The theory of the Manifestation was formulated and advanced by the Bab and upheld by Bahaullah. According to this theory, Manifestations of the divine being will continue to appear in the world one after another, each succeeding manifestation being more complete than the earlier one and being necessitated by the fresh needs of humanity. Jesus (pbuh) appeared after Moses (pbuh), and Mohammed (pbuh) after Jesus, and Bab after Hazrat Mohammed (pbuh), and each time the divine will returned “with increased strength and fuller utterance”.
Thus Adam (pbuh) is compared to an embryo and Bab to a boy of 12 years, there being more than a thousand years between Adam (pbuh) and Bab according to the latter. Now six hundred years elapsed between Jesus (pbuh) and the Hazrat Mohammed (pbuh) and over 1,200 years between the latter and the Bab.
The question therefore arises that why was a new Manifestation (Bahaullah) needed just 15 years after Bab? Bab, according to the Babis had come with a more complete message than even Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Over twelve hundred years lapsed before a new ‘Manifestation’ emerged after the Quran. Over these centuries, people witnessed numerous revolutions, significant changes in the world order and rise and fall of several dynasties among other changes. The emergence of a new ‘Manifestation’ was in order, rather it was the need of the hour. But during the fifteen years that elapsed between the death of Bab and Bahaullah’s claim, there was not the least perceptible change in the world. Human civilisation had hardly progressed and the world was yet to witness a major revolution.
So the question is not only whether there was a need for a new Manifestation but also why Bab’s message was abrogated so soon. Why, a message that Bab claimed was more perfect than the Quran lasted only fifteen years? Islam, on the other hand, lasted more than a thousand years. How this makes the Babi Faith superior to Islam is beyond me. And even in this short period the Bab’s message remained unknown to most people, none knowing of it except a fraction of the Persian Muslims. Certainly God in His wisdom could not send a message to the people which was to be abrogated even before it became known to the world.
The Bahais do not have answers to these questions. They have tried to sidestep the issue by propounding the ‘theory of Manifestation of Allah’. In their scheme of things, Bab, despite being ‘a great prophet’ who abrogated Islam was in the final analysis just a forerunner of Bahaullah, just as John, the Baptist (pbuh) was a forerunner of Jesus (pbuh).
Bab, it is said, was sent merely to announce the good news of the advent of “Him Whom Allah Shall Manifest”. But the entire Babi history until Bahaullah and every word of the Bayan, the Babi Scripture, refutes the Bahai theory of the Bab being a harbinger of Bahaullah.
As Prof. E. G. Browne says : “The theory now advanced by the Bahais that the Bab considered himself as a mere heralder/forerunnner of the dispensation which Bahaullah was shortly to establish, and was to him what John, the Baptist, was to Jesus, is equally devoid of historic foundation. In his own eyes, as in the eyes of his followers, Mirza Ali Mohammed Shirazi innovated a new prophetic cycle, and brought a new revelation, the Bayan, which abrogated the Quran, as the Quran had abrogated the Gospels, and the Gospels the Pentateuch”. (Introduction to Nuqtatul Qaf)
It is true that Bab mentioned of a person’s advent after him whom he has referred to as “Man Yazharullah” i.e. “He Whom Allah Shall Manifest”. Bahaullah claims that this refers to him. However as we shall see, facts prove otherwise.
The Holy Prophet Mohammed Mustafa (pbuh) was the pinnacle of ethics. The Holy Quran declares him to be an excellent example for the masses. He was the epitome of good morals and etiquette. His life even before his proclamation (be’sat) was an ideal for all to emulate. During the period of his stay in Mecca, he was referred to as “The Truthful” (As Sadiq) and “The Trustworthy” (Al Amin) even by the infidels. Moreover, the first lady to believe Bahaullah has claimed to be superior to even the Prophet (pbuh). Now using the Holy Prophet’s (pbuh) character as the yardstick, let us see if Bahaullah’s life compares favourably to that of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).
The household members are in a position to understand the individual and are the best sources of information for referral. They are generally aware of one’s true identity and are not deceived that easily. Let us therefore refer to one such member of Bahaullah’s family and see what she has to say about the so-called “Liberator of Mankind”.
Mirza Hussain Ali better known as Bahaullah had a sister, Amma Khanum, who was from the respected ladies of her time. Abbas Affendi, the son of Bahaullah, also known as Abdul Baha, once wrote an epistle to this honourable lady requesting her assistance in the propagation and strengthening of the newly founded religion. This epistle is famous as “Lauh-e-Amma” (Epistle of Amma). Amma wrote a very critical and strongly-worded reply to Abdul Baha. This reply can be found in Haji Maftoon’s book “Bab-o-Baha ra Beshanaseed(Know Bab and Baha) page 113-119.
Mentioned below is a gist:
“Qurratul Ayn has given Mirza (Hussain Ali) the title of Baha. My brother Mirza Hussain Ali was always interested in power and property. For this reason he incited the people to rise against the Shah of Iran Naseeruddin Shah and finally kill him, so that he could rule over the people. Then due to straitened circumstances fled to Sulaymania. There when he found the conditions unbearable he wrote to his brother Azal (Mirza Yahya Noori) beseeching him. He even stooped so low as to requesting Azal to consider him as an insignificant housefly or mosquito. When Azal pitied his wretched condition and called him to Baghdad, Bahaullah started eliminating the Babis. Deceitfully he cornered all the writings of Bab so as to remove it from the hands of the people. All his life he suffered from ‘Fitq’. His hands were always trembling. When all his life Bahaullah could not cure himself from these diseases, how can he claim to cure mankind of all it’s spiritual and physical problems.
And listen O Abdul Baha your father and my brother’s (Bahaullah) claim that he is “The One whom Allah shall manifest” is a sham. Your father had always considered the “Nukta” (i.e. Bab) a liar. He never believed in him at all, but when he saw that the successorship of Bab had gone to Subh-e-Azal, he revolted. His claim of being the return of Hazrat Syedna Hussain (RA) is also false. He was never tortured or persecuted. His saga of trouble and hardship is without any basis. He was never “The One Allah Shall Manifest”.
An important evidence that the Bahais have of Bahaullah’s prophethood is this same title of “He Whom Allah Shall Manifest”. They claim that this title belongs to Bahaullah and even Bahaullah has claimed likewise. But they are wrong!! We bring here several reasons for our claim.
1. Bab has written that the “Promised One” (i.e. He Whom Allah Shall Manifest) will come in the year “Ghiaas” or maximum “Mustaghees”.(Kaukabe-Hind page 82) The Bahais calculate the year according to Huruf-e-Abjad. According to this method “Ghiaas” works out to 1511 Hijri and “Mustaghees” to 2001 Hijri. Also it is unanimously agreed upon by historians that Bab was executed on 28th Shabaan 1266 Hijri. Thus according to Bab, the “Promised One” should come in the year 1266+1511=2744 AH or maximum 1266+2001=3267 AH. But this prophecy does not fit Bahaullah. Bahaullah was born 2 years before Bab and he made his claim in the year 1283 AH. It is not befitting Bab’s claim of being an ‘inspired’ person while he could not even give an accurate time limit for the “Manifestation” of his successor. He spoke of a “Manifestation” after 1500 to 2000 years when the prophecy was to be realized in just 15 years! Bab, by giving such extensive limits and considering himself to be the abrogrator of the laws of Islam, shows clearly that he expected the reappearance of the ‘Promised One’, at a gap similar to that at which he placed himself after the Prophet (pbuh), whom he considered to be his immediate predecessor. This discrepancy in the dates leads one to believe that neither was Bab the ‘Mahdi’ that he claimed to be, nor was Bahaullah the ‘One Whom Allah Shall Manifest’
2. As mentioned earlier the heralded one’s advent (i.e.Bahaullah) preceded the advent of the heralder (i.e. Bab). The Bahais claim that Bab was like John the Baptist and Baha like Jesus. They need to check their facts. John the Baptist was born before Jesus. He is the one who baptised Jesus. In the Bahai scheme of things, Jesus (Bahaullah) was born before John! Another contradiction which I am sure has a metaphorical answer.
3. As mentioned in the ‘Bayan’ Wahid 6, chapter 11, Bab had warned the teachers of the schools against beating up any student. He says “The teacher should not beat the students in the school lest the teacher, unknowingly, beat the greatest teacher.” I.e. ‘He Whom Allah Shall Manifest’ It is apparent that at the time of Bab’s claim to Prophethood, ‘the Promised One’ was not young enough to go to school and hence the warning. Also this warning implies that ‘the Promised One’ was expected to attend school. Let us now see if this prophecy fits Bahaullah. Bahaullah, being 2 years older than Bab, was almost 30 years old when this prophecy was penned by Bab. Also do the Bahais not claim that Bahaullah like all the Prophets before him was an ‘Ummi’ (unlettered). How is it then possible for him to be ‘the Promised One’?
To revisit a point I have made in several places across this website – Abbas Affandi in Khutubat-e-Buzurg, page 8 claims: “It is incumbent on every prophet that he gains knowledge from Allah alone and not from any human being and such is the opractise of all prophets like Prophet Ibrahim, Hazrat Mophammed, Hazrat Bab and Bahaullah… All of them did not study in any school because the one who owes his knowledge to human schools cannot be a divine representative”.
So Bab was obviously all wrong about the ‘Promised one/Manifested one’ when he claimed that he would be in school some day. And wronger still was Bahaullah who claimed that fictitious postion for himself!
4. Bab has written clearly in the (‘Bayan’ Wahid chap 6, chapter 11) “We have made the semen clean so that ‘He whom Allah shall manifest’ is not born out of impure semen” Consequently one born out of impure semen cannot claim to be ‘the Promised One’. Bahaullah was born 2 years before Bab, and therefore was from impure semen. This automatically invalidates him from this position. It is interesting to note that the Bahais consider semen to be clean.
5. Bab has written in the ‘Bayan’ Wahid 5 “The new Manifestation would come only after all have been educated with the Bayan”. Now the Bayan as we all know was incomplete when death overtook the Bab, and he had entrusted Mirza Yahya (Azal, Bahaullah’s brother), his successor with the responsibility of completing it. But this desire of seeing the ‘Bayan’ completed remained just a dream for Bab and to this day it remains incomplete. Moreover, the Bayan is a book that isn’t even accessible to all, let alone read or understood by the Bahais. It has never gone into print and even it’s manuscripts are rare. I don’t know about the Bahais but I find it very strange that books revealed thousands of years ago like the Torah, Bible and the Quran are available at the drop of a hat in just about every spoken language, but the Bayan which was ‘revealed’ less than 200 years ago is not even available in its original language! Do the Bahais even know in which language the Bayan was written? Then how can they be Bahais and how can Mirza Hussain Ali Noori be the ‘Promised/Manifested one’, when the Bab has clearly stated that only after the universal acceptance of the Bayan will the ‘Manfisted one’ arrive?
6. Bab had stated in the ‘Bayan’ in no uncertain terms, that “Universal acceptance of Babism was a pre-requisite to the appearance of ‘the Promised One'”. In my view the Bahais would hard pressed to prove that, let alone the world, even a city or town had unanimously embraced Babism prior to the advent of Bahaullah. Till date such an event has not come to pass. This automatically makes his claim groundless like all his other claims.
7. The advent of Bab’s religion was about 1250 years after Islam. Even Bahaullah claims that a new ‘Manifestation’ will appear a 1000 years after him bringing a new code/religion with him and that this has always been the divine practice.(Bayan Wahid) How could Bahaullah then claim to be the ‘Promised One’ after a period of only 15 years after Bab? Is this not a complete refutation of his own prophecy as well Bab’s? Moreover, the claim that the divine practice demands that a new manifestation arrive after 1000 years is hollower still. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) (born 570 AD) arrived well within 1000 years of Jesus’s (pbuh) ascent to the heavens. Also there is no evidence to substantiate that Jesus (pbuh) followed Moses (pbuh) after 1000 years and likewise Abraham (pbuh) followed Noah (pbuh) after 1000 years and so on. I look forward to a metaphorical interpretation of this from the Bahais.
8. Professor E.G. Browne in his book ‘Materials on the Study of Babi Religion’ has mentioned that Bab in his will (written approx. 1 year before his death) nominated Mirza Yayha Noori (Subh-e-Azal), step-brother of Bahaullah, as his successor. So it beats me how Mirza Hussain Ali Noori (Bahaullah) became the ‘Manifested one’. Could it be possible that Bahaullah knew a thing or two about the Manifested one that Bab didn’t?
It is apparent that not only was Bahaullah repudiated and rebuffed by his own sister but even the above-mentioned arguments dismiss his atrocious claims.
This brings to mind the question “Why then did Bahaullah make such a claim?”
The reason becomes ‘manifested’ when one casts a glance at Bahaullah’s life. Bahaullah’s incessant lust for power and glory coupled with the support he received from Russia and other anti-Islamic powers drove him to do this. It provided him with just the impetus he needed, helping him realise his ambitions. Russia and the other enemies of Islam, in turn realised their aim of seeing Islam mired in confusion about the Promised Mahdi. Not surprisingly, Bahaullah’s claims infused mayhem and anarchy in the Muslim society leading to chaos and confusion.
The Bahais introduce Bahaullah in a different guise to the people of different religions. To the Muslims he is shown as another prophet like the honoured Prophet Mohammed Mustafa (pbuh), to the Christians he is introduced as the rebirth of Jesus (frankly I did not know the Christians were expected a rebirth), to the Zoroastrians he is presented as their Prophet Zaruthasrtra, to the Buddhists he is shown as a reincarnation of Lord Buddha, to the Hindus he is another avatar of Lord Krishna.
A most interesting incident is highlighted by Haji Maftoon in his book “Bab-o-Baha ra Beshanaseed” page 152. This incident occurred in the lifetime of Bahaullah. One day 2 Bahai missionaries Haji Akhund and Aga Jamal had a contention regarding Bahaullah’s divinity. Haji Akhund contended that Bahaullah was God Almighty Himself. Everyone should adhere to him and all prayers and supplications should be addressed to him. Aga Jamal, however, disputed this stand and contended that Bahaullah was merely the ‘Manifestation’ of God and not God Himself. To resolve this stalemate they approached Bahaullah. Bahaullah on hearing them smiled and said “I am both as well as neither. It does not matter. Just deceive the masses with this.” How can the Bahais reconcile this statement rationally. Does it mean that Bahaullah was God and His Manifestation as well as neither God nor His Manifestation!
This is exactly how the Bahais present Bahaullah to different religions. They show him to be a personality of that very religion with the sole aim of adding to their numbers. In this regard they are simply following the recommendation of their leader. They talk at length about establishing a world order based on equality, peace, fraternity and justice, which is easy bait to attract people living in a world torn apart by differences and injustice. They have no explanation on how Bahaullah who is the saviour from every religion rolled in one could not establish universal peace and justice, which is something all these people across religions have been looking for in their respective saviours. Let alone universal peace and justice, Bahaullah could not even make peace with his own brother (Mirza Yahya Azal) and sister (Amma Khanum) and the hundreds of other Babis who had rejected him in favour of his brother Azal.