Divorce is strongly condemned in the Bahá’í Teachings. If,
however, antipathy or resentment develop between the marriage partners, divorce
is permissible after the lapse of one full year. During this year of patience,
the husband is obliged to provide for the financial support of his wife and
children, and the couple is urged to strive to reconcile their differences.
Shoghi Effendi affirms that both the husband and wife “have equal right to ask
for divorce” whenever either partner “feels it absolutely essential to do so”.In Questions and Answers, Bahá’u’lláh elaborates a number of issues concerning the year of patience, its observance (Q and A 12), establishing the date of its beginning (Q and A 19 and 40), the conditions for reconciliation (Q and A 38), and the role of witnesses and the Local House of Justice (Q and A 73 and 98). In relation to the witnesses, the Universal House of Justice has clarified that in these days the duties of the witnesses in cases of divorce are performed by the Spiritual Assemblies.
(The Universal
House of Justice, ‘Notes’ section of the ‘Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
