The Emergence of Bahá’í Houses of Worship

‘Ishqábád, Turkmenistan The first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár was constructed at the beginning of the twentieth century in the city of ‘Ishqábád, which is today the capital of Turkmenistan. The structure was confiscated by Soviet authorities in 1938 and later demolished after being irreparably damaged in an earthquake.

… Humanity is weary for want of a pattern of life to which to aspire; we look to you to foster communities whose ways will give hope to the world. To this end, Bahá’ís have focused on four core community-building areas: the enhancement of the devotional character of the community, particularly through the holding of gatherings where all are welcome to join in prayer, meditation, and the sharing of inspirational and sacred readings from their own faiths and traditions; the spiritual education of children; a program for the moral and spiritual empowerment of young adolescents; and the study of materials that will develop participants’ capacities to become protagonists themselves in these community-building processes.

 Efforts to establish this pattern of life, which the Universal House of Justice describes as a spiritual endeavour, one in which the whole community participates, unite both worship and service. Here, one can see the connection to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, which, Wherever it is established, … will naturally be an integral component of the process of community building that surrounds it—an awareness that is growing in localities where Houses of Worship are emerging. While these core activities are all intertwined, the one that is first encouraged and forms the basis of the eventual emergence of a local House of Worship is the holding of devotional gatherings—its seeds.

Riḍván 2012 letter, the Universal House of Justice.
https://bahaiworld.bahai.org/articles/betterment-world-glory-god