The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh, it initially developed in Qajar Iran and parts of the Middle East, where it has faced ongoing persecution since its inception. The religion is estimated to have 5 to 8 million adherents, known as Baháʼís, spread throughout most of the world's countries and territories.
The constitution of Iran states that the country is an Islamic republic; it specifies Twelver Ja’afari Shia Islam as the official state religion.
Baháʼís are persecuted in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Baháʼí teachings which are inconsistent with traditional Islamic beliefs, including the finality of Muhammad's prophethood, and the placement of Baháʼís outside the Islamic religion. Thus, Baháʼís are seen as apostates from Islam.
Members of the Baháʼí Faith have been persecuted in various countries, especially in Iran, the location of one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world. The Baháʼí Faith originated in Iran, and represents the largest religious minority in that country. Since the later part of the 20th century many third party organizations such as the United Nations, Amnesty International, the European Union, and the United States have made statements denouncing the persecution of Baháʼís asking that human rights be maintained. Members of the Baháʼí community in Iran have been subjected to unwarranted arrests, false imprisonment, beatings, torture, unjustified executions, confiscation and destruction of property owned by individuals and the Baháʼí community, denial of employment, denial of government benefits, denial of civil rights and liberties, and denial of access to higher education.
According to various polls, the majority of Kazakhstan's citizens, primarily ethnic Kazakhs, identify as Sunni Muslims. In 2020, Shia Muslims made up 0.55% of the population.
The most widely professed religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Islam and the second biggest religion is Christianity. Nearly all the Muslims of Bosnia are followers of the Sunni denomination of Islam; the majority of Sunnis follow the Hanafi legal school of thought (fiqh) and Maturidi theological school of thought (kalām). Bosniaks are generally associated with Islam, Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Roman Catholic Church, and Bosnian Serbs with the Serbian Orthodox Church. The State Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the entity Constitutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska provide for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in ethnically integrated areas or in areas where government officials are of the majority religion; the state-level Law on Religious Freedom also provides comprehensive rights to religious communities. However, local authorities sometimes restricted the right to worship of adherents of religious groups in areas where such persons are in the minority.
The Baháʼí Faith in Brazil started in 1919 with Baháʼís first visiting the country that year, and the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly in Brazil was established in 1928. There followed a period of growth with the arrival of coordinated pioneers from the United States finding national Brazilian converts and in 1961 an independent national Baháʼí community was formed. During the 1992 Earth Summit, which was held in Brazil, the international and local Baháʼí community were given the responsibility for organizing a series of different programs, and since then the involvements of the Baháʼí community in the country have continued to multiply. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 42211 Baháʼís in 2005.
The Baháʼí Faith in Niger began during a period of wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa near the end of its colonial period. The first Baháʼís arrived in Niger in 1965 and the growth of the religion reached the point of the election of its National Spiritual Assembly in 1975. Following a period of oppression, making the institutions of the Baháʼí Faith illegal in the late 1970s and '80s, the National Assembly was re-elected starting in 1992. The Baháʼí community in Niger has grown mostly in the south-west of the country where they number in the low thousands. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 5,600 Baháʼís in 2005.
The Baháʼí Faith in Kazakhstan began during the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union. Before that time, Kazakhstan, as part of the Russian Empire, had indirect contact with the Baháʼí Faith as far back as 1847. Following the arrival of pioneers the community grew to be the largest religious community after Islam and Christianity, although only a minor percent of the national whole. By 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Kazakhstan was elected and the community had begun to multiply its efforts across various interests. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 6,400 Baháʼís in 2005.
The Baháʼí Faith in the United Arab Emirates began before the country gained independence in 1971. The first Baháʼís arrived in Dubai and Sharjah by 1940, and by 1957 there were four Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies in the region of the United Arab Emirates and a regional National Spiritual Assembly of the Arabian Peninsula. Looklex Encyclopedia estimated some 75,000 Baháʼís or 1.6% of the national population - second only to Iran in number of Baháʼís in the nations of the Middle East - though the Association for Religious Data Archives estimated closer to 51,700, 1.3%, in 2005. Recent estimates of the ARDA count some 38,364 Baháʼís or 0.5% of the national population.
The Baháʼí Faith in Finland began with contact between traveling Scandinavians with early Persian believers of the Baháʼí Faith in the mid-to-late 19th century while Finland was politically part of the Russian Empire. In the early 20th century ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, requested Baháʼís from the United States and Canada consider Scandinavian countries and Russia among the places Baháʼís should pioneer to. Later, after Finland gained independence from Russia, Baháʼís began to visit the Scandinavian area in the 1920s. Following a period of more Baháʼí pioneers coming to the country, Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies spread across Finland while the national community eventually formed a Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly in 1962. Some estimates in 2004 of the Baháʼís in Finland number about 500 Baháʼís including a winner of human rights award and a television personality. In 2005 there was an estimate of over 1,700 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.
The Baháʼí Faith is a world religion that was founded in the 19th century Middle East. Its founders and the majority of its early followers were of Iranian heritage, and it is widely regarded as the second-largest religion in Iran after Islam. Though most Baháʼís in Iran are of a Muslim background, the 19th century conversions of sizeable numbers of individuals from Judaism and Zoroastrianism in the country are also well documented.
The history of the Baháʼí Faith in Poland begins in the 1870s when Polish writer Walerian Jablonowski wrote several articles covering the religion's early history in Persia. There was a Polish-language translation of Paris Talks published in 1915. After becoming a Baháʼí in 1925, Poland's Lidia Zamenhof returned to Poland in 1938 as its first well-known Baháʼí. During the period of the Warsaw Pact, Poland adopted the Soviet policy of oppression of religion, so Poland's Baháʼí community, strictly adhering to its principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned its administration and properties. An analysis of publications before and during this period found that coverage by Soviet-based sources was basically hostile to the Baháʼí Faith while native Polish coverage was neutral or positive. By 1963, only Warsaw was recognized as having a Baháʼí community. Following the fall of communism in Poland because of the Revolutions of 1989, the Baháʼís in Poland began to initiate contact with each other and have meetings; the first of these arose in Kraków and Warsaw. In March 1991, the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly was re-elected in Warsaw. Poland's National Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1992. According to Baháʼí sources there were about 300 Baháʼís in Poland in 2006 and there have been several articles in Polish publications in 2008 covering the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran and Egypt. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated that there were about 300 Baháʼís in 2005.
The earliest contact documented to date, between Armenians and the Bábí-Baháʼí religion began on an unfortunate note in the banishments and execution of the Báb, the Founder of the Bábí Faith, viewed by Baháʼís as a precursor religion, but ended courageously to the credit of the Armenian officer. In that same year the teachings of the new religion were taken to Armenia. More research is necessary to determine the details. Decades later, during the time of Soviet repression of religion, Baháʼís in Armenia were isolated from Baháʼís elsewhere. Eventually, by 1963, Baháʼí communities had been identified in Yerevan and Artez and communication re-established. Later, in the time of Perestroika, when increasing freedoms were allowed, there were enough Baháʼís in some cities that Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies could be formed in those Baháʼí communities in 1991. Armenian Baháʼís were able to elect their own National Spiritual Assembly in 1995. In such a situation, where religious observance had been a criminal activity, a religious census is problematic. Operation World, published in 2001, approximated the number of Baháʼís in Armenia at 1400. Three years later, Baháʼís counted only about 200. Baháʼís generally count only adult voting members of the community, the other may have been statistically generated from a random sample to include all ages.
The Baháʼí Faith in Georgia began with its arrival in the region in 1850 through its association with the precursor religion the Bábí Faith during the lifetime of Baháʼu'lláh. During the period of Soviet policy of religious oppression, the institutions of the Baháʼís in the Soviet Republics were progressively dissolved and so disappeared from communication with Baháʼís elsewhere. However, in 1963 an individual was identified in Tbilisi. Following Perestroika the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly of Georgia formed in 1991 and Georgian Baháʼís elected their first National Spiritual Assembly in 1995. The religion is noted as growing in Georgia. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 1,588 Baháʼís in 2005.
The Baháʼí Faith in Uzbekistan began in the lifetime of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion. Circa 1918 there were an estimated 1900 Baháʼís in Tashkent. By the period of the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union the communities shrank away - by 1963 in the entire USSR there were about 200 Baháʼís. Little is known until the 1980s when the Baháʼí Faith started to grow across the Soviet Union again. In 1991 a Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of the Soviet Union was elected but was quickly split among its former members. In 1992, a regional National Spiritual Assembly for the whole of Central Asia was formed with its seat in Ashgabat. In 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Uzbekistan was elected. In 2008 eight Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies or smaller groups had registered with the government though more recently there were also raids and expulsions.
The Baháʼí Faith in Bahrain begins with a precursor movement, the Shaykhís coming out of Bahrain into Iran. Abu'l-Qásim Faizi and wife lived in Bahrain in the 1940s. Around 1963 the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Bahrain was elected in the capital of Manama. In the 1980s, many anti-Baháʼí polemics were published in local newspapers of the Bahrain. Recent estimates count some 1,000 Baháʼís or 0.2% of the national population or a little more by Association of Religion Data Archives estimated there were some 2,832 Baháʼís in 2010. According to the Bahraini government the combined percentage of Christians, Jews, Hindus and Baháʼís is 0.2%.
The history of the Baháʼí Faith in Russia began soon after the founding in 1844 of the Bábí religion, viewed by Baháʼís as the direct predecessor of the Baháʼí Faith, with Russian diplomats to Qajar Persia observing, reacting to, and sending updates about the Bábís. The woman later known as Táhirih, who played a central role in the religion of the Báb, was from an influential clerical family from Azerbaijan, which was then ruled by Russia. Russian diplomats later protected Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, before and after his exile from Persia. Around 1884, the religion began to spread into the Russian Empire, where the Baháʼí community in Ashgabat built the first Baháʼí House of Worship, elected one of the first Baháʼí local administrative institutions and became a center of scholarship. The Baháʼí Faith also attracted the attention of several Russian scholars and artists. During the Soviet period, Russia adopted the Soviet policy of oppression of religion, leading the Russian Baháʼí community to abandon its administration and properties in accordance with its principle of obedience to legal government, though Baháʼís across the Soviet Union were nevertheless sent to prisons and camps or abroad. Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union Baháʼís in several cities were able to gather and organize as Perestroyka spread from Moscow through many Soviet republics. The Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of the Russian Federations was ultimately formed in 1995. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated the number of Baháʼís in Russia at about 18,990 in 2005.
The Baháʼí Faith was founded by Baháʼu'lláh, in Iran who faced a series of exiles and imprisonment that moved him to Baghdad, Istanbul, and Palestine. By the 1950s, about a century after its forming, Iran remained home to the vast majority of adherents to the Baháʼí Faith. Expansive teaching efforts began in the late 19th century and gained converts in other parts of Asia. By 1968, according to official Baháʼí statistics, the majority of Baháʼís (~75%) lived outside of Iran and North America, the two most prominent centers of the religion previously.
The Baháʼí Faith was discussed in the writings of various Western intellectuals and scholars during the lifetime of Baháʼu'lláh. His son and successor, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, travelled to France and Great Britain and gave talks to audiences there. There is a Baháʼí House of Worship in Langenhain, Germany, which was completed in 1964. The Association of Religion Data Archives reported national Baháʼí populations ranging from hundreds to over 35,000 in 2005. The European Union and several European countries have condemned the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran.
