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Ask a Baha’i: Should People of Different Faith Marry?

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Ask a Baha’i: Should People of Different Faith Marry?

What do you want to ask A Baha’i? Submit your question online here.

Commentary by Daniel Pschaida

Do you think people of different faith should marry?

ask a bahai

Bahá’u’lláh stated his purpose is to “quicken the world and unite its people.”

The watchword of the Bahá’í Faith is “unity in diversity.” Some of the implications of “unity in diversity” include encouragement to not only push oneself outside of one’s normal environments to create friendships with people of different racial backgrounds but also interracial marriage is encouraged.

As for interfaith marriage, the important thing for Bahá’ís is that in the courting process, a couple determines that they have strong shared values and qualities of character and that they can communicate well with each other (including under pressure) to come to a mutual understanding and create collaborative patterns of marriage and family life.

Here are a couple of quotations from Bahá’í writings on family life and marriage:

  • “Bahá’í marriage is the commitment of the two parties one to the other, and their mutual attachment of mind and heart. Each must, however, exercise the utmost care to become thoroughly acquainted with the character of the other, that the binding covenant between them may be a tie that will endure forever. Their purpose must be this: to become loving companions and comrades and at one with each other for time and eternity…”
  • “The Lord, peerless is He, hath made woman and man to abide with each other in the closest companionship, and to be even as a single soul. They are two helpmates, two intimate friends, who should be concerned about the welfare of each other.”

There is no guidance that prevents or advises against a Bahá’í marrying someone of a different religion, and, in my decades as a Bahá’í, I have observed many Bahá’ís in interfaith marriages who distinguishably embody the qualities described above. They support each other’s distinct religious paths, really becoming agents of the unity of humankind through their interfaith marriage. 


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Daniel Pschaida
Daniel Pschaidahttps://danielazimpschaida-reflections.blogspot.com
Daniel Pschaida hails from San Diego and married into the Spokane area where he has made his home since 2017. Passionate about Spokane’s interfaith movement, basketball, Harry Potter books and nature hikes with his wife Tiara, he also teaches comparative religion at Gonzaga University and history at Eastern Washington University. You can also sometimes find his shared, personal reflections on the Baha'i writings on his blog.

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