Events
Visionary
rebel with a cause
Herald of Baha'i Faith foretold coming of era
of human progress
By Rashid Mughal
special to the star
At
high noon on Tuesday more than seven million
Baha'is will assemble in 116,000 localities
in 205 countries to commemorate the Martyrdom
of the Bab 152 years ago.
Some
10,000 people witnessed a miracle in Tabriz,
Persia (now Iran) when a regiment of 750 Armenian
soldiers took aim and fired three volleys of
250 rounds at Mirza Ali Muhammad and a young
follower of the alleged "heretic and dangerous
rebel."
The
gunpowder smoke from the volleys was so dense
it obscured the entire courtyard of the army
bar- racks.
When
the smoke cleared, Mirza Ali Muhammad, known
as the Bab ("Gate" in Arabic and Persian),
appeared unharmed.
When
the Armenian regiment refused to repeat the
firing, a Muslim regiment was ordered to carry
out the execution on the infamous 9th of July,
1850.
The
report of the execution, written to British
secretary of state for foreign affairs Lord
Palmerston by Queen Victoria's envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary Sir Justin Shiel,
in Tehran on July 22, 1850, records:
......................................................................................................................................
`When
the smoke and
dust
cleared away after
the
volley, the Bab
was
not to be seen'
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