The
word “Ridván” means “Paradise.”
For twelve days from April 21 to May 2, 1863, Bahá’u’lláh,
the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith,
resided in a garden of Baghdad that he dubbed “the Garden
of Ridván”. There Bahá’u’lláh
publicly proclaimed his mission as God’s messenger for
this age. At the time of his proclamation, Bahá’u’lláh
was an exile in Baghdad, banished from his native Persia because
of his teachings.
The
Festival of Ridván is celebrated by Bahá’ís
throughout the world with great joy and fellowship. Bahá’u’lláh
wrote of the garden, “This is the Paradise, the rustling
of whose leaves proclaims: ‘O ye that inhabit the heavens
and the earth! There hath appeared what hath never previously
appeared. He Who, from everlasting, had concealed His face
from the sight of creation is now come’.”
The
Bahá’í Faith teaches the oneness of God,
the oneness of religion, and the oneness of mankind. Bahá’ís
believe that in every age, God sends a divine educator, a
manifestation of God, whose purpose is to restate and renew
the eternal truths of religion and to address the specific
needs of the age in which he appears. They believe that Bahá’u’lláh
is the manifestation of God, whose purpose is to restate and
renew the eternal truths of religion and to address the specific
needs of the age in which he appears. They believe that Bahá’u’lláh
is the manifestation of God for this age in mankind’s
evolution. This “spiritual springtime” as it is
called in the Bahá’í writings, when the
efforts of all the previous messengers of God, such as Abraham,
Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ, Muhammad, and Bahá’u’lláh’s
prophet-herald, the Báb, will blossom and bear their
fruit. Thus, the occurrence of the Festival of Ridván
at the height of the spring season bears a special significance
for Bahá’ís.
In
his writings, Bahá’u’lláh promulgates
the equality of men and women, the essential harmony of science
and religion, the independent investigation of truth, economic
justice based upon spiritual principles, the urgent need for
the elimination of all forms of prejudice, universal compulsory
education, and international auxiliary language, and a world
government for the maintenance of a lasting peace.
Bahá’u’lláh’s
exile to Baghdad was the first of several banishments that
occurred until his death in 1892. Dismayed by their inability
to curb Bahá’u’lláh’s continuing
influence and growing Faith, Persian religious and government
leaders convinced the officials of the Ottoman Empire to banish
Bahá’u’lláh to Adrianople, Constantinople,
and finally, to the horrendous prison city of Akka in the
Holy Land. Bahá’u’lláh suffered
forty years of torture, imprisonment and exile.
The World Center of the Bahá’í Faith is
on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel.
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