# Women and Wisdom in Scripture

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-21 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani, Women and Wisdom in Scripture, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Women and Wisdom in Scripture
> 
> Baharieh Rouhani Ma‘ani
> 
> Gender equality was a far off dream before mid-nineteenth
> century. People around the world, though separated in the past
> by natural barriers and diverse in culture, race, language, belief
> and creed, agreed on one thing: the way they regarded and
> treated women as subordinates to men. The wellbeing of the
> male half of humanity had occupied center place even in
> scripture and adherence to tradition made unthinkable any
> challenge to what appeared the ‘norm’. Women lived under the
> thumb of men’s authority. To justify the subjection of women,
> men resorted to ‘vain imaginings’ and ‘idle fancies’,1 quoting
> scripture in support of their superiority. The belief that gender
> inequality was sanctioned by religion and men’s superiority had
> the support of scripture led to untold inequities perpetrated
> against one half of humanity.
> The inability to recognize the essential principle of the
> oneness of humanity, coupled with proclivity to promote
> fantasy, caused falsehood to appear as reality and concealed the
> truth of gender equality under layers of ambiguity. The
> uneducated masses, for their understanding of the letter and
> spirit of religious teachings, depended almost exclusively on the
> privileged few, who in the past reserved for themselves the right
> to education and the authority to interpret scripture. The use
> of biased language, a conventional medium for conveying
> spiritual and social laws, enabled men to hold on to their
> presumed superiority over women. The glimmers of hope that
> gender equality would at last become a tangible reality
> penetrated human conscience on a massive scale when the Báb
> 94                                            Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> made His mission known in 1844, followed by Bahá’u’lláh’s
> declaration of His mission in 1863. The creative forces
> generated by the rapid succession of the twin Manifestations of
> God one hundred and seventy years ago, created a fresh impulse
> in the world and produced reverberations everywhere,
> particularly in lands where freedom has been enjoyed as a right.
> In this paper the treatment of women in religion, the direct
> and indirect influence of the Babi and Bahá’í Faiths in raising
> awareness about women’s plight and transforming attitudes
> towards them across the globe, the role of linguistic biases in
> degrading women’s status, the role of wisdom in preparing the
> ground for gender equality, and finally the need for vigilance to
> prevent past shortcomings from infiltrating our way of
> thinking and behaving will be discussed.
> Religion has been intricately linked to the degradation of
> women’s status since time immemorial. In many parts of the
> world it is still the case. Any voice raised in favor of the
> restoration of women’s fundamental rights is silenced by
> opponents, who invariably quote from scripture in defense of
> their distorted views about women. To achieve the goal of
> subjugating women, religious leaders realized that the key to
> their success was keeping women ignorant. For that reason
> attempts to free women from the bondage of ignorance
> through education is even today fiercely rejected in countries
> where religious fanaticism reigns. Those who go against
> traditional practices and seek an education are regarded as
> threat and their perceived acts of transgression are punishable
> by death. Evidences of this skewed belief are still manifest
> among fanatical and radical adherents of certain religious sects
> in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of Africa. They
> oppose the establishment of schools for girls and threaten the
> lives of young women who seek education to advance their
> situation in countries where religious fanaticism has been
> gaining support.
> Women and Wisdom                                              95
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh warns the “Oppressors on Earth” to withdraw
> their hands from tyranny and has “pledged not to forgive any
> man’s injustice. This is My covenant.” He says, “which I have
> irrevocably decreed in the preserved tablet and sealed it with
> My seal of glory.” [HW P64] He admonishes His followers: “The
> friends of God must be adorned with the ornament of justice,
> equity, kindness and love. As they do not allow themselves to
> be the object of cruelty and transgression, in like manner they
> should not allow such tyranny to visit the handmaidens of
> God.”2 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has acknowledged the injustices
> perpetrated on the basis of gender: “Divine justice demands
> that the rights of both sexes should be equally respected since
> neither is superior to the other in the eyes of Heaven.” [PT 161]
> Tyranny, injustice, oppression and inflicting harm on
> vulnerable human beings have ever existed in the world. The
> most glaring of all, however, has been the kind affecting more
> than one half of the human race. This kind of tyranny has been
> committed not only by primitive men against women, but also
> by the civilized; not only by the ignorant, but also by the
> erudite; not only by the ungodly, but also by the people of
> faith. The question is why? This kind of tyranny prevented
> women for eons from fulfilling their preordained measure. This
> kind of inequity has been by far the most insidious committed
> in the world. It has been the widest in scope and the longest in
> duration.
> It is insidious because it has been ongoing forever and
> affected women at the family level, which is the most basic unit
> of society, to organizations at the highest level and everything
> in between. It has been the longest in duration because no one
> knows when it began and it is yet to end worldwide. The
> victims have endured maltreatment for countless generations
> not only in the hand of their enemies but also the ones near and
> dear to them, including the men they bore and reared. This is
> indeed the saddest human drama played on the world stage for
> countless centuries. How did it happen and why did it take so
> long to address the injustices? Why was humanity so oblivious
> 96                                            Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> of women’s plight and why it took so long to introduce
> remedies, to right the wrong? Speculations about how it
> happened are many and determining its genesis is most
> difficult, but why it took so long is not difficult to ascertain.
> Since the topic is women and wisdom in scripture, the focus
> will be limited to the recordings of holy books, though women
> have been oppressed within and outside the confines of
> religion, which indicates that however it started, religion did
> not remain immune from its effects.
> 
> Treatment of Women in Religion
> 
> One of the areas of human life governed by religious law is
> that of “relations among individuals and between individual and
> society.”3 To accomplish the object of effecting “a
> transformation in the whole character of mankind, a
> transformation that shall manifest itself both outwardly and
> inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external
> conditions”, [KI 240] religion takes into consideration the
> requirements of time, the capacity of the people it directs and
> their potential for progress within a specific timeframe. This
> human element has made it necessary for religion to use
> ‘wisdom’ in achieving the aim of spiritualizing human beings
> and guiding them to carry forward an ever-advancing
> civilization. To achieve this, judging by the recordings of holy
> books, divine revelations in the past seem to have focused
> attention and effort mostly on the male segment of humanity
> and concerned themselves primarily with their interest. “In
> former ages”, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “men enjoyed ascendancy over
> women because bodily might reigned supreme and the spirit was
> subject to its dominion.”4 Constrained by the requirements of
> time, which regarded physical strength and forceful nature the
> criteria of superiority, a narrative granting men authority to
> rule over women and requiring women to be subservient to
> them was developed, promoted, widely accepted and
> perpetuated for many thousands of years. This narrative stayed
> current until mid-nineteenth century when the Báb made His
> Women and Wisdom                                              97
> 
> Mission known, followed by Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation. Their
> Advents revolutionized the affairs of humankind, accelerated
> the process of its coming of age and drastically changed the
> fortunes of womankind.
> Women are endowed by Providence with attributes necessary
> to bear and rear future generations. As nurturers and
> protectors of life, they give of themselves to help fetuses grow
> into perfect human beings. They sacrifice their own interest
> that vulnerable infants may survive and flourish. As first
> educators of humankind they have amazing capacity for tender-
> heartedness, patience, forbearance, self-abnegation and love in
> its purest form. These qualities are inherent in men as well but
> it takes more effort and inducement to bring them to the fore.
> The focus of scripture in the past on the edification of men,
> therefore, may have been a requirement of wisdom. The
> perceived preferential treatment of men was however exploited
> to the full by those who reserved for themselves the right to
> interpret scripture. They put women down at every
> opportunity, pushed them into oblivion, deprived them of their
> human rights, in short enslaved them. To hold on to what they
> perceived to be their prerogative, when the founder of a
> subsequent religion introduced improvement in the status of
> women, they objected vehemently and did everything in their
> power, including misinterpretation of scripture and imposition
> of arbitrary restrictions until women lost the ground they had
> gained and their status became even worse than what it was
> previously.
> References in the scriptures of the past to the nobility of
> human soul and spiritual goodness of all did not establish
> gender equality, neither succeeded in averting the sufferings
> inflicted on women, because they were overshadowed by
> references pointing to their status being inferior to men. In
> fact no specific and categorical evidence is found in religions
> predating the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh’s revelations advocating the
> equality of the rights of women and men. The presence of
> 98                                             Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> references to the inferior status of women in scripture gave
> way to the maltreatment of women in religion.
> An examination of scriptures of the three religions we are
> most familiar with shed light on this phenomenon. The first
> chapter of the book of Genesis5 confirms that both men and
> women were created in the image and likeness of God, enjoyed
> equal status and were given similar functions to perform: “And
> God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ...
> So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
> created he him; male and female created he them. And God
> blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
> multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it...” [Genesis 1:26-
> 28]
> 
> The structure of the passage is intriguing. The same thing
> could have been said in a simpler fashion. Its complexity lent it
> to misinterpretation and led to inequality of men and women.
> We turn to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for clarification of the term ‘man’ in
> the above passage: “The biblical statement ‘Let us make man in
> our image, after our likeness’ does not mean that woman was
> not created. The image and likeness of God apply to her as
> well.” [PUP 74] He then explains: “In Persian and Arabic there
> are two distinct words translated into English as man: one
> meaning man and woman collectively, the other distinguishing
> man as male from woman the female. The first word and its
> pronoun are generic, collective; the other is restricted to the
> male. This is the same in Hebrew.” He adds: “To accept and
> observe a distinction which God has not intended in creation is
> ignorance and superstition....” [PUP 74] In this statement
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá confirms the causes of gender inequality being
> ignorance and superstition. These words are synonyms of ‘vain
> imaginings’ and ‘idle fancies’, which Bahá’u’lláh has used to
> highlight the causes of inequality.
> Men and women might have initially enjoyed the equality
> that the first chapter of the book of Genesis confirms. If that
> was ever the case, it is not known how long it lasted, for no
> Women and Wisdom                                               99
> 
> record of it exists. The process of men gaining ascendancy over
> women seems to have been gradual. The pretext for the change
> is recorded in the second and third chapters of the book of
> Genesis. To justify women’s subjugation, an imaginative and
> elaborate scenario was contrived. In brief, the story claims that
> Adam was first formed and Eve was created from his rib. Eve
> was deceived by a serpent and ate of the fruit of the forbidden
> tree, of which Adam ate as well, fully aware that he was
> disobeying the instructions of God. When he was called to
> account for his transgression, he blamed Eve, his wife. As a
> result, she was made to suffer the severest punishment: “Unto
> the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
> conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy
> desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
> [Genesis 3:16] Thus was sealed the fate of women for millennia
> and tyranny against them reigned unchecked.
> About the contrived story of creation ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:
> 
> If we take this story in its apparent meaning, according
> to the interpretation of the masses, it is indeed
> extraordinary. The intelligence cannot accept it, affirm
> it, or imagine it; for such arrangements, such details,
> such speeches and reproaches are far from being those
> of an intelligent man, how much less of the Divinity ...
> Therefore, this story of Adam and Eve who ate from the
> tree, and their expulsion from Paradise, must be thought
> of simply as a symbol. [SAQ 123]
> 
> Sadly the story was taken literally and led to an era of
> tyranny and injustice engulfing one half of humanity. Even
> today girls are prevented from going to school in some parts of
> the world, young women seeking an education are shot in the
> head,6 and it is all done in the name of religion! A story so
> extraordinary in detail that according to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> “intelligence cannot accept it, affirm it, or imagine it”, found
> currency among people who consider themselves intelligent and
> 100                                           Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> has been used to impose arbitrary restrictions on one half of
> the human race.
> The Books of Moses, probably the oldest religious
> documents in existence, contain many inconsistencies. The
> account of the creation of the first pair of human beings is a
> major inconsistency and its effect on the cause of womanhood
> has been devastating. It is not known how exactly the
> inconsistency occurred. Each of the existing schools probably
> taught its own version, which did not agree in every detail,
> before they were consolidated into one. To achieve consensus,
> the consolidators seem to have retained the inconsistencies they
> could not resolve; the major issue being the status of women
> which by then had suffered irretrievable setback. The
> appearance of the two contradictory stories about the creation
> of Adam and Eve in close proximity in the initial chapters of
> Genesis “either laid the foundation for degrading women’s
> status in religion or gave religious support to discriminatory
> views already in circulation. It is noteworthy that the distorted
> creation story was widely accepted and, together with the story
> of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden,
> was used by theologians and priests in a way that had an adverse
> effect on the popular view of women’s inherent nature.”7
> The Manifestations of God who came after Moses
> introduced measures to improve the status of women.
> However, before the Advents of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, none
> went as far as declaring gender equality, no doubt as a
> consideration of wisdom, for gender inequality was so
> entrenched that the pronouncement of equality would have
> shocked those that most needed religion and would have kept
> men outside the sphere of religious influence. Evidence shows
> that whatever improvement was made by subsequent Divine
> Educators, was lost almost immediately after He passed away.
> Jesus Christ, during His ministry, accepted women into His
> presence and treated them kindly. No indication can be found
> in the statements He made that He ever put women down or
> Women and Wisdom                                                101
> 
> degraded them in any way. On the contrary, He elevated them
> at every opportunity. Women did well early in Christianity.
> Mary Magdalene, titled by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Pride of Men
> arose with astonishing firmness and steadfastness after Christ’s
> crucifixion. Through genuine love for the teachings of Jesus
> she provided such inspired guidance that became the cause of
> steadfastness and enthusiasm of His disciples.8 Walking in her
> footsteps the early Christian women did well until St. Paul in
> his letters introduced restrictions to check their advancement.
> The justification for the restrictions was the ‘extraordinary’
> story of the creation of Adam and Eve, as recorded in the
> second and third chapters of the book of Genesis:
> 
> Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I
> suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority
> over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first
> formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the
> woman being deceived was in the transgression.
> Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if
> they continue in faith and charity and holiness with
> sobriety. [1 Tim. 2:11-15]
> 
> The tone and contents of St. Paul’s letters provide a window
> into how early Christian men viewed the activities of the
> women believers. The letters also disclose the women’s success,
> especially in giving talks and teaching Christianity, which
> caused alarm and disturbed some men who, instead of being
> inspired by the women’s example, complained and expressed
> concern. The situation must have been serious or St. Paul, who
> advocated a break with the past, would not have upheld the
> sanctions that had kept women backward. Sentences such as
> “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection” and “I
> suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the
> man, but to be in silence” reveal how strongly rooted was the
> prejudice against women. Another letter from St. Paul, which
> justifies the requirement for women to cover their heads,
> 102                                           Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> confirms his conviction that only man, the male, was created in
> the image and glory of God, and that woman was of the man:
> 
> ... a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as
> much as he is the image and glory of God: but the
> woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the
> woman; but the woman of the man. Neither is the man
> created for the woman; but the woman for the man. [1
> Cor. 11:7-9]
> 
> By sanctioning old restrictions on women, St. Paul revived
> the contrived story of creation and deprived women, so soon
> after Christ’s crucifixion, of their God-given rights. The
> question then is: Why was appeasing the men so important and
> why women had to continue to pay the price of appeasement?
> Did wisdom have anything to do with it? Humanity had not yet
> come of age and had to be treated according to its capacity.
> Physical force was the criterion for superiority and men were
> physically strong. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says: “In former ages, men
> enjoyed ascendancy over women because bodily might reigned
> supreme and the spirit was subject to its dominion.”9 No
> wonder then that the answer to men’s immaturity was pacifying
> their aggressive nature in order to spiritualize them under the
> canopy of religion. Fortitude has been the mark of women’s
> strength. Their long suffering has helped the process of
> realizing the goal of spiritualizing mankind. Now that the era
> of justice has dawned presaging humanity’s coming of age, the
> restoration of their rights is at hand.
> Prophet Muhammad introduced a number of measures to
> upgrade the status of women, which had steadily eroded for
> countless centuries before His revelation. However He, too,
> revealed laws commensurate with requirements of the time and
> limitations of the people among whom He appeared. For
> example, He reaffirms that man was first created and out of
> him was created his wife: “O men, fear your Lord, who hath
> created you out of one man, and out of him created his wife,
> and from the two hath multiplied many men and women.” In
> Women and Wisdom                                                 103
> 
> the same passage He admonishes His followers to “fear God by
> whom ye beseech one another; and respect women, who have
> borne you, for God is watching over you.”10 In fact He came
> very close to advocating gender equality when He said: “The
> women ought also to behave towards their husbands in like
> manner as their husbands should behave towards them
> according to what is just.” Regrettably He added: “... but the
> men ought to have a superiority over them...”11 Another verse
> of the Quran says: “Men shall have the preeminence above
> women, because of those advantages wherein God hath caused
> the one of them to excel the other, and for that which they
> expend of their substance in maintaining their wives.”12 Here
> again we see how popular traditional belief and people’s
> immaturity made it impossible for gender equality to become a
> guiding principle. Can the role wisdom played here in giving
> men preeminence above women be denied?
> The improvements that the Prophet Muhammad had made in
> the status of women during His lifetime gradually lost their
> efficacy due to misinterpretations of the ‘ulama, who imposed
> severe restrictions on women. As a result, women continued to
> suffer inhuman treatment in the name of religion. Referring to
> their status before the revelation of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh,
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:
> 
> The status of woman in former times was exceedingly
> deplorable, for it was the belief of the Orient that it was
> best for woman to be ignorant. It was considered
> preferable that she should not know reading or writing
> in order that she might not be informed of events in the
> world. Woman was considered to be created for rearing
> children and attending to the duties of the household. If
> she pursued educational course, it was deemed contrary
> to chastity; hence women were prisoners of the
> household. The houses did not even have windows
> opening upon the outside world. [PUP 166, emphasis added]
> 104                                           Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> Women are seldom mentioned in Hinduism, Buddhism and
> Confucianism. What has been handed down in both word and
> practice point to women’s subordinate status in communities
> adhering to these religions. (For cited examples, see Hope for a
> Global Ethic by Brian D. Lepard, pp. 104, 106, 107.) Women
> were also regarded inferior to men in Zoroastrianism.
> References to them are hard to find, because Zoroastrian
> scripture is unavailable in a language readily understood even
> by ordinary Zoroastrians. That no Zoroastrian woman prior to
> 2011 held a position of authority is an indication that gender
> equality was probably not a tenet of the religion. In 2011 the
> Zoroastrian Council of Priests in Tehran (Anjoman-e-Mobedan)
> “announced that for the first time in the history of Iran and of
> the Zoroastrian communities worldwide women had joined the
> group of mobeds (priests) in Iran as mobedyars (women
> priests); the women hold official certificates and perform the
> lower religious functions and can initiate people into the
> religion.”13
> In a number of His Tablets ‘Abdu’l-Bahá speaks of the
> abasement suffered by women in the East, which confirms that
> in the drama of men-women relationship, selfishness and
> insatiable thirst for control triumphed over justice and fairness,
> leaving one half of humanity at the mercy of the other half. He
> says: “Formerly in India, Persia and throughout the Orient, she
> was not considered a human being. Certain Arab tribes counted
> their women in with the live stock.”14
> It took humanity several thousand years to arrive at a point
> in its maturity necessary for the recognition of a simple truth:
> that having been created in the image and likeness of God, men
> and women alike are the revealers of the names and attributes
> of the Creator and enjoy equal rights. However, without the
> generating influence of a divine revelation it would have been
> impossible to bring about meaningful change in the psyche and
> attitude of human beings, to embrace this truth. Since scripture
> was responsible initially through the use of language in creating
> ambiguity concerning the status of women, only scripture
> Women and Wisdom                                               105
> 
> could put it right and produce a favorable atmosphere for its
> enforcement. The morn of administering justice in the world
> finally dawned in the nineteenth century when Bahá’u’lláh
> proclaimed unambiguously the principle of gender equality as a
> prerequisite for establishing unity of humankind, the pivotal
> principle of His revelation:
> 
> All should know, and in this regard attain the splendors
> of the sun of certitude, and be illumined thereby:
> Women and men have been and will always be equal in
> the sight of God. The Dawning-Place of the Light of
> God sheddeth its radiance upon all with the same
> effulgence. Verily God created women for men, and
> men for women. The most beloved of people before
> God are the most steadfast and those who have
> surpassed others in their love for God, exalted be His
> glory.15
> 
> He further confirmed that distinctions have been lifted from
> between men and women:
> 
> Praised be God, the Pen of the Most High hath lifted
> distinctions from between His servants and
> handmaidens, and, through His consummate favours and
> all-encompassing mercy, hath conferred upon all a
> station and rank on the same plane. He hath broken the
> back of vain imaginings with the sword of utterance and
> hath obliterated the perils of idle fancies through the
> pervasive power of His might.16
> 
> He reiterated the removal of all distinctions and confirmed that
> believers, regardless of their gender, are regarded on the same
> plane:
> 
> In this Day the Hand of divine grace hath removed all
> distinctions. The servants of God and His handmaidens
> are regarded on the same plane. Blessed is the servant
> who hath attained unto that which God hath decreed,
> 106                                             Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> and likewise the leaf moving in accordance with the
> breezes of His will.17
> 
> Measures Taken to Establish Gender Equality
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh did not only reveal the principle of gender
> equality, He also provided for its implementation. The right to
> education is high among the provisions He has revealed,
> education that is universal and compulsory. One of the reasons
> gender inequality went unchallenged in the past was women’s
> inability to know for themselves what the holy books had said.
> As a result, they were unable to go to the source and enquire
> from the centre of authority when things were vague or
> appeared prejudicial and discriminatory. They operated in the
> dark — the darkness of ignorance — and paid a high price for
> following blindly what had been contrived. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:
> 
> ... It is incumbent upon the girls of this glorious era to
> be fully versed in the various branches of knowledge, in
> sciences and the arts and all the wonders of this
> preeminent time, that they may then educate their
> children and train them from their earliest days in the
> ways of perfection.18
> 
> He strongly refutes the argument that women’s capabilities do
> not match those of men’s:
> 
> It has been objected by some that woman is not equally
> capable with man and that she is deficient by creation.
> This is pure imagination. The difference in capability
> between man and woman is due entirely to opportunity
> and education. Heretofore woman has been denied the
> right and privilege of equal development. If equal
> opportunity be granted her, there is no doubt she would
> be the peer of man. History will evidence this. In past
> ages noted women have arisen in the affairs of nations
> and surpassed men in their accomplishments....19
> Women and Wisdom                                              107
> 
> He advises the friends:
> 
> Devote ye particular attention to the school for girls,
> for the greatness of this wondrous Age will be
> manifested as a result of progress in the world of
> women. This is why ye observe that in every land the
> world of women is on the march, and this is due to the
> impact of the Most Great manifestation, and the power
> of the teachings of God.20
> 
> To fulfill the object of transforming humanity and inspiring
> its adherents to organize their affairs according to a newly
> revealed order, divine revelation pays close attention to the
> capacity of people and requirements of the time it is destined
> to stay relevant. As discussed earlier, recordings of Holy Books
> indicate that men and women were created equal and given
> responsibility to multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it.
> However humanity’s proclivity to move away from the spirit of
> religious teachings and its tendency to slide back to the way of
> life to which it was attached previously caused it to comingle
> divine teachings with stories and myths it had inherited from
> earlier generations. Efforts to right the wrong and to restore
> balance took several thousand years and culminated in
> Bahá’u’lláh declaring categorically that distinctions have been
> removed and gender equality restored. However, what had
> taken root in the hearts and minds could not be obliterated
> overnight, the ground had to be made ready for its worldwide
> implementation. This colossal task fell on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to
> accomplish. This topic has been dealt with in detail in a paper
> by this author, titled “Preparing Bahá’ís in the East and the
> West to Embrace Gender Equality”.21 One of the Tablets
> discussed in that paper is the one ‘Abdu’l-Bahá revealed in
> response to Corinne True who had asked about the exclusion of
> women from membership of the Universal House of Justice.
> Contrary to what the generality of the friends believe, He did
> not say women’s exclusion from membership of the House of
> Justice was for a reason. He said it was “for a wisdom of Lord
> 108                                            Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> God’s which will ere long be made manifest as clearly as the sun
> at high noon.” But before addressing the question, He
> emphasized:
> 
> in the sight of Bahá, women are accounted the same as
> men, and God hath created all humankind in His own
> image, and after His own likeness. That is, men and
> women alike are the revealers of His names and
> attributes, and from the spiritual viewpoint there is no
> difference between them. Whosoever draweth nearer to
> God, that one is the most favoured, whether man or
> woman. How many a handmaid, ardent and devoted,
> hath, within the sheltering shade of Bahá, proved
> superior to the men, and surpassed the famous of the
> earth.
> 
> The House of Justice, however, according to the
> explicit text of the Law of God, is confined to men; this
> for a wisdom of the Lord God’s, which will ere long be
> made manifest as clearly as the sun at high noon. [SWAB
> 79-80]
> 
> Gender equality has always been a spiritual principle.
> Bahá’u’lláh has confirmed, “Women and men have been and will
> always be equal in the sight of God.”22 The mere reiteration of
> that principle would not have gained women equal rights with
> men, as attested by historical records, but the lifting of
> distinctions from between women and men and granting them
> all a station on the same plane did. What is different in His
> dispensation is that gender equality is also a social principle
> with vast implications for womanhood and humanity in general.
> Another point in need of clarification is this: Initially the
> friends even in North America, in keeping with their traditional
> upbringing and mindset, assumed that women were barred from
> serving on all Houses of Justice, local, national and
> international.23 After a period of painstaking education,
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained the intent of the law, which made it
> Women and Wisdom                                                 109
> 
> possible for women to serve on all institutions of the Faith,
> appointed and elected, except that of the Universal House of
> Justice. Bahá’í women have served in the elected institutions of
> the Faith many years before other women in the United States
> gained the right to serve as elected representatives of the
> inhabitants of that country.
> When the Tablet addressed to Corinne True reached its
> recipient and the contents became known, even though ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá had confirmed women’s exclusion from the membership
> of the “House of Justice”, it was not sufficient. Some men,
> among them a prominent Bahá’í in the United States,
> complained because ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said: “How many a
> handmaid, ardent and devoted, hath, within the sheltering shade
> of Bahá, proved superior to the men, and surpassed the famous
> of the earth.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablet revealed in honour of
> Thornton Chase speaks for itself:
> 
> It may be that letters addressed to the women believers
> do indeed contain certain passages written by way of
> encouragement, but the purpose of such passages is to
> show that, in this new age, some of the women have
> outshone some of the men — not that all women have
> excelled all men! The members of the Spiritual Assembly
> should do all they can to provide encouragement to the
> women believers. In this dispensation one should not
> think in terms of “men” and “women” all are under the
> shadow of the Word of God and, as they strive the more
> diligently, so shall their reward be the greater — be they
> men or women or the frailest of people.24
> 
> In lands where religious fanaticism and gender bias against
> women were extremely strong and impenetrable — Iran being
> one of them — the process of preparing the community took
> much longer and women’s membership on Bahá’í institutions
> materialized in 1954, three years before the passing of Shoghi
> Effendi.
> 110                                           Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> This writer heard about the exclusion of women from
> membership of the House of Justice before entering primary
> school, many years before the institution of the Universal
> House of Justice came into being. At that time in Iran Bahá’í
> women were not yet eligible to serve even on local and national
> elected bodies.25 Therefore it did not come as a surprise. As I
> grew older, I heard men speculate on what could be the reason
> for exclusion. I must admit most speculations were offensive
> even to a very young girl that I was then. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablet
> brought to me a measure of relief and comfort. Contrary to
> speculations, He had given no reason for women’s exclusion
> but spoken of “a wisdom of Lord God’s”, which He said, “will
> ere long be made manifest as clearly as the sun at high noon.”
> Armed with this ‘discovery’, I challenged the validity of the
> speculations I had heard repeatedly. Some speculators
> maintained that reason and wisdom were synonyms! I looked up
> the definition of the two words and found out the difference.
> Further research into the process that led to the degradation
> of women’s status in religion opened the door to a new
> understanding of the term ‘wisdom’, especially the kind that
> human beings have been given the capacity to fathom. The kind
> of wisdom that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá speaks about is that which “will
> ere long be made manifest as clearly as the sun at high noon.” It
> means that all have the ability to see and understand, unless
> completely blind. This is the kind of wisdom that all Divine
> Educators have used to improve women’s status without
> startling the male population and arousing their vehement
> objection. If not seen in this light, scripture would be
> implicated in causing women their plight. Prejudices against
> women were so entrenched, lack of education so widespread,
> and misinterpretation of scripture so rampant that their status
> deteriorated steadily until humanity became the recipient of a
> revelation, which has revolutionized its affairs and set in
> motion a process leading to the maturity of the human race.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá used supreme wisdom in the implementation of
> the principle of gender equality. He said this Himself in a
> Women and Wisdom                                               111
> 
> Tablet addressed to a group of women in Tihran, who wished to
> see the principle in action before members of the community
> were ready to embrace it:
> 
> I am endeavouring, with Bahá’u’lláh’s confirmations and
> assistance, so to improve the world of the handmaidens
> that all will be astonished ... Ye need to be calm and
> composed, so that the work will proceed with wisdom,
> otherwise there will be such chaos that ye will leave
> everything and run away. “This newly born babe is
> traversing in one night the path that needeth a hundred
> years to tread.” In brief, ye should now engage in
> matters of pure spirituality and not contend with men.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá will tactfully take appropriate steps. Be
> assured. In the end thou wilt thyself exclaim, “This was
> indeed supreme wisdom!” I appeal to you to obliterate
> this contention between men and women....
> 
> He closed the Tablet with these words: “No one can on his own
> achieve anything. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá must be well pleased and
> assist.”26
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá engaged in a process of educating the believers
> to embrace gender equality.27 The insurmountable obstacles in
> the way were different in nature and magnitude in the East and
> West. He gently addressed the objections and refuted them
> with loving compassion. Regarding the argument that woman
> has been created deficient, He says:
> 
> It has been objected by some that woman is not equally
> capable with man and that she is deficient by creation.
> This is pure imagination. The difference in capability
> between man and woman is due entirely to opportunity
> and education. [PUP 133]
> 112                                            Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> The Role of Language in Perpetuating Women’s Plight
> 
> The opening lines of US Declaration of Independence
> reiterates in essence what the first chapter of the book of
> Genesis affirms but leaves out the clarification about both male
> and female having been created in God’s’ image:
> 
> We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
> created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
> with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
> Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to
> secure these rights, Governments are instituted among
> Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
> governed.28
> 
> The word ‘men’ appears twice in the passage: the first is lower
> case, the second capitalized. The one is probably general, the
> other specific. Who knows which is which, for when
> pronounced they sound alike. Also the ‘consent of the
> governed’ is determined through voting. Since the American
> women did not have the right to vote when the Declaration of
> Independence was written in 1776, it is assumed that their
> consent or lack thereof was of no consequence. No wonder
> then that US Declaration of Independence did not achieve
> gender equality. It was through civil liberty and education that
> the eyes of women were opened and the fire of longing for
> emancipation blazoned in their hearts. Some women became
> anti-slavery activists and campaigned in earnest for its
> abolition. Having been oppressed and subjugated for countless
> centuries, they understood what slavery entailed and how
> abhorrent a practice it was. One of the women activists,
> Lucretia Mott, a Quaker minister, attended as a delegate the
> World Anti-Slavery Convention held in London, England in
> 1840, but was refused the right, along with other female
> delegates attending the Convention, to speak. In fact they were
> asked to leave. The refusal to seat the women delegates was the
> motivating factor for Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the
> Women and Wisdom                                             113
> 
> wife of another delegate from the United States, to get together
> and discuss the need for holding “a convention to discuss the
> rights of women.”29 That convention took place in Seneca Falls,
> New York, in the summer of 1948 at about the same time the
> Conference of Badasht was held.
> To deliberate on the plight of women and propose changes
> to mitigate the effect of maltreatment and injustices they had
> suffered, the gathering produced a document known as the
> Declaration of Sentiments, which stipulates: “We hold these
> truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created
> equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
> inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
> pursuit of happiness....”
> The simultaneous occurrence of these two events in venues
> thousands of miles apart with the theme of breaking away from
> traditions of the past, as well as the role that women played in
> the proceedings of both are truly astounding. Although the
> agenda of the two conferences was rejection of the status quo,
> the outcome was very different. Those assembled at Seneca
> Falls forged ahead with their aims. Fully cognizant of the role
> that linguistic biases had played in the degradation of women’s
> status in religion, they took measures to arrest the process and
> right the wrong. The organizer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
> financed the production of a women’s bible. She also financed
> the work of the women activists.
> At Badasht Conference only one woman participated in the
> proceedings. She was known as Qurratu’l-`Ayn and became
> better known as Tahirih (the Pure). She was one of the central
> players at the Conference. To declare the dawn of a New Day
> and the emancipation of women through the Bab’s Advent, she
> appeared unveiled in an assemblage of men, who confessed
> belief in the Báb but were utterly unprepared to see the
> unveiled face of a woman adherent of the nascent Faith. By
> removing her veil, something strictly imposed on women by
> Islamic tradition and upheld fiercely by religious leaders,
> 114                                          Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> Tahirih proclaimed the dawn of a new Era and the invalidation
> of traditions that had kept women backward. She was sentenced
> to death for espousing the nascent Cause and executed in 1852,
> the year Bahá’u’lláh received intimation of His Mission while
> imprisoned in the Siyah Chal (Black Pit) of Tihran. Shoghi
> Effendi refers to “this great Babi heroine” as “the first woman
> suffrage martyr, who, at her death, turning to the one in whose
> custody she had been placed, had boldly declared: ‘You can kill
> me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation
> of women.’” [GPB 75]
> What prompted Tahirih at Badasht and some North
> American women at Seneca Falls to go against the norm was
> directly related to the maltreatment of women and the denial of
> their God-given rights. Slavery and women’s subjugation are
> kindred subjects. They are ancient practices, heinous and
> oppressive. However, the two differ in one respect: Slavery
> became a burden on man’s conscience long before did the
> maltreatment of women.
> Those desirous of having power over women and controlling
> their affairs perceive gender inequality as a matter sanctioned
> in scripture. Keeping women ignorant and under the thumb of
> the authority of men is one thing all religious zealots agree to
> uphold. To give credence to their misinterpretations, they use
> linguistic nuances as the vehicle. To prevent women from
> recognizing and taking action against maltreatment, they have
> made it look as though God has intended men to be superior in
> creation. As gender inequality is seemingly based on scripture,
> its eradication only scripture could sanction. Granting women
> equality with men through legislation is insufficient. Even the
> United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights,30
> adopted by UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948, a
> hundred years after the conferences held at Badasht and Seneca
> Falls31 has been ineffective to restore to women their rights in
> countries ruled by religious law. Moreover, whatever is given at
> will can be taken away at will, and examples of this are
> Women and Wisdom                                                115
> 
> provided repeatedly in history. A case in point is the situation
> of women in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution.
> In North America, the cradle of freedom, women rights
> activists have been unable to have the equal rights amendment
> ratified. The amendment to the US Constitution designed to
> guarantee equal rights for women was first proposed in 1923.
> Although it passed both houses of Congress by 1972, sufficient
> number of state legislatures did not vote in favor it by the
> deadlines the Congress had set. The opposition was based on a
> number of reasons, traditional gender roles pre-eminent among
> them. As a result, it has not yet become the law. Further efforts
> are being made at the federal and state levels to have it
> adopted. During His travels in the West, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke
> repeatedly about the subject. The following is an example:
> 
> Neither sex is superior to the other in the sight of God.
> Why then should one sex assert the inferiority of the
> other, withholding just rights and privileges as though
> God had given His authority for such a course of
> action? [PT 161]
> 
> The underlying purpose of divine revelations, Bahá’u’lláh
> says, “hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour
> of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with
> absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High” [GWB
> 157]. To educate humanity, the Revealers of religion have had to
> use the medium of language, which like everything in life is
> subject to change. The earliest religious records that have
> survived, regardless of how they were worded in the original
> language, have been translated to a language highly prejudicial
> to the cause of womanhood, as discussed earlier. Using
> masculine terms, such as ‘man’, ‘men’ and pronouns, such as
> ‘he’, ‘his’ and ‘him’ indistinctively regardless of whether they
> refer to man, the male, or to humanity in general have worked
> to women’s disadvantage. The realization of gender equality, a
> vital aspect of the principle of unity of humankind, requires
> 116                                              Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> dealing with this dilemma, which has been a major cause of the
> degradation of women since time immemorial.
> The capacity of language to convey meanings other than
> those traditionally assigned to words has been exploited in
> every respect but that of gender equality. The time seems
> propitious to let the use of unbiased language rid humanity of
> the remaining barriers intervening between it and the full
> realization of gender equality.
> Bahá’u’lláh’s writings are revealed in both Persian and
> Arabic. These two languages are very different in the way the
> pronouns are used. Unlike Persian, a non-gender-specific
> language, which uses the same pronoun for God and third
> singular person whether man or woman, Arabic is gender
> specific, it uses different pronouns when referring to a man or
> a woman. It also uses the plural of masculine pronoun for
> referring to humanity in general.32
> The problem of using masculine pronoun whether it refers to
> God, to man specifically or to humanity in general is
> accentuated when Persian Writings are translated to English,
> because all non-gender-specific Persian terms and pronouns are
> changed to masculine. Since translations to all other languages
> are based on the English approved version, this linguistic bias is
> promoted and perpetuated throughout the Bahá’í world,
> making it most difficult, if not impossible, to control their
> ramifications throughout the dispensation.
> Looking deeper into challenges that lack of linguistic clarity
> poses for translators of Bahá’í Writings provides us with
> valuable insights. In a Tablet revealed in Persian regarding the
> membership of the Supreme Tribunal, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:
> 
> ... the question of universal peace, about which
> Bahá’u’lláh says that the Supreme Tribunal must be
> established: although the League of Nations has been
> brought into existence, yet it is incapable of establishing
> universal peace. But the Supreme Tribunal which
> Women and Wisdom                                                   117
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh has described will fulfill this sacred task with
> the utmost might and power. And His plan is this: that
> the national assemblies of each country and nation —
> that is to say parliaments — should elect two or three
> persons who are the choicest men of that nation, and are
> well informed concerning international laws and the
> relations between governments and aware of the
> essential needs of the world of humanity in this day...
> From among these people the members of the Supreme
> Tribunal will be elected, and all mankind will thus have a
> share therein, for every one of these delegates is fully
> representative of his nation... [SWAB 305]
> 
> After the English translation of the Tablet was published in
> Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and quoted in the
> compilation on Peace, the phrase ‘the choicest men of that
> nation’ was found to be inaccurate. In the original Persian
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says ‘the choicest persons’, not ‘the choicest men’.
> When the mistranslation was brought to the attention of the
> Universal House of Justice, it instructed the responsible
> department to look into the matter. After thorough
> investigation, the phrase was changed to ‘the choicest of that
> nation’, which is not gender specific. Publishing Trusts were
> then informed to make the correction. It is not known how
> many made the correction and informed the friends, who had
> purchased earlier versions. Meanwhile, unaware of this
> development, the friends continue to quote in their writings
> and speeches the phrase that proved to be inaccurate. As late as
> November 2012, a Nineteen Day Feast letter, circulated in the
> United States, quoted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement on the subject
> of peace and Supreme Tribunal, which did not reflect the
> correction. As a result, some Bahá’ís are of the opinion that
> women are ineligible for membership of the Supreme Tribunal,
> in contradiction to what the Universal House of Justice has
> stated in a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the
> Bahá’ís of New Zealand, which had asked the Supreme Body
> 118                                          Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> about the eligibility of women for membership on the Supreme
> Tribunal:
> 
> With regard to the status of women, the important
> point for Bahá’ís to remember is that in face of the
> categorical pronouncements in Bahá’í Scripture
> establishing the equality of men and women, the
> ineligibility of women for membership of the Universal
> House of Justice does not constitute evidence of the
> superiority of men over women. It must also be borne
> in mind that women are not excluded from any other
> international institution of the Faith. They are found
> among the ranks of the Hands of the Cause. They serve
> as members of the International Teaching Centre and as
> Continental Counsellors. And, there is nothing in the
> Text to preclude the participation of women in such
> future international bodies as the Supreme Tribunal.33
> 
> Another example is the retranslation of a phrase in a Tablet
> from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Corinne True about the ineligibility of
> women for membership of the Universal House of Justice. The
> retranslated phrase reads: “for, as hath been stated in the text
> of the Book, both the head and the members of the House of
> Justice must be men.” When the retranslation was carefully
> checked against the original text of the Tablet, it became clear
> that it was inaccurate. The inaccuracy was reported,
> investigated and corrected to read: “...for, as hath been stated
> in the text of the Book, both the head and the members of the
> House of Justice are men.”34
> One of the many blessings that members of the worldwide
> Bahá’í community enjoy is the duty and privilege of immersing
> themselves in the ocean of Bahá’u’lláh’s Words and of using the
> writings of the authorized Interpreters to enhance their
> understanding of the verities enshrined in His revelation. They
> also enjoy the right to seek clarification from the Supreme
> governing Body of the Bahá’í Faith regarding anything that
> appears obscure, or in the case of translations, anything that
> Women and Wisdom                                                119
> 
> might be inaccurate. No matter how careful the translators of
> Sacred Writings are and how meticulously the process of review
> is, the possibility of human error cannot be completely ruled
> out. The believers familiar with the languages of revelation
> (Persian and Arabic) would render a valuable service if they paid
> careful attention to translations and compared them against the
> original. If anything looks or feels inaccurate in meaning or
> appearance, report it to the right authority and make sure that
> it is documented. It would also be most helpful for the
> translators to be extra mindful of any and all traditional
> pitfalls.
> Having a clear vision about men and women enjoying equal
> rights has tremendous ramifications not only for this
> dispensation but also for the distant future. In light of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s statement that “... were He to pronounce one of
> the leaves to be the manifestation of all His excellent titles,
> unto no one is given the right to utter why or wherefore, and
> should one do so he would be regarded as a disbeliever in God
> and be numbered with such as have repudiated His Truth”, [TB
> 185] the appearance of female Manifestations of God in future
> is not beyond the realm of possibility. What we do and say
> today undoubtedly has repercussions in the future. Our words
> and actions today have the potency to intensify the afflictions
> or mitigate their effects when the time for renewal comes again.
> Let us all work for a prejudice-free society and remember the
> words of the Universal House of Justice:
> 
> World order can be founded only on an unshakeable
> consciousness of the oneness of mankind, a spiritual
> truth which all the human sciences confirm.
> Anthropology, physiology, psychology, recognize only
> one human species, albeit infinitely varied in the
> secondary aspects of life. Recognition of this truth
> requires abandonment of prejudice — prejudice of every
> kind — race, class, colour, creed, nation, sex, degree of
> material civilization, everything which enables people to
> 120                                                        Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> consider themselves superior to others. Acceptance of
> the oneness of mankind is the first fundamental
> prerequisite for reorganization and administration of
> the world as one country, the home of humankind.
> Universal acceptance of this spiritual principle is
> essential to any successful attempt to establish world
> peace...35
> 
> NOTES
> Women: Bahá’í Writings on the Equality of Men and Women, the Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, London, Revised edition 1990, #2.
> Women, #58
> The Kitab-i-Aqdas, Introduction,
> Women, #10.
> The King James translation of the Bible, from which this and other
> quotations cited in this article are taken, is based on the Greek translation
> of the Hebrew original of the Book.
> Malala, the Pakistani young girl who survived a vicious attempt on her life
> by religious fundamentalists in that country, is a case in point.
> Article by this author in The Journal of Bahá’í Studies, volume 8, number
> 1, p. 47.
> From a previously unpublished Tablet in Persian, revealed jointly in honor
> of Jinab-i-Mirza Mu’min and his wife. Mirza Mu’min’s wife seems to be
> the sister of Jinab-i Ibn-i-Abhar.
> Women, number 10
> The Quran, trans. by George Sale (London, Frederick Warne and Co.), p.
> 71.
> Ibid, p. 32
> Ibid, p. 77
> “Women’s Ordination” in Zoroastrianism, quoted in Wikipedia.
> Women, #28
> Women, #58.
> Women, #2
> Women, #3
> Women, #46
> Women and Wisdom                                                              121
> 
> Women, #47
> Women, #52
> Lights of ‘Irfan Book 12, at
> http://irfancolloquia.org/100/ma'ani_equality
> Women, number 58, also Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, p. 379
> It was as late as 1920 when women in America gained the right to vote.
> Women, #19
> The election of Bahá’í women in Iran to Local and National Spiritual
> Assemblies was a goal of Shoghi Effendi’s Ten Year Global Plan. The goal
> was accomplished at Ridvan 1954.
> Women, #13
> For a detailed account, see “Preparing Bahá’í Communities in the East and
> West to Embrace Gender Equality” by this author, Lights of ‘Irfan, book
> twelve, pp 195-218
> The Declaration of Sentiments (Seneca Falls Convention, 1848)
> ibid.
> “The General Assembly recognizes that the inherent dignity and the equal
> and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the
> foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, human rights
> should be protected by the rule of law, friendly relations between nations
> must be fostered, the peoples of the UN have affirmed their faith in
> human rights, the dignity and the worth of the human person, the equal
> rights of men and women and are determined to promote social progress,
> better standards of life and larger freedom and have promised to promote
> human rights and a common understanding of these rights.” (Simplified
> Version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, Summary of
> Preamble)
> The full text is published by the United Nations on its website.
> This subject has been dealt with in considerable detail in “The Effect of
> Philosophical and Linguistic Gender Biases on the Degradation of
> Women’s Status in Religion”, Journal of Bahá’í Studies, vol. 8, number 1.
> Letter from the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of the Bahá’ís of New Zealand dated 31 May 1988.
> Secretariat letter dated 14 October 1987, attaching a memorandum from
> the Research Department, of the same date.
> The Promise of World Peace. Quoted in Women, #35
>
> — *Women and Wisdom in Scripture (Used by permission of the curator)*