Baháʼí Faith in Afghanistan

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The Baháʼí Faith in Afghanistan was possibly introduced in 1880s when some Baháʼís are believed to have visited Afghanistan. However, it wasn't until the 1930s that a Baháʼí community was established there.

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the harsh rule of the Taliban the Baháʼís lost the right to have any institutions and many fled. Although the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated there were some 16,541 Baháʼís in 2010,[4] the Baháʼís in Afghanistan number at approximately 400 according to a more recent 2007 US estimate.[5]

Early period

During Baháʼu'lláh's lifetime, Jamal Effendi possibly visited the area of Afghanistan in the late 1880s, according to Baháʼí sources.[1]

The first person of Afghan descent living outside of Afghanistan who became a Baha'i was Dr. Ata'u'llah Khan. He was then living in Samarqand and heard of the faith through Mirza Abu'l-Fadl.[6] The first Afghans inside of Afghanistan to become Baha'is would be in 1966.[7]

An Afghan scholar that came across the Baha'i faith and interacted with its writings was

Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī.[8]

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote a series of letters, or

Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919.[9]
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 Baháʼu'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

Ceylon and Afghanistan, most great results will be forthcoming.[10]

In the late 1930s

Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1948 in Kabul.[2]

After the World Wars

By 1963, the Assembly of Kabul had lost assembly status.

National Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1972.[3] There were an estimated 400 Baháʼís in mid 1970s, and 4 assemblies in 1973.[1][2]

Soviet invasion

Following the

Mazar-e Sharif.[citation needed
]

A number of Baháʼís were arrested and imprisoned for fourteen months.[3][unreliable source?]

Taliban

In 1998, when the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan arrested many Baháʼís, many began to flee to Pakistan.[3][unreliable source?] Many Afghan Baháʼís fled during the 2000-2001 period of Taliban rule. Following the 2001 fall of the Taliban, many Afghan Baháʼís have returned. In 2007 the US government estimated the Baháʼí population under the Taliban had fallen to about 400 - 300 of which were in Kabul.[5]

Recent developments

Estimates of the population of Baháʼís have varied widely - the

infidels and hazards the status of marriages of Baháʼís.[5][17] Although the Supreme Court ruling would impact Afghan Bahai'is, it would be unlikely to affect foreign-national Bahai'is.[5] 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.[18][self-published source?
]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Hassall, Graham. "Notes on Research Countries". Research notes. Asia Pacific Baháʼí Studies. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-85398-404-2
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e "Baháʼí Faith in Afghanistan". Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  4. ^ "Most Baha'i Nations (2010) | QuickLists | The Association of Religion Data Archives". www.thearda.com. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  5. ^ a b c d U.S. State Department (14 September 2007). "Afghanistan - International Religious Freedom Report 2007". The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affair. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  6. ^ "Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani". Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  7. ^ "Bahá'ís of Afghanistan". Bahá’í community of Afghanistan. Retrieved Apr 1, 2021.
  8. ^ "Sayyid Jamal al-Din "al-Afghani" Asadabadi Collected Works al-A'mal al-Kamilah". Humanities & Social Sciences Online. Retrieved Apr 1, 2021.
  9. ^ ʻAbbas, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (April 1919). Tablets, Instructions and Words of Explanation. Mirza Ahmad Sohrab (trans. and comments).
  10. ISBN 0-87743-233-3
    .
  11. ^ Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land. "The Baháʼí Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Baháʼí Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963". p. 55.
  12. ^ Effendi, Shoghi (1936-03-11). The World Order of Baháʼu'lláh. Haifa, Palestine: US Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1991 first pocket-size edition. pp. 64–67.
  13. ^ a b "Azerbaijani, continued." Adherents.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. Archived from the original on 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  15. ^ "Most Baha'i Nations (2010) | QuickLists | The Association of Religion Data Archives". www.thearda.com. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  16. ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2007 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. US State Department.
  17. ISBN 978-90-04-18148-9
    . Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  18. ^ Baháʼí International Community (2008-11-23). "The New Delhi Regional Conference". Baháʼí World News Service. Retrieved 2009-07-04.

External links

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