Bábism

Overview

Bábism was a messianic movement that arose in Qajar Iran when a young Shiraz merchant, Sayyed ʿAlí Moḥammad, later known as the Báb ("the Gate"), declared in 1844 that he was a new channel of divine revelation preparing the way for an awaited redeemer. Drawing on the apocalyptic expectations of the Shaykhī school of Shiʿi Islam, he gathered a following remarkably fast, and in his final years declared himself an independent prophet empowered to abrogate Islamic law entirely. His movement met ferocious opposition from Iran's clergy and state; the Báb spent most of his last years imprisoned in remote fortresses before his execution in 1850, and some of his followers rose in armed revolt. A minority of the scattered Bábí community later recognized Mírzá Ḥosayn-ʿAlí Bahāʾ-Allāh as the promised figure the Báb had foretold, founding the Bahāʾí Faith, covered in a separate profile.^{[1–2, 7–9]}

History

Shiraz and the declaration 1819–1845

Sayyed ʿAlí Moḥammad, born in Shiraz in 1819 or 1820 to a family of merchant sayyeds, showed from youth more interest in religious study than in the family trade. After studying for about a year in Karbalāʾ under Sayyed Kāẓem Rashtī, head of the apocalyptic Shaykhī school of Shiʿi Islam, he returned to Shiraz, and on 22–23 May 1844 privately told a young Shaykhī, Mollā Ḥosayn Boshrūʾī, that he was the "Báb" (gate) to the Hidden Twelfth Imam. He quickly gathered eighteen disciples, the "Letters of the Living," who carried his message across Iran and Iraq.^{[1–2, 10]}

Imprisonment, revolt and doctrine 1845–1850

Arrested repeatedly amid fierce opposition from Shiʿi clergy who rejected his claim to supersede their authority, the Báb nonetheless won influential protectors even in custody, including, for a time, the governor of Isfahan. From 1847 Iranian authorities confined him in the remote fortresses of Māků and then Chihríq in Azerbaijan. There, in writings including the Bayán, his central scripture surviving in Arabic and a longer Persian version, he moved from claiming merely to be a herald to declaring himself an independent prophet empowered to abolish Islamic law outright. Some of his followers rose in armed revolt against government forces in the years before his execution; all the risings were crushed with heavy loss of life.^{[3–5, 7–8, 11]}

Execution and legacy 1850–1860s

Brought to Tabriz in 1850, the Báb survived the first volley of the firing squad ordered against him, when the bullets cut the ropes binding him; he was killed by a second volley. A minority of his scattered followers later recognized Mírzá Ḥosayn-ʿAlí Bahāʾ-Allāh as the promised figure the Báb had foretold, and their community grew into the separate Bahāʾí Faith.^{[6, 9]}

Key moments

1. 1844 CEThe Báb declares his mission · Shiraz, Iran

Beliefs

Bayán · بیان

Exposition

The Báb's doctrine evolved from presenting himself merely as a gate preparing the way for the Hidden Imam's return to declaring himself, in his final years, an independent theophanic manifestation of God empowered to reveal a wholly new sacred law superseding Islam's, set out above all in his Bayán.^{[3, 7]}

People

Scripture

Bayán · بیان

c. 1848–1850

The Báb's central scripture, surviving in an Arabic version and a longer Persian version, in which he set out his most developed claims and his own new sacred law.^{[3, 7]}

Places

Shiraz

IRN

The city where the Báb was born and where, on 22–23 May 1844, he privately declared his claim to be the "gate" to the Hidden Imam.^[1–2]

Chihríq

IRN

A remote fortress in Iranian Azerbaijan where the Báb spent most of his final years, from 1848, in confinement.^[5]

How we know

The Báb's own writings

Because the Báb's teaching changed considerably over his six-year public career, scholars rely chiefly on his own extensive writings, especially the Persian Bayán, rather than on any single stable creed, to trace the development of his doctrine from a call to prepare for the Hidden Imam to a claim of independent prophethood.^{[3, 7]}

Common misconceptions

Glossary

Báb · باب

"Gate": the title Sayyed ʿAlí Moḥammad Shīrāzī claimed in 1844 as an intermediary to the Hidden Twelfth Imam, and by which his movement is named.^[2]

Bayán · بیان

"Exposition": the Báb's central scripture, in Arabic and a longer Persian version, setting out his most developed claims and new sacred law.^[3]

Letters of the Living · ḥorūf al-ḥayy

The Báb's first eighteen disciples, gathered soon after his 1844 declaration and sent out to spread his message.^[10]

Shaykhism

An apocalyptic school of Twelver Shiʿi Islam, led by Sayyed Kāẓem Rashtī, under whom the Báb studied before his own declaration.^[10]

Qāʾem

A title for the awaited Shiʿi deliverer; the Báb claimed this station for himself before later claiming independent prophethood.^[7]