The Genesis of the Bábí-Bahá’í Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs By Mírzá Habíb’u’lláh Afnán (tr. and annotated by Ahang Rabbani) (Leiden: Brill, 2008. 404 pages.)

Abstract

How Muslims in past centuries dreamed about, attempted to actualize, and
conceived the apocalyptic and messianic events of the End Times cannot be
ignored in any comprehensive approach to the study of Islam. This volume
consists of an English translation of one important source that contributes to
our understanding of nineteenth-century Islamic messianic movements:
Mirza Habib Allah Afnan’s (1875-1971) history of the Babi and Baha’i religions
in Shiraz. Born in Shiraz, Afnan grew up in the home of Sayyid
Muhammad `Ali Shirazi, “The Bab,” (1819-50) and was raised by his widow,
Khadijah Begum.
The Bab was born into a Shi’i Muslim merchant family during the early
Qajar period, a time when many of his contemporaries expected the near
advent of messianic and apocalyptic events. Among the groups so inclined
were the “Shaykhis,” devotees of Shaykh Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Din al-Ahsa’i
(d. 1826). The Bab was initially a Shaykhi and a follower of Sayyid Kazim
Rashti (d. 1843), al-Ahsa’i’s successor. In the 1840s, he claimed to be the
expected qa’im (messianic “ariser”) or mahdi (“rightly guided one”) and
founded a religion that he hoped would change the world and usher in an era
of peace and justice. These assertions led to his execution in Tabriz, Iran, in
1850. In subsequent years, most of his followers looked to Mirza Husayn
`Ali Nuri, “Baha’u’llah,” as the Bab’s successor and a figure who, in his own
right, fulfilled Babi and other messianic expectations ...