Primogeniture
The law of primogeniture was upheld by the Prophets of the past and is evident in the Administrative Order established by the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bahá[edit]
"...in the explanation which `Abdu'l-Bahá, in one of His Tablets, has given to, and the emphasis He has placed upon, the hereditary principle and the law of primogeniture as having been upheld by the Prophets of the past--in these we can discern the faint glimmerings and discover the earliest intimation of the nature and working of the Administrative Order which the Will of `Abdu'l-Bahá was at a later time destined to proclaim and formally establish."
The eldest son also has duties along with the bestowed extraordinary distinctions and birthright[edit]
"In a Tablet, 'Abdu'l-Bahá indicates that the residence and personal clothing of a deceased man remain in the male line. They pass to the eldest son and in the absence of the eldest son, they pass to the second-eldest son, and so on. He explains that this provision is an expression of the law of primogeniture, which has invariably been upheld by the Law of God. In a Tablet to a follower of the Faith in Persia He wrote: "In all the Divine Dispensations the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophethood hath been his birthright." With the distinctions given to the eldest son, however, go concomitant duties. For example, he has the moral responsibility, for the sake of God, to care for his mother and also to consider the needs of the other heirs."
- (Notes to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, no. 44)
