The First Awakener-2 page

This also meant that the people of this region were controlled and manipulated by the Muslim clergy. In no way were they prepared for the imminent coming of the Promised One in their midst. Shaykh Ahmad was from Shí’a background, and so he began his mission by going to Najaf

and Karbalá’

which were the main centers of Shí’a Islamic learning at that time.

Modern day map of Iráq showing Najaf and Karbalá’. In the 1800s this area was part of the Ottoman empire. The capital of the Ottoman Empire was Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey). Persia (modern day Írán) was ruled by the Qájár dynasty in the 1800s. Tihrán was their capital. Persia was mainly Shí’a Islam while the Ottoman empire was mainly Sunní Islam. A few areas in the Ottoman empire, such as Najaf and Karbalá’, did have a significant Shí’a population and do so to this day. Map of the Ottoman Empire is shown in the next Section (DB 1-2, Section 2).

³ Archival painting from Dawn-Breakers Chapter 1, p1

⁴ Najaf and Karbalá’ are in modern day Iráq. In the 1800s this area was part of the Ottoman empire and separate from Persia [modern Írán]. The Ottoman empire was ruled by the Caliphate and had its capital in Constantinople [modern Istanbul, Turkey]. Persia was ruled by the Qájár dynasty who had Tihrán as their capital. The Ottoman empire was mainly Sunní Islam. The Qájár empire was mainly Shí’a Islam. [For an overview of the basic tenets of Islam and the Shí’a, see Appendix: Brief Background on Shí’a Islam.]

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