Entry by Troops

Entry by Troops is a term used in the writings of the Bahá’í Faith which refers to large numbers of people in a specific region becoming Bahá’ís. It is viewed as a gradual process which serves as a prelude to the mass conversion of the majority of the world to the Bahá’í Faith. The Universal House of Justice has stated that entry by troops is a process currently taking place in localities throughout the world and has encouraged the Bahá’í community to begin viewing it in a systematic and sustainable way.

History

Origins of the term

In His Tablet revealed for the Shah of Iran in 1868 Bahá’u’lláh used the imagery of entry by troops to refer to people accepting His teachings:

"Could the people but taste that choice Wine of the mercy of their Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, which lieth in store for them in the world beyond, they would assuredly cease their censure, and seek only to win the good pleasure of this Youth. For now, however, they have hidden Me behind a veil of darkness, whose fabric they have woven with the hands of idle fancy and vain imagination. Erelong shall the snow-white hand of God rend an opening through the darkness of this night and unlock a mighty portal unto His City. On that Day shall the people enter therein by troops, uttering what the blamers aforetime exclaimed, that there shall be made manifest in the end that which appeared in the beginning."

Shoghi Effendi used the term in a letter written in July 1953. Referring to the influx of new Bahá’ís through the efforts of the community in the opening months of the Ten Year Crusade he wrote:

"This flow, moreover, will presage and hasten the advent of the day which, as prophesied by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, will witness the entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the Bahá’í world—a day which, viewed in its proper perspective, will be the prelude to that long-awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations and races, and as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in nature, and which cannot as yet be even dimly visualized, will suddenly revolutionize the fortunes of the Faith, derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh."

Early examples

In an October 1963 letter the Universal House of Justice noted that entry by troops had begun to take place:

"We stand now upon the threshold of the second epoch of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s Divine Plan, with the outposts of the Cause established in the remotest corners of the earth, and having already witnessed the beginnings of that entry into the Faith by troops promised by the Master Himself."

The Universal House of Justice also stated that entry by troops had begun to take place during the Ten Year Crusade in letters released in 1964, 1965, and 1966, and later specified that Africa was where entry by troops had taken place during the Ministry of the Guardian.

In 1971 the Universal House of Justice reported that entry by troops was occurring in many parts of the world, and in 1974 it noted that the development of Local Spiritual Assemblies was required to give the Faith to capacity to cope with entry by troops. In 1976 the Universal House of Justice advised the Bahá’ís of Africa that the process of entry by troops needed to be accelerated on the continent.

In 1981 the Universal House of Justice specified that Africa had experienced entry by troops, and in 1987 it stated that entry by troops had occurred in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific. In 1989 the Universal House of Justice named Bolivia, Bangladesh, Haiti, India, Liberia, Peru, the Philippines, and Taiwan as countries where entry by troops was taking place.

Systematization

In 1995 the Universal House of Justice called for some formalization of understanding of the process in the global Bahá’í community to take place:

"After the glorious events of the Heroic Age of the Faith, entry by troops of the peoples of the world into the Cause of God first occurred in Africa during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi, and then spread to other areas. Gradually, the Bahá’í communities of those regions are learning through experience and are evolving methods and programs which aim to draw these large numbers of believers together in functioning communities and to establish strong bases for continuing growth. To assist them in their endeavors, to help the Bahá’ís in other countries to initiate and maintain this process, and to dispel the misconceptions which inevitably surround so challenging a concept, a compilation on Promoting Entry by Troops has been issued. Study and application of the principles and approaches described therein will undoubtedly assist every Bahá’í teacher and community, whether in an area where entry by troops has been a reality for many years, or in one where no sign of it has yet appeared. In respect to the latter, it will help to convince individual believers of the reality and validity of this process and will enable Bahá’í communities to prepare themselves spiritually and materially for this surge forward, to eagerly anticipate its occurrence, to take those steps which will foster its beginning, and to ensure the measures which will perpetuate its growth."

The Universal House of Justice also called for the international Bahá’í to systematically approach advancing the process:

"At Riḍván 1996, the Bahá’ís of the world will embark on a global enterprise aimed at one major accomplishment: a significant advance in the process of entry by troops. This is to be achieved through marked progress in the activity and development of the individual believer, of the institutions, and of the local community. That an advance in this process depends on the progress of all three of these intimately connected participants is abundantly clear. The next four years must witness a dramatic upsurge in effective teaching activities undertaken at the initiative of the individual. Thousands upon thousands of believers will need to be aided to express the vitality of their faith through constancy in teaching the Cause and by supporting the plans of their institutions and the endeavors of their communities."