The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
Notes
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).
Further details concerning the Prayer for the Dead are summarized in the Synopsis and Codification, section
IV.A.13.-14.11.six specific passages have been sent down by God, the Revealer of Verses
¶8
The passages that form part of the Prayer for the Dead comprise the repetition of the greeting “
Alláh-u-Abhá” (God is the All-Glorious) six times, each followed by nineteen repetitions of one of six specifically revealed verses. These verses are identical with those in the Prayer for the Dead revealed by
the Báb in the
Bayán. Bahá’u’lláh added a supplication to precede these passages.
12.Hair doth not invalidate your prayer, nor aught from which the spirit hath departed, such as bones and the like. Ye are free to wear the fur of the sable as ye would that of the beaver, the squirrel, and other animals
¶9
In some earlier religious
Dispensations, the wearing of the hair of certain animals or having certain other objects on one’s person was held to invalidate one’s prayer. Bahá’u’lláh here confirms the Báb’s pronouncement in the Arabic Bayán that such things do not invalidate one’s prayer.
13.We have commanded you to pray and fast from the beginning of maturity
¶10
Bahá’u’lláh defines the “age of maturity with respect to religious duties” as “
fifteen for both men and women” (Q and A
20). For details of the period of
fasting, see note
25.
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