The majority of the believers
throughout the world have been led to believe
that the most important provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
which deal with the matter of succession have become null and void since
the passing of Shoghi Effendi even though Shoghi Effendi has extolled this
Document in his writings as "His greatest legacy to posterity, the
brightest emanation of His mind and the mightiest instrument forged to insure
the continuity of the three ages which constitute the component parts of
His Father's Dispensation ." as well as "The Child of the
Covenant", and the "Charter of the New World Order ."
Those who maintain that the provisions of the Will pertaining to succession
are no longer applicable have ignored the fact that the Will and Testament,
although penned by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was not solely the expression of
His Will but, most significantly, was an expression of the Will of Bahá'u'lláh,
as well. For Shoghi Effendi has acclaimed it "as the inevitable
offspring resulting from that mystic intercourse between Him who communicated
the generating influence of His divine Purpose [Bahá'u'lláh]
and the One Who was its vehicle and chosen recipient ['Abdu'l-Bahá]
and, therefore, "Being the Child of the Covenant – the Heir
of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God – the Will
and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá can no more be divorced from Him Who
supplied the original and motivating impulse than from the One Who ultimately
conceived it." He also conferred upon this sacred and divinely-conceived
Document a status co-equal in sacredness with Bahá'u'lláh's
Most Holy Book – the Kitáb-i-Aqdas – stating that these two
sacred Documents "are not only complementary" but "mutually
confirm one another and are inseparable parts of one complete unit."
This being the case, it is clear that the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
is a part of the "explicit Holy Text ", the provisions
of which are not subject to alteration or abrogation as long as the Dispensation
of Bahá'u'lláh endures.
How is it possible then to believe that Shoghi Effendi, having extolled
the Will and Testament as he did in the passages quoted above, and clearly
explained that it embodied the Will of Bahá'u'lláh as well
as 'Abdu'l-Bahá would, notwithstanding, fail to appoint his successor
under its sacred terms? One may thoroughly search the writings of Shoghi
Effendi and not find one word that retracts in any way those statements
of his quoted above about the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
or indicates that any of its provisions pertaining to the matter of succession
are no longer applicable even though there were no blood-line relatives
eligible to inherit the Guardianship who self-appointed interpreters of
the Will contend were the only ones eligible to be appointed to the Guardianship.
On the contrary, Shoghi Effendi consistently stressed the future role of
the Guardianship and its essentiality to the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh
in his writings and notably in his momentous historic messages to the Bahá'í
world during the last few years of his ministry. Therefore, those who have
interpreted the provisions of the Will and Testament in such a way as to
support their claim that Shoghi Effendi was unable to appoint a successor
have obviously interpreted the terms of this divinely-conceived and immutable
Document differently from Shoghi Effendi and, in consequence, they should
now be willing to admit their error, humbly reexamine their position and,
with unwavering faith in the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh and the
immortality of the "Child of the Covenant," make a supreme effort
to discover, as a matter of the greatest importance for the future of our
Faith, when and in what way, Shoghi Effendi appointed his successor in "his
own life-time" in faithful compliance with the Will and Testament of
'Abdu'l-Bahá.
