Bahá'í Faith in the United Arab Emirates

The Bahá'í Faith in the United Arab Emirates began before the country gained independence in 1971. The first Bahá'ís arrived in Dubai by 1950, [http://bahai-library.com/?file=handscause_statistics_1953-63&chapter=1#22 The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963] , Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land, pages 4, 25, 28, 118.] and by 1957 there were four Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in the region of the United Arab Emirates and a regional National Spiritual Assembly of the Arabian Peninsula. Recent estimates count some 75,000 Bahá'ís or 1.6% of the national population - second only to Iran in number of Bahá'ís in the nations of the Middle East.Citation
contribution = Baha'i
year = 2008
title = Looklex Encyclopeadia, an expansion of Encyclopaedia of the Orient
editor-last = Kjeilen
editor-first = Tore
volume = Online
url = http://i-cias.com/e.o/bahai.htm
pages =
place =
publisher = Looklex Encyclopeadia
id = ]

Development

By 1950 Bahá'ís had arrived in Dubai, [http://bahai-library.com/?file=handscause_statistics_1953-63&chapter=1#22 The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963] , Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land, pages 4, 25, 28, 118.] and by 1957 there were Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaymah, and Sharjah, and a regional Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of the Arabian Peninsula. This regional national assembly was re-organized for the Southern and Eastern Arabia in 1967, [cite book
last = House of Justice
first = Universal
authorlink = Universal House of Justice
title = Wellspring of Guidance, Messages 1963-1968
publisher = National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States
date = 1976
location = Wilmette, Illinois
pages = p. 73, Nine New National Assemblies in Ridván 1967
url = http://bahai-library.com/published.uhj/wellspring.html
doi =
id =
isbn = 0877430322 ] and of South East Arabia in 1974. [cite web
last = House of Justice
first = Universal
authorlink = Universal House of Justice
title = Naw-Ruz 1974, BE 131
work = Ridvan Messages from the Universal House of Justice
publisher = Universal House of Justice
date = 1974-03-21
url = http://bahai-library.com/published.uhj/ridvan/74.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-06-07]

In the 1980s, many anti-Bahá'í polemics were published in local newspapers of the UAE.cite web | last = MacEoin | first = Denis | coauthors = William Collins | title = Anti-Baha'i Polemics | work = The Babi and Baha'i Religions: An Annotated Bibliography | publisher = Greenwood Press's ongoing series of Bibliographies and Indexes in Religious Studies | url = http://bahai-library.com/books/biblio/antibahai.polemic.html | accessdate = 2008-04-12|pages = entries #1, 5, 26, 29, 108, 116, 122, 151, 204, 219, 227, 238, 272, 289, 330 ]

Modern community

The current situation of the Bahá'ís in the UAE, while being better than the situation of the Bahá'ís in Iran, (see Persecution of Bahá'ís) is mixed. Many consider the Bahá'ís kafir (infidels), and they lack many basic rights. [cite web
last = (Bahrain)
first = Esra'a
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Interview with an Arab atheist - Does Islam drive its youth away?
work = Contribitions
publisher = Mideast Youth
date = 2007-06-15
url = http://www.mideastyouth.com/2007/06/15/interview-with-an-arab-atheist-does-islam-drive-its-youth-away/
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-06-07]

Census figures count Bahá'ís as Muslim and since many Bahá'ís had passports that identify them as Muslims, the Ministry of Education required Bahá'í children to take the prescribed Islamic studies classes.Cite web |title=United Arab Emirates: International Religious Freedom Report 2007 |url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90223.htm |publisher=United States Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |date=2007-09-14 |accessdate=2008-05-02] However, 15 percent of the UAE are not Muslim, Christian, or Jewish. Unofficial sources noted by the U.S. Department of State assert that one-third of these are collectively Bahá'í, Parsi, or Sikh. These estimates differ from census figures because census figures do not count "temporary" visitors and workers, and Bahá'ís are counted as Muslim. By some other estimates there were 55,000 Bahá'ís (1.95% of the national population) as of 2000, [Citation
last = Barrett
first = David
author-link = David Barrett
last2 = Kohlman Rabbani
first2 = Simeon
title = Year 2000 Estimated Baha'i statistics
year = 2000
url = http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_bahai.html
accessdate = 2008-06-07 ] and 75,000 Bahá'ís or 1.6% circa 2008 - second only to Iran in the number of Bahá'ís in the nations of the Middle East.

Recently, Bahá'ís have been generally able to practise their religion in the country; in 1999 a touring group of youth, a "Bahá'í Workshop" (see Oscar DeGruy), with members from many countries including the UAE had performed in India and other places. [Citation
last = News Service
first = Express
title = Baha'i followers perform to spread the message of peace
newspaper = Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
pages =
date = 1999-09-16
url = http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990917/ige17135.html] In February 2001 a group of Bahá'ís travelled to the UAE from Iran to attend a Ruhi Institute Bahá'í study circle, [Citation
last = Translated by:
first = Aminian Behzad
title = Hamshahri Newspaper, New gestures by the Baha'i Cult
periodical = Research Notes in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies
volume= 06
issue= 02
year = December, 2002
date = 2002-11-14
url = http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/notes/vol6/ruhi/ruhi.htm] and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi donated land for a Bahá'í cemetery (and other cemetery lands for other religions.) [Citation
last = M. Bathish
first = Hani
title = UAE is an oasis of religious tolerance
newspaper = Khaleej Times Online
date = 2004-10-19
url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2004/October/theuae_October415.xml&section=theuae]

However, as of 2005, the country's long-term Internet service provider at the time, Etisalat, blocked some of the most visible websites related to the Bahá'í Faith. The blocking did not extend to most material concerning the Bahá'í Faith on the internet however. [Citation
contribution = Internet Filtering in the United Arab Emirates in 2004-2005: A Country Study
contribution-url = http://opennet.net/studies/uae
title = Reports - Case Studies - 2005
year = 2005
publisher = OpenNet Initiative
url = http://opennet.net/research/reports]

ee also

*Religion in the United Arab Emirates
*Freedom of religion in the United Arab Emirates
*Human rights in the United Arab Emirates

References