In the future, UHJ may have to wage war against an opposing country or against an aggressor - Video

...that certain functions are made to be carried forward by men and certain functions by women, and I used the example of giving birth because that's just such a visible, such a distinctive characteristic. And I believe the House of Justice is the same way. Because if we go deep into the Writings—which I haven't been able to do yet, but you know, we can try to do that—we understand the House of Justice will not always be the way that it is now. One day, the House of Justice will be the ruling administrative body for the entire humanity. That's why it is the Universal, not the International or the National House of Justice. It is the Universal House of Justice.

And at that point, we don't know what sort of decisions they will have to make. They may have to wage war against an opposing country or against an aggressor—against someone, you know, a nation or people who arise against another nation and people. And as we read from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, He doesn't wish for women to acquire those qualities. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá doesn't wish for women to have to give orders to wage war, even against aggressors, because our functions are different. Our function is to be nurturing. We need to have the world—we’ll need to have mothers—forever and ever and ever...

-Baha'i scholar Gloria Yazdani

https://youtu.be/rKh61Nv1ZyM?si=5pMjO3HEPFajTSV-&t=288

Read More

Abdul Baha telling women to tolerate their husband’s cruel actions and ill treatment.

“Hold thy husband dear and always show forth an amiable temper towards him, no matter how ill tempered he may be. Even if thy kindness maketh him more bitter, manifest thou more kindliness, more tenderness, be more loving and tolerate his cruel actions and ill-treatment”.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lights of Guidance, p. 226

Also this.

Now that you realize that your husband is ill, you should be able to reconcile yourself to the difficulties you have faced with him emotionally, and not take an unforgiving attitude, however much you may suffer.

Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance, p. 227

Read More

Abdul Baha's association with corrupt officers and keeping notorious prostitute girl in his own house

In his memoir, Baha'u'llah's youngest son, Badiullah states:

This officer was a staff Colonel and associated with military & civil functionaries. He had a beautiful step daughter, the child of his wife by former marriage, who gathered young men around her.

Colonel Badri Beg hired a house at Haifa to spend the summer season there. He attended evening parties of the French Consul and leading members of the [Arab] Christian community. They engaged themselves in gambling.

The Most Great Branch [Sir Abbas Effendi] met all the [gambling] losses of the Beg, and provided for the upkeep of the [Beg's] house, and for the expenses of the [Beg's] step daughter. Thus the step daughter came to have plenty opportunity. She became familiar with a good looking Italian man. At night they met together and indulged themselves in love affair.

Some people became aware of the affair and advised the Beg to send the family to Acre. As the Beg himself had connection with the girl, and could not send her away from him. He disregarded the advice.

Eventually the Beg came to know about the affair and this roused his jealousy. One evening the Beg detailed two soldiers to go and deliver a message to the Italian young man on behest of the girl to come & see her at night. The house was unattended. The occupant had gone to Acre. As soon as the Italian young man came into the house & seated himself in the drawing room, the two soldiers appeared at the scene, caught hold of him, strangled him to death, stuffed up his throat with a long piece of rag, took him away and cast him into the sea.

In their hurry & bustle, they did not tie a stone to his foot to keep the corpse at the bottom of the sea.
In the morning his mother and relatives begun to search for the young man. Finally the young man's body was discovered near the sea shore, strangled to death.

The incident set people's tongue wagging. His mother and relatives raised a tumult in Haifa. They held Badri Beg responsible for the incident and brought an action against him and also against [Sir] Abbas Effendi because he came to Haifa after and frequented the Beg's house."

I realized that the allegation against the Most Great Branch [Sir] Abbas Effendi reflected on the whole family. By strong arguments and proof I applied myself to proving that it was impossible for him to have been involved in the matter. I called on members of the bereaved family to offer my condolences. I seized the opportunity to convince them that my brother [Sir] Abbas Effendi had not taken part at all in the matter. The mother of the deceased replied: "If he had not taken part in the matter, and had no connection with the girl, why did he take her to his own home in Acre?" I endeavoured as far as possible to exonerate the Most Great Branch [Sir] Abbas Effendi as the allegation reflected on the family as well as on Baha's name. But I did not expect that he would take her to his own house. I went to Acre to see what had happened. I enquired from the Baha'is and others. I found out that he had put up the notorious prostitute girl in his own house, the 'Abbud-House', which was the dwelling place of the Blessed Beauty [i.e. Baha], exalted be his power, before his ascension [i.e. death].

(Page 76-77, The Memoirs of Badiullah [The Most Luminous Branch] Baha'u'llah's Youngest Son)

Read More

Abdul Baha's allegation of ‘European Prostitutes at the Bahja Mansion’

In his memoir, Baha'u'llah's youngest son, Badiullah states:

I came from Haifa to Acre. I called on the Most Great Branch Sir Abbas Effendi. He inquired after my health and displayed the utmost love towards me. He then said: "The Most Mighty Branch Mirza Muhammad Ali took three European prostitutes to the Bahja mansion and put them there for the night. He then despatched them to Syria. He has disgraced us."

Although I knew that such a thing was not possible to take place, yet it caused some astonishment. I proceeded to the Bahja mansion and enquired from the Most Pure Branch Mirza Diyaullah whether any female guests had stayed for the night in the mansion. He replied: "The Most Great Branch [Sir Abbas Effendi] sent a note in which he said: "three female travellers from Europe will spend the night in the Bahja mansion. Entertain them to the utmost. In the morning they will be travelling to Beirut, accompanied by [their dragoman] Khwaja Baha." Agreeably to his directions [in the note] we entertained them, and in the morning they proceeded to Beirut, accompanied by Khwaja Baha."

Mirza Diyaullah "produced to me the note, which was penned in Sir Abbas Effendi's handwriting." These three women were from Europe. They were not Bahais.

(Page 26, The Memoirs of Badiullah [The Most Luminous Branch] Baha'u'llah's Youngest Son)

Read More

full equality between men and women

In the 1995 statement The Prosperity of Humankind the Bahá’í International Community identified “a commitment to the establishment of full equality between men and women, in all departments of life and at every level of society” as “central to the success of efforts to conceive and implement a strategy of global development.”

(Bahá’í World, v. 27, p. 241)

Read More

Education as Prerequisite for Women Serving on Universal House of Justice

“Question. I see that in his tablet to Ex-Governor Sulzer the Master says that the Universal Arbitration Tribunal will consist of the best men and women of the different countries. Will women in the future sit in the Beit-ul-Adl also?

Abdul Baha: Men and women are equal in this respect, with the condition that women should reach to the degree of men. As yet they have not reached this state. They will become members of the Beit-ul-Adl in the future. The time will come when women will reach the degree of men (as regards education). Then they will be equal.”

[Abdu’l-Baha, oral statement recorded by Fujita, 7 December 1919 (Phelps ABU1350) – credit to Steven Phelps for the find]

https://web.archive.org/web/20220128080717/http://www.kashkul.org/2020/10/05/education-as-prerequisite-for-women-serving-on-universal-house-of-justice/#comment-101721

Read More

Abdul Baha's stand on domestic violence

“Hold thy husband dear and always show forth an amiable temper towards him, no matter how ill tempered he may be. Even if thy kindness maketh him more bitter, manifest thou more kindliness, more tenderness, be more loving and tolerate his cruel actions and ill-treatment”.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lights of Guidance, p. 226)

Women should be obedient to their husbands:

“O Handmaids of the Self-Sustaining Lord! Exert your efforts so that you may attain the honour and privilege ordained for women. Undoubtedly the greatest glory of women is servitude at His Threshold and submissiveness at His door; it is the possession of a vigilant heart, and praise of the incomparable God; it is heartfelt love towards other handmaids and spotless chastity; it is obedience to and consideration for their husbands and the education and care of their children; and it is tranquility, and dignity, perseverance in the remembrance of the Lord, and the utmost enkindlement and attraction”.

(Universal House of Justice, Lights of Guidance, p. 225)

Read More

Women will be barred once the NSA are converted to the NHJ

One exBaha'i says:

Women are allowed to serve on Spiritual Assemblies. What Baha'i women may not realize is that the Spiritual Assemblies will eventually end (according to Baha'i theory) and then they will be superseded by National and Local Houses of Justice. Only men are allowed on a House of Justice.

Baha'i women are working hard for the future subjugation of women.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/12evr7f/those_men_who_have_no_women_among_themselves_have/jfdfsxx/

Read More

Baha'u'llah admits to have supplied women to Subh-i-Azal

Once We [Baha'u'llah] had entered Iraq and a number of days passed, We were joined by My brother [Subh-i-Azal], and he remained with Us for a period of months that hath been mentioned in Tablets. He sought from Us a wife; We procured for him what quelled his carnal desire, and he dwelled comfortably in the land.

Though We sent for believing women to be dispatched from other lands to appear before thee, whereafter thou didst enjoy intimacy with them and abide in conspicuous comfort, ...

Although, moreover, thou didst seek from Me what would gratify thy passion, till eventually thou didst gather around thyself a number of maidens and sustain thyself with them, ...

O My brother! How many a night didst thou repose on thy bed with thy wives while I personally protected thee, ...

(Baha'u'llah, Lawh-i-Mirza Rida-Quli)

https://adibmasumian.com/translations/lawh-i-mirza-rida-quli/

And Moojan Momen (Scholar loyal to the Baha'i UHJ) states:

Mírzá Yahyá is reputed to have been an uxorious man. His own son Ridvan-`Ali reports him to have had eleven or twelve wives while another source gives fourteen wives.

(The Cyprus Exiles)

https://bahai-library.com/momen_cyprus_exiles

Read More

Beloved Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery on why the women are not eligible to the UHJ

"... why the women are not eligible to the House of Justice. You see, but the women who have the right, who are a member National Assembly, or the electors of the Universal House of Justice, and they don't have the duty of a member of the House of Justice. You will see how wonderful it would be with these little baby running around inside that the building of the Universal House of Justice just crying "mama, mama, mama" or something else. Now you can understand that. Bahá’u’lláh, in His wisdom, gave it to a woman an exemption from this honor [?] that he is to be a member of Universal House of Justice."

https://bahai.works/Transcript:Ugo_Giachery/Speaking_at_Scandinavian_Summer_School,_1974

Read More

"particularly their sons, into higher education"

The over-representation of Iranian Baha'i students at AUB from Shiraz, and especially from the Afnan family, provides a clue to the broader patterns of class formation in the Middle East. The Afnans were involved in transnational commercial activities spanning Iran, India and the Persian Gulf. Merchant families sending their children, particularly their sons, into higher education indicates an awareness of the shifting nature of the modern economy, and the perceived need for command over new forms of knowledge in order to thrive in it.

The main member of the Afnan family who lived in Beirut and who sent many of his children to AUB was Sayyid ‘Ali Afnan. 

(The Iranians of AUB and Middle Class Formation in the Early Twentieth-Century Middle East, Farzin Vejdani)

Read More

Fear and anguish are womanly qualities

O friends! Fear and anguish are womanly qualities...

(Tablet of Medicine, by Bahá'u'lláh)

https://bahai-library.com/bahaullah_lawh_tibb_anonymous

Read More

Not allowing women in the House of Justice is a superstition.

God has endowed man with intelligence and reason... If religious beliefs and opinions are found contrary to the standards of science, they are mere superstitions and imagination... If religious belief and doctrine is at variance with reason, it proceeds from the limited mind of man and not from God; therefore, it is unworthy of belief and not deserving of attention... How can man believe that which he knows to be opposed to reason?... Can the heart accept that which reason denies? 

Loyalty to the Covenant and Critical Thought - A Commentary by Udo Schaefer

Read More

"Fatimih will appear unveiled as the sign of his return"

One of the major Shi'ite beliefs concerning Fátimih is that with the reappearance of the Twelfth or Hidden Imám, the Imám Mihdí, Fátimih will appear unveiled as the sign of his return and the day of resurrection. Her unveiling will be as the removing of the seal, identified with Muhammad as the seal of the prophets. With this unveiling, Fátimih will become as the bride at the marriage feast, described by Bahá’u’lláh in one of his Tablets as the unsealing of the wine of reunion.

-Marion Woodman, Published in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies Vol. 2, number 1 (1989) © Association for Bahá’í Studies 1989

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/w/woodman_role_feminine_era.pdf

Read More

Udo Schaefer about Law on Property Inheritance in the Baha'i faith

Legal succession is based on quotas or shares (as is also the case in the estate laws of Islam). The decedent’s estate (al-mawarith) is divided into two thousand five hundred and twenty parts and shared among seven categories of heirs, namely the children, spouse, father, mother, brothers, sisters and teachers of the deceased. Persons who are not Baha’is are excluded from the legal line of succession. If the decedent’s estate contains a residence, this passes exclusively to male offspring, not female, namely to the eldest son. If there is no male offspring, one third of the residence passes to the House of Justice.

The separation of the residence from the rest of the decedent’s estate and its allocation to the male offspring (and only secondarily to female offspring - I.e., if there are no male offspring (see Kitab-i Aqdas, Questions 72) is—as already mentioned—an exception to the principle of gender equality. With regard to the staggered allocation of shares, the question arises as to whether the clearly disadvantaged position of female relatives (mother and sisters) in comparison with their male counterparts (father and brothers) is also an exception to the principle of equality.

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/s/schaefer_introduction_bahai_law.pdf

Read More

"The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith."

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)

Read More

If necessary she can become a warrior.

For her greater strength and fierceness, the lioness is more feared by the hunter than the lion. The mere size of the brain has been proved to be no measure of superiority. The woman has greater moral courage than the man; she has also special gifts which enable her to govern in moments of danger and crisis. If necessary she can become a warrior.”

- Abdul Baha

 

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/ABL/abl-57.html

Read More

Woman is superior to man.

"In some respects woman is superior to man. She is more tender-hearted, more receptive, her intuition is more intense."

- ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks

Read More

"Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances, ..."

The Universal House of Justice wrote on 8 January 1981:

Abdu'l-Bahá asserts: 'In this divine age the bounties of God have encompassed the world of women. Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances, has been fully and categorically announced. Distinctions have bee utterly removed.' That men and women differ from one another in certain characteristics and functions is an inescapable fact of nature; the important thing is that He regards such inequalities as remain between the sexes as being 'negligible'.

One of these negligible instances is the exclusion of women from the Universal House of Justice—the infallible top-governing body of the Baha'i Faith.

Read More

Courageous act of faith...

Already Avarih, the well-known Persian teacher, whom Shoghi Effendi had sent to Europe after the Master's passing to strengthen the faith of the believers, and whom he was later forced to call a "shameless apostate", had left the Cause and begun writing books (and continued for years to write books) against it, attacking not only the Guardian but in the end the Master and Bahá'u'lláh himself in the foulest terms. It is significant that his wife, unlike Mr white, entirely severed herself from him and remained a devoted and much-praised Bahá'í because of her courageous act of faith.

(Mary Maxwell, The Priceless Pearl, p. 120)

Read More