Declaration of the Bab Day 2024 is on Thursday, May 23, 2024: On what day do Baha'is celebrate their religious festival?
Thursday, May 23, 2024 is Declaration of the Bab Day 2024. Celebrating the Declaration of the Bab – Bahai Faith That Promised One, the Báb
Naw Ruz (New Year) March 21
Ridvan (declaration of Baha'u'llah) April 21 to May 2
Declaration of the Bab, May 23
Ascension of Baha'u'llah May 29
Martyrdom of the Bab July 9
Birth of the Bab October 20
Birth of Baha'u'llah November 12
Day of the Covenant November 26
Ascension of Abdu'l-Baha November 28
Ayyam-i-Ha (Intercalary Days, time of giving gifts, parties and preparing for the Fast) February 26 to March 1
The Calendar varies on some holy days in Iran. To be honest, I find that rather confusing.
Fasting March 2 to 20
What day is June 19th on the Badi/Baha'i Calendar? What year is 1995 in Baha'i time?
June 19th is the 15th day of Nur. (Of course, as you probably know, Baha'i days run from sundown to sundown; so technically, June 19th begins on the 15th day of Nur and ends on the 16th day.)
June 1995 falls in the Baha'i year 152 B.E.
The way I remember the B.E. year is to subtract 1844 (year of The Bab's declaration) from the current Gregorian year, then add back 1. For example 2009 is equivalent to 166 BE (1009 - 1844 = 165 + 1 = 166). The reason you add back 1 is because 1844 is the same as 1 BE, so there's a fudge factor you have to remember. You also have to keep in mind that any dates before March 21 of the Gregorian year will be in the prior BE year. So March 20 2009 = 165 BE; March 21 2009 = 166 BE.
Unfortunately I haven't found a rock-solid resource online for lining up Gregorian dates with Badi dates. (I actually had to create my own Baha'i "perpetual calendar" in Excel a few weeks ago, but it doesn't yet have a function to match up individual days.) Your best bet is probably to buy a Baha'i calendar, appointment book, or daybook (daily devotions book). You can try the Baha'i Bookstore (link below) for calendars, or ask your LSA if they have any calendars or books in their stock.
Why is the Bab shrine located in Haifa (Israel)?
The shrine was built in 1953 over the grave of Sayyid Ali Muhammad and is the world headquarters of the Bahai faith.
Sayyid `Alí Muhammad (Arabic: سيد علی محمد ) (October 20, 1819 – July 9, 1850) was a merchant from Shiraz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-five claimed to be a new and independent Manifestation of God and the promised Qá'im (Mahdí). After his declaration he took the title of Báb (Arabic: باب ) meaning "Gate". Six years later he was shot by a firing squad in Tabriz.
Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí (Persian: میرزا حسین علی), (1817 - 1892), was a follower of the Bab. He is called Bahá'u'lláh (ba-haa-ol-laa Arabic: بهاء الله "Glory of God") and is the founder and prophet of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to fulfill the Bábí prophecy of "He whom God shall make manifest" (Arabic: من یظهر الله , Persian: مظهر کلّیه الهی ), but in a broader sense he also claimed to be the "supreme Manifestation of God"[1], referring to the fulfillment of the eschatological expectations of a prophetic cycle beginning with Adam, and including Abrahamic religions, as well as Zoroastrianism, the great Dharmic religions, and others. Bahá'ís see Bahá'u'lláh as the initiator of a new religion, as Jesus or Muhammad — but also the initiator of a new cycle, like that attributed to Adam. The shrine of Bahá'u'lláh is in Akko, Israel.
Bahá'u'lláh authored many religious works, most notably the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Kitáb-i-Íqán. He died in Bahjí, Palestine, present day Israel, and is buried there.
