Introduction

The beginning of the 12th/18th century marks the onset of a visible general decline and degeneration almost throughout the Islamic world. The emergence of Wahhabism in Arabian peninsula during the mid 12th/18th century, the emergence of Babism in mid 13th/19th century Iran, the emergence of Qadiyanism in late 13th/19th century India, were no more than indicators of the worsening state of general intellectual and cultural squalor. A half-educated fanatic from the Najd with a misleading interpretation of monotheism declares war against all Muslims in the name of tauheed: A semi literate youth and a calligrapher from Shiraz, unable to write a correct Arabic sentence and even respect- able Persian, claims to be a prophet and even dares to circulate his insipid 'revelations.' A dabbler in Islamic religious books from the Punjab proclaims to be a prophet and the Messiah. Whereas in earlier times such claimants would have been dismissed as lunatics or put behind the prison bars as crooks and impostors, in the 12thl18th and 13th/19th centuries they found not few ardent followers and adherents among the people.
Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri (1233-1309/1818-1892), the so-called Baha'u'llah (lit., the glory of God), was a contemporary of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qaadiyan, India, who also claimed to be the Mahdi and the promised Messiah, although the former went a step further to claim divinity itself and broke all links with Islam, the professed faith of his predecessors, Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa'i, Sayyid Kasim Rashti,  and even Mirza 'Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the so-called Bab.
 

All histories of Baha'ism begin with Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa'i (1166-  1241 or 1242/1753-1825 or 1826) and the present work is no exception. Pages 1-90 give an account of his life, writings and beliefs, as well as of the controversies they caused, which led to his takfir (denunciation as apostate) by the major Shi'i 'ulama' of the time - first by Mulla  Muhammad Taqi Qazwini (Barghani) and then by others, such as Aqa  Sayyid Mahdi (the son of the author of the Riyaq.), Mulla Muhammad  Ja'far Astarabadi, Mulla Aqa Darbandi (the author of Asnir al-shahiidah};  Sharif al-Ulama' Mazandaranl, Sayyid Ibrahim Qazwini (the author of Qawabit al- 'U$ul), Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Najafi (the author of  Jawahir al-kalam), Shaykh Muhammad Husayn (the author of Fusul fi 'ilm al- 'Usul), and other fuqaha', who declared Shaykh Ahmad and his followers as heretics.