The Baháʼí Faith in the United Arab Emirates began before the country gained independence in 1971. The first Baháʼís arrived in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

and Sharjah by 1940, The Baháʼí Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Baháʼí Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963
Compiled by

Hands 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 ...

Residing in the Holy Land, pages 4, 25, 28, 118. and by 1957 there were four Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies in the region of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and a regional National Spiritual Assembly of the Arabian Peninsula. Looklex Encyclopedia estimated some 75,000 Baháʼís or 1.6% of the national population - second only to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in number of Baháʼís in the nations of the Middle East - though the Association for Religious Data Archives (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 denominations ...

) estimated closer to 51,700, 1.3%, in 2005. Recent estimates of the ARDA count some 38,364 Baháʼís or 0.5% of the national population.

Development

By 1940s Baháʼís had arrived in Sharjah and Dubai, and by 1957 there were Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies in Dubai,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, Ras Al Khaymah, and

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

, and a regional Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of the Arabian Peninsula. This regional national assembly was re-organized for the Southern and Eastern Arabia in 1967, and of South East Arabia in 1974.

Modern community

Since its inception the religion has had involvement in

socio-economic development Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...

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

Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice ( fa, بیت‌العدل اعظم) 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 o ...

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

Baháʼí teachings The Baháʼí teachings represent a considerable number of theological, ethical, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Baháʼí Faith by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by its successive leaders: ʻ ...

, 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. Many consider the Baháʼís

kafir Kafir ( ar, كافر '; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' or ') is an Arabic and Islamic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or rejects ...

(

infidel An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or the irreligious. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church ...

s), and they lack many basic rights but they leave peacefully and respectfully in the UAE. Census figures count Baháʼís as

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and since many Baháʼís had passports that identify them as Muslims, the Ministry of Education required Baháʼí children to take the prescribed Islamic studies classes. However, 15 percent of the UAE are not Muslim, Christian, or Jewish. Unofficial sources noted by the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

assert that one-third of these are collectively Baháʼí,

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

, or

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

. These estimates differ from census figures because census figures do not count "temporary" visitors and workers, and Baháʼís are counted as Muslim. By some other estimates there were 55,000 Baháʼís (1.95% of the national population) as of 2000, and 75,000 Baháʼís or 1.6% circa 2008 - second only to

in the number of Baháʼís in the nations of the Middle East though the

estimated 51,700 in 2005. The ARDA estimates some 38,364 Baháʼís in 2010 or 0.5% of the national population. Recently, Baháʼís have been generally able to practise their religion in the country; in 1999 a touring group of youth, a ''Baháʼí Workshop'' (see Oscar DeGruy), with members from many countries including the UAE had performed in India and other places. In February 2001 a group of Baháʼís travelled to the UAE from Iran to attend a Ruhi Institute Baháʼí study circle, and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi donated land for a Baháʼí cemetery (and other cemetery lands for other religions.) The UAE government recognizes the Baha’I community and has included them in key dialogues around tolerance. In addition, the government donated land to the Baha’i community in various Emirates for cemeteries and in Abu Dhabi a house of worship as part of the UAE tolerance initiative.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baha'i Faith In The United Arab Emirates Religion in the United Arab Emirates

Development

Modern community

See also

References