By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi
Preaching peace, oneness and unity in diversity, the Bahai community all over the world from 4pm-6pm on Saturday October 20 2017, jointly celebrated the birth of Baha’ U’ llah (the prophet and founder of the Bahai faith) Baha’ U’ llah is an Arabic name that means the “Glory of God”.
The celebrations took place at the Social Insurance Hall in Buea, where all the Bahai faithful came together to celebrate and honor the birth of their founder. The devotionals were mainly centered on “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens” which is one of the quotes of their founder, Baha’ U’ llah.
Talking to the representative of the local spiritual assembly of the Bahai’s in Buea, Mrs Janet Wirba said she told The Sun that; “Today is a great day for us the Bahai faithful as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Baha’ U’ llah. This celebration is not only in Buea but worldwide. All of us are celebrating at this particular time on this particular day. Today marks 200 of the appearance of Baha’U’llah on earth. Baha’U’llah was born in Tyran, capital of Persia now known as Iran in the year 1817” Mrs Wirba explained.
Quizzed on the future of the Bahai community in Buea after the celebrations, Mrs Wirba said, they (Bahai community) have always been having activities of transformation, setting the stage for the awakening and the progress of humanity by extending the teachings of Baha’U’llah to neighbors, families and friends.
“After this bicentenary, we will continue with the activities that we have been having but we expect that, many more people are aware of what the Bahai’s are doing because Baha’U’llah summons all the people of the world to work together for the benefits of humanity”, Wirba added
Acknowledging that all are from a common creator, God, Mrs Janet said Baha’Ullah’s core principle is that of oneness of mankind. “We are in our common homeland which is earth and we are one country. If we are all related and interconnected with one God, then we all are one. We all have a common purpose which is to transform humanity’s inner life and the outer condition of the world” she concluded.
The celebration in Buea was characterized by lots of activities including; a talk on the significance of the birth and station of Baha’U’llah, Artistic presentations from the Bahai youths from the ages of 11-15 and other dance performances.
Brief History of the Bahai Faith
The Bahai Faith, the world’s newest independent global belief system teaches oneness of God, the unity of humanity and the essential harmony of religion. Bahai’s believe in peace, justice, altruism and unity. The Bahai teaching promotes the agreement of science and religion, the equality of the sexes and the elimination of all prejudice and racism.
The Bahai faith is the World’s second most widespread religion after Christianity, spanning the globe and working to unite it. They have no clergy or churches, gathering together in democratically-led communities and welcoming everyone.