“Let Your Vision Be World Embracing...” - An Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith, Part Two

The following is the second installment in a continuing series on the Bahá'í Faith. The first part can be found here.

Map of Persia 

Source: Nabil's “Dawnbreakers”, 1932

Background History of the Bahá'í Faith

In the early 19^th century, Persia, the land that was to see, in quick succession, the appearance of two Manifestations of God and two new independent Revelations—an event unparalleled in religious history—was suffering greatly. Persia had in ancient times been a beacon of civilization and the world's greatest empire. It's kings oversaw a realm stretching from India to Europe. 

The Arab conquest of Persia in the 7^th century saw the nation's population converted from Zoroastrianism to Islam. The 16^th century witnessed the rise of the Safavid dynasty who established the Twelver school of Shi'ah Islam as Persia's state religion. Over time, Persia witnessed a political, moral, and intellectual decline. The ascendency of the Qajar dynasty, whose reign was marked by unsurpassed cruelty and fanaticism, in the late 19^th century marked a low point for the Persian people. It was into this perverse environment that the supremely noble teachings of the Bahá'í Faith were to originate.

In a similar fashion to how Christianity saw it's beginnings within the context of Judaism but soon came to be recognized as an independent and new faith, the religious background in which the Bahá'í Faith would see it's rise and subsequent independence from was that of Islam. This profoundly lofty religion saw it's own beginnings twelve centuries before the Bahá'í Faith, in Arabia. At that time Arabia was a land of barbarity and possessed a fanaticism comparable to Persia under the Qajars. 

Into this cruel place, the exulted Prophet Muhammad (c. 570-632) was born. From His earliest years He was recognized as being of unsurpassed character and became widely known in His home-city of Mecca for His honesty. Muhammad was a Messenger of God who revealed the holy Qur'an, a book of unmeasurable beauty and knowledge. The essential message of His book was the oneness of God and the central teaching of His faith was submission to God's will. 

The community of Islam was divided after Muhammad's death. There were those who thought the community of believers should elect essentially a political leader to oversee their needs, this camp became known as the Sunni and were the majority. The other camp was smaller and were known as the Shi'ah. The Shi'ah believed that the Islamic community should be lead by a family member of Muhammad, chosen of God and appointed by his predecessor, to be the Imam—both the political and spiritual leader of the community. 

The first Shi'ah Imam was Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, his holiness the Imam Ali (601-661). Ali's leadership was followed by eleven other decedents who lead the faithful for two centuries, these twelve holy Imams are believed by both Shi'ah and Bahá'ís to be the divinely chosen and rightful heirs of Muhammad. The Imams were oppressed by successive Sunni governments and the twelfth and last Imam was driven into hiding in 874. He did not appoint a successor but instead went into occultation to be manifested in the future as the promised Qá'im who would arise in a time of darkness to fight injustice and restore glory to the Faith of God.

By the times of Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í (1753-1826), the Faith of Muhammad and the Twelve Imams had become the victim of a corrupt clergy and it's followers had fallen into disunity. The honorable Shaykh observed how fanaticism had perverted the true teachings of Islam and he lamented at the loss of vision his beloved faith had suffered. He arose with purpose calling not only the Shi'ah but all followers of Muhammad to revive the vigor that their faith had lost. 

Leaving his homeland he traveled to Iraq and Persia, and he taught with incredible zeal. However, in his heart, he was aware that no mere reform movement could regain Islam's lost purpose. He knew that nothing short of the appearance of the Qá'im, the circumstances of Whose appearance he unraveled from the Islamic scriptures and documented in numerous books, could bring the needed spiritual renewal.

Before Ahmad's death, he appointed the noble Siyyid Kázim Rashtí (1793-1843) to be his successor. Siyyid Kázim knew that time for the appearance of the Qá'im was nearing and he worked with an amazing energy to prepare the people for His impending arrival. On his deathbed instead of appointing a successor, the Siyyid directed his followers to set out to find the One they had awaited who he said was alive and walking the earth. 

Few of his students followed his instructions but one student who remained faithful to his teacher's will was the incomparable Mullá Husayn (1813-1849). He remembered, “Our departed teacher insistently exhorted us to forsake our homes, to scatter far and wide, in quest of the promised Beloved... Regarding the features of the Promised One, he told us that He is of a pure lineage, is of illustrious descent, and of the seed of Fatimah. As to His age, He is more than twenty and less than thirty. He is endowed with innate knowledge. He is of medium height, abstains from smoking, and is free from bodily deficiency.”

Thus Mullá Husayn, with the knowledge imparted to him from his most illustrious teacher, set in search of his Beloved. His journey would eventually deeply involve him in the establishment of a new faith, which would revive lost spiritual virtues and establish justice. Mullá Husayn—alongside many others—would suffer great tribulations and oppression, at the hands of a tyrannical government, for his commitment to this new faith. Mullá Husayn, though, was not aware of the awesome events that laid ahead when he and a few companions directed themselves towards the city of Shíráz.