Baha’i Community of the Fiji Islands
Baha’i Community of Fiji
“To be a Baha’i simply means to love all the world; to love humanity and try to serve it; to work for universal peace and universal brotherhood.” – Baha’i Writings
The Baha’i’s in the Fiji Islands are part of a worldwide Baha’i community dedicated to the unity of humanity and the promotion of peace, justice, and equality. Guided by the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, Baha’is in Fiji work alongside people of all backgrounds to advance both spiritual and material development. They focus on fostering unity, eliminating prejudice, and empowering individuals through education, social action, and community service.
100 Years of the Baha’i Faith in Fiji
2024 marks the 100th Anniversary of the arrival of the Baha’i Faith in Fiji. Now with communities established across the islands, Baha’is are applying the Teachings of Baha’u’llah in their lives and working with their fellow citizens for the betterment of their communities.
Baha’u’llah, the prophet founder of the Baha’i Faith, revealed teachings for the development of a global civilization both spiritually and materially. Originating in Persia in 1844, the newest of the world religions, the Baha’i Faith conveys a vision of unity for all the peoples of the world. Baha’u’llah explained in Holy Writings revealed in His own handwriting, that the religions of the world come from the same one Source, are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God, and that humanity is one human family.
Community in Action
Early History of the Baha’i Faith in Fiji
The Fiji Islands are mentioned in the Baha’i Holy Writings in 1916, by the son of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who expressed his wish to share the universal message of Bahá’u’lláh to every corner of the globe, including Fiji. ‘Abdul-Bahá states, “O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call of “Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá” in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please God, ye may achieve it.”
In 1924, Ms. Nora Lee, a Baha’i from New Zealand was the first to move to Fiji and share the teachings of Baha’u’llah. She had met the first Baha’is of Australia, Hyde and Clara Dunn, and learning of the Baha’i Faith from them she declared her belief in Baha’u’llah and shortly after, travelled by boat from her Vanua (home) in New Zealand, and arrived in Labasa.
Through Nora Lee’s dedication to fulfilling ‘Abdul-Bahá’s wish of promoting the divine teachings, a small Baha’i group was formed in Labasa, and in 1926 the “Bahá’ís of Labasa” sent a “circular letter” to the Baha’i World Centre in Haifa marking the first connection of the Pacific Islands with the heart of the Faith, in the Holy Land.
