– Distinguishing characteristics[edit]
– Azalis do not accept claims of divinity by figures like Baháʼulláh.
– Azalis rejected Baháʼulláh’s claim as premature.
– Azalis argue that the world must first accept the laws of the Báb.
– Azalis reject He Whom God Shall Make Manifest until certain conditions are met.
– The split with Baháʼís led Azalis to maintain conservative religious views.
– Involvement in Persian secular and constitutional reform[edit]
– Azali Bábism represents the conservative core of the original Babi movement.
– Azalis preach to a non-clerical gnostic elite rather than the masses.
– Azalis oppose the Qajar state and are politically active.
– Some Azalis were active in secular reform movements and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution.
– Azalis practiced taqiyya, making it hard to identify them in Persian politics.
– Taqiyya[edit]
– Taqiyya was justified by some Bábís due to violent oppression.
– Prominent Bábí leaders did not encourage taqiyya.
– Among Azalis, taqiyya became ingrained and widespread.
– Azali Babis glorified taqiyya in their literature.
– Prominent Azali leaders openly recanted their faith and even abused the Bab and Azal.
– Succession and aftermath[edit]
– Dispute over Subh-i-Azal’s appointed successor.
– Subh-i-Azal’s grandson disputed the appointed successor.
– Azali Babism entered a phase of stagnation after the Constitutional period.
– No acknowledged leader or central organization within Azali Babism.
– Current Azali numbers are estimated to be around one or two thousand, mostly in Iran.
– Prominent Azalis[edit]
– Despite small numbers, Azalis include prominent Iranian political and literary figures.
– Notable Azalis include Sheikh Ahmad Ruhi and Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani.
An Azali (Persian: ازلی) or Azali Bábí is a follower of the monotheistic religion of Subh-i-Azal and the Báb. Early followers of the Báb were known as Bábís; however, in the 1860s a split occurred after which the vast majority of Bábís followed Mirza Husayn ʻAli, known as Baháʼu'lláh, and became known as Baháʼís, while the minority who followed Subh-i-Azal, Baháʼu'lláh's half-brother, came to be called Azalis.
Azali Babis continued to push for the end of the Iranian monarchy, and several individuals were among the national reformers of the constitutional revolution of 1905–1911. Azalis stagnated and disappeared as an organized community after the revolution, numbering at most a few thousand by the end of the 20th century, mainly in Iran. Azalis are considerably outnumbered by adherents of the Baháʼí Faith, who number in the millions.
