c. 1996 Religion News Service
(RNS)-The Baha’i faith was founded in the mid-19th century and is second only to Christianity in its geographic reach, with more than 2,100 ethnic, racial and tribal groups in 232 countries, according to the Baha’i International Community.
More than 5 million followers throughout the world adhere to the teachings of Baha’u’llah, a Persian nobleman who claimed to be a new messenger from God. He lived in Tehran but gave up his title for a life of persecution and deprivation. There are more than 1,700 spiritual assemblies (congregations) in the United States with more than 120,000 followers.
Baha’u’llah’s central message was one of unity, teaching that only one God exists. He taught that all of the world’s religions have been stages in the revelation of God’s will and purpose for humanity.
Baha’is celebrate their new year, Naw-Rus, on the Spring Equinox, which usually occurs on March 21. It is a time of celebration to mark the end of the month of fasting, Ala’.
The daytime fast (abstinence from food and drink between sunrise and sunset) is a period of meditation and prayer, spiritual recuperation; a time to make necessary readjustments in one’s inner life and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces in a person’s soul. It is a symbolic act and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desires.
The period of fasting ordained by Baha’u’llah is among his laws for the spiritual regeneration of mankind. Its purpose is not to make people go hungry, but to learn detachment from the physical world and appetites of the body.
MJP END RNS
