(Arabic: bab, gate, i.e.,through none other than which may man find salvation)
The name of a religious, political, and social sect or system founded at Shiraz, Persia, c.1843,by Mirza Ali Mohammed, who assumed the name Bab-ed-Din (gate of faith). It is a pantheistic Mohammedanism which is a development of certain tenets of Islam, colored with Gnosticism, Buddhism, and Judaism. It encourages monogamy and abstention from alcohol, and forbids asceticism, mendicancy, and concubinage.