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Seychelles

From Bahaipedia
 Seychelles
First National Bahá’í Convention for Seychelles, 1972.
Location of the Seychelles
National AssemblySeychelles
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 106,471
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 412
History:
Firsts
 -  Local Bahá'í 1954, Marshall Delcy 
 -  Pioneers 1953, Kámíl ‘Abbás
1954, ‘Abdu’l Rahman Zarqani 
 -  Local Assembly 1955, Victoria 
 -  National Assembly 1972 
How to contact:
 -  Email nsasc seychelles.net
Official Website https://www.bahai.org/national-communities/seychelles
Related media
Categories: Seychelles • People

The Republic of Seychelles is an island nation off the eastern coast of Africa. Official languages spoken in the country are English, French, and Seychellois and the predominant religion is Christianity.

The islands were uninhabited until being colonized by European powers in the 16th century with France and Great Britain establishing themselves in the area. Great Britain achieved control over the entirety of the region in the 18th century and it remained a British colony until achieving independence in 1976.

The Bahá’í community of the Seychelles was established in the 1950's and continues to develop and remain active.

History[edit]

Establishment of the community[edit]

The first presence of the Bahá’í Faith in the Seychelles was when travel teachers Edward and Loulie Mathews visited the area during a world teaching tour in the late 1930's and they donated Bahá’í literature in both English and French to the countries Carnegie library.[2][3]

At the opening of the Ten Year Crusade Shoghi Effendi named opening the Seychelles to the Bahá’í Faith a goal of the crusade and assigned the responsibility of settling a pioneer in the country to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iraq.[4] Kámíl ‘Abbás pioneered to the islands arriving on November 8, 1953, and during his time in the islands he was able to teach the Faith to Marshall Delcy who was a local teacher and an Anglican.[5] He fell ill and was unable to secure a visa and departed the islands on December 21, 1953.[6]

‘Abdu’l Rahman Zarqani re-opened the Seychelles to the Faith on January 15, 1954.[7] He initially intended to pioneer to the Chagos Archipelago specifically however he was unable to secure employment on the Archipelago in advance and instead settled in Victoria. He contacted Marshall Delcy and he became the first local Bahá’í of the Seychelles through Zarqani in June 1954. During June Zarqani found longterm employment as a shipping clerk and Manuchehr Ma‘ani pioneered to the country from Iran. In August, 1954, Joseph Samuel Rioux became the second Bahá’íof the Seychelles and three more people declared before the end of the year.[8]

In January 1955 Munir Vakil pioneered to the Seychelles and that year the Local Spiritual Assembly of Victoria was established with four pioneers and five locals serving on the body.[9] In June 1956 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Port Victoria organized a subsidiary one year plan setting itself specific goals to pursue including achieving incorporation of the Assembly.[10] The community made progress on incorporating the Assembly throughout 1957 although the process was not completed until 1959.[11]

By March 1957 there were eighteen local Bahá’ís and eight pioneers in the country, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Victoria was incorporated that year, and the Faith also expanded beyond Victoria to surrounding settlements on other islands.[9]

Consolidation of the community[edit]

In 1960 the Seychelles Bahá’ís secured a building to serve as a Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Victoria and registered it as a religious property,[12] and in October that year the Victoria Assembly hosted an observance of United Nations Day with the Assembly secretary being asked to deliver a talk on Seychelles radio shortly before the event.[13] In 1964 the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Indian Ocean was established which had jurisdiction over the Seychelles community.[14] In 1966 the first World Peace Day celebration in the Seychelles was hosted by the Bahá’í community with over one hundred attendees.[15]

In 1970 an inter-island teaching conference and summer school was held on La Digue island in the Seychelles gathering Bahá’í's from the three main island groups in the area.[16] From October to November 1970 Counsellor Seewoosumbur Jeehoba Appa visited the Seychelles stimulating activity by emphasizing the importance of individual initiative.[17] By 1971 the country had eight Local Spiritual Assemblies,[18] and in 1972 the Indian Ocean Assembly disbanded with the Seychelles establishing an independent National Spiritual Assembly that year. Adelbert Mühlschlegel represented the Universal House of Justice at the establishment of the Assembly making him the first Hand of the Cause to visit the country.[19]

In 1973 Rúḥíyyih Khánum visited the Seychelles during her extended tour of Africa and consulted with the National Assembly and met with the Governor-General of the islands, and also the Deputy Governor and Attorney-General who she spoke with about the goal of incorporating the National Spiritual Assembly.[20] In August 1974 the Faith received widespread coverage when the fact Seychelles Bahá’ís were attending a conference called by the Counsellors for Southern Africa in Zimbabwe was the front page story of the countries Government News Bulletin.[21]

When the Seychelles became a fully independent country in 1976 the Bahá’í community contributed a float to a parade held to celebrate the occasion,[22] and later in the year travel teacher Lea Nys was granted an audience with the first President of the independent Seychelles.[23] In 1978 land was donated to the Bahá’í community which allowed for work to begin on constructing three Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds.[24]

Further Development[edit]

As of 1982 some Local Spiritual Assemblies in the Seychelles had gone defunct and the National Spiritual Assembly made reforming all Assemblies a focus at that years National Convention.[25] In 1983 a section of the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds was repurposed to serve as a training institute.[26] In 1985 the community began efforts to contribute to social and economic development in the country by offering accounting classes in Victoria for Bahá’ís and members of the wider community.[27]

On November 8, 1985, the Peace message of the Universal House of Justice was directly presented to the President of the Seychelles,[28] and in 1988 the Faith achieved greater recognition when the Bahá’í Faith was included on the governments national census form.[29]

In 2003 the 50th Anniversary of the Faith in the Seychelles was celebrated at an event in Victoria during which a new National Bahá’í Center was dedicated. The President and vice-president and also the leader of the opposition attended the event.[30]

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 (1937). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 110, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ Baha'i News (1938). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 116, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  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. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London. pp 122
  6. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London. pp 123
  7. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London. pp 123
  8. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London. pp 124
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Earl Redman, The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London. pp 124
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 342, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 342, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 351, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 358, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1963). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 393, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 429, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1970). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 469, Pg(s) 19. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ Baha'i News (1971). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 481, Pg(s) 20. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1971). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 485, Pg(s) 22. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ Baha'i News (1972). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 496, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ Baha'i News (1973). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 511, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ Baha'i News (1974). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 525, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ Baha'i News (1976). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 549, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ Baha'i News (1977). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 550, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  24. ↑ Baha'i News (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 566, Pg(s) 16. View as PDF.
  25. ↑ Baha'i News (1982). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 618, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  26. ↑ Baha'i News (1983). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 631, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
  27. ↑ Baha'i News (1986). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 660, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  28. ↑ Baha'i News (1988). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 683, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  29. ↑ Baha'i News (1988). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 687, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  30. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/272/

See also[edit]


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