Care for the Sick and Elderly
Caring for the sick, elderly, and vulnerable is a spiritual obligation that honors the divine in all human beings.
The Bahá'í writings emphasize care for the vulnerable as an expression of the recognition of human oneness. Visiting the sick, caring for the elderly, and supporting those in need are not optional acts of charity but obligations of membership in the human family. Bahá'í communities are expected to develop structures for such care.
To care for the sick is among the greatest of all deeds.
Bahá'í care ethics grounds social service in spiritual obligation, anticipating care ethics in feminist philosophy and theology.
Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Bahá
Written about in
- What the Bahá'í Faith says about community
Caring for the sick, the elderly and the vulnerable is stated as an obligation rather than a kindness, and described as among the greatest of deeds.