Keep the Faith Project: Community Curator Ruhy
As Edinburgh celebrates its 900th birthday, Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have been looking at what it means for the Capital’s past and present to be a city of faith. The Keep the Faith project aims to grow our collection of items which tell stories of people of faith who live/ have lived in Edinburgh. We’ve also recruited a group of community curators from across faith backgrounds to inform an exhibition, Four Seasons in Faith.
In the first of our blogs introducing the Keep The Faith project’s Community Curators, we meet Ruhy who is of the Bahá’í faith.
My name is Ruhy, and I am a member of the Bahá’í Faith. Although born and brought up in England, Scotland has been my home for the last 43 years. I am of Iranian heritage, and was raised within a Bahá’í family. My late husband, who was brought up in Ayrshire, was also a Bahá’í having first come across the Faith when he moved to Edinburgh at the age of 18. My children were all born in Edinburgh, and I consider Edinburgh to be my home. Baháʼu'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, teaches us that “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” This is how as Bahá’ís we aspire to be; considering all peoples to be members of one human family.
The Bahá’í Faith is an independent world religion originating in Persia (Iran) in the middle of the nineteenth century. Bahá’ís are followers of Baháʼu'lláh, who we believe is the latest of the Messengers sent from God to guide humanity. Our most fundamental need at this stage of our collective development as human beings living on one planet is to recognise that we are one and are interconnected and interdependent.
For His teachings, Baháʼu'lláh was imprisoned and exiled. He passed away in 1892 in the Holy Land, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Our spiritual and administrative centres are in the Holy Land (modern day Israel) as a consequence of this. The Faith has spread all over the globe.
Edinburgh has a long-standing connection with our faith as ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Son of Baháʼu'lláh and His successor, visited our city in January 1913, as the guest of Reverend Alexander Whyte and his wife Jane. Reverend Whyte was a Free Church minister and also the Principal of the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Mrs Jane Whyte first met ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1906 when she visited Him in the Holy Land whilst He was still a prisoner of the Ottomans. Once He was freed after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, and then visited Britain in 1911, Mrs Whyte invited Him to Edinburgh to meet the many and varied citizens of the city and speak to them about the teachings of the faith. The Whyte residence was in Charlotte Square.
From those early beginnings the Bahá’í faith is now well-established in Edinburgh, and our Bahá’í Centre is in Albany Street. We do not have any clergy, with each Bahá’í responsible for reading from the Writings morning and evening themselves. As a Bahá’í I observe saying my daily obligatory prayer, and also an annual 19 Day Fast (sunrise to sunset) before our Bahá’í New Year (Naw-Rúz). We have many beautiful prayers and Writings revealed by the three Central Figures of our faith (the Báb, Baháʼu'lláh, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá). Bahá’í communities meet every day for 19 days to observe the 19 Day Fast. This has three sections, starting with prayers and readings from our Writings, followed by an administrative portion where we consult on matters pertaining to the community. We then have a social section where we have refreshments and have an opportunity to meet each other. We observe 9 Holy Days a year. These are special days when we try to have time off work or school. I have had the bounty of having been able to go on a Bahá’í pilgrimage to visit our Holy Places in the Holy Land. Pilgrimage is a profoundly spiritual experience.
Being a Bahá’í is about being actively involved with community building, working with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, faiths and beliefs in order to build flourishing, vibrant communities. We emphasise the importance of spiritual and moral education of children, junior youth (11 – 15 years), and young people. Words go hand-in-hand with acts of service decided upon by participants in neighbourhood activities themselves, having consulted locals about their needs. What we do within Edinburgh, and Scotland, along with active participants from a wide range of backgrounds, is an example of what Bahá’ís do worldwide within the same framework for action.
Everyone is welcome to come along and investigate more about the Bahá’í faith and join in gatherings open to all!