In Saskatoon, the Baha’i community is holding separate neighbourhood celebrations. In the community of Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, the Baha’is are gathering at a private home. The Squamish Baha’is have rented the Woman’s Centre, invited their friends, and will be telling stories, and enjoying each other’s company. The Baha’is in Quebec City are preparing one large event at the local Baha’i Centre, to which they’ve invited various musicians and performers to add to the spirit and joy of the occasion.
This Tuesday, October 20th, Baha’is across Canada, and around the world, commemorate the birth of the Bab, the first of two divine messengers of God associated with the Baha’i Faith. The Bab, along with Baha’u’llah, founded the Baha’i Faith in the nineteenth century, and the anniversaries of their respective births, October 20th and November 12th, in the case of Baha’u’llah, are two of the nine Baha’i holy days.
The Bab was born, Siyyid ‘Ali-Muhammad, in Shiraz, Persia in 1819. 1n 1844, He announced that He was the Promised One foretold in the world’s religions and that His mission was to prepare people for the imminent coming of the Divine Messenger, Baha’u’llah. In 1863, Baha’u’llah announced that He was that new messenger of God whose central teachings focus on the principle of the oneness of humanity.
The Bab, a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad through both His father and mother, attracted tens of thousands of followers in His native land of Iran, then known as Persia. In 1850, by order of the government, He was executed in the public square of Tabriz, in northern Iran.
His remains were later brought to Mount Carmel, in Haifa in the Holy Land, where a beautiful Shrine was constructed that is now a place of pilgrimage for followers of the Baha’i Faith.
There are more than 30,000 Baha’is living in more than a thousand localities across Canada, each celebrating this holy day in their own unique way.
For information on your local community event, please contact the Baha’i Community of Canada at 905 889 8168.