…if a person is incapable of earning a living, is stricken
by dire poverty or becometh helpless, then it is incumbent on the wealthy or
the Deputies to provide him with a monthly allowance for his subsistence.... By
‘Deputies’ is meant the representatives of the people, that is to say the members
of the House of Justice. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, quoted in the ‘Notes’ section of the
Kitab-i-Aqdas, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of
Justice)
