Lights of Guidance/Adultery

From Bahaiworks

1156. Faith Recognizes Sex Impulse but Condemns Its Illegitimate Expression

"The Bahá’í Faith recognizes the value of the sex impulse, but condemns its illegitimate and improper expressions such as free love, companionate marriage and others, all of which it considers positively harmful to man and to the society in which he lives. The proper use of the sex instinct is the natural right of every individual, and it is precisely for this purpose that the institution of marriage has been established. The Bahá’ís do not believe in the suppression of the sex impulse but in its regulation and control."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, September 5, 1938: Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1968-1973, p. 108)


1157. Sex Relationships Outside of Marriage not Permissible

"With reference to the question you have asked concerning the Bahá’í attitude towards the problem of sex and its relation to marriage.

"The Bahá’í Teachings on this matter, which is of such vital concern and about which there is such a wide divergency of views, are very clear and emphatic. Briefly stated the Bahá’í conception of sex is based on the belief that chastity should be strictly practised by both sexes, not only because it is in itself highly commendable ethically, but also due to its being the only way to a happy and successful marital life. Sex relationships of any form outside marriage are not permissible therefore, and whoso violates this rule will not only be responsible to God, but will incur the necessary punishment from society."

(Ibid., p. 107)


1158. Sexual Intercourse Permissible Only Between Man and Wife

"The Bahá’í teaching on sexual intercourse is very clear. It is permissible only between a man and the woman who is his wife…."

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies, February 6, 1973; excerpt from a letter in response to questions from an individual believer: Ibid.)


1159. Adultery Retards Progress of the Soul

"… Every other word of Bahá’u’lláh's and ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's Writings is a preachment on moral and ethical conduct; all else is the form, the chalice, into which the pure spirit must be poured; without the spirit and the action which must demonstrate it, it is a lifeless form.

"When we realize that Bahá’u’lláh says adultery retards the progress of the soul in the afterlife—so grievous is it—and that drinking destroys the mind, and not to so much as approach it, we see how clear are our teachings on these subjects."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, September 30, 1949: Living the Life, pp. 15-16, World Centre, November 1972)