Music, Devotions, and Mashriqu’l-Adhkár

Studies in the Babi and Baha’i Religions, Volume 4

This book offers an in-depth and scholarly examination of the development of music and devotional life within the American Bahá’í community through the lens of the Chicago community from its beginnings in the 1890s to the mid-1980s. The book relates the early history of the use of music and devotions among the early Bahá’ís of Chicago, the development of Bahá’í hymns, the opposition to their use, and their eventual abandonment.

He then turns his attention to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the Bahá’í Temple, in Wilmette, Illinois; the history of the design, construction of the Temple, and controversies which surrounded both. Finally, he examines worship in the Temple since its dedication in 1953. It is an absorbing study and vital addition to the library of any student of Bahá’í history.