Bosnia and Herzegovina

From Bahaikipedia

The Bahá’í Faith in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina begins with mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá,^[1] of Austria-Hungary which Bosnia and Herzegovina were part of at the time. Between the World Wars when Bosnia and Herzegovina were part of Yugoslavia, several members of Yugoslavian royalty had contact with prominent members of the religion.^[2] During the period of Communism in Yugoslavia, the first member of the Bahá’í Faith was in 1963 and the first Local Spiritual Assembly was formed in 1990.^[3] With the Yugoslavian civil war and separation into Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bahá’ís had not elected a National Spiritual Assembly^[3] but do have a small population in a few regions in the country.^[4]

Contents 1 Early days 2 Growth 3 Modern community 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early days

Before 1918, the regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina were part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a series of letters, or tablets, to the members of the religion in the United States in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book Tablets of the Divine Plan. The seventh of the tablets mentioned European regions and was written on April 11 1916, but was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919—after the end of the First World War and the Spanish flu. The seventh tablet was translated and presented on April 4 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12 1919 and mentioned Austria-Hungary.^[1] He says:

In brief, this world-consuming war has set such a conflagration to the hearts that no word can describe it. In all the countries of the world the longing for universal peace is taking possession of the consciousness of men. … Therefore, O ye believers of God! Show ye an effort and after this war spread ye the synopsis of the divine teachings in the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia,Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland,Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece, Andorra,Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Monaco, San Marino, Balearic Isles, Corsica, Sardinia,Sicily, Crete, Malta, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Hebrides and Orkney Islands… ^[5]

From 1918 to the 1990's Bosnia and Herzegovina were part of Yugoslavia. Before World War II Yugoslavia continued to be ruled by monarchs and among them there was awareness of the Bahá’í Faith. In July, 1938, Marie of Edinburgh, a member of the religion^[6] and Queen of Rumania, died. A message of condolence was communicated, in the name of all Bahá’í communities in East and West, to her daughter, Maria of Romania, then Queen of Yugoslavia, to which she replied expressing “sincere thanks to all of Bahá’u’lláh’s followers.”^[2] Later Princess Olga of Yugoslavia, on being informed of the death of Hand of the Cause Martha Root in 1939, remarked “She was so kind and gentle, and a real worker for peace. I am sure she will be sadly missed in her work.”^[2]

Following the disruption of World War II and oppression during the early period of communism (see for example what happened to the much larger Bahá’í community in Turkmenistan) the first member of the Bahá’í Faith in Yugoslavia was an isolated Bahá’í in Belgrade who converted to the religion in 1963.^[3]

[edit] Growth

With the relaxation of the restrictions of Communism, Yugoslavia's first Bahá’í Local Spiritual Assembly was established in November 1990 in Belgrade^[3] though the World Christian Encyclopedia maintained there were no Bahá’ís in the country then.^[7] By 1998 Yugoslavia was torn by civil war and did not have a Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly.^[3] Activities increased with a burgeoning community of Bahá’ís. In 2001, Bahá’í youth gathered for a dance workshop in Zenica^[8] working with a "Education for Peace" project with support of the Landegg Academy^[9] which operated the pilot project in six schools in three different communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, reaching some 6,000 students.^[10] Fulya Vekiloglu, who later joined the United Nations Office of the Baha'i International Community also worked in Bosnia with this same project as well as acting as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program to survey civil society development in eastern Bosnia.^[11]

By 2003 Bahá’ís had organized Bosnia and Herzegovina into 17 subregions, and four of these contained at least one Bahá’í and a few Ruhi Institute study circles were operating.^[4]

[edit] Modern community

The small community of Baha'is of Bosnia and Herzegovina has continued to have a presence in events beyond the confines of the country. In November 2004 membership of Baha'i inspired General Assembly of the International Environment Forum lists one member.^[12] In 2007, Sara Clarke-Habibi, who lived and worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina, published The Bahá’í Children's Workbook^[13] to assist children to learn about essential teachings and community life.^[14] In February 2008 the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina aligned themselves with the declaration of the President of Slovenia on behalf of the European Union on the deteriorating situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran.^[15] See Persecution of Bahá’ís.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Interview with Lars Patenaude and his work for the non-governmental organization called Education for Peace in Bosnia.
• News from the Front
• Sara Clarke-Habibi
• Institute Board News

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bahá’í Faith in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.