Sell - Cult of Ali

8/8/2019 Sell - Cult of Ali

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THE CULT OF ,'ALIBY

THE REV, CANON SELL, D,D" ~ . R , A , S .

AUTHOR O}o' I THE Jo'AITIl Ofo' ISI-h,,' 'TJn: Hf.:LIff)()UR OR))EHf; OF18LAM,' 'ESSAY8 ON IRLAM,' ' J " , r . A ~ r : ITS HIRF. AND J>ROORF.FiA,'

THF. HIRTORICAI. DEVF.1.0l';I"':ST 0' " TnI-: QI;n,'AS ' : ASO THF. R " ; C E : ' l R I O ~ S 0 ... TifF. Qua' \="

'.rHE CHRISTIAN LITEHATURE SOCIE'.ryFOn INDIA

LONDON, ~ J A I l H A 8 AND GOl.mrBt)HJlO


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C O R ~ I ( j E N D A

P a ~ e ~ Ii lie 'l!'l. .- FOT Shf".h,J n'aa Shi'"hs." E!, ~ 2 . - - .. I)ai Dn'i.

3", 2,--- " Appo:-;th) Apostle.f ) ~ . .. ~ O . - .. !\lu};lhaTllo f\Jut)alll-.

.. 71, n.- " Order O r d c r ~ .


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PItlI'Tt'",,, "," TUF.8 . . . . . c. li . PBJolloP, VEPEKY I MAPSA!;

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THE CULT OF ~ A L t'ALi, the cousin and son-in-law of Mut)aUllUad,was one of th e earliest COli verts to Islam,Amongst th e band of relU'LrkiLblc Il len whuattached themselves to the r ruphct 'H cause 'Alfstands pruillinently forth, dist il lguishcd by hisea.rnest perHonal devotion to his master and hi slion-hcn.rte,j courage ill th e warlike contests ofthe Prophet 's career at Ma!lfna, At t he bat tl e ofBadr he engaged in single combats and slew hisfoes; at VI,lud, he receive!1 no less than sixteenwounds, He WiLS th e st'Lndard bearer in manyfights, He was, however , Illore succes sful ILS a.follower than as a leader. He lackd the ']nalitiesrequisite for a ruler in tUlllul tuous t imes, HisKhalif:Lte W:LS not a success , bu t I h:Lve dealt withthllt suhject elsewhere.'

The affec tion of Mui:Jl1.mrnad for his f'Lithfulfollower W;LS great. He used to Sl1.y ' I and 'Alll1.re of olle stock; 'Alf is IL part of me and I of

I See al-1il.wlrljll ar]Mshidli"., pp. 41-5U, il l which I havegiven a full ac:count of I AU's politicBI career.


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2 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT op"ALi'All.' 'H e whose friend I have been, 'All is 110180h i friend.' ' 'l'holi ar t my bro ther in this worldand th e next.' To look upon 'All is devotion.''H e who revilcs 'All reviles me.' I am the cityof wisdom and 'All is its ga.te.' The Prophet'"appreciation of 'All gave him a position of greatinfluence. The Khallfa 'Ulllar highly respectedthe judicial opinions which 'All enunciated fromtime to time, and 'Ayesha declared that he excelled all others in his knowledge of the Sunnat,that is th e rule of faith and practice, founded onMul.JSmmad's words and deeds.

But the high opinion of l\ful:Jalllwad for 'All,recorded in the t radi tiong, leads to a furtherdevelopment, that of the doctrine of the divineright of 'All and his descendan ts to the spi ri tualleaderRhip in Islam. This idea grew slowly atfirst, bu t it took deeper root in the minds of mfl.nyMus lims a ft er t he tragic cnd of 'All and his twosons. 'All was asso.ssinated in th e yerLr A.D. otH.Ris 60n J:Iasan, according to the Shl';Lh historians,was poisoned and l;fuso.in, another son, was trcacherously pu t ~ death at I(arbala. The circlllllstanceswere tragic in the ex treme. 'l 'he plfLin of Karbalais now 110 sacred place of p ilgr image t o Sh l'ahs land the sad event which took place there iskept al ive in their mcmories by the anl lual celebration of the Mul)arraill. 'l'mditions say thatMuhammad foretold the death of Husain thus:., A.,Syufi, IIi.Io'1l 0/1'" J..'hal'Ja., (od. CalcutLa,l881) pp. 173-4.

'H e will die for the sake of Illy people,' fLndthat J:Iusain Lefore setting nuL on his fatfLl journey stood by the Prophet's grave 'md sfLid:'How can I forget thy people, since I 'Lill goingto offer myself for their sakes.' 'l 'he historicalvalue of these tmdit ions is prohfLhly very s light.The assassinlltions were th e natuml result of atribal feud amongsL a people still uncivilizedand semi.Ravltge, but the whole his tory h'LS Leenidealized, 'md this seems tn Rhow that the hardand cold system of orthodox Ishim failed to finda warm response in tho Shi"Lh mind. 'rhe Christian idea of self-dcnial, 'o f self-renunciation, ofself-sacrifice for others was needed; and this representation ofl:usain as a voluntary sacrifice forthe people was th e example the Shl'ahs found,It has he en well said that ' the death of R usain. . . . ,as Ideahzed I I I Geter ages, fills up this want inIslam; it is the womanly as u.g'Linst. the mltsculine, the Christi'Ln 'LS opposed to til(: Jewish element,that this story suppl ies to the work of Muham-mad.' The more intelligent ShhLhs stUdy' theself-sacrifice of .T eRUs Christ, the more will theys ~ how completely iL fulfils t he highes t 'Lspimtwns of tlw IHnllan hearl, and how superior evenas an ideal it is to .leaths which c,mw as '1 resultof a political feud.

Still the tmgic en,l of 'Ali 'Lud his two sonsinvested thelll with peculiar intereRt, and theShf'ahs found consolation in the reported sayings


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4 THE CULT OF 'ALi 5of the Prophet, already alluded to, and drew fWIlIthem th e conclusion that the ImBmat, or religious leo.dership in Islli-tn , should remain in th efamily of 'All. This ideo. ho .s plo.)'ed such 1mimportant par t in the cul t of 'Ali tho.t I must nowexplain it somewhat fully. I t is essent ia lly 0.doctrine of the 8hl'o.hs, as th e followers of 'AHo.re now called. I t is base' llo. rgely on tmdition''I'hus, 'All existed before the erelLtion of th eheaven Bnd the earth: hE' is a shanow at th eright hand ilf the throne, lLnd men and angelsmake tasbfl.l (i.e. celebrate bis praise) to him.Some sa\' that 'All is alive and tha t ' a part ofGod is in him" One sectioll of Shi'ahs, t heAlhtl.yiyah, say that 'Ali' is superior to th e prophet'.s'AH himself records some sayings of t he Prophetwhich may perhaps be regarrled with some suspicion, However, whether genuine or not, theyserve to show the fonn which Shl'a.h thoughthas taken. He reports 1\1 ul;1amtnad as slLying:'Thou (' AH) ar t th e elect th e chosen; I will llil\kethe memhers of thy family the guides to so.lvatioll.'I place in thee my light anrl th e treasures of

I Traditioll, i n t.ho M u ~ l i m s c u ~ ( : . h ~ a r ~ n. diffcrc.l1t. meaninglo t m d i t i ~ l 1 1 in th e Christian one. ~ u/'.lIot the. 0plIllon of anflRrh- ~ l u & 1 i m divine, hilt an a r . t u ~ ~ 1 1 l S I ) l r ~ r l . SR)"I"R of. tho Pro-hei band,d down from his COlfipaulOut> ( : \ ~ ~ l l b ) . and 1;0 b daLhorf\.;HiH' in lRW, rcliJ,:ion, I\ltd l D o r a l ~ . Fu r 3 (nIl s t a t c m o n ~ ? t.hooaluf'(' and auth0rity (\1 t r a d i t i o n ~ ( ~ ~ , ~ ) see my /fadh of1,1.1", (3rd eel.) Pl'. \'3-101. .

t ~ ~ ...~ 4 ,_Sbahrap,t.9I1i, al-:lJiln11/'{'fn-Ni?,al, p. l ~ i . ....".J\.}r tJ.., ( ; ) \ .S- Ibid. p. 131.

my grl1ce: for thy sake I make the wa te rs toflow, exo.lt th e heavens, distribute rewards andpunishments, and create heaven and hell. I 1e\,eo.lto thy family the secrets of knowledge and tothem shall be no subtlety nor mystery, 'l'heywill be the n,postles of my (i.e. noel's) power,and unitv. I The use of the won! 'mv ' IS an- .illustration of the belief that tL tradition IS asaying i nspi red hy Goo.

\Vhat is known ILS th e 1ll"H'-i-Mlli:lallllllad, orlight or M I l I ~ a m m a d , played lU I important part inthe formulation of th e dOgrulL of the I II IanllLt, I t issaid that that IL my of light from th e splendourof the glory of God wns se t ILpnrt long beforethe creation of th e wor ld; bu t dio not appear onear th unt il th e birth of Mul.lIl.mmad into whosehody it then entered. This light in due coursepassed on t0 'Ali as th e lawful Sllccessor of theProphet, The only difference between th e lightof Mul,JamllllLd anel that of 'All is that th e onewas prior to t he o ther in point of tillle " SomeCOllllllentators say that this light is re fe rred toin the verse,

~ f ) W hath i\ light (nllr) 1'11(1 It. c lcnr hook com e to youfrom (jocl.-Soratu'I-)'IA'lda (\') lR.

But th e verse more prohably refers to th eteaching given in th e Qur',\n. The origin of th eidea of this light is to be found in Zoroastrian

I ~ l a s ' I ' I ( 1 J , .l!Urtiju'4l!-D1I.a l/flb, vol. i, p. t)(i.9Shahmstani, al-Milal 1('(t'n.Ni?ml, p. l-!!).


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8 THE CULT OF 'ALi ' fHE CULT OF 'ALi 9after M u ~ a . m m a d , \ ~ believe 'All' s descendantsfrom J:fasa.n to al-Mahdi, th e twelfth Imam, tobe his true successors and to conside r all of them;in character, position and dignity, as raised farabove all other Muslims. This is the doc tr ine ofthe Imamat.Th e Shl's.h sect, however, soon became divided

into two parties-the Imamites and the rsma'Hians.The former believe in twelve 1t1ll\l1lS, of whom'All is the first.\ The last of th e twelve, AbU'lQasim, is supposed to be still alive, thoughhidden from human eyes in 60me secret place.He is called a l-Mahdi , or the ' guided one,' who.is therefore, able to be a guidc to others. I t isMid that the verse,s.y . truth is come Aond falsehood is vanished: \'erily fa1so-hood i It thing that vanished.' Suratu Bani IRra.'il (xviL) KS,WD.S found written on the ri ght ,mil of Abil'lQAsim when he was born. The Sunni commentators make no mention of this cur ious belief,bu t say that the words were spoken I1t thecapture of l\Iecca.' 1t is also related that aperson one day visi ted the Imam I ~ a s a n 'Asknrl( the e leventh r Illalll) and s'Lid, '0 son of theProphet, who will be the J\halifa and the Imamafter thee.' Bringing ont a child, he said: ' I fthou hadst not fonnd favour in the sight of Ged,I The namef> of th o Lwdvo are: 'AIt, lIa!'.


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10 THE CUIll' OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALi 11of the leader of pmyer. "The P rophet " t he y'said, .. chose him to watch over our spiritualinterests; why should we not choose h im to watchover our ear th ly interests'?" This shows thatthe Prophet had not bequeathed the Ima .mat toanyone, and that th e Companions uttached muchless importance to that and its tmnsmission thanis now done.' 1The Shl'ali doctrine of the Inl l,m:l t seems toshow that there is in th e h uman heart a natumldesire for n. mediator-some 'Vord of th e Fa the r -

who shal l reveal Him to His children. At firstsight it would seem as if this dogma might tosorue extent reconcile the thoughtful Shl'ah to theChristi.m doctrine of the incarnation and mediat ion of .resus Christ, to His oflice us the perfectrevealer of God's will und as the guide in life;but it is not so. The mystic lore connected withShl'ah doctrineh.ts s:tpped th e foundat ion ofmoral life n.nd vigour. A system of religious reservation is n.lso n. fundamentn.1 pn.rt of the systemin i ts mysticll,1 developments, whilst al l Sh[ 'ahsmn.y hwfully practise 'tft


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12 THE CULT OF 'ALI THE CCVrOF '.


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14 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALf 15selected individuals passed Oil to the five higherd e g r e e ~ .In th e fifth degree the pupil learnt that each

Imam had twelve ministers, called th e I;Iujjat, orproof, whose special mission it was to make knownthe teach ing of I,heir respective Imams. He furt he r l earnt that religious order s and ceremonieswere to be explained allegorically.In the sixth degree he was tau gh t th at one

religion superseded a.nother, yet all came originallyfrom God. He also learned tllllt the opinions ofphilosophers were superior to those of prophets,that rel igious creeds wert' c lever art if ices to fetterreason. The arkan-i-dln, t h obligatory practicesof Islam, were all expla ined away allegorically,and 80 it was no longer necessary to observethem.In the scventh degree the pr inciple of dua li sm

was taught. Thus. of creat ion it is said: 'WhenGod createth a thing, He only saith: "Be.'" Thisill the first of two powers; th e second is foundin the words: 'All t h i n g ~ have we created after afixed decree." The object of this teaching was todestroy helief in the 'l'auJ:1id or Unity.In the eighth degree this subject was further

dwelt on to the lllental bewilderment of thepupil.In the ninth degree the pupil was led on to

nihilism. He was now taught that there wasno God, no law, no religion.

Thus the I sma' lI ians , emancipated from thecontrol of a. moral law, were formed into a.fanatical sect, spreading destruction all around.

10 the year A.H. 288 the Da'f, ~ h 'Abdi'.lIah,proceeded to Africa and soon attallled cons.lderable power and influence. He then proclanued'Ubaidu'lIah as th e true Khallfa and I II Ia II I ofIslAm. Some say that 'Ubaidu'lhih was the brotherof the twelfth Imam (p. 8) ; others that he wasthe son of one of the Mukhtum, or the hiddenImams (p. I 1) ; others that he was an impostor. However that may be,. 'Ubaidu'lIlih hadbeen taught his part. .A fter pass1l1g through manydangers he arrived in Egypt; bu t was cast IIltoprison by the ruler of Sigilmasa. He was releasedthrough the influence of Abu'Ahdi'lIah, who forthwith proclaimed him ss al-Mahdi, the Imam whoT.nall expected. 'Uhaidu:llah behn.ved badly to hl8friend whom he Boon got rid of (lIl a charge oftreason. He was the first of the Flitimide J\hallfasof Africa, so called from their descent from'All andF a ~ i m l . \ , the daughter of the Prophet. 'fhe. fourthKhllllfa n.l-Mui'zz (A.D. 953-75) founded Cl.\lro andfirmly cstablished the F a ~ i l l l i d e r ~ ~ c . I t is, h o ~ -ever, thp. Khall fa J:!akim hi Amra Hah (A.D. ~ 9 ( j -1021) who is chiefly connected with our. subject.The record of his mad act ions as a ruler IS a verylong one and is well told by Stanley Lane-Poole.

I F : g ~ p t , pp. 124-84. See 81so Osh.orn:s I,laon WIder. ~ 1 u J.Arab., part ii , chapter iv ; 1I.nd S. do Sacy BEzpole la Ilell9l07&


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He persecuted the Sunnls and all who were suspected of enmity to the descendants of 'Ali. His angerwas often roused against the Jews and the Christians,whi lst he continually inter fe red with the eustolUsof the Muslims and with the observance of theirreligious laws and ritual. The only explaniltioll ofthe forbeamnce shown by the people to this tyrant isto be found in the Isma/llian view of the Imamate .Their idea was ' that all th e phenomena of thissensible and materia.l world were types or symbolsof the corresponding rea.lities in the spiri tual andunseen world. Every positive precept of the lawwas Ilon allegorical s t a t e / l l ~ n t of sO/lle unseenverity; and as one pure and uni versa.! Rea.sonpresided over th e spiritual world above, so it w , ~ snecessary tha.t in this lower world also the pureReason should be inca.rnate in lL visible ptnson.Thllot .Reason was so i n c a r n ~ t e in the Imam Isma,'iland in his descend,ults: so also it was in theF 8 . ~ i m i d e Khallfas of Egypt '. 1 The inea thatthis knowledge could only be obtained through a.descendllont of 'Ali, tha.t is, the Imam ann that thetrue Imams were the F l ~ t i m i d e KhaUfas was accepted by the Ismt\'flia.ns as a certain fact, and thisexpilloins their submission to such a mad monsterIloS l:!akim. One of his Jllany wi In ide'Ls wa-s thathe was Ilon incarna.tion of Deity Ilond that divinaworship must be pain to him. I t was no t Ilonunnatuml development of the Isma/lli'm idea of

I Osborn, IsMm UTtlUT th , Khali/s, p. 247.

the Im! \mat and it gaine(l sllpport. A J,adingDll.'i of the B l t ~ i n i sect namen Darazi encouragedth e Khalifa in his pre tens ions . He wrote , bookto show that the soul of Adam p'Lssed into thatof 'Ali and that the soul of 'All passed into thatof I;fakim. J:Iakim now openly joined the sect ofthe Darazis which grew in intluence and power.One of their number went to Mecca, struck th eblack stone of the Ka'ba and said to th e astonished pilgrims: 'Why do you Ilodore and kissthis which is useless and hurtful and all the whilen e ~ l e c t him ( ~ B k i l l l ) who in Egypt gives life anddeath '!

One dll\' when thc courtiers werc asselubled be-fore 1 ~ a k i t ~ l , one of them read the verse :-We hav e not Kp.nt any apostle but to be obeyed. if Ood 60wil l, but if they, after they ha.ve binned &0 their own hurtcome to theo and ask pll,rdon of Ood and th e apostle 8ftkpardon (or them, ~ h o y 8 h ~ n 9 l ~ r o l y . f i ~ d . tba.t God is He whotllrneth, the MerCiful. SlIrl\tu n-NuJd (1\') h9.

TIll' speaker mellont this to refer to I:lakilU,but It l e a n ~ e d Muslim who was present at onceread the verse: -Veri ly, thoy on whom yo eBn bes ide God cannot cl"oato afly. Suratu'I-I;!aiJ (xxii) 72.

Hakim was much annoyed at t hi s and changedco\;ntenance; but he dissembled before theautlience and gllove the Muslim a present. Hi sfriends, however, advised him to leave Cairo,which he wisely did. I;Iakim ceased to attend-the Friday p r a y e r ~ , abrogated th e rule aboutalms, discouraged the pilgrim'Lge to Mecca and

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16 THE CUI,T OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALI17


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18 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALiallowed the fast of H a l l J a ~ a n to be broken beforemid-day on the last day.

Another man, ~ a m z a , now appears upon thescene. He called himself the 'Hadi, or guideamI the life of those who submit.' He earnestlysupported I ~ a k i m ' s cla im to d iv in ity and quoted&s referring to his marvellolls works the followmg verse : -

If all tho treeR on the earth were to become pens nnd ifGod should after that fiwell the 6CR. into Beven 5 e a ~ of ink, hil!lwordR wflultl no t be exhausted. Stirf\tu Luqman (xxxi) 27.As ~ a m z l \ applied the term Allah to J:Iakim

this verse is said to refer to the KhaIlfa's multitude of marvcls .

The end of J:I:ikim, however, soon came. Atlast th e Muslims were eXllospemted at the cruelties he practised. The Turkish troops and theKitallla Berbers raised a revolt. His own sister,in reply to an oilious accusation, turned o.ga.insthim. On Fehrua.ry 13, 1021, IJakim wen t forthfor 0. ride, bu t never entereil his palace again .The ass on which he rode wa.s found some do.y8later be.\ring th e marks of wounds. J:Iakim'scoat, with dagger marks on it , was recovered, bu the himself was seen no more. His followersr efused to believe that he was dea.d and awa it edhis return, a.nd sti ll the Druses in th e Lebanonbelieve that th e divine Uf' ason was and is incarnate in J:Illkim and that the day will come whenhe wiII return in glory and revea.l great truthsto men.

J:I'lkirn before his death allowed the Isllla'ili:LnDa'is to hold meetings in which their peculiartenets were expoundell. He built it large collegein Cairo called th e Daru'l-IJiklJlat, or Hall ofthe Sciences, for the education of these lsmll 'UianmlsslOllaries. I t was almost entirely devoted tos tud ies of the Shl'ah mysticism and th e discussion of s p e c u J a t i v l ~ philosophy. '('wice a weekthe grn.ncl Prior of thl ' Order eonvened a Lodgemeeting for t,hose who were to he ini ti at ed intothe various degrees and for the l 'xposition of th edogmas or the sect. ~ a s a n ibn ~ a I J l L l . I , [Lfterwardsthe Gmnd ~ f a s t e r of the Assassins , cal lie to oneof these meetings. In his carly youth he had beena friend of th e well-known 'Ulllar Kha.yyam. Hecame to Egypt during the reign of the KhallfaMustans! r, who rl'ceived hilll with marks of favonr.T h i ~ led to jealousy on th e p:trt of other officials,and at last Hasan fonnd himself in prison.Having ga.ined his f reedom he spent three yearsin Syria, preaehing the Isma:llian doctrines, andmade lIIany eonverts, nnti J. at hLst, partly by foree,partly hy stratagem, in A.I>. 10\)0. he obt,tinedpossession (If it fortress calleel Ahtmut, the ' Vulture' s nes t '. He carefully instructed his followersin the !1I0st cx tre llt l' fo rm of the Isma'll ian cult ,and po in ted out to them th:Lt sntlicient carc hadnot been t.aken to eoneeal from the general publicthe hhwk i tthl 'ism to which th e sys tem ult imatelyled. So, whilst appearing as :t follower of 'Ali,


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he enjo ined an outward observance of 'LII theorthodox usages: "tiL he ever kept hefore theminds of his arlherents the cOluing of the Mahdi,now present in th e F a ~ i m i d e Khalffa of Egypt andsoon to appear as the conqueror of the world. Theage was one of war anrl strife, and this longing forthe' expected one' who was to bring peace and quiet ness was, to men wean- of life, a cunstant and reviving hope which lightenerl the burden of existence.To car ry out his p lans, lfn.san instituted IL hier

a rchy of seven grades, he h imse lf being the Shaikhor the helLd of all. In ad,li tioll to the Da'is hehad one order, called thc Fidli'is (the devoted ones).These were th e Assassins. They were carefullyselected for their strength, llnd courage anrl absolutesubmission to his will. They were taught that asthe Prophet had slain Jews in Madrna, so they wereI\irling true religion by putting away i ts enemies .

So completely were they IInder HaslLn Sabah '8influence, and so obedient were t h ~ y to his will,that at his commanrl one stabbed himself nnd another cast himself over the bat tlements ' of thefortr ess to convince a v isi to r of the power of theirleuder. \Vhen th e Shaikh rC'Iuire


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22 'l'HE CUIJT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALi 23

~ a m z a is r egarded as the real founder of th eDruses. He opposed Dara.zi, and so we havethe curious In.ct of a sect's being called by th ename of a man wholll its founder repudia.ted.I t is through J)akim and ~ a m z a , whose teachingwas a curious development of th e dogma ofthe Inlllmat, that the connexion between th eDruses and 'A ll is estab li shed . The hasis of th eDruse re ligion is that God is one, that He hasoften manifested Himself under human forms andthat His fin:L1 manifestation is in ~ a k i m . By atr.ue confession of th e Unity, rightly believed,men gain eternal life. They hold that twodangers were to be avoided in the idea formed ofthe unity of God. They are expressed by th ewords t ashb ih and t a ' ~ i l . In theological languagethe fonner means comparison with somethingcreatea; the second lUeans a. stripping off, a.ndin its app lica tion to God the denia l of any attri-butes in Him as being incompatible with Hisunity. As the Druses finally came to look uponMul:lalllmad and the four J \hal ifas who succeededhim, including 'All , as ministers of error, we neednot proceed further with any account of them.'

The case, however, is different with the Nosairis,or, as they arc sometimes called, the Ansariyeh,a slllall sect dwel ling in t he Lebanon range ofSyria. They have adopted the cult of All in an

1 A full accouut of t ho rel igi on of the DruElcs wiJI be foundin 6eU. E"ays on I.loJ", (6.I'.C.K. Madras) PI'. 165-84.

extreme form. As very little inforlll&.tion is available in English literature about th e curious sect,I deal fully a.nd in considerable detail with thesubject.The Nosairis are described as a manly mce,browner than the Turk, bu t fairer t han t he Amb.The WOlUen when young are handsome. They livechiefly in villages and produce various a.rticles ofcommerce, amongst which wine and tobacco arethe lUost important. The Latak ia tobacco is wellknown in th e E:1st. They are said to be now about130000 in number. They are ill-educated, bu thon'est and industrious' peasants. The chief interestconnected with them is that they form a remnantof the many sects into which the Shl'ah sectionof the Mus lim world was soon divided. Many ofthese sec ts followed the cult of 'All to such anextent that their rel igion assumed a grotesque andstrange form. . ..Vn.rious accounts are given of their orlglll. Asa tribe they seem to have eXiste.d from a n c ~ e n ttimes. Their modern name is said to be derivedfrom ;1 Musl im who, ahout the yen.r A.H., 270ca.me from a town called NaSMia ;I bu t a more proba.ble cxplo.n:Ltion is that their present name comesfrolU Muha.l11lllo.d ibn NORlIoir, a disciple of th eeleventh Shl'ah Imalll, J:Iaso.n al-'Askari. I f RO, itgives the ren.son why, though they hold so much

I SilvesLre de Saey"s Religion des J)rt""" vol. ii, p. f>62.


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24 THE CULT OF 'ALI THE CULT OF 'AIJ 251D common with the Isma'lIians, they yet differfrom them.In the early part of the twelfth century the

Isma'lIianB tried to establish themselves in Syr ia.but were compelled to retire to th e mountains.The Nosairis had to submit to this invasion and itdid not d raw them nearer to the invaders, for therehas always been enlll ity between the two sects.lThe ' power of the Isma'ilinns was broken up in

the thI rteenth cen tu ry in Persia by the Mongols,and in Syria by Baibars, who also tried to convertthe Nosairis to orthodox Islam. He forced themto build a mosque in each village, but the Nosairiswould no t at his b idding change their opinions.I t was about thi s time that a learned Muhammadan divine, ibn Taimiyyah, gave a f a t v ~ , orjudicial decision, aga inst them, which shows thatthe Muslims were then paying some attention tothis curious sect. The fat va, to which we shall: efer later on, t hough the work of an adversary,III useful as a deSCrIption of Nosairi faith andpractice.At th e beginning of t he n inet eenth cen tury theNosairis were brought into conflict with the Tur

kish Governor of D


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26 THE CUL'I' OF 'ALi THE CUL'I ' OF 'ALI 27divisions of the Shl'ahs, it is extremely difficult toget any clear view of their religious system. Itis mixed up with old pagan notions, Gnosticideas, and all manner of heresies; but t here area few distinctive doct rines which can be definedand which differentiate th e Nosai ri s from therest. They divide t ilue into seven cycles, eachcorresponding to a manifestation on earth of thedeity. The lsma'jlians also hold this view, butwhereas they make this, the hLst age, that of the~ l l . n i f e s t a t i o n of the Mahdi, the Nosairis say ItIS that of 'All whom they exa lt to divine honour.He is th e Ma'ni. a pecu liar term expressing the sense' or 'meaning' of the thing revealed. I tpractically is the divinity hidden under a humanform. This t erm constan tly occurs in all theirwritings. J:!aml.a, th e apostle of the Druses,speaking agains t t he Nosairis, says: 'He whoplaces the Ma'ni in 'All and adores him will bedeprived of all good in this world and in thenext.1 The Nosai ris eager ly received some of thenew teach ing of t he I sma'i li ans and worked itinto a system of their own. Little is knownabout it, but it seems de"r that th e Isma.'flianpropagallila refLlly afTe


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tion of God (Jehu jllzlcan Ilian).' I t is 6l\id that'All from his own l ight crea ted I\Jul.mmnmd, thusreversing th e MuJ:!alllllllLdall theory of th e mir-iMuJ:!llmmadi. The Nosairis believe [1-130 in aTrini ty , consist ing of 'Ali who is th e l\h'ni,lIful)ammad who is th e J:I:j:ih 01' veil, and Salmanal-Fri.risi who is th e Ba.b or door. 'fhe two latterar e sometimes said to be emanations from Ood.This idea of flo Trinity does no t seem to havobeen bor rowed f!'OlIl Christi:mity, bu t to be th edevelopment of sOllle local cult.. This Trini ty is represented by a symbol which ishighly vene ra ted, a nd which is used in meetingsfor t he in itia tio n of disciples. I t is called th e'Sirr-i- 'ain min sIn,' that is, ' the secret of theletters '[Lin, mIll!, sIn' . 'Ain is th e first letterof the name 'All; min of M u l ~ : L l l l l U n . I ! ; sIn of8alm:in. In this Trinity 'All occupies the highestplace. The Nosairi sn.ys: '1 tllr n towards th eDoor (Salman) ; I bow before th e N:Lme (]\fIlI)n.IUmad) ; I adore the l\Ja.'ni ('AIO. One writer sn.ys :'H e who adores tho Nn.me to th e exclusion ofth e l\fen.ning (i.e., Ma'ni) is an infidel; he whoadores both is a paly thei st ; but he who adoresth e Ma'ni to th e exc lusion o f the Name, that is,adores 'All alone, is th e true believer.

Th e Nosairis believe that before th e worl d wascreated they were br ight shining stars. ' rhey were777 years in that. slate. Then 'All appea red in

I Shahrastlinl, "Iollilal wa'noNi/'al, p. 143-4.

28 THE CULT OF 'ALITHE CULT 'OF 'ALi

all the splendour of a sapphire. They sinned bysaying , 'Ali has not been c reat ed ove r us,' and60 for 7077 yea rs they were covered with :L veil.Then ' Ali s;tid: 'Am I not you r God?' to whichthey replied. 'Yes ' ; but ll.gain sinnel! and foranother long perioll were pu t into l!arkness. Again'All appcarec1 in th e form of ll. Sha ikh wilh a longwhite be'Lrd !1.nd SILirl: 'Who ll.m I ' ) ' T h e ~ ' replied,' \Ve do no t know'. Then he :tppeared ll.S ll. youuglUn.n moullted on a lion: lhen lLS a little child.At each appearance he sll.id: 'A1I1 I not yourGod? ' He !1.dded: ' I ha.ve crell.ted for you ll.n inferior worl' ! i nto which I shall send you. I havecreated hlllll:tn forms for you. Those ll.mongstYOU who come to know me :tnd th e veil n.nd th edoor (i.e., th e Trinity), I will bring back here.He who denies me will be tmnsformed with a.tmnsformn.tion debll.serl.' Then they said :- ' 0Mastrr, exalt us to thy glory and we will adorethee. Do not cast UB down to the lower wor ld .'Tl ' this, 'All repl ied, 'Sll.y, .. we only know whattho" hll.st langht liB. ThOll ll.rt the most wise".then Twill parclon yon still ' . On n.ccount oftheir disobedience, 'Al l create( ! Iblis (Satn.n) andth e devils, and, on l l.ccount of th e sin of Iblis,he created women. I t iB for this reason tha.tth e Kosll.iris deny th e immortll.lity of the soulsof women; nor do they te:teh them th e pmyers,or any por I ion of their religion. IL position whichthe womcn seem to h:tve accepted with eqlmnimity.


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30 THE CULT OF 'ALl 'fHE CULT OF 'ALi 31The Nosairi belief, then, iliay be thus summed

up. They look on 'All as God, believe IDmetempsychosis anti the eternity of milotteI'. Wineis allowed. The resurrect ion of the body, theexistence of paradise and hell are denied. Ceremonia l ablut ions are not re


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them away and put ?>fusli/lls in their place? Isit not a duty to denounce them I1nd to extirpatesuch I1b'llrd beliefs'J \Vhl1t will be the reward ofhim who a.pplie. his zel1l to t.his object?

I\EPLY.The Nosairis are 11 hmnch of the Kl1rmathians,

more infidel th:m .Tews or Christians n.nd eventhan the pag:Lns. They have done more harm toI sl am than all the unhelievers JULve done. In thepresence of i/{Ilorant Mus lims they pretended tobe Shl'ahs; 1 bu t they believe neither in God,nor in H is Prophet. nOI' in Hi s book, nor inheaven Iln,1 hell, nor in :LIlY prophet o r religionbefore MuJ:1al1llllad. Their objec t is the absolutenegat ion or the :Lith I\nd pra of Islam. Theyteach tlmt the five st:lted prayel's (namllz) s y m ~bolize the knowlcdge of their mysteries, thc fasttheir secret obligation, the J:Iajj the visits to their1 }Ienry ~ 1 a . u l l d . r ~ l I . who t ravc Jled in Syria, in th e year IG9'i,sars?f tho N o ~ a l r t S who ~ \ \ . c l l ill the mountl\ins: 'I t is theirpnnolpl0 to n d ~ e ~ e to no r c h g l ( ~ 1 1 ; but camelion-like, they pu t ona colour of rcltgloll, ,whatever I t be ,which jj:;, rettected upon them

f r o l ~ l ~ b per!\ons With whom tho y h a p ~ n to CnDVQrSC; withChnsttaOA they profCfH ~ h ( ' m ! ' l c J v c R Christians; with 1'urk8 tbeyar e good M \ 1 ~ l r n n n s : with J ews they pas! for Jews. All that illcert.ain concerning them is tha.t they ma.kp. much nnd good winean d ar c gT'8 ..t drinkers.' Travel,,, in S1ft'ia in 1607 by ~ f a u n d r e l L(London edition 181U). p. 16.Burckhardt, who, in th e yoar IHI0 travelled over th e ..arneregifln, 81\yB tbat tb e Nosairis . wbenover tboy visit an y part oftb e country under 'l'urkiio;b rule M!UmlA th e cha.racter ofMuslimt-;, bein" well " ,WfHC that, if theY Iihou1cl be d c t e ( . t t ~ d inth e practico of a.ny C \ l ~ t O m cOlltmr)' to tb e Turkish religion their

b y p o c r i ~ y in affecting to folto\\' th e IaLt..:r woul d no longp.r betolerated.' Burckhardt. T r r n ; r l , ~ i n Syr ia (ed. 1822). p , 1tl!l. 1 Sllrl\tut'-Ta.ubl\ (ix) 8b. Sl1ratu'Vfauba (ix) 74.

8hl1ikhs. Whenever possible they shed Muslimblood and slaughter pilgrims. They are our. enemies and have jo ined the Chris tians againstus. They have no faith in the revealed books,Pentateuch, Gospels and Qur'l ln. So according tothe doctrines of IslalTl it is wrong to interml1rry withthem, or for a Muslim to cohabit with a Nosair islave wom:m. Animllols slaughtered by them areunl:lwful as food, and cheese made by them maynot be eaten. Their vessels and clothes are impure;They must no t be buried in Muslim cemeteries,nor may prayers be said Bot their graves. 'Neverpray thou over anyone of them who dieth, or standat his grave, because they believed not in God andHis Apostle and died in their wickedness.' 1 Theymust not' be employed on the frontiers, nor infortresses, nor II I the army. The sacred war(jihad) and severe measures against them are agreeable to God and are 0. religious duty. I t is no tlawful for anyone to conceal whu.t he may knowof their af fai rs ; on th e contmry, he must makeit clearly known. No one should aid t hem, noroppose those who attack them, for the divinecommand is, '0 Prophet! cuntend against theinfidels llond the hypocrites, and be vigorou8 withthem; heIl shall be their dwelling place I wretchedthe journey thither I . An authentic ~ r a d i t i o nsta.tes th11t llo dlloy and a night .pent in combat in

33HE CUL'I' OF 'ALiTHE CULT OF ALl2

3


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34 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALi 35the way of the Lord is bett er t han a month'sfasting . ,Jihad is better than the greater or thelesser pilgrimage'. The Qur'an says: 'Do yeplace the giving of drink to the pilgrims. and th evisitation of the sacred temple on the same levelwith him who believeth in God, and in the l : ~ s tday and fighteth on the way of God') They shallnot be held equal by God.' I

This fatvl\ thus utterly condemns the Nosairisand sanctions severe measures heing taken againstthem. It has not had, however. any great influenee; for the Turks, though they despise theNosairis over whom they now rule. do not carryout th e severe measures which Tal]lu'd-dln ibnTaimiyyah, in centuries long gone by, pronouncedagainst them.

The Nosairis, themselves a sub-division of asect of I slam, a re a g a i n ~ s p l i t lip into a number ofpa.rties. Some of these represent a COllipromisebetween what they learnt from the Isma'lIiansand their own ancient beliefs; bu t th e point s onwhich they ditTer amongst themselves [ue exceedingly aht ruse and of little general i nt ere st. ' Theyare dividl'd into two classes ; the Shaikhs l1ndthe onlinary people. A Simikh must be of thefamily of a Shaikh. These men are helel in thehighest honour by the people.

1SllraLIl'.Taubalix) I ~ i A fuJI account i s g iv en b y Rone DU5sard in biB Hi!toire ttR,ligion cles No",;,;., pp. 77-1 O:J.

The Nosl1iris. in common with the Isma'lIiansand the Dl1rw[sh Orders, admit lllelllbers intotheir religious system by an initi:Ltion ceremony.They have reduced the nine degrees of th eIsma'llians to three. A neophyte must be b o r ~of Nosairi paren ts and cannot be initiated by hISown fn.ther, He must be, n.t least, fifteen years .0.ld.The father, in the presence of \ ~ Shaikh, t e s t l f i ~ Bto the good character l1nd the educat ion of hIBBOn, and produces witnesses who say that thelad will be faithful and true, a.nd will not revealany of the secrc ts of the Nosairi religion: 'l 'heShaikh then under takes I he prepl1rILtory m s t r ~ c -tion the lad. \Vhen that is done thc initiation takes pln.ee. In th e first oue, the neophyte,in order ttl show his humility, pllts the ~ h p p e r sof all thc assistl1nts thcre assclllbleil 011 h l headand s ; ~ y s : I implore yOIl to beg my ShaIkh toreceivc me as l slave, to pllrlfy me from polytheism, to draw me out of the darkncss of e r ~ o rand to lead me in the right way.' The S h a l ~ haddresses the lad somewha.t as fol l?ws: 'I IDVltethee by the order of God l1nd by HIs wll.l, accord-. g to the noblc word of His servant, WIth whom~ o has placed thee. Be c o n f i ~ l e n t in the orderof God. 'l'here is no doubt In what He ha.sestablished for thec-it is the light of the know:led"e of the Faith. To i ts defcnce apply thyself,\ V ~ r d s [,re then used which deSCribe the grl1dualformation of the bocly in the womb, words based


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36 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALi :'\7on such a description as is given in the Q 's tThese ho.ve Some mystical applico.tion to his u; i ~ i .tuo.l growth, He IS tben told, under the 8 e a . ~ ofsecrecy, further points and is made tt I " 0 repeat a.grea nUIll ) er of tunes thc formula 'B thof 'AI'n ' ' . . y e secretmUll sin He 10 tl . ,.. , " " I e l l gIven Wille, a symbolof dtvllllly, to drink, After this th Sh 'kh, "e 0 . 1_ pro-nounces over hlt ll a I,enedtction o.nd says' 'T Iof the faithful hath God buught t h ' . I ' l l Yh . ell' persons andte l l ' substancp., on condi tion of Pd' fth h Bra Ise orem : on t e path of God shall they tight"Th e neophyte then embmces th e Sh 'kh .k' th ' at , andIsses e ground in front of him. Th -ch 'kh'R ' G e , 0.1says: Ise, od guard thee. ' -Afte r forty days the parents of th It', e new y Inl-Illoted pcrson give a great enter ta inment at which

the second ImtlllotlOn takes 1)lace A' t .I , . uou eightmont IS after tillS the tinal stage is pa d Thh . sse usIS full ent rance mto the relj"ion answ t th. d' "ers 0 eperl0 of hiS ~ a t u r ~ 1 physica l format ion a lreadyreferred to. 'Ihe ritual of th e loot . ' t ' t' .,.', 1m 10. IOn IS~ e . r ) : complex n , n ~ forms n, Ijrancl ceremony. Them l t l l ~ t e d then r ~ s l d e s for Rome time with 0. Shaikhwho perfects hIS educll.tion. -

Th e belief in tmnsmi'fration is cit. ., omp e e ' aVIrtuous Nosairi will n,fter clea.th rll.nk 'th. o.mong estn,rs; an evil one will pass throu"h m o , tf . ., ..n) rans-orlllatlons. I f he disobeys It eommand given by1 S U f a t u ' I . ~ h \ ' , " i l l l l , " (xxiii) 18-14.' S ~ r R t u ' t T a l l b " (ix) 112,

'All, he will become a Jew, a Christian or a SunniMusl im. Infidels , who do not worship 'AI! at all,will becolDe camels, asses, dogs and so on. TheNosairi, however, looks forward to a tinal releas eand prays: 'Deliver us from human forms, andmake us return to th e luminous bodies atllongstthe star s of heaven. '

Amongst th e ordinary pcople, the worship ofa . 1 . K h i ~ r , whom they associate with St. George,is common, and th e story of the victory over th edragon and other mo.rvels are fully helieved. Infact, the distinction between the initiated n,nd th enon.initiated has cons idemble elfect on th e religious beliefs of th e people. The initiated follow the teaching laid down in their religiousbooks, the rest satisfy 'their religious sentimentby the observance of ancient c u s t o m ~ . They maketheir offerings to a H ~ h i ~ r . He is to the ignorantmasses, what ' AI! is to the more instructed ofthe people.

The Nosairi s observe Ulany religious fest ivals .The chief fMe day is th e YauJDu'I-Ghndfr, whichis observed on th e eighteenth day of DhU'I-J:Iijjsh.I t was appointed as a Shf'ah festivlLl in Egypt80, long ago as A. H. 3(;2 (A.D. 972), I t is said tho.tMul;tamlllad, n,fter making the J:In,jj, or pilgrimageto Mecca, encamped at 0. pla.ce cl\lled Gho.dfr, andthere o.ppointerl 'All o.s his successor. The Nosair is have adopted this view, o.nd so lay JDllch stresson the observa.nce of th e festival. They alloY that


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1 R , i r a t u I . ~ r ' i d a (\.) 71. The """t" Of ,.lam, (3rd ed, ), pp. 3 ~ 2 - 9 ,

~ h fOllowing IVor,ls of th e Qur'an ' re fe r to theevent commemornted; '0 appostle! proclaim allthat hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord,for, if thou


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40 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALI 41called the Refutation of the Nosairis, in whichtbey are accused of all manner of evils' I bu t Hamzo..was actuated by jealousy, RJld much reliance canno t be placed on his statements. As regards hisgrosser accuso.tion it may be noted that a Nosairicatechism concludes with these words: 'adulteryis a black robe which the faithful do no t wear,and with which they do not cover them-selves.'

This somewhat meagre account of tbi s l it tl eknown bu t peculiar tribe reveals tbe extraordina.ryinfluence the his tory of 'AU has upon the easternimagination. In 80me form or other of it manymillions of the h uman mce have a.dopted thiscurious cult, though none have carried it so farae the Nosairis have done. '1'hey hold to theirextreme view of it with great tenacity and, apparently, no political or social changes can shaketheir belief in the divinity of 'All, or the ardourwith which they pay divine honours to him. Tothe colder and more practICal "\\'estern mind it allseems very s trange , even if not very foolish; bu ta belief which influences so many races, is so widespread, and which finds such a curious outcome intihe Nosairi religion is, o,t all events. worthy ofclose study and observation as one of the manyforms into which the religious faculty in mandevelops itself.

" 1 A full account of Hamza'a charges against them will be foundin Sil,cstre do Sacy'. R.ligion.u, D",so" \'01. ii , pp. WS-75.

We now pass on to consider the connection ofAU with the Baul movement.

We have seen that AbU'l-Qaslm t (al-Mahdi)succeeded his father as ImaIIJ in the year A.H. 200(A.D. 873) just one thousand years before the mani.festation ( ~ u h U r ) of th e Bab. He is said to havedisappeared in the year A.H. 32U (A.D. 940) andto be now living in the mysterious city of Ja -bulqa. or Jabulsa . I t is believed that in duetime he will reappear, that Jesus Chris t willherald his approach, that then injustice andmisery will be pu t away, th at th e true (Shl'ah)faith will prevail, and that a millennium ofhappiness will be ushered in. Meanwhile, he isinvisible and inaccessible to the great mass of hisfollowers. At first, however, he held direct inter-course in some way with a select few who werethe cha.nnels of communica.t ion between himselfand the larger body. These intermediaries werecalled 'Gates' (Abwab). Their na.mes are Abu'Umar 'Ulliman ibn Sa'id 'Umarl, Ab!1 Ja'farMuhammad ibn 'Uthman, I:Iusain ibn Huh Naw-bakhtl, and Abu'l-Hasan 'All ibn Muhammad-- . ..Slmar!. .Fo r a period of sixty-nine years these, Gates', one after the other , were the mediumof communication with the Imam. This periodis called that of the 'minor concealment' (@aibat-i-sughra). The day came lLt length when thelast ' Gate', Abu'l-Hasan, reached the end of life. .

1 AIlU, p. 8.


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and the people begged him to nominate a successor, as his predecessors h:td done;. but heabsolutely refused to do so, a ll eg ing I1S IllS reasonthat God hath a purpose which He will accomplish '. 'l'hat which the f ai th fu l had lookedforward to with despair had now come to pass, andall intercourse with the Imam was at an end.This period is called the 'major concealment'(ghaibat-i-kubra). The importltnce attached to thesemen and to their position is seen from the following extract from the Bcy(in, 11 Bll.bf book to beexplained later on, in which ~ read: .' For Godhath associated refuge 1D Himself with refugein Hi s Apostle, and refuge in His Apostle Withrefuge in His Imams, and refuge in the Imll.mswith refuge in th e Gates of the Imll.ms. ~ o refuge in the Apostle is t he s ame as refuge WithGod, and refuge in the Imams the Sl\llle. a r e f ~ g ein the Apostle and refuge in the Glttes IS Identlcslwith refuge in the Imams.' .

We next come to the time of Shaikh Al:tmadal.Ahsa'l (A.D. 1733-I82G), who was the founder ofthe Shaikhl sect. He had a profound belief in 'AI!,and was dllvoted to the memory of t he Imaws,whom he looked upon as creative forces, arguingfrom the text, 'God thc best of creators' [Suratu'l-!\fu'mimun (xxiii) 14] , tha t, if He be the best, Hecannot be the only one. The special point of hi.steaching was tha t God is immanent in the UnIverse which proceeds from Him, and that all the I Journal Arial;qut, Sixiemo St,rie, tome vii, p. 45A.

elect of God, all the Imams, and all just personsare personifications of the divine attributes.' According to this belief, he hetd that the twelveImams from' All to al-;\Iahdl were personificationsof twelve chief attributes of God, and that, consequently, they were eternal. Amongst these Imams'Ali holds the highest mnk, being super ior toangels , to prophets and to Mul;t:unlllad."

The successor of Shaikh AI;lIlJa(1 Wfl.S I:Iaj i SayyidK a ~ i m . The Shaikhl doctrine now spread all throughPersia. In 'Ira(1 alone there were more than ahundred thousand disciples. Sayyid Ka"im diedin the year A.D. 1843, and left no successor.According to the Babf writer:; he appointed noone, becltUse he looked upon Shfl.ikh A/;l1nad andhimself as forerunners of one who should shortlyappear an(1 be far more glorious than they hadbeen. To Mulla I:Iusain, one of his most distinguished followers, he said: 'From what-ever quarterthe sun of truth shal l ar ise, it will irmdiate allhorizons and render th e 1l l irrors of bel ievers'hearts eapa.ble of receiving the effulgence of thelights of wisdom.'After fas tings, vigils, and pmyers for guidance,the Shaikhis began to consider what was to bedone in the matter of a successor, a spiritulLl director.They then went in different directions. MullaJ:!usain proceeded to Sh11"l\;I, and there met with

42 THE CULT OF 'ALI THE CUL'I.' OF 'ALI 43


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THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALi 45Mirza'All MuJ.1o.mmad who produced hefore himthe signs of his call to his divine mission.Amongst these was-his commento.ry on the S u r n . ~ uYusuf (xii). Fo r seven),1 days Mulla J:Iusampondered over these matters , aod, after a longand severe struggle, became convinced that he hadfound io th e young and ardent enthusiast beforehim, t he ' Proof ', t he 'True Onc', the 'Sun ofTruth', to whose advent Bajl Sltyyid J { a ~ i m hadpointed. 'H e wrote to his friends !Lt l5.

this is that there mus' always be amongst believersone perfect man ( s h n . k h ~ - i - k i m i l ) who can be thechannel of grace ( w a s i ~ a . i - f a i q ) between the absentImam !Lnd his people. The term' fourth support'is prillln.r ily applied to the dogma that th e concealed Imam must ILlways have on earth some onewho possesses his entirc confidence, to whom hegives special spiritual instl'l1ctiCon, n.nd who is thusqualilie,1 to convey to the believ"rs the wishes andwisdom of their invisible head. The term has,however, come to be applied to the pcrson whofulfils this omee. I t is said that I:Iaji Mul,lalllllladKarl II I l\hlin. the Shaikhl who refused to acceptMi rZIL 'All Mul)ammn.d as a leader, eonsineredhimself to be the fourth support. This, too, wasthe position of the Bah, at all events at first. forhe chLirned to be th is ' fomth Sl lpport " and thu sto occupy the place heln by the 'Gates ', whowere the intermediar ies between the Imam andhis followers during th e min"r occultn.tioll. Thusit is that nablislll is eonnceted with t he very centraldoctrine of th e Shl'ahs, though in many other waysit has so far dep'1fted from n.ccepted MuJ;lammadanideas as to form a new sect altogether.

Mlr7.a 'All Muhammad was born at Shlniz, onOctober 9, l f ~ 2 0 . As a young Illall he proceededon bllsiness to Kerbela, where he WIlS broughtinto contact with I ~ a j i Sltyyid Ka:-,illl, theSh!Likhi leader, whose lec tu res he occllsioun.llyattended.


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THE CULT OF ALi that r lreamers and mystics, and evil disposedpersons f rom sel f- in te re st j oined h im. No doubtsomc did so frolll mixed I llotives ; but Mr . Eo G.Browne secms to me to give thc fairest account.Hc divides the Bab's first adhercnts into severalclasses. Firstly, rigorous and pious Muhammadans who really believed that the signs of thetwclfth Imam were fulfilled in him; secondly, al lthose who desired rcform in P ersia and thoughtthat n,tbfislU would conduce to tha t end; thirdly,th e mystics who considered BltblislJI to be similarto their own pantheistic system; fourthly, thoRewho were drawn by the personal influence andcharacter of the Bab.'

The next step seems t o have been the pilgrimageto Mecclt in November 1844. After complet ingall the r ites incumbent on p ilgr ims, he r"turnedearly in the following year to Bushire. He soonbecamc th e centre of attraction. and th e Mullasand o ther s became exdted about him. They in-duced l:Iusain Khan, th e Governor of Fars, togive orders that some of his followers should bebeaten. A little later on in th e year the BabWI\R brought as a prisoner to Shlr,tz. MIrza.K a . ~ i m Beg thus descr ibes a faDlous disputationheld there: The 'U lama thcn 'tsselllbled. TheBab appeared in the Illidst of thelll and spokewith coumgc and enthusiaslD. Thc Governor, whohad assumed the char acte r and position of a

I JOll,.,.,,1 of t118 Roy"l A sial. . Soc;"ll/, 18S9, p. ~ 0 4 .

46Visitors to Kerbela, especially thosc from .Shlraz,

showed him much consirlcmtion. and so hIS fam.ed abroa .J Hc now began to COJ1l1lutwas sprea ".his thoughts t o w ritin g, and C01Jlposerl a c?m-

mcntary on one of the chapter s of the Qnr an,the S u r ~ t u Yusuf (xii).He was 0. vcry earnest student, and now beganto at tract general attention. Thus i t r.ame to passthat on May '2:1, 1844, when he was ahont twentyfour years of age, Mirza 'AI! MIlQ.ammad 1Il0redefinitely formulated his views and aJ1nouncedhimself as a. duly autho ri zed t eacher and glllde.He then assumed th e nal lle of th e Bah. Hes[l.id: 'Whosoever wishes to a.pproach the Lordhis God and to know thc truc way that .Ieads. toHim ought to do it through lIIe.' Of t l ~ I S perIOdof his career Mit"7.ri. I{li;dm Beg s ays: ' ' I he nnllber of his adherents increased, day hy day, ~ n when they demanderl that hc, like ~ h ancientprophets, should give thcm a :slgn, II I proof ofhis mission, he . reli:d on t } l \ ~ that hc c o ~ dwrite 0. thousand inspired hncs In on c rlay. yhis peculia.ritics anrl by his auslp.rp. lIfe, even. whenstill a.t Kerbelli, hc was called tl1(\ IlIuUllllatcd.When thc inhltbit .ants of Shlrn.z returned f romKerhela., they used to say: "Have .you h e a ~ d of

S 'd 'All "lllhammlLd) He IS no longer asour ,ay)'1 " . ' . dwe are, he has becollIe famous and has mentethe name of th e Chosen of God. All pcople,

d h '" He ILlso addssillall and great, flock aroun 1m.

THE CULT OF 'ALi 47


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THE CULT OF 'ALI THE CULT Ol" 'ALI 49learner, humbly suggested thl\ t the Bab shoulddemonstrate that his doctrines were superior tothose of Mul;1a.mmad. The BAb answered boldly,..Take my Qur 'an, compare it with that of yourprophet , and you Will be convinced that my religion is the preferable one." On he'Lring thesewords, the Governor changed his attitude a.ndcalled for the executioner to whom he pointed outthe prisoner. The ]38.b was then bound and,beaten.'

The orthodox Mullas soon perceived that theymust attack the Bab direct, and so they urgedthe Governor of Fars, l: Iusain KhAn, to take moredecisive action, saying: ' I f thou desirest the ext inction of this fire, or seekest a firm s topper forthis rent and disruption, an immed iat e cure anddecisive remedy is to kill the Blib.'An attack wa.s made on the house in which theBab lived, but, apparently with the connivance ofthose who had charge of him, he was allowed tomake his escape and to proceed to IsfahAn. 'fhisevent took pla.ce about March 1846. Before hisarrival at Isfahan he wrote II. letter to theMu'tamadu'd-Dllwla, the Governor of the Province,asking for a suitable lodging. Thp. Governqr,Minuchfhr Khan, afforded him protection andshowed him hospitality. At first the 'Ulama. paidthe Bab much respect, bu t soon begltn to bealarmed at his growing influence with the Governor, and signed II. declaration to the effect that they

were quite convinced of the heretical clmrncter ofhis doctrines. After lhe death of the Governor in1847, the Bab was removed to the castle of MlikiI0. fortress on the north-west frontier, though h i confinement was nol at first a r igorous one. Hisfollowers were :L1lowed free intercourse with h im,and continua.l correspondence went on between theBab and his principal agent s. The Bab at thistime wrote many religious books, and his influenceseemcd to be on the increase. I t ",a.s, therefored . ,etermmed to place him in stl 'icter confinementand so he :"as removed to the citadel of Chirlq:neal' UrUllllyyc. Soon after his arriv:L1 there hewas brought to 'l'abrlz to undergo his first examination. A full account of this is given by the~ u l ; 1 a l L l l l l a d a n historians, bu t as they representhim :LS utterly foolish and ignorant, I it is morethan proba.ble that it did no t take place as narrated. 'Mfrz.a K a ~ i m Beg says that the accounts given ofthe Il1tervlew were most contradictory, and hedoes not give credence to the morc absurd ones.The Bibf account of it is tha.t tho Bab advanced~ h cla.im of Mahdl-hood. on which a. great tumultarose, :Lnd that, in general, his defence was asuccess. This much is certain that he was severelybeat en and sent back to confinement in Chiriq.Then we arc told that 'learned divines andesteemed lawyers who were possessed of powerand influence, girt up th e loins of endeavour for the

I A lull accounL is givcu i n t ho Epi",d. 01 1M Bc1b, pp. 277-110.4


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50 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CUL'l' OF 'ALI 51eradication and supprcssion of this scct.' Theymaintained t ha t th e Bab l ind his followers werenot only in error, but were also hurt fu l to Churchand State. '1'he King, 1\Jui)ammad Shah, however,declined to int erfere , and declared that so long asthe pub li c peace was not disturbed th e Govel'llment would not fur ther interfere with him.

I t was now that his most famous eOllvert wasmade. '1'his was 'L woman ca.lled ( ~ u r m t u ' I - ' Ayn(lustre of thc eyc). She wa.s the daugh te r ofth e very learned I;IAji Mlllla l\Iui)allllllad $.Uih.She was acquainted with I;Jajl Sayyid Ka7,illl, theShaikh! leader, and his famous disciple l\ fulla.Husain. She became a elevoted follower of the13ab and went everywhere preaehing and makingconvert s to the Babi faith. The Bab a.pplaudedher zeal, and hestowed on her the title of Janabi-Tahira (Her Excellency the Pure). From thattime all acknowledged her position. Her uncle,who showed llIuch hatred of the n,lbis, was nowassassinated, lind Qurratu'I-'Ayn waS unjustlycharged with being pr ivy to thc deed. ~ h i s rendercd hc r fur th er stay in Kazvln nnposslble, andshe left for a place called Nur, where she reIUaineduntil th e suppression by th e Governmcnt of the.Mazandaran insurrection. She was then wade arisoner and sent (0 Teheran. On her arrival she~ a taken before the Sh,lh who said: ' I like he rlooks, leave her, and let her be.' She was thenkept in prison, though he r confinement does not

appear to IllLve been very rigorous, for she hadoccasion;],1 intercourse with different Habls. Shewas pu t to death in the massacre at 'J,'ehenln whichfollowed on the a tte ll lp t to kill t.he Shah in 1852:Qurmtu'l-'Ayn was the most remarkable of theBab's disciples. She was a per son of II1lLrvellousbeauty, possessed of high intellectu,d gifts, elolluent,devoted 'Lilli fearless. She threw her whole soulinto th e C[1use she advocated, :lond Iwr Ilmrtyrdorn.sheds a halo of glory roulld her short and activocareer.

Her romantic career, her ma.rvellous power, andher tragic end will cantin lie to give for :L longwhile to come strength to the B:ibi C'Lllse and thespirit of endurance to it s followers.

The Mulhis now determined to get tho Babexecuted and the Bab and a young man namedAka ~ l u / ; 1 a l l l m a d 'AI!, a youthful Babi, whobelonged to IL nohle falllily of Tabri7., weredelivered lip to the military authorities for execution. For the following account of WhlLt reallytranspired 1 alll indebted to I\1f rza K a ~ i m Beg.'The roads which led to the court of the barrackswere -:rowded with people. At a military execution in Per sia, th e condelllned are tied togetherwith the ir backs turned towards the firing Jl[1rty.Aka Mui)ammad 'AI! begged to be allowell toturn his face towards th e people, and then, in aloud, but c[11111 voice, he began to say some

1 JO"Tnal Asiatiqtut Sixicmo aerie, tome vii , p. 377.


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52 THE CUT!I' OF 'ALi THE CUVl' OF 'ALIprayers which had been c o m p o ~ e d by th e master.The Bah kept perfectly silent. His pale a.ndbeautiful face, surroundcdby a hlack beard, hiswhite ann delicate h a n d ~ , his figure and d i ~ t i n -guished manner, everything in his person and inhis dress s.rousen the sympathy n.nn compassionof th e spectators. The Gove rno r and the Mullastrien to keep this in check by preaching loudly.a.ga.inst the Babl doctrines, exaggerating the evilsof the system. They recounten in 1Io patheticmanner th e cnd of those who had lUet their deathat the hands of the Bahls; s ti ll , so strong wasthe feeling a r o u ~ e d by th e self-sacrifice of Ak4Mul;1anllna.d 'All ann th e dignity of the Bltb thatit required the utmost effort of the Mullas to snppress i t. The first volley fired ~ i l l l p l y severed th ecords by which th e prisoners were fastenen to thepost. A second volley proved effectual. Thobodies were finally Cllost out of the city, ne:H themoat, to be devoured by dogs a.nn i a c k a l ~ ; bu ton the second night were conveyed away by theBabls, who by bribes, or by the inflnence ofpowerful friends, obtaim'd possession of them.They were wrapped in white silk, placed in onecoffin, ann scnt to Teheran, where by orner ofMITZII. Ya/:1ya ($nbh-i-Ezel), who. though bu ttwenty years old, had been chosen to succeed theBab , they were deposi ted in a small shrine. Herethey remainen for seventeen or eighteen years,till th e schism originated by Baha deprived his

half-brothcr Ezel of th e suprem!1cy in the Bablchurch which he had hitherto enjoycn, when theywere removed by the Baha'Is, to whom alone isnow known th e last resting p l : ~ c e of th e l\Jartyrsof Tabrlz '. 1. Mirza K a ~ i m Beg, who though eminently fair,did not believe in the claims of th e Bab thusdescrihes h im: -'H e h ! ~ d some cha1'llcteristics truly great andnoble, and waa II, man of firm 'mil set tled convictions. His moral character w : ~ s high. 'md he

a.imed in his preaching to bring all his countrymen into a community, united hy intellectualand moral tics. He spoke with mueh elLrnestnesson th e necessi ty for a rel igious and social reformin Persia, the cessation of rel ig ious persecution,and the ameliorat ion of the lot of women. It issaid thlLt much of what he preached on thesepoints had an esoteric meaning, known only toh i disciples; bu t whether that is the case or not ,the venemtion they felt for him WILS profound,and the re can be no doubt that th e teaching ofth e B,ib was in the direction of freedoll1 : ~ n d thathe personally was in favour of reform' .

I\Iirza Kllo7,im Beg sums up his reflections thus:' \Ve neither conside r h im l1n ",dvcnturer nor a.fanati


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64 THE CUr.JT OF 'ALi 55him also as 110 man troubled by th e dired influenceof some of hiR devoted and ambitiouR disciples.In a.ny case, we believe that th e appearance ofth e BBb will he more or less of URe in time to th ecause of civi li za tion in Persia.' IThe next historical event of some importance isth e attempt on August 15, 1852, to Itssllossinll.teNBRiru'd-din Shall. I t does no t n.ppear to havebeen an act. determine


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THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALi 57right of birth to . be the first to have his throatcut, At last, night fell on a mass of shapelessflesh, snd the dogs of th e suburbs came in troopsW t he p lace : So ended one i II I portant period inthe history of the Babis,There, has been since t hi s t ime no formal outbreak of Babl revenge, nor has there been anypersecut ion like it. Even this altogether failedof its purpose, for it gave to the movement av igour and vital ity which otherwise it might havelacked. It is said that hnJf a million Persiansar e Babis, but Lord Cur7.0n of Keddleston consider'sthe total to be nearer one million. He SBYS: J 'Theysre to be found in every walk of life, from the ministers and nobles of the Cou rt to the sClwenger or thegroom, not the lellst arena of their activity beingthe Musalman priest.hood itself. I t will havebeen not iced that the movement was initiated byS:Lyyids, Hajls and Mullas.'After th e death of the Bah, the chief interestin the movement circles round Mi rza Yahya andhis half-brother Baha'u'lIah, who became the respec tive leaders of the two sects, into which theBabis Bre now divided-the Ezells and the Balut'!s.

In 1852, when the attempt on the life of theShah was mIllie, the Bllhis were bitterly persecuted,and Subl;1-i-Ezel retired to Baghdad, which thenbecame the head-quarters of t.he sect , I\nd was formany yelLrS reengnized, Ilt, least nnTllillltlly, IlS its1 Prr!ia, \'01. i, p. 499.

head, ;\Ifrza f.usain 'Ali Bahli'u'BAh, who was$ubl;1-i-Ezel 's senior by thirteen years, and hadjust been released from illlpt' isonment, joined himin 1853, The Persian Government, at length,objected to his re sidence t he re and prevailed onthe Turkish authori ties in 18G:-J-4 to deport himand his followers to Const:Lntinople, from whencea few months later on they were sent to Adrianople,$ub!:J-i-Ezel led a very secluded life, and th ecorrespondence and other nlatters were carried onby Baha'u'lIa.h who acted for him, The influenceof Baha'u' llah then grew, lLnd at last he beganto ailvance claims which afterwards cuhnina(eil inthe l l ~ s e r t i o n that he was the person to whomthe Bltb referred as 'Him whom God shallmanifest',l To this dlLim the Ezells replied thatbefore the person of whose advent the Ba.b hadspoken coulll come, Bltbiislll must obtl\in generalcurrency, llnil the laws l:tiil down by the Bab inhis books 1llust be aceepteil by most of the nationsof the world. They fur ther Ildded to their replythat it was not to be slIpposed that two manifestations (;mhlir)-that of the Bri.\) u.nu that of. Him wholu God shall lllanifest'-could take placewith so short an interval of time between them ,The Ihhri.'is, who admitted thaL $ubh-i-Ezel wasthe firs'; vice-regent of the Bltb, to all th e objections allege,] repliel] tlmt !\IirZIl. Yld.lYa.'s rule was

J He dC!cln.refl openly hiB divine miRBiOIi in lSt;li-7 at Adrinnoplc,from which cl,'te the FichiATIl COmlllC:lCC!s.


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58 THE CULT OF 'ALI 59only to last until th e manifestation of the newleader, who was to come suddenly, and th e timeof whose advent was known only to God; thn.tthe Bab had stated tha.t he, th e new prophe t,would come suddenly, and that it could no t cometo pass that anyone should fal se ly cla im thehonour. They also uspd an aq.(Il1np.nt well knownamongRt Mu!)ammadans, a.n n.rgument based onth e literary style of the booh given hy meansof a divinoly appointed messenger, and urged thatthe ' L a u J : 1 - i - N a ~ l r ' , in which Bltha'u'lIAh an-nounced hiR mission, fulfilled this condition of ad iv ine revel at ion by it s eloquence of dic tion andth e wonderful knowledge, unacquired by study,displayed by th e writer, Anyhow, the contlictingclaims to th e leadership led to quarrel s and blows,The Turkish Government, then determined tosepa.rate the disputfLnts, Baha'u'l ll th and his fol-lowers were Rent to AkkH. (Acrp.),1 an,l MIrza Yal;1yAand hi s people were exiled to FamltguRta, in Cyprus,A few EzellR were Rp.nt with Bn.hli, and a fewBahA'lR were sent with l \firza Yahyri. I t washoped thn.t by this armng.mlPnt the minor ity, ineach cn.se, would ll.ct aR spieR ftn,l prevent anycommunication between IHhiR in Persin. and eitherof thp. len.,lerR. Since then the followers of Bn.hn.have incren.sen very lIluch, whilst those of ~ u b J : 1 . i Rzel, or Yahyn., hn.ve decre:tsf'n. This iR n.n

1 Tbi" if' !oltilJ th e h ~ f H I . q l l I H t l ? r " of thfl R;\hA'if: to which Reetm o ~ t of the Bl\hffo now h ~ l o n g .

unlooked for development of the work of theBab, for BahA e1aims to bc th e messenger of 0.new diRpensation altogether.1

Th e question at is sue now became s o ~ e t h i n gmore thll.n a mere s t r u g g l , ~ for leadership, forBahA's claim virtually neposed the Bfib from hisposition as th e ' Point of Revelation' f\Dd madehim the mere forerunner of 'Him whom Godshn.lI manifest', Th e Ezelis are, ho\\'ever, nearlyextinct, n.nd it is no t likely tlmt they will everattn.in to power again. Assuming thll.t HahA hadright on his side, it is stll.terj that the changeshe made were m a pmcticn.l ,Ii rection andbeneficin.l.Mr, R G, Browne says: ' I t cannot be doubtedthn.t the survival and extension of th e religionformen by the Bah were secured by the modifi-cations effected in it by Bahli'u'lIlth, for in itsoriginal form it could never have been intel ligible,much less attmctive, outside PerRi9.; :Lnn even: I 1\lr. Browoe put the fol lowing quest ion to Baha 'f: 'Whv doyOll t>pcllk of :\JfrzB YRhys nc; thouKh be were of 110 account? Inthe h o o k ~ ahout your r , : , 1 i ~ i o n . which I rrf\d in Europe. he is de-Retiued as the Brib'R chosen 8 u c c e ~ 8 o r and, a(l(!r him, &8 the chiefof your sect?' Yes,' rcp1ino i\Jfno;'" Hn1>an it is true tb:Lt he WRR olle of thf'Joarly h c l i o v l ! r ~ . ",nu that ' a t fir:-;t he WRS al:{:onntcd thn f:llC


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62 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALI 63we are chiefly indebted for th e vest informationon the subject , refers to the Persian Baydn. fromwhich quotations have alr eady been made. Thiswork brings out more fully the theory of a PrimalWill. 'Since it is impossib le for created beingsto know the divine essence. the Primal Will ha.s;

fo r their guidance and instruction, incarnated itselffrom lime to time in a hUIlHlIl fOl'lll. These iu-caruations arc known lLS prophets. That whichspoke in a.1l th e prophets of the p a ~ t now speaksin th e Bah and will speak through" Him whomGod shall 1llanifest ", and after him throngh others,for there is no cessation in these manifestatiolls.That which spoke in Adam, Noah, Moses, David,J esus and MUQalllmad t was the one and the salllePrimal Will. III each llIanifest:ltion news hasbeen given of the following one. Thus the Jewswere told to expect a Messiah. bu t they rejectedhim; the Chr is tians to expec t MUQammud but. a.s80 rule. they did no t accept him; so the Mul:Jham-madans are ta.ught to look on t for Imu'IJI Mahdl.Yet now he has cOll1e (i.e .. in the Bah) theypersecute him '.

Another point on which the Bay(ll lays muchstress is that no revelation is fina.1. 'l'his is en tirely opposed to th e ordinary MUQalllllladan view,which is that. as MUQalllmad was the Seal of the

I The.e are the AlIbiy' tHu)-'Azm. SO T / Faith of II/dim.( 3rd ed.), p. 239. JOII"",l of the R. A. S o < ~ t l l . vol. xxi, p. 914.

Prophets', his revelat ion closed the serics. TheBab ta.lIght that. as the hUIlHLn mcc progresses,th e Pl'Jmal. \Vill. the teacher of lUen, speaks ineach new revelation more fu lly and more cleluly.All these successive and progressive revelationsand dispensations are simply to prepare the worldfor the fuller tea{)hing of 'Him whom God shallmanifest '.'A new prophet is nClt sent until the develop-lDent of th e human racc renders this necessary.

A ~ e v e l a t i o n is not abrog[Lted till it 110 longersutl ices for the needs of mankind. Therc is nodisagreelUent between the p rophet s: all teach th e.SRllle trllth, bu t in such measure as lUen can re-ceive i t. A mankind advllllce and progress theyneed ful le r Instruction. The instruction g iven byAbrahrtl11 was suitable and sufficient for th e peo-ple of his day, but not for those to whom Moseswas sent. while this in turn had ceased to meetth e needa of those to whom Christ was Bent.Yet we must not su,y that their rel igions wereopposed to one another, but rather that eachmanifestatioll is more cOlllplete [Lnll more perfectthan the last : '

The MUQammadan doctrines of the examinationof the dead in the graves. the resurrection, ~ j I ' l H ,heaven , hell, are all treated allegorically. Thefirst is really a summons to the people to believe, ~ a t a m u I-Anbi).. t Browno, A rear among.l Uu PeraiamJ, II, 303.


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64 THE CUIJT OF 'A I,f THE CULT OF 'ALI 65in the next manifes ta tion of t he P rima l Will,. th e resurrection is the appearance of this mani-festation. !?iClH, or the Bridge, is the belief inthe prophet of the age. :L matter difficult to theself-willed, bu t easy to the seeker after God.Hell is ignomnce and denial of the last nlRnifestat ion of GOII, through the Primal Will incarnated in the Prophet, whilst Heaven is joyin it .To a very large numoer of Babls, BahA'u'llAhwas during the latter part of his life looked up

to as a divinely appointerl guide. Before he assumed that position he wrote a hook called th e[gun, which is held in great esteem. In this book he seelus to aeknowlerlge the then superiorposit ion of $uhl. l- i-Ezel , but writes bitterly ofsome who were hostile to himself. Two yearsafter the Turks had banished him to Adria.nople,he boldly asser ted his claim :Lnd callell on all th eEzells to submit to his direc tion. He then wroteother treatises in which his posit ion is dogma.tically set forth. ' I f anyone 'understood the loveof B a h A ' l l ' l l l ~ h in the world of creat ion, and wereto fight on his side against all who are in theeRorth anrl the heavens, God would verily makehim victorious over them, as a showing forth ofhis power, a setting forth of his Majesty'.

J\. few extracts I from some of J3ahd.'u'lhih'swritings will show to some extent what he taughtI A T r l t v e l ~ r ' . Narrative, pp. 70, 114.

his followers: 'A s for those who COllimi t sin andcl ing to the world they assuredly are not of thepeople of Bahd.'u'Ud.h. 0 worshippers of theUnity , make nrm the girdle of enrleavour, thatperchance religions strife and conflict may be removed from amongst the people of the world andbe a.nnulled.' 'For love of God and His servantsengage in this great and mighty matter. Religioushatred and rancour is a world-consuming fire.'


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61i THE CULT OF 'ALI THE CULT OF 'ALI fi7held necessary a.mongst Mul,Jammadans. Theworshipper no longer turns to Mecca, but towards' the Most Holy Region, th e Holy Place , whenceiSRueth th e command to whomsoever is in theearth and the heavens'. That Acre is here meantis clear because it is said that when Baha dies, or,as it is pu t in hyperbol ic language, 'when thesun oC truth and exhor tation sets', the Qlbla is tobe changed to ' that place which we have appointedyon '.The g reat festival is that of the Persian Naudl7

(New Y"ar's day). Instead of th e MIII:mrnllllLilanCast of llama.Qan of thirty days, a month oC ninet4!en days, the last month of th e Babl year, isappointed. Images and pictures are not allowedin places oC worship.

Some of the precepts to guide the coniluct ofBahis ar e on th e following subjects ':-

1. Aboli tion of rel igious warfare.2. Friendly intercourse with all sects a.nd

people.: l Obedience to the ruler who pro tect s them.4. Submission to the laws of the country inwhich they live.ii . Confession of sin to fellow-men prohihiteil

ConCession must be to, and pardon sought,Crom, God only.

1 For a fulJcr account, soc Journal of tl,e R.A. SOcl,tY,Odober1 8 ~ , pp. 678-9.

(i. The study of such sciences as tend to thewelfare of mankind is encouraged.7. AU must learn Borne tradc or practise someprofession.8. Visits to tomhs a.nd shrines l\re not obligatory.

The personal intiuence of Hah,,'u'Uah over hisfollowers, is not to be wonoered :1t, when :1n Englishvisi to r can thus oescribe an interview with him.'The (ace o( him on whom I g'tzed I can neverforget, though I ClLnnot descr ibe it . ' l'hose pierc ingeyes seemed to n"trl one's very s llul ; power andauthority SILt on th'Lt ample brow; while the deepl ines of th" forehe:1d and face implied :1n age whichthe je t bllLCk h:1ir :1nd be,nd flowing down innndist.inguishll.hle luxuri:1nce almost to the waistseemc,1 to lJlllie. No need to ask in whose presenceI stood, as I bowed myself before olle who is theobject of " dcvotion and love which kings mightenvy :1nrl e'"pcrors sigh for in vain."

Bah,i'u'liah Ilied in the year 1892. Visputesarose betwecn his sIms regardIng the succession.His eldest >on, 'AbL,is Eff,mdi glLinecl the oay ,mois known 'Ls the ' /lTan ur,ld:1'Il"hu " IIr 'H e whomGod hath d ( ~ s i r e l l '. 'Some Bah,l'is consider lh'LLhe, like Jhllli'u'lIah, is 'I. divine nHLllifestation awlno t a mere mun; others deny this and say th'Lthe is nothing more than IL serv,wt of Bah.i, forthey hold that no further manifestlLtion will tlLke

, Browne, TIuJ Episode 01 lluJ LJdb, p. xl.


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68 THE CULT OF 'ALi THE CULT OF 'ALi 69place unt il I thousand years have pa.ssell away.'Abbas Effendi l ives at Acre and rules hi" fol low. 1era from there. His claim to the leadership wasd isput ed by his brother Mirza Mu l:ul.mmad 'Ali,who soon ga.ined a considerab le following, and aschism similar to the older one between Bllha'u'l1ahand f?ubi).-i-E:r.el seems l ikely to occur again." '

The persoll and appearance of ~ u b ~ - i - E z e l arethus described by M... Browne." /to. venerable andbenevolent-looking old man of about sixty yearsof age, somewhat below the middle heigh t, withample forehead on which the traces of care an danxiety were apparent, clear s e ~ r c h i n g blue eyesand long grey beard, rose and advanced to meetus. Before that mild and (lignified eountenance Iinvoluntarily bowed myself with unfeigned respect;for at length I l l ~ ' long-cherished desire WiLa fnlfilledand I stood face to face with Mirza Y i L ~ y a , ~ u b l ; 1 - i Ezel ( ~ r o r n i n g of Eternity), the iLppointed successorof the Hah, fourth "Letter of the First Unity."When Cyprus was handed over to t he EnglishGovernllwnt, Mirza Ya1na, wi th other politicalexiles, was tmnsferred, 'tnd remained there itS apolitic,tl pensioner. $ubl.l-i-Ezel, in his islandseclusion, Illay be compared to Napoleoll in St.Helena-:L Illan who h,ts pllLycd a grClLt role in

1 'fl" Faith uf Isllim (::It'd cd.) p. Hi?The points or diBagreement are f > C ~ forth ill the ~ ; t l ( . : l I c J ( J l ) ( r d i a

0/ R,ligwlI miff Ethiete, \'01. ii, p. 304., Epw

the teaching connected with him through longages and lLm(JIlgst mlLny peoples. Although theNosairfs ano the Babls have I'llI'm"d thcllIselvesinto distinct religious orglmizlLtiOIlS, and cannotbe classed 1LIllongst the Shl'ahs, or the more direct

Browllo, Ellcyclopcedia 01 J(cligWn atld Etltic.'i, \"01. ii, p.303., Ibid . vol. ii, p. 307.


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70 THE CULT OF 'ALI THE CULT OF 'ArJ 7Ifollowers of 'Ali, yet a.t the blLois of the nogmaticteaching of both oects io the llec"ssi ty for 1mintermediary between God und IlHl.D, a constantrevea ler of God's will, who corresponds to theImam of the Sh('ahs; so it is c lear that th e influence of the cult of 'Ali has heen a very realone in the inception ann the growth of religiousideas amongst both Nosairfs and Babls. TheNosairls even go so far as to worship 'AIi.as divine.

The inf luence of th e nevotion to 'All is stillmore clearly Eeen in the earlier Shf'ah 1ll0VC-lllp.nt lind in all the strauge dcvelopwents whichhave procecdel) from it. All the world over,wherever Shi's,h Mu;;lillls arc to be found, 'All,to this clay, is venerated as a trut' leader andteacher, with a Jevot ion which oOluetimes placeshilll even higher in the scale of mgarn thanMUQamulad hiwsolf.

But it is rather t h r o u ~ h the noct rine of theImallJat , so closely conneeten with the cult of'All, that his intluence has beeu wost winelyextended. In the iclea. underlying thlLt great dogluathere is Sollie truth.' We all sce the need of anivin" interrueniary, a IlIedilLtor between God ILndman. lL revealer of His mind and will; but 'Aliann all his IuuLIUs were falliblolllcn and have pILSSP.I)away. One, t hc pternal \\T orn of God,' rewains,

I Anto, p . 10.l in StSratu'u-1\i!'rl' (iv) 14/, .JCSUl'O Christ is cnllcu. I Apostle

of God &lId BIB ,vord.' ~ , & l l l J,..;

as the loving intercessor and th e perfect revealerof things divine.We ILdmire the devotion of Shl'ahs to 'All;we regret that they put him into a position he

was never meant to occupy, ann we believe thatth e fulness of th e truth they hold can onl\' berealized by a transfer of their allegiance t ; anever-Jiving mediator, Jesus Chris t, who is thetrue IllIam and the true Blib (door) of entranceto th e knowledge of th e divine will and to therea liza tion of the divine grace and favour. Hehs,s .So.'lid of himself : - : I lUl l the door ("lib): hyme If any !IIan entm' IJI, hp. shltll be slLVed. andshall go in n.nd IlU t and Ii n


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ERRATAIN THE INDEX( .

Halnl. road

AS8S8sins, 19-20Babls, 41-69Ba.""!o'fs, 57-69B & ~ o l s , 17Druz6s,39D.'ls, 12D..razls, 17Ezelis, 57-9~ a k i m , 15, 17, IH, 19l;Iamza., 18

INDEXHa.s..n ibn S..ba.h , 19. . 'Imam, 6Iml\mat, 5, 10Ima.mites, 8, 11Ismll.'lliaos, 8, 11-15, 24Nosa.irls, 23-40Nnr-i-l\tuhamma.d, f>QII'mtll'1-'Ayn,51I Shaik!,ls, 42-3, 45I

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