The Birth of the Bahá’í Faith/Text
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The
BIRTH
of the
BAHÁ’Í
FAITH
by
Debbie D. Wittman
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The BIRTH of the BAHÁ’Í FAITH[edit]
Debbie D. Wittman
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING TRUST
Wilmette, Illinois 60091
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Copyright © 1980 by the
National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States
All Rights Reserved
ISBN 0-87743-146-9
Printed in U.S.A.
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EARLY in the 19th century the world expected a miracle. Christians in the West waited for the return of Christ on the clouds. Muslims in the East were promised the Day of Judgment.
In Persia two holy men, Shaykh Ahmad, and his disciple, Siyyid Kázim, knew that a Prophet had been born.
They spent their lives preparing the hearts of men to accept His teachings.
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Before Siyyid Káẓim died, he told his disciples to find the Promised One and gave them many signs by which to recognize Him. Mullá Ḥusayn was one who began the search. First he prayed 40 days to purify his heart and ask God’s help.
Mysteriously he was guided to the city of Shíráz. At the gate of Shíráz he was greeted by a young man wearing a green turban. He treated Mullá Ḥusayn like an old friend.
He invited Mullá Ḥusayn to his home to rest after his long journey.
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Here in a small room the young man poured water over Mullá Ḥusayn’s hands to wash away the dust of travel.
They prayed together and Mullá Ḥusayn said,
“I have striven with all my soul, O my God, and until now have failed to find Thy promised Messenger.”
The Báb’s room
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That evening after sunset, May 22, 1844, the young man proclaimed,
“Verily, I say, I am the Báb, the Gate of God....”
The Báb was only 25 years old. He was descended from the family of Muḥammad, the Prophet. The Báb’s knowledge was God-given. These and other signs proved to Mullá Ḥusayn that He was the Promised One.
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Mullá Ḥusayn became the Báb’s first follower. Soon 17 other people, on their own, found the Báb, and believed in Him.
The Báb came to prepare the way for an even greater Prophet of God Who would unite mankind in one religion and bring peace to the world.
The Báb told His followers to
“traverse the land from end to end.... Raise the cry: ‘Awake, awake, for, lo! the Gate of God is open.... The promised One is made manifest....’”
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The Ḅáb sent Mullá Ḥusayn to Ṭihrán, saying,
“A secret lies hidden in that city. When made manifest, it shall turn the earth into paradise.”
In Ṭihrán Mullá Ḥusayn found Bahá’u’lláh.
His father was a wealthy nobleman who died when Bahá’u’lláh was a young man. Like the Ḅáb, Bahá’u’lláh had God-given knowledge.
His name means the Glory of God.
Bahá’u’lláh’s home in Ṭihrán
Bahá’u’lláh was known as one who befriends “the poor and the stranger.”
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Bahá’u’lláh spread the teachings of the Báb, and He won the hearts of many people.
The Báb’s followers became known as Bábís.
In the meantime the Báb sailed to Mecca to announce His message in the holy place of the Muslims.
Mecca
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Thousands of Persians believed in the Báb.
The Sháh
The Sháh sent his most learned scholar to meet the Báb. The scholar became a Bábí, saying, “His word [is] unquestionably the voice of Truth.”
Because some of the Muslim leaders were afraid they would lose their power if many people became Bábís, they hated the new Faith of the Báb. The Muslims killed and tortured thousands of Bábís.
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The Báb was arrested and locked away in the castle of Mákú. Here He wrote His book of laws and He told His followers to seek “Him whom God would make manifest.”
Then His enemies put the Báb in Chihríq, a prison on the border of Persia.
His followers traveled hundreds of miles to see Him. The mountain people who lived near the prison loved the Báb. They asked His blessing every morning before they started work.
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Mírzá Taqí Khán, the Grand Vizir of the Sháh, decided the only way to stop the spread of the Bábí Faith was to kill the Báb.
The Báb knew He was going to die. He sent His pens and writings to Bahá’u’lláh to keep.
Mírzá Taqí Khán
The Báb was taken to Tabríz to be killed by a firing squad. 10,000 people saw the execution. One of the Báb’s young followers, Anís, refused to leave Him, so they were martyred together.
Leader of the firing squad
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Most of the Báb’s followers were killed or scattered.
Two years after the Báb’s death, Bahá’u’lláh was thrown into a dungeon in Ṭihrán called the “Black Pit.” Chained in this foul place, He suffered for 4 months.
One night, in a dream, Bahá’u’lláh heard these words:
“Verily, We shall render Thee victorious....”
When the government finally freed Bahá’u’lláh from prison, He and His family were told to leave Persia. Bahá’u’lláh was very sick. The family’s belongings had been stolen. They traveled, cold and hungry, through the mountains to the city of Baghdád.
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They had lived in Baghdád for a year when Bahá’u’lláh went alone into the wilderness where He could pray and be at peace. Here He remained for two years.
When His family heard stories of a holy man living in the mountains, they knew He must be Bahá’u’lláh. They sent a messenger begging Bahá’u’lláh to come back. Soon He returned home to Baghdád.
Many people heard Bahá’u’lláh’s message of brotherhood. He had so many followers His enemies became jealous. They asked the government to send Bahá’u’lláh away.
In 1863 the government agreed.
Bahá’u’lláh’s home in Baghdád
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Bahá’u’lláh spent 12 days just outside Baghdád in a garden, which His followers renamed the Garden of Riḍván.
There Bahá’u’lláh announced to His followers that He was the Promised One of all religions, foretold by the Báb.
“The Best-Beloved is come.... Happy is the man that turneth unto Him....”
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Now Bahá’u’lláh and His family had to leave for Constantinople. Then they traveled to Adrianople where they lived for 5 years.
Here Bahá’u’lláh wrote to the kings and religious leaders of the world.
He warned the kings to unite and work for world peace. He told the kings to stop slavery and to care for the poor. He told the religious leaders and kings that the time for justice had come.
They did not listen to Bahá’u’lláh.
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Bahá’u’lláh and His family, with a few followers, were exiled to the prison city of ‘Akká in the Holy Land. Bahá’u’lláh’s enemies hoped He would die of the bad air and disease in ‘Akká.
For 9 years Bahá’u’lláh could not leave the prison city. His followers would walk hundreds of miles from Persia to see Him. They were turned away at the gates of ‘Akká.
Bahá’u’lláh’s prison cell
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One day Bahá’u’lláh’s youngest son, Mírzá Mihdí, was praying on top of the prison when he fell through a skylight to the floor below. Bahá’u’lláh asked him what he wished, as he lay dying.
Mírzá Mihdí asked that his life be a sacrifice for the believers to be allowed to see Bahá’u’lláh. Soon the prison guards opened the gates to visitors.
Bahá’u’lláh’s followers became known as Bahá’ís.
For teaching their Faith, many Bahá’ís were tortured and killed.
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In 1890 Professor E. G. Browne came from England and met Bahá’u’lláh.
Professor Browne remembers: “The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget.... Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul....”
[Bahá’u’lláh said:]
‘Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile.... We desire but the good of the world.... That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers.... Is not this that which Christ foretold?’”
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Bahá’u’lláh passed away on May 29, 1892. In His Will, Bahá’u’lláh told the believers to follow ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His eldest son.
Bahá’u’lláh said, “We have made Thee [‘Abdu’l-Bahá] a shelter for all mankind....”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s doorway in the prison city
‘Abdu’l-Bahá cared for the poor and the sick. From the time He was 8 years old, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá served His Father. By His life ‘Abdu’l-Bahá showed us how to be Bahá’ís.
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‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:
“When a man turns his face to God, he finds sunshine everywhere. All men are his brothers.”
“The best way to thank God is to love one another.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a prisoner for 40 years. When the Turkish government freed Him, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was an old man.
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‘Abdu’l-Bahá traveled to Europe and the United States to teach about the Bahá’í Faith.
1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Path Across America
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:
“The basis of the teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the Unity of Mankind....”
“All peoples and nations are of one family, the children of One Father....”
“If you meet those of different race and color from yourself.... Think of them as different colored roses growing in the beautiful garden of humanity....”
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Before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away on November 28, 1921, He wrote to the Bahá’ís of America:
“The tree of life is just beginning to grow. Before long, it will produce buds, bring forth leaves and fruit, and cast its shade over the East and the West.”
Unity
Justice
Peace
Love
BAHÁ’Í