The Mahdi in Persia and Syria
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Wilson D. Wallis, The Mahdi in Persia and Syria, bahai-library.com.
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The Mahdi in Persia and Syria

Wilson D. Wallis
published in Messiahs: Christian and Pagan pp. 111-117

Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1918

1. Text

. . . The Zikris, a Mohammedan sect of Baluchistan, believe
that their founder. Dost Mohammad, was the twelfth Mahdi.
His abode, Koh-i-Murad, near Turbat, takes the place of
Mecca as the object of their pilgrimages. [Baluchistan,
Hastings' E.R.E., H, 340.]

Some sects in India, to whom the name of "Ghair
Mahdi'm" ("not expecting a Mahdi") is given, believe the
promised Mahdi has already appeared. In the District of
Kirman, Baluchistan, they still say that the Mahdi appeared
about the end of the fifteenth century in the person of Muhammad of Jaunpur, who, expelled from India, died, after
many wanderings, in 1505, in the valley of Plelmend. This
sect is known as the "Dhikri." The Da'ire wale, a similar
sect living in the province of Mysore, declared the Mahdi appeared more than four hundred years ago. [Ghair Mahdi,
Hastings' E.R.E., VI, 189.]

The Mahdi in Persia and Syria

In 940 A. D. the Twelfth Imam disappeared into a well.
He still lives in Jabulka, or Jabuka, whence he is expected
to reappear as the Mahdi or Kaim. In communication with
him were four persons, known as Bab or Gate, transmitters
of messages from the Imam to his faithful followers. Mirza
Ali Mohammed of Shiraz was one of these Bab who later
advanced in station claiming to be the Kaim or Mahdi. He
dared proclaim his manifestation in Mecca itself. After his
death many of his followers claimed to be the promised one.
There was a chaos of manifestations sorely puzzling the most
faithful, not to mention the Turkish Government. It had
been prophesied that the Kaim would behead seventy thousand mullahs like dogs, and it was not so easy to lay the
ghost or allay the fears.

The Bab who appeared at Ispahan, Persia, about the middle of the nineteenth century, and of whom more will be
said in the discussion of the political significance of messianic movements, was the embodiment of this long deferred
hope for a redeemer and savior. Many followed him. [An
extensive account of the Bab and of Babism will be found
in S. G. Wilson, Bahaism and Its Claims. Boston, 1915. See
the same author, Persian Life and Customs, 62, 146, 185,
221. E. C. Sykes, Persia and Its People, 36, 140-3. L.
Oliphant, Haifa or Life in Modern Palestine, 103-7. V. De
Bunsen, The Soul of a Turk, 505-7, 251-7. W. E. Curtis,
To-day in Syria and Palestine, 219. Journal Asiatic, 6th
series. Vol. VII, 329-84. C. M. Remey, The Bahai Movement. Washington, D. C, 1912. Isaac Adams, Persia hy a
Persian, 453-90. H. C. Lukach, Fringe of the East, 264ff.
London, 1913. A. G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia.
London, 1902. Browne, The Babis of Persia, in Journal of
the Royal Asiatic Society, 1889, Vol. 21, p. 485ff., 881ff.,
and articles by Browne on Bab, Babis, in Hastings' Ency.
of Religion and Ethics, and in the Ency. Britt., 11th edition.
In 1915 the New York Public Library published a long list
of works relating to Babism and Bahaism.]

Bahaism, which developed out of Babism, has a leader
whose messiahship is abundantly proclaimed. Some represent Baha as Christ, while others declare Christ has returned
in the person of Abdul Baba Abbas. Baha, indeed, is represented as embodying all the promises, much as Ghulam
Ahmad Quadiani embodied them in India. He is "the Messiah for the Jews, God the Father, the Word, and the Spirit
for the Christians, Aurora or Shah Bahran for the Zoroastrians, the fifth Buddha for the Buddhists, reincarnated
Krishna for the Brahmans, the Mahdi or the twelfth Imam
or Husain for the Moslems. All are realized in the coming
of Baha Ullah."

Bahaism is said to adapt its claims and doctrines to those
prevailing in the land where it seeks to gain a foothold, showing in America a different creed from that flaunted in Persia.
American Bahais are said to regard Baha as God the Father,
and Abdul Baha Abbas as the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
"The promises and prophecies given in the Holy Scriptures
have been fulfilled by the appearance of the Prince of the
Universe, the great Baba Ullah and of Abdul Baha." [S. G.
Wilson, Bahaism, 92ff.] One writer declares the whole
Bahai movement "a counterfeit of the Messiahship of
Christ." [G. W. Holmes, in Speer, Missions and Modern
History, I, 169. See also, W. A. Shedd in Missionary Review of the World, 1911.]

In 1866-7, Baha Ullah (or Bahá'u'lláh), who had been
gradually displacing Subhi-Ezel as leader of the Babi sect,
proclaimed his messiahship as "He whom God shall manifest," declaring the Bab had been but the herald of his
coming.

Baha Ullah and his followers were sent to Acre, for his
claims caused a division among the Babis and much ill-feeling.
The strength of his opponents waned rapidly and that of
Baha Ullah grew apace. Acre became the center of a living
force that spread abroad and attracted to the little Syrian
town pilgrims from all parts of the globe.

When Baha Ullah died, in 1892, his son Abbas, generally
known now as Abbas Effendi, or as Abdul Baha, became his
successor, and since then the sect has been known, after him,
as the Bahai. In 1913 the number of Bahaists was computed as more than two million adherents — Persian and Indian Shiahs, Sunis from the Turkish Empire and North
Africa, Brahmans, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists, Jews, and
Christian converts in Europe and the United States.

One student of the sect has called it "a thing which may
revivify Islam, and make great changes on the face of the
Asiatic world." [Lukach, op. cit., 264-7.] So far it seems
to have exerted little or no political power.

Many accounts have been written about Abbas Effendi,
the God incarnate, for whom, say his followers, the Bab was
only a forerunner. An American devotee writes, under date
of Washington, D. C, November 19, 1899, "regarding the
'Holy City' and the Blessed Master, who dwells therein:

"Although my stay in Acca was very short, as I was there
only three days, yet I assure you these three days were the
most memorable days of my life, still I feel incapable of
describing them in the slightest degree.

"From a material standpoint everything was very simple
and plain, but the spiritual atmosphere which pervaded the
place, and was manifested in the lives and actions among the
Believers, was truly wonderful, and something I had never
before experienced. One needs but to see them to know that
they are a Holy people.

"The Master I will not attempt to describe; I will only
state that I believe with all my heart that he is the Master,
and my greatest blessing in this world is that I have been
privileged to be in His presence and look upon His sanctified
face. His life is truly the Christ life and His whole being
radiates purity and Holiness!

"Without a doubt Abbas Effendi is the Messiah of this
day and generation, and we need not look for another.

"Hoping you will find the joy that has come into my
life, from accepting the truth as revealed in these great
days, . . ."

A similar message comes from Washington under date of
December 5, 1899. [Phoebe Hearst, quoted in Bab and Babism. -J.W., 2015]

"It seems to me," says this devotee, "a real Truth-seeker
would know at a glance that He is the Master! Withal I
must say He is the Most Wonderful Being I have ever met or
expect to meet in this world. Though He does not seek to
impress one at all, strength, power, purity, love, and holiness
are radiated from His majestic, yet humble, personality, and
the spiritual atmosphere which surrounds Him, and most
powerfully affects all those who are blessed by being near
Him, is indescribable. His ideas and sentiments are of the
loftiest and most chaste character, while His great love and
devotion for humanity surpasses everything I have ever
before encountered. I believe in Him with all my heart and
soul, and I hope all who call themselves Believers will concede
to Him all the greatness, all the glory, and all the praise,
for surely he is the Son of God — and 'the Spirit of the
Father abideth in Him.'

"Regarding the Household, I found them all quiet, holy
people, living only for the purpose of serving in the Cause
of God. They dress very plainly, but with a grace that
gives a sort of grandeur to their most humble abode. The
purity of their morals is evident from the calm, benign and
guileless faces, which characterize them as a people. To
become spiritually more and more like them, and like the
Blessed Master, is my daily supplication to God."

Another American writes that she was allowed to enter
"the special garden of the Manifestation, the one (according to Dr. Kheiralla) described in the prophecies thus: 'The
place of my throne is part on the water and part on the
land, under a green tent that has neither ropes nor a center
pole to sustain it.' . . . The spiritual atmosphere of this place
was overwhelming; our tears fell like rain over our faces, and
some of the Believers with us cried aloud. Indeed, to enter
this room is a great blessing. I have felt nearer to God since
that day! On the chair was a wreath of flowers, and some
beautiful cut roses placed there by the Greatest Branch, who
commanded that they should be given to us; also four large
oranges, which were on the table opposite, as we left that
most sacred place.

"From here we were taken to the tomb of the Manifestation, and you must excuse me if I do not enter into details
about this; I cannot find words to express myself; suffice it
to say, that the Greatest Branch let me walk in His footsteps
and led me by the hand into this sacred place, where I knelt
down and begged of God to cleanse my heart of all impurity
and kindle within it the fire of His love. I also remembered
there the Assembly in Chicago and begged God's blessing to
be showered upon you. After this visit we walked in the
garden and our Lord, with His own blessed hands, picked
flowers and leaves, which he gave us to take to the faithful
Believers in America.

"That night He sat us all by the table, and dismissed the
servants, saying He would serve us Himself, and He did so.
He did not sit at the table with us, but waited upon us! At
the conclusion of the meal He said: 'I have served you
to-night that you may learn the lesson of ever serving your
fellow-creatures with love and kindness.' He bade us goodnight and advised us all to rest early, so we went to bed
and this night I had a long delicious sleep and rest.

"The next morning he brought me a most beautiful bunch
of white narcissus and allowed me to kiss His blessed hand
as He gave them to me. He sat down and drank tea with
us, then rose and bade us 'adieu,' as we were going back
to Haifa that day and He had been called away. As we
were quitting the city we saw Him standing by the gate, and
He smiled at us as we passed. Then we returned 'by the
road in the sea' to Haifa, our hearts both happy and sorrowful, happy because we had seen Him and sorrowful because
we were leaving Him.

"Oh, dear people, make firm your faith and belief, for
truly He is our Lord. It seems to me that no one could
doubt should He smile upon them, and no one could turn
from Him should he seek to confirm them! But this He will
not do, as God had declared that each must seek to confirm
himself and gave to each of us the power or will for that
purpose. I feel these words are very weak and inadequate,
but I assure you no one could describe this place and 'tis
foolish to try — to know each must see for himself — therefore pray God earnestly that the blessing of coming here
may soon be bestowed. There is no other place in the world
worth seeing, and surely no other King worthy of homage."

"This is He who quenches the thirst from the spring of
life," declares a "Declaration Addressed to Americans."
"This is He who heals the sick with the antidote of safety
and confirms with a flood of grace from His Kingdom. He
is of the greatest heirs to the apostles and saints, the Lord is
His God and He is His dearest Son (Abdul-Beha)." [For
these and similar accounts see Isaac Adams, Persia; By a
Persian, 468-90. Grand Rapids, Mich., no date.]

Such has been the influence upon Western minds of the
Syrian Messiah, Abbas Effendi, whose doctrines are mystical
and symbolical, but kindly, sincere, and charged with pious
zeal. [The best account of his teachings is that given by
Myron H. Phelps, Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi: A
Study of the Religion of the Babis, or Beha'is Founded by
the Persian Bab and His Successors, Beha Ullah and Abbas
Effendi. Putnam, 1912. Second edition. See also art., Babism in New Inter. Ency., and article on Bahaism in America,
published in The American Journal of Theology, Jan., 1902,
p. 57-8.]

Though Bahaism best flourishes on Syrian and other foreign soil whence it has been transported, messianic hope has
not departed from Persia. In the royal stables of Persia,
it is said, two horses are kept saddled in readiness for the
Mahdi and for his lieutenant, Jesus the son of Mary. [E.
W. Latimer, op. cit., 76.]

One who travelled through Syria some thirty years ago
gives the following description:

"In my time there were two Christs in Syria; one of them
a second-sighted admirable person of the Persian religion,
had been laid by the Ottoman government in 'little-ease' at
Gaza. The other was between ignorant block and mystical
hypocrite, a religious dreamer at large. Born in the Christian religion, this man was by turns Jew and Mohammedan;
'he had God's name,' he told me in a terrific voice,
'sculptured between his two eyebrows.' This divine handwriting, be it understood, was in Arabic; that is he had
dimples, as a triglyph, or somewhat resembling the trace
(in Arabic) Allah. Herein he would covertly convey,
among us Christians, was his mystical name, divine! and he
was himself Messias of the second appearing. He was born
in Latakia, and in this also, through barbarous ignorance
of the Greek letters, he found a witness of the Scriptures
unto himself. He prophesied to them with a lofty confidence,
that the day was toward, when he should ride forth from
Damascus' horsemarket unto his eternal glory, and, all things
being fulfilled in himself, the children of Adam should return
unto their Lord God, to be manifested in the whole world.
He was a Moslem among the Moslemin. I heard their
ribalds deride this self-godded man upon a time as I walked
with him in their cathedral mosque, and he went on saying
(especially where we met with any simple hareem, near the
gates) in an immense murmured voice, 'How great is Mohammed! yea, O ye people! he is the Apostle of Allah!'
They mocked him with 'Hail, Neby!' Of the Christians
no man trusted him. Yet I have heard simple women, half
in awe of a man of so high pretense, beg of him to foresay
to them the event of these dangerous times, — 'whether the
Nasara would be massacred?' And he in mighty tones
prophesied to them comfortable things; he said they should
have no hurt, these troubles should assuage shortly and
Christ's kingdom be established. Also he could show, unto
any faithful which resorted to him in certain hours, the
testimony of miracles; for with solemn gesture, the divine
man waved his hands over a little water, then he breathed
in mystic wise, and spread his hands, and behold it was made
wine: and such had been seen by a simple Christian person
of my familiar acquaintance. Upon a time finding him in
the street I bade him wend with me of his charity, to the
house of fools, el-Moristan; by his holy power with God,
we might heal a mad body: he granted. There entering,
when we had passed bars and gates he received from the porter a cup of water in his hand, and led me confidently to
the poor men in durance. He had promised if we found
any raging one, with only the name of Allah to appease him:
but as all was still, he approached a poor man who sat in a
cage, and enquired his name and country and condition.
The sad prisoner answered to all things well and civilly; and
the blatant man of God, when he cried Allah! and breathed
with an awesomeness upon the water, gave him through the
bars his bowl, bidding him drink measurably thereof, and if
the Lord would he should come to his health: the unhappy
man received it very thankfully. 'Thou hast seen!' (said
this doer of miracles), 'now we may return.' After a week
he sent me his divine word that the dangerous madcap had
mended, and was 'about to be sent home as a man in his
right mind'; — and I did not believe him!
This wonder-worker, after walking through all Christian sects and Judaism, had gone over to the Mohammedan profession, in that
hoping, said his Christian neighbors, to come again to his
own: and this was, after he had put out his little patrimony
at an iniquitous usury, to insolvent Moslems: — they having
devoured the Nasrany's good, derided him; and a Christian
has little or no hope in the Mohammedan judgment seats.
The forlorn had fallen between the stools of his natural and
his adopted religions, and his slender living was passed from
his own into other shrews' hands; and there was all his grief:
the apostate found no charity in either. The Christian people's whisper even imputed to him an atrocious guilt. In
better days a boy had served him, and he was known to beat
him more and more. Some while after, when the boy was
not found, the neighbors said between their teeth, 'he has
murdered the lad and buried him!' When I last saw him
the religion-monger was become a sadder and a silent man;
the great sot had now a cross coaled upon his cottage door,
in the Christian quarter. He said then with a hollow throat,
'he was but a sinner,' and denied to me, shaking out his
raiment with an affected horror, that ever such as I alleged
had been his former pretension. 'Nay ah! and Ah nay!'
The soothsayer would persuade me that 'all was but the
foolish people's saying.' I found him poring and half weeping over a written book, which he told me was 'marvellous
wise and healthful to the soul, and the copying it had cost
him much silver.' The argument was of God's creatures, the
beasts, and showing how every beast (after that of the psalm,
'Praise the Lord from the earth, all beasts, creeping things,
and feathered fowl') yieldeth life-worship unto God, He
read me aloud his last lesson 'Of the voices of the living creatures,' and coming down to the camel, I said, 'Hold there"
every camel-voice is like a blasphemy: it is very blasphemous.'
Said he: 'Thou art mistaken, that brutish bellowing in his
throat is the camel's making moan unto Allah. — See further
it is written here I — his prayer for patience under oppression, inasmuch as he is made a partner in man's affliction.'
Neighbors now told me the most sustenance of this sorrowful man, past the lining of his purse, to be of herbs, which
cooling diet he had large leave to gather for himself in the
wild fields." [C. M. Doughty, Arabia Deserta, p. 171-3.
Cambridge, 1888.]

2. Page scans

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-- The Mahdi in Persia and Syria (Used by permission of the curator)