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Subh-i-Azal

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Subh-i-Azal
Subh-i-Azal at the age of 80, Famagusta, circa 1911[1]
Born
Mirza Yahya Nuri

1831 (1831)
Tehran, Iran
DiedApril 29, 1912 (1912-04-30) (aged 80)
Famagusta, present-day Cyprus
Known forLeader of Azali Bābism
SuccessorDisputed

Subh-i-Azal[a] (1831–1912, born Mīrzā Yahyā[b]) was an Iranian religious leader of Bābism, appointed as head of the religious movement by the Bāb just before the latter's execution in 1850.[2] He is known for his later conflict with his half-brother Baháʼu'lláh over leadership of the Bābī community, after which his followers became known as Azalis.[3]

At the time of appointment he was just 19 years old. Two years later a pogrom began to exterminate the Bābīs in Iran, and Subh-i-Azal fled for Baghdad for 10 years before joining the group of Bābī exiles that were called to Istanbul. During the time in Baghdad tensions grew with Baháʼu'lláh, as Bābī pilgrims began to turn to him for leadership. The Ottoman government further exiled the group to Edirne, where Baháʼu'lláh's announcement of divine revelation turned the tension into an open conflict.

In 1868 the Ottoman government further exiled Subh-i-Azal and his followers to Cyprus, and Baháʼu'lláh and his followers to Acre in Palestine. When Cyprus was leased to Britain in 1878, he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity on a British pension.[4]

By 1904, Azal's followers had dwindled to a small minority, and Baháʼu'lláh was almost universally recognized as the spiritual successor of the Bāb.[5] After Azal's death in 1912, the Azali form of Bābism entered a stagnation and has not recovered as there is no acknowledged leader or central organization.[2][3] Most Bābīs either accepted the claim of Baháʼu'lláh or the community gradually diminished as children and grandchildren turned back to Islam.[6] A source in 2001 estimated no more than a few thousand, almost entirely in Iran.[7] Another source in 2009 noted a very small number of followers remained in Uzbekistan.[8]

Name and title

His given name was Yahyá, which is the Arabic form of the English name "John". As the son of a nobleman in the province of Núr, he was known as Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī (Template:Lang-fa). His most widely known title, "Subh-i-Azal" (or "Sobh-i-Ezel"; Template:Lang-fa, "Morning of Eternity") appears in an Islamic tradition called the Hadith-i-Kumayl, which the Bāb quotes in his book Dalā'il-i-Sab'ih.

It was common practice among the Bābīs to receive titles. He was also known by the titles al-Waḥīd, Ṭalʻat an-Nūr, and at-Tamara;[2] or Everlasting Mirror (Mir'atu'l-Azaliyya), Name of Eternity (Ismu'l-azal), and Fruit of the Bayan (Thamara-i-Bayan).[9]

Background

Subh-i-Azal was born in 1831 to Kuchak Khanum-i-Karmanshahi and Mīrzā Buzurg-i-Nūrī, in the province of Mazandaran.[9] His father was a minister in the court of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. His mother died while giving birth to him, and his father died in 1839 when he was eight years old, after which he was cared for by his stepmother Khadíjih Khánum, the mother of Baháʼu'lláh.[9]

In 1845, at about the age of 14, Subh-i-Azal became a follower of the Bāb.

Early activities in the Bābī community

Subh-i-Azal met Tahirih, the 17th Letter of the Living who had, upon leaving the Conference of Badasht, traveled to Nur to propagate the faith. Shortly thereafter, she arrived at Barfurush and met Subh-i-Azal and became acquainted once again with Quddús who instructed her to take Subh-i-Azal with her to Nur. Subh-i-Azal remained in Nur for three days, during which he propagated the new faith.[10]

During the Battle of Fort Tabarsi, Subh-i-Azal, along with Baháʼu'lláh and Mirza Zayn al-Abedin endeavoured to travel there to assist the soldiers. However, they were arrested several kilometers from Amul. Their imprisonment was ordered by the governor, but Subh-i-Azal escaped the officials for a short while, after which he was discovered by a villager and then brought to Amul on foot with his hands tied. On the path to Amul he was subject to harassment, and people are reported to have spat at him. Upon arriving he was reunited with the other prisoners. The prisoners were ordered to be beaten, but when it came time that Subh-i-Azal should suffer the punishment, Baha'u'llah objected and offered to take the beating in his place. After some time, the governor wrote to Abbas Quli Khan who was commander of the government forces stationed near Fort Tabarsi. Khan replied back to the governor's correspondence, saying that the prisoners were of distinguished families and should not be harassed. Thus, the prisoners were released and sent to Nur upon orders of the commander.

Marriages and children

According to Browne, Mirza Yahya had several wives, and at least nine sons and five daughters. His sons included: Nurullah, Hadi, Ahmad, Abdul Ali, Rizwan Ali (AKA Constantine the Persian), and four others. Rizwan Ali reports that he had eleven or twelve wives.[11] Later research reports that he had up to seventeen wives including four in Iran and at least five in Baghdad, although it is not clear how many, if any, were simultaneous.[12] Smith reports that he had "perhaps twenty-five children in all".[9]

His granddaughter, Roshanak Nodust, was later known for starting Peyk-e Saadat Nesvan, the first woman's rights magazine in Iran.[13]

Appointment

Subh-i-Azal was appointed by the Bāb to "preserve what hath been revealed in the Bayān", but the nature of his role has been the subject of debate due to conflicting sources.[9] Shortly before the Bāb's execution, the Bāb wrote letters and gave them to Mullā ʻAbdu'l-Karīm to deliver to Subh-i-Azal and Baháʼu'lláh.[14] These were later interpreted by both Azalīs and Bahāʼīs as proof of the Bāb's delegation of leadership to Subh-i-Azal.[14]

So although Subh-i-Azal was clearly appointed as leader of the Bābī community, the nature of that appointment differs according to which source is believed. The disagreement is over whether he was appointed a spiritual successor who could write divinely-revealed verses, or a nominal figurehead who would maintain the community until the appearance of a greater prophet.[15] ʻAbdu'l-Bahá states that the Bāb did this to divert attention from Baháʼu'lláh, and that it was suggested by the latter.[9][16]

The conflicting accusations, claims, and counter-claims of Azalī and Bahāʼī sources make it difficult to reconstruct an objective narrative of the splitting of the Bābī community into these two groups, one of which came to dominate and expand, while the other became almost defunct.[9] Academic reviews are generally critical of the official Bahāʼī positions on the split; for example Edward Granville Browne,[17] Denis MacEoin,[18] and A. L. M. Nicolas.[19]

In the period immediately following the Bāb's execution (1850), there were many claims to authority over the Bābīs, but at some point Azal became the recognized leader, and remained so for about 13 years.[9]

Nuqtatu'l-Kaf

Edward Granville Browne studied the Bābī movement in Iran and translated many primary sources from 1890 to 1920. One of these, Kitab-i-Nuqtatu'l-Kaf (or Noqtat al-Kāf), was of particular interest to the appointment of Subh-i-Azal. Its publication was encouraged by Muhammad Khan Qazvīnī, a Shi'ite scholar, and its authorship was attributed to Hājī Mīrzā Jānī, a Bābī who died in 1852.[20] A similar manuscript attributed to Hājī Mīrzā Jānī and circulating among Bahāʼīs was Tarikh-i-Jadid, but the Bahāʼī version lacked extra text supportive of Subh-i-Azal's authority. In his introduction to its publication, Browne attacked the Bahāʼīs for trying to rewrite history.[20] Further scholarship showed that the Nuqtatu'l-Kaf was circulating among Bahāʼīs, it wasn't being suppressed, and some material in it postdated the death of its assumed author.[20]

Denis MacEoin made the most detailed analysis of the question in his The Sources for Early Babi Doctrine and History (1992),[21][22] summarized here by Margit Warburg:

In 1892, Browne acquired the Babi manuscript named Kitab-i-Nuqtatu'l-Kaf from a collection of Babi manuscripts originally owned by de Gobineau and sold to the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris in 1884. The first portion of the manuscript is laid out as a doctrinal treatise, while the later sections contain what Browne assumed to be an early copy of Mirza Jani Kashani's history. Browne considered his discovery to be of immense importance, since at that time no other copies of this history were known. However, Browne also discovered that the manuscript was at variance with the version of Mirza Jani Kashani's history that made up the core text in the Tarikh-i-Jadid. Although the two texts for the most part are equivalent, several passages in the Nuqtatu'l-Kaf that refer to Subh-i-Azal and his role in the Babi movement are not included in the Tarikh-i-Jadid. This led Browne to conclude that the discrepancies between the two histories were the result of a deliberate plot of the followers of Baha'u'llah to discredit Subh-i-Azal's claims to leadership. The Baha'is hotly rejected Browne's conclusion and accused the Azalis of distorting the sources. Thus, Abdu'l-Baha suggested that the Azalis had prepared a falsified version of Mirza Jani Kashani's history and had encouraged Browne to publish it. This hypothesis was restated many years later by the Baha'i historian Hasan M. Balyuzi...[22]

Takur uprising

The Bābī community was engaged in several pitched military confrontations with the government from 1848-1851. Subh-i-Azal allied himself with a militant faction led by Azīm, and in 1852 coordinated a new militant uprising in Takur, Iran. This new upheaval was apparently timed to coincide with an attempt to assassinate Naser al-Din Shah.[9][23]

The uprising failed, and the botched assassination attempt resulted in the entire Bābī community being blamed and severely punished by the government. Many thousand Bābīs were killed. Subh-i-Azal took up a disguise to escape Iran and joined a cohort of exiles in Baghdad.[9][2]

Baghdad

In Baghdad, Subh-i-Azal kept his whereabouts secret and lived secluded from the Bābī community, keeping in contact through agents termed "witnesses".[2] One Witness in Baghdad was Sayyid Muhammad Isfahani. Apart from Isfahani, Subh-i-Azal wrote to six other individuals naming them all "witnesses of the Bayán": Mulla Muhammad Ja'far Naraqi, Mulla Muhammad Taqi, Haji Sayyid Muhammad (Isfahani), Haji Sayyid Jawad (al-Karbala'i), Mirza Muhammad Husayn Mutawalli-bashi Qummi, and Mulla Rajab 'Ali Qahir.[24]

The Bābī community in Iran remained fragmented and broken after the pogrom of 1852-3, and new leadership claims developed. The most significant challenger to Subh-i-Azal was Mirza Asad Allah Khu'i, known by the title Dayyān,[9] who made a claim to be He whom God shall make manifest.[25] Azal wrote a lengthy refutation of Dayyān titled Mustayqiz. Dayyān was killed in Baghdad by Mirza Muhammad Mazandarani in 1856 at the order of Subh-i-Azal.[9][25]

Subh-i-Azal's leadership was controversial. He generally absented himself from the Bābī community, spending his time in Baghdad in hiding and disguise.[2][7] Subh-i-Azal gradually alienated himself from a large proportion of the Bābīs who started to give their alliance to other claimants.[2] Bahāʼī sources have attributed this to his incompetence and cowardice, but MacEoin also attributes the isolation to the Shi'a practice of Taqiyya.[26]

During the Baghdad period of 1853-1863, tensions rose between Subh-i-Azal and Baháʼu'lláh. Bahāʼī sources describe Azal as increasing in jealousy during this time, and Baháʼu'lláh's 2-year sojourn in Kurdistan as an attempt to avoid the growing disunity.[9]

Edirne

In 1863 most of the Bābīs were called by the Ottoman authorities to Istanbul for four months, followed by an exile to Edirne that lasted from 12 December 1863 to 12 August 1868.[27][8] The travel to Istanbul began with Baháʼu'lláh privately making his claim to be the messianic figure of the Bayan, which became a public proclamation in Edirne. This created a permanent schism between the two brothers.[2][8] Subh-i-Azal responded to these claims by making his own claims and resisting the changes of doctrine which were introduced by Baháʼu'lláh.[2] His attempts to keep the traditional Bābism were, however, mostly unpopular.[2]

Subh-i-Azal was behind the poisoning of Baháʼu'lláh while in Edirne.[28][29] An Azali source later re-applied these allegations to Baháʼu'lláh, even claiming that he poisoned himself while trying to poison Subh-i-Azal.[c] The second attempt in 1864 was more severe and had adverse effects on Bahaʼu'lláh throughout the remainder of his life. Subh-i-Azal invited Baháʼu'lláh to a feast and shared a dish, half of which was laced with poison. Baháʼu'lláh was ill for 21 days following this attempt and was left with a shaking hand for the rest of his life.

Cyprus

Ṣubḥ-i-Azal at the age of 80, unknown photographer, Famagusta, 1911 circa.

Subh-i-Azal, along with Sayyid Muhammad Isfanani made accusations against Baháʼu'lláh to the Ottoman authorities, which resulted in both factions being further exiled in 1868; Baháʼu'lláh to Acre and Azal to Famagusta in Cyprus.[9][2]

The formal exile of Subh-i-Azal ended in 1881,[9] when Cyprus was acquired by Britan in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), but he remained on the island for the rest of his life until his death on 29 April 1912. He remained elusive and secretive, living off a British pension and being perceived as a Muslim holy man by the people of Cyprus, even receiving a Muslim burial.[9] From Cyprus he seemed to have little contact with the Bābīs in Iran.

Harry Luke, an official of the British Colonial Office, commented in 1913 that after Subh-i-Azal's arrival in Cyprus,

Now occurred a curious phenomenon. Athough doctrinally there was little to distinguish the two parties, the basis of the schism being a personal question, the one waxed exceedingly while the other waned. Rapidly the Ezelis dwindled to a handful, and soon were confined, almost entirely, to the members of Subh-i-Ezel's devoted family.[31]

Succession

There are conflicting reports as to whom Subh-i-Azal appointed as his successor, and there was confusion after his death. Azal originally planned to appoint his eldest son Ahmad, but a dispute between them caused the appointment to be withdrawn and he instead appointed Hādī Dawlatābādī (d. 1908). After the latter's death, Subh-i-Azal further appointed the man's son, Yaḥyā Dawlatābādī, but he had little involvement in the religion and any chain of leadership appears to have gone defunct with his appointment.[32][33]

Subh-i-Azal's son, Rizwan ʻAli, wrote to C.D. Cobham on 11 July 1912,

[Subhi-i-Azal] before his death had nominated [as his executor or successor] the son of Aqā Mīrzā Muhammad Hādī of Dawlatābād..[34]

MacEoin reports that Subh-i-Azal appointed as his successor Yaḥyā Dawlatābādī, the son of Hādī Dawlatābādī, but notes that there is little evidence that Yaḥyā Dawlatābādī was involved in the affairs of the religion, and that instead he spent his time as that of secular reformer.[2][23]

H.C. Lukach wrote to Browne on 5 September 1912,

It appears that Subhi-i-Azal left a letter saying that he of his sons who resembled him most closely in his mode of life and principles was to be his successor. The point as to which of the sons fulfils this condition has not yet been decided; consequently all the children would appear at present to be co-heirs... No steps have, as far as I am aware, yet been taken to elect a walī [i.e. successor or executor].[35]

Shoghi Effendi wrote in 1944 that Subh-i-Azal appointed Hādī Dawlatābādī as his successor, and that he later publicly recanted his faith in the Bāb and in Subh-i-Azal.[36] Hādī was targeted for death by a local cleric, and despite the public recantation, he continued being a leader of the Azalis in secret.[32]

Jalal Azal, a grandson of Subh-i-Azal who disputed the appointment of Hādī Dawlatābādī, later told William Miller between 1967-1971 that Azal did not appoint a successor.[6][37]

After the deaths of those Azali Bābīs who were active in the Constitutional Revolution in Iran, the Azali form of Bābism entered a stagnation which it has not recovered as there is no acknowledged leader or central organization.[2][3] There may have been between 500 and 5,000 Azalis in Iran in the 1970s.[9] A source in 2001 estimated no more than a few thousand, almost entirely in Iran.[7]

Works

Large collections of Subh-i-Azal's works are found in the British Museum Library Oriental Collection, London; in the Browne Collection at Cambridge University; at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris; and at Princeton University.[38] In the English introduction to "Personal Reminiscences of the Babi Insurrection at Zanjan in 1850," Browne lists thirty-eight titles as being among the works of Subh-i-Azal.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ Template:Lang-fa
  2. ^ Template:Lang-fa
  3. ^ Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani made this claim later in his Hasht-Bihisht. This book is abstracted in part by Edward G. Browne in "Note W" of his translation of A Traveller's Narrative.[30]

Citations

  1. ^ Lukach 1913, p. 264.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m MacEoin 1987.
  3. ^ a b c Warburg 2006, p. 7-8.
  4. ^ Mirza Yahya. In Britannica 2024.
  5. ^ Carus 1904, p. 361.
  6. ^ a b Momen 1991.
  7. ^ a b c Barrett 2001, p. 246.
  8. ^ a b c Campo 2009b.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Smith 2000.
  10. ^ Kashani 1910, p. 241.
  11. ^ a b Browne 1897.
  12. ^ Momen 1991, pp. 87–96.
  13. ^ Zolghadr, Zohreh. "Iranian Women You Should Know: Roshanak Nodust". IranWire. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  14. ^ a b Amanat 1989, p. 384.
  15. ^ Warburg 2006, p. 446.
  16. ^ Taherzadeh 1976, p. 37.
  17. ^ Browne 1918.
  18. ^ MacEoin 1989.
  19. ^ Nicolas 1933, p. 15.
  20. ^ a b c Wickens, Cole & Ekbal 1989.
  21. ^ MacEoin 1992.
  22. ^ a b Warburg 2006, p. 38-39.
  23. ^ a b Campo 2009a.
  24. ^ MacEoin 1989, p. 110.
  25. ^ a b MacEoin 1989, p. 113.
  26. ^ MacEoin 1989, p. 108.
  27. ^ Smith 2000, p. 129-130.
  28. ^ Browne 1918, p. 16.
  29. ^ Cole 2002.
  30. ^ ʻAbdu'l-Bahá 1886.
  31. ^ Lukach 1913, p. 265.
  32. ^ a b Smith 2000, p. 171.
  33. ^ Momen 1991, p. 95.
  34. ^ Browne 1918, p. 312.
  35. ^ Browne 1918, p. 313-314.
  36. ^ Effendi 1944, p. 233.
  37. ^ Miller 1974, p. 107.
  38. ^ Momen 2009.

Sources

  • Campo, Juan (2009a). "Ṣubḥ-i Azal". Encyclopedia of Islam. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc.
  • Campo, Juan (2009b). "Babism". Encyclopedia of Islam. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc.
  • Wickens; Cole; Ekbal (15 December 1989). "Browne, Edward Granville". Encyclopedia Iranica. Vol. IV/5. pp. 483–488. Retrieved 2024-10-09.

Further reading


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