Hundreds of people that practice the Baha’i Faith in Tampa are in the midst of their annual 19-day fast for spiritual reawakening.
Those of the Baha’i Faith, who believe all religions are connected by one God and that all people are equal in God’s eyes, spend time each day between sunrise and sunset renewing their spiritual connection with God and detaching from their own physical needs. The fast runs from March 2 to March 20 after which the Baha’is celebrate their New Year, or Naw-Ruz – New Day.
“In thousands upon thousands of locations around the world, the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith inspire individuals and communities as they work to improve their own lives and contribute to the advancement of civilization,” according to the Baha’i official website.
“Bahá’í beliefs address such essential themes as the oneness of God and religion, the oneness of humanity and freedom from prejudice, the inherent nobility of the human being, the progressive revelation of religious truth, the development of spiritual qualities, the integration of worship and service, the fundamental equality of the sexes, the harmony between religion and science.”
Finding their faith
The faith also addresses the centrality of justice in all human endeavors, the importance of education, and the dynamics of relationships that bind individuals, communities, and institutions.
It is that theme of equality and oneness that drew Monique Stevens into the Baha’i faith.
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“If you consider my entire family was Christian Baptist, I didn’t really go to church but read the Bible. I really felt a connection,” she said. A childhood friend handed her a book when she was just 10 years old, a book about the Baha’i faith.
“I felt it had magical properties,” Stevens said, something that came back into her life 13 years later as she sought a religion that shared her life values.
She visited many churches in the Chicago area where she lived, but always something seemed to be missing. “I felt like most of the Christians I knew went to church on Sunday, but that it did not seem to rule their behavior.”
Every religion, she thought, excluded certain individuals.
“I remembered back to when I was 10. I got in my little car and drove from Chicago to Wilmette” to the Mother Temple for Baha’i. “Oh, my goodness, was I just blown away. The temple was physically beautiful, but more importantly, I went to the visitor’s center and the principles I learned were what I had always believed. That we are all praying to the same God.”
Everyone may not have the same social practices, “but those are very minor things when you think about the things that are similar,” said Stevens, a Tampa media specialist. “God sent us guidance to help us, not to divide us.”
That guidance came from a series of divine educators – Mohammed, Jesus Christ, Krishna, Buddha and others, she said. The Baha’i see them all as God’s messengers.
And that includes Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these messengers, who explained to the Persian community that the religions of the world are part of successive chapters of one religion.
The Baha’i faith in Tampa
Fariba Cavitt, who moved to the United States from Iran in 1977, is a fifth generation Baha’i. “We believe there is only one God,” she said. “Baha’is have a unity, which is the overarching principal of the faith. Baha’is believe humanity is one family, all members of one family, regardless of national origin, race and ethnicity. We believe all religions are actually one progressive ever-evolving process, that God speaks to humanity from time to time.”
To Stevens, the main principal is unity in diversity. “We don’t want everybody to be the same. God created us all different, like flowers in a garden, but those flowers blend together.”
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The Baha’i Faith uses a progressive set of social teachings to reach peace and tranquility, according to the official website:
- Independent Investigation of truth
- Elimination of all prejudice
- The oneness of humanity
- One essential foundation for all religions
- Religion should cause love, affection, and joy
- The harmony of science and religion
- A universal auxiliary language
- Universal compulsory education
- Gender equality
- Establishing a world parliament
- The abolition of extreme wealth and poverty
- Keeping religion out of politics
- Human rights for all
“I always believed the average person, regardless of race, social class or nationality, fundamentally want the same things,” Stevens said. “We want our children to be safe and peace in the world. When I found Baha’i, it was like ding-ding-ding!”
Cavitt, who lives in St. Petersburg, said practicing the Baha’i faith has made her a better person and her children better people. “My daughter accuses me of having a positive outlook” of the world, she said, laughing. “People who know me see the impact.”
Click here to learn more about the Baha’i faith community in the Tampa Bay area.
