Ayyám-i-Há

Ayyám-i-Há refers to a period of four or five intercalary days in the Bahá'í calendar, where Bahá'ís celebrate the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há.cite book |author= Esslemont, J.E. |year= 1980 |title= Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era |edition= 5th ed. |publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA |id= ISBN 0877431604 |url= http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/je/BNE/ | pages = pp.178-179] The four or five days occur in between the 18th and 19th months of the calendar from February 26 to March 1 and allow for the Bahá'í calendar to be synchronized with the solar year with regular years of 365 days, and leap years of 366 days. [According to the definition of intercalary days in the "Oxford Companion to the Year" four of the five days are "epagomenal days" added to make the number of a calendar's days equal to the number of days in a year, and only the fifth day of Ayyám-i-Há is an intercalary day.]

History

The Báb, the founder of the Bábí Faith, instituted the Badí‘ calendar in the Persian Bayán with 19 months of 19 days each and a period of intercalary days to allow for the calendar to be solar. 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.cite web | first = John | last = Taylor | title = On Novelty in Ayyám-i-Há and the Badí Calendar | date = 2000-09-01 | accessdate = 2006-09-24 | publisher = bahai-library.org | url = http://bahai-library.com/?file=taylor_novelty_badi_calendar] The Báb did not, however, specify where the intercalary days should go. Bahá'u'lláh, who claimed to be the one foretold by the Báb, confirmed and adopted the Badi calendar in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, his book of laws. He placed the intercalary days before the fasting month of `Alá, the nineteenth and last month,cite book |author=Bahá'u'lláh |authorlink=Bahá'u'lláh |origyear=1873 |year=1992 |title=The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book |publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA |id=ISBN 0853989990 |url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/KA/ka-4.html#gr16 | pages= pp. 24-25] and gave the intercalary days the name "Ayyám-i-Há" or "Days of H".

ymbolism and celebration

The nineteen months of the Bahá'í calendar are named after the attributes of God.cite web | url = http://www.bahai.us/bahai-calendar | title = The Bahá'í Calendar | accessdate = 2006-09-24 | publisher = bahai.us | author = National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States | date = 2006-03-05] Ayyám-i-Há, which means the "Days of Há" — Há is the Arabic letter corresponding to the English H — commemorates the transcendence of God over his attributes since its name "Ha" has been used a symbol of the "essence of God" in the Bahá'í holy writings.cite book |author=Universal House of Justice |authorlink=Universal House of Justice |year=1992 |title=Notes of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas |publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA |id=ISBN 0853989990 |url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/KA/ka-45.html | pages= pp. 178.] Under the Arabic abjad system, the letter Há has the numerical value of five, which is equal to the maximum number of days in Ayyam-i-Há.

During the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há Bahá'ís are encouraged to celebrate God and his oneness by showing love, fellowship and unity. In many instances Bahá'ís give and accept gifts to show forth the love, and it is sometimes seen as a "Bahá'í Christmas" held two months late. It is also a time of charity and goodwill and Bahá'ís often participate in various projects of a humanitarian nature.cite web | author = National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States | title = Baha'is mark New Year with charity, period of fasting | date = 2006-06-28 | accessdate = 2007-02-25 | publisher = bahai.us | url = http://www.bahai.us/node/82]

References