He whom God shall make manifest

He whom God shall make manifest (ArB| من یظهر الله, PerB| مظهر کلّیه الهی) is a messianic figure in the religion of Babism. The messianic figure was repeatedly mentioned by the Báb, the founder of Babism, in his book, the Bayán.cite encyclopedia |last= Smith |first= Peter |encyclopedia= A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith |title= He whom God shall make Manifest |year= 2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location= Oxford |id= ISBN 1-85168-184-1 |pages= p. 180-181] The Báb described the messianic figure as the origin of all divine attributes, and stated that his command was equivalent to God's command. The Báb stated that once the messianic figure arrived, the perusal of one of his verses were to be greater than a thousand perusals of his own book, the Bayan. The prediction is widely recognized as being fulfilled by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.cite encyclopedia| last = Hutter | first = Manfred | editor = Ed. Lindsay Jones | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Religion | title = Bahā'īs | edition = 2nd ed. | year = 2005 | publisher = Macmillan Reference USA | volume = 2 | location = Detroit | id = ISBN 0028657330 | pages = p737-740]

Claims

After the Báb's execution in 1950, there were some Bábis who claimed to be "He whom God shall make manifest". Dayyán was one of the first to claim this position however he was assassinated in Baghdad before he could attract many more than a few followers, seemingly at the instigation of Subh-i-Azal.cite encyclopedia |last= Smith |first= Peter |encyclopedia= A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith |title= Dayyan |year= 2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location= Oxford |id= ISBN 1-85168-184-1 |pages= p. 118] Later in 1863, Bahá'u'lláh privately laid claim to be the messianic figure, and made his claim publicly in 1866-1868. Those who followed him became known as Bahá'ís, and his claim was by far the most successful. The Azalis, those Babis who did not accept Bahá'u'lláh, objected to Bahá'u'lláh's statement, and shortly after Bahá'u'lláh's claim first started to attract attention, Subh-i-Azal is said to have made a claim to the title by Bahá'í historians. [Shoghi Effendi, "God Passes By", [http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-11.html#pg167 p. 167] The Universal House of Justice reiterates this in at least one letter to a Bahá'í, although most likely uses the former as its source.]

Notes

References

*cite book
author=Bahá'u'lláh
authorlink=Bahá'u'lláh
year=1988
title=Epistle to the Son of the Wolf
edition=Paperback
publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA
id=ISBN 0-87743-182-5
url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/ESW/
*cite book
author = Denis MacEoin
year = 1986
title = Hierarchy, Authority and Eschatology in Early Bábí Thought; published in: "In Iran: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History vol. 3"
publisher = Kalimat Press
location = Los Angeles
id = ISBN 0933770162
url = http://bahai-library.com/articles/hierarchy.babi.html
*cite book
first=Shoghi
last=Effendi
authorlink=Shoghi Effendi
year=1944
title=God Passes By
publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA
id=ISBN 0-87743-020-9
url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/
*cite book
last = Smith
first = P.
year = 1999
title = A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith
publisher = Oneworld Publications
location = Oxford, UK
id = ISBN 1851681841
*cite book
last = Taherzadeh
first = A.
authorlink = Adib Taherzadeh
year = 1992
title = The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh
publisher = George Ronald
location = Oxford, UK
id = ISBN 0853983445