As regards your question concerning the membership of the
Universal House of Justice: there is a Tablet from 'Abdul-Baha in which He
definitely states that the membership of the Universal House is confined to
men, and that the wisdom of it will be fully revealed and appreciated in the
future. In the local as well as the national Houses of Justice, however, women
have the full right of membership. It is, therefore, only to the International
House that they cannot be elected. The Bahá'ís should accept this statement of
the Master in a spirit of deep faith, confident that there is a divine guidance
and wisdom behind it which will be gradually unfolded to the eyes of the world.
(From a letter dated 28 July 1936 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an
individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Women)
