World Order of Baha'u'llah:
Six Talks on the Various Aspects of

by Ali Nakhjavani

2007

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Table of Contents
	Foreword
	Bullet Points for the Six Talks (outline)
1.	THE LESSER PEACE AND THE MOST GREAT PEACE
2.	THE GUARDIANSHIP AND THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE KITÁB-I-AQDAS AND ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S WILL AND TESTAMENT
3.	THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
4.	THE BAHÁ’Í ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER IN CONTRAST TO RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR SYSTEMS
5.	THE ROLE OF THE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY IN THE EMERGENCE OF THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
6.	THE EVOLUTION OF THE BAHÁ’Í ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER-ITS SPIRIT AND FORM (THE RULERS AND THE LEARNED)
	Quotations in the Six Talks
	REFERENCES
	Download this book as a PDF: nakhjavani_talks_world_order.pdf

Foreword

Sixty young Bahá’ís from 24 countries in Europe gathered in Acuto for a week long course on the study of various aspects of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. This course was arranged by the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy, in consultation with the Board of Counsellors in Europe.

The attached notes are transcripts of the six presentations made during the week. The reader will find some overlapping of issues in one or more of the talks. Such repetitions have not been eliminated, in order to keep the text of the talks, as presented to the class. The questions asked and the answers given have been sorted according to the themes of the presentation each day, and appear at the end of the text of each of the six talks.

The points raised in these notes are for the most part based on the Writings of our Faith, as I have understood them. Shoghi Effendi has warned the friends that the future will witness attacks on the Administrative Order. It is hoped that the themes presented and the conclusions drawn in these notes will assist the participants of this course to defend the Cause against these attacks in the days to come.

          A. N.

BULLET POINTS FOR THE FOLLOWING SIX TALKS

Day One- The Lesser Peace and the Most Great Peace

•       Two processes of integration and disintegration characterize the world today.

  -The integration process refers to the expansion of the Faith.

  -The disintegration process is the dismantling of the old world order that has existed up till now.

  -A third process of integration follows the advancement of the world in general towards the Most Great Peace, independent of the direct influence of the Bahá'í community.

•       One of the consequences of the third integration process will be the Lesser Peace. Distinctive features of the Lesser Peace:

  -It will be established by the nations of the world of their own accord.

        -It will be a secular peace, not a religious one.

  -It will include a form of world government, comprising "a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men," topped by an "international executive."

        -It will involve the underlying recognition that the world is one.

  -It is not dependant on the direct efforts of the Bahá'í community.

•       Abdul-Baha sets out Seven Candles of Unity, five of which are preliminary steps to the establishment of the Lesser Peace:

  -Unity in the political realm (League of Nations, UN)

  -Unity of thought in world undertakings (international initiatives)

  -Unity in freedom (end of communism, colonialism, etc)

  -Unity of nations (the idea of the world as common fatherland)

  -Unity of language

        Those that will be established by the Most Great Peace are:

  -Unity of race

  -Unity of religion

•       Bahá'u'lláh uses three terms (Sulh-i-Asghar, Sulh-i-Akbar, Sulh-i-A'zam) to refer to the levels of unification of the world.

  -Whenever reference is made simply to reducing armaments, peace in the political sphere, etc, Shoghi Effendi translates this as Lesser Peace.

  -Whenever the context is broader and includes the idea of mass conversion, Shoghi Effendi translates it as Most Great Peace.

  -Whenever the context points to an intermediate stage between the two, Shoghi Effendi calls this the Greater Peace or the Great Peace.

•       Distinctive features of the Greater Peace:

  -It is a period of gradual evolution towards a truly spiritual civilization.

  -It includes the creation of a world "super-state," which has binding power on a world federation of nations (as opposed to simply an advisory system like the UN.)

  -This super-state will be secular in form.

  -The secular world polity and the Bahá'í system will develop

  separately and in parallel.

•       Shoghi Effendi lists 'seven stages' the Bahá'í faith will pass through in the nations of the world before the Most Great Peace can be established. Some countries may skip certain stages altogether. So far stage 4 has been the highest stage attained by the Bahá'í's in any country.

  1) Obscurity. During this stage the Faith is unknown in the country.

  2) Repression. We see clear examples of this in Iran.

  3) Emancipation. Freedom from oppression by religious orthodoxy.

  4) Recognition. Official status in a country as a recognized religious organization, empowered to perform its own marriages, etc.

  5) State religion. Official acceptance of the Bahá'í Faith as the state religion of a country, if the population has become majority Bahá'í.

  6) The Bahá'í State. A merger between the civil system and the Bahá'í administration of a particular country (if majority Bahá'í.)

  7) Bahá'í Commonwealth. All Bahá'í states join in the initial stages of the Most Great Peace.

  Day Two- The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice under the provisions of the Kitab-i-Aqdas and Abdul-Baha's Will and Testament.

•       The basis for the institution of Guardianship and the provisions for the succession of headship in the Faith is first made by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitab-i-Aqdas:

  "Endowments dedicated to charity revert to God... None hath the right to dispose of them without leave from Him Who the Dawning-place of Revelation. After Him this authority shall pass to the Aghsáns [male heirs of Bahá'u'lláh] and after them to the House of Justice-should it be established in the world by them..."

•       Functions of the Guardian:

  -Headship of the Faith

  -Authoritative interpretation of the sacred texts

  -Protection and propagation of the Faith (in which he is aided by Hands of the Cause.)

•       In His Will and Testament, Abdul-Baha stipulated the conditions for the appointment of a new Guardian:

  -The Guardian must appoint his successor within his lifetime.

  -The choice must be approved by the nine elected Hands of the Cause of God in Haifa.

  - In addition to being an Aghsan, the future Guardian must be "he whom God would indicate," ie possessing a good character, not a covenant breaker.

•       Bahá'u'lláh also makes provision in the same passage from the Kitab-i-Aqdas for the time when there will be no more appointed Aghsans, and the headship of the Faith will pass on to the House of Justice:

  "...After Him this authority shall pass to the Aghsans and after them to the House of Justice-should it be established in the world by them..."

•       In the Will and Testament, Abdul-Baha states that "unto the Most Holy Book [the Kitab-i-Aqdas] every one must turn, and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice..." In a Tablet to one of the relatives of the Bab in Iran, Abdul-Baha gave instructions that if he died while Shoghi Effendi was too young to succeed to the Guardianship, the Universal House of Justice should be elected. This set the groundwork for succession should there be no appointed Guardian.

•       The clear succession of headship is a function of the unique written Covenant of the Bahá'í Faith, as set out by Bahá'u'lláh and Abdul-Baha.

•       Functions of the Universal House of Justice:

  -Headship of the Faith

  -Legislation to cover issues not specifically covered in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and the timing and application of all laws

  -Elucidation of obscure questions in the Writings (NOT interpretation.)

  -Protection, propagation and administration

  -Ensuring integrity, flexibility and unity of Faith.

•       Infallibility. Abdul-Baha speaks specifically about the House of Justice in the Will and Testament:

  "Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn, and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice, and turned away from the Lord of the Covenant."

•       Shoghi Effendi likens the two institutions of the Guardianship and the House of Justice to pillars in the structure of the Administrative Order, and makes it clear that one cannot function without the other. Thirty-six years of Shoghi Effendi's ministry now provide lasting guidance in the form of his authoritative interpretations.

•       Why the Guardian left no Will. This was a conscious decision on Shoghi-Effendi's part, not an accident. The Guardian's primary concern was the protection of the Faith, and its future development. The House of Justice later wrote:"in his very silence there is a wisdom and a sign of his infallible guidance."

  Day Three- The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice

•       All claims to power, authority and responsibility the Universal House of Justice set out in this document were exhaustively researched in the texts of Bahá'u'lláh, of Abdul-Baha and of Shoghi Effendi. The content of the Declaration is, without any exception, based on these texts.

•       THE DECLARATION OF TRUST deals with the following points:

  -The authority of Bahá'u'lláh as Manifestation of God for this age.

  -The vital function of the Covenant in canalizing the forces of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.

  -The station of the Universal House of Justice as one of the two successors of Bahá'u'lláh and Abdul-Baha, under that same Covenant.

  - The precepts and principles at the core of the Bahá'í Faith, and its fundamental purpose. This is "to safeguard and promote the unity of the human race" and "foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men."

  -The sphere of responsibility of the Universal House of Justice, namely to decide on "all that is not expressly recorded" in the Most Holy Book, and the Body to which "everyone must turn."

  -The foundation of the Universal House of Justice on "the revealed Word of Bahá'u'lláh" and "the interpretations and expositions" recorded by Abdul-Baha and Shoghi Effendi.

  -Limiting the authority for interpretation of Bahá'í scripture solely to Abdul-Baha and Shoghi Effendi.

  -The authority of these Texts is absolute until the advent of the new Manifestation in one thousand years.

  -With the passing of Shoghi Effendi, The Universal House of Justice is now Head of the Faith and Its Supreme Institution.

•       Shoghi Effendi gives an important description of the NATURE OF THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE:

           -The members of the House are not responsible to those they represent. They are to "follow, in a prayerful attitude, the dictates and promptings of their own conscience."

           -The House members, to counter-balance to the first point, have the duty to "acquaint themselves with the conditions prevailing among the community."

           -It is the Universal House of Justice, not those who elect it, is the recipient of divine guidance.

•       In the future, the legislative, executive and judiciary functions of theHouse of Justice will be separated into three distinct arms.

  Day Four- The Bahá'í Administrative Order in contrast to other religious and secular systems.

  What is new about the Baha'I Faith? What can stop its administration from succumbing to the same evils that corrupted religious organizations in the past?

•       The Bahá'í Administrative Order is unique and innovative. Unlike past religious organizations, it is protected from schism by a written Covenant. No previous Manifestation left such explicit written instructions as to the succession of headship and administration. Shoghi Effendi writes: "No Prophet before Bahá'u'lláh... has established, authoritatively and in writing, anything comparable to the Administrative Order..."

•       The three main types of political organization- democracy, autocracy and aristocracy- are all present in the workings of the Administrative Order. Good aspects of one system balance out the undesirable aspects of the others. The various political forms are often incorporated as principles of function, rather than actual positions of power (for example, there is no autocratic position of papacy, but there is the absolute authority of the revealed texts.)

•       The Bahá'í administration is evolutionary in nature, and will change and develop as need arises. For example:

  Shoghi Effendi points out that the way the Administrative Order functions makes it "inclined to democratic methods." But with a living Guardian at the Head of the Faith, and the absolute powers he wields, it is possible that the Faith would be inclined to autocratic methods. In light of this, Abdul-Baha may have envisaged two stages in the development of the Administrative Order after Him:

  -A temporary stage, with the Guardian as living Head of the Faith, and autocracy as its dominant characteristic;

  -A subsequent stage, with the Universal House of Justice as Supreme Organ, and democracy as the dominant characteristic.

•       DEMOCRATIC ASPECTS of the Bahá'í Administrative Order.

  -The Bahá'í electoral system determining the membership of the local, national and international administrative bodies.

  -The feature of parliamentary debate incorporated into Bahá'í consultation.

  -The degree of autonomy provided to elected councils at the local and national levels.

  Dissimilarities: under the Bahá'í system the elected are not responsible to those who elect them, but must follow the dictates of their own conscience. Partisanship and campaigning for office are likewise forbidden.

•       ARISTOCRATIC ASPECTS of the Bahá'í Administrative Order.

  -The appointed branch of the administration, comprising the institution of the Counsellors on the international and continental levels, and the Auxiliary Board members and their Assistants.

  -The principle of freedom from outside control that governs the functioning of the Universal House of Justice.

  Dissimilarities: The Counsellors and Auxiliary Board Members are not appointed for life, but for a fixed term. They also do not possess decision-making authority, as this power is vested in the elected branch. No position now existing in the Administrative Order is based on birth and its inherited privileges.

•       AUTOCRATIC ASPECTS of the Bahá'í Administrative Order.

  -The absolute and binding authority given to the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, and his two authorized Interpreters, Abdul-Baha and Shoghi Effendi.

  Dissimilarities: Flexibility is guaranteed by the fact that there is an unlimited field of legislation to implement, and supplement in subsidiary matters, the Laws revealed by Bahá'u'lláh. This responsibility is discharged by an elected body, the Universal House of Justice.

  Day Five- The role of the American Bahá'í community in the emergence of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.

•       Geographical definitions used in the Writings. The West: Europe and North America. The Americas, American continent, or Western Hemisphere: North and South American continents and Carribean. North America: United States and Canada. America: United States.

•       Baha'ullah addresses the "Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein" specifically in the Kitab-i-Aqdas. "Bind ye the broken with the hands of justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of the commandments of your Lord." He identifies three obligations for the West:

  -Protecting the persecuted.

  -Opposing the oppressor.

  -Championing the Faith.

•       THE DESTINY OF THE AMERICAN BAHA'I COMMUNITY

  The Tablets of the Divine Plan invested the North American Bahá'í community with a unique spiritual primacy. This was in contrast to the patent evils present in the society around it. (The same principle of contrast governed the Faith's appearance in Persia in the 19^th century.) Shoghi Effendi identifies the evils of Western society in general as:

  -Immersion in a sea of materialism.

  -Being prey to one of the most virulent and long-standing forms of racial prejudice.

  -Being a victim of political corruption, lawlessness and laxity in moral standards.

•       A historical overview of Shoghi Effendi's ministry, and the first three epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith (1921-1963) show how the plans for developing the administrative order in America became a blueprint for its development elsewhere. 1921 to 1937: the Guardian consolidated the Administrative Order, concentrating on North America. 1937-1944: the first Seven Year Plan of the North American community. 1944/45 other teaching plans develop around the world, including a second Seven Year Plan in America. 1953: the Ten Year Crusade, where lion share of goals go to North American community.

•       THE DESTINY OF THE AMERICAN NATION IN GENERAL

  Abdul-Baha states: "May this American democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement. May it be the first nation to proclaim the unity of mankind. May it be the first to unfurl the standard of the Most Great Peace."

•       Principle of Federalism in American republics applied to the world. Abdul-Baha answered an official in the US government, who had asked Him how best he could serve his country, by saying: "You can best serve your country, if you strive, in your capacity as citizen of the world, to assist in the eventual application of the principle of federalism underlying the government of your own country to the relationships now existing between the peoples and nations of the world." This shows two things:

  -The structure of federalism, as conceived and practiced in the United States, with autonomy given to the federated states of the country, is, in Abdul-Baha's estimation, an acceptable system of organisation for the world.

  -The best way to promote the interests of the part is for that part to uphold the interests of the whole.

•       Shoghi Effendi goes on to expand on the welfare of the part affecting the welfare of the whole: "The world is contracting into a neighbourhood. America, willingly or unwillingly, must face and grapple with this new situation. For purposes of national security, let alone any humanitarian motive, she must assume the obligations imposed by this newly created neighbourhood."

•       Conditions of destiny. Shoghi Effendi confidently assures us that America will: "raise its voice in the councils of the nations, itself lay the cornerstone of a universal and enduring peace, proclaim the solidarity, the unity, and maturity of mankind, and assist in the establishment of the promised reign of righteousness on earth." After enumerating the above conditions, he adds: "Then, and only then, will the American nation... be able to fulfil the unspeakably glorious destiny ordained for it by the Almighty."

  Day Six- The Evolution of the Bahá'í Administrative Order- its spirit and form (the Rulers and the Learned.)

•       The Heroic Age (1844-1921.) During the Bab, Bahá'u'lláh and Abdul-Baha's ministries, the embryonic Administrative Order incorporated the following elements:

  -The establishment of the first Spiritual Assemblies

  -The institution of the Hands of the Cause.

  -The Bahá'í Fund.

  -The Bahá'í Temple Unity in the US and the purchase of property dedicated to the Faith and its future institutions.

  -The founding of publishing houses for printing of Baha'I literature.

  -The construction of the Bab's mausoleum.

  -The institution of hostels for itinerant teachers and pilgrims.

•       The Formative Age (1921-today.) Under the guidance of the Guardian, the fledgling institutions of the Faith were nurtured and developed in preparation for the establishment of the Universal House of Justice. The Guardian had two over-riding objectives:

  -To strengthen the administrative structure of the Faith, through the establishment of Local Assemblies, its "foundation", through to National Assemblies, the "columns" of the administrative structure, leading up to the creation of the "dome", the Universal House of Justice.

  -To use these administrative institutions to promote the teaching work of the Faith in a united and systematic manner, using the Tablets of the Divine Plan.

•       The Embryonic World Order. For the first sixteen years of his ministry, Shoghi Effendi termed it the Bahá'í administration. After that, he called it the Administrative Order. Only later will this develop inot the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. The main objective of the Faith is the Most Great Peace, and the birth of Bahá'í Civilization. The Administrative Order is only a preliminary stage in this process. Shoghi Effendi described the Administrative Order as being the embryonic form of the World Order. Signs of incongruity and imperfection are only natural to this stage of development.

•       The Spirit of the Institutions. The Guardian set out the spiritual obligations of the elected representatives as follows:

  -They should not dictate, but consult.

  -They should never think of themselves as "central ornaments"

  -They should approach their task with extreme humility, open-mindedness, a high sense of justice and duty, candour, modesty, and devotion.

  -They must win the genuine support of those they serve.

  -They must rid themselves of the spirit of exclusiveness, the atmosphere of secrecy, or a domineering attitude.

  -They must banish all forms of prejudice and passion from their deliberations.

  -They should, within the limits of discretion, take the friends into their confidence.

  -When they must make a decision they should, "after dispassionate, anxious and cordial consultation, turn to God in prayer."

•       The Rulers and the Learned. Bahá'u'lláh, in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, writes: "Blessed are the rulers and the learned among the people of Baha."

  - Shoghi Effendi explains that the Learned are the Hands of the Cause, the Counsellors, Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, while the Rulers are the Local, National and International Houses of Justice.

  -The House of Justice states, "the proper functioning of human society requires the preservation of ranks and classes."

  -There is a safeguard in the Bahá'í Faith against the rigidity of academia and the abuse of priests. Shoghi Effendi writes: "the Pen of Glory has done away with the unyielding and dictatorial views of the learned and the wise... and ordained that all matters be referred to authorized centers and specific Assemblies."

  -There is a difference between being appointed to a rank, and seeking to be so appointed. Bahá'u'lláh writes: "Ever since the seeking of preference and distinction came into play, the world hath been laid waste."

  -The House also writes: "The true spiritual station of any soul is known only to God. This is quite a different thing from the ranks and stations that men and women occupy in the various sectors of society."

---

Chapter 1

1. THE LESSER PEACE AND THE MOST GREAT PEACE

In order to place this subject in its proper context it would be useful to have a general understanding of the twin processes, frequently expounded in the writings of Shoghi Effendi, of disintegration and integration, as they unfold in the world today.

I feel it would be helpful to look at the parable of the Lord of the Vineyard, as given by Jesus Christ. "A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others." (New Testament, Luke 20:9-16)

Here are a few comments:

(1) According to "God Passes By" the Lord of the Vineyard is a reference to Bahá'u'lláh. (2) The Son is obviously a reference to Jesus Christ and the parable shows that Christ anticipated His own martyrdom. (3) The servants sent by the Lord are God's Prophets. We note that there is not only succession but progression in the degree of the authority they wield. (4) The Father dismisses the tenants who are obviously the religious and secular leaders, and He gives the Vineyard to 'others'.

This final point leads us to our subject, namely that the appearance of Bahá'u'lláh carries with it the dismantling of the old order and the establishment of a new system for the management of the Vineyard. In other words, we see here the two processes of integration and disintegration. These twin processes are also envisaged in the New Testament, as we read in the Revelation of St. John: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away"- (New Testament, Revelation 21:1)

We find this theme embedded in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh Himself. For example He says on the one hand: "The time for the destruction of the world and its people hath arrived"- (PDC p.1), or: "From two ranks of men power hath been seized: kings and ecclesiastics"- (PDC p.19). At the same time He says: "The whole earth is now in a state of pregnancy. The day is approaching when it will have yielded its noblest fruits"- (PDC p.3). He then joins the two processes together in one sentence, saying: "Soon will the present day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead"- (WOB p.161).

We find 'Abdu'l-Bahá also referring to these two processes in His Writings: "The ills from which the world now suffers will multiply; the gloom which envelops it will deepen"-(WOB p.30). This is counter-balanced by: "The world of humanity will be wholly transformed and the merciful bounties become manifest"-(SWAB p.282).

Shoghi Effendi gives us his description of the two processes in the following words: "A two-fold process... can be distinguished, each tending, in its own way and with an accelerated momentum, to bring to a climax the forces that are transforming the face of our planet. The first is essentially an integrating process, while the second is fundamentally disruptive. The former, as it steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well serve as a pattern for that world polity towards which a strangely-disordered world is continually advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating influence deepens, tends to tear down, with increasing violence, the antiquated barriers that seek to block humanity's progress towards its destined goal. The constructive process stands associated with the nascent Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and is the harbinger of the New World Order that Faith must erelong establish. The destructive forces that characterize the other should be identified with a civilization that has refused to answer to the expectation of a new age, and is consequently falling into chaos and decline."- (WOB p.170)

It may be useful to form a mental image in our minds of these two processes which obviously have their starting point in the year 1844. At the beginning, the two processes are seen to move along what appears to be parallel lines, one above the other. The higher line, which is the Faith, exerts its influence on the lower one, which, in turn quite often reacts, consciously or unconsciously, in opposition. As this movement proceeds and the interaction intensifies we see the two lines diverging away from each other: the Faith in an upward flight and the world in a downward fall. In this connection the prophetic words of Shoghi Effendi are of utmost significance: "The Champion builders of Bahá'u'lláh's rising World Order must scale nobler heights of heroism, as humanity plunges into greater depths of despair, degradation, dissension and distress. Let them forge ahead into the future serenely confident that the hour of their mightiest exertions and the supreme opportunity for their greatest exploits must coincide with the apocalyptic upheaval marking the lowest ebb in mankind's fast-declining fortunes"- (CF p.58.) The interaction has not stopped. We witness it under our very eyes at this time in history.

The letters of Shoghi Effendi point to a new phenomenon. They show that almost imperceptibly a third line between the two that I have just described has been set in motion and is in steady progress. This new line is a positive one, and has come into existence as an indirect impact of the Faith of God on the minds and hearts of men. This new line represents the forces which are in harmony with the spirit of the age, while its protagonists are unconscious of the true source of this constructive process.

This thought is clearly explained by Shoghi Effendi: "The principle of the Oneness of Mankind...finds its earliest manifestations in the efforts consciously exerted and the modest beginnings already achieved by the declared adherents of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh who...are forging ahead to establish His Kingdom on this earth. It has its indirect manifestations in the gradual diffusion of the spirit of world solidarity which is spontaneously arising out of the welter of a disorganized society."(WOB pp.43-44)

Shoghi Effendi also saw in the creation of the 'League of Nations', after the first World War, a welcome by-product of this positive development. He wrote: "And yet while the shadows are continually deepening, might we not claim that gleams of hope, flashing intermittently on the international horizon, appear at times to relieve the darkness that encircles humanity? Would it be untrue to maintain that in a world of unsettled faith and disturbed thought, a world of steadily mounting armaments, of unquenchable hatreds and rivalries, the progress, however fitful, of the forces working in harmony with the spirit of the age can already be discerned? Though the great outcry raised by post-war nationalism is growing louder and more insistent every day, the League of Nations is as yet in its embryonic state, and the storm clouds that are gathering may for a time totally eclipse its powers and obliterate its machinery, yet the direction in which the institution itself is operating is most significant...A general pact on security has been the central purpose towards which these efforts have, ever since the League was born, tended to converge...For the first time in the history of humanity the system of collective security, foreshadowed by Bahá'u'lláh and explained by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, has been seriously envisaged, discussed and tested."- (WOB pp.191-2)

Writing on the same theme, Shoghi Effendi describes the condition of the world as having been; "contracted and transformed into a single highly complex organism by the marvellous progress achieved in the realm of physical science- [and] by the world wide expansion of commerce and industry"- (WOB p.47). He further points out that by virtue of the "celestial potency which the Spirit of Bahá'u'lláh has breathed" into the world, "an increasing number of thoughtful men not only consider world peace as an approaching possibility, but as the necessary outcome of the forces now operating in the world"- (WOB p.47)

As you know the League of Nations was replaced after the Second World War by the United Nations. Ever since its inception over half a century ago, it has been evolving positively in its spirit, fair judgement and efficiency. There is no doubt that this middle process, brought into being with the inception of the Faith, will eventually lead to the Lesser Peace.

Shoghi Effendi has given us this definition of the Lesser Peace: [This gradual process...] must, as Bahá'u'lláh has Himself anticipated, lead at first to the establishment of that Lesser Peace which the nations of the earth, as yet unconscious of His Revelation and yet unwittingly enforcing the general principles which He has enunciated, will themselves establish"- (PDC p.128). The Guardian further amplifies his own statement when he anticipates gradual steps in this process. These steps he identifies as: "The political unification of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, the emergence of a world government and the establishment of the Lesser Peace as (anticipated)...by the prophet Isaiah"- (CF p.33). He further adds that this step involves "the reconstruction of mankind, as the result of the universal recognition of its oneness and wholeness."- (PDC p.128)

The Words of Bahá'u'lláh on the subject of the Lesser Peace, as quoted by Shoghi Effendi in his writings, addressing the Kings and rulers of the earth, are as follows: "Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace hold ye fast unto this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your own condition and that of your dependants... Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions... Be united, O concourse of the sovereigns of the world, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice" – (WOB p.162 and p.192). In another Tablet He writes: "The time must come...when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world's Great Peace among men...Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him."- (WOB p.162 and p.192)

It is now important to focus our attention on the Most Great Peace and its features, Shoghi Effendi has given us the following definition: "The Most Great Peace... as conceived by Bahá'u'lláh—a peace that must inevitably follow as the practical consequence of the spiritualization of the world and the fusion of all its races, creeds, classes and nations—can rest on no other basis, and can be preserved through no other agency, except the divinely appointed ordinances that are implicit in the World Order that stands associated with His Holy Name"- (WOB pp.162-163). Shoghi Effendi further considered the following words addressed to Queen Victoria by Bahá'u'lláh to refer to the Most Great Peace and not to the Lesser Peace: "That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal cause, one common faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error..."- (WOB pp.163). In another Tablet Bahá'u'lláh refers to the unity of all mankind. According to Shoghi Effendi Bahá'u'lláh had in mind the Most Great Peace: "It beseemeth all men in this Day to take firm hold on the Most Great Name, and to establish the unity of all mankind. There is no place to flee to, no refuge that any one can seek, except Him"- (WOB pp.163)

In the original texts the words for the Lesser Peace are 'Sulh-i-Asghar' and the words for the Most Great Peace 'Sulh-i-A'zam'. In the original texts we find a third term used quite frequently, namely 'Sulh-i-Akbar'. This is translated in various ways, at times as 'the Lesser Peace', at others as 'the Greater Peace', 'the Great Peace' or even sometimes as 'the Most Great Peace'. It is most interesting that the beloved Guardian in his capacity as interpreter of the Writings, has sometimes translated 'Sulh-i-Akbar' as the 'Lesser Peace' and the same word as the 'Most Great Peace', depending on the context. When one reads these carefully it becomes quite clear that whenever reference is made merely to reduction of armaments, the need for consultation among nations or the principle of collective security, Shoghi Effendi's translation is always the "Lesser Peace." However, when the context goes beyond political unification and deals with unity in all its aspects, including unity of race and of religion, the translation becomes the "Most Great Peace."

A careful reader will not find it difficult to conclude that 'Sulh-i-Akbar' is a stage between the "Lesser" and the "Most Great Peace"—that is between the "Asghar" and the "A'zam". In my humble opinion the three stages can be capsulated in the following terms used by him: "political unification", as the Lesser Peace; "spiritualization of the masses", as the intermediate stage; and the "fusion of races, creeds, classes and nations" as the Most Great Peace.

Suffice it to say at this point that it is clear to me that the Super-state with all its attendant institutions, described by Shoghi Effendi in 'The Goal of The New World Order', pages 40-41, is a reference to this intermediate stage, namely 'Sulh-i-Akbar'. While the features of the Bahá'í World Commonwealth, minutely and movingly described by Shoghi Effendi in 'The Unfoldment of World Civilization', pages 203-204, are clear references to the 'Sulh-i-A'zam', namely the Most Great Peace.

It is interesting in this connection to note that in his description of the world's Super-state, the first world body mentioned is the "International Executive", while in his illuminating description of the Most Great Peace, the "World Executive" takes second place and the word "Legislature" first place. We could assume that the reason could well be that during the intermediary stage of 'Sulh-i-Akbar', the spirit of the peace is certainly Bahá'í in its essence, but the outward form has to continue for a time to be the external structure of the old world.

As you are aware, in the world today the Executive Branch of government is usually, and even invariably, the leading entity and represents the Headship of the State. In the Bahá'í concept of World Order, as I understand it, the hierarchy is different. Headship is vested, not in the Executive, but in the Legislative Branch. That seems to be the reason why in Shoghi Effendi's description of the Bahá'í World Commonwealth of the future, the first and primary entity, is the "world legislature".

When we examine the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on this subject we find a similar pattern. A typical example is His Tablet of "The Seven Candles". This Tablet was revealed in the year 1906. This date is important because 'Abdu'l-Bahá refers in this Tablet to: "this century" in connection with one of the Candles, namely the one on the "unity of nations", and it is clear that He was referring to the twentieth century.

The Seven Candles, as given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, are: (1) Unity in the political realm; (2) Unity of thought in world undertakings; (3) Unity in freedom; (4) Unity in religion; (5) Unity of nations; (6) Unity of races; and (7) Unity of language. Five of the seven candles, beyond any doubt, are preliminary steps towards the Lesser Peace, whereas the fourth and sixth, namely the unity of religions and of races, refers to forms of unity that can be achieved only when the spiritualization of the masses has taken place.

The first candle for example, which is "Unity in the Political Realm", has certainly been realized through the establishment of the United Nations. The third, being the "Unity in Freedom", is surely a clear hint at the approaching end of colonization, as it continued to exist during the first half of the century. The fifth, namely "Unity of Nations" represents the spirit of world consciousness, expressed in the recognition that we are all, in the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá about this candle, "citizens of one common fatherland"— a consciousness which was fully realized during the twentieth century. The remaining two candles, i.e. the second and the seventh, namely 'Unity of Thought in World Undertakings' and 'Unity of Language' are obvious to us all and need no elaboration in this discussion.

As Bahá'ís we have yet many challenges ahead of us to systematize our consolidation work through our institutes and study circles and to extend our teaching work through greater proclamation, more intense teaching activity and closer adherence to living a Bahá'í way of life, collectively and individually. We should likewise open the doors of our homes and our community to seekers, sympathizers, and new friends of the Faith. Such activities are bound to generate waves of spiritual influence which will accelerate the constructive processes of integration pursued by well meaning leaders of thought and men of good will everywhere, as they move forward towards finding solutions to their economic, social and political problems, problems that impede from time to time their advancement towards the goal set for them by the Blessed Beauty, when in His Tablets He established the minimum requirements of the Lesser Peace.

To summarise what I have said, and to project our thoughts into the future, perhaps we could suggest the following scenario: the world, its social fabric, its political configurations, its economic structure, and its moral standards, will continue to deteriorate and will bring the current civilization to its lowest ebb. While, we as Bahá'ís, on the one hand, continue to expand the scope of our Faith, to consolidate its foundations, to diffuse its light throughout the planet, and to proclaim its life-giving message to the masses, and while, on the other hand, the harmonizing forces which are activated and supported by the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's Message continue to develop, to strike their roots into the soil of human consciousness and eventually lead humanity to the universal prosperity generated by the Lesser Peace, we can well imagine that, later rather than sooner, the two integrative and parallel lines, namely the Faith of God and its constructive worldly counterpart, will merge into one, single, organically united and divinely propelled process which will lead to the Most Great Peace and prepare the way for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth during the Golden Age of God's Holy Faith. In order to understand, perhaps with greater clarity, the different stages in the attainment of universal peace, so well defined by the progression implied in the adjectives qualifying the word "peace", namely the Lesser, the Great or Greater, and the Most Great, corresponding to the words in the original text, namely Asghar, Akbar, and A'zam, it may be useful for us to look at Shoghi Effendi's stages of the development of the Faith on the national level as it unfolds in different countries of the world.

As you know, Shoghi Effendi outlined seven stages for the onward march of the Faith in each country. I will mention the first four stages first. As you know they are: obscurity, repression, emancipation, and recognition. Stage one, which is obscurity, is clearly over throughout the world, as the House of Justice has also said. The Bahá'í community in Iran, as well as in a number of countries in the Muslim East, is at stage two, which is repression. Stage three, namely emancipation, is when the religious authorities in a country, as happened in Egypt, officially announce that since the Bahá'í Faith has laws and principles at variance with the canonical law of Islam, it can only be considered as an independent entity, not as a branch of the Muhammadan Faith. Stage four, namely recognition, is when the government in authority recognizes the Faith in accordance with its own legal system: this is when the Bahá'í community is given a status as a religious organization empowered to perform officially certain rites related to personal status, such as marriage. So far, this has been the highest form of recognition in any given country, as it represents the possession of a status equal to that enjoyed by other recognized religious communities. One or another of the first four stages could well be bypassed and has indeed been bypassed depending on the prevailing circumstances in any given country.

As to the last three stages, the fifth is the official acceptance of the Faith as the "State religion" of a nation- (ADJ p.12). The sixth stage is when there is a merger between the civil system of government administration and the national institutions of the Bahá'í Administrative Order. This sixth stage has been described by Shoghi Effendi as the emergence of the "Bahá'í State"-(ADJ p.12). The seventh stage is when the "Bahá'í State" of a given country joins hands with other Bahá'í states to form together the first Bahá'í Commonwealth of the future – a Commonwealth which will represent the initial stages of the Most Great Peace and will operate in accordance with the Laws and Principles enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh. As you can well realize, Bahá'ís in no single country have gone beyond stage four. This means that all national Bahá'í communities are developing slowly and sometimes painfully through the first four stages.

Moving from stage four to stage five will require the input and guidance of the Universal House of Justice, when circumstances permit, at their own appointed time. This is why Bahá'u'lláh has written: "All matters of state should be referred to the House of Justice"- (TB p.129). We can confidently conclude that, at the national level, stage six, namely, when the Faith is recognized as a "State religion", and stage seven, namely, when the "Bahá'í State" emerges, correspond on the international level to the Great or Greater Peace— Sulh-i-Akbar, followed by the next stage, namely the Most Great Peace, Sulh-i-A'zam. We firmly believe, as Bahá'ís, that the last two, and indeed the last three stages are all part of the all-embracing, all-encompassing, Major Plan of God.

Questions related:

Q. Shoghi Effendi has written that the years ahead may well be pregnant with events of unimaginable magnitude and ordeals more severe than what has transpired in the past. Are we "in the years ahead"? Should we be afraid?

A. The word "pregnant" implies a process. I have no doubt that we are in the so-called period of "the years ahead", but why should we be afraid? We should place our trust in Him, live the Bahá'í life, and face the future with full confidence. Faith is not enough, we should also have trust in Him. If we have doubts we should arise and prove to ourselves the reality of His assistance. In one of his letters to the American believers Shoghi Effendi said: "There is no time to lose...The stage is set. The firm and irrevocable Promise is given. God's own Plan has been set in motion...The powers of heaven and earth mysteriously assist in its execution...Let the doubter arise, and himself verify the truth of such assertions." (TDH p. 28)

Q. What is "the Most Great Justice"?

A. I think this is a reference to the institutions of the House of Justice on its three levels: universal, national and local.

Q. Is entry by troops important to the Lesser Peace?

A. I don't see it that way. Entry by troops is an internal process in the development of the teaching work. The House of Justice wishes us to prepare ourselves through the institutes, study circles, devotional meetings and children's classes to open our doors for the troops to come in and be adequately and systematically deepened in the Cause. Shoghi Effendi's writings indicate that this stage of entry by troops will prove to be a prelude to the conversion of the masses.

The Lesser Peace however, is the result of the efforts of leaders in the political world uniting at last to establish what we could call a secular political peace among the nations.

Q. Do we know when the Lesser Peace will come about? Why did we think it would be by the year 2000?

A. When Shoghi Effendi was asked when exactly the Lesser Peace will be established, he wrote back saying that we did not know the exact time. The speculation about the year 2000 stems from the fifth candle of unity which is "unity of nations" and, as you recall, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in that Tablet states that it is "a unity which in this century will be securely established" (WOB p. 39) As this Tablet was revealed in 1906 it is obvious that this century meant the 20th century, especially as the recipient was one of the friends in the British Isles. The point that was missed was that the stage of "unity of nations" is clearly defined by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself in the same Tablet. It is when "the peoples of the world will regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland." (WOB p. 39) This is a reference to an awareness in the peoples of the world that the world is really one world, and the planet the home of the human race. This consciousness is of course an important step towards the Lesser Peace, but not the Lesser Peace itself.

Q. What is the relationship between the seven stages of the evolution of the Faith and the seven candles of unity?

A. These are two processes. One is related to the internal development of the Faith within the setting of the world surrounding it, and the other is a description of the various aspects of the universal peace anticipated in the Writings.

Q. When the Faith becomes the official established religion of a country will independent investigation of truth continue to be upheld?

A. The principle of independent investigation of truth is an overarching principle which overshadows the entire Dispensation. The Báb tells us that God's method for the spread of His religion at any given time was never meant to be through force and coercion. (SWAB p. 77)

Q. What is the meaning of Shoghi Effendi's statement in his "Unfoldment": "The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh should be viewed as marking the last and highest stage in this stupendous evolution of man's collective life on this planet"?

A. Shoghi Effendi has likened the process of world federalism to the stages which lead the American Republic to become a unified community of federated states. Describing the latter process he describes the federal system created in the United States as an event which proclaimed the coming of age of the American people. He goes on to state: "Within the territorial limits of this nation, this consummation may be viewed as the culmination of the process of human government. The diversified and loosely related elements of a divided community were brought together, unified and incorporated into one coherent system. Though this entity may continue gaining in cohesive power, though the unity already achieved may be further consolidated, though the civilization to which that unity could alone have given birth may expand and flourish, yet the machinery essential to such an unfoldment may be said to have been, in its essential structure, erected, and the impulse required to guide and sustain it may be regarded as having been fundamentally imparted. No stage above and beyond this consummation of national unity can, within the geographical limits of that nation, be imagined, though the highest destiny of its people as a constituent element in a still larger entity that will embrace the whole of mankind, may still remain unfulfilled. Considered as an isolated unit, however, this process of integration may be said to have reached its highest and final consummation." (WOB p.165)

As with the geographical limits of one nation, so it will be within the geographical limits of the planet. It is in this vein that the following words of Shoghi Effendi referring to the emergence of a world community should be understood... "The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh...should be viewed ... as marking the last and highest stage in this stupendous evolution of man's collective life on this planet. The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture... should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as an individual will, nay must indeed as a result of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop." (WOB p. 163)

Q. Bahá'u'lláh says: "Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye [i.e. Sovereigns of the world] against him for this is naught but manifest justice." (WOB p.40) Is there such an option under the Most Great Peace?

A. If we read the antecedent to this sentence in the original, it becomes clear that this guidance regarding the principle of collective security is written in the context of the Lesser Peace. It appears highly unlikely that such a situation will arise under the Most Great Peace. If it does, however, the instruction of Bahá'u'lláh will certainly be immediately enforced.

Q. Where does the line of disintegration lead to and will it finally disappear?

A. I spoke about the two opposite and diverging lines of integration and disintegration. The former symbolizing the growth and consolidation of the Faith and the second representing the deterioration and decline of human society. What we should remember is that according to Bahá'u'lláh we are approaching the stage of humanity's maturity. This maturity has been described by Shoghi Effendi in these words: "That mystic, all pervasive, yet indefinable change which we associate with the stage of maturity, inevitable in the life of the individual and the development of the fruit, must... have its counterpart in the evolution of the organization of human society.... Such a stage of maturity in the process of human government must, for all time, if we would faithfully recognize the tremendous claim advanced by Bahá'u'lláh, remain identified with the Revelation of which He was the Bearer." (WOB p. 164)

"To take but one instance. How confident were the assertions made in the days preceding the unification of the states of the North American continent regarding the insuperable barriers that stood in the way of their ultimate federation? ... Could anything less than the fire of a civil war with all its violence and vicissitudes -- a war that nearly rent the great American Republic -- have welded the states, not only into a Union of independent units, but into a Nation, in spite of all the ethnic differences that characterized its component parts?... That nothing short of the fire of a severe ordeal, unparalleled in its intensity can fuse and weld the discordant entities that constitute the elements of present day civilization, into the integral components of the world commonwealth of the future, is a truth which future events will increasingly demonstrate." (WOB pp. 45-46)

As we saw in the quotations above universal suffering is a prerequisite for universal spiritual awareness. To the observations quoted above from the pen of Shoghi Effendi I feel I should add the following momentous pronouncement by him. "The process of disintegration must inexorably continue and its corrosive influence must penetrate deeper and deeper into the very core of a crumbling age. Much suffering will still be required ere the contending nations, creeds, classes and races of mankind are fused in the crucible of universal affliction... Adversities unimaginably appalling undreamed of crises and upheavals, war, famine and pestilence, might well combine to engrave in the soul of an unheeding generation those truths and principles which it has disdained to recognize and follow. (WOB p. 193)

   According to a Tablet revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá the line of disintegration propelling the world towards godlessness will sink to such a point that it will lead to universal chaos and confusion -- a chaotic condition that the world would be unwilling to bear. This stage will lead the world to turn to religion and to realize the importance of turning to God. That would be the time when the Bahá'í youth of today will have the unique opportunity to proclaim and teach the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, as a far greater receptivity for His message would prevail in the hearts of men everywhere. It is quite possible, in my view, that at such a time, the stage of mass conversion anticipated in the writings of Shoghi Effendi would occur and, which will result in a sudden "thousandfold" increase in the "numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh". (CF p. 117)

Q. When does the Bahá'í community move from the state of "recognition" to the stage of "State Religion" in any given country?

A. Shoghi Effendi refers to the "majority" of the population of the country (WOB p. 7) He does not define how large a majority this should be. As it is a matter of "State" when such a situation arises, it should be referred to the Universal House of Justice.

Q. When in a certain country a "Bahá'í State" is established will non-Bahá'ís have the right to vote, and/or occupy positions in the administration of the State?

A. All I can say is that this issue has not been dealt with in the Writings of our Faith, and, therefore, should be referred to the Universal House of Justice, in accordance with His statement already mentioned before: "All matters of State should be referred to the House of Justice". (TB p. 27)

Q. In addition to the United Nations, which you have mentioned, what do you think of such organizations as the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund?

A. All these manifestations of humanity's awareness of its own universal solidarity, and as 'Abdu'l-Bahá has predicted in His second "candle of unity", humanity was moving steadily towards "unity of thought in world undertakings". (WOB p.39) The examples you cite are few among many examples of efforts to create projects, promoting the welfare of all classes, races and nations comprising the world community. For example WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, The Red Cross, and the various agencies which are operating today to protect the environment, to research the oceans, the explore the solar system, to promote the positive values of globalisation, to eradicate illiteracy etc... Such world undertakings did not exist in the past, but these ideals are being earnestly and successfully pursued for the first time, on a global scale, from the early beginnings of the 20^th century. This is why 'Abdu'l-Bahá called it the "Century of Light".

Furthermore, we see Bahá'u'lláh exhorting, and indeed giving a special mission to the rulers of the entire Western Hemisphere, addressing them as leaders of one geographical unit. Does this not imply a process of solidarity of the components parts of this unit? Many efforts have already been made towards this objective, although they have met with setbacks and reverses. Shoghi Effendi, following Bahá'u'lláh's lead, likewise refers to the Eastern Hemisphere, as a counterpart to the Western Hemisphere (CF p.33), and specifically mentions the prospect of the political unification of the two Hemispheres, as a stage towards the establishment of world peace. Shoghi Effendi has described for us the stages of humanity's social evolution towards its maturity, in the following inspired words: "The long ages of infancy and childhood, through which the human race had to pass, have receded into the background. Humanity is now experiencing the commotions invariably associated with the most turbulent stage of its evolution, the stage of adolescence, when the impetuosity of youth and its vehemence reach their climax, and must gradually be superseded by the calmness, the wisdom, and the maturity that characterize the stage of manhood. Then will the human race reach that stature of ripeness which will enable it to acquire all the powers and capacities upon which its ultimate development must depend.

Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of city-state, and nation have been successively attempted and fully established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish once for all the machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental principle of its life." (WOB p.202)

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Chapter 2

2. THE GUARDIANSHIP AND THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE KITÁB-I-AQDAS AND 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ'S WILL AND TESTAMENT

Shoghi Effendi has singled out Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Aqdas and 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament as chief depositories "wherein are enshrined those priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Bahá'í Faith"- (WOB pp.3-4) and as the "the twin repositories of the constituent elements" of the "Sovereignty which the Bahá'í teachings foreshadow"-(WOB p.16). He furthermore describes the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as the "Charter of the future world civilization"- (GPB p.214). He calls the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by exactly the same title- (GPB p. 328).

We should be aware that when the Friends in Iran read for the first time the Kitáb-i-Aqdas they merely regarded it, albeit with great reverence, as Bahá'u'lláh's Mother Book or the Book of His Laws, just as the Qur'án, was the Mother Book for the Muslim world. Some of the verses of the Aqdas were not understood or, alas, even misunderstood. For example the celebrated passage in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas announcing the emergence of the New World Order was understood to mean that the order of the verses of the Aqdas followed a unique pattern different from that of the Bayán or Sacred Books of former Dispensations.

As you know, there is also in the Persian Bayán a Verse which refers to the Order of Bahá'u'lláh. This corresponding Verse in the Bayán foreshadowing the Order of Bahá'u'lláh was also understood along the same lines, namely that the contents of Bahá'u'lláh's Mother Book, unlike the Bayán, would not be divided into chapters and verses, but would have a unique format of its own. It was only in 1934, some thirteen years after the launching of the institution of the Guardianship, that Shoghi Effendi produced his translation of this key verse in Bahá'u'lláh's Mother Book. For the first time it became clear to the Bahá'ís in the East and the West that the Order mentioned had nothing to do with the style or format of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, but instead was an announcement that the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh was the begetter of a New World System for the conduct of the affairs of the world and the establishment of the Promised Kingdom of God on earth.

As to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Bahá'ís in both East and West considered it a document in which the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh was being extended by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to cover the line of succession after His passing. In Shoghi Effendi the Bahá'ís of the world saw the successor of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He would henceforth be the Interpreter of the Divine Word and the Centre of the Cause to whom all must turn. All this was of course true, but it was only a simplistic and minimal appraisal of what Shoghi Effendi later described as the: "Charter of the future world civilization".

Shoghi Effendi lifted the veil gradually. For example in 1923, barely two years after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he described the contents of His Will and Testament: "amazing in all its aspects" and that its provisions had: "challenged and perplexed the keenest minds"- (BA p.50). Writing in the same year to the friends in Persia he wrote: "God's Supreme House of Justice shall be erected and firmly established in the days to come. When this most great Edifice shall be reared...God's purpose, wisdom, universal truths, mysteries and realities of the Kingdom, which the mystic revelation of Bahá'u'lláh has deposited within the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, shall gradually be revealed and made manifest."(MUHJ p.57)

A year later he wrote: "We are called upon by our beloved Master in His Will and Testament not only to adopt it [Bahá'u'lláh's New World Order] unreservedly, but to unveil its merit to all the world. To attempt to estimate its full value, and grasp its exact significance after so short a time since its inception would be premature and presumptuous on our part. We must trust to time, and the guidance of God's Universal House of Justice, to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of its [The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá] provisions and implications"-(BA p.62). And some five years later in 1929 he called it the chief depository enshrining the priceless elements of God's Divine Civilization- and added the following comment: "We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications, or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains. Only future generations can comprehend the value and the significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece, which the hand of the Master-builder of the world has designed for the unification and the triumph of the world-wide Faith of Bahá'u'lláh."- (WOB p.8)

Shoghi Effendi did not stop there, he continued in his assessment and praise of the manifold mysteries contained in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament. About a year later, on 25^th March 1930 his comments about the hidden mysteries of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá reached their crescendo, when in a letter written on his behalf he pointed out the following: ""The contents of the Will of the Master are far too much for the present generation to comprehend. It needs at least a century of actual working before the treasures of wisdom hidden in it can be revealed."- (UHJM1963-1986, p.161)

The Friends were wondering where the mysteries could be. Could these relate to their own limited understanding of the station of the Guardianship? Were the mysteries in relation to the functions of the Universal House of Justice? Why should it take so long for Bahá'ís to understand what appeared to them to be a straight forward document about the future administration of the Faith? I will now deal with these questions.

For example Shoghi Effendi says that the provisions of the two Charters, namely the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá are neither incompatible nor contradictory and indeed "mutually confirm one another and are inseparable parts of one complete unit"- (WOB p.4.) However, a basic outward contradiction between the two documents did exist, because the Kitáb-i-Aqdas envisages a time when there will be no Aghsáns, meaning thereby that there would be no future Guardians, while the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá provided for a succession of Guardians.

The verse in The Kitáb-i-Aqdas referring to the Aghsáns reads as follows: "Endowments dedicated to charity revert to God... None hath the right to dispose of them without leave from Him Who is the Dawning-place of Revelation. After Him this authority shall pass to the Aghsáns and after them to the House of Justice-should it be established in the world by then...Otherwise the endowments shall revert to the people of Bahá who speak not except by His leave and judge not save in accordance with what God hath decreed in this Tablet"- (KA pp.34-35) In explanation of this verse notes 66 and 67 of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas read as follows: Note 66- "Aghsán" (plural of Ghusn) is the Arabic word for "Branches". This term is used by Bahá'u'lláh to designate His male descendants. It has particular implications not only for the disposition of endowments but also for the succession of authority following the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Bahá'u'lláh, in the Book of His Covenant, appointed 'Abdu'l-Bahá, His eldest son, as the Centre of His Covenant and the Head of the Faith. Abdu'l-Bahá, in His Will and Testament, appointed Shoghi Effendi, His eldest grandson, as the Guardian and Head of the Faith. This passage of the Aqdas, therefore, anticipates the succession of chosen Aghsán and thus the institution of the Guardianship and envisages the possibility of a break in their line. The passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957 precipitated the very situation provided for in this passage, in that the line of Aghsán ended before the Universal House of Justice had been established.

Note 67. Bahá'u'lláh provides for the possibility that the line of Aghsán would terminate prior to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice. He designated that in such a situation "endowments shall revert to the people of Bahá". The term "people of Bahá" is used with a number of different meanings in the Bahá'í Writings. In this instance, they are described as those "who speak not except by His leave and judge not save in accordance with what God hath decreed in this Tablet". Following the passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957, the Hands of the Cause of God directed the affairs of the Cause until the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963."- (KA p.196)

An important point about the Aghsáns needs some clarification. In the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, there is a clear distinction made between such Aghsáns as are appointed Heads of the Faith and Interpreters of its teachings and the rest of the Aghsáns who do not fall into this category. Regarding the latter general group of Aghsáns we read the following from the Pen of Bahá'u'lláh in His Kitáb-i-'Ahd: "It is enjoined upon everyone to manifest love towards the Aghsáns, but God hath not granted them any right to the property of others"- (TB p.222). The prohibition to claim certain rights relates to practices allowed in some sects of Islam, granting prerogatives to the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad to claim financial privileges for themselves.

As you are all aware, the Will and Testament clearly states: "It is incumbent upon the Guardian of the Cause of God to appoint within his life time him that shall be his successor that differences shall not arise after his passing". Furthermore, the Will states that the Guardian of the Cause of God is the Universal House of Justice's "sacred head" and the "distinguished member for life" of that body. The Will further stipulates: "The Hands of The Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the Guardian of the Cause of God...These, whether unanimously or by a majority vote must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the Guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor" - (BA p.8 and p.10).

An amazing feature of the Will is its flexibility. It provides on the one hand for a Universal House of Justice with a Guardian heading its membership, and on the other, in the same document the Author of the Will envisages a Universal House of Justice, equally divinely guided, without the physical presence or membership of a Guardian. From two passages in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, it becomes clear that the elected members of the Universal House of Justice receive independent divine guidance—a guidance which is not conditioned upon the presence of the Guardian as sacred Head of that institution. The first reference is as follows: "[The] Guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness the Exalted One... Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth them, has not obeyed God..."

The second reference is incorporated in the second part of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will, most probably written in 1907. Here are His own words: "I am now in very great danger and the hope of even an hour's life is lost to me. I am thus constrained to write these lines for the protection of the Cause of God, the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His Word and the safety of His Teachings."- (WTA p.18)

In this portion of the Will when Shoghi Effendi was only about ten years old and when as Shoghi Effendi later indicated was a period which he described as: "the darkest moments of [the Master's] life under Abdu'l-?amid's regime when He stood ready to be deported to the most inhospitable regions of Northern Africa, He wrote the following"(WOB p.17):" Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn, and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice, and turned away from the Lord of the Covenant. By this House is meant that Universal House of Justice which is to be elected from all countries, that is from those parts in the East and West where the loved ones are to be found... It is incumbent upon these members [of the Universal House of Justice] to gather in a certain place and deliberate upon all problems which have caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book. Whatsoever they decide has the same effect as the Text itself."- (WTA p.19)

As indicated by the Universal House of Justice, in its letter of 9 March 1965 (MUHJ p.53), it was also at this very time that 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to the cousin of the Báb, the chief builder of the 'Ishqábád Temple, Hájí Mírzá Taqí Afnán, a Tablet in which He describes the dangers to His life, and adds that He has written a Will and Testament in which He has given directions for the election of the Universal House of Justice. He therefore instructs him in that Tablet to come to the Holy Land, should the threats against Him materialize, open His Will and Testament, and carry out His wishes.

Of course these precautionary measures taken by 'Abdu'l-Bahá were never realized. The coup of the Young Turks overthrew the Ottoman monarchy, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was released from prison, and intense activity on His part followed for over a decade. Could we not assume, therefore, that in accordance with God's inscrutable Purpose, all this happened, so that 'Abdu'l-Bahá could, in a natural and matter of fact way, leave for posterity His clear testimony that the Universal House of Justice could certainly operate fully without the physical presence of the Guardian as its Head?

The fact that the Universal House of Justice is, with only its elected members, the direct and independent recipient of Divine guidance throughout this Dispensation is further confirmed in the words of Shoghi Effendi in his 'Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh', page 153. He writes: "In the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith, in the enactment of the legislation necessary to supplement the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas the members of the Universal House of Justice... are to follow with a prayerful attitude, the dictates and promptings of their conscience...They, and not the body who either directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients of the divine guidance which is at once the life-blood and ultimate safeguard of this Revelation"- (WOB p.153).

In the light of what occurred after the passing of Shoghi Effendi who neither left a will nor in his own life time appointed a Branch to be his successor-(an appointment to be confirmed by nine elected Hands residing in the Holy Land) it became clear to the Hands of the Cause of God and the entire Bahá'í world that the second possibility provided by the provisions of the Will was indeed inevitable and fully compatible not only with the Will itself but also with the provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

It would be useful, at this point, for us to review briefly the contents of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the light of the provisions of Bahá'u'lláh's "Book of the Covenant". As you know the Book of the Covenant is published in full in "Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas", pages 217-223. In this document known as Kitáb-i-'Ahd Bahá'u'lláh clearly appoints 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Most Great Branch, as His successor. But then He goes on to say "Verily God hath ordained the station of the Greater Branch [Muhammad-'Alí] to be beneath that of the Most Great Branch ['Abdu'l-Bahá]...We have chosen the Greater after the Most Great..." This meant that after 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Muhammad-'Alí, half-brother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, would be the Centre of the Cause, provided of course that he would be firm in the Covenant and realize that his station was beneath the exalted position reserved for the Master. However, as undoubtedly you all know, before even the interment of the sacred remains of Bahá'u'lláh when 'Abdu'l-Bahá was washing with His own hands His Father's body, Muhammad-'Alí, his brothers and his brother-in-law as well as members of their immediate family leagued together to oppose 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

Their first act of disloyalty was to steal the two cases which contained documents and papers entrusted by Bahá'u'lláh to the care of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, including a number of His seals. Muhammad-'Alí subsequently embarked on a series of attacks on the person of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by sending letters, followed by emissaries, to establish his right as one mentioned in Bahá'u'lláh's Will, and to discredit 'Abdu'l-Bahá Who, as alleged by him, had claimed the station of the Manifestation of God. We should recall that Muhammad-'Alí had already, during the Ministry of his Father advanced the claim of being God's "finger", "the spokesman of the Aghsáns" and the "upholder of the Holy Writ" (GPB pp.248-9). For such claims as these, Bahá'u'lláh personally slapped Muhammad-'Alí in the face, with His own hand. (GPB p.249)

In one of His Tablets to the Friends in Iran Bahá'u'lláh explicitly rules out the assignment of any spiritual station to Muhammad-'Alí, and adds the categorical statement: "Should he for a moment pass out from under the shadow of the Cause, he surely shall be brought to naught". 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His Will and Testament quotes this passage from Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet, enumerates the acts of disloyalty by His half-brother, including his plot to assassinate Him, and irrefutably draws the conclusion that Muhammad-'Alí had broken the Covenant and thus had disqualified himself from being second in succession to Him.

Many of these violations came to be known in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís lifetime to the friends in Iran. A few would ask what would happen after His passing. Sometimes He would say that the Universal House of Justice would be formed. At other times He would state that this was a "secret", and that "the time will come when its light will appear"(WOB p.150)

Amatu'l-Bahá Rœhíyyih Khánum in her 'Priceless Pearl' quotes the recollections of a German woman physician, Dr J. Fallscheer, who lived in Haifa and attended the ladies of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's household. In these recollections, which were published first in German, she says that the Greatest Holy Leaf had informed her that Shoghi Effendi was destined to be the successor of the Master. One day in August 1910, after the young Shoghi Effendi left the room of the Master, He turned to Dr Fallscheer and told her "How do you like my future Elisha?... And do you know why?...Bahá'u'lláh, the Blessed Manifestation reminded me that I... must observe among my sons and grandsons whom God would indicate... My sons passed to eternity in their tenderest years; in my line, among my relatives; only little Shoghi has the shadow of a great calling in the depths of his eyes."- (PP pp.11-12)

I cannot refrain from sharing with you, at this juncture, the fact that there was a private belief current among some of the early believers in Iran that since Muhammad-'Alí had broken the Covenant, 'Abdu'l-Bahá would have to choose one of His grandsons to be His successor. This was not because of Dr. Fallscheer's reminiscences which obviously were not available in Persian, but they had arrived at this assumption on the basis of the contents of the Tablet of the Holy Mariner. In this Tablet, three figures prominently emerge. (1) The Holy Mariner, namely Bahá'u'lláh Himself; (2) The Maid of Heaven, who flooded: "with the light of her countenance the heaven and the earth", namely 'Abdu'l-Bahá; and (3) One of the handmaidens of the Maid of Heaven who is also described as the "favoured damsel who perfumed all things in the lands of Holiness and Grandeur" namely Shoghi Effendi. These speculations acquired added importance when in one of His last Tablets 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote: "Study the Tablet of the Holy Mariner that ye may know the truth, and consider that the Blessed Beauty hath fully foretold future events. Let them who perceive, take warning"- (BP1975 p.51)

We should now turn our attention to the Law of Succession as it was applied not only to Shoghi Effendi, as Guardian of the Faith, but also to the Administrative Order which Shoghi Effendi quite often referred to as: "The Child of the Covenant"-(GPB p.243). It should be recalled however, that in one instance Shoghi Effendi also described the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the "Child of the Covenant"- a Child which was born resulting from the interaction of the creative energies of the Law of Bahá'u'lláh on the mind of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. We should not be perturbed by the fact that the term- "Child of the Covenant"- has been used to describe the Charter of the Administrative Order as well as the Order itself. The one is the establishment of the entity in the Holy Writ and the other is the emergence of that reality for all to see.

In this connection we should remember that the Bahá'í Covenant is not something which began and ended with the Ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. While 'Abdu'l-Bahá was the Centre of the Covenant and will continue to be so for all time, the Bahá'í Covenant is an essential feature inseparable from the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh until the end of this Dispensation. In fact in one of His Tablets, 'Abdu'l-Bahá refers to His Ministry as "The Morn" of the Bahá'í Covenant. This implies that the unfoldment of the Covenant in its fullness, throughout the Day of Bahá'u'lláh's Dispensation, was yet to come. This important point is explained by Shoghi Effendi: "As regards the meaning of the Bahá'í Covenant: The Guardian considers the existence of two forms of Covenant both of which are explicitly mentioned in the literature of the Cause. First is the covenant that every Prophet makes with humanity or, more definitely, with His people that they will accept and follow the coming Manifestation Who will be the reappearance of His reality. The second form of covenant is such as the one Bahá'u'lláh made with His people that they should accept the Master. This is merely to establish and strengthen the succession of the series of Lights that appear after every Manifestation. Under the same category falls the covenant the Master made with the Bahá'ís that they should accept His administration after Him..."-(1932, LOG p.181)

From the above text it is clear that the successor to the Master under the Bahá'í Covenant was the Administration after Him. It is in this light that we should understand the term used by Shoghi Effendi, describing the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice as the: "chosen Successors" of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá- (WOB p.20). We should recall that the term 'Administrative Order' was used by Shoghi Effendi for the first time in his "Dispensation", which was written in February 1934. During the first thirteen years of his Guardianship, that is, from 1921 to 1934, he referred to the System conceived by Bahá'u'lláh for the administration of His Cause, as the 'Bahá'í Administration'. In the passage therefore, that I have just quoted from Shoghi effendi about the Bahá'í Covenant, we should clearly understand that what he meant by the "Administration after Him", was the Administrative Order, as the letter is dated 1932.

In the "Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh", Shoghi Effendi points out that the Administrative Order has two pillars: the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. One way of understanding the word 'pillars' is that there are two columns and a structure is placed on them. Thus if one of them is removed, the structure will be lop-sided and fall. But when one reads, with diligence and care, the writings of Shoghi Effendi, we see that what he meant by 'pillars' were institutions which reinforced the stability of the structure.

For example in the 'Dispensation' he refers to these twin institutions as means provided to "buttress" the structure of the Administrative Order – (WOB p.157). "To buttress" means to provide support and strength to the structure. There are other metaphors that Shoghi Effendi used for these institutions. For example, in one of his messages, he describes the Guardianship as: "the head cornerstone of the Administrative Order"-(TDH p.15). The relation of the cornerstone to a structure is different from that of a pillar or a buttress to that structure. The cornerstone of a building is a foundation and indispensable stone which is the first block used as a basis for the erection of the structure.

As regards to the Universal House of Justice, the metaphors of 'pillar' and 'buttress', equally apply to that institution, but using the same concept of a building, he describes the Universal House of Justice as "the apex of the Bahá'í Administrative Order"- (GPB p.332). He also refers to it as the "crowning glory" of the administrative institutions of the Faith- (ADJ p.24), "the supreme organ of the Bahá'í Commonwealth"- (WOB p.6), as well as "the last refuge of a tottering civilization"- (WOB p.89). Although all of us are not architects, we can all easily understand that the first unit in the building of a structure is its cornerstone, and its last unit is the apex. It is interesting in this connection to recall that in one of his Persian letters to the friends in the East, he refers to the Guardianship as the 'first pillar' and the Universal House of Justice as the "second." This could mean the 'first' in rank, or the 'first' in time. In terms of the timeline, as we all know, this is exactly what happened. When one Successor, namely the Guardian, was providentially removed from the scene, the other Successor, namely the Universal House of Justice, was naturally and inevitably expected to assume the Headship of the Cause.

When we discuss the two institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, we tend to be perplexed by two paragraphs in 'The Dispensation', which underline the essential features of these two Successors to the Founders of our Faith. One paragraph begins with the words: "Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship, the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated" the other paragraph begins with the words: "Severed from the no less essential institution of the Universal House of Justice, this same System would be paralysed"- (WOB p.148). These two paragraphs, in the light of the reality of what happened after the passing of Shoghi Effendi, who neither wrote a Will nor appointed someone after him to occupy the seat of the Guardianship, would obviously mean that the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh without any Guardian would have resulted in the mutilation of the World Order, just as that same World Order would have been paralysed if it did not have any Universal House of Justice to supplement the Laws of Bahá'u'lláh. But since we have had 36 years of the institution of the Guardianship operating in full and intensive action, and we now have the Universal House of Justice, the structure of the World Order is neither mutilated nor paralyzed.

There could well be a lingering thought remaining in some minds as to why Shoghi Effendi left no will. Was it an accident or a conscious action on his part? From Violette's 'A Tribute to Amatu'l-Bahá', we gather that Shoghi Effendi, towards the end of his life, and, contemplating his own death, gave advice to Amatu'l-Bahá regarding the travels she should undertake after his own passing. He is also reported to have told her, during the last remaining days of his life in London, that he did not want to go back to Haifa, and that she should go alone.

If someone is concerned about the condition of his own wife after him, and gives advice as to what she should do, would he not, as the Guardian, as the Chief Protector and responsible Head of the Faith—would he not also think about the welfare and future destiny of the Faith he was called upon by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to protect and promote? The only logical conclusion is that he knew he was passing away, that he was fully conscious that he had not appointed another "ghusn" to succeed him as Guardian, and that he preferred not to leave any Will and Testament. The Universal House of Justice, reflecting on this apparent dilemma, made the following pronouncement: "The fact that Shoghi Effendi did not leave a will cannot be adduced as evidence of his failure to obey Bahá'u'lláh— rather should we acknowledge that in his very silence there is a wisdom and a sign of his infallible guidance"- (UHJM1963-1986 p.84).

I recall the gist of my private conversations with many friends in November 1957 when it was realised that Shoghi Effendi had unexpectedly passed away, had not appointed a successor as Guardian after him and had left no will. We concluded that the best thing we could do was to reread more carefully 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament as well as Shoghi Effendi's writings in order to understand more clearly the hidden implications and mysteries of these inspired documents.

­I will share with you my own personal insights on what some may have regarded as a predicament in the fortunes of our beloved Faith. Shoghi Effendi had often said to Hands of the Cause of God and visiting pilgrims that his 'Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh' was like his Will and Testament. Amatu'l-Bahá in her 'The Priceless Pearl', quotes Shoghi Effendi as having indicated that: "he had said all he had to say, in many ways, in 'The Dispensation'"-(PP p.213). Apart from this observation, we should note that Shoghi Effendi, referring to 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will, had written in his "Dispensation": "His Will and Testament...should be regarded as the perpetual, the indissoluble link which the mind of Him Who is the Mystery of God has conceived in order to insure the continuity of the three ages that constitute the component parts of the Bahá'í Dispensation"- (WOB p.143). In the same document, Shoghi Effendi categorically stated: "The axis round which [the] institutions [of the Administrative Order] revolve are the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá"-(WOB p.156)

We should therefore consider that as Bahá'ís we did not live only for thirty-six years under the provisions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament but that the world-wide Bahá'í community does now and in the future continue to live under the provisions of that same Will for the rest of the Dispensation, as it is this document which links the Formative and Golden Ages together.

There is one other area that needs to be clarified, as unfortunately, a slight confusion has been created in the minds of some of the friends regarding the respective areas of infallibility of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Shoghi Effendi's 'Dispensation' define the specific areas of responsibility of these two institutions, namely: "interpretation" exclusively confined to the Guardianship, and "legislation" exclusively assigned to the Universal House of Justice. There is nothing in either the Will or 'The Dispensation', however, which restricts the condition of infallibility to these two areas of specific responsibility. Shoghi Effendi's "Dispensation", referring to the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice, assures us: "Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other"- (WOB p.150). The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá categorically states, referring to these two institutions: "Whatsoever they decide is of God"- (WTA p.11). This is not only broad-based, but all-comprehensive.

According to the terms of this Will, the Universal House of Justice, in addition to legislation is the "body to which all things must be referred".(WTA p.14) It is furthermore the body to resolve "all the difficult problems", all problems which have caused differences" and "all questions that are obscure"-(WTA p.20). Shoghi Effendi, in his 'Dispensation', assigns to it the additional responsibility "to apply" (WOB p.145) the Laws revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, to conduct the "administrative affairs of the Faith"- (WOB p.153), and to ensure the "integrity" of the teachings (WOB p.148), the "flexibility" of the Faith and the "unity" of its followers (WOB p.148).

In fact, as I have already quoted before from one of Shoghi Effendi's early letters, he gives us this impressive view of the work of the House of Justice: "We must trust to time and the guidance of God's Universal House of Justice to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of [the] provisions and implications [of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá]"- (BA p.62)

As you know, the Declaration of trust and by-laws of the National Assembly were drawn up by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, under the direct guidance of Shoghi Effendi. Moreover, he wanted the clauses of this National Constitution to be adopted by every National Spiritual Assembly. As, the document includes clauses which deal with legal issues related to official incorporated associations in every country, Shoghi Effendi stated that such secondary provisions could be changed by each National Assembly, to conform to the requirements of the law current in its country. But as the document contained basic Bahá'í principles and concepts, these fundamental provisions were to be universally adopted throughout the Bahá'í World. In this context, it is highly significant that the provisions of Article IX of the National By-Laws are as follows: "Where the National Spiritual Assembly has been given in these By-laws exclusive and final jurisdiction and paramount executive authority, in all matters pertaining to the activities and affairs of the Bahá'í Cause in...[the given country], it is understood that any decision made or action taken upon such matters shall be subject in every instance to ultimate review and approval by the Guardian of the Cause or the Universal House of Justice"- (BW, vol13, p.554)

The reason why I am quoting this particular clause, so carefully worded and approved by Shoghi Effendi, is to draw your attention to the word "or" in the last two lines. If the word had been 'and', instead of 'or' you can well imagine the laborious task which all incorporated National Assemblies would have faced with their respective governments, in order to amend the wording of this clause.

I once again repeat that the exclusivity attached to the areas of specific responsibility of each of the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, is one thing, and the extent of infallibility attached to their respective activities on behalf of the promotion and protection of the Faith (WOB p.20) is another thing. Unfortunately these two separate concepts have not been kept separate in some minds and thus some confused thinking has arisen. A moment's reflection on this point would dispel these misgivings.

Questions related:

Q. Could you comment on the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as to when and under what circumstances it was written?

A. The Master's Will and Testament is in three parts. No dates are fixed on the document itself. From the context, however, we could assume that the first part must have been written during the period when the first Commission of Investigation arrived in the Holy Land, i.e. around 1901. The second section must have been clearly written in 1907 when the second Commission of Investigation was sent, because it is in this section where 'Abdu'l-Bahá says that He is "in very great danger". We have no clues so far on the possible period when the third section was written.

Q. Was the first conclave of the Hands of the Cause and the appointment of nine Hands to serve in the Holy Land a fulfilment of the provision in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá?

A. It does not appear to me to be so, because the nine were selected in the light of the availability of those Hands who could be in, or move to the Holy Land, and not through a process of election. Furthermore, the nine elected Hands of the Cause, envisaged in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will, were meant to assist Shoghi Effendi during his lifetime in his work.

Q. How was the unity of the Faith protected during the six or so years between the passing of the Guardian and the election of the Universal House of Justice?

A. The Hands in their messages to the Bahá'í world made it quite clear that since the entire Bahá'í world was engaged in prosecuting the objectives of the Ten Year Plan, all efforts were being exerted under the infallible guidance of Shoghi Effendi's objectives for the Crusade. After the Crusade was over, there was no choice but to establish the Universal House of Justice, so that once again the Bahá'ís of the world would labour under Divine Guidance. It is clear therefore that the unity of the Cause was preserved through nothing other than the power of the Covenant.

Q. If the two cases stolen by the Covenant-Breakers are found, what will be the situation regarding the possible falsification by them of the Holy Texts?

A. This is of course a decision that will be taken by the Universal House of Justice, if the contents of the cases are recovered. Rœhíyyih Khánum often said that Shoghi Effendi had mentioned more than once that there can be no assurance that the texts of the documents had not been tampered with by the Covenant-Breakers.

Q. What happened to the International Bahá'í Council after the passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957?

        A. The International Bahá'í Council continued to exist under the Custodians of the Faith, namely the Hands in the Holy Land, until 1961 when there was an international election by mail by members of National Assemblies existing at the time. This election resulted in a new membership.

Q. Is the institution of the Guardianship embodied in his writings?

A. We cannot say of course that the Guardianship, as an on-going institution, is found in his writings. Just as the office of the Centre of the Covenant is not with us as an on-going institution, but we refer to 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís writings for guidance, in the same way we turn to the writings of Shoghi Effendi, as interpreter of our Faith, for the guidance he has shed on the purport, intent and implications of Those Who had the reins of the Faith in Their Hands, before him.

Q. I think 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave two alternatives of succession after Him, namely, a House of Justice with the Guardian and a House of Justice without him in order to protect Shoghi Effendi after Him. Do you think 'Abdu'l-Bahá knew what will happen to Shoghi Effendi during the latter's ministry?

A. As you know Shoghi Effendi in his Dispensation states "... [I]n the person of Abdu'l-Bahá the incompatible characteristics of human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized". (WOB p. 134) It is obviously impossible for anyone in any discussion to take away from 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís inner reality His "superhuman knowledge and perfection". In the light of this it would be entirely in order, I think, to be confident in the conclusion that 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in His inner being, would have been aware of future events.

As to the question of using two alternatives for the future House of Justice, in light of what happened to the Aghsán, all of whom broke the Covenant during Shoghi Effendi's lifetime, I tend to agree with you that 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís purpose was to protect Shoghi Effendi. During Shoghi Effendi's ministry, there were seven Aghsáns, all grandsons of 'Abdu'l-Bahá: two of them were his own brothers and five of them were male first cousins.

Shoghi Effendi's first reference to "future Guardians" is found in his Dispensation. At that time all the seven contemporary Aghsáns were alive and still outwardly faithful under the Covenant. He also referred to future Guardians in a letter to an individual believer written in November 1948. (LOG pp. 309-310) At that time some Aghsáns were still within the pale of the Faith. Indeed in a letter addressed to the friends in the East, dated Naw-Rœz 105 of the Bahá'í era, that is some eight years before he passed away, Shoghi Effendi wrote a prayer in which he supplicates Bahá'u'lláh that those who have removed themselves from the Bahá'í Fold may have a change of heart, may compensate for what has escaped them and may be reinstated in the Bahá'í community. As you see he was still hoping that some of the Aghsáns would sincerely repent for their past actions -- a possibility which never materialized. As you all know of course, Shoghi Effendi himself had no offspring and therefore he found himself, by force of circumstance, unable to appoint anyone to succeed him as Guardian, in accordance with the provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

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Chapter 3

3. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

On October 18^th 1927, referring to the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly, Shoghi Effendi wrote the following addressing that National Assembly: "You can but faintly imagine how comforting a stimulant and how helpful a guide its publication and circulation will be to those patient and toiling workers in Eastern lands... You can hardly realise how substantially it would contribute to pave the way for the elaboration of the beginnings of the constitution of the worldwide Bahá'í Community that will form the permanent basis upon which the blest and sanctified edifice of the first International House of Justice will securely rest and flourish."- (BA p.143). In a letter referring to the same subject, addressed to the Bahá'ís in Iran, Shoghi Effendi referred to the need for the Persian National Assembly to have its own constitution, and pointed out that the constitution of National Assemblies is the Greater Law of God's Holy Faith, while the constitution of the Universal House of Justice is its Most Great Law. In 1934, when he wrote his "Dispensation", Shoghi Effendi once again referred to the future constitution of the Supreme Body of the Faith.

When the Universal House of Justice was formed in 1963, it was able to launch its first teaching and consolidation Plan in April 1964, which was the Nine-Year Plan. One of the goals of that Plan, set aside as an objective of the World Centre, was to draft the Constitution governing the operation of the House of Justice, as well as the affairs of the worldwide Bahá'í Community. In view of the mounting cares and responsibilities of the Universal House of Justice, and the meticulous concentration required to produce such a vitally important document, it took most of the nine years under this first Plan to bring this project to conclusion.

On November 26^th 1972, the following message was sent to all National Spiritual Assemblies: "WITH GRATEFUL JOYOUS HEARTS ANNOUNCE ENTIRE BAHÁ'Í WORLD ADOPTION PROFOUNDLY SIGNIFICANT STEP IN UNFOLDMENT MISSION SUPREME ORGAN BAHÁ'Í WORLD COMMONWEALTH THROUGH FORMULATION CONSTITUTION UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE. AFTER OFFERING HUMBLE PRAYERS GRATITUDE ON DAY COVENANT AT THREE SACRED THRESHOLDS BAHJI HAIFA, MEMBERS GATHERED COUNCIL CHAMBER PRECINCTS HOUSE BLESSED MASTER, APPENDED THEIR SIGNATURES, FIXED SEAL ON INSTRUMENT ENVISAGED WRITINGS BELOVED GUARDIAN, HAILED BY HIM AS MOST GREAT LAW FAITH BAHÁ'U'LLÁH. FULLY ASSURED MEASURE JUST TAKEN WILL FURTHER REINFORCE TIES BINDING WORLD CENTER TO NATIONAL LOCAL COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT WORLD, RELEASE FRESH ENERGIES, INCREASE ENTHUSIASM CONFIDENCE VALIANT WORKERS HIS DIVINE VINEYARD, LABORING ASSIDUOUSLY BRING MANKIND UNDER SHELTER HIS ALL-GLORIOUS COVENANT"- (MUHJ p.229)

The constitution of the Universal House of Justice was published as a separate document, comprising 14 pages. It was also published in Bahá'í World, Volume XV, Pages 555-564. It has two sections: "The Declaration of Trust", which consists of 5 pages, and the "By-Laws", which consists of 9 pages. The Declaration of Trust has a preamble which is a quotation from the opening paragraphs of Bahá'u'lláh's "Epistle to the Son of the Wolf", described by Shoghi Effendi as: "the last outstanding Tablet revealed by the Pen of Bahá'u'lláh."- (GPB p.219)

This preamble, consisting of Bahá'u'lláh's own Words, I will proceed to quote in full: "IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE ONE, THE IMCOMPARABLE, THE ALL-POWERFUL, THE ALL-KNOWING, THE ALL-WISE. The light that is shed from the heaven of bounty, and the benediction that shineth from the dawning-place of the will of God, the Lord of the Kingdom of Names, rest upon Him Who is the Supreme Mediator, the Most Exalted Pen, Him Whom God hath made the dawning-place of His most excellent names and the dayspring of His most exalted attributes. Through Him the light of unity hath shone forth above the horizon of the world, and the law of oneness hath been revealed amidst the nations, who, with radiant faces, have turned towards the Supreme Horizon, and acknowledged that which the Tongue of Utterance hath spoken in the Kingdom of His knowledge: 'Earth and heaven, glory and dominion, are God's, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, the Lord of grace abounding!"- (ESW p.3)

It is significant that in this passage, Bahá'u'lláh refers to "the light of unity [that] hath shone forth above the horizon of the world, and the law of oneness [that] hath been revealed amidst the nations". Likewise, the reference in the last sentence to "earth and heaven" belonging to God, is also significant, when we recall the words in the Revelation of St. John, which I have already quoted before, giving the promise that a new earth and a new heaven will be manifested. The "earth", beyond any doubt, refers to the earthly civilization that the Cause of God is destined to establish, and the "heaven", mentioned by Bahá'u'lláh in this passage, is undoubtedly the heaven of His new Revelation.

After this potent introductory passage, revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, which is so appropriate as an opening statement to His Most Great Law, the Universal House of Justice expresses its elation and gratitude with the following sentence: "With joyous and thankful hearts we testify to the abundance of God's Mercy, to the perfection of His justice and to the fulfilment of His Ancient Promise". - (CUHJ p.1)

The next paragraph is of 17 lines, in which the following points are solemnly and explicitly made:

1. The Station of Bahá'u'lláh, is clearly defined as described in titles given to Him by Shoghi Effendi in "God Passes By", pages 93-4, such as: "the Fountainhead of Justice, the Creator of a New World Order, the Inspirer and Founder of a World Civilization, the Judge, the Law-Giver, and the Unifier and Redeemer of all mankind".


2. The next point is a reference to Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant and the vital function it performed after His Ascension by canalising the forces revealed by the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh throughout the Heroic and Formative Ages of the Faith.


3. The Universal House of Justice is then specifically mentioned as one of the two Successors of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, under that same Covenant, and the responsibility ordained for it to "safeguard the unity" of the followers of the Faith, and to: "maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings", as clearly stipulated by Shoghi Effendi in his "Dispensation"- (WOB p.148).

The next paragraph is a passage extracted from the Tablet known as "Lawh-i-Maqhœd", revealed in 'Akká, and described by Shoghi Effendi as one of the Tablets revealed by Him as His Mission drew to a close and contained "precepts and principles which lie at the very core of His Faith"- (GPB p.216). This passage is highly relevant as it defines the "fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion". In Bahá'u'lláh's words, this purpose is: "to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race" and "to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men". In the same passage He describes His Faith as "The Straight Path" and I think, His New World Order as "the fixed and immovable foundation" whose "strength" can never be "impaired" nor its structure "undermined" by the "changes and chances of the world" and the "revolution of countless centuries".

The next paragraph is a quotation from 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament in which the sphere of responsibility of the House of Justice has been defined, namely to decide on "all that is not expressly recorded" in the Most Holy Book, and to be the Body to which "everyone must turn".

The following paragraph clearly determines what constitutes "the binding terms of reference of the Universal House of Justice", and which "are its bedrock foundation". These have been identified as "the revealed Word of Bahá'u'lláh" and "the interpretations and expositions" recorded by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi as Interpreters of the Revealed Word. This sentence clearly specifies that Shoghi Effendi was, after 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "the sole authority for the interpretation of Bahá'í Scripture". This sentence further confirms the refusal of the House of Justice to engage in interpreting the Writings.

The last sentence of this paragraph is extremely weighty, as it categorically states: "the authority of these Texts is absolute and immutable until such time as Almighty God shall reveal His new Manifestation, to Whom will belong all authority and power".

The paragraph that follows, calls to mind the passing of Shoghi Effendi without appointing a Guardian of the Cause to succeed him. In view of this circumstance, the Universal House of Justice declares that it is now the "Head of the Faith and its Supreme Institution".

Therefore, the coordination of the work of the Hands of the Cause, the extension into the future of their functions of protection and propagation, and the receipt and disbursement of the Huqœqu'llˆh, would, of necessity, devolve upon the Universal House of Justice.

A word of explanation about the offering and receipt of the Huqœqu'llˆh would, I feel, be appropriate. As you know, the Law of the Huqœq was revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in paragraph 97 on page 55. In this verse, Bahá'u'lláh stipulates that the Huqœq "belonged to God" and had "to be rendered unto Him". Nowhere in the Aqdas, or in His other Writings, does Bahá'u'lláh specify explicitly who should be the recipient of this offering after His Ascension. It was clear, however, that whoever had been specified as Successor of Bahá'u'lláh, namely, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who was the Centre of the Covenant to Whom all must turn, would be, beyond any doubt, the recipient of such payments. In His Will and Testament, 'Abdu'l-Bahá provides for this money offering to be paid "through the Guardian of the Cause of God"- (WTA p.15). This was so because Shoghi Effendi was the institution to whom all were to turn after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

Following the same pattern, the Universal House of Justice, in its capacity as Successor, not only to Shoghi Effendi, but also to 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Bahá'u'lláh, found that it was logically and correctly the Institution destined to receive and expend the Huqœqu'llˆh, in accordance with the spirit and purpose of this Fund, as clearly enunciated in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament, namely "the diffusion of the Fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Word, for benevolent pursuits and for the common weal"- (WTA p.15). In the light of these circumstances, the following Words of Bahá'u'lláh acquire added significance: "There is a prescribed ruling for the Huqœqu'llˆh. After the House of Justice hath come into being, the law thereof will be made manifest, in conformity with the Will of God."-(CH no59)

We have so far discussed the contents of the first six paragraphs of the text of the Constitution. These six paragraphs are followed by five sections which are described as "powers and duties with which the Universal House of Justice has been invested". I must explain here that the Universal House of Justice commissioned its Research Department to compile and present to it each and every statement made in the original texts of Bahá'u'lláh, of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and of Shoghi Effendi on the subject of the Universal House of Justice, its powers, and its duties. Many of these texts had already been translated into English or, as in the case of the writings of Shoghi Effendi, were already available in English. However, a great deal had to be translated and supplied to the House of Justice for its consideration. The contents of these five sections are all, without any exception, based on these texts. I hope that it will not be in the too distant future, when students and scholars of the Faith will be able to identify the powers and duties tabulated in these sections, and to find their roots in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and the interpretive expositions made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi.

It is beyond the scope of my presentation to provide you with a list of references, showing the source of each of the functions of the Supreme Body, as set forth in these five sections. However I will refer to each section separately, and will give you my commentary on any aspect which may need some clarification.

SECTION ONE: "To ensure the preservation of the Sacred Texts and to safeguard their inviolability; to analyse, classify, and coordinate the Writings; and to defend and protect the Cause of God and emancipate it from the fetters of repression and persecution;"- (CUHJ p.5). The preservation of the Sacred Texts is clearly a primary responsibility of the Head of the Faith. This is why Shoghi Effendi constructed the International Archives Building, and later the Universal House of Justice added an extension to that Edifice in order to provide the latest scientific facilities available to preserve papers, documents and artefacts. The word 'inviolability', used in this connection, refers to the need to protect the Sacred Texts from any physical harm, as well as to uphold the sacredness of the Holy Writings, and to preserve their integrity.

The duty to analyse, classify, and coordinate the Writings is of course one which is currently being discharged by the Research Department, for and on behalf of the Universal House of Justice. These functions have their home in the present Edifice around the Arc which is known to the friends as the Centre for the Study of the Texts.

The duty of defending and protecting the Cause of God, is clearly implicit in the Words of Bahá'u'lláh calling on the Men of the House of Justice in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: "O ye Men of Justice! Be ye, in the realm of God, shepherds unto His sheep and guard them... even as ye would guard your own sons"- (KA para52). This section ends with the statement that in the House of Justice is vested the responsibility to emancipate the Faith "from the fetters of repression and persecution", as we discussed yesterday. The second stage in the evolution of the Faith is its emancipation from the fetters of repression. This emancipation will take place when the religious authorities in a given country pronounce and regard the laws and principles of the Faith as separate from and alien to the official established religion of that country. As you know, the steps taken by National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world, and the Bahá'í International Community with its seat in New York—all under the direction of the Universal House of Justice—have succeeded in protecting the Persian Bahá'í community, from the professed intention of the Iranian government to destroy the Cause of God, root and branch, in Bahá'u'lláh's native land. It is of course hoped that these efforts will eventually lead to the emancipation and deliverance of the Persian Bahá'í community from the clutches of a traditional enemy, which has sought to strangulate it, ever since its inception sixteen decades ago.

SECTION TWO: This entire section deals with the obligations of the Universal House of Justice in the three fields of proclamation, expansion and consolidation. A partial and initial implementation of the provisions of this section can be seen through the release of the "Synopsis and Codification of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas" and subsequently the translation into English of its entire text, supported by copious annotations; the dissemination of newly translated texts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, of the Báb, and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá; and more particularly the publication of the book entitled "The Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh" as well as of its two open letters to the peoples of the world and to Religious Leaders.

The reference in this section to the promotion of the spiritual qualities that must characterize individual and collective Bahá'í life, is best exemplified by the importance attached to teaching institutes, study circles, devotional meetings, children's classes, and the division of each homefront into clusters, as called for under the current Plan. As to the last part of this section, regarding cordiality and peace among the nations and the advancement and betterment of the world, these objectives for the time being, on the international level, are being spear-headed by our Bahá'í International Community offices in New York, in Geneva, and selected capitals in Europe.

SECTION THREE: The next section deals with the vital responsibilities of the House of Justice as the highest legislative body of the Faith, as well as the institution to which all must turn for the solution of problems that have caused differences among the friends and for the elucidation of questions that are obscure. As we have already discussed, these functions are embedded in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and the provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

The latter part of the section begins with the duty incumbent upon the House of Justice to safeguard the rights, freedom and initiative of individuals. This opens the way for individuals, if they feel that their essential rights have been trampled upon by decisions of institutions, on the local or national level within a given country, to appeal to the Universal House of Justice for redress of grievances.

The last clause of this section deals with the development of countries and the stability of states. These functions can be discharged effectively by the Universal House of Justice when the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh has been ushered in, the Faith universally acknowledged, and the Universal House of Justice, as the Supreme Organ of that Order, recognised among the nations.

SECTION FOUR: The fourth section is a pronouncement on the duty of the House of Justice to apply the Laws of the Faith as they would progressively become binding (as happened in the case of the Law of Huqœqu'lláh and the ordinances related to obligatory prayers and fasting), and to uphold the ideal of rectitude of conduct which as Shoghi Effendi has written has: "implications of justice, equity, truthfulness, honesty, fair-mindedness, reliability, and trustworthiness"—standards that must distinguish "every phase of the life of the Bahá'í Community"-(ADJ p.19).

This section includes the development of the Spiritual and Administrative Centre of the Bahá'í Faith in the Holy Land. The establishment of the International Teaching Centre following the appointment of Boards of Counsellors, as well as the addition of assistants to Auxiliary Board Members, the erection of new buildings round the Arc, the extension of the gardens in Bahjí, the construction of the Terraces surrounding the Shrine of the Báb, the establishment of two new pilgrim houses in Bahjí and in Haifa, are among some of the more obvious developments of the World Centre that have taken place during the past four decades.

There is a very interesting function included in this section as one of the duties of the House of Justice. It is to ensure that no institution within the Cause may abuse its privileges nor decline in the exercise of its rights and prerogatives. This function of the House of Justice requires both vigilant alertness and appropriate intervention when the vital interests of the Faith are disregarded. The final part of this section deals with the administration of the funds and properties of the Faith, a function which does not need any amplification.

SECTION FIVE: The last section deals with the judiciary powers of the Universal House of Justice in adjudicating disputes, settling differences, enforcing decisions, and applying sanctions, and finally as a crowning obligation, the summing up of the House's judiciary responsibilities with these challenging words: "to be the exponent and guardian of that Divine Justice which can alone ensure the security of, and establish the reign of law and order in, the world". This ends the 5 sections outlining the duties and powers of the Universal House of Justice.

The legislative powers stipulated above will remain vested permanently in the Universal House of Justice. However, none of the provisions prevent the Universal House of Justice from making it possible for separate institutions to be established, on the international level, to assume the executive and judicial responsibilities now discharged by the House of Justice itself.

The paragraph which follows introduces a quotation from Shoghi Effendi's "Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh". In this paragraph three titles for the Members of the House of Justice are given, namely "the Men of Justice", "the people of Bahá...mentioned in the Book of Names", and the "Trustees of God" who are "daysprings of authority". The title "the Men of Justice" is taken from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, paragraph 52. The title "people of Bahá, mentioned in the Book of Names" is taken from the Tablet of Carmel- (GWB p.16). The title "Trustees of God" who are "daysprings of authority" is taken from the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh known as "The Glad-Tidings". The passage appears in the "Thirteenth Glad-Tidings". It is under the same thirteenth 'Glad-Tidings' that Bahá'u'lláh says that: "all matters of State should be referred to the House of Justice". It is likewise in this same passage of the 'Glad-Tidings' that Bahá'u'lláh states: "that which traineth the world is justice, for it is upheld by two pillars, reward and punishment". Finally it is in this same section that Bahá'u'lláh refers to the members of the House of Justice as "the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen kingdom"- (TB p.27).

Regarding the title of the Trustees of the House of Justice, as revealed in the Tablet of Carmel, many friends have asked what the "Book of Names" is, where mention is made of these Trustees. There is a Tablet revealed by The Báb, which is known as 'The Book of Names', but no such reference is found in that document. I will share with you my own understanding of this reference. The word 'Names', in the original, is "Asmá". This word has been translated by Shoghi Effendi sometimes as "Names" and at other times as "Titles", depending on the context. The first would denote divine and heavenly qualities and attributes in such phrases as 'God's Most Excellent Names'. In the latter sense, i.e. 'Titles', it could apply to appellations or accolades bestowed on an individual, as a sign of praise or rank. In the Bahá'í Writings we find such titles as "Centre of the Covenant", "Guardian of the Cause of God", "Hands of the Cause of God", "Houses of Justice", "Trustees of the Merciful", "Knights of Bahá'u'lláh" etc... Thus, the "Book of Names" could be God's Mystical Book in which are recorded the titles and accolades bestowed on His ministers, as well as on promoters, protectors, and/or defenders of His Cause, either individually or as a collective group.

As to the quotation from the 'Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh', beginning with the words "In the conduct of the administrative affairs..." three important points have been incorporated by Shoghi Effendi in this passage. The first is that the members of the Universal House of Justice in the discharge of their functions should be governed by the prayerful promptings of their conscience, and not by the feelings or convictions of those who directly or indirectly elect them, clearly implying thereby, that they are responsible before God and not to those whom they represent. This is a clear negation of one of the essential features of a democratic system. All democracies make the elected responsible to the electorate. This is why referendums are resorted to in democratic systems of government, in order to determine what the popular vote decides on a given issue.

The second point is that they must acquaint themselves with the conditions prevailing among the community. This duty counter-balances referendums, and is a provision incorporated in the system of Bahá'í Administration in order to offset the withdrawal of authority from the mass of the electorate. Obviously the members of the House of Justice have the obligation individually to be alert to the general sentiments and opinions of the community, and institutionally to depend on faithful and sympathetic agencies, such as the Counsellors, to share with them the trends of thought and feeling among the rank and file of the believers.

The third point is the quotation from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, giving the assurance that: "God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth". This is followed by Shoghi Effendi's understanding that the elected members—and I am stressing the word elected in this passage—are "the recipients of the divine guidance which is at once the life-blood and ultimate safeguard of this Revelation".

As you all know, Shoghi Effendi was appointed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to be the Head and member of the Universal House of Justice. He was not an elected member of the Supreme Body. Shoghi Effendi, as interpreter of the Teachings is assuring us that the elected members are recipients of the promised divine guidance.

The last paragraph of the Declaration of Trust, states the date on which the Universal House of Justice was first elected, in accordance with the provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and in response to the call of the Hands of the Cause of God, who were described by Shoghi Effendi as: "the Chief Stewards of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Commonwealth".

This paragraph also quotes two titles given by Shoghi Effendi to the Universal House of Justice, namely the "crowning glory" of the administrative institutions of Bahá'u'lláh and the "nucleus and forerunner of His World Order".

Following this paragraph is a space where the nine members who were in office on the 26^th November 1972, namely the Day of the Covenant, have signed their names in alphabetical order. The last paragraph gives the date of the document and that it was signed in the City of Haifa. The last feature of the document is the impression of the seal of the Universal House of Justice.

Annexed to the Declaration of Trust, is the nine-page document, which contains the By-Laws of the Constitution. The preamble to the By-Laws is followed by eleven main clauses, as follows:

1. MEMBERSHIP IN THE BAHÁ'Í COMMUNITY
2. LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES
3. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES
4. OBLIGATIONS OF MEMBERS OF SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES
5. THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE- (consisting of six sub-clauses).
6. BAHÁ'Í ELECTIONS
7. THE RIGHT OF REVIEW
8. APPEALS
9. THE BOARDS OF COUNSELLORS
10. THE AUXILLARY BOARDS
11. AMENDMENT

Some of these clauses, which deal with general issues, such as membership in the community, Local and National Assemblies and their obligations, and the methods of Bahá'í elections and appeals, I will not go into, as they are matters of common knowledge and experience of Bahá'ís in every land. I will confine my comments to those clauses which deal directly with the work and sphere of authority of the Universal House of Justice.

We will first deal with the brief preamble which gives a concise and complete definition of the Administrative Order, as it is operating in the Bahá'í World at this time. The first paragraph refers to the House of Justice as the "Supreme Institution of the Administrative Order". This Order, the preamble states, consists of two parts: (1) Elected Councils on local, national and international levels, invested with all three powers, namely, legislative, executive and judicial, and (2) Individual believers appointed for the specific tasks of protecting and propagating the Faith.

The second paragraph defines the relationship of the Administrative Order to the World Order, the former being the nucleus and pattern of the latter. This Administrative Order is described as both divinely propelled and organically expanding. This development will be realised through the establishment of auxiliary and subordinate agencies, as well as by the multiplication and diversification of Bahá'í functions—all designed to promote the progress of the human race.

We have to pass over the first four clauses as indicated earlier, and deal with clause V, which, as mentioned, has six sub-clauses. The introduction to this clause states that the membership of the Body consists of "nine men" elected from the world-wide Bahá'í community. These members are elected by the members of all National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world. Every male adult Bahá'í in good-standing throughout the world is eligible for election. It is of course well known to Bahá'ís that the number in the future could exceed nine, as stated in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, "should it exceed this number it doth not matter"-(KA para30).

The question, as you all know, is often asked why it is that the membership of the Supreme Body is confined to men. In my experience the wisest way to answer this query is to quote 'Abdu'l-Bahá: "the House of Justice... according to the explicit text of the Law of God is confined to men; this for a wisdom of the Lord God's, which will ere long be made manifest as clearly as the sun at high noon"- (SWAB p.80). This statement by the Master closes the door to speculation and argumentation. I think what 'Abdu'l-Bahá means is that neither humanity, nor the Bahá'í community has reached their stage of maturity. At such a stage, the age of wise judgement and well balanced discretion, on the part of a fast-evolving world, would be reached, and it would then become crystal clear as to why Bahá'u'lláh included this provision in His Code of Laws.

As I said earlier, this clause has six sub-clauses, and most sub-clauses are divided into subsidiary sections. The first sub-clause has nine sub-sections from (a) to (i). The important points in these sub-sections are as follows:

1. The election of the Universal House of Justice is held every five years unless otherwise decided by the Supreme Body. In such a case the elected members shall continue in office, until their successors are elected and can have their first meeting.


2. The principal business of the International Convention is the election of the House Members, deliberation on the affairs of the Cause and submission of recommendations for consideration by the Universal House of Justice.


3. If at the time of the election, the House of Justice considers it impractical or unwise to hold the Convention, it shall determine how the election should take place. On this point, as you all know, for the first time since the House of Justice was formed, the holding of the International Convention, in view of the high insecurity prevailing in the country and the grave dangers involved in international travelling during the month of April 2003, was considered both impractical and unwise, and therefore, the House of Justice decided not to hold the convention, and instructed members of National Spiritual Assemblies to cast their ballots by mail.


4. If a member of a National Assembly, who has cast his ballot by mail, subsequently ceases to be a member of the Assembly, his ballot shall remain valid unless, in the meantime, the successor shall have been elected and the ballot of the letter received in Haifa.


5. In case of a tie vote, or votes, additional balloting will be held on the persons tied. As National Conventions, on the years when the International Convention is convened, are held at a date soon after the Ridván period, the electors in such a case would be the members of the newly elected members of the National Assembly.

The second sub-clause deals with vacancies in the membership of the Universal House of Justice. Four possibilities are envisaged: (1) Death of a member, (2) Dismissal of a member by the House of Justice, if he has committed a sin injurious to the common weal, (3) Removal of a member from membership, if the House of Justice considers him to be unable to fulfil his functions, and (4) Relinquishment of membership by a member, with the approval of the House of Justice. As you all know, the first and fourth eventualities have occurred in the past, but the second and third have not yet ever happened, and let us hope that they will never need to be implemented.

The next sub-clause deals with By-Elections. If a vacancy occurs between two International Conventions, the voters shall be the voters of the National Assemblies in office. If, in the judgement of the Universal House of Justice, the date falls too close to the date of the regular International Convention, it may not proceed with the by-election. In such cases, the Universal House of Justice would be functioning during such a short period in question, with, say, only eight members.

The next sub-section lays down procedures for the first meeting of the House of Justice after election, and clearly stipulates that it has no officers and that its meetings are therefore conducted in a manner decided by the House of Justice itself. It is common knowledge that at this time in the evolution of the work of the House of Justice the chairmanship rotates among the members, in alphabetical order on a weekly basis.

This sub-clause provides for quorums of less than the full membership, for specific classes of business. It enables members of the House to take annual leave or at periods they may wish to determine, without hampering the day to day work of the Supreme Body. This does not prevent the Universal House of Justice from contacting absent members by phone or otherwise, for their input on issues under consideration.

The last two sub-clauses deal with the signature of the letters written by the Universal House of Justice itself in either English or Persian, and the need in each case to affix the Seal of the Supreme Body. The Universal House of Justice itself also lays down specific methods for the recording of its own decisions.

The next section, which is unique to the work of the House of Justice is clause VII, entitled 'The Right of Review'. This clause is in two parts, the first part is an extension of a similar article in all National Constitutions, giving the right to the Head of the Faith to modify or even reverse decisions or actions taken by subsidiary agencies of the Administrative Order. The second part anticipates the possibility of a Spiritual Assembly, National or Local, failing to take action or reach a decision on an issue which, at the discretion of the Universal House of Justice is vital to the interests of the Faith and calls for specific action to be taken. In such cases the Universal House of Justice gives itself the right to take action directly in the matter.

We will now deal with the last three clauses of the By-Laws, namely section IX: The Boards of Counsellors; section X: The Auxiliary Boards; and section XI: Amendment. Section IX provides for the appointment by the House of Justice of individual Bahá'ís who can be entrusted with the functions of protection and propagation of the Faith, as assigned to the Hands of the Cause of God, in accordance with the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Each Counsellor is expected to carry out his duties within the zone where he resides. Terms of office are determined by the House of Justice. As you know, the current term is five years. This clause further stipulates that the work of a Counsellor renders him ineligible for service on Local or National administrative bodies. If he is elected to the Universal House of Justice, he obviously has to relinquish his status as a Counsellor.

Section X defines the functions of Auxiliary Board members as deputies, assistants and advisors of the Counsellors. Each Auxiliary Board member is allotted a specific area in which to serve. An Auxiliary Board member, unlike a Counsellor, is eligible for any elective office. If so elected, he must decide whether to remain on the Board or accept the elective post. Similarly, if elected to the Universal House of Justice he automatically relinquishes his status as an Auxiliary Board member. As you all know the current term for Auxiliary Board members is also five years.

Furthermore, as indicated by Shoghi Effendi, there are two Boards, one for the protection, and one for the propagation of the Faith. The number of Auxiliary Boards for each continent is decided by the Universal House of Justice. The Counsellors in their turn divide this number throughout their area of responsibility, as the need in each area may indicate.

The last clause stipulates that all amendments may be made only when the full membership of the House of Justice is present. The constitution of the House of Justice, in its present form, has not yet been amended. However two important decisions, affecting the Boards of Counsellors and Auxiliary Boards, have already been taken by the House of Justice, which with the of passing of time will undoubtedly be incorporated in the Constitution, as amendments to its clauses. One is the establishment of the International Teaching Centre in the Holy Land, and the other is the permission given to Auxiliary Board members to appoint assistants. These provisions do not appear in the present Constitution as these decisions were adopted after the formulation of the Constitution in November 1972.

Questions related:

Q. Are the three functions of the House of Justice: legislative, executive and judicial set down in the Writings?

A. In 'The Unfoldment of World Civilization' (WOB p. 203) Shoghi Effendi describes the principal institutions of the Bahá'í World Commonwealth as the "world legislature", the "world executive", and the "world tribunal".

In a statement published in every volume of "The Bahá'í World" during the lifetime of Shoghi Effendi entitled "A procedure for the Conduct of a Local Spiritual Assembly" we find reference to the three separate powers of every Spiritual Assembly. For example in volume 12, on page 297 (the last volume published in the lifetime of Shoghi Effendi) we find the statement in question.

Q. Will the Universal House of Justice recognize the future Manifestation of God?

A. I have not seen anything in the Writings on this subject. However when a pilgrim asked Shoghi Effendi this very question he said that the Universal House of Justice will surely recognize the new Manifestation of God and introduce Him to the community. Whether or not the rank and file will accept Him is a matter of speculation and I do not wish to go into this area.

Q. According to what criteria does the Universal House of Justice decide on the length of teaching plans?

A. Obviously the House of Justice takes into consideration a variety of factors, such as the strengths and weaknesses of the Bahá'í community, the trends in world developments, and the possibilities of the future as the Faith moves towards its destiny.

Q. What is the precise difference, as stated in the Constitution, between elucidation and interpretation? How can we be sure that we are not interpreting the Writings, when we deepen?

A. As you all know Shoghi Effendi had two main objectives animating his ministry: the establishment of the Universal House of Justice and the systematic launching of the provisions of the Tablets of the Divine Plan. He was endowed with a gift of knowing the mind of Bahá'u'lláh and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Indeed I think he gives us a definition of interpretation in his "Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh" where he clearly states that "the Guardian has been specifically endowed with such power as he may need to reveal the purport and disclose the implications of the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá". (WOB p. 151) This is a gift bestowed upon the Guardian and on 'Abdu'l-Bahá before him, because they both knew and were able to disclose what the nature and scope were of the vision inherent in God's Holy Faith.

As to elucidation we have already seen how Shoghi Effendi says that the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá had concealed mysteries which would be unveiled gradually after the election of the Universal House of Justice. The letters of the House of Justice published in the volume of its messages on the question of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice can well be regarded as elucidations. Another instance would be the reference in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as well as in other of His utterances concerning the World Tribunal. In one of his letters to the American National Assembly Shoghi Effendi stated: " Touching the point raised in the Secretary's letter regarding the nature and scope of the Universal Court of Arbitration, this and other similar matters will have to be explained and elucidated by the Universal House of Justice, to which, according to the Master's explicit instructions, all important and fundamental questions must be referred". (BA p.47) There are a number of questions that normally would come to mind about such a universal court or tribunal. Who will elect or appoint it? Will it have a term of office? Will women as well as men be eligible for membership? What will be its relationship to the Universal House of Justice? These are unsettled and obscure matters, and the Will and Testament has clearly stated "all difficult problems" (WTA p. 14) as well as "all problems which have caused difference" (W&T p. 20) and "questions that are obscure" (WTA p. 20) will be resolved through legislation on the part of the Universal House of Justice.

Regarding study circles or deepening courses and the interpretation given by individual participants, this is a completely different situation. In such discussions we are not only permitted to offer our understanding of the texts, but we are encouraged to do so. What is prohibited in the Cause is for an individual or group of individuals to offer interpretations, claim that they are authoritative and engage in promoting such opinions among the friends. The use of our mental faculties in trying to understand a sacred text is a healthy exercise.

Q. Compared to other institutions of which you have been a member did you feel a difference in the consultations in the Universal House of Justice?

A. I do not recall anyone asking me this question before. I have already quoted the verse of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in which He comments about the attitude of the members of Local Spiritual Assemblies. As you recall Bahá'u'lláh says : " They should consider themselves as entering the Court of the presence of God, the Exalted, the Most High, and as beholding Him Who is the Unseen." (KA para.30) Being aware of the presence of the Blessed Beauty in Council Chambers of Spiritual Assemblies, as well as that of the Universal House of Justice is a spiritual obligation placed on the shoulders of the elected members. It is true, however, that entering the Council Chamber of the Universal House of Justice and being privileged to participate in its consultations enables the member to become more intensely aware of the Presence of the Spirit of the Founder of our Faith. How wonderful it will be when an ever increasing number of local and national spiritual assemblies will attain that degree of spiritual consciousness enabling the members to follow the exhortation of Bahá'u'lláh in His Most Holy Book. When consultations are held in such an atmosphere, Divine confirmations and guidance are sure to surround the deliberations of the members and the actions taken by the Assembly. In one of His Tablets after enumerating the spiritual obligations of the members of consulting councils 'Abdu'l-Bahá says: "Should they endeavour to fulfil these conditions, the Grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them and that Assembly shall become the centre of the Divine blessings, the hosts of Divine confirmation shall come to their aid, and they shall day by day receive a new effusion of Spirit". (BA pp. 22-23)

Q. Does the House of Justice refer to the Bayán as well as the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh?

A. As you know one of the buildings around the Arc is the edifice for the Centre of the Study of the Texts. The Research Department of the Universal House of Justice has its offices in that building. This Department specializes in providing the Universal House of Justice with texts which bear directly or indirectly upon subjects that the House of Justice feels it needs in addressing an issue of legislation or bordering on legislation. The Research Department also provides the House of Justice with extracts from the Writings of past religions, including that of the Báb, as may be indicated.

The work of the House of Justice, as you all know, can also relate to matters that are secular or scientific in character, calling for knowledge in various fields. Such data and information is usually beyond the scope of the Research Department and is referred to another institution which will, in the years to come, be built around the Arc. It is because of this need that the Universal House of Justice in a letter to the Bahá'í world dated August 31, 1987 stated the following in describing the immediate and future responsibilities of the International Bahá'í Library: "This Library is the central depository of all literature published on the Faith, and is an essential source of information for the institutions of the World Centre on all subjects relating to the Cause of God and the conditions of mankind. In future decades its functions must grow, it will serve as an active centre for knowledge in all fields, and it will become the kernel of great institutions of scientific investigation and discovery." (WH p. 52) The International Library is currently housed in the Centre for the Study of the Texts, but in the future it will have its own separate building, facing the Archives Building.

With the above in mind we can visualize the Universal House of Justice in the centre of the Arc buildings. On its left is the Centre for the Study of the Texts which provides it with information on religious scripture. On the right it is flanked by an institution which provides it with information in the scientific and secular fields of knowledge. Thus on the Mountain of God we see the union of religion and science serving the Supreme Body of the Faith.

Q. Are the Boards of Counsellors a different institution from the Hands of the Cause?

A. According to the Master's Will and Testament the Hands of the Cause are appointed by the Guardian. No term of office was stipulated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and therefore those nominated continued in office for the rest of their lives, as happened in the case of Hands of the Cause appointed by Bahá'u'lláh. The Counsellors as you know are appointed by the Universal House of Justice for a term of five years.

Furthermore the Hands of the Cause, as we have seen, were due to elect nine from among their number who would give their assent to the choice of a successor of the Guardian. Such an authority has not been vested in the institution of the Counsellors.

A third distinction is that according to the terms of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will, the Hands of the Cause had been empowered to expel anyone opposing the Guardian, even if that person had the rank of Hand of the Cause. This provision of the Will and Testament was put into effect by the Hands, when it was necessary to expel Mason Remey, because of the latter's claim to the Guardianship. Such authority of expulsion has not been given to the institution of the Counsellors.

Q. How often does the House of Justice meet? Why are decisions of the House of Justice recorded?

A. The House of Justice meets at this time three days a week, and depending on its agenda, for the whole day. This pattern may change in the future as there is no text on this matter. Obviously all decisions of the House of Justice have to have some documentation. The method of recording such decisions can of course change from time to time.

Q. With regard to vacancies on the membership of the Universal House of Justice, what might "a sin injurious to the commonweal" be?

A. This phrase is of course taken from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It is left to the Universal House of Justice to determine whether misbehaviour or misconduct of one of its members is of a magnitude that would cause harm to the well being of the Faith. Each case will naturally be considered separately and, as far as I am aware, no specific definition has been given by the House of Justice on this issue.

Q. The Universal House of Justice has no officers. What are "officers" in this context?

A. This term is with reference to the by-laws of National and Local Spiritual Assemblies and the intent is clearly the usual officers of Bahá'í consultative bodies, namely, Chairman, Vice-chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. The House of Justice has no chairman and the office of chairmanship rotates among the members on a weekly basis in alphabetical order. The work of the Secretary and Treasurer is so vast and complex that special departments have been established to carry on the duties related to these functions. These departments operate under separate Policy Committees composed of House Members which direct and supervise the work of these departments. It should be pointed out in this connection that all matters not specified in the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice are normally matters of detail and can be changed from time to time by the House of Justice itself, as the needs may arise.

Q. How shall we understand the concept of "infallibility"?

A. Bahá'u'lláh in the Tablet of Ishráqát explains that infallibility has "diverse stations". (TB p. 108) In Some Answered Questions in Chapter 45 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains that there are two kinds of infallibility: "essential" and "acquired". The essential kind is one of the distinctive powers of the Manifestation of God, and no one is given a share in this distinction. Acquired infallibility is conferred upon those who do not possess essentially the Divine Light but receive that light indirectly from its Source. 'Abdu'l-Bahá says in that chapter that such souls are "mediators of grace between God and men". He goes on to say: "If God did not protect them from error, their error would cause believing souls to fall into error and thus the foundation of the Religion of God would be overturned, which would not be fitting nor worthy of God."

In the same chapter 'Abdu'l-Bahá gives two examples of those who possess acquired infallibility. For the Bahá'í Faith He mentions the Institution of the Universal House of Justice whose decisions are "under the protection and the unerring guidance of God". The other example given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá is in the context of the Christian Dispensation and is with reference to Christ who was the source of God's "command" possessing the Most Great Infallibility and His disciples who were under His shadow, and on whom He conferred His special grace. It is interesting in this connection to note that the disciples of Christ and the Imams of the Mu?ammadan Faith are mentioned as belonging to the one and same category in their respective Dispensations. (SAQ Ch. 11)

It is worthy of note that the authority conveyed to the disciples of Christ, as recorded in the New Testament is expressed in the following words addressed by Him to His disciples: "Verily I say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (New Testament, Matthew Ch. 18 verse 18)

I suppose there are many other ways to understand the concept of infallibility in the Cause but what I have shared with you is my own simple and inadequate understanding of this subject. I suppose that in the future, this all important theme will be explored more fully by the scholars of the Faith and possibly further elucidated by the Universal House of Justice itself, if it felt it was necessary to do so.

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Chapter 4

4. THE BAHÁ'Í ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER IN CONTRAST TO RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR SYSTEMS

I thought we should begin our discussion by recalling some of the words of Bahá'u'lláh regarding the newness and freshness of His Revelation. A few extracts will satisfy our purpose. We read, for example: "Through the movement of Our Pen of glory We have, at the bidding of the omnipotent Ordainer, breathed a new life into every human frame, and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things proclaim the evidences of this world-wide regeneration... He hath lent a fresh impulse, and set a new direction to the birds of men's hearts... The whole earth is illuminated with the resplendent glory of God's Revelation... Behold how the generality of mankind hath been endued with the capacity to hearken unto God's most exalted Word—the Word upon which must depend the gathering together and spiritual resurrection of all men"- (GWB pp.92-7).

'Abdu'l-Bahá adds His voice to that of His Father: "In every Dispensation the light of Divine Guidance has been focused upon one central theme... In this wondrous Revelation... the foundation of the Faith of God and the distinguishing feature of His Law is the consciousness of the oneness of mankind"- (WOB p.36).

In the original texts, a word which appears quite often to denote the newness and uniqueness of the Faith and its wondrous message is the word "Badí' ". For example, the title given to the new Bahá'í calendar is "the "Badí'" Calendar. We also see Bahá'u'lláh bestowing the title "Badí'" on the 17 year-old youth who was the bearer of His Tablet to the Sháh of Persia. And referring to "Badí' ", and as if to expound the meaning of this title, He wrote in one of His Tablets that "the spirit of might and power was breathed" in him- (GPB p.199). This word has been translated into English by Shoghi Effendi in various ways depending upon the context. The equivalents he has given are "new", "wondrous", "wonderful", "marvellous", "incomparable", and "peerless". For example the "New World Order" in the original is God's "Badí'" World Order.

It would be helpful to cast a quick glance on the titles found in former scriptures, defining the Station of Bahá'u'lláh and the uniqueness of His Day. For example Isaiah refers to Him as "the Wonderful" and "the Prince of Peace". Haggai refers to Him as the "Desire for all nations". Ezekiel extols Him as "the Lord Who shall be king over all the earth".

Zoroaster prophesizes that the Promised One will "usher in an era of blessedness and peace".

Jesus Christ, in the Lord's Prayer, prays for the Father's "Kingdom" to come, and refers to His Day as a period of "regeneration". Christ's chief Apostle, Peter, refers to His Day as the "times of refreshing and of restitution of all things". St. John, the Divine, refers to His Revelation as well as His Law as "a new heaven and a new earth".

Muhammad describes His Day as a time "when the earth shall shine with the light of her Lord", "when thou shalt see the earth becoming another earth".

Bahá'u'lláh Himself, referring to His Day, calls it the "Springtime which autumn will never overtake", the "Day which shall never be followed by night" and "the eye to past ages and centuries". He bestows on the City of Tíhrán, where He was born, the surname of "the mother of the world" as well as the "the source of the joy of all mankind"- (GPB pp.94-102-for all above quotations).

He further proclaims "I testify before God, to the greatness, the inconceivable greatness of this Revelation. Again and again have We in most of Our Tablets borne witness to this truth, that mankind may be roused from its heedlessness"- (WOB p.103), "The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation. Storms of human strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor will men's fanciful theories succeed in damaging its structure"- (WOB p.109), "The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will, raised up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save God, the All-Powerful, the Self-Subsisting"- (WOB p.110).

The Words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá are equally emphatic on this important theme. He writes: "The effulgence of God's splendorous mercy hath enveloped the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and the whole world is bathed in its shining glory..."- (WOB p.110), "Centuries, nay ages, must pass away ere the Day-Star of Truth shineth again in its mid-summer splendour or appeareth once more in the radiance of its vernal glory... How thankful must we be for having been made in this day the recipients of so overwhelming a favour"- (WOB p.111), "Whatsoever is latent in the innermost of this holy cycle shall gradually appear and be made manifest, for now is but the beginning of its growth and the dayspring of the revelation of its signs"- (WOB p.146).

Shoghi Effendi extols Bahá'u'lláh in titles such as these: "the Fountain of the Most Great Justice", the "Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human race" and the "Organizer of the entire planet"- (GPB p.93).

Against this panoramic view of the vastness, greatness and uniqueness of the Dispensation inaugurated by Bahá'u'lláh, we should look with our finite minds at the wondrous Order which He has bequeathed to mankind. We must recall that the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh is mentioned in the very first sentence of His Kitáb-i-'Ahd. Shoghi Effendi has identified the "excellent and priceless heritage" in that sentence, as Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant bequeathed by Him to His "heirs"- (GPB p.314). It is important to realize that we are Bahá'u'lláh's "heirs", and that the "heritage" He hath bequeathed to us is His Covenant.

The Administrative Order is the child of that Covenant, the fruition of God's Covenant for this Day. The Bahá'í Covenant was unique and 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us that it is "one of the distinctive features of this most mighty cycle", a Covenant, "the like of which the sacred Dispensations of the past have never witnessed"- (GPB p.239).

Proclaiming the wondrous and unique character of this Order, Bahá'u'lláh has written in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: "The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous system—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed"- (KA para181).

Of all the living religions in the world, Christianity and Islam are the two religions whose followers cherish in their hearts the aspiration of conquering the hearts of all men and of promoting their Faith to make it the dominant religion throughout the planet. They have an elaborate system of missionary work in most countries of the third world. This activity involves building, for example, schools and hospitals open to only those who are ready to convert, grants of free scholarships for advanced studies abroad, distribution of free literature, and erection of prayer houses, such as churches and mosques.

In recent decades, Buddhism has succeeded in winning converts, particularly in the West, but far from being aggressively pursuing activities aimed at a world-unifying system of Buddhism in the world, it remains merely as a gentle philosophy, primarily concerned with mental and moral self-purification. It appears to me that it is because of the above observation that Shoghi Effendi confines himself to a comparison of the Bahá'í System of world solidarity only to the religious organizations we find in Christianity and Islam.

In comparing the Administrative Order of the Faith with systems of administration established by Christianity and Islam, Shoghi Effendi, in his letter of March 1930 to the friends throughout the West, invites them to consider the following questions: "Where and how does this Order established by Bahá'u'lláh, which to outward seeming is but a replica of the institutions established in Christianity and Islam, differ from them? Are not the twin institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship, the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, the institution of the national and local Assemblies, the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, but different names for the institutions of the Papacy and the Caliphate, with all their attending ecclesiastical orders which the Christians and Moslems uphold and advocate? What can possibly be the agency that can safeguard these Bahá'í institutions, so strikingly resemblant, in some of their features, to those which have been reared by the Fathers of the Church and the Apostles of Muhammad, from witnessing the deterioration in character, the breach of unity, and the extinction of influence, which have befallen all organized religious hierarchies? Why should they not eventually suffer the self-same fate that has overtaken the institutions which the successors of Christ and Muhammad have reared?"- (WOB pp.18-19)

Turning his incisive mind on the weaknesses of the Christian Dispensation, Shoghi Effendi wrote the following: "None, I feel, will question the fact that the fundamental reason why the unity of the Church of Christ was irretrievably shattered, and its influence was in the course of time undermined, was that the Edifice which the Fathers of the Church reared after the passing of His First Apostle was an Edifice that rested in nowise upon the explicit directions of Christ Himself. The authority and features of their administration were wholly inferred, and indirectly derived, with more or less justification, from certain vague and fragmentary references which they found scattered amongst His utterances as recorded in the Gospel. Not one of the sacraments of the Church; not one of the rites and ceremonies which the Christian Fathers have elaborately devised and ostentatiously observed; not one of the elements of the severe discipline they rigorously imposed upon the primitive Christians; none of these reposed on the direct authority of Christ, or emanated from His specific utterances. Not one of these did Christ conceive, none did He specifically invest with sufficient authority to either interpret His Word, or to add to what He had not specifically enjoined"- (WOB p.20).

Commenting on the inherent faults in the administration of the Muhammadan Dispensation, Shoghi Effendi wrote the following: "In the Muhammadan Revelation... although His Faith as compared with that of Christ was, so far as the administration of His Dispensation is concerned, more complete and more specific in its provisions, yet in the matter of succession, it gave no written, no binding and conclusive instructions to those whose mission was to propagate His Cause. For the text of the Qur'án, the ordinances of which regarding prayer, fasting, marriage, divorce, inheritance, pilgrimage, and the like, have after the revolution of thirteen hundred years remained intact and operative, gives no definite guidance regarding the Law of Succession, the source of all the dissensions, the controversies, and schisms which have dismembered and discredited Islam"- (WOB p.21).

Summarising his thoughts on the subject, the Guardian wrote the following: "The Administrative Order... it should be noted, is, by virtue of its origin and character, unique in the annals of the world's religious systems. No Prophet before Bahá'u'lláh, it can be confidently asserted... has established, authoritatively and in writing, anything comparable to the Administrative Order which the authorized Interpreter of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings has instituted, an Order which, by virtue of the administrative principles which its Author has formulated, the institutions He has established, and the right of interpretation with which He has invested its Guardian, must and will, in a manner unparalleled in any previous religion, safeguard from schism the Faith from which it has sprung"- (GPB p.326).

These words of Shoghi Effendi are weapons and tools with which we can proclaim the Cause, and defend its interests. He further states: "[U]nlike all the Dispensations of the past, the apostles of Bahá'u'lláh in every land, wherever they labour and toil, have before them in clear, in unequivocal and emphatic language, all the laws, the regulations, the principles, the institutions, the guidance, they require for the prosecution and consummation of their task. Both in the administrative provisions of the Bahá'í Dispensation, and in the matter of succession, as embodied in the twin institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship, the followers of Bahá'u'lláh can summon to their aid such irrefutable evidences of Divine Guidance that none can resist, that none can belittle or ignore. Therein lies the distinguishing feature of the Bahá'í Revelation. Therein lies the strength of the unity of the Faith, of the validity of a Revelation that claims not to destroy or belittle previous Revelations, but to connect, unify, and fulfil them"- (WOB21-2). The Báb has expounded a fundamental truth in His Persian Bayán: He wrote: "The path to guidance is one of love and compassion, not of force and coercion. This hath been God's method in the past, and shall continue to be in the future" (SWB p.77).

Unfortunately in the history of past religions we have seen all forms of coercion used by religious leaders, and by rulers who were influenced by them. The main reason was that no specific Covenant, no authoritative central authority existed to keep the faithful on the straight path.

Another result of the absence of a documented Covenant in previous Dispensations was that religious leaders resorted to producing and promoting individual interpretations. Quite often such interpretations were contradictory and led to sectarianism, religious conflict and even warfare, within the ranks of the same religion.

The distinctive feature of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation is His "heritage" to us, "His heirs", that is His Covenant. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Mystery of God, is its Centre, and from it have issued forth two subordinate agencies, the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. These two entities, while orbiting and revolving around the Centre of the Covenant, receive their inspiration directly from Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, as clearly stipulated in the Master's Will and Testament.

We can perhaps conclude by saying that God's "Revelation" (va?y) is like heaven, and is represented by the appearance of the Twin Manifestations or Suns of this Dispensation, the Central One being Bahá'u'lláh. Every heaven has an earth. The earth of God's Revelation, is His world of "creation" or the community of its supporters and followers.

Between the two worlds of "Revelation" and "Creation", is the world of "Inspiration" (Ilhám). In this Dispensation, "Inspiration" is represented first and foremost, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the "Moon" of God's Holy Dispensation, and the Being "round Whom all names revolve" (WOB p.134)

The satellites that revolve round the "Moon" are the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. These two entities, while orbiting the Moon, receive their inspiration, as I just said, directly from Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, as attested by the Master's Will and Testament. We could finally give ourselves the courage to infer from the above, that the intermediate world of "inspiration" which is between heaven and earth, is the world of "what lieth between them", repeatedly referred to in the Writings of the Báb.

We should now turn our thoughts to secular forms of government currently established in the world. We will show the similarities and dissimilarities which exist between them and the Bahá'í Administrative Order. Fortunately, Shoghi Effendi has written extensively on this subject. He refers in his "Dispensation" to the three standard types of government referred to by Aristotle in his works, namely democracy, aristocracy and autocracy. He then goes on to show where wholesome elements of these forms of government have been preserved and where their inherent defects have been eliminated.

He writes: "This new-born Administrative Order incorporates within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the three recognized forms of secular government, without being in any sense a mere replica of any one of them, and without introducing within its machinery any of the objectionable features which they inherently possess. It blends and harmonizes, as no government fashioned by mortal hands has as yet accomplished, the salutary truths which each of these systems undoubtedly contains without vitiating the integrity of those God-given verities on which it is ultimately founded."- (WOB p.152)

Shoghi Effendi, commenting on the unique character of the Administrative Order, has given us this further insight: "Neither in theory nor in practice can the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh be said to conform to any type of democratic government, to any system of autocracy,[or] to any purely aristocratic order... The hereditary authority which the Guardian of the Administrative Order is called upon to exercise, and the right of the interpretation of the Holy Writ solely conferred upon him; the powers and prerogatives of the Universal House of Justice, possessing the exclusive right to legislate on matters not explicitly revealed in the Most Holy Book; the ordinance exempting its members from any responsibility to those whom they represent, and from the obligation to conform to their views, convictions or sentiments; the specific provisions requiring the free and democratic election by the mass of the faithful of the Body that constitutes the sole legislative organ in the world-wide Bahá'í community -- these are among the features which combine to set apart the Order identified with the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh from any of the existing systems of human government"- (GPB p.326).

It would be useful to consider the definition of the terms which describe the three forms of standard secular government, as determined by Aristotle. "Democracy" is government by the people, of the people, and for the people. "Aristocracy" is government by a selected few, who by virtue of their exceptionally high privileges, act independently of the views and opinions of the people. "Autocracy" is government by one person or one agency, whose judgement is not dependent on the authority or control of others. Thus, the area of authority of the three forms of government ranges from all people, to a selected few, and finally to one entity.

What remains to be examined is to identify such features of the Administrative Order as are found in the three forms of secular government and are regarded as wholesome, in character, and those aspects which are considered deficient and therefore not incorporated in the Bahá'í system.

I recall discussions on this subject during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi and the manner in which students and scholars of the Faith identified these features. "Autocracy" was seen, in its divinely ordained form, in the institution of the Guardianship. "Aristocracy" was identified with the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God. "Democracy" was associated with the elected members of the Universal House of Justice.

However, after the passing of Shoghi Effendi and the realization that the Guardianship was no more with us as an ongoing institution, and furthermore when the House of Justice decided that it could not appoint, or make it possible to appoint, Hands of the Cause of God, it was clear that these elements of the Administrative Order, as they existed during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi, could not be replicated after his passing.

In other words, just as the rudiments of the Administrative Order, as they existed during the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá were temporary, likewise the scheme of Bahá'í Administration, as it was operative during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi, could not be duplicated.

This point appeared in even sharper relief when in Shoghi Effendi's "Dispensation" it was particularly noted that before introducing his theme on the differences between the Administrative Order and the three forms of secular government, he had clearly stated that his intention was to clarify the "theory" on which the Administrative Order is based- (WOB p.152). Therefore we all had to look at the basic principles governing the chief existing institutions of the Administrative Order, in anticipation of the future when it will become the nucleus and pattern of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.

For example, Shoghi Effendi clearly points out in the "Dispensation" that the basis on which the Bahá'í Administrative Order has been structured, makes it inclined "to democratic methods in the administration of its affairs"- (WOB p.154). However when one reads the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the subject of the range of authority of the Guardian of the Faith, one can easily notice that he was invested with unchallengeable powers, in his relations to the Hands of the Cause whom he appoints and can dismiss at his own discretion, as well as to the elected members of the House of Justice who are required "to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him"- (WTA p.11). In this act of obedience, according to the Will and Testament, all the friends are included, and indeed, as the Will stipulates, "all the Aghsán, the Afnán [and] the Hands of the Cause of God", should abide by the decisions and guidance of the Guardian of the Cause- (WTA11). The Guardian was further empowered, according to the terms of the Will, to expel any member of the House of Justice who, in his estimation, had committed "a sin injurious to the common weal"- (WTA p.14). Surely such a scenario characterizes the Bahá'í Administrative Order as a System leaning not towards democratic practices, but inclined heavily towards autocratic methods in the administration of the Cause.

We should also recall that Shoghi Effendi, in his "Dispensation", stated that while 'Abdu'l-Bahá did not possess the station of Prophethood, He was endowed with "superhuman knowledge and perfection"- (WOB p.134). In the light of this statement, and faced as we are with the physical absence of a Guardian in the Administrative Order, could we not venture to assume that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had indeed envisaged two stages in the development of the Administrative Order after Him: one, a temporary stage, with the Guardian at its Head, and with the element of autocracy as its dominant characteristic, and the other, for extension into the future, with the Universal House of Justice as its Supreme Organ, and with the element of democracy as its dominant characteristic?

Let us now place the Administrative Order in contrast with secular governments. For example, the election of the members of the Universal House of Justice, as well as that of the members of Spiritual Assemblies, both national and local, (although free from nomination and campaigning) is purely democratic in character. Likewise, the method of Bahá'í consultation, (although far superior in dignity and harmony to what we see in parliamentary debates in the legislative councils of the world) is yet another democratic feature incorporated in the Bahá'í Administrative System. A third democratic feature is the degree of autonomy provided to elected councils on the national and local levels. This is an element of decentralisation in administrative affairs, which is increasingly being applied and appreciated in many democratic countries of the world. The obvious dissimilarity is that under the Bahá'í system the elected are not responsible to those who elect them. A moral and spiritual responsibility is attached to the work of elected members, and therefore their conscientious responsibility is to God, and to God alone, as ordained and stressed in the teachings of our Faith.

As to aristocracy, a trace of similarity is the existence of the institution of the Counsellors on the international and continental levels, as well as the Auxiliary Board members and their Assistants, for circumscribed geographical areas. However, these appointed individuals do not possess decision making authority and their function, in its final analysis, is purely advisory in nature, unlike an aristocratic system which invests small aristocratic selected groups with special powers and privileges. A clear similarity is in the fact that decision making authority in the Administrative Order lies with the elected few—namely members of Local and National Assemblies and of course of the Supreme body—all of whom are not responsible to their respective electorates. However its dissimilarity is that the elected members of these councils are not a class of nobility, nor do they assume their positions on the basis of birth or inheritance. In the Administrative Order, they are in their position of authority because of the democratic procedure of Bahá'í elections.

Finally, as to autocracy, the similarity is that, as the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice clearly stipulates: "The provenance, the authority, the duties, the sphere of action of the Universal House of Justice all derive from the revealed Word of Bahá'u'lláh which, together with the interpretations and expositions of the Centre of the Covenant and of the Guardian of the Cause - who, after 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is the sole authority in the interpretation of Bahá'í Scripture - constitute the binding terms of reference of the Universal House of Justice and are its bedrock foundation. The authority of these Texts is absolute and immutable until such time as Almighty God shall reveal His new Manifestation to Whom will belong all authority and power"- (CUHJ p.4). Thus, the autocratic character of the Administrative Order is the Divine Authority vested in the Holy Writ of the Author of the Faith and the two authorized Interpreters of His Revealed Word. The dissimilarity lies in the fact that there is an unlimited field of legislation to supplement in subsidiary matters the Laws revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, to apply these Laws and Ordinances universally, and to legislate on matters not explicitly covered by the Sacred Text and its authoritative interpretation. These responsibilities are discharged by the Universal House of Justice, which is the Supreme Legislature of the Bahá'í World Commonwealth.

I would like to end my presentation with the categorical assurance given by the Guardian of our Faith, when looking into the future, as the Administrative Order of Bahá'u'lláh expands and develops to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving, ever-advancing civilization. Shoghi Effendi writes: "The admitted evils inherent in each of these systems being rigidly and permanently excluded, this unique Order, however long it may endure and however extensive its ramifications, cannot ever degenerate into any form of despotism, of oligarchy, or of demagogy which must sooner or later corrupt the machinery of all man-made and essentially defective political institutions"- (WOB p.154).

The three words: despotism, oligarchy and demagogy need some clarification:

Despotism: is dictatorship or aggressive governance by a tyrant ruler.

Oligarchy: is control of a government by a small clique of selfish and corrupt rulers.

Demagogy: is government by self-seeking elected political leaders who make false promises to the electorate, and feed on the prejudices and ignorance of the people.

Shoghi Effendi, the inspired interpreter of our Teachings, is giving us the assurance that the evils of none of the above harmful forms of government will ever assail and corrupt the divinely-ordained and divinely-propelled Administrative Order, arrest its maturation into the World Order or impede its final fruition into the Bahá'í Commonwealth of the future.

There is a wonderful letter from the Beloved Guardian, written in Persian to the Bahá'ís of Iran, in 1929. Some heart breaking persecutions had taken place in the Cradle of the Faith, and in this letter Shoghi Effendi calls on the Persian friends to be patient and to continue to cling to the hem of the Robe of God's Holy Faith. God is watchful and His invisible hand is at work. At the appointed time fair-minded academics, although they are not Bahá'ís, will arise to defend the Cause and claim for the believers their legitimate rights.

Shoghi Effendi has taught us how to present the Faith and the distinctive features of its World Order to the outside world. Bahá'í Youth, as serious students and scholars of the Faith, should be able to explain, in a wise way, to open-minded professors, and earnestly seeking fellow-students, the excellence and perfection of the Bahá'í system of World order, without ever giving the impression that they are seeking to win over such individuals to the Faith. For it will be from among such erudite, impartial and unbiased academics and intellectuals, that courageous leaders of thought will arise who will be moved to objectively and fairly defend the Faith, and vindicate its right to exist in Iran, as well as in the countries where its followers are persecuted.

The world is now passing through a period of godlessness. It will not be long before it will turn its back gradually to materialism, and acknowledge its need for religion. Of course, as Bahá'ís we have a major role to play in bringing about this awareness— an awareness which will surely and eventually lead to the spiritualization of the masses, and ultimately to a wholehearted acceptance of the validity and reality of the Faith of the Blessed Beauty. What I am outlining is based on my understanding of the teachings on this subject.

As Bahá'í Youth, we should prepare ourselves for these exciting developments, and beg Bahá'u'lláh to accept us and use us as instruments for the realization of His Purpose. If we feel unworthy, it does not matter. In fact that is how it must be. Let us place our trust in Him and face the future with confidence and optimism.

Questions related:

Q. As Bahá'ís we are asked to collaborate with associations and governments that are in harmony with the Bahá'í vision. How can we do this without being associated with political parties and be corrupted by their policies?

A. Our teachings clearly indicate that we should associate with all strata of society and this includes religious leaders, political figures, leaders of thought, and the rank and file of society. If we have any doubt about political parties we should consult our National Spiritual Assembly.

The important thing is to have the courage and determination to mix with people at all levels. God will show us those who are receptive. He will either send them to us or guide us to them.

Q. What is the meaning of "a springtime which autumn will never overtake" and " a day which will never be followed by night"?

A. As I understand it these concepts refer to the Covenant. Bahá'u'lláh is giving us the assurance that His faith will not be subjected to sectarianism and divisions within the community, as has occurred in other systems. It will remain united throughout the Dispensation. Indeed, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has gone as far as to state that "the power of the Covenant is the pivot of the oneness of mankind".

Q. In the fifth Glad Tidings Bahá'u'lláh refers to a republican form of government which profits the people, but at the same time He praises the majesty of kingship. He finally says that the two forms should be combined into one. What does this mean?

A. In the Tablet of the World Bahá'u'lláh says "The system of government which the British people have adopted in London appeareth to be good, for it is adorned with the light of both kingship and of the consultation of the people" (TB p. 93) I think Bahá'u'lláh is referring to constitutional monarchy as an acceptable national system of government.

Q. How can we explain to non-Bahá'ís the role and function of our Supreme Body?

A. I suggest we avoid using the term "infallibility" too loosely when we are introducing the Faith to enquirers. We should refer to the Universal House of Justice as the supreme elected council of the Bahá'í community which is also the Head of the Faith.

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Chapter 5

5. THE ROLE OF THE AMERICAN BAHÁ'Í COMMUNITY IN THE EMERGENCE OF THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH

When discussing the role of the West or of America in helping to shape the fortunes of the Faith, it is important to make distinctions based on exact geographical terms used in the Writings. For example at times, it is simply "the West". At other times it is "the Americas", that is, "the Continent of America" or "the Western Hemisphere". There is also of course reference to "North America" with the thought of the United States and Canada in mind. And finally the word "America" is used on its own, quite often to mean 'the United States of America'.

At the very outset of the Báb's Mission, He revealed His first Book, the Qayyœmu'l-Asmá, and in it He addressed "the peoples of the West" and called on them to "issue forth" from their "cities" to aid God, and to "become as brethren" in His "one and indivisible religion" (GPB p.253)

As far as we can determine, the first reference in writing from the Pen of Bahá'u'lláh, for the role to be played by the Republics of the Western Hemisphere, appears in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas when He addresses the "Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein". This passage in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas consists of one whole paragraph and has seven sentences. The entire passage is as follows: "Hearken ye, O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein, unto that which the Dove is warbling on the Branch of Eternity: "There is none other God but Me, the Ever-Abiding, the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful." Adorn ye the temple of dominion with the ornament of justice and of the fear of God, and its head with the crown of the remembrance of your Lord, the Creator of the heavens. Thus counselleth you He Who is the Dayspring of Names, as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. The Promised One hath appeared in this glorified Station, whereat all beings, both seen and unseen, have rejoiced. Take ye advantage of the Day of God. Verily, to meet Him is better for you than all that whereon the sun shineth, could ye but know it. O concourse of rulers! Give ear unto that which hath been raised from the Dayspring of Grandeur: "Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Lord of Utterance, the All-Knowing." Bind ye the broken with the hands of justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise."(KA p.52)

The first five sentences which end with the words "could ye but know it", deal with justice, the fear of God, the need to remember Him and the appearance of the Promised One . The last two sentences are preceded by the apostrophe: "O concourse of rulers" and read as follows: "O concourse of rulers! Give ear unto that which hath been raised from the Dayspring of Grandeur: "Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Lord of Utterance, the All-Knowing." Bind ye the broken with the hands of justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise"- (KA p.52).

When I was in Persia and attended classes conducted by scholars of the Faith on the Aqdas, the explanation given to us of this passage was that the first five sentences were addressed to the Rulers of the American Continent, but that the last two sentences, introduced by the words "O Concourse of Rulers", referred to all Rulers throughout the planet.

It was in June 1947 when in a letter addressed to the American Bahá'í Community, Shoghi Effendi gave for the first time his translation of this section of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. It was then that we realized that Shoghi Effendi's understanding was different from the comprehension of our scholars, as his translation made the "Rulers of America" and the "Concourse of Rulers", as one and the same group of leaders.

I repeat that the importance of this translation of the Guardian was his interpretation, that the instruction incorporated in the last two sentences was not an assignment to all Rulers throughout the planet, but was an expression of God's Will specifically giving a mission to the Rulers throughout the Western Hemisphere. I will read you the last two sentences once again to show how important they are, not only from a Bahá'í point of view, but also in terms of events in the political situation on the world scene.

Here are the words once again: "O concourse of rulers! Give ear unto that which hath been raised from the Dayspring of Grandeur: "Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Lord of Utterance, the All-Knowing." Bind ye the broken with the hands of justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise"- (KA p.52).

As you see, the Rulers of the Western Hemisphere are commissioned by Bahá'u'lláh to "bind the broken" and "crush the oppressor". "The broken", in my view, is a reference primarily to the broken bones of Bahá'í Communities living under oppressive and tyrannical regimes in the East, and more particularly in Iran. This word of course also refers, in a general way, to all down-trodden and persecuted minority groups throughout the world.

The mission given by Bahá'u'lláh does not end there, as, the Rulers of the Americas are further commissioned to "crush the oppressor who flourisheth". This calls to mind the Hidden Word of Bahá'u'lláh: "O OPPRESSORS ON EARTH! Withdraw your hands from tyranny, for I have pledged Myself not to forgive any man's injustice. This is My covenant which I have irrevocably decreed in the preserved tablet and sealed with My seal"- (PHW p.64). While this is a responsibility which, in the first instance, is a specific obligation that Bahá'u'lláh has directly placed on the shoulders of the Rulers holding the reins of power and authority in the Western Hemisphere, this does not mean that other Rulers in the world would ignore acts of injustice. It merely indicates that the Rulers in the Western Hemisphere are expected by the Almighty to be in the forefront of those who succour the oppressed, stay the hand of the oppressors, and inflict punishment on them.

It is interesting that the tone of Bahá'u'lláh's address to the Rulers of the American Continent, although one of authority and command is different from the tone of His Tablets to the other Rulers or Kings of the world. In these Tablets one notes expressions of rebuke and censure, and at times, even of warnings of divine chastisement.

Another momentous utterance of Bahá'u'lláh is His Prophecy about the sovereignty which His Revelation will achieve through those who will champion His Faith in the West. He says: ""In the East the light of His Revelation hath broken; in the West have appeared the signs of His dominion. Ponder this in your hearts, O people, and be not of those who have turned a deaf ear to the admonitions of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Praised"- (WOB p.78).

Bahá'u'lláh has also been reported to have said: "Had this Cause been revealed in the West...it would have become evident how the people of the Occident would have embraced our Cause" (GPB p.253)

Commenting on the same theme, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has written: ""From the beginning of time until the present day... the light of Divine Revelation hath risen in the East and shed its radiance upon the West. The illumination thus shed hath, however, acquired in the West an extraordinary brilliancy. Consider the Faith proclaimed by Jesus. Though it first appeared in the East, yet not until its light had been shed upon the West did the full measure of its potentialities become manifest. The day is approaching, when ye shall witness how, through the splendour of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, the West will have replaced the East, radiating the light of Divine Guidance"- (WOB p.74).

In further elaboration of the same subject, Shoghi Effendi describes Europe as "the scene of the greatest exploits of the followers of Jesus Christ" and likewise where "some of the most resplendent victories which ushered in the Golden Age of Islam were won"- (CF p.27)

It should be pointed out here that in Christianity and in Islam there was certainly a Covenant in each case, but as we saw in Shoghi Effendi's comments, these Covenants were not as firm and unchallengeable, as we find in the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. It is worthy of note, therefore, that it was St. Paul, who had strained and unpleasant relations with St Peter— the rightful Successor— who was enabled to play a major role in the spread of the Faith of Christ on European soil. Likewise in Islam, it was the Sunní branch of that Faith— not the Shí'ih sect which clung to the legitimate Law of Succession— that was able to usher in the Golden Age of Islam in the European Continent. Thus we see that as Covenants in former Dispensations were vague and fluid, God seems to have permitted those who had disavowed their provisions, and even flouted them, — like St. Paul in Christianity and the Sunní leaders in Islam— to lead the way, for a prescribed period, to exploits and victories under the banner of God's Holy Cause.

We must recall that the West was not opened to the light of the Faith during the Ministry of Bahá'u'lláh. One year after His Ascension in September 1893 we see a landmark in the history of the Faith in the Western Hemisphere, when for the first time the Faith was publicly mentioned in Chicago at the World Parliament of Religions. Soon after this event the first wave of new believers came under the shadow of the Cause of God, and in December 1898, the first group of American pilgrims, visited the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh and were received as guests in the Home of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. No doubt that one of the principal objectives of the Master's ministry was to visit North America, to encourage and deepen the followers of His Father's Faith and to lay the cornerstone of a House of Worship, which became the Mother Temple of the West.

In the course of the First World War, during 1916-1917, and, as Shoghi Effendi has attested, under the influence of, and inspired by the address of Bahá'u'lláh to the Rulers of the Americas, 'Abdu'l-Bahá revealed the Tablets of the Divine Plan, addressed to the two Bahá'í Communities of the United States and Canada. Shoghi Effendi named these Tablets as the Charter for the promulgation of the Faith throughout the world- (MBW84). These Tablets invest the American Bahá'í Community with what Shoghi Effendi referred to as a unique spiritual primacy- (WOB p.77)

The Words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá about the American Bahá'í Community and its future achievements are indeed most impressive: "Behold the portals which Bahá'u'lláh hath opened before you! Consider how exalted and lofty is the station you are destined to attain; how unique the favours with which you have been endowed... The full measure of your success, is as yet unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended... The range of your future achievements... still remains undisclosed... The moment this Divine Message is carried forward by the American believers from the shores of America and is propagated through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of Australasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific, this community will find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion. Then will all the peoples of the world witness that this community is spiritually illumined and divinely guided. Then will the whole earth resound with the praises of its majesty and greatness"- (WOB pp.77-8). Such is its glorious future destiny.

During the latter period of the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, He could see the first fruits of the exploits achieved by the American Bahá'í Community. Such accomplishments as the establishment of Chicago's first House of Spirituality, the formation of the Bahá'í Publishing Society, the founding of the Green Acre Fellowship, the publication of 'The Star of the West', the incorporation of the Bahá'í Temple of Unity subsequent to the holding of the first National Bahá'í Convention and the formation of the Executive Committee of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. These developments were all achievements in the administrative field of Bahá'í service. On the teaching front, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was able to witness members of the American Bahá'í Community serving as pioneers or teachers travelling to Alaska, as well as in Europe, to France, Great Britain, and Germany, in addition to the Baltic States, the Balkan Peninsula and Scandinavia. And beyond the work in the European Continent, He rejoiced as the teaching work extended to the West Indies, Latin America, South Africa, China, Japan, India, the Island of Tahiti, the Australian Continent, and as far as Tasmania and New Zealand. As you know, when 'Abdu'l-Bahá passed away the light of the Faith of His Father had already reached thirty-five countries of the world. These countries were partly opened by friends of the East, but for the most part were opened by believers of the United States.

With the inception of the Formative Age of the Faith, after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi had to lay down the foundations of the Administrative Order along the broad lines outlined in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament. He called on Bahá'í communities in East and West to establish their Local Spiritual Assemblies on a sound basis and establish National Spiritual Assemblies, as soon as it was propitious to do so.

To the Bahá'í communities of the United States and Canada, which at that time constituted one single homefront, Shoghi Effendi focused his special attention, giving them specific and essential instructions on administrative principles governing the work of the Faith. After calling the American believers the spiritual descendants of the Dawn Breakers, he praised their dedication to the Cause and encouraged them to follow in the footsteps of the heroes of a previous Age, by becoming self-sacrificing living martyrs. It was not long after when he called the American Bahá'í Community the Cradle of the Administrative Order.

Soon after, Shoghi Effendi explained that God had chosen that country to be thus distinguished, by reason of the patent evils that were rampant in the lives of its people. The evils he enumerated, and which would stand in contrast with the virtues and perfections of the builders of God's Administrative Order, were as follows: (1) immersion "in a sea of materialism", (2) "a prey to one of the most virulent and long standing forms of racial prejudice", (3) a victim of "political corruption, lawlessness and laxity in moral standards"- (ADJ p.16).

Before the United States became the Cradle of the Administrative Order, Persia had already been designated as the Cradle of the Faith itself. For the same reasons of contrasting evil against virtue, Shoghi Effendi, looking at Persia of the 19^th Century, describes the Cradle of the Faith as "the most backward, the most cowardly, and perverse of peoples—a nation sunk to such ignominious depths and manifested so great a perversity, as to find no parallel among its contemporaries"- (ADJ p.15). From among such a population, the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh was able to raise up heroes, martyrs, and saints who will always be the pride and glory of this Dispensation.

For sixteen years and beyond, Shoghi Effendi did not cease to give general and detailed guidance to the American National Spiritual Assembly, to enable them to erect a perfect structure, as called for in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament. This latter document, as we saw in a previous discussion, was named by Shoghi Effendi as the Charter of the future world civilization. That document was already known by the more modest title of Charter for the establishment of the Administrative Order, since this Order would lead to the World Order, which in turn would ultimately give birth to the world Bahá'í civilization.

These sixteen years were difficult years for Shoghi Effendi. He was attacked in the West by Covenant-breakers like Ahmad Sohrab for concentrating on administrative matters, and ignoring the provisions of the Tablets of the Divine Plan. They could not see nor appreciate what Shoghi Effendi was doing. He was patiently building up the Administrative Order and its institutions, in order to use them as instruments for the systematic implementation of the Master's vision. He had to explain to the friends that the Administrative Order was not an innovation being imposed on the Bahá'ís of the world, but that as soon as it acquires a reasonable degree of efficiency, its agencies will be used to further the primary purpose for which they were intended and ordained in the Writings.

After the sixteen years mentioned above, Shoghi Effendi told the American believers that they were now ready to launch the first stage in the implementation of the other Charter also created by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and described by Shoghi Effendi as the Charter for the promulgation of the Faith throughout the world, namely the Tablets of the Divine Plan. This first stage was the first Seven-Year Plan of the North American Bahá'í Community. The chief objectives of this Plan, spanning from 1937 to 1944, were (1) the completion of the exterior of the Temple in Wilmette, (2) the formation of a Spiritual Assembly in each State and Province of North America and in Alaska, and (3) the establishment of a centre in each Republic of Latin America and the Caribbean.

This plan was the first organised campaign of any Bahá'í community for the expansion and consolidation of the Faith in a given geographical area. It was indeed, at the same time, as I have just said, the first systematic Teaching Plan of the American believers, under the mandate of the Tablets of the Divine Plan.

A recent compilation entitled 'This Decisive Hour' contains the messages of Shoghi Effendi to the North American Bahá'ís from 1932-1946. Half of that book, namely over 80 pages, contains messages that Shoghi Effendi sent to the North American National Spiritual Assembly, during the period of its first Seven Year Plan. He guided their steps in the fulfilment of their goals, encouraging them to plod on despite their small numerical strength and the difficulties and anxieties they were encountering, praising them for their devotion, applauding them for their dedication, loyalty and steadfastness, and the self-sacrifice they had accepted in the path of their love for the Blessed Beauty.

This first historic Teaching Plan of the Bahá'í world was concluded in 1944 on the eve of the 100^th Anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb in Shíraz, which of course, as you all know, coincided with the opening of the second century of the Bahá'í Era. As Shoghi Effendi looked at the first twenty three years of the Formative Age of the Faith, he decided that the first Epoch of that Age had come to an end. The American Bahá'í Community had led the Bahá'í world in laying the foundations of the Administrative Order and had used the agencies of that Order to initiate the first Teaching and Consolidation Plan in the history of the Faith. Their victories were in the administrative as well as the teaching fields of Bahá'í service. Shoghi Effendi was pleased with them, was proud of them and was offering their Institutions and Teaching Plans as models for the entire Bahá'í world to emulate. The American believers had truly won the palm of victory.

The Bahá'í world was now ready to enter the second epoch of its Formative Age. This second Epoch, witnessed the launching of the second Seven Year Plan of the American Bahá'ís, which covered the period from 1946 to 1953. At the same time, Shoghi Effendi called on all other National Assemblies, to launch Teaching Plans, depending on their special national circumstances, and benefiting from the experiences of the American Bahá'í Community.

It would be useful to share with you some thoughts on the subject of "epochs" as found in the writings of Shoghi Effendi. He visualized and projected two series or lines of epochs: one related to the evolution of the Formative Age, and the other to the prosecution of the provisions of the Tablets of the Divine Plan.

As to the Formative Age, its first epoch began in 1921 and ended in 1944. Shoghi Effendi later wrote that the second epoch would end in 1963, with the end of the Ten Year Plan. Under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice two more epochs have elapsed, and we are now passing through the fifth epoch of the Formative Age.

Regarding the second line, namely the implementation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, Shoghi Effendi pointed out that its first epoch began in 1937, with the inception of the America's first Seven Year Plan, and would end in 1963, with the termination of his Ten Year Plan. We are now in the second epoch of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, and the Universal House of Justice will determine, when this second epoch will end.

Thus, gradually Shoghi Effendi prepared the entire Bahá'í world for the Great Jubilee of 1953, when as you all know, he announced the twenty-seven objectives of his world-embracing, world-shaking Ten Year Crusade. In this Ten Year Plan, Shoghi Effendi acknowledged that he had given the lion's share of its goals to the American Bahá'í Community.

During his thirty-six years as Guardian of the Faith, in innumerable messages, he had praised the American Bahá'í Community in such terms as these:

• "The envied custodians of a Divine Plan"- (CF p.120)


• "The principal builders and defenders of a Mighty Order"- (CF p.120)


• "The recognised champions of an unspeakably glorious and precious Faith"- (CF p.120)


• "A community invested with a spiritual primacy"- (CF p.34)


• "A richly endowed and spiritually blessed community"- (CF p.42)


• "The executors of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Mandate"- (CF p.98)


• "The great-minded, stout-hearted, high-spirited American Bahá'í community"- (CF p.66).


• "The torchbearers of a World-Girdling Civilization"- (CF p.31)


• "A dearly loved, richly endowed, unflinchingly resolute community"- (CF p.49)


• "The privileged occupants and stout-hearted defenders of the foremost citadel of the Faith"- (CF p.83).


• "The valorous American Bahá'í community"- (MBW1950-57, p.35).


• "This repeatedly blessed... community"- (TDH p.95).


• "The standard bearers of the all-conquering army of the Lord of Hosts"- (CF p.109)

There is a special emphasis, in the prophecies about the future contribution of the West, and more particularly of the American believers, on the emancipation and triumph of the Cause of God in the land of its birth. Shoghi Effendi wrote that the "promised redemption" of the Persian Bahá'í Community, "as foretold by 'Abdu'l-Bahá", must first be made manifest through the efforts of their brethren" in America- (BA p.117). He also quoted the Master's statement as follows: "Erelong will your brethren from Europe and America journey to Persia. There they will promote to an unprecedented degree the interests of art and industry. There they will rear the institutions of true civilization, promote the development of husbandry and trade, and assist in the spread of education.... Assuredly they will come; assuredly they will contribute in making of the land of Iran the envy and the admiration of the peoples and nations of the world"- (BA p.173). And beyond Iran, Shoghi Effendi recalled the fond hope of 'Abdu'l-Bahá that the United States would achieve the universal recognition of the Faith world wide- (BA p.88).

Referring to the Western Hemisphere, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has written: "The continent of America, is in the eyes of the one true God the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide and the free assemble"- (WOB p.75). He also wrote: "The American continent gives signs and evidences of very great advancement. Its future is even more promising, for its influence and illumination are far-reaching. It will lead all nations spiritually"- (WOB p.76).

Please note that the spiritual leadership refers not only to the United States, but to the people of the entire continent.

Regarding the American Nation specifically, we read the following from 'Abdu'l-Bahá: "May this American democracy, be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement. May it be the first nation to proclaim the unity of mankind. May it be the first to unfurl the standard of the 'Most Great Peace'"- (WOB p.75). Shoghi Effendi has drawn more than once our attention to the close resemblance of the events which led to the welding of the American States into a single federation, to what is transpiring on the world scene in accordance with God's Major Plan, in order to coalesce the scattered fragments into which this divided world has fallen, into "one single unit, solid and indivisible, able to execute His design for the children of men"- (PDC p.129).

'Abdu'l-Bahá went so far as to advise a high official in the service of the Federal Government of the United States of America, who had questioned Him as to the best manner in which he could promote the interests of his government and people: "You can best serve your country, if you strive, in your capacity as a citizen of the world, to assist in the eventual application of the principle of federalism underlying the government of your own country to the relationships now existing between the peoples and nations of the world"- (WOB p.37).

This statement made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá carries with it two fundamental points: (1) that the structure of federalism, as conceived and practiced in the United States of America, with autonomy given to the federated States of the country, is, in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís estimation, an acceptable system of organization for the world, and (2) the best way to promote the interests of the part is for that part to uphold the welfare of the whole.

We find this second point elaborated more fully by Shoghi Effendi in the following statement: "[The] followers of the Bahá'í Faith... viewing mankind as one entity, and profoundly attached to its vital interests, will not hesitate to subordinate every particular interest, be it personal, regional or national, to the over-riding interests of the generality of mankind, knowing full well that in a world of interdependent peoples and nations the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole, and that no lasting result can be achieved by any of the component parts if the general interests of the entity itself are neglected...."- (CN, xvii-xviii).

It is undoubtedly in the light of this principle of inevitable interdependence of states and nations, that Shoghi Effendi wrote the following about the destiny of America: "The world is moving on. Its events are unfolding ominously and with bewildering rapidity. The whirlwind of its passions is swift and alarmingly violent. The New World is being insensibly drawn into its vortex... The Great Republic of the West finds itself particularly and increasingly involved... The world is contracting into a neighbourhood. America, willingly or unwillingly, must face and grapple with this new situation. For purposes of national security, let alone any humanitarian motive, she must assume the obligations imposed by this newly created neighbourhood. Paradoxical as it may seem, her only hope of extricating herself from the perils gathering around her is to become entangled in that very web of international association which the Hand of an inscrutable Providence is weaving"- (ADJ p.73-4). Although these words of the beloved Guardian were written in December 1938, 66 years ago, they seem to have been written last week. There is no doubt that they are prophetic in their essence.

To summarise, we see that Bahá'u'lláh has destined the American Bahá'í Community, not only to be the Cradle of the Administrative Order, but also to usher in the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh and indeed the Golden Age of the Faith- (ADJ p.16-17). In other words, it is to become the principal instrument destined to establish an entity that will grow into the Bahá'í Commonwealth of the future.

Looking into the immediate and distant future of this well-loved, divinely chosen and highly promising community, I can do no better than to quote these words of the beloved Guardian to conclude my presentation today: "Who knows but that [the years ahead] may not be pregnant with events of unimaginable magnitude, with ordeals more severe than any that humanity has as yet experienced, with conflicts more devastating than any which have preceded them. Dangers, however sinister, must, at no time, dim the radiance of their new-born faith. Strife and confusion, however bewildering, must never befog their vision. Tribulations, however afflictive, must never shatter their resolve. Denunciations, however clamorous, must never sap their loyalty. Upheavals, however cataclysmic, must never deflect their course... Far from yielding in their resolve, far from growing oblivious of their task, they should, at no time, however much buffeted by circumstances, forget that the synchronization of such world-shaking crises with the progressive unfoldment and fruition of their divinely appointed task is itself the work of Providence, the design of an inscrutable Wisdom, and the purpose of an all-compelling Will, a Will that directs and controls, in its own mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the destinies of men. Such simultaneous processes of rise and of fall, of integration and of disintegration, of order and chaos, with their continuous and reciprocal reactions on each other, are but aspects of a greater Plan, one and indivisible, whose Source is God, whose author is Bahá'u'lláh, the theater of whose operations is the entire planet, and whose ultimate objectives are the unity of the human race and the peace of all mankind"- (ADJ pp.60-1)

Shoghi Effendi gives us his vision of the destiny of America by confidently stating that, that nation will: "raise its voice in the councils of the nations, itself lay the cornerstone of a universal and enduring peace, proclaim the solidarity, the unity, and maturity of mankind, and assist in the establishment of the promised reign of righteousness on earth. Then, and only then, will the American nation, while the community of the American believers within its heart is consummating its divinely appointed mission, be able to fulfil the unspeakably glorious destiny ordained for it by the Almighty" – (ADJ pp.66-7)

Questions related:

Q. Please clarify the Guardian's description of the American Community as an "envied community". The word envy has negative connotations that could be misleading.

A. The word "envy" has a double meaning in English, a negative or pejorative one and a positive one. In its negative sense it is jealousy, but in its positive meaning it is an aspiration to be like another person. I believe that it is in the latter sense that we should understand the term envied community. In Persian and Arabic we have two different words for envy: in its positive sense and in its negative sense.

Q. America's mission according to its own statement is to oust tyranny and free the oppressed. Couldn't this be done in a way that would validate international cooperation?

A. I do not wish to go into a commentary on the current international scenario. However, in the future Shoghi Effendi assures us that the American nation will "raise its voice in the councils of the nations". (ADJ p. 76) To me this implies international collaboration and support.

Q. How can we assure our non-Bahá'í friends that in the future no country will maintain an army and possess armaments beyond what it needs for the safeguarding of its own territory, as is happening today?

A. The world we see today is a world in disarray, which is the result of feelings of distrust, competition and suspicion among nations. This is likened to the stage of turbulence of the age of adolescence of the human race. Bahá'u'lláh tells us that we are at the threshold of the maturity of the world, but we have not yet entered that stage. We are looking at the world with the glasses of today, but Bahá'u'lláh could see the future. He knew the world would ripen, as a tree does. God planted this tree, and Bahá'u'lláh, the Supreme Manifestation of God for today, is looking after this tree. His view of the distant future is optimistic, not pessimistic. The immediate future, He could see, was dark, and He has said so in His Writings, but the distant future was bright, because He could see the process of an ever-evolving, and ever-advancing civilization— from tribe mentality to city-state values, to nationhood culture, and finally and inevitably to a sense of world citizenship, leading to world government, world peace, and world civilization.

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Chapter 6

6. THE EVOLUTION OF THE BAHÁ'Í ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER-ITS SPIRIT AND FORM (THE RULERS AND THE LEARNED)

As you all know, the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh began in November 1921, with the passing of the beloved Master and the reading of His Will and Testament. For seventy-seven years, that is from 1844 to 1921, the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, was not only established in the land of its birth but succeeded in expanding its operation and extending the scope of its activities to thirty-five countries of the world.

Such a remarkable feat was realized, notwithstanding the lack of an organized and systematic system to coordinate and stimulate the activities of the friends. Despite the persecution, deportation and martyrdom of the Báb, followed by the imprisonment, repeated exiles and close surveillance of the personal lives of the Author of our Faith and the Centre of His Covenant, it was thanks to the super-human knowledge and administrative genius of the Heads of our Faith, that the Cause of God survived these waves of repression.

Through detailed instructions given by the Heads of our Faith to Letters of the Living, Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh, Disciples of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Hands of the Cause and other eminent teachers and promoters of the Faith, the Bahá'í Community was not only protected from schism, but its ramifications continued to expand and develop. Shoghi Effendi has summarised for us in two of his letters, what he describes as: "the faint glimmerings"- (WOB p.147), and "the preliminary steps"- (GPB p.329), during the Heroic Age of our Faith in anticipation of the future Administrative Order.

These are his exact words: "In the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh where the institutions of the International and Local Houses of Justice are specifically designated and formally established; in the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God which first Bahá'u'lláh and then 'Abdu'l-Bahá brought into being; in the institution of both local and national Assemblies which in their embryonic stage were already functioning in the days preceding 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís ascension; in the authority with which the Author of our Faith and the Center of His Covenant have in their Tablets chosen to confer upon them; in the institution of the Local Fund which operated according to 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís specific injunctions addressed to certain Assemblies in Persia; in the verses of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas the implications of which clearly anticipate the institution of the Guardianship; in the explanation which 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in one of His Tablets, has given to, and the emphasis He has placed upon, the hereditary principle and the law of primogeniture as having been upheld by the Prophets of the past -- in these we can discern the faint glimmerings and discover the earliest intimation of the nature and working of the Administrative Order which the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bahá was at a later time destined to proclaim and formally establish"- (WOB p.147).

The second passage is as follows: "It should be borne in mind... that the preliminary steps aiming at the disclosure of the scope and working of this Administrative Order, which was now to be formally established after 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís passing, had already been taken by Him, and even by Bahá'u'lláh in the years preceding His ascension. The appointment by Him of certain outstanding believers in Persia as "Hands of the Cause"; the initiation of local Assemblies and boards of consultation by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in leading Bahá'í centres in both the East and the West;  the formation of the Bahá'í Temple Unity in the United States of America; the establishment of local funds for the promotion of Bahá'í activities; the purchase of property dedicated to the Faith and its future institutions; the founding of publishing societies for the dissemination of Bahá'í literature; the erection of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of the Bahá'í world; the construction of the Báb's mausoleum on Mt. Carmel; the institution of hostels for the accommodation of itinerant teachers and pilgrims -- these may be regarded as the precursors of the institutions which, immediately after the closing of the Heroic Age of the Faith, were to be permanently and systematically established throughout the Bahá'í world"- (GPB pp.329-30).

As you note the second extract has a few repetitious items, but it also has many additional elements. To illustrate the rudimentary manner in which these boards of consultation, operated when they were first formed during the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, I will give you one instance.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Tihrán which was formed in 1897 was the first in the whole country. As the members did not have any by-laws, they decided to have a seal which was divided into nine slices. When the Assembly met, and after a decision was taken, the Secretary had to draft the letter at the meeting and read it to the members. Each member kept one slice of the seal with him, and when the letter was approved he would part with his slice so that the nine slices could be combined in a special frame to make it possible for the seal to be affixed on the approved letter. At the end of the meeting, obviously, each member went home with his own slice in his pocket.

Likewise, in the United States the first Local Assembly of the Country was established in Chicago and as it assumed the title of the Chicago House of Justice it was so addressed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself (WOB p.6). However, later He advised that the temporary appellation of local spiritual assembly was more appropriate.

Under the guidance of the Guardian, the phoenix of the system of Bahá'í Administration rose from the ashes of these precursors and forerunners of the institutions of our Faith. Even after the dissemination of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, it took Shoghi Effendi many months, and in some cases several years, to fully explain to the friends in the countries of East and West, where a sufficient number of Bahá'ís resided, the essential requirements to form, on a sound constitutional basis, their Local Spiritual Assemblies, to direct them how to elect subsequently their delegates, on a proportionate basis, in order to hold their National Conventions, and to guide them finally in forming their National Spiritual Assemblies, which were to serve as pillars supporting the dome, which was the long anticipated Universal House of Justice.

As I have already indicated, Shoghi Effendi referred in his writings to the administrative structure, which he was guiding the Bahá'ís to erect, as the "Bahá'í Administration". He used an equivalent term in his Persian letters to the friends in the East. It was only after thirteen years that he used the rightful title, namely the Bahá'í Administrative Order, for the Administrative System that had just begun to operate, in accordance with the guidelines he had provided.

In the early years of Shoghi Effendi's Guardianship the administrative structure being erected and becoming visible was clearly modest in character and scope, and, therefore, the simple descriptive title "Bahá'í Administration" suited it very well. However, beyond this, it should be borne in mind that Shoghi Effendi was essentially a modest person. For example, when translating the Text of the Will and testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá immediately after His passing, he used the lower case for both "guardian" and "branch" when these referred to him. However, thirteen years later, when he was quoting from 'Abdu'l-Bahá Will in the "Dispensation", he capitalized both "Guardian" and "Branch". He could well have sensed that his station as Guardian would have been by then more readily understood and accepted.

We are all familiar with the celebrated passage in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas which formally announces the emergence of Bahá'u'lláh's New World Order. In view of the importance of this verse, I would like to quote it again: "The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous system—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed"- (KA p.85).

Until that day in 1934 when Shoghi Effendi produced his translation of this key verse in Bahá'u'lláh's Mother Book, the generality of the Bahá'ís understood the purpose to mean that the order of the verses of the Aqdas followed a unique arrangement, different from that of the Bayán or other Holy Books of former Dispensations. There is also in the Bayán a verse which refers to the Order of Bahá'u'lláh. This corresponding verse was also understood along the same lines, in other words, unlike the Bayán, the Aqdas would have a unique format of its own.

When I was on pilgrimage in 1957, on one occasion, Shoghi Effendi quoted this verse of the Aqdas. As there was a pause after his recital of the verse, I took the liberty of mentioning to him how scholars of the Faith in Iran had totally misunderstood the meaning of this verse and in the classes that I had attended, this misconception was taught to the students. And I added: "Where would the Bahá'í world be without the beloved Guardian?" At this remark, Shoghi Effendi smiled and he said: "Nicolas understood, but the friends did not". As you all know, Mr Nicolas was a French Orientalist, and although he was not a Bábí, nor a Bahá'í, he was an admirer of the Báb and translated both the Persian and Arabic Bayáns into French.

When one reads the letters of the Guardian in both English and Persian during his ministry, it is not difficult to see that he had two main objectives in mind. As to the first objective it was clear to him that the Universal House of Justice, which was the last unit of the edifice of the Administrative Order, was like the dome, the crown, and the apex of the structure, and he clearly stated this in his writings. This dome could not hang in the air without the support of columns. These columns were none other than the National Spiritual Assemblies. Even nine of them would be adequate, but indeed the more of them, the better. These National Assemblies however, had to rest on the firm foundation of Local Spiritual Assemblies, which had to be formed on a sound and solid basis. As early as March 1923, he wrote the following: "With these Assemblies, local as well as national, harmoniously, vigorously, and efficiently functioning throughout the Bahá'í world, the only means for the establishment of the Supreme House of Justice will have been secured"- (BA p.40).

The second objective which he focused upon was to use these administrative institutions to promote the teaching work unitedly and systematically. There was no charter for this world-wide activity more appropriate than the Master's Tablets of the Divine Plan. He therefore wanted to see each National Assembly, not only engaged in carrying out the objectives of a teaching and consolidation plan within the confines under its jurisdiction, but his ultimate goal was to build bridges among these National Assemblies.

A slight diversion from the main theme of our discussion would be helpful. When the British Bahá'ís completed their Six Year Plan in 1951 Shoghi Effendi advised the British National Assembly that he would want it to launch immediately a Two Year Plan, primarily aimed at the settlement of pioneers and the promotion of the teaching work in both East and West Africa. He also called on the National Spiritual Assemblies of the United States, Persia, Egypt and India to collaborate with the British National Assembly in this project. In his messages inaugurating this two-year phase of inter-National Spiritual Assembly collaboration, he anticipated a subsequent stage of collaborative efforts among all National Spiritual Assemblies of the world. This was clearly an anticipation of the launching of his Ten Year Crusade. He went on to state that such undertakings would be a prelude to future teaching and pioneering enterprises, embarked upon and conducted by the Universal House of Justice.

In one of his early letters commenting on its election, the Universal House of Justice wrote on 9 March 1965, as follows: "The Guardian had given the Bahá'í world explicit and detailed plans covering the period until Ridván 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. One such reference is the following passage from a letter addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles on 25 February 1951, concerning its Two Year Plan which immediately preceded the Ten Year Crusade: "On the success of this enterprise, unprecedented in its scope, unique in its character and immense in its spiritual potentialities, must depend the initiation, at a later period in the Formative Age of the Faith, of undertakings embracing within their range all National Assemblies functioning throughout the Bahá'í world -- undertakings constituting in  themselves a prelude to the launching of world-wide enterprises destined to be embarked upon, in future epochs of that same Age, by the Universal House of Justice, that will symbolize the unity and co-ordinate and unify the activities of these National Assemblies".(MUHJ pp.51-52)

A similar message was sent by him to the National Assembly of the United States. I was in Tihrán at the time, and was on the National Assembly of Iran. I remember the consternation this message produced. It was not because the election of the Universal House of Justice was drawing so near, but that it was that Body which was essentially a Legislative Body— and not the Guardian who was always associated with Teaching Plans— to launch the future teaching work and direct it.

When the Hands of the Cause throughout the world, who had just been invested by him with the title of "Chief Stewards of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Commonwealth" in October 1957, convened in the Holy Land in November of that year after his passing, they soon realized that there was no choice for the Bahá'í world but to move on and continue to operate under the guidance of the goals of the Ten Year Crusade, until 1963, when the Universal House of Justice would be formed. Shoghi Effendi wrote towards the end of his life, on more than one occasion, that on such a day the prophecy of Daniel about the 1335 days would be fulfilled, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá had predicted: 'on that day will the faithful rejoice with exceeding gladness'"- (MBW1950-57, p.44).

As I have already indicated in my talks, the long range objective of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is the Most Great Peace which will give birth to a Bahá'í Civilization, the like of which mankind has never witnessed. The Administrative Order, preceded by the Bahá'í Administration, is but a preliminary stage in this process. This Administrative Order has been described by Shoghi Effendi as the embryonic stage which will lead to the emergence of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. This in turn, will develop into the Bahá'í World Commonwealth which will produce the Most Great Peace and subsequently the World Bahá'í Civilization. To sum it up, the stages through which this process will develop are: the Bahá'í Administration; the Bahá'í Administrative Order; Bahá'u'lláh's New World Order, signalising the advent of the Golden Age of His Faith; the Bahá'í World Commonwealth; the Most Great Peace and finally the birth of the promised new Civilization.

On more than one occasion, Shoghi Effendi has explained that there is a difference between the Administrative Order and the World Order. The former, that is the Administrative Order, as I just stated is the embryonic stage of the latter, which is the New World Order yet to be born. The lack of pleasing proportions visible in the various parts of the body of an embryo, in the eyes of an ignorant viewer, would give the impression of ugliness, of incongruity, and of imperfection. However, in the eyes of a wise and intelligent observer, the lack of apparent coherence is only a necessary stage in the development, not of a seemingly monstrous creature, but of a highly sensitive, continuously evolving, and organically ripening embryo. When the decreed moment arrives, and it is duly born, it will be a delight to all eyes— a charming baby with its bewitching smile.

The reason why I am drawing this parallel is to show the difference between the two outlooks: one is, studied, well-informed, and wisely concluded; the other is unstudied, rash and impulsive. I am sorry to say that we hear many remarks of the second category from Bahá'ís around us, who are well meaning but unfortunately have failed to understand the processes which are at work. As they see in the operation of our embryonic institutions some awkwardness and clumsiness, they impatiently voice their criticism which, though it is not viciously intended, can quite often arouse discontent and even be destructive.

Because of the emphasis which 'Abdu'l-Bahá placed on the spiritual principles which should govern and distinguish our Bahá'í community life, many Bahá'ís in the West had the false conception that organization was foreign to the aims and purposes of the Bahá'í Religion.

Indeed towards the end of the life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, a pilgrim's note attributed to Him was circulated among the friends in the United States to the effect that the Bahá'í Faith had no organization. When 'Abdu'l-Bahá was asked whether such a statement was true, He categorically denied it. Unfortunately, this pilgrim's note remained alive, and when Shoghi Effendi began calling on the friends to lay the foundations of their Local Assemblies and prepare for the establishment of their National Assemblies, he found that he had to once again explicitly state that the pilgrim note attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá was baseless.

In February 1929, he had to write the following addressed to the friends in the United States and Canada: "I am at a loss to explain that strange mentality that inclines to uphold as the sole criterion of the truth of the Bahá'í Teachings what is admittedly only an obscure and unauthenticated translation of an oral statement made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in defiance and total disregard of the available text of all of His universally recognized writings. I truly deplore the unfortunate distortions that have resulted in days past from the incapacity of the interpreter to grasp the meaning of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and from his incompetence to render adequately such truths as have been revealed to him by the Master's statements. Much of the confusion that has obscured the understanding of the believers should be attributed to this double error involved in the inexact rendering of an only partially understood statement. Not infrequently has the interpreter even failed to convey the exact purport of the inquirer's specific questions, and, by his deficiency of understanding and expression in conveying the answer of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, has been responsible for reports wholly at variance with the true spirit and purpose of the Cause"- (WOB pp.4-5).

He wrote on the same date: "Who, I may ask, when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the increasing complexity of its affairs, the diversity of its adherents, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the infant Faith of God, can for a moment question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and stress of a struggling civilization, the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its interests? To repudiate the validity of the assemblies of the elected ministers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh would be to reject those countless Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá wherein They have extolled the station of the "trustees of the Merciful," enumerated their privileges and duties, emphasized the glory of their mission, revealed the immensity of their task, and warned them of the attacks they must needs expect from the unwisdom of their friends as well as from the malice of their enemies"- (WOB pp.9-10).

Thanks to these explanations, the attacks levelled against the Guardian by such people as Ruth White and Ahmad Sohrab, were overcome. The clarity of Shoghi Effendi's elucidations and the steadfast and loyal adherence of the friends to the provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, put an end to this controversy.

So much for the form of the Administrative Order and its necessity and its indispensability. If the form however, is not quickened with the spirit, it remains a dead form. This is why Shoghi Effendi from the very outset of his clarifications of the principles underlying the Administration of the Faith, kept reminding the friends of the absolute necessity to develop and nurture the spirit which should always be at its very core and illumine the path which the institutions are called upon to follow.

From his pen flowed such exhortations as these... In March 1923 he wrote: "But let us be on our guard -- so the Master continually reminds us from His Station on high -- lest too much concern in that which is secondary in importance, and too long a preoccupation with the details of our affairs and activities, make us neglectful of the most essential, the most urgent of all our obligations, namely, to bury our cares and teach the Cause, delivering far and wide this Message of Salvation to a sorely-stricken world"- (BA p.42).

In February 1929 he wrote: "And now, it behoves us to reflect on the animating purpose and the primary functions of these divinely-established institutions, the sacred character and the universal efficacy of which can be demonstrated only by the spirit they diffuse and the work they actually achieve. I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation... It is surely for those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been committed to prayerfully watch lest the tool should supersede the Faith itself, lest undue concern for the minute details arising from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its promoters, lest partiality, ambition, and worldliness tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity, and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh"- (WOB p.9). We should note the evils to avoid as servants of this Faith, namely partiality, ambition and worldliness.

In December 1935, writing to an individual believer, he wrote the following: "The Bahá'í Faith, like all other Divine religions, is thus fundamentally mystic in character. Its chief goal is the development of the individual and society, through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers. It is the soul of man that has first to be fed. And this spiritual nourishment prayer can best provide. Laws and institutions, as viewed by Bahá'u'lláh, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will degenerate into a mere organization, and become a dead thing"- (CC vol. II, p.237). We should realize how through lack of effort on our part in transforming our inner spiritual lives, we could kill the spirit of the Faith, and cause the institutions of the Administrative Order to become a mere lifeless thing.

We should also remember that statements such as these, made by the beloved Guardian, are in full harmony with what Bahá'u'lláh had stated in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, namely that members of Houses of Justice, when meeting: "should consider themselves as entering the Court of the presence of God, the Exalted, the Most High, and as beholding Him Who is the Unseen". Bahá'u'lláh further calls on them to "regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth" and "to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly. Thus hath the Lord your God commanded you. Beware lest ye put away that which is clearly revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, O ye that perceive"- (KA p.29).

In these immortal verses of the Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh is not only urging members of Spiritual Assemblies to be deeply spiritual, but also to be selfless, altruistic and universally minded.

Shoghi Effendi went on to explain: "Let us also bear in mind that the keynote of the Cause of God is not dictatorial authority but humble fellowship, not arbitrary power, but the spirit of frank and loving consultation" - (BA p.63). The spiritual obligations of the elected representatives of the Faith have been set forth by Shoghi Effendi in the following words: "Their function is not to dictate, but to consult, and consult not only among themselves, but as much as possible with the friends whom they represent. They must regard themselves in no other light but that of chosen instruments for a more efficient and dignified presentation of the Cause of God. They should never be led to suppose that they are the central ornaments of the body of the Cause, intrinsically superior to others in capacity or merit, and sole promoters of its teachings and principles. They should approach their task with extreme humility, and endeavour, by their open-mindedness, their high sense of justice and duty, their candour, their modesty, their entire devotion to the welfare and interests of the friends, the Cause, and humanity, to win, not only the confidence and the genuine support and respect of those whom they serve, but also their esteem and real affection. They must, at all times, avoid the spirit of exclusiveness, the atmosphere of secrecy, free themselves from a domineering attitude, and banish all forms of prejudice and passion from their deliberations. They should, within the limits of wise discretion, take the friends into their confidence, acquaint them with their plans, share with them their problems and anxieties, and seek their advice and counsel. And, when they are called upon to arrive at a certain decision, they should, after dispassionate, anxious and cordial consultation, turn to God in prayer, and with earnestness and conviction and courage record their vote and abide by the voice of the majority..."- (BA p.63).

As you see from the above, both spirit and form are important and the more important is the spirit of love, of humility and of dedication, which must inform the consultations and actions of all elected institutions of the Faith.

There is no doubt that this spirit should also be the motivating force inspiring those who are privileged to serve as appointed promoters and protectors of the Cause, such as Counsellors, Auxiliary Board Members and Assistants.

When Shoghi Effendi was asked to give the qualifications of a true believer, for the benefit of Spiritual Assemblies which are considering membership of applicants to the Bahá'í community, one of the essential qualifications he stipulated was "close association with the spirit as well as the form of the present day Bahá'í Administration"- (BA p.90). This is one of the vital administrative principles of our Faith. The individual is an organic part of his community. He cannot, and must not, dissociate himself from community activities. One of the distinctions of our Faith is the essential contribution of the individual to the life of the community, which in turn, as it develops, exerts its healthy influence on the individual and promotes his spiritual advancement. In the Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh tells us that individuals are like constituent elements and members of the human body. This means that the well-being of the part is the well-being of all. The injury of the part is the injury of all. Furthermore, the community can serve as a laboratory where the individual can translate the ideals and principles of the Faith which he has imbibed into concrete and constructive action. Participation in the work of the community thus becomes a learning process for better understanding of how the theory taught by the Faith can be realized in service in the field. All this means that as devoted Bahá'ís we should avoid two extremes: 1) Adherence to the laws and ordinances of the Faith as applicable to the individual, with the exception of association with the community and 2) Total involvement in community activities, with the exception of following the Bahá'í way of life, which is binding on the individual.

The final part of my presentation today is about the rulers and the learned— who they are, how they complement each other, and what are the spiritual ties that bind them together and to the rest of the community. In a letter dated 23^rd April 1972, the Universal House of Justice, addressing this question wrote: "In the Kitáb-i-'Ahd (the Book of His Covenant) Bahá'u'lláh wrote "Blessed are the rulers and the learned among the people of Bahá," and referring to this very passage the beloved Guardian wrote on 4 November 1931: 'In this holy cycle the "learned" are, on the one hand, the Hands of the Cause of God, and, on the other, the teachers and diffusers of His teachings who do not rank as Hands, but who have attained an eminent position in the teaching work. As to the "rulers" they refer to the members of the Local, National and International Houses of Justice. The duties of each of these souls will be determined in the future."

The Universal House of Justice, after quoting the Guardian, has commented as follows:

"The Hands of the Cause of God, the Counsellors and the members of the Auxiliary Boards fall within the definition of the "learned" given by the beloved Guardian... When, following the passing of Shoghi Effendi, the Universal House of Justice decided that it could not legislate to make possible the appointment of further Hands of the Cause, it became necessary for it to create a new institution, appointed by itself, to extend into the future the functions of protection and propagation vested in the Hands of the Cause and, with that in view, so to develop the Institution of the Hands that it could nurture the new institution and function in close collaboration with it as long as possible. It was also vital so to arrange matters as to make the most effective use of the unique services of the Hands themselves... "

In the same letter the Universal House of Justice quotes from a letter of Shoghi Effendi. In this letter "written on 14 March 1927 to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Istanbul, the Guardian's Secretary explained, on his behalf, the principle in the Cause of action by majority vote. He pointed out how, in the past, it was certain individuals who "accounted themselves as superior in knowledge and elevated in position" who caused division, and that it was those "who pretended to be the most distinguished of all" who "always proved themselves to be the source of contention." "But praise be to God," he continued, "that the Pen of Glory has done away with the unyielding and dictatorial views of the learned and the wise, dismissed the assertions of individuals as an authoritative criterion, even though they were recognized as the most accomplished and learned among men and ordained that all matters be referred to authorized centres and specified Assemblies. Even so, no Assembly has been invested with the absolute authority to deal with such general matters as affect the interests of nations. Nay rather, He has brought all the assemblies together under the shadow of one House of Justice, one divinely appointed Centre, so that there would be only one Centre and all the rest integrated into a single body, revolving around one expressly designated Pivot, thus making them all proof against schism and division."

After quoting this passage from Shoghi Effendi's letter, the Universal House of Justice draws the following conclusions:

"Having permanently excluded the evils admittedly inherent in the institutions of the "learned" in past dispensations, Bahá'u'lláh has nevertheless embodied in His Administrative Order the beneficent elements which exist in such institutions, elements which are of fundamental value for the progress of the Cause, as can be gauged from even a cursory reading of the Guardian's message of 4 June 1957. The existence of institutions of such exalted rank, comprising individuals who play such a vital role, who yet have no legislative, administrative or judicial authority, and are entirely devoid of priestly functions or the right to make authoritative interpretations, is a feature of Bahá'í administration unparalleled in the religions of the past. The newness and uniqueness, of this concept make it difficult to grasp; only as the Bahá'í Community grows and the believers are increasingly able to contemplate its administrative structure uninfluenced by concepts from past ages, will the vital interdependence of the "rulers" and "learned" in the Faith be properly understood, and the inestimable value of their interaction be fully recognized"- (UHJM1963-86, pp.216-7).

Some six years later, a question related to this theme was asked by one of the believers, and this needed further clarification of the issues involved. On the 27^th March 1978, the Department of the Secretariat, writing on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, gave the following elucidation: "A Board of Counsellors has the particular responsibility of caring for the protection and propagation of the Faith throughout a continental zone which contains a number of national Bahá'í communities. In performing these tasks it neither directs nor instructs the Spiritual Assemblies or individual believers, but it has the necessary rank to enable it to ensure that it is kept properly informed and that the Spiritual Assemblies give due consideration to its advice and recommendations. However, the essence of the relationships between Bahá'í institutions is loving consultation and a common desire to serve the Cause of God rather than a matter of rank or station. It is clear from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, as well as from those of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the interpretations of the Guardian, that the proper functioning of human society requires the preservation of ranks and classes within its membership. The friends should recognize this without envy or jealousy, and those who occupy ranks should never exploit their position or regard themselves as being superior to others."

"About this Bahá'u'lláh has written: 'And amongst the realms of unity is the unity of rank and station. It redoundeth to the exaltation of the Cause, glorifying it among all peoples. Ever since the seeking of preference and distinction came into play, the world hath been laid waste. It hath become desolate. Those who have quaffed from the ocean of divine utterance and fixed their gaze upon the Realm of Glory should regard themselves as being on the same level as the others and in the same station. Were this matter to be definitely established and conclusively demonstrated through the power and might of God, the world would become as the Abhá Paradise. Indeed, man is noble, inasmuch as each one is a repository of the sign of God. Nevertheless, to regard oneself as superior in knowledge, learning or virtue, or to exalt oneself or seek preference, is a grievous transgression. Great is the blessedness of those who are adorned with the ornament of this unity and have been graciously confirmed by God'..."- this is the end of the quotation from Bahá'u'lláh.

The letter of the House of Justice goes on to say: "Courtesy, reverence, dignity, respect for the rank and achievements of others are virtues which contribute to the harmony and well-being of every community, but pride and self-aggrandizement are among the most deadly of sins."

"The House of Justice hopes that all the friends will remember that the ultimate aim in life of every soul should be to attain spiritual excellence -- to win the good pleasure of God. The true spiritual station of any soul is known only to God. It is quite a different thing from the ranks and stations that men and women occupy in the various sectors of society. Whoever has his eyes fixed on the goal of attaining the good pleasure of God will accept with joy and radiant acquiescence whatever work or station is assigned to him in the Cause of God, and will rejoice to serve Him under all conditions"- (UHJM1963-86, p.376).

The House of Justice is giving us in this letter a clarification which is unique in organizational philosophy. The first thing is the House's acceptance of the policy generally practiced in any form of secular or religious administration, namely that without positions and ranks no organization can efficiently function. After this assertion, and based on a remarkable text from Bahá'u'lláh Himself, the House of Justice exhorts the Bahá'í rulers and the Bahá'í learned by saying in effect the following: "Be not concerned that your positions will not be preserved or respected by those who are beneath you in rank or achievement, but let not this outward consideration give you pride and let it not deceive you in thinking that you are morally and essentially better than them. True ranks are solely known to God and will be revealed to men's eyes only in the next world. Therefore do not act arrogantly towards others and do not exalt yourself over them by virtue of a temporary privilege given to you in this world" (these are of course only my own words summing up the House exhortation). In one of His Tablets Bahá'u'lláh says the more we fear God in our lives with genuine humility, the nearer will we be to God in this world and the next.

No organizational system I know of, whether religious or secular, has such a fundamentally moral and spiritual concept incorporated in its structure. It is this attitude which gives spirit to our community and administrative activities. It is indeed one of the distinctive features of the Bahá'í Administrative Order, which is not an earthly man-made organization, but is essentially a divinely-conceived and providentially sustained system, which is destined to embrace, unify and uplift humanity.

Questions related:

Q. A non-Bahá'í friend of mine said he thought it was not fair that only "famous" Bahá'ís would be elected and that their visibility in the community was perhaps a hidden form of campaigning. What do you think?

A. The use of the word "famous" in this context is both inaccurate and inappropriate. In one of His Tablets 'Abdu'l-Bahá refers to the elected members as souls of good repute whose fair name has spread like the fragrance of musk among the people. Some Bahá'ís may be famous, but not have a good reputation. In Bahá'í elections you should look for the qualities that members of the community are known to possess. These qualities, as you know, are, "unquestioned loyalty, selfless devotion, a well-trained mind, recognized ability and mature experience". (BA p. 88) We should also remember that, as electors, we should engage in the act of election in a prayerful attitude and supplicate the Blessed Beauty to grant us His guidance.

Q. Shoghi Effendi writes about "Divine Economy". Could you explain what it means?

A. If you look up the word "economy" in reliable dictionaries you will see that one of its meanings is a system of organization. I think in the reference you have mentioned we should understand Shoghi Effendi's use of this term to apply to the Administrative Order.

Q. One of the prime requisites of the Assembly members according to 'Abdu'l-Bahá is "purity of motive", and He mentions this quality before all other virtues. What is your understanding of "purity of motive"?

A. In the Persian Hidden Words Bahá'u'lláh refers to "pure and goodly deeds" and adds that ... "erelong the assayers of mankind shall, in the Holy Presence of the Adored One, accept naught but absolute virtue and deeds of stainless purity". (PHW no. 69) My understanding of purity of motive is when deeds of service are performed, either in the work of the administration or in the teaching field, solely for the sake of winning the good pleasure of the Blessed Beauty. I think purity of motive requires us to set aside all other considerations, whether they are earthly things outside the pale of the Faith or spiritual rewards within the Cause -- sometimes referred to as "within the precincts" of God's Holy Faith. On the latter point I think this is what is meant by the following sentence in the Tablet of Visitation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá: "Help me to be selfless at the heavenly entrance of Thy gate, and aid me to be detached from all things within Thy holy precincts". If we want to have pure motives we should be satisfied in our confidence that He sees us and that He knows us. Our one and only motivation in Bahá'í activities and in obedience to His commands should be that our humble offering of unworthy services and deeds may be acceptable in His sight.

Q. Where in the text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas does Bahá'u'lláh anticipate the institution of the Guardianship?

A. Shoghi Effendi wrote in February 1929: "By leaving certain matters unspecified and unregulated in His Book of Laws, Bahá'u'lláh seems to have deliberately left a gap in the general scheme of Bahá'í Dispensation, which the unequivocal provisions of the Master's Will has filled." (WOB p.4) One of the "unspecified" matters was the question as to who will be the recipient of Huqœqu'lláh after Bahá'u'lláh. The obvious conclusion was, of course, drawn, that whoever or whatever institution was the Successor of Bahá'u'lláh and occupied the position of Headship of the Faith would be the recipient. Thus, Huqœq was paid to 'Abdu'l-Bahá and in accordance with His Will, the payment had to be made to the Guardian. This is one way the institution of the Guardianship was anticipated, and I have mentioned this point already. Another place in the Aqdas which could well be another intimation of the Guardianship, is in the verse where Bahá'u'lláh says that "whatsoever ye understand not in the Book" should be referred to the Branch grown out "from this mighty Stock" (KA para174). It is in this verse that the function of authorized interpretation has been given to the Branch, and it seems to be that this is the second verse where the position of the Guardian, as authorized interpreter, has been anticipated.

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Chapter 7

APPENDIX: QUOTATIONS IN THE SIX TALKS

Day One- The Lesser Peace and the Most Great Peace

BAHA'U'LLAH'S COMING

As illustrated by the parable of the Lord of the Vineyard: "A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others." (New Testament, Luke 20:9-16)

TWO PROCESSES OF INTEGRATION AND DISINTEGRATION

Shoghi Effendi says: "A two-fold process... can be distinguished, each tending, in its own way and with an accelerated momentum, to bring to a climax the forces that are transforming the face of our planet. The first is essentially an integrating process, while the second is fundamentally disruptive. The former, as it steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well serve as a pattern for that world polity towards which a strangely-disordered world is continually advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating influence deepens, tends to tear down, with increasing violence, the antiquated barriers that seek to block humanity's progress towards its destined goal. The constructive process stands associated with the nascent Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and is the harbinger of the New World Order that Faith must erelong establish. The destructive forces that characterize the other should be identified with a civilization that has refused to answer to the expectation of a new age, and is consequently falling into chaos and decline."- (WOB p.170)

And again: "The Champion builders of Bahá'u'lláh's rising World Order must scale nobler heights of heroism, as humanity plunges into greater depths of despair, degradation, dissension and distress. Let them forge ahead into the future serenely confident that the hour of their mightiest exertions and the supreme opportunity for their greatest exploits must coincide with the apocalyptic upheaval marking the lowest ebb in mankind's fast-declining fortunes"- (CF p.58.)

A THIRD INTEGRATION PROCESS

Shoghi Effendi wrote: "And yet while the shadows are continually deepening, might we not claim that gleams of hope, flashing intermittently on the international horizon, appear at times to relieve the darkness that encircles humanity? Would it be untrue to maintain that in a world of unsettled faith and disturbed thought, a world of steadily mounting armaments, of unquenchable hatreds and rivalries, the progress, however fitful, of the forces working in harmony with the spirit of the age can already be discerned? Though the great outcry raised by post-war nationalism is growing louder and more insistent every day, the League of Nations is as yet in its embryonic state, and the storm clouds that are gathering may for a time totally eclipse its powers and obliterate its machinery, yet the direction in which the institution itself is operating is most significant...A general pact on security has been the central purpose towards which these efforts have, ever since the League was born, tended to converge...For the first time in the history of humanity the system of collective security, foreshadowed by Bahá'u'lláh and explained by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, has been seriously envisaged, discussed and tested."- (WOB pp.191-2)

He further points out that by virtue of the "celestial potency which the Spirit of Bahá'u'lláh has breathed" into the world, "an increasing number of thoughtful men not only consider world peace as an approaching possibility, but as the necessary outcome of the forces now operating in the world"- (WOB p.47)

THE LESSER PEACE

Bahá'u'lláh addresses the Kings and rulers of the earth as follows: "Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace hold ye fast unto this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your own condition and that of your dependants... Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions... Be united, O concourse of the sovereigns of the world, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice" – (WOB p.162 and p.192). In another Tablet He writes: "The time must come...when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world's Great Peace among men...Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him."- (WOB p.162 and p.192)

THE GREATER PEACE

Mr Nakhjavani explained that Bahá'u'lláh uses three terms to refer to the levels of unification of the world. These are Sulh-i-Asghar, Sulh-i-Akbar, and Sulh-i-A'zam. Shoghi Effendi translates these into three separate terms according to context, as the Lesser Peace, the Greater Peace or the Great Peace, and finally the Most Great Peace. Whenever reference is made simply to reducing armaments, peace in the political sphere, etc, Shoghi Effendi translates this as Lesser Peace. Whenever the context is broader and includes the idea of mass conversion, Shoghi Effendi translates it as Most Great Peace. Whenever the context points to an intermediate stage between the two, Shoghi Effendi calls this the Greater Peace or the Great Peace.

THE MOST GREAT PEACE

Shoghi Effendi has given us the following definition: "The Most Great Peace... as conceived by Bahá'u'lláh—a peace that must inevitably follow as the practical consequence of the spiritualization of the world and the fusion of all its races, creeds, classes and nations—can rest on no other basis, and can be preserved through no other agency, except the divinely appointed ordinances that are implicit in the World Order that stands associated with His Holy Name"- (WOB pp.162-163). Shoghi Effendi further considered the following words addressed to Queen Victoria by Bahá'u'lláh to refer to the Most Great Peace and not to the Lesser Peace: "That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal cause, one common faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error..."- (WOB pp.163).

Day Two- The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice under the provisions of the Kitab-i-Aqdas and Abdul-Baha's Will and Testament.

IMPORTANCE OF WILL AND TESTAMENT

Shoghi Effendi has singled out Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Aqdas and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament as chief depositories "wherein are enshrined those priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Bahá'í Faith"- (WOB pp.3-4) and as the "the twin repositories of the constituent elements" of the "Sovereignty which the Bahá'í teachings foreshadow"-(WOB p.16). He furthermore describes the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as the "Charter of the future world civilization"- (GPB p.214). He calls the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by exactly the same title- (GPB p. 328).

Shoghi Effendi gradually educated the communities. Referring to the Will he wrote: "it needs at least a century of actual working before the treasures of wisdom hidden in it can be revealed" and, "We must trust to time, and the guidance of God's Universal House of Justice, to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of its [The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá] provisions and implications"-(BA p.62).

PROVISION FOR THE GUARDIANSHIP

In the Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh writes that authority reverts after Himself to the Aghsans, His male descendants: "Endowments dedicated to charity revert to God... None hath the right to dispose of them without leave from Him Who is the Dawning-place of Revelation. After Him this authority shall pass to the Aghsáns and after them to the House of Justice-should it be established in the world by then...Otherwise the endowments shall revert to the people of Bahá who speak not except by His leave and judge not save in accordance with what God hath decreed in this Tablet"- (KA pp.34-35)

In explanation of the verse notes 66 and 67 of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas read as follows: Note 66- "Aghsan" (plural of Ghusn) is the Arabic word for "Branches". This term is used by Bahá'u'lláh to designate His male descendants. It has particular implications not only for the disposition of endowments but also for the succession of authority following the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Bahá'u'lláh, in the Book of His Covenant, appointed 'Abdu'l-Bahá, His eldest son, as the Centre of His Covenant and the Head of the Faith. Abdu'l-Bahá, in His Will and Testament, appointed Shoghi Effendi, His eldest grandson, as the Guardian and Head of the Faith. This passage of the Aqdas, therefore, anticipates the succession of chosen Aghsan and thus the institution of the Guardianship and envisages the possibility of a break in their line. The passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957 precipitated the very situation provided for in this passage, in that the line of Aghsan ended before the Universal House of Justice had been established."

Note 67. Bahá'u'lláh provides for the possibility that the line of Aghsan would terminate prior to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice. He designated that in such a situation "endowments shall revert to the people of Bahá". The term "people of Bahá" is used with a number of different meanings in the Bahá'í Writings. In this instance, they are described as those "who speak not except by His leave and judge not save in accordance with what God hath decreed in this Tablet". Following the passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957, the Hands of the Cause of God directed the affairs of the Cause until the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963."- (KA p.196)

CONDITIONS FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN

In His Will and Testament, Abdul-Baha writes: "It is incumbent upon the Guardian of the Cause of God to appoint within his life time him that shall be his successor that differences shall not arise after his passing". It further stipulates: "The Hands of The Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the Guardian of the Cause of God...These, whether unanimously or by a majority vote must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the Guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor" - (BA p.8 and p.10).

INDEPENDENT DIVINE GUIDANCE

Abdul-Baha writes in His Will and Testament: "[The] Guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness the Exalted One... Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth them, has not obeyed God..."

And again, He writes: " Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn, and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice, and turned away from the Lord of the Covenant. By this House is meant that Universal House of Justice which is to be elected from all countries, that is from those parts in the East and West where the loved ones are to be found... It is incumbent upon these members [of the Universal House of Justice] to gather in a certain place and deliberate upon all problems which have caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book. Whatsoever they decide has the same effect as the Text itself."- (WTA p.19)

TWIN SUCCESSORS

Shoghi Effendi often refers to the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice as the "chosen successors" of Bahá'u'lláh and Abdul-Baha. He writes: "Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship, the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated" and again: "Severed from the no less essential institution of the Universal House of Justice, this same System would be paralyzed"- (WOB p.148)

Shoghi Effendi likens the two institutions to pillars, or buttresses in the structure of the Administrative Order. He also describes the Universal House of Justice as "the apex of the Bahá'í Administrative Order" and refers to it as the "crowning glory" of the administrative institutions of the Faith.

WHY THE GUARDIAN LEFT NO WILL

The House of Justice writes: "The fact that Shoghi Effendi did not leave a will cannot be adduced as evidence of his failure to obey Bahá'u'lláh— rather should we acknowledge that in his very silence there is a wisdom and a sign of his infallible guidance"- (UHJM1963-1986 p.84).

Day Four- The Bahá'í Administrative Order in contrast to other religious and secular systems.

THE UNIQUE COVENANT OF BAHA'U'LLAH

Bahá'u'lláh writes: "Through the movement of Our Pen of glory We have, at the bidding of the omnipotent Ordainer, breathed a new life into every human frame, and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things proclaim the evidences of this world-wide regeneration... He hath lent a fresh impulse, and set a new direction to the birds of men's hearts... The whole earth is illuminated with the resplendent glory of God's Revelation... Behold how the generality of mankind hath been endued with the capacity to hearken unto God's most exalted Word—the Word upon which must depend the gathering together and spiritual resurrection of all men"- (GWB pp.92-7).

Bahá'u'lláh calls His Revelation the "Springtime which autumn will never overtake", the "Day which shall never be followed by night" and "the eye to past ages and centuries". He further proclaims "I testify before God, to the greatness, the inconceivable greatness of this Revelation. Again and again have We in most of Our Tablets borne witness to this truth, that mankind may be roused from its heedlessness"- (WOB p.103), and again, "The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation. Storms of human strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor will men's fanciful theories succeed in damaging its structure"- (WOB p.109)

Abdu'l-Bahá writes: "The effulgence of God's splendorous mercy hath enveloped the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and the whole world is bathed in its shining glory..."- (WOB p.110), "Centuries, nay ages, must pass away ere the Day-Star of Truth shineth again in its mid-summer splendour or appeareth once more in the radiance of its vernal glory... How thankful must we be for having been made in this day the recipients of so overwhelming a favour"- (WOB p.111), "Whatsoever is latent in the innermost of this holy cycle shall gradually appear and be made manifest, for now is but the beginning of its growth and the dayspring of the revelation of its signs"- (WOB p.146).

Shoghi Effendi has identified the Covenant as the "excellent and priceless heritage" we have from Bahá'u'lláh. 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us that it is "one of the distinctive features of this most mighty cycle", a Covenant, "the like of which the sacred Dispensations of the past have never witnessed"- (GPB p.239).

Bahá'u'lláh has written in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: "The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous system—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed"- (KA para181).

CONTRAST TO CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

The Guardian writes: "Where and how does this Order established by Bahá'u'lláh, which to outward seeming is but a replica of the institutions established in Christianity and Islam, differ from them? Are not the twin institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship, the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, the institution of the national and local Assemblies, the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, but different names for the institutions of the Papacy and the Caliphate, with all their attending ecclesiastical orders which the Christians and Moslems uphold and advocate? What can possibly be the agency that can safeguard these Bahá'í institutions, so strikingly resemblant, in some of their features, to those which have been reared by the Fathers of the Church and the Apostles of Muhammad, from witnessing the deterioration in character, the breach of unity, and the extinction of influence, which have befallen all organized religious hierarchies? Why should they not eventually suffer the self-same fate that has overtaken the institutions which the successors of Christ and Muhammad have reared?"- (WOB pp.18-19)

His answer is: "None, I feel, will question the fact that the fundamental reason why the unity of the Church of Christ was irretrievably shattered, and its influence was in the course of time undermined, was that the Edifice which the Fathers of the Church reared after the passing of His First Apostle was an Edifice that rested in nowise upon the explicit directions of Christ Himself. The authority and features of their administration were wholly inferred, and indirectly derived, with more or less justification, from certain vague and fragmentary references which they found scattered amongst His utterances as recorded in the Gospel. Not one of the sacraments of the Church; not one of the rites and ceremonies which the Christian Fathers have elaborately devised and ostentatiously observed; not one of the elements of the severe discipline they rigorously imposed upon the primitive Christians; none of these reposed on the direct authority of Christ, or emanated from His specific utterances. Not one of these did Christ conceive, none did He specifically invest with sufficient authority to either interpret His Word, or to add to what He had not specifically enjoined" (WOB p.20).

And again, with reference to the Muhammad's Dispensation, "In the Muhammadan Revelation... although His Faith as compared with that of Christ was, so far as the administration of His Dispensation is concerned, more complete and more specific in its provisions, yet in the matter of succession, it gave no written, no binding and conclusive instructions to those whose mission was to propagate His Cause. For the text of the Qur'án, the ordinances of which regarding prayer, fasting, marriage, divorce, inheritance, pilgrimage, and the like, have after the revolution of thirteen hundred years remained intact and operative, gives no definite guidance regarding the Law of Succession, the source of all the dissensions, the controversies, and schisms which have dismembered and discredited Islam"- (WOB p.21).

He finishes by stating: "The Administrative Order... it should be noted, is, by virtue of its origin and character, unique in the annals of the world's religious systems. No Prophet before Bahá'u'lláh, it can be confidently asserted... has established, authoritatively and in writing, anything comparable to the Administrative Order which the authorized Interpreter of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings has instituted, an Order which, by virtue of the administrative principles which its Author has formulated, the institutions He has established, and the right of interpretation with which He has invested its Guardian, must and will, in a manner unparalleled in any previous religion, safeguard from schism the Faith from which it has sprung"- (GPB p.326).

SIMILARITIES AND DISSIMILARITIES WITH EXISTING FORMS OF GOVERNMENT

Shoghi Effendi writes: "This new-born Administrative Order incorporates within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the three recognized forms of secular government, without being in any sense a mere replica of any one of them, and without introducing within its machinery any of the objectionable features which they inherently possess. It blends and harmonizes, as no government fashioned by mortal hands has as yet accomplished, the salutary truths which each of these systems undoubtedly contains without vitiating the integrity of those God-given verities on which it is ultimately founded."- (WOB p.152)

The Guardian has given this further insight: "Neither in theory nor in practice can the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh be said to conform to any type of democratic government, to any system of autocracy,[or] to any purely aristocratic order... The hereditary authority which the Guardian of the Administrative Order is called upon to exercise, and the right of the interpretation of the Holy Writ solely conferred upon him; the powers and prerogatives of the Universal House of Justice, possessing the exclusive right to legislate on matters not explicitly revealed in the Most Holy Book; the ordinance exempting its members from any responsibility to those whom they represent, and from the obligation to conform to their views, convictions or sentiments; the specific provisions requiring the free and democratic election by the mass of the faithful of the Body that constitutes the sole legislative organ in the world-wide Bahá'í community -- these are among the features which combine to set apart the Order identified with the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh from any of the existing systems of human government"- (GPB p.326).

INHERANT EVILS EXCLUDED

Shoghi Effendi states: "The admitted evils inherent in each of these systems being rigidly and permanently excluded, this unique Order, however long it may endure and however extensive its ramifications, cannot ever degenerate into any form of despotism, of oligarchy, or of demagogy which must sooner or later corrupt the machinery of all man-made and essentially defective political institutions"- (WOB p.154).

Day Five- The role of the American Bahá'í community in the emergence of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.

THE ROLE OF AMERICA

The first reference in the Kitab-i-Aqdas is when Baha'ullah addresses the Rulers of America specifically: "Hearken ye, O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein, unto that which the Dove is warbling on the Branch of Eternity: "There is none other God but Me, the Ever-Abiding, the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful." Adorn ye the temple of dominion with the ornament of justice and of the fear of God, and its head with the crown of the remembrance of your Lord, the Creator of the heavens. Thus counselleth you He Who is the Dayspring of Names, as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. The Promised One hath appeared in this glorified Station, whereat all beings, both seen and unseen, have rejoiced. Take ye advantage of the Day of God. Verily, to meet Him is better for you than all that whereon the sun shineth, could ye but know it. O concourse of rulers! Give ear unto that which hath been raised from the Dayspring of Grandeur: "Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Lord of Utterance, the All-Knowing." Bind ye the broken with the hands of justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise."(KA p.52)

In His Hidden Words, Bahá'u'lláh says: "O OPPRESSORS ON EARTH! Withdraw your hands from tyranny, for I have pledged Myself not to forgive any man's injustice. This is My covenant which I have irrevocably decreed in the preserved tablet and sealed with My seal"- (PHW p.64).

THE ROLE OF THE AMERICAN BAHA'I COMMUNITY

Another statement by Bahá'u'lláh envisages the sovereignty which His Revelation will achieve through those who will champion His Faith in the West: "In the East the light of His Revelation hath broken; in the West have appeared the signs of His dominion. Ponder this in your hearts, O people, and be not of those who have turned a deaf ear to the admonitions of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Praised"- (WOB p.78).

Abdul-Baha states on the same theme: "From the beginning of time until the present day... the light of Divine Revelation hath risen in the East and shed its radiance upon the West. The illumination thus shed hath, however, acquired in the West an extraordinary brilliancy. Consider the Faith proclaimed by Jesus. Though it first appeared in the East, yet not until its light had been shed upon the West did the full measure of its potentialities become manifest. The day is approaching, when ye shall witness how, through the splendour of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, the West will have replaced the East, radiating the light of Divine Guidance"- (WOB p.74).

The Tablets of the Divine Plan Abdul-Baha writes: "Behold the portals which Bahá'u'lláh hath opened before you! Consider how exalted and lofty is the station you are destined to attain; how unique the favours with which you have been endowed... The full measure of your success, is as yet unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended... The range of your future achievements... still remains undisclosed... The moment this Divine Message is carried forward by the American believers from the shores of America and is propagated through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of Australasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific, this community will find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion. Then will all the peoples of the world witness that this community is spiritually illumined and divinely guided. Then will the whole earth resound with the praises of its majesty and greatness"-(WOB pp.77-8).

Shoghi Effendi showered the American friends with praise in innumerable messages, calling them:

• "The envied custodians of a Divine Plan"- (CF p.120)


• "The principal builders and defenders of a Mighty Order"- (CF p.120)


• "The recognised champions of an unspeakably glorious and precious Faith"- (CF p.120)


• "A community invested with a spiritual primacy"- (CF p.34)


• "A richly endowed and spiritually blessed community"- (CF p.42)


• "The executors of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Mandate"- (CF p.98)


• "The great-minded, stout-hearted, high-spirited American Bahá'í community"- (CF p.66).


• "The torchbearers of a World-Girdling Civilization"- (CF p.31)


• "A dearly loved, richly endowed, unflinchingly resolute community"- (CF p.49)


• "The privileged occupants and stout-hearted defenders of the foremost citadel of the Faith"- (CF p.83).


• "The valorous American Bahá'í community"- (MBW1950-57, p.35).
• "This repeatedly blessed... community"- (TDH p.95).


• "The standard bearers of the all-conquering army of the Lord of Hosts"- (CF p.109)

THE ROLE OF THE AMERICAN BAHA'I COMMUNITY IN IRAN

Abdul-Baha makes the following statement: "Erelong will your brethren from Europe and America journey to Persia. There they will promote to an unprecedented degree the interests of art and industry. There they will rear the institutions of true civilization, promote the development of husbandry and trade, and assist in the spread of education.... Assuredly they will come; assuredly they will contribute in making of the land of Iran the envy and the admiration of the peoples and nations of the world"- (BA p.173).

DESTINY OF THE AMERICAS

Referring to the Western Hemisphere, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has written: "The continent of America, is in the eyes of the one true God the land wherein the splendours of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide and the free assemble"- (WOB p.75). He also wrote: "The American continent gives signs and evidences of very great advancement. Its future is even more promising, for its influence and illumination are far-reaching. It will lead all nations spiritually"- (WOB p.76). Please note that the spiritual leadership refers not only to the United States, but to the people of the entire continent.

THE UNITED STATES AND PRINCIPLE OF FEDERALISM

Abdul-Baha states: "May this American democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement. May it be the first nation to proclaim the unity of mankind. May it be the first to unfurl the standard of the Most Great Peace."

Abdul-Baha answered an official in the US government, who had asked Him how best he could serve his country, by saying: "You can best serve your country, if you strive, in your capacity as citizen of the world, to assist in the eventual application of the principle of federalism underlying the government of your own country to the relationships now existing between the peoples and nations of the world."

Shoghi Effendi elaborates the principle of federalism in the following statement: "[The] followers of the Bahá'í Faith... viewing mankind as one entity, and profoundly attached to its vital interests, will not hesitate to subordinate every particular interest, be it personal, regional or national, to the over-riding interests of the generality of mankind, knowing full well that in a world of interdependent peoples and nations the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole, and that no lasting result can be achieved by any of the component parts if the general interests of the entity itself are neglected...."- (CN, xvii-xviii).

THE INCREASING ROLE OF AMERICA

Shoghi Effendi also says: "The world is moving on. Its events are unfolding ominously and with bewildering rapidity. The whirlwind of its passions is swift and alarmingly violent. The New World is being insensibly drawn into its vortex... The Great Republic of the West finds itself particularly and increasingly involved... The world is contracting into a neighbourhood. America, willingly or unwillingly, must face and grapple with this new situation. For purposes of national security, let alone any humanitarian motive, she must assume the obligations imposed by this newly created neighbourhood. Paradoxical as it may seem, her only hope of extricating herself from the perils gathering around her is to become entangled in that very web of international association which the Hand of an inscrutable Providence is weaving"- (ADJ p.73-4).

The Guardian gives us assurance that America will: "raise its voice in the councils of the nations, itself lay the cornerstone of a universal and enduring peace, proclaim the solidarity, the unity, and maturity of mankind, and assist in the establishment of the promised reign of righteousness on earth. Then, and only then, will the American nation, while the community of the American believers within its heart is consummating its divinely appointed mission, be able to fulfil the unspeakably glorious destiny ordained for it by the Almighty" – (ADJ pp.66-7)

THE ROLE OF THE BAHA'IS

Shoghi Effendi writes: "Who knows but that [the years ahead] may not be pregnant with events of unimaginable magnitude, with ordeals more severe than any that humanity has as yet experienced, with conflicts more devastating than any which have preceded them. Dangers, however sinister, must, at no time, dim the radiance of their new-born faith. Strife and confusion, however bewildering, must never befog their vision. Tribulations, however afflictive, must never shatter their resolve. Denunciations, however clamorous, must never sap their loyalty. Upheavals, however cataclysmic, must never deflect their course... Far from yielding in their resolve, far from growing oblivious of their task, they should, at no time, however much buffeted by circumstances, forget that the synchronization of such world-shaking crises with the progressive unfoldment and fruition of their divinely appointed task is itself the work of Providence, the design of an inscrutable Wisdom, and the purpose of an all-compelling Will, a Will that directs and controls, in its own mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the destinies of men. Such simultaneous processes of rise and of fall, of integration and of disintegration, of order and chaos, with their continuous and reciprocal reactions on each other, are but aspects of a greater Plan, one and indivisible, whose Source is God, whose author is Bahá'u'lláh, the theatre of whose operations is the entire planet, and whose ultimate objectives are the unity of the human race and the peace of all mankind"- (ADJ pp.60-1)

Day Six- The Evolution of the Bahá'í Administrative Order- its spirit and form (the Rulers and the Learned.)

THE NECESSITY FOR ADMINISTRATION.

Shoghi Effendi wrote: "Who, I may ask, when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the increasing complexity of its affairs, the diversity of its adherents, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the infant Faith of God, can for a moment question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and stress of a struggling civilization, the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its interests?" "- (WOB pp.9-10).

THE IMPORTANCE OF OBEDIENCE.

Shoghi Effendi writes: "To repudiate the validity of the assemblies of the elected ministers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh would be to reject those countless Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá wherein They have extolled the station of the "trustees of the Merciful," enumerated their privileges and duties, emphasized the glory of their mission, revealed the immensity of their task, and warned them of the attacks they must needs expect from the unwisdom of their friends as well as from the malice of their enemies"- (WOB pp.9-10).

THE SPIRIT OF THE INSTITUTIONS.

Shoghi Effendi wrote in 1923: "But let us be on our guard -- so the Master continually reminds us from His Station on high -- lest too much concern in that which is secondary in importance, and too long a preoccupation with the details of our affairs and activities, make us neglectful of the most essential, the most urgent of all our obligations, namely, to bury our cares and teach the Cause, delivering far and wide this Message of Salvation to a sorely-stricken world"- (BA p.42).

And again in 1929: "And now, it behoves us to reflect on the animating purpose and the primary functions of these divinely-established institutions, the sacred character and the universal efficacy of which can be demonstrated only by the spirit they diffuse and the work they actually achieve. I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation... It is surely for those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been committed to prayerfully watch lest the tool should supersede the Faith itself, lest undue concern for the minute details arising from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its promoters, lest partiality, ambition, and worldliness tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity, and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh"- (WOB p.9)

Expanding on this theme in 1935, he wrote: "The Bahá'í Faith, like all other Divine religions, is thus fundamentally mystic in character. Its chief goal is the development of the individual and society, through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers. It is the soul of man that has first to be fed. And this spiritual nourishment prayer can best provide. Laws and institutions, as viewed by Bahá'u'lláh, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will degenerate into a mere organization, and become a dead thing"- (CC vol. II, p.237).

Bahá'u'lláh writes in the Kitab-i-Aqdas that when the members of the Houses of Justice meet, they should "consider themselves as entering the Court of the presence of God, the Exalted, the Most High, and as beholding Him Who is the Unseen". He further calls on them to "regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth" and "to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly. Thus hath the Lord your God commanded you. Beware lest ye put away that which is clearly revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, O ye that perceive"- (KA p.29).

Shoghi Effendi went on to explain: "Let us also bear in mind that the keynote of the Cause of God is not dictatorial authority but humble fellowship, not arbitrary power, but the spirit of frank and loving consultation" - (BA p.63).

SPIRITUAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE INSTITUTIONS

Shoghi Effendi sets the spiritual obligations of elected institutions out in the following words: "Their function is not to dictate, but to consult, and consult not only among themselves, but as much as possible with the friends whom they represent. They must regard themselves in no other light but that of chosen instruments for a more efficient and dignified presentation of the Cause of God. They should never be led to suppose that they are the central ornaments of the body of the Cause, intrinsically superior to others in capacity or merit, and sole promoters of its teachings and principles. They should approach their task with extreme humility, and endeavour, by their open-mindedness, their high sense of justice and duty, their candour, their modesty, their entire devotion to the welfare and interests of the friends, the Cause, and humanity, to win, not only the confidence and the genuine support and respect of those whom they serve, but also their esteem and real affection. They must, at all times, avoid the spirit of exclusiveness, the atmosphere of secrecy, free themselves from a domineering attitude, and banish all forms of prejudice and passion from their deliberations. They should, within the limits of wise discretion, take the friends into their confidence, acquaint them with their plans, share with them their problems and anxieties, and seek their advice and counsel. And, when they are called upon to arrive at a certain decision, they should, after dispassionate, anxious and cordial consultation, turn to God in prayer, and with earnestness and conviction and courage record their vote and abide by the voice of the majority..."- (BA p.63).

THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL INVOLVEMENT

When Shoghi Effendi was asked to give the qualifications of a true believer, one of the essential qualifications he stipulated was "close association with the spirit as well as the form of the present day Bahá'í Administration"- (BA p.90).

THE RULERS AND THE LEARNED.

Bahá'u'lláh, in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, writes: "Blessed are the rulers and the learned among the people of Baha."

Shoghi Effendi explained: 'In this holy cycle the "learned" are, on the one hand, the Hands of the Cause of God, and, on the other, the teachers and diffusers of His teachings who do not rank as Hands, but who have attained an eminent position in the teaching work. As to the "rulers" they refer to the members of the Local, National and International Houses of Justice. The duties of each of these souls will be determined in the future."

SAFEGUARD AGAINST ABUSES OF CLERGY

In a letter written on his behalf in 1927, the Guardian pointed out how, in the past, it was certain individuals who "accounted themselves as superior in knowledge and elevated in position" who caused division, and that it was those "who pretended to be the most distinguished of all" who "always proved themselves to be the source of contention." "But praise be to God," he continued, "that the Pen of Glory has done away with the unyielding and dictatorial views of the learned and the wise, dismissed the assertions of individuals as an authoritative criterion, even though they were recognized as the most accomplished and learned among men and ordained that all matters be referred to authorized centres and specified Assemblies. Even so, no Assembly has been invested with the absolute authority to deal with such general matters as affect the interests of nations. Nay rather, He has brought all the assemblies together under the shadow of one House of Justice, one divinely appointed Centre, so that there would be only one Centre and all the rest integrated into a single body, revolving around one expressly designated Pivot, thus making them all proof against schism and division."

The House gives further elucidation on this theme: "It is clear from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, as well as from those of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the interpretations of the Guardian, that the proper functioning of human society requires the preservation of ranks and classes within its membership. The friends should recognize this without envy or jealousy, and those who occupy ranks should never exploit their position or regard themselves as being superior to others."

THE DIFFERNENCE BETWEEN BEING APPOINTED AND SEEKING DISTINCTION

Bahá'u'lláh writes: 'And amongst the realms of unity is the unity of rank and station. It redoundeth to the exaltation of the Cause, glorifying it among all peoples. Ever since the seeking of preference and distinction came into play, the world hath been laid waste. It hath become desolate. Those who have quaffed from the ocean of divine utterance and fixed their gaze upon the Realm of Glory should regard themselves as being on the same level as the others and in the same station. Were this matter to be definitely established and conclusively demonstrated through the power and might of God, the world would become as the Abha Paradise. Indeed, man is noble, inasmuch as each one is a repository of the sign of God. Nevertheless, to regard oneself as superior in knowledge, learning or virtue, or to exalt oneself or seek preference, is a grievous transgression. Great is the blessedness of those who are adorned with the ornament of this unity and have been graciously confirmed by God..."

The House of Justice further wrote on this subject: "Courtesy, reverence, dignity, respect for the rank and achievements of others are virtues which contribute to the harmony and well-being of every community, but pride and self-aggrandizement are among the most deadly of sins."

And again, "The House of Justice hopes that all the friends will remember that the ultimate aim in life of every soul should be to attain spiritual excellence -- to win the good pleasure of God. The true spiritual station of any soul is known only to God. It is quite a different thing from the ranks and stations that men and women occupy in the various sectors of society. Whoever has his eyes fixed on the goal of attaining the good pleasure of God will accept with joy and radiant acquiescence whatever work or station is assigned to him in the Cause of God, and will rejoice to serve Him under all conditions"- (UHJM1963-86, p.376).

REFERENCES

ADJ             Advent of Divine Justice

BA              Bahá'í Administration

BP1975               Bahá'í Prayers, 1975, British Edition

BW vol. XIII      Bahá'í World Volume XIII

CC vol. II            Compilation of Compilations

CF               Citadel of Faith

CH              Compilation on Huqœqu'llˆh

CN              Call to the Nations (XVII – XVIII)

CUHJ  Constitution of the Universal House of Justice

ESW            Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

GPB            God Passes By

GWB   Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh

KA              Kitáb-i-Aqdas

LOG            Lights of Guidance

MBW  Messages to the Bahá'í World 1950-57

MUHJ       Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-86

PDC            Promised Day is Come

PHW   Persian Hidden Words

PP       Priceless Pearl

SAQ    Some Answered Questions

SWAB       Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

SWB       Selections from the Writings of the Báb

TB       Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas

TDH    This Decisive Hour

WH     A Wider Horizon- selected letters 1983-1992

WOB   World Order of Bahá'u'lláh

WTA   Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

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