Naw Ruz

Arlington Baha’is Greet Naw-Ruz

The Baha’i New Year festival known as Naw-Ruz (literally “New Day”) is held on the spring equinox, March 21, but the celebrations will begin the evening before because the Baha’i day begins at sunset.

The Baha’i community in Arlington, Virginia, will observe the Holy Day with a Feast – a gathering for prayers, songs, sharing and food – the evening of Saturday, March 20.

The festival comes at the end of a 19-day fast in which adult Baha’is abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset as a reminder of the need for individuals to be detached from their material desires.

Naw-Ruz is the first day of the first of 19 months in the Baha’i calendar, which was initiated by the Bab, the Forerunner of the Faith’s Prophet-Founder, Baha’u’llah, who later confirmed it.

Learn more about Naw-Ruz, click here. To contact the Baha’i community in Arlington, click Contact above.

Arlington Baha’is Celebrate the Feast of Bahá

March 21st marks the first day of Bahá (Splendor) which first month of the Bahá’í calendar. After breaking the fast together on Friday March 20th, on March 21st the Arlington community gathered together to celebrate the first Nineteen-Day Feast of the new year. Nineteen-Day Feast is a centerpiece of the Bahá’í Community. The Bahá’í calendar consists of 19 months, with 19 days in each month. Therefore at the beginning of each month, Baha’is all over the world gather together for a “Feast.” There are three portions to every Nineteen-Day Feast, a devotional part during which prayers are read, an administrative portion during which the affairs of the community are discussed, and a social portion. ‘Abdu’l-Baha stated:

“As to the Nineteen Day Feast, it rejoiceth mind and heart. If this feast be held in the proper fashion, the friends will, once in nineteen days, find themselves spiritually restored, and endued with a power that is not of this world.”

We invite you to enjoy a short slideshow of pictures taken this weekend in Arlington from the Feast of Bahá.