Baháʼí Faith in Morocco
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The history of the Baháʼí Faith in Morocco began around 1946.[1][2] In 1953 the Baháʼís initiated a Ten Year Crusade during which a number of Baháʼís pioneered to various parts of Morocco—many of whom came from Egypt and a few from the United States including Helen Elsie Austin.[3][4] By April 1955 the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly of Ceuta was elected.[5] By January 1958 the first Baháʼí summer school was held in Rabat.[6] By spring 1958 the Baháʼí population may have been 100 and there were six assemblies and a regional committee coordinated activities promulgating the religion.[2] In 1960 the first all-Moroccan local assembly was elected in Zaouiat Cheikh and most of its members were Berbers.[7] On December 7, 1961, an article in Al-Alam lamented the decline of Islam and criticized the Baháʼís.[4] During the year Baháʼí homes are entered by police and literature of the religion is taken. On April 12 four Baháʼís are arrested in Nador.[4] A regional National Spiritual Assembly of North West Africa was organized which included Morocco in 1962.[8] In 1963 a survey of the community counted 10 Assemblies, 12 organized groups (between 1 and 9 adults) of Baháʼís.[9] In 1963 the arrests in Morocco had gotten attention from Hassan II of Morocco, US Senator Kenneth B. Keating[10] and Roger Nash Baldwin, then Chairman of the International League for the Rights of Man[4] and would echo in analyses of politics of Morocco for years to come.[11][12] All Baháʼí meetings were prohibited in 1983 followed by arrests.[4] This time the response emphasized the non-partisan and obedience to government principles of the religion.[13] 1992 estimates by the US Department of State counted some 150-200 Baháʼís.[14] while 2001 through 2009 estimates mention the Baháʼí community at 350 to 400 persons.[15][16]