We have given careful consideration to the questions you have raised in your letter of January 23, 1964 about the use of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár.
Your Assembly is free to use its discretion in choosing excerpts from the generally recognized scriptures of the older religions.
With reference to your query about the use of several readers in unison, this is permissible provided it does not seem, or become theatrical in the view of your Assembly. Concerning the placement of the reader, the beloved Guardian has already indicated, "the reader should stand where he or she will best be seen and heard by all."
Music in the House of Worship is to be vocal only, whether by singers or a singer. It does not matter if a guest a cappella choir, or soloist is used, provided such use is not made the occasion to publicise services of Worship and the precautions you mention are taken. No doubt the excellent recordings available today would assure the highest quality of performance at low cost, but all references to vocal music in the central Edifice imply the physical presence of the singers.
Your Assembly is free to use its discretion in choosing excerpts from the generally recognized scriptures of the older religions.
With reference to your query about the use of several readers in unison, this is permissible provided it does not seem, or become theatrical in the view of your Assembly. Concerning the placement of the reader, the beloved Guardian has already indicated, "the reader should stand where he or she will best be seen and heard by all."
Music in the House of Worship is to be vocal only, whether by singers or a singer. It does not matter if a guest a cappella choir, or soloist is used, provided such use is not made the occasion to publicise services of Worship and the precautions you mention are taken. No doubt the excellent recordings available today would assure the highest quality of performance at low cost, but all references to vocal music in the central Edifice imply the physical presence of the singers.
In a letter through his secretary to a Chicago believer in 1931, "Bahá'í News", No. 55, page 4, Shoghi Effendi expressed the hope that "... now that the Temple is completed it will be filled to the full with pure seeking souls. It should be different from the other houses of worship which even if they are filled, their source of attraction is the music heard. Here the spirit should be so powerful as to awaken the heart of every one that enters it to the glory of Bahá'u'lláh ..."
In conclusion, a review of the closing paragraphs of the beloved Guardian's illuminating message of October 25, 1929, addressed to the American Bahá'í Community, clearly reveals the true nature of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. In them he 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." In his concluding words, Shoghi Effendi links Bahá'í worship and service arising from the Institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár as vital to the regeneration of the world, and the secret of the unique position occupied by this lofty, potent and outstanding institution.
We understand and commend your wish to fully utilize the House of Worship in service to humanity. We feel the Guardian's letter alluded to above offers the necessary guidance you desire. (The Universal House of Justice, 13 March 1964 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Service in Baha’i Temples)
