Bahá'í Faith in Malawi
Encyclopedia
The Bahá'í Faith in Malawi begins before the country achieved independence. Before World War I
the area of modern Malawi
was part of Nyasaland
and `Abdu'l-Bahá
, then head of the religion, asked the followers of the Bahá'í Faith
to travel to the regions of Africa. As part of a wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa the religion was introduced into this region when an early African Bahá'í traveled from Tangayika in 1952 followed in 1953 by Bahá'ís from Iran the same year it became known as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
. A decade later there were five Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies
. By 1970, now in the country of Malawi, there were 12 Local Spiritual Assemblies and a National Spiritual Assembly. In 2003 Bahá'ís estimated their membership at 15,000 while the 2001 World Christian Encyclopedia
estimated the membership at 24,500 and in 2005 revised their estimate to about 34,500.
and Canada
in 1916-1917 by `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, asked the followers of the religion to travel to regions of Africa; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan
. The publication was delayed until 1919 in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919. after the end of World War I
and the Spanish flu
.
Wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa was observed to begin in 1950s and extend in the 1960s. Particular plans to bring the religion to Uganda
began in 1950 involving the cooperation of American, British, Egyptian, and Persian Bahá'í communities and reached a level of coordination and detail that materials were translated into languages widely used in Africa before pioneers reached Africa. In 1952 in the region of Malawi, then about to become the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
, the Bahá'í Faith enters when Dennis Dudley-Smith Kutendele (sometimes Kutendere), the first African Bahá'í in Tanganyika, and member of Dar-es-Salam's first local spiritual assembly, moved to Zomba with his family - the first time an African Bahá'í took the religion to a new country. He was soon joined by pioneer
Enayat Sohaili and his family from Iran. As Sohaili was white and Kutendere black it was illegal for them to socialize. So the first Bahá'í Feast
they held was meeting in the bush
at night. This same year new convert Dunduzu Chisiza left Malawi to help introduce the religion to Rwanda
(formerly part of Ruanda-Urundi). In 1956 the area of Malawi was included in the regional National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa. John William Allen was the first Auxiliary Board of the region working under Hand of the Cause Músá Baníní.
In 1960 twenty-six Africans and ten white Bahá'ís representing five language groups attended a second regional seminar in Salisbury S. Rhodesia on the progress of the religion with attendees from S. Rhodesia, N. Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Mozambique, and South Africa. Classes included "Baha'i Character Development," "How to Give a Baha'i Talk," and "The Covenants of God". Two local conferences in Nyasaland also took place in 1960.
, and Mianje. There were smaller groups of Bahá'ís in Chileka, Chipoka
, Chiradzulo
, Lilongwe
, Mzimba
, Mzuzu
, Sharpevale, and Zomba. There were individual Bahá'ís in Chibwawa, Dedza
, Fort Johnston (now known as Mangochi
), and Karonga
.
In 1964 the first Bahá'í marriage service was performed in the country; the same year as the independence of the country now called Malawi
. An interim re-organization pooled a regional national assembly of South Central Africa, which comprised the countries of Botswana, Malawi and Rhodesia in 1967. By 1970 there were 12 Local Spiritual Assemblies, enough for the country to have its own National Spiritual Assembly, which was elected in the presence of Hand of the Cause Paul Haney. The next year Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga
asked for official registration of the religion, a request met by President Hastings Banda
. Three from Malawi attended the first Bahá'í youth summer school for southern Africa was held in Swaziland in December, 1971 through the 2nd of January, 1972. Land for a national center was acquired in 1972 and the number local assemblies had reached 23. In 1972 and 1982 Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khanum
traveled throughout the country. Her October 1972 visit included radio and print press interviews, public talks and a meeting with President Hastings Banda
where she observed "in the eyes of Baha'u'llah it seems there was one thing even worse than war and this was anarchy and revolution and civil strife" when the president commented that some religious groups in Malawi had been fermenting discord and strife. She also toured into the countryside and met many Bahá'ís and contributed to building funds for centers. Among her public talks she said that though African suffered tribal prejudice, racial prejudice was far worse but of which Africans were largely clear of. Among the pioneers to come to Malawi was Ireland's Frances Beard who moved there in 1974, the same year as Bahá'ís from Australia also pioneered to Malawi. Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice
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. Malawian Bahá'ís have embarked on a number of projects to support the welfare of Malawi.
. A Bahá'í school
started in January 1993, in 2003 Bambino School had an enrollment of 1,100 from nursery level through secondary school and secretarial college and has high school graduation including taking the International General Certificate of Secondary Education. Andrew Nhlane is the head teacher of the high school which has 350 students alone. Students participate in international projects with other schools in Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Bulgaria. International students contribute terms of service. Kenneth Gondwe, aka Babyjinx, is a former attendee of Bambino and has gone on to be an accomplished musician, performer, and business owner running a music production company. Partial scholarships are available.
, Australia
, Mauritius
, South Africa
, Zambia
, and Lesotho
, and one of the events of the jubilee was a play based on the life and martyrdom of Mona Mahmudnizhad
. The 2004 Namibian Jubilee had guests from the Malawian Bahá'í community. The Bahá'í National Center is located in Lilongwe.
In 2007 public schools began offering religious education at the primary school level. These courses had previously been available only in secondary schools. Both a Christian-oriented "Bible Knowledge" course and a "Moral and Religious Education" course, including Muslim, Hindu, Bahá'í, and Christian material are available. Individual parent-teacher associations or school committees decide which religion courses to offer.
Bahá'í delegates from 17 countries included ones from Malawi convened in New York from February – March 2008 for the 52nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Some 120 Bahá'ís from Malawi attended the first of 41 conferences called for by the Universal House of Justice between November and February 2008-9 in neighboring Zambia along with Bahá'ís from Zimbabwe
.
notes there may have been 18,000 Bahá'ís in 1990 and 24,500 in 2000 and about 34,500 in 2005. In 2003 a Bahá'í source mentioned there were some 15,000 Bahá'ís in Malawi. A 2007 survey reports about 4% of the population of 13,000,000—roughly 520,000—is split between Hindus, Bahá'ís, Rastafarians and Jews.
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...
the area of modern Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
was part of Nyasaland
Nyasaland
Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a British protectorate located in Africa, which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Since 1964, it has been known as Malawi....
and `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
, then head of the religion, asked the followers of the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
to travel to the regions of Africa. As part of a wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa the religion was introduced into this region when an early African Bahá'í traveled from Tangayika in 1952 followed in 1953 by Bahá'ís from Iran the same year it became known as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation , was a semi-independent state in southern Africa that existed from 1953 to the end of 1963, comprising the former self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia,...
. A decade later there were five Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies
Spiritual Assembly
Spiritual Assembly is a term given by `Abdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Bahá'í Faith. Because the Bahá'í Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community...
. By 1970, now in the country of Malawi, there were 12 Local Spiritual Assemblies and a National Spiritual Assembly. In 2003 Bahá'ís estimated their membership at 15,000 while the 2001 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,...
estimated the membership at 24,500 and in 2005 revised their estimate to about 34,500.
Early history
In the first decade of the 1900s, the region of Malawi was part of Nyasaland. In 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...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1916-1917 by `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, asked the followers of the religion to travel to regions of Africa; 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,...
. The publication was delayed until 1919 in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 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...
.
Wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa was observed to begin in 1950s and extend in the 1960s. Particular plans to bring the religion to Uganda
Bahá'í Faith in Uganda
The Bahá'í Faith in Uganda started to grow in 1951 and in four years time there were 500 Bahá'ís in 80 localities, including 13 Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies, representing 30 tribes, and had dispatched 9 pioneers to other African locations...
began in 1950 involving the cooperation of American, British, Egyptian, and Persian Bahá'í communities and reached a level of coordination and detail that materials were translated into languages widely used in Africa before pioneers reached Africa. In 1952 in the region of Malawi, then about to become the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation , was a semi-independent state in southern Africa that existed from 1953 to the end of 1963, comprising the former self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia,...
, the Bahá'í Faith enters when Dennis Dudley-Smith Kutendele (sometimes Kutendere), the first African Bahá'í in Tanganyika, and member of Dar-es-Salam's first local spiritual assembly, moved to Zomba with his family - the first time an African Bahá'í took the religion to a new country. He was soon joined by 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"...
Enayat Sohaili and his family from Iran. As Sohaili was white and Kutendere black it was illegal for them to socialize. So the first Bahá'í Feast
Nineteen Day Feast
The Nineteen Day Feasts are regular community gatherings, occurring on the first day of each month of the Bahá'í calendar . Each gathering consists of a Devotional, Administrative, and Social part...
they held was meeting in the bush
The Bush
"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...
at night. This same year new convert Dunduzu Chisiza left Malawi to help introduce the religion to Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
(formerly part of Ruanda-Urundi). In 1956 the area of Malawi was included in the regional National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa. John William Allen was the first Auxiliary Board of the region working under Hand of the Cause Músá Baníní.
Growth
By 1963 there were Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in Balaka, Balila, Bawi, LimbeLimbe, Malawi
Limbe is a town in Malawi. It is located in Blantyre District. It is the operational headquarters and workshops for Malawi Railways.- Overview :Limbe is 7 miles east of Blantyre and was founded in 1909. Blantyre Briefly merged with Limbe in 1956....
, and Mianje. There were smaller groups of Bahá'ís in Chileka, Chipoka
Chipoka
Chipoka is a town located in the Central Region district of Salima, in Malawi. It is one of the main ports on Lake Malawi.Nearby towns and villages include Chaseta , Ndembo , Kalombola , Lowe , Mazenjele , Chikanda , Milala , Mkangawi , Mzembela , Pemba and Kachindamoto....
, Chiradzulo
Chiradzulu District
Chiradzulu is a district in the Southern Region of Malawi. The capital is Chiradzulu. The district covers an area of 767 km.² and has a population of 236,050....
, Lilongwe
Lilongwe
Lilongwe, estimated population 902,388 as of 2009, is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It lies in the country's central region, on the Lilongwe River, near the border of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, and on the main north-south highway of Malawi, the M1.-History:The city started life as a...
, Mzimba
Mzimba
Mzimba is a town in the Mzimba District of Malawi. The district comprises descendants of Tumbuka and Ngoni peoples.The district of Mzimba comprises a number of Traditional Authorities from the Ngoni people. The head of these Traditional Authorities, or Paramount Chief , is M'Mbelwa IV.-Demographics:...
, Mzuzu
Mzuzu
Mzuzu is the capital of Malawi's Northern Region and is the third largest city, by population, in Malawi. The City has 128,432 residents plus 20,000 commuters with about 1.7 million people living around the outskirts of the city...
, Sharpevale, and Zomba. There were individual Bahá'ís in Chibwawa, Dedza
Dedza
Dedza is the main township of Dedza District in the Central Region of Malawi.Dedza is located about 85 km south of Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, off the M1 road to Blantyre at a point where a trans-African highway from Johannesburg enters the country....
, Fort Johnston (now known as Mangochi
Mangochi
Mangochi is a township in the Southern Region of Malawi. Located near the southern end of Lake Malawi, in colonial times it used to be called Fort Johnston. As of 2008 it has a population of 51,429.-History:...
), and Karonga
Karonga
Karonga is a township in the Karonga District in Northern Region of Malawi. Located on the western shore of Lake Nyasa, it was established as a slaving centre sometime before 1877. As of 2008 estimates, Karonga has a population of 42,555.-History:...
.
In 1964 the first Bahá'í marriage service was performed in the country; the same year as the independence of the country now called Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
. An interim re-organization pooled a regional national assembly of South Central Africa, which comprised the countries of Botswana, Malawi and Rhodesia in 1967. By 1970 there were 12 Local Spiritual Assemblies, enough for the country to have its own National Spiritual Assembly, which was elected in the presence of Hand of the Cause Paul Haney. The next year Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga
Enoch Olinga
Enoch Olinga was born to an Anglican family of the Iteso ethnic group in Uganda. He became a Bahá'í, earned the title Knight of Bahá'u'lláh and was appointed as the youngest Hand of the Cause, the highest appointed position in the religion. He served the interests of the religion widely and...
asked for official registration of the religion, a request met by President Hastings Banda
Hastings Banda
Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country to speak against colonialism and advocate for independence...
. Three from Malawi attended the first Bahá'í youth summer school for southern Africa was held in Swaziland in December, 1971 through the 2nd of January, 1972. Land for a national center was acquired in 1972 and the number local assemblies had reached 23. In 1972 and 1982 Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khanum
Rúhíyyih Khanum
Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum , born Mary Sutherland Maxwell was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921–1957. She was appointed by him as a Hand of the Cause, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957–1963...
traveled throughout the country. Her October 1972 visit included radio and print press interviews, public talks and a meeting with President Hastings Banda
Hastings Banda
Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country to speak against colonialism and advocate for independence...
where she observed "in the eyes of Baha'u'llah it seems there was one thing even worse than war and this was anarchy and revolution and civil strife" when the president commented that some religious groups in Malawi had been fermenting discord and strife. She also toured into the countryside and met many Bahá'ís and contributed to building funds for centers. Among her public talks she said that though African suffered tribal prejudice, racial prejudice was far worse but of which Africans were largely clear of. Among the pioneers to come to Malawi was Ireland's Frances Beard who moved there in 1974, the same year as Bahá'ís from Australia also pioneered to Malawi. Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of 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...
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. Malawian Bahá'ís have embarked on a number of projects to support the welfare of Malawi.
Bambino School
In a commitment to education and the welfare of humanity, the Bahá'ís have set up 60 grassroots Bahá'í literacy schools and 30 Bahá'í primary health care workers were trained and deployed. The largest scale institution is the private school named the Bambino School in LilongweLilongwe
Lilongwe, estimated population 902,388 as of 2009, is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It lies in the country's central region, on the Lilongwe River, near the border of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, and on the main north-south highway of Malawi, the M1.-History:The city started life as a...
. A Bahá'í school
Bahá'í school
A Bahá'í school at its simplest would be a school run officially by the Bahá'í institutions in its jurisdiction and may be a local class or set of classes, normally run weekly where children get together to study about Bahá'í teachings, Bahá'í central figures, or Bahá'í administration...
started in January 1993, in 2003 Bambino School had an enrollment of 1,100 from nursery level through secondary school and secretarial college and has high school graduation including taking the International General Certificate of Secondary Education. Andrew Nhlane is the head teacher of the high school which has 350 students alone. Students participate in international projects with other schools in Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Bulgaria. International students contribute terms of service. Kenneth Gondwe, aka Babyjinx, is a former attendee of Bambino and has gone on to be an accomplished musician, performer, and business owner running a music production company. Partial scholarships are available.
Modern community
The 2003 golden jubilee of the establishment of the religion in Malawi was attended by Bahá'ís from BermudaBermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, and Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, and one of the events of the jubilee was a play based on the life and martyrdom of Mona Mahmudnizhad
Mona Mahmudnizhad
Mona Mahmudnizhad was an Iranian Bahá'í who, in 1983, together with nine other Bahá'í women, was sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran because of her membership in the Bahá'í Faith...
. The 2004 Namibian Jubilee had guests from the Malawian Bahá'í community. The Bahá'í National Center is located in Lilongwe.
In 2007 public schools began offering religious education at the primary school level. These courses had previously been available only in secondary schools. Both a Christian-oriented "Bible Knowledge" course and a "Moral and Religious Education" course, including Muslim, Hindu, Bahá'í, and Christian material are available. Individual parent-teacher associations or school committees decide which religion courses to offer.
Bahá'í delegates from 17 countries included ones from Malawi convened in New York from February – March 2008 for the 52nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Some 120 Bahá'ís from Malawi attended the first of 41 conferences called for by the Universal House of Justice between November and February 2008-9 in neighboring Zambia along with Bahá'ís from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
.
Demographics
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,...
notes there may have been 18,000 Bahá'ís in 1990 and 24,500 in 2000 and about 34,500 in 2005. In 2003 a Bahá'í source mentioned there were some 15,000 Bahá'ís in Malawi. A 2007 survey reports about 4% of the population of 13,000,000—roughly 520,000—is split between Hindus, Bahá'ís, Rastafarians and Jews.