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Tunisia

From Bahaipedia
 Tunisia
One of several events held in 2022 marking the centenary of the establishment of the Bahá’í community in Tunisia.
Location of Tunisia
National AssemblyTunisia
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 12,262,946
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 2,364
History:
Firsts
 -  Local Assembly 1923, Tunis 
 -  National Assembly 1967, with Algeria
Disbanded 1969
1972, independently 
Official Website http://www.bahaitn.org/
Related media
Categories: Tunisia • People

The Republic of Tunisia is a North African country. Arabic is the official language of the country, and Tunisian Arabic, Berber, and French are also spoken.

The region has been inhabited since prehistory, and Carthage was established in the area and ruled until being conquered by Rome. In the middle ages what is now Tunisia was conquered by Arabian Muslims, and it became a part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1881 Tunisia was colonized by France. It gained independence from France as its own country in 1956.

The Bahá'í Faith was established in Tunisia in the early 1920's. From the 1950's it steadily developed until the 1980's when government restrictions were placed on the religion, allowing for only private worship. In the early 2000's these restrictions were relaxed, allowing the religion to elect administrative institutions again.

History[edit]

Bahá'ís had reportedly visited Tunis as early as 1910 however a community was not established.[2] In 1922 Sheikh Muḥyí’d-Dín Sabrí pioneered to Tunisia having been requested to do so by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,[3] and by 1923 a Local Spiritual Assembly of Tunis had been established.[4] In 1928 the first pilgrimage by a Bahá'í from Tunisia took place when 'Abdu'l-Hamid Khemiri, a member of the Tunis Assembly, visited the Holy Land.[5] In 1937 M. Sálíh, an Egyptian Bahá’í, made a teaching trip to Tunis to stimulate the community at the request of Shoghi Effendi.[6]

The Tunis Assembly remained active up until 1946,[7][8][9] but was disbanded in 1947. In 1948 Beatrice Irwin pioneered to Tunisia from the west arriving on October 22 and settling in Tunis and she met with the Bahá'ís and spoke at public conferences which led to the Spiritual Assembly being re-established. She also visited other cities in the south of the country before departing for Marseilles, France, in January 1949.[10]

At the opening of the Ten Year Crusade in 1953 consolidating the Bahá'í community of Tunisia was a goal assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt and Sudan.[11] In 1955 a Haziratu'l-Quds of Tunis was purchased,[12] and it served as the Regional Haziratu'l-Quds of North West Africa when the National Spiritual Assembly of North West Africa was established in 1956.[13][14] In 1957 a second Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Tunisia,[15] and a Tunisia Summer School was held at the Tunis Haziratu'l-Quds.[16]

As of 1964 there was one Local Spiritual Assembly in Tunisia, and twenty-two groups of isolated Bahá'ís.[17] In 1967 a joint National Spiritual Assembly of Algeria and Tunisia was formed, with its seat in Algeria.[18][19] Organized Bahá'í activity and institutions were banned in Algeria in 1969 leading to the dissolution of the joint National Assembly,[20] and in 1972 an independent National Spiritual Assembly of Tunisia was established with its seat in Tunis.[21]

In October 1984 some Bahá'ís were interrogated by the authorities in Tunisia and the activities of the Faith were limited with Bahá'í institutions being dissolved, although no arrests were made.[22] In 1986 The Promise of World Peace, the peace statement by the Universal House of Justice, was sent to the Head of State of Tunisia by registered mail.[23]

In 1998 representatives of the Bahá'í International Community participated in a meeting on women and health held in Tunis and contributed a written statement.[24] As of 2004 restrictions on the Faith had been relaxed and as of 2010 three Local Spiritual Assemblies had been elected.[25]

In 2020 the Bahá'í community of Tunisia held discussions on the harmony of science and religion and co-authored a letter on the topic with several other religious and civil organizations,[26] and in 2022 the community coauthored a National Pact for Coexistence with other religious communities in the country.[27] In January 2022 the Tunisian Bahá’í Office of External Affairs organized a celebration of the Centenary of the Bahá’í Faith in Tunisia which was attended by fifty journalists, academics, religious leaders, and civil society representatives. During the event consultations on how societies can overcome violence were held.[3] In June 2022 a representative of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs for Tunisia was interviewed about the role of religion in society on a nationally broadcast television program.[28]

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. ↑ Temple, Bernard (May 27, 1910). "Persia and the Regenerations of Islam". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. 58 (2001): 652–665. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://news.bahai.org/story/1577/
  4. ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 14, No. 3, p 91
  5. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/writings/shoghieffendi/dnd/2/sec-24.html
  6. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 606. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 8 (1938-1940), Pg(s) 692. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 658. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1949). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 10 (1944-1946), Pg(s) 449. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1949). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 216, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 265, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 291, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 285, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 299, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (July 1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 317, Pg(s) 18. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 323, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 124. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1967). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 439, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 96. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 41. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 295. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 50. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ Baha'i News (1988). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 683, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
  24. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2000). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 27 (1998-1999), Pg(s) 138. View as PDF.
  25. ↑ International Religious Freedom Report 2010, Tunisia.
  26. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1410/
  27. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1584/
  28. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1598/


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