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Baháʼí Chaplaincy Resources

  • Writer: Yvonne Aburrow
    Yvonne Aburrow
  • Dec 29, 2025
  • 9 min read

Overview of the Bahá’í faith

Bahá’í beliefs address such essential themes as the oneness of God and religion, the oneness of humanity and freedom from prejudice, the inherent nobility of the human being, the progressive revelation of religious truth, the development of spiritual qualities, the integration of worship and service, the fundamental equality of the sexes, the harmony between religion and science, the centrality of justice to all human endeavours, the importance of education, and the dynamics of the relationships that are to bind together individuals, communities, and institutions as humanity advances towards its collective maturity. – The Bahá’í Faith: What Bahá’ís believe

Videos on Bahá’í perspectives on life after death


A Short List of End-of-Life Essentials for Bahá’ís

  • Every Bahá’í must write a will.

  • Cremation and embalming are forbidden unless required by civil law.

  • Burial should occur near the locality of the person’s death, i.e. within one-hour’s travel, the spirit of the law being that one should be buried near where one dies.

  • The body should be wrapped in a shroud of cotton or silk and buried in a casket of fine hardwood or stone.

  • A burial ring bearing the inscription, “I came forth from God, and return unto Him, detached from all save Him, holding fast to His Name, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” should be placed on the hand of the deceased.

  • Before interment, the “Prayer for the Dead” should be read (if the deceased is 15 years of age or older).

  • Appropriate symbols for use on the grave marker for a Bahá’í are varying sizes of a nine-pointed star or a nine-pointed star with the word “Bahá’í” in the centre. Quotations from Bahá’í sacred scripture on grave markers are also acceptable.

Details related to these requirements can be found in the Bahá’í Funeral and Burial Guide for Canada (PDF).

A Bahá’í meeting (Bahá'ís of Canada)
A Bahá’í meeting (Bahá'ís of Canada)

Contact details

For more information, or to contact Bahá’ís who may be able to assist end-of-life care providers in the Waterloo Region, here are email addresses for the Bahá’í Communities in the Region, which are known as Local Spiritual Assemblies (LSA):


Baháʼí resources for hospice chaplains


Recommended books & resources

The nine-pointed Bahá’í star

Life, End-of-Life and the Afterlife, by John McLaughlin


The Eternal Journey of the Soul Towards God

In the Bahá’í Teachings, the individual comes into existence, both physically and spiritually, at conception and begins an eternal journey towards God. The essence of the individual, the “rational soul”, once brought into being, is immortal. Once brought into the world outside the womb at birth, the rational soul engages the world through the instrumentality of the body with its various senses, limbs and other capacities such as the mind. 

“The soul has its origin in the spiritual worlds of God. It is exalted above matter and the physical world. The individual has his beginning when the soul associates itself with the embryo at the time of conception … The soul does not belong to the material world, and its association with the body is similar to that of a light with a mirror which reflects it. The light which appears in the mirror is not inside it; it comes from an external source … there is a special relationship between it and the body, and together they form a human being.”   – Section 1, Unit 3, Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, Ruhi Institute

The Bahá’í sacred writings also make unequivocally clear the Bahá’í belief that each human soul is not pre-existent but is “individualized” at the moment of conception. Bahá’ís do not, therefore, believe in reincarnation—the doctrine that the same individual soul returns in different bodies to live different or successive earthly lives.


Our highest purpose in life is to develop the spiritual capacities of the soul, which will be essential to our existence after the death of the body. This can best be achieved by striving to serve God through service to our fellow human beings. Awareness of our spiritual reality and guidance on how we can acquire spiritual qualities comes when we turn to the teachings of the Divine Educators (in Bahá’í terminology “Manifestations of God”, e.g. Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and in this age, Bahá’u’lláh) and shape our lives according to these teachings. Bahá’u’lláh wrote,

“The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth. The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High.”  – Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, LXXXI 

‘Abdu'l-Bahá explains that this life is a preparation for the next, just as the womb prepares a foetus for life on Earth. Spiritual qualities like faith, love, and virtue must be developed in this world to be ready for the "divine existence" of the afterlife, which is described as a "world of lights" and "everlasting life". Therefore, individuals should acquire spiritual "forces" in this world so that they are prepared when they ascend to the spiritual realm and are therefore able to fully reap the spiritual bounties of that world.

“Therefore, in this world he must prepare himself for the life beyond. That which he needs in the world of the Kingdom must be obtained here. Just as he prepared himself in the world of the matrix by acquiring forces necessary in this sphere of existence, so, likewise, the indispensable forces of the divine existence must be potentially attained in this world.”  – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace

Death, the End of One Stage and the Beginning of the Next

Physical death is the end of the stage of our existence that is so familiar to each of us, the stage associated with the physical body and world, but the soul survives this separation and continues on its eternal journey towards its Maker in other, purely spiritual (i.e. non-material) realms of existence. While we can in no wise grasp the actual nature of the soul or the “world beyond”, what can be said is that the soul is not in a static condition in that world of spirit, but rather, can continue to develop and draw closer to God.

“The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men” …"The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother."  – Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, LXXXI

Heaven and Hell (in this world and the next)

In the Bahá’í writings, “Heaven” and “Hell” are not actual material places, but rather, conditions experienced by the soul (in this world or the next!) to the degree that one aligns one’s inner self and outer actions with the Will of God revealed through the teachings of the Manifestations of God. Heaven represents spiritual perfection and closeness, while hell is a state of spiritual misery and separation caused by the soul's failure to develop divine qualities.

“Thou hast asked Me concerning the nature of the soul. Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. It is the first among all created things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize His glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adoration before Him. If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will, eventually, return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to its Creator, it will become a victim to self and passion, and will, in the end, sink in their depths.”  – Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, LXXXII 

A person who has striven to align themselves with the Teaching of God and to serve humanity can approach death with eager anticipation rather than dread of extinction, as explained in the following passages from Bahá’í writings. 

“O SON OF THE SUPREME! I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendour. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?”  – Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words-Arabic # 32
"Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved. By the righteousness of God! It shall attain a station such as no pen can depict, or tongue can describe."  – Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, LXXXII
“The honour with which the Hand of Mercy will invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe. Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and entereth the all-highest Paradise.”  – Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, LXXXI
“To consider that after the death of the body the spirit perishes is like imagining that a bird in a cage will be destroyed if the cage is broken, though the bird has nothing to fear from the destruction of the cage. Our body is like the cage, and the spirit is like the bird… therefore if the cage becomes broken, the bird will continue and exist. Its feelings will be even more powerful, its perceptions greater, and its happiness increased.”  – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions
A friend asked: “How should one look forward to death?” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered: “How does one look forward to the goal of any journey? With hope and with expectation. It is even so with the end of this earthly journey. In the next world, man will find himself freed from many of the disabilities under which he now suffers. Those who have passed on through death, have a sphere of their own. It is not removed from ours; their work, the work of the Kingdom, is ours; but it is sanctified from what we call ‘time and place.’ Time with us is measured by the sun. When there is no more sunrise, and no more sunset, that kind of time does not exist for man. Those who have ascended have different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation. “In prayer there is a mingling of station, a mingling of condition. Pray for them as they pray for you!” – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 96

How Can a Soul Progress in the Next World

Although our existence in the afterlife is portrayed as glorious and joyful, the Bahá’í teachings also say that first we will be held accountable for our deeds and actions during this life. The Bahá’í writings portray this moment of personal judgement as an intense experience of self-realization and examination which can stimulate spiritual growth and transformation, which continues throughout the eternal lives of our souls. And although all souls can advance and enjoy the bounties of the next world, their capacity to do so will be influenced by the degree that these souls have developed during material life.

“And now concerning thy question regarding the soul of man and its survival after death. Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty.” – Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, LXXXI
“The progress of the human spirit in the divine world, after its connection with the physical body has been severed, is either purely through the grace and bounty of the Lord, or through the intercession and prayers of other human souls, or through the significant contributions and charitable deeds which are offered in its name.”  – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions

Another Bahá’í perspective on the afterlife is the possibility of reunion with loved ones. Bahá’ís believe that relationships formed on Earth can continue and even deepen in the spiritual realms beyond our physical existence. The Bahá’í writings describe the nature of these relationships as being based on spiritual affinity and love, rather than the physical bonds that exist in the material world. 




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