From: hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: soc.religion.bahai
Subject: The Claims of The Bab (was Refutation of Baha'i....) (Part 08/10)
Date: 4 Dec 92 14:34:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: ogicse.47213
Organization: -

Continuation from part 7:

HS>For his contradictory statements he was often times confronted by
HS>the Ulema in Iran.

I beg to disagree with you my friend. The following quotation from
A.L.M.  Nicolas will perhaps help the readership of this forum to
realize the nature of the knowledge and the mentality of the Ulema
[Moslem scholars and divines --rdt] of Iran The Bab was faced with,
and offer a perspective on the manner by which the Ulema confronted
The Bab. He [Nicolas --rdt] writes:

"Muhammad [One of Ulema. KH] having grown silent, Mirza
Muhammad-Hassan [Another of the Ulema. KH], who followed the
philosophical doctrine of Mulla Sadra, questioned the Bab in order to
induce him to explain three miracles which it would suffice to relate
in order to enlighten the reader.  The first was the Tayyu'l-Ard, or
the immediate transfer of a human being from one part of the world to
another very distant point. The Shiites are convinced that the third
Imam, Javad, had adopted this easy and economical way of traveling.
For example, he betook himself, in the twinkling of an eye, from
Medina in Arabia to Tus in Khurasan [A province of Iran. KH].

"The second miracle was the multiple and simultaneous presence of the
same person in many different places. Ali was, at the same moment,
host to sixty different people.

"The third miracle was a problem of cosmography which I submit to our
astronomers who will certainly relish it. It is said that, during the
reign of a tyrant, the heavens revolve rapidly, while during that of
an Imam they revolve slowly. First, how could the heavens have two
movements and then, what were they doing during the reign of the
Ummayads and the Abbasids? It was the solution of these insanities
                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
that they [i.e these religious leaders. KH] proposed to the Bab!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I shall not dwell on them any longer but I believe I must here make
                                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
clear the mentality of the learned Moslems of Persia. And if one
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
should consider that, for nearly one thousand years, the science of
                                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Iran rests upon such trash, that men exhaust themselves in continuous
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
research upon such matters, one will easily understand the emptiness
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
of all these minds.

"Be that as it may, the reunion was interrupted by the announcement
of dinner of which each one partook, after which they returned to
their respective homes."

	A.L.M. Nicolas "Seyyid Ali Muhammad dit le Bab p. 239-240
	["Translation" p. 25 --rdt]

Haji Abolghasem Khan-i Ebrahimi, the late leader of the Shaykhi
School, who was by no means a friend of the Baha'i Faith, makes two
very interesting observations about The Bab in two of his books which
is relevant to the point you are attempting to make:

1- He writes in his book Shekayat Namih: "Seyyed-i Bab was not a pupil
   of Seyyed Kazim, a`li-allah maqamih. In fact he was not a pupil of
   any teacher and.... he was not even tutored in the presence of a
   Mulla-yeh maktab dar (Mulla who had a school)."

	Shekayat Namih, pp. 42-43, Sa`adat Print shop 1368, Kerman/Iran

2- He also writes in Tanzih'ul O`ulia: "During the five-six years this
   man [i.e. The Bab. KH].... appeared, Ulema contemporaneous with him
   did not capably answer him, except cursing him and calling him
   godless and sinful. Even today after the passage of one hundred
   years no book from that time can be seen which has effectively
   disproven his claims."

	Tanzih'ul O`ulia, p. 162, Sa`adat Print shop 1368, Kerman/Iran

						Part 8 of 10