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Libya

From Bahaipedia
 Libya
The Bahá’ís of Benghazi, Libya, 1952.
Location of Libya
National AssemblyN/A
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 6,735,277
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 687
History:
Firsts
 -  Local Bahá'í 1952, El Alamy 
 -  Pioneers 1952, Dr. Hussein Gollestaneh 
 -  Local Assembly 1953, Benghazi 
Related media
Categories: Libya • People

The State of Libya is a North African country. Arabic is the official language of the country with Libyan Arabic and Berber also being widely spoken.

The region has been inhabited since prehistory. In ancient history it was ruled by Greece, Persia, and eventually the Roman Empire. The Rashidun Caliphate conquered the region in the early history of Islam, and other Islamic dynasties ruled the region during the Middle Ages, with the area eventually becoming a part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1912 Italy conquered the area and established three colonies, and in 1934 Libya was established as an Italian colony with Tripoli as its capital. In 1943 Libya came under Allied occupation during World War II and remained under occupation until being granted independence in 1951.

The Bahá'í Faith was established in Libya in the 1950's, however in the late 1960's it began to be persecuted by the authorities and was eventually banned.

History[edit]

In 1951 the Egyptian Bahá'í community was called on to send pioneers to Libya as part of the Africa Teaching Campaign by Shoghi Effendi.[2][3] Dr. Hussein Gollestaneh arrived in Benghazi from Egypt on February 21, 1952, and by June 5 the first Libyan Bahá'í, El Alamy, had declared. In late June a Bahá'í family from Egypt also pioneered to Benghazi and a Bahá'í group of Benghazi was formed.[4]

In 1953 many Bahá'ís pioneered to Libya. From the west came Robert Gulick and his wife who pioneered to Tripoli accompanied by Ella Bailey who passed away shortly after arriving.[5] Pioneers from Egypt were Mustafá Effendi Sálim who helped establish the Local Spiritual Assembly of Benghazi and then pioneered to Tripoli in July, Asia and Feridon Zein who pioneered to Benghazi with their two children,[6] and Rizvaniyyih Iqrari who pioneered to Benghazi in September. On September 26 Mohsen Enayat pioneered within Libya from Tripoli to Feezan.[7] In late September Ne'mat 'Abdu'l-Wahid, his wife, and his sister-in-law pioneered to Tripoli from Iraq.[8]

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Benghazi was established in 1953,[9] but the Faith also experienced some opposition with a newspaper printing an article critical of the Faith, and a response written by the Bahá'ís was printed shortly afterward.[10] As of November 1953 the Tripoli Bahá'í community was aiming to establish an Assembly in 1954 and it was successful in doing so.[11]

A notable aspect of the early Libyan Bahá'í community was that it was not at any stage supported financially by a more established Bahá'í community, and by 1954 it had been able to donate money to three National Assemblies and directly to the Holy Land,[12] although in August 1954 the community began to face opposition with Egyptian Bahá’ís residing in Benghazi being deported.[13] As of 1956 a Bahá'í burial ground had been secured in Tripoli.[14] The National Spiritual Assembly of North East Africa was formed in 1956 and given the responsibility of administrating the Faith in Libya.

In the summer of 1965 Hand of the Cause Ṭaráẓu’lláh Samandarí visited Libya.[15] In 1969 a delegate from the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tripoli participated in the election of the National Spiritual Assembly of North East Africa for the first time,[16] however in the late 1960's and early 70's the Bahá'í community of Libya faced recurrent periods of persecution,[17] and by the 1980's the Bahá'í Faith had been banned in the country.[18]

In 1986 The Promise of World Peace, the peace statement by the Universal House of Justice, was indirectly presented to the Head of State of Libya via being delivered by registered mail.[19]

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. ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 246, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 248, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  4. ↑ Bahá'í News, No. 260, p 5
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 271, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 272, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 273, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 273, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 274, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 271, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 280, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 282, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London, 2017, p 40
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 303, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1965). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 415, Pg(s) 4. 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. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 187. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 49. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ Baha'i News (1988). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 683, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.


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