Today marks the day when Siyyid, or Mirza, Ali Muhammad (1819-1850 AD) was executed via firing squad at the Barrack Square of Tabriz, Iran.
Siyyid/Mirza, Ali Muhammad came to be known as the Bab which means Gate or Door.
He founded the Babi Faith and his major work is called the Bayan in which he abolished certain Muslim laws and replaced them with new ones.
The Bab is said to be the forerunner to the second coming of Jesus, the return of Christ, who is said to have come as Mirza Hoseyn Ali who took on the title Baha'u'llah which means The Splendor or Glory of Allah.
It is difficult to discern who the Bab really was or what he believed as the Baha'i are chronic revisionists.
For example, the Bab never identified Mirza Hoseyn Ali as the coming “Manifestation of God.” In fact, they never met and Mirza Hoseyn Ali/Baha'u'llah stated that he never even had occasion to read the Bab’s writings. Rather, after the Bab’s execution Baha'u'llah proclaimed himself as having been the one spoken of by the Bab.
While other cycles of prophet and manifestation are said to have lasted a half millennia, a millennia, etc. the Bab’s cycle is said to have lasted merely 19 years.
This seems to have been an instance of rewriting history as some sources claim that he estimated 1,511 years.
This would have been done in order to fit Baha'u'llah into the scheme of things.
The Babi Faith and Baha'i Faith have been terribly persecuted in Iran for over a century. As to how the Bab came to be executed, there were various factors such as that he sought to abrogate Islamic law within an Islamic society. Also, there were various reports of Babi violence and misconduct of various sorts. For example, Baha'i authors cannot seem to agree whether Babi’s shot, hit and injured the Shah, or shot and missed, etc. But in any case, it was attempted assassination.
Thus, overall the Baha'i Faith have turned an interesting historical figure into a man of mystique made in their own image; who now serves the purpose of their propaganda.
For more on the Bab, the Babi Faith and Baha'i Faith please see this link.
Comments