Bahaipedia:Today's featured individual/October 20

Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, Israel.

The Báb (Persian: سيد علی ‌محمد) (October 20, 1819 – July 9, 1850) was a prophet and founder of the Bábí religion. He was a merchant from Shíráz, who at the age of twenty-five revealed Himself to be the promised Qá'im (or Mihdí). After His declaration He took the title of Báb (Arabic: باب) meaning "Gate." He composed hundreds of letters and books (often termed tablets) in which He stated His mission and defined his teachings, which constituted a new sharí'ah or religious law. His movement eventually acquired tens of thousands of supporters, was virulently opposed by Iran's Shí'í clergy, and was bloodily suppressed by the Iranian government. Thousands of His followers, termed Bábís, died. The Báb was executed by firing squad on July 9, 1850, in the city of Tabríz.