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Bab were secretly buried and hidden in Persia, according to some sources, and then transported to Palestine in 1909, where they were placed in a shrine near Acre on Mount Carmel. |
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One of the many accomplishments of the Bab during his brief six-year span as a religious figure was the introduction of a calendar, called the Badi, or "most luminous" calendar. It consisted of 19 months of 19 days, and included a period known as Ayyam-i-Ha, the position of which was not specified. Some confusion resulted among the followers of the Bab, as some placed these days in the epagomenal position, following the 19th month. The date of the creation of the calendar is unknown, but must have occurred between A.D. 1844 and 1850. This calendar was modified in certain ways to become the Baha'i calendar, so it is also possible to refer to the Baha'i calendar as being the Badi calendar. See section 9.9.6 below for details of this calendar. |
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The third figure in the Baha'i story is Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri, born on 12 November 1817 in Teheran and later called Baha'Ullah ("the splendor of God"). Son of a wealthy minister of state, Baha'Ullah was an early disciple of the Bab and suffered through the continuing attempts of the Persian authorities to eradicate the Babi sect. Baha'Ullah was imprisoned in Teheran for four months in 1852 and 1853 and experienced a call to prophetic mission at that time. He was banished to Iraq with other Babis in 1853 and lived in Baghdad for a year, then in Kurdistan from 1854 to 1856, after which time he returned to Baghdad. During this time, his influence over the increasing numbers of Babi exiles grew, and the Persian government finally requested his exile to Constantinople. Before departing in April 1863, Baha'Ullah declared himself to a small number of followers as "man yuzhiruhu'llah" (he whom God shall manifest), predicted by the Bab. The timing of the declaration coincided with the completion of a 19-year cycle, beginning with the declaration of the Bab in 1844. The Babis took his name at that time, calling themselves Baha'is. |
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Baha'Ullah spent several months in Constantinople before being transferred to Edirne (Adrianople), where he openly proclaimed his priesthood. A minority group loyal to his half brother, Mirza Yahya, precipitated a series of disturbances within the sect, causing the Ottoman authorities to exile the Baha'is to Acre and Cyprus. |
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Among the issues of contention was the structure of the calendar. The followers of Mirza Yahya regarded the extra four or five days in the calendar as epagomenal, occurring after the 19th month. Such a treatment is more consistent with the traditional Persian solar calendars and is, computationally, a far more sensible arrangement. One consequence of this rule, however, is that the fasting period during the month of Ala then terminates five days before the beginning of the New Year at Naw Ruz. Some followers attempted to reconcile this situation by starting their fast on the fifth day of Ala and including the epagomenal days within the fast. |
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The text of the Bayan, however, states that Naw Ruz is the first of the year, and hence, the first day of the first month, and further states that Naw Ruz immediately follows the last day of Ala. The inescapable deduction, then, is that no intervening days may occur between the last day of the last month of one year, and the first day of |
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