63 The Bábí Movement In modern times, the idea of the Mahdi is no less significant than it was in ancient eras. From time to time, revolutionary movements have appeared whose leaders claimed to be the awaited Mahdi. We will mention the most important of them without being exhaustive.

At the end of the nineteenth century, a new, extremist sect emerged that adhered to Shi'ism, Ismailism, and the idea of the Mahdi. This sect is the Bábí movement, and it stands in contrast to the Wahhabi doctrine. While Wahhabism does not acknowledge time and its effects, nor the new traditions and conditions that have emerged in Islam, the Bábí movement aims to keep pace with the times and consider present circumstances. And while Wahhabism also recognizes no authority except God and claims infallibility only for the prophets, the Bábí movement, influenced by modern Platonic theories, believes that Imams and preachers possess divine emanation and a spark of God's light, and a place for divine revelation, and that the Mahdi