A leader of the Bahais. Rabbani was designated as successor to his grandfather, Abdul Baha, when he died in 1921. He married, in 1937, Mary Sutherland Maxwell, the daughter of May Maxwell, founder of the Bahai communities in France and Canada. Rabbani spent his early years in his native place, Acre. He graduated from the American University, Beirut, in 1918, and was sent to Oxford for higher education. Through Rabbani's efforts, the Bahai faith spread in Africa and the West and today the sect claim some 5 million followers al over the world. Rabbani authored God Passes By in 1950.