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فارسی 
Bab vs the holy prophet of Islam(saw)
MOHAMMED REZA ISFAHANI
The Holy Quran pays glorious tributes to the flawless character and high standards of ethics of the Holy Prophet of Islam (saw). At some places he has been lovingly called as \"the best creation of Allah\" and \"the best model for humanity to emulate\"; at other places, it is clarified that he is the last Prophet and consequently, the last Messenger from Allah. No prophet or messenger (from Allah) would follow him (saw).
![\"mohammad\"](\"media/images/prophet1.jpg\")
Through the verses of the Quran, Allah the Almighty promised that the religion revealed upon him, Islam, would be the last and after its announcement, no other religion brought by the people would be acceptable to Allah. The verses of the Quran prophesize that a time will come when Islam will overcome all other religions even if the polytheists be averse to it. The Quran will remain the final revelation of Allah and its edicts binding upon humanity till the Day of Judgement.
The Quran claims,
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\"Say: If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.\"
(Chapter of Bani Israel, verse 88)
It was through Islam, a code of life for mankind, that Allah raised the spiritual standards of people and made them aware of things which were hitherto undiscovered. Allah chose the Holy Prophet Hazrat Mohammed Mustafa (saw) to introduce Islam to humanity. It is the result of his untiring efforts that Islam remains alive and vibrant till today and will continue to remain so till the Day of Judgement. It was Hazrat Mohammed (saw) who played the role of spiritual teacher to perfection; who taught us to worship Allah through His recognition and acknowledge His bounties upon us. Born and raised in the worst of societies, (termed as the era of ignorance), the Holy Prophet set such a high benchmark for ethics and morals that even his enemies acknowledged his virtues and paid rich tributes to him. He was the architect of the revolution that engulfed Arabia and then the world wherein, it changed the social pattern and ushered in peace. With supreme patience, he guided us to the obedience of Allah through the performance of those acts which please Him and abstain from those which are a cause for His displeasure. Indeed, for this, we will remain indebted eternally to the Holy Prophet (saw).
While we have the brilliant personality of the Holy Prophet on one side, on the other, we are faced with the persona of the Bab whose followers claim to have abrogated Islam. It is therefore necessary that one makes an objective comparison of the personalities to recognize the truth. Having said that, I seek the forgiveness of Allah for I truly believe that there is no comparison between the lofty character and teachings of the Holy Prophet (saw) and the teachings and the personality of the Bab. In reality, it is important to note that this comparison is not just about personalities; it is rather an examination of their beliefs, their books and everything that they stood for.
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Hazrat Mohammed, |
Mirza Ali Mohammed Shirazi, |
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Claim |
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The last Prophet and Messenger testified by Allah through the Quran and through other divine books. |
No prophecy in his regard. This explains the wide nature of his claims ranging from being the Gate (Bab) of the Mahdi, to beingMahdi himself and finally ending withDivinity. The Bab also did not claim to be a prophet himself - it was the Bahais who labelled him as such to further their aims. |
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Religion |
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Islam, testified by the Quran as the last divine religion. Islam has remained in force since the time of the Holy Prophet (more than 1,400 years) and will continue to remain till the Day of Judgement. Islam, was perfected and its laws completed in the lifetime of the Prophet (saw) |
No name given to his dispensation. Historians have generally referred to his religion as the \"Babi\" religion. His religion was incomplete at the time of his death and was abrogated within a period of 10 years after his death by Bahaullah. |
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Teachings |
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The Holy Quran, which Allah promises to protect Himself and which will remain till the Day of Judgement. |
Primarily, the Bayan which is available in Persian and was incomplete at the time of Bab\'s death. |
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Quality of Revelation |
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The Quran is acknowledged to be flawless in literature and concepts. It is considered to be the lasting miracle of the Prophet. |
The Bayan is full of grammatical errors. Even in terms of concepts, it rambles on without any firm conclusion. |
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Lineage |
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Arab. Born in Mecca in 570 AD to Hazrat Abdullah, (from the respected family of Hashim) and Hazrat Amena. |
Persian. Born in 1819 in Shiraz. Father was Mirza Reza. Mother, Fatimah was a Sayyed - a descendant of the family of the Prophet. |
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Schooling |
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The Holy Prophet is considered to be unlettered - totally unschooled in the practice of this world. In this aspect, he followed the tradition of divine prophets who were unschooled by worldy teachers. The meaning of unlettered that he was taught directly by Allah and at no time of his life was he ever schooled by worldly teachers. |
It is conclusively established that the Bab was taught by worldly teachers even though the Baha’is try to conceal this fact. He studied languages, mathematics and other subjects in school. |
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Declaration |
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At the age of 40 years in Mecca. Disclosed this first to his brother Ali and his wife Khadijah. He persisted with the declaration of prophethood and messengership throughout his life. |
At the age of 25 years in 1844 in the presence of Mulla Hussayn Bushrui (later titled Bab-ul-Bab, The Gate of the Gate). Bahais consider this to be the declaration of the Bab as the Mahdi, while the Bab himself expressly did not claim so. |
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Miracles |
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Numerous reports of astounding miracles. Inanimate objects like stones and trees spoke in his language and testified to his prophethood. Split the moon into two parts and also brought back the setting sun. |
None. The Bab claimed that his miracle was that he could reveal many verses in a short period of time. Perhaps someone should have reminded him that it was quality and not quantity of verses which are important. |
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Followers |
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Found all over the world. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and second only to Chrisntianity. |
Followers were limited in his lifetime and most converted to Baha’ism after him. Religion really did not spread beyond Persia in his lifetime. |
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His Steadfastness |
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Remained firm on his claim and belief with no instance of having wavered in any manner even though he faced severe opposition from his own people. He maintains his claim throughout his life - in peace and in war, before his friends and enemies alike and never recanted. |
Altered his beliefs from time to time - first claimed to be the Bab, then Imam Mahdi. Also claimed to be God himself in his last book. Also numerous instances of having recanted whenever he was faced with severe opposition. Practiced Taqaiyyahhimself. |
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Summary of Beliefs |
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One God - Allah. There is no partner for Allah. |
One God - Allah. In the last two weeks of his life, Bab however claimed to be God. |
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A customary glance at the Babi religion reveals that almost all Babi concepts are contrary to the concepts introduced by the Prophet of Islam. The laws of religion are also divergent to that is Islam. Muslim scholars are categorial the acceptance of the Bayanic provisions (for example rejection of physical resurrection) is tantamount to Kufr (heresy) and one who accepts these provisions is rejected in Islam. |
Now that we have completed this comparison, I would like confess that, having spent the better part of my life reading about the Bahai Faith, I considered it a foolish, though not a futile exercise to compare the Holy Prophet of Islam and the Bab. Foolish, because, as the table above shows, there is really no comparison between the Bab and the Holy Prophet. One can maybe compare apples to apples, and even apples to oranges. However, in my view, to compare apples or oranges to garbage is definitely foolish.
Having said that, this is not an exercise in futility. It is for my objective readers, and in particular, my Muslim brethren, for whom this comparison is important. The Bahais in order to pave the way for the advent of Bahaullah, project the Bab as a divinely sent prophet who succeeded the Holy Prophet of Islam. They claim that his religion abrogated Islam and that his book superceeded the Holy Quran. To make their point, they altered the position of the Bab (to that of a prophet even though he never made this claim in his lifetime) and changed the pages of history. It is imperative that Muslims recognise that all said and done, Bab was a false claimant to the position of the Mahdi. The Bahais have falsely projected him as a prophet after the Holy Prophet of Islam. Therefore, they are out of the limits of Islam.
At this juncture, I would like to re-emphasise that most Bahais are generally not aware, and in most cases are not made aware of the source books of their Faith. Governed in totality by the Universal House of Justice, Bahais are exposed only to \"marketing\" materials of the Bahai Faith, not unlike the sales pitches of organisations, that are designed only to meet the objective of projecting the Faith in good light and concealing the skeletons in its cupboard. Most scholars who pursued an independent study of the Bahai Faith and raised difficult questions were either silenced or labelled as Covenant Breakers; their books branded as unreliable and systematic character assissination campaigns undertaken to challenge their credibility (for example, E G Browne, the british historian, or refer to the excommunication of several close members of Bahaullah\'s household and staff by Abdul Baha and Shoghi Effendi).
I urge my readers to unmask the hidden, and more often than not, unpleasant face of the Baha’i Faith through an objective study of their source books. Unfortunately, most of these books are in Arabic and Persian, and therefore beyond the reach of most Baha’is. At bahaiawareness.com, some of the relevant portion of these books have been translated into English and I assure you that, Inshallah, this effort will continue.
For my Muslim readers, I remind them of the tradition of the Holy Prophet warning us of the arrival of 30 imposters after his demise. There is no doubt that the Bab and Bahaullah are amongst these imposters. I also remind them of the day when we all will depart from this world and will face the questioning of the grave and the Day of Judgment. We will meet the Holy Prophet (saw) who will question us regarding the right he enjoys upon us. It is my humble advice to my Muslim brethren that we remain attached to his lofty teachings in this world and continue to pray to Allah for guidance so that we are not deviated in this world.
Finally, for my Baha’i readers, I am happy to offer an open challenge regarding the authenticity of the references and the translations provided on this web site. So far, in all the years of the existence of this web site no challenge has been offered.
Source: www.bahaiawareness.com
