‘An irreplaceable element’: Universal House of Justice releases message about family life on Naw Ruz
The international governing body of the Baha’i Faith, the Universal House of Justice, has released a gift to the Baha’is of the world, coinciding with the Baha’i new year.
The new message, dated 19 March 2025, looks at the family unit as “the basic building block of community, and beyond, of the entire social order”. Exploring family forms, arrangements, and definitions through time, the message highlights the key role families play in the building of healthy, vibrant communities, and asks us to consider “the characteristics of Baha’i family life and how are they distinguished from the way family life is understood in society today”.
Looking at the concept of marriage, children, the relationships which exist between family members and how the “characteristics of such familial relationships also extend to fellow Baha’is and other friends”, the message emphasises that “Baha’i family life opens an arena for dynamic interaction with the wider society.” With a flourishing of community-building endeavours unfolding across the world, the Universal House of Justice states:
The family members’ intimate association and their earnest desire to serve others opens a unique social space: a Bahá’í home. A vibrant Bahá’í home is an irreplaceable element in the process of community building at the grassroots. In the loving environs of the home, family members support one another in becoming capable and confident protagonists of the Divine Plan, and they welcome and assist others to play a part in transforming society. In a Bahá’í home, warm hospitality combines with spiritual quickening and intellectual progress. Through activities that every Bahá’í family can offer in its home, it can demonstrate a way of life that can be emulated by all those who seek to counteract the divisive forces that feed discontent, conflict, and self-interest, and to weave the bonds of trust, cooperation, and constructive action upon which a healthy community depends.
The Universal House of Justice
To read the message in its entirety, visit the Baha’i reference library here.
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The Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the international governing council of the Baha’i Faith. Ordained by Baha’u’llah in His book of laws, the Kitab-i-Aqdas, it is a nine-member body elected every five years by the entire membership of all national Baha’i assemblies.
Published in March, 2025, in Baha'i Institutions > Guidance
Available online at: horizons.bahai.org.au/bahai-institutions/an-irreplaceable-element-universal-house-of-justice-releases-message-about-family-life-on-naw-ruz/
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