Posted by Stuart Gilman (67.68.70.241) on December 21, 2002 at 07:10:49:

anon quoted two sources about bigamy and monogamy awhile back:

Attributed to Guardian:

17. The text of the Kitáb-I-Aqdas upholds monogamy, but as it
appears also to permit bigamy, the Guardian was asked for a
clarification, and in reply his secretary wrote on his behalf:
ãRegarding Bahaâi marriage; in the light of the Masterâs
Tablet interpreting the provision in the Aqdas on the subject of
the plurality of wives, it becomes evident that monogamy
alone is permissible, since, as ÎAbduâl-Bahá states, bigamy is
conditioned upon justice, and as justice is impossible, it follows that bigamy is not permissible, and monogamy alone should
be practised.ä (pp. 39, 47)

Synopsis and Codification of the Kitab-I-Aqdas

Baha'u'llah, Kitab-I-Aqdas, originally wrote, from his own Pen:

"63
God hath prescribed matrimony unto you. Beware that ye take not unto yourselves more wives than two. Whoso contenteth himself with a single partner from among the maidservants of God, both he and she shall live in tranquillity. And he who would take unto his service a maid may do so with propriety. Such is the
ordinance which, in truth and justice, hath been recorded by the Pen of Revelation. Enter into wedlock, O people, that ye may bring forth one who will make mention of Me amid My servants. This is My bidding unto you; hold fast to it as an assistance to yourselves."

This was never modified by Himself.

Guardian's alleged utterance does not address the propriety of adding on a maid. It clarifies monogamy, one wife, but does not address the addition of a maid being propitious or not.

Nowhere in any writing of Bahaullah or Abdul Baha has the specific issue of one wife + one maid been denied. If the UHJ has made a clear declaration against the "one wife + one maid", I would like to read it. And even then, given that the transition from two wives to a one wife/one maid is a second-hand report by one of Guardian's secretaries, who was likely his one maid, the logic used in the quotation allegedly by Guardian is totally unacceptable. I show no disrespect here because the text is clearly attributed to a letter from his secretary and not in a speech by Himself or a Tablet or a Letter.

Therefore, while I am married to one wife, I have never given myself the luxury of a maid. Before I take into my home a second sexual companion, a maid or secretary, I would like to receive instruction from those of you who know better than myself what the rules really are.

seg

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