the Baha’i Faith is a law-based and statutory religious system.

The devotional and legal ordinances in the Baha’i Faith are primarily derived from the rulings of the Kitab-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), which superseded the previous Islamic shari‘a. While initially influenced by certain Babi forms, the Baha’i Faith is a law-based and statutory religious system.

The central devotional aspects and regulations include:

Prayer and Devotion

• Recognition: The foundational duty is the recognition of Baha’u’llah as the Manifestation of God in this age. Every believer is also required to repeat the invocation Allah-u-Abha 95 times daily.

• Obligatory Prayer: Obligatory prayers are prescribed three times daily (morning, noon, and evening). They are performed individually and in private. They involve a brief washing of the hands and face and specific postures.

• Qiblih: The direction of obligatory prayer is toward ‘Akka, the resting place of Baha’u’llah.

• Age and Exemptions: Obligatory prayer becomes binding at age 15 for both men and women. Exemptions include the sick, the elderly, and women during their monthly cycle (who recite a brief prescribed verse instead).

• Texts of Prayer: Only the prayers and meditations revealed by Baha’u’llah, the Bab, and ‘Abdu’l-Baha are used in worship.

• Communal Prayer: Public liturgical congregational prayer is abolished, except for the special funeral prayer. Islamic roles such as the muezzin, imam, and khutbih have no equivalent in the Baha’i Faith.

Fasting, Huququ’llah, and Pilgrimage

• Fasting: The Baha’i fast lasts nineteen days, during the final month of the Baha’i year (‘Ala), immediately before Naw-Ruz. It involves abstention from food and drink from sunrise to sunset.

• Huququ’llah (Right of God): Instead of the traditional alms-tax, believers who meet specified conditions pay an annual nineteen percent levy on surplus wealth, known as Huququ’llah, to the House of Justice. Begging is prohibited.

• Pilgrimage: Pilgrimage is obligatory for men, to one of two places designated by Baha’u’llah: the House of Baha’u’llah in Baghdad (Iraq) and the House of the Bab in Shiraz (Iran).

Calendar and Community Life

• Calendar: The Baha’i year begins on Naw-Ruz (the spring equinox, March 21). The calendar is structured around the number nineteen.

• Intercalary Days: The Ayyam-i-Ha—four or five days before the fast—serve as days of hospitality and celebration.

• Holy Days: There are nine Holy Days on which work is suspended, connected with the lives of the Manifestations and key sacred events.

• Nineteen Day Feast: This is the central regular community gathering. Held on the first day of every Baha’i month, it includes devotional readings, consultation on community affairs, and fellowship. Attendance is expected of believers aged 15 and above and is a community-only gathering.

Houses of Worship and Burial Laws

• Mashriqu’l-Adhkar (House of Worship): This is the Baha’i public house of worship. Devotions consist of reading and chanting from the Sacred Texts. There is no clergy, no pulpit, no images, no candles, and no instrumental music. 

• Burial Laws: Cremation is forbidden. Burial must take place in the earth, within a distance of one hour’s travel from the place of death. The deceased is interred with a burial ring bearing the “Greatest Name” of Baha’u’llah.

• Purity: The Islamic concept of ritual impurity is abolished in the Baha’i Faith. Semen is not considered unclean and pork is not forbidden.

(Extracted from Francesco Ficicchia's Der Baha'ismus: Weltreligion der Zukunft? Geschichte, Lehre und Organisation in kritischer Anfrage, Stuttgart: Quell Verlag, 1981)