Bahai Library Online

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 2024-05-25, sorted by date, descending

date event tags firsts
2024 25 May
202-
Human Rights Watch issued a statement on the religious discrimination of the Bahá'ís in Qatar.

Qatar’s government has discriminated against Bahá'ís in Qatar for decades, with hundreds of people harmed by a pattern of punishment and discriminatory policies. The government has deported as many as 14 members of the group for no apparent reason other than individuals belonging to the Bahá'í faith in cases Human Rights Watch documented from 2003 to 2025. Qatari authorities have also previously terminated the employment of a Bahá'í member and refused to grant a certificate of good conduct, which is required for employment in Qatar, to four members of the group.

Islam is Qatar’s official religion. And while the Qatari constitution guarantees freedom to practice religious rites, Qatari authorities have discriminated against the Bahá'í minority in the country in administrative and legal matters. A high-ranking Qatari religious figure told one of the now-deported Bahá'ís that if he announced his conversion to Sunni Islam, he could “make the deportation go away.”

In addition to the deportations, officials have delayed the community’s attempts to reestablish an existing Bahá'í cemetery and refused to accept marriage certificates issued by elected Bahá'í institutions in Qatar. Bahá'ís have also faced discrimination elsewhere in the region, including the crime against humanity of persecution in Iran and other forms of repression in Egypt and Yemen. [News Release 25 May 2025]

Persecution, Qatar; Remy Rowhani
2024 26 May
202-
The inauguration of the national Bahá'í House of Worship in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The Universal House of Justice was represented by Counsellor Kessia Ruh who read the letter. There were some 1,000 participants of the ceremony that included government officials, religious leaders, members of civil society, representatives of local and national Bahá’í institutions, and many other people from across the country. The following day approximately 3,000 people gathered to celebrate the historic opening of PNG’s national Bahá’í House of Worship on the second day of the dedication program. [BWNS1734]

Other related stories: BWNS1733; BWNS1732; BWNS1713; BWNS1524; BWNS1688

See as well In Conversation: Stories from temple dedication in Papua New Guinea.

- Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, National; Kessia Ruh; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Port Moresby; Papua New Guinea
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