Top 10 Baha’i Blog Articles of the Year

Baha'i Blog, News April 4, 2016 Naysan Naraqi Leave a comment

Now that Baha’i Blog has just had its fifth year anniversary of “celebrating everything Baha’i”, it’s time to do our annual ‘Top 10’ countdown of Baha’i Blog’s most popular articles of the year.

As you know Baha’i Blog has a Video Section, an Audio Section, an Image Gallery and of course our Article Section where we publish two original articles per week making that over 500 articles since we first went online. In this Top 10 countdown, we list the 10 most read articles of the last year – from Naw-Ruz 2015 to Naw-Ruz 2016, but before we begin, we’d like to say a very special “THANK YOU!” to everyone for your constant support and encouragement over the last five years!

Okay, so now here’s the countdown starting from number 10: Continue reading →

Top 10 Baha’i Videos of the Year, And More!

Baha'i Blog March 23, 2015 Naysan Naraqi

This Naw-Ruz marked our fourth birthday here at Baha’i Blog!

We’re thrilled that after four years online, we’re reaching more readers in more countries than ever before. In fact this year we’re reaching up to a thousand visitors a day from almost every country in the world.

One of the big changes this year was the launch of our new gallery of Baha’i-inspired videos. It’s proven to be enormously popular and is a beautiful way to showcase and highlight some of the amazing media work from around the Baha’i community. That’s why we’ve dedicated this year’s birthday post to a celebration of the top ten videos from the year. Continue reading →

Heroic Stories as Communities Celebrate their 60th Anniversaries

History, News June 18, 2014 Michael Day 2 Comments

A group of junior youth in Kiribati participate in junior youth activities together. Kiribati is one of the many countries celebrating 60 years of the Baha’i Faith this year. (Photo: Baha’i World Centre)

Celebrations are taking place this year in countries far away from each other but with a special bond that unites them.

Sixty years ago, individual Baha’i volunteers left their jobs and homes and emigrated to distant lands.

They were responding to a call by the head of the Baha’i Faith at the time, Shoghi Effendi, to take the faith into every corner of the globe.

This phenomenon led to the doubling of the number of countries with a Baha’i presence within a decade. It was an astounding event in world religious history.

It had all started the year previously but by 1954 there were still many countries without a Baha’i available to offer local people the world-embracing teachings of their faith.

And so ordinary folk bravely set off, often with little information about their destination and not knowing if they could land a job. Continue reading →

The Number Nine (9) and the Baha’i Faith

Common Questions April 27, 2014 Naysan Naraqi 29 Comments

Photo courtesy LEOL30 via Flickr.

As we celebrate the Ninth Day of Ridvan (one of the three days of the 12 day Baha’i Festival of Ridvan where work should be suspended) I thought it would be interesting to look at the use and significance of the number nine in the Baha’i Faith.

First of all the Ninth Day of Ridvan is significant to Baha’is because this was the day where Baha’u’llah was joined by the rest of His family in the Najibiyyih Garden (known thereafter as the Garden of Ridvan) in Baghdad, but there are also numerous uses of the number nine in the Baha’i Faith, for example: Baha’i Houses of Worship are built with nine sides and nine entrances; each Baha’i institution, such as Local and National Spiritual Assemblies and the Universal House of Justice all have nine democratically elected members. Continue reading →

Baha’i Houses of Worship: A Personal Reflection on the Work Ahead

Opinion January 15, 2014 Sonjel Vreeland 7 Comments

The Baha’i House of Worship in Panama City, Panama (Photo: Baha’i Media Bank)

My mother often comments that she feels as though the annual Ridvan letters of the beloved Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is of the world are written specifically to her – there is always one sentence or one paragraph that strikes her to her very core and that makes the whole letter very personal and relevant. I don’t always feel the lightning bolt that she does but over time, I find myself mulling over morsels and sentences like a squirrel with acorns in its cheeks.

I am still delighting in the Ridvan message of 2012. It stirringly portrays the current state of affairs, framed by a historical account of the Master’s travels to the West and a vision of the work to be done in the coming years. It joyously announces the seven new Houses of Worship to be built: two new national temples, one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the other in Papua New Guinea, and five local temples in Battambang, Cambodia; Bihar Sharif, India; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Norte del Cauca, Colombia; and Tanna, Vanuatu. The House of Justice writes: Continue reading →

In the Footsteps of Abdu’l-Bahá’s Travels in London

Baha'i Life September 14, 2011 Farida 5 Comments

Courtesy of Baha'i World News Service

A full century has passed since ‘Abdu’l-Baha travelled to the West from Akka, to share the blessed message that His father had brought to the world. The Guardian speaks of the significance of these travels:

…Called into being this community… at the time of the inception of His Father’s Faith in the West, …tenderly and vigilantly nursed it and guided its footsteps in the early years of its infancy, …twice conferred upon it the inestimable blessings of personal contact with its members, … sustained, from His station on high, its development in the course of no less than two decades, within the framework of a rising Administrative Order, …enabled it to expand and consolidate itself within its island home, [and] launched it, subsequently on its mission overseas… . Shoghi Effendi. God Passes By

Living in London this year has allowed me to partake of this special time. As I visit the places that He went to, my heart overflows with joy and gratitude. My mind wanders as I try to imagine what the atmosphere of these places must have been like 100 years ago and the effect His presence must have had on the people surrounding him.

Continue reading →

16 Novel Ideas for Your Next Holy Day

Resources March 18, 2011 Collis Ta'eed 20 Comments

Every year, as Baha’is, we gather for eleven holy days including the festive celebratory days like Naw Ruz and Ridvan, as well as the more commemorative days that mark the Ascension of the Bab and Baha’u’llah. And like everything in the Baha’i Faith, hosting these gatherings is something that is open to one and all.

The first time I hosted a holy day, I wasn’t totally sure what to do. There were twenty people attending and, beyond gathering some prayers, I didn’t know what else could go into a holy day celebration. Since then I’ve been compiling ideas so that next time I’ll be ready!

Listed below are sixteen ideas for your next holy day event listed below. If you have some suggestions of your own, I’d love to hear them in the comments!

Photo by Madcowk (Flickr)

1. Run a Drum Circle

A drum circle is a fun way to bring a community together. It simply entails getting everyone some sort of percussion instrument, setting a steady beat and sharing rhythm! If you have access to them, African Djembe drums will give you a real throbbing beat, but you can make do with all sorts of make-shift percussion. If you have someone with a good sense of rhythm to lead the circle, this can work well. A simple introductory activity is to have the leader tap out a beat and then have the other participants ‘reply’ with the same beat.