Was The Bab, God!?

“Bab”

We have read so far that Bab claimed to be first the gate of the twelfth Imam, and then the Imam himself. The Baha\'is even claimed that the Bab was an independent prophet. However there is one claim which even the Baha\'is are probably not aware - or even if they are, they have chosen for obvious reason to remain silent and hope that nobody notices - the fact that the Bab claimed to be God himself.

The Bab said, \"Surely Ali before Mohammed (the numerical equivalent of Nabeel) is the spirit of Allah and His being.\" 
(Ref: LauheHaikal-ud-Deen, page 5)

For the benefit of my Baha\'i friends, I have included the actual words of the Bab in Arabic as well as the actual link of the page on which the above statement is recorded. The history of this book as reported by the followers of the Bayan is given below:

LauheHaikal-ud-Deen: The Talisman of The Religion
This manuscript covered in 36 pages is a transcript of a talisman (tablet) in which The Bab has included a summary of Bayanic provisions during the latter days of his life. It is obvious that this work is the very talisman that The Bab has referred to as \'The Talisman of the Religion\' in an introduction to a commentary on its first two chapters. It is evident from the commentary that the first chapter was written on the1st day of the sixth month of the seventh year of the Bayanic manifestation and the second chapter was written on the 2nd of the same month (23rd and 24th June 1850 A.D or 12th and 13th of Sha\'ban 1266 A.H). The commencement of the seventh year (of Bayanic manifestation) occurred on 5th of the 1st Jamadi 1266A.H (19th March 1850) which coincides with the first Bayani New Year.

Evidently, this precious work was written very close to the martyrdom of the Bab on 8th July 1850, only fourteen days prior to the martyrdom of the Bab. The statement of the Bab narrated in this article is presented from the version copied by the late Mirza Muhammad Taqi of Isfahan a very accurate and precise scriber.

Conclusion:

The claim of the Bab as God is the concluding part of the series on the Claims of The Bab. The article on the last and final claim of the Bab as per LauheHaikal-ud-Deen represents the mental condition of the Bab in his final days in imprisonment. It is clear that the Bab had lost his mind and was not in his correct senses. This assessment is not very different from that presented by the scholars who abstained from giving a death sentence to the Bab in Tabriz merely because they pronounced him insane.

I do hope that the series of articles on the \"Claims of the Bab\" establishes without any doubt that the Bab was not clear on what his position was. In my own humble opinion, he was simply nothing - probably just a pawn in the hands of those who wanted to split the Muslim community in Iran to control it.

The Baha’is must do some serious introspection. The credibility of the greatest exponent of the Baha’i Faith is under the scanner. They must act on the principle of Independent \"Investigation of the Truth\" just as I have done and be courageous and magnanimous in their acceptance of the truth.

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