EVERY RELIGION has its model of ideal women. In Hinduism we have Sita, the perfect wife who remains faithful to her husband at any cost. In Christianity we have Virgin Mary, the symbol of motherhood .In Islam Fatimih, the daughter of Mohammad models the role of mother wife and daughter together. These models, far from empowering women, has only helped to enhance their roles as mothers and wives within the private sphere of the home .The outer world was essentially the male world where women had no place. This doctrine of separate spheres has led to the general contention that religion is one of the major barriers to empowerment of women.

The Bahai faith which was founded by Bahaullah in the mid 19th century Iran during the oppressive rule of the Qajar dynasty and which was later consolidated by Abdul Baha and Soghi Effendi respectively, defies this general contention. Quarat al-ayn who is the most prominent women model in baby Bahai history is neither the dutiful daughter nor an ideal wife or mother since her estrangement from her husband has led to her forced separation from her children. Being a poetess with excellent education in traditional Islamic sciences she continuously opposed the theological position of her father Mullah Sallih. Not only was she fiercely anticlerical, she even refused to perform her daily prayers. But her most controversial and audacious act was to appear unveiled in a gathering of believers –perhaps the first Iranian women who considered unveiling at her own initiative. At a time when she was accused to be unchaste and looked down upon for this act of heresy she was blessed and surnamed Tahirih or the Pure One by Bahaullah.

No other religion has been as explicit as the Bahais in its support of the principle of equality of men and women .The Bahai scriptures clearly states that there should be ‘no difference in the education of male and female in order that women kind develop equal capacity and importance with men on social and economic question.’

According to Abdul Baha ‘the world of humanity consists of two parts or members, male and female. Each is a complement of the other. Therefore if one is defective the other will necessarily be incomplete and perfection cannot be attained’’. Complementarily in Bahaism denotes a symmetrical relationship between men and women. Moreover Abdul Baha does not relate feminine qualities solely to women and masculine qualities to men. Therefore the public–private dichotomy is absent in Bahai scriptures. Marriage is in no way a business contract. Parents are not supposed to choose partners for their children; only parental consent is necessary before marriage. This is basically to minimize the incidence of divorce and promote unity in the family so that this again becomes the building block of a unified humanity. Since men and women are equal there is no difference in expectation from them. Therefore though it is the mother who rears, nurtures and guides the growth of the child, mothering is not an obligatory function. Bahai scriptures gives equal value to both motherhood and fatherhood, but education of girls gets precedence over that of boys since women are the first educators of children.

Most startling is Bahaullah’s treatment of sexual issues. Requirements of virginity are applied to either sex. The sexuality of women is not regarded as a potentially dangerous force as is seen in Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Christianity. In Bahai scriptures adulterers are subject to a fine not death penalty. Control of sexuality is no doubt treated as a matter of great spiritual significance but it is not treated as glue to community life.Bahai scriptures also do not give unnecessary stress on chastity.

The Bahai faith thus addresses certain critical issues relating to women’s status in society. The concept of androgyny i.e. a balance of male and female qualities within each person –is promoted as the blueprint of social change. Abdul Baha predicted “the new age will be an age less masculine and more permeated with feminine ideals, or to speak more exactly, will be an age in which masculine and feminine elements of civilizations will be more evenly balanced”. People would then be free from restraints of sexual stereotypes and the stigmas of deviance.