‘Abdu’l-Baha explains that “pure and radiant hearts are the dawning-places of the mention of God from which the melodies of supplication and prayer continually reach the Concourse on high”, and He states that should the hearts of the friends become divine temples through the bounty of God, “they would assuredly exert the utmost endeavour … to build the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, so that the outward frame may reveal the inward reality and the outer form give tidings of the inner meaning”.27 Several themes are found in the writings associated with this place of worship and the inward reality it manifests, including the power of prayer, the effects of communal worship, and the nature of devotions within the central edifice itself.
In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh calls attention to the potency of reciting the verses of God in Houses of Worship:
Teach your children the verses revealed from the heaven of majesty and power, so that, in most melodious tones, they may recite the Tablets of the All-Merciful in the alcoves within the Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs. Whoever hath been transported by the rapture born of adoration for My Name, the Most Compassionate, will recite the verses of God in such wise as to captivate the hearts of those yet wrapped in slumber. Well is it with him who hath quaffed the Mystic Wine of everlasting life from the utterance of his merciful Lord in My Name—a Name through which every lofty and majestic mountain hath been reduced to dust.28
The House of Justice elucidates the theme of the power of prayer, explaining that the Twin Luminaries have taught us that prayer is “the essential spiritual conversation of the soul with its Maker, direct and without intermediation”, “the morning’s dew” that “brings freshness to the heart and cleanses it”, and “a fire that burns away the veils and a light that leads to the ocean of reunion with the Almighty”.29 The quality of prayer is pivotal. Upon it “depend the development of the limitless capacities of the soul and the attraction of the bounties of God”. When it is “motivated by the love of God”, its powers are manifested. “It is to be expressed”, the House of Justice continues,
with a sincere and pure heart conducive to contemplation and meditation so that the rational faculty can be illumined by its effects. Such prayer will transcend the limitation of words and go well beyond mere sounds. The sweetness of its melodies must gladden and uplift the heart and reinforce the penetrating power of the Word, transmuting earthly inclinations into heavenly attributes and inspiring selfless service to humankind.30
A second theme is that of communal worship, which Bahá’ís and their friends around the world understand to be fundamental to the pattern of collective endeavour aimed at the spiritual and material betterment of society. Essential to this pattern, the House of Justice maintains, “is the devotional meeting—a communal aspect of the godly life and a dimension of the concept of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár”.31 When “integrated into the core of community life”, such gatherings become “occasions where any soul may enter, inhale the heavenly fragrances, experience the sweetness of prayer, meditate upon the Creative Word, be transported on the wings of the spirit, and commune with the one Beloved”.32 The holding of such gatherings is “a further step in the implementation” of the law of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,33 one that evokes the spirit of the House of Worship in any locality.34
A third theme is the manner in which worship is conducted within the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Houses of Worship, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asserts, “bestow firmness and constancy upon the friends” and “are places of supplication and invocation to the Threshold of His grandeur”.35 Vital to such worship and the creation of what Shoghi Effendi describes as “a serenely spiritual atmosphere”36 is the setting aside of rituals and rites. As the House of Justice observes, Shoghi Effendi
decries the trappings of elaborate and ostentatious ceremony and warns against any inference “that the interior of the central Edifice itself will be converted into a conglomeration of religious services” offering “a spectacle of incoherent and confused sectarian observances and rites.”37
Instead, devotional services are to be unhampered by uniformity or ritualistic forms of any kind,38 and are, Shoghi Effendi advises in a letter written on his behalf, to be “simple, dignified, and designed to uplift the soul and educate it through hearing the creative word”.39 In another letter written on his behalf he states, “The more universal and informal the character of Bahá’í worship in the Temple the better.”40
Such worship may also include vocal music.41 In letters written on its behalf, the House of Justice clarifies that lyrics sung in the House of Worship should be “based upon Bahá’í or other sacred writings”, including the Writings and talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, should “contain Bahá’í themes”,42 may involve “the repetition of verses from prayers or selections from the Writings”, and may allow for “slight alterations in the text … to conform with musical requirements”.43 “The musical style of the piece can be determined by the composer, provided that he or she bears in mind the spiritual obligation to treat the Sacred Texts with the propriety, dignity and reverence due them.”44
Through such an unassuming but embracing approach, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár embodies a distinguishing feature of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh—the principle of unity in diversity—and marks, according to Shoghi Effendi, the establishment “upon the face of the earth, in the most visible and tangible manner, a beauteous likeness and enduring expression of the vital and unbounded spirit of the Cause of Him Who is the Lord of all worlds”.45 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself asserts:
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is a divine edifice in this nether world and a means for attaining the oneness of humanity, inasmuch as all the peoples of the world shall gather in fellowship and harmony within the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and, chanting the anthems of Divine Unity, engage in the praise and glorification of the Lord of Hosts.46