Name Mirza Mustafa | ||
Mírzá Muhammad Mustafá was born in Baghdád, Iraq around 1837. During the period that Bahá'u'lláh was in Baghdád, Mírzá Mustafá became devoted to Him prior to His Proclamation. In 1874 Mírzá Mustafá traveled to Akká at which point Bahá'u'lláh instructed him to move to Beirut and provide service for those Bahá'ís (followers of Bahá) traveling to Akká. After the passing of Bahá'u'lláh (1892), he moved to Alexandretta (Iskandarun) where he died in 1910. His father was Shaykh Muhammad Shible. He was a distinguished follower of the Shaykhí leader Siyyid Kázim-i-Rashtí and his personal representative in Baghdád. He was taught the Bábí faith by Mullá Alí-i-Bastámí (one of the Báb's Letters of the Living) when he was brought to Baghdád and imprisoned. Later he hosted Táhirih another Letter of the Living. when she came to teach. When she was expelled from Baghdád, Shaykh Muhammad Shible and his son Mírzá Muhammad Mustafá left with her to Qazvín and Tihrán Írán where they met Mullá Husayn-i-Bushrú'í the first Letter.
The Guardian of the Bahá'í faith, Shoghi Effendi listed Mírzá Muhammad Mustafá as one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh, placing him, as a disciple, on a level of significance equal to one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus, or one of The Báb's eighteen Letters of the Living