The Faith in Seychelles

Mr. Kamil Abbas

On 13th November 1953 Mr. Kamil Abbas of Iraq arrived in Seychelles and he was the first Baha’I to set foot on these islands. Due to ill-health he stayed for only five weeks; but the first seed had been planted in the heart of a local school teacher, Mr. Marshall Delcy. Mr. Kamil Abbas was enrolled as the first Knight of Baha’ullah for Seychelles.

Mr. Abdu’l Rahman Zarqani

His departure was followed by the arrival of Mr. Abdu’l Rahman Zarqani, from India who arrived on Mahe on the 15^th January 1954. His destination was to be the Chagos islands, an island he was never able to reach despite all his efforts.

Mr. Manuchihr Ma’ani Entessari

Seychelles was further blessed to receive on 18^th June 1954, another pioneer, Mr. Manuchihr Ma’ani Entessari arrived; this time from Iran He was also bound for Chagos Islands. Due to a lot of hardships he remained in Seychelles until mid – 1959.

Early 1954 Mr. Marshall Delcy declared his faith in Baha’ullah and became the first native Baha’i. Mr. Delcy was also granted the great honour of receiving a personal letter of welcome dated 5th June 1954, written on behalf of the beloved Guardian.

On the 31st July 1954, at the Nineteen-Day feast of Perfection, the first Baha’I group was formed consisting of Mr. Marshall Delcy, Mr. Ma’ani Entessar and Mr. Abdul Rahman Zarqani. Group meetings were held every Sunday and study classes for beginners were also held. Their first goal was to raise the status of the group to Assembly by Ridvan the following year.
The group later expanded to four with the declaration of Mr. Joseph Samuel Rioux on the 8th August 1954. He was the second native believer. Mr. Rioux was the first baha’I to pioneer outside Sychelles to the Comoros Islands. He later moved to La Digue where he donated a property for a Baha’I centre.

On the 3^rd January 1955 Mr. Munir Wakil arrived in Seychelles as a pioneer from Iraq. His arrival made possible the accomplishment of the first Baha’I Local Spiritual Assembly of Port Victoria on the 21^st April 1955.

Members of the first LSA were:

Mr. J.S. Rioux
Mr. A.R. Zarqani (secretary)
Mr. M. Delcy (treasurer)
Mr. R. Naidoo
Mr. M. Ettessari
Mr. M. Wakil (chairman)
Mr. J. Dewea
Mrs. Dewea
Mrs. M Zarqani

It was a joyous and fulfilling moment for the small group who were gathered around acandlr light at Pointe Larue at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dewea.

The first teaching committee was formed and on the 21^stJanuary 1956 the first believer from Baie Ste Anne Praslin Mr. Robert Camille was welcomed into the faith. By April 1958 there were ten native believers. By 2^nd December 1956 the number of voting believers had reached twenty-four and by the beginning of 1957 there were four centres opened to the faith. Apart from Victoria there were Anse Boileau, Pointe Larue, Pointe Conan and Praslin.

On 26^th September, a suitable house located at Roch Lane was found.  In those days, finding land and property for sale at reasonable prices may not have been as difficult as it is these days. The landlord agreed on a down payment of Rs 7,500 on signing of the deed of sale and Rs 5,000 within six months and without interest. The total cost was Rs 12,500. The friends visited the place and agreed unanimously to purchase the place as a national centre for Seychelles. The Wakil family bought the property at Rock Lane on which was a small house.

Today, some fourty-six years after the purchase of the original site of the Haziratu’l-Quds, a beautiful and impressive building stands exactly on the old site. It can seat some     400 people. It was funded by a partial loan from the government of Seychelles and individual pledges from the Bahá’ís. The official dedication of this Haziratu’l-Quds, on 11^th November 2003, was done by Munirih Zarqáni and Badi Abbas, son of Kamil.

The process took three whole years, but finally in April 1959 a great victory was won when the Local Spiritual Assembly of Port Victoria was incorporated by specific legislation and the Baha’I Faith became the third religious body to be incorporated in Seychelles.

During the 1950’s the Seychelles was being administered by the National Spiritual Assembly of Iraq and later on it fell under the National Spiritual Assembly of East and Southern Africa.

On the 21^st April 1964 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Indian Ocean was formed and was based in Mauritius. In 1965 Mr. Poova Murday, secretary on the National Spiritual Assembly visited the Seychelles accompanied by Mr. Joseph Rughoo. Mr. Rugh spent many years in Seychelles inspiring many souls and became one of its pillars during that period. In 1966 and 1967 saw an influx of souls to the shelter of Baha’ullah. Souls like the Samsons, Andres, Figaros, Cedras, Gopal, Prosper and Renaud. In 1969 came the Pillays, Accouches and Servinas.

The first radio programme was broadcast on the 14^th January 1969. It eas done on a monthly basis. Today we have a fortnightly 15-minute programme.

The Baha’I faith was given another boost in the early seventies with the arrival of many visitors, like Mr. Eddie Lutchmaya, Mr. Appa the first counsellor to visit our shores, Mrs. Navidi and Mrs. Ruhiyyih Khanum, the wife of the guardian of the Baha’I faith Shoghi Effendi.

In April 1972 saw the crowning victory of this period; the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly.

The following formed the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Seychelles:-

Mr. Bernadin Renaud – Chairman
Mr. André Samson – Vice Chairman
Mr. Abdul Rahman Zarqáni – Secretary
Mr. Roch Pillay – Treasurer
Mr. David Petrousse – Recording Secretary
Mr. Saul Accouche
Mr. Antonio Gopal
Mr. Harry Mussard
Mr. Willy André

From here there was no looking back. The Baha’I Faith has moved from strength to strength and gained many more victories. There are presently 13 Local Spiritual Assemblies. In 2001 the Government officially recognized the Baha’I Holy Days. Today the Baha’I Community is reaching out to the community at large through devotional meetings, spiritual Institute classes, Children, youth and pre-youth classes as well as devotional gatherings open to all.