Baha’is in Tunisia and the problem of societal recognition
Article written by – Sabreen Al-Jalasi, quoted from Hal website
The thought of the “Baha’is” and the problem of societal recognition… Tunisia is an example
Baha’i faith is one of the new faiths that was known to Arab society approximately in the middle of the nineteenth century. The movement to preach it began from Iran, its original origin, and then the base for introducing this religion expanded to all neighboring countries such as Iraq, Jordan, the Levant, Palestine, and then Egypt, all the way to Tunisia, which knew Baha’i religion for years. 1921 through Sheikh Al-Azhari Muhyiddin Al-Kurdi, who believed in the message of “Hazrat Al-Baha,” as his followers call him.
Here we want to point out that by evangelization we do not mean the religious aspect of the Christian religion, but rather in sociology we rely on this term on the grounds that it is one of the mechanisms of religious transformation. In general, we will not delve into the issue of whether Baha’ism is a religion, belief, or sect. Rather, we will deal with it as a social fact, especially since Tunisian Baha’is today include those who represent the third and fourth generation of families who embraced Baha’ism more than a century ago.
Baha’ism and the problem of recognition
The problem of recognition is one of the most common problems facing the Baha’is in Tunisia, like other minorities, with the exception of the Jewish religion, which Tunisians are accustomed to having in their social fabric and even coexist with it despite many reservations. But what is important, and as we mentioned in some of our previous writings, is that Tunisian society is ignorant of its religious diversity. Therefore, with The public space exploded with various religious movements, including the Baha’i faith, whose followers at the time demanded that they be granted a license to establish their own association, but their request was rejected.
Conference of the Bahá’í Forum in Tunisia
Here we want to point out that many Baha’is were active in the national movement during the “colonial period.” The first conference of the Baha’i Forum was held in Tunisia in 1956, but the decisive turning point in the relationship between the Tunisian authority and the Baha’is was the year 1969 when the political regime enacted a law. Regarding the organization of “public meetings, processions, parades, demonstrations, and gatherings,” according to which the Regional Spiritual Assembly in North Africa, which was based in Tunisia, was dissolved.
However, the forum was reopened in 1972, which witnessed elections in Tunisia, before it was permanently closed in 1984. Like other religious movements, the revolution represented an important opportunity to emerge and introduce themselves to the Tunisian society, a large percentage of which was ignorant of this religion. Therefore, with its first appearance They were subjected to a lot of slander and stigma in 2015, despite the fact that Tunisians are virtually ignorant of its religious rituals and legislation.
This was confirmed by the report on the religious situation that was completed by the “Believers Without Borders” Foundation, which extended from 2011 to 2015, and in which a study was conducted on 1,000 samples of Tunisians who were asked about the Baha’i religion, and 95 percent of Tunisians confirmed that they had never heard of it before. They also affirmed in the same proportion their rejection of this religion and its followers, considering them “apostates” in the jurisprudential sense and outside Islam. Sociologically, here religion is defined “as collective and social. It arises in the cultural system of the group, gives it its characteristics, and becomes one of the most important factors that build the cultural identity of the group.” The affiliation of religion to the cultural phenomenon from a socio-cognitive perspective is also based on considering the strength and dynamism it represents in the life of the group, which appears through social action, meaning, and symbols that the group gives to life and livelihood, as well as practices and relationships.
It prompted many Tunisians to search for this religion
That is why their presence on television was a reason for pushing many Tunisians to search for this religion, which prompted many young people to embrace it, according to research conducted by Dr. Hazzam Abdel Wahed, in which she confirmed that young people are the group most likely to embrace this religion, but on the other hand, it has become entrenched among most Tunisians. “The Baha’i faith is truly one of the (destructive) sects and is a Zionist creation in order to undermine the Islamic religious identity, especially since their temple, in which (the Báb) was buried, is located in the city of Haifa, which is under the authority of Israel.”
Most Tunisians actually believe that the basis of their unity and social cohesion is the Islamic religion, which is “an essential component of the Tunisian identity, and it is a complex identity with regard to the Tunisian personality’s relationship with religion.” Tunisians’ perceptions of this identity-related factor range between the feeling of sociological affiliation to Islamic civilization and the feeling of the necessity of adhering to the teachings of Islam as a religion and giving it a central place in daily life.” Therefore, every Tunisian who embraces a belief other than Islam is necessarily outside the system of social standards and thus alienated from the social body. Therefore, Stigma, exclusion, slander, and ridicule are all mechanisms that embody the inevitability of punishment for those who deviate from Islam.
Baha’is between their belief and their citizenship
Since the establishment of the Tunisian state, legislators have sought to establish laws that protect freedom of belief for all residents of the state, and it came as a constitutional provision in 1959 in Chapter Five, in which it says: The Tunisian Republic guarantees basic freedoms and human rights in their universality, comprehensiveness, integration and interconnectedness… The Tunisian Republic guarantees the inviolability of the individual and freedom of belief and protects the freedom to perform rituals. Religious matters as long as they do not disturb public security.”
The Baha’is do not have clergy, they have a self-governance system. It is carried out through annually elected institutions, consisting of Baha’i men and women who are the liaison cell with the state and its institutions, but despite this, the state, to this day, still refuses to recognize them.
Freedom of belief in Tunisia
Tunisia has also ratified international and global charters in the field of freedoms, including freedom of belief. This is one of the most advanced Arab countries in this field, especially after the 2014 Constitution. The legislation on freedom of belief and freedom of conscience has sparked condemnation from many citizens in most parts of the country as it threatens the system. Value and social
Tunisia provides, as freedom of conscience means Chapter (18) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that “Every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right also allows freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom to express them through education, practice, practice and observance of rituals, whether secret or not.” “. With a group.”
In the same context, Chapter 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (December 1966) stipulates that “Every human being has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This is recognized by his freedom to profess a religion and his freedom to embrace any religion or belief”. He chose it, and his freedom to express his religion or belief through worship, ritual practice, practice, and sufficient knowledge, or with the group, and in public or with information.”
Shiites in Tunisia… sectarianism and political ideological conflicts
From this, freedom of conscience is considered a set of basic freedoms, elements that embody the universality of human rights. Freedom allows the individual to express his convictions and desires, and thus consolidate the values that are not for his livelihood and emanate from his conscience, which ultimately leads to independence from the values and principles of the group, which is considered because freedom Conscience is achieving the unity of the value system, and the most important thing is concealing religious identity, the most important of which is the pillars of social identity. The concept of freedom of conscience is one of the concepts that can be accepted in Muslim society, including Tunisian society, especially since the political system, despite the recent constitutional recognition of freedom of belief.
Baha’is were condemned as infidels by the Mufti of Tunisia
However, the Baha’is faced accusations of apostasy by the Tunisian Mufti, which prompted them to take action against the General of the Republic before the Court of First Instance in Tunisia in March 2021, against the latter, after the Treasury, the Minister of Religious Affairs, and even the Secretary-General of the Government, especially since their sufficiency is an official abolition of the speech. Hatred and fanaticism without changing their security and peace.
This is in addition to their strong refusal to relax their right as citizens to establish their own association. This is true for Baha’is, their citizenship is incomplete, especially since the state does not allow them to have their own cemetery, which represents a problem for their freedom to practice their religious rituals.
Saada Baha’is in Tunisia filed a lawsuit with the authorities to initially prevent them from establishing their own association – “Photo from the Internet”
Therefore, we must point out an important point that the Baha’is do not have a religion. They have an autonomous system of men. Through my sister Khayara, it was made up of Baha’i men and women who constitute the liaison cell with the state affiliated with it, but despite this, the state, to this day, has chosen to refuse to recognize them and thus continues not to recognize them socially.
This seeks to have Tunisia participate in national dialogues and associations on ways of peaceful coexistence for all sects and creeds in Tunisia and how to manage diversity from exclusion and the barrage of disaster.
Source
Hal website
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