 | Bahá'í/Bábí split: Encyclopedia - Bahá'í/Bábí split
Bahá'í/Bábí split
By Bahá'í/Bábí split is meant the process when most Bábís accepted the Bahá'í Faith as the fulfilment of their religion, leaving a remnant of Bábís who now refer to themselves as Bayanis.
This occurred after Bahá'í founder Bahá'u'lláh made his claims public in 1866, leading to expressions of support from the majority of the Bábí community, and opposition from the remainder. The breach was the foundation of several murders, and attempted murders, which both sides claimed the other ordered, and was used against both groups to imprison their leaders and followers.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Leadership After the Báb's Execution
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Appointment of Subh-i-Azal
The Bábís were led by their prophet, the Báb during the years 1844 to 1850, when he was executed by firing squad.
Before the Báb's death, he sent a letter addressed to Subh-i-Azal, which is considered to be his will and testament. Translations and commentary on the document can be seen here.
The letter is recognized as appointing Subh-i-Azal to be the leader of the Bábí community after the Báb. He is also ordered to obey "He whom God shall make manifest" when he ultimately appears.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Revelation in the Siyah-Chal
Bahá'u'lláh claimed his mission as the Promised One of the Báb was revealed to him in 1853 while imprisoned in the Síyáh-Chál in Tehran, Iran.
Historians agree that he had already been taking a senior position amongst the Bábís by that point. He did not, however, openly declare this prophetic mandate, and Subh-i-Azal remained the generally-recognized head of the Bábí community. On several occasions, Subh-i-Azal went into hiding from the authorities. Increasingly, therefore, Bahá'u'lláh and his younger brother Mirzá Musá controlled the monetary resources and much of the coordination of the Bábí community - especially in Baghdad where the community was now centered.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Public Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh
In 1863, at the Garden of Ridván near Baghdad, Bahá'u'lláh made his perceived station known for the first time to a small group of family and friends. Later, in Adrianople, he made a more public declaration by sending letters to the kings and rulers of the world, including Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz and Napoleon III of France. The Bábís who accepted this claim gradually became known as Bahá'ís.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Confrontations
The public declaration of Bahá'u'lláh led to severe conflict, including accusations and murders.
This conflict exacerbated the agitations of the Persian ambassador in Constantinople who sought through misrepresentations to have the Bahá'ís removed even further from Persia than Bagdad. Eventually both communities were exiled to far-flung outposts of the Ottoman Empire--Famagusta, Cyprus for Subh-i-Azal and his followers, and Haifa, in Ottoman Palestine, for Bahá'u'lláh and his followers.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Dayyán
Dayyán was one of the early Bábís, and one of nearly 25 people who claimed to be the Promised One of the Báb. He was killed in Baghdad soon after making his claim. Later, both Subh-i Azal and Bahá'u'lláh claimed that the other had ordered the murder.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Poisoning of Bahá'u'lláh
While in Adrianople, Bahá'u'lláh was poisoned and nearly died. His hand was left shaking for the rest of his life. Bahá'í historical texts report that Subh-i-Azal was directly behind the poisoning. Subh-i-Azal made the counter-claim that Bahá'u'lláh had accidentally poisoned himself while trying to poison others.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Siyyid Muhammad
Common Bahá'í belief is summarised by Shoghi Effendi, who wrote that Subh-i-Azal was "good-natured yet susceptible to the slightest influence". This is a reference to Siyyid Muhammad, a follower of Subh-i-Azal who is sometimes described as the "Bahá'í anti-Christ" for apparently misleading Subh-i-Azal. Siyyid Muhammad was one of those murdered in Akká by Bahá'u'lláh's followers, though Bahá'u'lláh was exonerated by the authorities as having no connection to the murder.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Doctrinal Disputes
Bahá'í/Bábí split - The completion of the Persian Bayan
As mentioned previously, before the Báb's death, he sent a letter addressed to Subh-i-Azal, which is considered to be his will and testament. Translations and commentary on the document can be seen here.
The letter mentions that the Báb only wrote 11 of the 19 chapters of the Persian Bayan. He then gives permission for Subh-i-Azal to finish the remaining 8, with the permission of Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest. The letter is clearly addressed in the first verse to Subh-i-Azal.
[Verse 27] We order you to obey Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest. He will verily appear amongst this people with a sublime reign in the final resurrection.
[Verse 28] Verily we are all servants and kneel down before Him.
[Verse 29] He shall carry out whatever He wishes, with permission from His Lord. He shall not be questioned for his actions. However all others are responsible for everything they do.
[Verse 30] If God manifests victory in your time, you have the pleasure to reveal the eight sequels with His permission.
Later, when both of them had claimed to be the Promised One, Subh-i-Azal wrote the Motammem Al-Bayan, and Bahá'u'lláh wrote the Kitáb-i-Íqán as the completion of the Persian Bayan.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Year of Revelation
The Báb prophesied that a messianic figure He whom God shall make manifest (man yuzhatir'u'llah) would emerge some time in the future.
Bayani sources say this will happen between the years 1511 and 2001 of the Bábí calendar (counting from 1844 CE), which would indicate a date sometime after 3354 CE.
Bahá'ís point to the Báb's allusions to the year nine (1853) as a prophecy of Bahá'u'lláh, when he first realized his mission, and the year 19 (1863), when he made his first declaration. The Báb said “The Lord of the Day of Reckoning, will be manifested at the end of Vahid (19)..." (God Passed By, p. 29)
The argument depends on an Arabic tradition of providing numerical values for letters and words, which are then interpreted to reveal additional insights. Bahá has the numerical value of 9, and Vahid has the value of 19.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Bahá'í Views of the Split
Bahá'ís argue that succession in the Bábí religion was superseded when the Bahá'í Faith's founder Bahá'u'lláh (Subh-i-Azal's elder half-brother) declared himself to be He whom God shall make manifest - they often describe Subh-i-Azal as a "nominal head".
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Taherzadeh
Bahá'ís view Subh-i-Azal's leadership largely as a nominal head. This is explained below:
Mirza Yahya [Subh-i-Azal] came into prominence not because he possessed any outstanding qualities, but rather through his close link with Bahá'u'lláh. In order to divert the attention of the enemies of the Faith from the person of Bahá'u'lláh, Who had emerged as a focal point among the early believers, the Báb wholeheartedly approved the suggestion of nominating the youthful and relatively unknown Mirza Yahya as the chief of the Bábí community. This suggestion had come from Bahá'u'lláh, and only two others were aware of the plan, namely, Bahá'u'lláh's faithful brother Mirza Musa (Aqay-i-Kalim) and a certain Mulla Abdu'l-Karim-i-Qazvini, who had been entrusted by the Báb, shortly before His martyrdom, with the task of delivering His pen-case, seals and writings to Bahá'u'lláh; he was subsequently martyred in Tihran at the time of Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment in the Siyah-Chal.
The advantages of this nomination were obvious and, as this system operated for some time, those who were endowed with insight and wisdom were able to see that Mirza Yahya was only a figure-head, and that it was the guiding hand of Bahá'u'lláh alone that was unobtrusively directing the affairs of the Bábí community after the martyrdom of the Báb.
Taherzadeh, 1987
Bahá'í/Bábí split - John Walbridge
This view is supported by the Báb's long-time secretary Mulla Abdu'l-Karim-i-Qazvini, believed to be the only other person who participated in the plan. John Walbridge writes:
In Qum, shortly before the Báb's martyrdom, he received a coffer from the Báb containing the last of his writings and his pen-case, seals, rings, and the famous pentacle tablet containing 350 derivatives of the word Bahá. He left the same day for Tehran, explaining that the Báb's accompanying letter ordered him to deliver it to Bahá'u'lláh.
(Mulla `Abdu'l-Karim Qazvini (Mirza Ahmad Katib) by John Wallbridge)[1]
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Qazvini
Qazvini himself wrote in a letter in 1851 describing the urgency that the friends do nothing to call attention to Bahá'u'lláh during his period of messianic secrecy:
May they never seek a proof from him, my good sir! For in a former time, in view of their perception of the command of God given to those who had attained the ocean of resignation and submission to the beloved Aqa Sayyid Husayn, the conceal matter should have been concealed--the matter that God has safeguarded until now, hiding it in his invisible gift. Nevertheless, it has become public, contrary to the intention, because of persons going back and forth from that place. Virtually the only news that was received was this disclosure! For that reason, the trusted ones of God are saddened and concealed. Indeed, that thing was almost revealed, which is beyond what existence can endure. Rather, it became visible, which was contrary to the intent. It will become manifest from the dwellers in the house of love. They hurried to send letters [or books: al-kutub] and repeatedly, among the means of disclosure. Then, this haste in that . . .
(translation by Juan Cole) [2]
Bahá'ís believes there is symbolism in the Báb sending to Báhá'u'llah not only all of his remaining writings, but his seals and his pens, literally handing over the instruments of revelation, along with the pentacle tablet written in his own hand confirming Bahá'u'lláh's station.
Bahá'í/Bábí split - Letter to Subh-i-Azal
The Báb's Will & Testament, which was unambiguously directed to Subh-i-Azal, makes it clear that he would not be the One promised by the Báb:
"We order you to obey Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest. He will verily appear amongst this people with a sublime reign in the final resurrection. Verily we are all servants and kneel down before Him. He shall carry out whatever He wishes, with permission from His Lord. He shall not be questioned for his actions. However all others are responsible for everything they do." [verses 27-29]
Bahá'í/Bábí split - A Contrary Point of View of Bahá'u'llah's Claim
A contrary point of view is that the Báb's writings refers to Subh-i-Azal as "the One", "the Way" and "the Great Truth". Moreover, the Báb's writings do not refer to Bahá'u'lláh by name leading at least one author to state that Bahá'u'lláh was not considered an important person by the Báb (this ignores, however, the common usage of titles instead of names). Bahá'u'lláh did receive tablets from the Báb which addressed him as the brother of Azal, but most significantly the pentacle tablet.
"....This is a letter from God, the Guardian, the Self-Subsisting, to God, the Guardian, the Self-Subsisting.... This is a letter from Ali before Nabil, the Reminder of God for the worlds, to him whose name is equivalent to the name of the One, the Reminder of God for the worlds.... That, O thou, name of the One, guard what has been revealed in the Bayan and enjoin the same, for thou art surely the way, the great truth." ::(Quoted from the "History and Doctrines of the Bábí Movement" who quotes Browne's "Introduction to Nuqtatul Qaf".)"
Bahá'í/Bábí split - After the Split
The majority of the Bábís ultimately followed Bahá'u'lláh, hence the name "Bahá'í". See Bahá'í Faith.
Bahá'ís refer to the followers of Subh-i-Azal as "Azalis", though these refer to themselves as Bayanis, after the Bayan, the Báb's most holy book. The Bayanis have continued with minimal divisions and today reckon their numbers at up to several thousand, mostly in Iran.
Bahá'ís regard the Bayanis as a splinter group since, in their view, the Bayanis have rejected the Báb's command to follow He whom God shall make manifest, whom they believe Bahá'u'lláh to be. Meanwhile the Azalis see the Bahá'ís much as Jews regard Christians--as a splinter group which has enjoyed relative numerical success despite a merely tangential relationship with its theological roots.
Bahá'í sources report that 11 of the 18 "witnesses" appointed by Subh-i-Azal to oversee the community became Bahá'ís, as well as his son. They also report that the appointed successor of Subh-i-Azal, Mirza Hadiy-i-Dawlat-Abadi, later recanted his faith in the Báb (God Passes By, p. 233). Bayani sources dispute these assertions.
Category: Bahá'í history
Other related archives1844, 1850, 1853, 1863, Abd-ul-Aziz, Adrianople, Akká, Azalis, Baghdad, Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'í history, Bahá'ís, Bayan, Bayanis, Báb, Bábí, Bábís, Cyprus, Dayyán, Famagusta, Garden of Ridván, Haifa, He whom God shall make manifest, Iran, Kitáb-i-Íqán, Motammem Al-Bayan, Napoleon III of France, Shoghi Effendi, Subh-i-Azal, Síyáh-Chál, Tehran, messianic figure, prophet
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Bahá'í/Bábí split", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
