Ayyam-i-Ha Party & Potluck

By Anita Jafari Cleven and Venustiano Olguín

You may be wondering what this means…hmm? Ask any Baha’i and he or she will tell you that Ayyam-i-Ha marks a very special time of year on the calendar of the Baha’i Faith. The Baha’i calendar is based on a solar calendar that has 365 days in a year and 366 days in leap years. The calendar consists of 19 months each containing 19 days; therefore, this leaves 4 to 5 days respectively, which do not belong to any month.

These days are known as the days of the Ha (Ha is an Arabic letter corresponding to numerical value of 5) and hence the name Ayyam-i-Ha. “The letter Ha has also been given several spiritual meanings in the Holy Writings, among which is a symbol of the Essence of God” It is during these 4 to 5 days known as intercalary days from sunset on February 25 to sunset of March 1st whereby the festival of Ayyam-i-Ha takes place.

Baha'u'llah has said of Ayyam-i-Ha:

"It behoveth the people of Baha, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name."

During this time members of the faith perform acts of charity through gift giving to family and friends, and celebrate.This year the Beaverton Bahá’i community will celebrate Ayyam-i-Ha on Saturday, February 26, 2011 with a potluck dinner at 6:00 p.m. and a program at 7:00 p.m. The program will feature music and entertainment. Ten minutes after the start of the general program, the children will be excused to attend a special attraction featuring a clown. The festivities will take place at the Beaverton Bahá’i Center located at 5355 SW Murray Blvd Beaverton, Oregon 97005. All are welcome!