Baha’is and their friends will be gathering together around the world on the eve or day of March 21 to celebrate Naw-Ruz, the Baha’i New Year. The makeup of the celebrations varies between local and national communities given the diverse cultures and backgrounds that constitute the membership of the Baha’i community. The common thread between them is that it is a joyous time for all who participate. This Naw-Ruz will be the first day of the year 168 on the Baha’i calendar.
Marking the end of the Baha’i fasting period, Naw-Ruz coincides with the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere, signifying the bond of renewal taking place in the physical world with the spiritual reality of renewal pervading all of humanity in this unusual period of history and reflected in the teachings of Baha’u’llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith. Baha’is, between the ages of 15 and 69 years old, will have completed fasting for 19 days from sunrise to sunset, one month on the Baha’i calendar. Following guidance given by Baha’u’llah, those who are ill, travelling, pregnant, or nursing are exempt from fasting.
Naw-Ruz is one of several Baha’i Holy Days on which work is suspended and festivities take place. Baha’is are encouraged to initiate philanthropic ventures on these days in the spirit of service to humanity. Among the initiatives being undertaken in neighbourhoods across Canada, Baha’is are learning how to support moral and spiritual education for children and youth, and provide venues for local devotional gatherings open to all and study circles, open to all, that allow people to explore the application of spiritual principles to their individual and collective lives.
In a talk given on Naw-Ruz in 1912, in Alexandria, Egypt, ‘Abdul-Bahá, the son and successor of Baha’u’llah stated the following:
“As it is a blessed day it should not be neglected, nor deprived of results by making it a day devoted to the pursuit of mere pleasure.
“During such days institutions should be founded that may be of permanent benefit and value to the people. …
“Today there is no result or fruit greater than guiding the people. Undoubtedly the friends of God, upon such a day, must leave tangible philanthropic or ideal traces that should reach all mankind and not pertain only to the Baha’is. In this wonderful dispensation, philanthropic affairs are for all humanity without exception, because it is the manifestation of the mercifulness of God. Therefore, my hope is that the friends of God, every one of them, may become as the mercy of God to all mankind.”