Bahá'í Faith in Bangladesh

The Bahá'í Faith in Bangladesh 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.[1] During Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to India.[2] And it may have been Jamál Effendi who was first sent and stopped in Dhaka more than once.[3] The first Bahá'ís in the area that would later become Bangladesh was when a Bengali group from Chittagong accepted the religion while in Burma.[4] By 1950 there were enough members of the religion to elect Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in Chittagong and Dacca.[5] The community has contributed to the progress of the nation of Bangladesh individually and collectively and in 2005 the World Christian Encyclopedia estimated the Bahá'í population of Bangladesh about 10600.[6]

Early period

The Bahá'í Faith in Bangladesh 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.[1] Four Babis are known from India in this earliest period - it is not known from what sub-region they came from but at least some of them were known as Sufis and some termed Sayyid.[7] The first was Shaykh Sa'id Hindi - one of the Letters of the Living who was from somwehre in what was then India.[8] Additionally four other Indians are listed among the 318 Bábís who fought at the Battle of Fort Tabarsi.[3]

Early Bahá'í period

During Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to India.[2] In 1878, a Bahá'í moved through Chittagong and Dhaka, passing through on his way to Burma from Calcutta.[4] This may have been Jamál Effendi, an early Bahá'í who traveled there.[3] Regardless it is clear that Effendi undertook a second trip to south-east Asia in about 1884-5. Effendi was asked to return to the region by Bahá'u'lláh and this time accompanied by Sayyid Mustafá. They set off for India and eventually stopped in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh where they met some people including a professor of Arabic at Dhaka College. Much later - in the 1891 - Jamál Effendi was confused with a terrorist and reported on by British agents among the Indian population and those records have been found (though Indian government national archives.)[3] Following the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, as the leadership of the religion fell to `Abdu'l-Bahá, he in turn sent further representatives in his stead - both Persian and American.[9]

As early as 1910 the national community in India/Burma is being urged to visibly distinguish itself from Islam by Bahá'í institutions of America.[10] National coordinated activities began and reached a peak with the December 1920, first All-India Bahá'í Convention, held in Bombay for three days. Representatives from India's major religious communities were present as well as Bahá'í delegates from throughout the country.

Middle period

In 1923, still as part of India, a regional National Spiritual Assembly was formed for India and Burma which then included the area now part of Bangladesh as well as Pakistan.[11] However the first Bahá'ís in the area that would later become Bangladesh was when a Bengali group from Chittagong accepted the religion while they were in Burma.[4] In 1937, John Esslemont's Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era was translated and published in Bengali (Baha'u'llah o nab zug) in Chittagong under the authority of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma.[12]

In 1941, Enoch Olinga, later a prominent Bahá'í, was stationed in what was then East Pakistan as a member of the British military before he left the military and became a member of the religion.[13] By 1950 there were enough members of the religion to begin setting up administrative bodies. These were Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies and they were elected in Chittagong and Dacca.[5] With independence as part of Pakistan in 1958, East and West Pakistan elected a separate national assembly from India.[11][14] In 1959 Muhammad Mustafa traveled to Liberia and was commissioned to address some Muslim concerns about the Bahá'í Faith. This was ultimately published as Baha'u'llah: The Great Announcement of the Qur'an through the Bangladesh Bahá'í Publishing Trust.[15] In 1960 there was a Teaching Conference of East Pakistan, at Dhaka.[16] By 1963[5] there was an additional local assembly in Mymensingh and smaller groups between 1 and 9 adults in Jamalpur and Mirpur. Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the national assembly of Bangladesh was also separately elected in 1971.[4] 10 years later the national convention had 61 delegates.[17] In 1974 Rúhíyyih Khanum visited the country, even to meeting with President Mohammad Ullah.[18] In 1984 The Baha'i Fund: A Time for Sacrifice was published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Bangladesh.[19]

In more recent times

In 1996 the Universal House of Justice commented -

"The Bahá'í community of Bangladesh, flourishing in the midst of a Muslim society, is a source of joy to the entire Bahá'í world. In recent years and with astonishing rapidity, that community began to achieve extraordinary success in the teaching field, and throughout the Three Year Plan it has sustained consistently large-scale expansion. Its institutions have demonstrated their capacity to mobilize the human resources at their disposal, and those who have responded to the call for action have sacrificially and with the utmost devotion spread the Divine Teachings among the Muslim, Hindu and tribal populations of that country. The purity of their motives and the sincerity of their efforts to address the needs of society have won them recognition from government officials in the highest circles. Their exertions to promote love and unity among the majority Muslim and minority Hindu populations are bearing increasing fruit, a striking testimony to the potency of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation."[20]

Modern community

In Bangladesh the Bahá'ís have had the right to hold their public meetings, establish academic centers, teach their faith, and elect their administrative councils.[21] However the government of Bangladesh voted against the United Nations resolution Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran on 19 December 2001 raised in response to the Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran.[22] Regardless, Bahá'ís in Bangladesh have been able to coordinate and act in groups. About 150 gathered for a summer school in 1977[23] and about 300 attended the winter school held February 1978.[24] Zena Sorabjee of the Bahá'í International Community, shared a platform with Pope John Paul II during his visit to India in 1999 and the meeting was aired through satellite television. It is reported that Bahá'ís in a number of countries, including Bangladesh, viewed the broadcast.[25] In 2008 about 30 out of 200 Bahá'ís managed to get passports and visas and travel from Bangladesh to a regional conference called for by the Universal House of Justice in Kolkata, India, although many more of their fellow believers weren't able to make the trip. The Bahá'ís went in groups to request their travel documents, with many of them waiting up to three days even to reach the door. In the end, most were turned away without the visa.[26]

Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women,[27] promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern,[28] and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics.[27] The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice dated 20 October 1983 was released.[29] 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. For the International Year of the Child Bangladesh Bahá'ís established tutorial schools in three villages.[30] By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. The Bahá'ís in Bangladesh work to promote their interests and contributions to Bangladesh. Even early on there were village level schools run by the local assembly in the Jessore area.[31] In 1981 the second Bangladesh National Baha'i Women's Conference took place attracting Bahá'í women from Bangladesh, India, Iran, Malaysia and Italy.[32] In 1995 three national newspapers published articles on a public meeting sponsored by the local spiritual assembly of Khulna to mark the founding of the United Nations. Tents on the grounds of the Bahá'í Center there were filled with 50 Bahá'ís and 200 guests who listened to speeches and then enjoyed the performance of songs written by Bahá'í youth on the theme of unity and amity among the nations and races of the earth.[33] Some of the students of the New Era Development Institute, an educational NGO in India run by the Bahá'ís, have come from the Bangladesh Bahá'í community in 1997.[34] In 1988 Bahá'í doctors setup free treatment camps.[35] In addition to work in groups, some individuals have become well known for their contributions to Bangladesh society. Bahá'í Samarendra Nath Goswami, is well known in Bangladesh as Secretary General of the Bangladesh Minority Lawyers Association[36] and senior advocate of Bangladesh Supreme Court and contributed to founding a law journal and two law schools.[37] In 1994, he edited The Principles of Bahá'í Personal Law which was published by the Bangladesh Law Times.[38] In the early 1990s, Baha'i law was included in the law curriculum of Dhaka University.[39] Payam Akhavan, Bahá'í and a renowned human rights lawyer represented Sheikh Hasina (a once and again Prime Minister of Bangladesh).[40][41][42]

The Bahá'ís of Bangladesh have participated in various efforts affecting society in Bangladesh. Representatives of the Bahá'ís of Bangladesh were among those present for a 19 December 2003 conference entitled "Education: The Right of Every Girl and Boy," which was organized by the Bahá'í International Community with the support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the government of Bangladesh among other institutions.[43] Representatives of the Bahá'í International Community were among the speakers at the "Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace," which was held on 22 June 2005 with the government of Bangladesh among the co-sponsors.[44] In September 2002, a slide show on preventing the spread of Dengue fever was presented at the National Bahá'í Center in Shantinagar.[45] December 2007, the Centre for Advance Research in Humanities of Dhaka University organized a seminar on "The Baha'i Faith and World Peace" at the lecture theater of the university presided over by Prof Kazi Nazrul Islam,(not the famous Bengali individual of the same name who died in 1977) Director of the center. Mazhgan Bahar, Professor of English Department of American International University-Bangladesh, presented the keynote paper at the seminar, while Prof Dr Rawshan Ara of Philosophy Department, Prof Shahid Hussain, Secretary General of International Association for Religious Freedom and Prof Jahangir Alam of the world religion Department, among others, were present.[46]

Demographics

It is not known how many organized communities of Bahá'ís there are in Bangladesh. In 2005 the World Christian Encyclopedia estimated the Bahá'í population of Bangladesh at about 10600.[6] There are reports of many conversions from November 1988 to September 1989 including many Munda and Arakan people.[47]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The Bahá'í Faith -Brief History". Official Website of the National Spiritual Assembly of India. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India. 2003. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  2. 1 2 Momen, Moojan; Smith, Peter. "Bahá'í History". Draft A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith. Bahá'í Library Online. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Momen, Moojan (2000). "Jamál Effendi and the early spread of the Bahá'í Faith in Asia". Baha'i Studies Review. Association for Baha'i Studies (English-Speaking Europe). 09 (1999/2000). Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Ali, Meer Mobashsher (2012). "Bahai". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  5. 1 2 3 Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land. "The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963". pp. 51, 107.
  6. 1 2 "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >. The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  7. ↑ Manuchehri, Sepehr (April 2001). Walbridge, John, ed. "Historical Accounts of two Indian Babis: Sa'in Hindi and Sayyid Basir Hindi". Research Notes in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies. 05 (02). Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  8. ↑ Manuchehri, Sepehr (September 1999). Walbridge, John, ed. "The Practice of Taqiyyah (Dissimulation) in the Babi and Bahai Religions". Research Notes in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies. 03 (03). Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  9. ↑ Garlington, William (1997). R.I. Cole, Juan; Maneck., Susan, eds. "The Baha'i Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach". Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies. Humanities & Social Sciences Online. June, 1997 (02). Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  10. ↑ "Letter from the House of Spirituality of Bahais, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A. to the Assembly of Rangoon Burma". Star of the West. 01 (11). 1910-02-10.
  11. 1 2 Hassall, Graham. "Notes on Research on National Spiritual Assemblies". Research notes. Asia Pacific Bahá'í Studies. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  12. ↑ Bahá'í International Community. ""Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era" editions and printings held in Bahá'í World Centre Library Decade by decade 1920 -2000+". General Collections. International Bahá'í Library. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  13. ↑ Francis, Richard (1998). "Enoch Olinga Hand of the Cause of God Father of Victories". Collected Biographies. Bahá'í Library Online. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  14. ↑ Universal House of Justice (1986). In Memoriam. The Bahá'í World. XVIII. Bahá'í World Centre. pp. 795–797. ISBN 0-85398-234-1.
  15. ↑ Mustafa, Muhammad. Herzog, Laura M., ed. Baha'u'llah: The Great Announcement of the Qur'an. Translated by Mustafa, Rowshan. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Baha'i Publishing Trust. Foreword and p. 112 "About the Author".
  16. ↑ Universal House of Justice (1992). The Ministry of the Custodians 1957-1963: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause. Great Britain: Universal House of Justice. ISBN 0-85398-350-X.
  17. ↑ "Around the World; Bangladesh". Bahá'í News (603): 16. June 1981. ISSN 0195-9212.
  18. ↑ "Amatu'l-Baha in the Far East". Bahá'í News (521): 5–7. August 1974.
  19. ↑ MacEoin, Denis; William Collins. "Anti-Baha'i Polemics". The Babi and Baha'i Religions: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Press's ongoing series of Bibliographies and Indexes in Religious Studies. Entry #1. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  20. ↑ Universal House of Justice (April 1996). "Ridvan Letter to South Asia". Published by the Universal House of Justice. Bahá'í Library Online. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  21. ↑ Wardany, Youssef (2009). "The Right of Belief in Egypt: Case study of Baha'i minority". Al Waref Institute. Archived from the original on 15 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  22. ↑ Bahá'í International Community (2008). "UN General Assembly Resolution 2001". Bahá'í International Community. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  23. ↑ "Bangladesh". Bahá'í News (563): 17. February 1978.
  24. ↑ "Around the World; Bangladesh". Bahá'í News (567): 13. June 1978.
  25. ↑ Universal House of Justice (1999-12-12). "Report of the inter-religious meeting held in New Delhi on 7 November 1999 on the occasion of the visit to India of Pope John Paul II". Letters from the Universal House of Justice. Universal House of Justice. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  26. ↑ Bahá'í International Community (2008-11-23). "The Kolkata Regional Conference". Bahá'í World News Service.
  27. 1 2 Momen, Moojan. "History of the Baha'i Faith in Iran". draft "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith". Bahai-library.com. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  28. ↑ Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi (1997). "Education of women and socio-economic development". Baha'i Studies Review. 7 (1).
  29. ↑ Momen, Moojan; Smith, Peter (1989). "The Baha'i Faith 1957–1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments". Religion. 19 (1): 63–91. doi:10.1016/0048-721X(89)90077-8.
  30. ↑ "Bangladesh". Bahá'í News (592): 16. July 1980.
  31. ↑ "Bangladesh". Bahá'í News (572): 16. November 1978.
  32. ↑ "Around the World; Bangladesh". Bahá'í News (603): 12. June 1981.
  33. ↑ Bahá'í International Community (1996). "UN 50: Bahá'ís Commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations". Bahá'í International Community. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  34. ↑ Bahá'í International Community (October–December 1997). "New Era Development Institute - In India, a new approach to vocational education". Bahá'í International Community. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  35. ↑ "The World; Bangladesh". Bahá'í News (690): 14. September 1988. ISSN 0195-9212.
  36. ↑ Benkin, Dr. Richard L. (2006-05-19). "Bangladesh to Frame Sedition Charge against Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury". The Asian Tribune.
  37. ↑ "History of Founder Members". Official Website of the Bangladesh Minority Lawyer's Association. Bangladesh Minority Lawyer's Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  38. ↑ Samarendra Nath Goswami, LL.M, ed. (1994). Principles of Bahá'í Personal Law, The. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Bangladesh Law Times. OL 24280885M.
  39. ↑ Bahá’í World Centre. The Bahá'í world 1994-95: an international record. 1996.
  40. ↑ Incidental Blogger (2008-03-04). "Hospitality, Dhaka Style: Akhavan, Sloan and Another". Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  41. ↑ Hosseini, Fazel (2006-12-01). "War Crimes Prosecutor Payam Akhavan Speaks about his Global Fight for Human Rights - Interview With Payam Akhavan (Part One)". Gozaar, Freedom House. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  42. ↑ Hosseini, Fazel (2007-01-01). "War Crimes Prosecutor Payam Akhavan Speaks about his Global Fight for Human Rights - Interview With Payam Akhavan (Part Two)". Gozaar, Freedom House. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  43. ↑ Bahá'í International Community (2003-12-19). "Girl highlights conference theme". Bahá'í World News Service.
  44. ↑ Bahá'í International Community (2005-06-28). "Unity stressed at interfaith conference". Bahá'í World News Service.
  45. ↑ Ahamed, Khaja (2002). "Dengue Slide Show". Official Bangladesh Dengue Website. Bangladesh Dengue Website. Archived from the original on 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  46. ↑ DU Correspondent (2007-12-03). "Inter-faith accord to promote world peace stressed". The New Nation, Bangladesh's Independent News Source.
  47. ↑ "The World; Bangladesh". Bahá'í News (705): 14. January 1990. ISSN 0195-9212.

Further reading

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