Mandaean Council of Ahvaz
Mandaean religious association in Ahvaz, Iran
The Mandaean Council of Ahvaz (Persian: انجمن صابئین مندایی, literally the Sabian–Mandaean Association of Ahvaz) is the main organization of the Mandaean religion and the primary authority of the Mandaean ethnic community in Ahvaz, Iran.
History of leadership
The Mandaean Council of Ahvaz was founded in 1349 A.H. (Gregorian year: 1930 or 1931) by Sheikh Salem Sabouri (Persian: شیخ سالم صابوری), who was the religious leader of the Mandaeans at that time. It was officially registered in 1359 A.H. (Gregorian year: 1940 or 1941).
Ganzibra Jabbar Choheili (baptismal name: Mhatam Yuhana br Yahya; or in Arabic: Shaikh Jabar, the son of Ṭawoos) was the head priest or ganzibra of the Mandaean Council of Ahvaz during the 1990s and 2000s.
Ganzibra Jabbar Choheili (Persian: جبار چحیلی), chairman of the board of directors of the council, died on the morning of Sunday, December 27, 2014. His son Salah Choheili, who emigrated to Australia in 1996, has also been active on the council.
Rishama Najah Choheili (Persian: نجاح چحیلی) currently serves as the head of the Mandaean Council of Ahvaz.
Organization
The council has a 13-member board of directors. Mandaeans in Ahvaz and nearby towns nominate and vote for candidates to represent them in the board of directors.
The council's responsibilities include teaching Mandaean language, culture, and religion, as well as resolving internal disputes within the Mandaean community.
The public source identifies “Mandaean Council of Ahvaz” as mandaean religious association in Ahvaz, Iran. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mandaean, Council and Ahvaz.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q20109664. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1349, 1930, 1931 and 1359.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mandaean Council of Ahvaz” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.