Bahá’í World/Volume 10/The Present-Day Administration of the Bahá’í Faith
PART TWO
I
THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U’LLÁH
1.
THE PRESENT-DAY ADMINISTRATION OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
THE FORMATION OF AN ORGANIC RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
BY HORACE HOLLEY
IN accepting the message of Bahá’u’lláh, every Bahá’í has opened his mind and heart to the dominion of certain fundamental truths. These truths he recognizes as divine in origin, beyond human capacity to produce. In the realm of spirit he attests that these truths are revealed evidences of a higher reality than man. They are to the soul what natural law is to physical body of animal or plant. Therefore the believer today, as in the Dispensation of Christ or Moses, enters into the condition of faith as a status of relationship to God and not of satisfaction to his own limited human and personal will or awareness. His faith exists as his participation in a heavenly world. It is the essence of his responsibility and not a temporary compromise effected between his conscience or reason and the meaning of truth, society, virtue, or life.
The Bahá’í accepts a quality of existence, a level of being which has been created above the control of his own active power. Because on that plane the truth exists that mankind is one, part of his acceptance of the message of Bahá’u’lláh is capacity to see that truth as existing, as a heavenly reality to be confirmed on earth. Because likewise on that higher level the inmost being of Moses, Christ, Muḥammad, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh is one being, part of the believer’s acceptance of the Bahá’í message is capacity to realize the eternal continuance of that oneness, so that thereafter never will he again think of those holy and majestic Prophets according to the separateness of their bodies, their countries and their times.
The Bahá’í, moreover, recognizes that the realm of truth is inexhaustible, the creator of truth God Himself. Hence the Bahá’í can identify truth as the eternal flow of life itself in a channel that deepens and broadens as man’s capacity for truth enlarges from age to age. For him, that definition of truth which regards truth as tiny fragments of experience, to be taken up and laid down, as a shopper handling gems on a counter, to buy if one gem happens to please or seems becoming:—such a definition measures man’s own knowledge, or interest, or loyalty, but truth is a living unity which no man can condition. It is the sun in the heavens of spiritual reality, while self—will denies its dominion because self-will is the shadow of a cloud.
There are times for the revelation of a
larger area of the indivisible truth to mankind.
The Manifestation of God signalizes
the times and He is the revelation. When
He appears on earth He moves and speaks
with the power of all truth, known and unknown,
revealed in the past, revealed in Him,
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or to be revealed in the future. That realm
of heavenly reality is brought again in its
power and universality to knock at the closed
door of human experience, a divine guest
whose entrance will bless the household eternally,
or a divine punishment when debarred
and forbidden and condemned.
Bahá’u’lláh reveals that area of divine truth which underlies all human association. He enlarges man’s capacity to receive truth in the realm of experience where all men have condemned themselves to social chaos by ignorance of truth and readiness to substitute the implacable will of races, classes, nations and creeds for the pure spiritual radiance beneficently shining for all. Spiritual reality today has become the principle of human unity, the law for the nations, the devotion to mankind on which the future civilization can alone repose. As long as men cling to truth as definition, past experience, aspects of self—will, so long must this dire period of chaos continue when the separate fragments of humanity employ life not to unite but to struggle and destroy.
In the world of time, Bahá’u’lláh has created capacity for union and world civilization. His Dispensation is historically new and unique. In the spiritual world it is nothing else than the ancient and timeless reality of Moses, Jesus and Muḥammad disclosed to the race in a stage of added growth and development so that men can take a larger measure of that which always existed.
Like the man of faith in former ages, the Bahá’í has been given sacred truths to cherish in his heart as lamps for darkness and medicines for healing, convictions of immortality and evidences of divine love. But in addition to these gifts, the Bahá’í has that bestowal which only the Promised One of all ages could bring: nearness to a process of creation which opens a door of entrance into a world of purified and regenerated human relations. The final element in his recognition of the message of Bahá’u’lláh is that Bahá’u’lláh came to found a civilization of unity, progress and peace.
"O Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times how ye were created. Since We have created you all from the same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the sea of wondrous glory.”
Thus He describes the law of survival revealed for the world today, mystical only in that He addressed these particular words to our deepest inner understanding. Their import is not confined to any subjective realm. The motive and the realization He invokes has become the whole truth of sociology in this era.
Or, as we find its expression in another passage: “All men have been created to carry forward an ever—advancing civilization.” And the truth reappears in still another form: "How vast is the tabernacle of the Cause of God! It hath overshadowed all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and will, erelong, gather together the whole of mankind beneath its shelter.”
The encompassing reach of the Cause of God in each cycle means the particular aspect of experience for which men are held responsible. Not until our day could there be the creation of the principle of moral cause and effect in terms of mankind itself, in terms of the unifiable world.
The mission of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, following Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension in 1892, was to raise up a community of believers through whom collectively He might demonstrate the operation of the law of unity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s mission became fulfilled historically in the experience of the Bahá’ís of North America. In them He developed the administrative order, the organic society, which exemplifies the pattern of justice and order Bahá’u’lláh had creatively ordained. By His wisdom, His tenderness, His justice and His complete consecration to Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá conveyed to this body of Bahá’ís a sense of partnership in the process of divine creation: that it is for men to re-create, as civilization, a human and earthly replica of the heavenly order existing in the divine Will.
The Bahá’í administrative order has been described by the Guardian of the Faith as the pattern of the world order to be gradually attained as the Faith spreads throughout all countries. Its authority is Bahá’u’lláh, its sources the teachings He revealed in writing, with the interpretation and amplification made by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The first conveyance of authority by Bahá’u’lláh was to His eldest son. By this conveyance the integrity of the teachings was safeguarded, and the power of action implicit in all true faith directed into channels of unity for the development of the Cause in its universal aspects. No prior Dispensation has ever raised up an instrument like ‘Abdu’l-Bahá through whom the spirit and purpose of the Founder could continue to flow out in its wholeness and purity until His purpose had been achieved. The faith of the Bahá’í thus remains untainted by those elements of self-will which in previous ages have translated revealed truth into creeds, rites and institutions of human origin and limited aim. Those who enter the Bahá’í community subdue themselves and their personal interests to its sovereign standard, for they are unable to alter the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and exploit its teachings or its community for their own advantage.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s life exemplified the working of the one spirit and the one truth sustaining the body of believers throughout the world. He was the light connecting the sun of truth with the earth, the radiance enabling all Bahá’ís to realize that truth penetrates human affairs, illumines human problems, transcends conventional barriers, changes the climate of life from cold to warm. He infused Himself so completely into the hearts of the Bahá’ís that they associated the administrative institutions of the Faith with His trusted and cherished methods of service, so that the contact between their society and their religion has remained continuous and unimpaired.
The second conveyance of authority made by Bahá’u’lláh was to the institution He termed “House of Justice”:—“The Lord hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established wherein shall gather counsellors to the number of Bahá (i.e., nine) . . . It behooveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together 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. . . . Those souls who arise to serve the Cause sincerely to please God will be inspired by the divine, invisible inspirations. It is incumbent upon all (i.e., all believers) to obey. . . . Administrative affairs are all in charge of the House of Justice; but acts of worship must be observed according as they are revealed in the Book.”
The House of Justice is limited in its legislative capacity to matters not covered by the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh Himself:—“It is incumbent upon the Trustees of the House of Justice to take counsel together regarding such laws as have not been expressly revealed in the Book.” A high aim is defined for this central administrative organ of the Faiths:—”The men of the House of Justice must, night and day, gaze toward that which hath been revealed from the horizon of the Supreme Pen for the training of the servants, for the upbuilding of countries, for the preservation of human honor.”
In creating this institution for His community, Bahá’u’lláh made it clear that His Dispensation rests upon continuity of divine purpose, and associates human beings directly with the operation of His law. The House of Justice, an elective body, transforms society into an organism reflecting spiritual life. By the just direction of affairs this Faith replaces the institution of the professional clergy developed in all previous Dispensations.
By 1921, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid down
His earthly mission, the American Bahá’í
community had been extended to scores of
cities and acquired power to undertake tasks
of considerable magnitude, but the
administrative order remained incomplete. His Will
and Testament inaugurated a new era in the
Faith, a further conveyance of authority and
a clear exposition of the nature of the
elective institutions which the Bahá’ís were
called upon to form. In Shoghi Effendi, His
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grandson, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá established the
function of Guardianship with sole power
to interpret the teachings and with authority to
carry out the provisions of the Will. The
Guardianship connects the spiritual and
social realms of the Faith in that, in
addition to the office of interpreter, he
is constituted the presiding officer of
the international House of Justice when
elected; and the Guardianship is made
to descend from generation to generation
through the male line.
From the Will these excerpts are cited:
”After the passing of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon . . . the loved ones of the ‘Abhá Beauty (i.e., Bahá’u’lláh) to turn unto Shoghi Effendi—the youthful branch branched from the two hallowed Lote-Trees (i.e., descended from both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh) . . . as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of God . . . unto whom . . . His loved ones must turn. He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the firstborn of his lineal descendants.
“The sacred and youthful branch, 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. . . . Whatsoever they decide is of God. . . . The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the Cause of God. . . . No doubt every vainglorious one that purposeth dissension and discord will not openly declare his evil purposes, nay rather, even as impure gold would he seize upon divers measures and various pretexts that he may separate the gathering of the people of Bahá.”
“Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Bahá. . . .”
“O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive with all your heart to shield the Cause of God from the onslaught of the insincere, for souls such as these cause the straight to become crooked and all benevolent efforts to produce contrary results. . . . To none is given the right to put forth his own opinion or express his particular convictions. All must seek guidance and turn unto the Center of the Cause and the House of Justice.”
In each country where Bahá’ís exist, they participate in the world unity of their Faith through the office of the Guardian at this time, and they maintain local and national Bahá’í institutions for conducting their own activities.
In each local civil community, whether city, township or county, the Bahá’ís annually elect nine members to their local Spiritual Assembly. In America the Bahá’ís of each State or Canadian Province, (a direction of the Guardian having effect for the first time in connection with the Convention of 1944, the one hundredth year of the Faith) join in the election of delegates by proportionate representation and these delegates, to the full number of one hundred and seventy-one, constitute the Annual Convention which elects the members of the National Spiritual Assembly. These national bodies, in turn, will join in the election of an international Assembly, or House of Justice, when the world Bahá’í community is sufficiently developed.
The inter—relationship of all these
administrative bodies provides the world spirit of
the Faith with the agencies required for the
maintenance of a constitutional society
balancing the rights of the individual with the
paramount principle of unity preserving the
whole structure of the Cause. The Bahá’í as
an individual accepts guidance for his
conduct and doctrinal beliefs, for not otherwise
can he contribute his share to the general
unity which is God’s supreme blessing to
the world today. This general unity is the
believer’s moral environment, his social
universe, his psychic health and his goal of
effort transcending any personal aim. In
the Bahá’í order, the individual is the
musical note, but the teachings revealed by
Bahá’u’lláh are the symphony in which the
note finds its real fulfillment; the person
attains value by recognizing that truth
transcends his capacity and includes him in a
relationship which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said endowed
the part with the quality of the whole.
To receive, we give. In comparison to this
divine creation, the traditional claims of
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individual conscience, of personal judgment,
of private freedom, seem nothing more than
empty assertions advanced in opposition to
the divine will. It cannot be sufficiently
emphasized that the Bahá’í’s relationship to this
new spiritual society is an expression of faith,
and faith alone raises personality out of the
pit of self—will and moral isolation into
which so much of the world has fallen.
There can be no organic society, in fact, without social truth and social law embracing the individual members and evoking a loyalty both voluntary and complete. The political and economic groups which the individual enters with reservations are not true societies but temporary combinations of restless personalities, met in a truce which can not endure. Bahá’u’lláh has for ever solved the artificial dilemma which confuses and betrays the ardent upholder of individual freedom by His categorical statement that human freedom consists in obedience to God’s law. The freedom revolving around self—will He declares "must, in the end, lead to sedition, whose flames none can quench. . . . Know ye that the embodiment of liberty and its symbol in the animal. . . . True liberty consists in man’s submission unto My commandments, little as ye know it.”
The Guardian, applying the terms of the Will and Testament to an evolving order, has given the present generation of Bahá’ís a thorough understanding of Bahá’í institutions and administrative principles. Rising to its vastly increased responsibility resulting from the loss of the beloved Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Bahá’í community itself has intensified its effort until in America alone the number of believers has been more than doubled since 1921. It has been their destiny to perfect the local and national Bahá’í institutions as models for the believers in other lands. Within the scope of a single lifetime, the American Bahá’í community has developed from a small local group to a national unit of a world society, passing through the successive stages by which a civilization achieves its pristine pattern and severs itself from the anarchy and confusion of the past.
In Shoghi Effendi’s letters addressed to this Bahá’í community, we have the statement of the form of the administrative order, its function and purpose, its scope and activity, as well as its significance, which unites the thoughts and inspires the actions of all believers today.
From these letters are selected a number of passages presenting fundamental aspects of the world order initiated by Bahá’u’lláh.
1. On its nature and scope:—
"I cannot refrain from appealing to them who stand identified with the Faith to disregard the prevailing notions and the fleeting fashions of the day, and to realize as never before that the exploded theories and the tottering institutions of present-day civilization must needs appear in sharp contrast with those God-given institutions which are destined to arise upon their ruin. . . .
“For Bahá’u’lláh . . . has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit. He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He, as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, have, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth. . . .
“Unlike the Dispensation of Christ, unlike the Dispensation of Muḥammad, unlike all the Dispensations of the past, the apostles of Bahá’u’lláh in every land, wherever they labor 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 of their task. . . . 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 fulfill them. . . .
“Feeble though our Faith may now appear
in the eyes of men, who either denounce it
as an offshoot of Islám, or contemptuously
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ignore it as one more of those obscure sects
that abound in the West, this priceless gem
of Divine Revelation, now still in its
embryonic state, shall evolve within the shell
of His law, and shall forge ahead, undivided
and unimpaired, till it embraces the whole
of mankind. Only those who have already
recognized the supreme station of Bahá’u’lláh,
only those whose hearts have been
touched by His love, and have become familiar
with the potency of His spirit, can
adequately appreciate the value of this
Divine Economy—His inestimable gift to
mankind. . . .
“This Administrative Order . . . will, as its component parts, its organic institutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigor, assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fulness of time the whole of mankind. . . .
“Alone of all the Revelations gone before it this Faith has . . succeeded in raising a structure which the bewildered followers of bankrupt and broken creeds might well approach and critically examine, and seek, ere it is too late, the invulnerable security of its world-embracing shelter. . . .
“To what else if not to the power and majesty which this Administrative Order—the rudiments of the future all-enfolding Bahá’í Commonwealth—is destined to manifest, can these utterances of Bahá’u’lláh allude: ‘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. . . .’ "
2. On its local and national institutions:—
"A perusal of some of the words of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the duties and functions of the Spiritual Assemblies in every land (later to be designated as the local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the sacredness of their nature, the wide scope of their activity, and the grave responsibility which rests upon them.
“Addressing the members of the Spiritual Assembly in Chicago, the Master reveals the following:—'Whenever ye enter the council-chamber, recite this prayer with a heart throbbing with the love of God and a tongue purified from all but His remembrance, that the All-powerful may graciously aid you to achieve supreme victory:—"O God, my God! We are servants of Thine that have turned with devotion to Thy Holy Face, that have detached ourselves from all beside Thee in this glorious Day. We have gathered in this spiritual assembly, united in our views and thoughts, with our purposes harmonized to exalt Thy Word amidst mankind. O Lord, our God! Make us the signs of Thy Divine Guidance, the Standards of Thy exalted Faith amongst men, servants to Thy mighty Covenant. O Thou our Lord Most High! Manifestations of Thy Divine Unity in Thine Abhá Kingdom, and resplendent stars shining upon all regions. Lord! Aid us to become seas surging with the billows of Thy wondrous Grace, streams flowing from Thy all—glorious Heights, goodly fruits upon the Tree of Thy heavenly Cause, trees waving through the breezes of Thy Bounty in Thy celestial Vineyard. O God! Make our souls dependent upon the Verses of Thy Divine Unity, our hearts cheered with the outpourings of Thy Grace, that We may unite even as the waves of one sea and become merged together as the rays of Thine effulgent Light; that our thoughts, our views, our feelings may become as one reality, manifesting the spirit of union throughout the world. Thou art the Gracious, the Bountiful, the Bestower, the Almighty, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” ’
"In the Most Holy Book is revealed:—‘The
Lord hath ordained that in every city
a House of Justice be established wherein
shall gather counsellors to the number of
Bahá, and should it exceed this number it
does not matter. It behooveth them to be
the trusted ones of the Merciful among men
and to regard themselves as the guardians
appointed of God for all that dwell on earth.
It is incumbent upon them to take counsel
together 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.
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Beware lest ye put away that which is clearly
revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, O ye that
perceive.’
"Furthermore, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reveals the following:—‘It is incumbent upon every one 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.’
" ‘The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long—suffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Bahá shall be vouchsafed to them. In this day, assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity. Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory. The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. Should any one oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If after discussion, a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, a majority of voices must prevail.’
“Enumerating the obligations incumbent upon the members of consulting councils, the Beloved reveals the following:—'The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and must manifest in themselves the Unity of God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden. Should harmony of thought and absolute unity be non-existent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that assembly be brought to naught. The second condition:—They must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on high and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must then proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search out the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one’s views will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden. The honored members must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in no wise permissible for one to belittle the thought of another, nay, he must with moderation set forth the truth, and should differences of opinion arise a majority of voices must prevail, and all must obey and submit to the majority. It is again not permitted that any one of the honored members object to or censure, whether in or out of the meeting, any decision arrived at previously, though that decision be not right, for such criticism would prevent any decision from being enforced. In short, whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with love and purity of motive, its result is light, and should the least trace of estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness upon darkness. . . . If this be so regarded, that assembly shall be of God, but otherwise it shall lead to coolness and alienation that proceed from the Evil One. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Holy Word. Should they endeavor to fulfill these conditions the Grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them, and that assembly shall become the center 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.’
“So great is the importance and so supreme is the authority of these assemblies that once ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after having Himself and in His own handwriting corrected the translation made into Arabic of the Ishráqát (the
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada 1944-1945. (Reelected for the year 1945-46.)
Effulgences) by Sheikh Faraj, a Kurdish friend from Cairo, directed him in a Tablet to submit the above—named translation to the Spiritual Assembly of Cairo, that he may seek from them before publication their approval and consent. These are His very words in that Tablet:—‘His honor, Sheikh Faraju’llah, has here rendered into Arabic with greatest care the Ishráqát and yet I have told him that he must submit his version to the Spiritual Assembly of Egypt, and I have conditioned its publication upon the approval of the above-named Assembly. This is so that things may be arranged in an orderly manner, for should it not be so any one may translate a certain Tablet and print and circulate it on his own account. Even a non-believer might undertake such work, and thus cause confusion and disorder. If it be conditioned, however, upon the approval of the Spiritual Assembly, a translation prepared, printed and circulated by a non-believer will have no recognition whatever.’
“This is indeed a clear indication of the
Master’s express desire that nothing whatever
should be given to the public by any
individual among the friends, unless fully
considered and approved by the Spiritual
Assembly in his locality; and if this (as is
undoubtedly the case) is a matter that
pertains to the general interest of the Cause
in that land, then it is incumbent upon the
Spiritual Assembly to submit it to the
consideration and approval of the national body
representing all the various local assemblies.
Not only with regard to publication, but
all matters without any exception whatsoever,
regarding the interests of the Cause in
that locality, individually or collectively,
should be referred exclusively to the Spiritual
Assembly in that locality, which shall
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decide upon it, unless it be a matter of national
interest, in which case it shall be referred
to the national body. With this national
body also will rest the decision whether a
given question is of local or national interest.
(By national affairs is not meant matters
that are political in their character, for the
friends of God the world over are strictly
forbidden to meddle with political affairs in
any way whatever, but rather things that
affect the spiritual activities of the body of
the friends in that land.)
“Full harmony, however, as well as cooperation among the various local assemblies and the members themselves, and particularly between each assembly and the national body, is of the utmost importance, for upon it depends the unity of the Cause of God, the solidarity of the friends, the full, speedy and efficient working of the spiritual activities of His loved ones.
"Large issues in such spiritual activities that affect the Cause in general in that land, such as the management of the Star of the West and any periodical which the National Body may decide to be a Bahá’í organ, the matter of publication, of reprinting Bahá’í literature and its distribution among the various assemblies, the means whereby the teaching campaign may be stimulated and maintained, the work of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the racial question in relation to the Cause, the matter of receiving Orientals and association with them, the care and maintenance of the precious film exhibiting a phase of the Master’s sojourn in the United States of America as well as the original matrix and the records of His voice, and various other national spiritual activities, far from being under the exclusive jurisdiction of any local assembly or group of friends, must each be minutely and fully directed by a special board, elected by the National Body, constituted as a committee thereof, responsible to it and upon which the National Body shall exercise constant and general supervision. . . .
"Regarding the establishment of ‘National Assemblies,’ it is of vital importance that in every country, where the conditions are favorable and the number of the friends has grown and reached a considerable size, such as America, Great Britain and Germany, that a ‘National Spiritual Assembly’ be immediately established, representative of the friends throughout that country.
“Its immediate purpose is to stimulate, unify and coordinate by frequent personal consultations, the manifold activities of the friends as well as the local Assemblies; and by keeping in close and constant touch with the Holy Land, initiate measures, and direct in general the affairs of the Cause in that country.
“It serves also another purpose, no less essential than the first, as in the course of time it shall evolve into the National House of Justice (referred to in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will as the ‘secondary House of Justice’), which according to the explicit text of the Testament will have, in conjunction with the other National Assemblies throughout the Bahá’í world, to elect directly the members of the International House of Justice, that Supreme Council that will guide, organize and unify the affairs of the Movement throughout the world.
“It is expressly recorded in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Writings that these National Assemblies must be indirectly elected by the friends; that is, the friends in every country must elect a certain number of delegates, who in their turn will elect from among all the friends in that country the members of the National Spiritual Assembly. In such countries, therefore, as America, Great Britain and Germany, a fixed number of secondary electors must first be decided upon. . . . The friends then in every locality where the number of adult declared believers exceeds nine must directly elect its quota of secondary electors assigned to it in direct proportion to its numerical strength. These secondary electors will then, either through correspondence, or preferably by gathering together, and first deliberating upon the affairs of the Cause throughout their country (as the delegates to the Convention), elect from among all the friends in that country nine who will be the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.
"This National Spiritual Assembly, which,
pending the establishment of the Universal
House of Justice, will have to be re-elected
once a year, obviously assumes grave
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responsibilities, for it has to exercise full authority
over all the local Assemblies in its province,
and will have to direct the activities of the
friends, guard vigilantly the Cause of God,
and control and supervise the affairs of the
Movement in general.
"Vital issues, affecting the interests of the Cause in that country such as the matter of translation and publication, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the Teaching Work, and other similar matters that stand distinct from strictly local affairs, must be under the full jurisdiction of the National Assembly.
"It will have to refer each of these questions, even as the local Assemblies, to a special Committee, to be elected by the members of the National Spiritual Assembly, from among all the friends in that country, which will bear to it the same relation as the local committees bear to their respective local Assemblies.
"With it, too, tests the decision whether a certain point at issue is strictly local in its nature, and should be reserved for the consideration and decision of the local Assembly, or whether it should fall under its own province and be regarded as a matter which ought to receive its special attention. The National Spiritual Assembly will also decide upon such matters which in its opinion should be referred to the Holy Land for consultation and decision.
"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. And when this Supreme Body will have been properly established, it will have to consider afresh the whole situation, and lay down the principle which shall direct, so long as it deems advisable, the affairs of the Cause. . . .
“The need for the centralization of authority in the National Spiritual Assembly, and the concentration of power in the various local Assemblies, is made manifest when we reflect that the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is still in its age of tender growth and in a stage of transition; when we remember that the full implications and the exact significance of the Master’s world-wide instructions, as laid down in His Will, are as yet not fully grasped, and the whole Movement has not sufficiently crystallized in the eyes of the world.
"It is our primary task to keep the most vigilant eye on the manner and character of its growth, to combat effectively the forces of separation and of sectarian tendencies, lest the Spirit of the Cause be obscured, its unity be threatened, its Teachings suffer corruption; lest extreme orthodoxy on one hand, and irresponsible freedom on the other, cause it to deviate from that Straight Path which alone can lead it to success. . . .
”Hitherto the National Convention has been primarily called together for the consideration of the various circumstances attending the election of the National Spiritual Assembly. I feel, however, that in view of the expansion and the growing importance of the administrative sphere of the Cause, the general sentiments and tendencies prevailing among the friends, and the signs of increasing interdependence among the National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world, the assembled accredited representatives of the American believers should exercise not only the vital and responsible right of electing the National Assembly, but should also fulfill the functions of an enlightened, consultative and cooperative body that will enrich the experience, enhance the prestige, support the authority, and assist the deliberations of the National Spiritual Assembly. It is my firm conviction that it is the bounden duty, in the interest of the Cause we all love and serve, of the members of the incoming National Assembly, once elected by the delegates at Convention time, to seek and have the utmost regard, individually as well as collectively, for the advice, the considered opinion and the true sentiments of the assembled delegates. Banishing every vestige of secrecy, of undue reticence, of dictatorial aloofness, from their midst, they should radiantly and abundantly unfold to the eyes of the delegates, by whom they are elected, their plans, their hopes, and their cares. They should familiarize the delegates with the various matters that will have to be considered in the current year, and calmly and conscientiously study and weigh the opinions and judgments of the delegates.
The newly elected National Assembly, during the few days when the Convention is in session and after the dispersal of the delegates, should seek ways and means to cultivate understanding, facilitate and maintain the exchange of views, deepen confidence, and vindicate by every tangible evidence their one desire to serve and advance the common weal. Not infrequently, nay oftentimes, the most lowly, untutored and inexperienced among the friends will, by the sheer inspiring force of selfless and ardent devotion, contribute a distinct and memorable share to a highly involved discussion in any given Assembly. Great must be the regard paid by those whom the delegates call upon to serve in high position to this all-important though inconspicuous manifestation of the revealing power of sincere and earnest devotion.
"The National Spiritual Assembly, however, in view of the unavoidable limitations imposed upon the convening of frequent and long-standing sessions of the Convention, will have to retain in its hands the final decision on all matters that affect the interests of the Cause in America, such as the right to decide whether any local Assembly is functioning in accordance with the principles laid down for the conduct and advancement of the Cause. It is my earnest prayer that they will utilize their highly responsible position, not only for the wise and efficient conduct of the affairs of the Cause, but also for the extension and deepening of the spirit of cordiality and wholehearted and mutual support in their cooperation with the body of their co-workers throughout the land. The seating of delegates to the Convention, i.e., the right to decide upon the validity of the credentials of the delegates at a given Convention, is vested in the outgoing National Assembly, and the right to decide who has the voting privilege is also ultimately placed in the hands of the National Spiritual Assembly, either when a local Spiritual Assembly is being for the first time formed in a given locality, or when differences arise between a new applicant and an already established local Assembly. While the Convention is in session and the accredited delegates have already elected from among the believers throughout the country the members of the National Spiritual Assembly for the current year, it is of infinite value and a supreme necessity that as far as possible all matters requiring immediate decision should be fully and publicly considered, and an endeavor be made to obtain after mature deliberation, unanimity in vital decisions. Indeed, it has ever been the cherished desire of our Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, that the friends in their councils, local as well as national, should by their candor, their honesty of purpose, their singleness of mind, and the thoroughness of their discussions, achieve unanimity in all things. Should this in certain cases prove impracticable the verdict of the majority should prevail, to which decision the minority must under all circumstances, gladly, spontaneously and continually, submit.
"Nothing short of the all—encompassing, all-pervading power of His Guidance and Love can enable this newly-enfolded order to gather strength and flourish amid the storm and stress of a turbulent age, and in the fulness of time vindicate its high claim to be universally recognized as the one Haven of abiding felicity and peace.”
3. On its international institutions:—
"It should be stated, at the very outset,
in clear and unambiguous language, that
these twin institutions of the Administrative
Order of Bahá’u’lláh should be regarded as
divine in origin, essential in their functions
and complementary in their aim and purpose.
Their common, their fundamental object is
to insure the continuity of that divinely-appointed
authority which flows from the
Source of our Faith, to safeguard the unity
of its followers and to maintain the integrity
and flexibility of its teachings. Acting in
conjunction with each other these two inseparable
institutions administer its affairs,
coordinate its activities, promote its interests,
execute its laws and defend its subsidiary
institutions. Severally, each operates within
a clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction; each
is equipped with its own attendant
institutions—instruments designed for the effective
discharge of its particular responsibilities
and duties. Each exercises, with the limitations
imposed upon it, its powers, its authority,
its rights and prerogatives. These
are neither contradictory, nor detract in the
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slightest degree from the position which each
of these institutions occupies. Far from being
incompatible or mutually destructive,
they supplement each other’s authority and
functions, and are permanently and fundamentally
united in their aims.
“Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’nah would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. ‘In all the Divine Dispensations,’ He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, ‘the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophethood hath been his birthright.’ Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperilled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.
“Severed from the no less essential institution of the Universal House of Justice this same System of the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would be paralyzed in its action and would be powerless to fill in those gaps which the Author of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has deliberately left in the body of His legislative and administrative ordinances.
" ‘He is the Interpreter of the Word of God,’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, referring to the functions of the Guardian of the Faith, asserts, using in His Will the very term which He Himself had chosen when refuting the argument of the Covenant-breakers who had challenged His right to interpret the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh. ‘After him,’ He adds, ‘will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.’ ‘The mightly stronghold,’ He further explains, 'shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God.’ ‘It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghṣán, the Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God, to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God.’
“ ‘It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice,’ Bahá’u’lláh, on the other hand, declares in the Eighth Leaf of the Exalted Paradise, ‘to take counsel together regarding those things which have not outwardly been revealed in the Book, and to enforce that which is agreeable to them. God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth, and He verily is the Provider, the Omniscient.’ ‘Unto the Most Holy Book’ (the Kitáb-i-Aqdas), ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states in His Will, ‘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, hether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God Himself. Whose doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice, and turned away from the Lord of the Covenant.’
“Not only does ‘Abdu’l-Bahá confirm in His Will Bahá’u’lláh’s above-quoted statement, but invests this body with the additional right and power to abrogate, according to the exigencies of time, its own enactments, as well as those of a preceding House of Justice. ‘Inasmuch as the House of Justice,’ is His explicit statement in His Will, ‘hath power to enact laws that are not expressly recorded in the Book and bear upon daily transactions, so also it hath power to repeal the same . . . This it can do because these laws form no part of the divine explicit text.’
"Referring to both the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice we read these emphatic words: ‘The sacred and youthful Branch, 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 the Exalted One (the Báb) (may my life be offered up for them both). Whatsoever they decide is of God."
"From these statements it is made indubitably
clear and evident that the Guardian of the
Faith has been made the Interpreter of the
Word and that the Universal
House of Justice has been invested with the
function of legislating on matters not
expressly revealed in the teachings. The
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interpretation of the Guardian, functioning
within his own sphere, is as authoritative
and binding as the enactments of the International
House of Justice, whose exclusive
right and prerogative is to pronounce upon
and deliver the final judgment on such laws
and ordinances as Bahá’u’lláh has not expressly
revealed. Neither can, nor will ever,
infringe upon the sacred and prescribed
domain of the other. Neither will seek to
curtail the specific and undoubted authority
with which both have been divinely invested. . . .
“Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God’s immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no less than Bahá’u’lláh Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the Abhá Kingdom. Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve are the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Its guiding principles are the truths which He Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Bahá’u’lláh. The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the ‘Most Great Peace’; its consummation the advent of that golden millennium—the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Bahá’u’lláh.”
Fifty years have passed since the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh was first brought to North America. Three generations of believers have worked and sacrificed and prayed in order to produce a body of Bahá’ís large enough to demonstrate the principles here summarized in a few pages for the present-day student of these teachings. What ‘Abdu’l-Bahá employed as unifying element for the American community during a period before more than rudimentary local administrative bodies could be established was the construction of the House of Worship, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, in Wilmette. He in fact referred to the House of Worship as the “inception of the Kingdom.” Around its construction devotedly gathered the American friends. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá approved their action in setting up a religious corporation to hold title to the property and provide a basis for collective action. In surveying those days from 1904 to 1921, one realizes how, in every stage of progress, the believers rushed forward in devotion before they could perceive the full results of action or comprehend the full unfoldment of their beloved Master’s intention. In their hearts they knew that unity is the keynote of their Faith, and they were assured that the new power of unity would augment until it encompassed the whole of mankind. But as to the nature of world order, the foundation of universal peace, the principles of the future economy, while the clear picture eluded them, they went forward with enthusiasm to the Light.
In a continent consecrated to the pioneer, the early American Bahá’ís pioneered in the world of spirit, striving to participate in a work of supreme importance whose final result was the laying of a foundation on which human society might raise a house of justice and a mansion of peace.
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia, 1945-1946.
A PROCEDURE FOR THE CONDUCT OF A LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
Adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada
INTRODUCTION
A PERUSAL of some of the words of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the duties and functions of the Spiritual Assemblies in every land (later to be designated as the local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the sacredness of their nature, the wide scope of their activity, and the grave responsibility which rests upon them.”SHOGHI EFFENDI, March 5, 1922.
"The Lord hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established wherein shall gather counselors to the number of Bahá. . . . It behooveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together 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.”—-Bahá’u’lláh.
“It is incumbent upon every one 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.
"The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrance, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Bahá shall be vouchsafed to them. In this day, Assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity. Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory. The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. Should any one oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If, after discussion, a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise a majority of voices must prevail. . . .
”The first condition is absolute love and
harmony amongst the members of the Assembly.
They must be wholly free from
estrangement and must manifest in themselves
the unity of God, for they are the
waves of one sea, the drops of one river,
the stars of one heaven, the rays of one sun,
the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one
garden. Should harmony of thought and
absolute unity be non-existent, that
gathering shall be dispersed and that Assembly be
brought to naught. The second condition:
They must when coming together turn their
faces to the Kingdom on High and ask aid
from the Realm of Glory. They must then
proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy,
dignity, care and moderation to express their
views. They must in every matter search
out the truth and not insist upon their own
opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in
one’s views will lead ultimately to discord
and wrangling and the truth will remain
hidden. The honored members must with
all freedom express their own thoughts, and
it is in no wise permissible for one to belittle
the thought of another, nay, he must with
moderation set forth the truth, and should
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differences of opinion arise a majority of
voices must prevail, and all must obey and
submit to the majority. It is again not
permitted that any one of the honored
members object to or censure, whether in or out
of the meeting, any decision arrived at
previously, though that decision be not right,
for such criticism would prevent any decision
from being enforced. In short, whatsoever
thing is arranged in harmony and
with love and purity of motive, its result is
light, and should the least trace of
estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness
upon darkness. . . . If this be so regarded,
that Assembly shall be of God, but otherwise
it shall lead to coolness and alienation
that proceed from the Evil One. Discussions
must all be confined to spiritual matters
that pertain to the training of souls, the
instruction of children, the relief of the
poor, the help of the feeble throughout all
classes in the world, kindness to all peoples,
the diffusion of the fragrances of God and
the exaltation of His Holy Word. Should
they endeavor to fulfill these conditions the
grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed
unto them, and that Assembly shall
become the center 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.”—-‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
“The importance, nay the absolute necessity, of these local Assemblies is manifest when we realize that in the days to come they will evolve into the local House of Justice, and at present provide the firm foundation on which the structure of the Master’s Will is to be reared in the future.
“In order to avoid division and disruption, that the Cause may not fall a prey to conflicting interpretations, and lose thereby its purity and pristine vigor, that its affairs may be conducted with efficiency and promptness, it is necessary that every one (that is, every member of the Bahá’í community) should conscientiously take an active part in the election of these Assemblies, abide by their decision, enforce their decree, and cooperate with them whole—heartedly in their task of stimulating the growth of the Movement throughout all regions. The members of these Assemblies, on their part, must disregard utterly their own likes and dislikes, their personal interests and inclinations, and concentrate their minds upon those measures that will conduce to the welfare and happiness of the Bahá’í community and promote the common weal.”—SHOGHI EFFENDI, March 12, 1923.
"Let us recall His explicit and often-repeated assurance that every Assembly elected in that rarefied atmosphere of selflessness and detachment is, in truth, appointed of God, that its verdict is truly inspired, that one and all should submit to its decision unreservedly and with cheerfulness.” —SHOGHI EFFENDI, February 23, 1924.
I. FUNCTIONS OF THE LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
The various functions of the loud Spiritual Assembly, and its nature as a constitutional body, are duly set forth in Article VII of the By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly, and are more definitely defined in the By-Laws of a local Spiritual Assembly approved by the National Spiritual Assembly and recommended by the Guardian. Each local Spiritual Assembly, and all members of the local Bahá’í community, shall be guided and controlled by the provisions of those By-Laws.
II. MEETINGS OF THE LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
In addition to its observance of the general functions vested in the institution of a Spiritual Assembly, each Spiritual Assembly has need of a procedure for the conduct of its meetings. The following items represent the outline of the parliamentary rules of procedure which the National Spiritual Assembly has adopted and recommends to each and every local Spiritual Assembly throughout the United States and Canada.
Calling of Meetings
A meeting of the Spiritual Assembly is
valid only when it has been duly called, that
is, when each and every member has been
informed of the time and place. The general
practice is for the Assembly to decide
upon some regular time and place for its
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meetings throughout the Bahá’í year, and
this decision when recorded in the minutes
is sufficient notice to the members. When
the regular schedule cannot be followed, or
the need arises for a special meeting, the
secretary, on request by the chaitman or any
three members of the Spiritual Assembly,
should send due notice to all the members.
Order of Business
Roll call by the Secretary (or Recording Secretary).
Prayer.
Reading and approval of minutes of previous meetings.
Report of Secretary (or Corresponding Secretary), including presentation of letters received by the Assembly since its last meeting, and of any and all recommendations duly adopted by the community at the last Nineteen Day Feast.
Report of Treasurer.
Report of Committees.
Unfinished business.
New business, including conferences with members of the community and with applicants for enrollment as members of the community.
Closing Prayer.
Conduct of Business
A Spiritual Assembly, in maintaining its threefold function of a body given (within the limits of its jurisdiction) an executive, a legislative and a judicial capacity, is charged with responsibility for initiating action and making decisions. Its meetings, therefore, revolve around various definite matters which require deliberation and collective decision, and it is incumbent upon the members, one and all, to address themselves to the subject under discussion and not engage in general speeches of an irrelevant character.
Every subject or problem before an Assembly is most efficiently handled when the following process is observed: first, ascertainment and agreement upon the facts; second, agreement upon the spiritual or administrative Teachings which the question involves; third, full and frank discussion of the matter, leading up to the offering of a resolution; and fourth, voting upon the resolution.
A resolution, or motion, is not subject to discussion or vote until duly made and seconded. It is preferable to have each resolution clear and complete in itself, but when an amendment is duly made and seconded, the chairman shall call for a vote on the amendment first and then on the original motion. An amendment must be relevant to, and not contravene, the subject matter of the motion.
The chairman, or other presiding officer, has the same power and responsibility for discussion and voting upon motions as other members of the Assembly.
Discussion of any matter before the Assembly may be terminated by a motion duly made, seconded and voted calling upon the chairman to put the matter to a vote or to proceed to the next matter on the agenda. The purpose of this procedure is to prevent any member or members from prolonging the discussion beyond the point at which full opportunity has been given all members to express their views.
When the Assembly has taken action upon any matter, the action is binding upon all members, whether present or absent from the meeting at which the action was taken. Individual views and opinions must be subordinated to the will of the Assembly when a decision has been made. A Spiritual Assembly is an administrative unit, as it is a spiritual unit, and therefore no distinction between “majority” and "minority” groups or factions can be recognized. Each member must give undivided loyalty to the institution to which he or she has been elected.
Any action taken by the Assembly can be reconsidered at a later meeting, on motion duly made, seconded and carried. This reconsideration, according to the result of the consultation, may lead to a revision or the annulment of the prior action. If a majority is unwilling to reconsider the prior action, further discussion of the matter by any member is improper.
The Assembly has a responsibility in filling
a vacancy caused by the inability of any
member to attend the meetings. "It is only
too obvious that unless a member can attend
regularly the meetings of his local Assembly,
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it would be impossible for him to discharge
the duties incumbent upon him, and to fulfill
his responsibilities as a representative
of the community. Membership in a local
Spiritual Assembly carries with it, indeed,
the obligation and capacity to remain in
close touch with local Bahá’í activities, and
ability to attend regularly the sessions of the
Assembly.”—SHOGHI EFFENDI, January 27,
1935.
The Spiritual Assembly, as a permanent body, is responsible for maintaining all its records, including minutes of meetings, correspondence and financial records, throughout its existence as a Bahá’í institution. Each officer, therefore, on completing his or her term of office, shall turn over to the Assembly all records pertaining to the business of the Assembly.
III. CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMUNITY
A. The institution of the Nineteen Day Feast provides the recognized and regular occasion for general consultation on the part of the community, and for consultation between the Spiritual Assembly and the members of the community. The conduct of the period of consultation at Nineteen Day Feasts is a vital function of each Spiritual Assembly.
From Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "The Nineteen Day Feast was inaugurated by the Báb and ratified by Bahá’u’lláh, in His Holy Book, the ‘Aqdas,’ so that people may gather together and outwardly show fellowship and love, that the Divine mysteries may be disclosed. The object is concord, that through this fellowship hearts may become perfectly united, and reciprocity and mutual helpfulness be established. Because the members of the world of humanity are unable to exist without being banded together, cooperation and helpfulness is the basis of human society. Without the realization of these two great principles no great movement is pressed forward.” London, England, December 29, 1912. (Quoted in Bahá’í News No. 33.)
The Nineteen Day Feast has been described by the Guardian as the foundation of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. It is to be conducted according to the following program: the first part, entirely spiritual in character, is devoted to readings from Bahá’í Sacred Writings; the second part consists of general consultation on the affairs of the Cause. The third part is the material feast and social meeting of all the believers, and should maintain the spiritual nature of the Feast.
Bahá’ís should regard this Feast as the very heart of their spiritual activity, their participation in the mystery of the Holy Utterance, their steadfast unity one with another in a universality raised high above the limitations of race, class, nationality, sect, and personality, and their privilege of contributing to the power of the Cause in the realm of collective action.
Calendar of the Nineteen Day Feast
March 21 July 13 November 23
April 9 August 1 December 12
April 28 August 20 December 31
May 17 September 8 January 19
June 5 September 27 February 7
June 24 October 16 March 2 November 4
The Spiritual Assembly is responsible for the holding of the Nineteen Day Feast. If the Bahá’í calendar for some adequate reason cannot be observed the Assembly may arrange to hold a Feast at the nearest possible date.
Only members of the Bahá’í community, and visiting Bahá’ís from other communities, may attend these meetings, but young people of less than twenty-one years of age, who have studied the Teachings and declared their intention of joining the community on reaching the age of twenty-one, may also attend.
Regular attendance at the Nineteen Day Feast is incumbent upon every Bahá’í, illness or absence from the city being the only justification for absence. Believers are expected to arrange their personal affairs so as to enable them to observe the Bahá’í calendar.
Order of Business for the Consultation Period
The chairman or other appointed representative of the Spiritual Assembly presides during the period of consultation.
The Spiritual Assembly reports to the community whatever communications have been received from the Guardian and the National Spiritual Assembly, and provides opportunity for general discussion.
The Assembly likewise reports its own activities and plans, including committee appointments that may have been made since the last Feast, the financial report, arrangements made for public meetings, and in general share with the community all matters that concern the Faith. These reports are to be followed by general consultation.
A matter of vital importance at this meeting is consideration of national and international Bahá’í affairs, to strengthen the capacity of the community to cooperate in promotion of the larger Bahá’í interests and to deepen the understanding of all believers concerning the relation of the local community to the Bahá’í World Community.
Individual Bahá’ís are to find in the Nineteen Day Feast the channel through which to make suggestions and recommendations to the National Spiritual Assembly. These recommendations are offered first to the local community, and when adopted by the community come before the local Assembly, which then may in its discretion forward the recommendation to the National Spiritual Assembly accompanied by its own considered view.
Provision is to be made for reports from committees, with discussion of each report. Finally, the meeting is to be open for suggestions and recommendations from individual believers on any matter affecting the Cause.
The local Bahá’í community may adopt by majority vote any resolution which it wishes collectively to record as its advice and recommendation to the Spiritual Assembly.
Upon each member of the community lies the obligation to make his or her utmost contribution to the consultation, the ideal being a gathering of Bahá’ís inspired with one spirit and concentrating upon the one aim to further the interests of the Faith.
The Secretary of the Assembly records each resolution adopted by the community, as well as the various suggestions advanced during the meetings, in order to report these to the Spiritual Assembly for its consideration. Whatever action the Assembly takes is to be reported at a later Nineteen Day Feast.
Matters of a personal nature should be brought before the Spiritual Assembly and not to the community at the Nineteen Day Feast. Concerning the attitude with which believers should come to these Feasts, the Master has said, “You must free yourselves from everything that is in your hearts, before you enter.” (Bahá’í News Letter of the N. S. A. of Germany and Austria, December, 1934.)
B. The Annual Meeting on April 21, called for the election of the Spiritual Assembly, provides the occasion for the presentation of annual reports by the Assembly and by all its Committees.
The chairman of the outgoing Assembly presides at this meeting.
The order of business includes: Reading of the call of the meeting, reading of appropriate Bahá’í passages bearing upon the subject of the election, appointment of tellers, distribution of ballots, prayers for the spiritual guidance of the voters, the election, presentation of annual reports, tellers’ report of the election, approval of the tellers’ report.
C. In addition to these occasions for general consultation, the Spiritual Assembly is to give consultation to individual believers whenever requested.
During such consultation with individual believers, the Assembly should observe the following principles: the impartiality of each of its members with respect to all matters under discussion; the freedom of the individual Bahá’í to express his views, feelings and recommendations on any matter affecting the interests of the Cause, the confidential character of this consultation, and the principle that the Spiritual Assembly does not adopt any resolution or make any final decision, until the party or parties have withdrawn from the meeting.
Appeals from decisions of a local Spiritual Assembly are provided for in the By-Laws and the procedure fully described in a statement published in Bahá’í News, February, 1933.
When confronted with evidences of
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unhappiness, whether directed against the
Assembly or against members of the community,
the Spiritual Assembly should realize that its
relationship to the believers is not
merely that of a formal constitutional body
but also that of a spiritual institution called
upon to manifest the attributes of courtesy,
patience and loving insight. Many conditions
are not to be remedied by the exercise
of power and authority but rather by a
sympathetic understanding of the sources of the
difficulty in the hearts of the friends. As
‘Abdu’l-Bahá has explained, some of the
people are children and must be trained,
some are ignorant and must be educated,
some are sick and must be healed. Where,
however, the problem is not of this order but
represents flagrant disobedience and disloyalty
to the Cause itself, in that case the
Assembly should consult with the National
Spiritual Assembly concerning the necessity
for disciplinary action.
Members of the Bahá’í community, for their part, should do their utmost by prayer and meditation to remain always in a positive and joyous spiritual condition, bearing in mind the Tablets which call upon Bahá’ís to serve the world of humanity and not waste their precious energies in negative complaints.
IV. Bahá’í ANNIVERSARIES, FESTIVALS AND DAYS OF FASTING
The Spiritual Assembly, among its various duties and responsibilities, will provide for the general observance by the local community of the following Holy Days:
Feast of Riḍván (Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh) April 21-May 2, 1863.
Declaration of the Báb, May 23, 1844.
Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, May 29, 1892.
Martyrdom of the Báb, July 9, 1850.
Birth of the Báb, October 20, 1819.
Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, November 12, 1817.
Day of the Covenant, November 26.
Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, November 28, 1921.
Period of the Fast, nineteen days beginning March 2.
Feast of Naw-Rúz (Bahá’í New Year), March 21.
THE ANNUAL BAHÁ’Í CONVENTION
A Statement by the National Spiritual Assembly
(Approved by the Guardian)
DESPITE the repeated explanations given by the Guardian on this subject, there seems to exist each year, prior to and also during the Convention period, some misunderstanding as to the nature of the Annual Meeting.
In order to establish a definite standard of Convention procedure, the following statement has been approved and adopted, and in accordance with the vote taken by the National Assembly, a copy of the statement is placed in the hands of the presiding officer of the Convention to control the Convention procedure, after being read to the delegates by the officer of the National Spiritual Assembly by whom the Convention is convened.1
————————
1This reference to “being read to the delegates” was in connection with the 1934 Convention only. The statement is here published for the general information of the believers.
“The delegates present at this Annual Bahá’í Convention are called upon to render a unique, a vital service to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Their collective functions and responsibilities are not a matter of arbitrary opinion, but have been clearly described by the Guardian of the Cause. If civil governments have found it necessary to adopt the doctrine that ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse,’ how much more essential it is for Bahá’ís, individually and collectively, to base their responsible actions upon thorough comprehension of the fundamental principles which underlie that Administrative Order which in its maturity is destined to become the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
“Considerable confusion would have been
avoided at Conventions held during the past
three years had the delegates, and all members
of the National Spiritual Assembly
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itself, given sufficient consideration to the
fact that Bahá’í News of February, 1930,
contained an explanation of the Annual
Convention which had been prepared by the
National Spiritual Assembly, submitted to
Shoghi Effendi, and definitely approved by
him. It is because this statement of four
years ago has gone unnoticed that successive
Conventions, acting upon some matters as
a law unto themselves, have inadvertently
contravened the Guardian’s clear instructions.
“The National Spiritual Assembly now calls attention to two specific portions of the 1930 statement approved by the Guardian which have been neglected in subsequent Conventions: first, the ruling that non-delegates do not possess the right to participate in Convention proceedings; and, second, that the time of the election of members of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be fixed in the Agenda at such a time as to allow the outgoing Assembly full time to report to the delegates, and to allow the incoming Assembly to have full consultation with the assembled delegates. It is surely evident that a procedure or principle of action once authorized by the Guardian is not subject to alteration by any Bahá’í body or individual believer to whom the procedure directly applies.
"In order to remove other sources of misunderstanding, the National Spiritual Assembly now feels it advisable to point out that the Guardian’s letters on the subject of the Convention, received and published in Bahá’í News this year,1 do not, as some believers seem to feel, organically change the character and function of the Annual Meeting, but reaffirm and strengthen instructions and explanations previously given. In the light of all the Guardian’s references to this subject, compiled and published by the National Spiritual Assembly in Bahá’í News of November, 1933 and February, 1934, the following brief summary has been prepared and is now issued with the sole purpose of contributing to the spiritual unity of the chosen delegates here present:
“1. The Annual Bahá’í Convention has two unique functions to fulfill, discussion of current Bahá’í matters and the election
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1February, 1934.
of the National Spiritual Assembly. The discussion should be free and untrammeled, the election carried on in that spirit of prayer and meditation in which alone every delegate can render obedience to the Guardian’s expressed wish. After the Convention is convened by the Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, and after the roll call is read by the Secretary of the Assembly, the Convention proceeds to the election of its chairman and secretary by secret ballot and without advance nomination, according to the standard set for all Bahá’í elections.
“2. Non—delegates may not participate in Convention discussion. All members of the National Spiritual Assembly may participate in the discussion, but only those members who have been elected delegates may vote on any matter brought up for vote during the proceedings.
“3. The outgoing National Spiritual Assembly is responsible for rendering reports of its own activities and of those carried on by its committees during the past year. The annual election is to be held at a point midway during the Convention sessions, so that the incoming Assembly may consult With the delegates.
“4. The Convention is free to discuss any Bahá’í matter, in addition to those treated in the annual reports. The Convention is responsible for making its own rules of procedure controlling discussion; for example, concerning any limitations the delegates may find it necessary to impose upon the time allotted to or claimed by any one delegate. The National Assembly will maintain the rights of the delegates to confer freely and fully, free from any restricted pressure, in the exercise of their function.
"5. The Convention as an organic body is limited to the actual Convention period. It has no function to discharge after the close of the sessions except that of electing a member or members to fill any vacancy that might arise in the membership of the National Spiritual Assembly during the year.
“6. The Convention while in session has no independent legislative, executive or judicial function. Aside from its action in electing the National Spiritual Assembly, its discussions do not represent actions but
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles.
recommendations which shall, according to the Guardian’s instructions, be given conscientious consideration by the National Assembly.
"7. The National Spiritual Assembly is the supreme Bahá’í administrative body within the American Bahá’í community, and its jurisdiction continues without interruption during the Convention period as during the remainder of the year, and independently of the individuals composing its membership. Any matter requiring action of legislative, executive or judicial nature, whether arising during the Convention period or at any other time, is to be referred to the National Spiritual Assembly. The National Assembly is responsible for upholding the administrative principles applying to the holding of the Annual Convention as it is for upholding all other administrative principles. If, therefore, a Convention departs from the principles laid down for Conventions by the Guardian, and exceeds the limitations of function conferred upon it, in that case, and in that case alone, the National Spiritual Assembly can and must intervene. It is the National Spiritual Assembly, and not the Convention, which is authorized to decide when and why such intervention is required.
"8. The National Spiritual Assembly feels that it owes a real duty to the delegates, and to the entire body of believers, in presenting any and all facts that may be required in order to clarify matters discussed at the Convention. There can be no true Bahá’í consultation at this important meeting if any incomplete or erroneous view should prevail.
“9. The National Assembly in adopting and issuing this statement does so in the sincere effort to assure the constitutional freedom of the Convention to fulfill its high mission. The path of true freedom lies in knowing and obeying the general principles given to all Bahá’ís for the proper conduct of their collective affairs. While the entire world plunges forward to destruction, it is the responsibility of the National Spiritual Assembly to uphold that Order on which peace and security solely depends.”
THE NON—POLITICAL CHARACTER OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
A Statement Prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly in Response to the Request for Clarification Of the Subject Voiced by the 1933 Annual Convention
IT is the view of the National Spiritual Assembly that the Guardian’s references to the non-political character of the Bahá’í Faith, when studied as a whole, are so clear that they can be fully grasped by all believers and rightly applied by all Local Spiritual Assemblies to any problems they may encounter. Should special circumstances arise, however, the National Assembly will make every effort to assist any Local Assembly to arrive at fuller understanding of this important subject.
The first reference to consider is taken from the letter written by Shoghi Effendi on March 21, 1932, published under the title of ”The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.”
"I feel it, therefore, incumbent upon me to stress, now that the time is ripe, the importance of an instruction Which, at the present stage of the evolution of our Faith, should be increasingly emphasized, irrespective of its application to the East or to the West. And this principle is no other than that which involves the non-participation by the adherents of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, whether in their individual capacities or collectively as local or national Assemblies, in any form of activity that might be interpreted, either directly or indirectly, as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government.
“Let them refrain from associating themselves, whether by word or by deed, With the political pursuits of their respective nations, with the policies of their governments and the schemes and programs of parties and factions. In such controversies they should assign no blame, take no side, further no design, and identify themselves with no system prejudicial to the best interests of that worldwide Fellowship which it is their aim to guard and foster. Let them beware lest they allow themselves to become the tools-of unscrupulous politicians, or to be entrapped by the treacherous devices of the plotters and the perfidious among their countrymen. Let them so shape their lives and regulate their conduct that no charge of secrecy, of fraud, of bribery or of intimidation may, however ill-founded, be brought against them. . . . It is their duty to strive to distinguish, as clearly as they possibly can, and if needed with the aid of their elected representatives, such posts and functions as are either diplomatic or political, from those that are purely administrative in character, and which under no circumstances are affected by the changes and chances that political activities and party government, in every land, must necessarily involve. Let them affirm their unyielding determination to stand, firmly and unreservedly, for the way of Bahá’u’lláh, to avoid the entanglements and bickerings inseparable from the pursuits of the politician, and to become worthy agencies of that Divine Polity which incarnates God’s immutable Purpose for all men. . . .
"Let them proclaim that in whatever country they reside, and however advanced their institutions, or profound their desire to enforce the laws and apply the principles enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, they will, unhesitatingly, subordinate the operation of such laws and the application of such principles to the requirements and legal enactments of their respective governments. Theirs is not the purpose, while endeavoring to conduct and perfect the administrative affairs of their Faith, to violate, under any circumstances, the provisions of their country’s constitution, much less to allow the machinery of their administration to supersede the government of their respective countries.”
This instruction raised the question
whether believers should vote in any public
election. A Tablet revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
to Mr. Thornton Chase was sent to
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the Guardian, and the following reply was
received, dated January 26, 1933:
“The Guardian fully recognizes the authenticity and controlling influence of this instruction from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá upon the question. He, however, feels under the responsibility of stating that the attitude taken by the Master (that is, that American citizens are in duty bound to vote in public elections) implies certain reservations. He, therefore, lays it upon the individual conscience to see that in following the Master’s instructions no Bahá’í vote for an officer nor Bahá’í participation in the affairs of the Republic shall involve acceptance by that individual of a program or policy that contravenes any vital principle, spiritual or social, of the Faith.” The Guardian added to this letter the following postscript: "I feel it incumbent upon me to clarify the above statement, written in my behalf, by stating that no vote cast, or office undertaken, by a Bahá’í should necessarily constitute acceptance, by the voter or office holder, of the entire program of any political party. No Bahá’í can be regarded as either a Republican or Democrat, as such. He is, above all else, the supporter of the principles enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, with which, I am firmly convinced, the program of no political party is completely harmonious.”
In a letter dated March 16, 1933, the Guardian sent these further details:
“As regards the non-political character of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi feels that there is no contradiction whatsoever between the Tablet (to Thornton Chase, referred to above) and the reservations to which he has referred. The Master surely never desired the friends to use their influence towards the realization and promotion of policies contrary to any of the principles of the Faith. The friends may vote, if they can do it, without identifying themselves with one party or another. To enter the arena of party politics is surely detrimental to the best interests of the Faith and will harm the Cause. It remains for the individuals to so use their right to vote as to keep aloof from party politics, and always hear in mind that they are voting on the merits of the individual, rather than because he belongs to one party or another. The matter must be made perfectly clear to the individuals, who will be left free to exercise their discretion and judgment. But if a certain person does enter into party politics and labors for the ascendancy of one party over another, and continues to do it against the expressed appeals, and warnings of the Assembly, then the Assembly has the right to refuse him the right to vote in Bahá’í elections.”
CONCERNING MEMBERSHIP IN NON-BAHÁ’Í RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
THE instruction written by Shoghi Effendi concerning membership in non—Bahá’í religious organizations, published in the July, 1935, number of Bahá’í News, has brought forth some interesting and important communications from local Spiritual Assemblies and also from individual believers, to all of which the National Spiritual Assembly has given careful and sympathetic attention.
The National Assembly itself, on receiving that instruction, made it the subject of extensive consultation, feeling exceedingly responsible for its own understanding of the Guardian’s words and anxious to contribute to the understanding of the friends.
In October, 1935, the Assembly sent in reply to some of these communications a general letter embodying its thoughts on the subject, and a copy of that letter was forwarded to Shoghi Effendi for his approval and comment. His references to its contents, made in letters addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly on November 29 and December 11, 1935, are appended to this statement.
Now that Shoghi Effendi’s approval has been received, the National Assembly feels it desirable to publish, for the information of all the American believers, the substance of the October letter.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany, reinstituted April 7, 1946 at Stuttgart.
While so fundamental an instruction is bound to raise different questions corresponding to the different conditions existing throughout the Bahá’í community, the most important consideration is our collective need to grasp the essential principle underlying the new instruction, and our capacity to perceive that the position which the Guardian wishes us to take in regard to church membership is a necessary and inevitable result of the steady development of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
This essential principle is made clear when we turn to Shoghi Effendi’s further reference to the subject as published in Bahá’í News for October, 1935—words written by the Guardian’s own hand.
In the light of these words, it seems fully evident that the way to approach this instruction is in realizing the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh as an ever—growing organism destined to become something new and greater than any of the revealed religions of the past. Whereas former Faiths inspired hearts and illumined souls, they eventuated in formal religions with an ecclesiastical organization, creeds, rituals and churches, while the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, likewise renewing man’s spiritual life, will gradually produce the institutions of an ordered society, fulfilling not merely the function of the churches of the past but also the function of the civil state. By this manifestation of the Divine Will in a higher degree than in former ages, humanity will emerge from that immature civilization in which church and state are separate and competitive institutions, and partake of a true civilization in which spiritual and social principles are at last reconciled as two aspects of one and the same Truth.
No Bahá’í can read the successive World
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National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and the Súdán 1944-1945.
(Photograph taken before entrance to National Bahá’í Headquarters.)
Order letters sent us by Shoghi Effendi without perceiving that the Guardian, for many years, has been preparing us to understand and appreciate this fundamental purpose and mission of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. Even when the Master ascended, we were for the most part still considering the Bahá’í Faith as though it were only the ”return of Christ” and failing to perceive the entirely new and larger elements latent in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Thus, in the very first of the World Order letters, written February 27th, 1929, Shoghi Effendi said: “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?”
Although for five years the Guardian had been setting forth the principles of Bahá’í Administration in frequent letters, in 1927 he apparently felt it necessary to overcome some doubts here and there as to the validity of the institutions the Master bequeathed to the Bahá’ís in His Will and Testament. The series of World Order letters, however, goes far beyond the point of defending and explaining their validity as an essential element in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh—the Guardian vastly extended the horizon of our understanding by making it clear that the Administrative Order, in its full development, is to be the social structure of the future civilization.
Thus, in that same letter quoted above,
he wrote: "Not only will the present-day
Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in
future, but will be enabled also to add to
their present functions those powers, duties,
and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition
of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not
merely as one of the recognized religious
systems of the world, but as the State
Religion of an independent and Sovereign
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Power. And as the Bahá’í Faith permeates
the masses of the peoples of East and West,
and its truth is embraced by the majority
of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign
States of the world, will the Universal House
of Justice attain the plenitude of its power,
and exercise, as the supreme organ of the
Bahá’í Commonwealth, all the rights, the
duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon
the world’s future super—state."
This passage stands as the keystone in the noble structure which Shoghi Effendi has raised in his function as interpreter of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. The Master developed the Cause to the point where this social Teaching, always existent in the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, could be explained to the believers and given its due significance as the fulfillment of Bahá’í evolution. As the Guardian expressed it: ”That Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Bahá’í Faith.” (World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 3-4.)
For us these words mean that a Bahá’í is not merely a member of a revealed Religion, he is also a citizen in a World Order even though that Order today is still in its infancy and still obscured by the shadows thrown by the institutions, habits and attitudes derived from the past. But since the aim and end has been made known, our devotion and loyalty must surely express itself, not in clinging to views and thoughts emanating from the past, but in pressing forward in response to the needs of the new creation.
That true devotion, which consists in conscious knowledge of the "primary mission,” and unified action to assist in bringing about its complete triumph, recognizes that a Bahá’í today must have singleness of mind as of aim, without the division arising when we stand with one foot in the Cause and one foot in the world, attempting to reconcile diverse elements which the Manifestation of God Himself has declared to be irreconcilable.
The principle underlying the Guardian’s instruction about membership in non-Bahá’í religious bodies has already been emphasized by Shoghi Effendi in another connection the instruction about the non-political character of the Faith which he incorporated in his letter entitled "The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.” For example: "I feel it, therefore, incumbent upon me to stress, now that the time is ripe, the importance of an instruction which, at the present stage of the evolution of our Faith, should be increasingly emphasized, irrespective of its application to the East or to the West. And this principle is no other than that which involves the non-participation by the adherents of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, whether in their individual capacities or collectively as local or national Assemblies, in any form of activity that might be interpreted, either directly or indirectly, as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government."
Again, when the question was raised as to membership in certain non—Bahá’í organizations not directly religious or political in character, the Guardian replied: “Regarding association with the World Fellowship of Faiths and kindred Societies, Shoghi Effendi wishes to reaffirm and elucidate the general principle that Bahá’í elected representatives as well as individuals should refrain from any act or word that would imply a departure from the principles, whether spiritual, social or administrative, established by Bahá’u’lláh. Formal affiliation with and acceptance of membership in organizations whose programs or policies are not wholly reconcilable with the Teachings is of course out of the question." (Bahá’í News, August, 1933.)
Thus, not once but repeatedly the Guardian has upheld the vital principle underlying every type of relationship between Bahá’ís and other organizations, namely, that the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is an ever-growing organism, and as we begin to realize its universality our responsibility is definitely established to cherish and defend that universality from all compromise, all admixture with worldly elements, whether emanating from our own habits rooted in the past or from the deliberate attacks imposed by enemies from without.
It will be noted that in the instruction
published in July, 1935, Bahá’í News, the
Guardian made it clear that the principle
involved is not new and unexpected, but
rather an application of an established
[Page 264]
principle to a new condition. "Concerning
membership in non-Bahá’í religious associations,
the Guardian wishes to re—emphasize the
general principle already laid down in his
communications to your Assembly and also
to the individual believers that no Bahá’í
who wishes to be a whole-hearted and sincere
upholder of the distinguishing principles
of the Cause can accept full membership
in any non—Bahá’í ecclesiastical
organization. . . . For it is only too
obvious that
in most of its fundamental assumptions the
Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is completely at variance
with outworn creeds, ceremonies and
institutions. . . . During the days of the
Master the Cause was still in a stage that
made such an open and sharp dissociation
between it and other religious organizations,
and particularly the Muslim Faith, not only
inadvisable but practically impossible to
establish. But since His passing events
throughout the Bahá’í world, and particularly
in Egypt where the Muslim religious
courts have formally testified to the
independent character of the Faith, have
developed to a point that has made such an
assertion of the independence of the Cause
not only highly desirable but absolutely
essential.”
To turn now to the Guardian’s words published in October Bahá’í News: “The separation that has set in between the institutions of the Bahá’í Faith and the Islámic ecclesiastical organizations that oppose it . . . imposes upon every loyal upholder of the Cause the obligation refraining from any word or action that might prejudice the position which our enemies have . . . of their own accord proclaimed and established. This historic development, the beginnings of which could neither be recognized nor even anticipated in the years immediately preceding ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing, may be said to have signalized the Formative Period of our Faith and to have paved the way for the consolidation of its administrative order. . . . Though our Cause unreservedly recognizes the Divine origin of all the religions that preceded it and upholds the spiritual truths which lie at their very core and are common to them all, it's institutions, whether administrative, religious or humanitarian, must, if their distinctive character is to be maintained and recognized, be increasingly divorced from the outworn creeds, the meaningless ceremonials and man-made institutions with which these religions are at present identified. Our adversaries in the East have initiated the struggle. Our future opponents in the West will, in their turn, arise and carry it a stage further. Ours is the duty, in anticipation of this inevitable contest, to uphold unequivocally and with undivided loyalty the integrity of our Faith and demonstrate the distinguishing features of its divinely appointed institutions.”
Nothing could be clearer or more emphatic. These words, asserting again the essential universality of the Cause, likewise repeat and renew the warning that the organized religions, even in America, will become bitterly hostile to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, denounce and oppose it, and seek its destruction in vain effort to maintain their own “outworn creeds” and material power. Informed of this inevitable development, can a Bahá’í any longer desire to retain a connection which, however liberal and pleasing it now seems, is a connection with a potential foe of the Cause of God? The Guardian’s instruction signifies that the time has come when all American believers must become fully conscious of the implications of such connections, and carry out their loyalty to its logical conclusion.
Shoghi Effendi’s latest words are not merely an approval of the foregoing statement, but a most helpful elucidation of some of the problems which arise when the friends turn to their local Assemblies for specific advice under various special circumstances.
“The explanatory statement in connection with membership in non—Bahá’í religious organizations is admirably conceived, convincing and in full conformity with the principles underlying and implied in the unfolding world order of Bahá’u’lláh.” (November 29, 1933.)
“The Guardian has carefully read the
copy of the statement you had recently
prepared concerning non—membership in
non-Bahá’í religious organizations, and
is pleased to realize that your comments
and explanations
[Page 265]
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq, 1946.
are in full conformity with his views on the subject. He hopes that your letter will serve to clarify this issue in the minds of all the believers, and to further convince them of its vital character and importance in the present stage of the evolution of the Cause.
". . . In this case,1 as also in that of suffering believers, the Assemblies, whether local or national, should act tactfully, patiently and in a friendly and kindly spirit. Knowing how painful and dangerous it is for such believers to repudiate their former allegiances and friendships, they should try to gradually persuade them of the wisdom and necessity of such an action, and instead of thrusting upon them a new principle, to make them accept it inwardly, and out of pure conviction and desire. Too severe and immediate action in such cases is not only
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1A special case involving an aged believer, afflicted with illness, for whom severance of church relations might have been too great a shock.
fruitless but actually harmful. It alienates people instead of winning them to the Cause.
“The other point concerns the advisability of contributing to a church. In this case also the friends must realize that contributions to a church, especially when not regular, do not necessarily entail affiliation. The believers can make such offerings, occasionally, and provided they are certain that while doing so they are not connected as members of any church. There should be no confusion between the terms affiliation and association. While affiliation with ecclesiastical organizations is not permissible, association with them should not only be tolerated but even encouraged. There is no better way to demonstrate the universality of the Cause than this. Bahá’u’lláh, indeed, urges His followers to consort with all religions and nations with utmost friendliness and love. This constitutes the very spirit of His message to mankind.” (December 11, 1935.)
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma, 1944-1945.
The National Spiritual Assembly trusts that the subject will receive the attention of local Assemblies and communities, and that in the light of the foregoing explanations the friends will find unity and agreement in applying the instruction to whatever situations may arise. In teaching new believers let us lay a proper foundation so that their obedience will be voluntary and assured from the beginning of their enrollment as Bahá’ís. In our attitude toward the older believers who are affected by the instruction let us act with the patience and kindliness the Guardian has urged.
INTERPRETATION OF THE WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
WELL is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahá’u’lláh and rendereth thanks unto his Lord! For He assuredly will be made manifest. God hath indeed ordained it in the Bayán.—THE BÁB. (The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, pages 54—55.)
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.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH. (The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, page 54.)
It is incumbent upon the Aghṣán, the
Afnán and My kindred to turn, one and all,
their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch.
Consider that which We have revealed in
Our Most Holy Book: "When the ocean of
My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My
Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward
Him Whom God hath purposed. Who hath
branched from this Ancient Root.” The
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Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand, 1944—1945.
object of this sacred verse is none except the Most Mighty Branch (‘Abdu’l-Bahá). Thus have We graciously revealed unto you Our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH. (The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, page 42.)
There hath branched from the Sadratu’l-Muntahá this sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him that hath sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow. Verily the Limb of the Law of God hath sprung forth from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as to encompass the whole of creation.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH. (The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, page 43.)
In accordance with the explicit text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh hath made the Center of the Covenant the Interpreter of His Word—a Covenant so firm and mighty that from the beginning of time until the present day no religious Dispensation hath produced its like.—‘ABDU’L—BAHÁ. (The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, page 44.)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who incarnates an institution for which we can find no parallel whatsoever in any of the world’s recognized religious systems, may be said to have closed the Age to which He Himself belonged and opened the one in which we are now laboring. His Will and Testament should thus 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. . . .
The creative energies released by the Law of Bahá’u’lláh, permeating and evolving within the mind of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have, by their very impact and close interaction, given birth to an Instrument which may be viewed as the Charter of the New World Order which is at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation. The Will may thus be acclaimed as the inevitable
Completing the interior of the dome of the National Bahá’í Headquarters in Ṭihrán, Persia. The dome covers the central auditorium of the building, which otherwise is completed and in use.
offspring resulting from that mystic intercourse between Him Who communicated the generating influence of His divine Purpose and the One Who was its vehicle and chosen recipient. Being the Child of the Covenant —the Heir of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God—the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá can no more be divorced from Him Who supplied the original and motivating impulse than from the One Who ultimately conceived it. Bahá’u’lláh’s inscrutable purpose, we must ever bear in mind, has been so thoroughly infused into the conduct of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and their motives have been so closely welded together, that the mere attempt to dissociate the teachings of the former from any system which the ideal Exemplar of those same teachings has established would amount to a repudiation of one of the most sacred and basic truths of the Faith.
The Administrative Order, which ever since ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ascension has evolved and is taking shape under our very eyes in no fewer than forty countries of the world, may be considered as the framework of the Will itself, the inviolable stronghold wherein this new-born child is being nurtured and developed. This Administrative Order, as it expands and consolidates itself, will no doubt manifest the potentialities and reveal the full implications of this momentous Document this most remarkable expression of the Will of One of the most remarkable Figures of the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh. It will, as its component parts, its organic institutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigor, assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind.—SHOGHI EFFENDI. (The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, pages 51-52.)
The Document establishing that Order, the Charter of a future world civilization, which may be regarded in some of its features as supplementary to no less weighty a Book than the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; signed and sealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; entirely written with His own hand; its first section composed during one of the darkest periods of His incarceration in the prison—fortress of ‘Akká, proclaims, categorically and unequivocally, the fundamental beliefs of the followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh; reveals, in unmistakable language, the two-fold character of the Mission of the Báb; discloses the full station of the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation; asserts that “all others are servants unto Him and do His bidding”; stresses the importance of the Kitáb-i—Aqdas; establishes the institution of the Guardianship as a hereditary office and outlines its essential functions; provides the measures for the election of the International House of Justice, defines its scope and sets forth its relationship to that Institution; prescribes the obligations, and emphasizes the responsibilities, of the Hands of the Cause of God; and extolls the virtues of the indestructible Covenant established by Bahá’u’lláh. That Document, furthermore, lauds the courage and constancy of the supporters of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant; expatiates on the sufferings endured by its appointed Center; recalls the infamous conduct of Mírzá Yaḥyá and his failure to heed the warnings of the Báb: exposes, in a series of indictments, the perfidy and rebellion of Mírzá Muḥammad—‘Alí, and the complicity of his son Shu‘á’’u’lláh and of his brother Mírzá Badí'u’lláh; reaffirms their excommunication, and predicts the frustration of all their hopes; summons the Afnán (the Báb’s kindred), the Hands of the Cause and the entire company of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh to arise unitedly to propagate His Faith, to disperse far and wide, to labor tirelessly and to follow the heroic example of the Apostles of Jesus Christ; warns them against the dangers of association with the Covenant-breakers, and bids them shield the Cause from the assaults of the insincere and the hypocrite; and counsels them to demonstrate by their conduct the universality of the Faith they have espoused, and vindicate its high principles. In that same Document its Author reveals the significance and purpose of the Ḥuqúqu’lláh (Right of God), already instituted in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; enjoins submission and fidelity towards all monarchs who are just; expresses His longing for martyrdom, and voices His prayers for the repentance as well as the forgiveness of His enemies. (God Passes By.)
FORMATION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
OBEDIENT to the summons issued by the Author of so momentous a Document; conscious of their high calling; galvanized into action by the shock sustained through the unexpected and sudden removal of‘Abdu’l-Bahá; guided by the Plan which He, the Architect of the Administrative Order, had entrusted to their hands; undeterred by the attacks directed against it by betrayers and enemies, jealous of its gathering strength and blind to its unique significance, the members of the widely-scattered Bahá’í communities, in both the East and the West, arose with clear vision and inflexible determination to inaugurate the Formative Period of their Faith by laying the foundations of that world-embracing Administrative system designed to evolve into a World Order which posterity must acclaim as the promise and crowning glory of all the Dispensations of the past. Not content with the erection and consolidation of the administrative machinery provided for the preservation of the unity and the efficient conduct of the affairs of a steadily expanding community, the followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh resolved, in the course of the two decades following ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing, to assert and demonstrate by their acts the independent character of that Faith, to enlarge still further its limits and swell the number of its avowed supporters.
In this triple world-wide effort, it should be noted, the rôle played by the American Bahá’í community, since the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá until the termination of the first Bahá’í century, has been such as to lend a tremendous impetus to the development of the Faith throughout the world, to vindicate the confidence placed in its members by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself, and to justify the high praise He bestowed upon them and the fond hopes He entertained for their future. Indeed so preponderating has been the influence of its members in both the initiation and the consolidation of Bahá’í administrative institutions that their country may well deserve to be recognized as the cradle of the Administrative Order which Bahá’u’lláh Himself had envisaged and which the Will of the Center of His Covenant had called into being.
It should be borne in mind in this connection 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’s 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 centers 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.
No sooner had the provisions of that Divine
Charter, delineating the features of the
Administrative Order of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh been disclosed to His followers than
they set about erecting, upon the foundations
which the lives of the heroes, the saints
and martyrs of that Faith had laid, the first
stage of the framework of its administrative
institutions. Conscious of the necessity of
constructing, as a first step, a broad and
solid base upon which the pillars of that
mighty structure could subsequently be
raised; fully aware that upon these pillars,
when firmly established, the dome, the final
unit crowning the entire edifice, must
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eventually rest; undeflected in their
course by the
crisis which the Covenant-breakers had
precipitated in the Holy Land, or the agitation
which the stirrers of mischief had provoked
in Egypt, or the disturbances resulting from
the seizure by the Shí‘ah community of the
House of Bahá’u’lláh in Ba{{u|gh}dád, or the
growing dangers confronting the Faith in
Russia, or the scorn and ridicule which had
greeted the initial activities of the American
Bahá’í community from certain quarters that
had completely misapprehended their purpose,
the pioneer builders of a divinely-conceived
Order undertook, in complete unison,
and despite the great diversity in their
outlook, customs and languages, the double task
of establishing and of consolidating their
local councils, elected by the rank and file
of the believers, and designed to direct,
coordinate and extend the activities of
the followers of a far-flung Faith. In Persia, in
the United States of America, in the
Dominion of Canada, in the British Isles, in
France, in Germany, in Austria, in India,
in Burma, in Egypt, in ‘Iráq, in Russian
Turkistán, in the Caucasus, in Australia, in
New Zealand, in South Africa, in Turkey,
in Syria, in Palestine, in Bulgaria, in
Mexico, in the Philippine Islands, in Jamaica, in
Costa Rica, in Guatemala, in Honduras, in
San Salvador, in Argentina, in Uruguay, in
Chile, in Brazil, in Ecuador, in Colombia,
in Paraguay, in Peru, in Alaska, in Cuba,
in Haiti, in Japan, in the Hawaiian Islands,
in Tunisia, in Puerto Rico, in Balú{{u|ch}istán,
in Russia, in Transjordan, in Lebanon, and
in Abyssinia such councils, constituting the
basis of the rising Order of a long-persecuted
Faith, were gradually established. Designated
as “Spiritual Assemblies”—an appellation that
must in the course of time be
replaced by their permanent and more
descriptive title of “Houses of Justice,”
bestowed upon them by the Author of the
Bahá’í Revelation; instituted, without any
exception, in every city, town and village
where nine or more adult believers are
resident; annually and directly elected, on the
first day of the greatest Bahá’í Festival by
all adult believers, men and women alike;
invested with an authority rendering them
unanswerable for their acts and decisions to
those who elect them; solemnly pledged to
follow, under all conditions, the dictates of
the “Most Great Justice” that can alone
usher in the reign of the ”Most Great Peace”
which Bahá’u’lláh has proclaimed and must
ultimately establish; charged with the
responsibility of promoting at all times the
best interests of the communities within their
jurisdiction, of familiarizing them with their
plans and activities and of inviting them to
offer any recommendations they might wish
to make; cognizant of their no less vital
task of demonstrating, through association
with all liberal and humanitarian movements,
the universality and comprehensiveness of
their Faith; dissociated entirely from all
sectarian organizations, whether religious or
secular; assisted by committees annually
appointed by, and directly responsible to, them,
to each of which a particular branch of
Bahá’í activity is assigned for study and
action; supported by local funds to which
all believers voluntarily contribute; these
Assemblies, the representatives and custodians
of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, numbering, at
the present time, several hundred, and whose
membership is drawn from the diversified
races, creeds and classes constituting the
world—wide Bahá’í community, have, in the
course of the last two decades, abundantly
demonstrated, by virtue of their achievements,
their right to be regarded as the chief
sinews of Bahá’í society, as well as the
ultimate foundation of its administrative
structure.
"The Lord hath ordained,”
is Bahá’u’lláh’s injunction in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas,
"that in every city a House of justice be established, wherein shall gather counsellors to the number of Bahá (9), and should it exceed this number, it doth not matter. It hehoveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men, and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together, 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.” ”These Spiritual Assemblies,”
is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s testimony, in a Tablet
addressed to an American believer,
"are aided by the Spirit of God. Their defender is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’. Over them He spreadeth His Wings. What
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bounty is there greater than this?” "These Spiritual Assemblies,”
He, in that same Tablet has declared,
"are shining lamps and heavenly gardens, from which the fragrances of holiness are diffused over all regions, and the lights of knowledge are shed abroad over all created things. From them the spirit of life streameth in every direction. They, indeed, are the potent sources of the progress of man, at all times and under all conditions.”
Establishing beyond any doubt their God—given
authority, He has written:
"It is incumbent upon every one not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and all must assuredly obey with heart and soul its bidding, and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged.” ”If after discussion,”
He, furthermore has written,
"a decision he carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, a majority of voices must prevail.”
Having established the structure of their local Assemblies—the base of the edifice which the Architect of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh had directed them to erect—His disciples, in both the East and the West, unhesitatingly embarked on the next and more difficult stage, of their high enterprise. In countries where the local Bahá’í communities had sufficiently advanced in number and in influence, measures were taken for the initiation of National Assemblies, the pivots round which all national undertakings must revolve. Designated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will as the "Secondary Houses of Justice,” they constitute the electoral bodies in the formation of the International House of Justice, and are empowered to direct, unify, coordinate and stimulate the activities of individuals as well as local Assemblies within their jurisdiction. Resting on the broad base of organized local communities, themselves pillars sustaining the institution which must be regarded as the apex of the Bahá’í Administrative Order, these Assemblies are elected, according to the principle of proportional representation, by delegates representative of Bahá’í local communities assembled at Convention during the period of the Riḍván Festival; are possessed of the necessary authority to enable them to insure the harmonious and efficient development of Bahá’í activity within their respective spheres; are freed from all direct responsibility for their policies and decisions to their electorates; are charged with the sacred duty of consulting the views, of inviting the recommendations and of securing the confidence and cooperation of the delegates and of acquainting them with their plans, problems and actions; and are supported by the resources of national funds to which all ranks of the faithful are urged to contribute. Instituted in the United States of America (1925) (the National Assembly superseding in that country the institution of Bahá’í Temple Unity formed during ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry), in the British Isles (1923), in Germany (1923), in Egypt (1924), in ‘Iráq (1931), in India (1923), in Persia (1934) and in Australia (1934); their election renewed annually by delegates whose number has been fixed, according to national requirements, at 9, 19, 95, or 171 (9 times 19) , these national bodies have through their emergence signalized the birth of a new epoch in the Formative Age of the Faith, and marked a further stage in the evolution, the unification and consolidation of a continually expanding community. Aided by national committees responsible to and chosen by them, without discrimination, from among the entire body of the believers within their jurisdiction, and to each of which a particular sphere of Bahá’í service is allocated, these Bahá’í National Assemblies have, as the scope of their activities steadily enlarged, proved themselves, through the spirit of discipline which they have inculcated and through their uncompromising adherence to principles which have enabled them to rise above all prejudices of race, nation, class and color, capable of administering, in a remarkable fashion, the multiplying activities of a newly-consolidated Faith.
Nor have the national committees themselves
been less energetic and devoted in the
discharge of their respective functions. In
the defense of the Faith’s vital interests, in
the exposition of its doctrine; in the
dissemination of its literature; in the consolidation
of its finances; in the organization of its
teaching force; in the furtherance of the
solidarity of its component parts; in the
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purchase of its historic sites; in the
preservation of its sacred records, treasures and
relics; in its contacts with the various
institutions of the society of which it forms a
part; in the education of its youth; in the
training of its children; in the improvement
of the status of its women adherents in the
East; the members of these diversified
agencies, operating under the aegis of the elected
national representatives of the Bahá’í
community, have amply demonstrated their
capacity to promote effectively its vital and
manifold interests. The mere enumeration
of the national committees which, originating
mostly in the West and functioning with
exemplary efficiency in the United States and
Canada, now carry on their activities with
a vigor and a unity of purpose which sharply
contrast with the effete institutions of a
moribund civilization, would suffice to
reveal the scope of these auxiliary institutions
which an evolving Administrative Order,
still in the secondary stage of its development,
has set in motion: The Teaching Committee,
the Regional Teaching Committees;
the Inter-America Committee; the Publishing
Committee; the Race Unity Committee;
the Youth Committee; the Reviewing Committee;
The Temple Maintenance Committee; the Temple
Program Committee; the
Temple Guides Committee; the Temple Librarian
and Sales Committee; the Boys’ and
Girls’ Service Committees; the Child
Education Committee; the Women’s Progress,
Teaching, and Program Committees; the
Legal Committee; the Archives and History
Committee; the Census Committee; the
Bahá’í Exhibits Committee; the Bahá’í News
Committee; the Bahá’í News Service Committee;
the Braille Transcriptions Committee; the
Contacts Committee; the Service
Committee; the Editorial Committee; the
Index Committee; the Library Committee;
the Radio Committee; the Accountant
Committee; the Annual Souvenir Committee;
the Bahá’í World Editorial Committee; the
Study Outline Committee; the International
Auxiliary Language Committee; the Institute
of Bahá’í Education Committee; the
World Order Magazine Committee; the
Bahá’í Public Relations Committee; the
Bahá’í Schools Committee; the Summer
Schools Committees; the International School
Committee; the Pamphlet Literature Committee;
the Bahá’í Cemetery Committee; the
Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds Committee; the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
Committee; the Assembly Development
Committee; the National History
Committee; the Miscellaneous Materials
Committee; the Free Literature Committee;
the Translation Committee; the Cataloguing
Tablets Committee; the Editing Tablets
Committee; the Properties Committee; the
Adjustments Committee; the Publicity
Committee; the East and West Committee; the
Welfare Committee; the Transcription of
Tablets Committee; the Traveling Teachers
Committee; the Bahá’í Education Committee;
the Holy Sites Committee; the Children’s
Savings Bank Committee.
The establishment of local and national
Assemblies and the subsequent formation of
local and national committees, acting as
necessary adjuncts to the elected
representatives of Bahá’í communities in both the
East and the West, however remarkable in
themselves, were but a prelude to a series of
undertakings on the part of the newly
formed National Assemblies, which have
contributed in no small measure to the
unification of the Bahá’í world community and
the consolidation of its Administrative
Order. The initial step taken in that direction
was the drafting and adoption of a Bahá’í
National constitution, first framed and
promulgated by the elected representatives
of the American Bahá’í Community in 1927,
the text of which has since, with slight
variations suited to national requirements, been
translated into Arabic, German and Persian,
and constitutes, at the present time, the
charter of the National Spiritual Assemblies
of the Bahá’ís of the United States and
Canada, of the British Isles, of Germany, of
Persia, of ‘Iráq, of India and Burma, of
Egypt and the Sudan and of Australia and
New Zealand. Heralding the formulation of
the constitution of the future Bahá’í World
Community; submitted for the consideration
of all local Assemblies and ratified by
the entire body of the recognized believers
in countries possessing national Assemblies,
this national constitution has been
supplemented by a similar document, containing
the by-laws of Bahá’í local assemblies, first
drafted by the New York Bahá’í community
[Page 274]
in November, 1931, and accepted as a
pattern for all local Bahá’í constitutions. The
text of this national constitution comprises
a Declaration of Trust, whose articles set
forth the character and objects of the
national Bahá’í community, establish the
functions, designate the central office,
and describe the official seal, of the body of its
elected representatives, as well as a set of
by-laws which define the status, the mode of
election, the powers and duties of both local
and national Assemblies, describe the relation
of the National Assembly to the International
House of Justice as well as to local
Assemblies and individual believers, outline
the rights and obligations of the National
Convention and its relation to the National
Assembly, disclose the character of Bahá’í
elections, and lay down the requirements of
voting membership in all Bahá’í
communities.
The framing of these constitutions, both local and national, identical to all intents and purposes in their provisions, provided the necessary foundation for the legal incorporation of these administrative institutions in accordance with civil statutes controlling religious or commercial bodies. Giving these Assemblies a legal standing, this incorporation greatly consolidated their power and enlarged their capacity, and in this regard the achievement Of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada and the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of New York again set an example worthy of emulation by their sister Assemblies in both the East and the West. The incorporation of the American National Spiritual Assembly as a voluntary Trust, a species of corporation recognized under the common law, enabling it to enter into contract, hold property and receive bequests by virtue of a certificate issued in May, 1929, under the seal of the Department of State in Washington and bearing the signature of the Secretary of State, Henry L. Stimson, was followed by the adoption of similar legal measures resulting in the successive incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma, in January, 1933, in Lahore, in the state of Punjab, according to the provisions of the Societies Registration Act of 1860; of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and the Sudan, in December, 1934, as certified by the Mixed Court in Cairo; of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand, in January, 1938, as witnessed by the Deputy Registrar at the General Registry Office for the state of South Australia; and more recently of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles, in August, 1939, as an unlimited non-profit company, under the Companies Act, 1929, and certified by the Assistant Registrar of Companies in the City of London.
Parallel with the legal incorporation of these National Assemblies a far larger number of Bahá’í local Assemblies were similarly incorporated, following the example set by the Chicago Bahá’í Assembly in February, 1932, in countries as far apart as the United States of America, India, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Burma, Costa Rica, Balúchistán, and the Hawaiian Islands. The Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’ís of Esslingen in Germany, of Mexico City in Mexico, of San José in Costa Rica, of Sydney and Adelaide in Australia, of Auckland in New Zealand, of Delhi, Bombay, Karachi, Poona, Calcutta, Secunderabad, Bangalore, Nellore, Ahmedabah, Scrampore, Andherie and Baroda in India, of Tuetta in Balúchistán, of Rangoon, Mandalay and Daidanow-Kalazoo in Burma, of Montreal and Vancouver in Canada, of Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands, and of Chicago, New York, Washington, D. C., Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Kenosha, Teaneck, Racine, Detroit, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Winnetka, Phoenix, Columbus, Lima, Portland, Jersey City, Wilmette, Peoria, Seattle, Binghamton, Helena, Richmond Highlands, Miami, Pasadena, Oakland, Indianapolis, St. Paul, Berkeley, Urbana, Springfield and Flint in the United States of America—all these succeeded, gradually and after submitting the text of almost identical Bahá’í local constitutions to the civil authorities in their respective states or provinces, in constituting themselves into societies and corporations recognized by law, and protected by the civil statutes operating in their respective countries.
Just as the formulation of Bahá’í constitutions had provided the foundation for the incorporation of Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies, so did the recognition accorded by local and national authorities to the elected representatives of Bahá’í communities pave the way for the establishment of national and local Bahá’í endowments—a historic undertaking which, as had been the case with previous achievements of far-reaching importance, the American Bahá’í Community was the first to initiate. In most cases these endowments, owing to their religious character, have been exempted from both government and municipal taxes, as a result of representations made by the incorporated Bahá’í bodies to the civil authorities, though the value of the properties thus exempted has, in more than one country, amounted to a considerable sum.
In the United States of America the national endowments of the Faith, already representing one and three—quarter million dollars of assets, and established through a series of Indentures of Trust, created in 1928, 1929, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1942 by the National Spiritual Assembly in that country, acting as Trustees of the American Bahá’í Community, now include the land and structure of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and the caretaker’s cottage in Wilmette, Ill.; the adjoining Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds (Bahá’í National Headquarters) and it supplementary administrative office; the Inn, the Fellowship House, the Bahá’í Hall, the Arts and Crafts Studio, a farm, a number of cottages, several parcels of land, including the holding on Monsalvat, blessed by the footsteps of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Green Acre, in the state of Maine; Bosch House, the Bahá’í Hall, a fruit orchard, the Redwood Grove, a dormitory and Ranch Buildings in Geyserville, Calif.; Wilhelm House, Evergreen Cabin, a pine grove and seven lots with buildings at West Englewood, N. J., the scene of the memorable Unity Feast given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in June, 1912, to the Bahá’ís of the New York Metropolitan district; Wilson House, blessed by His presence, and land in Malden, Mass.; Mathews House and Ranch Buildings in Pine Valley, Colo.; land in Muskegon, Mich., and a cemetery lot in Portsmouth, N. H.
Of even greater importance, and in their
aggregate far surpassing in value the national
endowments of the American Bahá’í community,
though their title-deeds are, owing
to the inability of the Persian Bahá’í
community to incorporate its national and local
assemblies, held in trust by individuals, are
the assets which the Faith now possesses in
the land of its origin. To the House of the
Báb in Shíráz and the ancestral Home of
Bahá’u’lláh in Tákur, Mázindarán, already
in the possession of the community in the
days of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry, have, since
His ascension, been added extensive properties,
in the outskirts of the capital, situated
on the slopes of Mt. Alburz, overlooking the
native city of Bahá’u’lláh, including a farm,
a garden and vineyard, comprising an area
of over three million and a half square
meters, preserved as the future site of the
first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
in Persia. Other
acquisitions that have greatly extended the
range of Bahá’í endowments in that country
include the House in which Bahá’u’lláh was
born in Ṭihrán; several buildings adjoining
the House of the Báb in Shíráz, including
the house owned by His maternal uncle; the
Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Ṭihrán; the shop occupied
by the Báb during the years He was a
merchant in Búshihr; a quarter of the Village
of Chihríq, where He was confined; the
house of Ḥájí Mírzá Jání, where He tarried
on His way to Tabríz; the public bath used
by Him in Shíráz and some adjacent houses;
half of the house owned by Vaḥíd in Nayríz
and part of the house owned by Ḥujjat in
Zanján; the three gardens rented by
Bahá’u’lláh in the hamlet of Bada{{u|sh}t;
the burial-place of Quddús in Bárfurúsh; the house
of Kalantar in Ṭihrán, the scene of Táhirih’s
confinement; the public bath visited by the
Báb when in Urúmíyyih, Ádhirbáyján; the
house owned by Mírzá Ḥusayn-‘Alíy-i-Núr,
where the Báb’s remains had been concealed;
the Bábíyyih and the house owned by Mullá
Ḥusayn in Mashhad; the residence of the
Sulṭánu’sh-Shuhadá (King of Martyrs) and
of the Maḥbúbu’sh-Shuhadá (Beloved of
Martyrs) in Iṣfáhán, as well as a considerable
number of sites and houses, including
burialplaces, associated with the heroes
and martyrs of the Faith. These holdings
which, with very few exceptions, have
been recently acquired in Persia, are
now being preserved
[Page 276]
and yearly augmented, and, whenever necessary,
carefully restored, through the assiduous
efforts of a specially appointed national
committee, acting under the constant and
general supervision of the elected
representatives of the Persian believers.
Nor should mention be omitted of the varied and multiplying national assets which, ever since the inception of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, have been steadily acquired in other countries such as India, Burma, the British Isles, Germany, ‘Iráq, Egypt, Australia, Transjordan and Syria. Among these may be specially mentioned the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq, the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of the Bahá’ís of Egypt, the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of the Bahá’ís of India, the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of the Bahá’ís of Australia, the Bahá’í Home in Esslingen, the Publishing Trust of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles, the Bahá’í Pilgrim House in Baghdád, and the Bahá’í Cemeteries established in the capitals of Persia, Egypt and Turkistán. Whether in the form of land, schools, administrative headquarters, secretariats, libraries, cemeteries, hostels or publishing companies, these widely scattered assets, partly registered in the name of incorporated National Assemblies, and partly held in trust by individual recognized believers, have contributed their share to the uninterrupted expansion of national Bahá’í enaowments in recent years as well as to the consolidation of their foundations. Of vital importance, though less notable in significance, have been, moreover, the local endowments which have supplemented the national assets of the Faith and which, in consequence of the incorporation of Bahá’í local Assemblies, have been legally established and safeguarded in various countries in both the East and the West. Particularly in Persia these holdings, whether in the form of land, administrative buildings, schools or other institutions, have greatly enriched and widened the scope of the local endowments of the world—wide Bahá’í community.
Simultaneous with the establishment and incorporation of local and national Bahá’í Assemblies, with the formation of their respective committees, the formulation of national and local Bahá’í constitutions and the founding of Bahá’í endowments, undertakings of great institutional significance were initiated by these newly founded Assemblies, among which the institution of the ‘Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds—the seat of the Bahá’í National Assembly and pivot of all Bahá’í administrative activity in future—must rank as one of the most important. Originating first in Persia, now universally known by its official and distinctive title signifying "the Sacred Fold,” marking a notable advance in the evolution of a process whose beginnings may be traced to the clandestine gatherings held at times underground and in the dead of night, by the persecuted followers of the Faith in that country, this institution, still in the early stages of its development, has already lent its share to the consolidation of the internal functions of the organic Bahá’í community, and provided a further visible evidence of its steady growth and rising power. Complementary in its functions to those of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár an edifice exclusively reserved for Bahá’í worship—this institution, whether local or national, will, as its component parts, such as the Secretariat, the Treasury, the Archives, the Library, the Publishing Office, the Assembly Hall, the Council Chamber, the Pilgrims’ Hostel, are brought together and made jointly to operate in one spot, be increasingly regarded as the focus of all Bahá’í administrative activity, and symbolize, in a befitting manner, the ideal of service animating the Bahá’í community in its relation alike to the Faith and to mankind in general.
From the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, ordained as a house of worship by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the representatives of Bahá’í communities, both local and national, together with the members of their respective committees, will, as they gather daily within its walls at the hour of dawn, derive the necessary inspiration that will enable them to discharge, in the course of their day-to-day exertions in the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds—the scene of their administrative activities—their duties and responsibilities as befits the chosen stewards of His Faith.
Already on the shores of Lake Michigan,
in the outskirts of the first Bahá’í center
established in the American continent and
under the shadow of the first
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
[Page 277]
of the West; in the capital city of
Persia, the cradle of the Faith; in the vicinity
of the Most Great House in Baghdád; in the
city of ‘Ishqábád, adjoining the first
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
of the Bahá’í world; in the
capital of Egypt, the foremost center of
both the Arab and Islámic worlds; in Delhi,
the capital city of India and even in Sydney
in far-off Australia, initial steps have been
taken which must eventually culminate in
the establishment, in all their splendor and
power, of the national administrative seats
of the Bahá’í communities established in
these countries.
BAHÁ’Í RELATIONS WITH CIVIL AUTHORITY
IN view of recent inquiries on the subject, the National Spiritual Assembly feels it most desirable at this time for members of the American Bahá’í community to maintain a common understanding of the principles which underlie our relations with different departments of the civil government. In dealing with this matter, the Assembly has no intention of adding to procedure or laying down its own regulations but rather of examining the teachings themselves and bringing forth the principles expressed in the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. and the advices and directions of the Guardian.
We find that from the very beginnings of the American Bahá’í community the wise and loving Master counseled the believers to entertain no discussion of political matters in their gatherings. "During the conference no hint must be entertained regarding political affairs. All conferences (i.e., all consultation and discussion) must be regarding the matters of benefit, both as a whole and individually, such as the guarding of all in all cases, their protection and preservation, the improvement of character, the training of children, etc.
"If any person wishes to speak of government affairs, or to interfere with the order of government, the others must not combine with him because the Cause of God is withdrawn entirely from political affairs; the political realm pertains only to the Rulers of those matters; it has nothing to do with the souls who are exerting their utmost energy to harmonizing affairs, helping character and inciting (the people) to strive for perfections. Therefore no soul is allowed to interfere with (political) matters, but only in that which is commanded.” (BWF, p. 407)
“Let them not introduce any topic in the meeting except the mentioning of the True One, neither must they confuse that merciful assembly with perplexed outside questions. . . . Make ye an effort that the Lord’s Supper may become realized and the heavenly food descend. This heavenly food is knowledge, understanding, faith, assurance, love, affinity, kindness, purity of purpose, attraction of hearts and the union of souls.” (BWF, pp. 407-408)
The penetrating power of these words continues through the years. They guide and inspire Bahá’í gatherings today as they did when revealed thirty-five or forty years ago. What the Master tells us is a two-fold truth: first, the positive definition of the purpose of Bahá’í meetings and consultation which confines it to spiritual matters; and second, the inherent limitation implied in the accomplishments of the political realm. The aim of the Faith is to produce the reality of virtue and quality in souls and evolve institutions capable of dealing with social matters justly, in the light of the revealed truths. This is entirely distinct from the province filled by civil institutions.
Many years later, in 1932, Shoghi Effendi gave us the message now entitled "The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh,” at a time when our ranks were being swelled with new believers who had not been trained by the Master’s Tablets, when the local and National Assemblies were developing power, and the conditions of the Bahá’í community had become less simple and primitive, less hidden from the prevailing influences of civilization. In that message he reminded
Water tower which has been erected to supply the National Bahá’í Headquarters building, and surrounding gardens, with water, in Ṭihrán, Persia.
us of an instruction deemed very important. "And this principle is no other than that which involves the non—participation by the adherents of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, whether in their individual capacities or collectively as local or national Assemblies. in any form of activity that might be interpreted, either directly or indirectly, as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government. Whether it be in the publications which they initiate and supervise; or in their official and public deliberations; or in the posts they occupy and the services they render; or in the communications they address to their fellow-disciples or in their dealings with men of eminence and authority; or in their affiliations with kindred societies and organizations, it is, I am firmly convinced, their first and sacred obligation to abstain from any word or deed that might be construed as a violation of this sacred principle. Theirs is the duty to demonstrate, on one hand, their unqualified loyalty and obedience to whatever is the considered judgment of their respective governments.
”Let them refrain from associating themselves, whether by word or by deed, with the political pursuits of their respective nations, with the policies of their governments and the schemes and programs of parties and factions. . . Let them affirm their unyielding determination to stand, firmly and unreservedly, for the way of Bahá’u’lláh, to avoid the entanglements and bickerings inseparable from the pursuits of the politician, and to become worthy agencies of that Divine Polity which incarnates God’s immutable Purpose for all mankind. . . .
"Let them beware lest, in their eagerness to further the aims of their beloved Cause, they should be led unwittingly to bargain with their Faith, to compromise with their essential principles, or to sacrifice, in return for any material advantage which their institutions may derive, the integrity of their spiritual ideals.” (WOB, pp. 64, 65)
The application of this principle has produced a series of explanations by the Guardian and the National Spiritual Assembly, as recorded in "Bahá’í Procedure”: on the subject of the voting right in civil elections; on the status of believers in relation to military duty, etc. The National Assembly has also felt it advisable to retain the function of contact with the civil government.
Now we have another application of the same principle to consider with respect to the right, propriety or usefulness of exerting Bahá’í influence for the enactment of certain legislative measures which more or less reflect the aim of some Bahá’í principle or teaching. Should the Bahá’í community, local or national, lend the name of the Cause to support legislation, for example, which seeks to abolish race and religious discrimination in matters of industrial employment, or intervene when measures concerning military training of youth are before a legislature?
The National Spiritual Assembly feels
that, as a general policy subject to
the Guardian’s specific direction in special cases,
Bahá’ís and their administrative institutions
should not feel obligated to adopt a "Bahá’í”
attitude or course of action on matters of
[Page 279]
civil legislation. Our teachings and basic
principles speak for themselves. These we
can always declare and set forth with all
possible energy whenever occasions arise.
But a truth which is sundered from its
sustaining spiritual Source, lifted out of its
organic relationship to the Bahá’í
community, broken off from the other truths, and
made subject to the storm and stress of
secular controversy, is no longer a truth with
which we can usefully have concern. It has
become an enactment to be carried out by
institutions and groups committed to other
enactments, other aims and purposes and
methods not in conformity With the "Divine
Polity” entrusted to those alone who give
full loyalty to Bahá’u’lláh. Far better for
us to strive to mirror forth radiantly the
individual and community virtues of a new
era than to hope others than believers will
achieve the holy mission of the Faith. We
Bahá’ís have in reality accepted a world order
and not merely a new decalogue of truths
or commands. On the other hand, obedience
to civil government, is an obligation laid by
Bahá’u’lláh upon every Bahá’í.
“Dearly-beloved friends!” the Guardian called out to us as long ago as 1931, "Humanity, whether viewed in the light of man’s individual conduct or in the existing relationships between organized communities and nations, has, alas, strayed too far and suffered too great a decline to be redeemed through the unaided effort of the best among its recognized rulers and statesmen—however disinterested their motives, however concerted their action, however unsparing in their zeal and devotion to its cause. No scheme which the calculations of the highest statesmanship may yet devise; no doctrine which the most distinguished exponents of economic theory may hope to advance; no principle which the most ardent of moralists may strive to inculcate, can provide, in the last resort, adequate foundations upon which the future of a distracted world can be built.” (WOB, pp. 33-34)
Because our hope is firmly founded, our trust complete, our vision Clarified, we Bahá’ís can tread the path of assurance through all the troubles of these days, knowing that the goal is secure.
EXCERPTS FROM THE WRITINGS OF SHOGHI EFFENDI
I HAVE been acquainted by the perusal of your latest communications with the nature of the doubts that have been publicly expressed, by one who is wholly misinformed as to the true precepts of the Cause, regarding the validity of institutions that stand inextricably interwoven with the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Not that I for a moment view such faint misgivings in the light of an open challenge to the structure that embodies the Faith, nor is it because I question in the least the unyielding tenacity of the faith of the American believers, if I venture to dwell upon what seems to me appropriate observations at the present stage of the evolution of our beloved Cause. I am indeed inclined to welcome these expressed apprehensions inasmuch as they afford me an opportunity to familiarize the elected representatives of the believers with the origin and character of the institutions which stand at the very basis of the world order ushered in by Bahá’u’lláh. We should feel truly thankful for such futile attempts to undermine our beloved Faith—attempts that protrude their ugly face from time to time, seem for a While able to create a breach in the ranks of the faithful, recede finally into the obscurity of oblivion, and are thought of no more. Such incidents we should regard as the interpositions of Providence, designed to fortify our faith, to clarify our vision, and to deepen our understanding of the essentials of His Divine Revelation.
It would, however, be helpful and instructive
to beat in mind certain basic principles
with reference to the
Will and Testament of 'Abdu’l-Bahá, which
together with the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, constitutes
the chief depository wherein are enshrined those priceless
elements of that Divine Civilization, the
establishment of which is the primary mission
[Page 280]
of the Bahá’í Faith. A study of the provisions
of these sacred documents will reveal
the close relationship that exists between
them, as well as the identity of purpose and
method which they inculcate. Far from regarding
their specific provisions as incompatible
and contradictory in spirit, every
fair—minded inquire: will readily admit that
they are not only complementary, but that
they mutually confirm one another, and are
inseparable parts of one complete unit. A
comparison of their contents with the rest
of Bahá’í Sacred Writings will similarly
establish the conformity of whatever they
contain with the spirit as well as the letter
of the authenticated writings and sayings of
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In fact, he
who reads the Aqdas with care and diligence
will not find it hard to discover that the
Most Holy Book [Aqdas] itself anticipates
in a number of passages the institutions
which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ordains in His Will. By
leaving certain matters unspecified and
unregulated in His Book of Laws [Aqdas],
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. To attempt
to divorce the one from the other, to insinuate
that the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh
have not been upheld, in their entirety and
with absolute integrity, by what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has
revealed in his Will, is an unpardonable
affront to the unswerving fidelity
that has characterized the life and labors of
our beloved Master.
I will not attempt in the least to assert or demonstrate the authenticity of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu’l-Bahá, for that in itself would betray an apprehension on my part as to the unanimous confidence of the believers in the genuineness of the last written wishes of our departed Master. I will only confine my observations to those issues which may assist them to appreciate the essential unity that underlies the spiritual, the humanitarian, and the administrative principles enunciated by the Author and the Interpreter of the Bahá’í Faith.
I am at a loss to explain that strange mentality that inclines to uphold as the sole criterion on 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. It was chiefly in view of this misleading nature of the reports of the informal conversations of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with visiting pilgrims, that I have insistently urged the believers of the West to regard such statements as merely personal impressions of the sayings of their Master, and to quote and consider as authentic only such translations as are based upon the authenticated text of His recorded utterances in the original tongue.
It should be remembered by every follower of the Cause that the system of Bahá’í administration is not an innovation imposed arbitrarily upon the Bahá’ís of the world since the Master’s passing, but derives its authority from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu’l-Bahá, is specifically prescribed in unnumbered Tablets, and rests in some of its essential features upon the explicit provisions of the Kitáb-i—Aqdas. It thus unifies and correlates the principles separately laid down by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and is indissolubly bound with the essential verities of the Faith. To dissociate the administrative principles of the Cause from the purely spiritual and humanitarian teachings would be tantamount to a mutilation of the body of the Cause, a separation that can only result in the disintegration of its component parts, and the extinction of the Faith itself.
LOCAL AND NATIONAL HOUSES OF JUSTICE
It should be carefully borne in mind that the local as well as the International Houses of Justice have been expressly enjoined by the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, as an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master’s Will as the “Secondary House of Justice,” has the express sanction of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; and that the method to be pursued for the election of the International and National Houses of Justice has been set forth by Him in His Will, as well as in a number of His Tablets. Moreover, the institutions of the local and national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to all Local and National Spiritual Assemblies, have not only been established by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Tablets He revealed to the Bahá’ís of the Orient, but their importance and necessity have been repeatedly emphasized by Him in His utterances and writings. The concentration of authority in the hands of the elected representatives of the believers; the necessity of the submission of every adherent of the Faith to the considered judgment of Bahá’í Assemblies; His preference for unanimity in decision; the decisive character of the majority vote; and even the desirability for the exercise of close supervision over all Bahá’í publications, have been sedulously instilled by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as evidenced by His authenticated and widely—scattered Tablets. To accept His broad and humanitarian Teachings on one hand, and to reject and dismiss with neglectful indifference His more challenging and distinguishing precepts, would be an act of manifest disloyalty to that which He has Cherished most in His life.
That the Spiritual Assemblies of today will be replaced in time by the Houses of Justice, and are to all intents and purposes identical and not separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself. He has in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the first Chicago Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Bahá’í body instituted in the United States, referred to them as the members of the “House of Justice” for that city, and has thus With His own pen established beyond any doubt the identity of the present Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies With the Houses of Justice referred to by Bahá’u’lláh. For reasons which are not difficult to discover, it has been found advisable to bestow upon the elected representatives of Bahá’í communities throughout the world the temporary appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a term which, as the position and aims of the Bahá’í Faith are better understood and more fully recognized, Will gradually be superseded by the permanent and more appropriate designation of House of Justice. Not only Will the present-day Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in the future, but will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Bahá’í Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, Will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Bahá’í Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world’s future superstate.
It must be pointed out, however, in this
connection that, contrary to what has been
confidently asserted, the establishment of the
Supreme House of Justice is in no way dependent
upon the adoption of the Bahá’í
Faith by the mass of the peoples of the
world, nor does it presuppose its acceptance
by the majority of the inhabitants of any
one country. In fact, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Himself,
in one of His earliest Tablets, contemplated
the possibility of the formation of the
Universal House of Justice in His own lifetime,
and but for the unfavorable circumstances
prevailing under the Turkish regime, would
have, in all probability, taken the preliminary
steps for its establishment. It will be
evident, therefore, that given favorable
circumstances, under which the Bahá’ís of
Persia and of the adjoining countries
under Soviet Rule may be enabled to elect
their national representatives, in accordance with
the guiding principles laid down in
[Page 282]282
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s writings, the only remaining obstacle
in the way of the definite formation of the
International House of Justice will have been
removed. For upon the National Houses of
Justice of the East and West devolves the
task, in conformity with the explicit provisions
of the Will, of electing directly the
members of the International House of Justice.
Not until they are themselves fully
representative of the rank and file of the
believers in their respective countries, not:
until they have acquired the weight and the
experience that will enable them to function
vigorously in the organic life of the Cause,
can they approach their sacred task, and
provide the spiritual basis for the constitution
of so august a body in the Bahá’í world.
THE INSTITUTION OF GUARDIANSHIP
It must be also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of Guardianship does not under any circumstances abrogate, or even in the slightest degree detract from, the powers granted to the Universal House of Justice by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, and repeatedly and solemnly confirmed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will. It does not constitute in any manner a contradiction to the Will and Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions. It enhances the prestige of that exalted assembly, stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the continuity of its labors, without presuming in the slightest to infringe upon the inviolability of its clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction. 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 worldwide Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Only those who come after us will be in a position to realize the value of the surprisingly strong emphasis that has been placed on the institution of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship. They only will appreciate the significance of the vigorous language employed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with reference to the band of Covenant-breakers that has opposed Him in His days. To them alone will be revealed the suitability of the institutions initiated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the character of the future society which is to emerge out of the chaos and confusion of the present age. . . .
THE ANIMATING PURPOSE OF BAHÁ’Í INSTITUTIONS
And now, it behooves 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. . . . 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 these
countless Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
wherein they have extolled 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
friends, as well as from the malice of their
enemies. 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
[Page 283]
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. February 27, 1929.
With the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the first century of the Bahá’í era, whose inception had synchronized with His birth, had run more than three quarters of its course. Seventy—seven years previously the light of the Faith proclaimed by the Báb had arisen above the horizon of Shíráz and flashed across the firmament of Persia, dispelling the age-long gloom which had enveloped its people. A blood bath of unusual ferocity, in which government, clergy and people, heedless of the significance of that light and blind to its splendor, had jointly participated, had all but extinguished the radiance of its glory in the land of its birth. Bahá’u’lláh had at the darkest hour in the fortunes of that Faith been summoned, while Himself a prisoner in Ṭihrán, to reinvigorate its life, and been commissioned to fulfil its ultimate purpose. In Baghdád, upon the termination of the ten—year delay interposed between the first intimation of that Mission and its Declaration, He had revealed the Mystery enshrined in the Báb’s embryonic Faith, and disclosed the fruit which it had yielded. In Adrianople Bahá’u’lláh’s Message, the promise of the Báb as well as of all previous Dispensations, had been proclaimed to mankind, and its challenge voiced to the rulers of the earth in both the East and the West. Behind the walls of the prison—fortress of ‘Akká the Bearer of God’s newborn Revelation had ordained the laws and formulated the principles that were to constitute the warp and woof of His World Order. He had, moreover, prior to His ascension, instituted the Covenant that was to guide and assist in the laying of its foundations and to safeguard the unity of its builders. Armed with that peerless and potent Instrument, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His eldest Son and Center of His Covenant, had erected the standard of His Father’s Faith in the North American continent, and established an impregnable basis for its institutions in Western Europe, in the Far East and in Australia. He had, in His works, Tablets and addresses, elucidated its principles, interpreted its laws, amplified its doctrine, and erected the rudimentary institutions of its future Administrative Order. In Russia He had raised its first House of Worship, whilst on the slopes of Mt. Carmel He had reared a befitting mausoleum for its Herald, and deposited His remains therein with His Own hands. Through His visits to several cities in Europe and the North American continent He had broadcast Bahá’u’lláh’s Message to the peoples of the West, and heightened the prestige of the Cause of God to a degree it had never previously experienced. And lastly, in the evening of His life, He had through the revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan issued His mandate to the community which He Himself had raised up, trained and nurtured, a Plan that must in the years to come enable its members to diffuse the light, and erect the administrative fabric, of the Faith throughout the five continents of the globe.
The moment had now arrived for that undying, that world—vitalizing Spirit that was born in Shíráz, that had been rekindled in Ṭihrán, that had been fanned into flame in Baghdád and Adrianople, that had been carried to the West, and was now illuminating the fringes of five continents, to incarnate itself in institutions designed to canalize its outspreading energies and stimulate its growth.
The Administrative Order which this historic
Document has established, 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, not
even Muḥammad Whose Book clearly lays
down the laws and ordinances of the Islámic
Dispensation, 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. Nor
is the principle governing its operation similar
to that which underlies any system,
[Page 284]
whether theocratic or otherwise, which the
minds of men have devised for the government
of human institutions. 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,
to any purely aristocratic order, or to any
of the various theocracies, whether Jewish,
Christian or Islámic which mankind has
witnessed in the past. It incorporates within
its structure certain elements which are to
be found in each of the three recognized
forms of secular government, is devoid of
the defects which each of them inherently
possesses, and blends the salutary truths
which each undoubtedly contains without
vitiating in any way the integrity of the
Divine verities on which it is essentially
founded. 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.
Nor have the enemies who, at the hour of the inception of this Administrative Order, and in the course of its twenty-three year existence, both in the East and in the West, from within and from without, misrepresented its character, or derided and vilified it, or striven to arrest its march, or contrived to create a breach in the ranks of its supporters, succeeded in achieving their malevolent purpose. The strenuous exertions of an ambitious Armenian, who, in the course of the first years of its establishment in Egypt, endeavored to supplant it by the “Scientific Society” which in his shortsightedness he had conceived and was sponsoring, failed utterly in its purpose. The agitation provoked by a deluded woman who strove diligently both in the United States and in England to demonstrate the inauthenticity of the Charter responsible for its creation, and even to induce the civil authorities of Palestine to take legal action in the matter—a request which to her great chagrin was curtly refused—as well as the defection of one of the earliest pioneers and founders of the Faith in Germany, whom that same woman had so tragically misled, produced no effect whatsoever. The volumes which a shameless apostate composed and disseminated, during that same period in Persia, in his brazen efforts not only to disrupt that Order but to undermine the very Faith which had conceived it, proved similarly abortive. The schemes devised by the remnants of the Covenant—breakers, who immediately the aims and purposes of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will became known arose, headed by Mírzá Badí'u’lláh, to wrest the custodianship of the holiest shrine in the Bahá’í world from its appointed Guardian, likewise came to naught and brought further discredit upon them. The subsequent attacks launched by certain exponents of Christian orthodoxy, in both Christian and non-Christian lands, with the object of subverting the foundations, and distorting the features, of this same Order were powerless to sap the loyalty of its upholders or to deflect them from their high purpose. Not even the infamous and insidious machinations of a former secretary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who, untaught by the retribution that befell Bahá’u’lláh’s amanuensis, as well as by the fate that overtook several other secretaries and interpreters of His Master, in both the East and the West, has arisen, and is still exerting himself, to pervert the purpose and nullify the essential provisions of the immortal Document from which that Order derives its authority, have been able to stay even momentarily the march of its institutions along the course set for it by its Author, or to create anything that might, however remotely, resemble a breach in the ranks of its assured, its wide-awake and stalwart supporters.
Two of the reception rooms in the National Bahá’í Headquarters in Ṭihrán, Persia. In the upper picture can be seen, in a glass case, a model of the Bahá’í Temple, built in Wilmette, Illinois.
IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM SHOGHI EFFENDI TO THE AMERICAN BELIEVERS
1944-1946
TO THE CONVENTION
I ADVISE you to share the following facts with the believers at Convention celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
Bahá’ís have established residence in seventy-eight countries, fifty-six of which are sovereign states. Bahá’í literature has been translated and published in forty-one languages. Translations have been undertaken in twelve additional languages. Thirty-one races are represented in the Bahá’í world community. Five National Assemblies and sixty—one local Assemblies belonging to ten countries are incorporated and legally empowered to hold property. The Bahá’í international endowments held in the Holy Land are estimated at a half million pounds sterling. National Bahá’í endowments in the United States are estimated at one million, seven hundred thousand dollars.
The area of land in the Jordan Valley dedicated to the Bahá’í Shrines is over five hundred acres. The site purchased for future Bahá’í Temple of Persia comprises three and a half million square meters. The cost of the structure of the first Bahá’í Temple in the West has been one million, three hundred thousand dollars.
In every state and province of North America Bahá’í Assemblies are functioning. In thirteen hundred localities of the United States and Canada Bahá’ís reside. Bahá’í Centers have been established in every republic of Latin America, fifteen of which possess Spiritual Assemblies. The Faith in the Western Hemisphere now stretches from Anchorage, Alaska, to Magallanes, the world’s southernmost city. Sixty—two Centers have been established in India, twenty-seven with Spiritual Assemblies.
Among the historic sites purchased in Persia are the Ṭihrán home of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb’s shop in {{sic|Bushire|Búshihr}, the burial place of Quddús, part of the village of {{sic|Chiríq|Chihríq}, three gardens in {{sic|Badasht|Badash}t, and the place where Táhirih was confined.
Bahá’í administrative headquarters have been founded in Ṭihrán, Delhi, Cairo, Baghdád, Wilmette and Sydney. Bahá’í endowments in the Holy Land and the United States have been exempted from taxes by the civil authorities. Civil recognition has been extended to Bahá’í Assemblies in five states of the United States to solemnize Bahá’í marriages.
I suggest you utilize the above information for publicity purposes wherever advisable.
May 9, 1944
Hail with glad, grateful heart the historic Assembly of the elected representatives of the followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the Western Hemisphere participating in the first All-America Convention gathered in the vicinity of the first Bahá’í Center of the Western World beneath the dome of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West to commemorate alike the Anniversary of the founding of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and the Birth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Anniversary of its establishment in the Occident and to celebrate the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the most hallowed House of Worship in the entire Bahá’í world. I recall with profound emotion on this solemn, auspicious occasion the milestones in the progress of the community whose rise constitutes one of the noblest episodes in the history of the First Bahá’í Century. Called into being through the operation of the will of the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, energized at the hour of its birth by dynamic spirit communicated to it by the band of first returning pilgrims, purged in its infancy by fiery tests involving the defection of its acknowledged founder, nursed through the dispatch of unnumbered
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Birmingham, Alabama, incorporated August 24, 1944.
Tablets by the vigilant Master, as well as
by the successive messengers designed to support
its infant strength, launched upon its
rapid career through series of institutional
acts and missionary journeys signalizing the
first stirrings of its community life, infinitely
enriched by priceless benefits conferred upon
its members in the course of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sojourn in their midst, invested
with a unique mission through the
revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan,
firmly knit through processes proclaiming
the emergence of the Divinely appointed
Administrative Order, immortalized through
the signal acts of its illustrious member who
succeeded in winning the allegiance of
royalty to its cause, consummating its record
of achievements through total victory of the
Seven Year Plan thereby sealing the triumph
of the first stage in the Mission bestowed by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, this repeatedly blessed, much
envied community deserves to be acclaimed
the Torchbearer of the civilization, the
foundations of which the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh
is destined unassailably to establish in
the course of the Second Bahá’í Century. I
am moved to pay a well deserved tribute at
this great turning point in the career of so
privileged a community to the gallant band
of its apostolic founders whose deeds heralded
the dawn of the Day of the Covenant in the
West, to its intrepid pioneers who labored
to enlarge the bounds of the Faith in the five
continents, to its indefatigable administrators
whose hands reared the fabric of the
Administrative Order, to its heroic martyrs
who followed in the footsteps of the Dawn Breakers
of the heroic age, to its itinerant
teachers who with written and spoken word
pleaded its cause and repulsed the attacks of
its adversaries, to its munificent supporters
whose liberality accelerated the expansion
of its manifold activities, and last but not
least to the mass of its stout-hearted, self-denying
members whose strenuous, ceaseless,
concerted efforts so decisively contributed to
the consolidation and broadening of its foundations.
I desire to-direct a particular appeal
to the Latin American representatives participating
in the Centennial Convention to
deliberate on measures to reinforce the ties
binding them to their Sister Community,
unitedly devise means for the inauguration
of teaching campaigns in their respective
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Republics, the dissemination of Bahá’í literature,
the multiplication of Bahá’í administrative centers
as preliminary steps in the
formation of Bahá’í National Assemblies,
and lend impetus to the prosecution of any
enterprise launched to carry still further the
Plan conceived by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the
American Bahá’í Community.
May 15, 1944
I am overjoyed by the auspicious opening of the Centennial Convention. The dearly-beloved American Bahá’í community was remembered during the historic night of the glorious Declaration at the Báb’s Holy Shrine. Announce to the friends the joyful tidings that the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of the Mission of the martyred Herald of the Faith was signalized by historic decision to complete the structure of His sepulcher erected by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the site chosen by Bahá’u’lláh. The recently designed model of the dome has been unveiled in the presence of assembled believers. Praying for early removal of obstacles to the consummation of the stupendous Plan conceived by the Founder of the Faith and the hopes cherished by the Center of His Covenant.
May 25, 1944
TO THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
THE one remaining and indeed the most challenging task confronting the American Bahá’í Community has at long last been brilliantly accomplished. The structural basis of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh has, through this superb victory, and on the very eve of the world-wide celebrations of the Centenary of His Faith, been firmly laid by the champion-builders of His World Order in every state of the Great Republic of the West and in every Province of the Dominion of Canada. In each of the Republics of Central and South America, moreover, the banner of His undefeatable Faith has been implanted by the members of that same community, while in no less than thirteen Republics of Latin America as well as in two Dependencies in the West Indies, Spiritual Assemblies have been established and are already functioning—a feat that has outstripped the goal originally fixed for the valiant members of that Community in their inter—continental sphere of Bahá’í activity. The exterior ornamentation of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West—the culmination of a forty year old enterprise repeatedly blessed and continually nurtured by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has, furthermore, through a remarkable manifestation of the spirit of Bahá’í solidarity and self—sacrifice so powerfully animating the members of that stalwart community, been successfully completed, more than a year in advance of the time set for its termination.
The triple task undertaken with such courage, confidence, zeal and determination —a task which ever since the inception of the Seven Year Plan has challenged and galvanized into action the entire body of the American believers and for the efficient prosecution of which processes of a divinely appointed Administrative Order had, during no less than sixteen years, been steadily evolving—is now finally accomplished and crowned with total victory.
The greatest collective enterprise ever
launched by the Western followers of Bahá’u’lláh
and indeed ever undertaken by any
Bahá’í community in the course of an entire
century, has been gloriously consummated. A victory
of undying fame has
marked the culmination of the fifty year
long labors of the American Bahá’í community
in the service of Bahá’u’lláh and has
shed imperishable lustre on the immortal
records of His Faith during the first hundred
years of its existence. The exploits that have
marked the progress of this prodigious, this
threefold enterprise, covering a field
stretching from Alaska in the North to the
extremity of Chile in the South, affecting
the destinies of so great a variety of peoples and
nations, involving such a tremendous
expenditure of treasure and effort, calling forth
so remarkable a spirit of heroism and self-sacrifice,
and undertaken notwithstanding
the vicious assaults and incessant machinations
of the breakers of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
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Covenant, and despite the perils, the trials
and restrictions of a desolating war of
unexampled severity, augur well for the
successful prosecution, and indeed assure the
ultimate victory, of the remaining stages of
the Plan conceived, a quarter of a century
ago, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the followers of
Bahá’u’lláh in the North American continent.
To the band of pioneers, whether settlers or itinerant teachers, who have forsaken their homes, who have scattered far and wide, who have willingly sacrificed their comfort, their health and even their lives for the prosecution of this Plan; to the several committees and their auxiliary agencies that have been entrusted with special and direct responsibility for its efficient and orderly development and who have discharged their high responsibilities with exemplary vigor, courage and fidelity; to the national representatives of the community itself, who have vigilantly and tirelessly supervised, directed and coordinated the unfolding processes of this vast undertaking ever since its inception; to all those who, though not in the forefront of battle, have through their financial assistance and through the instrumentality of their deputies, contributed to the expansion and consolidation of the Plan, I myself, as well as the entire Bahá’í world, owe a debt of gratitude that no one can measure or describe. To the sacrifices they have made, to the courage they have so consistently shown, to the fidelity they have so remarkably displayed, to the resourcefulness, the discipline, the constancy and devotion they have so abundantly demonstrated, future generations viewing the magnitude of their labors in their proper perspective, will no doubt pay adequate tribute—a tribute no less ardent and well-deserved than the recognition extended by the present-day builders of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh to the Dawn-Breakers, whose shining deeds have signalized the birth of the Heroic Age of His Faith.
To the elected representatives of all the Bahá’í communities of the New World, assembled beneath the Dome of the Mother Temple of the West, on the occasion of the historic, first All-American Bahá’í Convention—a Convention at which every state and province in the North American continent is represented, in which the representatives of every Republic of Latin America have been invited to participate, whose delegates have been elected, for the first time in American Bahá’í history, by all local communities already possessing Assemblies, by all groups and isolated believers throughout the United States and Canada, and whose proceedings will be for ever associated with the celebration of the Centenary of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, of the Hundredth anniversary of the birth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Bahá’í Faith in the Western Hemisphere, and of the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the First Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West—to all the privileged attendants of such an epoch-making Convention, I, on my own behalf, as well as in the name of all Bahá’í Communities sharing with them, at this great turning point in the history of our Faith, the joys and triumphs of this solemn hour, feel moved to convey the expression of our loving admiration, our joy and our gratitude for the brilliant conclusion of what posterity will no doubt acclaim as one of the most stirring episodes in the history of the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, as well as one of the most momentous enterprises undertaken during the entire course of the first Century of the Bahá’í Era.
Haifa, April 15, 1944
The splendid and unique success that has
attended the Centenary celebrations so admirably
conducted by the American Bahá’í
community, has befittingly crowned not
only the fifty year record of services rendered
by its valiant members, but the labors
associated with the entire body of their
fellow-workers in East and West in the course
of an entire century. The consummation of
the Seven Year Plan, immortalizing the
fame of this richly blessed community, set
the seal of complete spiritual triumph on
these historic celebrations. A memorable
chapter in the history of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh in the West has been closed. A new
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chapter is now opening, a chapter which, ere
its termination, must eclipse the most shining
victories won so heroically by those who
have so fearlessly launched the first stage of
the Great Plan conceived by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
for the American believers. The prizes won
so painstakingly in both the North and South
American continents must be preserved at
all costs. A mighty impetus should, at
however great a sacrifice, be lent to
the multiplication of Bahá’í centers in
Latin America,
to the expansion of Bahá’í literature, to the
translation of the Bahá’í sacred writings, to
the proclamation of the verities of the Faith
to the masses, to the strengthening of the
bonds binding the newly-fledged communities
to each other, and to the deepening of
the spiritual life of their members.
The task so marvelously initiated in the Latin Republics must be further consolidated ere the prosecutors of the World Plan bequeathed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá can embark on further stages, of still greater significance, in their world teaching mission. The cessation of hostilities will open before them fields of service of tremendous fertility and undreamed-of magnitude. The advantages and opportunities these fields will offer them cannot be exploited unless and until the work to which they have already set their hand in the Western Hemisphere is sufficiently advanced and consolidated. Time is pressing. The new tasks are already beginning to loom on the horizon. The work that still remains to be accomplished ere the next stage is ushered in is still considerable and exacting. I feel confident that the American Bahá’í community will, as it has in the past, rise to the occasion and discharge its high duties as befits the unique position it occupies.
August 18, 1944
Comforted, strengthened by assurance of sympathy and loyalty of American believers in the deplorable, delicate situation created by dishonorable alliances made by members of my family, first with Covenant-breakers and now with external enemies of the Faith.
The marvelous, rapid, sound evolution of the institutions of the Faith in five continents, particularly in the Western Hemisphere, constitutes best monition, most effective counteraction to the detrimental influence of those whose acts proclaim their severance from the Holy Tree and their forfeiture of their sacred birthright.
The occasion demands that you direct special attention to passages in ”God Passes By” indicating the gravity of the past crises precipitated since the inception of the Faith by kinsmen both of the Manifestation and the Center of His Covenant, demonstrating the pitiful futility of their nefarious activities and the sad fate overtaking defectors and betrayers.
The present hour calls for unrelaxing vigilance, continued heroism, redoubled efforts, renewed dedication by rank and file of the community enjoying preponderating share alike in the erection, the defense, and the consolidation of the worldwide Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh since the passing of the Center of His Covenant.
I urge the entire Bahá’í community of the Western Hemisphere to focus its attention during the remaining months of the opening year of the second century on the formation of local Assemblies in the remaining Republics of Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Bolivia and San Domingo, guard against dissolution of Assemblies already painstakingly established throughout the Americas, exert effort on further multiplication of groups; wider dissemination of literature, greater use of radio, closer contact with masses, more audacious proclamation of the Faith, more effective coordination of local and national activities aiming at fuller demonstration of the rights and claims of the Faith to be regarded as sole refuge of humanity in its hour of bitterest agony.
The American believers’ meritorious activities, individual, local, inter-state, intercontinental, will be the object of my special prayers during the approaching Anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Ascension.
November 21, 1944
1944, a year memorable for the sharp contrast
between the rising tide of spiritual
victories culminating in the Centenary
celebrations of a world-embracing Faith and the
swiftly ebbing fortunes of a war-ravaged,
disillusioned and bankrupt society, is drawing
to a close. In every continent of the
[Page 291]
globe; in the Holy Land, the Heart and
Center of our Faith and Pivot of its
institutions; in the land of its birth; in the
adjoining territory of ‘Iráq; throughout the
Western Hemisphere; in the British Isles,
so severely subjected to the violence of a
world tempest; throughout the length and
breadth of India; in far-off Australasia and
in the Nile Valley—all with the sole
exception of the distant Republics of the West
subjected in varying degrees to the imminent
danger of becoming the theatre of
war—the communities laboring for the promotion
of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh have,
throughout five tumultuous years, been
providentially spared to hold aloft its banner,
to preserve its integrity, to maintain the
continuity of its institutions, to enrich its
annals, to consolidate its structure, to
further disseminate its literature and to
befittingly celebrate its centenary. Preponderant
indeed has been the share of that privileged
community, which has been invested by the
Pen of the Center of the Covenant with a
world-wide mission, in the prosecution of
a task which, ever since the onset of this
world upheaval and despite its mounting
horrors, the builders of the Administrative
Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh have so
unflaggingly pursued. Neither the participation
of the Great Republic of the West
in this fierce contest, nor the sorrows, burdens
and restrictions which such direct association
with the agonies of a travailing
age has entailed have thus far been capable
of dimming the splendor of the exploits
that have immortalized the record of the
services of this community since the ascension of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Indeed, coincident
with the period of America’s direct participation
in this world struggle and in direct proportion
to the turmoil and the
tribulations which such a participation has
engendered, the members of this community
have evinced a heroism and proved themselves
capable of a concerted effort that have
eclipsed the notable achievements that have
heralded the establishment of the Administrative
Order of the Faith as well as the
first stage in the development of the Seven
Year Plan.
What the year 1945, on whose threshold we now stand, has in store for the members of this determined, this valiant, this watchful, this exemplary community only the future can reveal. That the trials and afflictions suffered by their country and its people must wax as this world upheaval moves towards a climax no one can any longer doubt. The challenge that will face this stalwart community will no doubt be severe. To allow the prizes so nobly won, over so vast a field, at so great a cost, at so critical an hour, to fall into jeopardy would be unworthy of a career so auspiciously initiated, so completely dedicated to the Cause of God, so rich in promise and so brilliant in almost every phase of its evolution. Every local Assembly, the ordained pivot of a divinely-ordained System, which has been established in the States and Provinces of the North American continent, as well as in the Republics of Latin America, must, through a supreme effort on the part of pioneers, visiting teachers and Regional Committees, be steadfastly maintained. Simultaneously a no less determined effort should be exerted to enable the admittedly large number of groups scattered throughout the Americas to attain Assembly status. No less urgent is the obligation to proclaim the verities enshrined in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh by every means which individuals, Assemblies and committees can devise, through the press and radio, through an unprecedented dissemination of literature, through its systematic translation into Spanish and Portuguese and above all through active association with leaders of public thought as well as direct contact with the masses of the people. Through such means as these, and through such means only can the members of the American Bahá’í Community, who have so audaciously and successfully launched the first stage of the Divine Plan, be enabled to pave the way and usher in, soon after the cessation of hostilities, the succeeding stage in the evolution of their world mission. My prayers and loving thoughts surround them continually in their devoted labors.
December 24, 1944
The Divine Plan conceived by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
for the American Bahá’í community,
in the midst of one of the darkest periods
[Page 292]
in human history and with which the destinies
of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the
North American continent must for generations
to come remain inextricably interwoven, has,
during the concluding years of
the first Bahá’í Century, triumphantly
emerged from the first stage of its evolution.
Its initiation, officially and on a vast
scale, had, for well nigh twenty years, been
held in abeyance, while the processes of a
slowly emerging administrative Order, were,
under the unerring guidance of Providence,
creating and perfecting the agencies for its
efficient and systematic prosecution. The
next stage in the evolution of the Plan
cannot, however, be embarked upon, until
the external causes, hampering its further
unfoldment in other continents of the globe,
are removed through the cessation of hostilities
and the signal victories already won
through its initial development are sufficiently
consolidated throughout the Western Hemisphere.
The tasks confronting
those who have so valiantly and brilliantly
inaugurated the first stage in the execution
of the Great Design unfolded by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
for the promulgation of the Faith of
His Father, during this transitional period,
are manifold, exacting, urgent, and sacred.
The local administrative units, so laboriously
constituted throughout the Americas, must
needs, as already pointed out and repeatedly
stressed, be maintained, reinforced, closely
integrated and their number steadily multiplied.
The spirit that has inflamed the pioneers who
have set the seal of triumph on
the Seven Year Plan, must under the vigilant
care of the national representatives of the
American Bahá’í community be constantly
watched, kept alive and nourished. The
literature of the Faith, particularly in Spanish
and Portuguese, must be widely disseminated in
both Central and South America,
as a necessary adjunct to the systematic
consolidation of the work that has been
undertaken. Above all, the healing Message
of Bahá’u’lláh must during the opening
years of the second Bahá’í Century, and
through the instrumentality of an already
properly functioning Administrative Order,
whose ramifications have been extended to
the four corners of the Western Hemisphere,
be vividly, systematically brought
to the attention of the masses, in their hour
of grief, misery and confusion. A more
audacious assertion of the challenging verities
of the Faith; a more convincing presentation of
its distinguishing truths; a fuller
exposition of the character, the aims and
the achievements of its rising Administrative
system as the nucleus and pattern of its
future world-embracing order; a more direct and
intimate contact and association
with the leaders of public thought, whose
activities and aims are akin to the teachings
of Bahá’u’lláh, for the purpose of demonstrating
the universality, the comprehensiveness, the
liberality and the dynamic power
of His Divine Message; a closer scrutiny of
the ways and means whereby its claims can
be vindicated, its defamers and detractors
silenced, and its institutions safeguarded; a
more determined effort to exploit, to the
fullest extent possible, the talents and
abilities of the rank and file of the believers
for the purpose of achieving these ends—these
stand out as the paramount tasks summoning to
a challenge, during these years
of transition and turmoil, the entire body
of the American believers. The facilities
which the radio and press furnish must be
utilized to a degree unprecedented in American
Bahá’í history. The combined resources
of the much-envied exemplary American
Bahá’í community must be harnessed for
the effectual promotion of these meritorious
purposes. Blessings undreamt of in their
scope and plenteousness, are bound to be
vouchsafed to those who will, in these dark
yet pregnant times, arise to further these
noble ends and to hasten through their acts
the hour at which a still more momentous
stage in the evolution of a Divine and
worldwide Plan can be launched.
There is no time to lose. The hour is ripe for the proclamation, without fear, without reserve, and without hesitation, and on a scale never as yet undertaken, of the One Message that can alone extricate humanity from the morass into which it is steadily sinking, and from which they who claim to be the followers of the Most Great Name can and will eventually rescue it. The sooner they who labor for the recognition and triumph of His Faith in the new world arise to carry out these inescapable
Recently incorporated Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Kansas City, Missouri, 1945.
duties, the sooner will the hopes, the aims and objectives of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as enshrined in His own Plan, be translated from the realm of vision to the plane of actuality and manifest the full force of the potentialities with which they have been endued.
March 29, 1945
Assure newly-elected members of my fervent prayers for divine guidance and strength to accomplish the tasks confronting American Bahá’í community in the second year of the second Bahá’í century. I appeal to National Teaching, Regional and Inter-America Committees to intensify efforts for multiplication of groups and Assemblies the length and breadth of the western hemisphere. An ever-increasing flow of pioneers is indispensable to meet the urgent requirements of the present hour. Renewed, determined, continued exertions by individuals aimed at an unprecedented increase in the number of enrolled believers is vital to the consolidation of activities undertaken by pioneers. Systematic, well-conceived, carefully coordinated plans, nationwide and intercontinental, devised by elected national representatives of the community, are likewise a necessary preliminary to a seed-sowing unexampled both in range and effectiveness in American Bahá’í history. The attainment of this threefold objective in North, Central and South America will signalize the initiation, in other continents, of the world mission constituting the sacred birthright of the American followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
Received May 8, 1945
The followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout
five continents unanimously rejoice in the
partial emergence of a war-torn humanity
from the titanic upheaval unerringly predicted
seventy years ago by the Pen of
the Author of their Faith. The cessation of
hostilities in the European continent signalizes
yet another chapter in the tragic tale
of fiery trials providentially decreed by inscrutable
wisdom designed ultimately to
weld the mutually antagonistic elements of
human society into a single, organically-united,
unshatterable world commonwealth.
They gratefully acclaim the signal evidence
of the interposition of divine Providence
[Page 294]
which during such perilous years enabled
the World Center of our Faith to escape
what posterity will recognize as one of the
gravest dangers which ever confronted the
nerve center of its institutions. They are
profoundly aware of the bountiful grace
vouchsafed by that same Providence insuring,
unlike the previous world conflict, uninterrupted
intercourse between the spiritual
Center and the vast majority of the communities
functioning within the orbit of a
far-flung Faith. They are immeasurably
thankful for the miraculous preservation of
the Indian, Persian, Egyptian, British and
‘Iráqi communities, long threatened by dire
perils owing to their proximity to the theatre
of military operations. They are deeply
conscious that the progress achieved, despite
six tempestuous years, in both the Eastern
and Western Hemispheres through the collective
enterprises launched by these communities
outshines the sum total of the
accomplishments since the inception of the
Formative Age of the Faith.
The Seven Year Plan inaugurated by the American Bahá’í community under the lowering clouds of the approaching conflict victoriously completed the exterior ornamentation of the Mother Temple of the West, established the structural basis of the Faith in every State and Province of the North American continent, and hoisted its banner in every Republic of Latin America. The Indian believers’ Six Year Plan, launched on the eve of hostilities, more than quadrupled the centers functioning within the pale of the Administrative Order. The edifices consecrated to the administrative affairs of an ever-advancing Cause, involving the expenditure of over a hundred thousand dollars, were erected, purchased or completed in the Capital Cities of India, ‘Iráq and Egypt as well as Sydney, Australia. The acquisition of numerous properties in Bahá’u’lláh’s native land, on Mount Carmel and in the Jordan Valley, as well as the purchase of several important historic sites associated with the Lives of both the Herald and the Author of the Faith, swelled to an unprecedented degree our Bahá’í endowments.
Preliminary steps for the completion of the Báb’s Sepulchre and the establishment of the World Administrative Center through the removal of the Remains of the Brother and the Mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were undertaken. The termination of the First Century of the Bahá’í Era, synchronizing with the climax of the raging storm, was publicly and befittingly celebrated, despite the multiplication of restrictions. Above all, the unity and integrity of an incorruptible world community was consistently safeguarded in face of the insidious opposition of avowed enemies without and the Covenant-breakers within.
Such splendid victories, over so vast a field, amidst such tribulations during so prolonged an ordeal, augur well for the colossal tasks destined to be accomplished during the course of the peaceful years ahead by the builders of the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh amidst the wreckage of a disrupted, disillusioned society.
Received May 12, 1945
Our hearts are uplifted in thanksgiving
for complete cessation of the prolonged,
unprecedented world conflict. I hail the
prospects of the removal of the restrictions
enabling American Bahá’í Community to
expedite the preliminary measures required
to launch the second stage of the Divine
Plan. I appeal focus attention upon the
requirements of the all-important Latin
American work. The adequate fulfillment
of this vital task preludes the assumption
of collective responsibility by triumphant
Community of the spiritual enlightenment
and ultimate redemption of sorely—tried,
war-ravaged European continent, destined to be
associated with exploits which must immortalize
the second stage of the World Mission
entrusted by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the apostles
of His Father’s Faith in the western world.
The opportunities of the present hour are
infinitely precious, the time is pressing, the
call of the distressed, groping peoples of
Europe pitiful, insistent. The work still to
be accomplished to consummate the mighty
enterprise undertaken in Latin America is
considerable. The Almighty’s sustaining
grace is assured, unfailing. I am praying
from the depths of a joyful, thankful heart
for the outpouring of blessings no less
remarkable than the divine bounties vouchsafed
unto the valiant prosecutors of the
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Plan in the course of the opening phase of
their World Mission.
Message received August 20, 1945
Dear and valued co-workers: The cessation of hostilities on the continent of Europe, the prospect of an early termination of the bloody conflict raging in the Far East, invest the members of the world Bahá’í community, and particularly its standard—bearers in the great Republic of the West, with a great, a unique, and inescapable responsibility. The first stage of the mission laid upon them by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the inauguration of which has been so long retarded while the processes of a slowly emerging administrative order were being set in motion, and which coincided with one of the darkest and most tragic periods in human history, has been brought to a triumphant conclusion, and added a golden page to the annals of the closing years of the first Bahá’í century.
As a new phase in the painful evolution of a sorely-tried and wayward humanity opens, a new challenge summons the prosecutors of a Divine Plan to gird up their loins, muster their resources, and prepare themselves for the launching of the second stage of an enterprise which, as it reveals its full potentialities, must stretch to embrace the five continents of the globe. World turmoil, grave dangers, severe restrictions, the lethargy of the public engrossed in its war problems, have failed to dampen the zeal, or to undermine the resolve, or to interfere with the successful discharge of the duty assumed by those who have so determinedly embarked on the opening stage of their world encircling, divinely appointed mission. With the return to more normal conditions, with the improvement of the means of travel and communication, with the lifting of the deadening weight of fear and care and the growing receptivity of the masses schooled in adversity and groping for the means of ultimate salvation, opportunities without number and unprecedented in their significance, present themselves to those whose privilege and obligation it is to pave the way for the launching of the succeeding stage of their historic and ever unfolding task.
Not until, however, normal conditions are fully restored and the world situation is stabilized, and, above all, the prizes won through the operation of the Seven-Year Plan are adequately safe-guarded and the basis of the newly established Administration Order sufficiently consolidated throughout the Western Hemisphere, can the ambassadors of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, carrying aloft the banner of His Name in the American continent, be called upon to undertake, unitedly and systematically, collective responsibility for the diffusion of His Message, and for the erection of the fabric of His Administrative Order, amidst the sorrow-stricken, war—lacerated, sorely bewildered nations and peoples of the European continent.
The sooner the home tasks are fully discharged, and the newly fledged Assemblies in Central and South America enabled to function adequately and vigorously, the sooner will the stalwart members of the American Bahá’í community, who, during so brief a period, and despite the prevailing darkness, achieved such wonders throughout the Americas, extend the healing influence of their Faith, on a scale as yet unprecedented, to the waiting masses of that agitated continent.
As already observed, an intensification of effort is imperatively required aiming at a holder proclamation of the verities of a God—given Faith, at a systematic and continent-wide dissemination of its authentic literature, at a closer contact with the masses as well as the leaders of public thought, at a further consolidation and multiplication of the administrative centers scattered throughout the new world, and constituting the nuclei of its future World Order, and, above all, at a more convincing revelation of Bahá’í love, unity, solidarity and self-sacrifice, which alone can hasten the consummation of the preliminary undertakings required to terminate the period of transition intervening between the first and second stages of the greatest crusade ever launched in the history of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
Time is pressing, the work that still remains
to be accomplished in the new world
is vast and urgent, the need of the suffering
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masses, the world over, and particularly in
Europe, is pitiable, the sustaining grace
destined to be vouchsafed from on high to those
who will arise to achieve that task and fulfil
this need is boundless and assured. Its potency
has been already fully experienced,
and abundantly demonstrated in the years
that have witnessed the most prodigious
efforts exerted by the American believers.
A still more powerful display of its
miraculous force can be confidently anticipated,
if those who have felt its impact in the past
arise to carry out, in the years that lie
immediately ahead, the sublime and twofold
task of the redemption of mankind and the
establishment of the world sovereignty of
Bahá’u’lláh.
Haifa, Palestine, August 10, 1945
SELECTIONS FROM ”GOD PASSES BY”
BY SHOGHI EFFENDI
THE MESSAGE OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S incarceration in the prison-fortress of ‘Akká, the manifold tribulations He endured, the prolonged ordeal to which the community of His followers in Persia was being subjected, did not arrest, nor could they even impede, to the slightest degree, the mighty stream of Divine Revelation, which, without interruption, had been flowing from His pen, and on which the future orientation, the integrity, the expansion and the consolidation of His Faith directly depended. Indeed, in their scope and volume, His writings, during the years of His confinement in the Most Great Prison, surpassed the outpourings of His pen in either Adrianople or Baghdád. More remarkable than the radical transformation in the circumstances of His own life in ‘Akká, more far—reaching in its spiritual consequences than the campaign of repression pursued so relentlessly by the enemies of His Faith in the land of His birth, this unprecedented extension in the range of His writings, during His exile in that Prison, must rank as one of the most vitalizing and fruitful stages in the evolution of His Faith.
The tempestuous winds that swept the Faith at the inception of His ministry and the wintry desolation that marked the beginnings of His prophetic career, soon after His banishment from Ṭihrán, were followed during the latter part of His sojourn in Baghdád, by what may be described as the vernal years of His Mission—years which witnessed the bursting into visible activity of the forces inherent in that Divine Seed that had lain dormant since the tragic removal of His Forerunner. With His arrival in Adrianople and the proclamation of His Mission the Orb of His Revelation climbed as it were to its zenith, and shone, as witnessed by the style and tone of His Writings, in the plenitude of its summer glory. The period of His incarceration in ‘Akká brought with it the ripening of a slowly maturing process, and was a period during which the choicest fruits of that mission were ultimately garnered.
The writings of Bahá’u’lláh during this period, as we survey the vast field which they embrace, seem to fall into three distinct categories. The first comprises those writings which constitute the sequel to the proclamation of His Mission in Adrianople. The second includes the laws and ordinances of His Dispensation, which, for the most part, have been recorded in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, His Most Holy Book. To the third must be assigned those Tablets which partly enunciate and partly reaffirm the fundamental tenets and principles underlying that Dispensation.
The Proclamation of His Mission had
been, as already observed, directed particularly
to the kings of the earth, who, by
virtue of the power and authority they
wielded, were invested with a peculiar and
inescapable responsibility for the destinies
of their subjects. It was to these kings, as
well as to the world’s religious leaders, who
[Page 297]
exercised at no less pervasive influence on the
mass of their followers, that the Prisoner of
‘Akká directed His appeals, warnings, and
exhortations during the first years of His
incarceration in that city.
"Upon Our arrival at this Prison,” He Himself affirms,
"We purposed to transmit to the kings the messages of their Lord, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Though We have transmitted to them, in several Tablets, that which We were commanded, yet We do it once again, as a token of God’s grace.”
To the kings of the earth, both in the East and in the West, both Christian and Muslim, who had already been collectively admonished and warned in the Súriy-i-Múlúk revealed in Adrianople, and had been so vehemently summoned by the Báb, in the opening chapter of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’, on the very night of the Declaration of His Mission, Bahá’u’lláh, during the darkest days of His confinement in ‘Akká, addressed some of the noblest passages of His Most Holy Book. In these passages He called upon them to take fast hold of the "Most Great Law”; proclaimed Himself to be "the King of Kings” and ”the Desire of all Nations”; declared them to be His "vassals” and "emblems of His sovereignty”; disclaimed any intention of laying hands on their kingdoms; bade them forsake their palaces, and hasten to gain admittance into His Kingdom; extolled the king who would arise to aid His Cause as ”the very eye of mankind”; and finally arraigned them for the things which had befallen Him at their hands.
In His Tablet to Queen Victoria He, moreover, invites these kings to hold fast to "the Lesser Peace,” since they had refused "the Most Great Peace”; exhorts them to be reconciled among themselves, to unite and to reduce their armaments; bids them refrain from laying excessive burdens on their subjects, who, He informs them, are their "wards” and "treasures”; enunciates the principle that should any one among them take up arms against another, all should rise against him; and warns them not to deal with Him as the "King of Islám” and his ministers had dealt.
To the emperor of the French, Napoleon III, the most prominent and influential monarch of his day in the West, designated by Him as the "Chief of Sovereigns,” and who, to quote His words, had "cast behind his back” the Tablet revealed for him in Adrianople, He, while a prisoner in the army barracks, addressed a second Tablet and transmitted it through the French agent in ‘Akká. In this He announces the coming of "Him Who is the Unconstrained',” whose purpose is to "quicken the world” and unite its peoples; unequivocally asserts that Jesus Christ was the Herald of His Mission; proclaims the fall of ”the stars of the firmament of knowledge,” who have turned aside from Him; exposes that monarch’s insincerity; and clearly prophesies that his kingdom shall be "thrown into confusion,” that his "empire shall pass” from his hands, and that "commotions shall seize all the people in that land,” unless he arises to help the Cause of God and follow Him Who is His Spirit.
In memorable passages addressed to "the Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein” He, in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas, calls upon them to "adorn the temple of dominion with the ornament of justice and of the fear of God, and its heart with the crown of remembrance” of their Lord; declares that "the Promised One” has been made manifest; counsels them to avail themselves of the "Day of God”; and bids them "bind with the hands of justice the broken” and "crush” the "oppressor” with "the rod of the commandments of their Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise.”
To Nicolaevitch Alexander II, the all-powerful Czar of Russia, He addressed, as He lay a prisoner in the barracks, an Epistle wherein He announces the advent of the promised Father, Whom "the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled,” and "with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned”; commands him to "arise . . . and summon the nations unto God”; warns him to beware lest his sovereignty withhold him from "Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign”; acknowledges the aid extended by his Ambassador in Ṭihrán; and cautions him not to forfeit the station ordained for him by God.
To Queen Victoria He, during that same
period, addressed an Epistle in which He
calls upon her to incline her ear to the voice
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of her Lord, the Lord of all mankind; bids
her "cast away all that is on earth,” and
set her heart towards her Lord, the Ancient
of Days; asserts that
"all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled”;
assures her that God would reward
her for having "forbidden the trading in slaves,”
were she to follow what has been
sent unto her by Him; commends her for having
"entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives of the people”; and exhorts them to
"regard themselves as the representatives of all that dwell on earth,”
and to judge between men with
"pure justice.”
In a celebrated passage addressed to William I, King of Prussia and newly-acclaimed emperor of a unified Germany, He, in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas, bids the sovereign hearken to His Voice, the Voice of God Himself; warns him to take heed lest his pride debar him from recognizing "the Day-Spring of Divine Revelation,” and admonishes him to "remember the one (Napoleon III) whose power transcended” his power, and who "went down to dust in great loss.” Furthermore, in that same Book, apostrophizing the "banks of the Rhine,” He predicts that "the swords of retribution” would be drawn against them, and that "the lamentations of Berlin” would be raised, though at that time she was "in conspicuous glory.”
In another notable passage of that same Book, addressed to Francis-Joseph, the Austrian Emperor and heir of the Holy Roman Empire, Bahá’u’lláh reproves the sovereign for having neglected to inquire about Him in the course of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; takes God to Witness that He had found him "clinging unto the Branch and heedless of the Root”; grieves to observe his waywardness; and bids him open his eyes and gaze on "the Light that shineth above this luminous Horizon.”
To ‘Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizir of the Sulṭán of Turkey He addressed, shortly after His arrival in ‘Akká, a second Tablet, in which He reprimands him for his cruelty "that hath made hell to blaze and the Spirit to lament”; recounts his acts of oppression; condemns him as one of those who, from time immemorial, have denounced the Prophets as stirrers of mischief; prophesies his downfall; expatiates on His own sufferings and those of His fellow-exiles; extolls their fortitude and detachment; predicts that God’s "wrathful anger” will seize him and his government, that "sedition will be stirred up” in their midst, and that their "dominions will be disrupted”; and affirms that were he to awake, he would abandon all his possessions, and would ”choose to abide in one of the dilapidated rooms of this Most Great Prison.” In the Lawḥ-i-Fu’ád, in the course of His reference to the premature death of the Sulṭán’s Foreign Minister, Fu’ád Páshá, He thus confirms His above-mentioned prediction: "Soon will We dismiss the one (‘Alí Páshá) who was like unto him and will lay hold on their Chief (Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz) who ruleth the land, and I, verily, am the Almighty, the All—Compelling.”
No less outspoken and emphatic are the messages, some embodied in specific Tablets, others interspersed through His writings, which Bahá’u’lláh addressed to the world’s ecclesiastical leaders of all denominations—messages in which He discloses, clearly and unreservedly, the claims of His Revelation, summons them to heed His call, and denounces, in certain specific cases, their perversity, their extreme arrogance and tyranny.
In immortal passages of His Kitáb-i-Aqdas and other Tablets He bids the entire company of these ecclesiastical leaders to "fear God,” to "rein in” their pens, ”fling away idle fancies and imaginings, and turn then towards the Horizon of Certitude”; warns them to "weigh not the Book of God (Kitáb-i-Aqdas) with such standards and sciences as are current” amongst them; designates that same Book as the "Unerring Balance established amongst men”; laments over their blindness and waywardness; asserts His superiority in vision, insight, utterance and wisdom; proclaims His innate and God-given knowledge; cautions them not to ”shut out the people by yet another veil,” after He Himself had ”rent the veils asunder”; accuses them of having been "the cause of the repudiation of the Faith in its early days”; and adjures them to "peruse with fairness and justice that which hath been sent down” by Him, and to "nullify not the Truth” with the things they possess.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Baltimore, Maryland, incorporated in August, 1945.
To Pope Pius IX, the undisputed head of the most powerful Church in Christendom, possessor of both temporal and spiritual authority, He, a Prisoner in the army barracks of the penal-colony of ‘Akká, addressed a most weighty Epistle, in which He announces that "He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds,” and that "the Word which the Son concealed is made manifest.” He, moreover, warns him not to dispute with Him even as the Pharisees of old disputed with Jesus Christ; bids him leave his palaces unto such as desire them, "sell all the embellished ornaments” in his possession, "expend them in the path of God,” abandon his kingdom unto the kings, "arise . . . amidst the peoples of the earth,” and summon them to His Faith. Regarding him as one of the suns of the heaven of God’s names, He cautions him to guard himself lest ”darkness spread it veils” over him; calls upon him to "exhort the kings” to "deal equitably with men”; and counsels him to walk in the footsteps of his Lord, and follow His example.
To the patriarchs of the Christian Church
He issued a specific summons in which He
proclaims the coming of the Promised One;
exhorts them to "fear God” and not to
follow "the vain imaginings of the superstitious”;
[Page 300]
and directs them to lay aside the
things they possess and
"take fast hold of the Tablet of God by His sovereign power.”
To the archbishops of that Church He similarly declares that
“He Who is the Lord of all men hath appeared,”
that they are "numbered with the dead,”
and that great is the
blessedness of him Who is
"stirred by the breeze of God, and hath arisen from amongst the dead in this perspicuous Name.”
In passages addressed to its bishops He proclaims that
"the Everlasting Father calleth aloud between earth and heaven,”
pronounces them
to be the fallen stars of the heaven of His
knowledge, and affirms that His body
"yearneth for the cross” and His head is
"eager for the spear in the path of the All-Merciful.”
The concourse of Christian
priests He bids "leave the bells,” and come
forth from their churches; exhorts them to
”proclaim aloud the Most Great Name among the nations”;
assures them that whoever will summon men in His Name will
"show forth that which is beyond the power of all that are on earth”;
warns them that
the "Day of Reckoning hath appeared”; and
counsels them to turn with their hearts to
their "Lord, the Forgiving, the Generous.”
In numerous passages addressed to the
”concourse of monks” He bids them
not to seclude themselves in churches and cloisters,
but to occupy themselves with that which
will profit their souls and the souls of men;
enjoins them to enter into wedlock; and
affirms that if they choose to follow Him
He will make them heirs of His Kingdom,
and that if they transgress against Him, He
will, in His long-suffering, endure it patiently.
And finally, in several passages addressed to the entire body of the followers of Jesus Christ He identifies Himself with the "Father” spoken of by Isaiah, with the "Comforter” Whose Covenant He Who is the Spirit (Jesus) had Himself established, and With the "Spirit of Truth” Who will guide them "into all truth”; proclaims His Day to be the Day of God; announces the conjunction of the river Jordan with the "Most Great Ocean”; asserts their heedlessness as well as His own claim to have opened unto them "the gates of the Kingdom”; affirms that the promised "Temple” has been built "with the hands of the will” of their Lord, the Mighty, the Bounteous; bids them "rend the veils asunder,” and enter in His name His Kingdom; recalls the saying of Jesus to Peter; and assures them that, if they choose to follow Him, He Will make them to become "quickeners of mankind.”
To the entire body of Muslim ecclesiastics Bahá’u’lláh specifically devoted innumerable passages in His Books and Tablets, wherein He, in vehement language, denounces their cruelty; condemns their pride and arrogance; calls upon them to lay aside the things they possess, to hold their peace, and give ear to the words He has spoken; and asserts that, by reason of their deeds, "the exalted station of the people hath been abused, the standard of Islám hath been reversed, and its mighty throne hath fallen.” To the "concourse of Persian divines” He more particularly addressed His condemnatory words in which He stigmatizes their deeds, and prophesies that their "glory will be turned into the most wretched abasement,” and that they shall behold the punishment which will be inflicted upon them, "as decreed by God, the Ordainer, the All—Wise.”
To the Jewish people, He, moreover, announced that the Most Great Law has come, that “the Ancient Beauty ruleth upon the throne of David,” Who cries aloud and invokes His Name, that "from Zion hath appeared that which was hidden,” and that "from Jerusalem is heard the Voice of God, the One, the incomparable, the Omniscient.”
To the "high priests” of the Zoroastrian Faith He, furthermore, proclaimed that "the Incomparable Friend” is manifest, that He "speaketh that wherein lieth salvation,” that "the Hand of Omnipotence is stretched forth from behind the clouds,” that the tokens of His majesty and greatness are unveiled; and declared that "no man’s acts shall be acceptable in this day unless he forsaketh mankind and all that men possess, and setteth his face towards the Omnipotent One.”
Some of the weightiest passages of His
Epistle to Queen Victoria are addressed to
the members of the British Legislature, the
Mother of Parliaments, as well as to the
elected representatives of the peoples in
other lands. In these He asserts that His
purpose is to quicken the world and unite
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its peoples; refers to the treatment meted
out to Him by His enemies; exhorts the
legislators to "take counsel together,” and
to concern themselves only
"with that which profiteth mankind”;
and affirms that the
"sovereign remedy” for the
"healing of all the world” is the
"union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith,”
which can
"in no wise he achieved except through the power of a skillead and all—powerful and inspired Physician.” He, moreover,
in His Most Holy Book, has enjoined the
selection of a single language and the
adoption of a common script for all on earth
to use, an injunction which, when carried
out, would, as He Himself affirms in that
Book, be one of the signs of the
"coming of age of the human race.”
No less significant are the words addressed separately by Him to the "people of the Bayán,” to the wise men of the world, to its poets, to its men of letters, to its mystics and even to its tradesmen, in which He exhorts them to be attentive to His voice, to recognize His Day, and to follow His bidding.
Such in sum are the salient features of the concluding utterances of that historic Proclamation, the opening notes of which were sounded during the latter part of Bahá’u’lláh’s banishment to Adrianople, and which closed during the early years of His incarceration in the prison-fortress of ‘Akká. Kings and emperors, severally and collectively; the chief magistrates of the Republics of the American continent; ministers and ambassadors; the Sovereign Pontiff himself; the Vicar of the Prophet of Islám; the royal Trustee of the Kingdom of the Hidden Imám; the monarchs of Christendom, its patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, priests and monks; the recognized leaders of both the Sunní and Shí'ah sacerdotal orders; the high priests of the Zoroastrian religion; the philosophers, the ecclesiastical leaders, the wise men and the inhabitants of Constantinople—that proud seat of both the Sultanate and the Caliphate; the entire company of the professed adherents of the Zoroastrian, the Jewish, the Christian and Muslim Faiths; the people of the Bayán; the wise men of the world, its men of letters, its poets, its mystics, its tradesmen, the elected representatives of its peoples; His own countrymen—all have, at one time or another, in books, Epistles, and Tablets, been brought directly within the purview of the exhortations, the warnings, the appeals, the declarations and the prophecies which constitute the theme of His momentous summons to the leaders of mankind—a summons which stands unparalleled in the annals of any previous religion, and to which the messages directed by the Prophet of Islám to some of the rulers among His contemporaries alone offer a faint resemblance.
"Never since the beginning of the world,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself affirms, "hath the Message been so openly proclaimed.” ”Each one of them,” He, specifically referring to the Tablets addressed by Him to the sovereigns of the earth—Tablets acclaimed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as a "miracle”—has written, "hath been designated by a special name. The first hath been named 'The Rumbling,’ the second 'The Blow,’ the third 'The Inevitable,’ the fourth 'The Plain,’ the fifth ‘The Catastrophe,’ and the others 'The Stunning Trumpet-Blast,’ ’The Near Event,’ 'The Great Terror,’ ‘The Trumpet,’ 'The Bugle,’ and the like, so that all the peoples of the earth may know, of a certainty, and may witness, with outward and inner eyes, that He Who is the Lord of Names hath prevailed, and will continue to prevail, under all conditions, over all men.” The most important of these Tablets, together with the celebrated Súriy—i-Haykal (the Súrih of the Temple), He, moreover, ordered to be written in the shape of a pentacle, symbolizing the temple of man, and which He identified, when addressing the followers of the Gospel in one of His Tablets, with the "Temple” mentioned by the Prophet Zechariah, and designated as "the resplendent dawning-place of the All-Merciful,” and which "the hands of the power of Him Who is the Causer of Causes” had built.
Unique and stupendous as was this Proclamation,
it proved to be but a prelude to
a still mightier revelation of the creative
power of its Author, and to what may well
rank as the most signal act of His ministry
—the promulgation of the Kitáb-i—Aqdas.
Alluded to in the Kitáb—i-Íqán; the principal
repository of that Law which the Prophet
[Page 302]302
Isaiah had anticipated, and which the writer
of the Apocalypse had described as the
"new heaven” and the "new earth,”
as "the Tabernacle of God,” as the
"Holy City,” as the "Bride,” the
"New Jerusalem coming down from God,”
this "Most Holy Book,” whose
provisions must remain inviolate for no less
than a thousand years, and whose system
will embrace the entire planet, may well be
regarded as the brightest emanation of the
mind of Bahá'u’lláh, as the Mother Book of
His Dispensation, and the Charter of His
New World Order.
Revealed soon after Bahá’u’lla’h had been transferred to the house of ‘Údí Khammár (circa 1873), at a time when He was still encompassed by the tribulations that had afflicted Him, through the acts committed by His enemies and the professed adherents of His Faith, this Book, this treasury enshrining the priceless gems of His Revelation, stands out, by virtue of the principles it inculcates, the administrative institutions it ordains and the function with which it invests the appointed Successor of its Author, unique and incomparable among the world’s sacred Scriptures. For, unlike the Old Testament and the Holy Books which preceded it, in which the actual precepts uttered by the Prophet Himself are non-existent; unlike the Gospels, in which the few sayings attributed to Jesus Christ afford no clear guidance regarding the future administration of the affairs of His Faith; unlike even the Qur’án which, though explicit in the laws and ordinances formulated by the Apostle of God, is silent on the all-important subject of the succession, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, revealed from first to last by the Author of the Dispensation Himself, not only preserves for posterity the basic laws and ordinances on which the fabric of His future World Order must rest, but ordains, in addition, to the function of interpretation which it confers upon His Successor, the necessary -institutions through which the integrity and unity of His Faith can alone be safeguarded.
In this Charter of the future world civilization its Author—at once the Judge, the Lawgiver, the Unifier and Redeemer of mankind—announces to the kings of the earth the promulgation of the "Most Great Law”; pronounces them to be His vassals; proclaims Himself the "King of Kings”; disclaims any intention of laying hands on their kingdoms; reserves for Himself the right to "seize and possess the hearts of men”; warns the world’s ecclesiastical leaders not to weigh the "Book of God” with such standards as are current amongst them; and affirms that the Book itself is the "Unerring Balance” established amongst men. In it He formally ordains the institution of the ”House of Justice,” defines its functions, fixes its revenues, and designates its members as the ”Men of Justice,” the "Deputies of God,” the ”Trustees of the All-Merciful,” alludes to the future Center of His Covenant, and invests Him with the right of interpreting His holy Writ; anticipates by implication the institution of Guardianship; bears witness to the revolutionizing effect of His World Order; enunciates the doctrine of the "Most Great Infallibility” of the Manifestation of God; asserts this infallibility to be the inherent and exclusive right of the Prophet; and rules out the possibility of the appearance of another Manifestation ere the lapse of at least one thousand years.
In this Book He, moreover, prescribes the
obligatory prayers; designates the time and
period of fasting; prohibits congregational
prayer except for the dead; fixes the Qiblih;
institutes the Ḥuqúqu’lláh (Right of God);
formulates the law of inheritance; ordains
the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár;
establishes the Nineteen Day Feasts, the
Bahá’í festivals and the Intercalary Days;
abolishes the institution of priesthood;
prohibits slavery, asceticism, mendicancy,
monasticism, penance, the use of pulpits and
the kissing of hands; prescribes monogamy;
condemns cruelty to animals, idleness and
sloth, backbiting and calumny; censures
divorce; interdicts gambling, the use of
opium, wine and other intoxicating drinks;
specifies the punishment for murder, arson,
adultery and theft; stresses the importance
of marriage and lays down its essential conditions;
imposes the obligation of engaging
in some trade or profession, exalting such
occupation to the rank of worship; emphasizes
the necessity of providing the means
for the education of children; and lays upon
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every person the duty of writing a testament
and of strict obedience to one’s government.
Apart from these provisions Bahá’u’lláh exhorts His followers to consort, with amity and concord and without discrimination, with the adherents of all religions; warns them to guard against fanaticism, sedition, pride, dispute and contention; inculcates upon them immaculate cleanliness, strict truthfulness, spotless chastity, trustworthiness; hospitality, fidelity, courtesy, forbearance, justice and fairness; counsels them to be "even as the fingers of one hand and the limbs of one body”; calls upon them to arise and serve His Cause; and assures them of His undoubted aid. He, furthermore, dwells upon the instability of human affairs; declares that true liberty consists in man’s submission to His commandments; cautions them not to be indulgent in carrying out his statutes; prescribes the twin inseparable duties of recognizing the "Dayspring of God’s Revelation” and of observing all the ordinances revealed by Him, neither of which, He affirms, is acceptable without the other.
The significant summons issued to the Presidents of the Republics of the American continent to seize their opportunity in the Day of God and to champion the cause of justice; the injunction to the members of parliaments throughout the world, urging the adoption of a universal script and language; His warnings to William I, the conqueror of Napoleon III; the reproof He administers to Francis Joseph, the Emperor of Austria; His reference to "the lamentations of Berlin” in His apostrophe to "the banks of the Rhine”; His condemnation of "the throne of tyranny” established in Constantinople, and His prediction of the extinction of its "outward splendor” and of the tribulations destined to overtake its inhabitants; the words of cheer and comfort He addresses to His native city, assuring her that God had chosen her to be "the source of the joy of all mankind”; his prophecy that "the voice of the heroes of Khurásán” will be raised in glorification of their Lord; His assertion that men "endued with mighty valor” will be raised up in Kirmán who will make mention of Him; and finally, His magnanimous assurance to a perfidious brother who had afflicted Him with such anguish, that an "ever-forgiving, all-hounteous” God would forgive him his iniquities were he only to repent—all these further enrich the contents of a Book designated by its Author as "the source of true felicity,” as the "Unerring Balance,” as the "Straight Path” and as the "quickener of mankind.”
The laws and ordinances that constitute the major theme of this Book, Bahá’u’lláh, moreover, has specifically characterized as "the breath of life unto all created things,” as "the mightiest stronghold,” as the ”fruits” of His "Tree,” as "the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples,” as "the lamps of His wisdom and loving-providence,” as "the sweet smelling savor of His garment,” as the "keys” of His "mercy” to His creatures. "This Book,” He Himself testifies, "is a heaven which We have adorned with the stars of Our commandments and prohibitions.” "Blessed the man,” He, moreover, has stated, "who will read it, and pander the verses sent down in it by God, the Lord of Power, the Almighty. Say, O men! Take hold of it with the hand of resignation. . . . By My life! It hath been sent down in a manner that amazeth the minds of men. Verily, it is My weightiest testimony unto all people, and the proof of the All-Merciful unto all who are in heaven and all who are on earth.” And again: "Blessed the palate that savoreth its sweetness, and the perceiving eye that recognizeth that which is treasured therein, and the understanding heart that comprehendeth its allusions and mysteries. By God! Such is the majesty of what hath been revealed therein, and so tremendous the revelation of its veiled allusions that the loins of utterance shake when attempting their description.” And finally: "In such a manner hath the Kitáb-i-Aqdas been revealed that it attracteth and embraceth all the divinely appointed Dispensations. Blessed those who peruse it! Blessed those who apprehend it! Blessed those who meditate upon it! Blessed those who ponder its meaning! So vast is its range that it hath encompassed all men ere their recognition of it. Erelong will its sovereign power, its pervasive influence and the greatness of its might be manifested on earth.”
Members of the recently incorporated Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Dayton, Ohio.
The formulation by Bahá’u’lláh, in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas, of the fundamental laws of His Dispensation was followed, as His Mission drew to a close, by the enunciation of certain precepts and principles which lie at the very core of His Faith, by the reaffirmation of truths He had previously proclaimed, by the elaboration and elucidation of some of the laws He had already laid down, by the revelation of further prophecies and warnings, and by the establishment of subsidiary ordinances designed to supplement the provisions of His Most Holy Book. These were recorded in unnumbered Tablets, which He continued to reveal until the last days of His earthly life, among which the "Ishráqát” (Splendors), the “Bishárát” (Glad Tidings), the "Ṭarázát” (Ornaments), the "Tajallíyát” (Effulgences), the “Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih” (Words of Paradise), the “Lawḥ-i-Aqdas” (Most Holy Tablet), the "Lawh-i-Dunyá” (Tablet of the World), the “Lawḥ-i-Maqsúd” (Tablet of Maqsúd), are the most noteworthy. These Tablets—mighty and final effusions of His indefatigable pen—must rank among the choicest fruits which His mind has yielded, and mark the consummation of His forty-year-long ministry.
Of the principles enshrined in these
Tablets the most vital of them all is
the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the
human race, which may well be regarded
as the hall-mark of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation
and the pivot of His teachings. Of such
cardinal importance is this principle of
unity that it is expressly referred to in the
Book of His Covenant, and He unreservedly
proclaims it as the central purpose of His
Faith. ”We, verily,” He declares,
"have come to unite and weld together all that dwell on earth.”
"So potent is the light of unity,”
He further states,
"that it can illuminate the whole earth.”
"At one time,”
He has written with reference to this central
theme of His Revelation,
"We spoke in the language of the lawgiver; at another in that of the truth seeker and the mystic, and yet Our supreme purpose and highest wish hath always been to disclose the glory and sublimity of this station.” Unity, He
states, is the goal that “excelleth every goal”
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and an aspiration which is
"the monarch of all aspirations.”
"The world,” He proclaims,
"is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”
He further affirms that the unification of
mankind, the last stage in the evolution of
humanity towards maturity is
inevitable, that
"soon will the present day order he rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead,”
that "the whole earth is now in a state of pregnancy,”
that
"the day is approaching when it will have yielded its noblest fruits, when from it will have sprung forth the loftiest trees, the most enchanting blossoms, the most heavenly blessings.”
He deplores the defectiveness of the prevailing
order, exposes the inadequacy of patriotism
as a directing and controlling force in human society,
and regards the "love of mankind”
and service to its interests as the
worthiest and most laudable objects of
human endeavor. He, moreover, laments that
"the vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land,”
that the "face of the world”
is turned towards "waywardness and unbelief”;
proclaims religion to be
"a radiant light and an impregnable stronghold for the protection and welfare of the peoples of the world” and
"the chief instrument for the establishment of order in the world”;
affirms its fundamental purpose to be the
promotion of union and concord amongst
men; warns lest it be made
"a source of dissension, of discord and hatred”;
commands that its principles be taught
to children in the schools of the world,
in a manner that would not be productive
of either prejudice or fanaticism; attributes
"the waywardness of the ungodly” to the
"decline of religion”; and predicts
"convulsions” of such severity as to
"cause the limbs of mankind to quake.”
The principle of collective security He unreservedly urges; recommends the reduction in national armaments; and proclaims as necessary and inevitable the convening of a world gathering at which the kings and rulers of the world will deliberate for the establishment of peace among the nations.
Justice He extols as "the light of men” and their "guardian,” as "the revealer of the secrets of the world of being, and the standard—hearer of love and bounty”; declares its radiance to be incomparable; affirms that upon it must depend "the organization of the world and the tranquility of mankind.” He characterizes its "two pillars”—"reward and punishment”—as "the sources of life” to the human race; warns the peoples of the world to bestir themselves in anticipation of its advent; and prophesies that, after an interval of great turmoil and grievous injustice, its day-star will shine in its full splendor and glory.
He, furthermore, inculcates the principle of "moderation in all things”; declares that whatsoever, be it "Liberty, civilization and the like,” "passeth beyond the limits of moderation” must "exercise a pernicious influence upon men”; observes that western civilization has gravely perturbed and alarmed the peoples of the world; and predicts that the day is approaching when the "flame” of a civilization ”carried to excess” "will devour the cities.”
Consultation He establishes as one of the fundamental principles of His Faith; describes it as "the lamp of guidance,” as "the bestower of understanding,” and as one of the two "luminaries” of the "heaven of Divine wisdom.” Knowledge, He states, is "as wings to man’s life and a ladder for his ascent”; its acquisition He regards as "incumbent upon every one”; considers "arts, crafts and sciences” to be conducive to the exaltation of the world of being; commends the wealth acquired through crafts and professions; acknowledges the indebtedness of the peoples of the world to scientists and craftsmen; and discourages the study of such sciences as are unprofitable to men, and "begin with words and end with words.”
The injunction to "consort with all men in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship” He further emphasizes, and recognizes such association to be conducive to "union and concord,” which, He affirms, are the establishers of order in the world and the quickeners of nations. The necessity of adopting a universal tongue and script He repeatedly stresses; deplores the waste of time involved in the study of divers languages; affirms that with the adoption of
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Atlanta, Georgia, incorporated December 11, 1945.
such a language and script the Whole earth will be considered as "one city and one land”; and claims to be possessed of the knowledge of both, and ready to impart it to any one who might seek it from Him. To the trustees of the House of Justice He assigns the duty of legislating on matters not expressly provided in His Writings, and promises that God will ”inspire them with whatsoever He willeth.” The establishment of a constitutional form of government, in which the ideals of republicanism and the majesty of kingship, characterized by Him as "one of the signs of God,” are combined, He recommends as a meritorious achievement; urges that special regard be paid to the interests of agriculture; and makes specific reference to "the swiftly appearing newspapers,” describes them as "the mirror of the world” and as "an amazing and potent phenomenon,” and prescribes to all who are responsible for their production the duty to be sanctified from malice, passion and prejudice, to be just and fair—minded, to be painstaking in their inquiries, and ascertain all the facts in every situation.
The doctrine of the Most Great Infallibility He further elaborates; the obligation laid on His followers to "behave towards the government of the country in which they reside with loyalty, honesty and truthfulness,” He reaffirms; the ban imposed upon the waging of holy war and the destruction of books He reemphasizes; and He singles
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Denver, Colorado, incorporated February 25, 1946.
out for special praise men of learning and wisdom, whom He extols as "eyes” to the body of mankind, and as the "greatest gifts” conferred upon the world.
Nor should a review of the outstanding
features of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings during the
latter part of His banishment to ‘Akká fail
to include a reference to the Lawḥ-i-Ḥikmat
(Tablet of Wisdom), in which He sets
forth the fundamentals of true philosophy,
or to the Tablet of Visitation revealed in
honor of the Imám Ḥusayn, whose praises
He celebratesin glowing language; or to the
“Questions and Answers” which elucidates
the laws and ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas;
or to the “Lawḥ-i—Burhán” (Tablet
of the Proof) in which the acts perpetrated
by Shaykh Muḥammad—Báqir, surnamed
“Dhi’b” (Wolf), and Mír Muḥammad
Ḥusayn the Imám-Jum’ih of Iṣfáhán,
surnamed "Raqshá (She-Serpent), are severely
condemned; or to the Lawḥ-i-Karmil
(Tablet of Carmel) in which the Author
significantly makes mention of
”the City of God that hath descended from heaven,” and
prophesies that "erelong will God sail His Ark”
upon that mountain, and
"will manifest the people of Bahá.”
Finally, mention
must be made of His Epistle to Shaykh
Muḥammad-Taqí, surnamed “Ibn—i—Dhi’b”
(Son of the Wolf), the last outstanding
Tablet revealed by the pen of Bahá’u’lláh,
in which He calls upon that rapacious priest
to repent of his acts, quotes some of the
most characteristic and celebrated passages
of His own writings, and adduces proofs
establishing the validity of His Cause.
With this book, revealed about one year
prior to His ascension, the prodigious
achievement as author of a hundred volumes,
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repositories of the priceless pearls of His
Revelation, may be said to have practically
terminated—volumes replete with unnumbered
exhortations, revolutionizing principles,
world—shaping laws and ordinances,
dire warnings and portentou‘s prophecies,
with soul-uplifting prayers and meditations,
illuminating commentaries and interpretations,
impassioned discourses and homilies, all
interspersed with either addresses or
references to kings, to emperors and to ministers,
of both the East and the West, to ecclesiastics
of divers denominations, and to leaders in
the intellectual,
political, literary, mystical, commercial
and humanitarian spheres of human activity.
"We, verily,” wrote Bahá’u’lláh. surveying, in the evening of His life, from His Most Great Prison, the entire range of this vast and weighty Revelation, "have not fallen short of Our duty to exhort men, and to deliver that whereunto I was hidden by God, the Almighty, the All-Praised.” "Is there any excuse,” He further has stated, "left for any one in this Revelation? No, by God, the Lord of the Mighty Throne! My signs have encompassed the earth, and my power enveloped all mankind.”