[Baha’u’llah and the New Era by J.E. Esslemont]@TWC D-Link bookBaha’u’llah and the New Era CHAPTER 6: PRAYER 11/25
This is the mystery of supplication and the wisdom of stating one's wants.
(from a tablet to an American believer, translated by 'Ali Kuli _Kh_an, October 1908). Baha'u'llah has revealed three daily obligatory prayers.
The believer is free to choose any one of these three prayers, but is under the obligation of reciting one of them, and in the manner Baha'u'llah has prescribed. Congregational Prayer The prayers which Baha'u'llah has ordained as a daily obligation for Baha'is are to be said privately.
Only in the case of the Prayer for the Dead has Baha'u'llah commanded congregational prayer, and the only requirement is that the believer who reads it aloud, and all others present, should stand.
This differs from the Islamic practice of congregational prayer in which the believers stand in rows behind an imam, who leads the prayer, which is prohibited in the Baha'i Faith. These ordinances, which are in accordance with Baha'u'llah's abolition of professional clergy, do not mean that He attached no value to meetings for worship.
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