By Svetlana Marshall 

More than 800 Bahá’is are spread across the 10 administrative regions of Guyana and they are joining the rest of the world in celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of the Báb – the founder of the Bahá’í Faith.

Born two centuries ago, in October 1819, the Báb announced that he was the bearer of a message destined to transform the life of humanity, which stood at the threshold of a new era. “He called for a spiritual and moral reformation, to improve the position of women and the lot of the poor. He founded a distinct and independent religion, inspiring His followers to transform their lives and carry out great acts of heroism. The Báb’s mission was to prepare the way for Bahá’u’lláh,” Treasurer of the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly, Jennifer Dewar said as she sat down for an interview with the Sunday Pepperpot.

Dewar, who has been a Baha’i for the past 40 years, said the teachings of the founders – Báb and Bahá’u’lláh – of the world’s religions have inspired remarkable achievements in literature, architecture, art, and music while fostering the promotion of reason, science and education.

The Bahá’i explained that the faith accepts other religions, and therefore view Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh as divine manifestations of God. “So in essence, we believe in, what we would call, progressive revelation, that there is only one God, his religion is one, and we can say that he reveals it in chapters,” Dewar told the Pepperpot Magazine. She said their moral principles have been translated into universal codes of law, regulating and elevating human relationships.

According to her, the Báb and the Baha’u’llah have brought with them universal education and placed tremendous emphasis on equality among the sexes. “Another principle that Baha’u’llah has brought is equality of the sexes. There are other religions that would let you, yes we believe in that too, but ask them to show you in the secret scriptures where it says…this is very clear in the Baha’i faith,” Dewar explained. She noted too that the divine leaders also believed that religion and science should go hand in hand. “If you have religion that has no scientific base then basically what you have is superstition or if you have science without ethical base then you can have a Frankenstein monster.”

Dewar, while sitting in the Bahai National Conference Centre in Georgetown, said though the faith is fairly young – with just 176 years in existence, and that Bahá’ís are spread right across Guyana.

In celebration of the Báb, the Bahá’ís are hosting a series of awareness sessions. “Usually our celebrations would comprise of devotions; we read from our sacred writings, and pray…and then we would have fellowship and refreshments,” Dewar explained.

Outside of the bicentenary celebration, the Bahai National Spiritual Assembly regularly meets at the Bahai National Conference Centre in Georgetown. It also carries out a number of programmes including a youth empowerment programme.

“Now we believe that the junior youth age is critical because as you go through adolescence and puberty, things are not only happening in your body but it is also happening in your intellect and that’s when the intellect becomes fixed and it becomes difficult after 15, 16 to try and influence young people,” Dewar explained.

The National Spiritual Assembly, consisting of nine members, is chaired by Alexi LaRose Fedee.