On the impossibility of declaring oneself Bahai: Evidence from Egypt and Iran
- Author(s)
- Deborah Scolart
- Year
- 2026
- Language
- Italian
- Journal
- Quaderni di diritto e politica ecclesiastica Issue DAIMON/2026, numero speciale
- Volume
- 34
- Pages
- 155-179
- DOI
- DOI: 10.1440/121899
Description
The Bahá’í Faith is a relatively recent religion that originated in Iran during the second half of the nineteenth century as an outgrowth of Bábism, a movement that had itself emerged within the Shi’a tradition in the 1840s. The new faith is grounded in a doctrine that seeks to encompass and harmonize the truths of the prophetic religions, while simultaneously incorporating elements of Islamic ritual practice. It also developed an autonomous legal framework governing matters such as marriage, inheritance, and the organization of the religious community. In Iran, where Shi’a Islam is the majority religion, and in Egypt, where Sunni Islam predominates, the constitutional systems recognize the legal status of the «Religions of the Book» – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (with Iran also recognizing Zoroastrianism). Followers of other religions, however, are denied comparable legal recognition. The Bahá’ís are among the excluded groups and have been subjected to specific forms of discrimination. This contribution examines these patterns of discrimination, highlighting how religious otherness, when it falls outside the prevailing normative framework, is often perceived as a potential threat to the stability of the domestic legal and political order