Creating world peace and harmony is the most important thing for people who follow the Baha'i faith. Because of this they have a lot of respect for other religions, and people who believe in them. Part of what Baha'is believe is that Moses, Krishna, Zoroaster, Jesus and Muhammad are all messengers of God.
They believe the messengers promised another great messenger would come, and he would bring peace to the world. Baha'is believe that messenger was Baha'u'llah, who began the faith Baha'i.In the nearly 150 years since Baha'u'llah made his announcement, the Baha'i faith has become one of the world's most geographically diverse religions.
The Iranian New Year is celebrated as Naw-Ruz in the Bahai religion and it falls on the 21 March of the vernal equinox. This day is observed as a holiday where people stay away from work. The Baha'i Calendar has nineteen months with nineteen days in each month for 361 days. Four or five intercalary days are added to make the 365 day calendar and an extra day is added for leap years. The Bahai's fast before Naw-Ruz and the end of fasting calls for celebration of the New Year. People conduct prayer meetings followed by grand dinner inviting friends and family members. The prohibited luxury items are permitted to be used on this particular day. This festival has a custom of reciting the verse God beareth witness that there is no God but Him, the Ineffable, the Self-Subsistent about 361times on the night of Naw-Ruz and during the day time God beareth witness that there is no God but Him, the Precious, the Beloved. As with all other festivals and religions bahai also have fixed rules for observing Naw-Ruz. It is also considered as a day of gift giving.
This festival commemorates the acceptance of Baha'u'llah, the prophet-founder of the Baha'i faith as the messenger of God in the year 1863.The Ridvan festival is the greatest of all the festivals of Bahai faith. The festival starts on April 21st and ends by May 2nd. On the first day of Ridvan, local governing councils of all Baha'i communities around the world including the ones in Topeka and Shawnee County are elected. In this twelve day long festival the first, ninth and the twelfth day are given special importance for special worship and prayer service.
The Bahai's fasting falls during the last calendar month of the Bahai year. This lasts for nearly 19 days and during all these days they will have to stay away from food from sunrise to sunset and also have to involve themselves in prayers and meditation. This is the season during which daylight in all these areas are for about at least 12 hours, but however according to Baha'u'llah the people can follow the time of a clock than the sun. This is the time for the people of Bahai faith to engross themselves in spiritual activities and abstain from selfish and carnal desires. According to Bahai faith by fasting one can be able to get closer to their spirit for during this time they stay away from bodily constraints where they gain more wisdom and spiritual knowledge.Man's thoughts will be confined to the commemoration of God, and through this awakening and stimulation surely ideal advancements follow. Thus it is very important for each one of this Bahai faith to undergo this period of fasting. The people fasting see to that they seclude themselves so that they get more close to the supreme power and after which when they undertake their ministry, they are often so occupied with revealing the words of God that they have little time or inclination to feed the body.
The Ayyam-i-ha festival is celebrated for four to five days where it starts with the setting of sun on Feb 25th to sunset of March 1.It is the period during which they get prepared themselves for the fasting to come. During Ayyam-i-Ha, members of the Faith perform acts of charity, give gifts to friends and family, and attend social gatherings.
