Ayyám-i-Há

Ayyám-i-Há or Intercalary Days are celebrated by people of the Bahá'í faith. At this time, days are added to the Bahá'í calendar to maintain their solar calendar.

Why is it important?

The Bahá╩╝í Faith is a relatively new religion teaching the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Bahá╩╝u'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the Middle East, where it has faced ongoing persecution since its inception.

Ayyám-i-Há is a period of intercalary days in the Bahá╩╝í calendar, when Bahá╩╝ís celebrate the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há. The four or five days of this period are inserted between the last two months of the calendar (Mulk and ╩╗Alá╩╝). The length of Ayyám-i-Há varies according to the timing of the following vernal equinox so that the next year always starts on the vernal equinox.

Intercalary days are observed with gift-giving, special acts of charity, and preparation for the fasting that precedes the New Year.

Significance

The Báb

The Báb, the founder of the Bábí Faith, instituted the Badí╩╗ calendar in the Persian Bayán with 19 months of 19 days each and a period of intercalary days to allow for the calendar to be solar. The introduction of intercalation marked an important break from Islam, as under the Islamic calendar the practice of intercalation had been condemned in the Qur╩╝an.

The Intercalary Days

The Báb did not, however, specify where the intercalary days should go.  Bahá╩╝u'lláh, who claimed to be the one foretold by the Báb, confirmed and adopted the Badí╩╗ calendar in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, his book of laws. He placed the intercalary days before the fasting month of ╩╗Alá, the nineteenth and last month, and gave the intercalary days the name "Ayyám-i-Há" or "Days of Ha". Prior to 172 B.E. (2015 A.D.), Ayyám-i-Há was from sunset on February 25 to sunset on March 1.

source: Wikipedia.org

A commemoration of God's transcendence

Ayyám-i-Há means "Days of Há"

Intercalary Days commemorate the transcendence of God over his attributes since "Há" has been used as a symbol of the essence of God in the Bahá╩╝í holy writings. Under the Arabic abjad system (a decimal alphabetic numeral system/alphanumeric code, in which the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet are assigned numerical values), the letter Há has the numerical value of five, which is equal to the maximum number of days in Ayyám-i-Há in the Badí╩╗ calendar.

Celebrations

During the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há Bahá╩╝ís are encouraged to celebrate God and his oneness by showing love, fellowship and unity.

In many instances Bahá╩╝ís give and accept gifts to demonstrate these attributes, and because of this gift giving period, it is sometimes compared to Christmas, but many Baha'is only exchange small gifts because gifts are not the main focus.

It is also a time of charity and goodwill and Bahá╩╝ís often participate in various projects of a humanitarian nature.