Mírzá Muhammad `Alí
| Bahá'í Faith |
|---|
 |
| Central figures |
| Key scripture |
| Institutions |
| History |
| People |
| Other topics |
|
Detail from a larger photograph, assumed to have been taken in Adrianople in 1868, when `Alí was 16.
Mírzá Muhammad `Alí (Persian: میرزا محمد علی 1852 – 1937) was one of the sons of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He was the child of his father's second wife, Fatimih Khanum, later known as Mahd-i-'Ulya, whom Bahá'u'lláh married in Tehran in 1849.
Muhammad `Alí received the title from his father of Ghusn-i-Akbar ("Greater Branch").[1]
In the Kitáb-i-‘Ahd ("Book of the Covenant"), Bahá'u'lláh appointed `Abdu'l-Bahá as his successor,[2] with Muhammad `Ali subordinate to `Abdu'l-Bahá. Both were noted explicitly by their titles. As time passed, Muhammad `Alí claimed that `Abdu'l-Bahá was not sharing power. According to some interpretations, Muhammad `Alí insisted that he should instead be regarded as the leader of the Bahá'ís. Many accusations were levelled against each other by both `Abdu'l-Bahá and Muhammad `Alí, culminating in Muhammad `Alí accusing his older brother of conspiring against the Ottoman government. This resulted in the imprisonment and near-death of `Abdu'l-Bahá and his family. Almost all Bahá'ís accepted `Abdu'l-Bahá as Bahá'u'lláh's successor.[3]
At the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá's death, Shoghi Effendi was appointed as the Guardian of the Faith by `Abdu'l-Bahá in his Will and Testament, while Muhammad `Alí was reprimanded in the same document. Because Bahá'u'lláh's last will and testament named Muhammad `Alí as second in rank to `Abdu'l-Bahá, he took the opportunity of `Abdu'l-Bahá's death to try to revive his claim to leadership, but his attempt to occupy the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh by force left him on the losing end of a legal battle that removed any rights he had to the property.
The division between rival sects with Muhammad `Alí and Shoghi Effendi as their respective leaders was short-lived and the Shoghi Effendi emerged as the leader of the worldwide Bahá'í community. Muhammad `Alí died in 1937 as an outcast, and was labelled by Shoghi Effendi as the arch-breaker of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh.[4]
See also
Notes
References
- Adamson, Hugh C. (2009). The A to Z of the Baha'i Faith. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0810868539.
- Bahá'u'lláh (1994) [1873-92]. Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-174-4.
- Taherzadeh, Adib (2000). The Child of the Covenant. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-439-5.
- Taherzadeh, A. (1992). The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-344-5.
| |||||||||||||||||||