This article is part of a series on why the Bab – Mirza Ali Mohammed Shirazi is NOT the Mahdi of Islam. Over 215 historians over the centuries have reported that the birth of the Mahdi took place on the 15th day of the Islamic month of Shabaan in the 255th year after the migration of the Holy Prophet of Islam (saw). Read more about the Birth of the True Mahdi.
Some of the names of the historians are reported below:
- Ibne Sabbagh Maleki
- Ibne Khalkaan
- Ibne Hajar Makki Shafa’ei
- Qazi Hussain Dayyar Bakari
- Shaykhul Jamaalud Deen Abul Faraj
- Nurud Deen Abdur Rahman Ibne Ahmed Ibne Qawamud Deen Jami
- Mohammed Ibne Yusuf Shafa’ei
- Abu Bakr Ahmed Ibne Hussain
- Shaykh Kamaalud Deen Abu Saem Mohammed Ibne Talha Shafa’ei
- Al Hafiz Abu Mohamed Ahmed Ibne
- Fazl Ibne Rouzbahan
- Abu Mohammed Abdullah Ibne Ahmed Ibne Mohammed
- Mohiyuddeen Abu Abdullah
Reports of the birth of the Bab have been reported by Bahai historians only.
The reports of the birth of the Mahdi of Islam have been reported by both, Shia as well as Sunni historians.
As these articles show, the birth of the Mahdi had already taken place more than 1,000 years prior to the birth of the Bab. Then where is the question of the Bab being the promised Mahdi of Islam?
The Mahdi of Islam, on his birth, went into prostration and recited the verse, Surah Bani Israel, verse 81.
وَقُلْ جَاء الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا
And say: “Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.”
His father Imam Hasan Askari (as) even introduced his son, the Mahdi to his trusted companions and informed them of his successor. The father of Mirza Ali Mohammed, The Bab did neither. Perhaps he was aware that his son is a “Mirza” and not a “Sayyed”.
The Bab himself testifies in his book, Tafseer Surah Kauthar, that he saw a person standing near the Holy Ka’bah who the Bab considered as the Mahdi and wanted to approach him. When the Bab himself considered another person to be the Mahdi, then why are the Bahais claiming otherwise?