...imbued with the same virtues as man, rising through all the degrees of human attainment, women will become the peers of men, and until this equality is established, true progress and attainment for the human race will not be facilitated.

The evident reasons underlying this are as follows: Woman by nature is opposed to war; she is an advocate of peace. Children are reared and brought up by the mothers who give them the first principles of education and labor a.s.siduously in their behalf. Consider, for instance, a mother who has tenderly reared a son for twenty years to the age of maturity.

Surely she will not consent to having that son torn asunder and killed in the field of battle. Therefore, as woman advances toward the degree of man in power and privilege, with the right of vote and control in human government, most a.s.suredly war will cease; for woman is naturally the most devoted and staunch advocate of international peace.

("The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Baha during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912", p. 375) [86]

87: According to the spirit of this age, women must advance and fulfill their...

According to the spirit of this age, women must advance and fulfill their mission in all departments of life, becoming equal to men. They must be on the same level as men and enjoy equal rights. This is my earnest prayer and it is one of the fundamental principles of Baha'u'llah.

(J. E. Esslemont, "Baha'u'llah and the New Era", p. 147) [87]

88: ...The woman is indeed of the greater importance to the race. She has the...

...The woman is indeed of the greater importance to the race. She has the greater burden and the greater work. Look at the vegetable and the animal worlds. The palm which carries the fruit is the tree most prized by the date grower. The Arab knows that for a long journey the mare has the longest wind. For her greater strength and fierceness, the lioness is more feared by the hunter than the lion.

The woman has greater moral courage than the man; she has also special gifts which enable her to govern in moments of danger and crisis....

("'Abdu'l-Baha in London: Addresses, and Notes of Conversations" (London: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982), pp. 1023) [88]

Extracts From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi:

89: Concerning Baha'i representation at the All-Asian Women's Conference: this...

Concerning Baha'i representation at the All-Asian Women's Conference: this is undoubtedly a most commendable thing to do especially as the Cause has so much concerning the position of women in society. Shoghi Effendi hopes that the National a.s.sembly will do its best to win the admiration of all the a.s.sembled delegates for the teachings of the Cause along that line. We should always take such opportunities that present themselves. Maybe we would succeed to render some service to society and alleviate its ills.

(10 November 1930 to the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of India and Burma) [89]

90: What 'Abdu'l-Baha meant about the women arising for peace is that this is a...

What 'Abdu'l-Baha meant about the women arising for peace is that this is a matter which vitally affects women, and when they form a conscious and overwhelming ma.s.s of public opinion against war there can be no war. The Baha'i women are already organized through being members of the Faith and the Administrative Order. No further organization is needed. But they should, through teaching and through the active moral support they give to every movement directed towards peace, seek to exert a strong influence on other women's minds in regard to this essential matter.

(24 March 1945 to an individual believer) [90]

Extract From a Letter Written by the Universal House of Justice

91: The emanc.i.p.ation of women, the achievement of full equality between the...

The emanc.i.p.ation of women, the achievement of full equality between the s.e.xes, is one of the most important, though less acknowledged prerequisites of peace. The denial of such equality perpetrates an injustice against one half of the world's population and promotes in men harmful att.i.tudes and habits that are carried from the family to the workplace, to political life, and ultimately to international relations.

There are no grounds, moral, practical, or biological, upon which such denial can be justified. Only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavour will the moral and psychological climate be created in which international peace can emerge.

(October 1985 to the Peoples of the World) [91]

Extracts From Letters Written on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice:

92: ...there is a much wider sphere of relationships between men and women than in...

...there is a much wider sphere of relationships between men and women than in the home, and this too we should consider in the context of Baha'i society, not in that of past or present social norms. For example, although the mother is the first educator of the child, and the most important formative influence in his development, the father also has the responsibility of educating his children, and this responsibility is so weighty that Baha'u'llah has stated that a father who fails to exercise it forfeits his rights of fatherhood. Similarly, although the primary responsibility for supporting the family financially is placed upon the husband, this does not by any means imply that the place of woman is confined to the home. On the contrary, 'Abdu'l-Baha has stated:

In the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah, 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....(4)

and again:

So it will come to pa.s.s that when women partic.i.p.ate fully and equally in the affairs of the world, when they enter confidently and capably the great arena of laws and politics, war will cease;... ("The Promulgation of Universal Peace", p. 135)

In the Tablet of the World, Baha'u'llah Himself has envisaged that women as well as men would be breadwinners in stating:

Everyone, whether man or woman, should hand over to a trusted person a portion of what he or she earneth through trade, agriculture or other occupation, for the training and education of children, to be spent for this purpose with the knowledge of the Trustees of the House of Justice.

("Tablets of Baha'u'llah Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas", p. 90) (28 December 1980 to the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of New Zealand) [92]

93: The duty of women in being the first educators of mankind is clearly set...

The duty of women in being the first educators of mankind is clearly set forth in the Writings. It is for every woman, if and when she becomes a mother, to determine how best she can discharge on the one hand her chief responsibility as a mother and on the other, to the extent possible, to partic.i.p.ate in other aspects of the activities of the society of which she forms a part....

(22 April 1981 to an individual believer) [93]