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The Bahá’í Faith, under the Guardianship, is distinguished by the acceptance of
the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-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 Bahá’u’lláh,
constitutes the basis for the establishment of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh and a future World
Civilization.
This Order was established in embryonic form by Shoghi Effendi, the first Guardian of the
Bahá’í Faith during a 36 year ministry. He had been appointed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will
and Testament, a Document which also provided for the continuity of this Institution as long as the Dispensation of
Bahá’u’lláh endured through a succession of Guardians of the Faith each appointed by his predecessor
"in his own lifetime." Sole interpretative authority of Bahá’í Holy Writ has been
vested by ‘Abdu’l-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 Bahá’u’lláh in His Most Holy Book. Shoghi
Effendi stated that the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice
"supplement each other’s authority and functions" are inseparable and are "the twin
pillars that support this mighty Administrative Structure."
Unlike sans-Guardian Bahá’ís who believe that the Guardianship ended with the passing of Shoghi Effendi,
the
Bahá’ís 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 ‘Abdu’l-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 Bahá’u’lláh.
THE
WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
EXTRACTS FROM TABLETS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ EULOGIZING MASON REMEY.
THE DISPENSATION OF
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
THE DIVINELY-CONCEIVED ORIGIN AND FUNCTIONS OF THE INSTITUTIONS
OF THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH AS OUTLINED IN THE WRITINGS OF SHOGHI EFFENDI.
GOD PASSES BY (Chapter XIV) by Shoghi
Effendi.
GOD PASSES BY (Chapter XXII)
by Shoghi Effendi. "The Rise and Establishment of the Administrative Order"
‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ "THE CENTER OF THE COVENANT"
SHOGHI EFFENDI’S WORDS ON THE
DESTINY OF EVERY SOUL
MESSAGES TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD 1950-1957 by Shoghi Effendi. PROCLAMATION of 9 January 1951 (in
cablegram form) establishing the International Bahá’í Council as the embryonic Universal House of
Justice.
MESSAGES TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD 1950-1957 by Shoghi Effendi.
MESSAGES
TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD 1950-1957
by Shoghi Effendi.
MESSAGES TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD 1950-1957
by Shoghi Effendi.
MESSAGES TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD 1950-1957 by Shoghi Effendi.
PROCLAMATION OF MASON REMEY TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD AT
RIDVÁN 1960, setting forth his rightful claim to the Guardianship on the basis of his appointment by Shoghi
Effendi in strict compliance with the terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
"EXTRACTS FROM DAILY OBSERVATIONS OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH MADE TO THE HANDS OF THE
FAITH IN THE HOLY LAND" by Mason Remey while serving as a member of the body of nine Hands at the World Center
following the passing of Shoghi Effendi.
"APPEALS MADE TO THE HANDS OF THE FAITH" by
Mason Remey following the passing of Shoghi Effendi.
ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE HANDS OF THE FAITH FROM
MASON REMEY, THE SECOND GUARDIAN OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH OF HIS APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIANSHIP BY THE FIRST
GUARDIAN OF THE FAITH.
THREE ENCYCLICAL LETTERS OF MASON REMEY.
"THE QUESTION OF THE
GUARDIANSHIP OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH"
FOUR LETTERS TO RÚHIYYÍH
KHÁNUM FROM THE THIRD GUARDIAN
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH 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
"THEY REFUSE TO FACE THE UNDENIABLE FACTS"
"If indeed the Hands had given due consideration to this message of supreme importance that had been unquestionably a Proclamation issued by Shoghi Effendi (and the only one he had issued during his ministry) they would have further noted in his follow-up message of 2 March 1951, that he had publicly identified Mason Remey, whose unparalleled services to the Faith for half a century had made him unquestionably the most distinguished living Hand of the Cause and eminently worthy of his appointment by Shoghi Effendi as the President of “this first embryonic International Institution”—an Institution which could be none other than the embryonic Universal House of Justice.
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."
— BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
(p.169, Gleanings)Author: Joel Bray Marangella
SHOGHI EFFENDI’S 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 Bahá’í 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 ‘Abdu’l-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 Bahá’í world, which, in varying degrees, will have to contribute their share to the world establishment of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, as prophesied by ‘Abdu’l-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 Bahá’u’lláh of His Prophetic Office."
* * * * * * * * *
Shoghi Effendi unquestionably indicated that he envisaged an active role for the International Bahá’í Council before the expiration of the Ten Year Global Crusade (at Ridván 1963) and that the Council, in this role, would be directing the NSA’s 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 Bahá’í 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 EFFENDI’S 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 Bahá’í 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 Bahá’í 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
SHOGHI EFFENDI'S "EPOCH-MAKING" DECISIONS, BOTH IGNORED AND FORGOTTEN AND IMPORT UNPERCEIVED
In the first conclave held by the Hands of the Cause in 'Akká, following the passing of Shoghi Effendi, upon finding that Shoghi Effendi had not left a will and testament and ignoring the fact that the Guardian is enjoined under the terms of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to appoint his successor "in his own life-time," took no time to review, much less consider, the importance and significance of several "epoch-making" and "historic" decisions that he had acclaimed and in one case proclaimed, in messages he had dispatched to the Bahá'í World during the closing years of his ministry.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
THE ESSENTIALITY OF THE GUARDIANSHIP TO THE WORLD ORDER OF
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
UNANSWERED LETTERS TO
RUHÍYYÍH KHÁNUM.
Preface and Index of Unanswered Letters sent to Rúhíyyih
Khánum by the Third Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith: Ridván 1988 —
Naw-Rúz, 1999
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
THE FINAL LETTER TO RUHÍYYÍH
KHÁNUM.
The fourth and final letter sent to Rúhíyyih Khánum by the Third
Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, dated Naw-Rúz, 1999
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
EXCERPTS FROM MAY MAXWELL’S HAIFA NOTES
A chart (PDF) depicting the development of the International Bahá'í Council
as projected by Shoghi Effendi in his one and only Proclamation of 9 January, 1951
and the parallel development of the other institutions of the Administrative Order.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
OPEN LETTERS OF 9 JULY 1960 AND 21
OCTOBER 1960
COMMENTARY ON THE WILL AND TESTAMENT OF
‘ABDU’l-BAHÁ
The body referred to above is the sans-Guardian and hence headless, illicitly formed and illegitimate Universal House of Justice, with its seat in Haifa, the election of which first took place at Ridván 1963.
The wreckage of the divinely-conceived Bahá’í Administrative Order and the man-made substitute organization over which this so-called Universal House of Justice now presides is the tragic result of the following inexcusable multiple failures on the part of the former Hands of the Cause immediately following the passing of Shoghi Effendi in their first conclave held in ‘Akká from 18-25 November, 1957.
Author: Joel Bray MarangellaTHE ILLEGITIMATE REIGN OF THE "CUSTODIANS" AT THE BAHÁ’Í
WORLD CENTER THAT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE
"How [was this body of the Hands] to assume the reins of authority with no document to support us, other than general theological statements about the Hands?"
The above question posed by Rúhíyyih Khánum, widow of Shoghi Effendi, first Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, is found in the introduction of a book titled: "The Ministry of the Custodians" and, while she is referring to the entire body of the Hands, the question is equally applicable to the body of nine Hands of the Cause that the Hands selected from their own number, to direct the affairs of the Faith from Haifa following the passing of Shoghi Effendi in November 1957 upon which they bestowed the appellation of "Custodians of the Bahá’í World Faith." In a resolution signed by all the Hands on 25 November, 1957, they stated that "The Custodians shall be deemed to succeed the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith." As this body is not one of the Institutions delineated in the divinely-conceived and sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, it clearly possessed no legitimacy in the divinely-conceived "Administrative Order which the master-hand of its perfect Architect [‘Abdu’l-Bahá] has fashioned" and therefore was never meant to be. (The last quote is from the writings of Shoghi Effendi.)
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
The Aghsán have been identified by Shoghi Effendi, both in God Passes By (p.239) and in the Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (p.244), as the sons of Bahá’u’lláh. Therefore, the Aghsán were contemporaries of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and could never have outlived Shoghi Effendi and been available, even if they had remained loyal to the Covenant, for appointment as successors to Shoghi Effendi.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
Believers holding the view that the Guardian has been restricted in his choice of a successor to an Aghsán can do nothing less than reconsider their stand in view of the quoted phrase.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
IF ONLY THE HANDS HAD TAKEN THE TIME
Most importantly, the Hands would have come to understand that, upon the passing of Shoghi Effendi, the embryonic Head of this embryonic Universal House of Justice appointed by Shoghi Effendi, now activated as a f8unctioning body, would remain its permanent and "sacred head" throughout all the stages of its development, projected by Shoghi Effendi (as long as he lived). Upon attaining this understanding, the Hands would have been startled by the sudden realization that the appointed and hence permanent and irremovable HEAD of this embryonic organism — THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCIL — Mason Remey, who had been appointed by Shoghi Effendi to this office could be none other than the second Guardian of the Faith who had been awaiting recognition by both them and the believers throughout the world.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
"EVEN NOW THEY REFUSE TO FACE THE UNDENIABLE FACTS"
"If indeed the Hands had given due consideration to this message of supreme importance that had been unquestionably a Proclamation issued by Shoghi Effendi (and the only one he had issued during his ministry) they would have further noted in his follow-up message of 2 March 1951, that he had publicly identified Mason Remey, whose unparalleled services to the Faith for half a century had made him unquestionably the most distinguished living Hand of the Cause and eminently worthy of his appointment by Shoghi Effendi as the President of “this first embryonic International Institution”—an Institution which could be none other than the embryonic Universal House of Justice.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
"ET TU" FAITHLESS HANDS OF THE CAUSE
For those unfamiliar with the history of Julius Caesar, it was he who is alleged to have made this surprised exclamation, "Et tu Brutus!" as recounted by Shakespeare in one of his plays and since portrayed on both stage and screen, when Brutus, who had been appointed to a high postion and had been highly trusted as a faithful subject, so unexpectedly proved unfaithful as he treacherously joined a group of fellow-conspirators in stabbing Caesar to death.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
THE LAMENTATION OF SHOGHI EFFENDI
Consider the lamentation of Shoghi Effendi in the Abhá Kingdom and his deep sorrow when he observes that his untiring labors of thirty-six years to faithfully erect the administrative institutions of the Faith strictly in complete accordance with the sacred, divinely-conceived and immortal provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and which, in the closing years of his ministry, had culminated so gloriously in the erection, "at long last" of the highest institutions of the Administrative Order at the World Center of the Faith had been, upon his passing, almost completely brought to naught by a tragic, hasty and unwarranted decision of the Hands of the Cause.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
HOW AND WHY SHOGHI EFFENDI OBSCURED THE APPOINTMENT OF HIS SUCCESSOR AND THE CONSEQUENCES.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
"Furthermore, the Hands did not permit the International Bahá’í Council to exercise the active role that Shoghi Effendi had projected for it in his message of 23 November 1951, cited above, but appointed a body of nine Hands titled "Custodians of the Bahá’í World Faith," a superfluous and illegitimate body completely outside the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá which usurped not only the functions of the International Council but those of the Guardianship as well for a brief period of some five and a half years when they were assumed by an equally illegitimate sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice elected in 1963."
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
KNOWLEDGE OF WHICH LANGUAGE IS ESSENTIAL FOR PRESENT-DAY AND FUTURE
GUARDIANS OF THE FAITH?
"Some of the heterodox believers have expressed the view that it is essential that any successor to Shoghi Effendi, as Guardian of the Faith, possess a knowledge of Persian (Farsi) or Arabic to be able to properly perform the function of Guardianship under the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, not to mention their equally fallacious view that only an Aghsan is eligible to inherit the Guardianship which is patently false based on Shoghi Effendi's statement in God Passes By that the term Aghsan refers to the Sons of Bahá’u’lláh and therefore, as contemporaries of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, they would obviously never outlive Shoghi Effendi and be available for appointment as his successor.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
EVEN NOW, I COULD ALSO SIGN IT
One of the arguments that has been used against the second Guardian of the Faith, Mason Remey, in refutation of his accession to the Guardianship, is that he signed the proclamation issued by the Hands of the Cause on 25 November 1957 at the conclusion of their first conclave in the Holy Land in which they stated three reasons why Shoghi Effendi had been unable to appoint a successor and therefore, as they believed, the Guardianship of the Cause of God, as delineated in the divinely-conceived and sacred Will and Testament of `Abdu´l-Bahá had already come to its untimely end only thirty-six years after His Ascension and the inception of the Administrative Order. which "the master-hand of its perfect Architect" had fashioned.
Author: Joel Bray Marangella
PREFACE TO THE DECLARATION OF THE NSA OF FRANCE — RIDVÁN 1960
DECLARATION OF THE NSA OF FRANCE — RIDVÁN 1960
DOCUMENTS IN FRENCH
Historical Photographs of some of the most important and significant
Bahá’í sites located in the Holy Land These historic and unique photographs include The Tomb of
Bahá’u’lláh, The Mansion at Bahji and the Garden of
Ridván.
TWO HISTORIC EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS IN WHICH THE THIRD GUARDIAN-TO-BE APPEARS
