view among Baháʼu'lláh's family and Baháʼís today is that all the wives were legal and equal. The question about how this conforms to religious law is addressed directly in two letters from Universal House of Justice quoting Shoghi Effendi twice: "Baháʼu'lláh had no concubine. He had three legal wives. As He married them before the "Aqdas" (His book of laws) was revealed, he was only acting according to the laws of Islám, which had not yet been superseded. He made plurality of wives conditional upon justice; ʻAbdu'l-Bahá interpreted this to mean that a man may not have more than one wife at a time, as it is impossible to be just to two or more women in marriage." "...Baháʼu'lláh married the first and second wives while he was still in Tihrán, and the third wife while he was in Baghdád. At that time, the Laws of the "Aqdas" had not been revealed, and secondly, he was following the Laws of the previous Dispensation and the customs of the people of his own land.". Baháʼís argue that polygamy is an ancient practice and other religions did not require monogamy. Under the Law of Moses a man could take as many wives as he chose. Most Christian groups have historically not practiced and condemned polygamy; some, however, have advocated it. In the Arabian peninsula Muhammad introduced a limit of four wives; polygamy was unlimited in pre-Islamic Arabia. The Baháʼí Faith slowly introduced monogamy to a region that considered polygamy a righteous lifestyle. Note 89 of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas comments on the verse in question: "Baháʼu'lláh, who was revealing his teachings in the milieu of a Muslim society, introduced the question of monogamy gradually in accordance with the principles of wisdom and the progressive unfoldment of his purpose. The fact that he left his followers with an infallible interpreter of his writings enabled him to outwardly permit two wives in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas but uphold a condition that enabled ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to elucidate later that the intention of the law was to enforce monogamy." Notes References Further reading Momen, Moojan Cyprus Exiles, The: in Baháʼí Studies Bulletin, 5:3-6:1, pp. 84–113. 1991-06. Universal House of Justice (27-06-1996). Letter on Monogamy, Sexual Equality, Marital Equality, and the Supreme Tribunal. Universal House of Justice (23-10-1995).Letter from Universal House of Justice about the wives of Baháʼu'lláh External links Badiʻu'llah's epistle