An historical analysis of critical transformations

CHAPTER VII

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE AND THE

QUESTION OF THE GUARDIANSHIP
The unexpected death of Shoghi Effendi of a heart attack on

the morning of November 4, 1957, in London, England, where he had gone

with his wife to order furniture for the interior of the International

Archives Building, thrust the Baha’i religion into a most critical situa-

tion, for adding to the grief connected with Shoghi Effendi’s passing was

the anxiety in the later realization that Shoghi Effendi apparently had

left no will appointing a successor.1
When Ruhiyyih Khanum, Shoghi Effendi’s widow, returned to Haifa

on November 15, 1957, she and four other hands of the cause seated with

wax and tape Shoghi Effendi’s safe and desk drawers, and on November 19,

nine hands chosen by Ruhiyyih Khanum made a thorough search through the

papers in the safe and desk and later signed a document testifying that no

will had been found.

The Baha’is were left in a grief-stricken and bewildered condi-

tion. They had no new leader to whom they might turn. The faith had

achieved such marvelous successes under Shoghi Effendi’s able direction:

the foundations of the administrative order were firmly laid; the Baha’i

ship was ready to sail into even more glorious conquests, but now there

was no captain at the helm.

Shoghi Effendi had noted in his book God Passes By that Baha’u-

’llah “lays upon every person the duty of writing a testament.”2 Had

Shoghi Effendi, himself, the head of the Baha’i faith, failed to comply

with this duty? How could Shoghi Effendi, who was so careful with every

minute detail in the administration of the faith and who, as Baha’is main-

tained, was divinely guided, especially in matters of supreme importance,

have failed to leave a will, naming a successor? If he did not plan to

name a successor in his last will, why did he not announce this to the

Baha’i world or at least leave some instructions on how the faith might

conduct its affairs being bereft of infallible guidance? Had Shoghi

Effendi left a will which was lost, stolen, or worse, deliberately de-

stroyed? Shoghi Effendi’s failure to write a will—or the failure to find

his will—naturally produced within the faith a crisis of the highest mag-

nitude.
The hands of the cause, who certified that Shoghi Effendi had

left no will and testament and likewise certified that he had left no

heir, in their historic proclamation to the Baha’is of East and West on

November 25, 1957, mentioned that all the Aghsan, male descendants of

Baha’u’llah, who might have been appointed, seeing that the guardian, him-

self, had no children, were either dead or declared by Shoghi Effendi to

be violators of the covenant, and indicated:

The first effect of the realization that no successor to Shoghi

Effendi could have been appointed by him was to plunge the Baha’is of

the Cause into the very abyss of despair. What must happen to the

world community of his devoted followers if the Leader, the Inspirer,

the Planner of all Baha’i activities in all countries and islands of

the seas could no longer fulfill his unique mission?3

The hands also suspected that “our implacable opponents may, and probably

will, unleash attacks, assuming in their ignorance that the Faith of

Baha’u’llah is weakened and defenceless.”4
In this grave crisis, the hands were conscious of two important

facts, (1) that Shoghi Effendi had passed away in the midst of their Ten

Year World Crusade and that they still had the guardian’s explicit direc-

tions as to the faith’s objectives until the termination of the world cru-

sade in 1963, (2) and that infallible guidance would devolve again upon

the faith once the Universal House of Justice came into existence, which

according to the Baha’i teachings, was to be under the protection of Baha’u-

’llah.
THE FAITH UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE GUARDIANS

Until the Universal House of Justice could be formed, the hands

of the cause assumed the direction of the faith. Five conclaves were held

by the hands between Shoghi Effendi’s passing and the election of the

Universal House of Justice in 1963, and one additional conclave was

held at the time of its election. At the conclusion of each conclave, the

heads sent forth a message to the Baha’i world.

First Conclave of the Hands—November, 1957
Twenty-six of the twenty-seven hands of the cause gathered at

Bahji in November, 1957. Corinne True, at the age of ninety-six, was unable

to be present. ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s will and testament had indicated that the

hands were to elect nine of their number to “be occupied in the important

services in the work of the Guardian of the Cause of God.”5 The hands,

therefore, elected nine from their number, who were designated for legal

purposes as “Custodians of the Faith,” whom they charged

to exercise—subject to such directions and decisions as may be

given from time to time by us as the Chief Stewards of the Baha’i

World Faith—all such functions, rights and powers in succession

to the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, His Eminence the late Shoghi

Effendi, as are necessary to serve the interests of the Baha’i

World Faith, and this until such time as the Universal House of

Justice, upon being duly established and elected in conformity

with the Sacred Writings of Baha’u’llah and the Will and Testa-

ment of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, may otherwise determine.6

One of the nine nominated hands for this office and one of the twenty-six

hands signing the resolution in which the above words occur was Mason

Remey, president of the Baha’i International Council.
These twenty-six hands, then, issued their proclamation to the

Baha’is of East and West, noting the crisis into which the faith had been

plunged, encouraging them to continue the work of the Ten Year World Crusade,

announcing their appointment of the nine custodian hands, and indicating that

meanwhile:
The entire body of the Hands assembled by the nine Hands of the

World Center will decide when and how the International Baha’i

Council is to evolve through the successive stages outlined by

the Guardian, culminating in the call to election of the Univer-

sal House of Justice by the membership of all National Spiritual

Assemblies.

When that divinely ordained body comes into existence, all

the conditions of the Faith can be examined anew and the measures

necessary for its future operation determined in consultation with

the Hands of the Cause.7

This proclamation was signed also by all twenty-six hands of the cause.
Second Conclave of the Hands—November, 1958
Twenty-five of the twenty-seven hands met again in the mansion

of Baha’u’llah at Bahji. In their message to the Baha’is, the hands again

encouraged the Baha’is to attain the goals set for them in the world cru-

sade and expressed their confidence that the Baha’is

fully aware of the gravity of the crisis facing them, and unified

as never before by the sacrifice of the life of our beloved Guardian,

will arise as one soul in may bodies in a mighty forward surge to

complete as an immortal monument to his memory the triumph of the

holy Crusade.8
The hands then indicated their plan that upon the foundation of that

victory
there will be raised up the crowning glory of all the Universal

House of Justice, and once again a precious source of divine infal-

libility will return to the earth with the establishment of that

Supreme Body on the occasion of the Most Great Jubilee in 1963—

the World Congress called by our beloved Guardian himself, a glorious

and befitting fulfillment of his life of complete sacrifice.9
Third Conclave of the Hands—October-November, 1959
In their message from the third conclave, the hands announced

that they had formulated a “plan of action which will enable the Baha’i

world to establish the Universal House of Justice in 1963.” The plan

called for the election in Ridvan, 1961, of twenty-one national spiritual

assemblies in Latin America, for the election of eleven national assemblies

in Europe and on in Ceylon by Ridvan 1962. The hands also announced

that in Ridvan, 1963, members of all national and regional spiritual assem-

blies, duly constituted in Ridvan, 1960, would elect nine members to the

International Baha’i Council, who would serve a two-year term ending in

1963 with the election of the Universal House of Justice. The hands recal-

led their previous announcement that when this body comes into existence

it can examine anew, in consultation with the hands, all the conditions in

the faith and noted that this would include “the question of the Guardian-

ship.”10

Fourth Conclave of the Hands—October-November, 1960
The hands announced that hands of the cause had reached a

point in their development where they could no longer operate on a

regional basis alone and “must render their services on a global scale.”

The hands indicated also that the International Baha’i Council which

would be elected the following year would be given certain additional

administrative duties to those announced last year.11

The message from the fourth conclave noted also that the world-

wide Baha’i community had risen to “new heights of accomplishment,” al-

though “faced by yet another severe test during the past year.”12 The

“severe test” was the claim advanced in March, 1960, by Mason Remey of

being the second guardian of the faith in succession to Shoghi Effendi.

Remey succeeded in gaining a certain following and subsequently was

expelled from the faith by the hands. Remey’s story will be treated

later in the chapter. Among the powers given to the nine custodian

hands in 1957 by the entire body of the hands was authority “to expell

from the Faith violators of the Covenant.”13

Fifth Conclave of the Hands—October-November, 1961
The hands announced that on the first, second, and third days

of Ridvan, 1963, the members of all national and regional spiritual

assemblies elected in Ridvan, 1962, would constitute the electoral body

to vote for the members of the Universal House of Justice and that all

male voting Baha’is would be eligible for election to this supreme body.

They also announced that the world congress would not be held in Baghdad,

as first proposed, but in London, England, where Shoghi Effendi is

buried.14

Sixth Conclave of the Hands—April-May, 1963
In the central hall of the home of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Shoghi

Effendi in Haifa, the hands assembled for their sixth annual conclave.

Also present were over 300 members of fifty-six national and regional

assemblies of the Baha’i world. On this historic occasion, the members

of these assemblies elected the first Universal House of Justice, compris-

ing nine men, which is today the highest administrative body of the Baha’i

world and considered by Baha’is as being infallible in its decisions.
The hands announced in a cable to all national assemblies on

April 22, 1963, the election of the Universal House of Justice.

At the conclave, the hands also established a body of five hands

to remain in Haifa to assist the Universal House of Justice in whatever

way the House deemed advisable, and the five hands were given power to act

on behalf of the lands in transferring to the House any general powers,

properties, or funds held by the custodian hands. Changes were made also

in the assignment of hands to various continents, and a cable issued indi-

cating that the hands desired now to devote their efforts to the protection

and propagation of the faith according to their functions as described in

the Baha’i scriptures.15
As can be seen in the actions of the hands between the death of

Shoghi Effendi and the election of the Universal House of Justice, the

hands assumed powers and activities formerly held and conducted by the

guardian alone. They directed through cablegrams the affairs of the faith

after the manner of the guardian; they elected nine of their number to

exercise, subject to their directions, all such functions, rights,

and powers in succession to the guardian … as are necessary to serve

the interests of the faith”; they also enlarged the sphere of their

activities to a global scale and later reassigned their appointments;

and even assumed the right to expel from the faith those whom they deemed

violators of the covenant, a right that Shoghi Effendi “never permitted

anyone else to exercise”16 besides himself, for, as it was stated during

his lifetime, “no one has the right to excommunicate anybody except the

Guardian of the Faith, himself.”17

The hands, thus, as “the Chief Stewards of Baha’u’llah’s embryo-

nic World Commonwealth,”18 a designation given to them by Shoghi Effendi

in his last message to the Baha’i world before his death, assumed tem-

porarily the control of the faith until the election of the Universal

House of Justice, at which time they resumed their duties as outlined in

the Baha’i scriptures.

THE TRANSFORMATION BY THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
One of the important questions facing the Universal House of

Justice after it came into power in April, 1963, was the question of the

guardianship, which the hands had indicated could be reexamined by the

infallible House of Justice once it came into power. Could this body

appoint a guardian or enact laws to make possible the appointment of

another guardian? In an historic cablegram, October 6, 1963, the Univer-

sal House of Justice, announced:
After prayerful and careful study of the Holy Texts bearing

upon the question of the appointment of the successor to Shoghi

Effendi as Guardian of the Cause of God, and after prolonged con-

sultation which included consideration of the views of the Hands

of the Cause of God residing in the Holy Land, the Universal House

of Justice finds that the is no way to appoint or legislate to make

it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi.19
The Universal House of Justice turned its energies to the prosecu-

tion of the Nine Year Plan (1964-73), which occupied much of its concern,

but the question of the guardianship was not a settled issue for some

Baha’is. In a message to one of the national assemblies, March 9, 1965,

the Universal House of Justice addressed certain questions concerning the

guardianship and its own authority as the supreme administrative body. The

House indicated that the international administration of the faith by the

hands of the cause prior to its election was “in accordance with” Shoghi

Effendi’s designation of them as the “Chief Stewards of Baha’u’llah’s

embryonic World Commonwealth” and insisted that “there is nothing in the

Texts to indicate that the election of the Universal House of Justice

could be called only by the Guardian.”20

In a later message, May 27, 1966, the House of Justice, in respond-

ing to a letter by an individual believer, indicated, contrary to the sug-

gestion by the believer that “certain information concerning the succession

to Shoghi Effendi” was being withheld for the good of the cause, that

“nothing whatsoever is being withheld from the friends for whatever

reason,”21 pointing out that no one could have been appointed in accordance

with ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s will. The House also maintained:
The fact that Shoghi Effendi did not leave a will cannot be

adduced as evidence of his failure to obey Baha’u’llah—rather should

we acknowledge that in his very silence there is a wisdom and a sign

of his infallible guidance. We should ponder deeply the writings

that we have, and seek to understand the multitudinous significances

that they contain.22

The gravity of the crisis which struck the Baha’i faith after

the passing of Shoghi Effendi in the realization that the guardian had

not left a will and testament appointing a successor, or that at least a

will had not been found, and the significance of the transformation in

the faith by the announcement of the Universal house of Justice that no

guardian could be appointed can be appreciated only by realizing how

essential the guardianship was conceived to be in Baha’i documents and

writings.

The Baha’i claim that it is a religion which could not be torn

apart by schism rested primarily in the idea of the covenant, which provided

that the leadership of the faith would be passed on from generation to gene-

ration by a succession of appointed leaders whose authoritative voice,

especially in the interpretation of the holy texts, so often a cause of

differences within religions, would settle all questions and quell all dis-

sent.
‘Abdu’l-Baha, in his will and testament, considered the “Charter”

of the new world order, stressed: “It is incumbent upon the guardian of

the Cause of God to appoint in his own lifetime him that small become his

successor that differences may not arise after his passing.”23 Shoghi

Effendi described the state of the faith without the institution 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 which, as ‘Abdu’l-Baha has written, has

been invariably upheld by the Law of God. … Without such an insti-

tution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stabili-

ty 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 legis-

lative action of its elected representatives would be totally with-

drawn.24
No less essential to the faith is the Universal House of Justice.

The guardianship and the Universal House of Justice are termed “the twin

institutions of the Administrative Order of Baha’u’llah,” and Shoghi

Effendi maintains, “should be regarded as divine in origin, essential in

their functions and complementary in their aim and purpose.” He refers

to them as “two inseparable institutions” and “each operates within a

clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction.”25 The guardian holds the right

of interpreting the revealed word, whereas the Universal House of Justice

has powers of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the sacred

texts.26 Shoghi Effendi elsewhere discussed the importance of the guardian-

ship to the Universal House of Justice:
It 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.27

George Townshend expressed his view of the importance of the

guardianship:

Interpretation of the Word, which has always been the fertile

source of schism in the past, is thus taken once and for all time,

into His own hands by Baha’u’llah, and none other but His appointed

Guardian, whom He guides, can fulfil this function. This is the

secret of the unbreakable unity of the Baha’i Faith and its entire

and blessed lack of sects.28

Townshend saw the institution of the guardianship as a fulfillment of

scripture and as the means whereby God would direct his people:

When it is written that “the government shall be upon his shoulder”

the reference can be to the Guardian only and the continuing “forever”

of his sovereignty can only be referred to the lineage of succeeding

Guardians. For this is the means—the Covenant—which the Lord of

Hosts has designed to discharge His supreme mission, and the way in

which God Himself shall rule His people.29

Marzieh Gail saw the guardianship as providing a focus for human love

which would be incapable of being directed to a group of men:

The secret of Baha’i strength is the tie between the individual

and the Guardian. We obey our elected representatives, our Local and

National Spiritual Assemblies, because our interest is centered in him.

We could not gear our emotions to our chosen representatives, we could

not suffer and sacrifice and die for them; because they are many, he is

one; they change, he endures; they are our creation, he is Baha’u’-

llah’s. If—as is inconceivable—human love and loyalty were capable

of focusing on a group of men—then American Baha’is would center in

their representatives, and Persian Baha’is in theirs, and there would

be no higher devotion to hold the Baha’i world together. The memory

of Baha’u’llah would be with us, yes, but not the day-to-day expression

of His will. We would go the way of other religions, into hatred and

schism and war. Because of the Guardianship, then, I believe in the

Baha’i plan for establishing a world federation.30

The essentiality of the guardianship as a continuing institution

in the Baha’i faith could be expressed in no more forceful words than those

of Ruhiyyih Khanum:
The institution of the Guardianship—tied into the fabric of the

Faith by ‘Abdu’l-Baha through His Will in a knot no amount of per-

severance and ingenuity can undo—has, as it was destined to do,

effectively prevented any division or schism in the Baha’i ranks.31

The principle of successorship, endowed with the right of Divine

interpretation, is the very hub of the Cause into which its Doctrines

and Laws fit like the spokes of a wheel—tear out the hub and you

have to throw away the whole thing. This is why our enemies, for a

hundred years, failed to establish anything outside the Faith which

could thrive or prosper.32

The above quotations from various Baha’i writings reveal the

absolute essentiality of the hereditary guardianship in the thought of

Baha’is before Shoghi Effendi’s death. They saw the continuing guardian-

ship, with its rights of infallible interpretation of Baha’i scripture,

as the prime reason for Baha’i unity and the safeguard guaranteeing that the

faith would not be plagued with schism. But what “no amount of perse-

verance and ingenuity” could do in untyieing the hereditary guardianship

from the faith was done through the historical circumstances that the

guardian had excommunicated in Baha’u’llah’s family all possible candidates

to the succession and seemingly had left no will thus appointing a succes-