Bahadi
BAHADI
Muslim sect, originated in the nineteenth century from a scission that appeared in Twelver Islam, whose credo it is that all religions come from the same divine source. In 1844, in Persia, Mirza Ali Muhammad (called el-Bab), who represented himself as "the door" (bab, in Arabic) of divine truth, was recognized by his followers as the Mahdi (Messiah). He was executed by the Persian authorities in 1850, but one of his disciples, Mirza Hosayn Ali Nuri (Bahaʾullah), took up his message in The Very Holy Book (Kitab-I-Aqdas). In the letters of invitation that he sent to the principal leaders of European states, Nuri invited them to join with him to "establish universal religion and peace." Later, expelled from Persia, Mirza Hosayn Ali Nuri took refuge in Acre (Palestine), where he died on 29 May 1892. His son, Abduʾl-Baha (Abbas Efendi), succeeded him as the head of the movement until his death in 1921. Bahaʾism venerates all the prophets of the great religions and preaches a syncretic religion, which has spread widely, especially to the United States and India. The Bahaʾi religion enjoys a presence in Israel and its world headquarters is in Haifa, where its founder is buried. The Bahaʾi calendar is based on the solar year and includes nineteen months of nineteen days each. The Bahaʾi celebrate their new year (Nowrouz) on 21 March.