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THE Bahá’í
WORLD
THE Bahá’í COMMUNITY TODAY
[11 the thirty years since the election of the Universal House of Justice. the growth of the Bahá’í community has been dramatic. From a membership of an estimated 408,000 in 1963. the number of believers has now risen to over five million. During the same period the number of National Spiritual Assemblies has grown from 56 to 165 and the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies from 3.555 to 20.435. Altogether. It is estimated that at least 2,112 different ethnic and mbal backgrounds are represented. and the literature of the Faith appears In over 800 different languages. Statistics published by the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Worm Christian Encyclopedia indicate that. wtth its diffusion to 205 countrles. the Bahá’í Faith is now the second most widespread of the world‘s religions. exceeded only by Christmnlty.l These figures. all of them the product of a conservative statistical methodolog. Indicate that the Bahá’í community likely ranks
1‘ Encyclopedia Britannica. 1992: World Christian Erwyclbpedh. 1982.
as the most diverse organized body of people on the planet today.
That a relatively small religious community should have mperienced such growth in both numbers and diversity at so early at stage in its history is an extraordinary accomplllhment. The same may be said of the community‘s success in establishing its creden< tlals 1n the eyes of civil authority. Far from rejecting the world and the Institutions that govern It. the Bahá’í community has deliberately pursued a close relationship with civil authority. as an integral part of Its development. Through conflnuous efforts In a series of global development plans. Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies at both local and national levels have become legally incorporated in the great majority of the territories where the Faith has been established. Similarly. the Faith‘s marriage ceremony has secured formal recognition in a great many civil jurisdictions and. In various parts of the world. Bahá’í holy days are beglnnlng to gain a status similar to that accorded to other independent faiths in the calendars of
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businesses. schools. and government offices.
At the United Nations. the Bahá’í International Community has steadily expanded the recognition early accorded to it as an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) enjoying consultative status with ECOSOC. It has been particularly active in the fields of human rights. the needs of women and children, environmental concerns, and the pursuit of sound sustainable development policies. Its International efforts in these areas are coordinated by various specialized agencies. the United Nations Office. the Office of Public lnfonnatlon, the Office of the Environment. and the Office for the Advancement of Women.
Far from acting merely as another international lobbying group focused pflnclpally in New York and Geneva. however. the Bahá’í International Community represents an association of democratically elected national and local councils united in their beliefs and goals. and reflective of the entire diversity of humankind. The community's efforts in the United Nations system have gained not only a forum for the Bahá’í Faith‘s universal ideals. but also an opportunity to contflbute directly to laying the foundations of international order. Much attention is given by Babette to ensuring that. to the extent circumstances in various regions pemlit. society in general is made aware of the existence of the Faith and its teachings. Publishing trusts print and distribute a great variety of Bahá’í literature. ranging from compilations of the Writings of
Bahá’í WORLD
the Central Figures of the Faith. to scholarly commentaries. popular books. newsletters. and magazines. Other media are also extensively utilized: films, videos. television programs, spot announcements. radio broadcasts. newspaper artlcles and advertisements. pamphlets, posters and manuals. correspondence courses. exhibitions. lecture series. and winter and summer schools. The objective of all this activity has been to ensure that. in time. every human being on earth will come in contact with the message of Bahá’u’lláh.
A Bahá’í institution that has figured prominently in this program of public education is the House of Worship. Today there are Bahá’í Houses of Worship on every continent. and a great many addltlonal sites have been purchased around the world for future construction of these edifices. which are intended to play a central role In Bahá’í community life. Around each, in time. will be constructed other institutions. such as schools or colleges. hostels. homes for the aged, and administrative centers. At the present time the Houses of Worship are not used principally for Bahá’í community services. Rather. they are open as places for persons of all religious backgrounds (or those professing no particular faith) to meet in the worship of the one God. Services are non-denomlnaflonal and consist of readings and prayers from the scriptures of the world's faiths. with no sermons or other attempts to cast these teachings in a mold of specifically Bahá’í interpretation. The only requisite architectural
THE Bahá’í
features of a House of Worship are that it have nine sides. symbolic of completeness and comprehensiveness. as nine is the highest single number.
The expansion of the Faith proceeds. as was the pattern established under the ministry of Shoghi Effendi. through a series of international teaching plans. increasingly. however. as the national and local institutions of the Faith have matured and become consolidated. the plans have been set in terms of general objectives decided on by the Universal House of Justice. with the details being established by the National Spintual Assemblies themselves. in consultation with the Continental Boards of Counsellors. A Six Year Teaching Plan. the fourth Plan undertaken since the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963. was successfully concluded at Riḍván 1992. An analysis of its achievements indicates that growth has been particularly rapid in India. Russia and several former Eastern Bloc countries, as well as such farflung countries as Bangladesh. Brazil. Tchad. Guyana. Haiti, Kenya. Macau. Nigeria. Pakistan. Papua-New Guinea. the Philippines. Taiwan and Zaire.
By far the most dramatic feature of the recent expansion has been the extraordinary response to the Faith on the part of the peoples of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. following the collapse of the barriers that had long prevented free intercourse with the populations of these lands. National or Regional Spiritual Assemblies were established in Czechoslovakia.
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Romania, and the entire former USSRin 1991. In 1992. National 01‘ Regional Assemblies were established in Albania: Azerbaijan; the Baltic States: Central Asia: Hungary; Poland: Russia. Georgia and Armenia; and the Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. The rapid expansion in the numbers of Local Spiritual Assemblies throughout all these countries indicates that. where Regional Assemblies have been temporarily established. National Spiritual Assemblies will shortly emerge. Bahá’í literature is rapidly appearing in all the major languages of the region and communities are energetically pursuing the establishment of formal relations with civic governments.
A development which has
given enormous impetus to the
expansion and consolidation of the
Faith in the past decade has been
the intensification of its persecution In the country of its birth.
Throughout the past century the
Bahá’ís of iran had been the object
of bitter attacks by elements among
the Muslim majority incited and led
by Islamic clerics. Under the Pahlavi Shahs (1925-1979). this longstanding prejudice against the
Faith on the part of segments of the
Muslim population was harnessed
to political ends. with the Bahá’í
minority now serving to distract
public attention from various
unpopular policies of the regime.
With the triumph of the Islamic
Revolution in 1979, efforts at the
total suppression of the minority
Faith became systemafized. By
1992 more than 200 Bahá’ís had
been executed or assassinated,
hundreds more had been impris
[Page 308]
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oned. and tens of thousands had been deprived of jobs. pensions. businesses. and educational opportunities. All national Bahá’í administrative structures had been banned by the government. and holy places. shrines. and cemeteries had been confiscated. vandalized. and destroyed.
Amused by this deliberate attempt to destroy its parent community. Bahá’ís around the world launched an intensive campaign of protest. Many thousands of newspaper articles appeared and the situation was made the subject of countless television and radio stories. Several national governments and legislatures condemned the actions of the Iranian government or expressed concern about the fate of the Iranian Bahá’ís. Most important. in a series of resolutions that gave specific attention to the Bahá’í situation. the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and finally the General Assembly itself began to press the Iranian regime to observe the international human rights covenants to which it was committed. In response to this international outcry, the most violent aspects of the persecution gradually abated by the early 19905. However, the Bahá’ís of Iran remain without any fundamental guarantee of their rights to practice their religion freely. and the efforts of the Corellglonlsts around the world to maintain the pressure for the emancipation continues. 2
As has so often been the case
2‘ See “The Case of the Bahá’í Minority in Iran". p. 247‘
Bahá’í WORLD
throughout religious history. the persecution had effects almost preclsely contrary to those intended. The world-wide attention given to efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Victims entailed a massive education of government officials. academics. the media. and the general public in many lands about the nature of the Bahá’í Faith and its aims and teachings. The very nature of the issues involved has tended to throw into clear relief the peaceful and progressive character of the Bahá’í community. It is hardly surprising that so dramatic an increase in public awareness coincided with a great increase in the membership of the Faith. Moreover. the experience of arising together to defend their fellow believers against an unprovoked assault had a powerful consolidatv ing effect on the Faith‘s highly diverse membership around the world. deepening members' understanding of the implications of their beliefs and providing Bahá’í institutions with an unparalleled experience in coordinating their efforts.
Throughout these same years the education of the community advanced greatly through a serles of messages drafted by the Universal House of Justice and published in many languages. Particularly Important was The Promise (J World Peace. 3 twenty-one page document issued in the fall of 1985. which analyzed the reasons that world peace has for so long been considered unattainable and declared that these barrlers could at last be overcome. The effect of this message. published in over a million copies and distributed to lead
THE Bahá’í
ers of thought, government bodies and the media. was to provide the members of the Bahá’í Faith with the conceptual framework for a program of collaborative action with a wide range of likeminded organizations. The keynote. the message declares, is the coming of age of humankind: “A candid acknowledgment that prejudice. war and exploitation have been the a(pression of immature stages in a vast historical process and that the human race is today experiencing the unavoidable tumult which marks its collective coming of age is not a reason for despair but a prerequisite to undertaking the stupendous enterprise of building a peaceful world. That such an enterprise is possible. that the necessary constructive forces do exist. that unifying social structures can be erected. is the theme we urge you to examine."
As the Faith's teachings became even more widely known. the Universal House of Justice decided that the time had come for the public presentation of the Bahá’í message to focus much more directly on its Author. Accordingly. on 3 April 1991. it forwarded to National Assemblies a statement prepared by the Bahá’í International Community‘s Office of Public information. entitled Bahd'u'lláh Published. like the statement on peace. in many ianguages and large print runs. the document was also made the centerpiece of an intensive campaign of public information. its objective was to set Bahá'u'liéh's mission in the context of the global crisis that had. by the closing decade of the
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century. become a commonplace of public discussion:
As the new millennium approaches. the crucial need of the human race is to find a unifying vision of the nature of man and society For. without a common conviction about the course and direc‘ tion of human history. it is inconceivable that foundations can be laid for a global society to which the mass of humankind can commit themselves
Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá'u'liéh. the nineteenth-century prophetic figure whose growing influence is the most remarkable development of contemporary religious history The phenomenon is one that has no reference points in the contemporary world. but is associated rather with climactic chang-es of direction in the collective past of the human race. For Bahá'u'iléh claimed to be no less than the Messenger of God to the age of human maturity ".3
As the Bahá’í Faith commemorated the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh's passing.4 His message was seen to have taken visible shape in a community that represents a microcosm of the human race itself and is established in every corner of the globe. The network of administrative institutions. conceived by the Founder is now in place throughout the planet. His teachings. translated into many languages. now provide the central spiritual guidance in the lives of its heterogeneous membership. In the decades immediately ahead. the
3 Bahd'u'ilzih (London: Bahá’í Publishing’l'rust. 1991). 1—2.
4. 29 May 1992. See reprint of statement on p. 47.
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existence of such a community will offer Increasingly encouraging evidence that humanity. in all its
Bahá’í WORLD
diversity. can learn to live and work as a single people in a global homeland.
