The Bab

The Bab, born Ali-Muhammad Shirazi on 20 October 1819 in Shiraz, was an Iranian religious leader who founded Babism and is one of the central figures of the Bahai Faith. He came from a family of sayyids engaged in trade in Shiraz and Bushehr, and he was himself a merchant when, in 1844 at the age of 25, he began the Babi Faith. Over the next six years he wrote many letters and books, set aside Islamic laws, and set out a new social order focused on unity and service. He took the title Bab, meaning the gate, and taught that he was preparing the way for a greater promised figure. Opposed by the orthodox clergy and the government, he was executed by firing squad in Tabriz on 9 July 1850, and his remains were later interred on Mount Carmel in 1909.