Islamic rituals; holy days; practices; etc.
Editorial introduction
A rosary, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá observes, was meant for repeating the names of God so that the worshipper might come to embody them, generosity, wisdom, self-sacrifice, and it decays into a habit of the fingers when that purpose is forgotten. Every practice of Islam carries the same double possibility. Prayer five times a day, the fast of Ramadán, the pilgrimage and the circling of the Ka‘bih, almsgiving, the sacred nights: the Báb’s own devotional writings honour each of them as having meaning only because God revealed it, and Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá both explain their symbols and alter some of their laws. Alongside the reverence come sharp criticisms of worship emptied of inward meaning, of a dervish lodge where self-injury passes for ecstasy; such witness belongs to its time and place and is no portrait of a whole community. The Qur’án itself declares that righteousness is not a matter of which way one faces but of faith, generosity, fidelity and endurance [1]. The inquiry widens naturally to Muhammad Himself and to the pilgrimage of Hajj.
With the Mohamadans it has become a habit to play with the rosary all the time. It was originally intended for the repetition of certain divine attributes in order that the worshippers may become reminded thereby and embody those attributes in their daily lives, such as self-sacrifice, generosity, wisdom, knowledge, devotion etc. but now it has become a mere rote - repetition of words without attention to meaning.
And among the signs of His Revelation is Prayer - can anyone count the number who pray? And among the signs of His Revelation is Alms - can anyone count those who give alms? And among the signs of His Revelation is Fasting - can anyone count those who fast? And among the signs of His Revelation is the Fifth - can anyone count those who give it?
"O My Creatures! Ye all perform, throughout your lives, with utmost striving and endeavour, my commandments for the sake of attaining My good pleasure. If ye observe the derivative precepts, that is solely because I have revealed them in the Book; if ye recognise the Imams of guidance, or seek My nearness through visiting Their shrines, that is merely because Their names have been alluded to in the Qur'an, if ye acknowledge unto the prophethood of Muhammad, the Apostle of God, blessings of God rest upon Him, that is only because He was My Messenger; if ye circle around Ka'bih, that is merely because I have called it My House, and if ye magnify the Qur'an, that is solely because It is My Word.
Make his eyes, O my God, to be gladdened by there being naught in his knowledge that he would dislike, that all things may bear witness to that for which Thou didst create them - the testimony that there is no God but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God and that the Imams are the Proofs of God and that the Gates of the House are the Manifestations of God's Mystery. For this is that for which Thou hast created, sustained, caused to die and given life to all things.
I beseech Thee by the Tree of Divine Purpose, and the Sign of the Worshipped One, and the reality of bowing and prostration, and the Witness and the Witnessed, and the Absolute Intercessor on the Promised Day, and by the Imams who guide aright, who call unto God from the beginning of the worlds of existence to the ultimate degrees of witness, that Thou shouldst shower benedictions upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad - benedictions that would fill with their light all regions of existence - and that Thou shouldst grant unto their followers a perfect, complete and blessed peace that would lead those who hold fast unto it to the reality of the Divine Purpose, and that Thou shouldst grant those who take refuge in Thy hidden mystery and Thy manifest remembrance that which they ask of Thee, of virtuous offspring and noble fortune, by the right of Thy Sacred House, the qiblih of those who bow down and prostrate, and by the Sacred City, the Praised Master, the best of fathers and the noblest of those born.
In the Name of God alone, and blessings and peace be upon Him after Whom there shall be no Prophet. … Praise be to God Who sent down the Furqan in the month of Ramadan, wherein He prescribed fasting for all peoples.
Blessed is the condition of the servant of Abtan, for the time of breaking the fast has come - a time of joy and gladness for all Muslims.
Now, according to the Mohamadan law a person fasting must not eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset.
The first obligatory prayer is the noon prayer of four rak'ahs, then the afternoon prayer likewise, then the sunset prayer of three rak'ahs, then the night prayer like the first, then the dawn prayer of half that, then the Friday prayer during the days of occultation which is two rak'ahs - a prayer revealed by God with its laws.
Then there is the prayer for solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, earthquakes, and for every wondrous sign that descends from heaven or occurs on earth by God's leave. Then the circumambulation prayer for obligatory pilgrimage and lesser pilgrimage and women's circumambulation.
And now, there is no doubt that religion has not changed nor will it be altered, and my belief regarding the laws of religion is that which I now write in this book.
We have prescribed for the believers to make mention of God's remembrance in the call to prayer according to what We have revealed in the Book of Kings.
During the call to prayer in the Dispensation of the Qur'an, placing the hand beside the ear was an ancient custom and longstanding practice of the muezzins.
Q. Is it necessary to arise to say the midnight prayer, or the prayer of the Dawn, or to wash the hands and face before using these?
Here Arabic prayers were being chanted and this cleric asked "Where is the Sahifa-i-Sajjadiyya?"
When thou standest before His Majesty say "Allah'u'Akbar" forty times within a space of five feet, and stand in silence until your soul returns to you. There the light of your Lord descended upon the cloud, with angels surrounding Him, and the matter was decreed, and the promise was fulfilled.
After departing from the city of Mecca, I traveled by land and was honored to reach the pure city of Medina - may God's blessings be upon its inhabitant. Due to my desire to stay in Mecca, I remained in this sacred land and conveyed greetings on behalf of the aforementioned owners in the presence of the Prophet - peace be upon him and his family - and the pure Imams - peace be upon them.
This is a Day whereon there gather at Thy House, by the word of Thy Beloved, such numbers as none can reckon save Thee, and likewise at His tomb, and similarly before the seat of the One Whom Thou hast mentioned through the words of Thy Beloved. Thus was their remembrance ordained among the servants in Islam, as Thy Beloved made that day a festival wherein they might honor one another, draw close to one another, and approach each other in obedience to Thy Messenger's command and to exalt the Word of Thy Prophet.
The prostration of the people of Islam before the Black Stone was simply obedience to the Prophet of God and to prove the influence of the Cause of God.
This is a symbol, just as the circumambulation of the Ka'bah must be performed at a specified time and in a specified place where they must remove their garments from their body at once.
As for what was revealed in the Surah of Pilgrimage that God has ordained that the circumambulator must hear the call of Truth during his circumambulation, and if he does not hear it he must repeat the circumambulation until he hears the call - the intended meaning of the call is the call of the All-Merciful from the right valley of man's heart, and this is the blessed spot from which the call rises and which attentive ears hear while hardened hearts are deprived of hearing it.
For instance, they consider pilgrimage to the illumined shrine forbidden, while deeming it permissible to visit the Mosque of Quba, which was created by the Word of the Prophet. How can it be that pilgrimage to the Kaaba, which became the Kaaba by the Word of the Prophet and was ascribed to God by His pure utterance, is considered permissible, while pilgrimage to His shrine is not?
And from another direction the Aqsa Mosque speaketh forth: "Praise be unto Thee, O God of Names, for I perceive the fragrance of Thy garment from the direction of Thy imprisoned Name."
God aided him to recognize Him and enabled him to build that renowned edifice which was named the Remote Mosque in the kingdom of creation.
And some believe these ten nights are the night of Naw-Ruz festival and the night of the Festival of Sacrifice and the night of the Ramadan festival and the night of Ghadir and the Night of the Ascension and the night of the birth of the Prophet, may my spirit be sacrificed for him, and the night of 'Ashura and the night of the ninth and tenth of Ramadan and the night of the birth of the Prince [Ali] and the Night of Power.
O Sha'ban! May all the months, even Ramadan and Muharram, be sacrificed for thee!
It is said that Sha'ban is the month in which sustenance is apportioned.
In the traditions, the Prophet said to Imam 'Ali: "The Mahdi will come and He will fill the earth with justice, and He is of thy progeny" - this is an allusion.
Among them, one day came a group of religious scholars, and one of them said, "We were awaiting the Promised Mahdi. Then a man from Shiraz claimed to be the Mahdi, and a number of people followed him. After that, we were awaiting the appearance of the Husayni. Now you have claimed that station. Your duty is to study Sharh-i-Lum'ih and Sibawayh until you finally return to your proper place."
Observe what the All-Merciful hath revealed in the Qur'an: "Whoso judgeth not by what God hath revealed - such are the infidels."
According to the Command, before detailing the minimum taxable limits of things, they should act according to what was revealed in the Qur'an - meaning that for whatever is subject to zakat, they should act according to what was revealed in the Qur'an.
Mohamadans having forgotten their reverence for the Holy things and overlooking the injunction of Mohamad smoke and talk on such occasions. When I arrived there was a hubbub of confusion, people chatting, smoking, talking and drinking coffee and tea; and in the corner of the room there were two singers who chanted the Koran very beautifully but no one listened to them.
For instance, consider Ramadan now. In ancient times how firmly established it was! It was so strictly observed that if someone wished to eat even in a hidden place, it was impossible. Even children would fast. Now it has completely disappeared - it is a name without substance.
For example there are two sects in the Mohamadan world; one holds that the Words of the Koran are 'Uncreated and Eternal'; the other one believes these words are 'Created and finite.' Around these two contradictory schools of thoughts many battles are raged and many books are written.
Would that certain souls who claim ardor and attraction, passion and enchantment, and the like, would go to Constantinople and observe the Qadiriyyih monastery and become warned. O Ali! A group is gathered in that place, and by the True One Himself, it hath been witnessed that one of those souls continuously struck himself against stone and mud and wall for more than four hours until there was fear of his perishing. Then he would fall unconscious to the ground and for about two hours would have no awareness at all. And they count these things among spiritual gifts.
Up to this time the religion of the Koran was strictly adhered to and nothing had been changed in the laws of Islam. The women were completely hidden from the eyes of men, covering themselves with veils on going out, speaking to no man and living in their houses like prisoners.
In the Islamic Dispensation, the veil had become such that women could not walk in the streets and bazaars - they were like purchased slaves.
The heedless ones have clung to names while remaining deprived of their Creator, Source and Lord. Names have become as idols for some, and the Shi'ih sect is truly recorded with God as worshippers of names, and on the Day of Reckoning they have done what no oppressor hath ever done - from pulpits they curse and revile the Object of all the worlds.
The abominable Shi'ih party hath committed that which no oppressor hath ever committed. They martyred the Lord of existence while occupying themselves with cursing and reviling from their pulpits.
Yet they still go to the mosque and, in their imagination, engage in the remembrance of God. Fie upon them for what they have earned in their vain life!
'Has the Lord God foreseen that this human being will not let himself be saved, or has He, for reasons inscrutable to us, let him be ensnared from the begin-ning in folly and delusion?' But as the Lord God is not only the Almighty, but also the All-Merciful - for true might and power are always paired with kind-ness and goodness - and is at the same time the Just and the Avenger, we lowly creatures have to bow to His inscrutable decree and believe that the Potter in His absolute wisdom and goodness, in His justice and truth, creates, changes and completes everything to the best for the individual and for the whole -even where our own understanding and comprehension largely fail.
For thought and discussion