Iceland

From Bahaikipedia

The Bahá'í Faith in Iceland (Icelandic Bahá'í samfélagið á Íslandi) began with Bahá'ís first visiting the Iceland in the early 20th century, and the first Icelandic Bahá'í was Hólmfríður Árnadóttir. The Bahá'í Faith was recognized as a religious community in 1966 and the first Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1972.^[1] Currently there are around 400 Bahá'ís in the country and 13 Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies. The number of assemblies is the highest percentage, by population, in all of Europe.^[1]

Contents 1 Early 20th century 2 Late 20th century and 21st century 3 Demographics 4 Notes 5 See also 6 References 7 External Links

[edit] Early 20th century

The first mentions of Iceland is when `Abdu'l-Bahá, 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 in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan. The seventh of the tablets was the first to mention several countries in Europe including beyond where `Abdu'l-Bahá had visited in 1911-12. He wrote

"In all the countries of the world the longing for universal peace is taking possession of the consciousness of men. … A most wonderful state of receptivity is being realized.… 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."^[2]

Following the release of these tablets a few Bahá'ís began moving to or at least visiting countries across Europe. The first Bahá'i in Iceland was Amelia Collins who visited the country during a cruise in 1924.^[3] During that trip she met Hólmfríður Árnadóttir, who became the first Icelandic Bahá'í,^[4] and became good friends.^[3] Later in 1935 Martha Root visited the country for a month and with the help of Hólmfríður Árnadóttir proclaimed the religion in the press, during lectures, and on the radio.^[4] Amelia Collins continued to support the spread of the religion in Iceland as she supported the publication of the first translation of Bahá'í literature, John Esslemont's Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, in Icelandic in 1939.^[3] Another Bahá'i, Nellie French, visited Spitsbergen in 1939.^[5] These first contacts with Iceland returned few visible results except for Hólmfríður Árnadóttir becoming a Bahá'í^[5] but by 1963 there was a registered group of Bahá'ís in Reykjavik^[6] including two American pioneers.^[7]

[edit] Late 20th century and 21st century

The Bahá'í Faith was officially recognized as a religious organization by the Icelandic government on September 29, 1966, which gave it the right to legally perform marriages and other ceremonies as well as entitle it to a share of the church tax in proportion to its number of adult members.^[8] Until 1973, when Ásatrúarfélagið was founded, the Bahá'í Community was the only non-Christian religious organization in Iceland and it remained the largest such organization until 1999 when it was passed in numbers by the Buddhist Association of Iceland.^[9]

On August 16, 1967, a Bahá'í wedding took place in Árbæjarkirkja, a church belonging to the Lutheran Church of Iceland. The bride was Icelandic and the groom Italian. The officiant was Ásgeir Einarsson, the man recognized by the government as head of the group (though individual Bahá'ís hold no leadership roles). Ásgeir Einarsson commented that the Church of Iceland had been more friendly to the Bahá'í community than state churches in other countries and that Bishop Sigurbjörn Einarsson had given them a "favorable and sympathetic" evaluation when they applied to the government for recognition.^[10] When word of the wedding ceremony reached the bishop, he expressed surprise that it had taken place in a Christian church and commented that he would have recommended against such an action.^[11] Suffragan bishop Sigurður Pálsson went further and suggested that the church would need to be reconsecrated before Christian ceremonies could resume in it.^[12] Bishop Sigurbjörn Einarsson disagreed, stating that the Bahá'í ceremony had been "a mistake, but not sinful action" and that the church had "not been defiled by it".^[13]

In September 1971, Reykjavik was the host of the North Atlantic Bahá'í conference for countries such as Greenland, and the Scandanavian countries,^[4] which signalled the start of growth in the country.^[5] The Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of Iceland was established in 1972^[1] with Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga representing the Universal House of Justice at the first national convention.^[14]

In 2000, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, then president of Iceland, his family and a delegation of about 30 Icelandic dignitaries visited the House of Worship in India, known as the Lotus Temple. He became the first head of state to visit the Lotus Temple during an official state visit.^[15] In November 2006, the Bahá'í community of Iceland joined with twelve other faith groups and collaborative partners to form the country's first national interfaith forum.^[16] Also, Icelandic Bahá'ís were among the attendees at a regional conference called for by the Universal House of Justice - this one happening in London in January 2009.^[17]

[edit] Demographics

Iceland currently has around 400 Bahá'ís. Iceland has the second most number of Bahá'ís per capita at 1493 per million population, and has the most number of Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies at 49 per million.^[1]

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• All articles about Iceland

[edit] References

• Hassall, Graham; Fazel, Seena (1998). "100 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in Europe". Bahá'í Studies Review (8): 35-44. http://bahai-library.com/asia-pacific/Europe.htm. 
• Universal House of Justice (1976). Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1968-73. Wilmette, IL: Bahá'i Publishing Trust. 
• `Abdu'l-Bahá (1991). Tablets of the Divine Plan (Paperback ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877432333. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/TDP/tdp-6.html. 
• Government census data
• Bahá'í trúin á Íslandi (Icelandic)

[edit] External Links

Official Website

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bahá'í Faith in Iceland.