Cremation

Tablets on

• https://bahai-library.com/abdul-baha_wisdom_burying_dead

From Lights of Guidance (to categorize or add to subpages)

Cremation

"He feels that, in view of what Abdu'l-Bahá has said against cremation, the believers should be strongly urged, as an act of faith, to make provisions against their remains being cremated. Bahá'u'lláh has laid down as a law, in the Aqdas, the manner of Bahá'í burial, and it is so beautiful, befitting and dignified, that no believer should deprive himself of it."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, July 7, 1947, in Lights of Guidance, no. 666)

"Concerning cremation I have not seen anything in the writings. But as Bahá'u'lláh in the book of Aqdas directs the friends to bury their dead, he indirectly discourages cremation. Whether there is some basic reason for such a preference he does not say, but we may try and find it."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, vol. 2, p. 21)

Body Can Be Left to Medical Science, Remains Not to be Cremated

"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 of your death.

"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 written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, March 22, 1957, in Lights of Guidance, no. 667)

The Inner Temple Beholdeth Its Physical Frame

"As this physical frame is the throne of the inner temple, whatever occurs to the former is felt by the latter. In reality that which takes delight in joy or is saddened by pain is the inner temple of the body, not the body itself. Since this physical body is the throne whereon the inner temple is established, God hath ordained that the body be preserved to the extent possible, so that nothing that causeth repugnance may be experienced. The inner temple beholdeth its physical frame, which is its throne. Thus, if the latter is accorded respect, it is as if the former is the recipient. The converse is likewise true.

"Therefore, it hath been ordained that the dead body should be treated with the utmost honour and respect."

(The Báb: Selections from the Writings of the Báb, p. 95, in Lights of Guidance, no. 668)

Body Formed Gradually, Must Decompose Gradually

"Be assured that your letter was not a bother to us. Indeed, we were happy to learn that in the autumn years of your physical life your soul was illumined by the eternal light shed upon the world by Bahá'u'lláh.

"Concerning your question about cremation, the Bahá'í law stipulates burial. The instructions of Bahá'u'lláh contained in His Most Holy Book make this law clear. Shoghi Effendi, in a letter written on his behalf to an individual believer in 1955, comments that Abdu'l-Bahá '...also explained that burial is natural and should be followed.' The explanation of the Master referred to by Shoghi Effendi is found in Tablets revealed by Him. One of those was published in Star of the West, Volume XI, No. 19, page 317, from which we quote:

'Thy letter has been received. Due to scarcity of time, I write the answer briefly: The body of man, which has been formed gradually, must similarly be decomposed gradually. This is according to the real and natural order and Divine Law. If it had been better for it to be burned after death, in its very creation it would have been so planned that the body would automatically become ignited after death, be consumed and turned into ashes. But the divine order formulated by the heavenly ordinance is that after death, this body shall be transferred from one stage to another different from the preceding one, so that according to the relations which exist in the world, it may gradually combine and mix other elements, thus going through stages until it arrives in the vegetable kingdom, there turning into plants and flowers, developing into trees of the highest paradise, becoming perfumed and attaining the beauty of color.'

'Cremation suppresses it speedily from attainment to these transformations, the elements becoming so quickly decomposed that transformation to these various stages is checked.'

"When we realize that our physical bodies are composed of elements placed in the earth by their Creator, and which through the orderly processes of His Law are continually being used in the formation of beings, we can better understand the necessity for our physical bodies to be subjected to the gradual process of decomposition. As at the time of death, the real and eternal self of man, his soul, abandons its physical garment to soar in the realms of God, we may compare the body to a vehicle which has been used for the journey through earthly life and no longer needed once the destination has been reached."

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, June 6, 1971, in Lights of Guidance, no. 669)

"Ihre andere Frage, Feuerbestattung: Bahá'u'lláh hat in Seinem Gesetz-Buch, dem "Aqdas", bestimmte Gesetze fúr Begrabung geoffenbart. Und `Abdu'l-Bahá sagte, dass der menschliche Körper langsam durch einen Prozess zusammengestellt worden ist. So auch sollte er durch Natur auseinander gehen."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, vol. 2, p. 43; see this provisional translation)

Spiritual Assembly Cannot Arrange for the Cremation of the Remains of a Bahá'í

"Obviously a Spiritual Assembly cannot itself arrange for the cremation of the remains of a Bahá'í even if it was that person's wish that his body be disposed of in this way. Bahá'í relatives, likewise, are under the obligation of obeying the Bahá'í law and must not agree to the cremation of a Bahá'í. Where non-Bahá'í relatives of the deceased Bahá'í have charge of the body and are proposing to cremate the remains, the responsible Spiritual Assembly should do all it can to explain the Bahá'í attitude to the relatives in an effort to prevent the cremation. If these efforts fail, the Assembly can have nothing officially to do with the cremation of the body; the believers, however, are free to do as they wish about attending the funeral and the cremation and they may certainly offer a prayer for the progress of the soul of the deceased. The Assembly could, if it seemed appropriate, arrange a meeting at a time other than the funeral, at which the Prayer for the Dead could be said on behalf of the deceased."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany, December 9, 1984, in Lights of Guidance, no. 670)

Cremation is Contrary to Bahá'í Law--Bahá'í Relatives and the Spiritual Assembly Are Responsible

"As was explained to your Assembly in a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice on 10 January 1978, if a Bahá'í makes a provision in his will that is contrary to Bahá'í law, that provision is null and void in Bahá'í law, and neither the Bahá'í relatives nor the Spiritual Assembly are permitted to fulfil it. Thus, if a Bahá'í states in his will that his remains are to be cremated he should, nevertheless, be buried in accordance with Bahá'í law unless there is some element of the civil law would prevent such an occurrence--in which case the civil law would have to be followed, but the Assembly, as indicated above, could take no part in it...."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany, December 9, 1984, in Lights of Guidance, no. 642)

Cremation suppresses gradual and natural decomposition of the body

"Tablet from Abdul-baha to Shanaz Waite*

"To the maid-servant of God, Shahnaz Waite, San Diego, California.—Upon her be the Glory of God the Most Glorious!

"He Is God!

"O thou who art the daughter of the Kingdom!

"Thy letter has been received. Due to scarcity of time, I write the answer briefly: The body of man, which has been formed gradually, must similarly be decomposed gradually. This is according to the real and natural order and Divine Law. If it had been better for it to be burned after death, in its very creation it would have been so planned that the body would automatically become ignited after death, be consumed and turned into ashes. But the divine order formulated by the heavenly ordinance is that after death this body shall be transferred from one stage to another different from the preceding one, so that according to the relations which exist in the world, it may gradually combine and mix with other elements, thus going through stages until it arrives in the vegetable kingdom, there turning into plants and flowers, developing into trees of the highest paradise, becoming perfumed and attaining the beauty of color.

"Cremation suppresses it speedily from attainment to these transformations, the elements becoming so quickly decomposed that transformation to these various stages is checked.

"Convey on my behalf my utmost love to thy honored husband! I am supplicating that he may day by day attain to spiritual development. In regard to the meeting which has been formed in that city, it is my hope that that assembly may become illumined and like unto a rose-garden it may diffuse sweet fragrance.

"*Note—This tablet is in answer to a letter I wrote to Abdul-Baha, April 14, 1920. in regard to our having formed a Board for the San Diego Assembly, of which Mr. Waite is Chairman. I also wrote of the wonderful self-sacrifice and loving service which Mary Fenn has for several years rendered the Cause here, keeping the fire burning under most discouraging circumstances. I also asked for instructions regarding cremation, of which I knew he does not approve, but I wished to have his own words upon the subject.—Shahnaz Waite."

(Star of the West, vol. 11, issue 19, pp. 317-318)

See also

• Burial