The law of Bahá'u'lláh prescribes the death penalty for
murder and arson, with the alternative of life imprisonment. This, however, is
a law designed for a future state of society, and the various details of the
law, such as degrees of offence, etc. have been left for the Universal House of
Justice to decide upon when the time comes. You can say, therefore, that in
principle the Baha’i Faith accepts the correctness of capital punishment for
murder, but the details of the Bahá'í law on such matters have not been
specified as this is not a matter of practical importance to Bahá'í communities
at the present time. Whether capital punishment should be applied specifically
in cases of terrorism when murder is not involved is also a matter for future
legislation by the Universal House of Justice.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 20 June 1978 written on behalf of the Universal House of
Justice to a Local Spiritual Assembly; included in a Memorandum from the
Research Department of the Universal House of Justice dated 23 May 1991,
forwarded to an individual believer by the Department of the Secretariat of the
Universal House of Justice)
