A pamphlet prepared by the National Teaching Committee of the NSA of the United States (copyrighted in 1988) entitled: "The Covenant — Its Meaning and Origin and Our Attitude Towards It", poses the following unwarranted questions that need never have been asked had this Committee not been influenced by their own National Spiritual Assembly that the Guardianship of the Faith had ended — a body that had been perusaded in turn by the Hands of the Cause that the Guardianship had come to an end with his passing in 1957. The answers below are then provided to these questions in an attempt to justify the termination of the Guardianship and the acceptance of a sans-Guardian corrupted administrative organization in place of the divinely-conceived Administrative Order delineated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament.
On page 46 of this pamphlet, the following unwarranted questions are posed and the same unacceptable answers are provided which, with a single exception, have been posed and answered in the book ironically labeled, Wellspring of Guidance.
1. THEIR QUESTION: Why did Shoghi Effendi not appoint a second Guardian?
THEIR ANSWER: "There is no doubt at all that in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi was the authority designated to appoint his successor but he had no children and all the surviving Aghsán had broken the Covenant. Thus, as the Hands of the Cause stated in 1957, it is clear that there was no one he could have appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Will. To have made an appointment outside the clear and specific provisions of the Master's Will and Testament would obviously have been an impossible and unthinkable course of action...." — Wellspring of Guidance 81-82.
COMMENT: The above statement is based upon a false interpretation or deliberate falsification of the term "branch" as used by the Master in the passage of His Will and Testament which prescribes that in the event the first-born son of the Guardian is not spiritually qualified to be appointed his successor "then must he (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him." The Hands of the Cause have erroneously interpreted the term "another branch" in this passage, to refer to the Aghsán and then further componded their error by interpreting the term Aghsán to refer to any male believer descended from the blood-line of Bahá’u’lláh. This is a false interpretaton as Shoghi Effendi in his book, GOD PASSES BY (p.239) has identified the Aghsán as the sons of Bahá’u’lláh. Therefore, being only contemporaries of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, they would no longer be living for any consideration by Shoghi Effendi as a successor, much less by succeeding Guardians. It is clear then that Shoghi Effendi was not bound by any such restriction in appointing a successor..
As further incontrovertible evidence that the Aghsán were never intended by the Master to be eligible for appointment to the Guardianship, one may note that whereas in PART ONE of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, (p. 11) the following statement is found: "It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsán, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordiantion unto the guardian of the Cause of God. . ." in PART THREE, (p.25) penned at a later date, the Afnan are mentioned but no mention of the Aghsán is made at all in the following passage, as they had by that time obviously become disloyal to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: " For he is after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the guardian of the Cause of God, the Afnan, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause and the beloved of the Lord must obey him and turn unto him."
2. THEIR QUESTION: Was a break in the line of guardians foreseen in the Writings?
THEIR ANSWER: "One of the most striking passages which envisage the possibility of such a break . . . is in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas itself: 'The endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the Revealer of Signs. No one has the right to lay hold on them without leave from the Dawning-Place of Revelation. After Him the decision rests with the Aghsán (Branches), and after them with the House of Justice — should it be established in the world by then....'"
"The passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957 precipitated the very situation provided for . . . in that the line of Aghsán ended before the House of Justice had been elected. Although . . . the ending of the line of Aghsán . . . was provided for, we must never underestimate the grievous loss that the Faith has suffered." — Messages of the Universal House of Justice 41.
COMMENT: The Aqdas states: "Should anyone acquire one hundred mithqáls of gold, nineteen mithqáls thereof are God’s and to be rendered unto Him." The disposition of endowments dedicated to charity are covered separately in the Aqdas and have nothing to do with Huqúqú’lláh. Their statement conveniently ignores the fact that as Shoghi Effendi has pointed out that the Aqdas and the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá "are not only complimentary but . . . mutually confirm one another and are inseparable parts of one complete unit, the Will and Testament of the Master is endowed with the same sacredness, immutability and immortality as the Aqdas itself and therefore its provisions are destined to remain inviolable, unchangeable and uninterrupted in their applicability as long as the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh endures. Certainly, they can point to no writings of Shoghi Effendi that envisage the remotest possibility that the provisions of these sacred Documents, one, Bahá’u’lláh’s Most Holy Book and the other the "Charter of the New World Order" of Bahá’u’lláh and "the Heir of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God" would ever be suspended even for a moment.
3. THEIR QUESTION: What was the role of the Hands of the Cause after the Guardian’s death?
THEIR ANSWER ". . . The international administration of the Faith was carried on by the Hands of the Cause of God with the complete agreement and loyalty of the national spiritual assemblies and the body of the believers. This was in accordance with the Guardian's designation of the Hands as the 'Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth.'
"From the very outset of their custodianship . . . the Hands realized that since they had no certainty of Divine guidance such as is incontrovertibly assured to the Guardian and to the Universal House of Justice, their one safe course was to follow with undeviating firmness the instructions and policies of Shoghi Effendi. The entire history of religion shows no comparable record of such strict self-discipline, such absolute loyalty...." — Wellspring of Guidance 45
COMMENT: The functions of the Hands of the Cause are clearly prescribed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament which states:"The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote learning, to improve the character of all men and to be at all times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things." And further: "This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the direction of the guardian of the Cause of God." It will be noted from the above that the Hands are assigned a spiritual role and have no administrative role under the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá such as responsibility for the direction of the activities of National Spiritual Assemblies, later to be designated National Houses of Justice. In October 1957, one month before his passing, Shoghi Effendi issued his last message to the Bahá’í World in which he, as mentioned in the answer quoted above, designated the Hands as "the Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth." Following his passing, and as a result of their hasty and unwarranted conclusion (reached on the very first day of their conclave) that the Guardianship of the Faith had forever ended, they seized upon the appellation "Chief Stewards" as a designation that had conferred upon them, a role outside and at complete variance with the role assigned them under the sacred provisions of the Will and Testament of the ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Carelessly and thoughtlessly ignoring the tremendous significance and implications to be found in the complete phrase that Shoghi Effendi had employed in referring to them as the "Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth," the Hands of the Cause, in their "Unanimous Proclamation" of 25 November 1957, changed the wording that Shoghi Effendi had employed to read: "Chief Stewards of the Bahá’í World Faith" and then incredulously construed this appellation to confer upon them, as they stated in their Proclamation: "all such functions, rights and powers in succession to the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith," apparently disregarding the fact that, in the absence of a future Guardian to appoint Hands, these functions would be exercised by a rapidly diminishing number of Hands as they died out one by one and with the last Hand be excersized no more? Certainly, they did not propose that the sans-Guardian and hence illicitly formed Universal House of Justice that they announced would be established in 1963 would then, or at a later date or with their final demise, assume the functions and rights of the Guardianship, for, according to the Will and Testament of the ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, this body is solely the supreme legislative body of the Bahá’í World. Furthermore, without the Guardian presiding as its "sacred head," as called for in the Will and Testament of the ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, this body would be devoid of the "Divine guidance" that they have claimed it nevertheless possesses, as stated in their answer above.
If, on the other hand, the Hands of the Cause had given careful thought to the significance to be found in the last four words in his reference to them in his last message to the Bahá’í World, namely: "Bahá’u’’lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth" they might have realized that this was actually a promise that the Hands of the Cause would still exist as an Institution when this embryonic Commonwealth became a fully functioning body in the future and that it was never intended by Shoghi Effendi that this embryonic body be aborted upon his passing, for as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has stated: "the embryo possesses from the first all perfections . . . in one word, all the powers." Therefore, it follows that, as the institution of the Hands was projected by Shoghi Effendi to exist in the future Commonwealth of Bahá’u’lláh, the Guardianship must exist as well, as only the Guardian can appoint Hands of the Cause. Moreover, this was another indirect proof that Shoghi Effendi did not visualize the end of the Guardianship in spite of the fact, as falsely argued by the Hands, there were no longer any Aghsán loyal to Shoghi Effendi eligible to be appointed as his successor. Others may argue that his life was unexpectedly cut short before he had the opportunity to appoint a successor, in ignorance of the fact that he had already appointed his successor some seven years earlier in his appointment of the embryonic President of the embryonic Universal House of Justice — temporarily designated the International Bahá’í Council in his Proclamation of 9 January 1951.
4. THEIR QUESTION: Why were steps taken to elect the Universal House of Justice in 1963?
THEIR ANSWER: "[First] this situation, in which the Guardian died without being able to appoint a successor, presented an obscure question not covered by the explicit Holy Text, and had to be referred to the Universal House of Justice.... Before the election of the Universal House of Justice there was no knowledge that there would be no Guardian.... "The Guardian had given the Bahá’í world explicit and detailed plans covering the period until Ridvan 1963, the end of the Ten Year Crusade. From that point onward, unless the Faith were to be endangered, further Divine guidance was essential. This was the second pressing reason for the calling of the election of the Universal House of Justice. The rightness of the time was further confirmed by references in Shoghi Effendi's letters to the Ten Year Crusade's being followed by other plans under the direction of the Universal House of Justice...." — Wellspring of Guidance 45-46.
COMMENT: In saying above that: "before the election of their sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice there was no knowledge that there would be no Guardian" completely ignores the Proclamation issued by the Hands of the Cause on 25 November 1957 at the close of their first conclave in ‘Akká in which it was "certified that Shoghi Effendi had left no heir" and declared that this was because "The Aghsán (branches) one and all are either dead or have been declared violators of the Covenant by the Guardian." The Will and Testament clearly restricts the Universal House of Justice to a legislative role in the following passage which states: "It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text" And we know from the writings of Shoghi Effendi that, as the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, together with Bahá’u’lláh’s Most Holy Book, the Aqdas, are "inseparable parts of one complete unit" they constitute the "explicit Holy Text" which bars the Universal House of Justice from making any decisions changing, much less nullifying, the provisions of this Holy Text.
This statement further ignores the fact that Shoghi Effendi had already proclaimed the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, on 9 January, 1951, albeit in its embryonic form as the International Council, in the one and only Proclamation he ever issued and had outlined the stages through which it would develop before reaching the plenitude of its powers. As one of the goals of the Ten Year Global Crusade that commenced in 1953, Shoghi Effendi called for the International Bahá’í Council to attain only the second stage, in 1963, in its projected development as the International Bahá’í Court.
The Hands of the Cause pretended at the time — the present-day sans-Guardian organization pretends today — that the illegitimate sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice that they first established in 1963, as well as the current sans-Guardian body, is the same infallible institution delineated by the ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament, even though the Guardian of the Cause is not presiding as it "sacred head." The fact that a sans-Guardian Universal of Justice may propose legislation that is subject to error is substantiated by Shoghi Effendi in "The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh" wherein he states that the Guardian "is bound to insist upon a reconsideration by them [the UHJ] of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh’s revealed utterances."
5. THEIR QUESTION: Can the Universal House of Justice function properly without a Guardian?
THEIR ANSWER: ". . . Shoghi Effendi repeatedly stressed the inseparability of these two institutions. Whereas he obviously envisaged their functioning together, it cannot logically be deduced from this that one is unable to function in the absence of the other. During the whole thirty-six years of his Guardianship Shoghi Effendi functioned without the Universal House of Justice. Now the Universal House of Justice must function without the Guardian, but the principle of inseparability remains. The Guardianship does not lose its significance nor position in the Order of Bahá’u’lláh merely because there is no living Guardian." — Wellspring of Guidance 86-87.
COMMENT: Only a cursory reading of the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in which the role of the Guardian as the "Center of the Cause" is explicitly outlined, will reveal the utter falsity of the argument that the Universal House of Justice can function without the Guardianship. Writing in his book, GOD PASSES BY, Shoghi Effendi states: "The Administrative Order which this historic Document [the Will and Testament] established, it should be noted, is, by virtue of its origin and character, unique in the annals of the worlds religious systems. . . the right of interpretation with which He has invested its Guardian, must and will, in a manner unparalleled in any prevous religion, safeguard from schism the Faith from which it has sprung."
The situation existing in the infancy of the Faith, when the Administrative Order was first being erected by Shoghi Effendi, certainly cannot be compared with the future destiny of the Faith that will culminate in the establishement of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Commonwealth in which as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has stated in His Will and Testament: "The legislative body [the UHJ] must reinforce the executive [represented by the Guardian], the executive must aid and assist the legislative so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itsself."
6. THEIR QUESTION: Has the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh been damaged or altered?
THEIR ANSWER: "God's purpose for mankind remains unchanged, however, and the mighty Covenant of Bahá’ulláh remains impregnable. Has not Bahá’u’lláh stated categorically, 'The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation.' While ‘Abdu’l-Bahá confirms: 'Verily, God effecteth that which He pleaseth; naught can annul His Covenant; naught can obstruct His favor nor oppose His Cause' 'Everything is subject to corruption; but the Covenant of thy Lord shall continue to pervade all regions....'" — Messages of the Universal House of Justice 41-42
COMMENT: How little do they seem to realize that God’s changeless Purpose has decreed the establishment, in uncorrupted form, of Bahá’ulláh’s World Commonwealth — His "most great Order" and "the Kingdom of God on earth." The following stirring passage in GOD PASSES BY (p.25) reveals the faithlessness of those who, in the abandonment of the Guardianship, have substituted a man-made and corrupted organization for the sacred, divinely-conceived and immortal Administrative Order delineated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament and how far they have strayed from the very Covenant which, in their incomprehensible delusion, they consider themselves its loyal supporters:
". . . in the third Vahíd of this Book [the Bayán] there occurs a passage which, alike in its explicit referece to the name of the Promised One, and in its anticipation of the Order which, in a later age, was to be identified with His Revelation, deserves to rank as one of the most significant statements recorded in any of the Báb’s writings. "Well is it with him," is His prophetic announcement, "who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahá’u’lláh, and rendereth thanks unto his Lord. For He will assuredly be made manifest. God hath indeed irrevocably ordained it in the Bayán’"
"It is with that self-same Order that the Founder of the promised Revelation, twenty years later —incorpaorating the same term in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas — identified the System envisaged in that Book, affirming that "this most great Order" had derangfed the world’s equilibrium and revolutionized mankind’s ordered life. It is the features of that self-same Order which, at a later stage in the evolution of the Faith, the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant and the appointed Interpreter of His teachings delineated through the provisions of His Will and Testament."
". . . It is the superstructure of that self-same Order, attaining its full stature through the emergence of the Bahá’í World Commonwealth — the Kingdom of God on earth — which the Golden Age of that same Dispensation must, in the fullness of time, ultimately witness."
7. THEIR QUESTION: What is the duty of the believers?
THEIR ANSWER: "It is His Cause. He has promised that its light will not fail. Our part is to cling tenaciously to the revealed Word and to the institutions that He has created to preserve His Covenant...." — Wellspring of Guidance 87
COMMENT: In view of the foregoing no comment is necessary. The reader is readily able to formulate his/her own comment.
The following is found on page 56 of this same pamphlet, "Individual interpretations of the Writings are encouraged but they must not be imposed on others . . . " and on page 74: "Every Bahá’í is at liberty, nay is urged to freely express his opinion and his understanding of the Teachings . . ."
In making this above statement they have obviously overlooked a quotation from the Writings of the Master which is found on page 65 of their own pamphlet in which He clearly contradicts their statement in the following words: "Firmness in the Covenant means obedience so that no one may say, 'this is my opinion', nay rather he must obey that which proceeds from the Pen and Tongue of the Covenant."
19 February, 2003
Note: Bold type has been used where considered desirable for emphasis.