The
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is a unique concept in the annals of religion and symbolizes
the teachings of the new Day of God. A collective centre of society to promote
cordial affection, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár stands as a universal place of worship
open to all the inhabitants of a locality irrespective of their religious
affiliation, background, ethnicity, or gender and a haven for the deepest
contemplation on spiritual reality and foundational questions of life,
including individual and collective responsibility for the betterment of
society. Men and women, children and youth, are held in its embrace as equals.
This singular and integral universality is captured in the very structure of
the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, whose design as a nine-sided edifice conveys a sense of
completeness and perfection symbolized by that number.
(The Universal House of Justice, from a
message dated 18 December 2014 to the Baha’is in Iran)
