A Baháʼí pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...

, Acre, and Bahjí at the Baháʼí World Centre in Northwest

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Baháʼís do not have access to other places designated as sites for

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Persia, and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Bábí Faith. In 1863, in I ...

decreed pilgrimage in the

Kitáb-i-Aqdas The Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Arabic: The Most Holy Book) is the central religious text of the Baháʼí Faith, written by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, in 1873. Though it is the main source of Baháʼí laws and practices, much of the con ...

to two places: the House of Baháʼu'lláh in Baghdad, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz. In two separate tablets, known as ''Suriy-i-Hajj'', he prescribed specific rites for each of these pilgrimages. It is obligatory to make the pilgrimage, "if one can afford it and is able to do so, and if no obstacle stands in one's way". Baháʼu'lláh has "exempted women as a mercy on His part", though the

Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice ( fa, بیت‌العدل اعظم) is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate on ...

has clarified that women are free to perform this pilgrimage. Baháʼís are free to choose between the two houses, as either has been deemed sufficient. Later,

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: ‎, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás ( fa, عباس), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later canonized as the ...

designated the

Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh The Mansion of Bahjí ( ar, قصر بهجي, Qasr Bahjī, ''mansion of delight'') is a summer house in Acre, Israel where Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, died in 1892. He was buried in an adjacent house, which became the Shrin ...

at Bahjí (the

Qiblih __NOTOC__ In the Baháʼí Faith the Qiblih ( ar, , "direction") is the location to which Baháʼís face when saying their daily obligatory prayers. The Qiblih is fixed at the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh, near Acre, in present-day Israel; appr ...

) as a site of pilgrimage. No rites have been prescribed for this. The designated sites for pilgrimage are not accessible to the majority of Baháʼís, as they are in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...

respectively, and thus when Baháʼís currently refer to pilgrimage, it refers to a nine-day pilgrimage that occurs at the Baháʼí World Centre in

and Akká in Israel. This nine-day pilgrimage does not replace pilgrimage to the designated sites for pilgrimage, and it is intended that pilgrimage to the House of the Báb and the House of Baháʼu'lláh will occur in the future.

House of Baháʼu'lláh, Baghdad

The House of Baháʼu'lláh in Baghdad, also known as the "Most Great House" (Bayt-i-Aʻzam) and the "House of God," is where

lived from 1853 to 1863 (except for two years when he left to the mountains of Kurdistan, northeast of Baghdad, near the city of

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, G ...

). It was located in the

Kadhimiya Kadhimiya ( ar, ٱلْكَاظِمِيَّة, al-Kāẓimiyyah, ) or Kadhimayn (, ) is a northern neighbourhood of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is about from the city's center, on the west bank of the Tigris. 'Kadhimiya' is also the name of ...

district of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, near the western bank of the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

river. It is designated in the

as a place of pilgrimage and is considered a holy place by Baháʼís. In 1922 the house was confiscated by Shí'ih authorities, who were hostile to the Baháʼí Faith. The Council of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

upheld the Baháʼí's claim to the house, but it has not yet been returned to the Baháʼí community. The house was destroyed in June 2013, under circumstances that are currently unclear. The

sent a letter to all the National Spiritual Assemblies on 27 June informing them of the house's destruction.

House of the Báb, Shiraz

In this house in

Shiraz, Iran Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 pe ...

, the Báb declared his mission to Mullá Husayn on 23 May 1844. In 1942-3 it was damaged by fire in an attack by enemies of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

, and in 1955 it was destroyed, but later again restored. In 1979 it was destroyed once more during the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. In 1981 the site was made into a road and public square.

Current nine-day pilgrimage

The places that Baháʼís visit on the current nine-day pilgrimage at the Baháʼí World Centre include the following. (

Baháʼí World Centre buildings The Baháʼí World Centre buildings are buildings that are part of the Baháʼí World Centre in Israel. The Baháʼí World Centre buildings include both the Baháʼí holy places used for pilgrimage and the international administrative bodies ...

contains additional information.) Bahjí: *

Mansion of Bahjí A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

Haifa: *

Shrine of the Báb The Shrine of the Báb is a structure on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, where the remains of the Báb, founder of the Bábí Faith and forerunner of Baháʼu'lláh in the Baháʼí Faith, are buried; it is considered to be the seco ...

* Baháʼí Terraces * Arc ** Seat of the Universal House of Justice ** International Teaching Centre Building ** Centre for the Study of the Sacred Texts ** International Archives * Monument Gardens * Site of the future House of Worship * House of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá * Resting place of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khanum * Pilgrim Houses: ** Eastern Pilgrim House ** 10 Haparsim Street ** 4 Haparsim Street Akká: * Garden of Ridván, Akká * House of ʻAbbúd * House of ʻAbdu'lláh Páshá * Mazra'ih The nine-day pilgrimage is open only to Baháʼís and their spouses who have applied to go on pilgrimage. Due to limited space at the Baháʼí holy sites, a maximum of 500 Baháʼís at one time are allowed to visit Haifa. Baháʼís have to wait up to six years to come and are only allowed to visit again after another five-year wait.

Notes

References

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External links