We have reviewed your letter ... about the application of
Bahá'í marriage laws to persons who had married according to the native custom,
which we assume was prior to their enrollment in the Faith.
Persons who are married according to native custom prior to
their enrollment as Bahá'ís are fully married in the eyes of the Faith, and
there is no point in their going through a Bahá'í ceremony.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 6 April 1971 to a National
Spiritual Assembly; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Cultural
Diversity in the Age of Maturity)