Finding the Baha'i Qiblih..

[arthra]

When Baha'is recite the obligatory prayers they turn in the direction of Qiblih of the Baha'i world.. A Qiblih is a point of adoration or prayer.. In past dispensations this would have been Jerusalem or Mecca but in the Baha'i dispensation it is known as "Bahji"... a location near Akka in northern Israel.

I found an excellent program on a site that will locate the Baha'i Qiblih for you where ever you are on the earth:

Qiblih.com - Find the direction to Bahji

We'll explore this topic further..

 

[arthra]

Qiblah is defined as a point of adoration or prayer... You could say maybe it is a focal point where we turn when reciting the obligatory prayer(s).

Some years ago when I was on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah the Haram-i-Aqdas I had an inner sense symbolically of a magnet .. I'm sure people are familiar with the chart of how filings are seen around the positive and negative poles of a magnet.. only in this case, I had the idea that our prayers being directed to Bahji from everywhere on the globe were focused on a "pole" or centre... out of which also proceed energy of blessings and confirmations back.

Shoghi Effendi compared it to a "...plant turning in the direction of the sun":

In a letter written on his behalf, Shoghi Effendi uses
the analogy of the plant turning in the direction of the sun
to explain the spiritual significance of turning towards the
Qiblih:

...just as the plant stretches out to the sunlight -- from
which it receives life and growth -- so we turn our hearts
to the Manifestation of God, Bahá'u'lláh, when we pray;
... we turn our faces ... to where His dust lies on this
earth as a symbol of the inner act.

~ Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 168)

 

[arthra]

Just as historically people turned in prayer to Jerusalem and later Mecca in prayer..so Baha'is today face a Qiblih while they recite an obligatory prayer.. There is a choice of reciting either a short or a medium length or a long obligatory prayer. The obligatory prayers are a spiritual obligation for Baha'is and there are recited privately..not in congregation. No one reports whetehr you have recited the prayer so it is personal.

The Qiblih for Baha'is happens to be in Bahji near Akka in Israel.. When Baha'is go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land they eventually go to Bahji. Bahji was the last place where Baha'u'llah resided and the resting place of His physical remains... but the turning to the Qiblih is an inner or spiritual practise... Around the Shrine are gardens and paths laid out in a circular fashion where people can walk around.

When an obligatory prayer is recited it is a spiritual pilgrimage.

 

[arthra]

Baha'is have a choice of reciting one of three obligatory prayers.. They can recite a short prayer around noon time facing Akka... They can choose to recite a medium prayer three times a day, that is in morning around noon and evening or they can choose to recite a long obligatory prayer once every twenty four hours. These prayers are recited privately not in congregation.

The stress is on the spiritual nature of the believer when they recite the prayers:

This is a physical symbol of an inner reality, just as the plant stretches out to the sunlight -- from which it receives life and growth -- so we turn our hearts to the Manifestation of God, Bahá'u'lláh, when we pray; and we turn our faces, during this short prayer, to where His dust lies on this earth as a symbol of the inner act.
...
Bahá'u'lláh has reduced all ritual and form to an absolute minimum in His Faith. The few forms that there are -- like those associated with the two longer obligatory daily prayers -- are only symbols of the inner attitude. There is a wisdom in them, and a great blessing, but we cannot force ourselves to understand or feel these things, that is why He gave us also the very short and simple prayer, for those who did not feel the desire to perform the acts associated with the other two.

(24 June 1949 to an individual believer)

(Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol II, p. 242)