Mirza Yahya Subh-i-Azal
Bab’s succession
After Bab’s death, he was succeeded by Mirza Yahya Nouri, the younger brother of Mirza Hussein Ali. There is evidence among the works of Bob that indicates the executorship of the Subh-i-Azal (morning of eternity).
Thus, the leadership of the Babis was entrusted to the Subh-i-Azal, and because he was a cowardly, immature and lazy young man, he appointed his brother Mirza Hossein Ali as his forerunner and he anonymously traveled to the outskirts and named himself as “Hazrat-e Mahboub Ghayeb-e Mastoor” or the Beloved Excellency the Hidden Absentee in order to avoid the danger of government aggression.
In this way, Mirza Hussein Ali became the direct authority of Babism.
According to Mohammad Ali Faizi in those days: “The house of the Excellency in Tehran became a place of travel for the elders and prominent figures of the companions, and important matters were always discussed there, and in most cases, they took orders from him”. (Book of Bahaullah, page 40)
The first exile of Baha to Baghdad
This reign caused Amir Kabir the then Prime Minister to exile him to Ottoman-occupied Iraq. (The book “New Century” volume 1, page 316)
After a while, when Amir Kabir was dismissed with the efforts of the ill-wishers and vicious people and Mirza Agha Khan Nouri came to power, Mirza Hussein Ali returned to Iran.
As soon as he arrived, the incident of the assassination of Nassereddin Shah happened. A group of Babis decided, like the story of the Third Martyr, to use chaos, bloodshed and murder to advance their goals. Several Babis, led by Mohammad Sadegh Tabrizi, attacked Nasser al-Din Shah with guns and broadswords to kill him, and when they did not succeed and the Shah survived, he ordered the arrest and execution of the guilty Babis, and at this time, a group of Babis among whom was also Mirza Hussein Ali, were captured.
There is a lot of evidence that Mirza Hussein Ali was aware of this serious decision due to his full status among the Babis at that time, and even according to Azali, he had the position of designing it. (The book “Tanbih al-Na’emin, pages 5&6, written by Azzieh Khanom, the sister of Baha’ and Azal, published in Tehran by Azalis.)
In any case, among those imprisoned, only Mirza Hussein Ali was saved with the serious support of the government of the Tsarist Russian Empire, and was exiled to Iraq forever, where he was forced to travel to the Ottoman Empire with his close relatives.
Azal’s escape to Baghdad
After his departure, Subh-i-Azal went to Baghdad in disguise and under a pseudonym and joined him.
In Baghdad, Mirza Hussain Ali continued the old way, keeping Azal behind the scenes and out of sight of the Babis, always traveling, and so in practice, he had made the leadership of the Babism as his own special, and did what he wanted to do.
On the other hand, because new claims had been whispered among Bab’s companions and Mirza Hussein Ali himself had such an intention in his mind, he started to hammer his rivals severely and promoted rioting and murder, and this behavior caused corruption and chaos among the Babis.
According to Shoghi Effendi (New Century, Volume 2, Page 122, first and second editions), the Babis way in Iraq was to steal clothes, cash, shoes, and hats of pilgrims to holy places, and candles, religious books, and watering cans. Also, during the mourning days of Husseini Ashura in Karbala, they celebrated and rejoiced and danced (“Heavenly Table”, part eight, page 186) and were inherited this shameless tradition from Qurrat al-‘Ayn (“New Century, Volume I, page 326”).
The impudence aroused the wrath of the Muslims of those areas so much that the Babis did not dare to cross the passages and attend the gatherings. (New Century, Volume II, page 123)
On page 130 of the seventh part of the book “Heavenly Table”, quoting Mirza Hossein Ali, it is stated as follows: everybody considered the clan as corrupt. They used to seize people’s property without permission, and considered looting as good deeds; they did not respect the rights of any party.”
Baha’s role in sedition of Babis
The involvement of Mirza Hussein Ali in these tragedies is a fact that is stated in the official letter of Mirza Saeed Khan, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Mirza Hossein Khan, the Iranian ambassador to the Ottoman court (The original letter has been collected in page 148 of the book “Bahaullah”) and Abbas Effendi refers to it implicitly in the second volume of the book “Makatib” where he writes, “The earthquake hit the pillars of Iraq and the hypocrites scared forever. His personality had penetrated into nerves so much that nobody in Karbala and Najaf did not dare to reprehend in the midnight and did not dare to disobey.
At any rate, Baha’u’llah indirectly had ousted Subh-i-Azal from power and had become the absolute ruler himself. So, some of the wise men from the Babi clan ironically caused Subh-i-Azal to understand the issue and he became angry with his brother and drove him away and Mirza Hussein Ali was forced to leave Baghdad secretly and unknowingly and go to the dervishes in Naqshbandiyya and Qaderiya in the mountains of Sulaymaniyah near Mosul.
For two whole years, with the false name of Dervish Mohammad (New Century, second volume, page 112, first and second editions), he studied mystical studies and alchemical operations in those areas with special clothes and a special cup for dervishes. After two years, because he was in a tight spot in Sulaymaniyah and was expelled from the monastery of dervishes (Rahiq Makhtoum page 341) which is known what happened there, he was forced to convince his brother to return him back to former position by writing supplicatory and piteous letters.
Subh-i-Azal, who was not able to rule, allowed him to return and he came back to Baghdad. Baha’u’llah himself writes on page 195 of the Iqan: “Finally, Masdar-e Amr ordered me to return. I gave up and came back.”
Providing the grounds for a claim
From then on, Mirza Hussein Ali sought to prepare the ground for a new claim with full seriousness, and so he tried to collect what was available to the Babis from the works and writings of the Bab (Tablet of Ibn al-Dhaib, Baha’u’llah, Egypt, page 123). In this way, he was able to grab all the documents that might one day be used against him.
Referring to Bab’s works, Mirza Hossein Ali tried to compose phrases in his style and context and write verses, and because those fabricated verses were very immature, weak and scandalous, he threw them into the waters of the Tigris.
Once again, the horrible and chaotic behavior of the Babis caused the Ottoman government to exile them from Iraq to Istanbul, and this happened in 1280 AH. According to the Baha’is, it was at the beginning of this journey that Mirza Hussein Ali made his claim and claimed the position of “Man Yazhar-e Elahi” or He whom God shall make manifest.
To be continued…
