The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 66
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 66 opinion of many other modern minded Bah a ’ i s, Bah a ’ull a h in this connection had set down a meaningless principle, which his son and disciples had to set right. 8. The Bah a ’ i sharia has no guidance to give as to what ways are helpful in guarding chastity, and what ways are not so helpful—in fact are injuri- ous. On the other hand there are passages which tend to indicate that the author of the Bah a ’ i sharia has sought only to play with this basic human problem. In the B a b i and Bah a ’ i religion there are no instructions to guide and control the social intermingling of the opposite sexes—a problem which has shown many dangerous trends in West- ern countries. The mode of conduct set by Qur- ratul ‘Ain is a distinctive feature of Bah a ’ i women. It is lawful in the Bah a ’ i religion to take a virgin into one’s service (130). Comment here seems superfluous. It is also to be borne in mind that the Bah a ’ i sharia prescribes no punishment for fornication except that the fornicator should pay nine misqals of gold into the Bah a ’ i House of Justice. But the remarkable thing in this connection is that the House of Justice here mentioned has not yet come to be set up.