CENTENARY OF THE PASSING OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHA
Saturday 27 November 2021 marks one hundred years since the death of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh. The name ‘Abdu’l-Bahá means ‘Servant of the Glory’ and he faithfully served his father throughout his long life, travelling to many countries in the West and the Middle East, and leading the expanding worldwide Bahá’í community from his father’s passing in 1892 until his own death in 1921.
We are developing new materials which will be useful for schools during this centenary year and later. Please come back to this page for regular updates.
BICENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE BAB
On 29 October 2019, Bahá’ís worldwide celebrated 200 years since the birth of the forerunner of Bahá’u’lláh, known as the Báb (meaning ‘Gate’).
Some materials have been produced for schools especially for this event:
- A PowerPoint presentation on the life of the Báb. This presentation also includes the story of Táhirih, his most significant female follower and a martyr for women’s rights
- A simple worksheet to go with the presentation
- A short play on the life of Táhirih to be performed by a class
- The cast list and some useful notes about the play.
These materials are suitable for KS3 and upper KS2. They can also be used at times other than this Bicentenary.
BICENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF BAHA’U’LLAH
In 2017 Bahá’ís commemorated 200 years since the birth of the faith’s founder, Bahá’u’lláh.
Schools across the UK took the opportunity to invite visitors from their local Bahá’í community to present assemblies and classroom sessions about Bahá’u’lláh, his life and teachings. We hope that teachers and pupils will feel inspired to research the background to this exciting event, and carry out extension activities even now the date has passed.
Schools across the UK took the opportunity to invite visitors from their local Bahá’í community to present assemblies and classroom sessions about Bahá’u’lláh, his life and teachings. We hope that teachers and pupils will feel inspired to research the background to this exciting event, and carry out extension activities even after the date has passed.
If you are already in contact with local Bahá’ís, they will be delighted to come into your school. Or you can fill in your school’s details on the School Visitors page and we will put you in touch.
Resources available to mark this bicentenary (but suitable for use at other times) include:
- an assembly on the core concept of ‘unity’ for KS1 and KS2 (Powerpoint)
- a lesson based around the life of Bahá’u’lláh for KS2 and KS3 (Powerpoint)
- a 17-minute film, Bahá’u’lláh – the Divine Physician (YouTube) designed to inform and inspire young people and encourage them to examine their own lives and capacities for service to humanity. The film is suitable for everyone from age 9, and is particularly relevant to KS3 (age 11-14). Download a flyer for the film here; and you can also request the flyer in paper form by using the contact form on this site
- notes for teachers (PDF) to support the use of the film in a classroom setting
If you are a Bahá’í and are invited to give a classroom session on the Bahá’í Faith, you may like to run one of the Powerpoint presentations or show the film Bahá’u’lláh – the Divine Physician. You will find advice and ideas for activities to accompany the presentations and the film on the RE Resources page of the UK Bahá’í Downloads website (login required).
Please let Bahá’í RE know how you get on!