You have asked whether it is permissible for the friends to
chant a prayer collectively. There is a difference between chanting a prayer
collectively and congregational prayer. The latter is a formal prayer usually
led by an individual using a prescribed ritual. Congregational prayer in this
form is forbidden in the Faith except in the case of the Prayer for the Dead.
While reciting prayers in unison and spontaneously joining in the recitation of
the Words of God is not forbidden, the friends should bear in mind the advice
of the beloved Guardian on this subject when he stated that:
“although the friends are thus left free to follow their own
inclination, ... they should take the utmost care that any manner they practice
should not acquire too rigid a character, and thus develop into an institution.
This is a point which the friends should always bear in mind, lest they deviate
from the clear path indicated in the Teachings." [Synopsis and
Codification of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas]
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter written on behalf of the
Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, dated 6 February 1975;
The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Extracts on Baha’i Burial)
