Obligatory Baháʼí prayers

The obligation of daily obligatory prayer was prescribed by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, in his book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

He never wrote the text of this prayer, making the implementation of this law dependent on the coming of the Promised One.

Baháʼu'lláh wrote the text mentioned, but never released it in order to avoid provoking conflict with Muslims.

[1] Instead, sometime before the writing of the supplement to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Questions and Answers, Baháʼu'lláh wrote a set of three obligatory prayers which are the ones used by Baháʼís today.

The original obligatory prayer involved nine rak'ah and was to be said in the morning, noon and in the afternoon, probably three cycles at a time.

[1] After Baháʼu'lláh's death a strongbox holding the text of the original obligatory prayer was stolen by Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí.

[1] Baháʼu'lláh wrote three obligatory prayers — the short, the medium and the long — and Baháʼís are free to choose to say one of the three each day.

Shoghi Effendi has written that the motions and gestures are symbolic and are used to help maintain concentration during the prayers.

They include performing ablution, which consist of washing the hands and face, before the obligatory prayer.

The prostrations should then be followed by saying the verse "Glorified be God, the Lord of the kingdoms of earth and heaven" eighteen times while the person is sitting cross-legged.

It is a congregational prayer: the words are read aloud by a single person while others who are present stand in silence.