The Religious Affairs Office

The Bahá’í calendar is also known as the Marvellous Calendar (badí), and it was systematised by the Báb, the precursor of Bahá’u’lláh. The Bahá’í era began in the year 1844 of the Gregorian calendar. The Universal House of Justice is currently the Bahá’í institution responsible for regulating the calendar.

The Bahá’í Faith is a movement that began in Persia, with its origins in Islam. It adopted the solar calendar from its Persian origins and most of its Arabic terminology from its Islamic side. For example, the names of the months and days in the Bahá’í calendar are directly inspired by the prayers of the fifth Imam of Shīʿa Islam.

The Bahá’í year follows the solar cycle of 365 days, like the Gregorian calendar, but with some differences: it begins in spring, and there are nineteen months which each have nineteen days. The names of the months are of Arabic origin, referring to divine attributes: Splendour, Glory, Beauty, Grandeur, Light, Mercy, Words, Perfection, Names, Might, Will, Knowledge, Power, Speech, Questions, Honour, Sovereignty, Dominion and Sublimity. The same is true for the days of the week, which starts on our Saturday: Glory, Beauty, Perfection, Grace, Justice, Majesty and Independence.

Reminiscent of the Metonic Cycle, it also takes into account cycles of nineteen years, where each year represents a divine attribute or a letter. One complete cycle of nineteen years receives the name of wâhid (unique). The main disciples of Bahá’u’lláh also numbered nineteen.

 

THE MAIN HOLY DAYS

There is a series of days which Bahá’í people consider to be holy, some because they are a reason for celebration and others for their commemorative value. During most of them, people are recommended not to go to work or school:

• New Year Festival (naw-rûz): Bahá’u’lláh established that it should always be during the spring equinox
• Feasts for the births of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. They are celebrated consecutively and are established after eight lunar cycles, starting from naw-rûz
• Ridvan Festivals., They celebrate the period of April 1863, when Bahá’u’lláh met with his disciples in some gardens on the bank of the Tigris to tell them about his prophetic mission:
  • Day one: Bahá’u’lláh announces that he is the manifestation of God
  • Day nine: Bahá’u’lláh meets with his family
  • Day twelve: Bahá’u’lláh leaves the gardens and sets out for Constantinople
• Declaration of the Báb, on 23 May 1844, when he announces the coming of Bahá’u’lláh, God‘s new messenger and prophet
• Festival for the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, which took place on 29 May 1892. Death is not spoken of because he is considered to be alive in the presence of God
• Martyrdom of the Báb: commemorating his execution by firing squad on 9 July 1850
• Day of the Covenant, which marks the naming and succession of Abdu'l-Bahá, the oldest son of Bahá’u’lláh, as the leader of the Bahá’í community
• The ascension of Abdu'l-Bahá, which took place on 28 November 1921
• Festival of nineteen days. The first day of the month is considered a reason for festivities. Meetings and teamwork are recommended. As the Bahá’í calendar has nineteen months, it is known as the Nineteen-Day Feast

HÁ DAYS

The Há Days are the four or five days added at the end of the penultimate month of the year. They usually fall at the end of February and the beginning of March in the Gregorian calendar. These days are considered as a preparation for the fast that will take place the following month, and it is recommended to be more constant in practising generosity, solidarity and gratitude. Once these intercalary Days of Há are over, Bahá’í people fast for the nineteen days of the month of Sublimity, from sunrise to sunset. They are called Há Days in relation to the Arabic letter há, which symbolises the divine identity or reality intrinsic to all living beings (huwiya).