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Eritrea

From Bahaipedia
 Eritrea
Bahá’í Youth Conference held in Asmara, 1958.
Location of Eritrea
National AssemblyEritrea
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 3,620,312
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 1,280
History:
Firsts
 -  Bahá'í to visit c. 1930s, Sabri Elias 
 -  Pioneers 1953, Heshmatollah Farhoumand 
 -  Local Assembly 1956, Asmara 
 -  National Assembly 1995 
Related media
Categories: Eritrea • People

The State of Eritrea is a country in Eastern Africa. It has no official language but major languages spoken are Tigrinya, English, and Arabic. Christianity and Islam are the major religions of the country.

In the first century AD modern day Eritrea was part of the Kingdom of Aksum. In 1882 the region was colonized by Italy as Italian Eritrea until being incorporated into Italian East Africa in 1936. In 1942 it came under British rule following Italy's defeat in the second world war and in 1952 it was incorporated into Ethiopia for foreign affairs and defense but with a local parliament. In 1962 Ethiopia annexed Eritrea and it remained part of Ethiopia until achieving full independence in 1993.

The Bahá’í community of Eritrea was established in the early 1950's. The community was reportedly facing some government oppression as of the early 2000's.

History[edit]

The Bahá’í community of Asmara, 1953.

The Bahá’í Faith was first introduced to Eritrea by Sabri Elias who pioneered to Ethiopia in 1933 and remained in the country until 1954 teaching in what is now Eritrea during his time there.[2][3] In 1953 Shoghi Effendi gave the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt and Sudan the responsibility of consolidating the Faith in the area,[4] and that year Heshmatollah Farhoumand pioneered to Eritrea itself from Iran and successfully secured government recognition of the Faith in September. In 1954 the rest of his family was able to join him and he opened a dental clinic.[5]

In 1955 Hushang Ahdieh, the nephew of Farhoumand, pioneered to Asmara in Eritrea, that year a Summer School was held in Asmara,[6] and a Local Spiritual Assembly had been formed in Asmara by the following year.[7] In 1956 the National Spiritual Assembly of North East Africa was formed and assigned responsibility for administrating the Bahá’í community of Eritrea.[8] In 1958 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Asmara appointed a youth committee which organized a youth conference and deepening classes.[9]

The Bahá’í community of Asmara experienced some friction with local authorities in the late 1950's with some Bahá’ís being briefly arrested and security forces making inquiries however in 1959 the authorities concluded the Faith did not have any political agenda and officially recognized the Local Spiritual Assembly of Asmara as a religious body.[10] While this resolved tensions with the civil authorities the community faced another challenge in 1960 when a Catholic bishop in Eritrea issued a notice condemning the Bahá’í Faith which was read in churches across the region.[11]

Bahá’í Summer School of Eritrea, 1957.

In 1961 the annual convention for the Bahá’í communities of North East Africa was held in Asmara with a teaching conference being held immediately before.[12] In 1962 a major school in Asmara granted recognition to Bahá’í Holy Days granting permission for Bahá’í students to be exempt from school on Holy Days,[13] and during the year Bahá’í pioneers in the village of Augaro experienced success teaching the Faith to the Kunemas tribe in the area.[14]

In 1968 Hushang Ahdieh, residing in Eritrea, was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for Africa.[15] In April 1969 teaching activities in Eritrea, particularly in Kunama where a Local Spiritual Assembly had recently been re-established, were discussed at a regional teaching conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[16] In October 1969 Rúḥíyyih Khánum visited Asmara for five days with Dr. Leo Niederreiter and during her visit she spoke at a public luncheon held by the Bahá’í community and also at events at an Officer's Club and the Women's Christian Association.[17] The Bahá’í community of Eritrea was incorporated into the Bahá’í community of Ethiopia being governed by the National Spiritual Assembly of Ethiopia after it was formed in 1975.[18]

The first National Spiritual Assembly of Eritrea, 1995.

In October 1992 a Bahá’í Teaching and Administrative Committee for Eritrea was formed which assumed responsibility for arranging teaching trips, appointing task forces, and arranging translations of Bahá’í literature, for the region. In 1993 Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia and in 1995 an independent National Spiritual Assembly of Eritrea was formed to govern the countries Bahá’í community.[19]

In 2003 the International Religious Freedom Report noted that there were "very small numbers" of Bahá’ís in Eritrea. The community submitted an application to register the Bahá’í Faith as a religion however it had not received approval for members to practice the religion as of December 2003. It was reported the community was facing government oppression along with other religious minorities.[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:In_Memoriam_1992-1997.pdf&page=265
  3. ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:In_Memoriam_1992-1997.pdf&page=273
  4. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 265, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:In_Memoriam_1992-1997.pdf&page=272
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 336, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ https://bahai.works/In_Memoriam_1992-1997/Hushang_Ahdieh
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 311, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 327, Pg(s) 16. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 341, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 348, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 365, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 373, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 381, Pg(s) 15. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1969). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 463, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1969). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 460, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ Baha'i News (1970). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 469, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1997). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 24 (1995-1996), Pg(s) 51. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1997). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 24 (1995-1996), Pg(s) 51. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ https://www.refworld.org/docid/42df60e337.html


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