SEEING IS BELIEVING: EXPOSING THEMES FOR DIALOGUE

At St Martins House this evening for a seminar accompanying the display of winners and finalists of the national photographic competition, Faith Through a Lens.

The seminar, entitled Seeing is Believing: Exposing Themes for Dialogue, is led by Revd Canon Dr John Hall, Director of St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society, which is hosting the Faith Through a Lens exhibition (under the title Faith in the Community) for a week here in Leicester.

John walks the group around the exhibition, leading and encouraging discussion and reflection on the twelve photographs in turn and how each of them fits into the three themes of the competition: Moments of Faith; Community Spirit Against the Odds; and A Year of Service.

John explains that this is the third in a series of touring exhibitions that St Philip’s Centre has put on in 2012-13 (one per academic term). The previous two were Religious Tolerance - Islam in the Sultanate of Oman (July 2012) and Multi Faith Spaces (October 2012). The Centre hopes to make this a regular part of its public programme.

In the photo above, Revd Canon Dr John Hall and Maureen Hebblewhite (Centre Manager at St Philip's) are shown with the overall winner of Faith Through a Lens Photography Exhibition 2012, “Brothers in Arms” by Paul Tiller.

I'll pick out a couple of the photos we looked at and talked about this evening.

Ayyam-i-Ha

by Ronnie Bindra

This photo was taken at the National Bahá'í Centre in Knightsbridge during Ayyám-i-Há, a short period that precedes the Bahá'í period of fasting every March. During Ayyám-i-Há, acts of charity, generosity and hospitality are emphasised. In this photo, people of many faiths and traditions are collecting toiletries to distribute to vulnerably homed people as part of a Year of Service project. I spoke about Ayyám-i-Há to the group this evening - and the Fast that follows it and Naw-Rúz that brings the Fast to an end. Perfect timing too, as we were looking at this photo if not right on sunset, as close to it as makes no difference. So I said that it was Bahá'í New Year right now. Everyone was very nice and wished me Happy New Year. Except I realised soon after that I was a day early! I didn't own up though; didn't want to be a buzzkill!

Helping Hands

by Bobbie Cook

This one gave me pause for thought. When I was younger, I hoped I would be the guy on the left, lending a helping hand. Nowadays, I begin to hope that when I'm the guy on the right, someone else will be there to lend me a helping hand!

As I do at the end of all my blog posts referring to St Martins House, I refer any reader wondering about the omission of the possessive apostrophe from the building's name to a letter from Rev. Peter Hobson, Director of St Martins House, published in the Leicester Mercury, 29 March 2011.

HAPPY AYYÁM-I-HÁ!

This is the first day of Ayyám-i-Há, the "Intercalary Days" observed by Bahá'ís everywhere. Here's some information about Ayyám-i-Há: where it comes from, what it means and how it's celebrated (much of it adapted from relevant entries in Wikipedia):

The Báb (first of the three Central Figures of the Bahá'í Faith, historically speaking) instituted the Badí' ("wondrous", "unique") Calendar in 1847-8. He divided the year into 19 months of 19 days each, with a number intercalary days (normally four, five in a leap year) to allow the calendar to be a solar one, rather than follow the lunar format of the Islamic calendar. The Báb did not, however, specify where in the year these intercalary days should fall. Bahá'u'lláh confirmed and adopted the Badí' calendar in his Most Holy Book in 1873. He fixed the place of the intercalary days between the 18th (penultimate) and 19th (final) months of the calendar from 26 February (technically, from sunset on 25 February) to (sunset on) 1 March. It was Bahá'u'lláh who gave the intercalary days the name "Ayyám-i-Há" or "Days of Há".

The nineteen months of the Badí' Calendar (now more commonly known as the Bahá'í Calendar) are named after an attribute of God (e.g. Splendour, Glory, Beauty, Grandeur, Light, Mercy, Words, Perfection, Names, Might, Will, Knowledge, Power, Speech, Questions, Honour, Sovereignty, Dominion, Loftiness). Ayyám-i-Há symbolises the transcendence of God over these very attributes. "Há" (the Arabic letter corresponding to the English "H") has been used in Bahá'í scripture to represent the unknowable essence of God. Under the Arabic abjad system, the letter Há has the numerical value of five, equal to the maximum number of days in Ayyám-i-Há.

During Ayyám-i-Há, Bahá'ís are especially encouraged to celebrate the unity of God by showing and sharing fellowship. Bahá'ís often give and receive gifts at this time, although there are no set rules about this. It is also a time of charity and goodwill, when Bahá'ís often participate in various projects of a humanitarian nature. It's not as if Bahá'ís are meant to leave off doing such things the rest of the year, but at this time they are spurred on to make special efforts in doing so.

As is the case with virtually every aspect of the Bahá'í teachings and writings, there are levels of deeper mystical and symbolic significance to Ayyám-i-Há, some of which are described or alluded to here. But you don't have to apprehend all the meanings of Ayyám-i-Há in order to understand it or, more importantly, to join in and enjoy it.

Find out more about how Bahá'ís around the world celebrate Ayyám-i-Há on the website of the Bahá'í International Community.

The photo above is from the Garden of Ridván, a place of pilgrimage at the Bahá'í World Centre in the Holy Land. I have a photo of me, from my pilgrimage there in February 1988. It was so cold and windy that day that all the water is coming out only one side of the fountain!

Happy Ayyám-i-Há!

This is the first day of Ayyám-i-Há, the "Intercalary Days" observed by members of the Bahá'í Faith. Here's some information about Ayyám-i-Há: where it comes from, what it means and how it's celebrated (much of it adapted from relevant entries in Wikipedia):

The Báb (first of the three Central Figures of the Bahá'í Faith, historically speaking) instituted the Badí' ("wondrous", "unique") Calendar in 1847-8. He divided the year into 19 months of 19 days each, with a number intercalary days (normally four, five in a leap year) to allow the calendar to be a solar one, rather than follow the lunar format of the Islamic calendar. The Báb did not, however, specify where in the year these intercalary days should fall. Bahá'u'lláh confirmed and adopted the Badí' calendar in his Most Holy Book in 1873. He fixed the place of the intercalary days between the 18th (penultimate) and 19th (final) months of the calendar from 26 February (technically, from sunset on 25 February) to (sunset on) 1 March. It was Bahá'u'lláh who gave the intercalary days the name "Ayyám-i-Há" or "Days of Há".

The nineteen months of the Badí' Calendar (now more commonly known as the Bahá'í Calendar) are named after an attribute of God (e.g. Splendour, Glory, Beauty, Grandeur, Light, Mercy, Words, Perfection, Names, Might, Will, Knowledge, Power, Speech, Questions, Honour, Sovereignty, Dominion, Loftiness). Ayyám-i-Há symbolises the transcendence of God over these very attributes. "Há" (the Arabic letter corresponding to the English "H") has been used in Bahá'í scripture to represent the unknowable essence of God. Under the Arabic abjad system, the letter Há has the numerical value of five, equal to the maximum number of days in Ayyám-i-Há.

During Ayyám-i-Há, Bahá'ís are especially encouraged to celebrate the unity of God by showing and sharing fellowship. Bahá'ís often give and receive gifts at this time, although there are no set rules about this. It is also a time of charity and goodwill, when Bahá'ís often participate in various projects of a humanitarian nature. It's not as if Bahá'ís are meant to leave off doing such things the rest of the year, but at this time they are spurred on to make special efforts in doing so.

As is the case with virtually every aspect of the Bahá'í teachings and writings, there are levels of deeper mystical and symbolic significance to Ayyám-i-Há, some of which are described or alluded to here. But you don't have to apprehend all the meanings of Ayyám-i-Há in order to understand it or, more importantly, to join in and enjoy it. In the photo above are some of the Bahá'ís of Leicester and Leicestershire gathered today fro a pot-luck lunch and some family activities at one of the friends' homes in Thurcaston, doing just that.

Find out more about the Badí' Calendar:
http://www.bahai.org/dir/community/calendar