They dare not disclose to the enquirer the very existence of an integral part of the “explicit Holy Text”—the divinely-conceived, sacred and immortal Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Recently a magazine has been placed in my hands titled: “THE BAHÁ’ÍS” published by the “Office of Public Information of the Bahá’í International Community” of the heterodox Bahá’í organization and distributed by the heterodox Bahá’í Publishing Trust of the United States. It was published initially in 1992 and reprinted in 1999 and undoubtedly has since been reprinted.

It is an attractive 80 page magazine obviously designed primarily to appeal to the non-Bahá’í reader containing nine principal articles on various aspects of the Faith and many photographs in colour of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, former Hands of the Cause, the members of the first illegitimate Universal House of Justice, the holy Shrines, the several Bahá’í Temples, and various Bahá’í groups.

The article that has particularly caught my attention is one titled: “A System for Global Governance” with the subtitle, “The Bahá’í Administrative Order” comprising some three pages interspersed with several photographs.  Perhaps I should not have been shocked, upon reading this article, written to inform the non-Bahá’í reader about the Bahá’í Administrative Order of the Faith, although I was, when I noted that that there was no mention whatsoever that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the divinely-inspired Architect of that Order.

However, as the articles in this publication are all written by heterodox Bahá’ís who believe that the Guardianship ended with the passing of Shoghi Effendi, it should have come as no surprise that they would omit any reference to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for fear that if that sacred and divinely-conceived Document were to be reviewed by the same readers, they would inevitably perceive the essentiality and indispensability of the Institution of the Guardianship to the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. For they would discover that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had made the Guardian of the Cause of God not only the “Center of the Cause,” assisted by Hands of the Cause appointed solely by him, but had been endowed with the exclusive right of interpreting Bahá’í Holy Writ and been made the “sacred head” of the supreme administrative body of the Faith—the Universal House of Justice— which under their administrative organization was now a headless body.

Furthermore, in another article in this publication under the title of “Maintaining the Unity of the Bahá’í Faith after Bahá’u’lláh,” that discusses the life and station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, there appears the following ludicrous statement in the light of the abandonment of the Guardianship by the heterodox Bahá’ís: “The question of succession has been crucial to all faiths.  Failure to resolve this question has inevitably led to schisms. Alone among world religions, the Bahá’í Faith has resisted any fragmentation.” There is no discussion, however, as to how they expect to prevent a schism from developing in the Faith which, in fact, already exists, much less prevent it in the years that lie ahead, without a single source of interpretation as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá provided in the Institution of the Guardianship, unless they believe that they can endow their headless and illegitimate so-called Universal House of Justice with this right.

Future spiritually-minded and unbiased scholars of the Faith will certainly compare the pitiful description of the sans-Guardian grossly corrupted and perverted so-called Bahá’í Administrative Order, outlined in the magazine article cited above, with the magnificent exposition found in “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh” in which Shoghi Effendi has described the divine genesis of the Administrative Order, as delineated in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. And as these scholars further review such historic and epoch-making messages, dispatched to the Bahá’í world by Shoghi Effendi, during the closing years of his ministry, such as, for example, his Proclamation of 9 January, 1951, and those of 2 March, 1951 and 30 June, 1952, they will inevitably perceive the extent to which Shoghi Effendi had been faithlessly and ignominiously betrayed by the Hands of the Cause (with a single notable exception) following his passing.  For they will note that the evidence provided in these messages is crystal clear and unmistakeable that he had faithfully and undeniably provided for and insured the continuance of the Guardianship and had, as well, erected the other Institutions of the Bahá’í Administrative Order completely in accordance with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament. As a result, they will certainly search for, ultimately find, and unquestionably joyfully embrace the true Faith under the Guardianship of the Cause of God.

Joel Bray Marangella

Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith

14 January, 2006