| In the Bahá'í Faith, which sees the Báb as fulfilling the Islamic prophecy of al-Mahdi, Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá considered the story of the Occultation of the twelfth imam in Twelver belief to have been a pious fraud conceived by a number of the leading Shí`ahs in order to maintain the coherence and continuity of the Shí`ah movement after the death of the 11th Imam, Ḥasan al-`Askarí. Bahá'ís believe that Sayyid `Alí Muḥammad-i-Shírází, known as the Báb, is the promised Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi, who had already made his advent and fulfilled all the prophecies. Although there is an unpublished repentance note of Sayyid Ali Muḥammad-i-Shirazi's (Tawbah Nama) among government documents, modern scholars have noted that to appease the religious clergy, the government may have spread rumours that the Báb recanted. Scholars have also noted that the document of his alleged recantation was written shortly after his trial in Tabriz, was unsigned, undated and unaddressed to any government official or people. Some authors theorise that the assertions were made to embarrass the Báb and undermine his credibility with the public and that the language of this document is very different from the Báb's usual style, and so prepared by the authorities. The Shaykhi movement of the early 19th century claimed to have made preparations for the Mahdi. In 1848 the Báb and his followers began to teach more openly, and the Báb was publicly executed in Tuesday 9 July 1850 A.D (Yawm ath-Thulāthā' 28 Sha'bán A.H. 1266) [Fidál 16 Ráḥmat 7 B.E.]. |
