The Gate
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THE GATE: DAWN OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá’í Faith is a documentary film about the origins of the Bab’í religion and its predecession of the Bahá’í Faith. The events are set in the mid-nineteenth century, when religious scholars and disciples around the world were longing for the anticipated messianic return. A prophet from Shiraz, Persia, The Báb, a title meaning “the Gate”, proclaimed himself a messenger of God here to reveal the coming of a messianic figure, He whom God shall make manifest.
SYNOPSIS
The events of the documentary open with the worldwide expectation of the return of the Promised One, referred to in different religions by different names: the tenth Avatar, the twelfth Imam, the Redeemer, etc.
A Shia scholar, Shaykh Ahmad, led an independent movement of followers known as the Shaykhís, who comprised of students and disciples awaiting to prepare the people for the appearance of the Promised One. A prominent Shaykhí was a religious cleric named Mullá Husayn. He felt drawn to Shiraz, Persia, where he was met on the street by a young man in a green turban, signifying that he was a descendant of Muhammad. After thrilling Mullá Husayn with rapid and powerful revelation, he asserted that he was “The Báb”, sent by God to usher in a new Age for mankind and herald another prophet even greater than Himself.
In the following summer, seventeen more people became the first disciples of The Báb, and came to be titled by The Báb as the Letters of the Living. The Báb dispatched them throughout Persia and Iraq to proclaim the coming of the new revelation. The Báb taught revolutionary concepts: first, that each individual should seek truth for themselves, and second, that revelation was progressive and Messengers of God are harbingers of one unfolding religion to advance human civilization through the ages.
Though these teachings were inspiring to the masses, they were also highly dangerous. The religious clerics of society were threatened by this notion that each individual had a personal relationship with God without their direction, mediation, or intercession. Both the clerics and the State grew increasingly alarmed as thousands of new followers rapidly accepted the claims and teachings of The Báb, and resolved to crack down on the burgeoning movement.
The Báb was subsequently exiled from Shiraz, and departed for the city of Isfahan. When He arrived, The Báb contacted the Governor of Isfahan, Manuchihr Khan, in order to convince him of his authenticity. When Manuchihr Khan requested evidences from The Báb of the prophet Muhammad’s legitimacy as a prophet, The Báb wrote a lengthy treatise on the life of Muhammad. The Governor then declared himself a Bábí. When the other officials found this declaration threatening, Manuchihr Khan offered The Báb financial support and security, which The Báb declined.
Shortly after Manuchihr Khan’s death, The Báb was arrested and sent to Tehran to answer to the Shah himself. In Tehran, at the King’s Palace, Prime Minister Aqasi was concerned that the Shah may himself be swayed by The Báb, and before allowing them a chance to meet, banished The Bab to the remote corners of the country, a fortress called Maku. There, he revealed hundreds of thousands of verses, including the Persian Bayán. The Bab was soon after summoned to the city of Tabriz to stand trial in front of hostile clerics and the Crown Prince of Persia. They demanded he recant his claims. When The Báb instead declared, “ I Am, I Am, I Am the Promised One, I Am the One who’s name you have for a thousand years invoked”. Their ruling was for The Báb to be subjected to torture.
Persecution of the Bábís intensified, and many were harassed and murdered. Seeking to escape the persecution while also observing The Báb’s teachings of nonviolence, the Bábís petitioned the government to allow them safe passage out of town. The Governor agreed and sent a detachment of soldiers. But, on their journey, the soldiers suddenly opened fire on the Bábí exiles. Mullá Husayn, among those in the massacre, led a successful counter-attack. The soldiers were beaten back and fled. Realizing they would soon face a larger army, the Bábís took hold of a fort known as Shaykh Tabarsi. Many battles were fought in self-defense and for several months the Bábís held off attacks from the Persian military.
The Prime Minister of Persia ordered for the Báb to be brought to Tabriz for public execution by firing squad. When The Báb was approached by his prison guards, The Báb noted that he was not finished dictating his final wishes to his secretary. Nonetheless, The Báb and one of his companions, Anis, were brought out to a public square and restrained by rope in front of a grand firing squad of seven hundred and fifty soldiers. Bearing witness were hundreds of onlookers including noblemen, foreign dignitaries, journalists, and countless observers of different walks of life. The order was given, the soldiers fired, but when the smoke cleared, The Báb’s companion, Anis, appeared unharmed and The Báb himself had vanished, leaving the onlookers stunned. After a brief search, The Báb was discovered in his prison cell dictating to his secretary. The Báb insisted that he was finished and could now be executed, but the highest ranking officer of the firing squad refused to attempt a second execution, causing a second regiment of soldiers to arrive and make a second attempt. As The Báb was suspended for a second time, his final words were, “Had you believed in me, O wayward generation, every one of you would have followed the example of this youth. The day will come when you will have recognized Me. That day I shall have ceased to be with you”, before a successful second attempt at their execution.
Only a few years later, after the escalating persecution of the Bábís, one leader was left alive: Bahá’u’lláh. He was tortured and thrown into a prison known as the Síyáh-Chál, or, “The Black Pit”. It was there that Bahá’u’lláh claimed he experienced a mystic revelation that caused him to realize He was “Him whom God shall make manifest”, the fulfillment of The Báb’s mission, and the Promised One of all religious dispensations.
PRODUCTION
The documentary is styled as a dramatic narrative portraying the historical events sequenced between talking head testimonials from professors and other experts. Out of a sense of reverence and respect, neither The Báb or any other Divine Messenger was portrayed in the film.
RECEPTION
The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá’í Faith holds five stars on Amazon Prime Video, with 98% of Google users ‘liking the movie’ in the year since its release.
There have been dozens of screenings in countries worldwide, including at interfaith conventions, in academic settings, and in hundreds of community gatherings. The film has also been popular among the Bahá’í community, making up a majority of the film’s audience and having been shown at several Bahá’í conferences.
