Palu (ANTARA News) - At least 31 residents of Banpers village in Palolo sub-district, Donggala district, Central Sulawesi, have converted their belief in Islam into that in Bahai.
Head of the Religious Affairs Office in Palolo sub-district, Nuyyun Nur said here on Sunday that the Bahai faith led by Mulahi, a former marriage counsellor for the first time entered Banpers village in the 1990s, and had persuaded 31 local residents to convert into the new belief.
Those who have embraced the Bahai faith were former moslems, so that the community in Banpers Village, 50 km east of Palu City, became worried about the apostasy.
"The homes of the Bahai faith`s followers in Banpers are often pelted by protesters," he said.
According to Hayyun, Bahai adherents believed that their teachings are right and universal and propogated by a self-styled prophet Baha`ullah. They have collected holy Bah`ullah verses as their main guidance.
The propagators of the Bahai faith to Donggala was still unidentified, as the adherents of the new faith rejected to disclose their identity. The Baha`i followers normally perform their rituals in secrecy.
Together with Palolo subdistrict administration and local authority, Hayyun had facilitated a meeting between the community and Bahaists in September, 2007.
In the meeting, it was agreed that Bahai adherents were called on to review the teachings they believed in, and to return their previous belief recognized by the government.
In the near future, there will be a meeting to hear the stance of the Bahaists, he said.
