In the fall of 1997 a follower of the sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice wrote to say that 'Abdu'l-Bahá appointed Shoghi Effendi and that Shoghi Effendi, "in turn, left clear and unequivocal provisions for the election of the UHJ," implying that there was no question that the international body which had been formed in 1963 by the then Hands of the Faith was the rightful successor to the beloved Guardian. However, because Orthodox Bahá'ís are well aware that nowhere in the writings of Shoghi Effendi can there be found any provision for the election of a UHJ that is minus the Guardian of the Faith as that body's sacred head, the individual was requested to provide supporting documentation for his statement.
He was asked whether Shoghi Effendi had stated that the Hands of the Faith were to call for the election. He was also asked whether Shoghi Effendi had said that the election was to occur in 1963. Finally, he was asked if Shoghi Effendi had ever said that the UHJ was to be elected minus its "sacred head and distinguished member for life of that body," as is called for in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The Haifa-Wilmette believer responded in a manner that has become all too familiar to members of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith. He avoided the questions that were asked of him, saying that "According to the writings of the dearly beloved Master, today the UHJ is the voice of God. Anyone who questions the authority of that blessed House questions the authority of God..."
He subsequently made a litany of the passage from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá which says that after the Guardian "will succeed the first born of his lineal descendants."
The sans-Guardian believer then wrote: "There is no room for argument here. None whatsoever. It is clear, precise. A third grader could understand these words. There is no use trying to beat about the bush, finding arguments and excuses. There are no excuses! Shoghi Effendi died childless... Upon his passing the Guardianship ceased, stopped, finished. Do you understand this?"
In our rejoinders to the sans-Guardian believer we noted that he was avoiding the central issue, pointing out that Shoghi Effendi had clearly stated that Bahá'u'lláh's Book of Laws and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament are "inseparable parts of one complete unit," and thus not subject to modification by anybody. We subsequently noted that the proponent for a sans-Guardian UHJ did not recognize that in the Will there is a second provision related to the Guardian's successor. That provision is preceded by the words "should the first-born of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words: 'The child is the secret essence of its sire,' that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character." We then pointed out that the alternative provision reads: "then must he, (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him." We emphasized the word "must" and pointed out that the purpose for this injunction in the Will was to insure that differences not arise after the Guardian's passing.
Incredibly, the sans-Guardian believer accused us of making up this alternative provision, saying that it did not come from 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Naturally, we asked him whether his copy of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will was missing the paragraph that begins: "O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing."
When confronted with the entire paragraph and told where to locate it, the sans-Guardian believer abandoned the exchange. However, shortly thereafter a second sans-Guardian believer came to the first individual's aid, saying that he would provide his perspective on the matter. After noting that Shoghi Effendi had no children, he then wrote: "What is disputed is...whether or not he appointed someone else...meaning Mason Remey. Please correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Mason the chairperson of the first council of the Hands?"--a statement that is obviously in error, for there was no such institution either before or after Shoghi Effendi's passing.
Every Bahá'í should know that Mason Remey was appointed by Shoghi Effendi as the President of the first International Bahá'í Council, which the first Guardian portrayed in his proclamation of 9 January 1951, as the "most significant milestone in the evolution of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the course of the last thirty years" (in other words, the most important milestone since the death of 'Abdu'l-Bahá), and he characterized the Council as the embryonic Universal House of Justice. Therefore, the International Bahá'í Council was NOT "the first council of the Hands." The Hands of the Cause form a subsidiary institution to the Guardian himself, and at the time that the International Bahá'í Council was formed and when Mason Remey was made that institution's President, the first contingent of Hands of the Cause had not been named. (Shoghi Effendi named the first Hands months later.)
The heterodox Bahá'í went on to cite the passage from the Will which provides for the Hands of the Cause to "elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the guardian of the Cause of God," and that these nine must give their assent to the Guardian's chosen successor. The sans-Guardian believer then wrote:
"Whether Remey was appointed the Second Guardian or not (of which there is little/no evidence, particularly not specific evidence) doesn't matter as this council of the Hands rejected his claim through a majority vote, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá stipulated. His fellow Hands found him unworthy and/or his claim false. It was not within his power to make such a claim in the first place, but it was clearly within the power of the other Hands to keep someone unworthy from the position of the Guardianship as obviously happened."
After apprising the heterodox Bahá'í of his error regarding Mason Remey as the chairman of the first council of the Hands, we informed the believer that he was also in error when he contended that the Hands of the Faith had the power to reject Mason Remey by a majority vote. Shoghi Effendi's statement on page one of the American Bahá'í News of February 1955 clearly does not give the Hands of the Faith the authority to overrule the decision of the Guardian in his appointment of his successor. We wrote: "To say that the Hands of the Faith were qualified by the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to overrule the Guardian is to say the Hands of the Cause carry more authority than the Guardian. Shoghi Effendi's 1955 statement makes such a position patently false."
We therefore once again asked for those clear and unequivocal provisions which were purportedly set forth by Shoghi Effendi which would allow for the election of a Universal House of Justice minus its "sacred head and distinguished member for life of that body."
The second heterodox Bahá'í retired from the discussion and was replaced by a third individual. This believer stated that it was not a matter of dispute that the Guardian is the "sacred head and distinguished member for life" of the UHJ. He then suggested that because of a statement by Bahá'u'lláh to the effect that the UHJ "should be composed of 'counsellors of Bahá (Bahá numerologically is the equivalent of 9), or should it be greater it doth not matter.' Thus 9 members plus the Guardianship is not ruled out."
(We assumed that this believer was implying that the Guardianship somehow continues minus the presence of the living Guardian of the Faith--a view that, quite naturally, is espoused by the sans-Guardian UHJ. However, the writings of both 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi make a living Guardian essential to the institution of the UHJ.)
The third believer then cited the following set of quotations from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as provided in the book Wellspring of Guidance on pages 47-48
"My purpose is this, that ere the expiration of a thousand years, no one has the right to utter a single word, even to claim the station of Guardianship. The Most Holy Book is the Book to which all peoples shall refer, and in it the Laws of God have been revealed. Laws not mentioned
in the Book should be referred to the decision of the Universal House of Justice. There will be no grounds for difference . . . Beware, beware lest anyone create a rift or stir up sedition. Should there be differences of opinion, the Supreme House of Justice would immediately resolve the problems. Whatever will be its decision, by majority vote, shall be the real truth, inasmuch as that House is under the protection, unerring guidance, and care of the one true Lord. He shall guard it from error and will protect it under the wing of His sanctity and infallibility. He who opposes it is cast out and will eventually be of the defeated. ...
"At whatever time all the beloved of God in each country appoint their delegates, and these in turn elect their representatives, and these representatives elect a body, that body shall be regarded as the Supreme House of Justice.
"The establishment of that House is not dependent upon the conversion of all the nations of the world. For example, if conditions were favorable and no disturbances would be caused, the friends in Persia would elect their representatives, and likewise the friends in America, in India, and other areas would also elect their representatives, and these would elect a House of Justice. That House of Justice would be the Supreme House of Justice. That is all."
On the basis of the preceding material, the heterodox believer stated his view that no one can make a claim to the Guardianship of the Faith and that there is shown here " the lack of a requirement of the Guardian's participation in that election process. Simply the election by the 'delegates' constitutes that which Abdu'l-Bahá considers 'would be the Supreme House of Justice.'"
This third believer therefore contended that " in light of historical fact, wherein the Universal House of Justice was indeed elected by this process, this Universal House of Justice, with its seat in Haifa, Israel, upon Mount Carmel, is by Abdu'l-Bahá's criteria the 'Supreme House of Justice' and 'He who opposes it is cast out...'"
In our response to the third believer we indicated that 'Abdu'l-Bahá's statement that "no one has the right to utter a single word, even to claim the station of Guardianship" should be considered very carefully. We then proceeded to give the following explanation, saying:
"Those who now follow the sans-Guardian UHJ are quick to pass judgment on Mason Remey, saying that he claimed the station of Guardianship and thus was in violation of this statement of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's. However, what most people do not realize is that Mason Remey did NOT make such a claim. In his 1960 proclamation he wrote:
"'Be it understood. I, of myself, make no claims for myself. I am but telling and reminding the Hands of the Faith and the Bahá'ís of all the world of the responsibilities that the beloved Guardian placed upon me as President of the Bahá'í International Council.' And as Mason Remey pointed out in his proclamation, the International Bahá'í Council was identified by Shoghi Effendi as the embryonic Universal House of Justice, of which he had been made the head. So Mason Remey was not claiming something that was not his to claim. He was informing the Bahá'í world of what Shoghi Effendi himself had established.
"It should be emphasized, though, that the Hands of the Cause themselves made their own claim to the station of Guardianship, for they developed a body they called the Custodians of the Bahá'í World Faith which they called upon 'to exercise--subject to such directions and decisions as may be given from time to time by us as the Chief Stewards of the Bahá'í World Faith--all such functions, rights and powers in succession to the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.'
"[The third believer] maintains that on the basis of the quotation he provided from 'Abdu'l-Bahá that there is a 'lack of a requirement of the Guardian's participation in that election process.' He is right, for the Guardian of the Faith is ipso facto a member of the UHJ. The Guardian is not elected to the UHJ. The Guardian is appointed to that body by his predecessor. The Guardian of the Faith--Shoghi Effendi says in his Dispensation--is 'he who symbolizes the hereditary principle in this Dispensation.' He also says that 'by virtue of the actual authority vested in him,' he ceases 'to be the figurehead invariably associated with the prevailing systems of constitutional monarchies.'
"Shoghi Effendi goes on to say that 'this Order identified with the name of Bahá'u'lláh' is not 'to be confused with any system of purely aristocratic government in view of the fact that it upholds, on the one hand, the hereditary principle and entrusts the Guardian of the Faith with the obligation of interpreting its teachings, and provides, on the other, for the free and direct election from among the mass of the faithful of the body that constitutes its highest legislative organ.'
"He adds: "Whereas this Administrative Order cannot be said to have been modeled after any of these recognized systems of government, it nevertheless embodies, reconciles and assimilates within its framework such wholesome elements as are to be found in each one of them. The hereditary authority which the Guardian is called upon to exercise, the vital and essential functions which the Universal House of Justice discharges, the specific provisions requiring its democratic election by the representatives of the faithful--these combine to demonstrate the truth that this divinely revealed Order, which can never be identified with any of the standard types of government referred to by Aristotle in his works, embodies and blends with the spiritual verities on which it is based the beneficent elements which are to be found in each one of them. The admitted evils inherent in each of these systems being rigidly and permanently excluded, this unique Order, however long it may endure and however extensive its ramifications, cannot ever degenerate into any form of despotism, of oligarchy, or of demagogy which must sooner or later corrupt the machinery of all man-made and essentially defective political institutions.'
"The present administrative system under the sans-Guardian UHJ is NOT that system which is described by Shoghi Effendi. It is minus one of its twin pillars, for as Shoghi Effendi says in the Dispensation, the Administrative Order requires the living Guardian of the Faith to provide 'the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives.'
"So, we repeat, where does Shoghi Effendi say that the UHJ is to be elected minus its 'sacred head and distinguished member for life of that body'?"
******
The third individual did not return to the discussion, and the question that we have asked still remains to be seriously addressed by any individual who espouses the view that a Universal House of Justice can be developed minus the Guardian of the Faith as its head.
The purpose in giving this overview of an exchange that transpired between an Orthodox Bahá'í and three members of the Haifa-Wilmette organization is to provide an illustration of the manner in which heterodox believers espouse their views. There obviously is a tendency to parrot the party-line that has been given to them by their leadership without making a thorough study of the writings of the Faith. Additionally, there is a tendency to move from faulty premises to wrong conclusions and to sidestep issues that they are not willing to face. And when others confront them with statements from the writings for which they have no response, if they are pressed on the issue, they will drop the matter entirely--usually condemning those who would provide an alternative viewpoint to theirs as violators of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. It is our hope that those who are willing to conduct a scholarly investigation into the succession of leadership within the Bahá'í Faith will come to recognize where the truth of the matter is to be found and will join the true Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, that which is now guided by the third Guardian Joel B. Marangella.
Facsimile of Bahá'í News of February, 1955
Facsimile of Bahá'í News of February, 1951
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