20 April 1997
There are many ways in which the institutions and activities of the Bahá'í community can develop, but it must be remembered that the Bahá'í Cause is an organic body, and it is for the World Centre of that Cause to determine the methods and steps by which its potentialities and functions will unfold. The term "Mashriqu'l-Adhkar" has been used in the Writings to describe various things: the gathering of the friends for prayers at dawn; a building where this activity takes place; the complete institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, with its dependencies; the central edifice of that institution, often described as a "House of Worship" or "Temple". These variants can all be seen as denoting stages or aspects of the gradual introduction of Bahá'u'lláh's concept as promulgated in the Kitab-i-Aqdas. For the development of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, several lines of action have been set in motion, and it is to these that the believers should devote their efforts and attention.
At the local level, emphasis has long been placed upon the believers' gathering regularly for worship, in whatever location they can effectively use. After the Kitab-i-Aqdas had been revealed there was a spontaneous reaction among the friends in Iran to implement the ordinance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, and ‘Abdu'l-Bahá encouraged this, stressing the importance of the friends' meeting for devotions, even if, owing to the conditions of the time, this be in an inconspicuous place. During the lifetime of ’Abdu'l-Bahá, the various community functions and institutions, such as the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and the Local Spiritual Assembly, were developed in a variety of evolving and temporary manners.
In obedience to the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi began to raise up the entire structure of Bahá'u'lláh's Administrative Order on a systematic basis.
As the community has evolved, the importance of the friends' meeting, not only for worship, but also for the teaching of the Faith and the administration of the community and its activities became evident. Hence under the guidance of the Guardian, the concept of a local Bahá'í centre and then a local Haziratu'l-Quds was progressively developed.
The Guardian made it clear that the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and Haziratu'l-Quds were different, complementary institutions, both under the aegis of the Local House of Justice, and preferably functioning in close proximity to each other. For the immediate future, he placed the stress on building up the Haziratu'l-Quds, which should be used for all the functions of the community.
In a letter written in July 1925 to the Bahá'ís of Iran, Shoghi Effendi stated:
“That which is highly imperative in these days, which is bound to attract an abundant flow of heavenly blessings and would be conducive to the care and protection of the servants of the one true God, is that in every locality a suitable place be acquired and dedicated exclusively to use as the focal centre of the Cause of God....
“Moreover, if practicable, and provided local conditions do not prove unfavourable, it is recommended that all Bahá'í gatherings such as the communal meetings for reciting prayers and the Holy Writings, the sessions of the Spiritual Assembly, firesides, conferences, memorial meetings, festivities and banquets be held in this place, even if the accommodation is extremely modest. Furthermore, if the prospects prove favorable and the lofty edifice of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar could also be reared in the same consecrated spot in the future, then there would be light upon light.
“This focal centre should be called "Haziratu'l-Quds" (Sacred Fold) so that the musk-laden breezes of the fervent supplications which are wholeheartedly offered by the people of Bahá, and the sweet savours of their spiritual deliberations and brilliant exploits, may be carried to neighbouring regions, thus bringing healing to the infected nostrils of the people of the world, and enabling them to inhale this divine fragrance.”
Thus at the local level, the Haziratu'l-Quds is currently conceived as the focal point of local Bahá'í activity, the centre of the local community in which all its activities, devotional, social and administrative, can take place. In the future, a local Haziratu'l-Quds will be used for the kinds of administrative purposes described by Shoghi Effendi on pages 339-349 of God Passes By, and local Mashriqu'l-Adhkars will be established, but, at this stage in the development of the Cause, the Haziratu'l-Quds is not just the seat of the centre of Bahá'í administration, it is also a centre of worship and a centre of spiritual unity; it must perform these three functions, all under the unifying aegis of the Local Spiritual Assembly.
As yet, too few local communities have been able to establish an adequate Haziratu'l-Quds, and it would be both unnecessary and undesirable for Local Spiritual Assemblies, let alone individual believers, to attempt to establish Mashriqu'l-Adhkars now at the local level. What is required is for Local Spiritual Assemblies, as their communities grow, to strive to obtain a modest local centre and ultimately to acquire a Haziratu'l-Quds, and to encourage the greater use of the local Bahá'í Centre for devotional, as well as other gatherings.
As to the activity of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the Universal House of Justice has, for some years, been advocating the desirability of the holding of gatherings for dawn prayers wherever such an activity is feasible. Clearly, such meetings would be both natural and easy of accomplishment in the case of agricultural villages, while in a large industrialized city, under present circumstances, it would be far more difficult for the friends to gather regularly at dawn for devotional purposes.
The establishment of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as a distinct institution has been started at the continental level, with the erection in each continent of the building which constitutes the prayer hall and central shrine of a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and then, as material means permit, by the construction and operation of the dependencies which are designed to surround that edifice. So far only the Home for the Aged in Wilmette has been established. Another has been called for in Langenhain, Germany, but practical issues have thus far delayed its construction.
It was in relation to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Wilmette and the functioning of the National Haziratu'l-Quds of the United States, that the Guardian developed, through many of his letters, the friends' understanding of the differences which must ultimately distinguish the functioning of a Haziratu'l-Quds from that of a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 20 April 1997, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice; Baha’i Library Online)