Two more Baha'i Holy Days in November....

arthra

arthra

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Baha'is will be observing two additional Holy Days this month! Aside from the ones we just observed namely The Birth of the Bab and the Birth of Baha'u'llah, we'll be observing the Day of the Covenant on November 25th and the anniversary of the passing of Abdul-Baha or what we term the Ascension of Abdul-Baha will be on November 27th early in the morning. We use the term "ascension" to mean that the blessed soul ascends to the spiritual world after death .. the separation of the soul from the body.

The Day of the Covenant celebrates the recognition of the special Covenant Baha'is have in this dispensational:

Were it not for the protecting power of the Covenant to guard the impregnable fort of the Cause of God, there would arise among the Bahá'ís, in one day, a thousand different sects as was the case in former ages. But in this Blessed Dispensation, for the sake of the permanency of the Cause of God and the avoidance of dissension amongst the people of God, the Blessed Beauty (may my soul be a sacrifice unto Him), has through the Supreme Pen written the Covenant and the Testament; He appointed a Center, the Exponent of the Book and the annuller of disputes. Whatever is written or said by Him is conformable to the truth and under the protection of the Blessed Beauty. He is infallible. The express purpose of this last Will and Testament is to set aside disputes from the world.

Suffer the friends to become firm in the Covenant and give the message of the Kingdom of Abha to other souls.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith -, p. 357

In the course of the next week or so we'll share more information on these special Holy Days in the Baha'i calendar.
 
Baha'u'llah left certain documents..such as the Kitab-i-'Ad His testament in which the successorship of the Cause is stated. In this case the Center of the Faith designated was Abdul-Baha:

The Will of the divine Testator is this: It is incumbent upon the Aghsan, the Afnan and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book: 'When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.' The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch [Abdu'l-Bahá]. Thus have We graciously revealed unto you Our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful. 222 Verily God hath ordained the station of the Greater Branch [Muhammad Ali] to be beneath that of the Most Great Branch [Abdu'l-Bahá]. He is in truth the Ordainer, the All-Wise. We have chosen 'the Greater' after 'the Most Great', as decreed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 220)

So in the form of a Will and Testament the believers turn to the designated Person: 'When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.'
 
With the "Day of the Covenant" upon us in about a week's time I've been reading a book which is actually a Message to the Baha'is of the West called "The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah"

http://bahai-library.com/writings/shoghieffendi/wob/37.html
There are four parts to this "letter" as follows:

The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh
1. The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh
2. The Báb
3. `Abdu'l-Bahá
4. The Administrative Order
In1934, just 13 years after the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, wrote The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh ("DOB")[1] to the Bahá'ís throughout the West "to call the attention of those who are destined to be the champion-builders of the Administrative Order of Bahá'u'lláh to certain fundamental verities the elucidation of which must tremendously assist them in the effective prosecution of their mighty enterprise." (DOB, Par. 5)

One of the well known quotes from this work clearly describes the administrative order in the following way:

"The abolition of professional priesthood with its accompanying sacraments of baptism, of communion and of confession of sins, the laws requiring the election by universal suffrage of all local, national, and international Houses of Justice, the total absence of episcopal authority with its attendant privileges, corruptions and bureaucratic tendencies, are further evidences of the non-autocratic character of the Bahá'í Administrative Order and of its inclination to democratic methods in the administration of its affairs.
Nor is this Order identified with the name of Bahá'u'lláh to be confused with any system of purely aristocratic government in view of the fact that it upholds, on the one hand, the hereditary principle and entrusts the Guardian of the Faith with the obligation of interpreting its teachings, and provides, on the other, for the free and direct election from among the mass of the faithful of the body that constitutes its highest legislative organ."

Aside from clarifying the relative Stations of the Bab .. Baha'u'llah and Abdul-Baha the work explains the relationship between the Universal House of Justice and the Institution of the Guardianship.
 
And a brief quote from Abdul-Baha is posted here in preparation from the Day of the Covenant Holy Day coming up this Friday November 25th:

"As to the most great characteristic of the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh -- a specific teaching not given by any of the Prophets of the past -- it is the ordination and appointment of the Center of the Covenant. By this appointment and provision He has safeguarded and protected the religion of God against differences and schisms, making it impossible for any one to create a new sect or faction of belief. To insure unity and agreement He has entered into a Covenant with all the people of the world including the Interpreter and Explainer of His teachings so that no one may interpret or explain the religion of God according to his own view or opinion and thus create a sect founded upon his individual understanding of the divine words. The Book of the Covenant or Testament of Bahá'u'lláh is the means of preventing such a possibility, for whosoever shall speak from the authority of himself alone shall be degraded. Be ye informed and cognizant of this."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 247
 
Early this morning of November 27th we observed the anniversary of the Ascension of Abdul-Baha.. this is a Holy Day but work and school attendance are not suspended... in most places of course this was a Sunday per the Gregorian calendar. Actually the previous Holy Day The Day of the Covenant which occurred last Friday was a Holy Day in which work and school are not suspended as well.

The story behind the Day of the Covenant is interesting ... and it dates back to the time of Abdul-Baha. Abdul-Baha was actually born on May 23rd 1844 and that date May 23rd was observed as the Declaration of the Bab. The believers asked how they could recognize the birth of Abdul-Baha especially.. Abdul-Baha suggested they could do this by observing the Day of the Covenant which is about half a year apart from the Declaration of the Bab. One of the titles of Abdul-Baha was "Center of the Covenant".

For more information regarding Abdul-Baha see:

http://www.bahai.org/abdul-baha/
 
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