The next question - Mrs. Sanderson's - was about divorce, if
Bahá'u'lláh approved of it.
"Bahá'u'lláh - the Master smiled – “says that in this
world there is nothing more absurd than divorce. If one has accepted another and
is a good Bahá'í he never likes to believe in divorce. But if there be a case
of difference between husband and wife, where it is entirely impossible to
recreate their love, where it is not possible for them to live any longer with
one another, then both should go to the [local] House of Justice [currently
known as Spiritual Assemblies] and together, in perfect agreement, lay their
case before it. And after this they should still wait a year, living apart but
not permanently divorced, and their friends should give them good advice
meanwhile. If, after one year, there is no possibility of becoming reunited,
and no one is able to influence them, then this is the natural divorce.
"But between the real Bahá'ís there is no divorce. No
one has ever heard of divorce between real Bahá'ís. The Bahá'í husband and wife
will not allow affairs to reach such a condition."
(Reported by Juliete
Thompson, 1912, ‘The Diary of Juliet Thompson’)
