The

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

in Niger began during a period of wide scale growth in the religion across

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

near the end of its colonial period. The first Baháʼís arrived in

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

in 1965 and the growth of the religion reached the point of the election of its

National Spiritual Assembly Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...

in 1975. Following a period of oppression, making the institutions of the

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 The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making t ...

(relying on

World Christian Encyclopedia ''World Christian Encyclopedia'' is a reference work, with its third edition published by Edinburgh University Press in November 2019. The ''WCE'' is known for providing membership statistics for major world religions and Christian denomination ...

) estimated some 5,600 Baháʼís in 2005.

Early Period

During the late colonial period of

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

the

entered the region in 1953. Wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa was observed to begin in the 1950s and extend into the 1960s. There were over 1,000 Baháʼís across North-West Africa resulting in a regional National Spiritual Assembly including French West Africa in 1956. Following the death of Shoghi Effendi, the elected

Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate on issues not already addressed in the ...

was head of the religion and began to re-organized the Baháʼí communities of Africa by splitting off national communities to form their own National Assemblies from 1967 through the 1990s. Following the independence of Niger in 1960, the first pioneers arrived in

in 1966. From January to March 1970

Hand of the Cause Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá, who died in 2007. Hands of ...

Rúhíyyih Khanum crossed Africa from east to west, visiting many country's communities including Niger, meeting with individuals and institutions both Baháʼí and civic.

Development

The National Spiritual Assembly of Niger, splitting off from the North West African Assembly, was elected in 1975. As part of a sweep across several

Sub-Saharan Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

countries, the Baháʼí Faith was banned in the 1970s in

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

(1974),

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

(1976),

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

(1977), Congo (1978) and Niger in 1978, during the government established by the military coup of

Seyni Kountché Seyni Kountché (1 July 1931 – 10 November 1987) was a Nigerien military officer who led a 1974 Nigerien coup d'état, 1974 coup d'état that deposed the government of Niger's first Heads of State of Niger, president, Hamani Diori. He ruled th ...

"This was principally the result of a campaign by a number of Arab countries. Since these countries were also by this time providers of development aid, this overt attack on the Baháʼís was supported by covert moves such as linking the aid money to a particular country to the action that it took against the Baháʼís. This was partially successful and a number of countries did ban the Baháʼís for a time. However, the Baháʼís were able to demonstrate to these governments that they were not agents of
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
nor anti-Islamic and succeeded in having the ban reversed in all of these countries except Niger."

The Nigerien government made changes by instituting a multi-party democratic system called for by union and student demands. Following this there was a waning of military coup successor Col.

Ali Saibou Ali Saibou (17 June 1940 – 31 October 2011) was the third President of Niger from 1987 to 1993 succeeding the deceased military ruler Seyni Kountché. A member of the Djerma people, he was born in Dingajibanda, a village in the Ouallam ar ...

's power and widespread changes in laws. In 1991, all legal restrictions of the Baháʼí Faith had been ended. though political instability persisted. The National Spiritual Assembly was elected again at Niger's Baháʼí Convention in 1992.

Modern community

Since its inception the religion has had involvement in

socio-economic development Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analys ...

beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the

dated 20 October 1983 was released. Baháʼís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the

Baháʼí teachings The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith are derived from the writings of Baháʼu'lláh, its founder. A corpus of Baháʼí literature include books and writings of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh, along with the public talks and writings of ‘Abdu� ...

, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Baháʼí socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. The Nigerian community has participated in literacy project initiatives.

Demographics

The Baháʼís of Niger number a few thousand and are located primarily in

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

and on the west side of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...

bordering

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

. The

(relying on

) estimated some 5,600 Baháʼís in 2005.

References

External links

Niger Baháʼí National Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baha'i Faith in Niger