Bahá'í Faith and gender equality
Encyclopedia
One of the fundamental teachings of the Bahá'í Faith
is that men and women are equal
, and that the equality of the sexes is a spiritual and moral standard that is essential for the unification of the planet and the unfoldment of peace
. The Bahá'í teachings note the importance of implementing the principle in individual, family, and community life. While the Bahá'í teachings assert the full spiritual and social equality of women to men, the notion of equality does not imply sameness and there are some aspects of gender distinctiveness or gender differentiation in certain areas of life.
, that is explicit in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh
, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and particularly in the writings and discourses of `Abdu'l-Bahá
, his son and chosen interpreter. The teaching and its vision of the community is central to Bahá'í community life as is implemented as a practical level. The Bahá'í teachings state that women are not inferior to men, and should not be subordinate to men in aspects of social life. In the Bahá'í view, women have always been equal to men, and the reason why women have so far not achieved this equality is due to the lack of adequate education
al and social opportunities, and because men have used their greater physical strength to prevent women from developing their true potential.
Instead of their gender
, Bahá'u'lláh wrote that the spiritual station of each person depends on their recognition and devotion to God. `Abdu'l-Bahá stated that God did not differentiate between people based on gender and that all were made in the image of God. He further stated that both women and men have the same potential for intelligence, virtue and prowess.
was not simply righting historical social injustices against women, but would serve as a key factor in wide-ranging societal changes that would help develop a new civilization in which more 'feminine' qualities such as tender-heartedness and receptivity would balance previously dominant 'masculine' forces. The Bahá'í writings state that until women are provided equal status to men, humanity cannot advance or progress. `Abdu’l-Bahá in a series of analogies has compared men and women to the two wings of a bird
and the two hands of a human body and stated that both need to be strong to allow for advancement. `Abdu'l-Baha wrote:
Both Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that an important aspect of world unity will be a greater balance between feminine and masculine influences on society, and stated that because of the greater feminine influence that wars will cease and a permanent peace
attained. `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that women, as mothers, would be a force in establishing peace as they would oppose sending their children to war. `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote:
Moojan Momen writes that the goal of achieving equality of women and men in the Bahá'í Faith does not amount to bringing women into power in masculine roles, but instead a more radical change to the very nature of society, to make feminine qualities more valued.
al and social opportunities. Thus Bahá'í teachings stress the need for women's education, not only as a means to increase opportunity for women to help achieve equality, but also since the education of mothers is essential to the proper upbringing of children. Because of the importance of the education of women, the education of daughters takes precedence over that of sons when financial resources do not exist to educate all of their children. Despite the linkage between motherhood and education, `Abdu'l-Bahá encouraged women to excel in arts
and sciences, and stated that women's participation in the political sphere would be a prerequisite for peace.
, Navváb
, Queen Marie, Bahíyyih Khánum
, Martha Root
, Lidia Zamenhof
, and many others.
revelation as liberating, and broke with Islamic practices that were expected of women, such as appearing in public without a veil. Her actions which were out of norm caused controversy in the community and some saw her as scandalous or unchaste. To combat the attitudes of the community against Táhirih, the Báb gave her the title Táhirih, meaning the "pure." One of her most notable quotes is her final utterance in 1852, "You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women."
Bahíyyih Khánum was born in 1846 and was the eldest daughter of Bahá'u'lláh and Ásíyih Khánum. She was entitled the Greatest holy Leaf. She was particularly dear to her father and is seen within the Bahá'í Faith as one of the greatest women to have lived. During World War I
, she distributed food, clothing and medical aid to the local population suffering from starvation. After the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi
, was named the head of the religion, but he was distraught with the passing of his grandfather and so went into meditation for a period of time. During that time Bahíyyih Khánum assumed the role of acting leader of the Bahá'í Faith, which was a rare position for a woman to be in at that time. She was entrusted as head of the religion when Shoghi Effendi was absent from the Bahá'í World Centre
in Haifa. She died on 15 July 1932 was buried in the Bahá'í gardens below the Bahá'í Arc on Mount Carmel; the Monument of the Greatest Holy Leaf was built in her memory at the Bahá'í World Centre
.
are open to men and women. No specific reason has been given for this exception, but `Abdu'l-Bahá has stated that there is a wisdom for it, which would eventually become clear. The only other field where `Abdu'l-Baha did not extend full and equal participation to women was in military endeavors, since he regarded the taking of human life incompatible with women's role as mothers.
There are two branches of Bahá'í administration
- appointed and elected.
, appointed for life, whose main function was to propagate and protect the Bahá'í Faith
. Unlike the members of the elected institutions and other appointed institutions in the Bahá'í Faith, who serve in those offices, these are considered to have demonstrated sincerity and praiseworthy morals and qualities and achieved a distinguished rank in service to the religion and an overall station above a National Spiritual Assembly. as well as individual members of the Universal House of Justice - indeed it is the highest station that could be achieved open to anyone in the religion. The title is no longer given out. The work of the Hands of the Cause is now carried out by the Continental Counsellors
and the Auxiliary Boards.
Eight out of the fifty known Hands of the Cause were women (in order of appointment):
During the period between the death of Shoghi Effendi and the election of the Universal House of Justice the Hands of the Cause held a convocation from which they constituted a body of nine from among their number to serve in the Holy Land and to act as Custodians of the Bahá’í Faith, a body which functioned without officers and with a quorum of five, whose duties included taking care of Bahá’í World Center properties and other assets; corresponding with and advising National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies; acting on behalf of the Bahá’í Faith for its protection; and maintaining close contact with the rest of the Hands, who would henceforth devote their time to the successful completion of the goals of the Ten Year Crusade
. The Hands of the Cause maintained the number of Custodians, replacing those who died or were unable, for health or personal reasons, to remain at the Bahá’í World Center permanently. Of these nine, 2 women served as Custodians: Amelia Collins and Rúhíyyih Khánum.
up to the number of members of the institution. That women could be elected was in development by 1909 when the Baha'i temple unity executive board was elected in the United States. Of the nine members chosen, three were women, with Corinne True (later appointed as a Hand of the Cause) serving as an officer. The all-male administrative bodies finally were completely dissolved by `Abdu'l-Bahá in his visit to America in 1912. By 1925 the executive board evolved into the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada. There were specific developments in the eastern Bahá'í communities in 1951. At this time women were allowed to be and were elected according to the rules of Bahá'í administration to local assemblies of the Bahá'í Faith in Egypt
. (indeed some were elected officers in 1952.) However as late as the 1970s one observer could only count two women delegates out of the more than one hundred attending the national Baha'i convention in Teheran. Yet when the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran were arrested and executed in 1981, the chairperson was a woman, Zhinus Mahmudi. However a statistical review across continents and for the Baha'is world population shows a general upward track of women being elected to national assemblies:
For one comparison note that in 1989 Mikhail Gorbachev abandoned the quota for female representation in the Supreme Soviet and the proportion of women immediately fell from 1/3 to 15 percent. And more women than ever before served in US Congress in 2009 - 74 women out of 435 (17%) in the House and 17 out of 100 in the Senate. In Canada women in parliament in 2004 were 24.7% of the members. In 2010 the world average for members of parliaments was 19% though regional averages varied from 23% to 9%.
The Bahá'í Faith's emphasis is on male-female equality and thus the Bahá'í Faith actively promotes a number of programs with the aim of the advancement of women with greater access for women to health, education, child-care, and business opportunities. In the early 1900s Bahá'í women became active in seeking advancement and were encouraged by `Abdu'l-Baha and were thus able to gain a position of equality in Bahá'í administration
. In Iran
, education for girls was started by a Bahá'ís leading to the eventual establishment in 1910 of the Tarbiyat School for Girls which helped train the first generation of Iranian professional women. By the 1970s, while the majority of Iranian women were illiterate, most Bahá'í women could read and write.
Since the International Women's Year in 1975, the Universal House of Justice
, the governing body of the Bahá'ís, has repeatedly called national Bahá'í communities to promote the equal participation of women in Bahá'í activities. In 1993, the Bahá'í International Community
established the Office of the Advancement of Women in New York
at the United Nations
, and various national communities have also created their own offices. Activities in these programmes include the promotion of girls' education, literacy, rural health care, and income-generating skills.
The Bahá'í-inspired Tahirih Justice Center
and the Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Indore
in India are projects that have received particular attention. Layli Miller-Muro
founded the Tahirih Justice Center in 1997 following a well-publicized asylum case in which she was involved as a student attorney. Miller-Muro later co-wrote a book with the client she had aided and used her portion of the proceeds for the initial funding of Tahirih. As of 2003, the organization had assisted more than 4,000 women and children fleeing from a wide variety of abuses. The Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women was founded in 1985 in India and offers a six-month program for tribal women at its facilities in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Through June 1996, a total of 769 rural tribal women have been trained at the Institute; the women came from 119 villages, and after returning home to their cities or villages 45% of them established small businesses, 62% are functionally literate or semi-literate (which has motivated people to send their children to school), 42% have started growing vegetables, 97% are using safe drinking water, all the former trainees and many of their male relatives have given up drinking alcohol, and caste prejudices have been eliminated.
, Bahá'u'lláh's book of laws, where in the case of intestacy
it provides slightly more inheritance to men than women, can be seen in the same light.
While most of the teachings and laws of the Bahá'í Faith between a man and a woman apply mutatis mutandis
as between a woman and a man, there are some Bahá'í teachings or laws that provide preference to women or men. Menstruating
women are exempt from saying the obligatory prayer
and from fasting
due to biological differences; these exemptions are not compulsory and do not reflect any concepts of ritual impurity. Women also do not have the obligation of making pilgrimage
, although they can if they choose; men who are financially able to do so are obliged to make the pilgrimage. In terms of Bahá'í administration, all positions except for membership on the Universal House of Justice
are open to men and women. No specific reason has been given for this exception, but `Abdu'l-Bahá has stated that there is a wisdom for it, which would eventually become clear.
`Abdu'l-Bahá implies that women will become equal in "sciences and arts, in virtues and perfections", and are actually superior in "tenderness of heart and the abundance of mercy and sympathy" - virtues identified as gaining ascendancy as the world becomes more permeated with feminine ideals to balance the masculine ideals that now dominate.
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
is that men and women are equal
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
, and that the equality of the sexes is a spiritual and moral standard that is essential for the unification of the planet and the unfoldment of peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
. The Bahá'í teachings note the importance of implementing the principle in individual, family, and community life. While the Bahá'í teachings assert the full spiritual and social equality of women to men, the notion of equality does not imply sameness and there are some aspects of gender distinctiveness or gender differentiation in certain areas of life.
Equality
The equality of men and women is a fundamental Bahá'í principleBahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...
, that is explicit in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and particularly in the writings and discourses of `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
, his son and chosen interpreter. The teaching and its vision of the community is central to Bahá'í community life as is implemented as a practical level. The Bahá'í teachings state that women are not inferior to men, and should not be subordinate to men in aspects of social life. In the Bahá'í view, women have always been equal to men, and the reason why women have so far not achieved this equality is due to the lack of adequate education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al and social opportunities, and because men have used their greater physical strength to prevent women from developing their true potential.
Spiritual station
Bahá'u'lláh noted that there was no distinction in the spiritual stations of men and women, and that women and men were equal in the sight of God. Bahá'u'lláh wrote:Instead of their gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, Bahá'u'lláh wrote that the spiritual station of each person depends on their recognition and devotion to God. `Abdu'l-Bahá stated that God did not differentiate between people based on gender and that all were made in the image of God. He further stated that both women and men have the same potential for intelligence, virtue and prowess.
Advancement of humanity and perquisite to peace
`Abdu'l-Bahá stated that gender equalityGender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
was not simply righting historical social injustices against women, but would serve as a key factor in wide-ranging societal changes that would help develop a new civilization in which more 'feminine' qualities such as tender-heartedness and receptivity would balance previously dominant 'masculine' forces. The Bahá'í writings state that until women are provided equal status to men, humanity cannot advance or progress. `Abdu’l-Bahá in a series of analogies has compared men and women to the two wings of a bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
and the two hands of a human body and stated that both need to be strong to allow for advancement. `Abdu'l-Baha wrote:
Both Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that an important aspect of world unity will be a greater balance between feminine and masculine influences on society, and stated that because of the greater feminine influence that wars will cease and a permanent peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
attained. `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that women, as mothers, would be a force in establishing peace as they would oppose sending their children to war. `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote:
Moojan Momen writes that the goal of achieving equality of women and men in the Bahá'í Faith does not amount to bringing women into power in masculine roles, but instead a more radical change to the very nature of society, to make feminine qualities more valued.
Education of women
In the Bahá'í view, women have always been equal to men, and the reason why women have as of yet not achieved this equality is because of the lack of adequate educationEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al and social opportunities. Thus Bahá'í teachings stress the need for women's education, not only as a means to increase opportunity for women to help achieve equality, but also since the education of mothers is essential to the proper upbringing of children. Because of the importance of the education of women, the education of daughters takes precedence over that of sons when financial resources do not exist to educate all of their children. Despite the linkage between motherhood and education, `Abdu'l-Bahá encouraged women to excel in arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
and sciences, and stated that women's participation in the political sphere would be a prerequisite for peace.
Historical women figures in Bahá'í history
There have been a large number of women heroines who are celebrated in the history of the Bahá'í Faith including TáhirihTáhirih
Táhirih or Qurratu'l-`Ayn are both titles of Fátimih Baraghání , an influential poet and theologian of the Bábí Faith in Iran. Her life, influence and execution made her a key figure of the religion...
, Navváb
Ásíyih Khánum
Ásíyih Khánum was the wife of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. She is viewed by Bahá’ís as the paragon of a devoted mother and wife. She is also known by her titles of Navváb, the Most Exalted Leaf, Búyúk Khánum or Hadrat-i-Khánum. Khánum, is a title usually given to a Persian lady...
, Queen Marie, Bahíyyih Khánum
Bahiyyih Khánum
Bahíyyih Khánum the only daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and Ásíyih Khánum. She was born in 1846 with the given name Fatimih Sultan, and was entitled "Varaqiy-i-'Ulyá" or "Greatest Holy Leaf"...
, Martha Root
Martha Root
Martha Louise Root was a prominent traveling teacher of the Bahá'í Faith in the late 19th and early 20th century. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith called her "the foremost travel teacher in the first Bahá'í Century", and named her a Hand of the Cause posthumously...
, Lidia Zamenhof
Lidia Zamenhof
Lidia Zamenhof was the youngest daughter of Ludwig Zamenhof, the creator of the international auxiliary language, Esperanto. She was born 29 January 1904 in Warsaw, then in the Russian Empire...
, and many others.
Táhirih
Táhirih was an influential poet and follower of the Bábí faith, the predecessor to the Bahá'í Faith, and often mentioned in Bahá'í literature as an example of courage in the struggle for women's rights. While the writings of Táhirih do not address the issue of women's rights precisely, Tahirih experienced the Báb'sBáb
Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. He was a merchant from Shíráz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four claimed to be the promised Qá'im . After his declaration he took the title of Báb meaning "Gate"...
revelation as liberating, and broke with Islamic practices that were expected of women, such as appearing in public without a veil. Her actions which were out of norm caused controversy in the community and some saw her as scandalous or unchaste. To combat the attitudes of the community against Táhirih, the Báb gave her the title Táhirih, meaning the "pure." One of her most notable quotes is her final utterance in 1852, "You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women."
Bahíyyih Khánum
Bahíyyih Khánum was born in 1846 and was the eldest daughter of Bahá'u'lláh and Ásíyih Khánum. She was entitled the Greatest holy Leaf. She was particularly dear to her father and is seen within the Bahá'í Faith as one of the greatest women to have lived. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, she distributed food, clothing and medical aid to the local population suffering from starvation. After the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...
, was named the head of the religion, but he was distraught with the passing of his grandfather and so went into meditation for a period of time. During that time Bahíyyih Khánum assumed the role of acting leader of the Bahá'í Faith, which was a rare position for a woman to be in at that time. She was entrusted as head of the religion when Shoghi Effendi was absent from the Bahá'í World Centre
Bahá'í World Centre
The Bahá'í World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Bahá'í Faith. The World Centre consists of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh near Acre, Israel, the Shrine of the Báb and its gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, and various other buildings in the area...
in Haifa. She died on 15 July 1932 was buried in the Bahá'í gardens below the Bahá'í Arc on Mount Carmel; the Monument of the Greatest Holy Leaf was built in her memory at the Bahá'í World Centre
Bahá'í World Centre buildings
The Bahá'í World Centre buildings are buildings that are part of the Bahá'í World Centre in Israel. The Bahá'í World Centre buildings include both the Bahá'í holy places used for pilgrimage and the international administrative bodies of the Bahá'í Faith; they comprise more than 20 different...
.
Serving in administration
In terms of Bahá'í administration, all positions except for membership on the Universal House of JusticeUniversal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
are open to men and women. No specific reason has been given for this exception, but `Abdu'l-Bahá has stated that there is a wisdom for it, which would eventually become clear. The only other field where `Abdu'l-Baha did not extend full and equal participation to women was in military endeavors, since he regarded the taking of human life incompatible with women's role as mothers.
There are two branches of Bahá'í administration
Bahá'í administration
The Bahá'í administration or Bahá'í administrative order refers to the administrative system of the Bahá'í Faith.It is split into two parts, the elected and the appointed...
- appointed and elected.
Hands of the Cause
Hands of the Cause were a select group of Bahá'ísBahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
, appointed for life, whose main function was to propagate and protect the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
. Unlike the members of the elected institutions and other appointed institutions in the Bahá'í Faith, who serve in those offices, these are considered to have demonstrated sincerity and praiseworthy morals and qualities and achieved a distinguished rank in service to the religion and an overall station above a National Spiritual Assembly. as well as individual members of the Universal House of Justice - indeed it is the highest station that could be achieved open to anyone in the religion. The title is no longer given out. The work of the Hands of the Cause is now carried out by the Continental Counsellors
Institution of the Counsellors
The Counsellors are part of the administrative order of the Bahá'í Faith, and are part of a greater administrative branch called the Institution of the Counsellors, established by the Universal House of Justice in 1968....
and the Auxiliary Boards.
Eight out of the fifty known Hands of the Cause were women (in order of appointment):
- Keith Ransom-KehlerKeith Ransom-KehlerKeith Ransom-Kehler was an American Bahá'í and Hand of the Cause of God. She is believed to have been the Bahá'í Faith's first American martyr....
(1876-1933) (singled out as the first woman Hand of the Cause and first American martyr) - Martha RootMartha RootMartha Louise Root was a prominent traveling teacher of the Bahá'í Faith in the late 19th and early 20th century. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith called her "the foremost travel teacher in the first Bahá'í Century", and named her a Hand of the Cause posthumously...
(1872-1939) (singled out as the foremost Hand of the Cause of the first Bahá'í century and the "first finest fruit" of the Formative Age.) - Dorothy Beecher Baker (1898–1954)
- Amelia Engelder Collins (1873–1962)
- Clara Dunn (1869–1960)
- Corinne Knight True (1861–1961)
- Rúhíyyih KhánumRúhíyyih KhanumAmatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum , born Mary Sutherland Maxwell was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921–1957. She was appointed by him as a Hand of the Cause, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957–1963...
(1910–2000) - Agnes Baldwin AlexanderAgnes Baldwin AlexanderAgnes Baldwin Alexander was an American author and leader of the Bahá'í Faith.-Life:Agnes Baldwin Alexander was born July 21, 1875 in Honolulu when it was the Kingdom of Hawaii. Her father was educator William DeWitt Alexander and mother was Abigail Charlotte Baldwin...
(1875–1971)
During the period between the death of Shoghi Effendi and the election of the Universal House of Justice the Hands of the Cause held a convocation from which they constituted a body of nine from among their number to serve in the Holy Land and to act as Custodians of the Bahá’í Faith, a body which functioned without officers and with a quorum of five, whose duties included taking care of Bahá’í World Center properties and other assets; corresponding with and advising National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies; acting on behalf of the Bahá’í Faith for its protection; and maintaining close contact with the rest of the Hands, who would henceforth devote their time to the successful completion of the goals of the Ten Year Crusade
Ten Year Crusade
The Ten Year World Crusade was launched by Shoghi Effendi in an effort to facilitate an organized expansion of the Bahá'í Faith....
. The Hands of the Cause maintained the number of Custodians, replacing those who died or were unable, for health or personal reasons, to remain at the Bahá’í World Center permanently. Of these nine, 2 women served as Custodians: Amelia Collins and Rúhíyyih Khánum.
International Bahá'í Council
The International Bahá'í Council was a precursor to the Universal House of Justice, which replaced it in 1963. In March 1951 Shoghi Effendi began appointing its membership and in 1961 elections were held (and once elections were the rule, Hands of the Cause were exempted from being members.) The women members of the International Bahá'í Council, and their dates of their service were:- Rúhíyyih Khanum (1951–61) Liaison with Shoghi Effendi; Hand of the Cause of God
- Amelia Collins (1951–61) Vice president; Hand of the Cause
- Jessie Revell (1951–63) Treasurer
- Ethel Revell (1951–63) Western Assistant Secretary
- Gladys Weeden (1951–52)
- Sylvia Ioas (1955–61)
- Mildred MottahedehMildred MottahedehMildred R. Mottahedeh was one of the most important figures in the area of luxury goods in the twentieth century. During her lifetime she amassed the largest privately held collection of Chinese export porcelain in the world, a feat which was catalogued in the book China For The West by David Howard...
(1961–63)
Continental Councellors
After the election of the Universal House of Justice, Boards of Counsellors were created in 1973 by appointment who outrank the national assemblies, though individually Counsellors ranked lower than that of the Hands of the Cause. There are 90 counsellors - 81 serving on continental boards and 9 serving at the International Teaching Center. From a picture of a gathering of all Counselors in 2005 a number of them are clearly women. The number of members of the International Teaching Center have varied. Initially, excluding the Hands of the Cause (all of whom were initial members), there were three, in 1979 they were four, seven in 1983, and nine in 1988 with a quorum of five present at the Baha'i World Center. Not counting the Hands of the Cause and through 2000, the women and the years of service were:- Florence Mayberry (1973–1983)
- Anneliese Bopp (1979–1988)
- Magdalene Carney (1983–1991)
- Isobel Sabri (1983–1992)
- Lauretta King (1988– )
- Joy Stevenson (1988– )
- Joan Lincoln (1993– )
- Kimiko Schwerin (1993– )
Elected
Women serve on National Assemblies. Bahá'í elections are secret ballots and electees are chosen without running for office on pluralityPlurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
up to the number of members of the institution. That women could be elected was in development by 1909 when the Baha'i temple unity executive board was elected in the United States. Of the nine members chosen, three were women, with Corinne True (later appointed as a Hand of the Cause) serving as an officer. The all-male administrative bodies finally were completely dissolved by `Abdu'l-Bahá in his visit to America in 1912. By 1925 the executive board evolved into the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada. There were specific developments in the eastern Bahá'í communities in 1951. At this time women were allowed to be and were elected according to the rules of Bahá'í administration to local assemblies of the Bahá'í Faith in Egypt
Bahá'í Faith in Egypt
The Bahá'í Faith in Egypt has a history over a century old. Perhaps the first Bahá'ís arrive in 1863. Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the religion, was himself briefly in Egypt in 1868 when on his way to imprisonment in `Akká. The first Egyptians were converts by 1896...
. (indeed some were elected officers in 1952.) However as late as the 1970s one observer could only count two women delegates out of the more than one hundred attending the national Baha'i convention in Teheran. Yet when the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran were arrested and executed in 1981, the chairperson was a woman, Zhinus Mahmudi. However a statistical review across continents and for the Baha'is world population shows a general upward track of women being elected to national assemblies:
For one comparison note that in 1989 Mikhail Gorbachev abandoned the quota for female representation in the Supreme Soviet and the proportion of women immediately fell from 1/3 to 15 percent. And more women than ever before served in US Congress in 2009 - 74 women out of 435 (17%) in the House and 17 out of 100 in the Senate. In Canada women in parliament in 2004 were 24.7% of the members. In 2010 the world average for members of parliaments was 19% though regional averages varied from 23% to 9%.
Social or professionally notable Bahá'í women
Some more recent socially or professionally notable women Bahá'ís include:- Zhang XinZhang Xin (businesswoman)Zhang Xin is a businesswoman from Mainland China. Presently, she is the CEO of SOHO China, the largest real estate developer in Beijing.Her parents returned to China from Burma in the fifties and worked as translators at the Bureau of Foreign Languages...
- Dorothy Wright NelsonDorothy Wright Nelson-Biography:Born in San Pedro, California, Nelson received an A.B. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1950, a J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law in 1953, and an LL.M. from the University of Southern California Law School in 1956. She was a Research...
- Zia ModyZia ModyZia Mody is a prominent Indian legal consultant and an active member of the Bahá'í faith. She is considered an authority on corporate merger and acquisition law, securities law, private equity and project finance.-Biography:...
- Mona MahmudnizhadMona MahmudnizhadMona Mahmudnizhad was an Iranian Bahá'í who, in 1983, together with nine other Bahá'í women, was sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran because of her membership in the Bahá'í Faith...
- Helen Elsie AustinHelen Elsie AustinHelen Elsie Austin was an attorney, US Foreign Service Officer, and member of the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assemblies in the United States and North West Africa. She was among the first African Americans admitted to the practice of law in the United States.-Personal life:Austin was born in Alabama...
- Patricia LockePatricia LockePatricia A. Locke was an American Indian educator.Born on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, Locke was a Standing Rock Sioux, Hunkpapa band also known as Lakota, and Mississippi Band of White Earth Chippewa.She was the daughter of John and Eva McGillis; they lived for a time in Parker, Arizona...
Social initiatives
Bahá'í administration
The Bahá'í administration or Bahá'í administrative order refers to the administrative system of the Bahá'í Faith.It is split into two parts, the elected and the appointed...
. In Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, education for girls was started by a Bahá'ís leading to the eventual establishment in 1910 of the Tarbiyat School for Girls which helped train the first generation of Iranian professional women. By the 1970s, while the majority of Iranian women were illiterate, most Bahá'í women could read and write.
Since the International Women's Year in 1975, the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
, the governing body of the Bahá'ís, has repeatedly called national Bahá'í communities to promote the equal participation of women in Bahá'í activities. In 1993, the Bahá'í International Community
Bahá'í International Community
The Bahá'í International Community, or the BIC, is an international non-governmental organization representing the members of the Bahá'í Faith; it was first chartered in March 1948 with the United Nations, and currently has affiliates in over 180 countries and territories.The BIC seeks to "promote...
established the Office of the Advancement of Women in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, and various national communities have also created their own offices. Activities in these programmes include the promotion of girls' education, literacy, rural health care, and income-generating skills.
The Bahá'í-inspired Tahirih Justice Center
Tahirih Justice Center
The Tahirih Justice Center, known simply as Tahirih, is a United States-based non-governmental organization that provides pro bono direct legal services and social and medical service referrals to immigrant women and girls who are fleeing from gender-based violence and persecution...
and the Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Indore
Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Indore
The Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Indore is a Bahá'í inspired, though independent residential vocational education school providing programs for women in the vicinity of the city of Indore, India in the State of Madhya Pradesh as well as a base for outreach/non-residential training...
in India are projects that have received particular attention. Layli Miller-Muro
Layli Miller-Muro
Layli Miller-Muro is the Executive Director of the Tahirih Justice Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting women from human rights abuses through the provision of legal aid and public policy advocacy...
founded the Tahirih Justice Center in 1997 following a well-publicized asylum case in which she was involved as a student attorney. Miller-Muro later co-wrote a book with the client she had aided and used her portion of the proceeds for the initial funding of Tahirih. As of 2003, the organization had assisted more than 4,000 women and children fleeing from a wide variety of abuses. The Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women was founded in 1985 in India and offers a six-month program for tribal women at its facilities in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Through June 1996, a total of 769 rural tribal women have been trained at the Institute; the women came from 119 villages, and after returning home to their cities or villages 45% of them established small businesses, 62% are functionally literate or semi-literate (which has motivated people to send their children to school), 42% have started growing vegetables, 97% are using safe drinking water, all the former trainees and many of their male relatives have given up drinking alcohol, and caste prejudices have been eliminated.
Distinction
While the Bahá'í teachings assert the full spiritual and social equality of women to men, there are some aspects of gender distinctiveness or gender differentiation in certain areas of life. One of these aspects relate to biological fact of potential motherhood for women, and thus the Bahá'í teaching that girls should be given priority in education as they potentially would be the children's first educator. In the same sense, the Bahá'í view of family life gives the right to the mother to be supported by the husband if needed. Similarly, the differences in the provisions of the Kitáb-i-AqdasKitáb-i-Aqdas
The Kitáb-i-Aqdas is a central book of the Bahá'í Faith written by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion. The work was written in Arabic under the Arabic title , but it is commonly referred to by its Persian title, Kitáb-i-Aqdas , which was given to the work by Bahá'u'lláh himself...
, Bahá'u'lláh's book of laws, where in the case of intestacy
Intestacy
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies owning property greater than the sum of their enforceable debts and funeral expenses without having made a valid will or other binding declaration; alternatively where such a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of...
it provides slightly more inheritance to men than women, can be seen in the same light.
While most of the teachings and laws of the Bahá'í Faith between a man and a woman apply mutatis mutandis
Mutatis mutandis
Mutatis mutandis is a Latin phrase meaning "by changing those things which need to be changed" or more simply "the necessary changes having been made"....
as between a woman and a man, there are some Bahá'í teachings or laws that provide preference to women or men. Menstruating
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
women are exempt from saying the obligatory prayer
Obligatory Bahá'í prayers
Obligatory Bahá'í prayers are prayers which are to be said daily by Bahá'ís according to a fixed form decreed by Bahá'u'lláh. Prayers in the Bahá'í Faith are reverent words which are addressed to God, and refers to two distinct concepts: obligatory prayer and devotional prayer . The act of prayer...
and from fasting
Nineteen Day Fast
The Nineteen-Day Fast is a nineteen-day period of the year, during which members of the Bahá'í Faith adhere to a sunrise-to-sunset fast. Along with obligatory prayer, it is one of the greatest obligations of a Bahá'í, and its chief purpose is spiritual; to reinvigorate the soul and bring the...
due to biological differences; these exemptions are not compulsory and do not reflect any concepts of ritual impurity. Women also do not have the obligation of making pilgrimage
Bahá'í pilgrimage
A Bahá'í pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in Haifa, Akká, and Bahjí at the Bahá'í World Centre in Northwest Israel. Bahá'ís do not have access to other places designated as sites for pilgrimage....
, although they can if they choose; men who are financially able to do so are obliged to make the pilgrimage. In terms of Bahá'í administration, all positions except for membership on the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
are open to men and women. No specific reason has been given for this exception, but `Abdu'l-Bahá has stated that there is a wisdom for it, which would eventually become clear.
`Abdu'l-Bahá implies that women will become equal in "sciences and arts, in virtues and perfections", and are actually superior in "tenderness of heart and the abundance of mercy and sympathy" - virtues identified as gaining ascendancy as the world becomes more permeated with feminine ideals to balance the masculine ideals that now dominate.
External links
- Directory of Bahá'í Articles on Gender Equality
- Principles of the Bahá'í Faith - Equality of men and women
- Two Wings of a Bird - The Equality of Women and Men