Burial of a Deceased Baha’i Prevented
September 25th, 2009
The following report was posted on the online site of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters on Friday, September 25, 2009, and appears below in translation:

After the destruction in recent days of the Baha’i cemetery of Vilashahr and Najafabad [see ipw], agents of the Ministry of Intelligence are preventing the burial of a deceased Baha’i in that same cemetery.

Azizu’llah Subhi Najafabadi, born 1924, was a resident of Najafabad. He passed away on Tuesday, September 15, 2009, in Namazi Hospital due to old age. Since then, the family’s effort to receive the body has been unsuccessful.

The family’s appealed to authorities in the local police station, the security office and the local branch of the Ministry of Intelligence, the law enforcement agency, the municipality, and the mayor’s office in Najafabad. But they have only met with the same consistent response: “His remains will be given to you only if you do not bury him in the [recently destroyed] Baha’i cemetery of vilashahr-Najafabad, and inter him instead in the Baha’i cemetery of Isfahan.”

According to Baha’i teachings, Baha’is are not permitted to bury their dead far from the place of passing. It is for this reason that the family is exerting efforts to bury their dead in the aforesaid cemetery, near the place of his passing.

Currently, because of the destruction of the Baha’i cemetery of Vilashahr and Najafabad, the Baha’is of these towns have no place for the burial of their dead.

Reports receive from the field indicate that authorities are putting considerable pressures on Baha’i residents in this region aiming to prevent them from adhering to their religious percepts.

Source of story:

Burial of a Deceased Baha?i Prevented - Iran Press Watch

Quote:

According to Baha’i teachings, Baha’is are not permitted to bury their dead far from the place of passing. It is for this reason that the family is exerting efforts to bury their dead in the aforesaid cemetery, near the place of his passing

I have become interested in the Baha’i faith from reading your posts and other research, but as you may know, I have issues with religion.
I believe in a God of reason and logic and when God says something I believe there is a reason for it and often try to see this reason prior to acceptance.
The same goes for religion.

So, yes I agree that that the Baha’i should be allowed to practice their religion and bury their dead in a local cemetery, unless there are reasonable and logical reasons for disallowing such, but I am curious why this is a practice of the Baha’i religion?

Thanks for your post Chard!

First let me respond in saying that in the Middle East cemeteries are most often designated for a given religion.. thus there is a Muslim cemetery..a Christian cemetery and Jewish cemetery .. maybe a Zoroastrian cemetery in Iran and so on..

The Baha'i Faith is relatively new there so when we need to bury a Baha'i the need exists for a Baha'i cemetery to do that.. In Iran around where this family lived they destroyed the Baha'i cemetery and desecrated it.. plowed it under and broke the markers. There are no public cemeteries as in the US. In the US there is no need to have a Baha'i cemetery as such.

Only recently has Israel begun establishing public cemeteries.. Not too long ago a young man was killed in Jerusalem by a suicide bomb and as he did not meet the requirements for burial as a Jew.. His mother was not Jewish. he was refused burial in a Jewish cemetery. The Baha'i cemetery was the only one open to him in the Holy Land.

Baha'i burial laws were revealed by Baha'u'llah in a book called the Kitab-i-Iqan and essentially the law states that burial should be within an hour's journey of where the deceased passed away..

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)

Baha'i Burial

One possible reason for a burial taking place soon after passing is that elaborate mortuaries are not accessible in many places.

Other Baha'i Burial laws include no embalming or cremating the body of the deceased.

- Art

Thank you for the response and the link but you didn’t answer the question, why?

I can guess it had something to do with disease or decay of the body and not being wise to carry the body a great distance, but this is a guess.

There is much in the Judeo-Christian religions which I understand the reason the “law” was originally given but know that that reason is no longer a valid concern. This is what I believe is part of the “Living” Word of God.

So, if I am correct about the disease and or decay, does it still apply today?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a strong supporter of traditions but I believe that sometimes one has to accept that a tradition is just that and must be let go of.

My friend Chard,

From my view there are essentially two reasons..and these were stated above..

First, it was revealed by Baha'u'llah so that has weight for us Baha'is

and secondly as I mentioned many places in the world do not have adequate facilities to preserve a body

So a burial near the scene of passing is a practical solution.

A third one that occurs to me and that is not actually stated in our Writings but as the soul was associated with the body during life it may be appropriate to bury the body near the place where the soul ascends. I cannot really give much detail to this.

Some of the great questions unfolding from the rays of the Sun of Reality upon the minds of men are: the problem of the reality of the spirit of man; of the origin of the spirit; of its birth from this world into the world of God; the question of the inner life of the spirit and its fate after ascension from the body.

(Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 322)

In friendship,

- Art

Art, my friend, my brother,

Quote:

First, it was revealed by Baha'u'llah so that has weight for us Baha'is

I can accept and respect this as part of the Baha’i religion.
As you may know I have issues with religions, and I am not looking for a new religion but am interested in the Baha’I faith.

Quote:

and secondly as I mentioned many places in the world do not have adequate facilities to preserve a body So a burial near the scene of passing is a practical solution.

This would lead me to believe that time would be a greater concern than location. If the location is being denied then time would become a greater concern.

Quote:

A third one that occurs to me and that is not actually stated in our Writings but as the soul was associated with the body during life it may be appropriate to bury the body near the place where the soul ascends. I cannot really give much detail to this. Some of the great questions unfolding from the rays of the Sun of Reality upon the minds of men are: the problem of the reality of the spirit of man; of the origin of the spirit; of its birth from this world into the world of God; the question of the inner life of the spirit and its fate after ascension from the body. (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 322)

This is one which I had thought of but my belief is that once the soul leaves the physical body it no longer has a concern for the departed body for it is continuing forward.

"Another effect of spiritual development is alignment with God's will. This growing closer to God prepares the individual for the afterlife. The soul lives on after the body's death, embarking on a spiritual journey towards God through many "worlds" or planes of existence."
From Life, Death, and the Soul (Life, Death, and the Soul)

Thanks for your post Chard!

I honestly don't know what issues you have with religions.. maybe you could share that sometime.

Time and distance are involved in our burial practices.. One hours journey from the place of passing.

Thanks for quoting from "Life, Death, and the Soul"
Life, Death, and the Soul

The reason for my initial post was to share here that Baha'is in Iran are not being allowed to practise their Faith or even bury their own loved ones in a proper way.

- Art