Bahá’í Faith in Pakistan


This Faith reached first in Mumbai (India) & then was brought by some early believers to Karachi (Pakistan) in 1910. Before that a Bahá’í teacher Jamal Effendi had visited sub continent in 1875 who was sent by Baha’u’llah from Akka. Jamal effendi visited several cities like Mumbai, Ram Pur, Delhi, Amratsar, Lahore Sialkot, Jammu, Srineger, Ladakh, Yarkand & Badakhshan. The first teacher of Bahá’í Faith in Indo-Pak Sub continent was Said Hindi who came from Iran in Multan in 1845. The following article tells a story of Bahá’í faith in Pakistan. The history of the Baha’i Faith in Pakistan is as old as the Baha’i Faith is itself. Since the very beginning of Baha’i history mention of ‘Hind’ (India) is found in a tablet of the Bab. The Bab (1819-1850) – the forerunner of the Baha’i Faith gave much importance to Turkey and the land of Hind (Indian Subcontinent) for teaching His Message. In one of his works, Qayyum’ul–Asma, He instructs the kings to hurry up and take His Message to Turkey and India. After that, throughout the Ministries of Baha’u’llah, Abdul-baha and Shoghi Effendi, and now the Universal House of Justice special attention has ever been paid to spread the Divine Fragrances in the Indo- Pakistan subcontinent.
 
Babis and Baha’is in the region of Pakistan have played very significant role in the fields of teaching and consolidation. the stage of development of the Cause of God can be well appreciated when we realize that among the eighteen Letters of Living, the first eighteen souls who recognized the station of the Bab – was one Siyyid said - I- Hindi- a native of Multan. A central city of Punjab Province, now in Pakistan. Said-i-Hindi was one of the students of the famous Siyyid Kazim Rashti in Iraq. He was sent to Hind (Indo- Pakistan subcontinent) to announce the Great News of the advent of the Bab. He reached Multan in 1844 (Pakistan) and started sharing the gald tidings with his fellow countrymen. We could not yet trace the history of this heroic soul after this. What we know is that one of his contacts who accepted the faith of the Bab was the Basir-i- Hindi a blind man of Multan area with great spiritual and intellectual qualities.
 
This Faith reached first in Mumbai (India) & then was brought by some early believers to Karachi (Pakistan) in 1910. Before that a Bahá’í teacher Jamal Effendi had visited sub continent in 1875 who was sent by Baha’u’llah from Akka. Jamal effendi visited several cities like Mumbai, Ram Pur, Delhi, Amratsar, Lahore Sialkot, Jammu, Srineger, Ladakh, Yarkand & Badakhshan. The first teacher of Bahá’í Faith in Indo-Pak Sub continent was Said Hindi who came from Iran in Multan in 1845. The following article tells a story of Bahá’í faith in Pakistan. The history of the Baha’i Faith in Pakistan is as old as the Baha’i Faith is itself. Since the very beginning of Baha’i history mention of ‘Hind’ (India) is found in a tablet of the Bab. The Bab (1819-1850) – the forerunner of the Baha’i Faith gave much importance to Turkey and the land of Hind (Indian Subcontinent) for teaching His Message. In one of his works, Qayyum’ul–Asma, He instructs the kings to hurry up and take His Message to Turkey and India. After that, throughout the Ministries of Baha’u’llah, Abdul-baha and Shoghi Effendi, and now the Universal House of Justice special attention has ever been paid to spread the Divine Fragrances in the Indo- Pakistan subcontinent.
 
He was one of the decedents of Siyyid Jalal Bokhari of Uch Sharif (Multan) area and belonged to the Jalalia sect. After embracing the Babi Faith, Basir-i-Hindi set out on a pilgrimage to Shiraz in Iran to meet the Bab. But when he reached Shiraz he learned that the Bab had been confined to the hills of Azerbaijan and that it would not be easy to be admitted into His Presence. Therefore he proceeded to Tehran, and from there onward to the Fort of Tabarsi and met the Babis there. After that he went to Nur (Mazindaran, Iran) and was admitted into the presence of Baha’u’llah. He travelled from place to place in Iran and shared the news of advent of the Bab with the local people. Then, via Kashan he reached to Luristan. Here he became famous for his knowledge and spirituality and got admitted into the court of the governor of Luristan, Yaldram Mirza who was an uncle of the Shah (King) of Iran. When the governor learnt that Basir-i-Hindi was a Babi he did not believe it and enquired from him about this information. Siyyid Basir-i-Hindi did not hesitate even for a moment and told that the news was true. The governor become ferocious and ordered that Basir’s tongue be pulled out of his throat and they did so.
 
It is worth mentioning here that the Bab’s maternal uncle Siyyid Ali was a cloth merchant and had offices in Shiraz and Bushihr and it is told that he also had an agency office in Mumbai. The Bab was one of the partners and helpers of his uncle in this business from 1835-1844. Thus may be that well before his declaration the Bab had connections with India. After declaration of the Bab some of His believers had pioneered to Mumbai. Among those early pioneers were some Afnans – the maternal relatives of the Bab. It was probably during 1870 that, Haji Siyyid Mahmood Afnan and Haji Siyyid Mirza Mahdi Afnan established a business by the name of “Haji Siyyid Mirza Mahmood Afnan & Co.” In Mumbai. Later on they opened a printing press also by the name of Matba-i-Nasiri (Nasiri Printing Press) in which Baha’i literature and Holy Scriptures were printed, alongwith other works. The Afnan acted as a liaison between the Baha’is of Persia, India and the Holy Land. The Baha’i pilgrims from Iran used to first come to Mumbai, meet with the Afnans and then proceed to the Holy Land. After their pilgrimage to Baha’u’llah in the Holy Land they often returned home through Mumbai. Usually they brought tablets of Baha’u’llah from the Holy Land addressed to the Baha’is of Persia and India. Thus Mumbai became the first strong Baha’i centre in the Indian Subcontinent from where the divine fragrances were diffused to all parts of India and Burma.
 
It is said that the Afnans of Mumbai supplicated Baha’u’llah to send a learned teacher to India.When this supplication was made to Baha’u’llah, Suleman Khan Tunkabuni was present there. Baha’u’llah conferred upon him the titles ‘Jamal ‘iddin’ and Lami’ih’ (meaning ‘brilliant’) and commissioned him to proceed to the Indian subcontinent and teach the Baha’i Faith in this vast land. The ‘Hind’ of those days included the present territory of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. No sooner had Suleman Khan received Baha’u’llah’s instructions than he arose to accomplish his wishes. In 1875 Suleman Khan, with another Baha’i Mirza Hassan, reached Port said and from there took a ship to Mumbai. He taught the Baha’i Faith initially in Mumbai and its vicinity. He shared the message with rulers of the towns. He visited learned people, Sufis, political dignitaries and influential people. It was seemingly a direct result of Suleman Khan’s teaching efforts and the diffusion of creative words of Baha’u’llah that during that period quite a few revival and modernization movements began in India. One of them was Ariya Samaj Movement in Hindus of India.
 
Siyyid Mahfoozu’l - Haque Ilmi used to say to the writer of this article, that Jamal Effendi had met Mirza Ghulam Ahmed of Qadian and had presented to him a small box full of Bahá’ì Writings. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed writes in his book ‘Al-Balagh’ printed in 1898, “I have studied books of the Babi religion.”
 
Apart from travelling and teaching in the Indian subcontinent, Jamal Effendi and Siyyid Mustafa Rumi, undertook teaching tours into Burma, Sri-Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and Java. After nine years in the subcontinent (1875-1884) Jamal Effendi returned to Akka. However, he was again summoned by Baha’u’llah to visit India. This time he arrived in India on 20 March 1888. These new travels continued for one and half years. According to Azizullah Sulemani he travelled through Lahore, Sialkot, Poonch, Jammu, Kashmir, Tibet, Laddakh, Yarqand, Badakhshan and Balkh. During this visit an employee of the office of the deputy Commissioner Laddakh, called Ahmaeduddin, embraced the Baha’i Faith in 1889. In the same year Jamal Effendi reached Srinagar and remained some days over there. After this trip he proceeded to Madras, South India and continued his teaching activities. Jamal effendi passed away in AKKA. In 1900 two American Baha’i teachers, Mr. Hooper Harris and Mr. Harlan F.ober visited Punjab and stayed and taught in Lahore for some months. Mirza Mahmood Zarghani visited India for the second time in 1914. This time his wife was accompanying him and they stayed in Mumbai. They returned Iran in 1919. In 1904 an American Baha’i called Sydney Sprague, came to Lahore and taught the Baha’i Faith for some time.
 
Mirza Mahmood of Zarghan became a Baha’i through famous Baha’i teacher Haji Mirza Haider Ali of Isfahan. On the instructions of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Mirza Mahmood arrived Lahore in 1904 and travelled and taught in the regions of Punjab and North West Frontier Province. He stayed in Peshawar for a few days and spent four months in Gujarat of Punjab. (Pakistan). Overall he stayed for the year of 1904 in Lahore. It was during this period that he became acquainted with the famous poet Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal. They often met each other in Lahore. Mirza Mahmood Zarghani fully introduced Baha’i faith to Dr. Iqbal and the later explained Bahai teachings in his Urdu & Persian Poetry. In those days Mirza Ghulam Ahmed of Qadian who had claimed the stations of the Mahdi and Masih of Islam in 1898 was visiting Lahore. During his time in Lahore in 1904, Mirza Mahmood of Zarghan challenged Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, through the newspaper ‘Paisa Akhbar’, to meet him in a gathering of the noble men. Mirza Mahmood Zarghani challenged Mirza Ahamd Qadiani to prove the validity of his claim whilst Zarghani offered to prove the validity of the claims of the Bab and Baha’u’llah, had declared their missions more than half a century before Mirza Ahmed. Mirza Mahmood left the choice of the place and time of the meeting open to Mirza Ghulam Ahmed. However Mirza Ghulam Ahmed neither replied to his challenge nor apparently wrote anything in response to this challenge. Mirza Mahmood Zarghani visited India for the second in 1914 then again in 1919. During this third visit of Mirza Mahmood Zarghani to India, he and Siyyid Mustafa Roomi who was posthumously declared a Hand of the Cause of God by the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, made all the arrangements for the First Baha’i National Convention to be held in Mumbai in 1920 Professor Raza Shirazi of Karachi was elected the chairman of that convention. The convention had 38 delegates. In 1924 Mirza Mahmood Zarghani visited India for a fourth time. During this visit he met a famous learned preacher of Qadiani Sect, Siyyid Mahfoozu’l-Haque Ilmi, in Hyderabad (Deccan). Mahfoozu’l-Haque discussed the Baha’i Faith with Mirza Mahmood and enquired about different aspects of the faith before he became a Baha’i in 1924.(17) After this visit Mirza Mahmood Zarghani returned to Iran and passed away in 1927 in Rasht a town in Mazandran Province of Iran and was buried in Mudirih Gulistan-i-Javed.
 
The port city of Mumbai was serving as a focal point for the propagation of the Cause of Baha’u’llah in the Indian subcontinent. In 1920, another port town, Karachi, was growing as a centre of Baha’i activities. From Karachi the Baha’i cause was promoted throughout the regions of Sindh and other provinces of Pakistan and also in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (including the present Azad Kashmir and northern areas). In 1917 Jamshed Jamshedi pioneered from Persia to Karachi, but long before that a young Persian student Mohammad Raza Shirazi who later became famous as Professor Muhammad Raza Shirazi embraced the cause of Baha’u’llah in Mumbai in 1908 and had settled in Karachi and started to diffuse the Baha’i teachings far and wide in this region. Professor Shirazi established bonds of friendship with famous scholars and writer of Sindhi language of Sindh province of Pakistan such as Mirza Qalich Beg and Professor Gurbakhshani. Mirza qalich Beg then translated the hidden words into Sindhi. Professor Pritam Singh Qalich of Sialkot had already embraced the Baha’i faith and had devoted his life to the promotion of the cause of Baha’u’llah. He was the first Baha’i from a Sikh background and a friend of the famous philosopher, thinker and poet Dr. SirMohammad Iqbal. In 1921 the Bahai’s of Karachi elected their first Local Spiritual Assembly. The Baha’i journal known by the Persian name Al-Basharat, issued from Mumbai with Mirza Mamhood Zarghani as editor, in 1921 was transferred to Karachi and Professor Raza shirazi became its editor. Later in 1923 Karachi became the venue for third annual convention of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma. In this year a piece of land for Baha’i centre in Karachi was purchased, which was later destined to become the first Haziratu’l-Quds constructed on Indian soil. The land was named Shoghi gardens. In 1932 Mrs Keith Ransom Kehlar inaugurated the beautiful building of the Baha’i hall of Karachi, Nawroz 21st 1932. By this time the following books had also been published in the Urdu language. The Epistle to the Son of Wolf, The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys, Kitab-i-Zahoor, Sish Alwah (six tablets). The Hidden Words, Babu’l Hayat, Maghala-i-Siyyah, Al Meyar us Sahih This list of published works indicates that along with shouldering teaching responsibilities the handful of early Baha’is in the region now known as Pakistan were not unaware of the need for Baha’i literature. Therefore a ‘Baha’i publishing committee’ was established in Karachi in 1935. This body evolved and now is the registered ‘Baha’i Publishing Trust’ of Pakistan. This Trust has published scores of Baha’i books and leaflets in Urdu, English, Arabic, Persian, Sindhi, Pushtu, balochi, gojri, balti and Punjabi.
 
From 1931 to 1933, Professor Pritam Singh, the first Baha’i from a Sikh background mentioned above, established and edited from Lahore an English language weekly called the The Baha’i weekly. Professor Pritam Singh also established in Lahore a Baha’i library a Baha’i study circle in the current sense and also an association called the ‘unity league’. All of these establishments were used to promote the Baha’i Faith. Thus Lahore became a significant centre for the promotion of the cause of Baha’u’llah in the Punjab province of Pakistan. In 1936 a famous religious scholar and statesman of Kashmir, Maolavi Muhammad Abdullah Vakil (Advocate) of Kashmir embraced the cause of Baha’u’llah and helped to form the Local Spiritual Assembly of Srinagar, Kashmir.
 
Karachi was again made the venue for the 10th annual Baha’i convention of India and Burma. Miss Martha Root came to Karachi in 1938 and stayed for three months. She supervised the publication of her famous book titled Tahirih – the Pure. She also travelled through Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir. In her first visit which took place in 1930. She met Dr. Sir Iqbal on June 22 and 24, 1930 at Lahore. Urdu and Gujrati translations of the book Baha’u’llah and the New Era was published in 1937 in Karachi. The second summer school of the Indian subcontinent was held in Karachi in 1939. During the Second World War the Baha’i community of Karachi mostly concentrated their efforts on moral classes and consolidation activates. However teaching activities were not stopped. Due to the efforts of travelling teachers the Baha’i teachings were shared in the state of Jammu and a young tailor master, Siyyid Karamat Ali Shah became Baha’i in 1946 and Local Spiritual Assembly was established in 1946.
 
The Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, had bestowed upon the Baha’is in India a Six Year Plan (1938-1944). This called for a large numbers of pioneers to travel in India, for the establishment of more local spiritual assemblies. The Baha’is of India rose to that call and pioneer’s came from Mumbai to Karachi. The Spiritual Assembly of Quetta Baluchistan province was formed in 1943 by the pioneers from Mumbai and Iran. The Spiritual Assembly of Hyderabad (Sindh) was also formed in 1943 by the pioneers from Karachi. In Hyderabad a public library and a reading room was established by the Local Spiritual Assembly for the benefit of the general public. Baha’i pioneers from Hyderabad (Sindh) and Karachi settled in Lahore to form its spiritual Assembly in 1944 and later on land for graveyard (Gulistan-i-Javed) was acquired. It is to be mentioned over here that the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahai’s of India and Burma was registered in Lahore Pakistan in 1933. Due to the efforts of the Bahai’s of Karachi Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Sukkur in 1948 and that town became a centre for teaching the Baha’i Faith. A reading room was set up in 1947 as well. Another boost to the number of Baha’i centres and assemblies in Pakistan was gained when, in 1947, many Bahai’s from India came to the newly founded country of Pakistan as refugees, but the number of Bahai’s who come from India is not recorded. A beautiful diversity was thus formed by Persian Baha’i pioneers, local Baha’is and Bahai’s who had come from many parts of India. This seemed to very significantly help the growth of the Baha’i communities in Pakistan. After he became a Baha’i in 1924, as mentioned earlier, Baha’i journals in Urdu were edited and published by Siyyid Mahfoozul Haque Ilmi under the names Kaukab-i-Hind(Star of India) Baha’i Magazine and Basharat from Agra, Delhi Mumbai Lahore and Karachi. These journals were useful means to teach the Baha’i Faith and to consolidate its institutions. Now Nafhat is published in Lahore. Mirza Mahmood Zarghani’s teaching activity in Peshawar has been mentioned above. After his efforts, Miss Martha Root visited that city. Later on as result of the efforts of Maolavi Abdullah Vakil, Isfandiyar Bakhtiari and Maulavi Fazal Din, the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahai’s of Peshawar was formed in 1947. In 1948 Baha’i travelling pioneers from Karachi had joined with Baha’i refugees from Delhi and with local Baha’is to form the first Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Rawalpindi. A Baha’i library was also established in that city, and subsequently local spiritual assemblies were formed in Sialkot (1949), Faisalabad (1952), Sargodha (1955), Nawabshah and Sahiwal (1956), and in Mirpurkhas and Abbottabad (1956). Local spiritual assemblies were also formed in Multan, Chittagong (1950),Dacca(1950), Joharabad and Gujranwala between 1950 and 1956.
 
The beloved Guardian’s “Message to Convention of 1955” brought the joy-infusing news announcing that in 1957 thirteen new National Spiritual Assemblies should be formed in the 6 continents of the globe. Pakistan was included in the list of countries where 13 new pillars of the Universal House of Justice were to be erected. This news instilled a new spirit in the hearts of the Bahai's of Pakistan. They rose with a determination. Re-doubled their efforts, let their hearths and homes and spread themselves over a large part of the country. By Ridwan 1956 their con secreted endeavours raised the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies from 13 to 20. On the occasion of Ridwan 114 this year delegates from these 20 spiritual assemblies met under the stewardship of the national spiritual assembly of the Bahai's of India. Pakistan and Burma to elect 9 members from the entire community of the Bahai's of Pakistan to constitute their first national spiritual assembly. Convention was held in an atmosphere of joy and jubilation. In addition to delegates a large number of visitors had come and the Baha’i hall including its two verandas was filled to capacity at each session. Our dearly-beloved Guardian had sent the Revered Hand of the cause of God, Mr. Shua’ullah Alai to represent him at the function. The Hands of the Cause in Asia were represented by Abbas Ali Butt, member, Asian Auxiliary Board while messrs. Isfandiar Bakhtiari and Ghulam Hussian Amreliwala represented the sponsoring National Spiritual Assembly. Before the convention began; Revered Hand of the Cause of God Mr. Shu’aullah Alai distributed the perfume sent as a gift by the beloved Guardian. Mr. Isfandiar Bakhtiari, President of the sponsoring National Spiritual Assembly then called the convention to order and the election of office-bearers for the convention was held. Mr. Isfandiar Bakhtiari was elected as President. The proceedings then began according to the programme. On the 29th April-the 9th day of Ridwan-election for the National Spiritual Assembly was held. In the afternoon Ridwan Feast was celebrated on a grand scale. A Public Reception was held to which the cream of society of Karachi was invited. Following were elected to constitute the first national spiritual assembly of Pakistan.
1. Mr. Isfandiar Bakhtiari
2. Chaudhri Abdur Rehman
3. Mr. Faridoon Yazameidi
4. Mr. A.C. Joshi
5. Mr. M.H. IImi
6. Mr. Abdul Abbas Rizvi
7. Dr. M.A. Latif
8. Mr. Nawazish Ali Shah
9. Mr. Mehboob Iiahi Qureshi
The formation of the National Spiritual Assembly gave another boost to Baha’i activates in Pakistan. The number of local Baha’i Centres and local spiritual Assemblies increased, new books and pamphlets were published, many Baha’i travel teachers came to the country, and existing Baha’i properties in Pakistan were improved and new properties were acquired.
 
Siyyid Mahfoozul Haque Ilmi who became a Bahá’ì in Hyderabad India in 1924 and Isfandiyar Bakhtiari a prominent bahai from Zoroastrian background who had met Abdul Baha & Shoghi Effendi were appointed as Auxiliary Board Members 1970, Later on the number of Auxiliary Board Members serving in Pakistan was raised to nine. In 1972 the Universal House of Justice authorized the appointment of assistants to the auxiliary board members, and many Baha’is in Pakistan were appointed as assistants. Thus the elected and appointed arms of the worldwide Baha’i administrative order expanded their functions in Pakistan to teach the Baha’i Faith.
 
Mirza Tarazullah Samandari, the Hand of the Cause, visited Pakistan in 1963,1964, and 1966. He travelled through the cities of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Gujrat and Rawalpindi in 1993. He visited Abbotabad in 1930 and participated in summer school in the month of August and then returned Rawalpindi via murree. (Bahai magazine September 1964)
 
In 1978, the New Day Montessori School was established in a building adjacent to the Baha’i Hall Karachi. The originally small school has since developed into a huge establishment and has later become a high school. The number of students grew from ten to three hundred. Today this school is known as New Day Secondary School.
 
In 1989 with efforts of Baha’i families pioneered from Karachi, first local Assembly was elected in Muzaffarabad, the capital city of Azad Kashmir and was registered with the Government. Then in 1990 Baha’i centre was built in Muzaffarabad and also graveyard was purchased near the city.
 
Since the inception of Pakistan all its minority were legally afforded freedoms and rights as citizens. However in 1981 a separate mention of the Baha’i Faith as a religious minority was made in the constitution of Pakistan. Now the Baha’i Faith is recognized as a separate independent religious minority within the constitution of the Islamic republic of Pakistan. Baha’i friends are contributing towards the social welfare of society, like education, blood donation, Tree Plantation. Harmony among the people and peace, etc. We in Pakistan have Bahai's from diverse background and school of thoughts. We have a bright future for the Baha’i faith in Pakistan.