You have asked whether it is permissible for the friends to
recite prayers other than those revealed by the Central Figures of our Faith,
prefacing your query by citing an instance when a prayer from a different
source was chanted at a Bahá'í public meeting. No prohibition has been found in
the Bahá'í Writings against the recitation at public gatherings of prayers other
than those provided in Bahá'í Scriptures. You are no doubt aware that in
devotional programs at Bahá'í Houses of Worship it is permissible to include
scriptures from other revealed religions, which may include prayers. You did
not specifically mention whether your concern was about prayers originating
from other sacred scriptures or from compositions by individuals. Bahá'ís are
generally encouraged to use the Creative Word, including those prayers and
Tablets revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb and 'Abdu'l-Bahá which are
authenticated and published in our Bahá'í literature. A letter dated 8 August
1942, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to a National Spiritual Assembly,
indicates that while spontaneous prayer is permitted, the revealed verses are
preferred because “the revealed Word is endowed with a power of its own”. The
friends, therefore, must use them in their own supplications with radiant joy.
This does not mean, however, that in addition to such prayers, they may not, in
private, use their own words whenever they feel the inclination to do so.
- The Universal House of Justice (From
a letter dated 27 June 2001, written on behalf of the Universal House of
Justice to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Selected Guidance Concerning
Devotional Gatherings’, Extracts from Letters Written by and on Behalf of the
Universal House of Justice’, prepared by the Research Department of the
Universal House of Justice)
