2005-05-24
Bahá'í Houses of Worship

A Bahá'í House of Worship is known as the
Dawning-place of the Praise of God, or Mashriqu'l-Adhkár

PURPOSE

"O people of the world! Build ye houses of worship throughout the lands in the name of Him Who is the Lord of all religions. Make them as perfect as is possible in the world of being, and adorn them with that which befitteth them, not with images and effigies. Then, with radiance and joy, celebrate therein the praise of your Lord, the Most Compassionate. Verily, by His  remembrance the eye is cheered and the heart is filled with light."
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 29)

"The Bahá'í House of Worship is dedicated to the praise of God. The House of Worship forms the central edifice of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (the Dawning-place of the Praise of God), a complex which, as it unfolds in the future, will comprise in addition to the House of Worship a number of dependencies dedicated to social, humanitarian, educational, and scientific pursuits. 'Abdu'l-Bahá describes the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár as 'one of the most vital institutions in the world', and Shoghi Effendi indicates that it exemplifies in tangible form the integration of 'Bahá'í worship and service'.

"Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship."
(`Abdu'l-Bahá, Divine Philosophy, p. 83)

"Anticipating the future development of this institution, Shoghi Effendi envisages that the House of Worship and its dependencies 'shall afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to the poor, shelter to the wayfarer, solace to the bereaved, and education to the ignorant'. In the future, Bahá'í Houses of Worship will be constructed in every town and village."
(Bahá'u'lláh: Kitáb-i-Aqdas: Notes, pp. 190-191)

    Spiritual Meaning
"Although to outward seeming the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár is a material structure, yet it hath a spiritual effect. It forgeth bonds of unity from heart to heart; it is a collective centre for men's souls."
('Abdu'l-Bahá: Selections ... 'Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 95)

    A Universal Shelter
"That is why Bahá'u'lláh has commanded that a place of worship be built ... that all religions, races and sects may come together within its universal shelter; that the proclamation of the oneness of mankind shall go forth from its open courts of holiness - the announcement that humanity is the servant of God and that all are submerged in the ocean of His mercy. It is the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. The world of existence may be likened to this temple and place of worship. For just as the external world is a place where the people of all races and colors, varying faiths, denominations and conditions come together - just as they are submerged in the same sea of divine favors - so, likewise, all may meet under the dome of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár and adore the one God in the same spirit of truth; for the ages of darkness have passed away, and the century of light has come. Ignorant prejudices are being dispelled, and the light of unity is shining. The differences existing between nations and peoples will soon be annulled, and the fundamentals of the divine religions, which are no other than the oneness and solidarity of the human race, are being established."
('Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 65-66)

GENERAL DESIGN CRITERIA

"The essentials of the design, as stipulated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá are that the building should be nine-sided, and circular in shape. Aside from this, the architect is not restricted in any way in choosing his style of design."
(Shoghi Effendi: Light of Divine Guidance Vol.1, p. 216)

With regard to the House of Worship in Germany, Shoghi Effendi advised,
"... you should plan a building with a central Dome. He thinks it would enhance the beauty of the structure now being planned for Frankfurt."
(Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance Vol. I, p. 229)
 

WORSHIP

"The real temple is the very Word of God;
for to it all humanity must turn, and it is the center of unity for all mankind."
 (`Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 65)

        Only the Word of God
“As regard the whole question of the Temple and services held in it: he wishes to emphasize that he is very anxious, now that this first and greatest Temple of the West has been built, and will, within a few years, be used for worship and regular services by the Bahá’ís, that no forms, no rituals, no set customs be introduced over and above the bare minimum outlined in the teachings. The nature of these gatherings is for prayer, meditation and the reading of Writings from the Sacred Scriptures of our Faith and other Faiths; there can be one or a number of readers; any Bahá’í chosen, or even, non-Bahá’í, may read. The gatherings should be simple, dignified, and designed to uplift the soul and educate it through hearing the Creative Word. No speeches may be made, no extraneous matter introduced."
(Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, April 11, 1947: Insert with Bahá’í News, No. 232, June 1950)

        No Pulpits or Sermons
"... 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi have made it clear that in the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (where sermons are prohibited and only the words of Holy Scripture may be read) the reader may stand or sit, and if necessary to be better heard, may use a low moveable platform, but that no pulpit is permitted. .... In one of His Tablets, when reiterating the prohibition of the use of pulpits in any location, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has stressed that when Bahá'ís deliver their speeches in gatherings, they are to do so in an attitude of utmost humility and self-abnegation."
(Bahá'u'lláh: Kitáb-i-Aqdas: Notes, p. 237)

        Only Vocal Music
"Vocal music alone may be used and the position of the singers or singer is also a matter for your Assembly to decide; but again, there should be no fixed point, no architectural details marking a special spot. Acoustics should certainly be the main consideration in placing the singers."
(Shoghi Effendi: Lights of Guidance, #2061)

Some Descriptions of Houses of Worship

    The First House of Worship in Ishqábád, Turkmenistan
"It is centrally located, nine avenues leading into it, nine gardens, nine fountains; all the arrangement and construction is according to the principle and proportion of the number nine. It is like a beautiful bouquet. Imagine a very lofty, imposing edifice surrounded completely by gardens of variegated flowers, with nine avenues leading through them, nine fountains and pools of water. Such is its matchless, beautiful design. Now they are building a hospital, a school for orphans, a home for cripples, a hospice and a large dispensary. God willing, when it is fully completed, it will be a paradise."
('Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 71)

    The Mother Temple of the West in Wilmette (Chicago), IL
"This 'Temple of Light' opens upon the terrain of human experience nine great doorways which beckon men and women of every race and clime, of every faith and conviction, of every condition of freedom or servitude to enter here into a recognition of that kinship and brotherhood without which the modern world will be able to make little further progress ...The dome, pointed in form, aiming as assuredly as did the aspiring lines of the medieval cathedrals toward higher and better things, achieves not only through its symbolism but also through its structural propriety and sheer loveliness of form, a beauty not matched by any domical structure since the construction of Michelangelo's dome on the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome."
(Dr. Rexford Newcomb, Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois, quoted by Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, p. 353)

The note below refers to the architect of the Wilmette House of Worship near Chicago,
"The Mother Temple of the West". This was  Louis Bourgeois (d. 1930) of Montreal,
a French-Canadian of Acadian descent.
        The Symbolism of Unity - in all its forms
"Its inception," the architect of the Temple has himself testified, "was not from man, for, as musicians, artists, poets receive their inspiration from another realm, so the Temple's architect, through all his years of labor, was ever conscious that Bahá'u'lláh was the creator of this building to be erected to His glory." "Into this new design," he, furthermore, has written, "...is woven, in symbolic form, the great Bahá'í teaching of unity - the unity of all religions and of all mankind. There are combinations of mathematical lines, symbolizing those of the universe, and in their intricate merging of circle into circle, and circle within circle, we visualize the merging of all the religions into one." And again: "A circle of steps, eighteen in all, will surround the structure on the outside, and lead to the auditorium floor. These eighteen steps represent the eighteen first disciples of the Báb, and the door to which they lead stands for the Báb Himself." "As the essence of the pure original teachings of the historic religions was the same ... in the Bahá'í Temple is used a composite architecture, expressing the essence in the line of each of the great architectural styles, harmonizing them into one whole." "It is the first new idea in architecture since the 13th century," declared a distinguished architect, H. Van Buren Magonigle, President of the Architectural League, after gazing upon a plaster model of the Temple on exhibition in the Engineering Societies Building in New York, in June 1920. "The Architect," he, moreover, has stated, "has conceived a Temple of Light in which structure, as usually understood, is to be concealed, visible support eliminated as far as possible, and the whole fabric to take on the airy substance of a dream. It is a lacy envelope enshrining an idea, the idea of light, a shelter of cobweb interposed between earth and sky, struck through and through with light - light which shall partly consume the forms and make of it a thing of faery."
(Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, pp. 351-352)

Note: 'Abdu'l-Bahá is the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh. Shoghi Effendi is 'Abdu'l-Bahá's grandson.

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