The Spiritual Nobility of Women

Address by Fari Khabirpour – Geneva, October 6, 2025

This text is based on Fari Khabirpour’s contribution to the round-table discussion “Education: What Mission in the Twenty-First Century?”, held in Geneva on October 6, 2025, and organized by the Bahá’í Association of Geneva. It was later expanded with references drawn from contemporary research in social and moral psychology.

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Since the dawn of history, men and women have sought to understand the true station of woman. For centuries, the balance between the masculine and the feminine was disrupted, often to the detriment of those qualities of intuition, tenderness, and compassion that constitute the most subtle and creative forces of the human spirit. Today, humanity is awakening to a new consciousness: the future of the world depends on the full participation of women in every sphere of life , material and spiritual alike.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith and the authorized interpreter of His teachings, wrote: “The world of humanity has two wings , one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly.” These words convey far more than a social ideal; they express a spiritual law. So long as the capacities of women are not fully recognized and cultivated, humanity will remain unable to attain its destined height.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught that certain spiritual qualities are more pronounced in women : intuition, mercy, compassion, and tenderness of heart. He said: “The intuition of women is more correct; their intelligence is quicker and keener.” And again: “The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman… but the balance is already shifting , force is losing its weight, and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy.”

Modern social psychology confirms, in its own language, what spiritual insight had long perceived. Numerous studies show that women, on average, score higher than men on measures of empathy, compassion, and prosocial behavior. A study by McDonald and colleagues (2023) found that women, across diverse cultures, consistently display stronger empathic concern and a greater readiness to help others in need¹. These findings do not define superiority but rather point to a relational orientation , a way of perceiving and responding to the suffering of others that reflects a spiritual disposition toward care and unity.

Other studies have revealed a deeper complexity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, women demonstrated higher compassion toward others but lower self-compassion, which partly explains their greater levels of psychological distress (Vu & Rivera, 2025)². This suggests that the spiritual nobility of women. their spontaneous devotion to the well-being of others, can also become a source of suffering when compassion is not balanced by kindness toward oneself. True strength, therefore, lies in cultivating both: tenderness that heals others and inner mercy that renews the heart.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá further stated that when equality between men and women is established, “war will cease, for woman will be the obstacle and the deterrent to it.” Contemporary research lends weight to this vision. Political psychology and peace studies have shown that societies where women participate more fully in public life tend to be more peaceful and cooperative³. This is not only a matter of structure or policy, but also of moral influence: the presence of women in decision-making bodies brings a relational and reconciliatory perspective that favors dialogue over domination.

Wherever women raise their voices in institutions, communities, or families , they bring a distinct breath: the breath of empathy, of care, of reconciliation. This is not a power that seeks to subdue, but an authority that restores. The superiority of which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke is not about domination; it is a spiritual ascendancy , a force of healing, patience, and love that mends the world’s unseen wounds.

At the heart of this spiritual nobility lies motherhood. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote that “the mother is the first educator of the child.” From her, the child receives the earliest impressions of trust, love, and truth. Modern developmental research confirms that the quality of early maternal attachment profoundly shapes a child’s emotional intelligence and later capacity for empathy and cooperation⁴. Science thus rediscovers, through its own methods, what revelation had already taught: a mother’s love is the first school of the human soul.

This first education is transmitted not only through words, but through presence, tenderness, and the light of the heart. Even before the child can speak, it is nourished by the peace and faith of its mother. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught: “If the mother is educated, the children will be well-trained; if the mother is moral, her children will become spiritual; if the mother is wise, her children will be illumined by the light of wisdom.”

Studies in social psychology corroborate this view: the emotional environment of early childhood is one of the strongest predictors of resilience, moral awareness, and altruistic behavior in adulthood⁵. To raise a child in an atmosphere of love and serenity is thus both a spiritual act and a contribution to social peace.

In the Bahá’í understanding, motherhood is not a withdrawal from the world but an inner form of action , deep, creative, and transformative. To be a mother is to be a co-creator with God, shaping the heart and conscience of a new human being. This is where the true greatness of woman resides: not in rivalry with man, but in the revelation of a gentle power that unites and elevates.

Yet this nobility is not confined to motherhood. It shines in every woman who, in her sphere of life, reflects compassion, wisdom, intuition, and fidelity to truth. Wherever a woman acts with the light of her heart, something more humane, more just, more luminous begins to take shape.

The true progress of humanity will not be measured solely by the outward achievements of women, but by the degree to which men and women together embody divine attributes in their lives. When tenderness balances strength, when intuition enlightens reason, when mercy guides justice, then will the human family rise at last upon its two wings.

May our thoughts, our words, and our actions help to build that new world in which the spiritual nobility of women as leaders, educators, and mothers will shine like the sun of a new day.

Fari Khabirpour

Geneva, October 6, 2025

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Notes

 1. McDonald, K. et al. (2023). Gender differences in empathy and prosocial behaviour, Nature Scientific Reports.

 2. Vu, T. & Rivera, L. (2025). Compassion for others, self-compassion, and gender differences in distress during COVID-19, Rutgers University, Self & Identity (in press).

 3. Hudson, V. M. & Leidl, P. (2022). The First Political Order: How Sex Shapes Governance and National Security Worldwide, Columbia University Press; see also McDermott, R. (2023). Gender and peace: Psychological mechanisms of conflict avoidance, Political Psychology.

 4. Feldman, R. (2021). Parent–infant synchrony and the formation of attachment bonds, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology.

 5. Eisenberg, N. et al. (2022). Early emotional environments and moral development, Developmental Psychology, 58(3), 441-455.

 6. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982, p. 175-176.

 7. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas, Vol. II, Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982, p. 241.

 8. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978, nos. 227 and 302.

 9. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1972, p. 133-135.