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    ' , \IllHS EFENDl

    GENBRL EDITOR.1:5'" :1\&.. cr.a.... S&lI. '"J) '"J) - ...." ..."...ef L':l\.S.

    BAHAISM

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    BAHAISMBY

    THE REV. CANON SELL, D.D., M.R.A.S.nLLOlt ' 0 ' ma tTlfIV.UITT OP 1lUJ)JU.1

    .AUTHOR OP 'THE FAITH OF ISLAM,' 'THE RELIGJOUSORDERS OFISLAM, I ':ESSAYS ON ISLAM,' 'ISLAM: ITS RISE AND PROGRESS,'' THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUR'AN'; AND

    'THE RECENSIONS OF THE QUR'AN '

    THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE SOCIETYFOR INDIA

    LONDON, MADRAS AND COLOMBO1912

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    PRINTED AT THES. P. C. K. PRESS, VEPERY. MADRAS

    1912

    PREFACETHE recent visit of 'Abbas Efendf, son of the lateBaha'u' lIah, and now leader of the Baha'I community, to

    , London and Paris has drawn public attention to thereligious system known'as Bahaism.It is hoped that this historical account of the rise ofthe sect may be of some use in counteracting the extraor-dinary claims now made for Baha'u'llah and his teaching,and tbe assumption that 'Abbas Efendf is the prophet o fa new era.For typographical reasons the dots and dashes used

    in the t rans li te ra tion of cer ta in Arabic and Persianletters are omitted in the notes.

    . MADRAS,October 1, 1912

    EDWARD SELL

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    ',. ~ ~ ...~ - . ' . "2",- ' : . .

    ; .BAHAISM

    ,THE ABWAB 3which the most remarkable instance in re'cent years isthe rise of Bahaism, a development of the earlier systemof Babiism.

    The origin of Bahaism is to be found far back in theShi'ah doctrine of the Imamat.1 The tragic end of'AIr the four th Khali fa , and h is two sons, l;Iasan andl ;Iusain' , cal led forth a deep affection for their memory.They were looked upon as the true and rightful Imams,the only legitimate successors of Mul:tammad, the greatArabian Prophet . According to the Isma'H1ans,3 one ofthe two main subdivisions of the ShI'ah sect, therewere twelve Imams, the last of whom, Abu'I-Qasim,who succeeded hi s father in A. H. 260, is supposedto be still alive, though he is now quite concealedfrom human eyes. After duly performing the funeralceremonies for his father, he secluded himself entirely.He is called al-Mahdi, the guided one, who is, therefore,able to be a guide to others. The Imams are believedto be immacu la te and infallible. Their authority isthe authority of God, their work the work of God.As mediums between God and man they hold a farhighe r position than the prophe ts. It is fur the r anar tic le of belief that the earth is never without a

    ISe. The Faith of Isldm (S.P.C.K.), pp. 108-13; 117-18.'The Imams wer e des cended f rom a i-Husa in who is said to

    have mar ri ed a cap tiv e la dy, t he daughter 01 Yezdigird III,the last Sassanian king. They were thus descendants 01 th e royalhouse of Persia, which may account for the lact t ha t th e Persiansb e = e and remain Shi'ahs. I t also explains in part their intensedevotion to the I m ~ m 9 _3 See The Cult of 'AU (C.L.S.), pp. 11-12 and The Faith of

    l l ldm (S.P.C.K.) , pp. 113-5.

    living Imam, though according to the Shl'ahs, he ISnow concealed. AI-Mahdi is said to have disappearedin the yea r A. H. 329 = A. D. 940, and to be now l iving inone of the mysterious cities-Jabulka and Jabulsa. Indue time he is to reappear, his advent being heraldedby Je sus Christ. Then injustice and misery are to bebanished, the true (Shi'ah) faith will prevail and amil len ium of happiness will be ushered in. Meanwhilehe is invisible and inaccessible to the great mass ofhis followers. Fo r a time, however, he seems in somemys te rious way to have held intercourse with a sel ectfew, who became the channels of communication be

    '. tween himself and the large body of believers. Theseintermediaries were called Abwab or gates. These menwere four in Dumber, and for sixty-nine years theywere, one after another , t he gat es through which theconcealed Imam made known his will. This period(A. H. 260 to :i29) is cal led the ghaibat i -sughra, or thelesser seclusion. When AbU'I-l;Iasan, the last Bab(gate), carne to the end of his life, the people beggedhim to appoint a successor, so that they might stilllearn the Imam's will and so be able to obey hiscommands. He, for some reason o r other, absolutely. refused to do th is , a lleg ing as his reason that ' God hath.a purpose which He will accomplish.' Now the fai thful were sad, for all intercourse with the concealedImam was at an end. This period is known as theghaibat.i.kubra, or the greater seclusion. We have inthis curious belief the origin of Babiism, of whichBahaism is a later development. The importancewhich the Babis attached to these gates is seen

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    ..,BAHAISM -HE SHAIKH IS 5

    from the following s ta tement about them made manycenturies after they had passed away: 'For God hasassociated refuge in Himself with refuge in His Apostle(Mul,1ammad) and refuge in His Apostle with refuge inhis executors (the Imams), and refuge in his' executorswi th refuge in the Abwab (gates) of his executors ..for refuge in the Apostle is the same as refuge withGod, and refuge in the Imams is the same as refugein the Apostle, and refuge in the Abwab is identicalwi th refuge in the Imams.' I

    We must now pass over many centuries unt il wecome to the t ime of Shaikh Al,1mad (A. D. 1733 to 1826)the founder of the Shaikhi sect. He was a devoutascetic and a man of independent thought . He had aprofound belief in 'All . The memory of the Imamswas dear to him. He looked upon them as creativeforces, arguing from the text, 'God the best of Creators',Ithat, if He is the best, He cannot be the only one.One of the ea rlie st wr it er s on the Babl movement,Mirza K a ~ i m Beg, in the Joumal Asiatique 3 describeshim as a celebrated teacher, who by his virtues, austerityand erudition attracted a large body of disciples. Thespecial point o f his teaching is thus described: 'Godis immanent in the universe, which proceeds from Him.All the elect of God and all the Imams are personifications of the divine attributes," Thus, the twelve Imams

    I Epi.ock o f the Bdb, p. 233. I S6ratu'l-Mu'min6n (xxiii) 14.SJournal A$iatique, S i x i ~ m e S ~ r i e . tome vii , p. 458.~ A c c o r d i n g to Mirza Kaz im Beg , the doctrine 01 the Sha ikh!

    school was that the attributes of God proceed I rom the Sup remeExistence, and by His own wilt become personified in blending withthe human soul and spiritwhich also emanate from God.

    . from 'AU downwards to alMahdi were personificationsof the attributes of God. 'AU is the chief of these andholds higher rank than Mul,1ammad.

    The successor of Shaikh Al,1mad was I:Iaji SayyidKazim, a young man so myster ious in his actions thatmany of the worldly.minded Persians looked upon himas foolish, but his followers called him ' the Enlightened'.Through his ministrations the Shaikhi doctrines spread

    , rapidly, and it is said that ther e were soon a hundredthousand disciples in 'Iraq. This does not appear tohave called forth any opposition from the Mullas, or thepolitical chiefs , for among the admirers of the Shaikh.were a number of State officials and of the clergy;al l proud of his name and enthusiastic about his philoso- ,phy. The I:Iaji died in the year A.D. 1843 and leftno successor. Apparently he and his predecessorlooked upon themselves, at leas t so the Babi writerssay, as forerunners of one who would shortly appear,and whom they called the ' Promised Proof' the ' Masterof the dispensation' and by other such like terms. ToMulla I:Iusain, one of his followers, he is reported to .have said: 'From whatever quarter the" Sun of Truth"shall arise, it will irradiate all horizons and render themirrors of the hearts of the believers capable of receiv' jng the effulgence of the lights of wisdom.'

    The Shaikhis, being now left without a leader, andbearing in mind the expressions used by those who hadbeen their late leaders, began to look about for a. spi ri tua l d irector . Mulla I:Iusain proceeded to Shlrazand there met with a young man, named Mirza 'Al i. Mui,lammad, an ardent enthusias t who claimed to have

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    6 ,BAHAISM THE SHAIKH! CREED 7'received a call to a divine miSSion. Mull! 1;Iusainthought him too young for such leadership. Then oneday Mirza 'All said: ' ~ what signs canst thou recog-nize theMaster?' Mulla Husain replied: 'B y the posses-sion of the" Point of Knowledge", which is the sourceand centre of al l the wisdom of past and future prophetsand saints.' MIrza 'All then proceeded to give a mar-vellous exposition of many abstruse questions as proofthat he possessed t he ' Point of Knowledge '. Mull!1;1 usain pondered over this extraordinary occurrence forseveral days, and at last became convinced that in theyoung man before h im he had found the 'Sun of Truth',the' True One', to whose advent 1;Iaji Sayyid Ka?;im hadlooked forward. He had no longer any doubt and wroteto his friends at Kerbela that he had found at last aman worthy to be their Murshid. This readiness toespouse the cause of the new leader and to recognize inhim the Bah or gate, brought great honour to Mull! .1;Iusain who received the t it les of Babu'l-Bab-'Gate

    ;" of the gate'; the 1;Iarf-i-Awwal-the 'First Letter'; theAwwal man amana-the ' First to believe '. Then arosea great dispute. Many of the Shaikhis refused to receivethe Bab,1 as we shall now call Mirza 'Ali MUl;1ammad,and became his bitter enemies, but in time the greatmajority accepted him, and he became the real founderof the Babi sect.

    The Shaikhis rejec ted two of the five art icles of theShi'ah creed-'adl, or justic e of God, and ma'ud or the

    I They followed Hajl Muhammad Karim Khan, a member of th eroyal lamily. The Shaikh!s, su ch a s there are , s ti ll accept hisdescendants as their leaders.

    resurrection. They said that t here was no sufficientreason why justice alone o f all the attributes of Godshould be selected as an art icle of belief, and that Hiswisdom, power, or any other attribute had j us t a s gooda claim to be inserted in the creed. They objectedto the resurrect ion being made a spec ial a rt ic le on theground that its accept ance is implied in the belief inprophetship , for to bel ieve in a prophet means to accepthis teaching about the resurrection. Having thus de-pleted the creed, i t was necessary to a ~ s o m ~ t h i D g toit. They invented a new article of faith, which theycalled the Rukn-i-Rabi' , or the Fourth Support orPi1lar. This is interpreted to mean that there must al-ways be amongst the bel ievers a perfect man-Shi'ah-ikamil-who can be the channel of grace-wasita-i-fai

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    8 ,BAHAISM ,THE BAB 9The Bab was born in Shlraz on October 9, 1820.

    At an early age he lost his father, and then under thecharge of an uncle engaged in mercanti le pursui ts , butfor these his habit of religious meditat ion and his loveof speculative thought unfitted him. He gave them upand proceeded to Kerbela where his zeal for learningand his austere life soon brought him into notice. Hisear lies t wri tten work was a commentary on the twelf thchapter of the Qur'an known as the Suratu yusuf.This was followed by commentaries on other Suras andalso by an edition of some prayers . These he calledasha'if.i-ilhamiyah, or inspired pages; kalamifitra, orword of conscience, but he made no cla im to the highestform of inspiration (wa!)i), which Muslims hold to bethat of the Qur'{m. Count Gobineau says: ' In thefirst of these books, he was pious and a mystic: in thesecond polemic and dialect ic occupy a large space, andhis hearers noticed with astonishment that he unfoldednew meanings which no one had hitherto thought of inthe chapter of the Book of God which he had chosen,and that he deduced from it, above all, doctrines andteachings absolutely unexpected.' 1Whilst some persons were displeased with him, many

    were attracted to him, but, as his views became moregenerally known, he became bolder in the assert ion ofhis claims. On May 22, 1844, when about twentyfouryears of age, he openly declared himself to be an authorized teacher of divine truth and assumed the name

    1 Les rcligiotU!s ct les Philosophies dan s L 'A si c Centrale.p. 147 (I s ha ll re fe r in f utu re t o th is work under the name of i ~ author, Gohineau).

    of the Bab, and said: I Whosoever wishes to approachthe Lord his God and to know the true way that leads'to Him must do it through me.' This was a boldchallenge to the Muslim Mullas, but, according to Ka;>;imBeg, his followers increased day by day. Many weredreamers and myst ics, of whom there has always beena number in Persia, who thought the teaching accordedwi th their own panthei st ic views; t he re were otherswho, dissatisfied wi th the condition of life in Pers ia ,thought that his system might lead to reforms, and somewere d rawn to him by his at tract ive personality. Inany case, success began and soon aft er Mulla I;Iusaincast in his lot with the Bab.There is some difference of opinion as to the reasonwhich led him to adopt the title of Bab. The most ac

    curate account seems to be: 'H e (Mirza 'Ali MuJ:mm.mad) now gave out that, as 'All had been the gate bywhich men entered the city of the Prophet's knowledge,even so he was the gate through which man mightattain to the knowledge of the twelfth Imam (al.Mahdi):lLater on he discarded the name of Bab, and calledhimself the Qa'im, or the expected Imam. His followersgave him the titles of I;Iazrat, or Holiness; I;Iazrati.nuqta-ibayan, or His Holiness the Point of Revela.lion; I;Iazrat.i.Rabbiyu'I-A'!a, or His Hol iness theLord Most High; I;Iazratinuqtai.ula, or His Holinessthe First Point . Gobineau says: 'Mirza 'All Mu!)ammad said he was not the Bab in the sense in whichthey (his followers) had believed, and as he himself had

    1Watson, His/ory of Persia. p. 348.

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    10 BAHAISM PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS 11thought, that is to say, the gate of the knowledge oftruth; but tha t he was the Point (nuqta), or the origi .nator of truth, a divine appearance, a powerful manifestation.'1 I t will be seen that he now. claimed to bemore than a medium of information, and assumed tohimself the posit ion of one who could lay down as exacttruth what his followers should believe. Having thusput forth his claim to be a recognized leader with divineauthority, he proceeded to make the pilgrimage toMecca in the year 1844. He duly per formed all theceremonies of the I;Iaii, but it does not appea r to havebrought him back to orthodox Islam, nor did it postpone the opposit ion of the Mul1as, who now becamealarmed at the growing veneration in which many peopleheld him. A little later on he was brought as a prisoner to Shlraz, though liber ty of speech and action wasgiven to him. He avoided attacks on the dogmas ofIslam, but severely rebuked the Mul1as. His generaltopic was the sad and dis tressed sta te of men generally.Obscure al1usions in his speeches awakened an interestamongst the curious, and delighted those who had beeninitiated into his teaching. He t aught openly and hadfrequent discussions with the Mulhis; but according toK a ~ i m Beg, one ended disastrously. The 'Ulama assembled. The governor, I;Iusain Khan, who had assumedthe character and position of a learner, humbly suggestedthat the Bab should demonstrate that his doctrines weresuperior to those of MuQammad. The Bab answeredboldly: 'Take my Qur'an, compare it with that of your

    1 B ~ W l d 4 oj tlse Bal>, p. 230.

    ,Prophet and you will be convinced th at my religion isthe preferable one.' The governor was offended andthe Bab was bound and beaten. An attack was made on. the house in which the Bab dwelt, but he was al10wed toescape and make his way to I ~ f a h a n . The governor,Minuchir Khan, a Georgian eunuch, was kind to him and.gave all the needed protection and invited the learnedMu1las to a discussion with the Bab . According to theNasiBhu't-Tawarikh, the Bab was not able to answer, sat isfactori ly the questions put to him.1 The accountgiven in the TariBhiJadid l shows that at first theMullas accepted the invita tion, but soon withdrew. , 'saylDg: I f t here be any doubt in the matter there isneed for a meet ing and discussion; but, as the person'sdisagreement with the most luminous law is clearer than .the Sun, the best possible thing to do is to put into prac.tice the sentence of the law.' The governor, a sincereand true friend to the Bab, was much displeased at thedecision arrived at, and protected him as long as helived. After Minuchi r Khan's death in 1847, the Babwas removed to the castle of Mliku, a fortress on thenorth-west frontier. Here also he was allowed freeintercourse with his followers, both in person and bycorrespondence. He occupied his t ime in writ ing reli .gious books. An insurrection then broke out at Mazandaran which led the authorities to place the Bab incloser confinement, and to restrict the privilege of

    1Notes of tbis discussion will be found in The Episode oj theBdb. pp, 266-1.

    I Ibid., pp. 264-5.

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    12,BAHAISM - -ASSACRE OF BABIS 13intercourse with his friends. His new place of imprison-

    ment was the citadel of Chihriq.l He was then takento Tabrlz to undergo his first examination. Th e Mul:lammadan version of it is that the Bab showed himselffoolish and ignorant. The Babl account is that headvanced in a successful manner his claim of Mahdlhood, which caused a tumult. g Up to the present t imehe seems to have been treated by men in authority ,,!ithkindness and consideration; but now he was beaten andsent back to confinement in Chihriq. The reason forthis probably was the new attitude taken by the Mullas,who, in addition to the charge of rel igious error, maintained that the Bab and his followers were a dangerto the State. Th e King, MUQammad Shah, however,

    t Many cur ious expedients were resor ted to for the purpose ofconveying lellers to the Bab (el. The Episode of the Bdb, p. 276).The confinement at Maku lasted six months and at Chihrlq twoand a half years.

    The wbole examination was naturally unfavourable to the Bab(c!. Th . EpiSOde of the Bdl>, pp. 279-89). His claim to beat Mahd! is sbown in the following :-Bab.- I am that person for whose appearance you have waiteda thousand years.'

    Hajf Mulli. Mahmud.-' Tbat is to say you are the Mahdf, theLord of Religion.'Bl.b.- ' Yes.'Hajr Mulla Mahmud.- The same in person or generically.'Bab. - ' In person.'This marks a distinct advance. for he was no longer merely thegate of entrance to the concealed Imam, the medium of intercourse

    between that revered person and the faithful, but the twelfth Imam,al-Mahdf, come back to live amongst men and to claim theallegiance of all good Sbf'ahs.

    declined to interfere on the ground that the public peacehad not been so disturbed as to warrant extrememeasures.

    In the year 1848, Nasiru'd-Dln Shah was crownedat Tihnln and the position of the Babis became morecritical. The Prime Minister, Mirza Taqi Khan, wasent irely opposed to them and showed much cruel ty inall that he did concerning them. This led to a civilwar, but the power of the Bab is was broken by the fallof the fort of Shaikh Tabarsi, and the slaughter of itsgarrison in 1849. The commander of the royal forces,Prince Mahdi Kuli Mirza, was guilty of a great ac t oftreachery. He invited the Babl leaders to his camp,giving them assurances of personal safety. They werereceived with much courtesy, but, when they were attheir ease and had laid aside their weapons, the Princegave a signal and the unsuspecting Babls were seizedand put to the most cruel tortures. Some three hundredmen were smeared with nap tha and burnt alive. Stillthe Babls remained t rue to their leader. Per secutionseemed to have no effect on them, and so Taql Khansaw that he must put the Bab himself out of the way.He sent an order to his bro ther , who had cha rge of thecaptive , in these terms: 'Obtain a formal and explicitsentence from the learned doctors at Tabriz, who arethe firm supporters of the Church of la'far (the sixthof the twelve Imams) and the impregnab le strongho ldof the Shl 'ah religion. Summon the troops, suspendthe Bab before all the people and give orders for thesoldiers to fire a volley. '

    On the following day the Biib and one of his youthful

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    14 -AHAISM BURIAL OF THE BAB 15disciples, Aqa Muqammad 'Al l, were condemned bythe Mullas and then (July 9, 1850), handed over tothe Colonel of the regiment appointed to carry out .the sentence of death. Mirza K a ~ i m Beg gives thefollowing account of what took place. 'The roadswhich led to the court of the barracks were crowdedwith people. At a military execution in Persia, thecondemned are t ied together with their backs towards.the firing party. Aqa Muqammad 'All begged to beallowed to tum his face towards the people, and thenin a loud but calm voice, he began to say some prayerswhich had been composed by his master. The Babkept perfectly silent. His solemn demeanour and attitude aroused the sympathy and compassion of thespectators. The governor and the Mullas t ri ed to a ll aythis by preaching loudly against the Babi doctrines,and setting forth in an exaggerated form the evils of thesystem. They succeeded with difficulty in checking thepity of the spectators. Then, a ft er two volleys hadbeen fired, the deed was done and the Bab and hisyoung disciple met their fate. ' There were no polit i.cal g rounds for th is execu tion of the Bab, for though,driven to it by persecutions, the Babls had been inrevolt, the re is no evidence to show th at the Bab, then Aqa Muhammad 'All was u rged by h is brotber to give up the

    Bab and so to save his life. His reply shows the remarkablepower the Bab had over his followers and how devoted they wereto him and bis cause. He met bis death witb complete resignatioo.Tbe letter he wrote to his brotber is an exceedingly toucbing one.SeeJRAS. October 1889, p. 992.

    Journal Asiatique. S i x i ~ m e S ~ r i e . tomevii, p. 377.

    a pri soner , had any part in it or even encduraged it.This is the opinion of Count Gobineau, a great authorityon Bablism.The corpses were cast out of the city near the moat tobe devoured by dogs and jackals, but after a little time

    were conveyed away by the Babis, who, by bribes or theinfluence of powerful f riends, obtained possession ofthem. 'They were wrapped in silk, placed in one coffinand sent to Tihran where, by the order of Mirza Yaqya(Subl,ti.EzeJ) who, though but twenty years pld, hadbeen chosen to succeed the Bab, they were deposited ina l it tle shr ine cal led Imam-zadaiMa'sum. Here theyremained for seventeen or eighteen years, til l the schism

    . originated by Baha'u'llah deprived his halfbrother Subqi.Ezel of the supremacy in the Babl sec t which he hadhitherto enjoyed. Then they were removed by theBaha'is to a shrine at 'Akka (St. Jean d'Aere).'The Prime Minister fondly hoped that all trouble was

    at an end now that the Bab was no more, and that peaceand quietness would ensue; but he entirely miscalculatedthe s trength of the movement and the devoted ardour ofthe Babis. So far from the loss o f the ir leader put tinga stop to the growth of the sect , it only increased i tsnumbers.!The Bab does not appear to have been a political

    agitator, and politics had nothing to do with the inceptionof the movement. His desire was to introduce religiousreform, but hedid not see that in a land where Church andState were so closely connec ted t hi s mus t eventually

    ! Gobineau, p. 271.

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    16 BAHAISM CRUEL TREATMENT OF B..\BISlead to p"litical complications. Still he was not afanatic either in religion or politics. He was a mystic,with all the unworldliness of a man devoted to medit ation on abstruse subjects. His followers, however,soon found that the Mullas opposed all reforms, and thatthe government stood by them. Then the movementbecame political and the troubles began. The Babremained passive, but the chief men amongst his followers did not . They accepted the new departure and sothe death of the Bab did not, as the government expected, render them despondent. On the contrary, itexasperated them and made them the determined enemiesof the Shah and his government.The next historical event of importance is the attemptto assassinate the Shah of Persia, N a ~ i r u ' d - D i n , on

    Augus t 15, 1852. It does not appear to have been anact determined on by the Babi leaders, but the work ofa few who desired to avenge the execution of t he Bab.I f this is the case, the relentless persecution whichfollowed was not justified. The conspirators weretwelve in number, but only three were actually engagedin the attempt. They contrived to be engaged asgardeners in a garden in which the Shah sometimeswalked, and one day approaching him, on pretence ofhaving a pet it ion to del iver , they fired three t imes athim, the last shot inflicting a slight wound. Oneassassin was killcd on the spot, the other two werearrested. At their examination before the Council ofMinisters, they declared that they had no accomplicesand said: you can torture us ti ll the day of judgement ,we shall say no more. '

    The most act ive measures were now taken againstthe Babis, a number of persons, probably fifty, werearrested, of whom about twenty-eight were condemnedto death . The sentence was carried out in SeptemberIS, 1852.1 The authorities were alarmed and deter-

    , mined to make a terr ib le example. The prisoners, saysMirza K a ~ i m Beg, were tor tu red in the mos t odious

    , manner, with an unheard of refinement of cruelty. ' An, English traveller says: 'Tow steeped in oil was insertedbetween their fingers and behind their shoulder blades,

    , leaving portions banging down which were lighted, and, in this condition the unhappy wretches were led, as longas they could walk, through the principal s treets of thecapital. No time was lost between apprehension andexecution, death was the only punishment known. Theheadless bodies lay in the streets for days, the terrifiedrelatives fearing to give them burial, and the dogs.fought and growled over the corpses in the desertedthoroughfares .' Count Gobineau says: children andwomen wi th ligh ted cand les stuck into the ir woundswere driven a long by whips, and as they went theysang, "w e came from God, to Him we return," whenthe children expired, the executioners threw the corpsesbeneath the feet of their fathers.' 3 Suleyman Khan's

    1Someof these persons, such as Qurratu ' l- 'Ayn, and 'Aqa SeyyidHusain of Yezd were in st ri ct confinement at the time of theattempt in the Shah 's life and, therefore, could not possibly havehad anything to do with i t. Their execution was due to theirreligious opinions and in order to strike terror ioto the heartsof the Bahls.

    Ussher, Diary of a jourtUJy from London to Persopoli., p. 628.3 Gobineau, p. 302.3

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    18 ,BAHAISM QURRATU'L-'AYN 19execution is thus described: 'A t first four knife woundswere made in his breast, into which lighted candleswere placed. Red hot horseshoes were fastened to hisfeet, and he was then led round the streets of the bazaar.His teeth were then torn out of his mouth and arrangedas a crescent on his head. He then died.' I This manbore his tor tures with grea t heroism, and sang versesshowing happy he was to give his life for his faith.

    In order to avert from the Shah and his ministers anyspecial hatred of the Babls, and to minimize the possibility of retal iat ion , the prisoners were divided amongstdifferent classes of persons, who were responsible for theexecution of the victims allotted to them. Thus the'Ulama representing the clergy; the princes , the nobility; military officers; professors and merchants-allhad to take their part in the executions.

    The punishment was for a pol it ical offence, thoughdislike of a sectarian movement may have had its sharein the action 6f the government. The Babls, however,looked upon it as a religious persecution and so far fromsuppressing the movement it led to a large increase in thenumber of the secret followers of the Bab. Persecutionhad failed hitherto also for it is said that, 'i n a very, few years (1847 to 1852), this religion spread throughout Persia, and counted innumerable devotees. I t wasnot an ignorant population that was stirred up, bu t leading members of the clergy, persons of good educat ion,women belonging to important families, philosophersand Sufis. Even Jews were affected." PersecutionI Vambiry. Wanderungen um l Erlelmtsse in Persien, p. 299, Gobineau, p. 308.

    continued to fail for later on Lord Curzon I considered. them to number nearly one million, drawn from men. in every walk of life.

    One of the most noted persons put to death in 1852'was Qurratu'l-'Ayn, a learned lady of great intelligence)and strong personality, who had embraced with heartfeltdevotion the teaching of the Bab. At Kerbela she gavea public address to the Shaikhls, but the governor madeher go away. She went to Baghdad but was again madeto move on. So she wandered from place to place,~ v e r y w h e r e preaching and making converts. Some ofthe BahlS were not well pleased that a woman shoulddo this; but the Bab supported her and gave her thetitle of Janab.i.Tahi ra, or Her Excel lency the Pure.After the insurrection at Mazandaran she was taken, . pr isoner and sent to Tihran. The Shah having seen hersaid he liked her looks and that she should be leftq u i e t . ~ Her imprisonment was not, therefore, rigorous,,and she was allowed to have occasional intercourse withher Blibi friends. Her marvellous beauty, enthusiasmand eloquence won for her the regard of her custodianMa\:J.mud Khan, who did all that his duty allowed him tosoften the rigour of her captivity. Her life was in nodanger, unti l the attempt to assassinate the Shah was

    1Pe.,.sia, vol. i. p. 499. It is difficult to arrive at any certainty,but the numbers seem to bave been exaggerated in the past. TheBah"'ls themselves claim that their lollower in Persia now numberbetween two and three hundred thousand. but Dr. J. D. Frame. aresident in Persia, considers that there are not more than onehundred thousand, Cf. The Moslem World. vol. ii, No.3. p. 238.

    ,'-Iolj ..} olt' ,..,. J I

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    22 -AHAISM DEVOTION TO THE IMAM 23

    .'

    incarnate in the prophets , This Primal Will whichspoke in all the prophets of the past, spoke also inthe Bah who is the Nuqta-i-Bayan, or the 'Point ofRevelation' and will speak in 'Him whom God shallmanifest'. This is apparent from the following textsof the Bayan: 'The whole Baycfn revolves round thesaying of .. Him whom God shall manifest ".' 'A thousand perusals of the Baycfn are not equal to the perusalof one verse of wha t shall be revealed by .. Him whomGod shall manifest ". 'The Bayan is today in thestage of seed, but in the day of .. Him whom God shallmanifest", i t will arr ive at the degree of fruition: ' I tust be remembered that Baba'u'llah afterwards claimed,

    :nd is allowed by his followers, this exalted position.The following are some of the expressions used of Baha'u'llah by his followers. 'Baha'u'llah has come for theper fect ing of the law of Chr is t, and his in junctions arein all respects s imi lar.Fo r instance, we are commanded that we shouldprefer that we should be killed rather than th,at weshould kill. I t is the s ame throughout, and mdeedcould not be otherwise, for Baba'u'llah is Christ returned again, even as He promised, to perfect t h ~ twhich He had begun. Christ returns to you as Baha .u'llah with angels, with clouds, with the sound ofthe Sufis evident ly borrowed from the Gnostics, and, the Bablsf rom Ihe SuHs. This e arne st longing for communIOn wIth amanifestation 01 God we can sympathize wilh,. and only ~ e g r e tthat in their ignorance or repudiation of the Chrlsuan d ~ c t r 1 D e ofthe incarnation, hath Sufi and BlIbi have so sad ly mISsed themark,

    trumpets. Hi s angels are his messengers , the cloudsare the doubts which prevent you recognizing him; thesound of the t rumpets is the sound of the proclamationwhich you now hear, announcing that He has comeonce more from heaven, even as he came before.' IEach dispensat ion of the Prima l Wil l thus becomeincarnate supersedes a preceding one, and so Islam hasceased to be the true religion for to-day., It has already been shown that devotion to the Imam

    . was a very prominent point in the teaching of the Bab..In one of the earliest of his writings we read, 'Whenthou wishest to visit the friend of God, or one of theImams of the faith, first purify thy body. from every .thing which thy heart dislikes; then wash thysel f withseven handfuls of water upon thy head. ' Then followthe directions how to approach the Imam with humility.and the prayer to be said. He addresses the Imams aseffulgences of the divine glory, manifestations of God,intercessors with Him for sinful men. He longs for. communion with them.' Thus: 'Where are the days ofyour manifestation that I may be independent of allexcept you? and where are the days of the appearanceof the signs of your Lordship , that by your permission,I . may say to whatsoever I will, .. Be," and it shallbecome existent before you.' These are the enthusiastic utterances of a devout Shi' ah, and represent thefeelings of the Bab before he felt conscious of anyspecial mission. But this constant dwelling on theglory of the Imams, the dispensers of God's will and' favour, gradually led to the formation of the idea that

    I Browne, A Yea,. among the Persians, pp.308-9,

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    24 ,BAHAISM THE NUMBER NINETEEN 2She had special communication with them and was, Infact , the Bab.A t thi s stage , the usual M u ~ m m a d a n customs were

    not set aside. The month of RamaQAn was observedas a fast; but the 'Ulama were bit terly reproachedfor opposing this new revelation. Thus the Bab says:'0 people of the ear th , give thanks to God, for ver ily wehave delivered you from the doctors of doubt.'

    For a more complete exposi tion of the Babl dogmas ,Professor Browne, to whose valuable researches we arechiefly indebted for the best information on the subject,refers to the Persian B a y a t ~ , from which quotationshave a lr eady been made. This work brings out morefully the theory of a Primal Wil l and declares that,'That which spoke in Adam, Noah, Moses, David, Jesusand MuJ:iammad I was the one and the same Primal Will.In each manifestation news has been given of the following one. Thus the Jews were told to expect aMessiah, but they rejected him; the Christians to expectMuJ:iammad but, as a rule, they did not accept him;so the MuJ:iammadans are taught to look out for ImamMahdl. Yet now he has come (i.e. in the Bab) theypersecute him.'"The chapter s o f the Bayan are arranged in groupsof nineteen, a number which has a pecul iar significance

    with the Babls . Each letter of the Arabic alphabet hasa numerical value, and so dates can be given by wordsor sentences. Alif, the first letter, stands for God,and the word for one is wal;iid. The numerical value

    ITbese are Ibe Anbiya'ulu'l-'Azm of Islam. See Faith 01JRAS, vol. xxi, pp. 914, 925. [Is/

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    ,BAHAISMand his eighteen disciples. I These eighteen are calledthe hurofat i .Qayy, or letters of the l iving, because bythem the Bab bestowed life upon the world.' Theseagain with their leader form the number nineteen, andthus constitute a w ~ i d , or complete unity, and, as eachdisciple was to have nineteen under him, we againarrive at 361, which represent the numer ical value ofthe letters in Kulu Shey' or the number of all things.On this same ground the Bayan has nineteen parts,and each pa rt has nineteen chapters. The Babi yearhas nineteen months of nineteen days; each day hasnineteen hours and each hour nineteen minutes. Thesame principle was adopted to regula te measures ofdistance and of weight; law and commerce were tocome under i ts influence. ' Organize, ' said the Bab allthings under the number of the unity, that is to say,by a division into nineteen parts.!Another point on which the Bayan lays much stressis that no revelation is final. This is entirely opposedto the ordinary Mu!}ammadan view, which is that asMubAmmad was the K!latamu'IAnbiya " or the Seal ofthe Prophets, ' his revela tion closed the series. TheBab taught that, as t he human race progresses, t hePrimal Will, the teacher of men, speaks in each newrevelation more fully and more clearly." All these

    1Gobineau. p. 322. He said that he (the Bab) came'only for the further develop-ment of the knowledge of the divine nature; that all the prophetsin succession had said more about thi s than their predecessorswere cal led upon to do. and that i t was simply as a consequenceof this regular progress that to h im had been assigned the task to

    REVELATION NOT FINALsuccessive and progressive revelations and dispensationswere not fo r the purpose of abrogatingpreceding essentiallaws, bu t to complete them and especially to preparethe world for the fuller teaching of 'Him whom Godshall manifest'.The Bab taught that men who looked upon revelation

    as final had gone astray. The Jews looked forward tothe advent of the Messiah, yet when he came theyrejected him. The Christians were told that the Paraelete would come, yet, when MubAmmad, the promisedcomforter, arrived, they would not accept him. TheShi'ahs pray for the coming of alMahdi, bu t whenhe appeared as the BAb they put him to death. So theBab insisted on the fact that he was not the lastmanifestation, and referred to Him whom God shallmanifest'. Baha'u'llah claimed to be that person. Assuming that his cla im is valid, which the Ezelis deny,s til l according to Babi, teaching he will not be the last,and some other c laimaut may arise to supersede him.No doubt, the Bab expected that long ages would intervene, and the condition of the world would changebefore the appearance of a new manifestation. By hisaction Baha'u'llah has taught that only a few years arerequired and has thus prepared the way for constantchange, when some one strong enough to make his wayshall appear. He thus se t a precedent for his son,Abbas Efend l, to follow. As agains t this theory the

    . Bab's position is clear. A new religion is not sentbe more complete t han Muhammad, who himself was morecomplete than Jesns, as Jesus in tum was more complete than hispredecessors,' Gobineau, p. 317.

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    28,BAHAISM THE COMING ONE 29

    until the development of the human race renders th isnecessary. A revelation is not abrogated till .it is nolonger sufficient for the needs of mankind. There is nodisagreement between the prophets: all teach the sametruth, but in such measure as men can receive it. As'mankind advance and progress they need further instruction. The instruction given' by Abraham wassuitable and sufficient for the people of his day, butnot for those to whom Moses was sent, whilst thisin tum had ceased to meet the needs of those to whomChrist was sent. Yet we must not say that theirrel igions were opposed to one another, but rather thateach manifestation is more complete and more perfectthan the last. ' IThe great point in the Babi theology is that theteacher is one and the same, though he manifes ts himself according to the capacity and needs of those towhom he is sent. The outward form changes but theUniversal Spirit remains. It then follows that sincethi s Universal Spi ri t is absolute good, we must believethat it always has a manifestation in the world . . .hence during the long intervals which separate oneprophetic dispensation from the next, there must be inthe world silent manifestations of the spirit, intrinsicallynot less perfect than the speaking manifestations whomwe call prophets .' 2 Such persons would seem to bethose who in $6fl phraseology had annihilated self,escaped the delusions of plurali ty and realized the unity

    1Browne, A Yea, . among the Persians. p. 303."Ibid., p. 327.

    of True Being. They differ in degree but not in kindfrom the prophets.The Biib was a prisoner when he showed such in

    t eres t in prepar ing the mind of his followers for thisComing One'. The Bayan is full of it. I t is laiddown that in every assembly of bel ievers a vacant placemust be left for him. When his name is mentionedall must rise up. In any case, the ground was allp repared for BaM'u 'lliih when he made his claim.The Bayan speaks with confidence of the success ofBiibiism. The future Bab, community is to form aperfect Utopia and its governments are to be tolerant.

    The kindly nature of the Bab is seen in the fancysketches he draws of the future. At the day of judgement, He whom God shall manifest' will preside. Allth e good people will be praised for their works, theirpiety, their obedience. Evil men will be annihilated.Thus the good will return to God and dwell in Him;the bad will pass away and be no more.The Mu!,lammadan doctrines of the examination of

    the dead ' in the graves, the resurrect ion, ~ i r a t , heaven,hell, are all treated allegorically. The first is really asummons to the people to believe in the next manifestation of the Pr imal Will, the resurrection is theappearance of this manifes tat ion. $irat , or the br idge,is the belief in the prophet of the age, a mat te r difficultto the self-willed, but easy to the seeker after God..Hell is ignorance and denial of the las t mani festa tionof God, through the Primal Will incarnated in tbeprophet, whilst heaven is joy in it. The views of. the Bab on a future life ar e not very clear, Speaking

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    30 ,BAHAISM LAWS AND CUSTOMS 31of barzakh 1 he says, What is intended by barzakh ismerely the interval between two manifestations, and notthat which is commonly known amongst men, for noneknoweth what shall be decreed unto them after deathexcept God.' The hope of a future reward was notplaced be(ore his followers as an inducement to accepthim, and this is in direct contrast to the conduct andteaching of Mui:lammad. In the Bayan the Bab wrotethe following str ik ing words: So worship God that, ifthe recompense of thy worship of Him were to be thefire, no alteration in thy worship of Him would beproduced. I f you worship from fear, that is unworthyof the threshold of the holiness of God, nor will yoube accounted a believer; so also, if your gaze is onParadise, and if you worship in hope of that, for thenyou have made God's creation a partner with Him.' tThe great festival is that of the Persian Nauruz or

    New Year's day. Instead of the M$mmadan fast ofRamaQ.an of thi rty days, a month of nineteen days, thelast month of the BaM year, is appointed. Imagesand pictures are not allowed in places of worship ; butmusic and singing are lawful in such buildings forpurposes of devotion. A belief in the efficacy of talis-mans and charms is encouraged.3 Each man constantlycarries on his person a charm in the shape of a star,the rays of which are formed of l ines containing thename of God; the women carry one made in the formof a circle. No encouragement is given to mendicants.

    1 See Faith ojlsldm (3rd ed., S.p.e.K.), p. 233. JRAS October. 1889, p. 931.a Gobineau. p. 336.

    I t is said: The most hate ful o f mankind before Godis he who sits and begs; take hold of the rope ofmeans, relying on God, the Causer of Causes.' Thetraffic in slaves is forbidden, and there are laws aboutgreat criminal offences, and civil matters, such as inheritance, endowments and so on. Shaving the head isnot allowed, but the beard may be cut off. Legalimpuri ty is abolished and intercourse wilh persons ofaU religions is enjoined. Music is permitted, wine andopium are prohibited. The furniture of houses shouldbe renewed every nineteen years. I t is recommendedthat chairs should be used. No one mus t carry armsexcept in times of tumult or war. Circumcision istreated as a matter of indifference. The Bab alloweda second wife to be taken, but prohibited concubinage.;All are to read the sacred books regular ly , to be kindand courteous in their conduct, to give alms, to approvefor others what they would like themselves, and toforgive their enemies. Instead of the Mnl;tammadansalutation, 'Assalama 'alaikum and alaikumu's-salam'or 'peace be upon you' and 'upon you be peace,'the Babis amongst themselves say, on meeting oneanother, Allihu abha- 'God is most bright, ' to which theresponse is the same.After the death of the Bab, the chief in teres t in themovement circles round Mirza YaQya and his elder.halfbrother Mirza I;Iusain 'Ali, known as Baha'u'Uah,who became the respective leaders of the two sects, intowhich the Babis soon became divided, the Ezelis andthe Baha'is. There seems no doubt that the Bab inthe year 1849 nominated the former, whom he named

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    32,

    BAHAISM, ,BABIS IN BAGHDAD 33

    Sub1;tiEzel (Morning of eternity), as his successor, andwho for a short time really held an undisputed positionas the spiritual head of the Babi community. His claimto this office is based on the document, of whichProfessor Browne gives the following translation :_ 1This is a le tt er from 'All before Nabil ,' the remem

    brance of God un to th eworlds,Unto h im whose name is equivalen t to the name ofOne,3 the remembrance of God unto the worlds.

    Say, 'Verily all originate from the Point of revelation' (nuqta-i.Bayan).a name of the One, keep what hath been revealed inthe Bayan,

    And wha t ha th been commanded, 'Verily thou ar ta mighty way of truth.'

    Professor Browne says: ' In my opinion it is p rovedbeyond all doubt that the Bab, ere his death chose himas his successor. '

    In 1852, when the attempt on the l ife of the Shah wasmade, the Babls were bitterly persecuted, and Subl;t-iEzel escaped to Baghdad, which then became the headquarters of the sect. Baha'u'lIah, who had been imprisoned in Tihran for four months, joined him someyears after.

    I The New History of the Bdb, p. 426. A name of the Bab.3 Wahid, one. The numerical value of the lellers in Wahid is

    18, which is also Ihe value of the lellers in the word Yahya, oneof the names 01 Subhi-Ezel. I t is t hu s c le ar I ha t t he Bah meantSubh-i-Ezel and not Baha'u'llah 10 succeed him.

    The Episotk of the Bab, p. 350.

    They remained quietly at Baghdad for e leven ortwe lve years, dir ec ting a cautious and steady propaganda. In the ea rl y part of thi s period B a h A ' u ' l l ~ret ired for two years into Turkish Kurdistan, which theBaha'is say was a period of purification and preparationfor his great office; but the Ezelis say that he wentaway, because he was annoyed at the opposition he metwith. t ..

    The Persian government, stirred up by the orthodoxMullas, at length objected to the residence of the Babisin Baghdad, and preva iled on the Turkish authoritiesin 1864 to deport them to Constantinople, from w h e n c ~a few months later on they were sent to Adrianople.

    SubQ-i-Ezel led a very secluded l ife in Baghdad, andthe correspondence was carri ed on and other mattersattended to by Bahli 'u 'l Iah, a man of resolute will andambitious chara cte r. At first he ac ted in the name ~ SubQ-i-Ezel, and professed to do all he did under his.instructions; bu t in time the idea gradually formed itself in his mind that he should become actual ly ,indeed he was already virtually, the head and leaderof the Babis. Thus the influence of Baha'u' ll lih grew,and ft l ast in 1866-7 he began to advance claims whichafterwards culminated in the assertion that he was theperson to whom the Bab referred in the expression, ' Hewhom God shall manifest." It required great firmnessof purpose to withstand such a claim made by such aman, and 'such firmness Subl;tiEzel, a peace-loving,

    I Hasht Bihisht, cf. Episotk of the Bdb. p. 356..ll1 a

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    34 ,BAHAISM CLAIMS TO LEADERSHIP 35cOntemplative, gentle soul, wholly devoted to the memory of h is be loved master , car ing li tt le for authori ty ;and incapable of selfassertion, seems to have altogetherlacked.'\

    The Ezelis did not admit the claim made by BaM'u'llah and maintained that before the person of whoseadvent the Bab had spoken could come, Babiism mustobtain general currency, and the l aws laid down by theBab in his books must be accepted by most of thenat ions of the world.' They further added to theirreply that it was not to be supposed that two manifestations, that of the Bab , and that of 'Him whom God shallmanifest' could take place with so short an intervalbetween them. Th e Baha'is, who admitted that Subi:Ji-Ezel was the first vice-regent of the Bab, to all theobjections alleged against Baha'u'llah replied that Subi:J-iEzel's rule was only to las t un ti l the mani festat ion ofthe new leader, who was to come suddenly, and thetime of whose advent was known only to God; that theBab had s ta ted that the new prophet come suddenly,and that i t could not happen that anyone should falselyclaiD;l the honour of being the new manifestation.They also used an argument well known amongstMui:Jammadans, an argument hased on the l iterary s tyleof.the books given hy means of a divinely-appointed messenger. They asserted tha t the L a u l , J - i - N a ~ i r , the bookin which Baha'u'llah announced his mission, fulfilled

    \N _ History 0/ the Bdb, p. xxi.I This cou ld not yet be the case. for as Count Gobineau says:

    The Btbi literature isextensive but secret, for be who was mown,to possesS such books put his life in danger.' p. 310.

    thi s condition of a divine revelat ion by its eloquenceof diction and the wonderful knowledge, unacquired bystudy, displayed by i ts author. Anyhow the conf lict ingclaims to the leadership led to quarrels, blows and lossof life. A number of Ezelis, probably about twentyfive in number, were assassinated by the fol lowers ofBaha'u' llah , . though there is not sufficient evidence toshow tha t they acted under his orders. He was, however , charged with an attempt to poison Sub1;Ji.Ezel.The Baha'is r ebut thi s cha rge by saying that it wasSubi;J-i-Ezel who put the poison in the food Baha'u'llahwas expected to eat. Mr. Phe lps ('Abbds Effendi, pp.42-3) holds the lat ter view and animadverts severely onProfessor Browne's suggestion that assassination is lessrepugnant to the eastern than to the western mind.That three, at least, of the Ezelis were put to dea th bythe Baha'is is, in Professor Browne's opinion, hardly amatter of doubt. He further states that 'Abbas Efendiwould appear to have interceded for the murderers. \The assassination of opponents on the part of a religiousleader has for i ts jus ti fication amongst persons broughtup in the . Muslim system, the actions of Mul,Jammadhimself, and i t would not, therefore, necessarily appearobjectionable to the Baha'is. Only it is a bad intr0duction to a new sys tem which cla ims above all thingsto be ' a religion of brotherhood.'

    The Turkish authorities seeing those breaches of thepeace amongst t he Bab is at Adrianople determined toseparate the disputants. Baha'u'llah and his followerswere sent to 'Akka in Syria, and Subi:J.i.Ezel and his

    \ Cf. The Episode 0/ the Bdb. pp. 93-4; 359-72.

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    36 ,BAHAISM , ,THE TEACHING OF BAHA'U'LLAH 37

    5*

    people t o Famagusta in Cyprus. This took place in1868. A few Ezelis were sent with Baha'u'lIah and afew Baha'is with ~ u b 1 ) - i E z e l . I t was hoped that bythis arrangement the minority, in each case, would ac tas spies, and prevent any communication between Babisin Persia and either of the rival leaders.

    After a time Baha'u'lIah was allowed to live in ahouse outside the town of 'Akka.' When the deposi.tion of Sultan 'Abdu 'I .J :! amid took p lace still moreliberty was allowed, and 'Abbas Efendi can now travelabroad. Hi s permanent res idence is at Haifa near'Akka, whither pilgr ims from Persia, England andAmerica resort, and by their gifts maintain him and hisfamily in afIluence. It is said that there are no converts in the neighbourhood. ' ~ u b 1 ) - i - E z e l in his i sl andhome may be compar ed to Napoleon in St . Helena-aman who has p layed a great rtlle in stirring events andtimes, but wbose active life and power t o mou ld men'sthoughts have passed away.' I

    After this separation had been made, the followers ofB a h a ' u ' l I ~ h increased r ap id ly , whi ls t t hose o f ~ u b 1 ) . i .Eze) have decreased. They are now nearly extinct, andare not at all likely ever to come into power again.

    Baha'u'lIah's claim to be tbe messenger of a new dispensation was an unlooked for development of the work

    lIt was from here that Baha'u 'llah following the example ofMuhammad. s ent f or th a l et ter to the Shah of Persia (EpisOlk 0/tM'Bdb. pp, 390-400), the bearer of which was put to death, and.addressed other letters, called 'Epistles to the Kings,' to QueenVictoria, the Tsar of Russia, Napoleon II I and his Pope, JRAS1889, pp, 489-92, EncycloJ>t"dia of Religion and Ethics, vol. ii , p, 303,

    of the Bab , and caused at t he time much consternationin the Babi world. A hopeless schism was made. Itwas much more than a mere struggle for leadership, forBaha'u'lIah virtually deposed the Bab from his positionas the ' Point of Revelation' and made him;:nerely theforerunner or herald (mubashshir) of 'Him whom Godshall manifest.' This involved a serious departure fromthe earlier conceptions of the Babis. It placed the Babin the lower posit ion of one sent to announce the adventof Baha'u'llah, whose followers no longer call themselvesBabis, but Baha'is.The teaching of Baha'u ' lIah was more practical than

    that of t he Bab . I t was less mystical and he made hisappeal not merely to the Shi'ahs of Persiabut t o a ll men.The laws framed by Baha'u ' llah are found in the Kitab.i.Aqdas. They are much simpler than those laid downby the Bab. He is more conce rned with e th ic s thanwith metaphysics. Whatever view may be taken ofBaha'u'lIah's usurpation of the leadership, it must beadmitted that his more practical mind gave to themovement that life and vigour which, had t he sys temremained as the Rib lef t it, would not have come intoexistence.The organizat ion is good, and by means of letters,

    pilgrims and messengers communication from all partsis kept up with 'Akka. The Baha'i missionary has al lthe tact of the Da'i of the ancient Shi'ah sect of theIsma' il ians, who accommodated the instruction given tothe opinions o f his hearers and only gradually led on tothe esoteric doctrines of the system. I I n Pe rsi a itself

    1 See The Druses (C.L,S,), pp. 10-13.

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    38 ,BAHAISM POSITION OF 'ABBAS EFENDI .3 9there have since been occasional outbursts of persecution, accompanied with the cruelties so common to aUPersian repressive action. The political influence of the 'BaHa'is in Persia is not great. Under orders issuedfrom head-quarters, they took no part in the first parliament. In the constitutional movement in Persia (1907)the Blibis, though the ir sympathies are undoubtedlywith the refonners, wisely ref ramed from outwardlyidentifying themselves with that party, to whom theirsupport, by alienating the orthodox Mujtahids and Mullas, would have proved fatal .' I This course of conductmay have led to some misconception, for they are saidto be looked upon as men who consider the claims oftheir sect before that of their country.

    BaM'u'llah died on May 16, 1892. As he had disputed the r ight of leadership with his half -brother, sonow his sons commenced to quarrel over it. 'AbbasEfendl, who was called ' the servant of Baha' (Abdu'lBaha), 'The Most Mighty Branch' ( G h u ~ n - i - A ' ; r , a m ) , and, He whom God hath desired' (man urada'llilhu), claimedthe right to succeed his father. This claim was disputedby his brother Mirza Mul).ammad 'All, called' The MostGreat Branch' ( Q h u ~ n - i - A k b a r ) , who received tbe support of his two younger brothers. 'Abbas Efendi has onhis side a document left by his father which seems toindicate Baha'u'Wih's intention that he should succeedhim. This probably would have been conclusive, but'Abbas appears to bave claimed that the revelation wasnot ended, but would go on through bim. This strengthened the cause of his opponents, for they held that the

    1EtlCyclopa:di.. Brit ......ic.. (eleventh ed.), vol. iii, p. 95.

    ,revelat ion was closed, and quoted from Baha'u'Uah'sbook, the Kitlib-i-Aqdas (the most holy bock) the words,'Whosoever lays claim to any authority before thecompletion of a millennium is assuredly a liar and acalumniator.' 1 Thus the position is curious. On theone hand, 'Abbas Efendi seems to have his right to theleadership confirmed by his father 's written wi sh ; on,the other , his claim to be still a channel of revelationis directly contrary to his father's teaching. 'A s in thecase of the previous schism between Baha 'u' ll ah andSubQ-i-Ezel, so here also the conflict was between thosewho held that every day of Theophany must be succeeded by a night of Occultation and those who feltthat the Light by which they had walked could not beextinguished, but must rather increase in brightness."The party of 'Abbas Efendi is, however, in the ascendant and is likely to remain so.About the t ime when Baha'u' llah died, a curious ex

    tension of the movement took place in America. ASyrian, . Ibrahim George Khayru'Uah, whobecame aconvert to Bahaism in Cairo, proceeded to America, became an American citizen and in 1892 made known byhis lectures in Chicago the cla ims of Baha'u' llah . In1893 the' Parliament of Religions' was held at Chicago,which afforded a further opportunity for the propagationof Bahaism, and for the bringing i t prominently to thenotice of the American people. An American lady haslately presented to 'Abbas Efendi a large house at thefoot of Mount Carmel , and anothe r has written a play

    1EtlCycWpcedi .. 0 / Religion ..nd Ethics, voL ii, p. 304."Ibid . p. 304.

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    42 ,BAHAISM IDEA OF GOD 43.div ine in or ig in with i ts own; ,I bu t B a h a ' ~ ' l l a h writingof his own religion in his most important work, the 'Kitab-i-Aqdas, says: 'The first thing which God hasprescribed unto Hi s servants is knowledge of the Day-spring of His revelation, and the Dawning-place ofHi s command, which is the station of His Spirit in theworld of creation and command. Whosoever attainethun to th is hath attained unto all good, and whosoeveris debarred therefrom is of the people of error, eventhough he produce all manner of good works.'" Inother words no amount of good deeds will help a manwho does not attain to a knowledge of Baha.'u'liah.That is the road to the attainment 'o f all good', whichis scarcely a recognition of 'every other religion asequally divine.' The Babls were intolerant and wouldhave kept unbelievers in a position of inferiority. TheBaha'is profess to look forward to a per iod of universa lbrotherhood, which shall include men of all religions, butthis theory may be put forth more as a matter of policythan of principle. Those who know them well doubtthe permanence of this idea of universal tolerance. 3Professor Browne who wrote the pref ace to Mr. Phelps'book, referring to that author's confidence in the tolerantspi ri t of Bahai sm, says: I cannot wholly share hisconfidence as to how the Baha'is would treat either theShi'ite Mu!:tammadans, the $Ufis, or the Ezelis (againstall of whom they have, for different reasons, a specialgrudge) if t hey should one day, as is within the range

    1 Phelps, p. xxxvi i .. Encyclopcedia 0/ Religion and Ethics. vol. ii, p. 305.'Cf . The Mosz"m World, vol. ii, No.3, p. 237.

    of possibility, become paramount in Persia.'! Again, 'i tis not cer ta in to the present writer (Professor Browne)that t heir t riumph over Islam in Persia would ul ti mately conduce to the welfare of that distracted land,or that t he tole rance which they now advocate wouldstand the test of success and supremacy.' "Mr. Phe lp s, an ardent admirer of 'Abbas Efendl,gives an account of t he religion and philosophy ofBahaism, as it was taught to him at 'Akka from whichwe gather the following information. The Baha'Iconception of the Supreme Being is not a pe rsonal ity,but an essence, an all-pervading force or power, frequently referred to as love, or truth, or life.' ' God "says 'Abbas Efendi, is pure essence.'3 'A messengercomes whenever, through the lapse of t ime and the forgetfulness of men, the voice of his predecessor becomesobscured; and the extent to which the truth is declaredby each depends upon the capacity of the age to receiveit. Such messengers were Moses, Zoroaster , Buddha,Christ, Mahomet, and t he founders of the Baha'i faith.The revelat ion of the las t is fuller than any which haspreceded it, men be ing now better f it ted to understandthe truth.". 'The real human soul' is described by Abbas Efendlas a ray of God' s love, sent by Him to every humanbeing at ,its conception;' with thi s soul the human consciousness must effect union during the term of its

    I Phelps, p . xx."Encyctopcedia 0/ Religion and Ethics, vol. ii, p. 3073 Phelps, p. 114.'Ihid., p. 126. 'Ibid., p. 124,

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    -AHAISMearthly existence. I This result then follows: ' Whenthe. union is complete, t here re su lts an individualitypossessed of divine wisdom and the all-pervading powerso f spirit, knowing itself and also knowing that it ispart of the Infinite, Absolute, Eternal Essence. . . .In i ts ult imate perfect ion, i t passes beyond time, space,place, and form. I t is then man and God in one, thereflection and the one." Thus a Baha'i must believein an impersonal God and the loss of his own personality in the future. He must further acknowledgethat ' the spiri t has passed away from the bodies of theold religions', that 'these bodies are dead or dying; butthe same spirit is reborn in a new body-that is, theBody of the Law contained in the utterances of BaM'u'llah.' 3 A world-teacher greater than his predecessorshas now appeared. 'He is a world-teacher in a broadersense than they. His teaching cannot be l imited toany nation or race." I t is distinctly stated thatin all the previous manifestations God sent Hi s HolySpi ri t, or breath to breathe upon the peoples of theworld, so 'when the spir it was manifested in the prophets of old, they represented as much of the .divinenature as it was possible for the people of those periodsI Phelps, p. 127. Ibid., pp. 128-9.. This does nol appea r to be Ihe view held by many Persian

    BaM'is, which is that the spirits of men preserve their identityafter death, and they say that 'Abbas EfendJ so teaches. Probablylike other mystical sects, off-shoots of the Shl'ah system, Bahaismhas an esoteric doctrine for the initiated, and that others hear verymuch what they desire to learn. Cf. Article on Bahaism in TheMoslem Reoiew, vol. ii , No.3, p. 240. Phelps, pp. 1+1-5. ' Ibid., p. 149.

    MISCONCEPTIONSto assimilate.' I Then follows the astounding statement:Now the world has advanced. It was necessary forthe essence i tself of God to become manifest and thisit did through the person of Baha'u'llah.' 2 One of'Abbas Efendf's statement is: 'Look always to God foraid not to frail human' nature. ' Then follows: 'Call on, .'Baha for strength to guide you. That spi ri t is now therenovating influence upon this earth.' 3

    In the most recent English book' on the subjectmanycreeds are described, but the account of Bahaism isshor t and superficial. A writer who says that ' thedifference between the Shi 'ah and the Sunni is mainlyone of ritual' presumably knows nothing of the greatShi'ah dogma of the Imamat, and so fails to see thatBabiism and its off-shoot Bahaism are in reality but otherforms of Mahdihood (ante p. 9).' Unless the historicalbasis of Bahaism is correctly understood, no right conclusion concerning i t can be arrived at. Nothing is saidabout the supersession of $ubQ-i-Ezel by BaM'u'llah.

    I Phelps, p. 149. Ibid., p. 149. Ibid . p. 163.'Bah4ism, the Religion oj Brotherhood, F. H. Smne.t Professor Browne r efe rr in g t o the ultra-SW'ite sects and of

    their doctrines of Anthropomorphism. Incarnation, Re-incarnatioDor 'Return' . and Metempsychosis says that these 'doctrinesappear to be endemic in Persia, and a lway s r ea dy t o b ecomeepidemic under a suitable stimulus. In ou r own daythey appearedin the B ~ b i movement, of wbich , e spec ia ll y in i ts ear li er form(A. D. 1844 to 1852) they constituted the essential kernel: though inlater time, under the guidance of B a h ~ ' u ' l 1 & h and now of his son,Abbas Efendl, t hey have been relegated to a subordinate, orat least a less conspicuous position.' A Literary History 01Persia, vol. i, p. 311.

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    48,BAHAISM

    CONCLUSION 49ba s caUed forth some periodical literature, I not of anyhistorical value, but interesting as showing how manypeople there are who a re eve r seeking after somethingnew. 'Abbas Efendl is described as receiving in hisresidence in London 'Christians of every denomination,Buddhists of every nationality, Theosophists, MuQam.madans, Agnostics and Gnostics ' , and as answering allthe varied questions put to him in a simple and directmanner. Apparen tly thi s was done to the sat is fact ionof his hearers, for we are told that 't o a Chris tian ,Bahaism is Christianity; to a Buddh is t, Buddhist; toa myst ical ~ ( i f l it speaks in the mystical language ofthe ~ ( i f l ; to a rationalist it is logical.' .

    It is said that Bahaism claims to have the adhes ionof at least one-third of t he Persian people,' that itbas numerous followers in Egypt, India, Burmah, chieflyfrom among the MuQammadans. I can only speak forIndia, where i t certainly has not gained any hold ofthe MUQammadan population. In South Ind ia I knowof the existence of only one Baha 'I .

    I t is curious to see what l it tle notice, often none ataU, European admire rs of Bahai sm take of the twogreat family quarrels. Is it because the practice inthe h ighest ci rcles of Bahaism has been so st rangelyin cont rast with the s ta tements put forth for the approval of Europeans and Americans? 'Abbas Efendiis said to describe the teaching of Baha'u'Uah thus:

    1TM Contemporary Review, March, 1912; The FortnightlyR"""" April, 1912.. 'A resident in Persia says they number about 100,000. Seearticle on BaIWsm in the Moslem R"';..." vol . i , No.3.

    ' I f a religion becomes the cause of hatred and disbarmony it would be better not to exist than to exist.'1He evidently presumed on the ignorance of these whomhe addressed as to the past hatred between his father. and his uncle and of his own family quarrels.

    Both Baha 'u 'l ll ih and 'Abbas Efend i, like all o therreligious leaders in the history of the past , often gaveutterance to expressions of real devotion and also t oaphorisms containing much that is good. These Mr.Phelps quotes largely and speaking of those who thinkabout religion, the conclusion finally arrived at is that' to know the Master of 'Akka ('Abbas Efendi) is atonce a confirmation and a revelation to those who havethus searched and thought. Their reason and intuitionis justified, the possibilities of human nature are revealedto them."

    We have seen that it was a leading principle o f theBlibis and the Bah li 'i s that the new mani festa tioncame when the world was weary and the times, in arelig ious sense, were out of joint . This ardent American advocate for 'Abbas Efendl holds 3 that now faithhas waned, tha t t rue religion is forgotten, that in both' the east and the west men are wandering in thedark; ' so that it belongs to the divine order that amessenger should now come, This is 'a weak basis onwhich to build up Baha'u'lllih's claim to be such adivinely-sent messenger, or for the position assigned to'Abbas Efend!, for it is far more correct to say that

    1Contemi'orary Re""", , , March. 1912, p. 397.'Phelps. p. 2 ~ ~ . 3 Ibid., p. 256.7

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    50 BAHAISM. . ever more alivethe Christian reltglOn, at .least, was n .than now, that its missionary a c t i v i t i e ~ were neve;rmo: :. more successful, that faith In Its u ~ m vigorous nor fident and that true reltglOn,success was never more can , . man wasxem lified in count less forms of serVice to ' .e P . t nse This being the real state of affairs,never more 10 e . . its own

    t h ~ p l : : ~ i ~ S t h : n t : ~ ; : s : ~ ~ ~ a ~ f o ~ ~ : ~ : : : ~ ~ e n d l a l s ~ ,prtnci '. . d hen a new mam-. ' I th t it IS not a perla Wfor It IS C ear a . . departure. f f I ader of a sectarlanfestation, In the arm a ba e hes of the Muslim religion,from one of the great ranc . of. d d for the edification and enltghtenmentIS nee emankind.

    ",

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    Sell, D.O.The Battles of Badr and Ubud. By the Rev. Canon

    ~ e l l , D.O.The Muslim Idea of God. By the Rev. W. H. T.

    Gairdner, B.A.AI.Qur'an. By the Rev. Canon Sell, D.O.The Cult of 'All. By the Rev. Canon Sell, D.O.The Holy Spirit In Qnr'an and Bible. By the Rev.

    C. G. Mylrea, B.A.Islam I{efuted ou Its own Grounds. By the Rev. E. M.

    Wherry, D.O.Sufllsm. By the Rev. Canon Sell, D.O.The Verse of Stoning. By the Rev. W. H. T. Gairdner,

    B.A.Christianity and Muhammadanism. By the Rev.W. R. W. Gardner, M.A.

    Tbe HanUs. By the Rev. Canon Sell, D.O.Tbe Receuslons of the Qur'an. By the Rev. CanonSell, D.O.SeleCtlous from the Qur'ao. Edited by the Rev. Canon

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    ,

    THE ISLAM SERIESBahaism. By the Rev. Canon Sell, D.D.

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