Bahá'í Holy Days and Festivals Quiz

Answer: March 21

Naw-Rúz, which is the vernal equinox, is also the first day of the Iranian calendar, where it is usually spelled as Norouz. In Iran, the day of Naw-Rúz is determined when the equinox actually occurs, which can be on March 20, March 21, or March 22, and determines the calendar for that year. Outside of Iran, the holy day is fixed to the Gregorian date.

Answer: April 20

Ridván (which means Paradise) begins at sunset on the 20th of April and lasts until sunset of the 2nd of May. The first festival took place in 1863 at the Najibiyyih garden (later known as the Garden of Ridván) in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq.

Answer: Sixth

In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), Bahá'u'lláh declares the first, ninth, and twelfth days of Ridván to be holy days, where work is suspended. These correspond to his arrival in the Garden of Ridván on the first, the arrival of his family on the ninth, and their departure on the twelfth.

Answer: Declaration of the Báb

`Abdu'l-Bahá, the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, was born on May 23, 1844. The previous night, the Báb declared his prophethood for the first time to Mullá Husayn, who would be his first disciple. As days in the Bahá'í calendar begin at sunset, this would be the same day by that reckoning.

Answer: False

`Abdu'l-Bahá was the leader of the Bahá'í Faith after the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, his father. Unlike Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, he is not considered to be a prophet, so while Bahá'ís commemorate his passing, it is not a holy day in the same sense as those associated with Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb.

Answer: Friday

Like its predecessor faith, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith begins its weeks on Saturday and sets aside Friday as its day of rest. This actually begins at sunset on Thursday and ends at sunset on Friday.

Answer: July 9

The Báb was executed by firing squad on July 9, 1850, in Tabriz in north-western Iran. Accounts of the execution tell that the first volley of bullets failed to execute him, with him disappearing in the smoke. He was later found in a prison cell finishing a conversation, after which a second volley of bullets was successful, although his face was not disfigured despite hundreds of bullets fired at him.

Answer: 19

The Bahá'í calendar consists of nineteen months with nineteen days in each. As this is results in 361 days, four or five intercalary days, called Ayyám-i-Há, are added between the eighteenth and nineteenth months to match the solar year.

Answer: Day of the Covenant

As `Abdu'l-Bahá's birthday is the same as the Declaration of the Báb, he asked the Bahá'í community to not include his birthday along with the holy day. Instead, as he is known as the "Centre of the Covenant", his life is honoured on this day, with his passing commemorated two days later. Neither are days where work is suspended.

Answer: Nine

The nine Holy Days are Naw-Rúz (March 21), the First, Ninth, and Twelfth days of Ridván (April 21, April 29, and May 2), Declaration of the Báb (May 23), Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh (May 29), Martyrdom of the Báb (July 9), Birth of the Báb (October 20), and Birth of Bahá'u'lláh (November 12). Thanks for playing this quiz.