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The name used in the Bahá'í writings for Houses of Worship is Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (Dawning-place of the Remembrance of God). All Bahá'í temples share certain architectural elements, only two of which are specified by Bahá'í scripture, that they are nine-sided and surmounted by domes. To date all the temples built or planned have a single, undivided room under the dome. In all seven, the seats in the auditorium face the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Acca, Israel.
The seven existing Houses of Worship were built as the regional community could support their construction. They express local design and culture in their selection of materials, landscaping and architecture.
Bahá'í Houses of Worship are open to people of all faiths - or of no particular faith. Services focus solely on the worship of God. There are no collections and no sermons. Only the Word of God is uttered within the Temple, with readings from all the Holy Writings of the earth. The only instrument used is the human voice, and the choir in any Bahá'í House of Worship sings without instrumental accompaniment. No sermons or lectures are permitted inside the House of Worship. As the Bahá'í Faith has no priesthood, ordinary members of the community - men and women, adults and children - read the texts.
There are no collections during the service. Only Bahá'ís are permitted to contribute to the upkeep of the House of Worship.
These buildings are the key element of a complex of facilities such as schools, hospitals, homes for the elderly, and other social and humanitarian institutions to serve the neighborhoods in which they are located.
Bahá'u'lláh said that any work done in a spirit of service is a form of prayer. The educational, humanitarian and scientific institutions to be built around the Temple will allow the Bahá'ís to complete their dedication of the individual to God. To Bahá'ís there is no particular division between the spiritual and practical parts of life. 'Abdu'l-Bahá taught that we should walk the spiritual path with practical feet.
Note that the Bahá'í gardens and the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, Israel are not part of a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár although tourist material generally refer to the Shrine as a Bahá'í temple.
The first Bahá'í Temple was completed around 1908 in Ishqábád or Ashkhabad, then ruled by Russia and now the capital of Turkmenistan. Ashkhabad is located in the desert plain of western Turkmenistan near the foothills of the Elburz Mountains. Under the protection and freedom given by the Russian authorities, the number of Bahá'ís there rose to over 1,000 and for the first time anywhere in the world a true Bahá'í community was established, with its own schools, medical facilities, cemetery, etc. Eventually the Bahá'ís in 'Ishqábád decided to build the institution that Bahá'u'lláh has ordained as the spiritual and social heart of the Bahá'í community, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár.
The Temple itself was surrounded by gardens. At the four corners of the garden were four buildings. A school, a hostel where traveling Bahá'ís were entertained, a small hospital, and a building for groundskeepers. The Bahá'ís lived as much as possible in proximity to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. It was the center of the community materially, as well as spiritually.
After the Soviet conquest of Turkmenistan, the Temple was secularized by the Soviets and was used for some time as a museum. It was eventually destroyed in an earthquake.