Festival of Ridvan marks beginning of Baha'i Faith

Posted : April 20, 2007 - 4:55pm Terms : News Human Interest
From April 21 to May 2, Baha'is observe the Festival of Ridvan. This most holy day commemorates the anniversary of Baha'u'llah's declaration in 1863 that He was the Promised One of all earlier religions.

Baha'u'llah's declaration that He was "Him Whom God shall make manifest" and a Manifestation of God forms the beginning of the Baha'i Faith.

Ridvan (Rizwahn) was a bittersweet time, as Baha'u'llah was soon to be exiled to Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). This was the latest in His series of exiles by the Persian government, which considered Him to be a heretic.


Baha'u'llah spent 12 days in a garden in Baghdad visiting with His followers. He named the garden Ridvan, which means "Paradise" or "good pleasure" in Arabic. The exact circumstances of the Declaration are not known. According to Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the faith: “The fragmentary description left to posterity by His chronicler Nabil is one of the very few authentic records we possess of the memorable days He spent in that garden. “Every day,” Nabil has related, “ere the hour of dawn, the gardeners would pick the roses which lined the four avenues of the garden, and would pile them in the center of the floor of His blessed tent. So great would be the heap that when His companions gathered to drink their morning tea in His presence, they would be unable to see each other across it. All these roses Baha’u’llah would, with His own hands, entrust to those whom He dismissed from His presence every morning to be delivered, on His behalf, to His Arab and Persian friends in the city.”

Baha'u'llah called Ridvan the Most Great Festival and the King of Festivals. He said:

Call ye to mind, O people, the bounty which God hath conferred upon you. Ye were sunk in slumber, and lo! He aroused you by the reviving breezes of His Revelation, and made known unto you His manifest and undeviating Path.
When He entered the garden, Baha'u'llah proclaimed the Festival of Ridvan and made three announcements:

*He forbade His followers to fight to advance or defend the Faith (religious war had been permitted under past religions).
*He declared there would not be another prophet for another 1,000 years.
*He proclaimed that all the names of God were inherent in all things at that moment.

Baha'is suspend work on the holiest days of Ridvan-the first (April 21), ninth (April 29) and twelfth (May 2). These mark the day of Baha'u'llah's arrival in the garden, the arrival of His family and the group's departure for Constantinople.

Throughout Ridvan, Baha'is gather for devotions and attend social gatherings.

At Ridvan, Baha'is annually elect members of local and national administrative bodies, called Spiritual Assemblies. Baha'u'llah taught that in an age of universal education, there was no longer a need for a special class of clergy. Instead, he provided a framework for administering the affairs of the Faith through a system of elected councils at the local, national and international levels.

Baha'i elections occur through secret ballot and plurality vote, without candidacies, nominations or campaigning.

Most Baha'i elections are held during Ridvan, a practice which started in Abdu'l-Baha's lifetime. The Universal House of Justice, the international Baha'i governing body, writes a letter to the Baha'i community each Ridvan, summarizing the year's progress and setting future challenges.