In 1988, a group of eight Baha'i scholars collaborated to produce a paper titled "The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith." One of the article's main arguments was that the exclusion of women from membership on the Universal House of Justice was not necessarily permanent. In taking this position, the authors relied on two essential lines of thought. The first related to language usage. While admitting that the Arabic term "rijal" was indeed masculine, they also noted that in other contexts Baha'u'llah had employed "rijal" in such a manner as to include females. For example, they quoted the following from the religion's founder: "Today the Baha'i women must guide the handmaidens of the earth to the Lofty Horizon with the utmost purity and sanctity. Today the handmaidens of God are regarded as gentlemen [rijal]. Blessed are they! Blessed are they!" Second, the authors claimed that on several occasions in Baha'i history, laws had changed over time. More specifically, they traced the record of women's service on Baha'i institutions in the United States, and in the process pointed out that at one time, females were not allowed to serve on local assemblies (houses of justice as they were then known). Until 'Abdu'l-Baha reinterpreted the law in 1912, it was common belief that Baha'u'llah's ban on women's service included local assemblies as well as the future national and international houses of justice, Developing the implications of the Master's change of mind, the paper concluded that the way was open for a future Universal House of Justice to reinterpret previously understood gender requirements for service on the supreme institution.
(William Garlington, Baha'i Faith in America)
