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23: In the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, women are advancing side by side with… |
In the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, 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
Bahá’u’lláh. 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.
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But there are certain matters, the participation in which is not worthy of
women. For example, at the time when the community is taking up vigorous
defensive measures against the attack of foes, the women are exempt from
military engagements. It may so happen that at a given time warlike and savage
tribes may furiously attack the body politic with the intention of carrying on
a wholesale slaughter of its members; under such a circumstance defence is
necessary, but it is the duty of men to organize and execute such defensive
measures and not the women—because their hearts are tender and they cannot
endure the sight of the horror of carnage, even if it is for the sake of
defence. From such and similar undertakings the women are exempt.
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But when its members are to be elected, the right which belongs to women,
so far as their voting and their voice is concerned, is indisputable. When the
women attain to the ultimate degree of progress, then, according to the
exigency of the time and place and their great capacity, they shall obtain
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extraordinary privileges. Be ye confident on these accounts. His Holiness
Bahá’u’lláh has greatly strengthened the cause of women, and the rights and
privileges of women is one of the greatest principles of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Rest
ye assured! Ere long the days shall come when the men addressing the women,
shall say: ‘Blessed are ye! Blessed are ye! Verily ye are worthy of every
gift. Verily ye deserve to adorn your heads with the crown of everlasting
glory, because in sciences and arts, in virtues and perfections ye shall become
equal to man, and as regards tenderness of heart and the abundance of mercy and
sympathy ye are superior’.
(From a Tablet to an individual believer - translated from the Persian, published in “Paris Talks: Addresses given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Paris in 1911–1912”, p. 182–84) [23] |