"This preface should be particularly informative to recently
declared believers who have embraced the Faith many years since the passing
of Shoghi Effendi, the first beloved Guardian of the Faith, and who, therefore,
may be unacquainted with the background of Rúhíyyih Khánum,
his widow, and the role that she played, following his sudden and unexpected
passing in November 1957, that supported the tragic abandonment of the institution
of the Guardianship by the vast majority of believers in the Bahá’í
world and the consequent mutilation of the institutions of the World Order
of Bahá’u’lláh – "this unique, this wondrous System
– the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed." Addressed to Rúhíyyih Khánum by the Third
Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, dated Ridván 1988, "Now that more than thirty years
have passed since Shoghi Effendi was taken from our midst, the passage of
time has hopefully served to assuage the trauma, anguish, mental pain and
bereavement of that tragic event and to enable you to consider dispassionately
the statements which I shall recount, one of which brought such a strong
emotional response on your part, and to reflect on their significance and
implications."
Addressed to Rúhíyyih Khánum by the Third
Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, dated Ridván 1990, "I find it incomprehensible that one who loved Shoghi Effendi
so deeply,
and so cherished and appreciated his magnificent achievements, should not
only have acquiesced, if not taken the lead, in dismantling the institutions
he had so laboriously and painstakingly erected during his ministry but,
in the process, however unwittingly, also invalidated and discredited the
greater part of his matchless writings on such subjects as the Will and
Testament of `Abdu’l-Bahá and the Administrative Order of
Bahá’u’lláh."
Addressed to Rúhíyyih Khánum,
sent to her on the 30th of December 1990.
"EVERYTHING THAT IS WRITTEN IN THE WILL AND TESTAMENT WILL BE FULFILLED.
THE BAHÁ’ÍS MUST NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT THIS."
Shoghi Effendi "What is glaringly obvious from
the above quotation is that this quotation
from Shoghi Effendi’s words to this pilgrim (Gayle Woolson) are in complete contradiction
to your alleged statement that there was no one eligible for Shoghi Effendi
to appoint as his successor based on your obviously erroneous interpretation
of the Will and Testament of the Master that only someone from the bloodline
of Bahá’u’lláh could inherit the Guardianship (there being
no such person at that time)."
The fourth and final letter was sent to Rúhíyyih
Khánum by the Third
Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, dated Naw-Rúz, 1999
SECOND LETTER
THIRD LETTER
FOURTH LETTER
"It is my ardent hope that you may now perceive the enormity
of your betrayal of Shoghi Effendi’s immortal legacy to us and perceive that you have undeniably
repudiated, in effect, the major provisions of the Masters sacred Will and Testament, which, as
painful as it is for me to say it, can be viewed in no other light than a clear violation of the
Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh and that you will now realize this and act to make
amends before it is too late. For it will, indeed, be too late when you enter the next world and
then unquestionably perceive what you have done and suffer unremitting remorse from which you will be
unable to find surcease throughout eternity. How terribly sad and tragic it will be for one who
attained such a high station in this world during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi to forfeit this
station upon entering that greater world and only then come to the painful and undeniable realization
that she has been tragically guilty, following the passing of Shoghi Effendi, of not only taking the
lead in the misguided efforts she has made herself but in those she has made to influence her
fellow-believers as well to put an end to the Guardianship of the Cause of God and the other highest
institutions of the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh."