Bahá'í Faith in Senegal
Encyclopedia
The Bahá'í Faith in Senegal begins after `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...

, the son of the founder of the religion, mentioned Africa as a place the religion should be more broadly visited by Bahá'ís. The first to set foot in the territory of French West Africa
French West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...

 that would become Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 arrived in 1953. The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Senegal was elected in 1966 in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

. In 1975 the Bahá'í community elected the first National Spiritual Assembly of Senegal. The most recent estimate, by the Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...

 in a 2005 report details the population of Senegalese Bahá'ís at 22,000. Bahá'ís claimed there are 34 local assemblies in 2003.

`Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan

`Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...

, the son of the founder of the religion, wrote a series of letters, or tablets, to the followers of the religion in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book Tablets of the Divine Plan
Tablets of the Divine Plan
The Tablets of the Divine Plan collectively refers to 14 letters written between September 1916 and March 1917 by `Abdu'l-Bahá to Bahá'ís in the United States and Canada. Included in multiple books, the first five tablets were printed in America in Star of the West - Vol. VII, No. 10, September 8,...

. The eighth and twelfth of the tablets mentioned Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and were written on April 19, 1916 and February 15, 1917, respectively. Publication however was delayed in the United States until 1919—after the end of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...

. The tablets were translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb was a Persian-American author and Bahá'í who co-founded the New History Society and the Caravan of East and West in New York, and was excommunicated from the Bahá'í Faith in 1939 by Shoghi Effendi.-Early life:...

 on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919. `Abdu'l-Bahá mentions Bahá'ís traveling "…especially from America to Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, and travel through Japan and China. Likewise, from Germany teachers and believers may travel to the continents of America, Africa, Japan and China; in brief, they may travel through all the continents and islands of the globe" and " …the anthem of the oneness of the world of humanity may confer a new life upon all the children of men, and the tabernacle of universal peace be pitched on the apex of America; thus Europe and Africa may become vivified with the breaths of the Holy Spirit, this world may become another world, the body politic may attain to a new exhilaration…."

Establishment and growth

During the late colonial period of the region the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

 first arrived. Wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa was observed to begin in 1950s. The first Bahá'ís to enter French West Africa came in 1953 and dispersed to several regions - Labib Isfahani was the first Bahá'í to settle in what became Senegal and named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh
Knights of Bahá'u'lláh
The title Knight of Bahá'u'lláh was given by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, to Bahá'ís who arose to open new territories to the Faith during the Ten Year Crusade....

. He come from the community of Bahá'ís in Egypt
Bahá'í Faith in Egypt
The Bahá'í Faith in Egypt has a history over a century old. Perhaps the first Bahá'ís arrive in 1863. Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the religion, was himself briefly in Egypt in 1868 when on his way to imprisonment in `Akká. The first Egyptians were converts by 1896...

. Isfahani's brother Habib came to join him in April 1954. There were over 1000 Bahá'ís across North-West Africa which was organized into a regional National Spiritual Assembly including French West Africa in 1956. In 1959 Bahá'í marriage
Bahá'í marriage
Bahá'í marriage is union of a man and a woman. Its purpose is mainly spiritual and is to foster harmony, fellowship and unity between the two partners...

 ceremonies were legalized and the first such marriage had Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga
Enoch Olinga
Enoch Olinga was born to an Anglican family of the Iteso ethnic group in Uganda. He became a Bahá'í, earned the title Knight of Bahá'u'lláh and was appointed as the youngest Hand of the Cause, the highest appointed position in the religion. He served the interests of the religion widely and...

 in attendance.

Growth in the Senegalese community came partly by pioneers
Pioneering (Bahá'í)
A pioneer is a volunteer Bahá'í who leaves his or her home to journey to another place for the purpose of teaching the Bahá'í Faith. The act of so moving is termed pioneering. Bahá'ís refrain from using the term "missionary"...

 and partly from converts. In early 1962 the family of Rouhani Ardekani stayed for six-months in Senegal and in 1966 returned to settle permanently. The first Bahá'í of Senegalese origin converted in March 1962. In 1963 the communities of French West Africa, then included a small group of Bahá'ís in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

. With the help of Bahá'ís originally from Gambia in Dakar the community formed the first Local Spiritual Assembly in Dakar on 21 April 1966. During much of the 1960s-70s Hermione Vera Keens-Douglas Edwards composed letters for the communities of the former French West Africa for their Nineteen Day Feast
Nineteen Day Feast
The Nineteen Day Feasts are regular community gatherings, occurring on the first day of each month of the Bahá'í calendar . Each gathering consists of a Devotional, Administrative, and Social part...

s.

Additional one well known Bahá'í made an impact in Senegal and beyond - Robert Hayden
Robert Hayden
Robert Hayden was an American poet, essayist, educator. He was appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1976.-Biography:...

, who had become a Bahá'í in 1943, was named Poet Laurette of Senegal in 1966 after winning the 1965 first World Festival of Negro Arts festival Grand Prix de la Poesie with over ten thousand people from thirty-seven nations in attendance on April 7, 1962 and went on to further acclaim.

In 1975 the Bahá'í community elected the first National Spiritual Assembly of Senegal and by the beginning of 1978 there were 30 local assemblies. The first regional Bahá'í conference of the Casamance
Casamance
Casamance is the area of Senegal south of The Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of Basse Casamance and Haute Casamance...

 region happened in 1979 with participants from Gambia and Senégal in December 1978, and at the end of that year there were 35 assemblies.

Modern community

Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development (SED) beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...

 dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
Bahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...

, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. Representatives of the national assemblies of Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal gathered in 1983 at a regional conference in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

 along with other Bahá'ís and heard talks ranging from opposition to the religion to the role of women in the community. Meanwhile Bahá'ís of Senegal assisted the neighboring community in the Cape Verde Islands with promulgating the religion. In 1983-4 some Bahá'ís visiting from Switzerland toured several countries of western Africa - in Senegal they were able to meet with government officials, women's civic groups and were interviewed for local television. In 1984 several activities took place - a Spring school was held, the Bahá'í women's committee held a children's conference, and a regional youth conference was held. In 1985 tutorial schools were opened in two villages. In 1989 a Bahá'í professional traveled the country offering dental care as a service. The community celebrated it's 50th anniversary in 2003 and the community has ongoing prayer meetings, Study circles, and classes for children open to the public. There are also SED projects looking at marketable skill development. Bahá'ís from Senegal were among those at the regional conference at Abidjan
Abidjan
Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...

 called for by the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...

 in 2008.

Demographics

In 2003 the Bahá'ís reported the Bahá'í community of Senegal is composed mainly of Senegalese scattered in about 300 locations across the country of whom the vast majority are native Senegalese. Bahá'ís reside in 382 localities in Senegal, and there are 34 local Spiritual Assemblies. Social and economic development projects include classes for young teenagers. In 2001 Operation World
Operation World
Operation World is a reference book and prayer guide, begun by Patrick Johnstone and continued by Jason Mandryk, both from WEC International. Operation World is published by , and produced by...

 estimated the Baha'i population at almost 19,000, growing at over 8% per year. The Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...

estimated the 2005 population of Senegalese Bahá'ís at 22,000.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK