Anyone (and that includes the Bahais) who has had the chance to even cursorily read about Ali Muhammad Shirazi's life will be confused about one particularly bizarre aspect of his life - the multiplicity of his claims. Give or take a few positions, he has claimed to be the Bab (deputy of the Imam Mahdi), Imam Mahdi himself, the prophet of God and last and hardly the least God, the Almighty Himself.

While we have addressed and analysed Bab's various claims in other articles, over here we examine his comments when, for once, he has spoken the truth.

In these comments extracted from Bab's earliest works, the Bab categorically and unambigiously confesses to the existence of Imam Mahdi (as). In fact, he does not just confess to the Imam Mahdi's presence in this world, but has also confessed to the existence of his deputies (in Ghaybate' Sughra or the Lesser Occultation) and the fact that there were no special deputies once the last of the four deputies passed away.

These claims are by no means trivial. Bahais will realise that these confessions bring Ali Muhammad Shirazi's very title of Bab (deputy of Imam Mahdi) under enough scrutiny that all other excuses of taqaiyya (dissimulation) cannot erase.

Attempts to cast aspersion on the authenticity of the books from where these confessions have been extracted will prove immediately futile once you realise that they belong to Bab's earliest, well-acknowledged works that for many Bahais served as the basis for his subsequent claims. Also Bahai scholars of the calibre of Fadil Mazandarani, Abdul Baha and Shoghi Effendi have referred to these works in their own compilations, which should put the authenticity of these works and their contents beyond reproach.

Another point to note is that for once Bab's confessions related to Imam Mahdi are truthful. His confessions about the Promised Mahdi coincide exactly with what has been narrated about Imam Mahdi in authentic Islamic traditions. In other words Bab was not lying about Imam Mahdi, it was the truth and can be verified very easily by referring to the reliable traditions narrated by the Muslims. The implication of these confessions is that they were admitted by Bab while he felt totally secure and did not fear retribution from any quarter, so this immediately rules out taqaiyya (dissmulation). These confessions were not made in taqaiyya for taqaiyya is when you make a statement that is contrary to the truth, stating the truth does not amount to taqaiyya.