Bahá'í obligatory prayer and the Nineteen-Day Fast

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Bahá'u'lláh

What it is

This is a religious observance, not a therapy. Bahá'í writings pair two personal duties. The first is a daily obligatory prayer: the believer chooses one of three prayers revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, says it alone after washing the hands and face, and faces the Qiblih, Bahá'u'lláh's resting place at…

Format

• Who authorises the observance. Bahá'u'lláh's laws, as authoritatively interpreted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice for matters the texts leave open. Observance of obligatory prayer and fasting is "solely a matter of personal conscience". Institutions do not…
• Exemptions, as the Synopsis states them: Obligatory prayer: those who are ill; those over seventy; women in their courses, who instead perform ablutions and repeat a revealed verse.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• fasting used as weight control, and family conflict over observance.
• the client deferring to you on religious matters. Your own beliefs, or lack of them, colouring the formulation.
• complicated grief and anniversary reactions. Working looks like the client using rituals and community as support.
• confidentiality leaking into a small community. Advisers unknowingly reinforcing compulsions. The client feeling pressured into contact. Working looks like consistent messages from all sides.
• depression, suicidal thinking (assess using current standard practice), and withdrawal from the community. Working looks like reduced shame and a renewed relationship with the practice on the…

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.