Congregational prayer

Obligatory prayer to be performed individually

"Save in the Prayer for the Dead, the practice of congregational prayer hath been annulled. He, of a truth, is the Ordainer, the All-Wise."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 12)

Congregational prayer discouraged by Bahá'u'lláh, and only allowed in prayer for the dead

"In regard to your question as to whether it is permissible to substitute the plural pronoun for the singular in prayers worded in the singular, the Guardian would strongly urge your N.S.A. to inform the friends to strictly adhere to the text of the Holy Writings, and not to deviate even a hair-breadth from what has been revealed by the Holy Pen. Besides, it should be noted that congregational prayer has been discouraged by Bahá’u’lláh, and that it is allowed only in the case of the prayer for the dead."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand, October 17, 1934, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1496)

Congregational Prayer Only for the Dead

"There is no congregational prayer except that for the dead. We read healing and other prayers in our meetings, but the daily prayer is a personal obligation, so someone else reading it is not quite the same thing as saying it for yourself…"

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, January 31, 1949: Bahá’í News, No. 220, June 1949, pp. 2-3, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1502)

Congregational prayer (a formal obligatory prayer following a ritual) has been annulled

"Congregational prayer, in the sense of formal obligatory prayer which is to be recited in accordance with a prescribed ritual as, for example, is the custom in Islám where Friday prayer in the mosque is led by an imám, has been annulled in the Bahá'í Dispensation. The Prayer for the Dead (see note 10) is the only congregational prayer prescribed by Bahá'í law."

(Notes to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, no. 19)

Prayers May be Recited in Unison (difference between chanting in unison and congregational prayer)

"You have asked whether it is permissible for the friends to chant a prayer collectively. There is a difference between chanting a prayer collectively and congregational prayer. The latter is a formal prayer usually led by an individual using a prescribed ritual. Congregational prayer in this form is forbidden in the Faith except in the case of the Prayer for the Dead. While reciting prayers in unison and spontaneously joining in the recitation of the Words of God is not forbidden, the friends should bear in mind the advice of the beloved Guardian on this subject when he stated that:

'…although the friends are thus left free to follow their own inclination….they should take the utmost care that any manner they practice should not acquire too rigid a character, and thus develop into an institution. This is a point which the friends should always bear in mind, lest they deviate from the clear path indicated in the Teachings.' "

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, February 6, 1975, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1503)

See also

• Obligatory prayer#Obligatory prayers to be said alone
• Lawh-i-Salát-i-Mayyit

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