The Bahá’í Faith is an independent world religion, the most recent in a line of divine (revealed by God) religions.  It is the second most widespread religion in the world after Christianity and has over 6 million followers, living in 235 countries and belonging to 2112 nationalities.

There is much written about the history of the Bahá’í Faith, and about its early days which are full of dramatic events, including the lifetimes of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.  The fullest and most authoritative [reliable] descriptions of those occasions can be found in the books:

1. Nabil. The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation.

2. Shoghi Effendi. God Passes By.

3. J. E. Esslemont. Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.

Azerbaijan, divided since 1828 between Russia and Iran (Turkmanchay Agreement) into northern and southern sections, was also a scene for events occurring in the middle of the 19^th century in connection with the birth of the new religion.  In 1847 Iranian Shah Mohammad Kadjar sent the Báb to the Mahku fortress situated in Southern Azerbaijan – the Iranian province. 

The few days that the Báb spent in Tebriz – the capital of Southern Azerbaijan – before he was sent to the fortress, were enough for him to gain the sympathy and love of the city’s inhabitants.  The Iranian Authorities sending the Báb to this remote mountainous part of the country were hoping that His influence would come to naught, and His Faith would be gradually forgotten.  But the lamp of God’s Religion was lit and no one could extinguish its flame.  The Báb, owing to His majesty and kindness, soon earned the respect and love of the prison authorities as well as the local people.  Since that time the new Faith started to spread in Azerbaijan.

News that the Báb had gained the sympathy of the inhabitants of Mahku, and that His Faith continued to spread around the country, compelled the authorities to transfer Him to the castle of Chehrik.  It became increasingly clear, however, that as long as the Báb was alive it would be impossible to stop His growing influence.  A wave of violence swept over all of Iran.  Accusing the Báb of heresy, the clergy signed His death sentence. On the 9^th of July in 1850 in one of the squares of Tebriz in front of thousands of people, the Báb was suspended on a wall with His devoted follower, an Azerbaijani youth named Anis, and executed by the firing of a military regiment. At the same time, most of His closest disciples were killed and thousands (more than 20 thousand) of His followers were slaughtered.

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The most famous person who perished during the persecution of the Bábís was Azerbaijani poetess Tahira, who was one of the first 18 followers of the Báb.  It was she, who for the first time in the history of Azerbaijan, Iran and other Muslim countries, in accordance with the principles of the New Faith, one of which is the equality of men and women, removed her veil.

This took place during the Badasht Conference. There Bahá’u’lláh named Zarintaj (that was her real name) Tahira (“Pure one”).  Since that time Bahá’u’lláh Himself became known by His name, which in the Arabic language means “The Glory of God”.  At this memorable conference, the laws of the New Era were adopted and the customs of the past were rejected.  There Tahira bravely removed her veil and for the first time stood in front of her co-believers with an open face.  She addressed her shocked co-believers with words that sounded like Koranic verses and declared that the New Era was coming when the laws of the past would be abolished.  Not everyone was ready for such a sudden change, some were upset, but the intervention of Bahá’u’lláh reestablished peace between the parties.

 (The years had passed, some 70 years later, during the time of the Soviet Government, removing the veil became common place, and the nameless memorial to a woman taking off her veil on one of the squares of Baku became a symbol of freedom, but for Bahá’ís it is a memorial for Tahira…)

 The goal of that historic meeting was achieved. The coming of the Era of a new world order was proclaimed at the conference…

The Báb considered His Revelation to be a transition. He claimed that when the Promised One would appear, He would bring to humanity the teaching of future centuries…  In accordance with His words:  “a thousand perusals of the Bayan cannot equal the perusal of a single verse to be revealed by Him Whom God shall make manifest…” [Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 104]

It was the year 1863 when the Bahá’í Faith was established as an independent world religion, when a follower of the Báb, Mirza Hussein Ali — Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892) proclaimed Himself to be the Promised One whose coming was promised in all the Holy Books of the religions of the past.  He was also persecuted by the clergy and by the authority of the Iranian Shah, exiled from one country to another and from one imprisonment to another for 40 years.

The son of a noble and wealthy Iranian vazir (state minister) Mirza Abbas, He Himself experienced torture and imprisonment, slander and hunger, poverty and treachery. The story of His Life and Faith is extremely dramatic.

The Revealer, who is the true bearer of God’s Revelation, Bahá’u’lláh in His Main Book “The Kitáb-i- Aqdas” formulated injunctions and commandments of the new law.  More than one hundred volumes of Holy Writings in Persian and Arabic were revealed by His pen.  Some of them have been translated into English and a smaller amount into other languages; most of them still remain untranslated.

The development of the Bábí Faith in Northern Azerbaijan coincides with the rise of the Movement in its cradle in Iran since its very beginning (in 1844).  At the same time as the Báb announced His mission, one of His disciples, Mullah Sadiq Vanandli, proclaimed the new Teachings in Vanand village in Ordubad (Nakhchivan).  He attracted to the Faith about ten thousand people.  The Russian Government sent the army of General Behbudov, composed of five thousand soldiers, to arrest him.  The Khan of Nakhchivan was a Shaykhi. (M.S. Ordubadi “Hayatim ve Muhitim”, Azerbaijan Dovlet Nashriyyati, Baki, 1996)

The Bahá’í Faith also, during the lifetime of Bahá’u’lláh, found many followers in Northern Azerbaijan, particularly in Ordubad, Baku, Balakhani, Gandja, Barda, Goychay, Salyan, Khilli (present Neftchala), Shaki, Shamakhy, etc.  The biggest communities were in Balakhani (hundreds), then in Baku (hundreds), Gandja (tens), Barda (tens), Salyan (tens).  These communities had their elected Local Spiritual Assemblies of Baha’is.

Since 1860 in Khizi village the father of the national poet of Azerbaijan Mikayil Mushfig, Mirza Abdulgadir Ismailzadeh, was famous with his activities of spreading the new Teachings in Baku.

The great poet of Azerbaijan Mirza Alakbar Sabir (1862–1911, Shamakhy) was in a close contact with the Bahá’ís of Balakhani and was often discussing the principles of the Faith with Kerbalai Ibrahim.  And there are assumptions that he accepted it. The other famous poet Seyid Azim Shirvani (1835–1888, Shamakhy) exposed his sympathies to the Faith in his poems. Abdulkhalig Yusif, the teacher of national poet Aliagha Vahid, who was one of the famous poets of the Caucasus of that time and a Bahá’í, led a righteous and exemplary life.  Husseyn Javid (1884–1941), a prominent figure in Azerbaijan literature, poet and dramatist, author of historical and philosophic dramas, whose creations are full of Bahá’í principles, according to some information, accepted the Faith while in Germany.  The founder of professional music art in Azerbaijan, the national artist of USSR, publicist, dramatist, teacher and public figure, academician Uzeyir Hajibayov (1885–1948) mentioned with deep understanding and respect the enlightening efforts of the followers of the Faith in one of his works.  The famous millionaire, Maecenas Musa Naghiyev (1849–1919), who built 98 buildings in Baku, which serve our people even today, was also a follower of the Faith and was an honorable member of the Spiritual Assembly of Baku.

There were many pilgrims from Azerbaijan who visited the Holy places of the Bahá’ís — the places of banishments, which were later transformed into the centers of the Faith in Palestine (present-day Israel), in the cities of Akka and Haifa.  Among them were Meshadi Husseyn Ayyubov (the first Bahá’í from Shaki) and Kerbalai Ibrahim from Balakhani.  (The first Bahá’í from Balakhani was Kerbalai Imran).  They were fortunate to personally meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas in 1914.

The great son of the Turkish world — Gazi Mustafa (Pasha) Kamal Ataturk spoke about the necessity of “One Universal Faith” and “Universal World Government” for the establishment of peace on earth (Boyuk Nutuk, Cild 2, pp.322-323).

In 1882 Bahá’ís bought the building, which was famous under the name Musafirkhana, on 216, Chadrovaya street (presently M.A. Aliyev street).  It served as a Bahá’í center where about one hundred people regularly gathered for meetings, prayers, moral classes, and to study the Holy Writings and history of the Faith.

However, we cannot say that the spread of the Faith in Azerbaijan was going smoothly without fanaticism and opposition from the clergy.  One of the first shehids (martyrs for the Faith) in Northern Azerbaijan was Mullah Sadiq from Mardakan settlement near Baku, the son of the famous theologian who ordered his son to be killed as an apostate.  Now dozens of Bahá’ís from different countries of the world visit his grave. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant and the Head of the Faith after Bahá’u’lláh’s passing, addressed him with a special epistle. (“Ishigha Doghru” by Prof. Aziza Jaffarzadeh, Baki, Shirvanneshr, 1998).

Nevertheless, the Bahá’í community didn’t suffer any pressure and oppression from authorities, neither before, nor during the first years of the establishment of Soviet Azerbaijan.  Bahá’ís from Baku had very close contact with Bahá’ís from Ashqabad (the biggest community in the territory of USSR with hundreds of Bahá’ís; this community was the most developed and in the 20th century the first Temple of Bahá’ís — The House of Worship — was built there; later this Temple was confiscated and then demolished by the Soviet government), Tbilisi, Moscow and other cities which had Spiritual Assemblies.

In the present day, Houses of Worship are located on all continents, and much property has been acquired for future constructions, which are to become the centers of the Bahá’í community life.  In the future, schools, colleges, hostels, retirement homes and administrative centers will be built around the Houses of Worship.  The Houses of Worship are open for all people regardless of their faith (as well as for those who don’t consider themselves followers of any religion), as they are the places where anybody can worship One God.

In fateful 1937, when “NKVD” (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) started repression and persecution of all progressive people, including clergy, the Bahá’ís didn’t remain without attention.  About 40 Bahá’í communities existing at that time in USSR were outlawed.  From the 13th of October, within several nights, all the members of the Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly of Baku and dozens of community members were arrested.  All of them were punished out of court and without investigation. The chairman of the Spiritual Assembly, Faraj Jaffargulu Gasimov (the nephew of the first Bahá’í from Salyan, Hadim Javad), was executed first.  His bloodstained shirt was given to his wife, Fizza Muradova.  On the 40^th day after his arrest, upon her return home, she found the shirt in the pot which she used to bring food to her husband.  The courageous woman kept it secret from her family and her six children, from 6 to 16 years old. (Her steadfast behavior during the arrest still amazes many people. The “NKVD” people gave her husband a chance to stay alive if he would sign a paper disavowing the Faith.  His last words to his wife were: “You must give higher education to all our children and first of all to the girls.”  Fizza khanum promised and fulfilled her husband’s will; she brought up a Professor, a Candidate of Science, instructor, doctors, a physician, future members of the Spiritual Assemblies of Baku and Azerbaijan; she lost one teenage son).

This was the only information about his fate.  For about 20 years there was no other information. Then there were numerous letters of his son to the highest authorities, including the UN.  Then he was called to the prosecutor’s office, which was assumed by the family to be an arrest, and there he was handed a document about the rehabilitation of his father.  The family of this “national enemy”, as well as many other families from Baku, Gandja, Salyan, Balakhani and Barda, were released from this terrible stain, blames and harassments from colleagues and neighbors.  Estranged and frightened relatives started to reestablish relations…

Baha’is, assuming that they would be arrested, not only didn’t hide, but even felt jealous for those who were actually arrested.  For example, Rasul Khasiyev visited the families of arrested people and said that fortunate are those who are honored to give their lives for the Faith while he and many others were impatiently (!) waiting for that day. A month later he was also arrested.

Many were imprisoned, exiled to Siberia, or just disappeared without a trace.

In October 1938 the building of the Bahá’í center was confiscated (one can read about it in the book by Manaf Suleymanov “Eshitdiklerim, okhuduglarim, gorduklerim” Azerneshr, Baku 1996).  Now there is a kindergarten in this building.

In 1956 after rehabilitation the fear was gradually gone, and Bahá’ís, in spite of the pressure, were finding possibilities to meet, not all together, but in different apartments about 10 people at a time.  The Spiritual Assembly of Baku started to function.  There was no possibility to have elections, and if there was a vacancy on the Assembly, the members of the Assembly themselves had to secretly elect someone to fill the vacancy.  And when, for one reason or another, it wasn’t possible to have 9 members, the Assembly functioned with only 5.

And again in November 1982 dark clouds gathered over the Bahá’ís and one-day arrests by KGB began.  S.D. Asadova, I.F. Gasimov (twice) and I.G. Ayyubov were put in a car and driven away straight from work without any notice.  They were interrogated for 7 hours continuously and had to write 10-page explanations.  Many of them thought that they wouldn’t return home.  For several days, itt was hard for them to recover.  They were even prohibited from telling anybody about their arrest. Again the meetings of the friends and even the greetings on the phone “Allah’u’Abha” were forbidden.  And later the chairman of KGB of USSR in one of his speeches on TV said: “The Committee of State Security never interferes in religious affairs”!

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After “Perestroyka” the relations between communities on the territory of USSR, as well as with some foreign countries, were reestablished.  From 1988 the Bahá’ís in Moscow and Ashqabad and then in Baku became active.  The first intercommunity contacts in Moscow and Ashqabad occurred.  The first guests were — M.A. Naji from Ashqabad, M. Namdar from Finland.  The first trips abroad were to Finland, India, Switzerland and so on, where thousands, millions of Bahá’ís lived.  The first long-term visitors arrived from U.S.A., Iran, England, and short-term visitors also came from Ireland, New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines, Turkey and Italy.

The first contacts with the State Department of Religion of Azerbaijan were established in the late eighties.  In spite of the fact that there were more than 20 Bahá’ís in Baku at that time, they were full of distrust and filled with fear of being arrested.  As a result of this, only three Bahá’ís decided to go to the Department in order to announce the intention to establish the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Baku.  By the end of 1990, after 50 long years of waiting, the election for the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Baku was held.  Then within several months the elections for Local Spiritual Assemblies were organized in Gandja and Barda.  After one year Spiritual Assemblies were formed in Salyan and Balakhani.

But again the same old story, in 1992 during the Annual Bahá’í Convention, which was attended by the representative of the Bahá’í World Centre Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum Rabbani — the most high-ranking figure in the Bahá’í World, the widow of Shoghi Effendi who was the Guardian and the Leader of the Faith — as well as guests from Germany, Holland, France, U.S.A. and so on, a crowd of fanatics broke into the place where the meeting was being held.

In the present day, Bahá’ís live in many cities and towns of our country, and there are Spiritual Assemblies in Baku, Sumgait and Balakhani. The unique community of the Bahá’ís of Azerbaijan unites people of different professions (professors, scientists, people of arts, doctors, teachers, engineers, laborers, peasants, students, etc.) and national backgrounds (Azerbaijanis, Russians, Jewish, Tatars, etc.) under the Common Tabernacle of Bahá’u’lláh.

It is very symbolic that one of our compatriots Aliullah Nakhjavani, who was born in Baku in 1919, the son Mirza Ali Akbar Nakhjavani, who was the translator of correspondence between ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Leo Tolstoy, for a period of 40 years was regularly reelected to the highest Spiritual and Administrative Center of the Faith, the Universal House of Justice, since its foundation in 1963.  He resigned in 2003.

The Shrine of the Báb majestically towers in present day Haifa on Mount Carmel, close to the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, and Bahá’ís from Baku Usta Ali Ashraf and Agha Bala, sons of Mullah Talid Karim, who was one of Bahá’u’lláh’s secretaries, also participated in its construction.

There are many historical places in the Holy Land connected to Northern Azerbaijan and our compatriots. Offspring of those Bahá’ís are still among us.  Being in the Holy Land, one feels pride for our people whose representatives made a big contribution to the purchasing of land and to the construction of the Arc buildings and Bahá’í Gardens of the worldwide famous Terraces.

Presently, the Bahá’í International Community is registered in the United Nations (UN) as a non-governmental organization with consultative status in different departments of the UN, such as the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Children’s Fund (UNICEF).  The Community also keeps working relations with UNEP (Environment Program) and UNIFEM (Program of Women’s issues).  The work of the Bahá’í International Community is concentrated on human rights, advancement of women, social-economic development, environment protection and moral education.

One of the meetings organized with active participation of the Bahá’í International Community under the UN, the World Summit for Social Development “HABITAT I” (Copenhagen, March 1995), was attended by more than 115 State and Government Leaders, including the delegation from Azerbaijan Republic led by the president H.A. Aliyev.  In his speech he stated: “It is the first time in history that Leaders of the States and Governments gathered in a forum, the aim of which is to co-ordinate policy in order to achieve social prosperity for the people of the whole world.”  The Declaration of the Bahá’í International Community “The Prosperity of Humankind” was read at the plenary session on the first day of the Summit.

The Bahá’í International Community directly participated in the work of the 4th International Women’s Forum in Beijing in 1995 (the delegation from Azerbaijan was also there).  The following passage was quoted at the forum:  “The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already shifting — force is losing its weight and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine, and more permeated with the feminine ideals — or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá quoted in John E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, p. 156)

The Bahá’í International Community came out with a declaration at a plenary session of the UN Conference on Human Settlements “HABITAT II” in Istanbul, Turkey, in June 1996.  The representatives of 148 nations, 150 Bahá’í’s from more than 25 countries, including 4 from Azerbaijan, attended the conference.  NGOs together with the representatives of the governments welcomed both the process and the result.  They stated that the partnership created at this meeting would open new opportunities for development, changes and may be a new era of civil participation in our communities in accordance with universal principles of love, honesty, moderation, hospitality, humility, justice and unity, which lead to social integrity and without them none of communities can stably exist.

In October 2002 in Baku there was a very imposing International Conference of OSCE “The Role of Religion and Belief in a Democratic Society:  Searching for Ways to Combat Terrorism and Extremism”.  About 400 participants from more than 50 countries, including state delegations, international organizations (such as UN, OSCE), religious denominations, non-governmental organizations and mass media, participated in it. Representatives of the Bahá’í International Community and the Bahá’í community of Azerbaijan also attended this conference.

Participating in international and inter-religious conferences and forums, Bahá’ís strive for the achievement of universal harmony, the elimination of religious, race and other prejudices, which are the main reasons of barriers of misunderstanding between people.

In 1992 when Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan adopted the law of religious liberty, the Bahá’ís of Azerbaijan gained an opportunity to officially create communities.  In 1993 the Governing Board of the Ministry of Justice of the Azerbaijan Republic gave official permission for the functioning of the Bahá’í Community of Baku.  In 2002 the Bahá’í Community of Baku was registered again with The State Committee of Azerbaijan Republic for Working With Religious Organizations.  In the same year, the Bahá’í Community of Sumgayit also was registered.  After democratic changes in the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bahá’ís have the same opportunities as other citizens.