{"id":69353,"date":"2026-03-08T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/?p=69353"},"modified":"2026-03-08T10:51:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:51:56","slug":"womens-equality-and-the-bahai-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/womens-equality-and-the-bahai-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Equality and the Baha\u2019i Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of my favorite aspects of the Baha\u2019i Faith<\/a>, ranking alongside its teachings on racial equality, the harmony of science and religion, and a concrete plan for world unity, are the plethora of teachings regarding the inherent worthiness and equality of women.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other world religion has been quite as explicit as the Baha\u2019i Faith in its esteem for the female gender. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is distinct to the teachings of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a>, the prophet and founder of the Baha\u2019i Faith, for all other religions have placed men above women. For thousands upon thousands of years, women were treated as possessions, and in many countries and religious communities, this has not changed. In some places, women cannot get an education, and men still question if they even have a soul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: Solving Economic Inequality by Educating Girls and Women<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took one intensely courageous young woman to unequivocally draw the line of her equality in the sand. In 19th century Persia, Tahirih, a beautiful young poet and follower of the Bab<\/a> \u2014 the forerunner of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a> \u2014 removed her veil in public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With equanimity, she proclaimed: \u201cYou can kill me as soon as you like,\u201d she powerfully asserted to her executioners, \u201cbut you will never stop the emancipation of women.\u201d In 1852, at the age of 38, Tahirih was brutally executed for her beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her refusal to submit to the patriarchy helped begin an exciting new era of enlightenment with regard to the female gender. The teachings of the Bab <\/a>and Baha\u2019u\u2019llah sent shock waves through a misogynistic society and the power of those progressive teachings reverberated throughout the world. As Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, the son and successor of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, said in addresses<\/a> he gave in Europe and North America, it was time for women to take their rightful place beside men:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the Dispensation of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, women are advancing side by side with men. There is no area or instance where they will lag behind: they have equal rights with men, and will enter, in the future, into all branches of the administration of society. Such will be their elevation that, in every area of endeavour, they will occupy the highest levels in the human world. Rest thou assured. Look not upon their present state. In future, the world of womankind will shine with lustrous brilliance, for such is the will and purpose of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah. At the time of elections the right to vote is the inalienable right of women, and the entrance of women into all human departments is an irrefutable and incontrovertible question. No soul can retard or prevent it. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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When all mankind shall receive the same opportunity of education and the equality of men and women be realized, the foundations of war will be utterly destroyed. Without equality this will be impossible because all differences and distinction are conducive to discord and strife. Equality between men and women is conducive to the abolition of warfare for the reason that women will never be willing to sanction it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Equality does not mean \u201csameness,\u201d according to the Baha\u2019i teachings. Each gender possesses basic instincts, functions, and qualities that complement each other. Consider the two colors, blue and yellow. One could hardly say one is better than the other. Each has a worthwhile function in life. But when they unite harmoniously, they create green, something altogether new and valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How These Fathers Confront Sexism<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A 1975 statement<\/a> from the Universal House of Justice, the democratically-elected leadership body of the world\u2019s Baha\u2019is, explained:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Equality between men and women does not, indeed physiologically it cannot, mean identity of functions. In some things women excel men, for others men are better fitted than women, while in very many things the difference of sex is of no effect at all. The differences of function are most apparent in family life. The capacity for motherhood has many far-reaching implications which are recognized in Baha\u2019i Law. For example, when it is not possible to educate all one\u2019s children, daughters receive preference over sons, as mothers are the first educators of the next generation. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To educate a generation is quite a lofty and exceedingly important undertaking, and women have always been more than up to the task. Women excel in the \u201cfeminine qualities\u201d of compassion and empathy, and, as Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, the son of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah and his designated successor said<\/a>: \u201cIn some respects woman is superior to man. She is more tender-hearted, more receptive, her intuition is more intense.<\/strong>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a talk in London<\/a>, Abdu\u2019l-Baha also said: \u201cTaken in general, women today have a stronger sense of religion than men. The woman\u2019s intuition is more correct; she is more receptive and her intelligence is quicker.<\/strong>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This powerful elevation of the female position and perspective in the Baha\u2019i teachings comes directly from the Baha\u2019i Faith\u2019s founder, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite aspects of the Baha\u2019i Faith, ranking alongside its teachings on racial equality, the harmony of science and religion, and a concrete plan for world unity, are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":89120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2948],"tags":[3275,2994],"series":[4094],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69353"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89087,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69353\/revisions\/89087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69353"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=69353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}