Báb

**Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad** (20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850) was a merchant from Shiraz, Iran who started a version of Shia Islam called **Bábism**. After he started the religion, he changed his name to **Báb**. People who believe in the Báb are called Bábís, and they believe that the Báb was a prophet. Bábís also believe that the Báb is the Qa'im, who the Shi'as believe will come in the future.

The Báb wrote hundreds of letters and books teaching who he was and what the rules of his religion were. The Báb's new rules replaced the Sharia law, or Muslim rules, for his followers. Bábism became very large, and over ten thousand people believed in the Báb. The Shi'a clergy, or leaders of Islam in Iran, hated the Báb and tried to harm people who followed his religion.  In 1850, a firing squad shot the Báb in Tabriz, Iran.

The Báb had other names like the "Primal Point" and the "Point of the Bayán."

The Báb told everyone that another prophet who was stronger and even more powerful was coming soon. People who follow the Bahá'í religion believe that the Báb was talking about Bahá'u'lláh, who started it.

### Early life

The Báb was born on October 20, 1819, in Shiraz, Iran. His father was a merchant, and many people in the town knew him. Very soon after the Báb was born, his father died. The Báb's uncle Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí was also a merchant and raised the Báb.

When the Báb became an adult, he started working as a merchant with his uncle. In 1842, he married a woman named Khadíjih-Bagum. Together they had one son, who they named Aḥmad, who was very sick and died when as a baby. Someone who lived at the same time as the Báb said he was very calm and quiet and that the Báb spoke only when required and did not even answer questions. The Báb was always thinking and praying. People said he was handsome, and had a thin beard. He always dressed in clean clothes and wore a green scarf and a black turban or wrap of cloth on his head.

### The Shaykhis

Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i started a Shi'a Islam religious group in Iran in the 1790s.  Members of the group, who were called Shaykhis, believed that God was sending a new messenger to Earth very soon.  They called the new messenger the Qa'im, or the Mahdi.  When Shaykh Ahmad died, Siyyid Kázim, who was from Rasht, Iran, became the new leader of the Shaykhis.  Shaykh Ahmad lived was born in 1753 and died in 1862. Siyyid Kázim was born in 1793 and he died in 1843.

When the Báb went on a pilgrimage to Karbala and nearby places, he may have listened to Siyyid Kázim teach.  Nobody knows for sure, however, because there are very few documents or records from that time.

When Siyyid Kázim was dying, he told his followers in December that they should travel and try to find the new prophet from God. He called the prophet "The Lord of the Age" and told them that he would be discovered very soon. One of the people who believed in Siyyid Kázim prayed and fasted from dawn to dusk for forty days, and his name was Mullá Ḥusayn. Then, he travelled to Shiraz and met the Báb.

### Announcement to Mullá Ḥusayn

Mullá Ḥusayn got to Shiraz on May 23, 1844. A young man wearing a green turban greeted him after he had not been in Shiraz for very long. In Iran, only people who were related to the Prophet Muḥammad wore green turbans and were called Siyyids. The young man was the Báb and invited Mullá Ḥusayn to his home.

The Báb asked Mullá Ḥusayn why he was in Shiraz, and Mullá Ḥusayn told him that he was searching for the new prophet, or Promised One. The Báb asked Mullá Ḥusayn how he would know who the prophet was. Mullá Ḥusayn told him that the prophet would come from a famous and good family and know many things without having to learn them. Also, he would have no problems with his body. Tthe Báb said that all of those things were true about himself: "Behold, all these signs are manifest in me." The Báb was saying that he was the new prophet that Mullá Ḥusayn had been looking for. That shocked Mullá Ḥusayn.

Mullá Ḥusayn had one more way to know who the new prophet was and he had not told about it to the Báb. Siyyid Káẓim had told Mullá Ḥusayn that the new prophet would write a book explaining the Surih of Joseph. Siyyid Káẓim had also said that the new prophet would do so without anyone asking him to. After the Báb told Mullá Ḥusayn that he was the new prophet, he wrote a book about the Surih of Joseph. The Báb called that book the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá'

After spending the night talking to the Báb, Mullá Husayn said:

### Letters of the Living

Mullá Ḥusayn was the Báb's first disciple, a student of a religious leader. In less than five months, 17 more students of Siyyid Káẓim became disciples of the Báb. All of the new disciples started believing the Báb was a new manifestation or prophet of god without anyone else's help. One of the new disciples was a woman. Her name was Zarrín Táj Baragháni, and she was a poet. Later she was given a new name,Ṭahirih (meaning "The Pure"). Later people started calling the first 18 disciples and the Báb the Letters of the Living. The Báb told them that it was their duty to tell people that he was the new prophet. Nineteen is a special number in Bábism.

The Báb said that the Letters of the Living were special. Shi'ism has 14 special people, called the "Infallibles", who are always right. Muhammad, the twelve Imams, and Fatimah, are the "Infallibles" in Shi'ism. Just like the "Infallibles", one of the disciples was a woman, and one was a prophet. The Letters of the Living were very much like the Twelve Apostles of Christ.