- Bahá'í calendar
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Central figures Key scripture Kitáb-i-Aqdas · Kitáb-i-Íqán
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Pilgrimage · PrayerThe Bahá'í calendar, also called the Badí‘ calendar (badí‘ means wondrous or unique [1]), used by the Bahá'í Faith, is a solar calendar with regular years of 365 days, and leap years of 366 days. Years are composed of 19 months of 19 days each, (361 days) plus an extra period of "Intercalary Days" (4 in regular and 5 in leap years). Years in the calendar begin at the vernal equinox, and are counted with the date notation of BE (Bahá'í Era), with 21 March 1844 CE being the first day of the first year.[2] The period from 21 March 2011 to 20 March 2012 is the year 168 BE. At present, the Bahá'í calendar is synchronized to the Gregorian calendar, meaning that the extra day of a leap year occurs simultaneously in both calendars.
Contents
History
The Bahá'í calendar started from the original Badí‘ calendar, created by the Báb.[3] Bahá'u'lláh confirmed and adopted this calendar and made Naw-Rúz the first day of the year, and also clarified the intercalary days.[3][4]
Bahá'u'lláh set Naw-Rúz to the day on which the sun passes into the constellation Aries. Bahá'ís interpret this formula as a specification of the vernal equinox.[4]
Although the vernal equinox can occur on March 20, 21 or 22, Shoghi Effendi declared that, for the time being, the Badí‘ calendar is 'locked' to the Gregorian calendar with the new year always starting at sunset on 20 March.[5] Without this, the calendar could vary by a day or two when compared to the Gregorian calendar. The implementation of the variable calendar with respect to the beginning of Naw-Rúz will require the Universal House of Justice selecting a single location for the fixing of the date of the equinox, such as the Qiblih.[4] The 'locked' calendar is the one described in this article.
Years in the Bahá'í calendar are counted from Thursday, 21 March 1844, the beginning of the Bahá'í Era or Badí‘ Era (abbreviated BE or B.E.).[2] Year 1 BE thus began at sundown 20 March 1844. Using the Bahá'í names for the weekday and month, day one of the Bahá'í Era was Istijlál (Majesty), 1 Bahá (Splendour) 1 BE. As detailed below, the names of the Bahá'í months and days reflect attributes of God.[6]
Months
The Bahá'í calendar is composed of 19 months, each with 19 days.[7] The Nineteen Day Fast is held during the final month of ‘Alá’ (2 March – 20 March), and is preceded by the intercalary days, known as Ayyám-i-Há. There are four intercalary days in a regular year, and five in a leap year.[7] The introduction of intercalation marked an important break from Islam, as under the Islamic calendar the practice of intercalation had been specifically prohibited in the Qur'an.[3] The month of fasting is followed by Naw-Rúz, the new year. Because the calendar is currently synchronized with the Gregorian calendar, the Bahá'í leap years happen on common era leap years. In addition, the intercalary days include 28 February and 1 March, causing precise synchronization of the 19 months with the Gregorian calendar.
The names of the months were taken by the Báb from the Du'ay-i-Sahar, a Ramadan dawn prayer by Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, the fifth Imam of Twelver Shi'ah Islam.[8][9] These month names are described as describing attributes of God.
Month Arabic Name[7] Arabic Script English Translation[7] Gregorian Dates[7] 1 Bahá بهاء Splendour 21 March – 8 April 2 Jalál جلال Glory 9 April – 27 April 3 Jamál جمال Beauty 28 April – 16 May 4 ‘Aẓamat عظمة Grandeur 17 May – 4 June 5 Núr نور Light 5 June – 23 June 6 Raḥmat رحمة Mercy 24 June – 12 July 7 Kalimát كلمات Words 13 July – 31 July 8 Kamál كمال Perfection 1 August – 19 August 9 Asmá’ اسماء Names 20 August – 7 September 10 ‘Izzat عزة Might 8 September – 26 September 11 Mashíyyat مشية Will 27 September – 15 October 12 ‘Ilm علم Knowledge 16 October – 3 November 13 Qudrat قدرة Power 4 November – 22 November 14 Qawl قول Speech 23 November – 11 December 15 Masá’il مسائل Questions 12 December – 30 December 16 Sharaf شرف Honour 31 December – 18 January 17 Sulṭán سلطان Sovereignty 19 January – 6 February 18 Mulk ملك Dominion 7 February – 25 February Ayyám-i-Há ايام الهاء The Days of Há 26 February – 1 March 19 ‘Alá’ علاء Loftiness 2 March – 20 March (Month of fasting) (The Arabic letter Há' has a numerical value of five, and hence describes the five-day length of this period in leap years.)
Holy days
There are eleven holy days in the Bahá'í calendar on nine of which work is suspended.[10] The Festival of Ridván, a twelve day festival that commemorates Bahá'u'lláh's announcement of prophethood, is the most holy Bahá'í festival and is referred to as the "Most Great Festival."[11]
On the Islamic lunar calendar, the births of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh fall on consecutive days; the first and second day of Muharram, respectively.[12] The Universal House of Justice has decided to celebrate them on the solar calendar, but has the authority to change the observance to the lunar calendar days, which migrate through the solar calendar by 11 or 12 days each year.
Name[10] Gregorian Dates[10] Work Suspended[10] Naw-Rúz (Bahá'í New Year) March 21 Yes First day of Riḍván (Arabic: رضوان) April 21 Yes Ninth day of Riḍván April 29 Yes Twelfth day of Riḍván May 2 Yes Declaration of the Báb May 23 Yes Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh May 29 Yes Martyrdom of the Báb July 9 Yes Birth of the Báb October 20 Yes Birth of Bahá'u'lláh November 12 Yes Day of the Covenant November 26 No Ascension of `Abdu'l-Bahá November 28 No Weekdays
The Bahá'í week starts on Saturday, and ends on Friday.[13] Like Judaism and Islam, days begin at sunset on the previous solar day and end at sunset of the present solar day. Bahá'í writings indicate that Friday is to be kept as a day of rest.[14][15] The practice of keeping Friday as a day of rest is not observed by all Bahá'ís, however; for example, in the UK, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís does not currently keep this practice.[16]
Arabic Name[13] Arabic Script English Translation[13] Day of the Week[13] Jalál جلال Glory Saturday Jamál جمال Beauty Sunday Kamál كمال Perfection Monday Fiḍál فضال Grace Tuesday ‘Idál عدال Justice Wednesday Istijlál استجلال Majesty Thursday Istiqlál استقلال Independence Friday Váḥid and Kull-i-Shay’
Also existing in the Bahá'í calendar system is a 19-year cycle called Váḥid and a 361-year (19x19) supercycle called Kull-i-Shay’ (literally, "All Things").[13] Each of the 19 years in a Vahid has been given a name as shown in the table below.[13] The 9th Váḥid of the 1st Kull-i-Shay’ started on 21 March 1996, and the 10th Váḥid will begin in 2015.[17] The current Bahá'í year, year 168 BE (21 March 2011 - 20 March 2012), is year Badí‘ of the 9th Váḥid of the 1st Kull-i-Shay’.[17] The 2nd Kull-i-Shay’ will begin in 2205.[17]
The concept of a 19-year cycle has existed in some form since the 4th century BC. The Metonic cycle represents an invented measure that approximately correlates solar and lunar markings of time and which appears in several calendar systems.
- Years in a Váḥid
No. Persian Name Arabic Script English Translation 1 Alif ألف A 2 Bá’ باء B 3 Ab أب Father 4 Dál دﺍﻝ D 5 Báb باب Gate 6 Váv وﺍو V 7 Abad أبد Eternity 8 Jád جاد Generosity 9 Bahá' بهاء Splendour 10 Ḥubb حب Love 11 Bahháj بهاج Delightful 12 Javáb جواب Answer 13 Aḥad احد Single 14 Vahháb وﻫﺎب Bountiful 15 Vidád وداد Affection 16 Badí‘ بدیع Beginning 17 Bahí بهي Luminous 18 Abhá ابهى Most Luminous 19 Váḥid واحد Unity See also
Notes
- ^ Bahai library: Bibliography for the Tablets of Baha'u'llah: List of citations and resources for Tablets revealed 1863-68. Kitáb-i-Badí‘ ("The Wondrous Book," "the Unique Book"). Prepared by Jonah Winters for the Wilmette Institute.
- ^ a b Curtis, Larry (2004-03-06). "A Day in the Bahá'í Calendar". bcca.org. http://www.bcca.org/bahaivision/docs/today.html. Retrieved 2006-09-24.
- ^ a b c Taylor, John (2000-09-01). "On Novelty in Ayyám-i-Há and the Badí Calendar". bahai-library.org. http://bahai-library.com/taylor_novelty_badi_calendar. Retrieved 2006-09-24.
- ^ a b c Universal House of Justice (1992). Notes of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. pp. 178–179. ISBN 0853989990. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/KA/ka-43.html#gr2..
- ^ Effendi, Shoghi (1973). Directives from the Guardian. India/Hawaii: Bahá'í publishing trust. pp. 30. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/DG/dg-75.html.
- ^ National Spiritual Assembly of the United States (2006-03-05). "The Bahá'í Calendar". bahai.us. http://www.bahai.us/bahai-calendar. Retrieved 2006-09-24.
- ^ a b c d e Esslemont, J. E. (1980). Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era (5th ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. pp. 178–179. ISBN 0877431604. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/je/BNE/.
- ^ Taherzadeh, A. (1976). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 1: Baghdad 1853-63. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. pp. 116–7. ISBN 0853982708. http://www.peyman.info/cl/Baha'i/Others/ROB/V1/p105-152Ch09.html#p109.
- ^ Stephen N. Lambden. The Du'á Sahar or Supplication of Glory-Beauty (al-bahá')
- ^ a b c d National Spiritual Assembly of the United States (2006-03-05). "The Badi Calendar". bahai.us. http://www.bahai.us/system/files/BahaiCalendarOptimized.pdf. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
- ^ Walbridge, John (2003-10-02). "Ridvan". http://bahai-library.com/walbridge_encyclopedia_ridvan. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
- ^ Taherzadeh, Adib (1987). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 4: Mazra'ih & Bahji 1877-92. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. pp. 334. ISBN 0853982708. http://www.peyman.info/cl/Baha%27i/Others/ROB/V4/p329-350Ch22.html.
- ^ a b c d e f Effendi, Shoghi (1950). The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1950. Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá'í Publishing Committee. http://bahai-library.com/shoghieffendi_statistics_1844-1950.
- ^ "Letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer". Bahá'í News (162, April 1943): 5. 1939-07-10. In Effendi, Shoghi; Bahá'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Universal House of Justice (1983). Hornby, Helen. ed. Lights of Guidance: A Bahá'í Reference File. New Delhi, India: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. p. 109. ISBN 9788185091464. http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance&chapter=2#n372. Retrieved 2009-03-15. "III. Bahá'í: E. Miscellaneous Subjects: 372. Friday is Day of Rest in Bahá'í Calendar."
- ^ Bellenir, Karen (2004). Religious Holidays and Calendars: An Encyclopedic Handbook (3rd ed.). Omnigraphics. p. 154. ISBN 0780806654.
- ^ National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom. Letter from the NSA to the Chaplaincy to the Bahá’í Council for Wales consulted 1 September 2011
- ^ a b c Bolhuis, Arjen (2006-03-23). "The first Kull-i-Shay' of the Bahá'í Era". http://bahai-library.com/bolhuis_kull_shay. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
References
- Effendi, Shoghi (1976). Principles of Bahá'í Administration (4th ed.). London, UK: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0900125136.
- Esslemont, John (1980). Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era (5th ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877431604. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/je/BNE/.
Further reading
- Keil, Gerald (2008). Time and the Bahá’í Era. UK: George Ronald. ISBN 9780853985273. http://www.udoschaefer.com/fileadmin/pdffiles/Foreword_Time_and_the_Bahai_Era_EN.pdf.
External links
- The Bahá'í Calendar
- Arithmetic of the Bahá'í Calendar, and Variants
- Bahá'í Calendar, Bahá'í Events and Holy Days (types: Persian, Islamic, Gregorian)
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