Twin Holy Birthdays#Significance
{{Short description|Baháʼí religious observance}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox holiday
|holiday_name = Twin Holy Birthdays
|type = Baháʼí
|observedby = the Baháʼí Faith
|date = First and second day after the eighth new moon following Baháʼí Naw-Rúz
|date2022 = 26–27 October
|date2023 = 16–17 October
|date2024 = 2–3 November
}}
The Festivals of the Twin Birthdays or the Twin Holy Birthdays refers to two successive holy days in the Baháʼí calendar that celebrate the births of two central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. The two holy days are the birth of the Báb on the first day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar (20 October 1819) and the birth of Baháʼu'lláh on the second day of Muharram (two years prior, on 12 November 1817).{{cite book |author= Taherzadeh, Adib |author-link= Adib Taherzadeh |year= 1987 |title= The Revelation of Baháʼu'lláh, Volume 4: Mazra'ih & Bahji 1877–92 |publisher= George Ronald |location=Oxford, UK |isbn= 0-85398-270-8 |pages= 334–5 |url= http://www.peyman.info/cl/Baha'i/Others/ROB/V4/p329-350Ch22.html }}{{cite encyclopedia |last= Smith |first= Peter |encyclopedia= A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title= holy days |year= 2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location= Oxford |isbn= 1-85168-184-1 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages= 182–183}}{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Peter|year=2008|title=An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-86251-6|location=Cambridge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7zdDFTzNr0C|pages=5, 14|access-date=1 January 2015}}
Observance
They are observed on the first and the second day following the occurrence of the eighth new moon after Naw-Rúz, as determined in advance by astronomical tables using Tehran as the point of reference.Momen, Moojan (2014). [https://wilmetteinstitute.org/the-badi-bahai-calendar-an-introduction The Badíʻ (Baháʼí) Calendar: An Introduction]. This results in the observance of the Twin Birthdays moving, year to year, within the months of Mashíyyat, ʻIlm, and Qudrat of the Baháʼí calendar, or from mid-October to mid-November in the Gregorian calendar.{{cite web | title = To the Baháʼís of the World | last = Universal House of Justice | author-link = Universal House of Justice | url = http://universalhouseofjustice.bahai.org/activities-bahai-community/20140710_001 | date = 10 July 2014 | access-date = 1 January 2015}}
=Ancient traditions=
Prior to 2015 and a decision by the Universal House of Justice, these two holy days had been observed on the first and second days of Muharram in the Islamic lunar calendar in the Middle East, while other countries observed them according to the Gregorian calendar on 20 October (for the birth of the Báb) and 12 November (for the birth of Baháʼu'lláh).
=Special celebrations=
On the occasion of the 200th anniversaries of the births of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh in 2017 and 2019, special celebrations were organized worldwide.Bahaʼi World News Service. [https://news.bahai.org/story/1201 Bicentenary website connects the world]. September 28, 2017.Bahaʼi World News Service. [https://news.bahai.org/story/1350 Bicentenary website to reflect worldwide celebrations]. September 6, 2019. In October 2017 the Universal House of Justice sent a letter to "all who celebrate the Glory of God", on the meaning of Baháʼu'lláh's life and current Baháʼí activities, inspired by the 200th anniversary of his birth.Universal House of Justice (October 2017). [http://universalhouseofjustice.bahai.org/activities-bahai-community/20171001_001 To all who celebrate the Glory of God]
Dates
File:Fluctuations-8th-new-moon-after-naw-ruz.jpg (Baháʼí new year) marking the date of the Twin Holy Birthdays in the Baháʼí calendar, between 172 and 221 B.E. (2015–2065).[http://bahai-library.com/uhj_badi_calendar_2014 Table including the dates of the Twin Holy Birthdays from 172 to 221 B.E. (2015 – 2065; prepared by the Baha'i World Centre)]]]
Days in the Baha'i calendar begin at sunset. In the following table, the Baha'i date should be understood as starting at sunset on the day before the first Gregorian date listed for each year.
{{Bahai-Holy-Days}}
Significance
The notion of "twin Manifestations of God" is a concept fundamental to Baháʼí belief, describing the relationship between the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh. Both are considered Manifestations of God in their own right, having each founded separate religions (Bábism and the Baháʼí Faith) and revealed their own holy scriptures. To Baháʼís, however, the missions of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh are inextricably linked: The Báb's mission was to prepare the way for the coming of Him whom God shall make manifest, who eventually appeared in the person of Baháʼu'lláh. For this reason, both the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh are revered as central figures of the Baháʼí Faith.{{Cite book
|editor-last1 = Daume
|editor-first1 = Daphne
|editor-last2 = Watson
|editor-first2 = Louise
|date = 1992
|title = Britannica Book of the Year
|contribution = The Baháʼí Faith
|place = Chicago
|isbn = 0-85229-486-7
|publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica
|url-access = registration
|url = https://archive.org/details/1988britannicabo0000daum
}} A parallel is made between Baháʼu'lláh and the Báb as between Jesus and John the Baptist.{{cite book
| author=Christopher Buck | editor1=Moshe Sharon | editor-link=Moshe Sharon | editor2= W. J. Hanegraaff |editor3=P. Pratap Kumar
| title =Studies in Modern Religions and Religious Movements and the Babi/Baha'i Faiths
|chapter=The eschatology of globalization: the multiple-messiahship of Baháʼulláh revisited
| chapter-url=http://christopherbuck.com/pdf/Buck_2004_Globalization.pdf
| publisher =Brill Academic Publishers
| series =Mumen Book Series, Studies in the history of religions
| volume =CIV
| date =August 2004
| pages =143–173
| url =https://www.questia.com/library/117757165/studies-in-modern-religions-and-religious-movements
| isbn = 9789004139046 }}
In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Baháʼu'lláh wrote that his birthday and that of the Báb "are accounted as one in the sight of God".
{{clear}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://bahai-library.com/uhj_badi_calendar_2014 Universal House of Justice: Regarding the implementation of the Badiʻ calendar]
- Baháʼí World Centre (2017). [http://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/days-remembrance Days of Remembrance – Selections from the Writings of Baháʼu'lláh for Baháʼí Holy Days].
- [https://bicentenary.bahai.org/bahaullah Official website of the Bicentenary of the Birth of Baháʼu'lláh] (2017)
- [https://bicentenary.bahai.org/the-bab Official website of the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb] (2019)
{{Baháʼí-2}}