Grupos de noticias: soc.culture.

iranian

De: nhaz ...@aol.com (NHazini)

Fecha: 1997/01/26

Asunto: Babism/Baha'ism as esoteric Shi'ism universalized

Qizilbash has raised an important issue: i.e. the non-mystical, secular

motivation of much of the liberal political agenda of democratic politics

in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century Iran. However, it is not

that easy to dismiss the Babi and Baha'i movements on those grounds,
since
as first and foremost being chiliastic/millenarian (i.e messianic)
movements they were, above all, addressing a specifically Shi'i religious

ethos - and only secondarily did a social and political dimension arise.
In other words, the call to political and social reform, which both
Babism
and Baha'ism addressed in different ways, was part-and-parcel of a
quintessentially religious message that continually stressed that a new
aion of religious history, or a new divine cycle, was before us now with
the advent (zuhur) of (what in Babi/Baha'i language is called) the
mazhar-i amr-i illahi (the manifestation of the command of God) in the
persons of, first, Siyyid `Ali-Muhammad Bab (as the self-proclaimed
Hidden
Imam made manifest) and later Mirza Husayn-`Ali Nuri Baha'u'llah (as the
personification and fulfillment of this divine theophanic cycle begun by
the Siyyid-i Bab). As such, it was incumbent that the need be emphasized
for the old structures of society to be reformed or replaced since the
Millenium, as such, had arrived.
As a side note: every Millenarian movement in history with messianic
overtones - movements which, by the way, are always born out of an
intrinsically religious esoteric milieu - be they the Joachimites of the
Middle Ages, the Anabaptists of the Reformation, the Nizari Isma'ilis of
Alamut or the Qarmathians of Bahrain, the Jewish Sabbatians or the Babis,

always comes with a charismatic agenda for reforming society in some way
-
and usually, but not always, it entails a radical (and often democratic)
reform.

Qizibash's point about esotericism and mystism vis-a-vis the

Babi-Baha'i religion(s) takes us into some interesting and unexplored
waters. Unfortunately most modern Baha'is, let alone non-Baha'is, are
completely unfamiliar with the rich mystical and esoteric heritage of
their religious history; a heritage which compelled the late Italian
Islamicist Alessandro Bausani (d. 1985) to conclude his impressive magnum

opus about the history and phenomenology of Iranian religions, *Persia

Religiosa* (Naples: 1968?), with the Babis and Baha'is. Also, the great
Muslim political philosopher of the sub-continent and the father of
Pakistan, Mohammad Iqbal Lahori (who had actually been a Baha'i in his
youth), wrote in his dissertation *The Development of Metaphysics in
Persia*, that the culmination of high metaphysics and mysticism in the
Iranian religious ethos was to be found in the Babi-Baha'i movement(s),
and that he considered Baha'u'llah to be "...the Buddha [par excellence]
of Persia." Furthermore, in his *Javid-Namah* a central figure of early
Babism, Zarin Taj Baraghani Qazvini *Tahirih Qurratu'l-`Ayn*, appears
together with Hallaj, Ghalib and Rumi as among the most perfect of the
divinely intoxicated ecstatics (mahjub), and with Hallaj she is
considered
by him the hero of the Sphere of Jupiter (which in Ishraqi cosmology is
the most proximate sphere to the Godhead).
The Shaykhi school, which Babism is in many ways an offshoot and
derivation of, is perhaps the most esoteric and 'gnostic' of the schools
of Shi'i thought. Being a continuation of the doctrinal developments of
the last two centuries with 1) the School of Isfahan and 2) the
subsequent
Usuli-Akhbari controversies that divided the `ulama of the Shi'i world
into hostile camps, Shakhism saw itself in the middle-ground, as it were.

However unlike the chief figures of the School of Isfahan, Sadr al-Din
Shirazi (a.k.a. Mulla Sadra) and Muhsin Fayz Kashani, as well as the
Nimatullahi Sufi Order which was enjoying a brief renaissance at the time

- both of whom were universalists and beholden to the theosophical Sufism

of Ibn `Arabi and his school -, Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai was a through and
through sectarian Twelver Shi'ite (some might even say bigoted) and
relied
exclusivelly upon the writings and traditions of the Imams and as such
saw
himself in the role of re-establishing their long neglected
'philosophical-mystical' heritage - at least from his point of view. The
wahdat al-wujud (Unity of Existence) doctrine of Ibn `Arabi, Mulla Sadra
and the Shi'ite Sufis also posed an insurmountable theological issue to
Shaykh Ahmad, so in the majority of his philosophical endeavours he
followed the less controversial Ishraqis and especially the ideas of Mir
Damad in metaphysics - the other major figure of the School of Isfahan.
Shaykh Ahmad believed that the Fourteen Immaculate Ones (the
chahardah masumin) exist in a state of pure undifferentiated unity as a
pleromatic column of light emanating from the Godhead to the world of
creation - Suhrawardi had called this emanation the procession of
'angelic
intelligences' or Platonic forms/ideas (mithal aflatuniyyah) but Shaykh
Ahmad insisted that it was in fact the undivided essence of the Prophet,
Fatimah and the 12 Imams - and that the chahardah masumin are the
mazahir-i illahiyyeh (manifestations of God). In fact, this term was not
new at the time and was used previously by, for instance, Kulayni in the
*Usul min al-Kafi* (the compilation of the sayings of the Imams) and by
the theologian Ibn Babuya as an appelative description of the spiritual
station of the Imams; but this term was especially common among the Sufis

and their account of the station and cosmological function of the Perfect

Man (insan-i kamil) as the manifestation of the Haqiqqah Muhammadiyyah

(the Muhammadan Reality).
Standing mid-way between the pleromatic light of the Fourteen
Immaculates and the world, Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai posited the necessity for
the existence of a Perfect Shi'ite (al-shi'i al-kamil) or a Fourth
Support
(ar-rukn ar-rabi'a) - much like the Perfect Man or murshid of the Sufis -

(fourth after Divinity, Prophecy and the Imamate) as the intermediary

between the pious Shi'i of the world (who Shaykh Ahmad saw as the chosen
people of God much like the Jews would see themselves) and the rest of
humanity.The Shi'i, the Fourth Support and the chahardah masumin, as
such,
share a unific mystical relationship: the Shi'i community is the
macrocosmic body of the microcosmic Perfect Shi'i (the Fourth Support)
and
the Perfect Shi'i is the vehicle for the manifestation of the Metacosmic
will of the Fourteen Immaculates who are/is the emanation of the Godhead.

The complete details of the Shaykhi mystico-cosmology is quite

involved to go into here in any greater depth. But suffice it to say that

these Shaykhi ideas paved the way for much of later Babi-Baha'i
mystico-theosophical speculations, since the overwhelming majority of
early converts to both of these movements where Shaykhis.

It was the Islamicist and now turned suspense fiction novelist, Denis
MacEoin (known by the pen-name 'Daniel Easterman'), who first observed
that Babism-Baha'ism are (is) in essence 'esoteric Shi'ism
universalized':
see his "Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in Nineteenth-Century Shi'ism: The
Cases
of Shaykhism and Babism," The Journal of the American Oriental Society
(1990) 110:2, pp.323-9. This is quite a bold and sweeping, yet poignant,
assumption, since it is not an observation based merely on the level of
historical criticism (which is self-evidently obvious from the geneology
and sources of the two movements) but, rather, it is inherently a
'phenomenological' assumption. Whatever its interpretative problems,
however,- and MacEoin unfortunately does not expand on nor support
further
his assertion -, it is nevertheless a point well taken.
So what does one mean when one says that Babism-Baha'ism is in many
ways esoteric Shi'ism universalized - this, in spite of the insistent
protestations of modern Baha'is to characterize themselves as an
independent and universal religion transcendening what their holy
scriptures characterize as the "Islamic Dispensation"? First, what it
does
*not* mean to say is that the Babi or Baha'i movement is nothing more
than
an offshoot sect of Shi'ism - this whole concept is laden with the most
profound structural and interpretative flaws of the first order and is
the
common, problematic conclusion of the bigoted polemical literature of the

past decades. What it does mean to say is that by modifying and

transforming the central religious motifs and dogmas of Shi'ism - the
inner architecture and archetype of Shi'ism, as it were - (and there are
many, many points of reference for anyone who cares to unbiasedly read
and
analyze Baha'i literature for themselves) (note: I am particularly
speaking of esoteric Shi'ism here), Babism-Baha'ism, by its specific
historical and cultural situation, has incorporated and, above all,
'universalized' Shi'ism within itself. This is part one of the analysis.
The second part entails the doctrine itself. We said above that the
concept of mazhar-i illahiyyeh appears in one form in early Shi'ite
thought and I pointed specifically to Kulayni and Ibn Babuya - it might
be
instructive in this regard to refer people to a new groundbreaking
study/monograph of early Shi'ite doctrine and thought by Amir-`Ali
Mo'ezzi, *The Early Divine Guide in Shi'ism* SUNY (Albany: 1996). This
notion is the central foundation - the very pivot - upon which the entire

Babi-Baha'i weltanschuuang (world-view) revolves around. Briefly: the the

Godhead as the Necessary Being (wajib al-wujud) is completely

transcendent, beyond comprehension or ontological relation to the world.
The first act of the Godhead in pre-eternity (sarmad) was to emanate His
Will - this is according to Babi-Baha'i hermenuetics the 'kun fi yakun'
(Be and It Is) of the Quran. This first act constitutes the Primal Will
(mashiyyah al-awwal) and as such is the inner reality of the Prophets or
mazahir-i illahiyyeh (manifestations of the Godhead). Note: this is not
hulul (incarnationism) since the Babi-Baha'i writings insist on a strict
emanation scheme that constantly employs the analogy of 'the Writer and
his writing' (i.e. the writing is not the Writer but the concrete
manifestation of the conceptual thought/or act of the Writer). Following
from this, there is a further emanation from the Primal Will which
engenders the world of being, origination and corruption (to use
Aristotle's phrase). After its existence, which is a perpetual process
eternally flowing from Divinity, all things in the world of creation
begin
the path of seeking their own inherent perfection (takamol) which leads
them upwards upon the path of ascent back to their origin - this is much
like Mulla Sadra's doctrine of transubstantial motion (harakat-i
jowharriyeh). Their ultimate goal of completion is self-knowledge, which
amounts to the knowledge of the manifestation of the Godhead, which is
the
inner essence of all things - there is a hadith qudsi (actually there are

a number of variations to this hadith qudsi) which has the Prophet (pbuh)

or `Ali (pbuh) saying, "man `arafa nafsi faqad `arafa rabbi" (He who
knows
my-self shall know the Lord).
Existence, as we said, is on an upward path of perfection and greater
realization. The theological consequence of this idea is two-fold: 1) the

Primal Will is the same in all the Prophets (including the Imams) hence
all the Prophets are of the same ontological reality or substance, and 2)

the word of God itself, due to the progressive upward path of existence,
is eternally being rejuvenated or renewed. Consequently both the Siyyid-i

Bab and Baha'u'llah saw themselves as the manifestations of the same,

eternal Primal Will which has manifested itself at one time as Abraham,
Moses, Zardosht, Jesus, the Prophet Mohammad, the Imams, etc. This is a
very radical idea but has its roots firmly within the ethos of Shi'ite
thought - as we saw.
Next the Babi-Baha'i writings are replete with esoteric mysticism. To
give one example: The *Haft Vadi* (Seven Valleys) of Mirza Husayn-`Ali
Nuri Baha'u'llah is on the 7 stations (maqamat) of the wayfaring mystic
first presented by `Attar in his *Mantiq-i Tayr* on the individual's
journey towards God, or God-realization. In this important treatise,
among
the issues discussed include the realization of the Perfect Man (or
manifestation of God) within ones inner being in the opening prolegomena,

the stages and pitfalls of the path, Mir Damad's concept of zaman (time)
and huduth-i dahri (atemporal origination), the nature of divine and
profane love, and the stations of fana and baqa (annihilation and
subsistence in the God).There is also the *Kalimat-i Maknuneh* (the title

and theme somewhat reminiscent of Muhsin Fayz Kashani's treatise by the

same name) which is among some of the most moving and profound spiritual
exhortations of world religious literature.

Finally, let me conclude by saying that the Babi-Baha'i faith's claim

to religious universality in effect universalizes Shi'ism.

Regards, Nima

Grupos de noticias: soc.culture.iranian

De: nhaz ...@aol.com (NHazini)

Fecha: 1997/01/29

Asunto: Re: Babism/Baha'ism as esoteric Shi'ism universalized

Dear Koroush,

I know of six university libraries here in North America that have the
farsi text of *Resaleh-ye Madaniyeh*: U Michigan-Ann Arbor, UCLA,
Harvard,
Columbia, Princeton and U Texas-Austin. It was also recently reprinted by

a Baha'i publishing house in Germany - *Baha'i verlag: Hofheim-

Langenhain*
(1984). Of course, there is the well-known English translation, *Secret
of
Divine Civilization*, which is easily available and dime-a-dozen.
On Dehkhoda: he came from an Azali background, but I'm not sure if he
was actually a practicing Babi himself (most probably wasn't). My source
is from an unpublished diary (khatterat) by one Habibollah A. from Kashan

who died a few years ago (this person claimed that some of his relatives
had been Azali Babis and were related to one of Dehkhoda's relatives).
However, I once spoke with one of Dehkhoda's students who confirmed this
information. A complete study of Dehkhoda's family background and history

should yield positive confirmation - perhaps it's time to write and

publish a detailed bio-bibliographical account of him.
The information on Furughi is from a few published accounts. I
believe Mo'in mentions his Azali affliations.
The 1.5 number is a composite based on a few sources: 1) the
research findings of Roy Mottahedeh at the Baha'i world center on Baha'i
numbers at the turn of the century based on documents of a census taken
by
Baha'i leaders in 1920-1 (author) - also see *Note on Baha'i numbers* and

the ensuing discussion in British Baha'i Studies Bulletin; 2) Fazel

Mazandarani, *Tarikh-i Zuhur'ul-Haqq* vol. 3-6; 3) archives of the NSAI
(National Spiritual Assembly of Iran) [note: I have not seen the archive
census numbers of the NSAI but have been told they are available in that
source]; 4) there is also short discussions in Smith *Babi-Baha'i
religions* and Bayat *Mysticism and Dissent*.
Now it is interesting how the official numbers have shrunk
significantly over the decades. This is easily explainable. Many left or
became inactive due to the secularization/modernization (and
anti-religion) policies of Reza Shah and his son, the expansion of the
civil service sector, the rise of the secular left, and the general
persecution of Baha'is in Iran. The Azalis, on the other hand, have
shrunk
to an insignificant handful (perhaps no more than a few families). The
reason for this is long and complicated, but it began already with people

like Shaykh Ahmad Ruhi and Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani who became secularized
just prior to the Constitutional revolution itself.

More later..

Regards, Nima