The presence of Islamo-biblical citations and the absence of canonical biblical citations within the writings of the Bāb will be argued as will the emergence of the Bahā'ī interpretation of the canonical Bible though its founder figure Bahā'-Allāh who first cited an Arabic Christian Bible version whilst resident in Ottoman Iraq (Baghdad) towards the end of what has been called the middle-Bābī period (1861-2 CE). This laid the foundations for the Bahā'ī interpretation of the Bible which was greatly enriched and extended by oriental Bahā'ī apologists , Bahā'-Allāh's eldest son `Abd al-Bahā' Abbās (d.1921) and his great-grandson Shoghi Effendi (d. 1957) who shaped the modern global Bahā'ī phenomenon. Over a century or so the neo-Shī`ī  millennialist faction that was Bābism  (the religion of the Bāb) evolved into the global Bahā'ī  religion of the Book.

        Throughout this thesis aspects of Isrā'īliyyāt will be analysed historically and the Islamic, especially Shī`ī-Shaykhī background to and the Bābī-Bahā'ī messianic renewal of the Isrā'īliyyāt  rooted tradition of the ism Allāh al-a`ẓam (Mightiest Name of God) will be noted and commented upon.

Some Aspects of Isrā'īliyyāt and the Emergence of the Bābī-Bahā'ī  Interpretation of the Bible

Stephen N. Lambden

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SOME ASPECTS OF ISRĀ'ĪLIYYĀT AND THE EMERGENCE  OF THE BĀBĪ-BAHĀ-Ī INTERPRETATION  OF THE BIBLE

                                       A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religious Studies of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne

 in fulfilment  of  the requirements of Ph.D.

 Stephen N. Lambden

             In the early 1980s I benefited considerably by extending my meagre knowledge of Arabic and Persian though the study of Persian grammar  and the translation of Babi‑Bahā’ī texts at the University of Durham with Dr. Paul Luft (until recently, at  Manchester Univ.) and his assistant, the now late Dr. Reza Navabpour. A good many professional and lay and experts in the field of Shī`īsm and Bābī‑ Bahā’ī studies have also, over the years,  assisted in various ways; including, for example, Dr. Juan Cole (Univ. Michigan), Dr. B. Todd Lawson (Univ. Toronto), Dr. Moojan Momen  (Cambridge), Dr. Sholeh Quinn (Athens, Ohio) and Dr. Peter Smith (Univ. Mahidol, Thailand). The institutions at the Bahā’ī World Centre (Haifa Israel), the family of the late Hasan Balyuzi including the trustees of the (now Tonbridge, UK based) Afnān Library, as well as numerous other families and friends, generously provided me with an almost unending supply of the primary Persian and Arabic and other Bābī‑ Bahā’ī source materials as well as notice of important books and mss. of diverse kinds. I remain in great debt to all of the above persons and to others too numerous to mention here, for their longstanding patience, friendship, support and understanding. 

 ▄ INTRODUCTORY NOTE

          Bābī‑ Bahā’ī studies had its apologetic genesis in the first half of the 19th century when learned, predominantly Shaykhī, disciples of the Bāb expounded and defended their religion in the face of  increasingly hostile, largely Shī` ī clerical attacks. Later, numerous apologetic writings of the founders of the Bābī  and  Bahā’ī religions  and their followers were written. Bābī‑ Bahā’ī primary, and to some extent secondary literatures, are  extremely vast and in a very wide range of languages. Many Bābī and Bahā’ī manuscripts and documents remain uncatalogued and unstudied awaiting  academic examination and publication. Secondary literatures are often uneven. They  exhibit a very wide range of perspectives from the banal and uninformed  to works of considerable insight and integrity.  Most academic writing remains highly speculative and often misleading in a field that remains in its infancy.

             The  prominent western orientalists who published studies  in the nascent  Bābī (‑Bahā’ī) religions, include several  persons then active in Tsarist Russia, including  Alexander (Mīrzā) Kāzem‑Beg (1802‑c.1870),  Alexander G. Tumanski (1805‑1881)  and their German born associate, Jean‑Albert‑Bernard Dorn (1805‑1881).  It is a curious twist  of history, however, that the notorious French journalist, diplomat, and `Father of Racism’, Joseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau (1816‑1882) in his Religiones et Philosophies dans l’Asie Centrale (Paris, 1865+ many subsequent editions), made spirited and more than passing mention of the religion of the Bāb. He thus stimulated interest in the Bābī rooted Bahā’ī religious movement which ultimately promoted an anti‑racist universal perspective highlighting the oneness of humankind.  It was this volume of Gobineau which first inspired the Cambridge scholar  E. G. Browne (1862‑1926) to devote  many years to the study of the Bābī‑ Azalī and to a far lesser extent Bahā’ī religion.

            The genius of the idiosyncratic `Father of Islamic Studies’, Ignaz Goldziher (1850‑1921), penned an occasional paper on matters Bābī‑ Bahā’ī. He had cordial association with `Abbas Effendi, `Abd Al‑Bahā, the son and successor of Bahā’‑ Allāh. So too did his early mentor, the  turkologist  Armin Vambery (1832‑1913), a Jewish‑Hungarian linguist and one‑time  dervish who ultimately considered himself a Bahā’ī. This also became the professed  religious orientation of the  Oxford Hebraist, Thomas K. Cheyne (1841‑1915). The one time  `Oriel Professor  of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture’ at Oxford, Cheyne adopted the epithet Rūḥānī  ("Spiritual") and authored a now largely forgotten Bahā’ī book, The Reconciliation of Races and Religions  (London: Adam & Charles Black, 1914).

             Scholars, orientalists and academics of the subsequent couple of generations following Browne’s death, largely paid little or no attention to the Bābī‑ Bahā’ī religions. This  despite the fairly impressive global diffusion and growth of Bahā’ī (now approx., 5‑6 million, Smith, 1996:132). They tended to dismiss it as an insignificant outgrowth of Islam, an alien movement or crankish faction neither exactly Islamic nor Christian and frequently  attacked by narrow‑minded followers of both these world Faiths.  It has largely been in the last few decades that things have begun to change. There are now several professorships in Bahā’ī studies and a growing number of lectureships in the subject in academically respectable universities including the Hebrew University at Jerusalem. 

             Bābī‑ Bahā’ī studies was a fairly respectable orientalist‑academic pursuit from the 1860s up till roughly the 1920s. The succeeding decades up to the 1960s  were very largely a period in which Bahā’īs were persecuted in the Middle East and, on the whole, no longer taken particularly seriously in the West. The majority of Bahā’īs were heavily engaged in matters evangelical. Intellectual adherents were generally marginalised or  too  ensconced in their own academic or other careers  (sometimes in the field of Iranian‑Middle Eastern Studies)  to give sustained or serious attention to the academic analysis of their own Faith. Until recently few built upon or scrutinized the findings of the above‑mentioned pioneer  orientalists. Very little non‑evangelical writing or research had, for practically 60 years, been published within or without the Bahā’ī community.

            It was largely amongst western Bahāī’ intellectuals in Europe and America in the late 60s and early 70s  that early glimmerings of an academic Bābī‑ Bahā’ī studies appeared. This was partly inspired by the example and writings of  the academically oriented Bahā’ī historian and apologist, Hasan M. Balyuzi (1908‑1980). Through him British Bahā’īs became fascinated with seemingly approachable aspects of Bābī‑ Bahā’ī history. The largely historically oriented legacy of Browne and others began to be pondered and  critically assessed. Very little or no attention was initially given, however, to the academic analysis of Bābī‑ Bahā’ī religious doctrine, to the intricacies of its theologized historiography, theology or theophanology. Few analysed the Bābī‑ Bahā’ī phenomenon and its sacred writ.  Among the exceptions was  the somewhat unique 1923 Edinburgh University doctoral  thesis of  S. Alter  entitled  Studies in Bahaism.   This thesis attempts to research some aspects of the genesis of Bābī‑ Bahā’ī religious doctrine, the origins of its biblical citation and interpretation in the light of Isrā’īliyyāt (Israelitica); loosely, Abrahamic biblical and related materials within Islamic sources. 

▄ TERMINOLOGY AND ABBREVIATIONS. 

          In view of the existence of a myriad Shīrāzīs of note, the name of Sayyid `Alī Muhammad Shīrāzī (1819‑1859 CE) will not be abbreviated in this manner.  Rather,  his well‑known title the Bāb (The Gate) will be used ‑‑in bibliographical contexts Bāb will occasionally be further abbreviated as B*. Mīrz ā }usayn `Alī N¬rī (1817‑1892) who came to be entitled Bahā’‑ Allāh (The Splendour of God) and founded the Bahā’ī religion, will be abbreviated BA*. His eldest son and successor `Abbās known as `Abd al‑Bahā’ (1844‑1921) will be indicated by AB*  and his great‑grandson, the Bahā’ī leader Shoghi Effendi (Shawqī Rabbānī;  c. 1896‑1957) by SE*.

▄  CALENDRAL AND GENERAL  ABBREVIATIONS 

            Years will be given (when appropriate) according to the Islamic Hijri calendar  followed by a forward  slash and then the  corresponding date[s] of the  Common Era. CE  indicates the date of the Common Era and AH (Anno Hegrie) that of the Muslim (lunar) calendar. The calendral abbreviation BE will indicate the solar  Bābī‑ Bahā’ī or Badī` (new) era which began in May 1260/1844 and is in use by  contemporary Bahā’īs. 

 ▄  GENERAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS

          A variety of general abbreviations will be used at various points throughout this thesis. Apart from Heb. for Hebrew, Ar. for `Arabic’ and Per. for `Persian’  a few further examples are:

HB       =          Hebrew Bible (Old Testament),          K.         =          Kitāb  (book..),           

Kh.       =          Khu³ba (= Homily, Sermon),                          L.         =          Law{  (tablet),

NT       =          New Testament,                                 Q.        =          Qur’ān,

Sh.       =          Sharḥ (Commentary),                                    T.         =          Tafsīr  (Commentary).

NOTE

The version of this thesis available from the British Library and other suppliers of doctoral thesis is inadequate, very much a beta or uncorrected version. It is hoped to revise the thesis and publish it as two books representative of its Islamic and its Babi-Baha'i dimensions.