Comoros

Comoros
Bahá’í community of Moroni, 1960.
Location of the Comoros
National Assembly		N/A
Statistics:
Total Population
-	UN 2021	821,625
Bahá'í pop.
-	Bahá'í source
-	Non-Bahá'í source	766
History: Firsts
-	Pioneers	1955, Mehrabán Sohailí
-	Local Assembly	1985, Moroni and two villages
Related media
Categories: Comoros • People

The Union of the Comoros is an island nation off the east coast of Africa. It three official languages are Comorian, French, and Arabic.

The islands have been inhabited since prehistory. Islam was introduced to the islands shortly after the time of Muhammad and became the predominant religion. In the 19th century France colonized the islands and they remained under French rule until achieving independence in 1975. Part of the island group remains under France as the Department of Mayotte.

The Bahá’í Faith was introduced to the Comoros in the 1950's however a community has not been established due to opposition to the religion by government and clergy.

History

The Comoros islands were opened to the Bahá’í Faith by Mehrabán Sohailí who pioneered to the country from Pakistan arriving on November 28, 1954, in the capital city Dzaoudzi on the island of Mayotte with a six month visa. In early 1955 Sohailí moved to Moroni on Grand Comoros Island and he was able to secure another six month visa after his first six months expired.

Auxiliary Board member Jalál Nakhjavání visited the Comoros at some point in 1955 and during his visit several people enrolled as Bahá’ís however in September that year Sohailí was forced to leave the country due to complaints from community leaders. After departing Sohailí continually made unsuccessful applications for a permanent visa to return to the country from 1956 to 1961, and despite opposition a Bahá’í group was maintained in Moroni until at least 1960. At some point the International Teaching Center advised Sohailí to focus on making short visits to the Comoros rather than seeking permanent residency and in March 1977 he visited the islands for two weeks resulting in eighteen declarations.

In March 1985 Sohailí made a second two week teaching trip accompanied by his son, Isfandiar, and they were unable to find any of his previous contacts however they did meet with two African Bahá’ís who had declared elsewhere before moving to the Comoros. Sixty people declared in Moroni during their visit and formed a Local Spiritual Assembly and two additional Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed in villages. This success resulted in the police arresting the Sohailí's, confiscating their literature, and deporting them from the country. Opposition from the government and Islamic clergy resulted in the Assemblies disbanding after a short time.

See also

• All articles about Comoros