15.  THE BAB

Preparation:   Display table;  picture books;  maps and costume dolls of Persia;  pictures of the Shrine of the Báb etc.   Creative work; crayons, scissors, glue and a paper for each child as in Diagram 14.   This includes the verse for this week.   Could you invite a Bahá'í who knows a song about the Báb, e.g:- the song, the first verse of which begins:- "In 1844 in the city of Shiraz, a new and wondrous message was sent down from God."
A postcard of the Báb's Shrine for each child.

Prayers.

Song.   Sung by the visitor.

News time & birthdays.

Revision of the previous week, linking with today's lesson.

Introduction.   Use the display table to give the children an idea of life in Persia at the time of the Báb. Whenever a Messenger of God comes to us He always promises that after many, many years God will send another, when men forget about Him.   In Persia, not too long ago, most of the people were Muslims, but they were not kind and loving as Muhammad said they should be.  So God sent another Messenger.  His name was The Báb, which means 'The Gate'.

Story:  The Báb was born in Shiraz, where He lived with His mother and uncle.  He was loved by everyone because He had such a sweet nature. When He was a young man He helped His uncle who sold material and He was always honest and truthful.
A few people in Persia were looking for God's Messenger because they had read in the Koran that He was soon to come.  The Báb met one of these men one day in Shiraz and He invited him to His house.  The young man was called Mulla Husayn and he was the first one to know that the Báb was God's chosen Messenger.  After a short while seventeen other people became His followers.   The Báb sent them far and wide over the land to tell people the good news.  The Báb made a journey to Mecca, which is the Holiest place for Muslims.  He knew that was the best place to begin telling the Muslims about the message.

The priests in Shiraz were not happy when Muslims came back from Mecca and told them about the wonderful young man who had a message from God. They went to see the ruler of Shiraz to ask him to take the Báb prisoner. The ruler sent ten of his soldiers out to find the Báb.  The soldiers met the Báb at night, but they did not know who it was.<>"Friends, where are you going ?"  asked the Báb.<>The soldiers did not want to tell Him,  but the Báb already knew and He surprised them by saying,
"I know where you are going.  You have orders to take me as a prisoner. Here I am.  I am the One you are looking for."
The soldiers were amazed at the courage of the Báb, Who was not afraid to be the prisoner of a very cruel ruler.  Instead of treating Him like a prisoner, they took Him back to Shiraz like a prince.  He had to stay in His uncle's house and promise not to talk to anyone.

People soon heard about Him because His followers told everyone they met.  Soon the Shah of Persia (The Shah is the King) heard about the Báb and he decided to send his wisest and cleverest man to visit Him.  This man knew a lot about the Koran and so he would soon be able to tell if the Báb truly was a Messenger from God.   When he met the Báb he knew that He was speaking the truth and he became a Bábí.  This did not please the Shah and he had the Báb put into a prison far away from anybody.

His followers loved Him so much that they always found Him, wherever He was sent.  So the rulers decided that He must be killed to stop people becoming Bábís.  They ordered some soldiers to shoot the Báb and one of His followers.  Do you think that stopped people hearing about His message?   No, of course not.   Although the kind and gentle Báb had died, still people wanted to know about Him.  Even Queen Victoria in Britain heard about the Báb.

Reading:   This is included in the creative work. - It is probably too long for the younger children to explain sentence by sentence, but a short explanation will be necessary.

Creative work:   Diagram 14 can be coloured in and assembled.  Cut in two horizontally, then put glue on the shaded areas at the side of the top half and put the bottom half exactly covering it.  When the glue is dry, bend the two parts apart in the middle, and cut the gates down the centre.  The gates can then be folded back along the dotted lines to reveal the quote and rose.

 Last modified: May 22, 2001

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