Baháʼí Faith in Norway

The Baháʼí Faith in Norway began with contact between traveling Scandinavians with early Persian believers of the Baháʼí Faith in the mid-to-late 19th century.[1] Baháʼís first visited Scandinavia in the 1920s following ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's, then head of the religion, request outlining Norway among the countries Baháʼís should pioneer to[2] and the first Baháʼí to settle in Norway was Johanna Schubartt.[3] Following a period of more Baháʼí pioneers coming to the country, Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies spread across Norway while the national community eventually formed a Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly in 1962.[4] In 2010 the national census reported around 1000 Baháʼís in the country[5] however the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 2700 Baháʼís in 2005.[6]

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Early history

The first mentions of the religion happened in the era when Norway was politically united with Sweden; the first mention of the Báb, who Baháʼís view as the herald to the founder of the religion, Baháʼu'lláh, was published in accounts of Persian travels in 1869, and the first mentions of Baháʼu'lláh were made in 1896.[1]

Ragna Linné was a nineteenth and twentieth century classical soprano born in Oslo during the period of Union between Sweden and Norway and of Swedish/Norwegian roots[7] who encountered the Baháʼí Faith after she moved to Chicago. She traveled back to Norway at least in 1908.[8] She was visible as a Baháʼí circa 1908 in newspapers and to 1916 in the magazine Star of the West by Baháʼís.[9] She was at the 1912 convention, attended by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion.[10]

Swedish Sufi Ivan Aguéli was able to meet ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, in 1912 in Egypt.[1]

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan

The next steps in the history of the Baháʼí Faith in Norway start after the political independence of Norway from Sweden in 1905. ʻAbdu'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 ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had visited in 1911-12 and 1912–13. Written on April 11, 1916, it was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of World War I and the Spanish flu. World traveling Baháʼí journalist Martha Root's subsequently visited King Haakon VII of Norway among her many trips.[11] The seventh tablet was translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919.[12]

"In brief, this world-consuming war has set such a conflagration to the hearts that no word can describe it. In all the countries of the world the longing for universal peace is taking possession of the consciousness of men. There is not a soul who does not yearn for concord and peace. 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, Luxembourg, 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 Baháʼís began moving to or at least visiting countries across Europe. August Rudd became the first Baháʼí pioneer in Scandinavia (Sweden) in 1920.[13] Johanne Høeg became the first citizen of Denmark to become a Baháʼí (see Baháʼí Faith in Denmark.)

Period of pioneers

Johanna (Christensen) Schubarth is called the "Mother Baháʼí of Norway". She was born in 1877 in Sandefjord. She moved to the United States and learned of the Baháʼí Faith from May Maxwell in 1919. She returned to Norway in 1927.[3] Dagmar Dole was another early pioneer.[14] In 1934 Martha Root returned to Oslo for a number of speaking engagements through 1935 and met up with Lidia Zamenhof whom she had known for a decade since her conversion to the religion, for some Esperanto conventions.[15] A 1946 telegram of Shoghi Effendi, head of the religion after the death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, called for pioneers to the capitals of several countries including Norway.[16] The first Local Spiritual Assembly of Oslo formed in 1948 with Schubartt. A 1950 European Teaching Conference in Denmark, including Dagmar Dole,[17] coordinated pioneers - two Americans settled in the Lofoten Islands in 1953 and in 1955 a pioneer reached extreme northern Batsfjord.[18] Schubarth died in 1952 and is buried in Oslo. Svalbard is sometimes mentioned as a remote location[19] - it's off northern Norway. A Baháʼí had settled there in 1958.[20]

Development

The first Local Spiritual Assembly was formed in Oslo in 1948. As the religion spread across Scandinavia it reached the point where a regional National Spiritual Assembly for Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark was established in 1957.[21] Meanwhile, pioneers continued to arrive from other counties—a British Baháʼí settled for a time in Spitsbergen in 1958 though later a Norwegian couple moved there in 1970.[18] The second Norwegian Local Spiritual Assembly formed in Bergen in 1955, and a third in Stavanger in 1960.[1]

In 1962-3 Norway added two Local Spiritual Assemblies in Bergen, and Hetland, with smaller groups between one and nine adults in Bærum and Fana and isolated Baháʼís in Ås, Harstad, Kristiansund, Laksevåg, Narvik, Sandefjord, Sandnes, and Stokmarknes.[22]

In 1962 Norway, also, elected its own National Spiritual Assembly.[4][23] The Sami people had a Local Spiritual Assembly in Trondheim in 1969 with the conversion of the first of their people to the Baháʼí Faith.[18] In 1973 Local Assemblies were added in Lillehammer, Bærum and Bodø; in 1979 in Hurum and Gjøvik and in 1984 in Tromsø.[1]

Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women,[24] promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern,[25] and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics.[24] The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice dated 20 October 1983 was released.[26] Baháʼís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Baháʼí teachings, 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 National Spiritual Assembly of Norway established an institution—the Norwegian Agency for International Development Cooperation—and in 1988 it began a working relationship with India's New Era Development Institute (see New Era High School), with support for a two-year rural community development program. In 1989, funding was extended to cover a one-year community development facilitators course and short courses on agriculture, rural technology, literacy, and domestic science.[27] But controversy has also served to focus the efforts of the community. In 1983 the Universal House of Justice, current elected head of the religion, addressed a letter to the National Assembly of the Baháʼís of Norway concerning practices of meditation—it appears many Norwegian Baháʼís were particularly attracted to the practice but had differences of opinion about the place and practice of meditation. In an attempt to start "a campaign of spiritualization of the Baháʼí community" called for by the House of Justice, a committee in Norway had established a meditation class at a summer school that offered one particular method. Observing that as Baháʼu'lláh had not outlined any method of mediation, the House of Justice cautioned that any private personal choice on a method of meditation should not be institutionalized or mandated. The House of Justice elaborated that the community was struggling with the regrettable atmosphere of appalling suffering brought on by religions in the past -that there had arisen a kind of revulsion of various kinds of personal and public spiritual practices of religion that the Baháʼí Faith nevertheless does stress and outlined them as follows:

  • The recital each day of one of the Obligatory Baháʼí prayers with pure-hearted devotion.
  • The regular reading of the Sacred Scriptures, specifically at least each morning and evening, with reverence, attention and thought.
  • Prayerful meditation on the Baháʼí teachings, so that we may understand them more deeply, fulfil them more faithfully, and convey them more accurately to others.
  • Striving every day to bring our behaviour more into accordance with the high standards that are set forth in these teachings.
  • Teaching the religion.
  • Selfless service in the work of the religion and in the carrying on of our trade or profession.[28]

From 1998 through 2001 the Baháʼí International Community and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Norway committed to participating in Norwegian interfaith initiatives resulting in an Oslo Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief.[29][30]

Current community

In the late 1990s by one count there were 173 Baháʼís per million population in Norway[23] which implies around 800 Baháʼís while by 2005 a Norwegian Census reports just over 1000 Baháʼís.[5] The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 2,700 Baháʼís in 2005.[6] In May 2001 the Baháʼí youth gathered for "Project Panacea" for a Baháʼí Youth Workshop (see Oscar DeGruy) including public performances.[31] There have been successive Youth Conferences across Scandinavia since 2004[32] and there exists a Baháʼí Student Club of Oslo University.[33] In July 2008, the Norwegian translation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas was unveiled.[34]

In 2000 Norway rose in support of a United Nations human rights resolution about concern over the Baháʼís in Iran as well as taking steps to further document conditions.[35] The Norwegian government supported the declaration of the Presidency of the European Union when he "denounced" the trial of Iranian Baháʼís announced in February 2009.[36] See Persecution of Baháʼís.

Prominent individuals

Lasse Thoresen has been a Baháʼí since about 1971 (he was elected as NSA Secretary in 1975) and is a professor with the Norwegian Academy of Music with a graduate degree in composition from the Oslo Music Conservatory, where he studied under Finn Mortensen. From 1988 to 2000 Thoresen occupied the principal chair of composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.[37][38] Among his compositions is The Carmel Eulogies, a symphony that premiered in Oslo in 1993 with repeated performances since. Commissioned by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra on the occasion of its 75th jubilee, the symphony consists of two parts, "Fragrances of Mercy" and "Circumambulations." The rhythm of saying "Allah'u'Abha" ("God the All-Glorious") is inherent in the work, which is based on the Baháʼu'lláh's Tablet of Carmel. The symphony was critically acclaimed, and many members of the audience were visibly moved during the performance. It was broadcast live on national radio and taped for later airing on the national television network.[39][40]

Margun Risa is another Norwegian Baháʼí artist - she's a singer/teacher who studied at Rogaland academy in Stavanger. Risa became a Baháʼí about 1976 and in 1986 was invited to sing for the opening of the Lotus Temple in New Delhi. In 1992 Thoresen asked Risa to sing as part of the opening of the Second Baháʼí World Congress. Later Risa studied under Anne Brown, an American who was the first to sing the part of Bess in Gershwin's opera, Porgy and Bess.[41][42]

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See also

References
  1. National Spiritual Assembly of Norway (August 2007). "Skandinavisk bahá'í historie". Official Website of the Baháʼís of Norway. National Spiritual Assembly of Norway. Archived from the original on 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  2. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (1991) [1916-17]. Tablets of the Divine Plan (Paperback ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Baháʼí Publishing Trust. p. 43. ISBN 0-87743-233-3.
  3. National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Norway (2008-03-25). "Johanna Schubarth". Official Website of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Norway. National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Norway. Archived from the original on 2009-09-08. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  4. 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 Residing in the Holy Land, pages 22 and 46.
  5. Statistics Norway (2008). "Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance". Church of Norway and other religious and life stance communities. Statistics Norway. Archived from the original on 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  6. "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >. The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  7. Ernst Wilhelm Olson; Martin J. Engberg; Anders Schön (1908). History of the Swedes of Illinois ... Engberg Holmberg publishing Company. pp. 135–136.
  8. Married name Strobel - Strobel - Theodore, beloved…, Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), 8 Mar 1905, p. 9
  10. The Public meetings of the Fourth Annual Convention of the Bahai Temple Unity, by Joseph H. Hannen, May 17, 1912, pp. 3-5, 32…
  11. Effendi, Shoghi (1944). God Passes By. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Baháʼí Publishing Trust. p. 388. ISBN 0-87743-020-9.
  12. ʻAbbas, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá; Mirza Ahmad Sohrab; trans. and comments (April 1919). Tablets, Instructions and Words of Explanation.
  13. Collins, William (1982). Moojan Momen (ed.). Studies in Babi and Baha'i History, volumes 1, chapter: Kenosha, 1893-1912: History of an Early Baháʼí Community in the United States. Kalimat Press. p. 248. ISBN 1-890688-45-2.
  14. Levy, Ben (1953-03-16). "Pilgrim Notes by Ben Levy". Pilgrims' notes. Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  15. National Spiritual Assembly of Norway (August 2007). "Lidia Zamenhof". Official Website of the Baháʼís of Norway. National Spiritual Assembly of Norway. Archived from the original on 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  16. The Pivot on Which Hinges Success and footnote, This Decisive Hour, Messages from Shoghi Effendi to the North American Baháʼís 1932-1946, by Shoghi Effendi, Wilmette, IL: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1992, ISBN 0-87743-249-X
  17. MacEoin, Denis; William Collins. "Principles". The Babi and Baha'i Religions: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Press's ongoing series of Bibliographies and Indexes in Religious Studies. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  18. van den Hoonaard, Will C. (1994-03-09). "Baha'i Faith in Circumpolar Regions (Arctic)". draft of "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith". Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  19. O'Neill, Ian (April 20, 2009). "Where is the Most Remote Location on Earth?". Universe Today. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  20. "Skandinavisk bahá'í historie". Official Website of the National Assembly of the Baháʼís of Norway. Nasjonalt Åndelig Råd for Baháʼíer i Norge. 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  21. Hassall, Graham; Universal House of Justice. "National Spiritual Assemblies statistics 1923-1999". Assorted Resource Tools. Baháʼí Academics Resource Library. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  22. The Baháʼí Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Baháʼí Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963. Haifa, Israel: Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land. 1963. pp. 22 and 46.
  23. Hassall, Graham; Fazel, Seena (1994-03-09). "100 Years of the Baha'i Faith in Europe". draft of "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith". Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  24. Momen, Moojan. "History of the Baha'i Faith in Iran". draft "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith". Bahai-library.com. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  25. Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi (1997). "Education of women and socio-economic development". Baha'i Studies Review. 7 (1).
  26. Momen, Moojan; Smith, Peter (1989). "The Baha'i Faith 1957–1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments". Religion. 19: 63–91. doi:10.1016/0048-721X(89)90077-8.
  27. Hansen, Holly. "Overview of Baháʼí Social and Economic Development". Baháʼí Topics. Baháʼí International Community. Archived from the original on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  28. Department of the Secretariat, Universal House of Justice (1983-11-01). "Letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Norway". Unpublished letters from the Universal House of Justice. Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  29. Baháʼí International Community (2000-12-18). "Interfaith dialogue participants meet with King of Norway". Baháʼí World News Service.
  30. Baháʼí International Community (2001-12-09). "In Norway, interfaith coalition commits to principles of religious freedom". Baháʼí World News Service.
  31. National Spiritual Assembly of Norway (August 2007). "Panacea prosjektet". Official Website of the Baháʼís of Norway. National Spiritual Assembly of Norway. Archived from the original on 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  32. National Youth Committee (2008-03-24). "Previous Conferences". Nordic Youth Conferences. National Youth Committee. Archived from the original on 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  33. University of Oslo (August 2007). "Baháʼí Student Club of Oslo". University of Oslo > Student life > Student societies > Religious. University of Oslo. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  34. "Most Holy Book of Bahaʼi Faith published in Norwegian". Baháʼí World News Service. 2008-07-29.
  35. United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world. E/CN.4/2000/L.16, 2000.
  36. "Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the trial with seven Baha'i leaders in Iran" (PDF) (Press release). Council of the European Union. 2009-02-17. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  37. Baháʼí International Community (April–June 1998). "In Norway, a classical composer strives for a new musical paradigm". One Country. 10 (1).
  38. Frølich, Syliva (1996). "Lasse Thoresen - composer, Norway". Arts Dialogue. 1996 (March).
  39. Baháʼí International Community (2006). "Baháʼís and the Arts: Part II - Music". Baháʼí World News Service.
  40. Levin, Mona; Siger, Translation: Virginia (2002-09-25). "Lassse Thoresen: Aural Explorer". Listen to Norway. 4 (1). Archived from the original on 2007-10-14.
  41. "Margun Risa singer, Norway". Baháʼí Association for the Arts newsletter. December 1993.
  42. Baháʼí International Community (2007). "The Music: Composers and Performers". The Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb. Baháʼí International Community. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
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