Subh-i-Azal

Ṣubḥ-i-Azal (1831–1912, born Mírzá Yaḥyá) was an Iranian religious leader of Azali Bábism, known for his conflict with his half-brother Baháʼu'lláh over leadership of the Bábí community after 1853.

In 1850, when he was just 19 years old, he was appointed by the Báb to lead the Bábí community. When a pogrom began against the Bábís in 1852, Subh-i-Azal fled for Baghdad and spent 10 years there before joining the group of Bábí exiles that were called to Istanbul. During the time in Baghdad tensions grew with Baháʼu'lláh, as Bábí pilgrims began to turn to him for leadership. The Ottoman government further exiled the group to Edirne, where Baháʼu'lláh's announcement of divine revelation turned the tension into an open conflict, which culminated in a public debate that Subh-i-Azal failed to show up to, and an attempt by Subh-i-Azal to poison Baháʼu'lláh.

In 1868 the Ottoman government further exiled Subh-i-Azal and his followers to Cyprus, and Baháʼu'lláh and his followers to Akko. When Cyprus was leased to Britain in 1878, he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity on a British pension, while interacting with many of the island's Sufis.

After Azal's death in 1912, the Azali form of Babism entered a stagnation and has not recovered as there is no acknowledged leader or central organization. Most Bábís either accepted the claim of Baháʼu'lláh or the community gradually diminished as children and grandchildren turned back to Islam, By 1904, Azal's followers had dwindled to a small minority, and Baháʼu'lláh was almost universally recognized as the spiritual successor of the Báb. A source in 2001 estimated no more than a few thousand, almost entirely in Iran. Another source in 2009 noted a very small number of followers remained in Uzbekistan.