Neither the Hands Nor the UHJ
Have the Authority to Overrule the Guardian

        On May 27, 1966, the sans-Guardian Universal House of Justice responded to a believer who had asked a number of questions regarding the relationship between the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, and in that response its members wrote about the necessity for the Hands of the Faith to confirm the Guardian's appointment of his successor. They wrote:

"To have made an appointment outside the clear and specific provisions of the Master's Will and Testament would obviously have been an impossible and unthinkable course of action for the Guardian, the divinely appointed upholder and defender of the Covenant. Moreover, that same Will had provided a clear means for the confirmation of the guardian's appointment of his successor, as you are aware. The nine Hands to be elected by the body of the Hands were to give their assent by secret ballot to the Guardian's choice. In 1957 the entire body of the Hands, after fully investigating the matter, announced that Shoghi Effendi had appointed no successor and left no will. This is documented and established."

        What the sans-Guardian body is implying by the preceding words is that following the death of Shoghi Effendi, the Hands of the Cause of God at that time decided on the basis of the evidence they then had in their possession that Shoghi Effendi had appointed no successor, and thus from that time on, any individual who might be identified as the second Guardian could not be accepted as the first Guardian's successor simply because they, the Hands, had voted against such a possibility. The sans-Guardian UHJ that was formed by the Hands of the Faith therefore provided its sanction to the view that the Hands of the Faith, following the death of the Guardian, actually had the power to overturn an appointment made by the Guardian.

        However, no individual or body of individuals within the Faith have the power to overrule the Guardian's appointment of his successor, either at the time of the appointment or at a later time. On page one of the American Bahá'í News of February 1955, under the title "Passage on Will and Testament" a statement written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi reads:

The statement in the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bahá does not imply that the Hands of the Cause of God have been given the authority to overrule the Guardian. 'Abdu'l-Bahá could not have provided for a conflict of authority in the Faith. This is obvious, in view of His own words, which you will find on page 13 (p. 11 of 1944 U.S. edition) of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. "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 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," etc.

        The statement of the sans-Guardian UHJ given at the outset of this article makes reference to these nine Hands who were to be elected and who were to give their assent to the Guardian's choice, noting that the "Will had provided a clear means for the confirmation of the guardian's appointment." What the sans- Guardian UHJ's statement does not mention is that when Shoghi Effendi proclaimed the establishment of the International Bahá'í Council, the embryonic Universal House of Justice, and then subsequently identified Mason Remey as that body's President, or head, there were no Hands of the Cause who had been appointed at that time, the first contingent of twelve Hands not having been appointed until 24 December 1951. Moreover, these were obviously not the "nine Hands" which the Guardian appoints to serve under him at the World Center as prescribed in the Will and Testament of the Master and who are the only Hands who are required to give their assent in secret ballot (as a protective certification) attesting to the validity of the appointment made by the Guardian. As a consequence, the provision of the Will which relates to the Hands' assent was not then in effect. But the fact that this body was not in existence on 9 January 1951 when Shoghi Effendi made his proclamation and his appointment does not make his announcement of his successor invalid. It simply means that that particular provision of the Will was not yet operational--just as certain other provisions of the Will (such as those related to the Universal House of Justice) had not yet come into operation.

        Because the confirmation of the Guardian's successor is to be made by the elected nine Hands of the Cause at the time the Guardian makes the appointment and because Shoghi Effendi made his appointment of his successor at a time when there were no Hands, through the instrumentality of his messages to the entire Bahá'í world he identified his successor to the Guardianship. No one within the Faith, including those who claim to be the Universal House of Justice, has the power to overrule that appointment, for the Universal House of Justice, as Shoghi Effendi stated in his "Dispensation," cannot "infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other [the Guardian of the Faith]."

        The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá provides that it is incumbent upon the Guardian of the Faith to appoint his successor in his own lifetime and not by testamentary document. Shoghi Effendi fulfilled that obligation when he appointed Mason Remey to be the President of the embryonic Universal House of Justice, since being the President, or head, of the Universal House of Justice is synonymous with being the Guardian of the Cause.