Who Was the Bāb? Origins of Bābism and the Bahāʾī Faith in 19th Century Iran (Part 1)
Introduction: The Birth of Bābism in 19th Century Iran On 22 May 1844, in the Iranian city of Shiraz, a 24-year-old young merchant, Sayyid ʿAlī Muḥammad Shīrāzī, declared that he was the Bāb—the gateway or intermediary to the Hidden Imam, that is, the Twelfth Imam (Imam al-Mahdi) of Twelver Shiʿa Islam. Following this claim, people … Read more