Bahá’í Faith: Ayyám-i-Há 28th February

WHAT IS AYYÁM-I-HÁ ?

Ayyám-i-Há is a time of joyous celebration, hospitality, charity, worship, gift-giving, and spiritual preparation for fasting in the Bahá’í community. It lasts from 26 February to 1 March – four days, or five days in a leap year – and aligns the Bahá’í calendar of nineteen months, each of nineteen days, with the solar calendar.

RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND

The Báb, the founder of the Bábí Faith, instituted the Badí‘ calendar in the Persian Bayán with 19 months of 19 days each and a period of intercalary days to allow for the calendar to be solar. The Báb did not, however, specify where the intercalary days should go. Bahá’u'lláh, who was the One foretold by the Báb, confirmed and adopted the Badi calendar in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, His book of laws. He placed the intercalary days before the fasting month of `Alá, the nineteenth and last month, and gave the intercalary days the name “Ayyám-i-Há” or “Days of H”.

The nineteen months of the Bahá’í calendar are named after the attributes of God. Ayyám-i-Há, which means the “Days of Há” — Há is the Arabic letter corresponding to the English H — commemorates the transcendence of God over his attributes, since its name “Há” has been used as a symbol of the essence of God in the Bahá’í holy writings. Under the Arabic abjad system, the letter Há has the numerical value of five, which is equal to the maximum number of days in Ayyam-i-HáDuring the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há Bahá’ís are encouraged to celebrate God and his oneness by showing love, fellowship and unity. In many instances Bahá’ís give and accept gifts to demonstrate these attributes. It is also a time of charity and goodwill and Bahá’ís often participate in various projects of a humanitarian nature.

Get Involved in Ayyám-i-Há for project ideas, information and contact details.
Ayyám-i-Há Gallery Page for pictures.