ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF BAHA’U’LLAH

23rd October 2025

Baha’i

Baha’u’llah is held by many of his followers to be the founder of the Baha’i faith. He was born the eldest son of a Persian nobleman in Tehran, Persia, in 1817. For Bahá’ís, the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh is a Holy Day celebrating the rebirth of the world through the love of God.

`Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh, stated that during this holy day the community should rejoice together to increase the unity of the community. Bahá’ís usually observe the holy day with community gatherings where prayers are shared and the birth of Bahá’u’lláh is celebrated. Bahá’u’lláh stated that in communities where the majority of the population are Shi’a Muslims, such as Iran, his followers should exercise caution in celebrating the twin birthdays so that they do not upset the majority of the population who are mourning during the Islamic month of Muharram.

The birthdays of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh are now celebrated as the Twin Holy Birthdays on two consecutive days each year and these are two days that Bahá’ís will wish to be absent from work or school. (In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the most holy of the Bahá’í scriptures, Bahá’u’lláh wrote that his birthday and that of the Báb ‘are accounted as one in the sight of God’)

Bahá’ís believe that God causes special people to be born at different times in history and in different places in order to ‘educate the souls of men, and refine the character of every living man…’ (Abdu’l-Bahá, son of Bahá’u’lláh). The Bahá’í Faith refers to such people as ‘Manifestations of God’, for Bahá’ís, Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, and Muhammad were all Manifestations of God, as were many others whose names and stories are lost. But God has also sent two Manifestations of God in the persons of the Báb (ʿAli Muhammad Shirāzi – October 20, 1819 – July 9, 1850) and Bahá’u’lláh (Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí -12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) both born in Persia (now Iran).