Baháʼí Faith and gender equality

Nevertheless, the Baháʼí notion of the full spiritual and social equality of the two sexes does not imply sameness, so that gender distinction and differentiation are observed in certain areas of life.

[4] ʻAbdu'l-Bahá stated that gender equality 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.

[4] ʻAbdu'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.

[2] ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote that women, as mothers, would be a force in establishing peace as they would oppose sending their children to war.

[9] Over a century ago, Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith,[citation needed] proclaimed the equality of man and woman.

The vision of the Baháʼí Faith is the creation of conditions—social, spiritual, and material—that enable the oneness of humanity to be expressed in the structure and relationships at all levels of society.

[citation needed] The following are two quotes from ʻAbdu'l-Bahá: "Women have equal rights with men upon earth; in religion and society they are a very important element.

"[11]There have been a large number of women heroines who are celebrated in the history of the Baháʼí Faith including Khadíjih-Bagum, Táhirih, Navváb, Queen Marie, Bahíyyih Khánum, Martha Root, Leonora Armstrong, Lidia Zamenhof, and many others.

"[12] An unverified quote has been attributed to Táhirih by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá[13] about her final utterance in 1852: "You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women."

[14] During the periods her brother was away in America, and after his death when Shoghi Effendi was named the head of the religion, but away on retreats, Bahíyyih Khánum was empowered as the acting leader of the Baháʼí Faith, which was a rare position for a woman to be in at that time.

[14] In terms of Baháʼí administration, all positions except for membership on the Universal House of Justice are open to men and women.

Unlike the members of the elected institutions and other appointed institutions in the Baháʼí 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[17] 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.

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 Baháʼí Faith, a body which functioned without officers and with a quorum of five, whose duties included taking care of Baháʼí World Center properties and other assets; corresponding with and advising National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies; acting on behalf of the Baháʼí 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.

[22] 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 Baháʼí World Center permanently.

Baháʼí elections are secret ballots and electees are chosen without running for office on plurality up to the number of members of the institution.

[31] 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 (see graphs.)

[36] Activities in these programmes include the promotion of girls' education, literacy, rural health care, and income-generating skills.

[36] The Baháʼí-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.

[39] Through June 1996, a total of 769 rural tribal women have been trained at the institute;[40] 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.

[16] In the same sense, the Baháʼí 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-Aqdas, Baháʼu'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.

In terms of Baháʼí administration, all positions except for membership on the Universal House of Justice are open to men and women.