The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 9
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 9 In fact some of these have held him to be the Mujaddid of the 13th century 4. In his own lifetime Ahmad Al-A h s a ’ i had ap- pointed Sayyid K az im Rasht i as his successor. Rasht i was born in Rasht in 1205 Hijra. When Ahmad Al- A h s a ’ i died in 1242 Hijra, K az im Rasht i became the head of the Shaikhiyyah sect. While in the main he strove to spread the teaching of Ahmad Al-A h s a ’ i , he also differed in some points, this being the reason why his followers came to be known by a different name, i. e. , the Kashfiyyah. K az im Rasht i died at Karbala in 1259 Hijra. K az im Rasht i divided his followers into three groups. The most important among them were the people who remained with him day and night. Before these he opened the innermost chambers of his heart. Sayyid ‘Al i Muhammad B a b, who became the founder of the B a b i religion, was the foremost among these, and when he put forth his claim to being himself the B a b, most other membeis of this inner group of the followers of Rasht i accepted his claim. One among these was a woman named Umm-e-Salm a to whom K az im Rasht i had given the title of Qurratul ‘Ain. 4 Arris a latul Tis‘a ‘Asharia , page 11.