Бабизм: Иран діні және оның тарихы

Abrahamic monotheistic religion

Bábism (بابیه), also known as the Bábi Faith, is a monotheistic religion founded in 1844 by the Báb (b. (born) 'Ali Muhammad). The Báb, an Iranian merchant turned prophet, professed that there is one incorporeal, unknown, and incomprehensible God who manifests his will in an unending series of theophanies, called Manifestations of God. The Báb's ministry, throughout which there was much evolution as he progressively outlined his teachings, was turbulent and short lived and ended with his public execution in Tabriz in 1850. A campaign of extermination followed, in which thousands of followers were killed in what has been described as potentially one of the bloodiest actions of the Iranian military in the 19th century. According to current estimates, Bábism has no more than a few thousand adherents, most of whom are concentrated in Iran, but it has persisted into the modern era in the form of the Bahá'í Faith, to which the majority of Bábís eventually converted. The Bábi Faith flourished in Iran until 1852, then lingered on in exile in the Ottoman Empire, especially Cyprus, as well as underground in Iran. An anomaly amongst Islamic messianic movements, the Bábí movement signaled a break with Shia Islam, beginning a new religious system with its own unique laws, teachings, and practices. While Bábism was violently opposed by both clerical and government establishments, it led to the founding of the Bahá'í Faith, whose followers consider the religion founded by the Báb as a predecessor to their own. Bahá'í sources maintain that the remains of the Báb were clandestinely rescued by a handful of Bábis and then hidden. Over time the remains were secretly transported according to the instructions of Bahá'u'lláh and then 'Abdu'l Bahá through Isfahan, Kermanshah, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, and then by sea to Acre on the plain below Mount Carmel in 1899. On 21 March 1909, the remains were interred in a special tomb, the Shrine of the Báb, erected for this purpose by 'Abdu'l Bahá, on Mount Carmel in present day Haifa, Israel.

The name Báb is a reference to the gate to the Twelfth Imam. Bábism, a term originating from Orientalists rather than the followers of the religion, comes from the Arabic noun bāb "gate" (باب). Additionally, Bayání comes from the Semitic root ب ي ن, which forms a class of words relating to concepts of clarity, differentiation, and separation, including Bayán, which can refer to explanation, commentary, or exposition as well as the branch of Arabic rhetoric dealing with metaphors and interpretation.

Twelver Shia Muslims regard the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al Mahdi, as the last of the Imams. They contend that Muhammad al Mahdi went into the Occultation in 874 CE, at which time communication between the Imam and the Muslim community could only be performed through mediators called [[Bab (Shia Islam) ('gates') or nā'ibs ('representatives'). In 940, the fourth nā'ib claimed that Imam Muhammad al Mahdi had gone into an indefinite "Major Occultation", and that he would cease to communicate with the people. According to Twelver belief, the Hidden Imam is alive in the world, but in concealment from his enemies, and will only emerge shortly before the Last Judgment. At that time, acting as Qa'im Al Muhammad ("He who will arise"), a messianic figure also known as the Mahdi ("He who is rightly guided"), the Hidden Imam will start a holy war against evil, would defeat the unbelievers, and would start a reign of justice. In 1830s Qajar Persia, Kazim Rashti was the leader of the Shaykhis, a sect of Twelvers. The Shaykhis were a group expecting the imminent appearance of al Qāʾim. At the time of Kazim's death in 1843, he had counselled his followers to leave their homes to seek the Lord of the Age whose advent would soon break on the world.

On 22 May 1844, Mullá Husayn, of Boshruyeh in Khorasan, a prominent disciple of Sayyid Kāẓim, entered Shiraz following the instruction by his master to search for al Qā'im. Soon after he arrived in Shiraz, Mullá Husayn came into contact with the Báb. On the night of 22 May 1844, Mulla Husayn was invited by the Báb to his home; on that night Mullá Husayn told him that he was searching for the possible successor to Sayyid Kāẓim, al Qā'im, and the Báb told Mullá Husayn privately that he was Sayyid Kāẓim's successor and the bearer of divine knowledge. Through the night of the 22nd to dawn of the 23rd, Mullá Husayn became the first to accept the Báb's claims as the gateway to Truth and the initiator of a new prophetic cycle; This night and the following day are observed in the Bahá'í Faith as a holy day since then. After Mullá Husayn accepted the Báb's claim, the Báb ordered him to wait until 17 others had independently recognized the station of the Báb before they could begin teaching others about the new revelation. Within five months, seventeen other disciples of Sayyid Kāẓim had independently recognized the Báb as a Manifestation of God. Among them was one woman, Zarrin Tāj Baraghāni, a poet, who later received the name of Táhirih (the Pure). These 18 disciples were later to be known as the Letters of the Living and were given the task of spreading the new faith across Iran and Iraq. The Báb emphasized the spiritual station of these 18 individuals, who along with himself, made the first "Unity" of his religion. After his declaration, he soon assumed the title of the Báb. Within a few years the movement spread all over Iran, causing controversy. His claim was at first understood by some of the public at the time to be merely a reference to the Gate of the Hidden Imám of Muhammad, but this understanding he publicly disclaimed. He later proclaimed himself, in the presence of the heir to the Throne of Persia and other notables, to be al Qā'im. In the Báb's writings, the Báb appears to identify himself as the gate (báb) to Muhammad al Mahdi and later he begins to explicitly proclaim his station as equivalent to that of the Hidden Imam and a new messenger from God. Saiedi states the exalted identity the Báb was claiming was unmistakable, but due to the reception of the people, his writings appear to convey the impression that he is only the gate to the Hidden Twelfth Imam. To his circle of early believers, the Báb was equivocal about his exact status, gradually confiding in them that he was not merely a gate to the Hidden Imam, but the Manifestation of the Hidden Imam and al Qā'im himself. During his early meetings with Mullá Husayn, the Báb described himself as the Master and the Promised One; he did not consider himself just Sayyid Kāẓim Rashti's successor, but claimed a prophetic status, with a sense of deputyship delegated to him not just from the Hidden Imam, but from Divine authority. His early texts, such as the Commentary on the Sura of Yusuf, used Qur'anic language that implied divine authority and identified himself effectively with the Imam. When Mullā ʿAlī Basṭāmī, the second Letter of the Living, was put on trial in Baghdad for preaching about the Báb, the clerics studied the Commentary on the Sura of Yusuf, recognized in it a claim to divine revelation, and quoted from it extensively to prove that the author had made a messianic claim.

The Báb's message was disseminated by the Letters of the Living through Iran and southern Iraq. One of these initial activities was communicated to the West starting 8 January 1845 as an exchange of diplomatic reports concerning the fate of Mullá ʿAli e Bastāmi, the second Letter. These were exchanges between Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet who wrote first to Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe. Followups continued until in 1846 he was sentenced by the Ottomans to serve in the naval shipyards at hard labor—the Ottoman ruler refusing to banish him as it would be "difficult to control his activities and prevent him spreading his false ideas." The story was also carried from 15 November by the Literary Gazette which was subsequently echoed widely. Meanwhile the Báb was placed under house arrest at the home of his uncle, and was restricted in his personal activities, until a cholera epidemic broke out in the city in September 1846. The Báb was released and departed for Isfahan. There, many came to see him at the house of the imám jum'ih, head of the local clergy, who became sympathetic. After an informal gathering where the Báb debated the local clergy and displayed his speed in producing instantaneous verses, his popularity soared. After the death of the Governor of Isfahan, Manouchehr Khan Gorji, an Iranian Georgian, who had become his supporter, pressure from the clergy of the province led to the Shah, Mohammad Shah Qajar, ordering the Báb to Tehran in January, 1847. After spending several months in a camp outside Tehran, and before the Báb could meet the Shah, the Prime Minister sent the Báb to Tabriz in the northwestern corner of the country, and later Maku and Chehriq, where he was confined. During his confinement, he was said to have impressed his jailers with his patience and dignity. Communication between the Báb and his followers was not completely severed but was quite difficult, and more responsibilities were devolved to the Letters as he was not able to elucidate his teachings to the public. With Bábí teachings now mostly spread by his followers, they faced increasing persecution themselves. The role played by Táhirih in Karbalāʾ was particularly significant. She began an effort of innovation in religion based on her station as a Letter of the Living and the incarnation of Fatimah. In his early teachings, the Báb emphasized observing sharia and extraordinary acts of piety. However, his claim of being the Báb, i. e. the authority direct from God, was in conflict with this more conservative position of supporting sharia. Táhirih innovated an advance in the understanding of the priority of the Báb's station above that of Islamic sharia by wedding the concept of the Báb's overriding religious authority with ideas originating in Shaykhism pointing to an age after outward conformity. She seems to have made this connection c. 1262/1846 even before the Báb himself. The matter was taken up by the community at large at the Conference of Badasht. This conference was one of the most important events of the Bábí movement when in 1848 its split from Islam and Islamic law was made clear. In the fall of 1850 newspaper coverage fell behind quickly unfolding events. Though the Báb was named for the first time he had in fact already been executed.

By 1848 the increased fervour of the Bábís and the clerical opposition had led to a number of confrontations between the Bábís and their government and clerical establishment. After the death of Mohammad Shah Qajar, the shah of Iran, a series of armed struggles and uprisings broke out in the country, including at Tabarsi. These confrontations all resulted in Bábí massacres; Bahá'í authors give an estimate of 20,000 Bábís killed from 1844 to present, with most of the deaths occurring during the first 20 years. In remote and isolated places the scattered Bábís were readily attacked and killed while in places where large numbers of them resided they acted in self defense. One of these attacks occurred in Babol of Mazandaran which led to the death of several Bábís and their opponents, as well as an armed conflict between Bábís and their enemies in fort Ṭabarsí. After that, two other big clashes between the Bábís and their opponents took place in the cities of Zanjan and Neyriz in the north and south of Iran, respectively, as well as a smaller conflict in Yazd. A total of several thousand Bábís were killed in these conflicts. In all three cases, the battles that took place were of a defensive nature, and not considered an offensive jihad, as the Báb did not allow it and in the case of two urban conflicts (Neyriz and Zanjan), they were related to pre existing social and political tensions within the towns. There is also no evidence of a coordinated plan of action. In mid 1850 a new prime minister, Amir Kabir, was convinced that the Bábí movement was a threat and ordered the execution of the Báb which was followed by the killings of many Bábís.

Of the conflicts between the Bábís and the establishment, the first and best known took place in Māzandarān at the remote shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi, about southeast of Bārfarush (modern Babol). From October 1848 until May 1849, around 300 Bábís (later rising to 600), led by Quddús and Mullá Husayn, defended themselves against the attacks of local villagers and members of the Shah's army under the command of Prince Mahdi Qoli Mirza. They were, after being weakened through attrition and starvation, subdued through false promises of safety, and put to death or sold into slavery. and would serve in several diplomatic capacities. Watson summarizes the impact of the Báb in Persia:

blockquote|Bábism, though at present a proscribed religion in Persia, is far from being extinct, or even declining, and the Báb may yet contest with Mahomed (sic) the privilege of being regarded as the real prophet of the faithful. Bábism in its infancy was the cause of a greater sensation than that even which was produced by the teaching of Jesus, if we may judge from the account of Josephus of the first days of Christianity. Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch, son of Charles Bulfinch, and others. For the next two years comparatively little was heard of the Bábís. The Bábís became polarized with one group speaking of violent retribution against Naser al Din Shah Qajar, while the other, under the leadership of Baha'u'lláh, looked to rebuild relationships with the government and advance the Babí cause by persuasion and the example of virtuous living. The militant group of Bábís was between thirty and seventy persons, only a small number of the total Bábí population of perhaps 100,000. Their meetings appear to have come under the control of a "Husayn Jan", an emotive and magnetic figure who obtained a high degree of personal devotion to himself from the group. Meanwhile, Tahirih and Baha'u'lláh, visible leaders of the community previously, were removed from the scene – Tahirih by arrest and in the case of Baha'u'lláh an invitation to go on pilgrimage to Karbila. On 15 August 1852, three from this small splinter group, acting on their own initiative, attempted to assassinate Naser al Din Shah Qajar as he was returning from the chase to his palace at Niavarān. Notwithstanding the assassins' claim that they were working alone, the entire Bábí community was blamed, and a slaughter of several thousand Bábís followed, starting on 31 August 1852 with some thirty Bábís, including Táhirih. Dr Jakob Eduard Polak, then the Shah's physician, was an eye witness to her execution. Bahá'u'lláh surrendered himself and he along with a few others were imprisoned in the Siāhchāl ('Black Pit'), an underground dungeon in Tehran. Meanwhile, echoes of the newspaper coverage of the violence continued into 1853.

In most of his prominent writings, the Báb alluded to a Promised One, most commonly referred to as "He whom God shall make manifest", and that he himself was "but a ring upon the hand of Him Whom God shall make manifest." Within 20 years of the Báb's death, over 25 people claimed to be the Promised One, most significantly Bahá'u'lláh. Shortly before the Báb's execution, a follower of the Báb, Abd al Karim, brought to the Báb's attention the necessity to appoint a successor; thus the Báb wrote a certain number of tablets which he gave to Abd al Karim to deliver to Subh i Azal and Bahá'u'lláh. These tablets were later interpreted by both Azalis and Bahá'ís as proof of the Báb's delegation of leadership. 'Abdu'l Bahá stated that the Báb did this at the suggestion of Bahá'u'lláh. In one of the tablets, which is commonly referred to as the Will and Testament of the Báb, Subh i Azal is viewed to have been appointed as leader of the Bábís after the death of the movement's founder; the tablet, in verse 27, orders Subh i Azal " to obey Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest." At the time of the apparent appointment Subh i Azal was still a teenager, had never demonstrated leadership in the Bábí movement, and was still living in the house of his older brother, Bahá'u'lláh. All of this lends credence to the Bahá'í claim that the Báb appointed Subh i Azal the head of the Bábí Faith so as to divert attention away from Bahá'u'lláh, while allowing Bábís to visit Bahá'u'lláh and consult with him freely, and allowing Bahá'u'lláh to write Bábís easily and freely. Subh i Azal's leadership was controversial. He generally absented himself from the Bábí community spending his time in Baghdad in hiding and disguise; and even went so far as to publicly disavow allegiance to the Báb on several occasions. Subh i Azal gradually alienated himself from a large proportion of the Bábís who started to give their alliance to other claimants. During the time that both Bahá'u'lláh and Subh i Azal were in Baghdad, since Subh i Azal remained in hiding, Bahá'u'lláh performed much of the daily administration of the Bábí affairs. Bahá'u'lláh claimed that in 1853, while a prisoner in Tehran, he was visited by a "Maid of Heaven", which symbolically marked the beginning of his mission as a Messenger of God. Ten years later in Baghdad, he made his first public declaration to be "He whom God shall make manifest" to a small number of followers, and in 1866 he made the claim public. Bahá'u'lláh's claims threatened Subh i Azal's position as leader of the religion since it would mean little to be leader of the Bábís if "Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest" were to appear and start a new religion. Subh i Azal responded by making his own claims, but his attempt to preserve the traditional Bábísm was largely unpopular, and his followers became the minority. Eventually Bahá'u'lláh was recognized by the vast majority of Bábís as "He whom God shall make manifest" and his followers began calling themselves Bahá'ís. By 1908, there were probably from half a million to a million Bahá'ís, and at most only a hundred followers of Subh i Azal. According to Ali Raza Naqavi, Bábism and the Bahá'í Faith are "almost inseparable" and have "almost identical beliefs and doctrines." He writes that in the way Muslims view Judaism as having been abrogated by Christianity and Christianity as having been abrogated by Islam, Bahá'ís view Bábism as having been abrogated and replaced by the Bahá'í Faith. According to the Twelver's belief, after the last of these representatives died, the Imam Mahdi went into a state of Occultation; while still alive, he was no longer accessible to his believers. In Bábí belief the Báb is the return of the Imam Mahdi, but the doctrine of the Occultation is implicitly denied; instead the Báb stated that his manifestation was a symbolic return of the Imam, and not the physical reappearance of the Imam Mahdi who had died a thousand years earlier. In the Persian Bayán, the Báb wrote that religious dispensations come in cycles, as the seasons, to renew "pure religion" for humanity. The Báb describes this messianic figure as the origin of all divine attributes, and states that his command is equivalent to God's command. Unlike earlier religions in which references to future promised figures were occasional and only in hints and allusions, the entirety of the Bayan, the mother book of the Bábí dispensation, is essentially a discourse on a messianic figure, even greater than himself, that the Báb refers to as "he Whom God shall make manifest". The Báb always discusses his own revelation and laws in the context of this promised figure. The essence and purpose of the Báb's own mission, as he always stressed, was to prepare the people for the advent of him. He asks his followers to independently investigate and look for the promised one, and recognize him out of his own intrinsic reality, works and attributes, and not due to any reasons external to him. He even warns them not to be deprived of the promised one by arguing against him from the works of the Báb, the same way the followers of the previous religions opposed the next prophet while citing their holy scriptures. Furthermore, the Báb speaks of the imminence of the advent of the promised one and refers to the time of his advent as year nine and nineteen. After the Báb's execution in 1850, there were some Bábis who claimed to be "He whom God shall make manifest". Later in 1863, nineteen years after the declaration of the Báb, Baháʼu'lláh privately laid claim to be the messianic figure, and made his claim publicly in 1866–1868. His claim was by far the most successful. The majority of the Bábis followed him and later became known as Baháʼís The Azalis (those Babis who did not accept Baháʼu'lláh) objected to Baháʼu'lláh's statement.

The Báb abrogated Islamic law and in the Persian Bayán promulgated a system of Bábí law, thus establishing a separate religion distinct from Islam. Some of the new laws included changing the direction of the Qibla to the Báb's house in Shiraz, Iran and changing the calendar to a solar calendar of nineteen months and nineteen days (which became the basis of the Baháʼí calendar) and prescribing the last month as a month of fasting. The Bab also prohibits confession and seeking forgiveness from anyone but God and His Manifestation. In many respects, the Báb raised the status of women in his teachings. The Báb taught that, since God transcends the boundaries of male and female, God wishes that "neither men exalt themselves over women, nor women exalt themselves over men". He instructs his followers to not mistreat women "even for the blink of an eye" He also encourages the education of women and does not display a gender distinction in Bábi laws on education. Armin Eschraghi notes the context of 19th century Iran and that, "Modern western readers might not appreciate the revolutionary potential" of the Báb's teaching that "Those who have been brought up in this community, men and women, are allowed to look [at each other], speak and sit together" and enjoins generosity and charity. He says, "Should ye find one stricken with poverty, enrich him to the extent of your ability should ye find one who is in distress, bring him tranquility by any means in your power". Jack McLean, summarising Nader Saiedi's analysis, writes that "the Báb's writings even foresee current global issues of crisis, such as the protection of the environment and the commodification of natural resources" The Báb specifically calls for the absolute purity of water (Bayán 6:2). It may be easily deduced from this injunction that the environment must not be polluted since all substances return to the inland water table and the oceans. The Arabic Bayán (9:11) also forbids the commodification of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water. The Báb also created a large number of other rituals, rites and laws. Some of these include the carrying of arms only in times of necessity, abstaining from smoking tobacco, the obligatory sitting on chairs, the advocating of the cleanliness displayed by Christians, the non cruel treatment of animals, the prohibition of beating children severely, the recommendation of the printing of books, even scripture and the prohibition on the study of logic or dead languages, Other laws include elaborate regulations regarding pilgrimage, fasting, the manufacture of rings, the use of perfume, and the washing and disposal of the dead. The Báb's major writings include the Qayyúmu'l Asmáʼ (a commentary on the Sura of Joseph), and the Persian Bayán, which the Bábís saw as superseding the Qurʼan. The latter has been translated into French; only portions exist in English. The works of the Báb have also excited scholarly interest and analysis. Elham Afnan describes the writings of the Báb as having "restructured the thoughts of their readers, so that they could break free from the chains of obsolete beliefs and inherited customs". Jack McLean notes the novel symbolism of the Báb's works, observing that "The universe of the Báb's sacred writings is pervasively symbolic. Numbers, colors, minerals, liquids, the human body, social relationships, gestures, deeds, language (letters and words), and nature itself are all mirrors or signs that reflect the profounder reality of the names and attributes (asmá va sifát) of God". Todd Lawson similarly identifies in the commentaries of the Báb an assertion of "the potential and ultimate meaningfulness of all created things, from the highest to the lowest." The Báb's works are characterised by linguistic innovation, including many neologisms whenever He found existing theological terms inadequate. John Walbridge views the "unquestionably hypnotic" use of repetition in the Bab's Kitab i Panj Sha'n, where "the same evocative words are repeated ceaselessly" with gradual variations over time, as anticipating a minimalist aesthetic as well as possibly prefiguring the modernist style of Finnegans Wake. The Báb himself categorised his writings into five modes: divine verses, prayers, commentaries, rational discourse — written in Arabic — and the Persian mode, which encompasses the previous four. Most of the writings of the Báb have been lost. The Báb himself stated they exceeded five hundred thousand verses in length; the Qurʼan, in contrast, is 6300 verses in length. If one assumes 25 verses per page, that would equal 20,000 pages of text. Nabíl i Zarandí, in The Dawn Breakers, mentions nine complete commentaries on the Qurʼan, revealed during the Báb's imprisonment at Máh Kú, which have been lost without a trace. Establishing the true text of the works that are still extant, as already noted, is not always easy, and some texts will require considerable work. Others, however, are in good shape; several of the Báb's major works are available in the handwriting of his trusted secretaries. Most works were revealed in response to specific questions by Bábís. This is not unusual; the genre of the letter has been a venerable medium for composing authoritative texts as far back as Paul of Tarsus. Three quarters of the chapters of the New Testament are letters, were composed to imitate letters, or contain letters within them. Sometimes the Báb revealed works very rapidly by chanting them in the presence of a secretary and witnesses. The Archives Department at the Baháʼí World Centre currently holds about 190 Tablets of the Báb. Excerpts from several principal works have been published in an English language compilation of the Báb's writings: Selections from the Writings of the Báb, other publications include Prayers from the Bab: The Remembrance of God. Denis MacEoin, in his Sources for Early Bābī Doctrine and History, gives a description of many works; much of the following summary is derived from that source. In addition to major works, the Báb revealed numerous letters to his wife and followers, many prayers for various purposes, numerous commentaries on verses or chapters of the Qurʼan, and many khutbihs or sermons (most of which were never delivered). Many of these have been lost; others have survived in compilations. Also significant to Bábism are the writings of Quddús, which "display a close similarity to that of the Báb in both form and content" according to Moojan Momen and Todd Lawson, as well as the poetry and prose of Tahirih.

Denis MacEoin, a scholar who was formerly a Baháʼí, describes Bábí law as a "mishmash of rules and regulations that at times are little more than mere whimsy, revolving around some of the Bab's own obsessions about cleanliness, polite behaviour, and elegance. It is a shari'a, but not in any practical sense. Certainly, it does not seem to be going anywhere Here and there we find indications that the Bab had been impressed by Europeans and that he wanted his followers to emulate them." He further states: "One comes away from the Bayan with a strong sense that very little of this is to be taken seriously. It is a form of a game, never actually intended to be put into practice, much in the same way that whole sections of the Bab's later books don't, in fact, mean anything very much, but are elaborate exercises in interesting things you can do with Arabic roots. Or the way so many of the Bab's early writings, described as tafsirs on this or that sura of the Qurʼan, are really not commentaries at all." He further criticizes the Bábi laws, stating: "The average Babi could hardly hope to afford the three diamonds, four yellow rubies, six emeralds, and six red rubies that he was expected to give to the Babi Messiah, let alone find time to observe all the rules and regulations laid down in the book. For all that, the Babi shari'a made an impact." Baháʼí scholar Nader Saiedi states that the severe laws of the Bayán were never meant to be put in practice, because their implementation depended on the appearance of He whom God shall make manifest, while at the same time all of the laws would be abrogated unless the Promised One would reaffirm them. Saiedi concludes that these can then only have a strategic and symbolic meaning, and were meant to break through traditions and to focus the Báb's followers on obedience to He whom God shall make manifest.