June
8,
2018
CELEBRATING
THE DECLARATION OF THE BÁB
By Susan Ward
 On
the evening of May 23rd,
Bahá’ís around the world celebrated the Declaration of the Báb, the
prophet-founder who ushered in a new era for humanity. Bahá’ís observe
this holy day by gathering at homes and venues to commemorate this
momentous event.
In my own neighbourhood in Ottawa's West End, the Bahá’í community held
a pleasant celebration. We met at 9 pm at the home of our hosts Tony
and Jane to mingle with kindness and share sweets and tea. The program
for the evening was then launched with gentle piano music. The evening
included a beautiful program that told the story about the night the
Báb declared His mission to his first disciple, Mullá Husayn, on May
23, 1844, which included prayers and passages from the Báb’s
writings. We paused twice during the readings to sing and
chant verses led by a mother and daughter duo. At 10:11 pm,
around the time that the Báb declared His mission to His guest, a
special prayer known as the Tablet of Visitation was recited. We then
ended our celebration in love and fellowship.
 The story of the Báb is a
fascinating one. Mullá Husayn belonged to a religious school called the
Shaykhís that believed the bearer of a new divine revelation would
shortly makes his appearance in the world and would prove His claim
both by fulfilling certain physical characteristics and through His
writings. To that end, Mullá Husayn and other Shaykhís were sent on a
quest across Persia to find this new prophet.
During his travels, Mullá Husayn was drawn like a magnet to the city of
Shiraz, Iran, and there he met a young man wearing a green turban –
indicating that he was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The young
man approached him as if he were an old friend and invited him into his
home. They spent the evening in rapt conversation during which this
man, Siyyid Alí-Muhammad, was able to prove His claim that he was the
Báb, the Gate between the old prophetic world and the new age of
humanity. The Báb then wrote a religious treatise in front of Mullá
Husayn that convinced him both of this young man’s claim and that he
was witnessing the birth of a new religious dispensation. The Báb then
declared that 18 other souls must independently seek and find him, and
these were called the Letters of the Living.
The Báb’s dispensation served as the gate to Bahá’u’lláh’s own
dispensation, whom He addressed as Him Whom God shall make manifest.
The sole purpose of the Bab’s dispensation was to prepare His followers
for the advent of Bahá’u’lláh 19 years later. The appearance of two
prophet-founders in such a short period of time has never before been
recorded in human history, therefore their stories are closely
intertwined and that is why Bahá’ís celebrate The Báb’s Declaration as
a holy day. In 2019, Bahá’í communities around the planet will
celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Báb’s birth.
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