44 We Have Assigned The Residence And Personal Clothing Of The Deceased

Categories: NOTES
Sources: The Kitab-i-aqdas

to the male, not female, offspring, nor to the other heirs. 25





In a Tablet, 'Abdu'l-Baha 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< r />
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.



Baha'u'llah clarifies various aspects of this part of the law of

inheritance. He specifies that if there be more than one residence, the

principal and most important one passes to the male offspring. The

remaining residences will, together with the other possessions of the

deceased, have to be divided among the heirs (Q and A 34), and He

indicates that in the absence of male offspring, two thirds of the

principal residence and the personal clothing of the deceased father will

revert to the female issue and one third to the House of Justice (Q and A

72). Further, when the deceased is a woman, Baha'u'llah states that all

her used clothing is to be equally divided amongst her daughters. Her

unworn clothing, jewels and property must be divided among her heirs, as

well as her used clothing if she leaves no daughter (Q and A 37).