INTRODUCTION

      No religion is founded in a vacuum. The Bahai concept of "progressive revelation" teaches that there is only one God who has communicated with humanity through a variety of Prophets. Each of the world's major religions, the Bahai Faith explains, has been founded by one of God's prophets who, appearing at different times and in different cultures, delivered divine teachings specifically tailored for that time and culture. Each prophet communicates with his followers using language that they understand and employs cultural themes and theological symbols familiar to that audience.[8]

      The Bab and Baha'ullah each began their missions in nineteenth-century Iran, a distinctly Shii society. Each delivered his teachings in the languages native to the regions--Persian and Arabic--and employed symbols, metaphors, and historical allusions familiar to an Islamic audience to communicate his teachings. Largely because of this continuity, Bahais often speak of Islam being the parent religion of the Bahai Faith in the same way that Judaism is the parent of Christianity. This analogy is largely apt. More specifically, though, while the religion of Islam taken as a whole may color the background of Bahai theology and much of Iranian Bahai culture, it is uniquely Shii Islam which informs and in places even defines the Bahai religion.

      Though the Bahai Faith as commonly encountered and presented in the West may reflect little of its Islamic Shii origins, they are quite evident in Babi and Bahai history and thought, from the earliest days of the religions--e.g. the founder of the former titling himself a "Bab"--to diverse contemporary aspects which the religions share in common--e.g. the Covenant, pilgrimage to the houses of the founders,[9] and models of leadership.[10] One evident tie between Shii, Babi, and Bahai belief is the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. This particular episode has proven so powerful a theme that it has served as the single most dominant shaper of Shii identity and has been commemorated, celebrated, and emulated for 1,300 years and by all three distinct religions.

      By the third century A.H. the events at Karbala--the history of the death Muhammad's grandson, Husayn--(see chapter three, below) had become elaborated upon and systematized to the point that a variety of historical details and theological propositions had become fused into one coherent, distinct, and powerfully meaningful symbological set, a set which we might simply denominate Karbala (the place of Husayn's death), or Ashura (the date of Husayn's death). The Bab and Baha'ullah both made extensive use of this set of symbolism as a dominant motif, a vehicle for transmitting aspects of their own theological, ethical, and social teachings; for motivating their followers to action where necessary; and for explaining certain theological concepts such as the meaning of resurrection, proper types of social interaction and service, and the nature of theodicy. However, each figure, while retaining the broad connotations of Karbala, molded its nuances to transmit his own unique set of teachings and to inform his unique mission.

      There is a number of such coherent sets of symbols, one might say aggregated motifs, which inform the Shii, Babi, and Bahai religions and which can be traced through the history of the three traditions. Examples could include mysticism, martyrdom, resurrection, prayer, war, revelation, Satan: each one of these thematic concepts and others similar can be followed through the history of all three. On the one hand the continuity of such themes can be traced in clear lines through the three religions, lending a certain familial relationship to all three. On the other hand there are clear discontinuities, by which one can better understand how the cultures and theologies of all three religions shift and evolve.

      Karbala, the most prominent of all such aggregated motifs for Shiism, provides one of the best themes by which to trace continuities and discontinuities from Iranian Shiism, through Babism, and culminating in the Bahai Faith. By following such developments the relationships and interactions between the traditions and, as a Bahai would say, the evolution of religion can better be understood.

      This study will use the event of Karbala--the set of the themes of suffering and martyrdom, the person of Husayn, the functions of "witnessing" and redemption--as one possible vehicle by which to trace continuities and discontinuities through the Shii, Babi, and Bahai religions. This will help demonstrate how the three traditions share a common history and set of symbolical motifs to form a better understanding of how the three both share a family relation but at the same time are distinct religions using common symbols in distinct ways.

      First the general history and meaning of martyrdom in Islam will be presented, followed in the next chapter by a discussion of its configurations more specific to Iranian Shiism. It is necessary to present this background in a fair bit of detail, for the topic of martyrdom in Islam is far more than a simple one-third of an examination of martyrdom in the three religions of Shiism, Babism, and the Bahai Faith: the Islamic background will be seen to be key for understanding the Babi and Bahai traditions. A discussion of the theme of suffering in the writings of the Bab and the ways in which his followers regarded martyrdom will follow. These will all provide sufficient background to begin analyzing the meanings of the symbols of suffering and martyrdom in the Bahai religion, which will be undertaken in a future study.

Notes to this chapter