Bahá’í News/Inserts/Issue 414/Building the Bahá’í Community/Text
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Insert September 1965
Band’t News
Building the Bahai Community
On the faith of each member of the Baha’i community rests the foundation of the administrative structure which is taking shape in the Baha’i World. Christ said: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” Friends! Let our faith be like a rock. The Cause of God must rest on such a rock. From faith is born hope. From faith is born assurance. From faith is born a vision of the world of tomorrow, And our Cause leads to the realization of this vision; our Cause which is the only, the unique Ark of salvation for humanity.
Our first aim in our teaching task must be the communication of our faith to those who are attracted by the “Glad Tidings.” Their attachment to God, their attachment to the Author, to the Forerunner and to the Center of our Covenant must be the criterion for our Assemblies when they decide on requests for membership. If a doubt remains, let us not hesitate to postpone a declaration which shows the possibility of developing a weakness later and let us try to reinforce, by our example and through supplementary teachings, the conviction of those who ask for a place in our great family.
Just as our faith must be unshakable, so, also, our love must be stainless, The unity of our communities depends on our mutual understanding. Let us beware, dear friends! Let us, who are protecting the future of our communities, be especially careful to dry up at the very beginning every source of discord. We cannot overemphasize the danger of such centers of dissension to the character of our love and to our community.
These two essential qualities, Love and Faith, are a source of great happiness. From them we draw enthusiasm and courage. And when we do, our Cause progresses, progresses magnificently in an atmosphere of untiring devotion, through efforts given without regret.
Administration
We know that the institutions we are establishing are the agencies which must assure the world of tomorrow and the peace to which we aspire.
Our institutions are divine in origin. They have been designed by the will of Baha’u’llah and established by ‘Abdu’l-Baha on principles which, even though few in number, are absolutely essential; principles which meet the laws of universal love, of permanent justice which will preside over our destinies. These institutions cannot be compared to any administrative systems which have existed up to now. Their purpose, perfectly defined in the Writings which have been left to us, will be attained if we are able to apply the basic law of their functioning: the law of consultation. Our Guardian writes: “Its unbreakable foundation is the principle of consultation, which ‘Abdu’l-Baha declared to be the fulfillment of individual conscience in this new age.”
All these essentially spiritual principles are unchangeable; they are the base of our administration. It is our concern to bring them to practical functioning by the decisions which we make. We must not forget that our decisions can never go beyond the spiritual
laws which must be expressed in them. Procedure will always be supple, adaptable, conform to the needs of the hour, in the measure that respect for the laws of the Aqdas, the spirit of justice, the will to demonstrate love and a consideration of the good of all are invariably in the directions we give. In this way, the Holy Spirit will guide our Assemblies.
Qualities of the Members of the Assemblies
‘Abdu’l-Baha says: ‘‘The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all save God, attraction to His divine Fragrance, humility and lowliness among His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold.”
In the heart of the Assembly, the first condition is unity, a unity guaranteed by the love and harmony which prevail among members. The second condition is piety. ‘Abdu’l-Baha says: “They must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on High and ask aid from the Realm of Glory.”
Animated by that will to serve God and humanity, everyone will express himself freely, completely, but concisely and with moderation, and will submit himself to the will of the majority, which ceases to be the will of the greatest number and becomes the will of all.
Consultation
The great innovation of this divine system of administration is the participation of everyone in the life of the community. But consultation, to be productive, must be guided in a spirit of goodwill and mutual understanding. It is incumbent on the chairman to see that this spirit be maintained. This is a very delicate task which requires much diplomacy and aiso much firmness. In every group there are people who talk too much or out of turn and there are those who do not say a word. To calm the talkative without hurting them, to solicit the opinion of those who hesitate; here lies the art of leading a consultation. And this is only possible when everyone accepts the discipline of pooling his opinion at the right moment.
Another quality, necessary for the good of consultation, is this: Nobody must be offended by any opinion, even if he thinks that this opinion is ridiculous, wrong or even unjust. Let us be convinced that everyone has one aim, one intention: the good of the Cause.
The atmosphere of consultation reflects the state of our souls. If we are impregnated with an ideal of love, of common action, the ideal which is the base of our faith, we will be able to keep a high spiritual character in our consultation; and on the other hand, the benefits of such a harmony will rejoice our hearts and lighten our souls. Our life together, fighting for the same ideal, meeting the same difficulties, making the same sacrifices, will further the realization of our true personal destinies, as well as establish peace in the entire world.
From these thousands of little luminous points which
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are the Baha’i communities in the world, waves of
individual actions spring up, first channeled in the
community through the local institutions, by means
of consultation, rising magnificently up to the supreme bodies of our administrative order, to fall as
bounty on each of us. Such is the aim of our consultation; such is its meaning.
Relations Between Assembly and Community
Our Assemblies have been invested by Baha’u’llah with an incontestable authority. Therefore, we must know, when we accept new believers, whether this authority is freely and entirely accepted.
The decisions which are taken by our assemblies must be followed with obedience and loyalty. Therein lies the unique safeguard of the unity of our Faith. And yet, our administrative system sanctions neither the arbitrary nor the tyrannical.
Divine in origin, protected by God, when they turn to Him, our assemblies have no other aim than to establish justice and to serve the good of all.
‘Those who compose them, have been chosen for their spiritual qualities. Every year a new election guarantees an equitable representation of the will of everyone. By such an act everyone entrusts to nine persons the conduct of all the affairs of the Cause and by the same token promises to submit himself to their decision.
But if the assembly is elected by the community, it is not responsible to it. Our Guardian insists particularly on this point: ‘They are invested with an authority rendering them unanswerable for their acts and decisions to those who elect them.”
The Assembly, nevertheless, will feel that in the consultation it finds its most fruitful source of inspiration, but it must not be influenced by the general opinion. The members judge in equity and liberty, guided only by the Writings and the injunctions of their conscience.
We must not confuse the Assembly with its members. Authority in our Cause always belongs to institutions, never to individuals. The members, elected to an Assembly, have no greater rank than other members of the community. In the meetings, no privilege can be given to them, no decisions can be asked from them. On the contrary, they will justify the choice which has been made by their humility, their modesty, their high sense of duty. Their authority exists only when they are assembled in the conditions required by our laws. We must never neglect this essential principle.
The mission which has been confided to our Assemblies is that of leading the Baha’i life within the community. Every problem should be submitted to them so that they may apply consultation and channel its benefits to the individuals concerned.
‘Abdu’l-Baha says: “It is incumbent upon everyone not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with heart and soul its bidding and be submissive unto it that things may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person will act independently and after his own judgment, will follow his own desire and do harm to the Cause.”
In general, we understand very well the mission of our Assemblies on the matters of teaching or when collective action must be taken, but we often forget
that they must safeguard the spiritual welfare of all. The Assembly has the right to counsel individuals when their private life diverges gravely from the way defined by Baha’u’llah; it has the duty of using its authority when a member, by his acts, harms the community. Therefore, I would like to emphasize the necessity of spreading this concept that the Assembly is at the service of everyone, that we must consult it and take its advice when we have a difficult individual problem to solve.
Our local and national Assemblies are destined to become auxiliary Houses of Justice as our Cause evolves. And now they sometimes have to arbitrate conflicts which arise in our communities. For that reason it is necessary to establish firmly their authority in the faith of each believer that in the first moments of conflict the Assembly can bring the weight of its wisdom, of its objectivity, of its deep love to each member, to bear in the interest of justice and unity.
If we want a strong community, everyone should see in his Assembly — in this organic unity which is independent of the individuals who compose it — the light which guides us surely to the best way.
The Guardian—The Universal House of Justice
I have spoken of faith and love, of obedience and loyalty to our assemblies. Now, it is essential to point out that we must arouse in the soul of everyone the same feelings for the twin pillars of our Cause: The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.
I have no words to glorify the task accomplished by our Guardian, to praise the virtues which sustained him in his work. I think at the same time of the Universal House of Justice which will achieve the social order which we are establishing. Can we understand the bounties which have been showered on our time? We have, from the very hand of the Author of our Cause, both the laws and the instruments which must interpret and complete them.
Friends, we must strive to inspire in the hearts of those who wish to take part in this new life, a firm confidence, a peerless loyalty, a complete submission to our Guardian and to the Universal House of Justice which in time will spread its protection over our poor torn world.
Administration is not something dead, something secondary. It is our Bahd’i life. Our faith in God, our adherence to the metaphysical or philosophical truths which shine in our Holy Scriptures have no meaning if we reject the new life which finds its fulfillment in action. To what good end do we improve our thinking or deepen our insight, if we continue to despise the fate of our poor earth.
God invites us today to create a new civilization, to bring His Kingdom to earth. Only by putting into action our administrative institutions with the spirit which comes to them from God, will we succeed in achieving such a miracle. Today the devotion of man is measured by his deeds, For these reasons a true understanding of the Bahd’i Order is the sign of the Baha’i Life.
Address by M. Louis Henuzet, September, 1951 published as an insert in Bana‘r News September, 1952,
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