Mullá Maḥmud Khu'í

Mullá Maḥmud Khu'í
Declared	1844
Died	May 1849

Mullá Maḥmud Khu'í (d. 1849) was one of the first eighteen Bábís and one of the Letters of the Living.

Background

Khu'í was from Qazvín, and from a family with a modest background. At some point he became a member of the Shaykhí movement. Shortly before his passing in 1843 Siyyid Káẓim, the leader of the Shaykhí's, instructed his followers to disperse to seek out the Qa'im.

In 1844 Khu'í accompanied Mullá 'Alíy-i-Bastámí and several other Shaykhí's to the Masjid-i-Kúfih where they met Mullá Ḥusayn who had begun a period of forty days of prayer and fasting. Their group then also fasted and prayed for forty days before traveling to Shiraz where Mullá Ḥusayn had settled. After a period of prayer and meditation Khu'í deduced the identity of the Báb in early July 1844 then met with Him in person becoming a Bábí and being appointed a Letter of the Living.

After a short time the Báb instructed the Letters to disperse to share His claims and Khu'í traveled to Karbila. He remained a dedicated member of the Bábí Faith but did not play an active role in the development of the movement throughout the 1840's.

In 1848 Khu'í joined Mullá Ḥusayn when he raised the Black Standard and assembled a large group of Bábís who traveled from Mashhad and Mázindarán. The group conflicted with the religious authorities in Mázindarán and were besieged in the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí, with several skirmishes occurring, from December 1848 to May 1849 when the group surrendered. The terms of their surrender were violated with the majority of the Bábís being executed and Khu'í was martyred during the siege.