List of converts to the Baháʼí Faith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of converts to the Baháʼí Faith organised by former religion.
Converted from Abrahamic religions
From Islam
Most of the early followers of Baháʼu'lláh came from an Islamic background.
- Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl (1844–1914) – foremost Baháʼí scholar who helped spread the Baháʼí Faith in Egypt, Turkmenistan, and the United States.[1]
- Mishkín-Qalam (1826–1912) – prominent Baháʼí and one of the nineteen Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh, as well as a famous calligrapher of 19th-century Persia.[2]
- Nabíl-i-Aʻzam (1831–1892) – Baháʼí historian and one of the nineteen Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh[3]
- Hají Ákhúnd (1842–1910) – eminent follower of Baháʼu'lláh. He was appointed a Hand of the Cause, and identified as one of the nineteen Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh.[4]
- Ibn-i-Abhar (died 1917) – appointed a Hand of the Cause, and identified as one of the nineteen Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh.[5]
- Mírzá Mahmúd (died 1927/1928) – eminent follower of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith.[6]
- Núrayn-i-Nayyirayn – two brothers who were beheaded in the city of Isfahan in 1879.[7]
- Somaya Ramadan[8] (born 1951) – 2001 winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.
- Hasan M. Balyuzi (1908–1980) – a descendant of relatives of the Báb, he was nevertheless a Muslim until he joined the religion following developing a friendship with Shoghi Effendi circa 1925, and eventually was named a Hand of the Cause of God.[9]
From Judaism
- Lidia Zamenhof (1904–1942) – Polish writer, translator, active promoter of Esperanto (daughter of L. L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto), killed by Germans during the Holocaust.
- John Ferraby (1914–1973) – British, Baháʼí Hand of the Cause
- Flora Purim (born 1942) – Brazilian jazz singer
- Ethel Jenner Rosenberg (1858–1930) – painter, the first English Baháʼí, secretary and publisher of Baháʼí books.
- Steve Sarowitz (born 1965/1966) – American billionaire businessman, the founder of Paylocity.
From Christianity
- Russell Garcia[10] (1916–2011) – motion picture composer
- David Krummenacker[11][non-primary source needed] (born 1975) – Track & Field indoor World Champion in 800m in 2003, NCAA Champion (Georgia Tech) 1997, 1998
- Jacqueline Left Hand Bull[12] (born 1943) – American Indian Health care policy administrator (from Catholicism)[13]
- Queen Marie of Romania[14] (1875–1938) – final Queen of Romania as the wife of Ferdinand I of Romania.
- Jesse O. McCarthy[15] (1867–1937) Toronto municipal politician and social reformer. Previously a Methodist.
- Luke McPharlin[16] (born 1981) – Australian footballer for the Fremantle Dockers
- Julia Lynch Olin (1882–1961) – American author and Baháʼí who co-founded the New History Society in New York City.
- Enoch Olinga (1926–1979) – born to an Anglican[17] earned the title Hand of the Cause of God.
- Mason Remey[18] (1874–1974) – prominent American Baháʼí.
Converted from unknown religions
- Arvid Nelson – American comic book writer, best known for Rex Mundi [19]
- Zhang Xin (born 1965) – Chinese businesswoman.[20]
- David Kelly (1944–2003) – former employee of the British Ministry of Defence and a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq who was an authority on biological warfare.[21]
See also
Further reading
- Mehrdad Amanat (29 August 2013). Jewish Identities in Iran: Resistance and Conversion to Islam and the Baha'i. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78076-777-2.
- Dominic Parviz Brookshaw; Seena B. Fazel (2 October 2012). THE BAHA'IS OF IRAN: Socio-Historical Studies. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-25000-4.
- Anthony Lee (28 October 2011). The Baha'i Faith in Africa: Establishing a New Religious Movement, 1952-1962. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-20684-7.
- Johnson, Todd M.; Brian J. Grim (26 March 2013). "Global Religious Populations, 1910–2010". The World's Religions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 59–62. doi:10.1002/9781118555767.ch1. ISBN 9781118555767.