information:extraction, information:highlighting
Baghdad

Upon settling in Baghdad, Baháʼu'lláh began dispatching communications and teachers to encourage and revive flagging spirits of persecuted followers of the Báb in Persia. Over time, a number of Bábís moved to Baghdad to be close to Bahá’u’lláh. One of these was Mirza Yahya, later known as Subh-i-Azal, a half-brother 13 years younger than Bahá’u’lláh, who followed him into the Bábí Faith and even accompanied him on some early journeys on its behalf. After their father's death, Yahya’s education and care were largely overseen by Bahá’u’lláh. During Baha’u’llah’s imprisonment in the Síyáh-Chál Yahya went into hiding, but after Bahá’u’lláh’s exile to Iraq Yahya left Iran in disguise and made his way to Baghdad.

For a time, Yahya served as Bahá’u’lláh’s secretary in Baghdad, but envy for the growing admiration Bábís showed Bahá’u’lláh led Yahya to seek leadership of the Bábí religion. Attempting to elevate himself among Bábís, Yahya and a few supporters referenced a letter the Báb had written a few years earlier when Yahya was still a teenager, naming Yahya to nominal leadership pending the appearance of "Him whom God shall make manifest". Yahya claimed the letter meant he was actually appointed the successor or vicegerent of the Báb. Knowledgeable Bábís promptly rejected Yahya’s bold claim, because the referenced letter indicated no such status, and due to the fact that other writings of the Báb specifically "eliminated the institution of successorship, or vicegerency" from his religion. The Báb also decreed no one’s words would be binding upon believers until the advent of the Promised One. Others questioned Yahya’s motives, considering he had never done anything to protect the Bábí Faith or the lives of Bábís over which he was now claiming a high position. To bolster his effort, Yahya simultaneously sought to discredit Bahá’u’lláh by spreading false rumors and accusations about him, which stirred up feelings among Bábís in the Baghdad community.