THE ILLEGITIMACY AND FRAUD OF
THE BOGUS UHJ IS EXPOSED THROUGH ALI NAKHJAVAN'S BLATANT PERVERSION
OF THE TRUTH.
Note from the Guardian:
Nosrat has requested my review of his critique and the correction of any errors in the use of the English language as it is not his native tongue. In the process of reviewing his outstanding critique I have taken the opportunity to add here and there some words, and phrases, revise the structure of some sentences to enhance the argument presented and even add a few additional pertinent quotations which I have felt would further reinforce his already excellent critical analysis of Nakhjavani’s diabolical efforts to pervert the sacred Writings and the writings of Shoghi Effendi in support of his diabolical repudiation of the continuing Guardianship of the Cause of God.
JBM
I submit my sincere gratitude and thankfulness to the beloved Guardian of the Cause of God for the Divine guidance that flows on to us through him.
Nosrat Bahremand
Comment by Hand of Cause of God David
Maxwell
God's Plan is For
ever
Hand of the Cause of God Nosrat Bahremand has penned an extensive critique of an article by Ali Nakhjavani, who has taken various of the Holy Bahá’í Writings out of context to justify the continuation of the Haifa posture that their Administrative Order, sans-guardian, is valid.
An overall consideration for anyone to account for when writing about the Faith in any manner, is the fact that humans in this realm are completely dependant upon God whether they realize it or not. We are all eventually accountable to God. At the extreme, we have all known friends who question whether there is a God or not, and whether the act of worship is a complete waste of time; a mere ritual. Even those souls are at the complete mercy of a loving God. They prosper on this plane and some of them seem to surpass others of us in accomplishments. And so it is with all who write for or about the Faith as well. At the extreme in this example, some are opposed to there ever being another guardian, and others follow the Institution of the Guardianship. Each position has adherents with very strong feelings that God is completely in their corner. It seems such a mystery.
For any who have studied and practice any sort of religious activity, there is usually one thing that is constant; the belief in an afterlife. There is a heaven for all those who practice their religion, although even their heaven may appear different than that expected by others in many cases. The general agreement among the various versions of a heaven is that it affords a better life than we have here, with more goodness and happiness for all who attain. We can agree on that much.
And then there is the matter of some who would alter God’s Word to more closely fit the pattern they follow in their worship practices. Most who do that are completely confident of what they do, and do not look beyond the reality of their own definitions. In the case of Christian worshipers, among the many different interpretations of the Gospel, they all feel comfortable with whatever it is they have determined to be the “right path.” And perhaps rightly so, since their actions coincide with many others, and even their own family members, for justification of their position. It has been 2,000 years since Christ walked the earth, and generations of belief patterns have established a certain “numbness” to the overall picture.
One of the human faculties that allows anyone complete satisfaction in their particular manner of worship is a little thing we call ego. The inner voice of each of us either approves or disapproves of every action we take. It is much more likely that our inner egos approve rather than disapprove of our actions because of the script established for us during our formative years at the hand of a mother or father; a basis for the overwhelming approval is that grand pappy and his grand pappy acted similarly and since the family tree has done so well for years and years, there is no need to deviate from that established pattern. Remember what Christ had to say about the sins of the father being passed on to the offspring? So if one considers carefully, there is an established human pattern, aided by the ego, that yields the same types of results over and over again, so far as the things that humans do with their lives. A primary intention of Bahá’u'lláh’s Revelation was to break the old patterns, and require humans to study and learn for themselves, regardless of what the accepted knowledge of the day was. Bahá’u'lláh revealed His Message, wrote countless Words to promoted its Teachings, established for its longevity through the establishment of a unique Administrative Order, and did this at a time when human capacity had been infused with a God-given capability to understand and use this new power.
Bahá’u'lláh did not release a “mission impossible.“ However, the Revelation He released did require the diligent thought of all who encountered it in order that they could withstand its Mighty Power. The Bahá’í Faith is not a slam dunk situation. It is not a once saved always saved phenomena such as some of the Christian Denominations avow. The Bahá’í Faith requires its independent investigation by each and every individual who meets its sweet call, and then requires an attitude of independent investigation and pursuit during the remainder of that person’s life, regardless of any external forces to the contrary.
The Bahá’í Faith is not a cake walk.
Ali Nakhjavani, in his article, attempts to justify something that has already been thoroughly discussed by noted figures within the Faith, such as its Originator, the Center of its Covenant, and its First Guardian. A reading of all of the Writings of those Holy individuals within the context of all of their accumulated Writings determines a different conclusion than what Nakhjavan has reached in his discussion. To the casual observer, that would seem odd. Here we have a Revelation with clearly noted guidelines, guidelines that were actually penned by the Manifestation and his appointed Heirs. This is in contrast to the lack of written instructions penned by His Holiness the Christ. In fact, Bahá’u'lláh took it a step further, and His Holy Lineage outlined the means of a living interpreter of His Word throughout the entire 1,000 year tenure of His Dispensation. What could be more clear than Bahá’u'lláh’s intention that His appointed interpreters, the guardians, handle any required explanations for the believers, rather than someone such as the non-guardian Nakhjavani and those among the heterodox Bahá’ís who follow the same pattern?
Now, getting back to my observation, an observation that down through the centuries humans have followed the patterns of their ancestors, based in part upon the urgings of their own egos. Those egos have developed a comfort zone for them, one in which the expectation of the next life is one of goodness, based upon the following of certain established patterns established within their own families, based upon that family’s understanding of God. Even those who would say that they are the only Bahá’ís in their family, the first one,are caught up in the ego-formed patterns of parental pattern in determining how they approach all things.
This is where we were when Bahá’u'lláh presented his Message of change, and this is generally where we are as humans some 140 odd years later. In spite of Bahá’u'lláh’s Message, there has been very little to no change at all in the traditional manner that humans approach religious activity, and that unfortunately includes the Bahá’í Faith. The pattern of following a personality or a congregation of thought continues, in spite of the admonishment of the Central figures that each individual should investigate for herself, and decide the direction to take. Although there are no “clergy” in the Bahá’í Faith, a cadre of faux clergy are demanding of their followers complete obedience to them, regardless of what the Holy Writings direct.
As Bahá’ís we are expected to understand what Bahá’u'lláh had in mind, and to attempt to live in a manner which begins to pull away from at least a part of the superstitious meanderings of our forefathers. We are expected to effect a change in humans along the lines of Bahá’u'lláh’s Message. Through the careful perusal of the Holy Writings and God’s Grace, we may be able to begin to break the superstitious patterns. Not so, Ali Nakhjavani and those who follow his bent. Those individuals are using the very words that Bahá’u'lláh intended for the enlightenment of the human soul, twisting their intent, and presenting them in order to convince others to continue following a false and corrupt interpretation of the very perfection of the Bahá’í Message! Who do they think they are kidding? For certain, they are not kidding God!
Do they not understand that God’s world is what it is. Nothing more nor less than that. God’s world was determined countless eons before Nakhjavani walked this earth, and will continue as such after he is departed from it, unchanged from God‘s original and perfect Plan. Should Nakhjavani’s ideas be completely off-base so far as Bahá’u'lláh’s intentions are concerned, and I believe they are, he will have jousted with windmills in this world, and face a most likely less-than-satisfying tenure in the next. And the important thing for humans is that he will have contributed nothing toward changing the overall Plan of the Bahá’í Faith. That Plan was established long before any of us, and will continue unchanged for ever and evermore.
We mortals can have no influence whatsoever upon the changing or modification of God’s Plan either here nor in the next world. All we can hope for is to be in alignment with that Plan as best we can while on this plane. We have the good fortune of having Bahá’u'lláh’s clear intentions, requiring no interpretation from mere mortals, to gain access to that alignment. Beyond that, it is all in the Hands of God.
David Maxwell
Introduction:
After the passing of the first Guardian on 4 November 1957 the errant Hands appointed a body of nine Hands from their own number to take over direction of the Faith under the direction of his widow, Ruhiyyih Khanum, displacing thereby the supreme role that now belonged rightfully to an actively functioning International Baha’i Council under the Presidency of the second Guardian of the Faith and arrogated unto themselves the authority that belonged only to the Guardian whom they had in their faithlessness shamefully dethroned. This illegitimate body of nine former Hands who called themselves the Custodians of the Baha’i Faith, in turn, created another fake and dummy body which, other than its name, resembled in no way the true and legitimate Universal House of Justice described by Abdu’l-Baha in His sacred Will and Testament. Since the establishment of this Headless body and its disobedience to the Guardian of the Cause of God is contradictory to the terms of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha and the writings of Shoghi Effendi its legitimacy has been under constant question by the Baha’is. In order, therefore, for this bogus UHJ to attempt to prove its legitimacy to the Baha’is, it had no other choice but to manipulate the Baha’i scriptures and resort to the writing of lies and erroneous and unauthorized interpretations and to many unethical actions such as changing the content of Baha’i books on the one hand and on the other by baring their sharp teeth and claws, as they threatened to call those Baha’is who did not conform to their dictates Covenant-breakers, whereas in reality, according to the definition of Covenant-breakers in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, they themselves were clearly the Covenant-breakers. In the same line, a paper of fourteen pages, under the title of “Some thoughts on the ministry of the Universal House of Justice” has been written by Ali Nakhjavani, who was a former long-time member of this fake and illegitimate body in Haifa that has patently misrepresented itself as the Universal House of Justice. Also, prior to that, he had been a member of the bogus replica International Baha’i Council manufactured by the former errant Hands of the Cause in their rebellion against, and their flagrant violation of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha, as well as their repudiation of the writings of Shoghi Effendi, pertaining to the Administrative Order, as found in his spiritual Testament: The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah. Moreover they ignored the one and only Proclamation issued by Shoghi Effendi during his ministry to the Baha’i World in 1951. Following this opposition to the first Guardian of the Faith they dissolved the International Baha’i Council that he had divinely appointed in his Proclamation, in which he had hailed his “historic decision” to appoint the embryonic Universal House of Justice under the provisional name of the International Baha’i Council, a decision “taken at long last” to establish—“this first embryonic International Institution”—that he had further emphasized was the “most significant milestone in the evolution of the Administrative Order” and “the greatest event shedding luster upon the second epoch of the Formative Age of the Baha’i Dispensation.” They ignobly deposed its President—its “sacred head”—and its other members, as well, who had been divinely appointed by him, totally disregarding the fact that no one other than the Guardian of the Cause of God had the authority to make changes in that “Central Body.” Incredulously, this very essential, important and historic decision that had been made by Shoghi Effendi was completely ignored by the violating Hands who placed themselves under the direction of Ruhiyyih Khanum (the widow of Shoghi Effendi) instead of faithfully serving “under the direction of the Guardian of the Cause of God” and choosing to be “under his shadow and obey his command” as enjoined by ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
In the light of the above history, I am not surprised to see the desperate and sly attempts of Nakhjavani to cover up his misdeeds and to obscure the transgressions and offences he has been guilty of committing against the sacred and Holy writings of the Faith such as those contained in Baha’u’llah’s Most Holy Book, the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and his fabrication of lies and unauthorized and erroneous interpretations. It is obvious to me that he realizes his wrong doings but tries to fool the unaware and uninformed reader, deluding himself into believing that God is not aware of what he is doing or even perhaps he may not actually believe in God, otherwise he wouldn’t commit these types of contraventions and wrongs or wouldn’t write so many obvious lies. I think he hopes that Heterodox Baha’is will not notice his manipulation of the writings and will not check on a few quotations that he has provided and the words that has put in quotation marks or check the words that he has borrowed from here and there and stuck together to support his erroneous interpretations. His hope may be that due to the fact that the bogus organization he supports tries to keep its followers busy with various types of useless and sometimes even spiritually harmful classes, meetings, conferences, and gatherings in which they listen to spiritually poisonous speeches of rebels such as himself, or by urging them to become engaged in door-to-door proselytizing, that this then will practically leave them no free time to investigate the truth.
In every section of his paper the writer deceitfully first makes a fallacious statement and then on the basis of further treacherous and faulty statements reinforces the cunning argument contained in the initial statement by often quoting excerpts from the writings of the bogus UHJ or by using material written by Ruhiyyih Khanum or the former errant Hands of the Cause which actually lend no value to his argument since all of them are equally guilty of deceit.
It shall, therefore, be my objective to
provide clear evidences of faithlessness, deviation and violation
of the Covenant in my critique, paragraph by paragraph, and bring
them to light and expose their duplicity.
Exposition:
In the preamble, Nakhjavani has stated:
“When the beloved Guardian passed away on November 4, 1957, the news of his passing convulsed the entire Baha’i World. A second distress soon followed when the announcement was made by the Hands of the Cause that Shoghi Effendi had left no Will and Testament, and had appointed no successor as Guardian of the Faith, because the Aghsan one and all had broken the Covenant. The “first effect” of this realization, as stated in the message of the Hands of the Cause to the Baha’i world, “was to plunge” them “into the very abyss of despair” (MC36). A similar sense of dismay seized the entire Baha’i World.”
Comment:
It is obvious that the Baha’is in 1957 were shocked by the passing of the first Guardian, and further anguished by the erroneous statement made by the Hands of the Cause in their declaration to the Baha’i world following the outcome of the conclave they had held in ‘Akka, a few weeks following his passing in compliance with Ruhiyyih Khanum’s desire and directions, a conclave during which the Hands, with a single exception, blatantly ignored and incredulously disregarded the wishes and instructions of the late Guardian. For they inexcusably failed to recognize the only person upon Shoghi Effendi’s passing who had inherited supreme authority in the Faith and the one that Shoghi Effendi had faithfully and unmistakably appointed to be his successor in accordance with the terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and who therefore possessed an authority on the basis thereof, which, prior to his passing had remained potential, but which upon his passing had automatically become actual, in his capacity as Shoghi Effendi’s appointed Head of the embryonic Universal House of Justice, (named by Shoghi Effendi in the first stage of its projected four-fold stage of development as the International Baha’i Council) a position that can only be rightfully occupied by the Guardian of the Faith according to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
The former Hands, however, failing to perceive that Shoghi Effendi had clearly provided in this manner for his successor, informed the Baha’i World that Shoghi Effendi had been unable to appoint a successor because all of the Aghsan had become disloyal which should have been immediately recognized by the believers, but unfortunately was not so recognized, as a patently ludicrous reason. For, although the Baha’is were quite certain that Shoghi Effendi did not have a son who had been concealed during his ministry and possibly primed to inherit the Guardianship, it was irrelevant news and certainly not new news that all of the Aghsan (the sons of Baha’u’llah) had broken the Covenant since all of them had opposed the Center of the Covenant, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and had thereby detached themselves from the Cause of God before the ascension of Abdu’l Baha. Moreover the Aghsan, as contemporaries of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, would never have lived long enough to succeed Shoghi Effendi and to have been eligible for appointment as his successor. The alleged reason therefore given by the Hands as to why Shoghi Effendi had not appointed a successor was clearly without any foundation whatsoever and completely fallacious. A believer well versed in the writings of Shoghi Effendi might well ask how these Hands, with a single notable exception, could have believed that Shoghi Effendi had failed to appoint a successor when, in his extensive writings, historic messages and recorded talks to pilgrims they had all abundantly testified to the fact, that to the very last days of his life, he had repeatedly and consistently emphasized the continuity and the absolute essentiality of the Guardianship to the World Order of Baha’u’llah as long as the Dispensation of Baha’u’llah endured?
Nakhjavani has written:
“Soon after the Universal House of Justice was established it sent a message (dated 6 October 1963) to the Baha’i World. This message states that the House of Justice “finds that there is no way to appoint or to legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi” (MUHJ 14). Reflecting on this message, the friends everywhere soon realized that they had not properly understood the contents of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.”
Comment:
It must be noted that the now violating Hands during the period 1957-1963 forbid any talk about the Guardianship and in response to the enquiries of the Baha’is were telling them that it was better to leave the matter to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice (an illegitimate body that would be elected in 1963, having abolished, as mentioned previously, the embryonic Universal House of Justice established by Shoghi Effendi in his Proclamation of 1951) while pretending that one of goals of the Ten Year Global Crusade (1953-1963) had been the establishment of that body while even a true and legitimate Universal House of Justice which in the future will be established in conformity with the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha cannot and will never enter into discussions on this matter, since the appointment of the Guardian’s successor is within the exclusive domain and the authority of the Guardians of the Faith and completely outside the sphere of the jurisdiction of that legislative body. Of course, since the current bogus UHJ in Haifa does not have the Guardian presiding as its “sacred head” as required by the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, it is not legitimate and therefore, as a man-made and fallible body, it will inevitably make a lot of errors, inevitably violate the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and contradict the writings, arrangements and plans of the first Guardian.
Then he has written:
“Shoghi Effendi had already stated that the World Order as delineated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in His Will “undoubtedly” contained “manifold mysteries” (BA p. 8), and that we “must trust to time, and the guidance of God's Universal House of Justice, to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of its provisions and implications” (BA p. 62).”
Comment:
Readers conversant with the writings of Shoghi Effendi may wonder why Nakhjavani has picked the two words: “manifold mysteries” from page 8 of the book, Baha’i Administration (as he has referred to), and erroneously linked this two words to statement appearing on page 62 of that same book as these two words actually are not found on page 8 of that book which contains excerpts from the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha. The quoted words found on page 8 of the World Order of Baha’u’llah, in that page Shoghi Effendi has referred to the mysteries to be found in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and extols the value and significance of the Will and Testament that ‘Abdu’l-Baha bequeathed to us and contains the following statement pertaining to the institution of the Guardianship: “It enhances the prestige of that exalted assembly (the UHJ), stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the continuity of its labors, without presuming in the slightest to infringe upon the inviolability of its clearly-defined sphere of jurisdiction. We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications, or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains. Only future generations can comprehend the value and the significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece, which the hand of the Master-builder of the world has designed for the unification and the triumph of the world-wide Faith of Baha’u’llah. Only those who come after us will be in a position to realize the value of the surprisingly strong emphasis that has been placed on the institution of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 8) While the whole paragraph is another testimony of the first Guardian to the continuation of the Guardianship it is obvious that the quoted phrase “the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains.” refers to the Will and Testament of Master which Nakhjavani deceitfully has attributed instead to the “World Order.” Moreover, Nakhjavani has again misrepresented Shoghi Effendi’s statement in which he had referred to the Will and Testament and applied it to the World Order instead in stating that we “must trust to time, and the guidance of God's Universal House of Justice” to achieve a full understanding of this New World Order as may be noted in the following paragraph: “And as we make an effort to demonstrate that love to the world may we also clear our minds of any lingering trace of unhappy misunderstandings that might obscure our clear conception of the exact purpose and methods of this new world order, so challenging and complex, yet so consummate and wise. We are called upon by our beloved Master in His Will and Testament not only to adopt it unreservedly, but to unveil its merit to all the world. To attempt to estimate its full value, and grasp its exact significance after so short a time since its inception would be premature and presumptuous on our part. We must trust to time, and the guidance of God's Universal House of Justice, to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of its provisions and implications. But one word of warning must be uttered in this connection. Let us be on our guard lest we measure too strictly the Divine Plan with the standard of men” (Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration, p. 62) After the passing of the first Guardian the former Hands of the Cause not only did not adopt the New World Order unreservedly due to their ignorance of its “Charter” but did not take the time to study the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha, “the Charter of the New World Order” or the pertinent writings of Shoghi Effendi, and especially his Proclamation of 9 January 1951, and quickly rushed to put an end to the Guardianship under the direction of Ruhiyyih Khanum. They ignored the fact that God’s Universal House of Justice had been formed by the first Guardian in its embryonic form under the temporary name of “International Baha’i Council”. Needless to say, the bogus UHJ that they created in its place without its “sacred head and the distinguished member“—the Guardian of the Cause of God—could not be considered as “God’s Universal House of Justice” since it was formed contrary to the “the Charter of the New World Order.”
Nakhjavani deceitfully has written:
“The obligation of the friends was now well-defined. They had to wait for the “guidance” of the Universal House of Justice, to elucidate what certainly appeared to be “obscure questions” (WTp.20). The expectations of the believers were fulfilled when, in response to questions asked, the Universal House of Justice wrote on 9 March 1965, on 27 May 1966, and on 7 December 1969, three letters (See MUHJ items # 23, 35 & 75 respectively) and explained for the friends the basic truths underlying the evolution of the Administrative Order of our Faith, and left them free to conclude that the passing of the beloved Guardian, without having appointed a Successor as Guardian and Authorized Interpreter, was a clear possibility and an understandable event.”
Comment:
It is glaringly obvious that the Institution of the Guardianship and the functions of the Guardian as “Head of the Faith” have been clearly and well defined by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in His Will and Testament and have been elaborated upon by Shoghi Effendi in his writings and certainly the Guardianship is not included under the category of “obscure questions” which will require the enactment of future laws by that body and only a genuine Universal House of Justice presided over by the Guardian will be able to adequately respond to such questions in those instances where they are not covered in the Book. Following is the quotation from the Will and Testament from which Nakhjavani has borrowed the term and deceitfully transmuted its implication:
“It is incumbent upon these members (of the Universal House of Justice) to gather in a certain place and deliberate upon all problems which have caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book. Whatsoever they decide has the same effect as the Text itself. Inasmuch as the House of Justice hath power to enact laws that are not expressly recorded in the Book and bear upon daily transactions, so also it hath power to repeal the same.”
It should be noted by the reader that the institutions of the international and local Houses of Justice were ordained by Baha’u’llah but it was Abdu’l Baha who in His Will and Testament, provided for the Secondary (National) Houses of Justice and defined the method for the election of the Universal House of Justice and explained the composition and order of that august body, so wherever there is mention of the International or Universal House of Justice in the authoritative writings of the Faith it means the real and true Universal House of Justice as the Master specified and clearly explained.
“By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 14)
In the light of the Master’s described specifications for the true Universal House of Justice it is obvious that this body created by the former Hands without the “sacred head and the distinguish member” is a fake and illegitimate body. What Nakhjavani portrays as “the evolution of the Administrative Order” is actually the flagrant attempt made by the former Hands and their man-made and bogus UHJ to corrupt the Administrative Order by eliminating its major pillar—the Institution of the Guardianship.
Developments in the Administrative Order must be made only in obedience to every clause of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and in honoring the plans and arrangements that the first Guardian of the Faith projected that requires recognition of the second Guardian and realization of the fact that Shoghi Effendi faithfully fulfilled his obligation of appointing his successor during his own lifetime since the obligatory provision of the Will and Testament, quoted below, does not leave any other option for the Guardians:
“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.” (The Will and Testament, p. 12)
Nakhjavani has written:
“When the English translation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas was published in 1992, the Universal House of Justice had yet another opportunity to explain the implications of Paragraph 42 of the Most Holy Book. In relation to the Law of Succession in the Faith, this paragraph stands out as a most significant and decisive statement. For, in this paragraph Baha’u’llah clearly envisages a time when there would be no institution to embody the functions incumbent upon the Appointed and Authorized Aghsan (that is to say, a Guardianship). Further, the Universal House of Justice would not exist at that time and it would not be propitious to elect that Body. These points are fully covered in Notes 66 and 67, (pages 196 and 197) of the English text of the Kitab-i-Aqdas.”
Comment:
In the above paragraph Nakhjavani has based his comments on the same joint nefarious statements originally made by the former Hands and subsequently by the bogus UHJ in which they have falsely and shamelessly misinterpreted the meaning of passages contained in the Aqdas—that Most Holy Book—and spread false rumors. Knowledgeable believers will know that the right of interpretation and explanation of verses of the Aqdas, following the ascension of Abdu’l Baha, is in the exclusive sphere of the authority of the Guardians of the Baha’i Faith and even a real and legitimate Universal House of Justice established in conformity with the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha, will never infringe on that authority, as stated by Shoghi Effendi: “Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other.” (The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p.150).
In 1992 when they translated and published the Aqdas into English they added some notes to the Book, many of which contain unauthorized and erroneous interpretations. It was previously mentioned above that the institutions of the international and local Houses of Justice were ordained by Baha’u’llah, but in most of cases simply the phrase: “the House of Justice” is revealed, leaving the distinction to be made between them by the authorized interpreter of His words. This fact somehow has been admitted by the bogus UHJ, among their many wrong and unauthorized interpretations that sinfully they have made of passages in this Holy Book in the following statement: “In referring to the House of Justice in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, Baha'u'llah does not always explicitly distinguish between the Universal House of Justice and the Local House of Justice, both of which institutions are ordained in that Book. He usually refers simply to "the House of Justice," leaving open for later clarification the level or levels of the whole institution to which each law would apply.” (The Kitab-i-Aqdas, Notes, p. 185)
One instance in which Baha’u’llah indicates the level of the House of Justice is in the verse of the Kitab-i-Aqdas in which He reveals and prescribes the use of endowments “dedicated to charity” and explains how they are to be used by the Houses of Justice when they will be established in cities (Paragraph 42). The forged UHJ in its unauthorized translation conveniently and sinfully changed the meaning of the word “bilaad” (cities) in the passage, to “world,” to suit their evil intentions. The members of the Bogus UHJ not only are guilty of this forgery and alteration, but have shamelessly and falsely altered the meaning of the whole paragraph by their unauthorized and erroneous interpretation and have not taken any notice of the following warning of Baha’u’llah in the Aqdas: “Whoso interpreteth what hath been sent down from the heaven of Revelation, and altereth its evident meaning, he, verily, is of them that have perverted the Sublime Word of God, and is of the lost ones in the Lucid Book.”
(The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 57)
They have falsely interpreted the term “Aghsan” to mean a reference to the Guardians and the phrase “people of Baha” a term that applies exclusively to the now violating Hands. While the whole paragraph is about “endowments” and has nothing to do with the Guardianship, It is pertinent to know that Abdu’l Baha during His ministry explained the proper course to be pursued with respect to such endowments in one of his Tablets in which he provided the following instructions and guidance: “Prior to the establishment of the House of Justice, endowments dedicated to charity revert to a Spiritual Assembly which is free from remnants of concupiscence. There is no other arrangement.” (Ganjineh-i-hodood va Ahkam, p.221)
According to the commandment of Abdu’l-Baha Local Spiritual Assemblies and later the national bodies (the respective representatives of the People of Baha and embryonic Houses of Justice) managed their local and national endowments and also Shoghi Effendi during his ministry, in more than one hundred of his messages and letters, strongly encouraged National and Local Spiritual Assemblies to establish local and national endowments, even urging the National Spiritual Assemblies to have a part of their International endowments in the Holy Land registered in their names.
Nakhjavani has written:
“Regarding the timing of the election of the Universal House of Justice we see in its letter mentioned above, dated 9 March 1965, the manner in which Shoghi Effendi foreshadowed the election of the Universal House of Justice: “The Guardian had given the Baha’i World explicit and detailed plans covering the period until Ridvan 1963, the end of the Ten Year Crusade. From that point onward, unless the Faith were to be endangered, further divine guidance was essential”. The rightness of the time was further confirmed by references in Shoghi Effendi’s letters to the Ten Year Crusade being followed by other plans under the direction of the Universal House of Justice. One such reference is the following passage from a letter addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles on 25th February 1951, concerning its Two Year Plan which immediately preceded the Ten Year Crusade: “On the success of this enterprise, unprecedented in its scope, unique in its character and immense in its spiritual potentialities, must depend the initiation, at a later period in the Formative Age of the Faith of undertakings embracing within their range all National Assemblies functioning through-out the Baha’i World…. undertakings constituting in themselves a prelude to the launching of worldwide enterprises destined to be embarked upon, in future epochs of that same Age, by the Universal House of Justice, that will symbolize the unity and co-ordinate and unify the activities of these National Assemblies.” (UD 261) There can be no doubt that the “undertakings embracing within their range all National Assemblies functioning throughout the Baha’i World” mentioned in the above passage of the Guardian, certainly refer to the plans that Shoghi Effendi gave to each of the twelve National Assemblies which he described as the Generals of the Ten Year Plan. With the stipulation made in Paragraph 42 of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, as well as with such statements, as quoted above, it would be, in my opinion, totally untenable to maintain that Shoghi Effendi was not aware that his passing would occur sometime during the Ten Year Crusade. If, therefore he did not appoint a second Guardian as his Successor, and if he did not write a Will and Testament in the traditional way, would it not be entirely logical to conclude that lack of action in these matters was a conscious act on his part?”
Comment:
It is interesting that in the above passage Nakhjavani who is a major participant in the violation of the Covenant has retreated from the original position of the violating Hands which was based on a denial of the fact that the first Guardian foresaw that his passing would take place during the Ten Year Crusade, and he is now admitting to this fact which has been emphasized by the beloved Guardian in many of his messages during the last forty years. I remember when the chief inquisitor of the bogus UHJ in Australia (so-called Continental Counsellor) came to talk to me in response to the question I had raised as to why, despite the clear indication in the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha of the necessity for the continuation of the Guardianship throughout the entire Dispensation of Baha’u’llah and the obligation imposed on every Guardian by the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha ‘“to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing” they claimed that Shoghi Effendi had not appointed a successor and the Guardianship had therefore ended with his passing. If that had been Shoghi Effendi’s intention how did they explain that Shoghi Effendi not only had never said, written or alluded in any way, or at any time, to such a possibility but had, on the contrary, clearly projected the enduring continuation of the Guardianship in the following words: “In this Dispensation, divine guidance flows on to us in this world after the Prophet's ascension, through first the Master, and then the Guardians.”(Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 34)
Also Shoghi Effendi wrote: “Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Baha’u’llah would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle… Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 148)
And up to the last moment of his life had he not emphasized the continuation of the Guardianship? She erroneously insisted that Shoghi Effendi had not foreseen his passing and that he had hoped he would have a son to be his successor. She repeated this outrageous mistaken belief at least in three of our meetings. On the other hand, Nakhjavani has admitted that the first Guardian was “aware that his passing would occur sometime during the Ten Year Crusade” but then wrongfully says that: “he did not appoint a second Guardian as his Successor” and erroneously claims: “that lack of action in these matters was a conscious act on his part.” By craftily inferring negligence on the part of the first Guardian, Nakhjavani practically accuses him of not being faithful to the Covenant and obedient to the following precise commandment of Abdu’l-Baha in the Will and Testament: “It is incumbent upon the Guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor.” Nakhjavani also shamelessly indirectly accuses the first Guardian of lying to the Baha’is. Now let’s examine the basis upon which Nakhjavani has reached such a disgraceful conclusion. First he has quoted a paragraph from the bogus UHJ which reminds one of the acts of the Jews in erecting and worshipping the Golden Calf in the absence of Moses on Mount Sinai. How could Divine guidance flow through such a Golden Calf or any other man-made entity such as the dummy and bogus UHJ? Had not Shoghi Effendi been clear enough in saying: “In this Dispensation, divine guidance flows on to us in this world after the Prophet's ascension, through first the Master, and then the Guardians”? Had not the former Hands of the Cause, with a notable exception, been guilty of violation of the Covenant from the moment they decided to end the Guardianship and had deprived thereby, not only themselves but those who blindly followed them, from further Divine guidance and had not this been the reason why they had failed to fulfill some of most important goals of the Ten Year Global Crusade, such as the formation of six National Baha’i Courts in six Islamic countries and their only goal had then been to encourage Baha’is to make more LSA’s and NSA’s to show some numbers?
Another interesting observation is that Nakhjavani, in his quotation of a section of the message of the first Guardian regarding the Two Year Plan given to the British NSA he has erased a ( , ) and replaced it with (…) which doesn’t appear to have been an innocent mistake, but what he tries to say up to the point that Shoghi Effendi knew that his death would take place during the Ten Year Crusade is correct but what he does not point out is that nowhere in his writings is there to be found any sign, word or suggestion that after his passing the Hands should appoint a body of nine Hands from their own number to take over direction of the Faith under the direction of his widow, Ruhiyyih Khanum, displace thereby the supreme role that now belonged rightfully to an actively functioning International Baha’i Council under the Presidency of the second Guardian of the Faith and arrogate unto itself the authority that belonged only to the Guardian they had in their faithlessness shamefully dethroned. Nakhjavani conveniently ignores the fact that in the context of the message he has quoted, his reference to the “Universal House of Justice” was to this body in its embryonic form, i.e. the International Baha’i Council. Moreover, in his later message of 23 November 1951, Shoghi Effendi had stated that the “Master Plan designed by Abdu’l-Baha [given the name “Ten-Year Global Crusade” by Shoghi Effendi] will embrace all the continents of the earth, and will bring the Central Body [i.e. the International Baha’i Council] directing these widely ramified operations into direct contact with all the National Assemblies of the Baha’i world . . .”
It is obvious that the former Hands did not have any authority over the NSA’s and the first Guardian made this very clear, in a message about the Ten Year Plan to the British NSA on 22 July 1954 where he stated: “The National Spiritual Assembly is the Body which is charged with the administrative responsibility of the tasks of the Ten Year Crusade. Neither the Hands of the Cause nor their Boards have administrative responsibilities in connection with this work.” (Shoghi Effendi, The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha'i Community, p. 340)
And in a letter dated 25 March 1957 to former Hand of the Cause Adelbert Muhlschlegel he explained that: “The National Assembly is not obliged to follow the wish of the Hands It is also not the Body empowered to tell the Hands what to do; they can make suggestions to them.” (Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance v II, p. 124) Nakhjavani has written:
“In his personal conversations with pilgrims Shoghi Effendi was reported to have repeatedly said that his ‘Dispensation’ was like his Will and Testament. The closest statement made by him in writing, however, hinting at such a conclusion, is a letter, written on his behalf, dated 10 January 1935 to Dr. Mühlschlegel, in which he states that his ‘Dispensation’ constitutes “an invaluable supplement” to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as well as to the Book of the Covenant, which is Bahá’u’lláh's Will and Testament. (LDG Vol. 1, 65)”
Comment:
On February 8 1934 Shoghi Effendi addressed a long and comprehensive letter “To the beloved of God and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the West.” This letter comprising sixty-five pages was published in booklet form that year by the Baha’i Publishing Committee in Wilmette under the title of The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah and identified as “A Supplement to Baha’i Administration.” During the ministry of Shoghi Effendi it was considered obligatory reading for anyone desiring to become a Baha’i.
It is true that Shoghi Effendi considered “The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah” as his spiritual Testament, as recorded in the jointly authored and renown Haifa Notes of May Maxwell and her daughter, Mary Maxwell (later his wife, Ruhiyyih Khanum) but it is noticeable that Nakhjavani cunningly and diabolically attempts to mislead the new believer, who undoubtedly is unfamiliar with this publication, and unmindful of the fact that the term Dispensation may only be correctly applied to the Dispensation of the Manifestation, when reference is made to “His Dispensation.” He has done this with the obvious intention of creating an erroneous belief in the mind of the reader that the ministry of Shoghi Effendi should be considered as a “Dispensation” during which he faithfully exercised the function of Guardianship according to the terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and therefore ended with his passing, instead of a reference to Shoghi Effendi’s letter in which he has so strongly emphasized the absolute essentiality of, and the imperative need for the enduring continuance of the Guardianship as a permanent and irreplaceable Institution, in the World Order of Baha’u’llah.
Nakhjavani would certainly not want the believers to be familiar with Shoghi Effendi’s letter of 10 January 1935 addressed to Dr. Mühlschlegel in Germany for in this letter he has written:
“He feels, indeed, that the time has come for the German believers to acquire a thorough knowledge as well as a full understanding of such important Tablets as Baha’u’llah’s "Book of the Covenant" and 'Abdu'l- Baha's Will and Testament, both of which constitute the very bedrock upon which the entire administrative system of the Faith has been raised and established. As to the "Dispensation of Baha’u’llah" it also constitutes an invaluable supplement to these afore-mentioned Tablets.” (Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance v I, p. 65)
In furtherance of the argument above it will be obvious to conscious and informed Baha’is who possess even a modicum of knowledge of the Baha’i Writings that only the Manifestations of God have Dispensations and Shoghi Effendi did not have “his Dispensation.” As Nakhjavani has used the phrase twice in this way, it doesn’t appear to be an innocent mistake and it is possible that he has endeavored to project to uninformed Baha’is, who have been purposely kept away from reading Baha’u’llah’s "Book of the Covenant," Abdu'l-Baha's ‘’Will and Testament’’ and “The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah” by Shoghi Effendi, the false conception that it was solely the thirty-six year ministry of Shoghi Effendi that “constitutes an invaluable supplement” to the “Book of Covenant" and the “Will and Testament.”
Nakhjavani has continued:
“Furthermore, the following two paragraphs might well bear upon this very theme. They contain an early hint by Shoghi Effendi on the importance of this very date of 1963, which he says would witness the “final erection” of the “Edifice” of God’s Holy Cause: “Ours, dearly-beloved co-workers, is the paramount duty to continue, with undimmed vision and unabated zeal, to assist in the final erection of that Edifice the foundations of which Baha’u’llah has laid in our hearts, to derive added hope and strength from the general trend of recent events, however dark their immediate effects, and to pray with unremitting fervor that He may hasten the approach of the realization of that Wondrous Vision which constitutes the brightest emanation of His Mind and the fairest fruit of the fairest civilization the world has yet seen. Might not the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of the Faith of Baha’u’llah mark the inauguration of so vast an era in human history? (WOB 48)”
Comment:
All the efforts of these violators of the Covenant are concentrated on ignoring Shoghi Effendi’s Proclamation of 9 January 1951 and focusing on the production of erroneous and unauthorized interpretations. In the only Proclamation that Shoghi Effendi issued to the Baha’i World during his ministry on 9 January 1951 he clearly outlined the process of the evolution and development of the embryonic Universal House of Justice which unfortunately was not only inexcusably disregarded by the violating Hands under the direction of Ruhiyyih Khanum, but this embryonic institution was incredibly aborted and in its place they created their own man-made illegitimate institutions contrary to the sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
In his Proclamation, Shoghi Effendi outlined the importance of the establishment of the International Baha’i Council —the embryonic Universal House of Justice—and emphasized its importance with such expressions as: “weighty epoch-making decision of formation of first International Baha’i Council, forerunner of supreme administrative institution,” “historic undertaking,” “historic decision marking most significant milestone in evolution of Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha’u’llah in course of last thirty years.” and moreover the tremendous significance of the appointment of this “Nascent Institution” was eulogized in the following words: “Hail with thankful, joyous heart at long last the constitution of International Council which history will acclaim as the greatest event shedding luster upon second epoch of Formative Age of Baha’i Dispensation potentially unsurpassed by any enterprise undertaken since inception of Administrative Order of Faith on morrow of 'Abdu'l-Baha’s Ascension, ranking second only to glorious immortal events associated with Ministries of the Three Central Figures of Faith in course of First Age of most glorious Dispensation of the five thousand century Baha’i Cycle.”
Only the importance of the synchronous appointment of his successor concurrent with the establishment of the Universal House of Justice in its embryonic form would have been the reason for Shoghi Effendi to extol his decision to establish “at long last” this institution and to declare this act as: “ranking second only to glorious immortal events associated with Ministries of the Three Central Figures of Faith in course of First Age of most glorious Dispensation of the five thousand century Baha’i Cycle.”
Nakhjavani, on the basis of his false and contradictory assertion and his erroneous and unauthorized interpretations, states that he has reached the following conclusions: “From the above summary three points clearly emerge: “1. It had been contemplated in the Kitab-i-Aqdas that there would be no co-existence between the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.”
Comment: In his erroneous and unauthorized interpretation he has replaced the word, Guardianship, with the word, Aghsan, and changed the designation: House of Justice with Universal House of Justice. The possibility is foreseen in the Aqdas that the Aghsan will not be simultaneously living at such time as the House of Justice is established and this fact is obvious since Shoghi Effendi has clearly identified the Aghsan as the sons of Baha’u’llah in his book God Passes By. It is for this reason that Abdu’l Baha during His Ministry diverted endowments to the Spiritual Assemblies as the respective representatives of the People of Baha.
The institution of Guardianship is anticipated in the Kitab-i-Aqdas in the verses pertaining to the appointment of the Center of the Covenant and the Interpreter of the Book, but other than that there is no mention of the Guardianship. Moreover, as Shoghi Effendi has written: “the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha, which, together with the Kitab-i-Aqdas, constitutes the chief depository wherein are enshrined those priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Baha’i Faith. A study of the provisions of these sacred documents will reveal the close relationship that exists between them, as well as the identity of purpose and method which they inculcate. Far from regarding their specific provisions as incompatible and contradictory in spirit, every fair-minded inquirer will readily admit that they are not only complementary, but that they mutually confirm one another, and are inseparable parts of one complete unit.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 3)
Regarding the Universal House of Justice, Abdu’l Baha in His sacred Will and Testament has clearly stated that: “THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE OF GOD IS ITS SACRED HEAD AND THE DISTINGUISHED MEMBER FOR LIFE OF THAT BODY. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 13)
Certainly, no honest and fair-minded person who reads the above quotation from the Will and Testament of ’Abdu’l-Baha would claim that “there would be no co-existence between the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice” as falsely claimed by Nakhjaavani
Moreover Shoghi Effendi has explained: “It should be stated, at the very outset, in clear and unambiguous language, that THESE TWIN INSTITUTIONS of the Administrative Order of Baha’u’llah should be regarded as divine in origin, essential in their functions and complementary in their aim and purpose… Acting in conjunction with each other THESE TWO INSEPARABLE INSTITUTIONS administer its affairs, coordinate its activities, promote its interests, execute its laws and defend its subsidiary institutions.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 148)
What is going in the brain of Nakhjavani and those who are like him? Should Baha’is accept Shoghi Effendi’s Divine interpretations or accept the obviously erroneous, unauthorized and patently misleading interpretations of Nakhjavani?
Nakhjavani has written:
“2. The date for the election of the Universal House of Justice had to be in 1963, at the end of the Ten Year Plan.”
Comment:
Nakhjavani did not present any of the writings of Shoghi Effendi in support of this clearly assertion and cannot do so, for the statement he has made is a blatant fabrication and distortion of the facts, such as consistently made by violators of the Covenant, i.e. the former erring Hands and their man made illegitimate UHJ, for Shoghi Effendi did not project the election of or make any reference to the election of Universal House of Justice at the end of Ten Year Global Crusade. Quite the contrary, Shoghi Effendi, in his Proclamation of 9 January 1951, outlined four distinct stages in the evolution of the International Baha’i Council—“this first embryonic International Institution”— before “its efflorescence into the Universal House of Justice” and significantly emphasized in this Proclamation that the second projected stage in its evolution would be “its development into officially recognized [International] Baha’i Court,” and further in his cablegram of 25 April 1951 emphasized that the formation of this Court was an “essential prelude to the institution of the Universal House of Justice.” Moreover, in conjunction with this second stage in the evolution of the International Baha’i Council as the International Baha’i Court, Shoghi Effendi prescribed the goal of the establishment of six Baha’i Courts in six Islamic countries that he named to facilitate development of this embryonic Universal House of Justice and advance the “Process of the unfoldment of the ever-advancing Administrative Order.” (Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World - 1950-1957, p.7)
The above goals did not materialized due to the violation of the Covenant by the former Hands of Cause under the direction of Ruhiyyih Khanum, as not even one court was established.
Nakhjavani has written:
“3. It would certainly be reasonable to assume that Shoghi Effendi was conscious of his impending passing.”
Comment:
It is significant that a former member of the illegitimate Universal House of Justice is now finally admitting that Shoghi Effendi had foreseen his impending passing. For, no such admission was ever made following the passing of Shoghi Effendi by the Hands of the Cause in any of their declarations or pronouncements, although if they had taken the time to review Shoghi Effendi’s historic messages issued to the Baha’i World during the last seven years of his ministry they would have discovered clear evidence of this foreknowledge and would have even perceived this fact, had they recognized the identity in their very midst of the one whom he had chosen to be his successor who despite his very advanced age, he knew was destined to succeed him. Even his widow, Ruhiyyih Khanum, would surprisingly and incomprehensibly later write on page 237 of her book titled: ”The Guardian of the Baha’i Faith,” I could never have survived the slightest foreknowledge of the Guardian’s death.”
As there is no question that Nakhjavani’s assumption that Shoghi Effendi foresaw his impending passing is correct, then how can there be any doubt that he would not have failed, in complete faithfulness to the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, taken action to appoint his successor as that Document makes it “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.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 12)
Would Shoghi Effendi have failed to provide future Baha’i generations with the continued and uninterrupted flow of Divine guidance that he had promised would be available to them when he stated: “In this Dispensation, divine guidance flows on to us in this world after the Prophet's ascension, through first the Master, and then the Guardians.”(Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 34)
Indeed Shoghi Effendi appointed and identified his successor “in his own life-time” as required when, in strict accordance with the terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, he appointed and identified him as the President and "sacred head" of the embryonic Universal House of Justice (provisionally named by him as the International Baha’i Council in the first stage of its projected four-fold stage of development), a position which can be occupied by no one other than the Guardian of the Cause of God.
Nakhjavani has written:
“It would be helpful at this point to consider the method adopted by Baha’u’llah in His Kitab-i-Ahd regarding the line of succession. In it He stipulates that Mírza Muhammad- Alí is to succeed 'Abdu’l-Baha. Now, compare that with ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s method in the first part of His Will and Testament. In it He stipulates that Shoghi Effendi is to be succeeded, generation after generation, by Appointed Aghsan serving as Guardians. To me, there is a similarity of method here, one that provided a sense of continuity and concealed for a time the tests that were inevitably to fall on the friends as future events unfolded. Shoghi Effendi's mention of "future Guardians" in his writings could well be, in my opinion, equally understood as a further application of this same method. All would be tested in due course as to their faithful adherence to the Covenant. Does this similarity of method not remind us of the golden key that Shoghi Effendi placed in our hands with which to unlock one of the mysteries of ‘Abdu’l- Baha’s Will and Testament? He pointed out to us that a study of the authenticated texts of the Writings of Baha’u’llah and those of ‘Abdu’l-Baha “will reveal the close relationship that exists between them, as well as the identity of purpose and method which they inculcate” (WOB 4). Is this not also a reminder of the warning given by Baha’u’llah in the Kitab-Iqan: “from time immemorial even unto eternity the Almighty hath tried, and will continue to try, His servants, so that light may be distinguished from darkness” (KI 8) and furthermore we read in the same Book: “the divine Purpose hath decreed that the true should be known from the false.... He hath, therefore, in every season sent down upon mankind the showers of tests from His realm of glory” (KI 53).”
Comment:
Nakhjavani’s comment is an example of his art of treachery, duplicity and fraud and shows the degree to which this “manifestation of the Center of Sedition,” has with his disgraceful actions and falsifications, perverted the meaning of the Writings and erroneously interpreted them according to his futile imagination, and when discussing their “method” introduces and combines his own words with extracts from Shoghi Effendi’s writings in such a way as to misrepresent the intent of the words of Shoghi Effendi. For example, he writes: “He [Shoghi Effendi] pointed out to us that a study of the authenticated texts of the Writings of Baha’u’llah and those of ‘Abdu’l-Baha,” whereas Shoghi Effendi had specifically referred instead to statements made in the two sacred documents: Kitab-i-Aqdas and the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha, this would be easy to understand when one reads the following paragraph in the writings of Shoghi Effendi in the book: The World Order of Baha’u’llah:
“It would, however, be helpful and instructive to bear in mind certain basic principles with reference to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, which, together with the Kitab-i-Aqdas, constitutes the chief depository wherein are enshrined those priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Baha’i Faith. A study of the provisions of these sacred documents will reveal the close relationship that exists between them, as well as the identity of purpose and method which they inculcate.” (The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 3)
Shoghi Effendi stated that, in the Aqdas, Baha’u’llah reveals “The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch [Abdu'l-Baha].” Further, if one reads from the Book of the Covenant (Kitab-i-Ahd) and the explanation provided by the first Guardian in his book, God Passes By it will clearly reveal the duplicity of Nakhjavani:
“More specifically Baha’u’llah had, referring to Mirza Muhammad-'Ali in clear and unequivocal language, affirmed: ‘He, verily, is but one of My servants... Should he for a moment pass out from under the shadow of the Cause, he surely shall be brought to naught.’" Furthermore, in a no less emphatic language, He, again in connection with Mirza Muhammad-'Ali has stated: "By God, the True One! Were We, for a single instant, to withhold from him the outpourings of Our Cause, he would wither, and would fall upon the dust." (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 250)
Baha’u’llah, in the “Kitab-i-Ahd” (the Book of the Covenant) revealed His immortal Covenant with the believers in His appointment of ‘Abdu’l-Baha as the Center of His Covenant and the Interpreter of the Word of God and, in turn, Abdu’l Baha in His Will and Testament provided for the continuation and perpetuation of this Covenant to the end of the Baha’i Dispensation (not less than a full thousand years) in His establishment of the Institution of the Guardianship and safeguarded the integrity and unity of the Faith by assigning the exclusive right of interpretation of Holy Writ to the Guardians of the Cause of God as the Centers of the Cause and Interpreters of the Word of God. Abdu’l Baha, in turn, by His explicit and unavoidable command further guaranteed a succession of Guardians and the uninterrupted continuation of the Guardianship when He stated:
“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.” (The Will and Testament, p. 12)
Nakhjavani has further deceitfully misstated the immutable terms of the sacred and immortal Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Baha when he writes: “In it He stipulates that Shoghi Effendi is to be succeeded, generation after generation, by Appointed Aghsan serving as Guardians.” For, nowhere in that sacred document can the phrase fabricated by Nakhjavani: “Appointed Aghsan” be found.
“In the Book of Aqdas, He has given positive command in two clear instances and has explicitly appointed the Interpreter of the Book. Also in all the Divine Tablets, especially in the Chapter of The Branch -- all the meanings of which mean the Servitude of 'Abdu'l-Baha, all that is needed to explain the Center of the Covenant and the Interpreter of the Book has been revealed from the Supreme Pen.” (Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 358)
A comparison may be observed in the appointments of Their successors by both Abdu’l Baha and Shoghi Effendi in the fact that when Mirza Muhammad-'Ali was brought to naught because he had passed out from under the shadow of the Cause, it did not prevent the Center of the Covenant, Abdu’l Baha, from appointing his successor because according to the Covenant of Baha’u’llah there must be a “Center of the Cause” and He emphasized that in stating:
“The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God. It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsan, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 11)
Similarly, the fact that Shoghi Effendi, the first Guardian of the Cause of God, did not have a son, did not prevent him from complying with the sacred provision of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Will and Testament which makes it mandatory for the Guardian:
“to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor.” He had no alternative under this provision but to appoint one who would succeed him as the living “Center of the Cause” and “Interpreter of the Word of God” and the one whom every believer was enjoined to turn to after his passing, and this he faithfully did in appointing Charles Mason Remey as his successor.
Abdul Baha, the Center of the Covenant, was the only “Aghsan” appointed to a Divine Office by Baha’u’llah, as His other sons, with the exception of the Purest Branch, (who died at an early age) violated the Covenant of Baha’u’llah and thus deprived themselves from Divine guidance and consequently were cut off. Abdu’l Baha, in His last tablet to America, wrote:
“Consider! The Divine Gardener cuts off the dry or weak branch from the good tree and grafts to it, a branch from another tree. He both separates and unites. This is that which His Holiness Christ says: that from all the world they come and enter the Kingdom, and the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out.” (World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 437)
Applicability to the above quoted Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha may be seen in the events that transpired and led to the way that Baha’u’llah appointed Abdu’l Baha and enjoined all faithful believers to recognize Him as the “Most Mighty Branch” and thereby the Center of His Covenant:
“The Will of the divine Testator is this: It is incumbent upon the Aghsan, the Afnan and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book: 'When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.' The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch [Abdu'l-Baha].” (Kitab-i-Ahd, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 220)
Interestingly, Nakhjavani despite his transgression which exposed before has shamelessly quoted Words of Baha’u’llah from the Kitab-i-Iqan (Book of Certitude) regarding tests, a student who has been taught that 2 + 2 = 4 must come up in a subsequent test with the same result for, if she/he writes 2 + 2 = 3 she/he will fail, and not pass the Test. Tests in the Baha'i Faith are related to belief, faithfulness, steadfastness in and obedience to the laws, ordinances, commandments and the Teachings revealed by the Manifestation of God, and to one’s fidelity to the Center of His Covenant and to the chosen Ministers of that Covenant who are the appointed interpreters of His Word. As lying and forgery are strictly forbidden by the Manifestation of God, a believer who is tempted to lie or commit forgery to gain something will assuredly fail the test. During the prescribed nineteen-day period of the Baha'i Fast, which some believers may find as a form of test, the Fast will be broken and this test will be failed when they eat something during the day. Similarly, Nakhjavani and his colleagues have not passed the tests that faced them with the unexpected early passing of Shoghi Effendi, the first beloved Guardian of the Faith, a supreme test that they utterly failed because of their blatant disobedience to the commandments of the Center of the Covenant, Abdu'l-Baha, and in their abject failure to heed His dire warnings concerning the chastisement of God that awaits those who have been unfaithful to the living Guardian of the Cause of God, as stated in the following passage from His Will and Testament:
“whoso opposeth him [the Guardian] hath opposed God; whoso contendeth with them hath contended with God; whoso disputeth with him hath disputed with God; whoso denieth him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in God; whoso deviateth, separateth himself and turneth aside from him hath in truth deviated, separated himself and turned aside from God. May the wrath, the fierce indignation, the vengeance of God rest upon him! The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God. It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsan, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His Word and will become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition. Beware, beware, lest the days after the ascension (of Baha’u’llah) be repeated when the Center of Sedition waxed haughty and rebellious and with Divine Unity for his excuse deprived himself and perturbed and poisoned others” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 11)
Ruhiyyih Khanum and those Hands who followed her and believers like Nakhjavani who have disbelieved in, opposed, contended and disputed with, and denied the validity of the Guardians of the Cause of God, who have rightfully succeeded Shoghi Effendi, have deviated from, separated themselves and turned aside from the Covenant of Baha’u’llah and have demonstrated an incomprehensible disbelief in his faithfulness, steadfastness and complete obedience “to every provision” of the sacred Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha, have shamelessly accused him, in effect, of not fulfilling the most important duty of the Guardian of the Faith during his ministry and that is to carry out the very clear and mandatory commandment of Abdu’l-Baha to appoint his successor “in his life-time” as stipulated in the following passage of His Will and Testament:
“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.” (Abdu’l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 11)
Moreover, Ruhiyyih Khanum and those Hands who blindly followed her after the passing of Shoghi Effendi and those believers, like Nakhjavani, who have flagrantly disregarded the warning of Abdu’l Baha that is found at the end of His sacred Will and Testament and are guilty of doing exactly what He has prohibited in the following passage of that sacred Document:
“Beware lest anyone falsely interpret these words, and like unto them that have broken the Covenant after the Day of Ascension (of Baha’u’llah) advance a pretext, raise the standard of revolt, wax stubborn and open wide the door of false interpretation. To none is given the right to put forth his own opinion or express his particular conviction.”(Abdu’l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 25)
These violators are guilty of even shamelessly transgressing the provisions of Baha’u’llah’s Most Holy Book in falsely altering the meaning of paragraph 42 thereof in their unauthorized and erroneous interpretation of its intent and in their shameless disregard of the following warning of Baha’u’llah in the Aqdas:
“Whoso interpreteth what hath been sent down from the heaven of Revelation, and altereth its evident meaning, he, verily, is of them that have perverted the Sublime Word of God, and is of the lost ones in the Lucid Book.” (The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 57)
Keeping in mind that Nakhjavani's purpose is to attempt to justify the legitimacy of the current so-called Universal House of Justice without the Guardian of the Faith presiding as its "sacred head" as called for under the sacred provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, he has cunningly questioned: “Who limits the spheres of jurisdiction?” And he has put some distorted material together in the answer to this question. Let’s, therefore, examine his assertions: He has written: “In the ‘Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’ Shoghi Effendi points out that one of his duties was to provide “the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its [the Faith's] elected representatives” (WOB 148). It is obvious that the reference here is to the elected members of Local Spiritual Assemblies, National Conventions, National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as of the Universal House of Justice.” Comment: In order to perceive the depth of the deception and to observe the falsification, fabrication and alteration of the meanings of the writings of the first Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, of which he is guilty in the above comment, one need only read for himself/herself the following paragraph from page 148 of The World Order of Baha’u’llah to which he has referred to clearly note that Shoghi Effendi has referred specifically and only to one of the essential functions that the Guardian performs as the permanent and irreplaceable "sacred head" of a legitimate Universal House of Justice as defined by 'Abdu'l-Baha in His Will and Testament. “Without such an institution [the Guardianship] the integrity of the Faith would be imperilled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.” As for the sphere of the jurisdiction of the Universal House of Justice (the true one), this has been revealed by Baha’u’llah and Abdu’l Baha, but for the Guardian “to define the sphere of the legislative ACTION,” as the sentence above clearly indicates, is a continuing function that will be applicable to the legislative actions or enactments of a real and legitimate Universal House of Justice throughout the entire Dispensation of Baha’u’llah (enduring at least a full thousand years) and it is the sole prerogative of the Guardians of the Faith to define the “sphere of the legislative action” of this body during its deliberations. It is obvious that whether Nakhjavani either erroneously or intentionally has mixed up the “sphere of legislative action” with the sphere of jurisdiction, he has chosen a short extract from the first Guardian’s writings, out of context, and has wrongfully misrepresented the intent of Shoghi Effendi to the extent that he has emphasized his duty, whereas the paragraph is not about duty as it does not mention the duties of Shoghi Effendi, in particular, or even that of the Guardians in general. In effect, the paragraph in question provides very clear proof of the necessity for the continued existence of and the indispensability of a continuing living Guardian of the Faith and a strong warning of the negative consequences that would result from depriving the Faith of the Guardian of the Cause of God, as did, in fact, actually occur when the former Hands of the Cause were strongly influenced by and blindly followed, Shoghi Effendi's widow, Ruhiyyih Khanum, in erroneously claiming that the Guardianship of the Faith had come to an end with his passing. It is obvious that, in discussing the quoted paragraph above, Nakhjavani has used the words “WAS” and "IS" which are not actually found in the statement in place of the phrase "would be" in a clumsy attempt to indicate, in the now absence, for them, of a continuing Guardianship, that the peril without the Guardianship no longer existed, or that the Guardianship needed to exist, beyond Shoghi Effendi’s ministry, while conveniently ignoring the fact that the phrase “would be” is repeated four times in this quotation. Prior to 1951, there was no Universal House of Justice and it was not until January of that year that Shoghi Effendi established the International Baha’i Council, as the embryonic Universal House of Justice, a body that had to be retained in an inactive and potentially active status during the remaining years of Shoghi Effendi's ministry, for obvious reasons that have been discussed in detail in earlier postings, and obviously therefore this embryonic body possessed no authority to legislate at the time. Further, it may be noted that Nakhjavani has wrongfully extended the requirement for the Guardian to define “the sphere of the legislative action” of LSAs, NSAs and National Conventions, although these organs of the Administrative Order are not endowed with legislative authority. Also, in the section of the World Order of Baha’u’llah under discussion, Shoghi Effendi is not writing about them at all but about the “twin institutions of the Administrative Order of Baha’u’llah”--the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice-- when he explains: “Their common, their fundamental object is to insure THE CONTINUITY OF THAT DIVINELY-APPOINTED AUTHORITY which flows from the Source of our Faith, to safeguard the unity of its followers and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings.” (Capitalization is added for emphasis) No doubt it is the supreme “divinely appointed authority” with which the Guardianship has been uniquely endowed through the divinely-conceived provisions of the sacred and immutable Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l Baha that will, throughout the entire Dispensation of Baha’u’llah “safeguard the unity of its followers” and “maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings.” “In this Dispensation, divine guidance flows on to us in this world after the Prophet's ascension, through first the Master, and then the Guardians.” (Note the plurality of Guardians) (Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 34) As you can see, Nakhjavani shamelessly and fraudulently has chosen and selected a small extract from the writings of the first Guardian that strongly emphasizes the necessity of the continuation of the Guardianship and has pretended it means something contrary to what is clearly stated and meant.
Nakhjavani has continued:
“This function of the Guardianship was partly discharged when, under his guidance and direction, the Constitutions of Local and Spiritual Assemblies were formulated and put into effect during his own ministry. What remained was to determine the boundaries of the work of the Universal House of Justice. The terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were superlative. He wrote: “Whatsoever they [the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice] decide is of God” (WT 11). He further added: “That which this body, [the elected members of the Universal House of Justice (WT 20)] whether unanimously or by a majority, doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God Himself” (WT 19).”
Comment:
What Shoghi Effendi discharged during his ministry was his responsibility to erect the institutions of the Baha'i Administrative Order but the unique, essential and supreme function of the Guardianship, in the Baha'i Administrative Order as clearly outlined in the immortal and sacred Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, will unquestionably remain until the end of the Baha’i Dispensation and therefore it is not a temporary function or one that will ever be "partly discharged" as erroneously claimed by Nakhjavani. He then has even further diabolically attempted to rationalize the further need for the Guardianship at all when he wrote: “What remained [for him] was to determine the boundaries of the work of the Universal House of Justice.”
It has been mentioned before that the boundaries of the work (the sphere of the jurisdiction) of the Universal House of Justice (the true one) has been revealed by Baha’u’llah and delineated by Abdu’l Baha in His Will and Testament. The only thing that Guardians can do in any question that may arise over jurisdiction or in the case of any misunderstanding with respect to its jurisdiction would be to add a word of explanation, but it is the boundaries of each enactment of legislation that needs to be defined by the living Guardian of the Faith. Nakhjavani’s art of deception also can be seen in the last few lines of his statement above in which he has combined in a single sentence partial extracts from three different parts of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, without observance of the order in which they appear, coupled with the addition of his own words, in order to pretend that the Guardian's function of providing “necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action” of the Universal House of Justice is no longer necessary. Of course, as usual, he disregards the important the inescapable fact that the Institution to which Shoghi Effendi refers in his writings is the real and legitimate Universal House of Justice and the one that 'Abdu'l-Baha has described, in the following passage from His Will that requires the presence of the living Guardian: “the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead. (The Will and Testament, p. 14)
What Nakhjavani has not quoted is the following passage from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha is one, of several, that further proves the continuance and permanence in the World Order of Baha'u'llah of the Institution of the Guardianship as well as that of the Universal House of Justice
“The sacred and youthful branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abha Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of the Exalted One (may my life be offered up for them both). Whatsoever they decide is of God.” (The Will and Testament, p. 10) “Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn, and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God Himself.” (The Will and Testament, p. 19) “It is incumbent upon these members (of the Universal House of Justice) to gather in a certain place and deliberate upon all problems which have caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book. Whatsoever they decide has the same effect as the Text itself.” (The Will and Testament, p. 20)
Nakhjavani further writes: “To complete his duty as Interpreter of these words in relation to the work of the Universal House of Justice, Shoghi Effendi wrote in his ‘Dispensation’ the following: “The interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere, is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International House of Justice, whose exclusive right and prerogative is to pronounce upon and deliver the final judgment on such laws and ordinances as Baha’u’llah has not expressly revealed. Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other. Neither will seek to curtail the specific and undoubted authority with which both have been invested”. (WOB 150) It is highly significant that Shoghi Effendi, while defining his duty as Guardian to interpret what had been revealed, goes on to give the assurance to the Community, as well as to the world, that the Universal House of Justice, when elected, will never “infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain” of interpretation, which is the exclusive right of the Guardianship.”
Comment:
In the above comments Nakhjavani once again attempts to convey the idea that Shoghi Effendi's ministry was a dispensation but on the other hand he does not seem to realize that he has actually nullified his own previous efforts to prove that the Guardianship ended with Shoghi Effendi's passing and that there is no longer the requirement for the Guardian to preside as the "sacred head" of the Universal House of Justice. For the quotation he has used clearly indicates the continuing function of the Guardianship, as well as the UHJ, as long as the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah endures.
As only an embryonic and inactive Universal House of Justice had been brought into existence during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi, the above quoted passage from The World Order of Baha’u’llah could only apply to the future relationships between a future Guardian and a future active Universal House of Justice. Nakhjavani deceitfully refers to the Guardians authority of interpretation as a “duty” and tries to project the wrong idea that Shoghi Effendi's writings in this part of The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah applied to what would only be the relationship of himself, personally and exclusively, as Shoghi Effendi, with the Universal House of Justice, once it was established, whereas, in fact, Shoghi Effendi has emphasized the importance of the authoritative interpretations of the Guardian in relation to the future Universal House of Justice. Of course it is obvious that this relationship could only be applicable with the existence of a legitimate Universal House of Justice that had been established in accordance with the provisions of the Will and Testament with the Guardian presiding as its "sacred head." There is not even the remotest possibility that Shoghi Effendi would have referred to a headless body such as the current bogus so-called UHJ established contrary to the provisions of Abdu’l Baha's sacred Will and Testament.
Nakhjavani has written:
"This assurance was fully realized and permanently set in place when the Universal House of Justice, in its Constitution wrote: “The provenance, the authority, the duties, the sphere of action of the Universal House of Justice all derive from the Revealed Word of Baha'u'llah which, together with the interpretations and expositions of the Centre of the Covenant and the Guardian of the Cause… who, after ‘Abdu’l-Baha, is the sole authority in the interpretation of Baha’i Scripture…constitute the binding terms of reference of the Universal House of Justice and are its bedrock foundation”. (CUHJ 4)"
Comment: The assurance Nakhjavani is pointing out in Shoghi Effendi’s writings pertains to a legitimate and true Universal House of Justice as described by Abdu’l Baha in His sacred Will and Testament in which: “the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body.” Although apparently the bogus UHJ admits that the Guardian of the Cause of God “is the sole authority in the interpretation of Baha’i Scripture,” at the same time it denies the continued existence of “the Guardian of the Cause of God” and unquestionably does wrongfully “infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain” of the Guardianship and seeks “to curtail the specific and undoubted authority” of the Guardianship which for them no longer exists. It will be noted that Nakhjavani immediately displays a shameful and disgraceful example of unauthorized and erroneous interpretation, in the following statement: “It must be remembered that apart from its vital function as the Supreme Baha’i Legislative Body, the Universal House of Justice is named by Baha’u’llah Himself in Paragraph 42 of the Kitab-i-Aqdas as the Central Institution to which the Baha’i Community must turn after the termination of the line of the Aghsan. This is confirmed by the statement made by the Guardian that the TWO institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice are the “chosen Successors” of Baha'u’llah and of ‘Abdu’l-Baha (WOB 20).”
Comment:
The readers of this critique should be aware of the transgression of the former erring Hands and the now man-made bogus UHJ in perverting the meaning of passages in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, especially pertaining to paragraph 42, both with respect to its translation as well as to their wrong and unauthorized interpretation of this passage, as it is one of most important proofs of the infidelity of the heterodox organization and their illegitimacy, and is clear evidence that they “infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain” of the Guardianship. Even if one reads the corrupted version of paragraph 42 produced by the bogus UHJ you can’t find anything to support the baseless contention that now the “Baha’i Community must turn” solely to the UHJ as Nakhjavani deceitfully has written. Following is their erroneous translation of the verse in the Aqdas about “Endowments dedicated to charity” in which they have replaced the word "cities" with the phrase “in the world”: “42. Endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the Revealer of Signs. None hath the right to dispose of them without leave from Him Who is the Dawning-place of Revelation. After Him, this authority shall pass to the Aghsan, and after them to the Houses of Justice -- should they be established in the cities by then -- that they may use these endowments for the benefit of the Places which have been exalted in this Cause, and for whatsoever hath been enjoined upon them by Him Who is the God of might and power. Otherwise, the endowments shall revert to the people of Baha who speak not except by His leave and judge not save in accordance with what God hath decreed in this Tablet -- lo, they are the champions of victory betwixt heaven and earth -- that they may use them in the manner that hath been laid down in the Book by God, the Mighty, the Bountiful.” (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas)
Moreover, Nakhjavani in making reference to the paragraph on page 19 of the World Order of Baha’u’llah in which Shoghi Effendi refers to the "twin institutions" and not to “two institutions” is evidence again of his treachery because he has changed the term “twin institutions” to “two institutions” no doubt because he considers the word "twin" denotes an inseparability that the word "two" does not and it is for this reason that Shoghi Effendi has referred not only to these “twin institutions” but to “these two inseparable institutions” as found in the following quotation from his writings: “Acting in conjunction with each other these TWO INSEPARABLE INSTITUTIONS administer its affairs, coordinate its activities, promote its interests, execute its laws and defend its subsidiary institutions. Severally, each operates within a clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction; each is equipped with its own attendant institutions -- instruments designed for the effective discharge of its particular responsibilities and duties. Each exercises, within the limitations imposed upon it, its powers, its authority, its rights and prerogatives. These are neither contradictory, nor detract in the slightest degree from the position which each of these institutions occupies. Far from being incompatible or mutually destructive, they supplement each other's authority and functions, and are permanently and fundamentally united in their aims.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 147)
Nakhjavani has written:
“On the basis of these texts, the Universal House of Justice in its Constitution describes its own “fundamental object” as the responsibility “to ensure the continuity of that divinely-appointed authority which flows from the Source of the Faith” (CUHJ 4), and then Nakhjavani adds the following statement: “There being no successor to Shoghi Effendi as Guardian of the Cause of God, the Universal House of Justice is the Head of the Faith and its supreme institution, to which all must turn” (CUHJ 4). The position of the Universal House of Justice as Head of the Faith will be maintained, “until such time” in the words of this Constitution, “as Almighty God shall reveal His new Manifestation to Whom will belong all authority and power" (CUHJ 4). In light of the above quotations, it becomes clear that in addition to its legislative authority, the Universal House of Justice, while it is assured of divine guidance in not infringing upon the domain of interpretation, is invested with responsibilities which do and must include such powers and duties that are incumbent upon the Head of the Faith. Furthermore it is obvious that the two broad areas of responsibility of the Universal House of Justice - namely legislation and headship of the Faith, are as inseparable and indispensable as were, in the case of Shoghi Effendi, his responsibilities as Interpreter and Head of the Faith. Thus, if anyone may venture to state that the sphere of jurisdiction of the Universal House of Justice is confined to legislation, such an assumption would clearly be baseless and entirely unwarranted and unjustified.”
Comment:
Nakhjavani has quoted some of writings of the dummy and headless body that pretends to be the Universal House of Justice in his reference to this excerpt from the writings of Shoghi Effendi: “Their common, their fundamental object is to insure THE CONTINUITY OF THAT DIVINELY-APPOINTED AUTHORITY which flows from the Source of our Faith, to safeguard the unity of its followers and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings.” Then he immediately, in effect, denies the continuation of this “CONTINUITY” and this flow of “DIVINELY-APPOINTED AUTHORITY” in not recognizing the fact that Shoghi Effendi faithfully acted according to the following mandate of Abdu’l Baha in His sacred Will and Testament that obligated him to appoint his successor in "his own life-time": “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.” (The Will and Testament, p. 11) “In this Dispensation, divine guidance flows on to us in this world after the Prophet's ascension, through first the Master, and then the Guardians.” (Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 34)
Further, this headless and illegitimate body, according to its Constitution, as mentioned above, has arrogated to itself authority, privileges and powers which are not even assumed by a genuine and legitimate Universal House of Justice as they belong, according to the clear text of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, in the exclusive sphere of the Guardians of the Faith.
Nakhjavani has written:
"It follows therefore that no institution or individual can correctly determine whether the Guardian or the Universal House of Justice are, at any given time, within or without their own respective limits of jurisdiction. This point is confirmed by the Guardian in one of his letters where this truth is clearly set forth: “...It is not for the individual believers to limit the sphere of the Guardian's authority, or to judge when they have to obey the Guardian and when they are free to reject his judgment. Such an attitude would evidently lead to confusion and to schism. The Guardian being appointed interpreter of the Teachings, it is his responsibility to state what matters which, affecting the interests of the Faith, demand on the part of the believers complete and unqualified obedience to his instructions.” (LG 312) The principle clearly outlined above by the Guardian applies equally to the Universal House of Justice, inasmuch as matters affecting the interests of the Faith on a world-scale are best judged and determined by the House itself. As indicated above, Shoghi Effendi’s formal and confident assurance in his ‘Dispensation’ to the Baha’i s everywhere and to the world at large, to the effect that the Universal House of Justice will never transgress its own limits of jurisdiction, should provide the ultimate safeguard and guarantee, to one and all, that the foundations on which the structure of the Administrative Order is resting are firmly set and stable.
Comment:
The fact that Shoghi Effendi has stated: “It is not for the individual believers to limit the sphere of the Guardian's authority, or to judge when they have to obey the Guardian and when they are free to reject his judgment” has no application whatsoever to the genuine Universal House of Justice much less to the headless dummy body represented by the illegitimate so-called Universal House of Justice. It is crystal clear to any rational observer that the fake, headless and dummy body that pretends to be the Universal House of Justice, delineated in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, is definitely not that divinely appointed Institution. It has blatantly disregarded the sacred and immutable provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, in assuming the functions of the Guardian as Head of the Faith and "Center of the Cause" and has thereby infringed upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the sphere of the Guardianship. Moreover its guilty of making erroneous and unauthorized interpretations and has aggressively committed transgressions against the Most Holy Book, the Aqdas, as disclosed previously. The sacred Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha regarding the legitimate Universal House of Justice prescribes: “By this House is meant the Universal House of Justice, that is, in all countries a secondary House of Justice must be instituted, and these secondary Houses of Justice must elect the members of the Universal one. Unto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 13)
Nakhjavani has raised the following question:
IS THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE THE HEAD OF A COMPLETE AND UNMUTILATED WORLD ORDER?
Comment:
In an attempt to justify the existence of their current so-called Universal House of Justice over which the Guardian is not presiding, as clearly called for by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Nakhjavani has incorrectly phrased his question based on an invalid supposition, for even a true and legitimate Universal House of Justice is not a HEAD, but a BODY, a legislative body, in which “the Guardian of the Cause of God is its SACRED HEAD and the distinguished member for life of that BODY.” (Emphasis added) (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 13) “The legislative body must reinforce the executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 14)
Until now the genuine Universal House of Justice remains in its embryonic form and it will be a long time before “its final fruition through (the) erection of (the) manifold auxiliary institutions constituting the World Administrative Center destined to arise and function and remain permanently established in (the) close neighbourhood of (the) Twin Holy Shrines.” (Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World -1950-1957, p. 7)
“and the initial international institution heralding the establishment of the supreme legislative body at the World Administrative Center, requires the immediate and sustained attention of the members of a community whose destiny has been linked, ever since its inception, with the various stages marking the rise and consolidation of this divinely appointed, unspeakably holy enterprise.” (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 84)
Also Nakhjavani’s question doesn’t clarify what he means by “UNMUTILATED WORLD ORDER.” It seems he is referring to an imaginary world order of his own making, and certainly not “THE WORLD ORDER OF BHA’U’LLAH.” The World Order of Baha’u’llah has been conceived by Baha’u’llah and will be established in the fullness of time. “Though the Revelation of Baha’u’llah has been delivered, the World Order which such a Revelation must needs beget is as yet unborn.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 167)
“I feel it, however, incumbent upon me by virtue of the responsibility attached to the Guardianship of the Faith, to dwell more fully upon the essential character and the distinguishing features of that world order as conceived and proclaimed by Baha’u’llah. I feel impelled, at the present stage of the evolution of the Baha’i Revelation, to state candidly and without any reservation, whatever I regard may tend to insure the preservation of the integrity of the nascent institutions of the Faith. I strongly feel the urge to elucidate certain facts, which would at once reveal to every fair-minded observer the unique character of that Divine Civilization the foundations of which the unerring hand of Baha’u’llah has laid, and the essential elements of which the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha has disclosed. I consider it my duty to warn every beginner in the Faith that the promised glories of the Sovereignty which the Baha’i teachings foreshadow, can be revealed only in the fullness of time, that the implications of the Aqdas and the Will of 'Abdu'l-Baha, as the twin repositories of the constituent elements of that Sovereignty, are too far-reaching for this generation to grasp and fully appreciate.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 16) The World Order of Baha’u’llah will not be established until all of the provisions of its sacred Charter are fully observed and all of the instructions are obeyed that have emanated from that “divinely-appointed authority which flows from the Source of our Faith.” Nor can the World Order of Baha’u’llah be achieved by nullifying the provisions of the sacred Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha in denying the continued existence of the Guardians of the Cause of God and this Order will never be replaced through the establishment of fake and man-made institutions such as the illegitimate and headless body in Haifa which, notwithstanding, pretends to be the Universal House of Justice.
Nakhjavani has written:
Let us now consider the contents and implications of a crucial paragraph in ‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’: “Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Baha’u’llah would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as ‘Abdu’l-Baha has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. ‘In all the Divine Dispensations,’ He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, ‘the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophet-hood hath been his birthright’. Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, and uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.” (WOB 148)
Comment:
Nakhjavani, in the following comments, shamelessly and diabolically tries to prove that Shoghi Effendi was wrong and to nullify his warning, as quoted above, by claiming that in the absence of the continuing Guardianship in their now perverted sans-Guardian faith none of Shoghi Effendi’s warnings have proved to be valid.
Nakhjavani has written:
“So the question is, did the ending of the Guardianship in November 1957 have the negative effects described above, or did the Cause survive this event complete and undamaged?”
Comment:
He has raised another wrong and misleading question above, for the fact is, that despite the persistent attempts of Ruhiyyih Khanum and the errant Hands to put an end to the Guardianship, this Institution did not come to an end in November 1957 because this Institution was both anticipated by Baha’u’llah in His Most Holy Book, the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and subsequently formally established by Abdu’l Baha in His sacred and immutable Will and Testament both documents of which, as stated by Shoghi Effendi: “are inseparable parts of one complete unit.” and, as such, constitute the explicit Holy Text destined to endure unchanged to the end of the Baha’i Dispensation as further confirmed in the following statement: “In this Dispensation, divine guidance flows on to us in this world after the Prophet's ascension, through first the Master, and then the Guardians.” (Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 34) The violation of the Covenant by the former Hands, with a single notable exception, has surely damaged the Baha’i community like the plague and it has seriously impeded and delayed the development and establishment of the World Order of Baha’u’llah.
Nakhjavani has written:
Shoghi Effendi definitely knew that the line of the Aghsan would at some time come to an end. The Kitab-i-Aqdas openly contemplates this eventuality in the very paragraph (42) that anticipates the Institution of the Guardianship. Further, ‘Abdu’l-Baha makes no provision in His Will and Testament for the continuation into the future of the Guardianship in the event that the line of the Aghsan is extinguished.
Comment:
Shoghi Effendi definitely knew that the “Aghsan” which he has identified as the “Sons of Baha’u’llah” in his book “God Passes By” were already dead at the time of the ascension of Abdu’l Baha or spiritually dead and therefore had nothing to do with the continuance of the Guardianship. Nakhjavani, nevertheless, desperately tries to erroneously interpret the terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha to confer upon the “Aghsan” (Branches) the exclusive right of succession to the Guardianship. Of course, Nakhjavani doesn’t have any authority to do so, whereas the word “Aghsan” with a capital “A” appearing in the writings of Shoghi Effendi represents the Sons of Baha’u’llah since it is the plural of Ghusn (Branch). Baha’u’llah conferred a superlative or comparative appellation upon each of His Sons prefaced by the *Ghusn,* such as *Ghusn-I-Azam* (Greatest Branch) ,*Ghusn-I-Athar* (Purest Branch). or *Ghusn-I-Akbar* (Greater Branch). He never conferred upon anyone other than His Sons such titles or never did He write anything designating His other male descendants in such a manner. The word ghusn and its plural aghsan, similarly to their meaning in English (branch) and (branches) respectively are used in the Writings of Baha’u’llah according to their normal meaning such as the branch of a tree or in other types of usage such as in representational or symbolic ways, but interestingly mostly these words are used to portray spiritual relationships or intellectual realities. As for Nakhjavani’s reference to paragraph 42 of The Kitab-i-Aqdas, this pertains exclusively to “Endowments dedicated to charity” and has nothing to do with the Guardianship and is not to be confused with the Huququ’llah–“The Right of God” —that is rightfully contributed only to the living Guardian of the Faith. Such endowments are one of the several sources of revenue for the Houses of Justice, locally, nationally and internationally. Moreover, anticipation of the institution of Guardianship as mentioned before is found in the verses in which Baha’u’llah appoints Abdu’l Baha as the Center of His Covenant and interpreter of His Word. Let us further examine Nakhjavani’s fallacious and senseless argument that in the light of paragraph 42 of the Aqdas Shoghi Effendi knew that the Aghsan “would at some time come to an end” and that this would mean that the Guardianship of the Cause of God would then simultaneously end. The glaring fallacy of this argument is obvious when one recognizes that he is ignorant of the fact that Shoghi Effendi has identified the Aghsan as only the Sons of Baha’u’llah and even if they had remained loyal to the Covenant they would never have outlived Shoghi Effendi and become eligible for appointment as his successor. Therefore, it is clear that eligibility for appointment to the Guardianship, as prescribed by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in His Will and Testament, was not made dependent upon a lineal relationship to Baha’u’llah. The fact that Baha’u’llah has clearly stipulated that “Endowments dedicated to charity” revert initially to the Aghsan had nothing to do with their accession to the Guardianship and it is obvious that this stipulation would no longer apply following their decease and, for this reason, He specified that “after them” (i.e. after their decease) such endowments would pass to the House of Justice Subsequently, Abdu’l Baha formerly established the Guardianship in His sacred and immutable Will and Testament, a Document, which, together with the Kitab-i-Aqdas, have been identified by Shoghi Effendi as “inseparable parts of one complete unit.” Shoghi Effendi has further extolled the Will and Testament as “the Charter of the New World Order” and “the Child of the Covenant -- the Heir of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God.” and therefore, in effect “Their Will.” Further, ‘Abdu’l-Baha in His Will and Testament has designated the Guardian as “the Center of the Cause “and has assured the continuance of the Guardianship until the end of the Baha’i Dispensation by obligating every Guardian to appoint his successor in the following passage: “It is incumbent upon the Guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor.” (Emphasis added) (The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, p. 11)
And ‘Abdu’l-Baha has designated the Guardians as the sacred head and the distinguished member for life of the Universal House of Justice (i.e. the legitimate one) in the following passage: “and the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead” (The Will and Testament, p. 13)
And, in the following passages He stipulates both the manner in which the Hands of the Cause of God are to be appointed and their relationship to the Guardian: “The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his shadow and obey his command. Should any, within or without the company of the Hands of the Cause of God disobey and seek division, the wrath of God and His vengeance will be upon him, for he will have caused a breach in the true Faith of God.” (The Will and Testament, p. 12) And, in the following passage the relationship of the faithful friends to the Guardian is stressed: They must “show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His Word and will become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition” (The Will and Testament, p. 11)
And He assures them that: “The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through OBEDIENCE TO HIM WHO IS THE GUARDIAN of the Cause of God.” (Emphasis added) (The Will and Testament, p. 11)
In the provisions of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha —actually a Covenant of His own—focus is clearly on the continuity and endurance of the Guardianship to the end of Baha’i Dispensation; nowhere is there any doubt about this fact nor can there be found anywhere in this sacred and immutable document even the slightest suggestion of the possibility of an interruption in the Guardianship. The phrase “line of the Aghsan” only can be found in the writings of the bogus UHJ or its pawns. Nowhere in the writings of Abdu’l Baha or Shoghi Effendi is such an expression to be found. Aghsan is the plural form of the title ‘Ghusn’ which Baha’u’llah exclusively conferred upon each one of His sons and therefore there is no lineal line inferred in this title. It is reiterated that Shoghi Effendi in his book God Passes By clearly identified the Aghsan as the sons of Baha’u’llah and nowhere in the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha would He have stipulated that the Guardianship was restricted to one of Baha’u’llah’s sons or even to one of His descendants such as his grandsons and so on.
Nakhjavani, in the following paragraph, shamelessly and diabolically projects the lie that Shoghi Effendi did not mean what he wrote about the Guardianship or even that he meant it in an opposite way:
“So it is very clear that this passage in [the] ‘Dispensation’ cannot be saying that the Cause will be wounded or damaged unless there is an unbroken line of living Guardians during the entirety of the Dispensation. So, how are we to understand the paragraph?” Then he has added: “When one looks at the paragraph that immediately follows it, that is, the one that refers to the paralysis that would ensue if the World Order were ‘severed’ from the House of Justice, it is clear that Shoghi Effendi is simply describing, in dramatic language, the centrality and vital importance of these two institutions. Each, in turn, is anticipated to perform indispensable and essential functions.”
Comment:
It is not clear what Nakhjavani means in the above comment. It is better to read the following passage in which Shoghi Effendi outlines the respective origin, and the authority, functions, purposes, prerogatives and objectives of these twin Institutions, and the relationship that exists between—“these two inseparable institutions—the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice (i.e. the legitimate UHJ ): “It should be stated, at the very outset, in clear and unambiguous language, that these twin institutions of the Administrative Order of Baha’u’llah should be regarded as divine in origin, essential in their functions and complementary in their aim and purpose. Their common, their fundamental object is to insure the continuity of that divinely-appointed authority which flows from the Source of our Faith, to safeguard the unity of its followers and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings. Acting in conjunction with each other these two inseparable institutions administer its affairs, coordinate its activities, promote its interests, execute its laws and defend its subsidiary institutions. Severally, each operates within a clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction; each is equipped with its own attendant institutions -- instruments designed for the effective discharge of its particular responsibilities and duties. Each exercises, within the limitations imposed upon it, its powers, its authority, its rights and prerogatives. These are neither contradictory, nor detract in the slightest degree from the position which each of these institutions occupies. Far from being incompatible or mutually destructive, they supplement each other's authority and functions, and are permanently and fundamentally united in their aims.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 148)
Every person who calls him/herself a Baha’i should know that in the Baha’i Faith interpretation of the sacred and authoritative writings is the exclusive authority of the Guardians of the Faith. In the following passage Nakhjavani diabolically and deceitfully tries to manipulate and pervert the writings of the first Guardian through unauthorized and erroneous interpretations with the intention of changing the meanings of the writings of Shoghi Effendi, who invariably expresses himself “in clear and unambiguous language”. (Five COMMENTS below are from Nakhjavani, in response to these COMMENTS I will distinguish my comments as ‘Nosrat’s comment’)
Nakhjavani has written:
“We therefore need to consider and analyze the various points Shoghi Effendi has made and relate them to the period of his ministry, considering what his absence would have entailed. We set forth the points in brief, followed by comments: 1. Without the Guardianship, the World Order would be deprived of the hereditary principle. COMMENT: The 36 years of the Guardianship certainly endowed the World Order with this eminent grace.”
Nosrat’s comment:
Quoted below is the statement of Shoghi Effendi which Nakhjavani has rephrased above in conspicuously omitting reference to the mutilation of the World Order that would be caused in the absence of the Guardianship. “Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Baha’u’llah would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle” The World Order of Baha’u’llah as Shoghi Effendi has explained “is as yet unborn.” On the other hand, the hereditary principle insures continuity throughout the entire Dispensation of Baha’u’llah with the flow of guidance of God coming through the Guardians, not only during the period of the ministry of the first Guardian (that lasted 36 years) but throughout the entire Dispensation of Baha’u’llah which has been promised to endure not less than a full thousand years.
Nakhjavani has written:
“2. Without the Guardianship, the World Order would have been beset by peril and danger. COMMENT: If ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament had not installed the Office of the Guardianship as His immediate Successor, Mírzá Muhammad-‘Alí would have played havoc with the community, using the Book of the Covenant to advance his case.
Nosrat’s comment:
Following is Shoghi Effendi’s statement that Nakhjavani has changed above to suit his evil intention: “Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered.” It is obvious that Shoghi Effendi expressed his warning in the above sentence about the peril that would face the “Faith” without the Guardianship and Nakhjavani has changed the word “Faith” to “the World Order.” Also it is obvious that the above explanation refers to a continuing peril and not solely about a past one and that Nakhjavani has altered Shoghi Effendi’s statement to satisfy his nefarious purpose. Moreover, he has shamelessly and diabolically accused Abdu’l Baha of writing the Charter of the New World Order and established the institution of Guardianship for the sole purpose of opposing Mirza Muhammad-Ali. Only an enemy of the Faith could write such a big falsehood. There is no doubt that the violation of the Covenant by the former hands and their man-made bogus UHJ has placed the Faith in danger and imperiled its integrity. The attitude of Nakhjavani provides stark evidence of this.
Nakhjavani has written:
“3. Without the Guardianship the prestige of the World Order would have suffered. COMMENT: By making the Guardian the “sacred head” (WT 14) of the House of Justice, and because of the provision that the Guardian “cannot override the decisions” of the Universal House of Justice (WOB 150), ‘Abdu’l-Bahá enhanced the prestige of the Supreme Body (WOB 8).”
Nosrat’s comment:
Nakhjavani has failed to point out that while the Guardian “cannot override the decisions” of the Universal House of Justice, Shoghi Effendi has stated that he “is bound to insist upon a reconsideration by them of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the meaning and to depart from the spirit of Baha’u’llah’s revealed utterances,”* a requirement with which they will faithfully certainly comply and additionally furnishes clear proof that this body is subject to error and is therefore fallible without the presence of the living Guardian of the Faith. *(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 150) Again, Nakhjavani is guilty of making another alteration of Shoghi Effendi’s words quoted in paragraph “3” above which should have reads as follows: “Without such an institution [the Guardianship] the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer. . . .” It is evident Shoghi Effendi wrote the above statement about the prestige of the “Faith” and Nakhjavani again has changed it to the “World Order” and in a very subtle way has attempted to decrease the importance and essentiality of the Guardianship in the emphasis he has placed on “the prestige of the Supreme Body” despite the grossly deformed, headless, and dummy body that it presently is. Without the “sacred head”—the Guardian of the Cause of God—presiding over its deliberations this headless Body can no longer be identified as the “Supreme Body.” It is crystal clear that the prestige of the Universal House of Justice (i.e. the real one) and the Faith itself depends on the existence of the living Guardian as the “Center of the Cause” and the “sacred head” of the Universal House of Justice as confirmed in the following passage from the Will and Testament of’ Abdu’l-Baha. “the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 14) “the institution of Guardianship ... enhances the prestige of that exalted assembly, stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the continuity of its labors, without presuming in the slightest to infringe upon the inviolability of its clearly-defined sphere of jurisdiction.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 7) “To the integrity of this cardinal principle of our Faith the words, the deeds of its present and future Guardians must abundantly testify. By their conduct and example they must needs establish its truth upon an unassailable foundation and transmit to future generations unimpeachable evidences of its reality.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 150)
Nakhjavani has written:
4. Without the Guardianship the World Order would not have benefited from Shoghi Effendi’s breadth of vision. COMMENT: The Guardian’s book ‘God Passes By’ provides an historical panorama covering the first one hundred years of Baha’i history. Shoghi Effendi gives us an invaluable interpretation of this history and correlates it with the major events of the century. Thanks also to the Guardian's World Order letters, his entrancing vision of the future, and the steps which would lead to its realization, have been fully laid out for us.
Nosrat’s comment:
Following are the words of Shoghi Effendi which obviously Nakhjavani has totally changed in an insidious attempt to convey the impression that there is a finality in the steps that Shoghi Effendi had outlined and therefore there would be no further need for the guidance of future Guardians and in this way has detracted from its meaning: “Without such an institution [the Guardianship]… the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking,” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 148) Anyone with an average mind reading the above quotation will readily discern that these words of Shoghi Effendi do not apply to his own ministry but to the future of the Faith and “the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations”
Nakhjavani has written:
5. Without the Guardianship the elected institutions of the Faith, locally, nationally and internationally, would have been deprived of the Guardian's guidance. COMMENT: As already indicated above, Shoghi Effendi gave his guidance for the formulation of National and Local Bahá’í Constitutions. As to the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, in view of the provision that he “is debarred from laying down independently the constitution that must govern the organized activities of his fellow-members” (WOB 150), Shoghi Effendi made it clear in his ‘Dispensation’ that the two areas of authorized interpretation and binding legislation had been exclusively reserved to each of the two successive Successors of Baha’u’llah and Abdu’l-Baha, namely the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice respectively.”
Nosrat’s comment:
Following is what Shoghi Effendi has written and Nakhjavani has manipulated, interpreted, twisted and changed it to past tense: “Without such an institution [the Guardianship] … the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.” The above statement of Shoghi Effendi clearly and obviously indicates that there will be a continuing and essential need for future Guardians of the Faith to provide “THE NECESSARY GUIDANCE TO DEFINE THE SPHERE OF THE LEGISLATIVE ACTION” of a genuine Universal House of Justice and in their capacity as the Interpreters of the Word of God insure that its proposed legislative enactments will never “conflict with the meaning” or “depart from the spirit of Baha’u’llah’s revealed utterances.” Nakhjavani deceptively has tried to erroneously imply that the bogus UHJ is the successor of the first Guardian whereas such a false claim is in clear contradiction to the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha since according to that sacred document the successor of each Guardian is another Guardian, not the Universal House of Justice, much less the headless illegitimate body that he supports.
Nakhjavani’s further question:
“HOW CAN THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE DETERMINE THAT ITS ENACTMENTS DO NOT DEPART FROM THE SPIRIT OF THE TEACHINGS?”
Comment:
There is no doubt that Nakhjavani means the illegitimate headless body in Haifa that undeservedly calls itself the Universal House of Justice. In clear contradiction to the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha and the writings of the first Guardian, that headless body without the Guardian presiding as its “sacred head” was created by the former Hands, following the passing of Shoghi Effendi, in clear violation of the Covenant, so its existence is against and in opposition to the spirit of Baha’u’llah’s revealed utterances, for the sacred Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha: “Being the Child of the Covenant -- the Heir of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God -- the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha can no more be divorced from Him Who supplied the original and motivating impulse than from the One Who ultimately conceived it.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 143) The question above is wrong, irrelevant and pointless because the bogus so-called UHJ itself is wrong, misnamed and illegitimate so whatever it does is unauthorized and without foundation and lacks any legitimacy. But with regard to the real and legitimate Universal House of Justice, which, according to the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha, “the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body” the sphere of its legislative actions and enactments will be defined by this sacred Head and if, in the event that a majority of its members mistakenly should decide to pass an enactment that the Guardian perceives to be in conflict with the sacred and authoritative Writings of the Faith, the Guardian, will insist upon its reconsideration by them which they will certainly reconsider because “It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all … to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 10)
Now let’s see how Nakhjavani desperately has tried to deny the future need for the Guardianship as the “sacred head” of the UHJ when he writes:
“The statement in the ‘Dispensation’ which gives rise to this issue is the following: “the Guardian...cannot override the decision of the majority of his fellow members, but is bound to insist upon a reconsideration by them [members of the Universal House of Justice] of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the meaning or to depart from the spirit of Baha’u’llah’s revealed utterances.” (WOB 150) To understand adequately the implications of this statement, we must first consider the meaning or meanings of the word “enactment” or the word of which it is a derivative, namely “enact”. According to the Webster dictionary the verb “enact” is used when a “legal and authoritative act” is performed. It also implies the act of passing a “bill” or a legal draft into a law. It is obvious that in the sentence from the “Dispensation” quoted above, the first meaning is meant, because of the categorical statement, also in the same sentence, clearly affirming that when a final decision is taken, the Guardian “cannot override” or veto such a decision. Thus the issue of reconsideration is a step to be taken in the process of arriving at the final decision. This issue has been dealt with in the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice. In the absence of the Guardian, the Universal House of Justice has formally stated that among its “binding terms of reference” and the elements which constitute “its bedrock foundation”, are the “interpretations and expositions” of the Guardian. (CUHJ 4)” Furthermore in a letter dated 27 May 1966 the Universal House of Justice assures us that “a careful study of the Writings and interpretations on any subject on which the House of Justice proposes to legislate always precedes its act of legislation.” In the same letter the Universal House of Justice makes this further clear affirmation: “the Universal House of Justice, itself assured of divine guidance, is well aware of the absence of the Guardian and will approach all matters of legislation only when certain of its sphere of jurisdiction, a sphere which the Guardian confidently described as ‘clearly defined’.” (MUHJ 85) In the light of the above quotations, in my view, it should not be difficult to arrive at the conclusion that Shoghi Effendi’s statement in the ‘Dispensation’ could well be understood as a reminder of, and indeed an emphasis on, the imperative obligation to refer to his interpretations and expositions prior to any act of legislation. This assurance has been explicitly given to the Baha’i World in the statements quoted above from the writings of the Universal House of Justice.”
Comment:
The above reasoning of Nakhjavani while being disgusting is laughable, as he has quoted from the erroneous writings of the bogus UHJ whose statements are as invalid and unreliable as the propaganda and false pronouncements of some dictators who claim that they are legitimate and ruling democratically and that people of their country have freedom and are happy with their government, while in fact, if anybody wants to practice their human right or says something which the dictator doesn’t like to hear he faces jail and torture or even death. This man-made, headless and so-called UHJ doesn’t have the authority to legislate or enact laws because it lacks the living Guardian of the Cause of God as its sacred Head and distinguished member for life of that body and is thereby deprived of the guidance and interpretation of the living Guardian. Unity and integrity in the Faith depends on obedience to the living Guardian of the Faith “The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 10) Also, flexibility in the teachings of the Faith depends on the interpretations of the Guardians of the Cause of God. “It should be stated, at the very outset, in clear and unambiguous language, that these twin institutions of the Administrative Order of Baha’u’llah should be regarded as divine in origin, essential in their functions and complementary in their aim and purpose. Their common, their fundamental object is to INSURE THE CONTINUITY OF THAT DIVINELY-APPOINTED AUTHORITY WHICH FLOWS FROM THE SOURCE OF OUR FAITH, TO SAFEGUARD THE UNITY OF ITS FOLLOWERS AND TO MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY AND FLEXIBILITY OF ITS TEACHINGS.” (Emphasis added) (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 148)
Nakhjavani has written:
“WIDE RANGE OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OFFICE OF HEADSHIP, AS INVESTED IN THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE. Based on ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s and Shoghi Effendi’s writings these responsibilities include the following duties and powers:”
Comment:
Under the above title he has written 15 responsibilities, some of them perverted in the same manner as previously exposed and some that are the exclusive right and authority of the of the Guardians of the Faith. Nakhjavani, like his faithless colleagues, has failed to admit that, wherever in the sacred and authoritative writings of the Faith there is mention of the Universal House of Justice, reference is unquestionably being made to the real one as described by Abdu’l Baha in His sacred Will and Testament as found in the following passage: “By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.” (The Will and Testament, p. 13) It has been pointed out before that even a true and legitimate Universal House of Justice is not an “OFFICE OF HEADSHIP,” as stated by Nakhjavani above. Nowhere in the writings of Abdu’l Baha or Shoghi Effendi can be found the slightest characterization of this Body in those terms. Moreover Shoghi Effendi clearly explained in the following statement that this Body is but “one of the branches of the World Administrative Centre”: “The ‘sailing of the Ark’ of His laws is a reference to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, which is indeed the Seat of Legislation, one of the branches of the World Administrative Centre of the Baha’is on this Holy Mountain” (Naw Ruz 111-1954 to the Baha’is of the East -- translated from the Persian; published in "The Baha’i World", vol. XIV, p. 438) (Compilations, the Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 341)
Nakhjavani has written:
“As the Universal House of Justice is, after the Guardian, the Central Authority in the Cause, the body unto which “all things must be referred” (WT 14), it was able to create institutions to ensure the “discharge of the functions of protection and propagation” and to provide “for the receipt and disbursement of the Huququ’llah” (CUHJ 4). The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice outlines in five paragraphs what it considers to be “among the powers and duties with which the Universal House of Justice has been invested” (CUHJ 5). The contents of these paragraphs, without any exception, are based on, and have their roots in, Tablets revealed by Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha, as well as letters of Shoghi Effendi. They deal with the responsibilities of the Supreme Institution in such matters as preserving the sacred Texts, defending and protecting the Cause, proclaiming and propagating its Message, advancing its interests, promoting universal peace, ushering in the World Order of Baha’u’llah, safeguarding the personal rights, freedom and initiative of individuals, and promoting the advancement and betterment of the world. The last three paragraphs also enumerate the legislative, executive and judicial powers vested in the institution of the House of Justice.
Comment:
Nakhjavani pretends that this headless dummy which has been created by the former Hands, in an act of violation of the sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, is the successor of the first Guardian, blatantly ignoring the fact that the successor of the first Guardian of the Faith can be no one other than the second Guardian. For, according to the Will and Testament “It is incumbent upon the Guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor.” Where and when has Shoghi Effendi appointed the bogus UHJ as his successor? Additionally it should be pointed out that their constitution ascribes executive powers to this body that belongs solely to the Guardian according to the Will and Testament of’ Abdu’l-Baha who has stressed in this Document the desirable collaboration but the separation between the executive and legislative functions. In principle, according to the Will and Testament, the Guardians are designated as the “Center of the Cause.” The Cause of God has only one Center and that is the living Guardian of the Cause of God. As even a legitimate and real Universal House of Justice can never be the “Center of the Cause,” how then can a headless body be the Head or Center?
“Unto this body all things must be referred.” “This body” is none other than the true and legitimate Universal House of Justice, not the headless dummy body currently in Haifa; moreover this sentence doesn’t confer an authority of Headship. “Unto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved AND THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE OF GOD IS ITS SACRED HEAD AND THE DISTINGUISHED MEMBER FOR LIFE OF THAT BODY. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.”(emphasis added) (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 14) According to Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha and the writings of Shoghi Effendi responsibility for propagation and protection of the Faith resides in the institution of the Hands of the Cause who assume and perform these functions under the direction and guidance of the Guardian of the Cause of God. “O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his shadow and obey his command.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 12) “Hail emergence of the unfoldment in the opening years of the second epoch of the formative age of the Baha’i Dispensation of the august Institution foreshadowed by the Founder of the Faith and formally established in the Testament of the Center of His Covenant, closely associated in provisions of the same Will with Institution of the Guardianship, DESTINED TO ASSUME IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME, **UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE GUARDIAN**, THE DUAL SACRED RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROTECTION AND PROPAGATION OF THE CAUSE OF BAHA’U’LLAH. (emphasis added) (Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World - 1950-1957, p. 58)
The former Hands of the Cause who followed Ruhiyyih Khanum violated the Covenant of Baha’u’llah and opposed the Guardian of the Cause of God. In so doing, they not only deprived themselves of further Divine guidance but deposed themselves of their exalted rank at the very moment when they decided that they no longer wanted the continuance of the Guardianship. Then, in a further treacherous act against the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and the Faith of God, they directed that an illegitimate body be elected, in 1963, that, notwithstanding, the fact that it was headless, they named it the Universal House of Justice, a patently bogus institution that, in its turn, continued to deprive the now misled followers who supported them from access to: “THE CONTINUITY OF THAT DIVINELY-APPOINTED AUTHORITY WHICH FLOWS FROM THE SOURCE OF OUR FAITH.” They not only have arrogated to themselves privileges and powers which belong to a real and legitimate Universal House of Justice but have shamelessly tried to assume the authorities and rights which exclusively belong to the Guardian of the Faith, such as creating a substitute for the institution of the Hands of the Cause, producing erroneous and unauthorized interpretations and demanding receipt of the Huququ'llah (Right of God) which even a true and legitimate Universal House of Justice is not allowed to receive, for according to the explicit terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha it is submitted only to the Guardians of the Faith, as has been clearly explained by the first Guardian: "There is a difference between taxes and spiritual offerings. The House of Justice has certain revenues such as inheritance shares, fees and fines. These are the revenues which, according to the Aqdas, go directly, not to the Guardian, but to the House of Justice. BUT ACCORDING TO THE MASTER'S WILL, WHICH COMPLEMENTS THE AQDAS, THE HUQUQ GOES **ONLY** TO THE GUARDIAN." (Emphasis added) (Shoghi Effendi, Extracts from the USBN, No. 77 - Page 1-2) I must say that I think it is God’s Will that these notorious aggressors, by their nefarious conduct, have furnished ample proof of their wrongdoing and illegitimacy. Nakhjavani’s last irrational question is: “WHAT DOES UNCONDITIONAL OBEDIENCE IMPLY?” which is followed by a quotation: “Baha’u’llah in the thirteenth Glad-Tidings (Bishárát) wrote: “The men of God's House of Justice have been charged with the affairs of the people....Inasmuch as for each day there is a new problem and for every problem an expedient solution, such affairs should be referred to the Ministers of the House of Justice that they may act according to the needs and requirements of the time. They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen Kingdom. It is incumbent upon all to be obedient unto them.” (TAB 26-27) (This self-same passage is repeated in the Eighth Ishráq.)
Comment:
The complete passage is as following with the stress on parts which are not seen in the quotation by Nakhjavani:
“The men of God's House of Justice have been charged with the affairs of the people. THEY, IN TRUTH, ARE THE TRUSTEES OF GOD AMONG HIS SERVANTS AND THE DAYSPRINGS OF AUTHORITY IN HIS COUNTRIES. O PEOPLE OF GOD! THAT WHICH TRAINETH THE WORLD IS JUSTICE, FOR IT IS UPHELD BY TWO PILLARS, REWARD AND PUNISHMENT. THESE TWO PILLARS ARE THE SOURCES OF LIFE TO THE WORLD. Inasmuch as for each day there is a new problem and for every problem an expedient solution, such affairs should be referred to the Ministers of the House of Justice that they may act according to the needs and requirements of the time. They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen Kingdom. It is incumbent upon all to be obedient unto them. ALL MATTERS OF STATE SHOULD BE REFERRED TO THE HOUSE OF JUSTICE, BUT ACTS OF WORSHIP MUST BE OBSERVED ACCORDING TO THAT WHICH GOD HATH REVEALED IN HIS BOOK. (emphasis added) (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 26-27)
In the above passage Baha’u’llah simply mentions the “House of Justice” which needs authoritative interpretation to explain which level of House of Justice is meant, that is whether, International, National or Local? So there is need for guidance of the Guardian of the Cause of God. If the above passage refers the Universal House of Justice then it can’t be applied to the headless dummy established in Haifa because a true Universal House of Justice according to Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha must have the Guardian of the Faith as “its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body.”
Then Nakhjavani has written:
“Furthermore in the Eighth Leaf of Paradise we read: “It is incumbent upon the Trustees of the House of Justice to take counsel together….God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth, and He, verily is the Provider, the Omniscient.” (TAB 68)
Comment:
Following is the complete passage in which emphasis has added to the part that Nakhjavani has omitted: “It is incumbent upon the Trustees of the House of Justice to take counsel together REGARDING THOSE THINGS WHICH HAVE NOT OUTWARDLY BEEN REVEALED IN THE BOOK, AND TO ENFORCE THAT WHICH IS AGREEABLE TO THEM. God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth, and He, verily, is the Provider, the Omniscient.” (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 67) It is obvious that this passage does not apply to the current bogus UHJ. Moreover, even with reference to a real House of Justice, it should be noted that the above passage permits this body to legislate only “REGARDING THOSE THINGS WHICH HAVE NOT OUTWARDLY BEEN REVEALED IN THE BOOK,” and of course “God will verily inspire” a real Universal House of Justice over which “THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE OF GOD PRESIDES AS ITS SACRED HEAD AND THE DISTINGUISHED MEMBER FOR LIFE,”
Nakhjavani has written:
“We note in ‘Abdu’l-Baha's Will and Testament His insistent call to the friends to turn to the Universal House of Justice, and obey its directives. We read the following: “the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and established, [is] under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One [the Báb]….Whoso rebelleth...against them hath rebelled against God…., whoso contendeth with them hath contended with God” (WT 11).“
Comment:
Following is the complete passage from the sacred Will and Testament in which those parts depicted in capital letters have been nefariously deleted by Nakhjavani to mislead the readers into believing that it is not essential for the Guardian of the Cause of God to preside as the “sacred head” of this body by noticeably and deceitfully deleting the phrase “ARE BOTH” from the middle of the quotation and replacing it with [is] to complete his denial of the absolute essentiality of the Guardianship to this Institution and the necessity for fidelity to the living Guardian.
“THE SACRED AND YOUTHFUL BRANCH, THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE OF GOD, AS WELL AS the Universal House of Justice to be universally elected and established, ARE BOTH under the care and protection of the Abha Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of the Exalted One (MAY MY LIFE BE OFFERED UP FOR THEM BOTH). WHATSOEVER THEY DECIDE IS OF GOD. WHOSO OBEYETH HIM NOT, NEITHER OBEYETH THEM, HATH NOT OBEYED GOD; whoso rebelleth AGAINST HIM AND against them hath rebelled against God; WHOSO OPPOSETH HIM HATH OPPOSED GOD; whoso contendeth with them hath contended with God; WHOSO DISPUTETH WITH HIM HATH DISPUTED WITH GOD; WHOSO DENIETH HIM HATH DENIED GOD; WHOSO DISBELIEVETH IN HIM HATH DISBELIEVED IN GOD; WHOSO DEVIATETH, SEPARATETH HIMSELF AND TURNETH ASIDE FROM HIM HATH IN TRUTH DEVIATED, SEPARATED HIMSELF AND TURNED ASIDE FROM GOD. MAY THE WRATH, THE FIERCE INDIGNATION, THE VENGEANCE OF GOD REST UPON HIM” (emphasis added) (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 11)
Nakhjvani has displayed a shameful audacity in writing:
“We note in ‘Abdu’l-Baha's Will and Testament His insistent call to the friends to turn to the Universal House of Justice, and obey its directives.” Compare the above complete passage from the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, that applies to the real Universal House of Justice, with the illegitimate and bogus UHJ wherein he has deleted that part in ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Will in which, with specific reference to the both of these “twin institutions” of the Faith, He has stated: “WHOSO OBEYETH HIM NOT, NEITHER OBEYETH THEM, HATH NOT OBEYED GOD.“ is a stern warning that Nakhjavani and those like him who have disobeyed, rebelled, opposed, disputed, denied, disbelieved in and turn aside from the Guardian of the Cause of God, should well heed for He states: “MAY THE WRATH, THE FIERCE INDIGNATION, THE VENGEANCE OF GOD REST UPON HIM”.
Nakhjavani has quoted the following from the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha:
“That which this body….doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice and turned away from the Lord of the Covenant.” (WT 19-20)
Comment:
The most important part of the passage from the sacred Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha quoted above is found in the first paragraph which has been despicably disregarded by Nakhjavani is recorded below in capital letters “UNTO THE MOST HOLY BOOK EVERY ONE MUST TURN, AND ALL THAT IS NOT EXPRESSLY RECORDED THEREIN MUST BE REFERRED TO THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE. That which this body, WHETHER UNANIMOUSLY OR BY A MAJORITY DOTH carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice, and turned away from the Lord of the Covenant.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 19)
It is manifestly evident that “THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE“ referred to in the statement: “AND ALL THAT IS NOT EXPRESSLY RECORDED THEREIN MUST BE REFERRED TO THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE.” In like manner to all the other references in Abdu’l Baha’s Will and Testament to the Universal House of Justice they obviously apply to the true and real one in which the Guardian of the Cause of God presides as “ITS SACRED HEAD AND THE DISTINGUISHED MEMBER FOR LIFE OF THAT BODY” and is concerned with the legislative function of that supreme legislative body.
Nakhjavani has written:
“In one of His Tablets ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has furthermore written the following: “The Supreme House of Justice will take decisions and establish laws through the inspiration and confirmation of the Holy Spirit, because it is in the safekeeping and under the shelter and protection of the Ancient Beauty, and obedience to its decisions is a bounden and essential duty and an absolute obligation, and there is no escape for anyone.” (MUHJ 85) To confirm the sense of the above passages we read in Shoghi Effendi’s ‘Dispensation’, the following affirmation which corroborates Baha’u’llah’s and ‘Abdu’l- Baha’s statements on the inspiration and divine guidance which surround and overshadow the decisions of the Universal House of Justice. He writes: “the members of the Universal House of Justice, …and not the body of those who either directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients of the divine guidance which is at once the life-blood and ultimate safeguard of this Revelation.” (WOB 153)”
Comment:
The first quotation is a translation by the bogus UHJ which is not reliable but again, I reiterate, that readers must not forget the fact that whenever and wherever in the sacred and authoritative writings of the Faith there is mention of the Universal House of Justice it is a reference to a genuine and complete Universal House of Justice which is in accordance with the sacred provisions of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha, as stated in the following passage: “the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 13) The second quotation is small part of a segment in the “Dispensation of Baha’u’llah” in which the first Guardian discusses the Administrative Order and “the principle that must govern the operation of its chief institutions” “A word should now be said regarding the theory on which this Administrative Order is based and the principle that must govern the operation of its chief institutions. It would be utterly misleading to attempt a comparison between this unique, this divinely-conceived Order and any of the diverse systems which the minds of men, at various periods of their history, have contrived for the government of human institutions.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 152) “This new-born Administrative Order incorporates within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the three recognized forms of secular government, without being in any sense a mere replica of any one of them, and without introducing within its machinery any of the objectionable features which they inherently possess. It blends and harmonizes, as no government fashioned by mortal hands has as yet accomplished, the salutary truths which each of these systems undoubtedly contains without vitiating the integrity of those God-given verities on which it is ultimately founded.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 152)
The second quotation from the “World Order of Baha’u’llah” presented by Nakhjavani is followed by another paragraph in which the station and authority of the Guardians of the Faith in the Administrative Order has been explained: “MOREOVER, HE WHO SYMBOLIZES THE HEREDITARY PRINCIPLE IN THIS DISPENSATION HAS BEEN MADE THE INTERPRETER OF THE WORDS OF ITS AUTHOR, AND CEASES CONSEQUENTLY, BY VIRTUE OF THE ACTUAL AUTHORITY VESTED IN HIM, TO BE THE FIGUREHEAD INVARIABLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PREVAILING SYSTEMS OF CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHIES.” (emphasis added) (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 153) “They, and not the body of those who either directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients of THE DIVINE GUIDANCE WHICH IS AT ONCE THE LIFE-BLOOD AND ULTIMATE SAFEGUARD OF THIS REVELATION.” (emphasis added) No doubt that a real Universal House of Justice will receive inspiration and divine guidance through the living Guardian of the Cause of God as stressed by Shoghi Effendi in the following statement: “In this Dispensation, divine guidance flows on to us in this world after the Prophet's ascension, through first the Master, and then the Guardians.” (Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 33) And certainly the Guardianship is the: “Divinely-appointed authority which flows from the source of our Faith, to safeguard the unity of its followers and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings.” (Shoghi Effendi,The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 148)
And undeniably the “ultimate safeguard of this revelation.” Depends on obedience to the living Guardian of the Cause of God, as Abdu’l Baha has made quite clear in the following passage: “The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God. It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsan, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His Word and will become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 11)
Nakhjavani has written:
“From these explicit and authoritative statements we should know of a certainty that when divine inspiration is well-assured, obedience becomes a spiritual obligation. This theme is fully discussed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His ‘Some Answered Questions’: “Know that infallibility is of two kinds: essential infallibility and acquired infallibility…. Essential infallibility is peculiar to the supreme Manifestation, for it is His essential requirement…. But acquired infallibility is not a natural necessity; on the contrary, it is a ray of the bounty of infallibility which shines from the Sun of Reality….Thus many of the holy beings….were the mediators of grace between God and men. If God did not protect them from error, their error would cause believing souls to fall into error, and thus the foundations of the Religion of God would be overturned, which would not be fitting nor worthy of God….“…. For instance, the Universal House of Justice …. will be under the protection and the unerring guidance of God….Now the members of the House of Justice have not, individually, essential infallibility, but the body of the House of Justice is under the protection and unerring guidance of God; this is called conferred infallibility.” (SAQ 173) This statement made by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explicitly and certainly gives us the assurance that when an individual or institution, authorized in revealed sacred texts as freed from error, renders a decision or issues a directive requiring the friends to obey, the community of the faithful should be confident that such a decision or directive has been prompted and motivated by divine inspiration. Should this be otherwise, it would not only be unbecoming and unbefitting of a just God, but the result would certainly be the subversion of the very foundations of God’s Holy Faith. The friends of course realize that the objectives specified in the plans and messages of the Universal House of Justice are designed to help us in our direct teaching work. To the extent that we adhere to the wishes of the Supreme Body will we be the recipients of added confirmations and blessings.”
Comment:
It has been previously clearly explained that only the real and true Universal House of Justice can be “the recipients of the divine guidance” since “the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body.” It is obvious, therefore, that a man-made headless institution that has undeservedly arrogated to itself the same name is not able to receive that divine guidance. Abdu’l Baha has made the fact undeniable that it is not the name that preserves this body of elected people from error, but only because it has been “ESTABLISHED UNDER THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS.” This is the fact that Nakhjavani and his colleagues try to hide and this is why he has omitted the following part from the middle of the section that he has quoted: “FOR INSTANCE, THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE IF IT BE ESTABLISHED *UNDER THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS* -- WITH MEMBERS ELECTED FROM ALL THE PEOPLE -- THAT HOUSE OF JUSTICE WILL BE UNDER THE PROTECTION AND THE UNERRING GUIDANCE OF GOD.” . (Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 173) It remained for Abdu’l Baha in His Will and Testament to clearly set forth these “NECESSARY CONDITIONS” as applied to a true and real Universal House of Justice, the most important of which is that “the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body.” It is obvious, therefore, that the only similarity that the bogus UHJ currently in Haifa to the true Universal House of Justice is in its name. In the next paragraph in “Some Answered Questions” (p. 173), Abdu’l Baha again emphasizes “IF THAT HOUSE OF JUSTICE SHALL DECIDE UNANIMOUSLY, OR BY A MAJORITY, UPON ANY QUESTION NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOK, THAT DECISION AND COMMAND WILL BE GUARDED FROM MISTAKE.” The phrase: “IF THAT HOUSE OF JUSTICE,” again makes it very clear that it is only the House of Justice which has been “ESTABLISHED UNDER THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS,” i.e. the one in which “THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE OF GOD IS ITS SACRED HEAD AND THE DISTINGUISHED MEMBER FOR LIFE OF THAT BODY” that “WILL BE GUARDED FROM MISTAKE.” (emphasis added) There is no doubt that even the elected members of a real Universal House of Justice are not only fallible but the possibility exists that a member may “commit a sin, injurious to the common weal” as foreseen by Abdu’l Baha in His sacred Will and Testament, in which case the Guardian has been endowed with the exclusive authority to expel such a member and thereby assure the preservation of the real Universal House of Justice from corruption: “Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 13) “NOW THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF JUSTICE HAVE NOT, INDIVIDUALLY, ESSENTIAL INFALLIBILITY; BUT THE BODY OF THE HOUSE OF JUSTICE IS UNDER THE PROTECTION AND UNERRING GUIDANCE OF GOD: THIS IS CALLED CONFERRED INFALLIBILITY.” (emphasis added) (Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 173) “THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE” includes its “sacred head,” the Guardian of the Cause of God, who has “acquired infallibility” and is the mediator of grace between God and mankind, with his authoritative interpretations, who is endowed with “the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action” and, as a result of this guidance, infallibility is conferred upon that body. Following is the complete passage from “Some Answered Questions” in which the parts that Nakhjavani has omitted appear in capital letters: “Know that infallibility is of two kinds: essential infallibility and acquired infallibility. IN LIKE MANNER THERE IS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE; AND SO IT IS WITH OTHER NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. Essential infallibility is peculiar to the supreme Manifestation, for it is His essential requirement, AND AN ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENT CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM THE THING ITSELF. THE RAYS ARE THE ESSENTIAL NECESSITY OF THE SUN AND ARE INSEPARABLE FROM IT. KNOWLEDGE IS AN ESSENTIAL NECESSITY OF GOD AND IS INSEPARABLE FROM HIM. POWER IS AN ESSENTIAL NECESSITY OF GOD AND IS INSEPARABLE FROM HIM. IF IT COULD BE SEPARATED FROM HIM, HE WOULD NOT BE GOD. IF THE RAYS COULD BE SEPARATED FROM THE SUN, IT WOULD NOT BE THE SUN. THEREFORE, IF ONE IMAGINES SEPARATION OF THE MOST GREAT INFALLIBILITY FROM THE SUPREME MANIFESTATION, HE WOULD NOT BE THE SUPREME MANIFESTATION, AND HE WOULD LACK THE ESSENTIAL PERFECTIONS. “But acquired infallibility is not a natural necessity; on the contrary, it is a ray of the bounty of infallibility which shines from the Sun of Reality UPON HEARTS, AND GRANTS A SHARE AND PORTION OF ITSELF TO SOULS. ALTHOUGH THESE SOULS HAVE NOT ESSENTIAL INFALLIBILITY, STILL THEY ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF GOD -- THAT IS TO SAY, GOD PRESERVES THEM FROM ERROR. Thus many of the holy beings WHO WERE NOT DAWNING-POINTS OF THE MOST GREAT INFALLIBILITY, WERE YET KEPT AND PRESERVED FROM ERROR UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE PROTECTION AND GUARDIANSHIP OF GOD, FOR THEY were the mediators of grace between God and men. If God did not protect them from error, their error would cause believing souls to fall into error, and thus the foundation of the Religion of God would be overturned, which would not be fitting nor worthy of God. TO EPITOMIZE: ESSENTIAL INFALLIBILITY BELONGS ESPECIALLY TO THE SUPREME MANIFESTATIONS, AND ACQUIRED INFALLIBILITY IS GRANTED TO EVERY HOLY SOUL. For instance, the Universal House of Justice IF IT BE ESTABLISHED UNDER THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS -- WITH MEMBERS ELECTED FROM ALL THE PEOPLE -- THAT HOUSE OF JUSTICE will be under the protection and the unerring guidance of God. IF THAT HOUSE OF JUSTICE SHALL DECIDE UNANIMOUSLY, OR BY A MAJORITY, UPON ANY QUESTION NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOK, THAT DECISION AND COMMAND WILL BE GUARDED FROM MISTAKE. Now the members of the House of Justice have not, individually, essential infallibility; but the body of the House of Justice is under the protection and unerring guidance of God: this is called conferred infallibility.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 172)
Conclusion:
(Emphasis has been added where considered appropriate)
As Nakhjavani apparently believes that the current headless dummy body in Haifa, which undeservedly has arrogated to itself the name: Universal House of Justice, is a legitimate body (sometimes by repeating a lie the liar actually comes to believe it himself) he has attempted to give legitimacy to the bogus UHJ but he has been unable to compare or show any similarity of this body to the true Universal House of Justice described by Abdu’l Baha in His sacred Will and Testament. Of course, not he, nor can anyone else make such a comparison, as there is no resemblance between these two bodies. Does the bogus UHJ have a Guardian of the Cause of God as “its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body,” as prescribed by ‘Abdu’l-Baha? Definitely not. Has it been “elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the BELIEVER. Its members must be manifestations of the fear of God and daysprings of knowledge and understanding, MUST BE STEADFAST IN GOD'S FAITH and the well-wishers of all mankind.”? No, because neither the electors nor the elected members can match the criteria that Shoghi Effendi, the first Guardian of the Cause of God, has explained as the “qualifications of a true believer” in the following statement: “I would only venture to state very briefly and as adequately as present circumstances permit the principal factors that must be taken into consideration before deciding whether a person may be regarded a true believer or not. Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author, and the True Exemplar of the Baha'i Cause, as set forth in 'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloved's sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of the present day Baha'i administration throughout the world” (Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration, p. 90)
Following is the prescription of Abdu’l Baha for establishment of a true Universal House of Justice in His sacred Will and Testament “the Charter of the New World Order”:
“And now, concerning the House of Justice which God hath ordained as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must be elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. Its members must be manifestations of the fear of God and daysprings of knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God's faith and the well-wishers of all mankind. By this House is meant the Universal House of Justice, that is, in all countries a secondary House of Justice must be instituted, and these secondary Houses of Justice must elect the members of the Universal one. Unto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the Guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 14)
Nakhjavani, like the other leaders of the illegitimate heterodox organization, being unable to find any similarity between their man-made bogus UHJ and the real Universal House of Justice delineated by Abdu’l Baha in the above quotation, instead of admitting his guilt and asking forgiveness from the people whom he has misled, he has tried to manipulate the sacred and authoritative writings of the Faith and pervert their meanings through the means of unauthorized and erroneous interpretations. At the same time, because the existence of such a headless and bogus body is contradictory to the provisions of the sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and the writings of Shoghi Effendi, he has tried to discredit those sacred and authoritative documents to the extent of pretending that their Authors did not actually mean what they wrote and even that they had really meant the opposite of what they had written. Not even content with this shameful act, at this point, he committed further transgressions against the Most Holy Book as was exposed in this document. I feel it is necessary to write some words regarding tests. Every revelation of God comes with tests and trials so that the steadfast, firm and sincere souls may be distinguished from the weak and feeble in faith. “O SON OF BEING! Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants.” (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words) “The tests of every dispensation are in direct proportion to the greatness of the Cause, and as heretofore such a manifest Covenant, written by the Supreme Pen, hath not been entered upon, the tests are proportionately more severe. These trials cause the feeble souls to waver while those who are firm are not affected.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 210) “O maid-servant of God! Verily the Cause is great and great! Regiments and regiments enter therein! Some people must necessarily turn their backs upon it, on account of their lack of sincerity in the Cause of God and for their selfishness and egotism.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 290) In the Dispensation of Baha’u’llah tests are very severe. In the Dispensation of Islam, after the Prophet’s passing, only a few people passed the test and the majority of Muslims failed to recognize the interpreter of the Word and said 'The Book of God is sufficient for us.' Following is a quotation from the book “Revelation of Baha'u'llah” written by Adib Taherzadeh, another former member of the bogus UHJ in which he has summarized the following from the statement made by 'Abdu'l-Baha in a Tablet known as Lawh-i-Hizar-Bayti (Tablet of One Thousand Verses), one of His most important Tablets concerning the Covenant. “‘Umar repudiated Ali and his position as the 'Interpreter of the Qur’an, saying: 'The Book of God is sufficient for us.' 'Abdu'l-Baha has explained that these few words, embodying the forces of negation, were so potent that they became the prime factor in precipitating all the discord and bloodshed in the Islamic Dispensation. They caused the martyrdom of Imam Ali and His illustrious son, Imam Husain. They gave rise to untold sufferings and death for countless devoted souls within the Islamic fold. The effect of these words, according to 'Abdu'l-Baha’s testimony, was so far-reaching that a thousand years later it brought about the martyrdom of the Bab and all the sufferings of Baha’u’llah.’ When man opposes the plan of God, the course of history changes. Who knows what further blessings would have been vouchsafed to mankind in general, and to Islam in particular, if the followers of Muhammad had remained faithful to Ali. For it was he who was endowed with divine guidance and through his unopposed leadership Islam could have exerted a far greater influence upon the peoples of the world.” (The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 1, p. 127) After the passing of the first Guardian, Ruhiyyih Khanum, the Arch Covenant-breaker, and those who followed her, despite their knowledge of what had transpired in Islam, stand forever condemned of doing exactly the same as Umar had done in their rejection and repudiation of the appointed interpreter of the Word of God: the second Guardian of the Cause of God, and opposed the plan of God, “the New World Order which the mind of Baha’u’llah had visioned, and whose features the pen of 'Abdu'l-Baha, its perfect Architect has delineated.” Shoghi Effendi,The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 161)
The criminal violation of the Covenant by the former Hands of the Cause and their act of misleading the Baha’is is much greater than that committed by Umar and his collaborators that is evident from the following statement of the first Guardian: “It should be noted in this connection that this Administrative Order is fundamentally different from anything that any Prophet has previously established, inasmuch as Baha’u’llah has Himself revealed its principles, established its institutions, appointed the person to interpret His Word and conferred the necessary authority on the body designed to supplement and apply His legislative ordinances. Therein lies the secret of its strength, its fundamental distinction, and the guarantee against disintegration and schism. Nowhere in the sacred scriptures of any of the world's religious systems, nor even in the writings of the Inaugurator of the Babi Dispensation, do we find any provisions establishing a covenant or providing for an administrative order that can compare in scope and authority with those that lie at the very basis of the Baha’i Dispensation.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 144)
“Where, we may confidently ask, in the recorded sayings of Jesus Christ, whether in the matter of succession or in the provision of a set of specific laws and clearly defined administrative ordinances, as distinguished from purely spiritual principles, can we find anything approaching the detailed injunctions, laws and warnings that abound in the authenticated utterances of both Baha’u’llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha? Can any passage of the Qur’an, which in respect to its legal code, its administrative and devotional ordinances marks already a notable advance over previous and more corrupted Revelations, be construed as placing upon an unassailable basis the undoubted authority with which Muhammad had, verbally and on several occasions, invested His successor?” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 144)
Abdu’l Baha explains:
“To the loyal soul, a test is but God's grace and favour; for the valiant doth joyously press forward to furious battle on the field of anguish, when the coward, whimpering with fright, will tremble and shake. So too, the proficient student, who hath with great competence mastered his subjects and committed them to memory, will happily exhibit his skills before his examiners on the day of his tests. So too will solid gold wondrously gleam and shine out in the assayer's fire.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 181) What certain knowledge of, and indomitable faith in the indestructibility and absolute essentiality of the Institution of the Guardianship to the World Order of Baha’u’llah should the former Hands of the Cause been imbued, as they should have gained from the sacred provisions of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha and the writings of Shoghi Effendi, that would have enabled them to successfully pass the great test to which they were subjected upon the sudden and unexpected passing of Shoghi Effendi in November 1957? They should have known that nobody is allowed to change “the Administrative Order which the master-hand of its perfect Architect has fashioned.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 152)
LET NO ONE, WHILE THIS SYSTEM IS STILL IN ITS INFANCY, MISCONCEIVE ITS CHARACTER, BELITTLE ITS SIGNIFICANCE OR MISREPRESENT ITS PURPOSE. THE BEDROCK ON WHICH THIS ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER IS FOUNDED IS GOD'S IMMUTABLE PURPOSE FOR MANKIND IN THIS DAY. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than Baha’u’llah Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the Abha Kingdom. Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve are the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Its guiding principles are the truths which He Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 156) They should have known that they should not have disbelieved in Shoghi Effendi for: “whoso denieth him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in God” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 10) While they shamefully and falsely accused Shoghi Effendi of not being obedient to the provisions of the Will and Testament and had not fulfilled his most important and obligatory duty to appoint his successor: “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.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 11) They should have been assured that Shoghi Effendi had faithfully appointed his successor “in his own life-time” in accordance with the sacred Mandate of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and perceived that he had identified this successor in his appointment of him as the “sacred head” of the embryonic Universal House of Justice, (provisionally named The International Baha’i Council) a position that only the Guardian of the Faith can occupy. They should have known the dire consequences that would result from opposition to the second Guardian of the Cause of God for “He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His Word and will become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 11)
They should have known their own capacities and limitations; they should have realized that the continued existence of the Hands of the Cause depends on the existence of the Guardian of the Cause of God, for without the living Guardian of the Faith the institution and the station of the Hands of the Cause cannot exist, so from the very moment that they decided that they no longer wanted the Guardian of the Cause of God they stripped themselves from the privilege of being a Hand of the Cause. This fact is quite evident from the provisions of the Will and Testament: “O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God. ALL MUST BE UNDER HIS SHADOW AND OBEY HIS COMMAND. Should any, within or without the company of the Hands of the Cause of God disobey and seek division, the wrath of God and His vengeance will be upon him, for he will have caused a breach in the true Faith of God. The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote learning, to improve the character of all men and to be, at all times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things. They must manifest the fear of God by their conduct, their manners, their deeds and their words. THIS BODY OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD IS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE OF GOD. HE MUST CONTINUALLY URGE THEM TO STRIVE AND ENDEAVOR TO THE UTMOST OF THEIR ABILITY TO DIFFUSE THE SWEET SAVORS OF GOD, AND TO GUIDE ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD, FOR IT IS THE LIGHT OF DIVINE GUIDANCE THAT CAUSETH ALL THE UNIVERSE TO BE ILLUMINED. TO DISREGARD, THOUGH IT BE FOR A MOMENT, THIS ABSOLUTE COMMAND WHICH IS BINDING UPON EVERYONE, IS IN NO WISE PERMITTED, that the existent world may become even as the Abha Paradise, that the surface of the earth may become heavenly, that contention and conflict amidst peoples, kindreds, nations and governments may disappear, that all the dwellers on earth may become one people and one race, that the world may become even as one home.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 12)