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The Baháí Faith, under the Guardianship, is
distinguished by the acceptance of
the Will and Testament of Abdul-Bahá, the Son of the
Founder of the Faith, as a divinely-conceived,
sacred, immutable and immortal Document which delineates the essential
Institutions of an unique Administrative
Order which, together with the application of the Laws and Principles
revealed by Baháulláh,
constitutes the basis for the establishment of the World Order of
Baháulláh and a future World
Civilization.
This Order was established in embryonic form by Shoghi Effendi, the
first Guardian of the
Baháí Faith during a 36 year ministry. He had been
appointed by Abdul-Bahá in His Will
and Testament, a Document which also provided for the continuity of this
Institution as long as the Dispensation of
Baháulláh endured through a succession of
Guardians of the Faith each appointed by his predecessor
"in his own lifetime." Sole interpretative authority
of Baháí Holy Writ has been
vested by Abdul-Bahá in the Guardians who also serve
as the "sacred head and the
distinguished member for life" of the Universal House of
Justice, the highest legislative organ of the
Administrative Order and in this capacity provide "the
necessary guidance to define the sphere of the
legislative action" of this institution and insure that such
subsidiary laws as are enacted by this body
are in conformity with the immutable Laws revealed by
Baháulláh in His Most Holy Book. Shoghi
Effendi stated that the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the
Universal House of Justice
"supplement each others authority and
functions" are inseparable and are "the twin
pillars that support this mighty Administrative Structure."
Unlike sans-Guardian Baháís who believe that the
Guardianship ended with the passing of Shoghi Effendi, the
Baháís under the living Guardian believe that Shoghi
Effendi appointed his successor, Mason Remey,
in faithful compliance with the sacred provisions of the Will and
Testament of Abdul-Bahá and that only
complete acceptance of him as the second Guardian and the
"Center of the Cause" and, in turn,
his appointed successor, constitutes fidelity to the Covenant of
Baháulláh.
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FOUR LETTERS TO RÚHIYYÍH
KHÁNUM FROM THE THIRD GUARDIAN

. . . What will be your excuse when, upon your own passing, you should meet Shoghi Effendi in the next world? . . .
He would certainly say to you how greatly shocked, dismayed and saddened he had been, upon his passing, to note that so many of the believers, like yourself, who during his ministry had ostensibly evinced such faithful and steadfast faith in the Covenant of Baháulláh and firm belief in the sacredness and immutability of the divinely-conceived Will and Testament of Abdul-Bahá, in which the Guardian of the Cause of God is named as The Center of the Cause, and the sacred head and distinguished member for life of the Universal House of Justice had then readily accepted, without question, the incredulous conclusion that had been hastily reached and proclaimed to the Baháí World by the Hands of the Cause, gathered in conclave at Akká but a few weeks following his passing, that the Guardianship had come to a premature end based on the transparently fallacious argument that because all of the Aghsán had either died or had been declared violators of the Covenant he had left no will and testament appointing a successor..
JOEL BRAY MARANGELLA, July 2OO8
. . . THE MOST SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE . . . THE
GREATEST EVENT. . .
. . . POTENTIALLY UNSURPASSED BY ANY ENTERPRISE UNDERTAKEN SINCE INCEPTION OF ADMINSTRATIVE ORDER OF FAITH . . .
. . . RANKING SECOND ONLY TO GLORIOUS IMMORTAL EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH MINISTRIES OF THE THREE CENTRAL FIGURES OF FAITH . . .
SHOGHI EFFENDI, 9 January 1951
"THE
DIABOLICAL SUBVERSION OF THE BAHÁÍ ADMINISTRATIVE
ORDER
"One may well ask how any clear-thinking and rational believer who is at all conversant with the matchless writings of Shoghi Effendi, such as those found in "The Dispensation of Baháulláh" in which, for example, he quotes the following stirring passage from the Pen of Baháulláh, that emphasizes the impact upon the "worlds equilibrium" and "mankinds ordered life" of His "new World Order" and "this wondrous System" can, in utter disregard for these revealed Words, subscribe to a patently faithless belief perpetrated, following the passing of Shoghi Effendi, that God had changed His mind, for some inexplicable reason, about the establishment of the divinely-conceived and sacred Baháí Administrative Order, bequeathed to us by Abdul-Bahá, in which He designated the living Guardian as both the "Center of the Cause" and the "sacred head," of its supreme legislative Organ and therefore divinely sanctioned the establishment, in its place, of a headless, grossly deformed, defective and fallible substitute, humanly fashioned by the Hands of the Cause.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
BAHÁULLÁH PROMISES AN UNINTERRUPTED
INTERPRETATIVE AUTHORITY IN THE KITÀB-I-IQÀN
"Those words uttered by the Luminaries of Truth must needs be pondered, and should their significance be not graspe d, enlightenment should be sought from the Trustees of the depositories of Knowledge, that these may expound their meaning, and unravel their mystery. For it behooveth no man to interpret the holy words according to his own imperfect understanding, nor having found them to be contrary to his inclination and desires to reject and repudiate their truth. For such, today, is the manner of the divines and doctors of the age, who occupy the seats of knowledge and learning, and who have named ignorance knowledge, and called oppression justice."(An interpretive role that would be fulfilled first by the Center of the Covenant, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and subsequently by the successive Guardians of the Faith.)
Kitáb-i-Iqán (p.182)
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
"O ye that are bereft of understanding! A severe trial pursueth you, and will suddenly overtake you. Bestir yourselves, that haply it may pass and inflict no harm upon you."
BAHÁULLÁH
(p.169, Gleanings)Author: Joel Bray Marangella
In July 1947, some three and one half years prior to his appointment of the International Bahá'í Council on 9 January 1951, Shoghi Effendi prepared a statement for submission to the United Nations Special Palestine Committee that has been published in pamphlet form under the title of: "The Faith of Bahá'u'lláh." with the subtitle, "A World Religion."
On page 3 of this document one may note the following significant paragraph which incontestably proves, in Shoghi Effendi's own words, that the one who presides as President of the International Bahá'í Council this "World Council" can be none other than the Guardian of the Faith.
"The passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá marked the termination of the first and Heroic Age of the Bahá'í Faith and signalized the opening of the Formative Age destined to witness the gradual emergence of its Administrative Order, whose establishment had been foretold by the Báb, whose laws were revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, whose outlines were delineated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His Will and Testament, and whose foundations are now being laid by national and local councils which are elected by the professed adherents of the Faith, and which are paving the way for the constitution of the World Council, to be designated as the Universal House of Justice, which in conjunction with me, as its appointed Head and the authorized interpreter of the Bahá'í teachings, must coordinate and direct the affairs of the Bahá'í community, and whose seat will be permanently established in the Holy Land, in close proximity to its world spiritual center, the resting-places of its Founders."
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
SHOGHI EFFENDIS MESSAGE OF NOVEMBER 23, 1951 THAT INDIRECTLY AND UNDENIABLY PORTENDED HIS IMMINENT PASSING AND CONFIRMED THE IDENTITY OF HIS APPOINTED SUCCESSOR
* * * * * * * * *
EXTRACT: "For unlike the first and second Seven Year Plan, inaugurated by the American Baháí Community, the scope of the third Seven Year Plan, the termination of which will mark the conclusion of the first Epoch in the evolution of the Master Plan designed by Abdul-Bahá will embrace all the continents of the earth, and will bring the Central Body directing these widely ramified operations into direct contact with all the National Assemblies of the Baháí world, which, in varying degrees, will have to contribute their share to the world establishment of the Cause of Baháulláh, as prophesied by Abdul-Bahá and envisioned by Daniel,a consummation that, God willing, will be befittingly celebrated on the occasion of the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the formal assumption by Baháulláh of His Prophetic Office."
* * * * * * * * *
Shoghi Effendi unquestionably indicated that he envisaged an active role for the International Baháí Council before the expiration of the Ten Year Global Crusade (at Ridván 1963) and that the Council, in this role, would be directing the NSAs in achieving the respective goals that had been assigned to them during this Crusade. And, furthermore, Shoghi Effendi had indirectly and in this obscure way, predicted his own passing which would have to take place in order for the Council to become an actively functioning body under the Presidency of Mason Remey but a prediction which none of the believers perceived at the time or afterwards and, most critically, none of the Hands of the Cause, following his passing, with such dire consequences for the Faith.
As Shoghi Effendi had indicated, in the message quoted above, that this "Central Body" the International Baháí Council would be assuming, if not initially, at least some time during the World Crusade starting in 1953, an active role in "directing these widely ramified operations" of the National Assemblies throughout the world as they endeavored to accomplish the respective goals that had been assigned to them by him, it was crystal clear that, upon the assumption of this active role at some time during the Crusade, Mason Remey, as the President of this now active supreme Administrative Body of the Faith would automatically become the second Guardian of the Faith.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
SHOGHI EFFENDIS ONLY PROCLAMATION IGNORED
On 9 January 1951, Shoghi Effendi issued the one and only Proclamation of his ministry. As this Proclamation was dispatched in cablegram form and even though it opened with the words: "Proclaim to National Assemblies of East and West weighty epoch-making decision of formation of the first International Baháí Council..." subsequent events would prove that it was never recognized as such, not only by the National Assemblies to which this Proclamation was significantly addressed but by the entire Baháí world as well, in spite of the superlative and unprecedented terms used by Shoghi Effendi to describe this "historic" decision and "the greatest event shedding lustre on the...
Author: Joel Bray Marangella