Bahaism traces its roots back to a shia sect called Babism. Babism was founded by Mirza Ali Mohammed. He was born in a house of a trader in Shiraz in Iran. During a journey to Karbala, he met Syed Kazim Rashti & was greatly influenced by him. After Syed Kazim Rashti's death in 1844, Ali Mohammed & Haji Mohammed Karim Khan appointed themselves as his successors. On may 23 of the same year Mirza Ali Muhammed declared himself as the 'Bab'. Bab in Arabic means gate. He was able to quickly gather 18 followers & sent them to different places in Iran for the work of propagation of his sect. He himself went to Makkah Al Mukkaramah to perform Haj. According to reports this is where proclaimed himself as Imam Mahdi. Due to this, the Islamic scholars severely criticized him & this led to clashes between the two. He was arrested, but he escaped only to be caught soon after. He was put to death on 9th of July 1850. His followers hid his body somewhere in the outskirts of Teheran & was later sent to Acca in Palestine.

    During his lifetime, Mirza Ali Muhammed had appointed A man named Mirza Yahya as his successor. He was given the title of Subhe Azal, meaning 'everlasting morning'. This Mirza Yahya was also the Step brother of Mirza Hussain Ali Nuri ( photo in page 1 ). Yahya was also given Ali Muhammed's personal belongings & the clear authority to explain & comment on Ali Muhammed's writings. Despite of this clear instructions of Ali Muhammed regarding his successor, many other people arose for the claim of successor ship of Ali Muhammed. Mirza Abdullah from Tabriz in Iran was one of them. But soon he was drowned in a river by some Bahais. Soon after Yahya went into recluse & made Nuri the supreme leader of the Babis.
 

        In 1852, the Babis were making plans to assassinate the Shah of Persia. Their plans were discovered & strict measures were adopted to capture them. Yahya managed to escape but Nuri was captured. He was released due to the intervention of the Russian embassy & both he & his brother, Yahya fled to Baghdad. Here they spent 12 long years. During these 12 years serious disputes between Nuri & other Babi leaders began to surface & as a result Nuri left for Turkey. The government of Turkey was alarmed due to his activities and close connections with Britain & Russia. He was sent to Istanbul & he stayed there for 4 years. It is here that he declared himself to be the real successor of Mirza Ali Muhammed.

Note : He did this despite clear instructions from Mirza Ali Muhammed that Yahya was his successor.

       Yahya & his 18 companions were outraged & travelled to Istanbul to bring Nuri back to his senses. As a result a severe division among the Babis broke out & they began to kill each other openly. At this critical juncture the government intervened & separated the two. It sent Yahya & his family to Cyprus & Nuri along with his family to Palestine. The followers of Yahya came to be known as Azalis after the Azal in his title & the followers of Nuri came to be known as Bahais. He named himself 'Baha'ullah'. The Azalis continued to follow the Bayan, written by Ali Muhammed, whereas the Nuri made many changes & alterations in the earlier teachings, which were accepted readily. Later he even extended contacts with Russian Czar, Queen Victoria, Napoleon, the Pope, etc. He praised the Russian Government when it sentenced two Iranians who were charged with the murder of two Bahais to death. He justified it by presenting two 'divine inspirations' in this regard. He later died in may 1892.

        After his death, his eldest son, Abbas Effandi succeeded him. He claimed that he was the successor in the wake of continuation of revelation. But many people point out that Baha'ullah himself had stated in his book ' Al Aqdas' that anyone who claimed divine

A picture of Abbas Effandi 'Abdul Baha'

A photo of Shoghi Effandi Rabbani

        He was succeeded by his grandson Shoghi Effandi Rabbani. He wrote many books in several languages. He expired in 1957 in London.

        The 32 Bahais he had appointed during his lifetime took control & established 'The universal house of justice' in an attempt to solve Bahai problems. It has its headquarters in Mount Carmel in Israel.
 
 

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