February 28

Bahá’ís and Bahá’í institutions should not take positions on the political decisions of governments, including disputes among governments of different nations; should refrain from becoming involved in debates surrounding any political controversy; and should not react, orally or otherwise, in a manner that could be taken as evidence of support for a partisan political stance. It is not for a Bahá’í, in offering social commentary, to vilify specific individuals, organizations, or governments or to make attacks on them. Indeed, the Guardian specifically cautioned the friends against referring to political figures in their public remarks, whether in criticism or support. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 27 April 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

February 27

The individual is not merely a self-interested economic unit, striving to claim an ever-greater share of the world’s material resources. “Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue”, Bahá’u’lláh avers, “and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches.” And further: “Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the pursuit of evil and corrupt affection, nor let your endeavours be spent in promoting your personal interest.” By consecrating oneself to the service of others, one finds meaning and purpose in life and contributes to the upliftment of society itself. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 1 March 2017)

February 26

The soul’s capacity to manifest all the names and attributes of God—He Who is the Compassionate, the Bestower, the Bountiful—is repeatedly affirmed in the Writings. Economic life is an arena for the expression of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, generosity, and other qualities of the spirit. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 1 March 2017)

February 25

In 'The Bahá'í World', Vol. XV, p. 691 we read: “Bahá'u'lláh designated those days as the 'Ayyam-i-Ha and ordained that they should immediately precede the month of 'Ala, which is the month of fasting. He enjoined upon His followers to devote these days to feasting, rejoicing, and charity.” 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, January 18, 1982; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

February 24

Every choice a Bahá’í makes—as employee or employer, producer or consumer, borrower or lender, benefactor or beneficiary—leaves a trace, and the moral duty to lead a coherent life demands that one’s economic decisions be in accordance with lofty ideals, that the purity of one’s aims be matched by the purity of one’s actions to fulfil those aims. Naturally, the friends habitually look to the teachings to set the standard to which to aspire. But the community’s deepening engagement with society means that the economic dimension of social existence must receive ever more concentrated attention. Particularly in clusters where the community-building process is beginning to embrace large numbers, the exhortations contained in the Bahá’í Writings should increasingly inform economic relationships within families, neighbourhoods, and peoples. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 1 March 2017)

February 23

…today people all over the world are able to benefit from the radiant light of the divine teachings. The first among these is a strong emphasis on goodly character and rectitude of conduct. Bahá’u’lláh describes spirituality and morality as the sure foundation for a progressive society and the solid basis for the protection and soundness of the social order and for the advancement of the common good. The Bahá’í teachings clarify, for example, that trustworthiness and truthfulness enhance the ability for collective undertakings, advance industry and the economy, and ensure the progress of other constructive endeavours. No nation can achieve prosperity and salvation without the refinement of character. If morality were to dominate, success in all aspects would be guaranteed because thoughts would become illumined; individual and collective relations strengthened; moral courage enhanced; arts, sciences, and rationality promoted; commerce advanced; and spiritual and material welfare and mutual respect and freedom for all would become the pivot of policies for the management of affairs. Thus would a nation be transformed into another creation. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 17 October 2017 to the Baha’is in Iran, translated from Persian)

February 22

Forty years of exile did not diminish in the slightest His connection to that land. With tender love and benevolence for His compatriots, Bahá’u’lláh set about establishing a united, vibrant, and progressive community composed of people from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds. Through the dispatch of Tablets, the sending of teachers, and the messages of loving kindness conveyed through those who flocked to His presence in the prison-city of ‘Akká in the Holy Land, He assisted the people of Iran who, in His words, are “adorned with the ornaments of talent and capacity” to nurture that God-given capacity. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 17 October 2017 to the Baha’is in Iran, translated from Persian)

February 21

One of the most pressing problems of humanity in the current century is how a growing, rapidly developing, and not yet united global population can, in a just manner, live in harmony with the planet and its finite resources. Certain biological realities present themselves when an organism negatively affects or exceeds the capacity of its ecosystem. The limited availability and inequitable distribution of resources profoundly impact social relations within and between nations in many ways, even to the point of precipitating upheaval and war. And particular arrangements of human affairs can have devastating consequences for the environment. The question of the impact of climate change, and to what extent it is man-made and its effects can be ameliorated, is today a major aspect of this larger problem. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh directly and indirectly touches on a range of such concerns in a manner that speaks to a harmony between society and the natural world. It is essential, therefore, that Bahá’ís contribute to thought and action regarding such matters. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 29 November 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

February 20

Not only must irreligion and its monstrous offspring, the triple curse that oppresses the soul of mankind in this day, be held responsible for the ills which are so tragically besetting it, but other evils and vices, which are, for the most part, the direct consequences of the "weakening of the pillars of religion," must also be regarded as contributory factors to the manifold guilt of which individuals and nations stand convicted. The signs of moral downfall, consequent to the dethronement of religion and the enthronement of these usurping idols, are too numerous and too patent for even a superficial observer of the state of present-day society to fail to notice. The spread of lawlessness, of drunkenness, of gambling, and of crime; the inordinate love of pleasure, of riches, and other earthly vanities; the laxity in morals, revealing itself in the irresponsible attitude towards marriage, in the weakening of parental control, in the rising tide of divorce, in the deterioration in the standard of literature and of the press, and in the advocacy of theories that are the very negation of purity, of morality and chastity — these evidences of moral decadence, invading both the East and the West, permeating every stratum of society, and instilling their poison in its members of both sexes, young and old alike, blacken still further the scroll upon which are inscribed the manifold transgressions of an unrepentant humanity. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ("The Promised Day is Come"; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Divorce)

February 19

The Mashriqu'l-Adhkár and its accessories; "When these institutions, college, hospital, hospice, and establishments for the incurables, university for the study of higher sciences and giving postgraduate courses, and other philanthropic buildings, are built, its doors will be open to all the nations and all religions. There will be drawn absolutely no line of demarcation. Its charities will be dispensed irrespective of colour and race. Its gates will be flung wide to mankind; prejudice toward none, love for all. The central building will be devoted to the purposes of prayer and worship. Thus for the first time religion will become harmonised with science and science will be the handmaid of religion, both showering their material and spiritual gifts on all humanity. In this way the people will be lifted out of the quagmires of slothfulness and bigotry." 

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá  (Star of the West, vol. 21, no.1, April 1930; The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. III, Social and Economic Development)

February 18

Now is the time when every follower of Bahá'u'lláh must cling fast to the Covenant of God, resist every temptation to become embroiled in the conflicts of the world, and remember that he is the holder of a precious trust, the Message of God which, alone, can banish injustice from the world and cure the ills afflicting the body and spirit of man. We are the bearers of the Word of God in this day and, however dark the immediate horizons, we must go forward rejoicing in the knowledge that the work we are privileged to perform is God's work and will bring to birth a world whose splendour will outshine our brightest visions and surpass our highest hopes. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter to the Bahá'ís of the World, Naw-Rúz 1979; The Compilation of Compilations, Vol.III, Social and Economic Development)

February 17

In the past, apart from isolated exceptions, women were regarded as an inferior breed, their nature hedged about by superstitions, denied the opportunity to express the potentialities of the human spirit and relegated to the role of serving the needs of men. Clearly, there are many societies where such conditions persist and are even fanatically defended. At the level of global discourse, however, the concept of the equality of the sexes has, for all practical purposes, now assumed the force of universally accepted principle. It enjoys similar authority in most of the academic community and information media. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated April 2002 addressed to the World’s Religious Leaders)

February 16

The enduring legacy of the twentieth century is that it compelled the peoples of the world to begin seeing themselves as the members of a single human race, and the earth as that race’s common homeland. Despite the continuing conflict and violence that darken the horizon, prejudices that once seemed inherent in the nature of the human species are everywhere giving way. Down with them come barriers that long divided the family of man into a Babel of incoherent identities of cultural, ethnic or national origin. That so fundamental a change could occur in so brief a period—virtually overnight in the perspective of historical time—suggests the magnitude of the possibilities for the future. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated April 2002 addressed to the World’s Religious Leaders)

February 15

Two of the most important volumes of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings date from this first period of exile, [Baghdad] preceding the declaration of His mission in 1863. The first of these is a small book which He named The Hidden Words. Written in the form of a compilation of moral aphorisms, the volume represents the ethical heart of Bahá’u’lláh’s message. In verses which Bahá’u’lláh describes as a distillation of the spiritual guidance of all the Revelations of the past, the voice of God speaks directly to the human soul… The second of the two major works composed by Bahá’u’lláh during this period is The Book of Certitude, a comprehensive exposition of the nature and purpose of religion. In passages that draw not only on the Qur’án, but with equal facility and insight on the Old and New Testaments, the Messengers of God are depicted as agents of a single, unbroken process, the awakening of the human race to its spiritual and moral potentialities. 

(From ‘Baha’u’llah’; A statement prepared by the Bahá'í International Community Office of Public Information, at the request of the Universal House of Justice and published in 1992)

February 14

“The winds of despair,” Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective.” This prophetic judgment has been amply confirmed by the common experience of humanity. Flaws in the prevailing order are conspicuous in the inability of sovereign states organized as United Nations to exorcise the specter of war, the threatened collapse of the international economic order, the spread of anarchy and terrorism, and the intense suffering which these and other afflictions are causing to increasing millions. Indeed, so much have aggression and conflict come to characterize our social, economic and religious systems, that many have succumbed to the view that such behavior is intrinsic to human nature and therefore ineradicable. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (‘The Promise of World Peace, October 1985)

February 13

The scientific and technological advances occurring in this unusually blessed century [20th] portend a great surge forward in the social evolution of the planet, and indicate the means by which the practical problems of humanity may be solved. They provide, indeed, the very means for the administration of the complex life of a united world. Yet barriers persist. Doubts, misconceptions, prejudices, suspicions and narrow self-interest beset nations and peoples in their relations one to another. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (‘The Promise of World Peace, October 1985)

February 12

The friends are under the protection of the resistless power and inscrutable providence of God. There is no doubt that every blessed soul who brings his life into harmony with this all-swaying power shall give lustre to his works and win an ample recompense. The actions of those who choose to set themselves against it should provoke not antipathy on our part, but prayers for their guidance. Such was the way of the Bahá'ís in days gone by, and so must it be, now and for always. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 18 December 1925 to a National Spiritual Assembly - translated from the Persian; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Trustworthiness: A Cardinal Bahá'í Virtue)

February 11

It [rectitude of conduct] must be constantly reflected in the business dealings of all its members, in their domestic lives, in all manner of employment, and in any service they may, in the future, render their government or people.... 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 25 December 1938 to the believers throughout North America, published as "The Advent of Divine Justice"; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Trustworthiness: A Cardinal Bahá'í Virtue)

February 10

That men and women differ from one another in certain characteristics and functions is an inescapable fact of nature and makes possible their complementary roles in certain areas of the life of society; but it is significant that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has stated that in this Dispensation “Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances, has been fully and categorically announced.” 

- The Universal House of Justice  (‘Introduction to the Kitab-i-Aqdas’, 1992)

February 9

…the House of the Báb in Shíráz and the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád. Bahá’u’lláh has specified that pilgrimage to either of these two Houses fulfils the requirement of this passage (Q and A 25, 29). In two separate Tablets, known as Súriy-i-Hájj (Q and A 10), Bahá’u’lláh has prescribed specific rites for each of these pilgrimages. In this sense, the performance of a pilgrimage is more than simply visiting these two Houses.

After the passing of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá designated the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí as a place of pilgrimage. In a Tablet, He indicates that the “Most Holy Shrine, the Blessed House in Baghdád and the venerated House of the Báb in Shíráz” are “consecrated to pilgrimage”, and that it is “obligatory” to visit these places “if one can afford it and is able to do so, and if no obstacle stands in one’s way”. No rites have been prescribed for pilgrimage to the Most Holy Shrine. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (The ‘Notes’ section of the Kitab-i-Aqdas)

February 8

In referring to the House of Justice in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh does not always explicitly distinguish between the Universal House of Justice and the Local House of Justice, both of which institutions are ordained in that Book. He usually refers simply to “the House of Justice”, leaving open for later clarification the level or levels of the whole institution to which each law would apply.

In a Tablet enumerating the revenues of the local treasury, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá includes those inheritances for which there are no heirs, thus indicating that the House of Justice referred to in these passages of the Aqdas relating to inheritance is the local one. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (The ‘Notes’ section of the Kitab-i-Aqdas)

February 7

Bahá’u’lláh has established consultation as one of the fundamental principles of His Faith and has exhorted the believers to “take counsel together in all matters”. He describes consultation as “the lamp of guidance which leadeth the way” and as “the bestower of understanding”. Shoghi Effendi states that the “principle of consultation ... constitutes one of the basic laws” of the Bahá’í Administrative Order. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (The ‘Notes’ section of the Kitab-i-Aqdas)

February 6

...as the position and aims of the Bahá’í Faith are better understood and more fully recognized, will gradually be superseded by the permanent and more appropriate designation of House of Justice. Not only will the present-day Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in future, but they will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Quoted by the Universal House of Justice in the ‘Notes’ section of the Kitab-i-Aqdas)

February 5

Shoghi Effendi feels that the unity of the Bahá’í Revelation as one complete whole embracing the Faith of the Báb should be emphasized... The Faith of the Báb should not be divorced from that of Bahá’u’lláh. Though the teachings of the Bayán have been abrogated and superseded by the laws of the Aqdas, yet due to the fact that the Báb considered Himself as the Forerunner of Bahá’u’lláh, we would regard His Dispensation together with that of Bahá’u’lláh as forming one entity, the former being introductory to the advent of the latter.

The Báb states that His laws are provisional and depend upon the acceptance of the future Manifestation. This is why in the Book of Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh sanctions some of the laws found in the Bayán, modifies others and sets aside many. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi cited in a letter from the Universal House of Justice dated 1992; ‘Introduction to the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

February 4

During the thirty-six years of his ministry, Shoghi Effendi raised up the structure of elected Spiritual Assemblies— the Houses of Justice referred to in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, now in their embryonic stage—and with their collaboration initiated the systematic implementation of the Divine Plan that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had laid out for the diffusion of the Faith throughout the world. He also set in motion, on the basis of the strong administrative structure that had been established, the processes which were an essential preparation for the election of the Universal House of Justice. This body, which came into existence in April 1963, is elected through secret ballot and plurality vote in a three-stage election by adult Bahá’ís throughout the world. The revealed Word of Bahá’u’lláh, together with the interpretations and expositions of the Centre of the Covenant and the Guardian of the Cause, constitute the binding terms of reference of the Universal House of Justice and are its bedrock foundation. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (‘Introduction to the Kitab-i-Aqdas’, 1992)

February 3

Although the Universal House of Justice is explicitly authorized to change or repeal its own legislation as conditions change, thus providing Bahá’í law with an essential element of flexibility, it cannot abrogate or change any of the laws which are explicitly laid down in the sacred Text. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (‘Introduction to the Kitab-i-Aqdas’, 1992)

February 2

…a careful scrutiny [of the laws of the Kitab-i-Aqdas] discloses that they govern three areas: the individual’s relationship to God, physical and spiritual matters which benefit the individual directly, and relations among individuals and between the individual and society. They can be grouped under the following headings: prayer and fasting; laws of personal status governing marriage, divorce and inheritance; a range of other laws, ordinances and prohibitions, as well as exhortations; and the abrogation of specific laws and ordinances of previous Dispensations. A salient characteristic is their brevity. They constitute the kernel of a vast range of law that will arise in centuries to come. This elaboration of the law will be enacted by the Universal House of Justice under the authority conferred upon it by Bahá’u’lláh Himself. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (‘Introduction to the Kitab-i-Aqdas’, 1992)

February 1

Our world has entered the dark heart of an age of fundamental change beyond anything in all of its tumultuous history. Its peoples, of whatever race, nation, or religion, are being challenged to subordinate all lesser loyalties and limiting identities to their oneness as citizens of a single planetary homeland. In Bahá’u’lláh’s words: “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” May the publication of this translation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas lend a fresh impulse to the realization of this universal vision, opening vistas of a worldwide regeneration. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (‘Introduction to the Kitab-i-Aqdas’, 1992)

January 31

It is reported that upon receipt of this first Message that superficial, tricky, and pride-intoxicated monarch [Napoleon III] flung down the Tablet saying: “If this man is God, I am two gods!” The transmitter of the second Tablet had, it is reliably stated, in order to evade the strict surveillance of the guards, concealed it in his hat, and was able to deliver it to the French agent, who resided in Akká, and who, as attested by Nabíl in his Narrative, translated it into French and sent it to the Emperor, he himself becoming a believer when he had later witnessed the fulfillment of so remarkable a prophecy….

The Battle of Sedan in 1870 sealed the fate of the French Emperor. The whole of his army was broken up and surrendered, constituting the greatest capitulation hitherto recorded in modern history. A crushing indemnity was exacted. He himself was taken prisoner. His only son, the Prince Imperial, was killed, a few years later, in the Zulu War. The Empire collapsed, its program unrealized. The Republic was proclaimed. Paris was subsequently besieged and capitulated. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘Promised Day Is Come’)