The Birth of Baháʼu'lláh is one of nine

holy days A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

in the

Baháʼí calendar The Badíʻ calendar used in the Baháʼí Faith is a solar calendar consisting of nineteen months and four or five intercalary days, with new year at the moment of Northern spring equinox. Each month is named after a virtue(e.g. Perfection, Mercy ...

that is celebrated by adherents of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

and during which work is suspended. The holy day celebrates the birth of

Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Persia, and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Bábí Faith. In 1863, in I ...

, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. The 2023 date is October 17. Bahá'u'lláh was born on 12 November 1817 in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and this holy day was instituted in the

Kitáb-i-Aqdas The Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Arabic: The Most Holy Book) is the central religious text of the Baháʼí Faith, written by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, in 1873. Though it is the main source of Baháʼí laws and practices, much of the con ...

, his book of laws, where Baháʼu'lláh first refers to four great festivals: the

Festival of Ridván A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

, the Declaration of the

Báb The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed ...

, the birth of the Báb—who is considered to be a Manifestation of God, and who foretold the coming of Baháʼu'lláh—and the birth of Baháʼu'lláh. In questions submitted to Baháʼu'lláh after writing the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Baháʼu'lláh states that the two days commemorating the births of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh are seen to be one in the "sight of God" and are referred to as the " Twin Birthdays".

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian language, Persian: ‎, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás ( fa, عباس), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later C ...

, the son of Baháʼu'lláh, stated that during the holy day the community should rejoice together to increase the unity of the community. Baháʼís usually observe the holy day with community gatherings where prayers are shared and the birth of Baháʼu'lláh is celebrated. Baháʼu'lláh stated that in communities where the majority of the population are Shiʻa Muslims, such as Iran, his followers should exercise caution in celebrating the twin birthdays so that they do not upset the majority of the population who are mourning during the Islamic month of

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

. In the

Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or ...

, which is a lunar calendar, the two holy days fall on consecutive days: the birth of the Báb is on the first day of Muharram in 1235 AH (20 October 1819), and the birth of Baháʼu'lláh is on the second day of

in 1233 AH (12 November 1817). Baháʼu'lláh stated that if the holy days occur during the Baháʼí month of fasting, Baháʼís need not observe the fast those days. Since the Baháʼí calendar is a

solar calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar. T ...

, the decision to celebrate the

Twin Holy Birthdays The Festivals of the Twin Birthdays or the Twin Holy Birthdays refers to two successive holy days in the Baháʼí calendar that celebrate the births of two central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. The two holy days are the birth of the Báb on ...

in a solar or lunar basis remains to the

Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice ( fa, بیت‌العدل اعظم) is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate o ...

. Until March 20, 2015, in most of the world, the holy day was celebrated according to the solar year on 12 November, and the birth of the Báb was celebrated on 20 October. Since days in the Baháʼí calendar start at sunset, the holy day started on the evening of 11 November and proceeded until sunset on 12 November. However, in 2014, the Universal House of Justice decided to celebrate the twin holy days on the first and second day following the eighth new moon after Naw-Rúz, starting from March 20, 2015 onwards. Thus from March 20, 2015 onward the day where the Birth of Baháʼu'lláh is celebrated will change from year to year.

References

External links

The Life of Baha'u'llah – A Photographic Narrative

Official website of the Bicentenary of the Birth of Baháʼu'lláh

The birth of Baháʼu'lláh: a bicentenary celebration of the Baháʼí Faith's founder
Exposition on Baháʼu'lláh's writings at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(2017-2018). {{DEFAULTSORT:Birth Of Bahaullah Baháʼu'lláh Birthdays November observances Bahá'í holy days

References

Further reading

External links