POSTED ON BEHALF OF THE THIRD GUARDIAN OF THE BAHA'I FAITH
Non-eligibiliity of women as members of UHJ
Dear and faithful friends,
As I have mentioned in my writings, during my pilgrimage to the Holy Land
in November of 1952, my Haifa Notes record that one evening at the dinner
table (30 November), Shoghi Effendi discussed the matter of the
International Baha'i Council and, in particular, the projected second
stage of its development when it would become the International Baha'i
Court which would "operate initially only for the Eastern world where
religious law is is recognized" and "The present President [Mason Remey]
will then become the Judge. (the Guardian in an aside to Mason [seated on
his right] and with a smile asked 'Mason are you ready to become a
Judge?') Ruhiyyih Khanum then asked whether when the Council became the
Court, all of the women would get off. The Guardian said, no--not even
when the court became elective, but only when the International House of
Justice was formed."
There is no question, therefore, that Shoghi Effendi intended that only
men
would be eligible to serve as members of the Universal House of Justice,
as
required under the provisions of the Aqdas and as he confirmed in the
conversation recorded above. In this connection, the following is stated
in Note 80 of the Aqdas: "O ye Men of Justice! It has been elucidated in
the writings of 'Abdu'l- Baha and Shoghi Effendi, that while the
member****p
of the Universal House of Justice is confined to men, both women and men
are eligible for election to Secondary and Local Houses of Justice
(currently designated as National and Local Spiritual Assemblies)." No
amount of rationalization will change this fact. All should accept,
without reservation, the promise of Baha'u'llah found in the Tablet of
Ahmad that "The wisdom of every command shall be tested."
Without any intention of defining at this time the reason why women have
been excluded from eligibility to serve on the Universal House of
Justice,
the friends should consider the fact that the Universal House of Justice,
in its final form in a Baha'i State, will be required to apply in the
future and until crime becomes non- existent, or, at least, almost so,
some
very severe laws stated in the Aqdas, to certain particularly heinous
criminal acts which women, with their more refined sensibilities, would,
perhaps, find extremely difficult to sup****t.
Faithfully your brother in El Abha,
Joel Bray Marangella
Third Guardian of the Baha'i Faith
WEB: http://www.Bahai-Guardian.com
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