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Marital union in the Baháʼí Faith From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baháʼí marriage is union of a man and a woman. Its purpose is mainly spiritual and is to foster harmony, fellowship and unity between the two partners.[1] The Baháʼí teachings on marriage call it a fortress for well-being and salvation and place marriage and the family as the foundation of the structure of human society.[2]
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (October 2024) |
 | This article uses texts from within a religion or faith system without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them. (January 2023) |
The Baháʼí teachings on marriage see it as an eternal bond that survives past the lives of the partners in the physical life, and into the spiritual worlds. Thus the teachings stress that during courting, the partners must take the utmost care to become acquainted with each other's character. Furthermore, the husband and wife should be united not only physically, but also spiritually, so that they can improve the spiritual life of each other, and that they can spiritually advance towards God.[3]
Parents cannot interfere with their children's decision about who they want to marry. However, the couple requires the permission of their parents.[4] The purpose of this law is to foster unity between the two families, since the Baháʼí teachings see marriage and the family as the foundation of the structure and society. Having disunity between two families is not conducive to that. The consent of all parents is needed even if one of the partners is not a Baháʼí.[5]
Baháʼís[who?] see this aspect of Baháʼí marriage as combining marriages practices from the East and West.[citation needed] In the East, arranged marriage is common, whereas in the West, marriages sometimes go forward with no input from the parents. The Baháʼí marriage gives full freedom of the individuals to select their partner, but places certain gratitude and respect to the parents.
The time between the official public announcement of the marriage and the wedding ceremony should not exceed 95 days.[7][8][9] The 95-day period of engagement is currently applicable only to Persian believers.[10]
The Baháʼí marriage ceremony is conducted differently in each culture. The only compulsory part of the wedding is the reading of the wedding vows prescribed by Baháʼu'lláh which both the groom and the bride recite:
Most Baháʼí marriage ceremonies consist of the reading of Baháʼí writings, prayers and music followed by a talk about the spiritual nature of Baháʼí marriage, and then the reading of the vows.
There are a number of laws that concern Baháʼís in marriage.
Following the natural and appropriate extension of the union of marriage, children, whether adopted or biological, should be raised in this same spiritual atmosphere. Formal duties exist between parents and children (of education and obedience, training and respect.) Second to discovering God for oneself is respect for one's parents. Reversing the degradation of women and children is a subject of much attention in the Baháʼí Faith.[citation needed]
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