Exploring the Baháʼí Festival of Naw-Rúz

Mar 15

Mar 15 Exploring the Baháʼí Festival of Naw-Rúz

This year, the Holy Day of Naw-Rúz, and the first day of the month of Bahá 181 B.E. falls on Wednesday 20 March. For Baháʼís, Naw-Rúz has a sacred significance and symbolises spiritual rejuvenation and, like the other eight major holy days of our Faith, is a day when work and school should be suspended, and Baháʼí-owned businesses closed. Baháʼí communities mark Naw-Rúz with gatherings blending prayerful devotion and joyful fellowship. The beloved Guardian Shoghi Effendi, eloquently captured the essence of this Holy Day, describing Naw-Rúz as "…our New Year, a Feast of hospitality and rejoicing."

“Happy the one who entereth upon the first day of the month of Bahá, the day which God hath consecrated to this Great Name. And blessed be he who evidenceth on this day the bounties that God hath bestowed upon him; he, verily, is of those who show forth thanks to God through actions betokening the Lord's munificence which hath encompassed all the worlds. Say: This day, verily, is the crown of all the months and the source thereof, the day on which the breath of life is wafted over all created things. Great is the blessedness of him who greeteth it with radiance and joy. We testify that he is, in truth, among those who are blissful.”
Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 59

Naw-Rúz, marking the onset of the Baháʼí New Year, aligns with the spring (vernal) equinox in the northern hemisphere, usually falling on March 21st. However, according to the instructions of Baháʼu'lláh, the festival is to be observed on the day when the sun enters the constellation of Aries, signifying the vernal equinox. Therefore, Naw-Rúz might occur on March 19th, 20th, 21st, or 22nd, depending on the exact timing of the equinox.

“According to ancient custom, every nation has general holidays when all the people rejoice and are glad. That is, they choose the day of the year whereon a great or glorious event had occurred. On that day they manifest great joy and happiness. They visit one another; if they have any feelings of bitterness towards one another, they become reconciled on that day; hard feelings pass away and they unite in love for each other. As great events occurred on the day of Naw-Rúz for the Persians, that nation therefore made it a national feast and considered it a national holiday… This is, indeed, a blessed day because it is the beginning of the temperate season and the commencement of springtime in the Northern Hemisphere. All earthly things, whether trees, animals, or humans, become refreshed; they receive power from the life-giving breeze and obtain new life; a resurrection takes place and, because it is the season of springtime, there is a general marvellous activity in all contingent beings… In brief, every nation has a day to mark as a holiday which they celebrate with joy. In the sacred laws of God, in every cycle and Dispensation, there are blessed feasts, holidays, and workless days. On such days no kind of occupation, commerce, industry, agriculture, or the like is allowed. All work is unlawful. All must enjoy themselves, gather together, hold general meetings, become as one assembly, so that the oneness, unity, and harmony of the people may be demonstrated in the eyes of all… Likewise, in this wonderful Dispensation, this day [Naw-Rúz] is a blessed day. The friends of God should be confirmed in service and servitude. With one another they must be in the utmost harmony, love, and oneness; clasping hands; engaged in the commemoration of the Blessed Beauty; and thinking of the great results that may be obtained on such a blessed day.”
Extracts from a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá

As Baháʼís and their friends come together to rejoice in the spirit of Naw-Rúz, fostering unity and understanding among all people, they should feel free to maintain their cultural traditions as long as they align with the principles of the Faith.

“Bahá’ís should obviously be encouraged to preserve their inherited cultural identities, as long as the activities involved do not contravene the principles of the Faith. The perpetuation of such cultural characteristics is an expression of unity in diversity. Although most of these festive celebrations have no doubt stemmed from religious rituals in bygone ages, the believers should not be deterred from participating in those in which, over the course of time, the religious meaning has given way to purely culturally oriented practices. For example, Naw-Rúz itself was originally a Zoroastrian religious festival, but gradually its Zoroastrian connotation has almost been forgotten. Iranians, even after their conversion to Islám, have been observing it as a national festival. Now Naw-Rúz has become a Bahá’í Holy Day and is being observed throughout the world, but, in addition to the Bahá’í observance, many Iranian Bahá’ís continue to carry out their past cultural traditions in connection with this Feast. Similarly, there are a number of national customs in every part of the world which have cultural rather than religious connotations.”
From a letter dated 26 May 1982 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly