# Burial, Baha'i

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Bahá'u'lláh, Burial, Baha'i, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Burial, Baha'i
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> Shoghi Effendi
> 
> Universal House of Justice
> 
> published in
> 
> Compilation of Compilations
> 
> Volume I,  pp. 9-13
> 
> 1991
> 
> I.
> 
> Extracts From
> The Writings Of Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> 1.
> 
> It
> is forbidden you to carry the body more than an hour's distance from the
> town; bury it with tranquillity and cheer in a nearby place.
> 
> (Bahá'u'lláh,
> from a Tablet - translated from the Arabic)
> 
> 2.
> 
> QUESTION:
> Is the ordinance that the body of the deceased should be carried no greater
> distance than one hour's journey applicable to transport by both land and
> sea?
> 
> ANSWER: This command applieth to distances by sea as well as by land,
> whether it is an hour by steamship or by rail; the intention is the hour's
> time, whatever the means of transport. The sooner the burial taketh place,
> however, the more fitting and acceptable will it be.
> 
> ("The Kitáb-i-Aqdas,
> The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh", Haifa: Bahá'í
> World Centre, 1992, pp.
> 111
> -
> 112
> )
> 
> 3.
> 
> In
> brief, the Bahá'í law for the burial of the dead states that
> it is forbidden to carry the body for more than one hour's journey from
> the place of death; that the body should be wrapped in a shroud of silk
> or cotton, and on its finger should be placed a ring bearing the inscription
> "I came forth from God, and return unto Him, detached from all save Him,
> holding fast to His Name, the Merciful, the Compassionate"; and that the
> coffin should be of crystal, stone or hard fine wood. A specific Prayer
> for the Dead (see
> note 10
> ) is ordained, to be said before interment. As
> affirmed by `Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian, this law precludes cremation
> of the dead. The formal prayer and the ring are meant to be used for those
> who have attained the age of maturity, i.e. 15 years of age (Q and A 70)
> 
> ("The Kitáb-i-Aqdas,
> The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh", Haifa: Bahá'í
> World Centre, 1992, p.
> 229
> )
> 
> 4.
> 
> The
> Prayer for the Dead (see Some Texts Supplementary to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas)
> is the only Bahá'í obligatory prayer which is to be recited
> in congregation; it is to be recited by one believer while all present
> stand in silence (see
> note 19
> ). Bahá'u'lláh has clarified
> that the Prayer for the Dead is required only when the deceased is an adult
> (Q and A 70), that the recital should precede the interment of the deceased,
> and that there is no requirement to face the Qiblih when saying this prayer
> (Q and A 85).
> 
> ("The Kitáb-i-Aqdas,
> The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh", Haifa: Bahá'í
> World Centre, 1992, pp.
> 169
> -
> 170
> )
> 
> II.
> 
> Extracts from
> Letters Written on behalf of the Guardian:
> 
> 5.
> 
> Regarding
> the Bahá'í funeral service: it is extremely simple, as it
> consists only of a congregational prayer to be read before burial. This
> prayer will be made available to the friends when the "Aqdas" is translated
> and published. In the meantime your National Spiritual Assembly should
> take great care lest any uniform procedure or ritual in this matter be
> adopted or imposed upon the friends. The danger in this, as in some other
> cases regarding Bahá'í worship, is that a definite system
> of rigid rituals and practices be developed among the believers. The utmost
> simplicity and flexibility should be observed, and a selection from the
> Bahá'í Sacred Writings would serve the purpose at the present
> time, provided this selection is not rigidly and uniformly adopted on all
> such occasions.
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 10 January 1936 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada)
> 
> [See also
> Directives from the Guardian
> 
> no. 85
> ]
> 
> 6.
> 
> Both
> the Bahá'í marriage service and the Bahá'í
> funeral service are extremely simple in character, and you must have certainly
> read in the "Bahá'í News" the explanation given by the Guardian
> on these two points. As already stated all forms of rigidity and uniformity
> in such matters should be avoided by the believers. What is of vital importance
> is to strictly observe the laws and directions specifically revealed by
> Bahá'u'lláh. These will be gradually brought to the attention
> of the friends and explained to them by the Guardian. In the mean time
> great care should be taken to prevent the introduction of unnecessary details
> and additions of a man-made nature to the body of the Teachings.
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 19 May 1936 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 7.
> 
> There
> is no objection whatsoever to non-Bahá'ís being present when
> the long prayer for the dead is read, as long as they respect our manner
> of reading it by rising and standing as the Bahá'ís do on
> this occasion. Nor, indeed, is there any objection to non-Bahá'ís
> being present during the reading of any Bahá'í prayer for
> the departed. In reporting Bahá'í marriages it is much better
> to mention that the ceremony was performed by the Assembly, as this is
> the proper thing to do, and an individual only acts for the Assembly on
> this occasion. As a funeral is not a legal ceremony more latitude can be
> allowed, especially as the family of the deceased may want some particular
> Bahá'í friend to officiate.·Mr. and Mrs....are naturally
> quite free to be buried in their own plot in the Cemetery, if that is what
> they desire.
> 
> An official Bahá'í funeral service should only be given
> for a believer, but there is no objection to the reading of Bahá'í
> prayers, or indeed to a Bahá'í conducting the funeral service
> of a non-Bahá'í, if this has been requested.
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 20 July 1946 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada)
> 
> [Also quoted in part in
> Directives from the Guardian
> ,
> section 85
> 
> 8.
> 
> The
> body may be conveyed by any means to a distance that can be covered in
> one hour's journey.
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 5 August 1949 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 9.
> 
> The
> Guardian thinks the ideal thing would be for the believers to have a Bahá'í
> Cemetery....
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 5 September 1950written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 10.
> 
> Regarding
> the questions which you ask, concerning Bahá'í burials, etc.
> At the present time, the Guardian is not stressing these matters, as their
> establishment might divert attention from the supreme tasks we have before
> us. However, the answers are as follows: Under the Bahá'í
> teachings it seems clear that the body is not to be embalmed. The burial
> should take place within an hour's travel time from the place of death.
> The preparation for the body for burial is a careful washing, and placing
> in a shroud of white cloth, silk preferably. There is nothing in the teachings
> with regard to turning the body over to Scientific Institutions for scientific
> research, and therefore the individual may do as he wishes, until such
> a time as the Universal House of Justice may legislate on this matter,
> if they ever do. The practice in the Orient is to bury the person within
> 24 hours of the time of death, sometimes even sooner, although there is
> no provision in the teachings as to the time limit.
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 2 April 1955 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 11.
> 
> There
> is nothing in the Teachings against leaving our bodies to medical science.
> The only thing we should stipulate is that we do not wish to be cremated,
> as it is against our Bahá'í Laws.
> 
> As many people make arrangements to leave their bodies to medical
> science for investigation, he suggests that you inquire, either through
> some lawyer friend or through some hospital, how you could do this, and
> then make the necessary provision in your Will, stipulating that you wish
> your body to be of service to mankind in death, and that, being a Bahá'í,
> you request that your remains not be cremated and not be taken more than
> an hour's journey from the place you die. The spirit has no more connection
> with the body after it departs, but, as the body was once the temple of
> the spirit, we Bahá'ís are taught that it must be treated
> with respect.
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 22 March 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> [Also quoted in
> Directives from the Guardian
> ,
> section 126
> ]
> 
> III.
> 
> Extracts from
> Letters written on behalf of
> 
> the Universal
> House of Justice:
> 
> 12.
> 
> For
> the burial of the dead the only requirements now binding in the West are
> to bury the body (not to cremate it), not to carry it more than a distance
> of one hour's journey from the place of death, and to say the Prayer for
> the Dead if the deceased is a believer over the age of 15.
> 
> (From a letter
> dated
> 9 June 1974
> written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> the National Spiritual Assembly of Iceland)
> 
> 13.
> 
> 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."
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 6 February 1975 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> 14.
> 
> The
> Universal House of Justice advises that the place of death may be taken
> to be the city or town in which the believer passes away, and therefore
> the hour's journey may be calculated from the city limits to the place
> of burial. However, it should be borne in mind that the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's
> law is to be buried near where one dies.
> 
> At the present time there are no definite regulations for preparing
> Bahá'í cemeteries. However, in a Tablet of the Master's,
> He emphasizes the need for the cemetery to have a beautiful outward appearance
> and states that the graves should not be joined together but that each
> one should have a flower bed around its four sides. He also indicates that
> it would be pleasing if a pool were located in the center of the cemetery
> and beautiful trees were planted around it as well as around the cemetery
> itself.
> 
> (From a letter
> dated 20 February 1978 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to the National Spiritual Assembly of Brazil)
> 
> 15.
> 
> The
> Prayer for the Dead should be recited at the funeral if the deceased is
> 15 years old or more. If there is no one at the funeral able to read, it
> is sufficient to say only that part of the Prayer which requires the repetition
> nineteen times of each of six short verses.
> 
> The body must be placed in the grave in such a position that the
> feet point towards `Akká (the Qiblih).
> 
> (From a statement
> prepared by a National Spiritual Assembly in Africa and approved by the
> Universal House of Justice on 14 June 1982)
> 
> IV. Endnotes
> 
> A newer translation
> of this passage has been substituted for the translation originally included.
> 
> "
> note 10
> ," "The Kitab-i-Aqdas,
> The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh", pp.
> 169
> -
> 170
> .
> 
> "Q and A
> 70
> ", "The Kitab-i-Aqdas,
> The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 127
> .
> 
> A newer translation
> of this passage has been substituted for the translation originally included.
> 
> "see
> Some Texts Supplementary
> to the Kitab-i-Aqdas
> ", "The Kitab-i-Aqdas, The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh",
> pp.
> 91
> -
> 102
> .
> 
> "see
> note 19
> ", "The
> Kitab-i-Aqdas, The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh", pp.
> 172
> -
> 173
> .
> 
> "Q and A
> 70
> ", "The Kitab-i-Aqdas,
> The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 127
> .
> 
> "Q and A
> 85
> ", "The Kitab-i-Aqdas,
> The Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh", p.
> 131
> .
> 
> A newer translation
> of this passage has been substituted for the translation originally included.
> 
> "Synopsis and Codification
> of the Kitab-i-Aqdas", No. 2 of Notes, p. 57. [Ed. note: This reference is also available in
> Note 19
> of the Kitab-i-Aqdas (on pp.
> 172
> -
> 173
> ).]
> 
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> — *Burial, Baha'i (Used by permission of the curator)*