem

Zikrullah Khadem (Arabic: ذكر الله خادم, or Dhikru'lláh Khádim; 1904–1986[1]) was an Iranian follower of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by its leader to a leadership role as a Hand of the Cause in February 1952.

[3] After his appointment in 1952, he worked full-time in the Baháʼí Faith and travelled extensively throughout Iran, Africa, Europe, the USA, and at least 50 countries around the world.

[2][1][4][5] In the 1960s Khadem and fellow Hand William Sears were the two most prominent Baháʼí figures in the Western hemisphere, and were responsible for both spreading the religion and maintaining its unity.

Zikrullah taught briefly at the Tarbiyat Baháʼí school in Tehran, then worked for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company as chief interpreter and director of education, teaching Persian to the English-speaking employees.

[8] Khadem was responsible for securing and transporting several artifacts related to the early development of the religion, such as an original Kitáb-i-Íqán in ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's handwriting (with notations by Baha'u'llah) and the sword of Mullá Husayn, which is currently held at the Baháʼí World Centre archives.

[12] Bessie Neill, writing for The Press Democrat, wrote in 1963 that in the previous 11 years he had visited Bahai communities in North and South America and in Israel.

[9] Hugh Adamson wrote that in the 1950s he had traveled on Bahai business to: [7] Central and South America... India, Pakistan, the Arabian Peninsula, and Iraq... Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Burma... Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, the United States, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, British Honduras, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France... Australia... Indonesia... and SingaporeThe religion went through a crisis from 1957 to 1963.

[14] Shoghi Effendi died on 4 November 1957 without having appointed a successor, and the 27 living Hands gathered in a series of 6 confidential conclaves (or signed agreements if they were absent) to decide how to navigate the uncharted situation.

[16] In 1962, he went as a missionary to the Baháʼí Faith to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona,[16] and his wife posthumously established a scholarship in his name for health education among the native population.