Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The mass movement of refugees across Europe is heightening consciousness of the 'organic unity of humanity',




The mass movement of refugees across Europe is heightening consciousness of the 'organic unity of humanity', the Baha'i International Community has said at a major conference on refugees and exiles. 

The annual general conference of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) held 14 to 16 October in the Hague, Netherlands, brought together 150 participants, including members of civil society and non-governmental organizations protecting and advancing the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons.

In its contribution, the Baha'i International Community drew particular attention to the profound interconnectedness of humanity:

"The movement of populations illustrates that the peace, stability and prosperity 
of the different regions of the world 
are interconnected and that solutions cannot be intelligently considered 
in isolation from this global reality.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

From: "dialogue on secular society, religion, and the common good" Vancouver





".... the importance of giving greater space in society to 
the positive influence 
which the concepts and principles of religious thinking can provide,
 that freedom to believe is a necessary condition in secular societies 
even as we safeguard the gains in social harmony and
 the richness of culture which pluralism brings to modern societies."


"In the final analysis, it is the love and fellowship and 
an attitude that others matter to each of us 
which will create the foundations of a society 
in which all members of the human family 
will be able to participate in the discourses that shape society," 
Gerald Filson, Director of Public Affairs of the Baha'i Community of Canada

========

 "Society needs criteria to assess the role of religion in public life
"Does this religion contribute to the common good? 
Does it serve the well-being of all? 
If so, then it should be admitted into public discourse" 
Alia Hogben, director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women

=========

"We need to move beyond the binary of 
religious versus secular, 
public versus private, 
faith versus reason, 
and concentrate instead on working together for the good of our whole society," 
stated the Reverend Karen Hamilton, 
the General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches
=====

Hop to observe and witness such a dialogue in our beloved 
EGYPT

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Fasting from Mar 2nd to March 20th



Fasting

Fasting has been a significant practice of religion throughout human history. Many of the Manifestations of God Themselves went through a period of meditation and fasting at some point in Their lives during which, in intense communion with God, They contemplated the mysteries of the universe and the nature of Their mission.
Fasting, said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá “is the cause of awakening man. The heart becomes tender and the spirituality of man increases. This is produced by the fact that man’s thoughts will be confined to the commemoration of God, and through this awakening and stimulation surely ideal advancements follow.1
However, it is important to note that fasting should not be viewed as a practice of asceticism, nor is it to be used as a means of penance: “[T]his material fast is an outer token of the spiritual fast; it is a symbol of self-restraint, the withholding of oneself from all appetites of the self, taking on the characteristics of the spirit, being carried away by the breathings of heaven and catching fire from the love of God.”2
Bahá’u’lláh designated a nineteen-day period each year during which adult Bahá’ís fast from sunrise to sunset each day. This period coincides with the Bahá’í month of Alá—meaning Loftiness—from 2 to 20 March, which immediately precedes the Bahá’í new year. It is a time of prayer, meditation, and spiritual rejuvenation.
A number of special prayers have been revealed specifically for the period of the fast. One, for example, begins with these words:
This is, O my God, the first of the days on which Thou hast bidden Thy loved ones to observe the Fast. I ask of Thee by Thy Self and by him who hath fasted out of love for Thee and for Thy good-pleasure—and not out of self and desire, nor out of fear of Thy wrath—and by Thy most excellent names and august attributes, to purify Thy servants from the love of aught except Thee and to draw them nigh unto the Dawning-Place of the lights of Thy countenance and the Seat of the throne of Thy oneness. Illumine their hearts, O my God, with the light of Thy knowledge and brighten their faces with the rays of the Daystar that shineth from the horizon of Thy Will.”3
http://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit/devotion/fasting

Sunday, February 15, 2015

What is the purpose of this talk?






وزير الأوقاف: الفكر البهائي شديد الخطورة على أمن الوطن وسلامته Feb 2015
هذا الكلام قديم جدا أكثر من 100 سنة
 نسأل دائما، ما هو الغرض من هذا الكلام ؟ لماذا يخلق الكراهية و الشقاق ؟

Egypt’s Al-Azhar stops short of declaring ISIS apostates.....................................Dec 2014

Egypt’s al-Azhar denies it called ISIS infidels.........


Notes from Egyptian History;
في عام 1868 توقفت في ميناء الإسكندرية السفينة التي كانت تقل حضرة بهاء الله إلى منفاه الأخير في مدينة عكاء. و في سبتمبر 1910 قام حضرة عبد البهاء بزيارة مدينة بورسعيد و أقام فيها شهراً عزم بعده على الإبحار من بورسعيد إلى أوروبا، إلا أن توعك صحته اضطره لتأجيل رحلته فتوقف في الإسكندرية وأقام فيها عاماً كاملاً للاستشفاء زار خلاله القاهرة و ضاحية الزيتون و عدة ضواحي أخرى. و عاد حضرته إلى مصر مرة أخرى في ديسمبر 1911 و قضى فصل الشتاء في الإسكندرية ثم غادرها إلى نيويورك في مارس 1912 . و بعد جولته في أوروبا وصل إلى بورسعيد مرة أخرى في يونيو 1913 حيث انتقل بعدها إلى الإسكندرية و بقي في ضاحية الرملة حتى الثاني من ديسمبر 1913.
و من الجدير بالذكر أن مصر كانت أول دولة في العالم تعلن إستقلال الدين البهائي قانونياً، وقد بدأت القصة بهجوم حرض عليه مأذون قرية كوم الصعايدة، مركز ببا في محافظة بنى سويف على ثلاثة أشخاص بهائيين وانتهت بحكم قضائي في العاشر من شهر مايو سنة 1925 تم فيه الإعلان أن البهائية عقيدة قائمة بذاتها ومستقلة عن الإسلام كإستقلال الإسلام عن المسيحية واستقلال المسيحية عن اليهودية.
و قد تم تشكيل المحفل الروحاني المركزي لمصر و السودان عام 1924 وتم الاعتراف به من قبل الحكومة المصرية في عام 1934.