Azali (redirected from Azalis)

Azali

Any member of the Babi movement who remained faithful to the teachings of the Bab and his chosen successor, Mirza Yahya, known as Sobh-e Azal, after the movement split in 1863. For 13 years after the Bab's execution, followers recognized Sobh-e Azal as their leader. Then Sobh-e Azal's half-brother, Baha' Ullah, privately declared himself to be the prophet whose coming the Bab had foretold. The Azalis rejected him, but most Babis followed him, establishing the Baha'i faith in 1867. Now located almost exclusively in Iran, the Azalis probably number no more than a few thousand.