Notes from the Authorized Translation
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. Baha'u'llah
here confirms the Bab's pronouncement in the Arabic Bayan
that such things do not invalidate one's prayer.
Anton Haddad's Notes:
This refers to the Shiites who believe that the wearing of garments containing the hair of animals, or which are made of their skins, or have buttons of bone or ivory would be conducive to the nullification of their prayers; believing that the same was prohibited in the Koran.
Earl Elder's Notes:
4. Touching hair or bones (or buttons made of bones) render worship void in Islam (cf. A.J. Wensinck, A Handbook of Early Muhammadan Traditions, p. 191). Baha'u'llah here abrogates this law.
Kitab-i-Aqdas Multilinear Translation table of contents
Front page of translation | Glossary of select Arabic terms