Editing Bábism (section)

==Beliefs and teachings==
{{Main|Teachings of the Báb}}
The Báb's teachings can be grouped into three broad stages which each have a dominant thematic focus. His earliest teachings are primarily defined by his interpretation of the [[Quran]] and other [[Hadith|Islamic traditions]]. While this interpretive mode continues throughout all three stages of his teachings, a shift takes place where his emphasis moves to the philosophical elucidation and finally to [[legislation|legislative]] pronouncements. In the second philosophical stage, the Báb gives an explanation of the [[metaphysics]] of being and creation, and in the third legislative stage his mystical and historical principles are explicitly united.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|pp=27–28}} An analysis of the Báb's writings throughout the three stages shows that all of his teachings were animated by a common principle that had multiple dimensions and forms.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|p=49}}

===Hidden Imam===
In [[Twelver]] [[Shiʻa Islam]]ic belief there were twelve [[Imams]], the last of whom, known as [[Imam Mahdi]], communicated with his followers only through certain representatives.<ref name="browne">{{cite book |url=http://bahai-library.com/browne_babism |title=Religious Systems of the World: A Contribution to the Study of Comparative Religion |chapter=Bábism |pages=333–353 |first=Edward G. |last=Browne |author-link=E.G. Browne |place=London |publisher=Swann Sonnenschein |year=1890 |orig-year=1889 |via=Baháʼí Library Online}}</ref> According to the [[Twelver]]'s belief, after the last of these representatives died, the Imam Mahdi went into a state of Occultation; while still alive, he was no longer accessible to his believers.<ref name="browne" /> Shiʻa Muslims believe that when the world becomes oppressed, the Imam Mahdi (also termed the [[Al-Qāʾim Āl Muḥammad|Qa'im]]) will come out of occultation and restore true religion on Earth before the cataclysmic end of the world and judgement day.<ref name="browne" /><ref name="amanat1">{{cite journal |title=The Resurgence of Apocalyptic in Modern Islam |first=Abbas |last=Amanat |author-link=Abbas Amanat |editor=Stephen J. Stein |journal=The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism |volume=III |year=2000 |pages=230–254 |via=Baháʼí Library Online |url=http://bahai-library.com/amanat_resurgence_apocalyptic_islam}}</ref>

In Bábí belief the [[Báb]] is the return of the Imam Mahdi, but the doctrine of the Occultation is implicitly denied; instead the Báb stated that his manifestation was a symbolic return of the Imam, and not the physical reappearance of the Imam Mahdi who had died a thousand years earlier.<ref name="browne" /> In Bábí belief the statements made from previous revelations regarding the Imam Mahdi were set forth in symbols.<ref name="browne" /> The Báb also stated that he was not only the fulfillment of the Shiʻi expectations for the Qá'im, but that he also was the beginning of a new prophetic dispensation.<ref name="amanat1" />

===Resurrection, Judgment Day and cyclical revelation===
The Báb taught that his revelation was beginning an apocalyptic process that was bringing the Islamic dispensation to its cyclical end, and starting a new dispensation.<ref name="amanat1" /> He taught that the terms "resurrection", "Judgement Day", "paradise" and "hell" used in Shiʻa prophecies for the end-times are symbolic. He stated that "Resurrection" means that the appearance of a new revelation, and that "raising of the dead" means the spiritual awakening of those who have stepped away from true religion. He further stated that "Judgement Day" refers to when a new [[Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)|Manifestation of God]] comes, and the acceptance or rejection of those on the Earth. Thus the Báb taught that with his revelation the [[Eschatology|end times]] ended and the age of resurrection had started and that the end-times were symbolic as the end of the past prophetic cycle.<ref name="amanat1" /> The Báb wrote:  "Verily, the world and the hereafter are two spiritual states. If you turn towards God, exalted be He, then you are in paradise and if you are occupied with your self then you are in hell and in the world. Therefore understand these allusions".<ref>{{cite book |last=Lawson |first=Todd |year=2005 |chapter=The Bab's Epistle on the Spiritual Journey towards God |title=The Baha'i Faith and the World Religions: Papers presented at the Irfan Colloquia |pages=231–247}}</ref>

In the [[Persian Bayán]], the Báb wrote that religious dispensations come in cycles, as the seasons, to renew "pure religion" for humanity.<ref name="amanat1" /> This notion of continuity anticipated future prophetic revelations after the Báb.<ref name="amanat1" />

===He whom God shall make manifest===<!--several pages point to this section title -->
One of the core Bábí teachings is that a new prophet would soon come, whom the Báb termed '''He whom God shall make manifest''' ({{langx|ar|من يظهر الله}}, {{langx|fa| مظهر کلّیه الهی}}), a messianic figure that would complete the revelation that the Báb begun.{{sfn|Warburg|2006|p=7}}<ref name="farah">{{cite book |title=Islam: Beliefs and Observances |first=Caesar E. |last=Farah |location=Woodbury, NY |publisher=Barron's Educational Series |year=1970 |url=http://bahai-library.com/farah_islam_beliefs_observances}}</ref> The Báb describes this messianic figure as the origin of all divine attributes, and states that his command is equivalent to God's command.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |title=A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith |date=2013-10-01 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |isbn=978-1-78074-480-3 |page=180 |language=en}}</ref> Unlike earlier religions in which references to future promised figures were occasional and only in hints and allusions, the entirety of the [[Persian Bayán|Bayan]], the mother book of the Bábí dispensation, is essentially a discourse on a messianic figure, even greater than himself, that the Báb refers to as "he Whom God shall make manifest". The Báb always discusses his own revelation and laws in the context of this promised figure.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|p=344}} The essence and purpose of the Báb's own mission, as he always stressed, was to prepare the people for the advent of him.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|p=1}} He asks his followers to independently investigate and look for the promised one, and recognize him out of his own intrinsic reality, works and attributes, and not due to any reasons external to him.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|pp=290–291}} He even warns them not to be deprived of the promised one by arguing against him from the works of the Báb, the same way the followers of the previous religions opposed the next prophet while citing their holy scriptures.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|pp=290–291}} Furthermore, the Báb speaks of the imminence of the advent of the promised one and refers to the time of his advent as year nine and nineteen.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|pp=348–357}} After the Báb's execution in 1850, there were some Bábis who claimed to be "He whom God shall make manifest".{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=118, 180}} Later in 1863, nineteen years after the declaration of the Báb, [[Baháʼu'lláh]] privately laid claim to be the messianic figure, and made his claim publicly in 1866–1868. His claim was by far the most successful. The majority of the Bábis followed him and later became known as [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼís]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Amanat |first=Abbas |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/971223468 |title=Iran : a modern history |date=2017 |isbn=978-0-300-11254-2 |location=New Haven, CT |page=246 |oclc=971223468}}</ref> The [[Azalis]] (those Babis who did not accept Baháʼu'lláh) objected to Baháʼu'lláh's statement.{{sfn|Smith|2000|p=180}}{{sfn|Hutter|2005b|pp=737-740}}

===Religious law===
The Báb abrogated Islamic law and in the ''[[Persian Bayán]]'' promulgated a system of Bábí law, thus establishing a separate religion distinct from Islam.{{sfn|Hutter|2005}}<ref name="walbridge">{{cite book |title=Essays and Notes on Bábí and Baháʼí History |first=John |last=Walbridge |publisher=H-Bahai Digital Library |location=East Lansing, Michigan |year=2002 |chapter=Chap. 3 |chapter-url=http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/bhpapers/vol6/waless/chap3.htm}}</ref> Some of the new laws included changing the direction of the [[Qibla]] to the [[Baháʼí pilgrimage#House of the Báb, Shiraz|Báb's house]] in [[Shiraz]], Iran and changing the calendar to a solar calendar of nineteen months and nineteen days (which became the basis of the [[Baháʼí calendar]]) and prescribing the last month as a month of fasting.{{sfn|Hutter|2005b|pp=737-740}} The Bab also prohibits confession and seeking forgiveness from anyone but God and His Manifestation.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|p=325}}

In many respects, the Báb raised the status of women in his teachings. The Báb taught that, since God transcends the boundaries of male and female, God wishes that "neither men exalt themselves over women, nor women exalt themselves over men".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Saiedi |first1=Nader |title=The Bab and Modernity |url=https://user-hrqc9mo.cld.bz/The-Bab-and-Modernity}}</ref> He instructs his followers to not mistreat women "even for the blink of an eye"<ref name="academia.edu"/> and sets the penalty for causing grief to women as double that of causing grief to men. ([[Persian Bayán|Persian Bayān]] 7:18)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 | title = Women; In the works of the Bab and in the Babi movement |author= Moojan Momen
 | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica (Iranicaonline.org)
 | url =https://iranicaonline.org/articles/women-babi
 | date =4 December 2012 |orig-year=11 February 2011
 | access-date = 31 March 2021}}</ref> He also encourages the education of women<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keddie |first1=Nikki |title=Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution |journal=International Journal of Environmental Studies |date=2008 |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=621–626|doi=10.1080/00207230802281307 |bibcode=2008IJEnS..65..621B |s2cid=95123178 }}</ref> and does not display a gender distinction in Bábi laws on education.<ref name="academia.edu">{{cite book |last1=Eschraghi |first1=Armin |title=Undermining the Foundations of Orthodoxy: Some Notes on the Báb's Sharia (Sacred Law) |page=232 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34514384 |access-date=15 April 2021}}</ref> Armin Eschraghi notes the context of 19th century Iran and that, "Modern western readers might not appreciate the revolutionary potential" of the Báb's teaching that "Those who have been brought up in this community, men and women, are allowed to look [at each other], speak and sit together"<ref name="academia.edu"/> The Primal Will of God is also personified as the female figure of the [[Maid of Heaven]].{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|pages=154}} The Báb also foreshadowed later developments in media, by emphasising the need for a rapid system of news communication, which would be available for all to access, no matter their wealth or social standing. He writes, regarding the news, that "until such a system is made universal, its benefit will not reach those servants of the kingdom unless there come a time when it will be accessible to all the people. Although today the kings have their own special couriers, this is fruitless, for the poor are deprived of such a service." Commenting on the extremes of wealth and poverty in society, the Báb also teaches that the true station of the rich should be as "the depositories of God"<ref>{{cite book |author=The Báb |translator=Peter Terry |year=1980 |orig-year=Translated by A.L.M. Nicolas and published in French in 1905 |title=The Arabic Bayan |page=81 |url=https://bahai-library.com/bab_bayan_arabic_terry |via=Baháʼí Library Online}}</ref> and enjoins generosity and charity. He says, "Should ye find one stricken with poverty, enrich him to the extent of your ability ... should ye find one who is in distress, bring him tranquility by any means in your power".{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|pages=323}}

Jack McLean, summarizing Baháʼí scholar Nader Saiedi's analysis, writes that "the Báb's writings even foresee current global issues of crisis, such as the protection of the environment and the commodification of natural resources" The Báb specifically calls for the absolute purity of water (Bayán 6:2). It may be easily deduced from this injunction that the environment must not be polluted since all substances return to the inland water table and the oceans. The Arabic Bayán (9:11) also forbids the [[commodification]] of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gate of the Heart: Understanding the Writings of the Báb, by Nader Saiedi|url=https://bahai-library.com/mclean_saiedi_gate_heart}}</ref>

The Báb also created a large number of other rituals, rites and laws.<ref name="mceoin">{{cite web |title=Deconstructing and Reconstructing the Shari'a: the Bábí and Baháʼí Solutions to the Problem of Immutability |first=Denis |last=MacEoin |author-link=Denis MacEoin |date=1997 |url=http://bahai-library.com/maceoin_deconstructing_sharia |access-date=11 July 2006 |website=Baháʼí Library Online}}</ref> Some of these include the carrying of arms only in times of necessity, abstaining from smoking tobacco,{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|p=300}} the obligatory sitting on chairs, the advocating of the cleanliness displayed by Christians, the non-cruel treatment of animals, the prohibition of beating children severely, the recommendation of the printing of books, even scripture and the prohibition on the study of logic or dead languages,<ref name="mceoin" /> and abolishment of priesthood.<ref name=":7">{{Citation |last=Saiedi |first=Nader |title=The Writings and Teachings of the Báb |date=2021-11-26 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429027772/chapters/10.4324/9780429027772-5 |work=The World of the Bahá'í Faith |page=36 |edition=1 |place=London |publisher=Routledge |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780429027772-5 |isbn=978-0-429-02777-2 |s2cid=244695650 |access-date=2023-01-27}}</ref> Other laws include elaborate regulations regarding pilgrimage, fasting, the manufacture of rings, the use of perfume, and the washing and disposal of the dead.<ref name="mceoin" />

Nader Saiedi states that the severe laws of the Bayán were never meant to be put in practice, because their implementation depended on the appearance of He whom God shall make manifest, while at the same time all of the laws would be abrogated unless the Promised One would reaffirm them. Saiedi concludes that these can then only have a strategic and symbolic meaning, and were meant to break through traditions and to focus the Báb's followers on obedience to He whom God shall make manifest.{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|pp=363–367}}