An historical analysis of critical transformations
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and J. E. Esslemont was to admit later that “in childhood He learned to read, and received the elementary education customary for children,” and Esslemont on this point quotes in a footnote “a historian” who remarks:
the Bab (now Baha’is) was this that the Bab received no education, but that the Mullas, in order to lower Him in the eyes of the people, declared that such knowledge and wisdom as he possessed were accounted for by the education he had received. After deep search into the truth of this matter we have found evidence to show that in child- hood for a short time He used to go to the house of Shaykh Muhammad (also known as ‘Abid) where He was taught to read and write in Persian. It was this to which the Bab referred when He wrote in the book of Bayan: “O Muhammad, O my teacher! …” The remarkable thing is this, however, that this Shaykh, who was his teacher, became a devoted disciple of his own pupil.35 The view that neither the Bab nor Baha’u’llah had formal educations, or that they received little training, is to be seen against the background of the Muslim belief that Muhammad was an illiterate. Baha’u’llah, in the Kitab-i-Aqdas uses this expression in reference to himself: “We have not entered schools. We have not perused the arguments. Hear that by which this Illiterate One (al-ummi) calls you to God.”36 The Muslim belief that Muhammad was illiterate is based on a passage in the Qur’an when Muhammad is referred to as “al-nabi al-ummi” (VIII, 156-57), “the illiterate Prophet,” as rendered by Sale and Palmer,37 traditionally understood by Muslims to mean that Muhammad could not read nor write, and thus translated freely by Pickthall in his “explanatory translation” as “the Prophet who can neither read nor write.’38
tional understanding of this expression, as Pickthall points out: “Some modern criticism, while not denying the comparative illiteracy of the
Scriptures’ or ‘Gentile.’”39 Rodwell explains in a footnote in his translation of the Qur’an.
it here refers to Muhammad’s ignorance, previous to the revelation of Islam, of the ancient Scriptures. It is equivalent to the Gr.
those unacquainted with the Scriptures.40 The verse, then, referring to Muhammad as al-nabi al-ummi would not be referring to an inability to read and write but to the fact of his being a Gentile and unversed in the Jewish scriptures, illiterate in reference to previous holy books. This understanding is supported by other verses in the Qur’an, as where reference is made to “unlettered folk who know the Scripture not except from hearsay” (II, 78). Their illiteracy has special reference to their not having read the scripture. Muhammad is addressed in one verse of the Qur’an with these words: Thou (O Muhammad) wast not a reader at any scripture before it [the Qur’an], nor didst thou write it with thy right hand, for then might those have doubted, who follow falsehood.41
the books of previous revelations, which would then lessen the miracle of the Qur’an and cause these who “follow falsehood” to deny the originality or authenticity of Muhammad’s revelation. A better rendering than “illiterate” for ummi in these verses in its context would be “unversed.” Baha’u’llah’s use of the word in reference to himself would seem to be for the purpose of placing himself in the same category with Muhammad, and the Baha’i interest in claiming that the Bab and Baha’u’- llah had little formal education seems to stem from the traditional Muslim belief that Muhammad was illiterate and the philosophy that such a view strengthens the claim that their revelations proceeded from divine rather than human wisdom. But although the claim of the basic illiteracy of the Bab and Baha’u’llah stem from the Muslin belief in Muhammad’s illiteracy, the Baha’i claim has undergone a modification. It does not mean that the Bab and Baha’u’llah could not read nor write, for both were able to read and write, and Baha’is preserve to this day tablets written in their own handwriting; it does not mean that they were unversed in previous Scriptures, for Baha’u’llah’s writings in particular give evidence of his being well versed in the Qur’an, the Bayan, and the Christian gospels; nor does it mean that they had no formal education, for as noted above, the Bab received an elementary education customary for Persian children of his time. What then is meant? Seemingly, simply that the Bab and Baha’u’llah received no extensive formal education. The same Muslim desire to signify the prophets revelation by contrasting it with the prophet’s “illiteracy” reasserts itself in the claim made for the Bab and Baha’u’llah, but the Baha’i claim no longer signifies what the Muslim claim means. The Bab’s Later Youth At the age of seventeen, the Bab moved from Shiraz to Bushihr, where he engaged in business pursuits with his uncle and later on his own. The Bab was so engaged for five years.42 At about age twenty-two, the Bab married, and from this union one child was born, named Ahmad, who died in 1843.42
according to the Nuqtatu’l-Kaf spent about a year in the neighborhood of Karbila and Najaf (important Shrine sites),44 about three months of this time at Karbila, occasionally attending the lectures of Siyyid Kazim. The author, however, explains that his visits were not for the purpose of study, for Siyyid Kazim was “helped” by time presence of the Bab.45 Babi-Baha’i sources indicate that Siyyid Kazim made some indica- tions that ‘Ali Muhammad (the Bab) could be his successor. The Nuqtatu’l- Kaf gives the testimony of one of Siyyid Kazim’s disciples, who said: “One day we were in the company of the late Seyyid Kazim when some one asked about the manner of the Manifestation which was to succeed him. “After my death,” replied he, “there will be a schism amongst my followers, but God’s affair will be clear as this rising sun.” As he spoke he pointed to the door, through which streamed a flood of sunlight, and, at that very moment, Mirza ‘Ali Muhammad crossed the threshold and entered the room. “We did not, however,” continued the narrator, “apprehend his meaning until His Holiness was mani- fested”.46
more emphatic that ‘Ali Muhammad was intended by Siyyid Kazim. According to this account, the Bab:
the Siyyid. As soon as his eyes fell upon that Youth, the Siyyid discontinued his address and held his peace. Whereupon one of his disciples begged him to resume the argument which he had left un- finished. ‘What more shall I say?’ replied Siyyid Kazim, as he turned his face toward the Bab. ‘Lo, the Truth is more manifest than the ray of light that has fallen upon that lap!’ I immediately observed that the ray to which the Siyyid referred had fallen upon the lap of that same Youth whom we had recently visited. … I Saw the Siyyid actually point out with his finger the ray of light that had fallen on that lap, and yet none among those who were present seemed to apprehend its meaning.47 According to the testimony of Mirza Husayn-i-Bushru’i, the first to believe in the Bab, as quoted from Mirza Jani’s history by the author of the New History, Mirza Husayn was one of Siyyid Kazim’s followers who observed the Bab during his few months stay in Karbila.48 If Siyyid Kazim did give some indications to his followers that ‘Ali Muhammad (the Bab) was to be his successor, it would explain why Mulla Husayn and other of Siyyid Kazim’s followers after his death set out for Shiraz in search of ‘Ali Muhammad. It is likely, however, since the sources quoted above indicate that Siyyid Kazim’s disciples did not originally apprehend his meaning in reference to ‘Ali Muhammad that they did not see ‘Ali Muhammad as the new leader until after his declaration. Still, ‘Ali Muhammad appears to have been a very impressive and winsome figure, and he understandably may have attracted some of the late Shaykhi leader’s followers to himself and to Shiraz in their search for the new leader. According to Mirza Jani’s account as quoted in the New History, Mulla Husayn upon reaching Shiraz sought out the abode of ‘Ali Muhammad because of their previous friend- ship.49 According to Babi-Baha’i accounts, Mulla Husayn was the first to hear the Bab’s declaration of his mission and the first to believe in the Bab.
earlier, cannot be overstressed: for this moment marks for the Baha’i not only the beginning of the faith with which he stands identified but the beginning of a new prophetic era, for which all previous dispensations were merely preparatory and before which the glory of all past ages fades into a pale glimmer. The Date of the Declaration: A little confusion exists concern- ing the date of the Bab’s declaration. Sometimes the date is gives as May 23, 1844, and sometimes as May 22, 1844. Baha’is list the anniversary date as May 23,50 yet the actual date by the Gregorian calendar, as Baha’is sometimes point out, would be May 22, 1844. The reason for this con- fusion is a difficulty in transferring the date from the Muslim calendar into the Gregorian system. The Bab in the Bayan gives the date of his declaration as the fifth of Jumadiyu’l-Avval, which corresponds for the most part with May 23, 1844, The Muslim day, however, began at sunset rather than at midnight, and the Bab’s declaration by his own testimony was made two hours and eleven minutes after sunset on the fifth of Juma- diyu’l-Avval.51 The Bab’s declaration thus was made on a day the begin- ning hours of which overlap with the closing hours of the previous day by the Gregorian system, in other words, the Bab made his declaration on the fifth of Jumadiyu’l-Avval, which with the exception of the few hours from sunset to midnight, corresponded with May 23 of that year, but the declaration was made during those evening hours, which by the Gregorian calendar, would to the evening of May 22. There is some indication that the Bab, even before May 22, 1844, was accorded a high station by some acquaintances. Richards points out that Avarih claims that he discovered in the course of his research a letter written by the Bab to his uncle, bearing the date of 1259 A.H. (1843) in which he writes:
arrived, therefore should anyone attribute to me opinions contrary to the usual doctrines and beliefs of Islam both I and my immacu- late ancestors will be displeased with him, both here and in the next world.52
in the year prior to his declaration he felt himself possessed of God’s Spirit and enlightened on divine mysteries:
quence of a dream which I had in the year before the declaration of My Mission. In My vision I saw the head of the Imam Husayn, the Siyyidu’-sh-Shuhada’, which was hanging upon a tree. Drops of blood dripped profusely from his lacerated throat. With feelings of unsurpassed delight, I approached that tree and, stretching forth My hands, gathered a few drops of that sacred blood, and drank them devoutly. When I awoke, I felt that the Spirit of God had permeated and taken possession of My soul. My heart was thrilled with the joy of His Divine presence, and the mysteries of His Revelation were unfolded before My eyes in all their glory.53
year has special significance, for it was exactly 1,000 years from the time of the twelfth Imam’s disappearance in A.H. 260.54 The year 1844 corresponds to the Muslim year A.H. 1260. The period of the Imam’s “Occul- tation” was thus broken exactly 1,000 years from its commencement. The Bab’s declaration in this year is seen as the fulfilling of Revelation 11:2 about the Holy City being trodden under foot for forty and two months until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled (forty-two times thirty equals 1,260). The Millerites also had predicted, based on calculations from the Bible, that Christ would return in 1844. Baha’is believe that the Millerites were accurate as to the date but wrong as to the manner of his coming.55 The Circumstances of the Declaration: Babi-Baha’i sources differ in giving the particulars of the Bab’s declaration. The Traveller’s Narra- tive, oddly enough, passes over this most important event with merely stating that in 1260 A.H., at the age of twenty-five, the Bab “began to speak and to declare the rank of Bab-hood” and gives a short statement of the meaning of the term “Bab.”56 The earliest Babi-Baha’i account of the declaration is Mirza Jani’s account. The author of the New History, when coming to the Bab’s declaration, merely quotes the Mirza Jani account. Although both the Mirza Jani account and Nabil’s account purport to be based on the testimony of Mulla Husayn, to whom the Bab first declared his mission,57 they differ on various points. A comparison of these differences gives some insight into the developing tradition con- cerning the Bab’s declaration. Baha’is today accept Nabil’s account as the accurate record of the Bab’s declaration. In Mirza Jani’s account, as quoted in the New History, Mulla Husayn upon reaching Shiraz, to which he went from Karbila “in the hope of benefiting a palpitation of the heart” which he suffered, seeks out the abode of ‘Ali Muhammad (the Bab) because of their previous friendship on a journey together to the Holy Shrines of Karbila and Najaf. One reference is made to Mulla Husayn’s having not observed any special signs of knowledge in ‘Ali Muhammad during his two months abode at Kar- bila, indicating that he was in Karbila during the time that the Bab was there. According to Nabil’s account in The Dawn-Breakers, however, Mulla Husayn is portrayed as not knowing ‘Ali Muhammad and as being away on a mission during the time that ‘Ali Muhammad was in Karbila. The circum- stance of his being drawn to Shiraz is thus given a more miraculous nature.
Bab’s abode, knocks on the door of his house, and ‘Ali Muhammad in person opens the door. The L. Codex of the New History heightens the drama of this event by inserting that before the Bab opened the door or had seen Mulla Husayn, he calls out: “Is it you, Mulla Husayn?” This element of having expected Mulla Husayn is heightened more so in Nabil’s account which has the Bab meeting Mulla Husayn outside the gate of the city, embracing
the door and is admitted entrance by an Ethiopian servant. The time from Mulla Husayn’s arrival at ‘Ali Muhammad’s house until his conversion, in Mirza Jani’s account, extends over a period of some three or four days, whereas in Nabil’s chronicle Mulla Husayn is converted on his first evening with the Bab. The dialogue between ‘Ali Muhammad and Mulla Husayn in both accounts is similar, yet striking differences occur. In the Mirza Jani account, ‘Ali Muhammad asks Mulla Husayn whom the Shaykhis now recognized as their-master to “take the place occupied by the late Seyyid Kazim?” Upon hearing that they as yet recognized no one, ‘Ali Muhammad asks what manner of man he must be, and after Mulla Husayn enumerates certain qualifications and characteristics, he asks: “Do you observe these in me?” Mulla Husayn replies: “I see in you none of these qualities.” These words, as might be expected, are omitted by the later Nabil chronicle. Towards evening, in the Mirza Jani narrative, several learned Shaykhis and merchants informed of Mulla Husayn’s arrival in Shiraz come to see him. With ‘Ali Muhammad’s support, they succeed in getting him to promise to deliver a lecture on the following day. But when he attempted to carry out his promise the next morning, he found that he was as though tongue-tied and so unable to speak. The same thing happened the next day and again a third time. ‘Ali Muhammad then took Mulla Husayn alone to his house, again asking him the sign by which his master might be recognized, causing Mulla Husayn to wonder why ‘Ali Muhammad so persistently introduced this topic. It was on this evening some days after Mulla Husayn’s arrival in Shiraz that ‘Ali Muhammad began revealing verses explaining various problems and questions in the mind of Mulla Husayn which caused him to recognize the station of ‘Ali Muhammad. When ‘Ali Muhammad
as “some delinquent might flee from before a mighty king,” but ‘Ali Muham- mad constrained him to sit down and remain, saying: “Anyone who should see thee in this state would think thee mad.” In The Dawn-Breakers, Mulla Husayn is converted during his first evening with the Bab. ‘Ali Muhammad asks him: “Whom, after Siyyid Kazim, do you regard as his successor and your leader?” He then asks for ‘the distinguishing features of the promised One,” and after bring told charac- teristics concerning his youth, physical features, and innate knowledge, ‘Ali Muhammad responds: “Behold, all these signs are manifest in Me!” He then demonstrates how each of the signs is applicable to him. As soon as he finishes speaking Mulla Husayn is seized with great fear. After the Bab reveals the first chapter at his commentary on the Surih of Joseph, Mulla Husayn begs permission to depart, but ‘Ali Muhammad says: “If you leave in such a state, whoever sees you will assuredly say: ‘This poor youth has lost his mind.’” The first chapter of the Bab’s commentary on the Surih of Joseph, in Nabil’s account, was revealed in the presence of Mulla Husayn on the night at his declaration, the Bab writing down the words as he recited them aloud to Mulla Husayn. In the earlier Mirza Jani account, however, the Bab on a day following his declaration showed Mulla Husayn his commentary on the Surih of Joseph which he had written in response to Mulla Husayn’s question of some days previous on why this Surih is called “the Best of Stories.” The Bab at that time had said that it was not the proper time to answer his question and thus produced the written
matter. Perhaps to avoid any suggestion that the Bab reflected on the matter, the later Baha’i history, The Dawn-Breakers, departed from the account in the earlier histories by recounting that the Bab without being solicited and seemingly without forethought recited the significant first chapter of that commentary in the very presence of Mulla Husayn on the evening of his declaration.59
actual declaration of the Bab on May 22, 1844. The closest record of an actual declaration is given in Nabil’s history of ‘Ali Muhammad’s words to Mulla Husayn spoken on the following days “O thou who art the first to believe in Me: Verily I say, I am the Bab, the Gate of God, and thou art the Babu’l-Bab, the gate of that Gate.”60 The Content of the Declaration: Some uncertainty exists con- cerning the meaning of the title “the Bab” which ‘Ali Muhammad assumed, and probably some progression of meaning occurred from the time that ‘Ali Muhammad first called himself by this title. The word is used in pre-Fatimid times, but its exact meaning as used then is uncertain.61
prime minister of the Imam Mustansir was designated his Bab, and al Musi- yad sometime after his admittance to the court of al Mustansir in 439 A.H./ 1648 A.D. rose to the rank of Bab, presumably after Badr al Jamali’s death.62
chy of religious teachers, which J. N. Hollister reconstructs as follows: (1) Prophet, (2) Asas, (3) Imam, (4) Bab, (5) Hujjat, (6) Da’i al madhun, (7) Da’i al mukasir, and (8) Da’i al mustajib. A da’i (Isma‘ili missionary) could work up from the lowest position to that of a Bab.63
fested himself seven times in human form in the persons of Abel, Seth, Joseph, Joshua, Asaph, Simon Peter, and ‘Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law. Each of these is called Maana, the reality of all things, and each has associated with him two other figures called the Ism, the name or veil, by which the Maana conceals its glory and by which it also reveals itself to man, and the Bab, Gate or Door, by which entrance to the knowledge of the former two is made possible. The seven Isms, respectively, are Adam, Noah, Jacob, Moses, Solomon, Jesus, and Muhammad; and the seven Babs, respectively, are Gabriel, Yayeel, Ham ibn Cush, Daw, Abdullah ibn Simaan, Rezabah, Salman el Farizee. These form the seven trinities of the Nusayri sect.64
(known as Ibn Abi Asakir), who was killed under the Khalifih (Caliph) Ar-Radhi for taking the title and for teaching new and heretical doctrines. As explained by one of his followers, Ibn Abdus, the title signified “the door which led to the expected Imam.” The followers of Abu’l-Kazim al-Husayn ibn Ruh, a contemporary of ash-Shalmaghani (d. 326 A.H./937-938 A.D.), regarded him as one of the “doors leading to the Lord of the Age,” the Sahibu’z-Zaman.65
title, however, would appear to be its use in Shi‘ah Islam in reference to the four agents of the hidden twelfth Imam, discussed earlier.66 ‘Ali Muhammad in the Bayan refers to the four babs who have returned to the earth (I, 16-19),67 meaning evidently the four babs of the twelfth Imam. Elsewhere in the Bayan, the Bab writes” For God hath assimilated refuge in Himself to refuge in His Apostle [Muhammad], and refuge in His Apostle to refuge in His execution (i.e., the Imams), end refuge [in His executors to refuge] to the Gates (Abwab or Babs)68 of His executors. … For refuge in the Apostle is identical with refuge in God, and refuge in the Imams is identical with refuge in the Apostle, and refuge in the Gates is identical with refuge in the Imams.69
Ahmad-i-Ahsa’i and Siyyid Kazim-i-Rashti, referred to by ‘Ali Muhammad in his commentary on the Surih of Joseph as the “two Gates, Ahmad and Kazim” sent “in the former time,” ‘Ali Muhammad, himself, who took this title, and Mulla Husayn (the Babu’l-Bab) upon whom ‘Ali Muhammad bestowed his former title “the Bab” when he assumed the more lofty title of the Nuqta, or “Point.”70 When the Bab was asked at his first .examination at Tabriz the meaning of “Bab,” he replied that it meant the same as the word “Bab” in the tradition where Muhammad says: “I am the City of Knowledge and ‘Ali is its Gate.”71 This may lend support to the view that ‘Ali Muhammad claimed the full station of an Imam in his use of the title “Bab,” since ‘Ali was the first Imam, or it may indicate some progression of meaning in ‘Ali Muhammad’s own thought, but more likely in his use of this tradition he was thinking not of identifying himself with the Imam ‘Ali but of describing his function as the Bab. As ‘Ali was a gateway to the knowledge of Muhammad, so he was a gateway to the hidden Imam.
be the Bab was that he was the “Gate” of the hidden twelfth Imam and was thus the successor of Siyyid Kazim, the “Fourth Support,” for whom the Shaykhis were searching. That ‘Ali Muhammad’s claim to be the “Bab” was made to a member of the Shaykhi school is not without significance, and in both the histories discussed earlier ‘Ali Muhammad inquires of Mulla Husayn whom the Shaykhis regarded as the successor of Siyyid Kazim and what his qualifications should be, with the aim of getting Mulla Husayn to recognize in him those signs.72
new Shaykhi leader, the “Perfect Shi‘ite,” the channel of grace between the hidden Imam and his people. During this early period of the Bab’s ministry, he was still working within the framework of the religion of Islam, but greater claims were forthcoming. ‘Ali Muhammad’s claims appear to have gone through at least three stages: his claims to be (1) the Bab, (2) the Zikr (“Reminder”) or Mahdi and Qa’im, expected deliverers, and (3) a “manifestation” on an equality with the prophet Muhammad. The New History indicates that the Bab first advanced his claim of being the Qa’im while at Chihriq: It was during his sojourn at Chikrik, too, that the Bab, having due regard to the exigencies of the time, the dictates of expediency, and the capacity of men, declared himself to be the Ka’im; though some think that he made this declaration during the latter days of his residence at Maku.73
of 1847 or beginning of 1848.74 In ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s account of the Bab’s examination at Tabriz in the Traveller’s Narrative, he says: “They asked him concerning the claims of the Bab. He advanced the claim of Mahdi-hood; whereon a mighty tumult arose.”75 The statement apparently means that he advanced a new claim beyond his previous claim to Babhood and that it startled his hearers. J. E. Esslemont, in his popular introduction to the Baha’i faith, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, still highly regarded by Baha’is, calls attention to the Bab’s advancing claims. At the age of twenty-five, Esslemont points out, ‘Ali Muhammad claimed the station of Babhood, then Esslemont says: “The hostility aroused by the claim of Babhood was redoubled when the young reformer proceeded to declare that He was Himself the Mihdi (Mahdi) Whose coming Muhammad had foretold.”76 Although Essle- mont does not indicate when the second claim was made, he does allow for a lapse of time between the claims for the development of hostility to arise against ‘Ali Muhammad’s first claim. Esslemont then says:
adopted the sacred title of “Nuqtiyiula” or “Primal Point.” This was a title applied to Muhammad Himself by His followers. Even the Imams were secondary in importance to the “Point,” from Whom they derived their inspiration and authority. In assuming this title, the Bab claimed to rank, like Muhammad, in the series of great founders of religion.77
(1) the Bab or gate to the hidden Imam, whom the Shi‘ahs identified with the Mahdi, (2) then to be the Imam, or Mahdi, himself, (3) and then to be the “Point” to whom even the Imams were secondary, thus putting himself on an equality with the prophet Muhammad.
a second stage in the Bab’s advancing claims. Some interpreters, however, as Peter Berger, believe that the full meaning of the later titles was involved in ‘Ali Muhammad’s claim to be the Bab and was so understood by his followers.79 William McElwee Miller takes this position in his new book on Baha’i. Support for this position is provided in tThe Dawn- Breakers, for Nabil portrays Mulla Husayn as being on a search to find the promised Qa’im, and Mulla Husayn believes that he has found him when ‘Ali Muhammad advances his claim to be the Bab. Possibly, however, Nabil is reading back into the Bab’s first claim the meaning contained in the Bab’s later claims.
Bab, says that the Bab by his replies to his guest “established beyond the shadow of a doubt His claim to be the premised Qa’im.”80 This state- ment would seem to indicate Shoghi Effendi’s belief that the meaning of being the Qa’im was involved in ‘Ali Muhammad’s claim of being the Bab which he made in the presence of Mulla Husayn. Yet, elsewhere Shoghi Effendi says of ‘Ali Muhammad that he “did not content Himself with the claim to be the Gate of the Hidden Imam” but “assumed a rank that excelled even that of the Sahibu’z-Zaman.”81 Seemingly, Shoghi Effendi is saying here that ‘Ali Muhammad did, in fact, first claim to be the Bab in the traditional Shi‘ite sense of “the Gate of the Hidden Imam” but, not being content with this claim, proceeded to advance even higher claims. The matter is somewhat inconclusive, but the evidence is strong that, whatever the Bab meant by his first claim of being the Bab, he pro- ceeded to assume titles, which popularly understood, were advanced claims.
as the Qa’im in a letter to Mulla Shaykh ‘Ali (Jinab-i-Azim).82 Browne notes, however, an inconsistency between the time when this letter is supposed to have been written, after the death of Muhammad Shah, and the accounts which indicate that the Bab advanced his claim of being the Qa’im at his examination in Tabriz, which occurred during Muhammad Shah’s lifetime.83 Though the time element may be wrong, the author of the Nuqtatu’l-Kaf does reveal that the Bab’s claim to be Qa’im was made subsequent to his claim of being the Bab. The New History and the
Muhammad assumed the title of “the Point,” he conferred his title of the Bab on Mulla Husayn, who was formerly the Babu’l-Bab, Gate of the Gate.84 This would also seem to indicate that the meaning of the titles were distinct, with the Point carrying a higher meaning than the Bab, yet ‘Ali Muhammad still sometimes refers to himself in the Bayan by his former title of the Bab but seems no longer to have been the exclusive holder of it.
Within a relatively short time the Bab gained the allegiance of eighteen disciples, whom he called “Letters of the Living” (Hurufat- Hayy) and whom he sent forth to proclaim his message. The Bab then set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he openly proclaimed himself. From Mecca, the Bab proceeded to Bushihr, where he landed in August, 1845. The movement was meeting with such success that by September, 1845, measures to secure the Bab’s arrest were taken. The house of the Bab’s uncle was broken into, and the Bab and his uncle were taken to Shiraz; the governor examined the Bab, declared him to be a heretic, confiscated his property, and committed him into the custody of the chief constable, ‘Abdu’l-Hamid Khan.
escape or, according to Baha’i sources, was released by ‘Abdu’l-Hamid Khan after the Bab had miraculously saved the life of his son, who had been attacked by the plague.85 The Bab proceeded to Isfahan, where he stayed about a year under the protection of Manuchihr Khan, the governor of the province. When, however, Manuchihr Khan died early in 1847, his successor Gurgin Khan sent the Bab with mounted guards toward Tihran, the capital. It is during this journey that the Bab is believed to have stopped for two or three days in the house of Mirza Jani in Kashan. According to the
was visited by many persons of note, among whom was Mirza Husayn ‘Ali, known later as Baha’u’llah.86 Some Baha’is, however, maintain that no definite evidence exists that Baha’u’llah ever met the Bab. The Dawn- Breakers contains no record of this meeting but instead refers to a messenger from Baha’u’llah who brought the Bab a sealed letter and certain gifts from Baha’u’llah, which brought joy to the Bab, during the Bab’s encampment near the village of Kulayn.87 Mohammad Shah seems to have desired to see the Bab, but the minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi, perhaps fearing that if the Bab were brought into the capital he might either win the shah’s support or incite the
to the remote fortress of Maku. The Bab remained at Maku for about six months and then was transferred to stricter confinement at the fortress of Chihriq. Various opinions of the Bab circulated. Some regarded him as insane and considered his writings as the products of such madness. Others, however, believed that ‘Ali Muhammad did not claim to be the Bab, that Mulla Husayn was the actual claimant, and that the writings in question issued from the pen of the latter.88 So the Bab was summoned to Tabriz for a hearing to determine the matter. The Muslim and Baha’i accounts of the proceedings, agreeing on some of the questions asked, differ in presenting the Bab’s deportment. Muslim sources present the Muslim clergy as getting the best of the Bab, asking him questions in the areas of medicine, grammar, and rhetoric and the meaning of certain Muslim traditions and picturing the Bab as unable to answer the questions. Baha’i sources show that the Bab was the subject of ridicule but present him as boldly meeting his adversaries.89
uncle to Nasiru’d-Din Shah, who was at the time of the Bab’s interrogation crown prince, the Bab at the conclusion of the interrogation “apologized, recanted, and repented of and asked pardon for his errors, giving a sealed undertaking that henceforth he would not commit such fault.”90 Browne published in his Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion a document purporting to be the Bab’s recantation, which may or may not be the one
“is apparently in the Bab’s handwriting,” declares: Never have I desired aught contrary to the Will of God, and, if words contrary to His good pleasure have flowed from my pen, my object was not disobedience, and in any case I repent and ask forgiveness of Him. This servant has absolutely no knowledge connected with any [superhuman] claim. I ask forgiveness of God my Lord and I repent unto Him of [the idea] that there should be ascribed to me any [Divine] Mission. As for certain prayers and words which have flowed from my tongue, these do not imply any such Mission (amr), and any [apparent] claim to any special vicegerency for His holiness the Proof of God91 (on whom be Peace!) is a purely baseless claim, such as this servant has never put forward, nay, nor any claim like unto it.92 Another account portrays the Bab as making a public recantation in the Vakil mosque in Shiraz, saying: “What has been attributed to me is a false accusation. Even if anything of the kind has emanated from me, I now repent and ask for (God’s) pardon.” Having made this confession, he kissed the hand of the Imam-Jum‘ih, chief of the Muslim clergy, and descended from the pulpit.93 The Conference of Badasht: Far distant from where the Bab was held in confinement, an important conference at Badasht was convened by the Babi leaders. One purpose of this conference was to consider means by which the Bab might be set tree from his confinement in Chihriq.94 This objective was unsuccessful, but the meeting, which oddly enough the New History and Traveller’s Narrative pass over in silence, marks the open break by the Bab’s followers with the religion of Islam. Nabil records that “each day of that memorable gathering wit- nessed the abrogation of a new law and the repudiation of a long-estab- lished tradition.”95 One dramatic sign of the new order of things, which some of the Babis were unprepared to accept, was the appearance of Qurratu’l-‘Ayn (“Consolation of the Eyes”), the only woman included in the Bab’s “Letters of the Living,” with the veil removed from her face. The Babis considered her the return of Fatimih, the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter, “the noblest emblem of chastity in their eyes,” and her appearance before them in such manner threw the meeting into turmoil. One Babi, so gravely shaken, cut his own throat and fled blood-stained from her presence.96 The Babis assembled at the Badasht Conference also took new names. Mirza Husayn ‘Ali, who seems to have supported financially the conference, took the title “Baha,” meaning “Glory” or “Splendour,”97 which title was expanded later into “Baha’u’llah,” the Glory of God (Baha Allah). Baha’is maintain that Baha’u’llah was actually the unobtrusive guide behind the course of the entire conference,98 although, Nabil remarks, “few, if any, dimly surmised that Baha’u’llah was the Author of the far-reaching changes which were being so fearlessly introduced.’99 Babis in Arms: The king of Persia, Muhammad Shah, died on September 4, 1848. The following months were to witness what Shoghi Effendi calls “the bloodiest and most dramatic” period “of the Heroic Age of the Baha’i Era.”100 A number of upheavals with Babis fighting against the royalist forces occurred in various parts of Persia—in the east at the fort of Shaykh Tabarsi, in the south in Nayriz, and in Zanjan in the northwest. Baha’is today insist that the Babis were merely protecting themselves against the efforts of the government to suppress the movement after the Bab’s bold and open declaration at Tabriz of being the promised Qa’im. The taking up of arms to over- throw the secular government was, however, in the minds of the masses
in all the earth,101 and whether or not the Babis took up arms for this purpose, as Browne points out,
followers roamed the country proclaiming the Advent of the .expected Mahdi and the inauguration of the Reign of the Saints, and threaten- ing those sanguinary encounters between themselves and their oppo- nents which were at once precipitated by the king’s death and the ensuing dislocation and confusion.102 The Bab envisioned a Babi state in Persia, and the letter written by Quddus to the prince given in the Nuqtatu’l-Kaf, which Browne notes is “shorter and more forcibly worded” than the version in the New History, gives some support to the view that the Babis intended taking over the government. “We,” he writes, “are the rightful rulers, and the world is set under our signet-ring,” and in the concluding passage of the letter, be admonishes, “Be not thou, O Prince, misled by worldly glory and the pride of thy youth; know that Nasiru’d-Din Shah is no true king, and that such as support him shall be tormented in hell-fire.”103
lasted some eleven months before the Babis were subdued. Half of the Bab’s “Letters of the Living,” including Mulla Husayn and Quddus, were killed. The Zanjan battles also lasted for about a year. Some 3,000 Babis were engaged in the fighting, but the number was gradually reduced by deaths or desertions until only 500 remained at the end. On the day of their surrender, seventy-four were bayoneted to death, and four were blown from cannons, and 150 or 200 persons, including some children seven or eight years old, were imprisoned.104
yet another Babi rising occurred in Nayriz. Although, as Edward Browne points out, the Bab “could not, indeed, be considered as directly responsible for the attitude of armed resistance assumed by his followers,” the Persian government, nevertheless, regarded him as ‘the fountain-head of those doctrines which had convulsed the whole Persian empire,”105 and steps were taken to halt the movement by the execution of the Bab.
in three files. Each file consisted of 250 men with rifles, awaiting the order to fire. Nabil gives the time as noon, Sunday, the twenty-eighth of Sha‘ban, A.H. 1266 (July 9, 1850).106 The Bab and one of his devoted followers, Aka Muhammad ‘Ali, were led to the barrack square and suspended by ropes before the gaze of a large multitude who had assembled to witness the event. The order was given to open fire. Then occurred “a most dramatic incident which came near contributing to history one of the most astounding and best-accredited miracles in the annals of religion.”107 When the smoke from the rifles cleared, the Bab had not been hit. The bullets only severed the rope which held him suspended, thus freeing him. Sources, while agreeing on this point, differ as to whether Aka Muhammad ‘Ali also was unharmed. Some accounts record that the Bab’s disciple was killed by the first volley of shots.108 The Nuqtatu’l-Kaf and the C. Codex of the New History indicate that the first volley was fired only at Aqa Muhammad ‘Ali.109 In tThe Dawn-Breakers, which gives the account of the Bab’s martyrdom as accepted by Baha’is today, both the Bab and his disciple escaped the first shots unharmed.110 The Bab was again suspended, and this time the execution was successful. The Bab’s body was riddled with bullets but his face was unharmed, By a strange coincidence, the place where the Bab was killed was called the Square of the Sahibu’z-Zaman, “the Lord of the Age.”111 The Babis managed to gain possession of his body, which was later trans- ferred to Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, where today exists the beautiful golden-domed Shrine of the Bab.
martyrdom might sound like legend, but he refers to document F.O. 60/153/ 88 in the archives of the Foreign Office at the Public Records Office in London, an official letter dated July 22, 1850, from Sir Justin Sheil, Queen Victoria’s envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in Tihran to Lord Palmerston, secretary of state for foreign affairs, which reads in part as follows:
killed by a volley of musketry, and his death was on the point of giving his religion a lustre which would have largely increased his proselytes. When the smoke and dust cleared away after the volley, Bab was not to be seen, and the populace proclaimed that he had ascended to the skies. The balls had broken the ropes by which he was bound …112
the excitement following his unexpected deliverance, he might have rallied the people behind him and been hailed as the Mahdi,114 but perhaps the manner of his death has proved as advantageous, for he became a martyr to his followers after the manner of Christ. Esslemont refers to the event as “a second Calvary”;114 the New history calls him “that Jesus of the age on the cross;”115 and Mary Hanford Ford writes: “He was two years younger than Jesus when he gave his life in the same sacrifice for the salvation of the world.”116
Jules Bois’s article in The Forum in 1925: “all Europe was stirred to pity and indignation.” Bois recalls that “among the litterateurs of my generation, in the Paris of 1890, the martyrdom of the Bab was still as fresh a topic as had been the first news of his death.”117
to the Qur’an of the Muhammadan era, is the Bayan (“Exposition” or “Utterance”). The word refers in a general sense to all the Bab’s writings, as the Bab, himself, acknowledges (Bayan III, 17). The Bab, however, classified his writings according to certain grades, depending on the style or nature of their writings, and preferred to restrict the primary reference of Bayan to his verses (poetic utterances in the style of the Qur’an); other forms were entitled to the word in the following descending order: supplications (prayers), commentaries, scientific
language (III, 17).118 Subh-i-Azal, in a letter to Edward G. Brown, said that, whereas the Bab’s earlier writings were given specific names, all of his later writings were included under the designation of Bayan.119 The word Bayan as generally used refers to the Bab’s book of laws. But there are at least two Bayans—an Arabic Bayan, written in Arabic as a cogent proof of his mission for Muslims (II, 14),120 and a Persian Bayan, the longer and more important of the two. The Bayan was written while the Bab was a captive in the castle of Maku.121 The Bab proposed that the Bayan would have nineteen sections, which he called unities, which in turn would divide into nineteen sub- divisions called babs.122 The Bab, however, wrote only eleven of the unities, leaving the remaining eight to be written by his successor.123 Browne wrote in 1910 that “part, but not the whole” of the remaining unities “was written by Subh-i-Azal.”124 The following résumé of some of the teachings in the Persian Bayan will give some idea of the Bab’s doctrines.125 The Abrogation of the Qur’an The Bab declares: “Le Béyân est la balance de Dieu jusqu’au jour du jugement dernier qui est le jour Celui que Dieu doit manifes- ter.”126 Obedience is to be given to the Bayan, not the Qur’an (II, 6). The Bab maintains that both the Qur’an and the Bayan are from the same “Tree of Truth” (II, 7), and he laments the fact that men read the Qur’an but fail in gathering its fruit, which is belief in the Bayan (III, 3). The Bab, thus, sees his religion as a continuation of the revelation given by God in Islam but a later stage in that revelation which super- sedes Islam as Islam superseded Christianity. Of the Bab, Shoghi Effendi writes: He Who communicated the original impulse to so incalculable a Movement was none other than the promised Qa’im (He who ariseth), the Sahibu’z-Zaman (the Lord of the Age), Who assumed the exclusive right of annulling the whole Qur’anic Dispensation.127 The Bayan’s Witness to Itself Similar to the Qur’an’s statement that “if men and jinn should combine to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like of it”(XVII, 88), the Bayan declares that all creatures working together could not produce the like of the Bayan (II, 1). The Bayan’s value is incomparable (III, 191; VI, 8), and it is identical in essence with the Qur’an (II, 1) and the Gospel (II, 15). The Bayan’s Witness to the Bab A number of statements in the Bayan provide some factual infor- mation about the Bab and set forth the Bab’s understanding of his own mission, The Bayan indicates that the Bab was born in the “Land of Fa,” i.e. Fars, or Shiraz (IV, 16; VII, 15; VII, 17) and claims that he was devoid of formal learning (II, 1; IV, 10). He was twenty-four years old when beginning his mission (II, 1), and the date of his manifestation is given as the fifth of Jumada I, A.H. 1260 (II, 7), which was 12,210 years after the manifestation of Adam (III, 3) and 1,270 years after that of Muhammad (II, 7).
the other hand, he claims to be only a “servant” and indicates that he will die (IX, 1). He explains that as the manifested Nuqta, he has two stations, that of Divinity and that of Servitude (IV, 1). Verily I have created thee, and I have established two degrees for thee. The first of those two degrees is that which belongs peculiarly to me, and in this degree no one can see anything in thee except myself. Therefore it is that thou sayest on my authority, “I am God; there is no God beside me, the Lord of the universe; in the second degree thou dost glorify me, praise me, confess my unity, adore me, thou art of those who bow down before me.128
preceding and succeeding prophets of God (II, 12, 15; III, 13; IV, 121; VIII, 2). Salvation is obtained by faith in him (V, 11); whoever approaches him approaches God (II, 1, 4), and whoever denies him and declines to take refuge in him is destined for “the Fire” (II, 4). He declares himself to be the promised Qa’im (I, 15), the Mahdi (VIII, 17; II, 3), and the Prophet Muhammad (VIII, 2), and his family is to be revered (IX, 6), similarly as Muhammad’s family is revered by the Shi‘ahs. God and His Manifestations God is incomprehensible (III, 7; IV, 2; V, 17); nothing exists but God and his names and attributes (IV, 4); God created all things by his volitions, and his volitions by himself (III, 6). This volition is identified with the Nuqta or “Point” (III, 13), which manifests itself in the prophets of God. God neither begets nor is he born, and he alone is worthy of all praise (VII, 19). Since no one can directly encounter the most holy essence of God, he manifests himself through a series of Zuhurs, or “Manifestations” of the “Primal Volition,” (III, 9; IV, 2) or “Point” (III, 13). Each manifestation is specially related to God in the sense that meeting with God, knowledge of God, and refuge with God are equivalent, respectively, with meeting the prophet, knowledge of the prophet, and refuge with the prophet of the age (II, 4, 7, 17; III, 7; IV, 2; VI, 13).
identical with one another: so Jesus is identical with Muhammad (II, 15; III, 13), and the Nuqta-i-Furqan (Muhammad) is identical with the Nuqta-i-Bayan (the Bab, himself) (I, 15; VIII, 2). The Bab compares the successive manifestations with the same sun which arises day after day (IV, 12; VII, 15; VIII, 1), an illustration often used in later Baha’i writings. Previous revelations find their fulfilment in succeed- ing ones, so that the gospel is perfected and fulfilled in Muhammad (VI, 13) and the fruit of Islam is belief in the Bab’s manifestation (II, 7). Former manifestations are revealed in succeeding ones; so the Bab says that all the prophets are seen in Muhammad (IV, 6) and all manifestations are created for the last one who appears (IV, 2). This cumulative understanding of revelation is compared to a boy in advancing stages of growth (III, 13, 15; V, 4; VIII, 2).
all preceding ones (III, 15) and in all succeeding ones (II, 9). The belief of those, however, who accept an earlier revelation but reject a subsequent one becomes null and void (IV, 2). The Bab says that Christians who have not accepted the Qur’an have not actually believed in Christ (II, 9).
Connected somewhat with the doctrine of the reappearing manifestations is the doctrine of raj’at or “return.” The whole first unity is devoted to the view that certain figures of the Islamic era have returned to the world in the Bayanic dispensation. The doctrine theoretically is distinguished from reincarnation, although Browne points out that the doctrine did at times approach closely a concept of trans- migration of souls, or metempsychosis, as when Siyyid Basir, according to
“return” of a certain person whom God had punished for his sins.129 In the strict sense of the doctrine, however, the same individual does not return but the type or qualities of that person. In this sense, the eighteen “Letters of the Living” are the return of the “four Gates” and the fourteen “Holy Souls” (Muhammad, Fatimih, and the twelve Imams) and will reappear also in the manifestation of “Him whom God shall mani- fest” (I, 1). The types of those who accept and who reject previous manifestations also return in the ministries of succeeding manifestations.
the raising of the physical body. The resurrection is the appearance of the new manifestation (II, 7; VIII, 3; IX, 3). From the external stand- point the resurrection day is like any other day, it passes by with many unaware of it. The Bab uses traditional eschatological terminology but often gives an allegorical interpretation. Many, while trying to cross the “Bridge of Sirat, will fall into “the Fire,” the Bab says, but he explains that “the Bridge of Sirat,” which Muslims believe must be crossed success- fully to enter Paradise, means God’s manifestations (II, 12), indicating apparently that the manifestation of the age separates believers and unbelievers by their response to him.
the Muslims of his day. The Bab applauds the cleanliness of Christians and commends their clear and legible writing (VI, 2; III, 17). Gifts
Christians to stars shining between the day of Christ and that of Muhammad (VIII, 1), but when Muhammad appeared, they should have believed in his (VII, 2), and he maintains that the true Christians did believe in Muhammad (II, 9). But though Christians possess all good qualities, they are of “the Fire” (IV, 4), and those who have not accepted the Qur’an have not really believed in Christ (II, 9).
Moses gave various moral, ceremonial, and civil laws to his people. Jesus insisted that he had not come to destroy the law; and he, in turn, set out certain commandments which his followers were to obey and which were to be the test of their love for him. Muhammad, also, gave laws to govern his people. Interspersed throughout the Bayan, the Bab sets forth the laws for his dispensation.
10), the Bab prohibits the study of jurisprudence, logic, philosophy, dead languages, and grammar (except as it is necessary for understanding the Bayan). All Muslim books except the Qur’an are to be destroyed (VI, 6), and only those books which elucidate the Bayan may be studied (IV, 10).
of certain subjects say be seen in part against the Babi concept that all the arts and sciences are as folly compared with the revelation of a manifestation of God and that all true philosophy and science and, in fact, all the advance of civilization are derived from the manifestation’s
knowledge when the higher divine knowledge has been given? The Babi poet, Mirza Na‘im of Si-dih, expressed this feeling quite well in a poem written in the spring of 1885: Hearken not to the spells of Philosophy, which from end to end is folly; the theses of the materialist and the cynic are all ignorance and madness.
ever the philosopher hath said behold at this time are discredited! All their sciences are [derived] from the Prophets, but imperfectly; all their arts are from the Saints, but garbled.130 Equally radical is the Bab’s stipulation that only believers could inhabit the five Persian provinces of Fars, ‘Iraq, Azararbayjan, Khurasan, and Mazandaran.131 European merchants and other Europeans with useful trades and professions, but these only, may dwell in territories of the believers (VII, 16). Kings who adopt the Babi religion are to seek to spread the faith and to expel unbelievers from their lands (VII, 16; II, 2).
does not allow congregational prayer except prayers for the dead at funerals (II, 9; I, 9). The most acceptable worship, the Bab says, is to make others happy (V, 19). Men are to worship God not from fear nor hope but out of pure love (VII, 19). The Bab also forbids selling and buying in the precincts of the House of God (IV, 17). A number of laws relating to the dead are established. The dead may not be transported to distant shrines (IV, 8). Stone coffins must be used (V, 12). Rose water should be used, when possible, to
written on them are to be placed on the hand of the departed (VIII, 11). Every believer is to leave to his heirs nineteen rings inscribed with the names of God (VIII, 2). Other laws are that children are to honor parents (IV, 19). Marriage is obligatory for all believers (VIII, 15), but marriage with unbelievers is unlawful (VIII, 11). Unbelievers are to be treated justly and are not to be killed (IV, 5), but their property may be confiscated (V, 5;, VIII, 15). Men are allowed to speak with women (VIII, 10). Women may not go on pilgrimages but may go to the mosque for their devotions at night (IV, 18, 19). Forbidden is the use of wine (IV, 8), tobacco (IV, 7), and opium (IV, 8). Merchants, however, may sell opium and alcohol to those in need of them (II, 8). Animals are to be treated kindly, not injured (V, 14) and not overworked (VI, 6). The Bab’s laws extend to a number of minute personal matters. The hair of the body is to be removed by depilatories every four, eight, or fourteen days (VIII, 6). Letters are not to be read without permis- sion, and they are to be answered (VI, 18, 19). One is to wash completely every four days, and bathing should be by pouring water, not by plunging into a tank (VI, 2). “He Whom God Shall Manifest” An important part of the Bab’s teachings, especially for understanding the subsequent development of the Baha’i movement, pertains to the person whom the Bab designates as Man yuz-hiruhu’llah, “He whom God shall manifest.” As noted earlier, the Bayan is authoritative until the time of “He whom God shall manifest.” Interspersed throughout
coming figure. The following are some of the teachings about him. The Bayan revolves around the Word of “Him whom God shall manifest” (II, 19). All men are to embrace his religion when he appears (VII, 5). Only God knows the day of his advent (IV, 5; VI, 3; VII, 10), although the Bab gives some indications of when he will appear, which will be discussed in the next chapter. To understand one of his verses, the Bab says, is better than knowing the entire Bayan (IV, 8). One of his verses is better than a thousand Bayans (V, 8; VI, 6; VII, 1). Belief in God without belief in him avails nothing (III, 15). Repentance can be made only before God or before “Him whom God shall manifest” (VII, 14).
is the origin of all the names and attributes (II, 9). Children are not to be beaten so as not to grieve him (VI, 11). A vacant place is to be reserved in every assembly for him (IV, 9). The Bab maintains that no one could falsely claim to be “Him whom God shall manifest” (VI, 8) and points out that there will be other manifestations to follow “Him whom God shall manifest (IV, 9). The eighteen “Letters of the living” will be raised up by him in the time of his manifestation (II, 11). All pre- vious manifestations were created for him (IV, 8).132 The first month of the Babi calendar is named Baha in honor of him (V, 3). THE TRANSFORMING CHARACTER OF THE BABI RELIGION
are based in and are, in a sense, the continuation of the radical trans- forming character of the Babi movement. The Bab’s religion was, as
of Islam and the abrogation of its ordinances.”133 The Bab understood his ministry as superseding that of Muhammad as Muhammad’s ministry had superseded Christ’s. In the Bayan, he sets out his laws which are to replace those of the Qur’an. Although basic attitudes and other traces of Muslin influence may be detected in the Babi religion, the Bab saw his faith, at least in its latest stages of development, not as a reformation of Islam by a sect within it but as the next manifes- tation of the one evolutionary religion which was to supersede Islam. This does not mean that the Bab saw his movement in competition with or necessarily opposed to Islam, for Islam and the other religions were true for their day and were authentic expressions of the one true religion. But for the Bab, Islam’s day was past.
Babi movement, but the religion contained also many radical subsidiary characteristics. The Bab’s commend to burn all Muslim books except the Qur’an, his prohibition against reading books of logic and philosophy, and his depreciation of the sciences were calculated in effect, if not in intent, to produce an iconoclastic spirit among his followers. In this sense, the nature of the Babi movement itself contributed the basic transforming impulse to the various phases in the succeeding Baha’i religion.
bute to its own supersession but within the movement were planted the seeds for its near immediate supersession. A major part of the Bab’s
manifest,” whose ministry and glory would far surpass the Bab’s own ministry. The Bab urged his followers to watch for him, and if they entertained any doubts about him, the Bab insisted, it would be better to accept him than to reject him. He maintained that no one could falsely claim to be “Him whom God shall manifest.” These teachings left the door wide open for the supersession of the Bab’s own religion in the near future, awaiting only some majestic figure who could put forward that claim. The overwhelming allegiance given to Baha’u’llah after he claimed to be “Him whom God shall manifest,” may be explained by Baha’u’llah’s charisma, coupled with the Bab’s extensive efforts to prepare his disciples for the expected coming. How could those who were so loyal to the Bab have so soon turned from the Bab to Baha’u’llah? Only because in turning to Baha’u’llah, the Babis saw themselves as obedient to the Bab’s teachings about accepting the awaiting manifestation when he appeared. In their thinking, they were not deserting the Bab for Baha’u’llah but were being the more faithful to the Bab in accepting Baha’u’llah.
2 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’i Pub- lishing Trust, 1957), p. 7. 3 ibid., p. 5. 4 Nabil-i-A’zam (Muhammad-i-Zarandi). The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil’s
Effendi (London: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1953), p. 42. 5 John Ferraby, All Things Made New (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1960), p. 22. 6 Shoghi Effendi, The Faith of Baha’u’llah (Wilmette, Ill,: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1959), p. 6. 7 Shoghi, God Passes By, p. xii. 8 Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1963), p. 41. 9 Shoghi, God Passes By, p. xii. 10 Baha’i World Faith: Selected Writings of Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1556), pp. 9, 10 16, etc. 11 ibid., p. 82. 12 See J. N. D. Anderson, ed., The World’s Religions (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1957), pp. 50-51. 13 Edward G. Browne, ed. and trans., The Tarikh-i-Jadid or
(Cambridge: University Press, 1893), p. 112 (hereinafter referred to as New History). 14 ibid., pp. 208-9. 15 Shoghi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 41.
17 Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1965), p. 178. 18 ibid.
19 Kenneth W. Morgan, ed., Islam—The Straight Path: Islam Interpreted by Muslims (New York: Ronald Press Co., 1958), pp. 124-25. 20 ibid., p. 201. 21 H. A. R. Gibb, “Islam,” in The Concise Encyclopaedia of
p. 182.
22 John B. Noss, Man’s Religions (3d ed., New York: Macmillan Co., 1967. London: Collier-Macmillan Limited, 1967), pp. 769-64; Morgan, Islam—The Straight Path, p. 229. 23 Noss, Man’s Religions, pp. 765-66. 24 Edward G. Browne, ed. and trans., A Traveller’s Narrative
lation and Notes (Cambridge: University Press, 1891), pp. 24, 26 (herein- after referred to as Traveller’s Narrative). 25 See Noss, Man’s Religions, p. 765. 26 See Richard N. Frye, “Islam in Iran,” The Muslim World, XLVI, No. 1 (Jan., 1956), pp. 6-7; Edward G. Browne, “Bab, Babis,” Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, ed. by James Hastings (New York: Charles Scrib- ner’s Sons, 1955), II, 300; Dwight M. Donaldson feels that the fourth Bab may have thought that the Imam was about to appear as a reason for not appointing a succeeding Bab, or he may have become disillusioned with his own position (The Shi‘ite religions: A History of Islam in Persia
that the fourth Bab was given in a letter news of the twelfth imam’s bodily death and that the Imam would have no Bab after his death (Morgan,
the disappearance of the twelfth Imam to the death of the fourth Bab. The “Major Occultation” began with the fourth Bab’s death. 27 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note E, pp. 242-43. 28 ibid., pp. 243-44. 29 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, p. 4. 30 Browne, New History, p. 31. 31 Shoghi, God Passes By, p. 10. 32 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note E, pp. 241-42. One of Karim Khan’s treatises was written allegedly at the request of Nasiri’d- Din Shah (see Shoghi, God Passes By, p. 91, and Hamid Algar, “Babism, Baha’ism, and the Ulama,” Chapter VIII of Religion and State in Iran 1785-1906: The Role of the Ulama in the Qajar Period [Berkeley: Uni- versity of California Press, 1969], pp. 149-50). 33 ‘Abdu’l-Baha in the Traveller’s Narrative gives the Bab’s birth as the first of Muharram, A.H. 1235 (October 20, 1819), which date the Baha’is is accept as accurate; Edward G. Browne believed, however, that the date must be the first of Muharram, A.H. 1236, rather than A.H. 1235, because of passages in the Bab’s writings where the Bab refers to his age at the time of his manifestation on the fifth of Jamadiyu’l-Avval (May 22, 1844). In one passage in the Bayan (II, 1), the Bab refers to himself as “one from whose life [only] twenty-four years had passed,” and in the Seven Proofs, he describes himself as “of an age which did not exceed five and twenty.” Browne reasoned from this that the Bab was “over twenty-four and under twenty-five years of age.” Subh-i-Azal, also, told Browne that the Bab at the beginning of his mission was “twenty-four and entering on his twenty-fifth year” (Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note C, pp. 219-21). If the Bab was twenty-four in A.H. 1250, then be would have been born in A.H. 1236 (the first of Muharram is the first day of the Muslin year). The first of Muharram, A.H. 1236, would be October 9, A.D. 1820. Nabil, however, records that “twenty-five years, four months and four days had elapsed since the day of His birth, when he declared his mission (The Dawn-Breakers, p. 51). 34 ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, collected and trans- lated by Laura Clifford Barney (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1964), p. 30. 35 J. E. Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era (3d ed., revised; New York: Pyramid Books, 1970), p. 27 and note 1. 36 Earl E. Elder and William McE. Miller, trans. and ed.,
Oriental Translation Fund, New Series Vol. XXXVIII (London: Published by The Royal Asiatic Society and sold by its Agents Luzac & Co., Ltd., 1961), p. 52.
37 George Sale, trans. The Koran: Commonly Called the AlKoran of Mohammed (New York: American Book Exchange, 1880), p. 94; E. H. Palmer, The Koran (Qur’an), “The World’s Classics,” 328 (London: Oxford University Press, n.d.), pp. 140-41. 38 Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, A Mentor Religious Classic (New York and Toronto: The New Ameri- can Library; London: The New English Library Limited, n.d.), p. 133. 39 ibid., p. 133, n. 1. 40 J. M. Rodwell, trans., The Koran, “Everyman’s Library,” No. 380 (London: Dent; New York: Dutton, n.d.), p. 307, n. 1. 41 Qur’an XXIX, 48, in Pickthall translation, p. 287. 42 Browne, New History, Appendix II, p. 344. 43 See J. R. Richards, The Religion of the Baha’is (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; New York: Macmillan Co., 1932), pp. 17-18;, and Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 52-53. 44 Karbila is the site of the martyrdom and sepulchre of the Imam Husayn, and Najaf, to the south of Karbila, is one of the Shi‘ah’s two holiest shrines (Marzieh Gail, Baha’i Glossary [Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1957], pp. 25, 38). 45 Browne, New History, Appendix II, pp. 342-43. 46 ibid., pp. 340-41. 47 Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 21-22. 48 Browne, New History, p. 35. 49 ibid., p. 34. 50 Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, p. 187;, and Ferraby, All Things Made New, p. 251. 51 See above, p. 111, n. 137. 52 Richards, The Religion of the Baha’is, p. 17, citing Avarih,
53 Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, p.177. 54 See above, p. 124. 55 Thornton Chase, The Baha’i Revelation (New York: Baha’i Pub- lishing Committee, 1919), p. 31. For a Baha’i evaluation of the Millerite movement, see Billy Rojas, “The Millerites: Millennialist Precursors of the Baha’i Faith,” World Order, IV, No. 1 (Fall, 1968), pp. 15-23.
57 Mirza Jani bases his account on Mulla Husayn’s testimony as related to him by ‘Abdu’l-Wahhab of Khurasan, who had enquired after the manner of his conversion (New History, p. 34); Nabil’s account is based on Mulla Husayn’s testimony as given to him by Mirza Ahmad-i-Qazvini, the martyr, who on several occasions heard Mulla Husayn telling the early believers of his historic interview with the Bab (The Dawn-Breakers, p. 38). 58 The Surih of Joseph is the twelfth Surih, or chapter (entitled “Joseph”), of the Muslim Qur’an. 59 The above comparisons are drawn from Browne, New History, pp. 34-39, and Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 38-43. 60 Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 44. 61 B. Lewis, “Bab,” The Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. by H. A. R. Gibb, et al. (London: Luzac and Co., 1960), I, 832. 62 ibid., and John Noreen Hollister, The Shi‘a of India (London: Luzac and Co., Ltd., 1953), p. 249. The term Bab al abwab (Gate of Gates) also was used early in the Fatimid period for the chief da’i, noting his superiority over all other dais (Hollister p. 249); the title which ‘Ali Muhammad conferred on Mulla Husayn was Bab’ul-Bab (Gate of the Gate), which in this case, however, indicated one inferior to the Bab. 63 Hollister, The Shi‘a of India, p. 260. 64 Henry Harris Jessup, “The Babites,” The Outlook, LXVIII, No. 8 (June 22, 1901), p. 452. A condensed version of this article appears in
pp. 771-76. 65 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note D, p. 229. 66 See above, p. 125. 67 See Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note D, p. 232, and Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Bab, Le Beyan Persan, traduit du Persan par A.-L.-M. Nicolas (4 vols; Paris: Librairie Paul Gauthner, 1911-1914), I, 29-30. 68 Abwab technically is the plural of Bab. 69 Browne’s translation from the Bayan (Traveller’s Narrative, Note D, pp. 233-34). 70 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note E, pp. 232-331; Browne, New History, Appendix III, p. 398 and Appendix II, pp. 335-36. 71 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note M, p. 280 and n. 1. 72 See above, pp. 136-37. 73 Browne, New History, p. 241. This passage is quoted by Browne in the Traveller’s Narrative, Note N, p. 292. 74 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note N, p. 291. 75 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, p. 20. 76 Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, p. 29. 77 ibid., p. 30. 78 Shoghi, God Passes By, p. 10. 79 Peter Ludwig Berger, “From Sect to Church: A Sociological Interpretation of the Baha’i Movement” (Ph.D. dissertation, New School for Social Research, 1954), pp. 9-10. 80 Shoghi, God Passes By, p. 5. 81 ibid., p. 10. 82 Browne, New History, Appendix II, pp. 368-69. 83 ibid., p. 368, n. 4. 84 ibid., pp. 335-36. 85 See Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 142-43. 86 Browne, New History, pp. 216-17. 87 Browne, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 161-62. 88 Browne, New History, p. 285. ‘Ali Muhammad, as noted earlier, had bestowed upon Mulla Husayn his former title of the Bab. 89 See the Muslim accounts in Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note M, pp. 277-90, and Edward G. Browne, Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion (2nd ed.; Cambridge: University Press, 1961), pp. 249-55 (hereinafter referred to as Materials); for Baha’i accounts, see Browne, New History, pp. 285-88 and Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 229-31.
90 Browne, Materials, p. 255. 91 i.e., the Twelfth Imam or Imam Mahdi (E.G.B.) 92 Browne, Materials, p. 258. 93 Khan Bahadur Agha Mirza Muhammad, “Some New Notes on Babiism,” The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain
94 Shoghi, God Passes By, p. 31. 95 Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 211. 96 ibid., pp. 212-13. See also Browne, New History, Appendix II, pp. 355-60. 97 Marzieh Gail, Baha’i Glossary (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1957), pp. 11, 54. 98 John Ferraby, All Things Made New, p. 193, and Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 68. 99 Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 211. 100 Shoghi, God Passes By, p. 35. 101 George Foot Moore, History of Religions, Vol. II, Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism, International Theological Library (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1920), 243. 102 Edward G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia, Vol. IV.
103 Browne, New History, Appendix III, p. 362. 104 See Edward G. Browne, trans., “Personal Reminiscences of the Babi Insurrection at Zanjan in 1850, Written in Persian by Aqa ‘Abdu’l- Ahad-i-Zanjani, and Translated into English by Edward G. Browne, M.A., M.R.A.S.,” The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, XXIX (1897), pp. 761-827. 105 Edward G. Browne, “Babiism,” in The Religious Systems of the World (London, Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Limited, 1905), p. 343. 106 The C. Codex of the New History gives the Bab’s execution as Thursday, the twenty-seventh Sha‘ban (July 8, 1850), which, Browne correctly points out, fell, however, on a Monday. Browne also says Subh-i-Azal’s statement corroborates the New History (Browne, New History, p. 307 and note 1). Subh-i-Azal’s statement in Appendix III of the New History (p. 411) gives, however, the twenty-eighth of Sha‘ban as the date of the Bab’s martyrdom. Both ‘Abdu’l-Baha in the Traveller’s Narrative (Vol. I, p. 57; Vol. II, p. 44) and Nabil give the twenty-eighth of Sha‘ban as the date, and this date is followed by Baha’is today. A footnote in Esslemont’s Baha’u’llah and the New Era, however, gives the twenty-eighth of Sha‘ban as a Friday rather than a Sunday as Nabil has it. Both are wrong. The twenty-eighth of Sha‘ban (July 9, 1850) was a Tuesday. 107 James T. Bixby, “What Is Behaism?” North American Review, Vol. 196, No. DCLXXIXCXCV (June, 1912), 845. 108 Edward G. Browne, A Year Amongst the Persians (3d ed.; A. and C. Black, 1959), p. 69; Browne, “Babiism,” in Religious Systems of
Baha’i Publishing Society, 1910), p. 55; M. Clément Huart, La Religion, de Bab: Réeformateur Persan du XIXe Sièécle, Bibliotheèque Orientale Elzé- virieinne, Vol. LXIV (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1889), pp. 3-4; A.-L.-M. Nicolas, Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Bab (Paris: Dujarric etand Cie, 1905), p. 375; and Subh-i-Azal’s testimony in Browne, New history, Appendix III, p. 412. 109 Browne, New History, p. 301 and n. 1. 110 Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 375. 111 Browne, “Babiism,” Religiouns Systems of the World, p. 346. See also Ford, The Oriental Rose, pp. 54-55. 112 Ferraby, All Things Made New, p. 199. 113 See Browne, “Babiism,” Religious Systems of the World, p. 346; and William McElwee Miller, Baha’ism: Its Origin, History and Teachings (New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1931), p. 53. 114 Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, p. 31. 115 Browne, New History, p. 303. 116 Ford, The Oriental Rose, p. 57. 117 Jules Bois, “The New Religions of America: Babism and Bahaism,” The Forum, LXXIV (July, 1925), 4. 118 See also Bayan VI, 1; for Browne’s translation and discussion of these passages, see Traveller’s Narrative, Note U, pp. 344-45. 119 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, p. 345.
par A.-L.-M. Nicolas (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1905). 121 Abul Fazl, Hujaj’ul Behaeyyeh (the Baehai Proofs), trans. by All Kuli Khan (New York: J. W. Pratt Co., 1902), p. 43; Browne, Travel- ler’s Narrative, pp. 230, 274, 292. 122 The standard collection of Muslim hadiths (traditions) of al-Bukhari is divided into ninety-seven “books” subdivided into 3,450 Chapters called babs (H. A. R. Gibb, Mohammedanism: An Historical Survey, Mentor Books [New York: New American Library, 1955], pp. 65-66). 123 Edward G. Browne, ed., Kitab-i Nuqtatu’l-Kaf, Being the Earliest History of the Babis Compiled by Hajji Mirza Jani of Kashan between the Year’s A.D. 1850 and 1852, edited from the Unique Paris Ms. Suppl. Persan 1071 (Leiydean: E. J. Brill, 1910. London: Luzac & Co., 1910), pp. xix, xxxi; Browne, New History, Appendix II, p. 381; Browne,
124 Browne, Nuqtatu’l-Kaf, p. xcv. 125 The following résumé is based on Browne’s Index to the Bayan, published in the Nuqtatu’l-Kaf, pp. liv-xcv, and Nicolas’s French transla- tion of the Persian Bayan. For a more detailed coverage, see Samuel Graham Wilson, “The Bayan of the Bab,” The Princeton Theological Review, XIII, (Oct., 1915), 633-54. 126 Mohammed, Le Béyan Persan, I, 65. Baha’is believe the person here referred to is Baha’u’llah. See below, the section on “He Whom God Shall Manifest.” 127 Shoghi, God Passes By, p. 4. 128 Moore, History of Religions, II, pp. 513-14. 129 Browne, New History, Appendix II, p. 338. 130 Browne, A Literary History of Persia, IV, p. 211. 131 These provinces are designated as (1) the Land of Fa, (2) the Land of ‘Ayn, (3) the Land of Alif, (4) the Land of Kha, (5) and the Land of Mim. 132 This, in a sense, could be said of any one of the mani- festations after the first one. 133 Browne, Traveller’s Narrative, Note A, p. 187. Yüklə 2,06 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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