The Bahá’í Calendar is known as The Badí’ Calendar (meaning new, unique, wondrous). It is a solar calendar which was instituted by The Báb in the Kitabu’l-Asmá’ (The Book of Divine Names).The inception of the Bahá’í calendar was on 21 March 1844 Common Era (CE), the year during which The Báb declared His mission, to herald the coming of Bahá’u’lláh, the promised Manifestation of God. Bahá’u’lláh later confirmed the Badí’ calendar.
The Structure of the Bahá’í Calendar Years
Years are counted with the date notation of B.E. (Bahá’í Era). For example, we are now in the year 176 B.E. which started on 21 March, 2019. Each Bahá’í Year is composed of 19 months of 19 days and an intercalary period (or Ayyám-i-Há) of four days (or five during leap years).Each Bahá’í day begins and ends at sunset.
Shoghi Effendi has explained that: “The Báb has regarded the solar year of 365 days, 5 hours, and 50 odd minutes, as consisting of 19 months of 19 days each, [361 days in total] every new day being reckoned as starting from sunset, not midnight. Every fourth year the number of intercalary days is raised from four to five.” – Bahá’í Faith, The: 1844-1950: Information Statistical and Comparative, by Shoghi Effendi, p.40, 1950.The Bahá’í (Badí’ Calendar) is purely solar calendar representing the unity of God.
Shoghi Effendi described that “ The Báb has divided the years following the date of His Revelation into cycles of nineteen years each. Each cycle of nineteen years He has named a Vahíd, and nineteen Vahíds constitute a period called by Him a Kull-i-Shay’. The numerical value of the word “Vahíd” is 19 and that of “Kull-i-Shay’ ” is 361. “Vahíd” signifies unity and is symbolic of the unity of God.” This means that Bahá’ís are currently in the first Kull-i-Shay’ which started in 1844 and will conclude 361 years after 1844. The end of year 171 of the Badí‘ Calendar marked the end of the 9th Vahíd. Each year in a Vahíd has a name, which together with their translation, is shown in the Table below:
Significance of Intercalary Period
For Bahá’ís, the intercalary days (known as Ayyám-i-Há, or “Days of Ha,”) are devoted to preparation for the Fast, which is before the last month of the Bahá’í year. Also, these days are specially set aside for hospitality, gifts giving, and charitable act:
“Charity is pleasing and praiseworthy in the sight of God and is regarded as a prince among goodly deeds … Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.” – Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Baha’u’llah (Words of Paradise), p. 71.
The Bahá’í New Year
The Bahá’í New Year begins on the day that the sun passes into the constellation of Aries. This day (also known as Naw-Rúz) is the first day of spring (vernal equinox). In the vernal equinox (which could fall on 20, 21, or 22 March depending on the time of the equinox) the sun lights the Equator directly and illuminates every continent in both northern and southern hemispheres equally.
Because, the Bahá’í day begins and ends at sunset, the Bahá’í New Year will start and be celebrated after sunset of the day on which the vernal equinox has occurred. Should the vernal equinox take place after sunset, Naw-Rúz will be celebrated on the following day. Shoghi Effendi explained “Regarding Naw-Rúz: If the vernal equinox falls on the 21st of March before sunset, it is celebrated on that day. If at any time after sunset, Naw-Rúz will then, as stated by Bahá’u’lláh, fall on the 22nd.”
For Bahá’ís, Naw-Rúz is a celebration of the oneness of humanity, the oneness of God, the oneness of divine religions and the oneness of all the Messengers of God, and the spiritual springtime that they each brought to humanity. According to Bahá’ís, Naw-Rúz represents the return of the Sun of Reality, when a re-awakening of the spirit occurs and the light of a new revelation shines equally upon the entirety of God’s creation:
“…just as the solar cycle has its four seasons, the cycle of the Sun of Reality has its distinct and successive periods. Each brings its vernal season or springtime. When the Sun of Reality returns to quicken the world of mankind a divine bounty descends from the heaven of generosity. The realm of thoughts and ideals is set in motion and blessed with new life. Minds are developed, hopes brighten, aspirations become spiritual, the virtues of the human world appear with freshened power of growth and the image and likeness of God become visible in man. It is the springtime of the inner world…In it the former springtime has returned, the world is resuscitated, illumined and attains spirituality; religion is renewed and reorganized, hearts are turned to God, the summons of God is heard and life is again bestowed upon man.” – `Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace. Bahá’í New Year’s Day coincides with an ancient Persian festival celebrating the “new day”. For Bahá’ís, Naw-Rúz marks the end of the annual 19-Day period of Fasting.
Months of the Year
The Báb named each of the 19 months of the Bahá’í year after each of the attributes of God. The intercalary days which do not belong to any of the months are exceptions. Also, each day of the month has the same name as the corresponding month. For example, the fifth day of the month is named Núr (Light), or the nineteenth day of a month is named ‘Alá’ (Loftiness). The last month of the Bahá’í year is allocated as a month of fasting. Fasting takes place from sunrise to sunset, during which no food or drink can be consumed, for Bahá’ís between the ages of 15 and 70.
Week
Each week in the Bahá’i Calendar starts from Saturday to Friday and each day is named after an attribute of God. In the Bahá’í calendar, Friday is the day of rest and is named “Independence”.
Bahá’í Holy Days
There are eleven Holy Days in the Bahá’í calendar. Work on nine of these days should be suspended. The exceptions are the Day of the Covenant and the Ascension of `Abdu’l-Bahá.
Because Abdu’l-Bahá was born on the same day as the Declaration of The Báb, Bahá’ís commemorate and celebrate Abdu’l-Bahá’s life on the Day of the Covenant. This was according to Abdu’l-Bahá’s wishes.The Festival of Ridván is a celebration that commemorates Bahá’u’lláh’s public declaration of His station as a Manifestation of God. The first, ninth and twelfth days of Ridván coincide with particular events that took place on those days.
Description of Each Holy Days
Naw-Rúz (March 20 or 21)
The Bahá’í New Year’s Day coincides with the spring equinox. Naw-Rúz is an ancient Persian festival celebrating the “new day” and for Bahá’ís it marks the end of the annual 19-Day Fast and is one of the nine holy days of the year when work is suspended and children are exempted from attending school.
Festival of Ridván
The annual Bahá’í festival commemorates the 12 days when Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, publicly proclaimed His mission as God’s messenger for this age. Elections for local, national and international Bahá’í institutions are generally held during the Festival of Ridván. The first (April 20 or 21), ninth (April 28 or 29) and twelfth (May 1 or 2) days are celebrated as holy days when work is suspended and children are exempted from attending school.
Declaration of the Báb (May 23 or 24)
This Holy Day commemorates May 23, 1844, when the Báb, the herald of the Bahá’í Faith, announced in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran), that He was the Herald of a new Messenger of God. It is one of the nine holy days of the year when work is suspended and children are exempted from attending school.
Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh (May 28 or 29)
Bahá’ís observe the anniversary of the death in exile of Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, on May 29, 1892, outside Akko (also known as Akká or Acre), in what is now northern Israel. It is one of the nine holy days of the year when work is suspended and children are exempted from attending school.
Martyrdom of the Báb (July 9 or 10)
The holy day commemorates the anniversary of the execution of the Báb (Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad), the herald of the Bahá’í Faith, by a firing squad on July 9, 1850, in Tabriz, Persia (now Iran). It is one of the nine holy days of the year when work is suspended and children are exempted from attending school.
Twin Holy Birthdays: The Birth of the Báb (October 20, 1819) & the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh (November 12, 1817)
They occurred on consecutive days according to the Islamic lunar calendar (1 and 2 Muharram, respectively). These Holy Days are celebrated on the first and second days of the eighth lunar month after Naw-Rúz, and may fall as early as October 20-21 and as late as November 11-12. They are two of the nine holy days of the year when work is suspended and children are exempted from attending school.
Day of the Covenant (Nov. 25 or 26)
The festival commemorates Bahá’u’lláh’s appointment of His eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as the Centre of His Covenant.
Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Nov 27 or 28)
Bahá’ís observe the anniversary of the death of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, son of Bahá’u’lláh and His appointed successor, on Nov 28, 1921 in Haifa, in what is now northern Israel.
The Bahá’í Feast
The first day of each Bahá’í month is celebrated by a community gathering called a Nineteen Day Feast. Feasts are restricted to members of the Bahá’í Faith, mainly because of the consultative aspects of the gathering.
The term “Feast” here means that the community should enjoy a “spiritual feast” of worship, fellowship and unity although refreshments are usually served.‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated that “This feast is held to foster comradeship and love, to call God to mind and supplicate Him with contrite hearts, and to encourage benevolent pursuits.”, “It rejoiceth mind and heart”, “If this feast be held in the proper fashion, the friends will, once in nineteen days, find themselves spiritually restored, and endued with a power that is not of this world.”Bahá’u’lláh emphasised on the importance of the Nineteen Day Feast, saying that the Bahá’í Feast is “to bind your hearts together,” even if nothing more than water is served.
World-Wide Implementation of The Bahá’i Calendar
Shoghi Effendi wrote “As to which spot should be regarded as the standard, this is a matter which The Universal House of Justice will have to decide.” – From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, May 15, 1940: Bahá’í News, No. 138, p. 1, September 1940)
In July 2014, The Universal House of Justice has clarified that the reference “spot” for world-wide implementation of the Bahá’í (Badí) Calendar is Tihrán by writing that: “We have decided that Tihrán, the birthplace of the Abhá Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh], will be the spot on the earth that will serve as the standard for determining, by means of astronomical computations from reliable sources, the moment of the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere and thereby the day of Naw-Rúz for the Bahá’í world. – The Universal House of Justice , the memorandum dated 10 July 2014
Also, in the same message, the Universal House of Justice stated that: “. . . It will be evident from the decisions delineated that Bahá’ís of both East and West will find some elements of the calendar to be different from those to which they have been accustomed. … The adoption of a new calendar in each dispensation is a symbol of the power of Divine Revelation to reshape human perception of material, social, and spiritual reality. Through it, sacred moments are distinguished, humanity’s place in time and space reimagined, and the rhythm of life recast. Next Naw-Rúz will mark yet another historic step in the manifestation of the unity of the people of Bahá and the unfoldment of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order.”
Read More
A Wondrous New Day By Dr. Robin Mihrshahi
Identity and the Spiritual Journey in the Badí Calendar – A Talk by Dr. Nader Saiedi
Reflection on Bahá’i Writings, The Badí Calendar
The Badí (Bahá’i) Calendar – Video, developed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i’s of United Kingdom.