Each day the Bahá'í chooses one of three revealed obligatory prayers — short, medium, or long — the fixed point of Bahá'í devotion.
Tagged: Daily Prayer Prayer Sacred time Bahá'í
How It Is Practiced
Bahá'u'lláh revealed three obligatory prayers and left the choice among them to the believer: the Short, recited at midday ('I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee'); the Medium, recited morning, noon, and evening with prescribed washings and postures; and the Long, recited once in twenty-four hours, with standings, bowings, and prostrations woven through its text. They are prayed in private, facing the Qiblih (Bahjí, in Israel, the direction of Bahá'u'lláh's resting place), and are among the very few Bahá'í laws binding on every believer from fifteen to seventy.
Purpose and Meaning
Bahá'í devotion balances the revealed prayer with the believer's own: beside the obligatory prayer stand hundreds of prayers revealed by the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá for every occasion, read in a flowing, chant-like tone at dawn and evening in countless homes. The theology is of the mirror: prayer polishes the heart until it reflects — 'the state of prayer,' 'Abdu'l-Bahá taught, 'is the best of conditions.'
References
- Prayer in the Bahá'í Faith — Wikipedia Free / open access
Related Practices
- The Three Daily Prayers — Jewish devotion is structured by three daily services — morning, afternoon, and evening — built around the Shema and the Amidah.
- Ṣalāh — The Five Daily Prayers — Five times a day, at hours set by the sun, Muslims stop and pray: the standing, bowing, and prostration that structure the Islamic day.
- The Quiet Time — The quiet time is a daily period alone with Scripture and prayer, usually in the morning, kept by evangelical Christians around the world.
Related Across the Site
- The Bahá'í Fast Devotion — For the nineteen days of the month of ʿAlāʾ, the last month before the spring New Year, Bahá'ís fast from sunrise to sunset.
- The Nineteen Day Feast Devotion — Every nineteen days, at the opening of each Bahá'í month, the community gathers for devotion, consultation, and fellowship — the basic unit of Bahá'í communal life.
- The Three Daily Prayers Devotion — Jewish devotion is structured by three daily services — morning, afternoon, and evening — built around the Shema and the Amidah.
- Ṣalāh — The Five Daily Prayers Devotion — Five times a day, at hours set by the sun, Muslims stop and pray: the standing, bowing, and prostration that structure the Islamic day.
- Bahá'í Obligatory Prayers Prayer or Creed — Three prayers revealed by Bahá'u'lláh — Short, Medium, and Long — of which each Bahá'í chooses one to recite daily.
- Jesus Prayer Prayer or Creed — A short, repeated invocation of Jesus asking for mercy, central to the Orthodox hesychast tradition.
- The Angelus Prayer or Creed — A thrice-daily prayer of versicles and Hail Marys commemorating the Annunciation and the Incarnation.
- The Lord's Prayer (Our Father) Prayer or Creed — The prayer Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 6 and Luke 11, shared by Christians of every tradition.