October 5. On this date in 1950, Shoghi Effendi wrote that "the Assembly is a nascent House of Justice." When today's Local and National Spiritual Assemblies become local and national Houses of Justice, they will once again become exclusively all-male.

 

 

October 5. On this date in 1950, Shoghi Effendi wrote that "the Assembly is a nascent House of Justice." When today's Local and National Spiritual Assemblies become local and national Houses of Justice, they will once again become exclusively all-male.

On February 25, 1902, Corinne True wrote 'Abdu’l-Bahá about the exclusion of women from the Chicago Bahá’í governing body, the House of Justice, noting that "many" felt it should be a "mixed board" because "women in America stand so conspicuously for all that is highest & best in every department." In his response 'Abdu’l-Bahá stated that while "in the sight of God, the conduct of women is the same as that of men" and there was "no difference" between the sexes, nevertheless the "House of Justice" had to consist only of men and that the "reason will presently appear, even as the sun at midday." True accepted 'Abdu’l-Bahá’s ruling–which also affirmed the equality of the sexes–and poured her energy into the Chicago Bahá’í women’s organization, which 'Abdu’l-Bahá highly praised. For the next eight years Chicago had two parallel Bahá’í organizations, one confined to men, the other to women.
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On May 20, 1902, the Chicago House of Justice changed its name to the House of Spirituality. The body remained all-male. In 1909, at the first American Bahá'í National Convention in Chicago, Bahá'í Temple Unity was incorporated to hold title to the Temple property and to provide for its construction. Women are allowed to serve on this body. A constitution was framed and an Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity elected. In 1922, on the instructions of Shoghi Effendi, Bahá'í Temple Unity was renamed the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada.
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270. Assembly is a Nascent House of Justice--Individuals Toward Each Other Governed by Love, Unity, etc.
"...There is a tendency to mix up the functions of the Administration and try to apply it in individual relationships, which is abortive, because the Assembly is a nascent House of Justice and is supposed to administer, according to the Teachings, the affairs of the community. But individuals toward each other are governed by love, unity, forgiveness and a sin-covering eye. Once the friends grasp this they will get along much better, but they keep playing Spiritual Assembly to each other and expect the Assembly to behave like an individual...."
(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, October 5, 1950: Living the Life, p. 17)