Spousal Equality in Baha’i Law: The Emergence of Provisions on the Dissolution of Marriage in Iran, 1873–1954

Emerging in mid-nineteenth-century Iran, the Baha’i religion gradually introduced a set of teachings and laws that radically changed the position of wives. This article examines the unfolding of the Baha’i laws of divorce in the context of the relevant Islamic laws prevalent in Iran—Islamic laws that were highly gender-discriminatory and have remained largely unchanged. By significantly raising the stakes for men seeking divorce and by granting women in troubled marriages greater rights and more options, the Baha’i laws made women less subject to the whims of their husbands. These laws, together with other Baha’i laws and teachings like monogamy and the provision of institutional oversight over marriage and divorce, redefined marriage as an institution with greater safeguards for the rights of wives. This article also looks at the role of the Baha’i administrative system in securing for women access to their rights under Baha’i law in relation to divorce.