Political Divisions and Schisms
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Syed Ameer Ali, Political Divisions and Schisms, bahai-library.com.
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Political Divisions and Schisms

Syed Ameer Ali
published in The Spirit of Islam: A History of the Evolution and Ideals of Islam, with a Life of the Prophet pp. 357-59, 482, 491

London: Christophers, 1902

[page 357]

The Wahabis have been depicted in rather favourable colours
by Mr. Palgrave, in his Travels in Central Arabia, but, in fact,
they are the direct descendants of the Azárika, who, after
their defeat by Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, had taken refuge in the
recesses of Central Arabia. Abdul Wahab's doctrines bear the
closest resemblance to those held so fiercely by the followers of
Nafe ibn al-Azrak. Like them, the Wahabis designate all
other Moslems as unbelievers, and permit their despoilment
and enslavement. However commendable their revolt against
the anthropolatrous usages in vogue among the modern
Moslems, their views of religion and divine government, like
those of the Ikhwán of the present day in Nejd, are intensely
morose and Calvinistic, and in absolute conflict with progress
and development.

Babism, which made its appearance in Persia in the early
part of the nineteenth century, has been represented in widely
divergent colours. According to the Moslem authorities, it is
nothing but a new form of Mazdakism, an Eastern socialistic
communism. Its mixed gatherings of men and women are
regarded in the same light as the ancient Agape of the primitive
Christians were considered by the followers of the older faiths.
On the other hand, a European scholar of great research and
learning, who has studied the religious literature of the Babis,
and mixed familiarly with them, represents Babism as the
latest expression of an eclectic evolution growing out of the
innate pantheism of the Iranian mind.

During the reign of Mohammed Shah,2 the hypocrisy and
vices of the national clergy, says this writer, had reached
such a pitch that a change was inevitable. The political
and social condition of the people was deplorable. In this

2. The third Kajar King of Persia, who ascended the throne on the death
of his grandfather, Fathi Ali Shah.

[page 358]

state of affairs a young Mullah of Shiraz, Mirza Ali Mohammed, supposed to be a Fatimide by descent, who had
studied much, had travelled a great deal and made the
pilgrimage to the holy cities, and had for many years resided
in Arabia and Syria, began to preach a social and moral
reform. He denounced the hypocrisy of the ordinary mullahs,
and their reception of the most doubtful traditions to justify
practices condemned by Islam. His words struck a sympathetic chord in minds already prepared for the reception of
his views, and evoked extraordinary enthusiasm. He obtained
numerous disciples, among them a young lady of Kazwin,
whose learning and eloquence supplied a powerful support to
his cause. She is venerated now as Kurrat-ul-'Ayn, "Light of
the Eyes." Mirza Ali Mohammed, either carried away by the
enthusiasm of his followers, or unhinged by his own exaltation,
in a fit of pantheistical insanity, assumed the title of Bab
Hazrat-i-a'ala, and styled himself a part of the Divinity. His
followers rose in arms against the constituted authorities and
failed. The fanaticism of the clergy and political expediency
gave rise to a persecution, for which even Gobineau thinks the
Babis were primarily responsible. The Bab was killed with
most of his prominent disciples. But his teachings have
survived. His social precepts are said by Gobineau to be
much in advance of the received doctrines. He attached great
importance to the marriage-relations, and during the continuance of the first marriage he allowed the taking of a second
wife only under certain conditions. He absolutely interdicted
concubinage, forbade divorce, and allowed the appearance of
women in public. The custom of seclusion, as Gobineau justly
observes, creates infinite disorders, and exercises a pernicious
influence on the early education of children. The usage itself
does not depend on any religious prescription, it is simply a
convenience. The ancient kings of Persia observed it as a sign
of grandeur, and the Moslem sovereigns and chiefs imitated
their example, and adopted the custom. Among the Arabs
the women of the tribes are perfectly free to move about as
they wish. The ladies of the Prophet's family conversed with
the disciples, received their visits, and often shared in the
repasts of the men. Mirza Ali Mohammed therefore, says

[page 359]

Gobineau, made no innovation in endeavouring to free women
from the bondage of a mischievous custom. His religious
doctrines are essentially pantheistic, and his code of morals,
far from being lax, is strict and rigid.1

Some Moslem writers have divided the religious sects into
two comprehensive groups, viz. the Ahl-ul-bátin, the Intuitionalists, and the Ahl-uz-zahir , those who look into the meaning of
precepts, and those who look only to the literal sense. The Ahl-ul-bátin, however, must not be confounded with the Batinis.
The Ahl-ul-batin include the mystical Sufis, the philosophical
mutakallimin, and the Idealists in general, "all those," to use
the words of Zamakhshari's comment, "who strive to implant
in their hearts the roots of divine perfection," who strive and
struggle to attain the highest standard of human excellence,
and who, whilst conforming to the prescriptions of the law,
perceive in them the divine intent to promote concord and
harmony among the races of the earth, peace and goodwill
among mankind.2

1. The most recent account of this remarkable religious movement, from
the Babi point of view, is to be found in Professor E. G. Browne's New History
of the Bab, which purports to be a translation of a Babi work called Tarikh-i-Jadid. Professor Browne's Introduction is extremely interesting. From the
Tarikh one can picture the fascinating personality of Kurrat-ul-'Ayn; see
Appendix III. This great scholar has given to the world in his new work,
called Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion, considerable additional
information regarding its development and diffusion. Bahaism, its latest
phase, which flourishes chiefly in the United States of America, appears to
have largely assimilated the doctrines of Christian Science.
2. See post, chap. xi.

APPENDIX III

[page 482]

Whatever the sins of the Babis may have been, their punishment, in
its barbarous inhumanity, far exceeded their deserts — a punishment
borne with sublime fortitude which cannot help evoking the admiration
of every heart not steeped in racial or religious fanaticism and which is
bearing its natural fruit. The sect, instead of dying out, is increasing
in number, and judging from the few professed Babis I have met,
actuated with bitter hatred against the Mullahs whom they believe to
be the primary cause of their persecution.

The cruelties to which the Babis were subjected were the acts of an
ignorant populace and a frightened governor hounded on by fanatical
priests. In China, in our own times, under the eyes of the civilised
world, disciplined troops of certain civilised Powers perpetrated the
most diabolical and nameless horrors upon unoffending citizens and
helpless women and children. Crimes like these destroy one's faith in
humanity and progress. (p. 359)

[page 491]

Bábis. — The Babis, who have now split up into several
sections, are to be found chiefly in foreign countries. They are said
to abound in the United States ; many of them are settled in Beyrout
and not a few in Bombay and Calcutta. The greatest authority in
England on Babism, Professor E. G. Browne, says that the Babi cult
has nothing in common with Sufism. One fundamental difference
between the two cults lies in their mentality; whilst Sufism shows
great charity towards differing systems, Babism is intensely exclusive,
not to say fanatical.

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-- Political Divisions and Schisms (Used by permission of the curator)