The Origin of the Babi Faith

The Baha’i Faith often projects itself to Muslims as a sect of Islam. They do this primarily by taking advantage of the fact that the origins of the Faith lie in Iran and that its founders have Muslim sounding names. The colonial-backed group twists information to deviate Muslims on the issue of finality of the prophet hood of Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h).

The primary objective of this article is to highlight the origin of the Baha’i Faith. The study of the origin of any religion is important to any seeker of the truth for its helps us to establish veracity of its claims and that of its founders. An objective reading of this article will convince the reader that the history of the Baha’i Faith and that of its leaders is laced with deception, lies and dishonesty. It is a dark history that the Baha’is are ashamed of and hence wish to hide from it or turn their face the other way when one reminds them of it.

Secondly, we wish to establish conclusively that the Baha’i Faith has absolutely nothing to do with Islam. It is not a sect of Islam. In fact, it is condemned by all sects of Islam due to their disbelief on the issue of the finality of the prophet hood of the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h).

The origin of Baha’i Faith can be traced to Mirza Ali Mohammed Bab, who is credited with being the founder of the Babi faith in Iran. During the time of Ali Mohammed Bab the sect was known as Babism and when Bahaullah took over, it came to be called as Bahaism. Mirza Ali Mohammed Bab was born on the 20th of October 1819 in Shiraz - a major city in Iran. His father was Mirza Raza Bazzaz, a merchant by profession and his mother was Fatima Khanum.

The Bab acquires knowledge from worldly teachers

At the age of seven the Bab was sent to study under Shaikh Abid, a scholar of the Shaikhiya sect. It is here that he imbibed the ideas of the Shaikhiya sect. Under the guidance of the Shaikh, he studied Persian, calligraphy, and some elementary Arabic grammar.
The Bab himself admitted that he obtained education from worldly teachers. When his heretic ideas created discord in Iran, the Crown Prince summoned him to an assembly of religious scholars. The scholars asked Bab about some basic rules of Arabic grammar, to which he replied, \"I had learnt them when I was young, but now I have completely forgotten them.\"
(Ref: Traveler\'s Narrative, E. G. Brown, page 278-290, examination of the Bab)

The Bab was also a self-confessed disciple of Syed Kazim Rashti. The Bab himself declared, \"I am one of the disciples of Sayyed-e-Muqaddas (Sayyed Kazim Rashti).\"
(Ref: Hadyatul Mahdiyyah Page 212).

The above references are sufficient to prove that the Bab was, like any of us, in need of worldly education and teachers, and he did gain knowledge from worldly teachers like Shaikh Abid, Mohammed and Syed Kazim Rashti.

However the Baha’i Faith completely discounts these facts and claims otherwise. Abbas Effendi, the son of Bahaullah, and the first leader of the Baha’is utters a blatant lie on page 8 of his book \'Khutubat-e-Buzurg\'. He writes, \"It is incumbent on every prophet that he gains knowledge from Allah alone and not from any human being and such is the practice of all prophets like Prophet Ibrahim, Hazrat Mohammed, Hazrat Bab and Bahaullah. All of them did not study in any school because the one who owes his knowledge to human schools cannot be a divine representative.\"

The above statement of Abbas Effendi is simply unacceptable. We can agree that all leaders who were divinely inspired did not seek knowledge from worldly teachers. However, we all must also agree that the Bab does not fall into this special category. Every Baha’i worth his salt can wish fervently that Bab was a divine leader, but the fact is that he was not. The Bab, by virtue of his worldly schooling does not fulfill the basic criteria of being a divine leader - he was taught by men of this world.

We also take severe objection to the above statement for not only does Abbas Effendi deny the fact that Bab studied under various teachers, he has gone further and has put at par Bab and Bahaullah with the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h), and the other mighty prophets of Allah. There is no comparison between the Holy Prophet of Islam (p.b.u.h) and the Bab or Bahaullah.

The above statement of Abbas Effendi highlights another important aspect of the Baha’i Faith. Here he has denied the finality of prophethood of the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) -a fundamental belief of all Muslims. Baha’is decry the finality of the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h). I appeal to all Muslims to beware of them and do everything in their capacity to eradicate the evil designs of Baha’ism.

The Bab was afflicted with a mental disorder

Another feature about the Bab is that during his youth he used to stand on the roof of his house directly under the sun. He did this during the hot summer days of Iran. Standing under the sun, he used to make signs to the sun all day long through the summer. So much so that people thought he was a star worshipper. This strange practice finds mention on page 66 of the book \'Talkheese Nabil\' by Ishraaq Khaavri and \"Hashte Bahist\" by Mirza Aga Khan Kirmani. This habit of standing under the hot sun had a severe impact on the mental faculty of the Bab from which he never recovered completely. It was for the treatment of this disorder that Bab was sent to Kerbala in Iraq where he met Syed Kazim Rashti and studied under him.
The violent history of the Babis

The Bab arose at a time when hostilities between Iran and Russia were at their peak. During these wars Iran suffered extensive damage and there was bloodshed, unhappiness and despair everywhere. At this time the belief in the coming of the \'Promised Messiah\' or the \'Mahdi\' assumed great proportions. People in Iran were anxiously waiting for the reappearance of the Mahdi. (Iranians generally believe that Imam Mahdi has already been born, and would reappear by the will and permission of Allah to fill the earth with justice and equity as it will be filled with injustice and oppression). At such an opportune moment, Bab with the help of the Russian Ambassador, Kiniyaz Dolgorouki, claimed himself to be the Bab (Gate) of Imam Mahdi
(Ref: A Traveler\'s Narrative, Abbas Effendi Page 4).
Then on reaching Kerbala in May 1844, under the influence of Isa Lankarani, again a Russian agent, the Bab claimed himself to be Imam Mahdi himself.
(Ref: A Traveler\'s Narrative Page 14).

Due to the strong and deep-rooted enmity between Iran and Russia, as we shall see at a later stage, the Russians were at the forefront in promoting Babism and Baha’ism.

Within a short period of 5 months, Zarrin Taj Qurratul Ayn, Mulla Mohammed Ali Barfarosh, and 16 others joined the Bab. These 18 followers are also known as the \'Huruf-e-Hayy\' or \'the Letters of the Living\'. Incidentally, Bahaullah who later claimed to be the successor of the Bab, was not among these 18.

The heretical teachings of the Bab spread far and wide and created a lot of discord among the people. Families were broken, relationships severed, and feelings of enmity and mistrust grew among the religious scholars. This was completely contrary the teachings of Islam. Hence a meeting of religious scholars was convened and the Bab called for questioning. It was there that the Bab uttered: \"O scholars! Whatever you see in Quran, you will find in Bayan (a book authored by the Bab, which he claims to be divinely inspired). Whatever you will not find in Quran, look for it in Bayan. My Bayan has abrogated Quran and Islam! Obey me before the sword comes out of the sheath.\"

The moderator of the assembly had a very hard time controlling the frenzied scholars. He then asked the Bab to pen down his sayings as a reference as this would serve as the completion of proof for all. The Bab wrote some sentences in the form of supplications. The scholars read his statements, and pointed out some basic grammatical mistakes thus proving that he did not even have any elementary knowledge of Arabic. However, instead of admitting his mistakes, the Bab with his usual cheek declared, \"I have not learnt from any teacher (another lie), Whatever I write is revelation...\"
(Ref: Nasikhut Tawareekh)

Upon the migration of the Russian ambassador, to create strife in Iran, Bab wrote the following sentences in Bayan,

\"O my followers! Surely Allah has made fighting obligatory for you. You must conquer the cities and the people for Babism and don\'t be at peace with those who reject Babism.\"
(Al Bayan, Arabic Edition, chapter 1)

\"Allah has made obligatory on every Babi king that he should not let a single person remain alive in his kingdom who does not accept Babism.
(Al Bayan, Arabic Edition, chapter 1)

\"Loot and plunder the properties of those who do not accept Babism.\"
(Al Bayan, Arabic Edition, chapter 1)

\"Erase all the books from the face of the earth except those written about Babism\"
(Al Bayan, Arabic Edition, Chapter 1)

\"O enemies of Bab! Even if you bathe 1,000 times, you will never become clean\",
(Al Bayan, Persian Edition chapter 2 )

\"If a Babi acquires a thing from a non-Babi, then by the transfer of the thing, it becomes lawful for him.\"
(Al Bayan, chapter 4).
These baseless utterances resulted in chaos and total upheaval in Iran. Babis, the followers of Bab, who advocated total submission to the will and commands of the Bab, set forth to actualize his commandments. Chaos and anarchy spread all around. The Babis began to loot and plunder the adjoining villages and took away whatever they could lay their hands upon. If they met with any resistance, they burnt the entire village. For details, one can refer to the book of \'Materials for the study of Babism\' by Professor E. G. Browne, Page 241.

The book notes that in one such village the Babis saw that some non-Babis had sought protection. Mulla Husain and some other Babis arrived at the village and killed 130 people in a single night.

The murderous Babis set out to plunder, and annihilate Muslims. No one was spared. Children were killed, elders massacred, the pregnant women had their stomachs ripped and other women defiled. Merely killing the people did not satiate the devilish desires of the Babis. They also looted their belongings and set their houses afire.
(Ref: Nuktatul Qaaf, Page 161. Also Kashfuz Zulumah, Page 125).

These are some of the pieces of the dark history, which the Baha’is wish to hide and keep away from their followers. In my meetings with Baha’is over the years, I have not met a single person who was aware of these facts. Truly it is a farce for a religion, which such a violent background to actually propagate world peace. It is as if Hitler makes a claim to the Nobel Peace Prize in today\'s time. Muslims must be aware and question the Baha’is when they are approached about these incidents. It makes the Baha’is uncomfortable for they have no reply.

A Baha’i historian writes about the \'mistakes\' of these villages that, \"Initially these villages believed in Bab, but later they denied him, and so they had to endure the punishment\" (Ref: Nuktatul Qaaf, Page 163)

In spite of all this, the Baha’is claim to be the proponents of world peace. Dear brothers, if such is their \'peace\', then we definitely don\'t want it. And these are only a few examples of the black pages of the history of Baha’ism. Many similar incidents show that the Baha’is are actually the proponents of world disorder. I cannot see anyone carrying out such satanic acts and guilty of such heinous crimes as being the apostles of world peace.

The Bab, meanwhile, made a lot of claims. Firstly he claimed to be the Bab (Gate) of Imam Mahdi. Then he claimed that he was the Promised Mahdi himself. Then he further claimed that he was a new prophet, and believe it or not, as written by him in \'Lauhe Haikal-ud-Deen\' finally he claimed to be God Almighty himself. With each new claim, fresh disputes and further discord were created among the people.

The government of the Shah then tightened the noose around the neck of the Bab and decided to execute him. The Shah asked the Crown Prince, Nasir ad-Din, who was in Tabriz to bring the Bab from the prison to a court of ulema for trial. The Bab after some evasion confessed to being the author of the books written about him, and being the introducer of a new religion. When the ulema asked what deficiency he found in the Islamic faith, the apostate had nothing to say. The ulema unanimously agreed that he was an unbeliever, and an apostate and the government decided to execute him for apostasy.

The Russian attempt to save the Bab

The Bab was taken from prison with one of his followers for execution in one of the squares of Tabriz, which was packed with people for watching the slaying of the apostate. The Russian consul approached the commander of the firing squad and offered him a large bribe to save the Bab.
The Bab and his follower were tied to a large pillar while the people cursed him and demanded a speedy execution. The Russian consul stood among them in anxiety. The soldiers fired 8 shots, all of which hit the deceived follower save one. This lone bullet cut off the rope with which the Bab was tied. When the smoke cleared, the people saw the body of the follower at the foot of the post, riddled with bullets. The Bab escaped when the bullet cut off the rope. Some of the soldiers, who were aware of the Bab, but ignorant of the commander\'s intention, showered him with bullets, whereupon the Russian consul burst into tears. This action of the Russian consul exposed the Russian connection in this conspiracy. The Bab\'s corpse was left in a ditch for the wild animals. The Russian consul took photographs of the corpse and sent them to his government, as reported in \'Al Kawakib Ad-Durriyah Fi Tarikh Al Babiyah Wa Al Bahaiyah\', written by a Baha’i and printed in Cairo in 1343 AH. The Bab was executed on the 28th of Shaban, 266 AH (1850 AD).

The religions of Bab and Bahaullah were Russian inventions, and hence the first \'Mashriqul Azkar\' (place of worship) of the Bahais was set up in the Ahiqabad province of Russia with the aid of the Russians.
(Bahjatus Sudoor, page 271 by Mirza Haider Ali Isfahani, Mumbai edition).

But after the Russian revolution, the Bolsheviks did not support them and they had to turn to Israel for help. They helped Israel in its rifts with Iran, Turkey, and also Palestine. In this way, Abdul Baha (Abbas Effendi) was bestowed the title of \'Sir\' by the British government.
(Ref: \'Bahaullah and the New Era\' by an American Baha’i, Dr. Esselmont).

The Bahais betrayed the Muslims and helped in installing the Zionist regime in Israel. The Arabs are still fighting and pleading for their land while Baha’is are well settled in Israel and are devising new methods every day to destroy Islam and strengthen the Zionist regime.

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters! Heed the lessons of history and do not be misled by the Baha’is. Let us come together to denounce these wolves in sheep clothing - whose objective is to misguide Muslims. They claim to be Muslims to get close to them, but actually deride the Muslim belief in the finality of the prophet hood of the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h). They claim to be proponents of world peace, but actually have a history full of violence and bloodshed. The most important aspect is that these facts are never stated and always twisted by them.

I have attempted to be as objective as far as possible and have backed my article with references. The comments I have made are the logical conclusions that could be made by any seeker of truth.

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