O thou spiritual friend! Thou hast asked about the wisdom of
obligatory prayer. Know thou that such prayer is mandatory and binding. Man
under no pretext whatsoever is excused from observing the prayer unless he is
incapable of performing it or some great obstacle interveneth. The wisdom of
obligatory prayer is this: That it causeth a connection between the servant and
the True One, because at that time man with all his heart and soul turneth his
face towards the Almighty, seeking His association and desiring His love and
companionship. For a lover, there is no greater pleasure than to converse with
his beloved, and for a seeker, there is no greater bounty than intimacy with
the object of his desire. It is the greatest longing of every soul who is
attracted to the Kingdom of God to find time to turn with entire devotion to
his Beloved, so as to seek His bounty and blessing and immerse himself in the
ocean of communion, entreaty and supplication. Moreover, obligatory prayer and
fasting produce awareness and awakening in man, and are conducive to his
protection and preservation from tests.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, compilation ‘The Importance of Obligatory
Prayer and Fasting’, compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of
Justice; published in The American
Baha'i, September 2000)
