Bahá'í Faith in Niger
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The Bahá'í Faith in Niger began during a period of wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa near the end of its colonial period.[1] The first Bahá'ís arrive in Niger in 1966[2] and the growth of the religion reached a point of electing its National Spiritual Assembly in 1975.[3] Following a period of oppression, making the institutions of the Bahá'í Faith illegal in the late 1970s and '80s, the National Assembly was re-elected starting in 1992. The Bahá'í community in Niger has grown mostly in the south-west of the country where they number in the low thousands.
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[edit] Early Period
During the late colonial period of French West Africa the Bahá'í Faith entered the region in 1953.[4] Wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa was observed to begin in 1950s and extend in the 1960s.[1] There were over 1000 Bahá'ís across North-West Africa[5] resulting in a regional National Spiritual Assembly including French West Africa in 1956.[6] Following the independence of Niger in 1960, the first pioneers arrived in Niger in 1966.[2]
[edit] Development
The National Spiritual Assembly of Niger, splitting off from the North West African Assembly, was elected in 1975.[3]
As part of a sweep across several Sub-Saharan countries, the Bahá'í Faith was banned in the 1970s: Burundi, 1974; Mali 1976; Uganda 1977; Congo, 1978; Niger, 1978 (during the government established by military coup of Seyni Kountché.)
"This was principally the result of a campaign by a number of Arab countries. Since these countries were also by this time providers of development aid, this overt attack on the Baha'is was supported by covert moves such as linking the aid money to a particular country to the action that it took against the Baha'is. This was partially successful and a number of countries did ban the Baha'is for a time. However, the Baha'is were able to demonstrate to these governments that they were not agents of Zionism nor anti-Islamic and succeeded in having the ban reversed in all of these countries except Niger."[7]
However, changes also came in Niger. The Nigerian government made changes by instituting a multi-party democratic system called for by union and student demands. Following this there was a waning of military coup successor Col. Ali Saibou's power and widespread changes in laws and in 1991 all legal restrictions of the Bahá'í Faith had been ended[8] though political instability persisted.[9] The National Spiritual Assembly was elected again at Niger's Bahá'í Convention in 1992.[10]
[edit] Modern community
The Bahá'ís of Niger number a few thousand and are located primarily in Niamey and on the west side of the Niger River bordering Burkina Faso.[11] The community has participated in literacy project initiatives.[12]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Overview Of World Religions. General Essay on the Religions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
- ^ a b House of Justice, Universal (1966). Ridván Letter, 1966. Ridvan Messages from the Universal House of Justice. Bahá'í Library Online. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ a b Hassall, Graham. Notes on Research on National Spiritual Assemblies. Asia Pacific Bahá'í Studies. Bahá'í Library Online. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ “National communities celebrate together”, Bahá'í World News Service, 2003-12-28, <http://news.bahai.org/story/283>
- ^ Effendi, Shoghi; Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land (1963). North West Africa. Bahá'í World 1954-63. Bahá'í International Community. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ 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 p. 22, 46.
- ^ Smith, Peter & Momen, Moojan (1989), “The Baha'i Faith 1957-1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments”, Religion 19 (01): pp. 63-91, doi:10.1016/0048-721X(89)90077-8, <http://www.bahai-library.org/articles/smith.momen.html>
- ^ compiled by Wagner, Ralph D.. NIGER. Synopsis of References to the Bahá'í Faith, in the US State Department's Reports on Human Rights 1991-2000. Bahá'í Academics Resource Library. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ “Niger: The people of Niger have the right to truth and justice”, Amnesty International News Service, 2000-04-06, <http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR430032000?open&of=ENG-NER>
- ^ House of Justice, Universal (1992). Ridván Letter, 1992. Ridvan Messages from the Universal House of Justice. Bahá'í Library Online. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2004-09-15). Niger International Religious Freedom Report. United States State Department. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
- ^ “Perspective: Literacy and Development”, One Country 16 (01), April-June 2004, <http://www.onecountry.org/e161/e16102as_Perspective_Literacy.htm>
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