Bahá'í Faith in Afghanistan
Encyclopedia
The Bahá'í Faith in Afghanistan began in 1880s with visits by Bahá'ís. However it wasn't until the 1930s that any Bahá'í traveled there. A Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1948 in Kabul
and after some years was re-elected in 1969. Though the population had perhaps reached thousands, under the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the harsh rule of the Taliban the Bahá'ís lost the right to have any institutions and many fled. Although the Association of Religion Data Archives
estimated there were some 13000 Bahá'ís in 2005, the Bahá'ís in Afghanistan number at approximately 400 according to a more recent 2007 US estimate.
's lifetime, Jamal Effendi may have been the first Bahá'í to visit the area of Afghanistan in the late 1880s, according to Baha'i sources.
in 1916-1917 suggesting Bahá'ís take the religion to many places; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan
but were delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of World War I
and the Spanish flu
. These tablets were translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919. One tablet says in part:
In the late 1930s Shoghi Effendi
, then head of the religion, urged the Persian Bahá'ís to send a pioneer
to Afghanistan and a young Persian educated in India, 'Ali-Muhammad Nabílí went sometime 1938-40 "for the purposes of commerce." Other pioneers failed to remain during the period of the World Wars, however a Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1948 in Kabul
.
records about 19,500 Afghan Bahá'ís in 1990 and 23,075 in 2000. A new assembly was elected in 1995 in Mazar-e Sharif
.
A number of Bahá'ís were arrested and imprisoned for fourteen months.
. Following the 2001 fall of the Taliban, many Afghan Bahá'ís have returned. In 2007 the US government estimated the Bahá'í population under the Taliban had fallen to about 400 - 300 of which were in Kabul.
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. Bahá'ís in Afghanistan have not been able to organize large projects in Afghanistan. Estimates of the population of Bahá'ís have varied widely - the World Christian Encyclopedia
records about 19,500 Afghan Bahá'ís in 1990 and 23,075 in 2000. However the Association of Religion Data Archives
estimated some 13,400 Bahá'ís were again present in Afghanistan in 2005 Most recently a 2007 report from the US State Department indicated that there are only 400 Bahá'ís in Afghanistan, mostly concentrated in Kabul. According to the US State Department, in 2007 the General Directorate of Fatwas and Accounts under the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the status of the Bahá'í Faith, declaring it to be distinct from Islam and a form of blasphemy, affirmed that all Muslims who convert to the religion were apostates from Islam, declared all followers of the religion to be infidels
and hazards the status of marriages of Bahá'ís. Although the Supreme Court ruling would impact Afghan Bahai'is, it would be unlikely to affect foreign-national Bahai'is. In 2008, 50 people from Afghanistan traveled to India for a regional conference held in New Delhi called for by the Universal House of Justice
.
Some of the Bahá'ís who currently live outside Afghanistan established a website in 2000 to have an Internet presence.
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
and after some years was re-elected in 1969. Though the population had perhaps reached thousands, under the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the harsh rule of the Taliban the Bahá'ís lost the right to have any institutions and many fled. Although the Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
estimated there were some 13000 Bahá'ís in 2005, the Bahá'ís in Afghanistan number at approximately 400 according to a more recent 2007 US estimate.
Early period
During Bahá'u'lláhBahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
's lifetime, Jamal Effendi may have been the first Bahá'í to visit the area of Afghanistan in the late 1880s, according to Baha'i sources.
`Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan
`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a series of letters, or tablets, to the followers of the religion in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1916-1917 suggesting Bahá'ís take the religion to many places; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan
Tablets of the Divine Plan
The Tablets of the Divine Plan collectively refers to 14 letters written between September 1916 and March 1917 by `Abdu'l-Bahá to Bahá'ís in the United States and Canada. Included in multiple books, the first five tablets were printed in America in Star of the West - Vol. VII, No. 10, September 8,...
but were delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
. These tablets were translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb was a Persian-American author and Bahá'í who co-founded the New History Society and the Caravan of East and West in New York, and was excommunicated from the Bahá'í Faith in 1939 by Shoghi Effendi.-Early life:...
on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919. One tablet says in part:
O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call of “Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá” in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please God, ye may achieve it.…
…if some teachers go to other islands and other parts, such as the continent of AustraliaBahá'í Faith in AustraliaThe Bahá'í Faith in Australia has a long history beginning with a mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, in 1916 following which United Kingdom/American emigrants John and Clara Dunn came to Australia in 1920. They found people willing to convert to the Bahá'í Faith in...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, also to JapanBahá'í Faith in JapanThe Bahá'í Faith in Japan begins after a few mentions of the country by `Abdu'l-Bahá first in 1875. Japanese contact with the religion came from the West when was living in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1902 converted; the second being ....
, Asiatic Russia, KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, French IndochinaFrench IndochinaFrench Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
, Siam, Straits SettlementsStraits SettlementsThe Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...
, India, Ceylon and AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, most great results will be forthcoming.
In the late 1930s Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...
, then head of the religion, urged the Persian Bahá'ís to send a pioneer
Pioneering (Bahá'í)
A pioneer is a volunteer Bahá'í who leaves his or her home to journey to another place for the purpose of teaching the Bahá'í Faith. The act of so moving is termed pioneering. Bahá'ís refrain from using the term "missionary"...
to Afghanistan and a young Persian educated in India, 'Ali-Muhammad Nabílí went sometime 1938-40 "for the purposes of commerce." Other pioneers failed to remain during the period of the World Wars, however a Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1948 in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
.
After the World Wars
By 1963, the Assembly of Kabul had lost assembly status. The Assembly of Kabul was next elected in 1969 and the first National Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1972. There were an estimated 400 Bahá'ís in mid 1970s, and 4 assemblies in 1973.Soviet invasion
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 bringing with it the Soviet policy of religious oppression, the Bahá'ís, strictly adhering to their principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned its administration. Waves of refugees left in 1979 and some returned after 1990. The World Christian EncyclopediaWorld Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
records about 19,500 Afghan Bahá'ís in 1990 and 23,075 in 2000. A new assembly was elected in 1995 in Mazar-e Sharif
Mazar-e Sharif
Mazār-i-Sharīf or Mazār-e Sharīf is the fourth largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 375,000 as of 2006. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by roads to Kunduz in the east, Kabul in the south-east, Herat to the west and Uzbekistan to the north...
.
A number of Bahá'ís were arrested and imprisoned for fourteen months.
Taliban
In 1998, when the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan arrested many Bahá'ís, many began to flee to Pakistan. Many Afghan Bahá'ís fled during the 2000-2001 period of Taliban rule becoming members of the Bahá'í Faith in PakistanBahá'í Faith in Pakistan
The Bahá'í Faith in Pakistan begins previous to its independence when it was part of India. The roots of the Bahá'í Faith in the region go back to the first days of the Bábí religion in 1844, with Shaykh Sa'id Hindi who was from Multan...
. Following the 2001 fall of the Taliban, many Afghan Bahá'ís have returned. In 2007 the US government estimated the Bahá'í population under the Taliban had fallen to about 400 - 300 of which were in Kabul.
Recent developments
The religion entered a new phase of activity around the world when a message of the Universal House of JusticeUniversal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
Bahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. Bahá'ís in Afghanistan have not been able to organize large projects in Afghanistan. Estimates of the population of Bahá'ís have varied widely - the World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
records about 19,500 Afghan Bahá'ís in 1990 and 23,075 in 2000. However the Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
estimated some 13,400 Bahá'ís were again present in Afghanistan in 2005 Most recently a 2007 report from the US State Department indicated that there are only 400 Bahá'ís in Afghanistan, mostly concentrated in Kabul. According to the US State Department, in 2007 the General Directorate of Fatwas and Accounts under the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the status of the Bahá'í Faith, declaring it to be distinct from Islam and a form of blasphemy, affirmed that all Muslims who convert to the religion were apostates from Islam, declared all followers of the religion to be infidels
Infidels
Infidels is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 22nd studio album, released by Columbia Records in October 1983.Produced by Mark Knopfler and Dylan himself, Infidels is seen as his return to secular music, following a conversion to Christianity and three evangelical, gospel records...
and hazards the status of marriages of Bahá'ís. Although the Supreme Court ruling would impact Afghan Bahai'is, it would be unlikely to affect foreign-national Bahai'is. In 2008, 50 people from Afghanistan traveled to India for a regional conference held in New Delhi called for by the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
.
Outside Afghanistan
Many Afghan Bahá'ís fled the country and went around the world where they reside today in these countries: Pakistan, Iran, India, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Kuwait, Dubai, Qatar, Germany, The Netherlands, United States and Canada.Some of the Bahá'ís who currently live outside Afghanistan established a website in 2000 to have an Internet presence.
External links
- Afghan Bahais website (Not an official website of the institutions of Afghanistan)
- Afghan Baha'is Blog
- Afghan Baha'is Youtube Channel