77.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesBAHA'IS TO CELEBRATE BIRTH OF THE BAB HOLY DAY

BAHA'IS TO CELEBRATE BIRTH OF THE BAB HOLY DAY

Oct. 17, 2003 — The Baha'is of the Virgin Islands celebrate a Holy Day on Sunday, Oct. 19. The Birth of the Bab Holy Day is one of nine holy days in the Baha'i calendar, which consists of 19 months of 19 days (in addition to some intercalary days between each calendar year).
The public is invited to the celebration of the Birth of the Bab Holy Day which will be held at various locations throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. On St. Thomas, this Holy Day will be celebrated at the National Baha'i Center at 129 Contant at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
The Bab was born Mirza Ali-Muhammad in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran), to a family of merchants. His parents were direct descendents of the Prophet Muhammad. The Bab is considered one of the twin prophets of the Baha'i Faith and was the Forerunner of the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah. As John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of Christ, the Bab prepared the way for the coming of Baha'u'llah. The Bab announced that he was the founder of an independent religion following Islam and the herald of an even greater religion to come. In 1844, he took the name "The Bab" which means the "Gate" in Persian, and his followers were known as Babis. The Bab and his followers were persecuted and over 20,000 of His Followers were martyred. After six years of suffering and imprisonment He was martyred when he was only 30 years old.
His body was concealed by his followers for many years in Iran and was brought despite difficulty and danger to the Holy Land. The remains of the Bab rest in the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Each year thousands of people, including Baha'is, from all over the world visit and say prayers at the golden dome of this Shrine.
The Baha'i Faith is an independent world religion with principles including the oneness of God, the oneness of religion and the oneness of humanity. For more information on the Baha'i Faith call 774-3648 or send e-mail or visit the Web site.
For directions to the Holy Day activities on St. Thomas, call 690-4826 or 774-3648.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.