Exemption from obligatory prayer and fasting is granted to women who are
menstruating; they should, instead, perform their ablutions (see note 34)
and repeat 95 times a day between one noon and the next, the verse
"Glorified be God, the Lord of Splendour and Beauty". This provision has
its antecedent in the Arabic Bayán, where a similar dispensation was
granted.
In some earlier religious Dispensations, women in their courses were
considered ritually unclean and were forbidden to observe the duties of
prayer and fasting. The concept of ritual uncleanness has been abolished
by Bahá’u’lláh (see note 106).
The Universal House of Justice has clarified that the provisions in the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas granting exemptions from certain duties and responsibilities
are, as the word indicates, exemptions and not prohibitions. Any believer
is, therefore, free to avail himself or herself of an applicable exemption
if he or she so wishes. However, the House of Justice counsels that, in
deciding whether to do so or not, the believer should use wisdom and
realize that Bahá’u’lláh has granted these exemptions for good reason.
The prescribed exemption from obligatory prayer, originally related to the
Obligatory Prayer consisting of nine rak’áhs, is now applicable to the
three Obligatory Prayers which superseded it.
21. When travelling, if ye should stop and rest in some safe spot, perform
ye—men and women alike—a single prostration in place of each unsaid
Obligatory Prayer #14
Exemption from obligatory prayer is granted to those who find themselves
in such a condition of insecurity that the saying of the Obligatory
Prayers is not possible. The exemption applies whether one is travelling
or at home, and it provides a means whereby Obligatory Prayers which have
remained unsaid on account of these insecure circumstances may be
compensated for.
Bahá’u’lláh has made it clear that obligatory prayer "is not suspended
during travel" so long as one can find a "safe spot" in which to perform
it (Q and A 58).
Numbers 21, 58, 59, 60, and 61 in Questions and Answers amplify this
provision.
22. Upon completing your prostrations, seat yourselves cross-legged #14
The Arabic expression "haykalu’t-tawhíd", translated here as
"cross-legged", means the "posture of unity". It has traditionally
signified a cross-legged position.
23. Say: God hath made My hidden love the key to the Treasure #15
There is a well-known Islamic tradition concerning God and His creation:
I was a Hidden Treasure. I wished to be made known, and thus I
called creation into being in order that I might be known.
References and allusions to this tradition are found throughout the Bahá’í
Writings. For example, in one of His prayers, Bahá’u’lláh reveals:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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