The Bahá’í community worldwide is currently celebrating
the Bicentenary of the birth of the Báb. The word “Báb” means Door or Gate, and
this young man, born in Persia in 1819, chose this title for Himself, as He claimed
to be the Door or Gate leading to the Promised One of all religions.
The Báb was born in the city of Shiraz, and was sent to a
religious school to learn about the Qur’an. However, His teacher took the boy
back home, saying that the child’s knowledge and understanding were far greater
than his own. However, His uncle, who was the boy’s guardian, insisted that the
child go through school. In His teens, He began to work in the family business,
buying and selling things, and was known for being scrupulously honest and
fair.
In May, 1844, the Báb declared to His first disciple that
He was the Gate to a new age. The promised World Teacher would very soon
appear, and change the world into a new world. His voluminous Writings extolled
the greatness of the Creator, and presented a fresh way of looking at religion.
He announced certain new laws for His followers, and swept away many of the
accumulated beliefs and practices of the time.
Eighteen disciples gathered around Him, and were each
given a specific role – to travel to a certain province or country, and to
announce that the Báb had come. The rapid success of the new movement led to
some of the clergy seeing it as a threat. From that time on, the Báb Himself
was a marked man. He was detained, put under house arrest, and taken under
armed guard to a remote fortress in the mountains. However, His religion continued
to grow, and the clergy and state authorities decided to have Him killed.
He was fastened high above the ground, using ropes
suspended from the wall of the barracks, so that everyone could see Him die. He
was to be killed by firing squad. One of His disciples begged to be killed with
Him, and the authorities allowed this to happen. The details of their deaths
are extraordinary, as related to us by those present. He was taken from His cell while He was still
giving His last instructions to His secretary. The colonel in charge of the
regiment sensed that the Báb was a saintly person, and begged to be relieved
from the responsibility of the execution. The Báb reassured the colonel that
God could prevent him from being in the least bit guilty of His execution, and so
He was taken into the barracks square. The Báb and His devoted follower were
tied to one another by ropes, high on the wall, to give the soldiers a clear target.
A regiment of 750 soldiers was lined up in three rows, and ordered to fire. The
muskets produced a lot of noise and dense clouds of smoke. Thousands of people
had come to see this important event. When the smoke cleared, it turned out
that the musket balls had only severed the ropes. The young follower, who had
begged to be allowed to die, was standing on the ground, looking bewildered,
but the Báb was nowhere to be seen. After a frantic search, they found Him back
in the prison cell, finishing His conversation with His secretary. The Báb said
that He was now ready to die. But the colonel had had enough! He had wanted
nothing to do with this anyway, and he now marched his men out of the square,
announcing that he had done what he had been ordered to do. They had to bring
another regiment of soldiers out of the barracks for the second attempt, and
they were now lined up as a new firing squad.
This time, when the clouds of smoke had finally cleared,
the people could see that the two bodies had been severely mangled by the
musket shots. However, their faces were virtually untouched. The bodies were
thrown into the moat around the city, but by the next morning, His followers
had managed to spirit them away. The basic details of this event were reported
not just by the British consul, and by other Europeans who witnessed them, but
were also recorded by the Muslim clergy who were present, who confirmed that
the Báb somehow managed to escape the first volley of shots!
The Báb had declared a new stage in religion, and had
stressed that the Promised One of all religions was soon to appear.
Bahá’u’lláh, Whom Bahá’ís believe was that Promised One, declared His message in
1863. He built upon the religion of the Báb, and brought new teachings for the
new age. He also gave instructions as to where the remains of the Báb (and the
devoted follower who died with Him) should be buried. Bahá’u’lláh was exiled
several times, finally to the Holy Land, and it was on the slopes of Mount
Carmel (Haifa) that the spot was chosen. In the following years, a Shrine for
the remains of the Báb has been erected, and appears in the photograph I have
chosen for this blog post.
Two hundred years sounds like a long time, but the
spiritual principles proclaimed by the Báb and the social principles given to
us by Bahá’u’lláh have not yet been implemented across the world. A world government,
the realisation of the oneness of mankind, the equality of men and women;
universal education, freedom of conscience, and measures to bring about world
peace; a common second language, the harmony of religion and science, a fairer
economic system…. Perhaps two hundred years is not such a long time after all.
