As to the question of the relationship of an administrative building to the Temple: this also will have to be defined in future, but whatever the actual form which such a relationship may assume, and whatever its details, it should be based on the general principle that these two sets of Bahá’í institutions embody two vital and distinct, yet inseparable, aspects of Bahá’í life: worship and service. The central edifice of the Mash̲riqu’l-Adh̲kár, which is exclusively devoted to purposes of worship, represents the spiritual element, and therefore fulfils a primary function in every Bahá’í Community, whereas all other Temple accessories, whether of a strictly administrative, cultural or humanitarian character, are secondary, and come next in importance to the House of Worship itself.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 28 January 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada; compilation: ‘The Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, September 2017)
