The Baha’i faith was introduced to Ethiopia by an Egyptian believer, Sabri Elias. Sabri was only 27 years of age at the time. Sabri came to Ethiopia to teach the Baha’i Faith without any detailed plan and limited resources. At the time, he did not speak any of the local languages. He was a tailor and made a living from sewing clothes. His main reason to coming to Ethiopia was to teach the Baha’i Faith and commenced teaching the Baha’i Faith soon after arrival. After considerable planning and hard work, some Ethiopians began to embrace the Baha’i Faith.
Then he was able to establish the Local Spiritual Assembly, the governing body of the Baha’i Faith in Addis Ababa, for the first time. Among Sabri Elia’s greatest achievements was that in 1934 he was able to get translated and published “Bahaullah and the New Era." in Amharic. The book details the basic teachings and concepts of the Baha’i Faith. This was an important step in disseminating the teachings of the Baha’I Faith across the country. The book was distributed to local libraries and to Baha'is around the world. In 1936, a copy of the book was given to the then - Ethiopian King, His Majesty Haile Selassie when he was visiting Jerusalem by a Canadian Baha’i Mrs. Lorol Schipeflocher.
In 1935, during the Italian invasion, Sabri Elias was forced to return to his native Egypt because of the turmoil and unrest in Ethiopia. After returning to his native Egypt he got married to Fahima Yakut and they had two sons. In 1944, Sabri Elias returned to Ethiopia with his wife and their two children, Hussein and Safa. By then, the country had been in so much trouble as a result of the Italian invasion that they could not find everything as it was prior to the invasion. Consequently, he had lost all his connection and he could not find those who had accepted the Baha’i Faith prior to the Italian invasion.
One of the first person to become a Baha’i after his return was a notable lawyer in the Imperial judiciary was Gila Michael Bata (at the time he was known as Kegne azmach Gila ). Ato Gila became a dedicated believer and ardent teacher of the Baha’i Faith. In subsequent months and years, the teaching activities were regular, and the number of believers started to increase.
In 1953, the plan to expand and strengthened the Baha’i communities worldwide was devised by Shogi Effendi the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith. This was a ten year plan (1953-1963), a plan known as the ‘Ten Year Crusade’. This was a particular period in the Baha’i Faith history the Baha’is from all over the world arose to promote and strengthen the Baha’i Faith. During these 10 years many Baha’is from Egypt, America, and Iran began pioneering to all over the world including to Ethiopia.
In 1963, students from Civil Aviation college, Addis Ababa university and high schools across the country began to embrace the Baha’i Faith in large numbers as a result strong Baha’i community began to emerge.
In 1960, the Addis Ababa community began to grow so in significant numbers; it became necessary to seek alternative venues to hold Baha’i activities as Baha’i homes were not big enough at the time to accommodate the size and the frequency of Baha’i events.
In 1962, the Baha’i ’s of Ethiopia acquired the first plot of land for the construction of the Baha’i Center . In 1972, , the first National Bahia Center was built and completed in Addis Ababa around Bole. In subsequent years, efforts were made to promote and strengthen the Baha’i communities in Bishoftu, Adama, Ambo, Sebeta, Holeta, Woliso, Hawassa, and Jimma. Parallel to opening to new localities, establishing and strengthening existing the Baha’i administrative institutions were carried out.
The Baha’i Faith has a system of Administration based on a framework expounded by Baha’u’llah, which was elaborated by Abdu’l-Baha and implemented by Shoghi Effendi.
At local, national and international levels of the administration, each governing body consists of nine members, elected by secret ballot, without nominations or electioneering. At the local and national levels, these bodies are titled “Assemblies” and they are elected annually-the Local Assemblies by the members of their respective local communities, the National Assemblies by the delegates who have in turn been elected by Baha’i ’s at the local level.
The international governing body, called the Universal House of Justice, is elected once every five years in Haifa, Israel at the international convention attended by members of all National Spiritual Assemblies from all over the world.
In administering the affairs of the community, Baha’i institutions practice a form of consultation that involves full and frank discussion of issues under consideration. Matters are discussed with the desire to ascertain the facts and to come to a decision that is based on spiritual principles and is unencumbered by personal attachment to points of view.
The first Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Ethiopia in 1934. As the Baha’i community began to expand into various cities and rural areas, Local Spiritual Assemblies began to form.
In 1956, the first National Spiritual Assembly was established in Cairo. The National Assembly at the time was responsible for Baha’i communities in the North East African Countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti). In subsequent years, the number of believers steadily increased many new Local Spiritual assemblies were established and many new Baha’i communities established across the country. Consequently, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Ethiopia was established in Addis Ababa in 1975.
Currently there are 10 Local Spiritual Assemblies and 23 clusters in Ethiopia.
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