Subh-i-Azal | |
|---|---|
 Subh-i-Azal at the age of 80, Famagusta, circa 1911[1] | |
| Born | Mirza Yahya Nuri 1831 Tehran, Iran |
| Died | April 29, 1912 (aged 80) Famagusta, present-day Cyprus |
| Known for | Leader of Azali Bābism |
| Successor | Disputed |
Subh-i-Azal[a] (1831–1912, born Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī[b]) was an Iranian religious leader of Bābism, appointed as head of the movement by the Bāb just before the latter's execution in 1850.[2] He is known for his later conflict with his half-brother Baháʼu'lláh over leadership of the Bābī community, after which his followers became known as Azalis.[3]
At the time of appointment he was just 19 years old. Two years later a pogrom began to exterminate the Bābīs in Iran, and Subh-i-Azal fled for Baghdad for 10 years before joining the group of Bābī exiles that were called to Istanbul. During the time in Baghdad tensions grew with Baháʼu'lláh, as Bābī pilgrims began to turn to the latter for leadership. The Ottoman government further exiled the group to Edirne, where Subh-i-Azal openly rejected Baháʼu'lláh's claim of divine revelation and the community of Bābīs were divided by their allegiance to one or the other.
In 1868 the Ottoman government further exiled Subh-i-Azal and his followers to Cyprus, and Baháʼu'lláh and his followers to Acre in Palestine. When Cyprus was leased to Britain in 1878, he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity on a British pension.[4]
By 1904, Azal's followers had dwindled to a small minority, and Baháʼu'lláh was almost universally recognized as the spiritual successor of the Bāb.[5] After Azal's death in 1912, the Azali form of Bābism entered a stagnation and has not recovered as there is no acknowledged leader or central organization.[2][3] Most Bābīs either accepted the claim of Baháʼu'lláh or the community gradually diminished as children and grandchildren turned back to Islam.[6] A source in 2001 estimated no more than a few thousand, almost entirely in Iran.[7] Another source in 2009 noted a very small number of followers remained in Uzbekistan.[8]
- ^ Lukach 1913, p. 264.
- ^ a b MacEoin 1987.
- ^ a b Warburg 2006, p. 7-8.
- ^ Mirza Yahya. In Britannica 2024.
- ^ Carus 1904, p. 361.
- ^ Momen 1991.
- ^ Barrett 2001, p. 246.
- ^ Campo 2009b.
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