page_title: Obligatory Baháʼí prayers
section_title: Current prayers
hierarchical_section_title: Obligatory Baháʼí prayers / Current prayers
caption_attribution_description: Šarena Džamija, Tetovo
context_page_description: Obligatory Baháʼí prayers are prayers which are to be said daily by Baháʼís according to a fixed form decreed by Baháʼu'lláh. Prayers in the Baháʼí Faith are reverent words which are addressed to God, and refers to two distinct concepts: obligatory prayer and devotional prayer. The act of prayer is one of the most important Baháʼí laws for individual discipline. Along with fasting, obligatory prayer is one of the greatest obligations of a Baháʼí, and the purpose of the obligatory prayer is to foster the development of humility and devotion. The obligation of daily obligatory prayer was prescribed by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, in his book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
  It is forbidden to perform the obligatory prayers in congregation, so the daily obligatory prayers are offered individually, though it is not required that they be said in private.
context_section_description: Unlike general prayers in the Baháʼí Faith, there are specific regulations concerning the obligatory prayers; however, obligatory prayer is a personal spiritual obligation and thus no Baháʼí administrative sanction can be obtained if a Baháʼí fails to say his prayer daily.
  Baháʼu'lláh wrote three obligatory prayers — the short, the medium and the long — and Baháʼís are free to choose to say one of the three each day.  The short and the medium prayer have to be said at specific times; the short has to be said once between noon and sunset and the medium has to be said three times daily: once between dawn and noon, once between noon and sunset and once between sunset and two hours after sunset. The long prayer can be said at any time in the day. The medium and long prayers also include movements and gestures during the prayers, which are themselves obligatory except when a person is physically incapable of performing them. Shoghi Effendi has written that the motions and gestures are symbolic and are used to help maintain concentration during the prayers. Furthermore, the obligatory prayer is to be preceded by ablutions, the cleaning of the hands and face, and one has to face the Qiblih, which is the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh.
caption: Baha'is may use prayer beads which consist of either 95 or 19 beads to recite daily prayers if they wish to repeat them, as well as other observances which are to be said a set number of times.[5]
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