Date: Sat, 22 Jul 1995
From: Juan R Cole
Subject: Aqdas Pillar II, Prayer: K31

Notes by J. Cole:

"Build ye houses of worship": In Arabic, it is simply "houses," (`ammiru buyutan). But the context makes it clear that Baha'u'llah means Baha'i houses of worship. Contemporary Baha'is will tend to think of the monumental temples in Wilmette, Panama, etc. But it seems to me clear that the verse refers as well to what later Baha'i tradition has called local Baha'i centers or haza'ir al-quds (haziratu'l-quds is literally the "sacred compound" or Paradise). The call on Talisman for more such local centers is therefore in accord with this verse of the Aqdas. This idea is supported by K115: "The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is each and every building which hath been erected in cities and villages for the celebration of My praise."

"images and effigies": as.-s.uwar wa al-amtha:l. Baha'u'llah had close contact with the Christian communities of Edirne/Adrianople and of Akka/Haifa, and certainly would have seen Eastern churches festooned with mosaics, icons, crucifixes, etc. In Islam, as in Judaism, there is a tradition of iconoclasm or avoidance of human images in religious art. In Islam mosques have been decorated with geometrical patterns, Qur'an verses, and floral patterns. This is a tradition of religious architecture that Baha'u'llah wished to see renewed and perpetuated. It is no accident that Baha'is have taken inspiration from such wonderful Islamic monuments as the Taj Mahall in Agra. Fariborz Sahba, who designed the House of Worship in Delhi, also drew inspiration from the floral, lotus patterns in mosque tiling (as well as from the use of the lotus in Buddhism, Hinduism and other traditions).

"celebrate the praise of your Lord": literally, make mention of your Lord (udhkuru, from dhakara, the same root as dhikr, but here obviously with the sense of saying prayers (du`a, munajat--supplicatory prayers); though dhikr in the sense of repeating and chanting phrases is not ruled out and may also be implied).

"with radiance and joy": worship traditions in many religions are somber and can even be tearful (as with Shi`ite mourning for the Imams). Baha'u'llah wanted Baha'i worship to be joyous. I do not myself think we have achieved this on the whole. In the US, we have set aside the Mother Temple for ethereal a capella classicism of a performance sort. In our local meetings we most often pray with the plain Calvinist tones we inherited from Puritanism. Joyous worship will take some practice.

cheers Juan Cole, History, Univ. of Michigan

Date: Sat Jul 22 1995
From: Anthony Lee
Subject: Re: Aqdas, Pillar II

Re: the Mashriqu'l-Adkhar, Jackson Armstrong-Ingram's book--volume four of the STUDIES series is instructive. He outlines the process by which the local "House" was taken to be a cathedral in the European tradition--which is actually what the House of Worship in Wilmette became--rather than a local "church."

There was actually a good deal of tension between the early Baha'is who wanted the House of Worship to be a cathedral, led by Corinne True, and those who wanted it to be a church for the Baha'i community of Chicago, led by the (all-male) House of Spirituality. So, our House of Worship is now a cathedral in with all the cold formalism of high-church Anglican worship. Too bad. Clearly, another kind of House of Worship is (also?) called for in the Kitab-i Aqdas.

Warmest, Tony