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| بغداد Baghdad | ||
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| City in Iraq | ||
From top, left to right: The door to the House of Bahá’u’lláh; young Baha'is of Baghdad in the Garden of Riḍván, 1930s; the Baghdád Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, 1920s; and a view of the Tigris River looking towards the former site of the Garden of Riḍván.
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| Location of Baghdad
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Baghdád (
pronunciation; AR: بغداد) is the capital of Iráq. The city was founded by the the first of the Abbasid caliphs in 762, as Medina-as-Salaam (sometimes quoted ar Dar-as-Salaam, and meaning "The Abode of Peace"), with the intention of it being a new capital for the Islamic state. However, the name Baghdad was already in use for one of the existing villages in the area, and people continued to use the name.
Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad[edit]
Bahá'u'lláh was exiled from Iran to Baghdad in 1853. Because of the travelling conditions they would have to face, Mirza Mihdi, then two years old, had to be left behind with his grandmother. The Blessed Beauty was in Iraq for approximately ten years. During that time, He was able to re-invigorate the Bábi community. He became well-known and well-loved within the city, and used to frequent the coffee houses there. His own spiritual pre-eminence shone through, and on the point of leaving the city, He announced that He was the Promised One of all ages.
The Garden of Ridván[edit]
When the letter from the Sultán came through to Baghdád, "inviting" Bahá'u'lláh to come to Constantinople, a great commotion ensued. The Holy Family had to make arrangements to sell the house and furniture, and had to choose belongings and acquire provisions for the long journey. Bahá'u'lláh Himself was invited by a significant personage in the city to use his garden, on the other side of the river, as a temporary camp for the Blessed Beauty to stay while the household was undergoing the upheaval. Bahá'u'lláh then gave the name, the Garden of Ridván (Paradise) to this place, (pictured right). On His first day in the garden, now celebrated as the first day of Ridván, He announced Himself to be the Promised One, and gave the first new Teachings of the new Revelation. One of these was the abolition of the waging of holy war in defence of one's religion.
On the ninth day, His family crossed the river to join Him, and on the twelfth day, they set out for Constantinople.
Bahá'í properties in the city[edit]
In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh ordains the Blessed House in Baghdad to be one of the centres of pilgrimage. However, the house was seized by enemies of the Faith. The Guardian initiated steps for its recovery. Iraq, at the time, was a Protectorate of the League of Nations, administered by the British. The legal case went through the international courts, which found in favour of the Bahá'ís, but the keys to the building were still not returned. The House became, at some point, a Seminary for Shi'ite clergy, and in recent years was demolished. Photographic records of the interior of the House are believed to exist.
More recent connections with the Faith[edit]
In 1963, Baghdad was chosen to be the city to host the first Bahá'í World Congress, but as the date got nearer, it was realised that this would not be a safe environment, and the Congress was switched to London.
Under the Baathist régime, persons discovered to be Bahá'ís in Iraq were expelled from the country, but after the fall of that government, invitations went out to all the Bahá'ís known to be in the city (around 150) to attend a meeting to re-elect the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Baghdad. Later, the National Spiritual Assembly was re-elected.
