Bahá'í Faith in Uzbekistan
Encyclopedia
The Bahá'í Faith in Uzbekistan began in the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh
, the founder of the religion. Circa 1918 there was an estimated 1900 Bahá'ís 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 Bahá'ís. Little is known until the 1980s when the Bahá'í Faith
started to grow across the Soviet Union again. In 1991 a Bahá'í 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 Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies or smaller groups had registered with the government though more recently there were also raids and expulsions.
as part of the Russian Empire
, the history stretches back to 1847 when the Russian ambassador to Tehran
, Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov, requested that the Báb
, the herald to the Bahá'í Faith who was imprisoned at Maku
, be moved elsewhere; he also condemned the massacres of Iranian religionists, and asked for the release of Bahá'u'lláh
, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.
Within the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh the religion was established in Samarkand
where Mirzá Abu'l-Fadl
later traveled to. While in Samarkand in 1892 Mirza Abu'l-Fadl wrote a book, Fassl-ul-Khitab (Conclusive Proof), in response to the questions of Mirza Haydar-Ali of Tabriz. It was in Samarkand, too, that he debated a Protestant preacher. In 1910 the Samarkand Bahá'í community elected its first assembly in addition to having a school, and built a center which held four meetings a week.
One tablet of `Abdu'l-Bahá
says to the assembly of Samarkand:
Following the ban on religion, the Bahá'ís, strictly adhering to their principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned its administration and its properties were nationalized. By 1946 in all Turkestan only Ashgabat, Samarkand and Tashkand communities continued. Bahá'ís had managed to re-enter various countries of the Eastern Bloc
through the 1950s, following a plan of the head of the religion at the time, Shoghi Effendi
. By 1956 there is only a vague mention of an operating community of Bahá'ís in Uzbekistan.
A pair of small communities are listed in 1963 - Tashkand and an isolated Bahá'í in Fergana
. The Universal House of Justice
, the head of the religion since 1963, then recognized small Bahá'í communities in much of the USSR: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. At this time in the USSR there were 200 Bahá'ís.
in the 1980s. In 1990 Local Spiritual Assemblies were listed in Samarkand
and Tashkent. In 1991 a Bahá'í 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 (Turkmenistan
, Kazakhstan
, Kirgizia, Tajikistan
, and Uzbekistan) was formed with its seat in Ashgabat. In 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Uzbekistan was elected.
in southeastern Kazakhstan in 2008. Two of the communities in Uzbekistan showed higher scale coordination on the efforts of the community. Three members of the National Spiritual Assembly were delegates in Haifa for international Bahá'í convention in 2008, and Uzbeks had joined the religion elsewhere. But in 2009-2010 registered groups had meetings were broken up, and parents who had signed permission for their children to attend these meetings were fined. Propaganda about religious activities including those of Bahá'ís and Muslims has been forced through Uzbek cable television operators. See Persecution of Bahá'ís
&Allegations of Bahá'í involvement with other powers
for related information. A Bahá'í with family from Uzbekistan was expelled in 2009.
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
) estimated some 770 Bahá'ís in 2005.
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
, the founder of the religion. Circa 1918 there was an estimated 1900 Bahá'ís in Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
. By the period of the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
the communities shrank away - by 1963 in the entire USSR there were about 200 Bahá'ís. Little is known until the 1980s when 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....
started to grow across the Soviet Union again. In 1991 a Bahá'í 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 Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies or smaller groups had registered with the government though more recently there were also raids and expulsions.
A part of the Russian Empire
The earliest relationship between the Bahá'í Faith and Uzbekistan comes under the sphere of the country's history with Russia. During that time, when the region was variously called Asiatic Russia or Russian TurkestanRussian Turkestan
Russian Turkestan was the western part of Turkestan within the Russian Empire , comprising the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh steppes, but not the protectorates of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva.-History:-Establishment:Although Russia had been pushing south into the...
as part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, the history stretches back to 1847 when the Russian ambassador to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov, requested that the Báb
Báb
Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. He was a merchant from Shíráz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four claimed to be the promised Qá'im . After his declaration he took the title of Báb meaning "Gate"...
, the herald to the Bahá'í Faith who was imprisoned at Maku
Maku, Iran
Maku is a city in the West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 41,865, in 10,428 families.It is situated from the Turkish border in a mountain gorge at an altitude of 1634 metres. The Zangmar River cuts through the city. The common languages in Maku are Kurdish and...
, be moved elsewhere; he also condemned the massacres of Iranian religionists, and asked for the release of Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.
Within the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh the religion was established in Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
where Mirzá Abu'l-Fadl
Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl
' , or ' was the foremost Bahá'í scholar who helped spread the Bahá'í Faith in Egypt, Turkmenistan, and the United States. He is one of the few Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh who never actually met Bahá'u'lláh...
later traveled to. While in Samarkand in 1892 Mirza Abu'l-Fadl wrote a book, Fassl-ul-Khitab (Conclusive Proof), in response to the questions of Mirza Haydar-Ali of Tabriz. It was in Samarkand, too, that he debated a Protestant preacher. In 1910 the Samarkand Bahá'í community elected its first assembly in addition to having a school, and built a center which held four meetings a week.
One tablet of `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...
says to the assembly of Samarkand:
Do ye know in what cycle ye are created and in what age ye exist? This is the age of the Blessed Perfection and this is the time of the Greatest Name!… If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season shall we wait and for what other time shall we look? This is the time for growing; the season for joyous gathering! …
Soviet period
In Tashkand, a community of Bahá'ís had expanded to about 1900 members, supporting a library, Persian and Russian language schools, and large meetings were being advertised with the permission of government authorities. Bahá'í literature published in Tashkand included several works of `Abdu'l-Bahá. By 1938, after numerous arrests and an policy of oppression of religion, Bahá'ís across the Soviet Union were being sent to prisons and camps or sent abroad. Bahá'í communities in 38 cities across Soviet territories ceased to exist. In Tashkent Bahá'ís were interrogated and imprisoned. Aqa Habibullah Baqiroff of Tashkent was sentenced to ten years imprisonment "in the neighbourhood of the North Sea and the polar forests."Following the ban on religion, the Bahá'ís, strictly adhering to their principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned its administration and its properties were nationalized. By 1946 in all Turkestan only Ashgabat, Samarkand and Tashkand communities continued. Bahá'ís had managed to re-enter various countries of the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
through the 1950s, following a plan of the head of the religion at the time, Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...
. By 1956 there is only a vague mention of an operating community of Bahá'ís in Uzbekistan.
A pair of small communities are listed in 1963 - Tashkand and an isolated Bahá'í in Fergana
Fergana
Fergana is a city , the capital of Fergana Province in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southern edge of the Fergana Valley in southern Central Asia, cutting across the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...
. 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...
, the head of the religion since 1963, then recognized small Bahá'í communities in much of the USSR: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. At this time in the USSR there were 200 Bahá'ís.
Development of the community
There is evidence that the Bahá'í Faith started to grow across the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the 1980s. In 1990 Local Spiritual Assemblies were listed in Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
and Tashkent. In 1991 a Bahá'í 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 (Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kirgizia, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, and Uzbekistan) was formed with its seat in Ashgabat. In 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Uzbekistan was elected.
Modern community
In 2006 the US State Department ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom singled out Uzbekistan for criticism for its recent crackdown on religious minorities, saying the government of President Islam Karimov had stepped up restrictions. However Uzbek Bahá'ís were able to attend a regional conference on the progress of the religion in AlmatyAlmaty
Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
in southeastern Kazakhstan in 2008. Two of the communities in Uzbekistan showed higher scale coordination on the efforts of the community. Three members of the National Spiritual Assembly were delegates in Haifa for international Bahá'í convention in 2008, and Uzbeks had joined the religion elsewhere. But in 2009-2010 registered groups had meetings were broken up, and parents who had signed permission for their children to attend these meetings were fined. Propaganda about religious activities including those of Bahá'ís and Muslims has been forced through Uzbek cable television operators. See Persecution of Bahá'ís
Persecution of Bahá'ís
The persecution of Bahá'ís is the religious persecution of Bahá'ís in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Bahá'í Faith originated and the location of one of the largest Bahá'í populations in the world...
&Allegations of Bahá'í involvement with other powers
Allegations of Bahá'í involvement with other powers
Opponents of the Bahá'í Faith, especially certain Iranians, have accused the faith's followers of dual loyalty and of being involved with foreign or hostile powers. These accusations are used to justify persecution of this religious minority....
for related information. A Bahá'í with family from Uzbekistan was expelled in 2009.
Demographics
Statistics from the state Religious Affairs Committee indicate that one Baha'i community lost registration between October 2002 and February 2007. As of 2005 there were 6 communities registered with the government while in 2008 there were eight. The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAssociation 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...
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
) estimated some 770 Bahá'ís in 2005.
See also
- Freedom of religion in UzbekistanFreedom of religion in UzbekistanThe Constitution provides for freedom of religion and for the principle of separation of church and state; however, the Government continued to restrict these rights in practice...
- History of UzbekistanHistory of UzbekistanIn the first millennium BC, Iranian nomads established irrigation systems along the rivers of Central Asia and built towns at Bukhoro and Samarqand. These places became extremely wealthy points of transit on what became known as the Silk Road between China and Europe...
- List of cities in Uzbekistan
- Bahá'í Faith in KazakhstanBahá'í Faith in KazakhstanThe Bahá'í 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 Bahá'í Faith as far back as 1847...
- Bahá'í Faith in TurkmenistanBahá'í Faith in TurkmenistanThe Bahá'í Faith in Turkmenistan begins before Russian advances into the region when the area was under the influence of Persia. By 1887 a community of Bahá'í refugees from religious violence in Persia had made a religious center in Ashgabat. Shortly afterwards — by 1894 — Russia made...