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World Religions & Inter-Faith Resources

in Explore > Themes

Throughout history, God has sent us a series of divine Educators. They include (among others) Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha’u’llah. Baha’u’llah explained that the religions of the world come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion.

Festival of Ridvan

in Explore > Calendar

Ridvan, also known as the Most Great Festival, celebrates Baha’u’llah’s time in the garden of Ridvan on the outskirts of Baghdad in 1863 where He publicly declared His station as a Manifestation of God. The Ridvan Festival is 12 days long and is also the time of year where Baha’is elect their local and national governing bodies, and every five years, the international governing body for the worldwide Baha’i community.

Changeless Faith: Ridvan and Easter

April 24, 2011, in Articles > Holy Days & Baha'i Calendar, by
Image by Molly Stevens (Flickr)

As Baha’is, we believe that the foundation of all the divine religions is one. Ever so often, we’ll be putting up posts for our ‘Changeless Faith Series’, in which we look closer at some of the similarities between the divine religions, in an attempt to more fully understand what Baha’u’llah meant when he said “This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future”.

This year, the Christian celebration of Easter coincides with Ridvan. What does Easter have to do with Ridvan, you might ask. Well, not very much, it would seem, and at first glance the two seem fairly unrelated. But over the past few days, I’ve found myself reading up about the Baha’i understanding of the events which Christians celebrate at Easter and I realised that once you remove the customs and traditions which have come to become synonymous with Easter, the real significance of Easter is very closely linked to the significance of Ridvan.

For Christians, Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus three days after His crucifixion on Good Friday. Growing up as a Christian, I remember being read stories from the Bible which speak volumes of the profound grief and loss that the disciples of Jesus felt following His crucifixion. One of my favourite stories is about Mary Magdalene, who stood outside the empty tomb of Jesus, weeping.

11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.1

As Baha’is, we understand the story of the resurrection to be a spiritual allegory rather than a literal physical resurrection. ‘Abdu’l- Baha explains the meaning of the biblical story in Some Answered Questions:

… the meaning of Christ’s resurrection is as follows: the disciples were troubled and agitated after the martyrdom of Christ. The Reality of Christ, which signifies His teachings, His bounties, His perfections, and His spiritual power, was hidden and concealed for two or three days after His martyrdom, and was not resplendent and manifest. No, rather it was lost; for the believers were few in number and were troubled and agitated. The Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body; and, when after three days the disciples became assured and steadfast, and began to serve the Cause of Christ, and resolved to spread the divine teachings, putting His counsels into practice, and arising to serve him,… His religion found life, His teachings and admonitions became evident and visible. In other words, the Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body, until the life and bounty of the Holy Spirit surrounded it.2

It isn’t too hard to imagine the grief that early followers of each of the Manifestations of God must have felt when they witnessed the persecution inflicted upon these Divine Messengers. In each Dispensation, we read stories of how these followers have felt at a loss when separated from the Manifestation, unsure of how to proceed. This was no different in the time of Baha’u’llah.

Following the martyrdom of the Bab and the persecution levelled against the Babi community, the exile of Baha’u’llah – who had come to be regarded by the Babis as the leader of their community – deeply saddened and troubled the Babis. Like the disciples of Jesus following the crucifixion, they must have perceived the events unfolding as a fatal blow to the Cause and were left unsure where to turn.

However in the garden of Ridvan – as was the case three days after the crucifixion of Jesus – the grief that the Babis felt at having to bid farewell to Baha’u’llah was unexpectedly transformed into unimaginable happiness as Baha’u’llah declared that He was Him whom God shall make manifest.

Easter, like Ridvan, is thus a celebration of the triumph of the divine Cause – where grief is transformed into joy and persecution into victory. As we continue to celebrate the 12 days of Ridvan, all of us at Baha’i Blog would like to wish our Christian friends a Happy Easter!

  1. The Holy Bible, New King James Version []
  2. Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions []
Posted by

Preethi

In her professional life, Preethi has dabbled in various combinations of education, community development and law. At heart, though, she's an overgrown child who thinks the world is one giant playground. She's currently on a quest to make learning come alive for young people and to bring the world's stories and cultures to them, with educational resources from One Story Learning.
Preethi

Discussion 17 Comments

I really liked this article! I never thought about the similarities between Easter and Ridvan 🙂 Very interesting!! Thank you for sharing

Sara

Sara (April 4, 2011 at 8:32 AM)

Thanks Sara! There are so many interesting similarities between the religions – even in customs and traditions that have arisen. We’re looking forward to exploring these similarities more in the Changeless Faith series 🙂

Preethi

Preethi (April 4, 2011 at 11:54 AM)

Dear friends,
Easter, which Christians celebrate today (04 Apr 2021) as a victory over death, has a connection with the Bahá’í cause: it is impossible to extinguish the divine truth through execution of His Messenger. This is as true for Jesus as it is for the Báb.

Thomas von Lutterotti

Thomas von Lutterotti (April 4, 2021 at 3:40 AM)

This being my first time exploring the Baha’i blog, I was overjoyed to find this post. I was raised Christian, in a fairly traditional family that has always been Christian. My family has, however, been open minded on a global level, having traveled and met people of all cultures, ethnicities, religions, and traditions. I have been learning about the Baha’i faith for almost two years now. It was just this Easter / Ridvan season, that I was simultaneously celebrating Easter with family as well as studying Ruhi Book 4 with friends at college. It was during this time that I had my realization of truth and recognized the connection between Easter- Jesus, and Ridvan & Baha’ullah. I decided to become Baha’i. Coming from a Christian background, the connection between these two holidays is extremely relevant and important. Thank you for sharing this, and I look forward to more Changeless Faith posts. 🙂

Rachael

Rachael (June 6, 2011 at 6:13 PM)

Thank you Rachael! Glad you enjoyed this 🙂

Preethi

Preethi (July 7, 2011 at 5:00 AM)

I also come from a very Christian family. It never really resonated with me. I love this faith! Glad you’re family is open minded! Mine… not so much. This is such an amazing thing, and this blog, especially this article (all I’ve read of this blog so far) is wonderful and insightful!

Kari Ouderkirk

Kari Ouderkirk (April 4, 2021 at 4:08 AM)

Hey Preethi, I was going through our archives and had a chance to read through this article and read it out to Cyan, and wanted to say what a wonderful connection you’ve drawn. Really illuminating! And a fantastic excerpt about Mary Magdalene.

Thank you!

Collis

Collis (June 6, 2011 at 5:56 AM)

Glad you guys enjoyed this! 🙂 And yes, I love that bible passage too – really gives some insight into the emotions that the early believers of Jesus must have felt.

Preethi

Preethi (July 7, 2011 at 5:01 AM)

[…] Changeless Faith: Ridvan and Easter […]

Thank you so much, I love what you have done to enrich our experience and ability to share with others this incredible knowledge in such a perfect way, a million thanks!

Rosalie Schreiber

Rosalie Schreiber (July 7, 2011 at 8:07 AM)

Thank you for the kind words, Rosalie! So glad you enjoyed reading this. 🙂

Preethi

Preethi (July 7, 2011 at 5:02 AM)

[…] in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery. For Christians, Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus three days after […]

Thank you, inspiring and interesting read. Marzieh Gail in her book Dawn over Mount Hira also addressed this theme in an essay called Easter Sunday, drawing on parallels beween Easter and Ridvan. Such a lovely way to celebrate the fundamental oneness of religion.

Soraya

Soraya (April 4, 2019 at 6:40 AM)

Excellent article!

Isn’t this a typo?
“the grief that the Babis felt at having to bid farewell to Baha’u’llah was unexpectedly transformed into unimaginable happiness as Baha’u’llah declared that He was Him whom God shall make manifest.”

Shouldn’t it have read “having bid farewell to the Bab”?

Please let me know if this is a typo and if you change it. I want to share this on Sunday. 🙂

Karen Anglin

Karen Anglin (April 4, 2019 at 1:35 PM)

Hi Karen, no that’s not a typo, they were all Babis when they gathered in the garden of Ridvan. I think if you read the paragraph again, it’ll make sense: “Following the martyrdom of the Bab and the persecution levelled against the Babi community, the exile of Baha’u’llah – who had come to be regarded by the Babis as the leader of their community – deeply saddened and troubled the Babis. Like the disciples of Jesus following the crucifixion, they must have perceived the events unfolding as a fatal blow to the Cause and were left unsure where to turn.”

Naysan Naraqi

Naysan Naraqi (April 4, 2019 at 4:29 AM)

A really beautiful and illuminating article. Thank you!

Rebecca Kazemzadeh

Rebecca Kazemzadeh (April 4, 2019 at 1:53 PM)

You’re most welcome! Thank you for your feedback and encouragement!

Naysan Naraqi

Naysan Naraqi (April 4, 2019 at 9:19 PM)

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