ʻIshqábád is located in the desert plain of western Turkmenistan near the foothills of the Alborz Mountains. Under the protection and freedom given by the Russian authorities, the number of Bahá'ís there rose to over 1,000 and for the first time anywhere in the world a true Bahá'í community was established, with its own schools, medical facilities, cemetery, etc. Eventually the Bahá'ís in ʻIshqábád decided to build the institution of the spiritual and social heart of the Bahá'í community: the Mas͟hriqu'l-Ad͟hkár.