Baha"i and Babi Roots in Shi"a Islam
While the Baha'i Faith draws from a variety of influences, both it and the Babi Faith that preceded it are most directly rooted in the Shi'a Islamic beliefs of Iran, the geographic point of origin for the Baha'i Faith.
Sunni hold that leaders should be elected among those capable of holding the position, while the Shi'a believe that successors to Mohammad should come from Mohammad's own family and be appointed by their predecessor. The majority of Shi'a are part of a sub-division referred to as Twelvers, because they believe there were twelve such appointed descendants, which they call Imams.
The Imams existed in an exalted state of being. Like Mohammad, they were sinless, infallible, and wielded authority originating from Allah himself.
In addition, it was widely believed that the Hidden Imam would return after a thousand years of hiding, and the Bab's revelation fell only a couple decades short of the one thousand year anniversary of the twelfth Imam's disappearance.
Others had claimed in the past to be the hidden Imam, and these claims had always been followed by political upheaval. As such, the government officials were immediately hostile to the Bab, his followers, and his message.
In fact, the Bab was actually making an even grander claim than what was presumed by many. He was not merely the Gate to the Hidden Imam, as some thought but, in fact, the Gate to Allah. He was claiming a position equal to Mohammad and meant to usher in a new dispensation from Allah and a religion to go along with it, rather than merely completing a prophecy within the confines of Islamic doctrine.
The Shi'a Imams
Islam is divided into two main factions, the Sunni and the Shi'a. The initial split between these two groups occurred after the death of Mohammad, founder of Islam, concerning leadership of the Islamic community.Read more:Shi'a and Sunnis
Sunni hold that leaders should be elected among those capable of holding the position, while the Shi'a believe that successors to Mohammad should come from Mohammad's own family and be appointed by their predecessor. The majority of Shi'a are part of a sub-division referred to as Twelvers, because they believe there were twelve such appointed descendants, which they call Imams.
The Imams existed in an exalted state of being. Like Mohammad, they were sinless, infallible, and wielded authority originating from Allah himself.
The Twelfth Imam
The first eleven Imams died violently, most of them by poisoning. Their burial places have becomes shrines and the target of pilgrimages for Shi'a Muslims. The twelfth Imam, Mohammad ibn al-Hassan, disappeared in the 870s, after the death of his father, the eleventh Imam, when we was about four years old. He is referred to as the Hidden Imam and is also equated with the Mahdi, an Islamic redeemer figure who, alongside Jesus, will one day return to bring peace to the world by destroying tyranny in the years before the final judgment.The Bab as Mahdi or the Hidden Imam
The Bab, founder of the Babi Faith, claimed to be a divinely sent messenger of Allah, which immediately linked him in the minds of the Shi'a with the Hidden Imam.In addition, it was widely believed that the Hidden Imam would return after a thousand years of hiding, and the Bab's revelation fell only a couple decades short of the one thousand year anniversary of the twelfth Imam's disappearance.
Others had claimed in the past to be the hidden Imam, and these claims had always been followed by political upheaval. As such, the government officials were immediately hostile to the Bab, his followers, and his message.
In fact, the Bab was actually making an even grander claim than what was presumed by many. He was not merely the Gate to the Hidden Imam, as some thought but, in fact, the Gate to Allah. He was claiming a position equal to Mohammad and meant to usher in a new dispensation from Allah and a religion to go along with it, rather than merely completing a prophecy within the confines of Islamic doctrine.
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