Archives › 2011 › March
It was the perfect end to a perfect 24 hours. The Bahá’ís of Carrboro, North Carolina, had completed the 19-day Fast. Thus renewed, they had celebrated the dawn of a new spiritual year. And in a separate observance marked the beginning of a new Bahá’í month. Now, at the end of the Feast of Bahá [...]
Race is one of the most divisive and intransigent issues in American society, and that reality loomed large before the 60 Bahá’ís and friends who came to Louhelen Bahá’í School in October 2010 to consult on the relationship between black and white in the United States. But the participants in “Engaging in the Discourse on [...]
Louhelen Bahá’í School in Davison, Michigan, is looking for four Spanish-speaking teachers to offer two beginner-level courses in Spanish to assist people with limited use of Spanish in reaching out to Spanish-speaking populations and sharing basic concepts of the Bahá’í Faith. The six-day course would be held near the end of June 2012. Room and [...]
Ruth Fair Leeb lived in Mozambique and Panama as a pioneer for the Bahá’í Faith, and family members say she was dedicated to a life of service to humanity. She passed away January 8, 2011, in Athens, Georgia, at age 71. A letter of tribute from the National Spiritual Assembly says in part, “A steadfast [...]
Eileen Norman was a dynamo of administrative and teaching service to the Bahá’í Faith, having served for years at the Bahá’í National Center and on numerous committees to oversee growth, education and youth activities as well as helping organize major gatherings. She passed away February 24, 2011, in Thousand Oaks, California. She was 81. In [...]
Author and educator Nader Saiedi will deliver the 29th Hasan M. Balyuzi Lecture at the 2011 Annual Conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, Aug. 11–14 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel in Burlingame, California. With the theme “Transforming Habits of Thought” inspired by a passage in the Dec. 28, 2010, message of the [...]
As Bahá’ís strive to build community along lines specified in recent guidance, one challenge is how to respond to those who ask for “scientific” evidence supporting the processes of transformation advocated by the Faith. A new website (www.crossroadsofpeace.org) created by the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland may serve as a [...]
“The sweet fruits of unity.” That’s how Judy Post describes the participation of four neighborhood families in a celebration of Ayyám-i-Há, a late-February Bahá’í occasion for gift-giving, hospitality and charity. The party came in the wake of six months of outreach, focused on meeting people in the Sandy Lane neighborhood of Norwich, Connecticut. They led [...]
Abdullahi H. Abdi was among the founders of the Bahá’í community of Somalia and was the first native Somali Bahá’í in Mogadishu. He passed away January 6, 2011, in Calabasas, California, after a massive stroke. He was 79. A letter of condolence to his daughter, Mariam Rowhani Abdi, says in part, “The National Spiritual Assembly [...]
Maryam Saniei Firouzi, a daughter of an early hero of the Faith, cared for family members and ultimately escaped Iran with them in the 1980s after her husband and a son attained martyrdom, having been executed for their faith by the government. She ascended to the Abhá Kingdom on February 10, 2011, at age 94. [...]
Ruby Gubatayao, a longtime educator, was passionate about bringing the light of Bahá’u’lláh to native peoples in North America and elsewhere. Living in Alaska the past two decades, she served on its National Spiritual Assembly and was esteemed as a Tsimshian elder. She passed away December 8, 2010, at age 88. She resided in Sitka, [...]
“The enthusiasm with which many communities responded to the Preach-In signaled the Baha’i community’s growing interest in engaging in contemporary discourses and social action,” Adriance said, noting that climate change is one of the topics of discourse that the world governing body of the Faith suggested to the Baha’is of the world in a major message April 2010. “Through reflection on principles of environmental stewardship and justice many were then inspired to engage in related acts of service and social action.”
Artist, activist Jihmye Collins dies at 71
Jihmye Collins, a poet, painter and activist, suffered a stroke and died on March 15 at the age of 71. “As an adult, he advocated for justice and unity while blending his passion for art and activism. A longtime member of the Baha’i Faith, Mr. Collins guided several local dialogues on race and racism and [...]
Three short films released today, featuring interviews with Iranian Baha’is whose families have been persecuted by the Iranian government, mark the launch of a series of mini-documentaries – titled “Angels of Iran” – that focus on the country’s human rights record. Executives chose the day celebrating the ancient Persian new year, Naw Ruz, as the [...]
The Baha’i year consists of 19 months of 19 days each. The months are named after the attributes of God. Each Baha’i community holds a Nineteen Day Feast on the first day of each Baha’i month. The Feast has spiritual, administrative and social functions and is the primary locus of fellowship and community decision-making in each Baha’i locality. [...]
For Baha’is, the New Year comes at a perfect time – March 21 –the vernal equinox, which marks the first day of spring and the end of the Baha’i Faith’s annual Nineteen Day Fast.
Naw Ruz message to Iran’s people inspires launch of online documentary series about human rights
Three short films released today, featuring interviews with Iranian Baha’is whose families have been persecuted by the Iranian government, mark the launch of a series of mini-documentaries – titled “Angels of Iran” – that focus on the country’s human rights record. Executives chose the day celebrating the ancient Persian new year, Naw Ruz, as the series launch date to send a message [...]
Evanston, Illinois Baha’i since January 2010 I was born on the south side of Chicago into a family that was by then, non-practicing in any particular faith. My mother was raised Episcopalian, but was no longer attending her church regularly. My Father was raised Methodist, but as he grew older, he had many misperceptions about [...]
Smartphone users now have a window to inspirational, informative Baha’i-produced videos on demand, through the new Baha’i Faith channel on the Call on Faith mobile application produced by Odyssey Networks. The 99-cent download from Call on Faith allows iPhone, Android and Blackberry phone users to view brief videos on the Baha’i Faith channel, as well as [...]
In observance of Women’s History Month, we pay tribute to some notable American Baha’i Women: Keith Ransom-Kehler (1876-1933) Keith Ransom-Kehler was born Nannie Keith Bean in Dayton, Kentucky in 1876. She was well-educated, receiving a bachelor’s degree in child psychology from Vassar College in 1898, and independent of spirit. Ransom-Kehler became a Baha’i in 1921 and, shortly after, gained recognition [...]
In Tampa Bay Online Michelle Bearden interviews Trisha Irons from Tampa Bay, Florida who shares her experiences during the Baha’i Fast from March 2-20. “Members of the Baha’i community, the world’s youngest religion with about 5 million adherents, typically gather in the evening for prayers and to break the fast with family and friends. On March [...]
Podcast: The religious minorities in Egypt after Jan. 25th
The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights website offers the following podcast containing an interview with a Baha’i discussing life as a Baha’i in Egypt. “Egypt’s “recognized” religions are Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and more recently the “Dash religion,” which denotes the Baha’i Faith according the the state. The Bahai’s of Egypt, who were granted their basic [...]
Sudden arrests of Iranian Baha’is offering education in cities where scores of teachers died in an earthquake
Iranian authorities have arrested a number of Baha’is who provided education to children in a region devastated by an earthquake seven years ago. The Baha’i International Community has so far been able to confirm the arrest of four Baha’is this month in connection with the provision of kindergarten-level education in Iran’s Kerman Province, south-east of [...]
Fasting brings awareness
Janet Tanaka shares in this editorial in The News Tribune how the Fast is a means of purification. “Should we – whatever our faith connection – let the hunger pangs of fasting remind us that there are many hungry ones in our world, maybe even in our neighborhood. Hungry for peace, hungry for freedom, and [...]
The legal community knew James F. Nelson as a longtime judge in Los Angeles whose principles and experience left their imprint on the criminal and juvenile systems. On the national religious and human rights scene, as a member and for years chair of the national governing body of the Bahá’í Faith, he was a strong [...]
1 of 2