Note 19

19. Save in the Prayer for the Dead, the practice of congregational prayer hath been annulled. # 12

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 &Islam where Friday prayer in the mosque is led by an &imam, has been annulled in the &Baha'i Dispensation. The Prayer for the Dead (see note 10) is the only congregational prayer prescribed by &Baha'i law. It is to be recited by one of those present while the remainder of the party stands in silence; the reader has +P173 no special status. The congregation is not required to face the Qiblih (Q and A 85).

The three daily Obligatory Prayers are to be recited individually, not in congregation.

There is no prescribed way for the recital of the many other &Baha'i prayers, and all are free to use such non-obligatory prayers in gatherings or individually as they please. In this regard, Shoghi Effendi states that

...although the friends are thus left to follow their own inclination, ... they should take the utmost care that any manner they practise 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.