The Bahá’í Festival of Ridván

(April 20 – May 1)

“Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.” Bahá’u’lláh

During the 12 days from April 20 to May 1, millions of Bahá’ís in ~235 countries and territories around the world celebrate the Festival of Ridván. This event commemorates the 12 days that Bahá’u’lláh resided on a small garden island (known as the Garden of Ridván - the Garden of Paradise) in the Tigris River in Baghdad in 1863 prior to being exiled by the Ottoman Empire to Constantinople (Istanbul). Bahá’u’lláh had previously been exiled by the Shah of Persia to Baghdad in 1853 during a wave of persecution of those who had arisen to announce that the time of the fulfillment of the promise of the Great Announcement, the Day of Judgement, had come. Bahá’u’lláh’s second stage of exile from Baghdad to Constantinople resulted from the Shah petitioning the Ottoman Sultan to remove Bahá’u’lláh farther away from Persia.

Before embarking on this second exile, during his stay in the Garden of Ridván, Bahá’u’lláh announced to his followers that he was the Messenger of God whose coming had been prophesied in the Holy Books of all religions and whose imminent appearance had been announced in 1844 in Persia by his forerunner Siyyid Ali-Muhammad, The Báb (The Gate). During these 12 days he began to share some of his teachings which establish the foundation for human progress, both spiritual and material. These teachings include the oneness of God and religion, the oneness of humanity, the equality of women and men, the elimination of all forms of prejudice, the harmony of science and religion, and others.

Bahá’ís celebrate these days as the start of their Faith and as a symbol of renewal, peace, and Bahá’u’lláh’s vision of unity and progress for all people. In particular, the 1st, 9th and 12th days are observed as Holy Days when work is suspended and Bahá’ís gather for devotional programs recounting the stories of those days as well as reading and meditating on the significance of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings.

During the Ridván period, Baháʼí communities also hold elections for their local and national governing councils, as well as the election of the Universal House of Justice every five years.