We are happy to announce that UK Bahá’í News is now available on mobile devices. You can access our posts on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. Read more »
Bahá’í Riḍván Reception 2012 hosted in the House of Commons
Parliamentarians from both Houses, foreign diplomats, media professionals, and representatives from various faith communities and civil society organisations joined members of the Bahá’í community on the Terrace of the House of Commons on 23 April to celebrate the Festival of Riḍván. Riḍván, which means ‘Paradise’, is the most significant festival for Bahá’ís. It commemorates the occasion when, in 1863, Bahá’u’lláh, entered into a beautiful garden outside of Baghdad, named the Riḍván Garden, and announced His station as a Manifestation of God. The reception was hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Friends of the Bahá’ís Group (APPG), which [...] Read more »
World calls for unconditional release of Bahá’í leaders and other Iranian prisoners of conscience
Bahá’í leaders in Iran imprisoned for 10,000 days The plight of Iran’s seven imprisoned Bahá’í leaders has been capturing the public’s attention in London and 11 other major cities across the world, where a day of action marked the combined total of 10,000 days that the seven have so far spent in prison. In an initiative coordinated by human rights organization United4Iran, the image of the seven was widely displayed on Sunday 1 April – on mobile billboards, buses, bicycles, a canal boat, and T-shirts. The billboard image of the Bahá’í leaders was made [...] Read more »
Bahá’í Centre hosts low budget interfaith lunch to tackle extreme poverty and malaria
What is it like to live on £1 per day? Representatives from seven religions came together at the National Bahá’í Centre on 1 March to share a lunch, costing just 70p per person, in support of the charity challenge “Live Below the Line”. Nearly one and a half billion people live on this budget every day, not only for food but for all their daily needs. During the lunch guests from the Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh faiths discussed their perspectives on faith, food, poverty and malaria. A video of the lunch can [...] Read more »
Youth panel discusses rural women at House of Commons seminar
Tom Brake MP wants to stay in touch with a panel of young people who joined him in the House of Commons on 27 March to discuss the lives of rural women. Representatives of the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO) and other NGOs also took part in the discussion. Mr Brake, the Liberal Democrats’ equalities spokesperson and a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Friends of the Bahá’ís praised the panel’s balance of practical suggestions and theoretical ideas. He was particularly taken with the use of consultative decision-making to empower rural women and give them a voice. [...] Read more »
Bahá’í Centre hosts youth panel discussion with UK Equalities Minister on the lives of rural women
Lynne Featherstone MP (centre) with members of the youth panel on rural women UK Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone MP joined a youth panel and a number of guests on 15 March at the National Bahá’í Centre in London to discuss the empowerment of rural women. The minister and panellists shared insights from their participation in this year’s UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and continued the debate on those issues within the UK. In a dynamic series of presentations the five youth panellists explored different dimensions of the need to empower rural women around [...] Read more »
Baha’i Centre hosts national launch of A Year of Service
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles MP joined faith leaders at the National Bahá’í Centre on 28 February 2012 to mark the launch of A Year of Service, a government initiative to promote collaborative social action. More than fifty individuals, including government officials and representatives from different religious communities, came to the National Centre to join hands in wrapping gifts and decorating cakes for homeless people in the area. The event coincided with the Bahá’í festival of Ayyám-i-Há, and was tied to its theme of charity, gift-giving and hospitality. A Year of Serviceis a programme in which [...] Read more »
Queen launches Diamond Jubilee year with multifaith reception
LONDON — Representatives of the United Kingdom Baha’i community joined members of eight other religions at a special gathering to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. At a reception held at Lambeth Palace – official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury – Baha’is, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and Zoroastrians discussed their beliefs with the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, and showed them treasured objects from the various faiths. Highlighting the ongoing centenary commemorations of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s travels to Egypt and the West, the Baha’i community [...] Read more »
UK Bahá’í Review available for download
Read about the activities of the UK Bahá’í community in the latest edition of UK Bahá’í Review, which you can download here. This edition has stories about the community’s celebrations for the centenary of the first of two visits paid by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá , eldest Son of Bahá’u'lláh and Head of the Bahá’í community to Britain. There are also thoughts from a Bahá’í perspective on last summer’s riots as well as features about the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran and Egypt. Read more »
Debate highlights dangerous escalation of religious persecution in Iran
Members of Parliament in the UK have sharply criticized Iran for its human rights violations, focusing especially on the “steep rise” in the persecution of religious minorities. In a debate held at Westminster Hall on Wednesday 11 January, MPs highlighted the fact that virtually every religious minority in Iran is now facing oppression. Some 19 MPs, representing the UK’s three major parties, participated in the debate. Watch video coverage of the debate, here. Read a transcript of the debate, here. In the opening speech, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, described the persecution of Baha’is [...] Read more »