Guest Author - Sandy Mullins

The 19th and the last Baha'i month of Ala/Loftiness starts at sunset on February 28, it is also the month that Baha'is Fast for nineteen days. Now, I am sure you cannot imagine fasting for nineteen days, but let me assure you that it’s only from sunrise to sunset that Baha'is fast.

First,you are only expected to fast if you meet the following conditions:
If you are a healthy adult of 15 or older, a female not pregnant, nursing or on your cycle, not working in heavy labor or not traveling, you abstain from food or drink during daylight hours.

So, you rise before sunrise and eat a normal breakfast and at sunset you break the fast and eat and drink again, some people even gain weight on the Fast. Most people increase their daily prayers during the fast, usually spending their lunch hour in prayer or meditation. It is a time to obtain a higher spiritual level and show your belief in God and Baha’u’llah. If you are unable to keep the fast it as well, as any other Baha’i belief and/or law, it is between you and God. Baha'is strive not to pass judgement, gossip or talk about each other. We don't see God as a being vengeful, we see him as an understanding forgiving God, who knows what is in your heart, the intentions within.

Second, the Baha’i (Badi) Calendar, the months are named after attributes or qualities of God. These attributes have been used in the writings of all the Manifestations of God (Prophets), whether it be Buddha’s writings, the Torah, the Bible, the Qur’an or any of the Baha’i Holy Writings written by the >Bab, Baha’u’llah, ‘Abdu’l-Baha or Shoghi Effendi and other previous religions. Have you given thought in how the word loftiness might have been used in religion?

From the Torah, the Bible and Qur'an (with a few minor word variations) you read:
“And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day”.

“We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his haughtiness, and the assumption of his heart”.

From the Qur’an:
"And we solemnly declared to the children of Israel in the Book, "Twice
surely will ye enact crimes in the earth, and with great loftiness of pride will ye surely be uplifted."

From the writings of the Bab:
"And if anyone should reflect on the appearance of this Tree, he will undoubtedly testify to the loftiness of the Cause of God."
(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 109)

From the writings of Baha’u’llah:
"I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by Thy Name which Thou hast made to be the Day-Spring of Thy Revelation and the Dawning-Place of Thine inspiration, to ordain for this wronged One and for them that are dear to Thee what becometh Thy loftiness"
(Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 55)

From the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha:
"Likewise if we are born from the matrix of this physical and phenomenal environment into the freedom and loftiness of the life and vision spiritual, we shall consider this mortal existence and its blessings as worthless by comparison.""
(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 266)

For more information on the Baha’i Faith:Baha'i Links