AZALI BABISM, designation of a religious faction which takes its name from M^rza@ Yaháya@ Nu@r^ Sáobhá-e Azal (about 1246-1330/1830-1912), considered by his followers to have been the legitimate successor to the Ba@b (q.v.). A son of M^rza@ Bozorg Nu@r^, a court official in the reign of Fathá-¿Al^ Shah, Yaháya@ was converted to Babism around 1260/1844, probably by his older half-brother, M^rza@ H®osayn-¿Al^, the future Baha@÷alla@h (q.v.), founder of the Baha÷i religion. From about 1848, M^rza@ Yaháya@ Sáobhá-e Azal was in regular contact with the Ba@b, who was then in prison in Azerbaijan. His letters were well received by the Ba@b, who claimed to find in them evidence of divine inspiration. Numerous references in writings by the Ba@b from this period seem to provide strong evidence that Azal (also referred to as al-Wahá^d, T®al¿at al-Nu@r, and al-T¨amara) was regarded by him as his chief deputy following the deaths of most of the original Babi hierarchy, and as the future head of the movement. Earlier criteria for leadership within the sect had been priority of belief and membership of the ¿olama@÷ class, but Azal appears to have been selected on account of his innate capacity (fetára) to receive divine knowledge and his ability to reveal verses—as had been the case with the Ba@b himself.

After the Ba@b's death in 1266/1850, Sáobhá-e Azal came to be regarded as the central authority within the movement, to whom its followers looked for some form of continuing revelation. Recognition of his authority was, however, only one of a number of doctrinal positions adopted by Babis in the 1850s and early 1860s. Numerous other claimants to theophanic status emerged in this period, some of whom were seen by Azal as rivals, while others appear to have been regarded as reflections enhancing the prestige of the original theophany (in accordance with the Ba@b's theories concerning limitless descending emanations or manifestations of the Primal Will). It is particularly significant that, with few exceptions, these claimants were from non clerical backgrounds like the Ba@b and Azal—an indication of the new social role now emerging for Babism in its second phase.

Following the attempt by several Babis on the life of Na@sáer-al-d^n Shah in 1852 and an abortive uprising organized by Azal in the same year, he and other Babis chose to go into exile in Baghdad. Here he lived as generally-acknowledged head of the community until their removal to Istanbul in 1863. By adopting a policy of seclusion (g@ayba), Sáobhá-e Azal gradually alienated himself from a large proportion of the exiles, who began to give their allegiance to other claimants, notably Azal's half-brother, Baha@÷alla@h. During this period, Azal set up a network of agents (termed Þohada@÷ “witnesses,” i.e., of the Baya@n) in Iraq and Iran. But this attempt to routinize further the charismatic authority of the faith seems to have clashed with the continuing appeal of original charisma within the movement and further weakened Azal's position.

In Edirne in 1866, Baha@÷alla@h made public his claim to be man yozáheroho÷lla@h (he whom God shall manifest), the messianic figure of the Baya@n (q.v.). Sáobhá-e Azal responded by asserting his own claims and resisting the wholesale changes in doctrine and practice introduced by his brother. His attempt to preserve traditional Babism proved largely unpopular, however, and his followers were soon in the minority. In 1868, bitter feuding between the two factions, leading to violence on both sides, induced Ottoman authorities to exile the Babis yet further. Baha@÷alla@h and his followers (now known as Baha÷is) were sent to Acre in Palestine, and Azal with his family and some adherents to Famagusta in Cyprus, where he remained until his death on 29 April 1912.

Sáobhá-e Azal, like his brother, was a prolific writer, his works consisting primarily of interpretations and elaborations of existing Babi doctrine, together with very large quantities of devotional pieces and poems. His best-known writings include the early Keta@b-e nu@r, Mostayqezá (a refutation of claims advanced by M^rza@ Asadalla@h K¨u@÷^ Dayya@n), the Motammem-e Baya@n (a continuation of the Ba@b's unfinished Persian Baya@n), and the Nag@ama@t al-ru@há. One list of his writings gives 102 titles, some in several volumes, others very short.

Azali Babism represents the conservative core of the original Babi movement, opposed to innovation and preaching a religion for a non-clerical gnostic elite rather than the masses. It also retains the original Babi antagonism to the Qajar state and a commitment to political activism, in distinction to the quietist stance of Baha÷ism. Paradoxically, Azali conservatism in religious matters seems to have provided a matrix within which radical social and political ideas could be propounded. If Babism represented the politicization of dissent within Shi¿ism (Bayat, chap. 4) and Baha÷ism stood for a return to earlier Shi¿ite ideals of political quietism (MacEoin, “Babism to Baha÷ism”), the Azali movement became a sort of bridge between earlier Babi militancy and the secularizing reform movements of the late Qajar period.

The first generation of Azalis were largely established Babis like Sayyed Moháammad Esáfaha@n^, Molla@@ Raèab-¿Al^ Qa@her Esáfaha@n^, Molla@@ Moháammad Ôa¿far Nara@q^, and H®a@è^ M^rza@ Ahámad Ka@Þa@n^. In the writings of men like Qa@her and Nara@q^, as in those of Azal, we find an abiding concern with sometimes obscure religious themes that remain well within the tradition established in the Ba@b's later writings. But for the second generation of Azal's followers, “Azal^ Babism provided . . . a creed which seemingly justified their political activism and growing nationalist consciousness” (Bayat, p. 130). Often loosely applied, Babi affiliation (which came increasingly to mean Azali affiliation) was applied to or used as a badge by several important individuals active in demanding social change in Iran, in a manner paralleling the connection with Freemasonry used by Malkom Khan and others. It is, in fact, important to remember that the fara@mu@Þ-kòa@nas were regarded by many as centers for Babi recruitment and proselytizing (Gobineau, Religions et philosophies, p. 274).

The best known of the early Azali nationalist reformers were Shaikh Ahámad Ru@há^ Kerma@n^ (1272/1856-1314/1896) and M^rza@ ¿Abd-al-H®osayn Kerma@n^ (AÚqa@ Khan Kerma@n^, q.v.), both of whom were executed along with M^rza@ H®asan Khan K¨ab^r al-Molk following the assassination of Na@sáer-al-d^n Shah in 1896. Ru@há^'s father, Molla@@ Moháammad Ôa¿far Tahba@g@alla@h^ ˆaykò-al-¿olama@÷ (1241/1826-1311/1893) was an eminent ¿a@lem from Kerma@n who had been an early convert to Babism; he is described by Browne as “one of the early promoters of the Liberal Movement in Persia” (Persian Revolution, p. 414). Ru@há^ and AÚqa@ Khan formed the core of a group of Azalis resident in Istanbul in the 1880s and 90s who had close links with political activists such as M^rza@ Malkom Khan (q.v.) and Sayyed Ôama@l-al-d^n Afg@a@n^ (q.v.). A number of Azalis, particularly AÚqa@ Khan, were closely associated with the influential Persian-language newspaper Akòtar (q.v.), published in Istanbul under the editorship of M^rza@ Moháammad T®a@her Tabr^z^. Both Ru@há^ and AÚqa@ Khan wrote on Babism (they collaborated on the well-known work HaÞt beheÞt and were married to daughters of Sáobhá-e Azal, but it would be a mistake to overstress the importance of their Babi affiliation in their wider activities. Like other Azalis of this period, they seem to have used Babism as a motif for dissent, much as Malkom Khan or Afg@a@n^ (and, indeed, AÚqa@ Khan at times) used Islam. It is chiefly (one might say, properly) as free-thinkers and secularist reformers rather than as thoroughgoing Babis that they made their impact on contemporary affairs.

Edward Browne noted that it was “a remarkable fact that several very prominent supporters of the Persian Constitutional Movement were, or had the reputation of being, Azal^s” (Materials for the Study of the Ba@b^ Religion, p. 221). Notable among these were: M^rza@ Ôaha@ng^r Khan ˆ^ra@z^ (1292/1875-1326/1908), a teacher at the Da@r al-Fonu@n in Tehran and a member of various anèomans, who edited the important Constitutionalist newspaper Sáu@r-e Esraf^l and was executed following the coup d'e‚tat of 1908; M^rza@ Nasáralla@h Esáfaha@n^ Malek-al-motakallem^n (1277/1861-1326/1908), a pro-Constitution cleric also killed in 1908, who was active with other free-thinking ¿olama@÷ in promoting reform ideas; Shaikh Mahd^ ˆar^f Ka@Þa@n^ (d. 1301 ˆ./1922), author of the Ta@r^kò-e Ôa¿far^ and Ta@r^kò-e waqa@ye¿-e maÞru@tá^yat and a son of the important Azali cleric Molla@@ Moháammad Ôa¿far Nara@q^, who was a member of the Anèoman-e Ma¿a@ref in Tehran and head of the ˆaraf school; Shaikh Moháammad Afzµal-al-molk Kerma@n^ (1267/1851-1322/1904), a brother of Shaikh Ahámad Ru@há^ and a close associate of Afg@a@n^ in Istanbul; his brother Shaikh Mahd^ Bahár-al-¿olu@m Kerma@n^, a member of the first and second Majlis; and H®a@èè^ M^rza@ Yaháya@ Dawlata@ba@d^ (1279/1862-1359/1939, q.v.), the well-known educationalist who served as a member of the second and fifth Majlis.

It is important to remember that these men, like their predecessors, acted as individuals rather than Azalis and that their ideas were frequently more secularist than religious in orientation. It must also be stressed that many individuals who have been suspected of harboring Babi sympathies or even of being Babis, such as Sayyed Ôama@l-al-d^n Esáfaha@n^, were hardly true converts: the mere suggestion of heretical leanings or association with known Azalis were often enough to earn a man the name. Neither Ôama@l-al-d^n Afg@a@n^ nor M^rza@ Moháammad Rezμa@ Kerma@n^, the assassin of Na@sáer-al-d^n Shah, were Babis, although both were often described as such. Abu÷l-H®asan M^rza@ ˆaykò al-Ra÷^s, a member of the Qajar family who was an outstanding reformer of the Constitutional period, has sometimes been called an Azali, whereas there is ample evidence that he was, in fact, a Baha÷i.

Yaháya@ Dawlata@ba@d^ was appointed Sáobhá-e Azal's successor after the death of his own father, H®a@èè M^rza@ Ha@d^, but there is little evidence that he was actively involved in organizing the affairs of the sect. He did not write on Babi subjects, nor did any other Azalis of note emerge after the death of Azal to produce significant writing on the topic or to develop the original ideas of the religion. With the deaths of those Azalis who were active in the Constitutional period, Azali Babism entered a phase of stagnation from which it has never recovered. There is now no acknowledged leader nor, to the knowledge of the present writer, any central organization. Members tend to be secretive about their affiliation, converts are rare, and association appears to run along family lines. It is difficult to estimate current numbers, but these are unlikely to exceed one or two thousand, almost all of whom reside in Iran.

Bibliography : Apart from general works on Babism, the following may be consulted: Shaikh Ahámad Ru@há^ Kerma@n^ and AÚqa@ Khan Kerma@n^, HaÞt beheÞt, n.p. (Tehran), n.d.; ¿Ezz^ya K¨a@nom, Tanb^h al-na@÷em^n, n.p. (Tehran), n.d., with a section by Ahámad Ru@há^; Molla@@ Moháammad Ôa¿far Nara@q^, Tadòkerat al-g@a@fel^n, ms. Cambridge U. L., Browne F. 63; Molla@@ Raèab-¿Al^ Qa@her, Keta@b-e Molla@@ Raèab-¿Al^ Qah^r, ms. Cambridge U. L., Browne F. 24. Lists of the works of Sáobhá-e Azal may be found in E. G. Browne, ed., Materials for the Study of the Ba@b^ Religion, Cambridge, 1918, pp. 211-20; idem and R. A. Nicholson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental MSS Belonging to the late E. G. Browne, Cambridge, 1932, pp. 69-75. Manuscripts of numerous works by Azal are located in the Browne Collection at Cambridge, the British Library, and the Bibliotheàque Nationale. The following have been published, all in Tehran without date: Mostayqezá, Motammem-e Baya@n, and Maèmu@¿a^ az a@t¯a@r-e Noqtáa-ye UÚla@ wa Sáobhá-e Azal. Further references may be found in: Mangol Bayat, Mysticism and Dissent, Syracuse, 1982, pp. 87, 129-31, 140-42, 149, 157-62, 167, 179, 180-83; H. Algar, Mirza Malkum Khan, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1973, pp. 46, 58-59, 215-16, 221-25; H. M. Balyuzi, Baha@÷u÷lla@h the King of Glory, Oxford, 1980, chap. 40; idem, Edward Granville Browne and the Baha@÷^ Faith, London, 1970, pp. 18-41, 45-46, 50-52; Ba@mda@d, Reèa@l (on individuals mentioned); Yaháya@ Dawlata@ba@d^, Ta@r^kò-e mo¿a@sáer ya@ háaya@t-e Yaháya@, 3 vols., Tehran, 1336 ˆ./1957; Na@záem-al-esla@m Kerma@n^, Ta@r^kò-e b^da@r^-e Èra@n^a@n, Tehran, 1332 ˆ./1953; N. Keddie, “Religion and Irreligion in Early Iranian Nationalism,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 4, 1962, pp. 265-95, esp. pp. 273-74, 284-89, 292-95; D. MacEoin, “From Babism to Baha'ism,” Religion 13, 1983, pp. 219-55.

(D. M. MacEoin)