The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 7
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 7 in relation to him, with functions to serve as a link between the Imam and his followers for the communi- cation of what should and what should not be done. " 1 In Shia history there have been four people who have claimed the position of a B a b, the last among them having been Abul H asan ‘Al i bin Mu h ammad- al-Samr i , who died in the year 260 of the Hijra, according to one source, in 328 according to another. Subsequent to the death of the fourth B a b, above- mentioned Abul H asan, the idea about the existence and the necessity for the presence of a B a b began to weaken. Towards the end of the 12th century of the Hijra it had practically faded out since popular expectations in regard to the reappearance of the Hidden Imam had not been fulfilled. The Ithn a ‘Asharia sect had gained a considerable amount of footing in Iran where some people tried to keep the belief in the necessity for a B a b alive among the people; and the idea such people tried to exploit was that the time for the reappearance of the Imam was drawing very near. Foremost among those who worked for this revival were men like Shaikh Ahmad al-A h s a ’ i and Sayyid K az im Rasht i. These two are the most important for the purpose in hand since the B a b i and the Bah a’ i religions grew out of their teaching and 1 Ikm a lud d i n , page 56.