I didn't say the early Babis were Muslims. I said they had Shi`ah *expectations*. Everyone now recognizes that the Babi Faith is an independent religion, different from the Baha'i Faith and different from Islam. But this is now. Back then, the early Babis had a different self-perception and self-understanding. That's what matters and it's not pointless. They observed the fast during Ramadan, performed the Islamic salAt five times daily, etc., etc. They believed that the Prophet Muhammad was the Messenger of God, that `Ali, Hasan, Husayn, etc., etc. were the Prohet's successors, that the Bab and Babis performed the hajj pilgrimage to K`abah in Mecca, etc., etc. Shi`ah and Shaykhi thoughy was pre-eminent in their minds. They thought of the the Bab as the Shi`ah QA'im Mahdi who would fill the world with justice and with the reign of Islam with His sword, etc., etc. These are all Shi`ah things. Most of the early Babis believed in taqiyyah, just like the Shi`ah. Etc., etc., etc.
We are talking about what the self-perception of the early Babis was at that time. Now, keep repeating to me that they misunderstood. As if it will change their self-conception some 150+ years later. It is simply astounding that the Bab was able to contain the zealots, while He Himslef was being very heavily and viciously peresecuted, incarcerated, barred from freely and directly communicating with people, and finally martyred while completely innocent, and His supporters & followers mercilessly persecuted, harrassed, initimated, and killed. Iskandar The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by the Johnson County Community College ("JCCC") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify JCCC by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu