Bahai says that men and women are equal. How do you explain this then?
"- No women are included in the 9-member Universal House of Justice (UHJ) with the sole exception of the widow of Shoghi Affendi. Why only this lady is included? Is she not a normal woman!
- The shroud to be given by the eldest male child. Women are disallowed.
- Polygamy is acceptable but polyandry is banned.
- If a man wishes to travel he should inform his wife of the time duration, which if exceeds nine months the lady has right to remarry. Then if the husband does not specify the time of his journey the wife should wait for him all her life.
- Maintenance of women is obligatory on the man.
- Only women should attend to the household chores.
- No Hajj for women. Nor are they expected to keep the fasts lapsed during the days of menstruation. Why? Tahera Qazvini sanctified her life for Bahaullah but her grave is not included in the Hajj. Why was her body not brought to Akka like others?
- The house and the clothes of a deceased are the sole property of the eldest male child and nothing is there for women. Is this not inequality?"
http://www.bahaiawareness.com/bahai08.html
I’d like to clear up a few things, the first being that the site you listed, bahaiawareness.com, is a known anti-Baha’i site. As such I don’t think you should expect that the information they provide is accurate or presented in context.
Secondly, the Baha’i Faith rests on the equality of men and women as one of its core concepts. However, as many have pointed out in the past, "equality" does not always translate to "identical" (whether in a Baha’i context or a larger context). The Faith recognizes that people all have different capacities.
All that being said:
Polygamy is forbidden in the Baha’i Faith. While Baha’u'llah in the Kitab-i-Aqdas (book of laws, one of the central books of the faith) allowed for husbands to have two wives, it is well-understood to be a rule to accomodate transition for Muslims to the Faith. Later, ‘Abdu’l-Baha (whose interpretation of the religion’s rules is considered infallible) strictly prohibited polygamy signifying that the transitional period was closed.
It is true that the UHJ is an all-male body. Ruhhiyih Khanum (the wife of Shoghi Effendi) was not eligible, nor ever served on, the UHJ. There is no easy answer to why this body is all-male, not even within the Baha’i community. Most Baha’is, men and women alike, take it on Faith that there is a reason unbeknownst to us yet.
The rules on travel that you mentioned are (to the best of my knowledge) largely considered to be obsolete, as they were provided during a time when the fastest transportation available was a horse and travel was extremely dangerous in some parts of the world. You would be hard-pressed to find those rules enforced in modern times.
Rules of inheritance in the Baha’i Faith are very complicated, but it’s EXTREMELY important to point out that those rules only kick in when the deceased has died intestate. In those cases the rules are provided with the hope of having maximum positive effect, but also keep in mind their context–19th century Persia, where it was extremely difficult for a woman to be head of household, much less be employed. If the deceased has written a will, it is completely up to him or her how s/he assigns wealth and property to his/her inheritors–including women. Critics frequently use the Baha’i rules of inheritance to attack the Faith, but the fact remains that those rules are rarely implemented even in modern society where civil laws tend to trump religious ones.
Rules of "maintenance of women" and "household chores", I’m not familiar with the rules you refer to. Again, please keep in mind the context in which these rules wre written–19th century, male-dominated Persia. The rules were not written to suppress women, they were written to allow women as much freedom as could be reasonably expected within a society that was overwhelmingly Muslim and overwhelmingly male-dominated. Even if a Baha’i believes in the complete equality of men and women, there’s nothing that says the doMinant society where that Baha’i lives has to accomodate his/her ideas. Baha’u'llah recognized that.
Referring to Pilgrimage, women are allowed to make pilgrimage. In fact I’m close friends with a woman who just went on a pilgrimage a few weeks ago. Regarding "Tahera", I’m assuming you’re referring to the women whose name Baha’is spell as "Tahirih" in English. I’m sure you would discover with more investigation that moving bodies, especially in the formative age of the Faith, was extremely difficult and dangerous. As far as I’m aware, only The Bab’s remains were brought to Akka from Persia and that was done so at great peril. If there is ever a time when it is safe for Baha’is to pilgrimage to Iran, I’m sure that other important sites such as the one you mentioned will be included in the route.
Women are exempted from fasting during menstruation because of health reasons. (It is not for reasons of purity as someone has mentioned.) The Baha’i version of fasting places a very heavy emphasis on its symbolic significance, and as such those who would be endangered by fasting are not required to do it. Also, anyone (men or women) who misses fasting days for any reason is not required to make up those days (although they certainly can if they wish to).
travel