Religion in Bangladesh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Islam is the largest religion of Bangladesh; Muslims constitute 88 % of the population followed by Hindus who constitute 11 %. The remainder of Bangladeshis practice other religions such as Buddhism and Christianity.[1] . Religion has always been a strong part of identity, but this has varied at different times. A survey in late 2003 confirmed that religion is the first choice by a citizen for self-identification; atheism is extremely rare.[2]
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[edit] Islam
Muslims constitute 88 percent of the population.[3]. Most Muslims in Bangladesh are Sunnis, but there is a small Shia community. Most of those who are Shia reside in urban areas. Although these Shias are few in number, Shia observance commemorating the martyrdom of Ali's sons, Hasan and Husayn, is widely observed by the nation's Sunnis. [4]
The Muslim community in the Bengal region developed independent of the dominant Islamic trends in India. The preservation of pre-Islamic cultural elements from Buddhist and Hindu periods made the commitment to Islam uniquely Bangladeshi. Features of Bangladeshi Hinduism, which differed in some respects from Hinduism in other parts of South Asia, influenced both the practices and the social structure of the Bangladeshi Muslim community. In spite of the general personal commitment to Islam by the Muslims of Bangladesh, observance of Islamic rituals and tenets varies according to social position, locale, and personal considerations. In rural regions, some beliefs and practices tend to incorporate elements that differ from and often conflict with orthodox Islam.
[edit] Hinduism
Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Bangladesh, covering 10 to 11 percent of the population as of 2001 census [5]. In terms of population, Bangladesh is the third largest Hindu state of the world after India, Nepal.
In nature, Bangladeshi Hinduism closely resembles the forms and customs of Hinduism practised in the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal, with which Bangladesh (at one time known as East Bengal) was united until the partition of India in 1947.
[edit] Buddhism
About 0.7% (or just over 1,000,000 people) of Bangladesh population adheres to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Most of the practitioners are from the south-eastern district of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts.
[edit] Christianity
Christianity arrived in what is now Bangladesh during the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century AD, through the Portuguese traders and missionaries. Christians account for approximately 0.3% of the total population. Roman Catholicism is dominant, the rest being Orthodox and Protestant.
[edit] Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith in Bangladesh begins previous to its independence when it was part of India. The roots of the Bahá'í Faith in the region go back to the first days of the Bábí religion in 1844.[6] During Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to India.[7] And it may have been Jamál Effendi who was first sent and stopped in Dhaka more than once.[8] The first Bahá'ís in the area that would later become Bangladesh was when a Bengali group from Chittagong accepted the religion while in Burma.[9] By 1950 there were enough members of the religion to elect Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in Chittagong and Dacca.[10] The community has contributed to the progress of the nation of Bangladesh individually and collectively and in 2005 the World Christian Encyclopedia estimated the Bahá'í population of Bangladesh at almost 10,000.[11]
[edit] Law, religion, and religious freedom
Although initially Bangladesh opted for a secular nationalist ideology as embodied in its Constitution, the principle of secularism was subsequently replaced by a commitment to the Islamic way of life through a series of constitutional amendments and government proclamations between 1977 and 1988. The Constitution establishes Islam as the state religion but provides for the right to practice--subject to law, public order, and morality--the religion of one's choice. [12] The Government generally respects this provision in practice; however, some members of the Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, and Ahmadiya communities experience discrimination. The Government (2001-2006) led by an alliance of four parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Islami Oikya Jote and Bangladesh Jatiyo Party banned the Ahmadiya literatures by an executive order.
Family laws concerning marriage, divorce, and adoption differ depending on the religion of the person involved. There are no legal restrictions on marriage between members of different faiths.
[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ Bangladesh
- ^ [2] 2001 Bangladesh Census
- ^ [3] OurBangla.com
- ^ U.S Department of State: Census Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
- ^ "The Bahá'í Faith -Brief History". Official Website of the National Spiritual Assembly of India. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India. 2003. http://www.bahaindia.org/intro/history.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-04.
- ^ Momen, Moojan; Smith, Peter. "Bahá'í History". Draft A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith. Bahá'í Library Online. http://bahai-library.com/encyclopedia/history.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-04.
- ^ Momen, Moojan (2000). "Jamál Effendi and the early spread of the Bahá’í Faith in Asia". Baha'i Studies Review (Association for Baha'i Studies (English-Speaking Europe)) 09 (1999/2000). http://bahai-library.com/bsr/bsr09/9B2_momen_jamal.htm. Retrieved on 2009-04-04.
- ^ Ali, Meer Mobeshsher. "Bahai". Banglapedia: Entry Title Index. Online. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/B_0047.htm. Retrieved on 2009-04-04.
- ^ Compiled by Hands of the CauseResiding in the Holy Land. "The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963". p. 51, 107. http://bahai-library.com/?file=handscause_statistics_1953-63&chapter=1.
- ^ "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >. The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. http://www.thearda.com/QuickLists/QuickList_40c.asp. Retrieved on 2009-07-04.
- ^ [4] Article 2A
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.
