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Algeria

From Bahaipedia
 Algeria
Participants at first National Convention for Algeria and Tunisia, Algiers, 1967.
Location of Algeria
National AssemblyN/A
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 44,177,969
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 4,091
History:
Firsts
 -  Local Bahá'í 1953, ‘Abdu’l-Karím Amín Khawja 
 -  Pioneers 1952, Khodabakhch Attar 
 -  Local Assembly 1954, Algiers 
 -  National Assembly 1967, with Tunisia
Disbanded 1969 
Related media
Categories: Algeria • People

The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is a North African country. Arabic and Berber are the official languages of the country, and French and Algerian Arabic are also widely spoken.

The region has been inhabited since the Prehistoric era and it is the origin of the Berber culture. In ancient history it became apart of Carthage, but after Carthage declined due to warring with Rome several Berber Kingdoms were established which were later annexed by Rome. In the Middle Ages the Umayyad Caliphate conquered Algeria and the majority of the country became Muslim. It was later apart of the Ottoman Empire, but in 1830 the region was invaded by France and by 1875 what is now Algeria was fully conquered. In the 1950's a war for independence began and in 1962 Algeria gained independence from France.

The Bahá'í Faith was reportedly first present in the country in the 1910's and 1920's, but it was not until the 1950's that a community was established. In the late 1960's the religion was persecuted with all Bahá’í organized activity being banned in 1969.

History[edit]

Bahá'ís had reportedly visited Algeria as early as 1910.[2] In early 1923 a Kurdish Bahá'í knowledgeable in Islamic law planned to move to Algeria to teach the Faith, however it does not appear that they were successful in firmly establishing the Faith in the country.[3]

Haziratu'l-Quds of Algiers, 1958.

As of 1951 an Africa Teaching Campaign had begun, and the Bahá'í community of Egypt was called on to send pioneers to Algeria by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.[4][5] In 1952 Khodabakhch Attar, a Persian Bahá'í, pioneered to Algiers with his wife and four sons making him the first pioneer to the country.[6][7] Another early pioneer was Rooho'llah Mavadatt who arrived in Algeria on September 9, 1953.[8] In late 1953 ‘Abdu’l-Karím Amín Khawja declared becoming the first Bahá'í of Algeria. Before the close of 1953 a Bahá'í group had been formed which was visited by Hand of the Cause Zikrullah Khadem that year, with his visit being reported in several newspapers,[9] and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Algiers was formed the following year.[10]

In 1957 some Berbers became Bahá'ís. In 1958 Khodabakhch Attar visited Constantine and Bone from Algiers for sixteen days to teach the Faith.[11] As of 1958 there was a Haziratu'l-Quds in Algiers.[12]

In 1964 the National Spiritual Assembly of North West Africa was formed and given the responsibility of administrating the Faith in Algeria.[13] In 1967 a joint National Spiritual Assembly of Algeria and Tunisia was formed, with Hand of the Cause Shu'á'u'lláh ‘Alá'í attending the Convention at which it was established.[14]

In August 1968 some Bahá'ís of Algeria attended a Bahá'í Conference held in Palermo, Sicily, which, in addition to the location of the Bahá'í World Centre, resulted in the Algerian authorities beginning to persecute the Faith. In November 1968 sixteen Persian Bahá'ís were expelled from Algeria, five native Algerian Bahá'ís were exiled to the interior of the country, and Bahá'í properties and funds were seized.[15] One Persian Bahá'í who was employed by the government was arrested and beaten, but allowed to remain in the country. The Bahá'í community petitioned the government and was able to regain the Bahá'í Funds and the National Haziratu'l-Quds, were allowed to lease the local Haziratu'l-Quds of Algiers, and the local Bahá'ís who were exiled were also allowed to return home. However in 1969 an official decree banned the Bahá'í Faith from organized activity and forming institutions and the National Spiritual Assembly of Algeria and Tunisia was disbanded.[16][17]

In 1986 The Promise of World Peace, the peace statement by the Universal House of Justice, was indirectly delivered to the Head of State of Algeria via the Algerian Mission in New York.[18] In 1993 Yassine Merzougui, a non-Bahá'í journalist, wrote an article in the Algerian newspaper L'Hebdo in response to an article in the same paper which associated the Faith with Islamic extremism. In his article he wrote that the Bahá'í Faith was an independent monotheistic religion and not a sect and was not associated with extremism.[19]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ Temple, Bernard (May 27, 1910). "Persia and the Regenerations of Islam". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. 58 (2001): 652–665. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  3. ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp 90-91
  4. ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 246, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.0
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 248, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i World: In Memoriam 1992-1997, p 105
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 259, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 277, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 271, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.3
  10. ↑ Bahá'í World: In Memoriam, 1992-1997, p 106
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 330, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.8
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 333, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1963). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 393, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1967). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 439, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i World: In Memoriam 1992-1997, p 106
  16. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 41. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 172. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1988). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 683, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1993). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 21 (1992-1993), Pg(s) 164. View as PDF.


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