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Declaration of The Bab, celebration

May 22, 2024

On May 22, Baha’i’s around the world will celebrate the holiday known as the Declaration of the Báb. It commemorates when the Báb announced in 1844 that he was the new messenger of God. The holiday begins two hours and eleven minutes after sunset on May 22, which is the exact time the Báb made his declaration.

The Báb was born Siyyid Ali-Muhammad on October 20, 1918, in Shiraz, Iran. He was the founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Bahá’í Faith. In 1844, at the age of twenty-four, he claimed to be a messenger of God and took the name “Báb,” which means “gate” or “door” in Arabic to emphasize his role as the portal through which the revelation of God would enter. He served as a herald for Bahá’u’lláh, who is the central prophet of the Baha’i faith.

Baha’is celebrate the Declaration of the Báb by gathering together and sharing prayers, stories, and reflections. It is one of the nine holy days in the Bahá’í Faith which means that work and school are suspended. 

He Who hath come to build anew the whole world, behold, how they that have joined partners with God have forced Him to dwell within the most desolate of cities!                                                           Baha’u’llah

Ascension of Baha’u’llah , Commemoration

May 28, 2024

Shrine of Baha’u’llah , Bahji

Every year Baha’is gather to commemorate the Ascension of Baha’u’llah on May 29th.

It was early in the morning of May 29, 1892 , that Baha’u’llah passed away in the mansion of Bahji outside Akka (present-day northern Israel), after a brief illness. Following His death, a vast number of mourners from all walks of life and religions, grieved with Baha’u’llah’s family and followers.

Baha’u’llah lived a life of hardship and persecution, bringing to the world teachings that were to usher in a new age of humanity and form the foundations of a new civilization.

The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may attain unto true liberty. He hath drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy and be filled with gladness. This is of the mercy of your Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We have accepted to be abased, O believers in the Unity of God, that ye may be exalted, and have suffered manifold afflictions, that ye might prosper and flou

Festival of Ridvan celebrated around the world

For 12 days at the end of April and beginning of May, Baha’i communities around the world celebrated their most holy festival: Ridvan. This annual festival marks the anniversary of the days Baha’u’llah spent along the River Tigris in Baghdad.

In 1863, Baha’u’llah stayed in a garden on the banks of the Tigris River for 12 days, during which His many admirers in the city came to bid Him farewell. Baha’u’llah announced to the friends gathered with Him during those days that He was God’s Messenger for a new age, foretold in the world’s scriptures. He called the garden they were gathered in “Ridvan,” meaning “paradise.”

The Ridvan period was also a time when Baha’u’llah proclaimed the foundational spiritual principles that lie at the heart of His teachings—signaling the arrival of a new stage in the evolution of the life of humanity, characterized by peace and an end to violence. Today, the festival of Ridvan is the most joyous of Baha’i holy days. In villages, towns, and cities around the world, Baha’i communities celebrate these special days with gatherings open to all.

In thousands of localities around the globe on the first day of Ridvan, Baha’is also vote for their local governing councils. And throughout the 12-day festival of Ridvan, national conventions are held in some 180 countries and territories, during which delegates gather to vote for their National Spiritual Assembly, a nine-member council responsible for guiding, coordinating, and stimulating the activities of the Baha’is in its jurisdiction. Baha’i elections are distinct for their lack of nomination and campaigning. This year, national elections took place over two weekends: 22-23 April and 29-30 April. Every year on the first day of Ridvan, the Universal House of Justice addresses a message to the Baha’is of the World. This year’s message calls attention to the reality that “humanity’s ultimate well-being is dependent upon its differences being transcended and its unity firmly established.”

“Every contribution Baha’is make to the life of their society,” it states, “is aimed at fostering unity; every community-building endeavour is directed towards the same end.”

The day of 18 June 2023 will mark 40 years since the Islamic Republic of Iran hanged 10 Baha’i women in a single night in a square in the city of Shiraz. Their crime was refusing to renounce their beliefs in a faith that promotes the principles of gender equality—absent and criminalized in Iran—as well as unity, justice and truthfulness.

The women were hanged one by one, each forced to watch the next woman’s death in a harrowing attempt to coerce them into recanting their faith. One was only 17; most were in their 20s. Human rights groups and ordinary citizens around the world were shocked and outraged at this barbaric act by the Iranian authorities.

Global leaders at the time led a wave of appeals for condemned Baha’i women and men to be released from their death sentences. But to no avail.

The Baha’i International Community is now launching a global campaign, called #OurStoryIsOne, to honor the executed women and the long struggle for gender equality lived by women of all faiths and backgrounds in Iran for many decades and which continues to this day.

“The story of the 10 Baha’i women is not over. It was a chapter in the unfolding story of Iranian women’s resilience and sacrifice for equality,” says Simin Fahandej, Representative of the Baha’i International Community (BIC) to the United Nations in Geneva. “Today, in the blood, tears and wounds of thousands of young women in Iran seeking equality, we can see echoes of the injustice suffered by the 10 women of Shiraz whose tragic death touched the lives of many. We see the same spirit, the same choice being made: to stand up for the principles of justice and equality with utmost effort. Though mistreated and imprisoned, today’s women—just like those before them—are bravely striving for a just and prosperous Iran.”

In some cases, the executed Baha’i women were arrested on charges of providing moral education to young children, both girls and boys. Since the 19th century, the Baha’is in Iran have promoted gender equality through efforts at every level, including the establishment of schools for girls. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Baha’is were particularly targeted for calling for the full equality of women and men, which allowed women to take part in all aspects of community life and join gatherings where men were present.

“The Baha’i community in Iran has always called for the full participation of women in all spheres of life in society, including decision-making processes, and has paid a heavy price for it,” Ms. Fahandej added. “Bearing more than 40 years of systematic persecution, which has now sadly been extended to all Iranians, the Baha’i community has insisted on its right to serve Iran, which it regards as a sacred land, by promoting gender equality, justice and access to education, regardless of the consequences to their lives.”

Following the execution of the 10 women and for the four decades that have followed, hundreds more Baha’i women have been severely persecuted, facing discrimination both as women and as Baha’is. After the Revolution, Baha’i women serving in prominent social positions in the country were dismissed from their jobs, arrested and imprisoned, tortured, or executed. Those left to live were barred from universities, public employment and virtually all aspects of social life.

In honor of the 10 women of Shiraz and the cause of justice and equality for which they gave their lives, the BIC now invites people around the world, whether as artists, musicians, filmmakers, or in other creative areas, to pay tribute in their name. Contributions can include: songs about the 10 women, short videos about their lives, a memory of the women themselves, graphic arts, written work, social media posts, or public events and memorials, to honor the longstanding struggle and efforts towards gender equality in Iran.

The campaign will start in June and span a year, with its most intensive phase taking place the first three weeks of June, leading to the 40th anniversary of their execution on 18 June.

“More and more Iranians are uniting in a search for social justice, and they have focused on the equality of women and men as one of the most pressing challenges facing the country,” added Ms. Fahandej. “We hope that together we can honor not only the 10 Baha’i women of Shiraz, but all women across Iran who cherish the principle of the equality of women and men, and who have contributed to building a better future for the country through their perseverance in the face of oppression.”

“Let us stand together, united by our shared experiences of resilience and our collective efforts and sacrifices for Iran, to show that we are inextricably linked regardless of faith and background. We hope that remembering the execution of these 10 women will illuminate and reinforce conversations around justice and gender equality in Iran. Our story is one and we will raise our voices until our shared ideals are realized.”

Background

On 18 June 1983, 10 Baha’i women, most of them in their 20s, including a young girl of 17 and a woman in her 50s, were executed by hanging in Chowgan Square in Shiraz because they had refused to renounce their faith. This shocking event was met with consternation and outrage by human rights groups and ordinary people around the world.

Two nights prior, six Baha’i men (some of them relatives of these 10 women) were executed in that same square. More than 200 Baha’is were executed by the Iranian authorities in the years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The killings only paused after international outcries, but the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran continues with impunity to this day.

The 10 women were arrested in October and November 1982. Many were first held at the Sepah Detention Centre and then transferred to Adelabad Prison. They suffered harsh interrogations and torture by Revolutionary Guards in an attempt to coerce them to recant their faith. They were denied the right to a lawyer, denied a trial in a public court, and ultimately sentenced by the Sharia judge of Shiraz to execution by hanging on charges of “Zionism,” “spying for Israel,” and teaching moral education classes for children.

Each of these women was violently coerced several times in the effort to get them to deny their faith and to convert to Islam, to escape execution, but none of them agreed to sign the statements authorities prepared for them. On 18 June 1983, they were secretly taken to Chowgan Square and hanged one by one and in front of each other. Their families were not even notified of their deaths, their bodies were not returned to their families, and they did not receive dignified burials with religious rites. It is believed that they were buried in the Baha’i cemetery in Shiraz by the authorities, which was later demolished(link is external) and made into a “cultural and sports building” in 2014.

The women executed on this date were:

rish.