Brakha

Daily prayer in Mandaeism, called brakha ࡁࡓࡀࡊࡀ in Mandaic (cognate with Hebrew berakhah and Arabic barakah) or occasionally birukta (birukhta),^[1] consists of set prayers that are recited three times per day.^[2] Mandaeans stand facing north while reciting daily prayers.^[3] Unlike in Islam and Coptic Orthodox Christianity, prostration is not practiced.

Mandaean priests recite rahma prayers^[4]^[5] three times every day, while laypeople also recite the Rushuma (signing prayer) and Asut Malkia ("Healing of Kings") daily.^[2]

In Mandaic, the generic term for an individual prayer is buta (plural form: bawata).^[6]

Prayer times

The three prayer times in Mandaeism are:^[7]^[4]^[8]

dawn (sunrise) (corresponding to the Fajr prayer in Islam and Shacharit in Judaism; mentioned in Book 8 of the Right Ginza as rahmia ḏ-miṣṭipra)
noontime (the "seventh hour") (corresponding to the Zuhr prayer in Islam and Mincha in Judaism; mentioned in Book 8 of the Right Ginza as rahmia ḏ-šuba šaiia)
evening (sunset) (corresponding to the Maghrib prayer in Islam and Maariv in Judaism; mentioned in Book 8 of the Right Ginza as rahmia ḏ-l-paina)

Traditionally, the prayers are performed while wearing the rasta (robe), burzinqa (turban), and himiana (belt).^[7]

References

^ Nasoraia, Brikha H.S. (2021). The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought. New Delhi: Sterling. ISBN 978-81-950824-1-4. OCLC 1272858968.
^ ^a ^b Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.
^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
^ ^a ^b Drower, E. S. (1959). The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
^ Lidzbarski, Mark. 1920. Mandäische Liturgien. Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, phil.-hist. Klasse, NF 17.1. Berlin.
^ Segelberg, Eric (1958). Maṣbūtā: Studies in the Ritual of Mandaean Baptism. Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell.
^ ^a ^b Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press.
^ Choheili, Shadan. Rishama and Barakha Rituals. Liverpool, NSW: Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi.