Over the course of the development of the Baha'i Administration a concept has entered the Faith that women do not have the right to share the highest seat of authority with men on the Universal House of Justice.

If there be justice, this will be acknowledged; but there are some people who, even if all the proofs in the world be adduced before them, still will not judge justly! ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 36

WOMEN ON THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

AN EXPLANATION OF THE ISSUE FROM THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL BAHA'I COUNCIL:

The service of women on Houses of Justice has been controversial ever since ‘Abdu’l-Baha began setting up the administration with the early formation of local spiritual assemblies.

Women were first put on local assemblies in the West, where sexism was not so deeply rooted as in the East. This formation of assemblies began early in the first decade of this century. At first women were not allowed on assemblies even in America. They served separately on "Assemblies of Teaching" and were not eligible for membership on the Local Spiritual Assembly.
When questioned about this ‘Abdu’l-Baha said,

The House of Justice, however, according to the positive commandments of the Doctrine of God, has been specialized to the men, for a (specific) reason or exercise of wisdom on the part of God, and this reason will presently appear, even as the sun at midday.

Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, p. 90 Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, p. 80

‘Abdu’l-Baha made this statement sometime during the years 1906-09, it was not a statement for all time but for that specific time. It was in response to a question he received. He was not talking about the Universal House of Justice, which was a long way from coming into existence; he was talking about the current situation of the local assemblies which did not have women members at that time. This was why questions were being asked on this subject.

The reason ‘Abdu’l-Baha was exercising wisdom and discretion was because of the prejudices of the people. In other words, ‘Abdu’l-Baha provided this answer, not because it was intended as a permanent state of affairs, but because it was needed due to the exigencies of that time.

Gradually the situation changed. In April of 1910 ‘Abdu’l-Baha said,

The Spiritual Assemblies which are organized for the sake of teaching the Truth, whether assemblies for men, assemblies for women or mixed assemblies, are all accepted and are conducive to the spreading of the Fragrances of God.

‘Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith, p. 411

This was to do away with the segregation into male and female assemblies, at least on assemblies for teaching. The actual Spiritual Assembly gradually became integrated from this point onward. The situation in the Mid-East was more difficult. For a long time women were still not able to serve on local assemblies.

This was because some of the believers were adamant that Baha’u’llah had used the Arabic word "rijal" (translated into English as "men") in reference to the House of Justice. To this day there is much confusion surrounding this issue, stemming from prejudice and from the English/Arabic language barrier. What is the reality of this word "rijal"?