BAB, THE

born Oct. 20, 1819, or Oct. 9, 1820, Shiraz, Iran died July 9, 1850, Tabriz The shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel byname of Mirza 'ali Mohammad Of Shiraz merchant's son whose claim to be the Bab (Gateway) to the hidden imam (the perfect embodiment of Islamic faith) gave rise to the Babi religion and made him one of the three central figures of the Baha'i faith. At an early age, 'Ali Mohammad became familiar with the Shaykhi school of the Shi'i branch of Islam and with its leader, Sayyid Kazim Rashti, whom he had met on a pilgrimage to Karbala' (in modern Iraq). 'Ali Mohammad borrowed heavily from the Shaykhis' teaching in formulating his own doctrine, and they, especially Sayyid Kazim's disciple Mulla Husayn, seem to have encouraged his proclamation of himself as the Bab. Traditionally, the Bab had been considered to be a spokesman for the 12th and last imam, or leader of Shi'i Islam, believed to be in hiding since the 9th century; since that time, others had assumed the title of Bab. Such a proclamation fit in well with the Shaykhis' interest in the coming of the mahdi, or messianic deliverer. It was on May 23, 1844, that 'Ali Mohammad, in an inspired fervour, wrote and simultaneously intoned a commentary, the Qayyum al-asma', on the surah (chapter) of Joseph from the Qur'an. This event prompted 'Ali Mohammad, supported by Mulla Husayn, to declare himself the Bab. The same year he assembled 18 disciples, who along with him added up to the sacred Babi number 19, and were called huruf al-hayy (letters of the living). They became apostles of the new faith in the various Persian provinces. The six-year career of the Bab, who had popular support, was marked by a struggle for official recognition and by a series of imprisonments. He was suspected of fomenting insurrection, and some of his followers engaged in bloody uprisings. He had to do battle with the mujtahids and mullahs, members of the religious class, who were unreceptive to the idea of a Bab who would supersede their authority and provide another avenue to the Truth. Accordingly, his missionaries were arrested and expelled from Shiraz, and the Bab was arrested near Tehran and imprisoned in the fortress of Mahku (1847) and later in the castle of Chehriq (1848), where he remained until his execution. Assembling at the convention of Badasht in 1848, the Bab's followers declared a formal break with Islam. The personality of the man was such that he could win over the Shah's envoy who was sent to investigate the movement, as well as the governor of Isfahan, who protected him in that city, and even the governor of the fortress of Mahku, where he was first confined. Nonetheless, a committee of mujtahids decided he was dangerous to the existing order and demanded his execution. On the first volley from the firing squad he escaped injury; only the ropes binding him were severed, a circumstance that was interpreted as a divine sign. On the second volley he was killed and his body disposed of in a ditch. Several years later it was buried by the Baha'is in a mausoleum on Mt. Carmel, in Palestine. Late in his active period, 'Ali Mohammad had abandoned the title Bab and considered himself no longer merely the gateway to the expected 12th imam (imam-mahdi), but to be the imam himself, or the qa'im. Later he declared himself the nuqtah (point) and finally an actual divine manifestation. Among his followers, Babis and later Azalis, he is known as noqtey-e ula (primal point), hazrat-e a'la (supreme presence), jamal-e mobarak (blessed perfection), and even haqq ta'ala (truth almighty). The Baha'is assign him the position of a forerunner of Baha' Ullahthe founder of the Baha'i faithbut they suppress all his titles except Bab. The Bab wrote a great many works not only in his native Persian but also in Arabic. Among the most important and most sacred are the Arabic and the longer Persian versions of his Bayan. Although these are the holy books of Babi revelation, all the writings of the Bab and his successors are considered divinely inspired and equally binding.