Bahai World Center

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Bahai World Center
The Hanging Gardens of the Baha'i are a symbol of peace and a place of rest in the middle of the city of Haifa on Mount Carmel. They are among the most visited tourist attractions in Israel.

The administrative and spiritual world center of the Bahai ( Bahá'í World Center ) is located in Haifa , Israel . Next to the Shrine of Bab , on Mount Carmel, there is the House of Justice , the International Teaching Center, the International Archive and the Center for the Study of Sacred Texts.

A variety of Baha'i holy sites are located at the Baha'i World Center. These include the shrines in which the remains of the Bab , Bahāʾullāhs , ʿAbdul -Baha and their immediate family members are kept. This also includes the houses in which the Baha'u'llah family lived during their exile or which are particularly related to the religious events. Many of these buildings, monuments and shrines are located in a lavishly landscaped garden on Mount Carmel and are open to Baha'i pilgrims from all over the world.

Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel can be found in various sources in the history of religion . For example, the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament prophesies that it is "the Lord's Mountain" to which "all peoples will flow". Bahāʾullāh has visited Haifa four times and pitched his tent on Mount Carmel. During one of these visits he showed 'Abdul-Baha' the place where the tomb of Bab is to be built. Another time he wrote the so-called "Tablet of Carmel", which explains the importance of this mountain for the future Baha'i community.

Holy places in Haifa and Akko

Baha'i holy sites in Haifa and the western Galilee
UNESCO world heritage UNESCO World Heritage Emblem
Bahai Terraces.jpg
Shrine of Bab on Mount Carmel
National territory: IsraelIsrael Israel
Type: Culture
Criteria : iii, vi
Surface: 63 ha
Reference No .: 1220
UNESCO region : Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment: 2008  (session 32)

Shrine of the Bab

This mausoleum contains the bones of Bab and is located in the place that Bahāʾullāh himself chose when he was in Haifa. ʿAbdul-Baha 'was given the task of erecting this structure, to bring the mortal remains of Bab after 60 years of wandering from Tehran / Iran to the holy mountain of Carmel / Israel and to bury them. This is also where ʿAbdul-Baha's tomb is located, which is to be relocated in due course if a corresponding shrine has been built for him.

Bahāʾullāhs Shrine

This is where the remains of Bahāʾullāh are located. According to Shoghi Effendi, "the most sacred dust that the earth has ever received in its lap" is buried here. Bahāʾullāh was buried in the northernmost room in the house of his son-in-law Siyyid 'Ali Afnan on the day of his death on May 29, 1892 shortly after sunset. A separate covered entrance was later built to this room. Several Baha'i, who mostly visit the holy places as part of their pilgrimage, come here every day for silent prayers and meditations. But this place is also of great importance for all Baha'i in the world, because as " Qiblih " it sets the direction for the compulsory prayers that the Baha'i are asked to say every day, and the prayer for the dead .

Ridvan garden

This small green island in the middle of a river was called the Garden of Ridvan (Arabic: "Paradise") by Bahāʾullāh and is not to be confused with the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad , where Bahāʾullāh announced his mission in 1863. Here, after almost a decade in prison in Akko , Bahāʾullāh was able to leave the enclosures of Akko prison for the first time and experience nature. Until then, his physical movement had consisted only of pacing up and down his bedroom.

Bahji country house

Bahji country house is located on a hill in an area that was formerly known as Al-Bahja (Arabic: "place of joy"). After an epidemic, the owners fled this former summer palace of a wealthy merchant named Udi Khammar, who originally owned the eastern half of the Abbud family. In 1879 ʿAbdul-Baha 'acquired this country house and it became the residence of a large part of his family. Various rooms in this house are of particular historical importance to the Baha'i.

Abbud's house

Bahāʾullāh lived in the two-part building known as "House Abbud" for almost seven years. It was too small a building for the number of members of the Bahāʾullāh family, as 13 people had to live in one room in some places. Despite the adverse conditions, the holiest book of the Baha'i, the Kitab-i-Aqdas , was revealed here in 1873 .

Bahá'u'lláh's cell in Akko prison

Citadel : north-west tower where Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned

The cell in Akko Prison , where Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned with relatives between 1868 and 1870, is a sanctuary accessible in the Museum of Prisoners of the Underground . Israeli Monument Preservation, the Baha'i World Council and the Old Accos Development Society restored the cell and reopened it in June 2004.

World heritage

In July 2008, UNESCO named the holy sites a World Heritage Site because of their function as pilgrimage sites for the Baha'i .

gallery

  • International teaching center

  • International Archives of the Baha'i Congregation

  • Center for the Study of the Sacred Texts

  • Shrine of the Bab

  • Bahāʾullāhs Shrine

  • Ridvan garden

  • Bahji country house

  • Abbud House

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “Holy place restored and open to pilgrims” (November 24, 2004), in: Bahá'í World News Service: The official news source of the worldwide Bahá'í community , accessed on June 12, 2018.
  2. ^ Three new sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. UNESCO World Heritage Center, July 8, 2008, accessed October 16, 2009 .
  3. ^ Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage. (PDF; 524 kB) World Heritage Committee, June 2, 2007, p. 34 , accessed on October 16, 2009 (English).

literature

  • Bahāʾullāh: Tablet from Carmel in: Messages from Akka . Revealed according to the Kitab-i-Aqdas . Bahai-Verlag, Hofheim 1982, ISBN 3-87037-143-9 ( online ).
  • Baha'ullah: Gleanings (5th edition) . Bahai Verlag, Hofheim-Langenhain 2003, ISBN 3-87037-406-3 , chap. 11 ( online ).
  • Bahai Holy Places at the World Center . Haifa 1968.
  • R. Rabbani: The Priceless Pearl . Bahá'í Publishing Trust, London 1969, ISBN 1-870989-91-0 .
  • Ugo Giachery : Shoghi Effendi Recollections . Oxford 1973, ISBN 0-85398-050-0 .
  • Adib Taherzadeh: The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh . Ed .: George Ronald. Oxford 1977, ISBN 0-85398-071-3 .
  • Eunice Braun: Crown of Carmel: The Baha'i Religion and the Holy Land . Oxford 1982, ISBN 3-900443-04-1 .
  • Hasan Balyuzi : Abdu'l-Bahá: The Center of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh . Ed .: George Ronald. Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-85398-043-8 .
  • Peter Smith: A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith . Oneworld Publications, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-1-85168-184-6 .
  • Moojan Momen: Bahá'í World Center . In: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States (Ed.): Bahá'í Encyclopedia Project . Evanston, IL 2009 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Bahai World Center  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 32 ° 48 ′ 52 ″  N , 34 ° 59 ′ 13 ″  E