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 you die. 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 dated 22 March 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Baha’i Burial)
(From a letter dated 22 March 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Baha’i Burial)
