Worship privately don’t worship just to attract attention to yourself.

 

268. Worship privately don’t worship just to attract attention to yourself: This is a teaching found in the Holy Bible, but this teaching is also found in the Bahá’í Faith and the other religions.  Christianity: Matthew 6:1 “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 6:2 “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Matthew 6:3” But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:” Matthew 6:4 “That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:5 “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Matthew 6:6 “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:7 “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Matthew 6:8 “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask.”

BAHA’I FAITH: “To none is it permitted to mutter sacred verses before the public gaze as he walketh in the street or marketplace; nay rather, if he wish to magnify the Lord, it behoveth him to do so in such places as have been erected for this purpose, or in his own home. This is more in keeping with sincerity and godliness. Thus hath the sun of Our commandment shone forth above the horizon of Our utterance. Blessed, then, be those who do Our bidding.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 58)

 CHRISTIANITY: Matthew 6:16 “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Matthew 6:17 “But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;” Matthew 6:18 “That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” 1 Peter 3:3 “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;” 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”  Judaism: Lamentations 3:25 “The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of The LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke of his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.” Habakkuk 2:20 “But The LORD is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

BAHA’I FAITH: “To none is it permitted to mutter sacred verses before the public gaze as he walketh in the street or marketplace” “This is an allusion to the practice of certain clerics and religious leaders of earlier Dispensations who, out of hypocrisy and affectation, and in order to win the praise of their followers, would ostentatiously mutter prayers in public places as a demonstration of their piety. Bahá’u’lláh forbids such behaviour and stresses the importance of humility and genuine devotion to God.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 223)

BABI RELIGION: “THE reason why privacy hath been enjoined in moments of devotion is this, that thou mayest give thy best attention to the remembrance of God, that thy heart may at all times be animated with His Spirit, and not be shut out as by a veil from thy Best Beloved.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 91)

ISLAM: 55. “Call on your Lord with humility and in private: for Allah (God) loveth not those who trespass beyond bounds.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   7)

Islam: “The Prophet said, ‘Allah will give shade, to seven, on the Day when there will be no shade but His.’ (These seven persons are) a just ruler, a youth who has been brought up in the worship of Allah (i.e. worships Allah sincerely from childhood), a man whose heart is attached to the mosques (i.e. to pray the compulsory prayers in the mosque in congregation), two persons who love each other only for Allah’s sake and they meet and part in Allah’s cause only, a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for illicit intercourse with her and says: I am afraid of Allah, a man who gives charitable gifts so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given (i.e. nobody knows how much he has given in charity), and a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes are then flooded with tears.”

(Hadith, Bukhari Vol 1, Book 11, # 629)

ZOROASTRIANISM: 14. “Pray in my benediction for a safe abode, and a quiet and a joyful one, and a long abiding to every Mazdayasnian village, and for a succor even with my wants, for a succor with salutations of salvation, and for one with praises, O Fire! and for thee, O Ahurian one of Ahura (God)! do I ask.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 68)

Zoroastrianism: “Recite quietly:” (worship privately don’t draw attention to yourself)

(The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)

HINDUISM: 167. “Verily, that twice-born man performs the highest austerity up to the extremities of his nails, who, though wearing a garland, daily recites the Veda in private to the utmost of his ability.” 81. “Let him worship, according to the rule, the sages by the private recitation of the Veda.”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapters 2 and 3)

Hinduism: 75. “Let (every man) in this (second order, at least) daily apply himself to the private recitation of the Veda, and also to the performance of the offering to the gods; for he who is diligent in the performance of sacrifices, supports both the movable and the immovable creation.” “Worship unseen.”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 3 and Ramayana)

BUDDHISM: 18. “Life seems difficult for one who is modest, who always looks for what is pure, who is detached, quiet, clear, and intelligent.” 24. “Whoever finds joy in quieting one’s thoughts, always reflecting.” “Thus he develops the ‘Elements of Enlightenment,’ bent on solitude, on detachment, on extinction, and ending in deliverance, namely: Attentiveness, Investigation of the Law, Energy, Rapture, Tranquility, Concentration, and Equanimity.”

((The Eightfold Path), Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2))

SABEANISM: “Recite this prayer thereon, repeat the prayer secretly. It will be his praise in the house of the great Celestial Father.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 1)