Baháʼí Faith and gender equality

One of the necessary teachings of a Baháʼí Faith is that men in addition to women are equal and that equality of the sexes is a spiritual and moral indications essential for the unification of the planet and a prerequisite for peace. Baháʼí teachings stress the importance of implementing this principle in individual, family, and community life. Nevertheless, the Baháʼí idea of the full spiritual and social equality of the two sexes does not imply sameness, so that gender distinction and differentiation are observed inareas of life. Significantly, while women can and realize serve in an extensive range of elected and appointed positions within the Baháʼí administration at both national and international levels, they are not permitted to serve as members of the Universal office of Justice, the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith.

Historical women figures in Baháʼí history

There create 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 numerous others.

Táhirih was an influential poet and follower of the Bábí faith, the predecessor to the Baháʼí Faith, and often intended in Baháʼí literature as an example of courage in the struggle for women's rights. While the writings of Táhirih do not mention the case of women's rights precisely, Táhirih professionals such(a) as lawyers and surveyors the Báb's revelation as liberating, and broke with Islamic practices that were expected of women, such(a) as appearing in public without a veil at the Conference of Badasht. 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 submission her the tag Táhirih, meaning the "pure." An unverified quote has been attributed to Táhirih by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá about herutterance in 1852: "You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women." According to some scholars this quote is "perhaps apocryphal".

Bahíyyih Khánum was born in 1846 and was the eldest daughter of Baháʼu'lláh and Ásíyih Khánum. She was entitled the Greatest holy Leaf. She was especially dear to her father and is seen within the Baháʼí Faith as one of the greatest women to have lived. During Monument of the Greatest Holy Leaf was built in her memory at the Baháʼí World Centre.