Baha'ism

Baha' Allah

Mirza Husayn ‘Ali Nuri was born in Tehran 1817 into a wealthy and noble family. His father was a minister in the court of Fath ‘Ali Shah.26 Husayn ‘Ali married the first of his three wives – Asiyah Khanum Navvab (1820-1886) – in 1835.27 They had a son, ‘Abbas Effendi (1844-1921), and shortly afterwards Husayn ‘Ali accepted the claims of the Bab and became one of his followers.

Husayn ‘Ali was a sensitive young man. Having rejected a political career, he showed himself to be more inclined towards mysticism than worldly affairs. He began to proselytise for the Babi movement, and became involved in the fortunes of the movement. At Badasht he took the title Baha’ and supported Qurrat al-‘Ayn in her push for a formal break from Islam.28

Baha’ was arrested and imprisoned a number of times due to his involvement in the Babi movement, although it is clear from his writings that he abhorred Babi militancy. MacEoin quotes from the letters of Baha’ in which the author expresses dismay and disapproval at the Babis for their violent activities.29 After some Babis attempted to assassinate Nasir al-Din Shah in 1852, Baha’ was among those rounded up and thrown into prison, although he himself had denounced the plot to kill the Shah.30

It was in the Siyah-Chal dungeon that Baha’ claimed to experience a mystical vision bestowing on him a divine mission. He later wrote of it saying:

While engulfed in tribulations I heard a most wondrous, a most sweet voice, calling above My31 head. Turning My face, I beheld a Maiden – the embodiment of the remembrance of the name of My Lord – suspended in the air before Me. … Pointing with her finger unto My head, she addressed all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, saying: By God! This is the Best-Beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not. This is the Beauty of God amongst you, and the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand. This is the Mystery of God and His Treasure, the Cause of God and His glory unto all who are in the kingdoms of Revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive. This is He Whose Presence is the ardent desire of the denizens of the Realm of eternity, and of them that dwell within the Tabernacle of glory, and yet from His Beauty do ye turn aside.32

Baha’i histories date this moment as the beginning of the Baha’i religion, although Baha’ did not make his claim public at this point. Outwardly, at least, he continued in his reformation of Babi teachings with his quietist influence.

After being cleared of involvement in the plot to assassinate the Shah, Baha’ and close family members departed Iran for Baghdad in 1853 joining a Babi hijrah. Relations with Subh al-Azal were worsening, however, and in 1854 Baha’ decided to secretly leave the city and involvement with the Babi movement for good. He became a Sufi darvish and travelled to Sulaymaniyyah in the north. He studied Ibn ‘Arabi’s The Meccan Revelations while in retreat at a monastery which may have helped him develop his views on manifestation and the concept of al-insan al-kamil.33

Although for all intents and purposes, Baha’ had decided to give up involvement in the fortunes of the Babi movement, he was persuaded to return to Baghdad in 1856. Subh al-Azal had not been managing the affairs of the Babis competently, having gone into hiding, thus Baha’ took on more and more responsibility. There is some evidence that Baha’ increasingly confided private allusions to a divine mission among the Babis and it was during this time that he wrote works such as The Hidden Words, The Seven Valleys and The Book of Certitude that eventually became important Baha’i scriptures.34

I shall pause briefly to comment on The Book of Certitude (Kitab-i Iqan). Considered the second most important work in the canon of Baha’i scripture, The Book of Certitude was written in Persian in 1862 as a response to a number of questions posed by the uncle of the Bab. An important feature of The Book of Certitude is that it is the first work of Baha’ that he specifically claimed was revealed.35 Its central themes are the concept of the progressive revelation of God and defending the claims of the Bab. Although mostly dealing with interpretation of Islamic symbols, Baha’ does make refer to Biblical verses and Christian beliefs as well. In particular, much is made of the importance of metaphorical interpretation of symbols such as the Day of Judgment, the Resurrection, return of ‘Isa ibn Maryam and so on. The Book of Certitude is probably the most important work to reveal Baha’i doctrine on Islamic beliefs and prophecies.

In 1863 the Ottoman sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz bowed to pressure from the Iranians and ordered the exile of Baha’ and most of the Babis to Edirne (now Adrianople) via Istanbul. Before he left, Baha’ made a specific declaration to a group of his followers that he was man yuzhiruhu allah ‘He Whom God Shall Make Manifest’ the messianic figure promised by the Bab to appear.36 He began using the title Baha’ Allah and reformulated the Babi movement into his own new religion.

The deteriorating relationship between Baha’ Allah and Subh al-Azal came to a head in 1867. Claims were made on both side about the activities of the other, and it is difficult to establish a factual pattern of events given the nature of later sectarian polemical material about the split from the followers of Baha’ Allah and Subh al-Azal. What is clear is that Baha’ Allah formally challenged the leadership of his half-brother and for all intents and purposes it was Baha’ Allah who emerged as history’s victor. It is important to appreciate the depth of enmity between the two factions with Subh al-Azal being described in Baha’i sources as: “the Idol”;37 “Arch-Breaker of the Covenant of the Bab”38 and under the influence of the dajjal ‘anti-christ’ of the Baha’i revelation, Sayyid Muhammad Isfahani (d.1872).39

Finally in 1868, after politicking from both sides, the Ottomans decided to exile Baha’ Allah to ‘Akka in Palestine and Subh al-Azal to Famagusta in Cyprus. Controversially they sent a party of Azali Babis with Baha’ Allah to Palestine and a party of Baha’is with Subh al-Azal to Cyprus most likely to act as spies on each other.40 Baha’ Allah spent the rest of his life technically under house arrest in Palestine, although initially he was actually imprisoned in a remote prison. By now he was publicly claiming a divine mission as the promised redeemer of all religions.

Life was extremely difficult in the first few years in ‘Akka, with a great deal of illness and death due to unsanitary conditions. One of Baha’ Allah’s sons, Mirza Mihdi (1848-1870), fell through a roof while praying and died. With undertones of the Christian doctrine of the sacrifice of Christ, Baha’ Allah described Mirza Mihdi’s death as a sacrificial offering and that “God had accepted [him] as a ransom, that the believers might attain the presence of their Beloved and that mankind as a whole be quickened.”41 Furthermore, in 1872 some Baha’is murdered the Azalis exiled to Palestine with Baha’ Allah and his followers. An early historian of the Babi and Baha’i religions, Edward Granville Browne, gave credence to the Azali claim that Baha’ Allah had sanctioned the murders and that his son ‘Abbas Effendi had actually requested the release of the guilty parties.42 Baha’i historians, however, dismiss claims of Baha’ Allah’s complicity as Azali propaganda.43 Given Baha' Allah's obvious pacifist tendencies, it seems difficult to entertain the idea that he would have allowed or sanctioned the murders.

In 1873 Baha’ Allah finished what he considered his most important piece of scripture, The Most Holy Book (al-Kitab al-Aqdas). Written in Arabic, it is the centre-piece of Baha’i shari‘ah. Interestingly, despite its pre-eminent position in the Baha’i canon of scripture, the book was not widely available until 1992 when the head organisation of the Baha’i religion released its official English translation. Most of the laws of the Most Holy Book have not been implemented with many being impossible to enact without a Baha’i state to enforce them. Furthermore, Baha’is of non-Iranian backgrounds are not required to follow the shari‘ah in its entirety, presumably so as to avoid alienating western Baha’is who are largely unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the Islamo-Babi matrix and character of the Baha’i shari‘ah.44

Also in 1877, Baha’ Allah was permitted to move to the rented mansion al-Mazra‘ah outside ‘Akka, moving two years later to his final residence, another rented mansion called Bahji, in 1879. For the next thirteen years Baha’ Allah led a quiet and reserved life, writing scripture and visiting between ‘Akka and his residence. His son ‘Abbas acted as the main conduit for contact with the outside world and the visiting pilgrims who wished to meet with him.45 In May 1892, Baha’ Allah passed away after contracting a fever. He was buried at Bahji which became the Baha’i qiblah and their most sacred place on earth.

Next > Baha'ism: 'Abd al-Baha'

References

26The father of Husayn ‘Ali, Abbas Nuri Mirza Buzurg (d.1839), married four wives and three concubines and had in total fifteen children. Husayn ‘Ali was the third child by Mirza Buzurg’s second wife Khadijah Khanum. See Balyuzi, H. M., Bahá’u’lláh: The King of Glory (Oxford: George Ronald, 1980) 13.

27Husayn ‘Ali’s second wife was his cousin Fatimah Khanum Mahd al-‘Ulya (1828-1904) whom he married in 1849 and his third was Asiyah Khanum’s servant Gawhar Khanum (d.?) whom he married during the Baghdad period. He had fourteen children by his three wives. See Department of the Secretariat, “Wives of Baha’u’llah” 23 Oct. 1995, Letters of the Universal House of Justice, Bahá’í World Centre 6 Dec. 2002, <http://bahai-library.org/uhj/wives.bahaullah.html> and Cole, Juan, “A Brief Biography of Baha’u’llah”, 5 Dec. 2002, <http://bahai-library.org/encyclopedia/bahabio.html>.

28Cole, “A Brief Biography of Baha’u’llah”.

29MacEoin, “From Babism to Baha’ism” 224-225.

30Cole, “A Brief Biography of Baha’u’llah”.

31Works written and published by Baha’is often capitalize references to the Bab, Baha’ Allah and ‘Abd al-Baha’.

32Bahá’u’lláh, “Súriy-i-Haykal”, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 2002) 5.

33The doctrine of “the Perfect Man”.

34Cole, “A Brief Biography of Baha’u’llah”.

35Buck, Christopher, “The Kitab-i Iqan: An Introduction to Baha’u’llah’s Book of Certitude with Two Digital Reprints of Early Lithographs”, June 1998, Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha’i Studies, vol. 2, no. 5, 11 Dec. 2002, <http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~bahai/bhpapers/vol2/iqan&sn.htm>.

36The Bab foretold the coming of “He Whom God Shall Make Manifest” in abstruse prophecies. The Persian Bayan refers to a figure who will be manifested in one thousand or two thousand years, however Baha’ and later Baha’i commentators interpret the prophecy to refer to Baha’ Allah. See MacEoin, “From Babism to Baha’ism 224-225.

37Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh trans. Shoghi Effendi, (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1938) 131.

38Effendi, Shoghi, God Passes By (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1944) 233.

39Effendi, God Passes By 164.

40Smith, “Bahá’u’lláh” A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá’í Faith 77.

41Taherzadeh, Adib, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah, vol. 3, (Oxford: George Ronald, 1987) 210.

42Effendi ‘Abbas, ‘Abd al-Baha’, A Traveller’s Narrative: Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Bab, trans. Edward Granville Browne, reprint. (London: Cambridge University Press, 1975) 370, 11 Dec. 2002, <http://bahai-library.org/books/tn/tn.w.html>.

43Balyuzi, H.M. Edward Granville Browne and the Bahá’í Faith (Oxford: George Ronald, 1970) 82.

44See Universal House of Justice, The, “Further Application of the Laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas”, 28 Dec. 1999, Bahá’í World Centre, 11 Dec. 2002, <http://bahai-library.org/uhj/aqdas.laws.html> and Universal House of Justice, The, “To the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Ísafjürdur”, 9 Jun. 1974, Canadian Baha’i News, May 1993, vol. 6, no. 1, 11 Dec. 2002, <http://bahai-library.org/uhj/laws.aqdas.html>.

45Taherzadeh, Adib, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 4, (Oxford: George Ronald, 1987) 105.

Next > Baha'ism: 'Abd al-Baha'