Bábism

Bábism or Bábíism (Persian: بابیه‎‎, Babiyye), also known as the Bábi,Bâbi, or Bábí faith, was a new religious movement that flourished in Persia from 1844 to 1852, then lingered on in exile in the Ottoman Empire, especially Cyprus, as well as underground. Its founder was ʿAli Muhammad Shirazi, who took the title Báb (lit. "Gate") out of the belief that he was the gate to the Twelfth Imam. The Bábí movement signaled a break with Islam and started a new religious system. While the Bábí movement was violently opposed and crushed by the clerical and government establishments in the country in the mid-1850s, the Bábí movement led to the founding of the Bahá'í Faith which sees the religion brought by the Báb as a predecessor to their own religion. "The relative success of Bahaism inside Iran (where it constitutes the largest religious minority) and in numerous other countries, where it claims the status of an independent religion, gives renewed significance to its Babi origins", as Bahaism continued many aspects of the earlier sect.

Twelver Shi'i Muslims regard the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, as the last of the Imams. They contend that Muhammad al-Mahdi went into the Occultation in 874 CE, at which time communication between the Imam and the Muslim community could only be performed through mediators called Bābs "gates" or Nā'ibs "representatives". In 940, the fourth nā'ib claimed that Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi had gone into an indefinite "Grand Occultation", and that he would cease to communicate with the people. According to Twelver belief, the Hidden Imam is alive in the world, but in concealment from his enemies, and that he would only emerge shortly before the Last Judgment. At that time, acting as al-Qā'im ("He who will arise"), a messianic figure also known as the Mahdi ("He who is rightly guided"), the Hidden Imam would start a holy war against evil, would defeat the unbelievers, and would start a reign of justice.

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