page_title: Mullá Husayn
section_title: Conversion to Bábism (1844)
hierarchical_section_title: Mullá Husayn / Biography / Conversion to Bábism (1844)
caption_attribution_description: العربية: لقطة من داخلة مسجد الوكيل في مدينة شيراز بإيران. Deutsch: Inneres der Vakil-Moschee in Schiras, Iran English: A shot from the interior of Vakil Mosque in Shiraz, Iran فارسی: سراسرنمایی از شبستان جنوبی مسجد وکیل Русский: Интерьер мечети Вакиль, Шираз, Иран Українська: Інтер'єр мечеті Вакіль, Шираз, Іран This is a photo of a monument in Iran identified by the ID 182
context_page_description: Mullá Husayn, also known by the honorific Jináb-i Bábu'l-Báb, was a Persian religious figure in 19th century Persia and the first Letter of the Living of the Bábí religion. He was the first person to profess belief in the Báb as the promised Mahdi of Islam and a Manifestation of God, founding a new independent religion. The title of Bábu'l-Báb was bestowed upon him by the Báb in recognition of his status as the first Bábí.
  As a young man Mullá Husayn studied Usuli Shia theology, becoming an authorized member of the Shia clerical order at the age of 21. He later became a follower of the millenarian Shaykhi school, studying under its leader Siyyid Kazim Rashti and traveling to debate prominent Usuli clerics to gain support for Rashti's teachings.
  After Rashti's death, Mullá Husayn led a group of Shaykhis who traveled in search of the Mahdi. On 22 May 1844, in Shiraz, Mullá Husayn became the first person to profess belief in the Báb as the Mahdi, and the first follower of the Báb's religion, known as Bábism. He was appointed as the first of the Báb's apostles, called the Letters of the Living. The anniversary of his conversion is celebrated annually as a holy day in the Baháʼí Faith.
context_section_description: In Shiraz, on 22 May 1844, he encountered Sayyed ʿAli Muhammad Shirāzi, the Báb, who invited Mullá Husayn to his home. On that night Mullá Husayn told him that he was searching for the Promised Mahdi and shared with him some of the characteristics expected of the Mahdi which he had learned from Siyyid Kázim. The Báb declared that he manifested all of the characteristics of the Mahdi. Mullá Husayn remained uncertain until the Báb had replied satisfactorily to all of Mullá Husayn's questions and had written in his presence, with extreme rapidity, a long commentary on the Surah of Joseph, which has come to be known as the Qayyúmu'l-Asmáʼ ("Maintainer of the Divine Names") and is considered the Báb's first revealed work. Siyyid Kázim had apparently—when requested by Mullá Husayn to do so himself—predicted that the Mahdi would reveal, unasked, a commentary on this Surah. Nabil's Narrative records Mullá Husayn's account of the signs he had been given by the dying Siyyid Kázim to recognize the Mahdi and indicates that Mullá Husayn was quickly convinced that the Báb satisfied these conditions.
  While the Báb had already revealed his religious mission to his wife, Khadíjih-Bagum and his household servant, Mubarak about a month previous, Mullá Husayn became the first person to independently recognize him as the Mahdi and the prophet-founder of a new religion, and was appointed as the first member of the Báb's "Letters of the Living" (Ḥurúfu'l-ḥayy in Arabic). The anniversary of this declaration is observed as a holy day by Baháʼí communities around the world and the beginning of the religions of Bábism and the Baháʼí Faith.
caption: The Vakil Mosque, where Mullá Husayn preached and taught theology classes during his time in Shiraz.
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