DISCOVERING OUR FAITH

Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Báb - A Bahá'í Holy Day

Observed sunset 8th July through to sunset 9th July. Devotional gatherings should be held at 1pm daylight time 9th July. (noon where standard time is observed). Work is to be suspended.

"(The Báb) withstood all persecutions and bore every suffering and ordeal with unflinching strength. The more His enemies endeavoured to extinguish that flame, the brighter it became. ... Consider how the Báb endured difficulties and tribulations; how He gave His life in the Cause of God; how He was attracted to the love of Blessed Beauty, Bahá'u'lláh; and how He announced the glad tidings of His manifestation." 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p139".

The Báb and a companion were executed by firing squad in a public square in Tabríz, Persia, on 9th July 1850. For further study, see "The Dawn Breakers", pp500-526.

Some significant dates in Bahá'í history - July and August

July 1848: In one of the most fateful months in the early annals of the Cause, events unfolded that led to martyrdoms and ultimate glory for the Báb and several of His foremost disciples.

The Báb transformed a heresy trial in Tabríz into a formal public announcement of His mission, declaring before a tribunal - which included the crown prince of Persia - that He was the Qá'im promised in Shíih Muslim prophecy. The Báb was beaten, then sentenced to death; the execution was carried out nearly two years later.

The Conference of Badasht ended with dozens of followers confirmed in the conviction that Báb had authored an independent revelation from God, superseding the Qur'án and the laws of Islam. Mullá Husayn, unable to attend the conference, received the turban of the Báb and instructions to go to the Mázindarán region carrying a Black Standard. As many as 300 men rallied around him on a troubled mission that led to the shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí, which soon was fortified and besieged. He was killed in battle the next February. Quddús was arrested soon after the Conference of Badasht. Soon after his release, which was arranged by Mullá Husayn, he joined the Bábís at Shaykh Tabarsí. He was taken prisoner when the siege ended the next May, then killed days later. Táhirih, only weeks after proclaiming the spiritual emancipation of women at the conference, was arrested and held in Tehran until her execution in 1852.

26th July 1868: Bahá'u'lláh, residing in Adrianople (Edirne, in European Turkey), was condemned by the Sultán to perpetual banishment; this order led to His decades of confinement in 'Akká, Palestine.

19th July 1907: The Bahá'ís of Chicago filed incorporation papers, beoming the first Bahá'í community to acquire legal status.

July 1930: Shoghi Effendi completed his translation of the Kitáb-iIqán, the first of his translations of major works of Bahá'u'lláh.

15th July 1932: Bahíyyih Khánum, daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, passed away in Haifa, Palestine. She was chief steward of the Faith from the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá until Shoghi Effendi assumed the duties of his Guardianship.

21st-26th July 1953: Fourteen Hands of the Cause of God were among 374 Bahá'ís at the European Intercontinental Teaching Conference, one of a series of conferences that launched a world-wide expansion of the Faith at the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade.

4th July 1964: The European Bahá'í House of Worship in Langenhain, Germany, was dedicated.

July 1989: Sean Hinton, the first Bahá'í to reside in Mongolia, was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. His is the last name to be entered on the Roll of Honour at the shrine of Bahá'u'lláh.

August 1844: A few months after the Báb first declared His mission, a Tablet of His was delivered to Mírzá Husayn-'Alí in Tehran, Iran, who immediately declared acceptance of the Báb as the Voice of God. Mírzá Husayn'Alí is now known to us as Bahá'u'lláh.

15 August 1852: A bungled attempt to assassinate the Shah of Iran cast suspicion on many followers of the Báb. Soon, Bahá'u'lláh was among dozens imprisoned in the Tehran prison known as the Black Pit. While confined with heavy chains on his neck, Bahá'u'lláh, months later received the first revelation that He was the Manifestation of God prophesied by the Báb.

12 August 1868: Bahá'u'lláh and His family, already exiled twice, set off on a ship from Adrianople (Edirne, Turkey) toward the prison city of 'Akká in the Holy Land.

August 1910: About two years after His decades of confinement officially ended, 'Abdu'l-Bahá permanently moved His residence from 'Akká across the bay to Haifa. This is the city in which the Bahá'í World Centre has developed since then.

 

The Shrine of the Báb