Editing Bábism (section)

===Spread===
{{blockquote|The Babi movement{{nbsp}}[...] [became] an important catalyst of social progressiveness in mid-nineteenth-century Iran, promoting interreligious peace, social equality between the sexes and revolutionary anti-monarchism. Babism was a reflection of an older Iran that had been mass-producing messiahs in opposition to mainstream Islam since the seventh century{{nbsp}}[...] And yet the new current was also a product of Iran's grappling with novelty and change, and [the Babi movement] went on to present a vision of modernity that was based on secularism, internationalism, and the rejection of war. It is this vision which has enabled it to survive to the present day – as Bahaism, which emerged from Babism in the late nineteenth century – in pockets and communities peopled by 5{{nbsp}}million souls, and which qualifies it for inclusion in any narrative about modernisation in the Middle East.{{sfn|de Bellaigue|2018|p=140}}}}

The Báb's message was disseminated by the Letters of the Living through Iran and southern [[Iraq]]. One of these initial activities was communicated to the West starting 8 January 1845 as an exchange of diplomatic reports concerning the fate of [[Letters of the Living#Mull.C3.A1 .60Al.C3.AD Bast.CC.A3.C3.A1m.C3.AD|Mullá ʿAli-e Bastāmi]], the second Letter.<ref name=momen1981>{{cite book |author=Moojan Momen |author-link=Moojan Momen |title=The Bábí and Bahá'í religions 1844–1944: some contemporary western accounts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1S4KAQAAMAAJ |year=1981 |orig-year=1977 |publisher=G. Ronald |isbn=978-0-85398-102-2 |pages=xv, xvi, 4, 11, 26–38, 62–5, 83–90, 100–104}}</ref> These were exchanges between [[Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet]] who wrote first to [[Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe]]. Followups continued until in 1846 he was sentenced by the Ottomans to serve in the naval shipyards at hard labor—the Ottoman ruler refusing to banish him as it would be "difficult to control his activities and prevent him spreading his false ideas."<ref name=momen1981/> Separately each of the Letters and other early believers were sent on various missions to begin public presentations of the new religion. Indeed various activities the Báb initiated were devolved to various Letters of the Living like preaching activities and answering questions from the community.{{sfn|MacEoin|1988a}} In particular, as these first public activities multiplied, opposition by the Islamic clergy arose and prompted the Governor of Shiraz to order the Báb's arrest. The Báb, upon hearing of the arrest order, left [[Bushehr]] for Shiraz in June 1845 and presented himself to the authorities. This series of events become the first public account of the new religion in the West when they were published 1 November 1845 in ''[[The Times]]'' of London.<ref name="States1977">{{cite book |author=National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States |title=World order |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sUYlAQAAIAAJ |access-date=20 August 2013 |year=1977 |publisher=National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States.}}</ref> The story was also carried from 15 November by the ''[[Literary Gazette]]''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UcdLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA757 "Mahometan Schism"], ''Literary Gazette'', 15 Nov. 1845, p. 757, 1st column, below middle</ref> which was subsequently echoed widely.<ref>For example see:
* [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84023200/1846-02-19/ed-1/seq-4.pdf "Mahomedan Schism"], ''Vermont Watchman and State Journal'', 19 February 1845, p. 4, second column, top
* [http://signalofliberty.aadl.org/signalofliberty/SL_18460223-p3-06 "Mahometan Schism"], ''[[Signal of Liberty]]'', p. 3, center top of full page view
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=4MIRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA142 "Mahometan Schism"], ''The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art'', January–February 1846, p. 142, bottom left then top of right columns
* [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016957/1846-04-04/ed-1/seq-1.pdf "A modern Mahomet"], ''Boon's Lick Times'', 4 April 1846, p. 1, fourth column, half way down
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31747707 "Mahometan Schism"], ''Morning Chronicle'', 4 Apr 1846, p. 4, 5th column, top, as highlighted
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71604390 "Mahometan Schism"], ''South Australian'', 7 April 1846 p. 3, bottom of second column, top of next, as highlighted
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27452599 "Persia"], ''South Australian Register'', 11 Apr 1846, p. 3, 5th column near bottom, as highlighted
* [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZSCSG18460715.2.11 "Mahometan Schism"], ''New Zealand Spectator Cook's Strait Guardian'', 15 July 1846, p. 3, near bottom of text selection</ref> Meanwhile the Báb was placed under house arrest at the home of his uncle, and was restricted in his personal activities, until a cholera epidemic broke out in the city in September 1846.{{sfn|MacEoin|1988}}

The Báb was released and departed for [[Isfahan]]. There, many came to see him at the house of the imám jum'ih, head of the local clergy, who became sympathetic. After an informal gathering where the Báb debated the local clergy and displayed his speed in producing instantaneous verses, his popularity soared.{{sfn|Amanat|1989|p=257}} After the death of the Governor of Isfahan, [[Manouchehr Khan Gorji]], an [[Iranian Georgians|Iranian Georgian]],<ref>Cheyne, ''The Reconciliation of Races and Religions'', 29.</ref> who had become his supporter, pressure from the clergy of the province led to the Shah, [[Mohammad Shah Qajar]], ordering the Báb to [[Tehran]] in January 1847.{{sfn|Amanat|1989|p=258}} After spending several months in a camp outside Tehran, and before the Báb could meet the Shah, the Prime Minister sent the Báb to [[Tabriz]] in the northwestern corner of the country, and later [[Maku, Iran|Maku]] and [[Chehriq]], where he was confined.{{sfn|MacEoin|1988}} During his confinement, he was said to have impressed his jailers with his patience and dignity.<ref>{{cite EB9 |last=Garnett |first=Richard ||author-link=Richard Garnett (writer) |mode=cs2 |wstitle=Bábi |volume=3 |page=180 }}</ref> Communication between the Báb and his followers was not completely severed but was quite difficult, and more responsibilities were devolved to the ''Letters''{{sfn|MacEoin|1988a}} as he was not able to elucidate his teachings to the public.{{sfn|MacEoin|1988a}} With Bábí teachings now mostly spread by his followers, they faced increasing persecution themselves.{{sfn|MacEoin|1988a}}

The role played by [[Táhirih]] in [[Karbala|Karbalāʾ]] was particularly significant. She began an effort of innovation in religion based on her station as a Letter of the Living and the incarnation of [[Fatimah]]. In his early teachings, the Báb emphasized observing [[sharia]] and extraordinary acts of piety. However, his claim of being the Báb, i.e. the authority direct from God, was in conflict with this more conservative position of supporting sharia. Táhirih innovated an advance in the understanding of the priority of the Báb's station above that of Islamic sharia by wedding the concept of the Báb's overriding religious authority with ideas originating in [[Shaykhism]] pointing to an age after outward [[conformity]]. She seems to have made this connection {{Circa|1262}}/1846 even before the Báb himself. The matter was taken up by the community at large at the [[Conference of Badasht]].{{sfn|MacEoin|1988a}}

This conference was one of the most important events of the Bábí movement when in 1848 its split from Islam and Islamic law was made clear.<ref name="EoI"/> Three key individuals who attended the conference were [[Bahá'u'lláh]], [[Quddús]], and Táhirih. Táhirih, during the conference, was able to persuade many of the others about the Bábí split with Islam based on the station of the Báb and an age after outward conformity. She appeared at least once during the conference in public without a [[chador|veil]], heresy within the Islamic world of that day, signalling the split.<ref name="EoI"/> During this same month the Báb was brought [[Báb#Trial in Tabríz|to trial]] in Tabriz and made his claim to be the [[Mahdi]] public to the Crown Prince and the Shi'a clergy.{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=55-59}}

Several sources agree that by 1848 or 1850 there were 100,000 converts to Babism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Smith (historian) |title=Research Note; A note on Babi and Baha'i Numbers in Iran |journal=Iranian Studies |volume=17 |issue=2–03 |pages=295–301 |date=Spring–Summer 1984 |jstor=4310446 |doi=10.1080/00210868408701633}}</ref> In the fall of 1850 newspaper coverage fell behind quickly unfolding events. Though the Báb was named<ref>{{cite web |title=Early mention of Bábís in western newspapers, summer 1850 |work=Historical documents and Newspaper articles |publisher=Bahá'í Library Online |date=2010-09-17 |orig-year=Autumn 1850 |url=http://bahai-library.com/1850_brief_reports |access-date=20 August 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3712637 Summary of General News], ''The Moreton Bay Courier'', 4 January 1851, page 1s, 4th column, a bit down from the top</ref> for the first time he had in fact already been executed.