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Fasting prayer query

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 4:59 am
by Irish
Some of the prayers for the Fast seem to contain references make them appropriate only at a certain historical time. I wonder how modern Baha'is feel about this, since these are the prayers Baha'is use during the Fast.

For example, take this verse: "He Who is Thy Branch and all Thy company, O my Lord, have broken this day their fast..." Prayer XLVI
When I say this prayer during the Fast, it feels like I'm saying something untrue.

And take this verse, which comes from a prayer for the Fast:
"Thou knowest how they have disgraced Thy Cause and dishonored Thee among Thy creatures, how they have joined Thine enemies, that they may undermine Thy Revelation and injure Thee. Lay hold on them with the power of Thy wrath and might, O my God, and expose their shameful acts and their wickedness, that whatever is hid in their breasts may be revealed unto the people that dwell within Thy land..." CLXXVIII
Won't it be inappropriate to say this prayer during the Golden Age?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 5:03 am
by Irish
God Passes By, pg 172, Shoghi Effendi writes of "the Munájátháy-i-Síyám (Prayers for Fasting), written in anticipation of the Book of His Laws" which were written in Adrianople.

Where can I find this book/ collection. Is it contained in A'diyyiy-i-hHadrat-i-Mahbub?

Re: Fasting prayer query

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:45 am
by Baha'i Warrior
Irish wrote:When I say this prayer during the Fast, it feels like I'm saying something untrue. ... Won't it be inappropriate to say this prayer during the Golden Age?


The only inappropriate thing, I believe, would be not to read those Blessed Words of Baha'u'llah. Baha'u'llah was not a mere man Who wrote a certain type of prayer, for example, when He was happy; and another type when He was depressed; or have a whole different tone and opinion as a result of being in Adrianople. God's Manifestation is above these things. What was written had to be written, and will remain significant forever.

So these prayers are just as relevant for "modern Baha'is" as for those 100 or more years ago. The spiritual significance of the Words never change.

Just my opinion though...

—BW

P.S.

You say:

And take this verse, which comes from a prayer for the Fast:
"Thou knowest how they have disgraced Thy Cause and dishonored Thee among Thy creatures, how they have joined Thine enemies, that they may undermine Thy Revelation and injure Thee. Lay hold on them with the power of Thy wrath and might, O my God, and expose their shameful acts and their wickedness, that whatever is hid in their breasts may be revealed unto the people that dwell within Thy land..." CLXXVIII
Won't it be inappropriate to say this prayer during the Golden Age?


Well, we can see this happening today, so it certainly will not be inappropriate for this fast, or quite a few to come. I'm sure during the Golden Age there will be people who are still a "disgrace" to the Cause, and who will "join Thine enemies" and "undermine Thy Revelation." We won't all be those happy Zoloft guys. I'm sure there will still be dissenters, just not to such a great degree as now.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 6:02 am
by Irish
This question is about the Fast in general, not just prayers:

Usually when people describe the Baha'i Nineteen Day Fast to non-Baha'is, they say "Its just like Ramadan, except for 19 days instead of 29/30, and that it always happends in March, rather than changing each year". For example, the entry in Wikipedia says something like this.

I just realized, though, that there is one other major difference between Ramadan and the Nineteen Day Fast: Muslims fast from Dawn to Sunset, while Baha'is do it from Sunrise to Sunset. Where I'm living (Dublin), Sunrise was at 7.09 today, while Dawn was about one and a half hours before that. Do the Baha'i writings give a reason for this change, or do they just state it?

"The fasting period, which lasts nineteen days starting as a rule from the second of March every year and ending on the twentieth of the same month, involves complete abstention from food and drink from sunrise till sunset." - Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian