Baha’is in Iraq

Baha’i and the modern state of Iraq have interacted with each other since the beginning of their establishment. Baha’u’llah’s first destination outside of Iran was Ottoman Iraq, and his declaration as “Manifestation of God” began from a garden in Baghdad. A look at the development of Baha’ism during the British mandate in the region and the extensive support for Baha’ism from the time of the establishment of the Iraqi government to the period of extensive Baha’i activities in the Kurdistan region requires a proper historical and social understanding of the past’s Baha’i activities and paying attention to its legalistic slogans today. Due to the low interest of Iraqis in Baha’i, the sending of Baha’i immigrants to Iraq has happened for the growth of Baha’i, which is considered as the infrastructure of the organization’s expansion. In the last decade, Baha’i, which has again speeded up its propaganda- organizational activity, has divided the country of Iraq into about 30 clusters. On the other hand, it is extremely important to examine how the Baha’is interacts with the civil laws of Iraq as a Muslim country with high civil liberties. In a country where religious minorities have a defined place in its civil laws and anti-Islamic activities are clearly criminalized and interfaith relations are methodical, the performance of Baha’is as a non-Muslim group can be examined. This article examines the situation of Baha’ism in Iraq according to the conducted researches and the extraction of various data.