March

March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, coming between February and April. It has 31 days. March generally occurs during the months of ‘Alá’ and Bahá in the Badi calendar, occasionally beginning during Ayyám-i-Há.

Events

Recurring

• The feasts of ‘Alá’ and Bahá take place in the month of March.
• The Bahá’í Fast takes place during the month of ‘Alá’ each year, coinciding with the beginning of the month of March.
• Naw-Rúz, the Bahá’í new year, takes place on the first day of the month of Bahá. Work is to be suspended on this day.

Historical

The following are examples of historical events which happened on each day of the month of March.

March 1

• 1897: Shoghi Effendi, the great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh, is born in the House of 'Abdu'lláh Páshá in 'Akká.
• 2017: The Universal House of Justice writes to the Bahá'ís of the world about the economic life of society.
• 2019: The Ngungu Center for Community Agriculture opens in Kabwe, Zambia, sponsored by the Bahá’í-inspired Inshindo Foundation.

March 2

March 3

• 1935: Birth of Universal House of Justice member Glenford E. Mitchell.

March 4

• 1845: The Báb sets sail for Búshihr but stops in Muscat for two months.
• 1876: ‘Azíz’u’lláh Mesbah, headmaster of the Tarbíyat School, is born.
• 1910: Hand of the Cause Hají Ákhúnd passes away.
• 1929: The Council of the League of Nations upholds the claim of the Bahá’í community to the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad.
• 1954: The first Bahá'í pioneers arrive in Kiribati, settling on the island of Abaiang (aka Charlotte Island, of the Gilbert Islands).

March 5

• 1855: Birth of Hyde Dunn, appointed posthumously as a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi
• 2008: Mahvash Sabet, a member of the Baha'i 7, is summoned to Mashhad and arrested.

March 6

March 7

March 8

• 1873: Marriage of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Munírih Khánum.
• 1900: At a meeting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Ibrahim Kheiralla announces that he no longer accepts ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as leader of the Bahá’í Faith.
• 1917: 'Abdu'l-Bahá reveals the last of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, addressed to the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.

March 9

March 10

• 1866: Bahá'u'lláh moves from the house of Amru'lláh in Adrianople, which was shared with Mírzá Yahyá, to the house of Ridá Big. This is now known as the 'Most Great Separation'.
• 2014: The first grandchild of Behrouz Tavakkoli, one of the seven Bahá'í leaders imprisoned in Iran, is born in Canada.

March 11

• March 11: The Bahá'í International Community presents a statement at the 63rd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York City.

March 12

March 13

March 14

• 1914: Richard Nolen, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh named for pioneering to Azores, is born.

March 15

• 1938: Mary Thornburgh-Cropper, first Bahá’í in England, dies.
• 1973: The house at Mazra'ih, where Bahá’u’lláh lived for two years, is purchased.

March 16

• 1900: A ten member Bahá'í Board of Council is established in Chicago.
• 1906: Borrah Kavelin, member of the Universal House of Justice, is born.
• 2009: The Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court rejects an appeal challenging the right of Bahá’ís in Egypt to be explicitly identified on official documents.
• 2011: The seven Bahá’í leaders imprisoned in Iran are told their original 20-year jail terms have been reinstated.

March 17

• 2019: The Bahá'í World News Service is made available in French and Spanish.

March 18

• 1992: Iranian Bahá’í Bahman Samandari is executed after having been arrested and held without charge; government officials claim he was a Zionist spy.

March 19

• 1856: At the request of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’u’lláh returns to Baghdad after His period of seclusion in the Sulaymaniyyih mountains of Kurdistan.
• 1856: Louis Bourgeois, architect and designer of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, is born in Saint-Célestin-de-Nicolet, Quebec.
• 1965: Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Korea.

March 20

• 1848: Mullá Ḥusayn visits the Báb at the fortress of Máh-Kú.
• 1909: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá inters the remains of the Báb on the spot chosen by Bahá’u’lláh years earlier.

March 21

• 1909: The mortal remains of the Báb are laid to rest in the Shrine of the Báb after 59 years in hiding.
• 1909: Opening of the first American Bahá’í Convention
• 1993: The Kitáb-i-Aqdas is released in English with commentary.

March 22

March 23

• 2019: Ground is broken for the construction of the first local Baha’i House of Worship in Africa, in Matunda Soy, Kenya.

March 24

• 1937: Shoghi Effendi marries Mary Maxwell, entitled Rúhíyyih Khánum. The wedding was a symbol of the uniting of the East and West.

March 25

• 1912: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá boards the RMS Cedric in Alexandria, heading for the United States.
• 1952: Death of well-known Canadian architect and Hand of the Cause William Maxwell.
• 1957: Death of Hand of the Cause George Townshend.
• 1992: Death of Hand of the Cause and prominent American Bahá’í William Sears.
• 1998: Death of Universal House of Justice member Hugh Chance.

March 26

• 1916: 'Abdu'l-Bahá reveals the first of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, addressed to the Bahá'ís of the Northeast United States.
• 2016: The Universal House of Justice addresses a message to the Bahá'ís of the World to commemorate the centenary of the first of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan.

March 27

• 1849: Royal troops build fortifications around the Fort of Shaykh Tabarsi and begin bombarding it.
• 1863: The Tablet of the Holy Mariner is publicly read to the Bábís in Baghdad on the fifth day of Naw-Rúz.
• 1864: A. L. M. Nicolas, European scholar who wrote about the Báb, is born.
• 1885: Knight of Bahá’u’lláh Charles Dunning is born.
• 1987: The National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa officially changes its name to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of South Africa.

March 28

• 1847: The Báb, on His way to Tehran at the Sháh's request, is diverted instead to Kulayn at the orders of Hájí Mírzá Áqásí.
• 1911: William Sears, Hand of the Cause and prominent American Bahá’í, is born.
• 1912: The RMS Cedric arrives in Naples with ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and his retinue on board, on their way to New York City.

March 29

• 1829: Nabíl-i-Akbar (pictured), Apostle of Bahá’u’lláh, is born near Bírjand, Persia.
• 1849: The Battle of Fort Ṭabarsí is mentioned in the Journal de Constantinople; it is among the first direct mentions of the Báb in the contemporary press.
• 1888: Edward Granville Browne gives a talk on 'Bábism' at the Essay Society in Newcastle, England.
• 1942: Louise and Joseph Sawyer host a reception for Ruth Moffett and Esther Sego, the first racially integrated meeting among the Bahá'ís of North Carolina.
• 2006: Death of Ruth Katharine Meyer, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh, named for pioneering to Margarita Island.

March 30

• 1848: Mullá Ḥusayn travels to Mázindarán on the instructions of the Báb, visiting Khuy, Urúmíyyih, Marághih, Mílán, Tabríz, Zanján, Qazvín and Tihrán on the way.
• 1903: A Tablet from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is received by the Chicago House of Spirituality, approving the request to construct an American Mashriqu'l-Adhkár.
• 1913: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá departs Paris for Stuttgart, Germany.
• 1937: Future Universal House of Justice member Hooper Dunbar is born.

March 31

• 1898: Fifty lunar years after His execution, the remains of the Báb arrive in the Holy Land.
• 1907: The Bahá'í calendar is used in North America for the first time.
• 1932: The Local Spiritual Assembly of New York City is incorporated; its constitution and by-laws are later used as a model by other Assemblies worldwide.
• 1963: During a televised interview in the United States, King Hasan of Morocco claimed that the Bahá'í Faith was not a religion and was "against good order and also morals".