Chastity

In the Bahá’í Faith chastity is required of adherents. Chastity means refraining from extramarital sexual activity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states "To be pure and holy in all things is an attribute of the consecrated soul and a necessary characteristic of the unenslaved mind." Chastity can be thought of as fitting into a larger framework of Writings that relate to man's spiritual growth, his behavior and conduct towards others, and his moral uprightness.

Definition of chastity

Shoghi Effendi in the Advent of Divine Justice speaks about chastity in the following way:

“ Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands daily vigilance in the control of one's carnal desires and corrupt inclinations. It calls for the abandonment of a frivolous conduct, with its excessive attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures. It requires total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks, from opium, and from similar habit-forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of art and of literature, the practices of nudism and of companionate marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excesses of a decadent age. Nay rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses. ”

Adultery

Bahá’u’lláh in His Most Holy Book has specifically forbidden Adultery:

“ Ye have been forbidden to commit murder or adultery, or to engage in backbiting or calumny; shun ye, then, what hath been prohibited in the holy Books and Tablets. ”

Extramarital Sex

Extramarital sex is forbidden in the Bahá’í teachings. Shoghi Effendi states:

“ The Bahá'í Teachings on this matter, which is of such vital concern and about which there is a wide divergency of views, are very clear and emphatic. Briefly stated the Bahá'í conception of sex is based on the belief that chastity should be strictly practised by both sexes, not only because it is in itself highly commendable ethically, but also due to its being the only way to a happy and successful marital life. Sex relationships of any form, outside marriage, are not permissible therefore, and whoso violates this rule will not only be responsible to God, but will incur the necessary punishment from society. ”

Importance of chastity

‘Abdu’l-Bahá has this to say about cleanliness and purity:

“ First in a human being's way of life must be purity, then freshness, cleanliness, and independence of spirit. First must the stream bed be cleansed, then may the sweet river waters be led into it. Chaste eyes enjoy the beatific vision of the Lord and know what this encounter meaneth; a pure sense inhaleth the fragrances that blow from the rose gardens of His grace; a burnished heart will mirror forth the comely face of truth. ”