An introduction to "An Appeal to the Heterodox
Bahá'ís"
emphasizing that future spiritually minded scholars of the Faith will
inevitably recognise the continuity of the Guardianship as assured
by Shoghi Effendi and reject a substitute man made Bahá'í
organisation in place of the divinely conceived Administrative
Order delineated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His Will and Testament.
Joel Bray Marangella
An introduction to "An Appeal to the Heterodox
Bahá'ís"
emphasizing that future spiritually minded scholars of the Faith will
inevitably recognise the continuity of the Guardianship as assured
by Shoghi Effendi and reject a substitute man made Bahá'í
organisation in place of the divinely conceived Administrative
Order delineated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His Will and Testament.
INTRODUCTION TO THE ENCLOSED APPEAL
One of the Persian pilgrims present at Haifa when I was, told me that one of the Persian men in their group had asked the Guardian about his descendents, about a son, and the Guardian answered,
(Extracted from Haifa Notes of Gayle Woolson, Feb.16-25, 1956)
For those of you who did not know or
have not heard of Gayle Woolson, a
brief review of her Bahá'í credentials is in order. She was
an American pioneer to Latin America during the First Seven Year Plan whose
devoted and tireless labors for the Faith both during her years of that
plan, as well as afterwards, met with outstanding success as recorded in
numerous issues of the United States Bahá'í News at the time.
She was elected a member of the first National Spiritual Assembly of South
America in 1951. It is doubtful whether inquiring scholars of the Faith in future years will
ever read Gayle's Haifa Notes and note the very clear and unequivocal assurance
that Shoghi Effendi gave to a pilgrim, as quoted above, concerning the continuity
of the Guardianship, less than two years prior to his passing. There is
no doubt, however, that as these scholars study the writings and messages
of Shoghi Effendi they will inevitably find equally clear corroborative
statements such as those found in the publication titled: MESSAGES TO THE
BAHA'I WORLD 1950-1957. For example:
"The raising of this Edifice [the International
Bahá'í
Archives on Mount Carmel ] will in turn herald the construction, in the
course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of
several
other structures which will serve as the administrative seats of such divinely
appointed institutions as the Guardianship, the Hands of the Cause and the
Universal House of Justice." (27 Nov.1954) (Reiterated in Gayle's Notes)
( Underlining added) These future unbiased, spiritually minded scholars of the Faith and earnest
seekers of the Truth will not be able to reconcile in their own minds statements
such as the foregoing and others that will come to their attention in which
Shoghi Effendi has given such clear and definite assurances concerning the
continuity of the Guardianship and, additionally, has stressed the essentiality
of the Guardianship to the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, with
the view espoused by a majority of the Bahá'ís that the Guardianship
came to an end with Shoghi Effendi's passing. These scholars will indubitably
conclude that such a view makes no sense at all because, if it were valid,
Shoghi Effendi would certainly not have given the assurances that he did
concerning the continuity of the Guardianship.
These scholars will learn that these Bahá'ís have based this
belief on their interpretation of the terms of the Will and Testament of
'Abdu'l-Bahá which they contend constrains the Guardian from appointing
anyone as a successor other than a worthy son or a descendent from the blood
line of Bahá'u'lláh and as there had been no one who met this
criteria, Shoghi Effendi had been unable to appoint a successor. How ever,
it will be obvious to these scholars that Shoghi Effendi could not have
agreed with this interpretation; otherwise, to reiterate, he would not have
given the definite assurances concerning the future of the Guardianship,
such as he had done in the foregoing quotations and in other writings and
messages, unless he were to be accused of dissimulation or deception and
that would certainly be unthinkable. In the light of the foregoing,
these scholars will want to study the Will
and Testament for themselves (l) – a Document whose sacredness,
immutability,
and immortality Shoghi Effendi equated in his writings with the Most Holy
Book (The Aqdas) revealed by Bahá'u'lláh – and review the
history of events that took place immediately following the passing of Shoghi
Effendi to determine the facts surrounding the fateful decision to declare
an end to the Guardianship. This review will reveal that some two weeks
following the sudden and unexpected death of Shoghi Effendi in London, the
Hands of the Cause, assembled in conclave at the World Center, appointed
a delegation from their number who, together with Shoghi Effendi's widow,
Ruhíyyih Khánum, "broke the seals placed upon the beloved Guardian's
safe and desk and made careful examination of their precious contents. These
same Hands, rejoining the other Hands assembled in the Mansion of Bahá'u'lláh
at Bahji, certified that Shoghi Effendi had left no Will and Testament.
It was like wise certified that the beloved Guardian had left no heir. "
The reason for this conclusion, they stated, was that "The Aghsán (branches)
one and all are either dead or have been declared violators of the Covenant
by the Guardian for their faithless ness to the Master's Will and Testament..."(2) These scholars will no doubt find this information surprising for two reasons: It would be apparent, then, to these scholars that the Hands had lost sight
of this provision in the Master's Will concerning the manner in which the
Guardian appoints his successor and had obviously not taken the time to
reexamine the Will on this point and perceive the wisdom involved in this
provision which, together with other safeguards as well, insures that there
is not an interregnum even for a moment between the passing of one Guardian
and the accession of the next. On the other hand, had these Hands carefully
reexamined the Master's Will and come to the realization that Shoghi Effendi
would have appointed his successor "in his own life-time" as called
for in its provisions (as, indeed, he had done some five years prior to
his passing) they might have discovered the key to the recognition and acceptance
of the one whom Shoghi Effendi had appointed as his successor. Tragically
enough, they obviously did not do this, and failing to find a successor,
based on their preconceived notion that they would find him named in a testamentary
document, they reached a hasty conclusion and made their fateful, ill-considered
and completely false decision that the Guardianship had ended only some
36 years after its inception – a decision that would hold grave consequences
for the future of the Faith as outlined by Shoghi Effendi in the following
words: "Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the
World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated and permanently
deprived of that hereditary principle..." (i.e. successive Guardians
inheriting their Office through appointment by their predecessors and not
by election or by the appointment of others). "The interpretation of the Guardian functioning within his own sphere
is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International House
of Justice." "Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be
imperilled and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered.
" And with respect to the relationship of the Guardian to the Universal House
of Justice of which he is the "sacred head and the distinguished member
for life..." he had stressed the essentiality of the Guardianship as
follows: "Without such an institution... the necessary guidance
to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives
would be totally withdrawn . " " . . . [ the Guardian ] is bound to insist upon a reconsideration
by them [ Universal House of Justice] of any enactment he conscientiously
believes to conflict with the meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's
revealed utterances. " (this statement unquestionably indicates that
the Universal House of Justice is subject to error in its enactments without
the protection afforded by the Guardian as its "sacred head" exercising
his interpretive authority. Having concluded their study of the writings and messages of Shoghi Effendi,
these scholars will have come to the realization that the World Order of
Bahá'u'lláh can never become a reality without the existence
of all of the institutions delineated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His divinely-conceived
Will and Testament, an "instrument" which Shoghi Effendi had pointed
out could "no more be divorced from the One Who provided the motivating
impulse for its creation [ Bahá'u'lláh ] than from Him Who
directly conceived it [ 'Abdu'l-Bahá ] and a Document which he had
identified as nothing less than the "Charter of the World Order of
Bahá'u'lláh." In the light of these statements, these
scholars will find it incomprehensible that the Bahá'ís should
have established a substitute organization for this divine System; one that
has been so altered and corrupted as to be completely minus two of the three
highest institutions of the Administrative Order bequeathed to them by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
(The Guardianship and the Hands of the Cause) and in which the third (the
Universal House of Justice) has been mutilated and rendered fallible and
unprotected through the removal of its "sacred head" – the Guardian
of the Cause of God. Certainly, these scholars will never accept this corrupted and deformed
organization that has been foisted upon the Bahá'í World which
bears no resemblance to the Administrative Order delineated by "the
master-hand of its perfect Architect." And they will inevitably conclude
from all that Shoghi Effendi had written concerning the institutions of
the Administrative Order that the very last thing that he had ever intended
was that these highest institutions whose final erection he had hailed in
such glowing terms and which had constituted the crowning achievement of
his long and untiring labors to fulfill faithfully and in every respect
the sacred Mandate of the Master in His Will, should, upon his passing,
be so shamefully discarded and his labors to erect "at long last"
these supreme institutions be reduced to naught. Finding themselves now in a disturbing quandary, where will these scholars
turn for an answer? Hopefully, they will read such appeals as the enclosed
or in some other way learn that there is a small remnant of Bahá'ís
who have not abandoned the Guardianship and accepted the second Guardian
of the Faith upon the issuance of his Proclamation to the
Bahá'í
World at Ridvan 1960. If these scholars are afforded the opportunity of
reading this Proclamation they will discover that the second Guardian of
the Faith presented a completely sound and valid claim to accession to the
Guardianship and that he, alone, discovered and revealed the hidden key
to the continuity of the Guardianship, as explained in the enclosed appeal.
They will further realize that the great mass of the believers throughout
the world have never been given an opportunity to read this Proclamation
for themselves and adjudge the validity of the claim outlined herein. These scholars will come to understand why Shoghi Effendi chose the ingenious
manner that he did in appointing his successor so as to veil this appointment
in such a way as to preclude the consternation that would have otherwise
ensued had the believers grasped the significance of an appointment which,
by its nature, indirectly, but clearly, foretold his own early passing.
Although, this appointment was made "in his own life-time", in
strict accordance with the terms of the Master's Will, they will conclude
that the veil that Shoghi Effendi had purposely drawn over this appointment
had obscured this act to such an extent that only those who had retained
an unwavering faith in the indestructibility of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh
and its immortal Offspring – the Will and Testament – had been able to
recognize and accept the second Guardian when for the first time, this veil
had been lifted in his Proclamation. With what great joy, then, will these diligent scholars join the ranks of
those who have labored these many years on behalf of both the second Guardian
and his duly appointed successor, convinced that the establishment of the
Bahá'í Administrative Order, as bequeathed to us by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
– "this Most Great Order" ..."This unique, this wondrous
System, the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed" is nothing
less than, as Shoghi Effendi has stated, "God's immutable Purpose for
mankind in this day." Notes: 1. It would be desirable that these scholars obtain one of the early
publications of the Will and Testament containing the translation made
by
Shoghi Effendi such as the one that includes the following notation on the
first page:"Issued by National Spiritual Assembly of the United States
and Canada, 1944, from text received at 104 Wall Street, New York, February
25, 1922, addressed by the Guardian to "The beloved of God and the handmaids
of the Merciful throughout the United States of America and Canada."
Later publications in which the Will and Testament appears have been corrupted
in that the phrase "another branch" has been changed to
"another
Branch" with respect to the Guardian's alternate choice, should he
not have a son worthy of inheriting the Guardianship apparently with the
intent of substantiating their claim, by the insertion of a capital "B",
that only an Aghsán can be chosen as a successor under these circumstances. "It is incumbent upon all the Aghsán, the
Afnán
(the Bab's kindred), the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience,
submissiveness and subordination unto the guardian of the Cause of God." Significantly, Part Three written by the Master at a later date makes no
reference to the Aghsán at all in the following passage referring
to Shoghi Effendi: "For he is, after 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the guardian of
the Cause of God, the Afnán, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause and
the beloved of the Lord must obey him and turn unto him. " The fact that no Aghsán were mentioned is because, as Shoghi
Effendi
points out (GPB, p.247) Bahá'u'lláh's "two sons, the
vacillating Mírzá Díya'u'lláh and the treacherous
Mírzá Badí'u'lláh [and others mentioned] all
united in a determined effort to subvert the foundations of the Covenant.
. . " From the foregoing, alone, it may be deduced that the provision
of the Master's Will permitting the Guardian to choose "another branch"
has nothing to do with the Aghsán or other relatives of Bahá'u'lláh
but has a totally different meaning involving a spiritual relationship to
'Abdu'l-Bahá, as explained in the enclosed appeal. Joel Bray Marangella
_________________
2. In GOD PASSES BY (p.239) it may be noted that Shoghi Effendi uses
the term Aghsán to apply to the sons of Bahá'u'lláh
only and mentions the relatives of Bahá'u'lláh separately
from them; therefore they are not Aghsán. It follows then that it
is these sons of Bahá'u'lláh or brothers of 'Abdu'l-Bahá,
that the Master refers to in Part One of His Will and Testament as follows:
Third Guardian of the Faith