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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Universal House of Justice, Research Department, The Universal House of Justice, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Universal House of Justice
> A Compilation Prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice
> February 2021
> 
> ***
> From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> From the Writings and Utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> From the Writings and Letters of Shoghi Effendi
> From the Constitution and Letters of the Universal House of Justice
> Index
> Notes
> 
> ***
> 
> From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> 1.1        The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great,
> this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this
> unique, this wondrous System—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.
> (The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 181)
> 
> 2.1   O ye Men of Justice! Be ye, in the realm of God, shepherds unto His sheep and guard them from
> the ravening wolves that have appeared in disguise, even as ye would guard your own sons. Thus
> exhorteth you the Counselor, the Faithful.
> (The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 52)
> 
> 3.1        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 Ag͟hṣán, and after them to the House of Justice—should it be
> established in the world 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 Bahá 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.
> (The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 42)
> 
> 4.1   “Render thanks unto thy Lord, O Carmel. The fire of thy separation from Me was fast consuming
> thee, when the ocean of My presence surged before thy face, cheering thine eyes and those of all
> creation, and filling with delight all things visible and invisible. Rejoice, for God hath in this Day
> established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the
> dayspring of the evidences of His Revelation. Well is it with him that circleth around thee, that
> proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and recounteth that which the bounty of the Lord thy
> God hath showered upon thee. Seize thou the Chalice of Immortality in the name of thy Lord, the
> All-Glorious, and give thanks unto Him, inasmuch as He, in token of His mercy unto thee, hath
> turned thy sorrow into gladness, and transmuted thy grief into blissful joy. He, verily, loveth the
> spot which hath been made the seat of His throne, which His footsteps have trodden, which hath
> been honoured by His presence, from which He raised His call, and upon which He shed His
> tears.
> 
> 4.2        “Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal
> eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendour is
> revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that
> hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the
> favoured of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels. Oh, how I long to
> announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the
> glad-tidings of this Revelation—a Revelation to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and
> in whose name the Burning Bush is calling: ‘Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of
> earth and heaven.’ Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement,
> the Day for which have been laid up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of
> mortal mind or heart, hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and
> will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.”
> (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing
> Trust, 1988, 2005 printing), pp. 4–5)
> 
> 5.1       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.
> (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 68)
> 
> 6.1        We exhort the men of the House of Justice and command them to ensure the protection and
> safeguarding of men, women and children. It is incumbent upon them to have the utmost regard
> for the interests of the people at all times and under all conditions.
> (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 69–70)
> 
> 7.1   It is incumbent upon the men of God’s House of Justice to fix their gaze by day and by night upon
> that which hath shone forth from the Pen of Glory for the training of peoples, the upbuilding of
> nations, the protection of man and the safeguarding of his honour.
> (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 125)
> 
> 8.1       This passage, now written by the Pen of Glory, is accounted as part of the Most Holy Book:
> 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.
> 
> 8.2       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 House of Justice that the members thereof 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.
> (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 128–129)
> 
> 9.1   Religion bestoweth upon man the most precious of all gifts, offereth the cup of prosperity,
> imparteth eternal life, and showereth imperishable benefits upon mankind. It behoveth the chiefs
> and rulers of the world, and in particular the Trustees of God’s House of Justice, to endeavour to
> the utmost of their power to safeguard its position, promote its interests and exalt its station in
> the eyes of the world. In like manner it is incumbent upon them to enquire into the conditions of
> their subjects and to acquaint themselves with the affairs and activities of the divers communities
> in their dominions. We call upon the manifestations of the power of God—the sovereigns and
> rulers on earth—to bestir themselves and do all in their power that haply they may banish discord
> from this world and illumine it with the light of concord.
> (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 130)
> 
> From the Writings and Utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> 
> 10.1        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 Abhá 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! 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 Ag͟hṣán, the Afnán, 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.
> (Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1944, 2013
> printing), pp. 21–22)
> 
> 11.1        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. This House of Justice enacteth the
> laws and the government enforceth them. 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.
> (Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 28–30)
> 
> 12.1   This is the foundation of the belief of the people of Bahá (may my life be offered up for them):
> “His Holiness, the Exalted One (the Báb), is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God
> and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abhá Beauty (may my life be a
> sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His
> Most Divine Essence. All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding.” 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. By this House is meant that Universal House of Justice which is to be elected from all
> countries, that is from those parts in the East and West where the loved ones are to be found, after
> the manner of the customary elections in Western countries such as those of England.
> 
> 12.2        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. And inasmuch as this 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. Thus for example, the House of Justice enacteth today a certain law and
> enforceth it, and a hundred years hence, circumstances having profoundly changed and the
> conditions having altered, another House of Justice will then have power, according to the
> exigencies of the time, to alter that law. This it can do because that law formeth no part of the
> Divine Explicit Text. The House of Justice is both the initiator and the abrogator of its own laws.
> (Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 39–41)
> 
> 13.1   Beware lest anyone falsely interpret these words, and like unto them that have broken the
> Covenant after the Day of Ascension (of Bahá’u’lláh) 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. All must seek guidance and turn
> unto the Center of the Cause and the House of Justice. And he that turneth unto whatsoever else
> is indeed in grievous error.
> (Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 54)
> 
> 14.1        The substance is, that prior to the completion of a thousand years, no individual may
> presume to breathe a word. All must consider themselves to be of the order of subjects,
> submissive and obedient to the commandments of God and the laws of the House of Justice.
> Should any deviate by so much as a needle’s point from the decrees of the Universal House of
> Justice, or falter in his compliance therewith, then is he of the outcast and rejected.
> (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997,
> 2009 printing), par. 33.6)
> 
> 15.1       Know thou, O handmaid, that in the sight of Bahá, women are accounted the same as men,
> and God hath created all humankind in His own image, and after His own likeness. That is, men
> and women alike are the revealers of His names and attributes, and from the spiritual viewpoint
> there is no difference between them. Whosoever draweth nearer to God, that one is the most
> favored, whether man or woman. How many a handmaid, ardent and devoted, hath, within the
> sheltering shade of Bahá, proved superior to the men, and surpassed the famous of the earth.
> 
> 15.2       The House of Justice, however, according to the explicit text of the Law of God, is confined to
> men; this for a wisdom of the Lord God’s, which will erelong be made manifest as clearly as the
> sun at high noon.
> (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pars. 38.3–38.4)
> 
> 16.1        Praise be to God, all such doors are closed in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh for a special
> authoritative Center hath been appointed—a Center that solveth all difficulties and wardeth off all
> differences. The Universal House of Justice, likewise, wardeth off all differences and whatever it
> prescribeth must be accepted and he who transgresseth is rejected. But this Universal House of
> Justice which is the Legislature hath not yet been instituted.
> 
> 16.2        Thus it is seen that no means for dissension hath been left, but carnal desires are the cause of
> difference as it is the case with the violators. These do not doubt the validity of the Covenant but
> selfish motives have dragged them to this condition. It is not that they do not know what they do
> —they are perfectly aware and still they exhibit opposition.
> (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pars. 187.2–187.3)
> 
> 17.1        My purpose is this, that ere the expiration of a thousand years, no one hath the right to utter
> a single word, even to claim the station of Guardianship. The Most Holy Book is the Book to
> which all peoples shall refer, and in it the Laws of God have been revealed. Laws not mentioned
> in the Book should be referred to the decision of the Universal House of Justice. There will be no
> grounds for difference…. Beware, beware lest anyone create a rift or stir up sedition. Should there
> be differences of opinion, the Supreme House of Justice would immediately resolve the problems.
> Whatever will be its decision, by majority vote, shall be the real truth, inasmuch as that House is
> under the protection, unerring guidance, and care of the one true Lord. He shall guard it from
> error and will protect it under the wing of His sanctity and infallibility. He who opposeth it is cast
> out and will eventually be of the defeated.
> 
> 17.2        The Supreme House of Justice should be elected according to the system followed in the
> election of the parliaments of Europe. And when the countries would be guided, the Houses of
> Justice of the various countries would elect the Supreme House of Justice.…
> 
> 17.3        The establishment of that House is not dependent upon the conversion of all the nations of
> the world. For example, if conditions were favourable and no disturbances would be caused, the
> friends in Persia would elect their representatives, and likewise the friends in America, in India,
> and other areas would also elect their representatives, and these would elect a House of Justice.
> That House of Justice would be the Supreme House of Justice. That is all.
> (From a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> 18.1        Thou hast asked about the general criterion with regard to heresy. Heresy referreth to such
> matters as are not ordained in the explicit text of the Book and which the Universal House of
> Justice doth not endorse.
> (From a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 19.1        Those matters of major importance which constitute the foundation of the Law of God are
> explicitly recorded in the Text, but subsidiary laws are left to the House of Justice. The wisdom of
> this is that the times never remain the same, for change is a necessary quality and an essential
> attribute of this world, and of time and place. Therefore the House of Justice will take action
> accordingly.
> 
> 19.2       Let it not be imagined that the House of Justice will take any decision according to its own
> concepts and opinions. God forbid! 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.
> 
> 19.3        Say, O people: Verily, the Supreme House of Justice is under the wings of your Lord, the
> Compassionate, the All-Merciful, that is, under His protection, His care, and His shelter; for He
> has commanded the firm believers to obey that blessed, sanctified and all-subduing body, whose
> sovereignty is divinely ordained and of the Kingdom of Heaven and whose laws are inspired and
> spiritual.
> 
> 19.4        Briefly, this is the wisdom of referring the laws of society to the House of Justice. In the
> religion of Islám, similarly, not every ordinance was explicitly revealed; nay, not a tenth part of a
> tenth part was included in the Text; although all matters of major importance were specifically
> referred to, there were undoubtedly thousands of laws which were unspecified. These were
> devised by the divines of a later age according to the laws of Islamic jurisprudence and individual
> divines made conflicting deductions from the original revealed ordinances. All these were
> enforced. Today this process of deduction is the right of the body of the House of Justice, and the
> deductions and conclusions of individual learned men have no authority, unless they are endorsed
> by the House of Justice. The difference is precisely this, that from the conclusions and
> endorsements of the body of the House of Justice whose members are elected by and known to
> the world-wide Bahá’í community, no differences will arise; whereas the conclusions of individual
> divines and scholars would definitely lead to differences, and result in schism, division, and
> dispersion. The oneness of the Word would be destroyed, the unity of the Faith would disappear,
> and the edifice of the Faith of God would be shaken.
> (From a Tablet—translated from the Persian)
> 
> 20.1        Such laws as are not mentioned in the Book must all be referred to the House of Justice and
> not to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, inasmuch as he is the interpreter of the laws that are mentioned in the Book
> and not the author of those that are not. However, the divinely ordained Universal House of
> Justice—which will, after the proclamation of the Cause of God, be universally elected by all
> Bahá’ís—that universal Body is empowered to enact laws that are not expressly recorded in the
> Book. It is binding, obligatory, and incumbent upon everyone to render obedience unto it. And
> whenever the House of Justice, whether unanimously or by majority vote, layeth down laws that
> are not expressly recorded in the Book, whoso saith why or wherefore hath indeed opposed God
> in the exercise of His sovereignty, disputed His proof, gainsaid His signs, and repudiated His
> commandments.
> (From a Tablet—translated from the Persian and Arabic)
> 
> 21.1       Know that infallibility is of two kinds: infallibility in essence and infallibility as an attribute.
> The same holds true of all other names and attributes: For example, there is the knowledge of the
> essence of a thing and the knowledge of its attributes. Infallibility in essence is confined to the
> universal Manifestations of God; for infallibility is an essential requirement of Their reality, and
> the essential requirement of a thing is inseparable from the thing itself. The rays are an essential
> requirement of the sun and are inseparable from it; knowledge is an essential requirement of God
> and is inseparable from Him; power is an essential requirement of God and is likewise inseparable
> from Him. If it were possible to separate these from Him, He would not be God. If the rays could
> be separated from the sun, it would not be the sun. Therefore, were one to imagine the Most
> Great Infallibility being separated from the universal Manifestation of God, He would not be a
> universal Manifestation and would lack essential perfection.
> 
> 21.2        But infallibility as an attribute is not an essential requirement; rather, it is a ray of the gift of
> infallibility which shines from the Sun of Truth upon certain hearts and grants them a share and
> portion thereof. Although these souls are not essentially infallible, yet they are under the care,
> protection, and unerring guidance of God—which is to say, God guards them from error. Thus
> there have been many sanctified souls who were not themselves the Daysprings of the Most Great
> Infallibility, but who have nevertheless been guarded and preserved from error under the shadow
> of divine care and protection. For they were the channels of divine grace between God and man,
> and if God did not preserve them from error they would have led all the faithful to fall likewise
> into error, which would have wholly undermined the foundations of the religion of God and
> which would be unbefitting and unworthy of His exalted Reality.
> 
> 21.3        To summarize, infallibility in essence is confined to the universal Manifestations of God, and
> infallibility as an attribute is conferred upon sanctified souls. For instance, the Universal House of
> Justice, if it be established under the necessary conditions—that is, if it be elected by the entire
> community—that House of Justice will be under the protection and unerring guidance of God.
> Should that House of Justice decide, either unanimously or by a majority, upon a matter that is
> not explicitly recorded in the Book, that decision and command will be guarded from error. Now,
> the members of the House of Justice are not essentially infallible as individuals, but the body of
> the House of Justice is under the protection and unerring guidance of God: This is called
> conferred infallibility.
> 
> 21.4        Briefly, Bahá’u’lláh says that “He Who is the Dawning-place of God’s Cause” is the
> manifestation of “He doeth whatsoever He willeth”, that this station is reserved to that sanctified
> Being, and that others receive no share of this essential perfection. That is, since the essential
> infallibility of the universal Manifestations of God has been established, whatsoever proceeds
> from Them is identical with the truth and conformable to reality. They are not under the shadow
> of the former religion. Whatsoever They say is the utterance of God, and whatsoever They do is a
> righteous deed, and to no believer is given the right to object; rather must he show forth absolute
> submission in this regard, for the Manifestation of God acts with consummate wisdom, and
> human minds may be incapable of grasping the hidden wisdom of certain matters. Therefore,
> whatsoever the universal Manifestation of God says and does is the very essence of wisdom and
> conformable to reality.
> (Some Answered Questions (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 2014), ch. 45.2–5)
> 
> 22.1   A universal, or international, House of Justice shall also be organized. Its rulings shall be in
> accordance with the commands and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and that which the Universal House
> of Justice ordains shall be obeyed by all mankind. This international House of Justice shall be
> appointed and organized from the Houses of Justice of the whole world, and all the world shall
> come under its administration.
> 
> 22.2        As to the most great characteristic of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, a specific teaching not
> given by any of the Prophets of the past: It is the ordination and appointment of the Center of the
> Covenant. By this appointment and provision He has safeguarded and protected the religion of
> God against differences and schisms, making it impossible for anyone to create a new sect or
> faction of belief.
> (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to
> the United States and Canada in 1912 (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing, 1982, 2012 printing),
> p. 642)
> 
> From the Writings and Letters of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> 23.1       In this Charter of the future world civilization [the Kitáb-i-Aqdas] its Author—at once the
> Judge, the Lawgiver, the Unifier and Redeemer of mankind—announces to the kings of the earth
> the promulgation of the “Most Great Law”.… In it He formally ordains the institution of the
> “House of Justice,” defines its functions, fixes its revenues, and designates its members as the
> “Men of Justice,” the “Deputies of God,” the “Trustees of the All-Merciful”….
> (God Passes By (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974, 2019 printing), pp. 338–339)
> 
> 24.1       With these Assemblies, local as well as national, harmoniously, vigorously, and efficiently
> functioning throughout the Bahá’í world, the only means for the establishment of the Supreme
> House of Justice will have been secured. And when this Supreme Body will have been properly
> established, it will have to consider afresh the whole situation, and lay down the principle which
> shall direct, so long as it deems advisable, the affairs of the Cause.
> (From a letter dated 12 March 1923 written by Shoghi Effendi, in Bahá’í Administration:
> Selected Messages, 1922–1932 (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974), p. 41)
> 
> 25.1        As to the order and the management of the spiritual affairs of the friends, that which is very
> important now is the consolidation of the Spiritual Assemblies in every centre, because on these
> fortified and unshakeable foundations, God’s Supreme House of Justice shall be erected and firmly
> established in the days to come. When this most great edifice shall be reared on such an
> immovable foundation, God’s purpose, wisdom, universal truths, mysteries and realities of the
> Kingdom, which the mystic Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh has deposited within the Will and
> Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, shall gradually be revealed and made manifest.
> (From a letter dated 19 December 1923 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the
> East—translated from the Persian)
> 
> 26.1        The purpose of so much perpetual and intensive emphasis on the support and consolidation
> of these Spiritual Assemblies is this—that the foundation of the Cause of God must become
> broader and stronger day by day, that no confusion ever enter the divine order, that new and
> strong ties be forged between East and West, that Bahá’í unity be safeguarded and illumine the
> eyes of the people of the world with its resplendent beauty, so that upon these Assemblies God’s
> Houses of Justice may be firmly established and upon these secondary Houses of Justice the lofty
> edifice of the Universal House of Justice may, with complete order, perfection and glory, and with
> no delay, be raised up. When the Universal House of Justice shall have stepped forth from the
> realm of hope into that of visible fulfilment and its fame be established in every corner and clime
> of the world, then that august body—solidly grounded and founded on the firm and unshakeable
> foundation of the entire Bahá’í community of East and West, and the recipient of the bounties of
> God and His inspiration—will proceed to devise and carry out important undertakings, world-
> wide activities and the establishment of glorious institutions. By this means the renown of the
> Cause of God will become world-wide and its light will illumine the whole earth.
> (From a letter dated 1924 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the World
> throughout the East and the West—translated from the Persian)
> 27.1        Humanity, torn with dissension and burning with hate, is crying at this hour for a fuller
> measure of that love which is born of God, that love which in the last resort will prove the one
> solvent of its incalculable difficulties and problems. Is it not incumbent upon us, whose hearts are
> aglow with love for Him, to make still greater effort, to manifest that love in all its purity and
> power in our dealings with our fellow-men? May our love for our beloved Master, so ardent, so
> disinterested in all its aspects, find its true expression in love for our fellow-brethren and sisters
> in the Faith as well as for all mankind. I assure you, dear friends, that progress in such matters as
> these is limitless and infinite, and that upon the extent of our achievements along this line, will
> ultimately depend the success of our mission in life.
> 
> 27.2        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.
> (From a letter dated 23 February 1924 written by Shoghi Effendi, in Bahá’í
> Administration, p. 62)
> 
> 28.1       These Spiritual Assemblies have been primarily constituted to carry out these affairs, and
> secondly to lay a perfect and strong foundation for the establishment of the divine and Universal
> House of Justice. When that central pivot of the people of Bahá shall be effectively, majestically
> and firmly established, a new era will dawn, heavenly bounties and graces will pour out from that
> Source, and the all-encompassing promises will be fulfilled.
> (From a letter dated 30 October 1924 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Local Spiritual
> Assembly of Ṭihrán—translated from the Persian)
> 
> 29.1       Regarding the method to be adopted for the election of the National Spiritual Assemblies, it is
> clear that the text of the Beloved’s Testament gives us no indication as to the manner in which
> these Assemblies are to be elected. In one of His earliest Tablets, however, addressed to a friend in
> Persia, the following is expressly recorded:
> 
> 29.2        “At whatever time all the beloved of God in each country appoint their delegates, and these in
> turn elect their representatives, and these representatives elect a body, that body shall be regarded
> as the Supreme Baytu’l-‘Adl (Universal House of Justice)”.
> 
> 29.3        These words clearly indicate that a three-stage election has been provided by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> for the formation of the International House of Justice, and as it is explicitly provided in His Will
> and Testament that the “Secondary Houses of Justice (i.e. National Assemblies) must elect the
> members the Universal One”, it is obvious that the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies
> will have to be indirectly elected by the body of the believers in their respective provinces. In
> view of these complementary instructions the principle, set forth in my letter of March 12th, 1923,
> has been established requiring the believers (the beloved of God) in every country to elect a
> certain number of delegates who in turn will elect their national representatives (Secondary
> House of Justice or National Spiritual Assembly), whose sacred obligation and privilege will be to
> elect in time God’s Universal House of Justice.
> (From a letter dated 12 May 1925 written by Shoghi Effendi, in Bahá’í Administration, p.
> 84)
> 30.1        Erelong, by the leave of our Lord, the Most Glorious, the veil shall be lifted from the face of
> His most mighty Law, and the balance of His wondrous constitution—the foundation of His most
> noble, lofty, and mighty House of Justice—shall be set in this holy, blessed, and snow-white Spot,
> the Centre round which circle all created things. Blessed be God, the Author of this wondrous
> Cause! Blessed be God, the Originator of this brilliant and refulgent Light! Blessed be God, the
> Founder of this lofty Edifice 1 in that distant region 2—a land wherein shall be reflected the
> effulgences of the gathering-places of Heaven and the lights of the sanctuaries of the Kingdom!
> Magnified, then, be our Lord, the Succourer, the All-Powerful, the Most Glorious!
> (From a letter dated November 1927 to the Bahá’ís of the East—translated from the
> Persian)
> 
> 31.1   Your questions as regards those spiritual ordinances which should characterize a Bahá’í life
> individually and collectively: Shoghi Effendi says that for an answer to these we must await the
> formation of the International House of Justice. They are matters of importance in some ways and
> we must not bind them by establishing definite precedents from now.
> (From a letter dated 26 April 1928 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 32.1        It should be carefully borne in mind that the local as well as the international Houses of
> Justice have been expressly enjoined by the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National
> Spiritual Assembly, as an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master’s Will as the
> “Secondary House of Justice,” has the express sanction of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; and that the method to be
> pursued for the election of the International and National Houses of Justice has been set forth by
> Him in His Will, as well as in a number of His Tablets. Moreover, the institutions of the local and
> national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to all local and national spiritual assemblies,
> have not only been established by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Tablets He revealed to the Bahá’ís of the
> Orient, but their importance and necessity have been repeatedly emphasized by Him in His
> utterances and writings. The concentration of authority in the hands of the elected
> representatives of the believers; the necessity of the submission of every adherent of the Faith to
> the considered judgment of Bahá’í Assemblies; His preference for unanimity in decision; the
> decisive character of the majority vote; and even the desirability for the exercise of close
> supervision over all Bahá’í publications, have been sedulously instilled by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as
> evidenced by His authenticated and widely-scattered Tablets. To accept His broad and
> humanitarian Teachings on one hand, and to reject and dismiss with neglectful indifference His
> more challenging and distinguishing precepts, would be an act of manifest disloyalty to that
> which He has cherished most in His life.
> 
> 32.2        That the Spiritual Assemblies of today will be replaced in time by the Houses of Justice, and
> are to all intents and purposes identical and not separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself. He has in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the first Chicago
> Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Bahá’í body instituted in the United States, referred to them
> as the members of the “House of Justice” for that city, and has thus with His own pen established
> beyond any doubt the identity of the present Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies with the Houses of
> Justice referred to by Bahá’u’lláh. For reasons which are not difficult to discover, it has been found
> advisable to bestow upon the elected representatives of Bahá’í communities throughout the world
> the temporary appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a term which, as the position and aims of the
> Bahá’í Faith are better understood and more fully recognized, will gradually be superseded by the
> permanent and more appropriate designation of House of Justice. Not only will the present-day
> Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in future, but they will be enabled also to add to their
> present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the
> Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the
> State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Bahá’í Faith permeates the
> masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of
> a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the
> plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Bahá’í Commonwealth, all the
> rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world’s future superstate.
> 
> 32.3        It must be pointed out, however, in this connection that, contrary to what has been
> confidently asserted, the establishment of the Supreme House of Justice is in no way dependent
> upon the adoption of the Bahá’í Faith by the mass of the peoples of the world, nor does it
> presuppose its acceptance by the majority of the inhabitants of any one country. In fact, ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá, Himself, in one of His earliest Tablets, contemplated the possibility of the formation of the
> Universal House of Justice in His own lifetime, and but for the unfavorable circumstances
> prevailing under the Turkish régime, would have, in all probability, taken the preliminary steps
> for its establishment. It will be evident, therefore, that given favorable circumstances, under
> which the Bahá’ís of Persia and of the adjoining countries under Soviet rule, may be enabled to
> elect their national representatives, in accordance with the guiding principles laid down in
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s writings, the only remaining obstacle in the way of the definite formation of the
> International House of Justice will have been removed. For upon the National Houses of Justice of
> the East and the West devolves the task, in conformity with the explicit provisions of the Will, of
> electing directly the members of the International House of Justice. Not until they are themselves
> fully representative of the rank and file of the believers in their respective countries, not until
> they have acquired the weight and the experience that will enable them to function vigorously in
> the organic life of the Cause, can they approach their sacred task, and provide the spiritual basis
> for the constitution of so august a body in the Bahá’í world.
> 
> 32.4        It must be also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of Guardianship does
> not under any circumstances abrogate, or even in the slightest degree detract from, the powers
> granted to the Universal House of Justice by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, and repeatedly and
> solemnly confirmed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will. It does not constitute in any manner a
> contradiction to the Will and Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, nor does it nullify any of His revealed
> instructions. 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. 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 Bahá’u’lláh. 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.
> (From a letter dated 27 February 1929 written by Shoghi Effendi, in The World Order of
> Bahá’u’lláh: Selected Letters (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1938, 1991 printing), pp.
> 5–8)
> 
> 33.1        The National Spiritual Assemblies, like unto pillars, will be gradually and firmly established
> in every country on the strong and fortified foundations of the Local Assemblies. On these pillars,
> the mighty edifice, the Universal House of Justice, will be erected, raising high its noble frame
> above the world of existence. The unity of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh will thus be realized and
> fulfilled from one end of the earth to the other. The explicit ordinances of His Most Holy Book
> will be promulgated, applied and carried out most befittingly in the world of creation, and the
> living waters of everlasting life will stream forth from that fountain-head of God’s World Order
> upon all the warring nations and peoples of the world, to wash away the evils and iniquities of
> the realm of dust, heal man’s age-old ills and ailments….
> 
> 33.2       In these days the things that are regarded as the most imperative of all and upon which will
> depend the development of the Cause of God, the enhancement of its position and prestige and
> the promulgation of the laws of His Faith, are but two momentous tasks: first, to expedite
> preparations for the formation of the divinely ordained, the Supreme House of Justice; second, to
> complete the construction of the Temple in the United States…
> 
> 33.3        … Thus, after the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the sacred
> land of Iran—which, in the Will and Testament, is designated a “secondary House of Justice”—
> general instructions regarding the ultimate international Bahá’í election, which will result in the
> formation of the Universal House of Justice, would, according to the principles and teachings
> embodied in His Tablets and His Will and Testament, be sent directly from this land to all Bahá’í
> centres, in every country and territory in the East and West of the Bahá’í world. Thereupon will
> the hopes of the people of Bahá be realized, and that which our Master commanded and enjoined
> upon us in His Writings and His Will and Testament be fulfilled. Then will the Throne of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s sovereignty be founded in the promised land and the scales of justice be raised on
> high. Then will the banner of the independence of the Faith be unfurled, and His Most Great Law
> be unveiled and rivers of laws and ordinances stream forth from this snow-white spot with all-
> conquering power and awe-inspiring majesty, the like of which past ages have never seen. Then
> will appear the truth of what was revealed by the Tongue of Grandeur: “Call out to Zion, O
> Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-
> conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendour is revealed.” “… O Carmel….
> Well is it with him that circleth around thee, that proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and
> recounteth that which the bounty of the Lord thy God hath showered upon thee…. Ere long will
> God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in
> the Book of Names.” O beloved of God! The appointment of the Hands of the Cause of God, the
> enforcement of the sacred laws of His Faith, the enactment of legislation deriving from the
> explicit text of His Book, the convocation of the international convention of the followers of the
> Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, and the formation of ties between the Bahá’í community and divers
> scientific, literary, religious and social agencies are, one and all, dependent and conditioned upon
> the formation and establishment of the Universal House of Justice in the Holy Land in the vicinity
> of those lofty, resplendent and most exalted precincts. For this Supreme Institution is the
> wellspring of the actions and undertakings of all the Bahá’ís, and the source of help and
> assistance for this feeble servant. Through that body will the hopes of the people of Bahá be
> fulfilled. Through it the pillars of the Faith on this earth will be firmly established and its hidden
> powers be revealed, its signs shine forth, its banners be unfurled and its light be shed upon all
> peoples.
> (From a letter dated 27 November 1929 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the
> East—translated from the Arabic and Persian)
> 
> 34.1        For Bahá’u’lláh, we should readily recognize, has not only imbued mankind with a new and
> regenerating Spirit. He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a
> particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He,
> as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, has, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and
> specifically laid down a set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the
> essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society, a supreme
> instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification
> of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth. Not
> only have they revealed all the directions required for the practical realization of those ideals
> which the Prophets of God have visualized, and which from time immemorial have inflamed the
> imagination of seers and poets in every age. They have also, in unequivocal and emphatic
> language, appointed those twin institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship as
> their chosen Successors, destined to apply the principles, promulgate the laws, protect the
> institutions, adapt loyally and intelligently the Faith to the requirements of progressive society,
> and consummate the incorruptible inheritance which the Founders of the Faith have bequeathed
> to the world.…
> 
> 34.2        In the Muḥammadan Revelation, however, although His Faith as compared with that of Christ
> was, so far as the administration of His Dispensation is concerned, more complete and more
> specific in its provisions, yet in the matter of succession, it gave no written, no binding and
> conclusive instructions to those whose mission was to propagate His Cause. For the text of the
> Qur’án, the ordinances of which regarding prayer, fasting, marriage, divorce, inheritance,
> pilgrimage, and the like, have after the revolution of thirteen hundred years remained intact and
> operative, gives no definite guidance regarding the Law of Succession, the source of all the
> dissensions, the controversies, and schisms which have dismembered and discredited Islám.
> 
> 34.3        Not so with the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. Unlike the Dispensation of Christ, unlike the
> Dispensation of Muḥammad, unlike all the Dispensations of the past, the apostles of Bahá’u’lláh
> in every land, wherever they labor and toil, have before them in clear, in unequivocal and
> emphatic language, all the laws, the regulations, the principles, the institutions, the guidance, they
> require for the prosecution and consummation of their task. Both in the administrative provisions
> of the Bahá’í Dispensation, and in the matter of succession, as embodied in the twin institutions
> of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh can summon to their
> aid such irrefutable evidences of Divine Guidance that none can resist, that none can belittle or
> ignore. Therein lies the distinguishing feature of the Bahá’í Revelation. Therein lies the strength
> of the unity of the Faith, of the validity of a Revelation that claims not to destroy or belittle
> previous Revelations, but to connect, unify, and fulfill them. This is the reason why Bahá’u’lláh
> and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have both revealed and even insisted upon certain details in connection with
> the Divine Economy which they have bequeathed to us, their followers. This is why such an
> emphasis has been placed in their Will and Testament upon the powers and prerogatives of the
> ministers of their Faith.
> 
> 34.4       For nothing short of the explicit directions of their Book, and the surprisingly emphatic
> language with which they have clothed the provisions of their Will, could possibly safeguard the
> Faith for which they have both so gloriously labored all their lives. Nothing short of this could
> protect it from the heresies and calumnies with which denominations, peoples, and governments
> have endeavored, and will, with increasing vigor, endeavor to assail it in future.
> 
> 34.5        We should also bear in mind that the distinguishing character of the Bahá’í Revelation does
> not solely consist in the completeness and unquestionable validity of the Dispensation which the
> teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have established. Its excellence lies also in the fact that
> those elements which in past Dispensations have, without the least authority from their Founders,
> been a source of corruption and of incalculable harm to the Faith of God, have been strictly
> excluded by the clear text of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings. Those unwarranted practices, in connection
> with the sacrament of baptism, of communion, of confession of sins, of asceticism, of priestly
> domination, of elaborate ceremonials, of holy war and of polygamy, have one and all been rigidly
> suppressed by the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh; whilst the rigidity and rigor of certain observances, such as
> fasting, which are necessary to the devotional life of the individual, have been considerably
> abated.
> (From a letter dated 21 March 1930 written by Shoghi Effendi, in The World Order of
> Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 19–22)
> 
> 35.1   Our present generation, mainly due to the corruptions that have been identified with
> organizations, seem to stand against any institution. Religion as an institution is denounced.
> Government as an institution is denounced. Even marriage as an institution is denounced. We
> Bahá’ís should not be blinded by such prevalent notions. If such were the case, all the divine
> Manifestations would not have invariably appointed someone to succeed Them. Undoubtedly
> corruptions did enter those institutions, but these corruptions were not due to the very nature of
> the institutions but to the lack of proper directions as to their powers and nature of their
> perpetuation. What Bahá’u’lláh has done is not to eliminate all institutions in the Cause but to
> provide the necessary safeguards that would eliminate corruptions that caused the fall of previous
> institutions. What those safeguards are is most interesting to study and find out and also most
> essential to know. In a letter that Shoghi Effendi has lately written to the friends in the West, he
> mentions the distinguishing features of the institution that Bahá’u’lláh has left as well as some of
> the safeguards that He has provided against its corruption. One of the main things we boast about
> is that whereas previous religions were more or less static in their nature the Bahá’í teachings are
> progressive. Now, how could this progressive tendency be maintained without an institution such
> as the Guardianship and the House of Justice, who are empowered to legislate upon matters not
> referred to by Bahá’u’lláh?
> (From a letter dated 25 March 1930 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 36.1         You asked regarding the status of the different governments when the House of Justice will
> be established: this is not fully explained in the teachings, and what is not definitely provided for,
> it is for the House of Justice to legislate upon once that body is formed.
> (From a letter dated 12 January 1933 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an
> individual believer)
> 
> 37.1   The House of Justice, according to the explicit text of the Aqdas, has no right to change any law,
> regulation or ordinance that has been revealed either in the Aqdas or in any other Tablet from the
> Pen of Bahá’u’lláh. It can alter its own regulations and laws but never those revealed by the
> Founder of the Faith.
> (From a letter dated 17 June 1933 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 38.1        In the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh where the institutions of the International and Local Houses of
> Justice are specifically designated and formally established; in the institution of the Hands of the
> Cause of God which first Bahá’u’lláh and then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá brought into being; in the institution
> of both local and national Assemblies which in their embryonic stage were already functioning in
> the days preceding ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ascension; in the authority with which the Author of our Faith
> and the Center of His Covenant have in their Tablets chosen to confer upon them; in the
> institution of the Local Fund which operated according to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s specific injunctions
> addressed to certain Assemblies in Persia; in the verses of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas the implications of
> which clearly anticipate the institution of the Guardianship; in the explanation which ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá, in one of His Tablets, has given to, and the emphasis He has placed upon, the hereditary
> principle and the law of primogeniture as having been upheld by the Prophets of the past—in
> these we can discern the faint glimmerings and discover the earliest intimation of the nature and
> working of the Administrative Order which the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was at a later time destined
> to proclaim and formally establish.
> 
> 38.2        An attempt, I feel, should at the present juncture be made to explain the character and
> functions of the twin pillars that support this mighty Administrative Structure—the institutions of
> the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. To describe in their entirety the diverse
> elements that function in conjunction with these institutions is beyond the scope and purpose of
> this general exposition of the fundamental verities of the Faith. To define with accuracy and
> minuteness the features, and to analyze exhaustively the nature of the relationships which, on the
> one hand, bind together these two fundamental organs of the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and connect,
> on the other, each of them to the Author of the Faith and the Center of His Covenant is a task
> which future generations will no doubt adequately fulfill. My present intention is to elaborate
> certain salient features of this scheme which, however close we may stand to its colossal
> structure, are already so clearly defined that we find it inexcusable to either misconceive or
> ignore.
> 
> 38.3        It should be stated, at the very outset, in clear and unambiguous language, that these twin
> institutions of the Administrative Order of Bahá’u’lláh 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, coördinate 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.
> 
> 38.4        Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh would be
> mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 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 prophethood 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, 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.
> 
> 38.5        Severed from the no less essential institution of the Universal House of Justice this same
> System of the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would be paralyzed in its action and would be powerless to fill
> in those gaps which the Author of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has deliberately left in the body of His
> legislative and administrative ordinances.
> (From a letter dated 8 February 1934 written by Shoghi Effendi, in The World Order of
> Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 147–148)
> 
> 39.1        The Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh must in no wise be regarded as purely
> democratic in character inasmuch as the basic assumption which requires all democracies to
> depend fundamentally upon getting their mandate from the people is altogether lacking in this
> Dispensation. In the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith, in the enactment of the
> legislation necessary to supplement the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the members of the Universal
> House of Justice, it should be borne in mind, are not, as Bahá’u’lláh’s utterances clearly imply,
> responsible to those whom they represent, nor are they allowed to be governed by the feelings,
> the general opinion, and even the convictions of the mass of the faithful, or of those who directly
> elect them. They are to follow, in a prayerful attitude, the dictates and promptings of their
> conscience. They may, indeed they must, acquaint themselves with the conditions prevailing
> among the community, must weigh dispassionately in their minds the merits of any case
> presented for their consideration, but must reserve for themselves the right of an unfettered
> decision. “God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth,” is Bahá’u’lláh’s
> incontrovertible assurance. 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.
> (From a letter dated 8 February 1934 written by Shoghi Effendi, in The World Order of
> Bahá’u’lláh, p. 153)
> 
> 40.1        But, at present—and to this the Guardian wishes to draw your careful attention—no Assembly
> nor even he himself can have the right of enacting any law supplementing those of the Aqdas
> except in exceptional circumstances when the Authorities require it. And even in such a case the
> enactment is purely temporary. The only body which is empowered to legislate in such matters is
> the International House of Justice, and the Guardian can take part in such legislation only in his
> capacity as a member of that body. Just as the power of interpreting the Writings is the sole right
> and prerogative of the Guardian, so also the power of legislation has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh
> solely in the International House of Justice. Thus there is a clear distinction between the powers
> of legislation and interpretation, though the two are closely related.
> (From a letter dated 6 July 1935 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 41.1        Of these spiritual prerequisites of success, which constitute the bedrock on which the
> security of all teaching plans, Temple projects, and financial schemes, must ultimately rest, the
> following stand out as preeminent and vital…. These requirements are none other than a high
> sense of moral rectitude in their social and administrative activities, absolute chastity in their
> individual lives, and complete freedom from prejudice in their dealings with peoples of a different
> race, class, creed, or color.
> 
> 41.2        The first is specially, though not exclusively, directed to their elected representatives, whether
> local, regional, or national, who, in their capacity as the custodians and members of the nascent
> institutions of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, are shouldering the chief responsibility in laying an
> unassailable foundation for that Universal House of Justice which, as its title implies, is to be the
> exponent and guardian of that Divine Justice which can alone insure the security of, and establish
> the reign of law and order in, a strangely disordered world.
> (From a letter dated 25 December 1938 written by Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine
> Justice (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2006, 2018 printing), pp. 32–33)
> 
> 42.1        In the plain of ‘Akká is the blessed and hallowed Sanctuary of the Most Holy Abhá Beauty,
> the Centre round which circle the Concourse on high, the Qiblih of the people of Bahá and
> dwellers of the Crimson Ark, the Heart of the world, and the Kaaba of all nations. And on Mount
> Carmel are the twin sacred and exalted Shrines, the sanctified throne of His Holiness the Primal
> Point, and the illumined remains of Him round Whom all names revolve—the Dayspring of
> Lights, the Retreat of Mysteries, the Source of abounding Grace upon mankind. Around these
> three sacred resting-places—the tombs of the Scion of Bahá and His Remnant, 3 and of the twin
> Divine trusts, the glorious Purest Branch and the Mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—the administrative
> centre of the community of the people of Bahá will, hereafter, gradually be instituted. Close by
> those Shrines the pillars of the Tribunal of Divine Justice will be erected, the Universal House of
> Justice will be established, and the edifice of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Holy Land will be
> upraised, while in the sheltering shadow of these twin spiritual Centres of the people of God 4 the
> august undertakings and international administrative, scientific, and social institutions of the
> Bahá’í Faith will take form, the throne of the Kingdom of God will be established, the standard
> “Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá” will be planted upon the loftiest peaks, and the thunderous peal of the
> oneness of humanity will be sounded. Then shall be fulfilled that which was revealed in the Tablet
> of Carmel by the all-glorious and resplendent Pen: “Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and
> will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.”
> (From a letter dated 25 December 1939 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the
> East—translated from the Persian)
> 
> 43.1       The membership of the Universal House of Justice is confined to men. Fixing the number of
> the members, the procedures for election and the term of membership will be known later, as
> these are not explicitly revealed in the Holy Text.
> (From a letter dated 27 May 1940 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 44.1   No body can add to the laws of the Bahá’í Dispensation except the International House of Justice.
> The National Assemblies merely formulate at present methods of procedure to facilitate the
> functioning of the Administrative Order and ensure efficient conduct of the affairs of the Cause
> within their jurisdiction. These can always be revoked or modified whenever they have outworn
> their usefulness or another method would be more effective.
> (From a letter dated 19 December 1943 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to two
> believers)
> 
> 45.1   There are only two institutions which are infallible, one is the Guardianship, the other the
> International House of Justice.
> (From a letter dated 19 October 1947 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an
> individual believer)
> 
> 46.1       First, let me say that one of the reasons God has given us the Institution of Guardianship is to
> prevent men from crystallizing the Cause of God into a rigid system. Your questions are mostly
> along the line of trying to lay down a fixed pattern for future society, long before the time for
> such a pattern is ripe. Remember that Bahá’u’lláh says what is not already revealed, the
> International House of Justice must in the future legislate, and it can make, and abrogate if
> necessary, its own laws. This means not fixity in guiding society, but fluidity!
> (From a letter dated 31 March 1949 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)
> 
> 47.1   Fervently praying the participation of British, American, Persian, and Egyptian National
> Assemblies in unique, epoch-making enterprise in African continent may prove prelude to
> convocation of first African Teaching Conference leading eventually to initiation of undertakings
> involving collaboration among all national assemblies of Bahá’í world, thereby paving way to
> ultimate organic union of these assemblies through formation of International House of Justice
> destined to launch enterprises embracing whole Bahá’í world. Acclaim simultaneous inauguration
> of crusade linking administrative machinery of four national assemblies of East and West within
> four continents and birth of first International Council at World Center of Faith, twin evidences of
> resistless unfoldment of embryonic, divinely appointed World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
> (From a cable dated 17 January 1951 written by Shoghi Effendi, in Citadel of Faith:
> Messages to America 1947–1957 (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1965, 2014 printing),
> p. 90)
> 48.1        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 throughout the Bahá’í world—undertakings constituting in themselves a prelude to
> the launching of world-wide 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.
> (From a postscript by Shoghi Effendi appended to a letter dated 25 February 1951
> written on his behalf to the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles)
> 
> 49.1       In this great Tablet [of Carmel] which unveils divine mysteries and heralds the establishment
> of two mighty, majestic and momentous undertakings—one of which is spiritual and the other
> administrative, both at the World Centre of the Faith—Bahá’u’lláh refers to an “Ark”, whose
> dwellers are the men of the Supreme House of Justice, which, in conformity with the exact
> provisions of the Will and Testament of the Centre of the Mighty Covenant, is the body which
> should lay down laws not explicitly revealed in the Text. In this Dispensation, these laws are
> destined to flow from this Holy Mountain, even as in the Mosaic Dispensation the law of God was
> promulgated from Zion. 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 Bahá’ís on this Holy Mountain.
> (From a letter dated 21 March 1954 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the East
> —translated from the Persian)
> 
> 50.1        O ye loved ones of Bahá! This day is your day and this hour is indeed your hour. That which
> is imperative in this day and which will, like unto a magnet, attract the confirmations of God is
> this, that a large number of believers, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, learned and
> unlettered, white and black alike, bestir themselves for the triumph of His exalted Faith.
> Galvanized by a spirit of love and courage, they must, one and all, arise even as a single legion,
> and in the course of the remaining nine years scatter far and wide over the surface of the globe.
> “With the feet of detachment,” as the Ancient Beauty admonishes, must they “tread under all who
> are in heaven and on earth” and “cast the sleeve of holiness over all that have been created from
> water and clay.” With hearts detached, spirits unencumbered, souls enkindled, resolve unflinching
> and steps unwavering, they must strive day and night to extend the reach of the Cause of God, to
> diffuse its sweet savours, to consolidate its foundations, to noise abroad its fame and to multiply
> the ranks of its adherents. Raising the call of “Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá!” they must rush forth to the
> virgin territories and newly opened localities and, putting their whole trust in God, establish
> isolated centres, which may be likened to “points”. They must, through their efforts to teach and
> guide the people by words and deeds, transform these isolated centres, as soon as feasible, into
> groups, which are like unto “letters”. They must then develop these groups into Local Spiritual
> Assemblies, which are like unto complete “words”, and continually endeavour to increase the
> number of these Assemblies in various countries so that the means for the befitting convocation
> of National Conventions can be gradually prepared, National Spiritual Assemblies, which are like
> unto manifest “verses”, the pillars of the Throne of Divine Justice, can be systematically erected,
> and upon these pillars can be raised the dome of the divine Edifice, the Universal House of Justice,
> which is like unto the lucid “book”, established in its designated seat on the slopes of the Vineyard
> of the Lord upon His holy Mountain, adorning the institutions of His New World Order with the
> crown of supreme distinction.
> (From a letter dated 21 March 1954 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the East
> —translated from the Persian)
> From the Constitution and Letters of the Universal House of Justice
> 
> 51.1        Bahá’u’lláh, the Revealer of God’s Word in this Day, the Source of Authority, the
> Fountainhead of Justice, the Creator of a new World Order, the Establisher of the Most Great
> Peace, the Inspirer and Founder of a world civilization, the Judge, the Lawgiver, the Unifier and
> Redeemer of all mankind, has proclaimed the advent of God’s Kingdom on earth, has formulated
> its laws and ordinances, enunciated its principles, and ordained its institutions. To direct and
> canalize the forces released by His Revelation He instituted His Covenant, whose power has
> preserved the integrity of His Faith, maintained its unity and stimulated its world-wide expansion
> throughout the successive ministries of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. It continues to fulfil its
> life-giving purpose through the agency of the Universal House of Justice whose fundamental
> object, as one of the twin successors of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is to ensure the continuity
> of that divinely-appointed authority which flows from the Source of the Faith, to safeguard the
> unity of its followers, and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings.
> (The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1972), pp.
> 3–4)
> 
> 52.1        The provenance, the authority, the duties, the sphere of action of the Universal House of
> Justice all derive from the revealed Word of Bahá’u’lláh which, together with the interpretations
> and expositions of the Centre of the Covenant and of the Guardian of the Cause—who, after
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is the sole authority in the interpretation of Bahá’í Scripture—constitute the binding
> terms of reference of the Universal House of Justice and are its bedrock foundation. The authority
> of these Texts is absolute and immutable until such time as Almighty God shall reveal His new
> Manifestation to Whom will belong all authority and power.
> 
> 52.2        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, and
> on it rests the ultimate responsibility for ensuring the unity and progress of the Cause of God.
> (The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, p. 4)
> 
> 53.1          Among the powers and duties with which the Universal House of Justice has been invested
> are:
> 
> To ensure the preservation of the Sacred Texts and to safeguard their inviolability; to
> analyse, classify, and coordinate the Writings; and to defend and protect the Cause of
> God and emancipate it from the fetters of repression and persecution;
> 
> To advance the interests of the Faith of God; to proclaim, propagate and teach its
> Message; to expand and consolidate the institutions of its Administrative Order; to usher
> in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh; to promote the attainment of those spiritual qualities
> which should characterize Bahá’í life individually and collectively; to do its utmost for
> the realization of greater cordiality and comity amongst the nations and for the
> attainment of universal peace; and to foster that which is conducive to the enlightenment
> and illumination of the souls of men and the advancement and betterment of the world;
> 
> To enact laws and ordinances not expressly recorded in the Sacred Texts; to
> abrogate, according to the changes and requirements of the time, its own enactments; to
> deliberate and decide upon all problems which have caused difference; to elucidate
> questions that are obscure; to safeguard the personal rights, freedom and initiative of
> individuals; and to give attention to the preservation of human honour, to the
> development of countries and the stability of states;
> To promulgate and apply the laws and principles of the Faith; to safeguard and
> enforce that rectitude of conduct which the Law of God enjoins; to preserve and develop
> the Spiritual and Administrative Centre of the Bahá’í Faith, permanently fixed in the
> twin cities of ‘Akká and Haifa; to administer the affairs of the Bahá’í community
> throughout the world; to guide, organize, coordinate and unify its activities; to found
> institutions; to be responsible for ensuring that no body or institution within the Cause
> abuse its privileges or decline in the exercise of its rights and prerogatives; and to
> provide for the receipt, disposition, administration and safeguarding of the funds,
> endowments and other properties that are entrusted to its care;
> 
> To adjudicate disputes falling within its purview; to give judgement in cases of
> violation of the laws of the Faith and to pronounce sanctions for such violations; to
> provide for the enforcement of its decisions; to provide for the arbitration and settlement
> of disputes arising between peoples; and to be the exponent and guardian of that Divine
> Justice which can alone ensure the security of, and establish the reign of law and order
> in, the world.
> (The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, pp. 5–6)
> 
> 54.1        The Universal House of Justice was first elected on the first day of the Festival of Riḍván in
> the one hundred and twentieth year of the Bahá’í Era 5, when the members of the National
> Spiritual Assemblies, in accordance with the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá, and in response to the summons of the Hands of the Cause of God, the Chief Stewards of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth, brought into being this “crowning glory” of the
> administrative institutions of Bahá’u’lláh, the very “nucleus and forerunner” of His World Order.
> Now, therefore, in obedience to the Command of God and with entire reliance upon Him, we, the
> members of the Universal House of Justice, set our hands and its seal to this Declaration of Trust
> which, together with the By-Laws hereto appended, form the Constitution of the Universal House
> of Justice.
> (The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, pp. 6–7)
> 
> 55.1        The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh is unbroken, its all-encompassing power inviolate. The two
> unique features which distinguish it from all religious covenants of the past are unchanged and
> operative. The revealed Word, in its original purity, amplified by the divinely guided
> interpretations of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, remains immutable, unadulterated by any
> man-made creeds or dogmas, unwarrantable inferences or unauthorized interpretations. The
> channel of divine guidance, providing flexibility in all the affairs of mankind, remains open
> through that Institution which was founded by Bahá’u’lláh and endowed by Him with supreme
> authority and unfailing guidance, and of which the Master wrote: “Unto this body all things must
> be referred.” How clearly we can see the truth of Bahá’u’lláh’s assertion: “The Hand of
> Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation.
> Storms of human strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor will men’s fanciful theories
> succeed in damaging its structure.”
> (From a message dated October 1963 written by the Universal House of Justice to the
> Bahá’ís of the World)
> 
> 56.1       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 consultation 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 there is no way to
> appoint or to legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi
> Effendi.
> (From a message dated 6 October 1963 written by the Universal House of Justice to all
> National Spiritual Assemblies)
> 
> 57.1        We are glad that you have brought to our attention the questions perplexing some of the
> believers. It is much better for these questions to be put freely and openly than to have them,
> unexpressed, burdening the hearts of devoted believers. Once one grasps certain basic principles
> of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh such uncertainties are easily dispelled. This is not to say that the
> Cause of God contains no mysteries. Mysteries there are indeed, but they are not of a kind to
> shake one’s faith once the essential tenets of the Cause and the indisputable facts of any situation
> are clearly understood.
> 
> 57.2        The questions put by the various believers fall into three groups. The first group centres upon
> the following queries: Why were steps taken to elect a Universal House of Justice with the
> foreknowledge that there would be no Guardian? Was the time ripe for such an action? Could not
> the International Bahá’í Council have carried on the work?
> 
> 57.3        At the time of our beloved Shoghi Effendi’s death it was evident, from the circumstances and
> from the explicit requirements of the Holy Texts, that it had been impossible for him to appoint a
> successor in accordance with the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. This
> situation, in which the Guardian died without being able to appoint a successor, presented an
> obscure question not covered by the explicit Holy Text, and had to be referred to the Universal
> House of Justice. The friends should clearly understand that before the election of the Universal
> House of Justice there was no knowledge that there would be no Guardian. There could not have
> been any such foreknowledge, whatever opinions individual believers may have held. Neither the
> Hands of the Cause of God, nor the International Bahá’í Council, nor any other existing body
> could make a decision upon this all-important matter. Only the House of Justice had authority to
> pronounce upon it. This was one urgent reason for calling the election of the Universal House of
> Justice as soon as possible.
> 
> 57.4        Following the passing of Shoghi Effendi the international administration of the Faith was
> carried on by the Hands of the Cause of God with the complete agreement and loyalty of the
> National Spiritual Assemblies and the body of the believers. This was in accordance with the
> Guardian’s designation of the Hands as the “Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World
> Commonwealth”.
> 
> 57.5        From the very outset of their custodianship of the Cause of God the Hands realized that since
> they had no certainty of divine guidance such as is incontrovertibly assured to the Guardian and
> to the Universal House of Justice, their one safe course was to follow with undeviating firmness
> the instructions and policies of Shoghi Effendi. The entire history of religion shows no
> comparable record of such strict self-discipline, such absolute loyalty and such complete self-
> abnegation by the leaders of a religion finding themselves suddenly deprived of their divinely
> inspired guide. The debt of gratitude which mankind for generations, nay, ages to come, owes to
> this handful of grief-stricken, steadfast, heroic souls is beyond estimation.
> 
> 57.6        The Guardian had given the Bahá’í world explicit and detailed plans covering the period until
> Riḍván 1963, the end of the Ten Year Crusade. From that point onward, unless the Faith were to
> be endangered, further divine guidance was essential. This was the second pressing reason for the
> calling of the election of the Universal House of Justice. The rightness of the time was further
> confirmed by references in Shoghi Effendi’s letters to the Ten Year Crusade’s 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 throughout the Bahá’í world—undertakings constituting
> in themselves a prelude to the launching of world-wide 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.
> 
> 57.7        Having been in charge of the Cause of God for six years, the Hands, with absolute faith in the
> Holy Writings, called upon the believers to elect the Universal House of Justice, and even went so
> far as to ask that they themselves be not voted for. The sole, sad instance of anyone succumbing
> to the allurements of power was the pitiful attempt of Charles Mason Remey to usurp the
> Guardianship.
> 
> 57.8       The following excerpts from a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá state clearly and emphatically the
> principles with which the friends are already familiar from the Will and Testament of the Master
> and the various letters of Shoghi Effendi, and explain the basis for the election of the Universal
> House of Justice. This Tablet was sent to Persia by the beloved Guardian himself, in the early
> years of his ministry, for circulation among the believers.
> 
> … for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is in a tempest of dangers and infinitely abhors differences of
> opinion… Praise be to God, there are no grounds for differences.
> 
> The Báb, the Exalted One, is the Morn of Truth, the splendour of Whose light
> shineth through all regions. He is also the Harbinger of the Most Great Light, the Abhá
> Luminary. The Blessed Beauty is the One promised by the sacred books of the past, the
> revelation of the Source of light that shone upon Mount Sinai, Whose fire glowed in the
> midst of the Burning Bush. We are, one and all, servants of Their threshold, and stand
> each as a lowly keeper at Their door.
> 
> My purpose is this, that ere the expiration of a thousand years, no one has the right
> to utter a single word, even to claim the station of Guardianship. The Most Holy Book is
> the Book to which all peoples shall refer, and in it the Laws of God have been revealed.
> Laws not mentioned in the Book should be referred to the decision of the Universal
> House of Justice. There will be no grounds for difference… Beware, beware lest anyone
> create a rift or stir up sedition. Should there be differences of opinion, the Supreme
> House of Justice would immediately resolve the problems. Whatever will be its decision,
> by majority vote, shall be the real truth, inasmuch as that House is under the protection,
> unerring guidance and care of the one true Lord. He shall guard it from error and will
> protect it under the wing of His sanctity and infallibility. He who opposes it is cast out
> and will eventually be of the defeated.
> 
> The Supreme House of Justice should be elected according to the system followed in
> the election of the parliaments of Europe. And when the countries would be guided, the
> Houses of Justice of the various countries would elect the Supreme House of Justice.
> 
> At whatever time all the beloved of God in each country appoint their delegates, and
> these in turn elect their representatives, and these representatives elect a body, that body
> shall be regarded as the Supreme House of Justice.
> 
> The establishment of that House is not dependent upon the conversion of all the
> nations of the world. For example, if conditions were favourable and no disturbances
> would be caused, the friends in Persia would elect their representatives, and likewise the
> friends in America, in India, and other areas would also elect their representatives, and
> these would elect a House of Justice. That House of Justice would be the Supreme House
> of Justice. That is all.
> (“Makátíb-i-‘Abdu’l-Bahá”, vol. III, pp. 500–501)
> 
> 57.9       The friends should realize 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. On the contrary, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> envisaged the calling of its election in His own life-time. At a time described by the Guardian as
> “the darkest moments of His [the Master’s] life, under ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd’s regime, when He stood
> ready to be deported to the most inhospitable regions of Northern Africa”, and when even His life
> was threatened, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to Ḥájí Mírzá Taqí Afnán, the cousin of the Báb and chief
> builder of the ‘Ishqábád Temple, commanding him to arrange for the election of the Universal
> House of Justice should the threats against the Master materialize. The second part of the
> Master’s Will is also relevant to such a situation and should be studied by the friends.
> 
> 57.10        The second series of problems vexing some of the friends centres on the question of the
> infallibility of the Universal House of Justice and its ability to function without the presence of
> the Guardian. Particular difficulty has been experienced in understanding the implications of the
> following statement by the beloved Guardian:
> 
> Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 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
> prophethood hath been his birthright.” Without such an institution 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.
> (“The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”, p. 148)
> 
> 57.11        Let the friends who wish for a clearer understanding of this passage at the present time
> consider it in the light of the many other texts which deal with the same subject, for example the
> following passages gleaned from the letters of Shoghi Effendi:
> 
> They have also, in unequivocal and emphatic language, appointed those twin institutions
> of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship as their chosen Successors, destined to
> apply the principles, promulgate the laws, protect the institutions, adapt loyally and
> intelligently the Faith to the requirements of progressive society, and consummate the
> incorruptible inheritance which the Founders of the Faith have bequeathed to the world.
> (Letter dated 21 March 1930, “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”,
> pp. 19–20)
> 
> It must be also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of
> Guardianship does not under any circumstances abrogate, or even in the slightest degree
> detract from, the powers granted to the Universal House of Justice by Bahá’u’lláh in the
> “Kitábu’l-Aqdas”, and repeatedly and solemnly confirmed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will. It
> does not constitute in any manner a contradiction to the Will and Writings of
> Bahá’u’lláh, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions. It enhances the prestige
> of that exalted assembly, stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the
> continuity of its labours, 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….
> (Letter dated 27 February 1929, “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”,
> p. 8)
> 
> From these statements it is made indubitably clear and evident that the Guardian of
> the Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word and that the Universal House of
> Justice has been invested with the function of legislating on matters not expressly
> revealed in the teachings. 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
> judgement on such laws and ordinances as Bahá’u’lláh 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 divinely invested.
> (“The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”, pp. 149–
> 50)
> 
> 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.
> (“The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”, p. 148)
> 
> Though the Guardian of the Faith has been made the permanent head of so august a
> body he can never, even temporarily, assume the right of exclusive legislation. He cannot
> override the decision of the majority of his fellow-members…
> (“The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”, p. 150)
> 
> Above all, let the hearts of the friends be assured by these words of Bahá’u’lláh:
> 
> The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon an unassailable, an
> enduring foundation. Storms of human strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor
> will men’s fanciful theories succeed in damaging its structure.
> (“The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”, p. 109)
> 
> and these of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
> 
> Verily, God effecteth that which He pleaseth; naught can annul His Covenant;
> naught can obstruct His favor nor oppose His Cause! He doeth with His will that which
> pleaseth Him and He is powerful over all things!…
> (“Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas”, Vol. III, p. 598)
> 
> 57.12       It should be understood by the friends that before legislating upon any matter the Universal
> House of Justice studies carefully and exhaustively both the Sacred Texts and the Writings of
> Shoghi Effendi on the subject. The interpretations written by the beloved Guardian cover a vast
> range of subjects and are equally as binding as the Text itself.
> 
> 57.13        There is a profound difference between the interpretations of the Guardian and the
> elucidations of the House of Justice in exercise of its function to “deliberate upon all problems
> which have caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly
> recorded in the Book”. The Guardian reveals what the Scripture means; his interpretation is a
> statement of truth which cannot be varied. Upon the Universal House of Justice, in the words of
> the Guardian, “has been conferred the exclusive right of legislating on matters not expressly
> revealed in the Bahá’í writings”. Its pronouncements, which are susceptible of amendment or
> abrogation by the House of Justice itself, serve to supplement and apply the Law of God.
> Although not invested with the function of interpretation, the House of Justice is in a position to
> do everything necessary to establish the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh on this earth. Unity of
> doctrine is maintained by the existence of the authentic texts of Scripture and the voluminous
> interpretations of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, together with the absolute prohibition against
> anyone propounding “authoritative” or “inspired” interpretations or usurping the function of
> Guardian. Unity of administration is assured by the authority of the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> “Such”, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, “is the immutability of His revealed Word. Such is
> the elasticity which characterizes the functions of His appointed ministers. The first
> preserves the identity of His Faith, and guards the integrity of His law. The second
> enables it, even as a living organism, to expand and adapt itself to the needs and
> requirements of an ever-changing society.”
> (Letter dated 21 March 1930, “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”,
> p. 25)
> 
> 57.14       Every true believer, if he is to deepen in his understanding of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, must
> needs combine profound faith in the unfailing efficacy of His Message and His Covenant, with the
> humility of recognizing that no one of this generation can claim to have embraced the vastness of
> His Cause nor to have comprehended the manifold mysteries and potentialities it contains. The
> words of Shoghi Effendi bear ample testimony to this fact:
> 
> How vast is the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh! How great the magnitude of His blessings
> showered upon humanity in this day! And yet, how poor, how inadequate our
> conception of their significance and glory! This generation stands too close to so colossal
> a Revelation to appreciate, in their full measure, the infinite possibilities of His Faith, the
> unprecedented character of His Cause, and the mysterious dispensations of His
> Providence.
> (Letter dated 21 March 1930, “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh”,
> p. 24)
> 
> We are called upon by our beloved Master in His Will and Testament not only to adopt it
> [Bahá’u’lláh’s new world order] 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….
> (Letter dated 23 February 1924, published in “Bahá’í Administration”, p. 62)
> 
> As to the order and the management of the spiritual affairs of the friends, that which
> is very important now is the consolidation of the Spiritual Assemblies in every centre,
> because on these fortified and unshakeable foundations, God’s Supreme House of Justice
> shall be erected and firmly established in the days to come. When this most great edifice
> shall be reared on such an immovable foundation, God’s purpose, wisdom, universal
> truths, mysteries and realities of the Kingdom, which the mystic Revelation of
> Bahá’u’lláh has deposited within the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, shall gradually
> be revealed and made manifest.
> (Letter dated 19 December 1923—translated from the Persian)
> 
> 57.15       Statements such as these indicate that the full meaning of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá, as well as an understanding of the implications of the World Order ushered in by that
> remarkable document, can be revealed only gradually to men’s eyes, and after the Universal
> House of Justice has come into being. The friends are called upon to trust to time and to await the
> guidance of the Universal House of Justice, which, as circumstances require, will make
> pronouncements that will resolve and clarify obscure matters.
> 57.16        The third group of queries raised by the friends concerns details of functioning of the
> Universal House of Justice in the absence of the Guardian, particularly the matter of expulsion of
> members of the House of Justice. Such questions will be clarified in the Constitution of the House
> of Justice, the formulation of which is a goal of the Nine Year Plan. Meanwhile the friends are
> informed that any member committing a “sin injurious to the common weal”, may be expelled
> from membership of the House of Justice by a majority vote of the House itself. Should any
> member, God forbid, be guilty of breaking the Covenant, the matter would be investigated by the
> Hands of the Cause of God, and the Covenant-breaker would be expelled by decision of the Hands
> of the Cause of God residing in the Holy Land, subject to the approval of the House of Justice, as
> in the case of any other believer. The decision of the Hands in such a case would be announced to
> the Bahá’í world by the Universal House of Justice.
> (From a letter dated 9 March 1965 written by the Universal House of Justice to a
> National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> 58.1        You query the timing of the election of the Universal House of Justice in view of the
> Guardian’s statement: “… given favourable circumstances, under which the Bahá’ís of Persia and
> of the adjoining countries under Soviet rule, may be enabled to elect their national representatives
> … the only remaining obstacle in the way of the definite formation of the International House of
> Justice will have been removed.” On 19th April 1947 the Guardian, in a letter written on his behalf
> by his secretary, replied to the enquiry of an individual believer about this passage: “At the time
> he referred to Russia there were Bahá’ís there, now the Community has practically ceased to
> exist; therefore the formation of the International House of Justice cannot depend on a Russian
> National Spiritual Assembly. But other strong National Spiritual Assemblies will have to be built
> up before it can be established.”
> 
> 58.2        You suggest the possibility that, for the good of the Cause, certain information concerning
> the succession to Shoghi Effendi is being withheld from the believers. We assure you that nothing
> whatsoever is being withheld from the friends for whatever reason. There is no doubt at all that
> in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Shoghi Effendi was the authority designated to appoint
> his successor, but he had no children and all the surviving Ag͟hṣán had broken the Covenant.
> Thus, as the Hands of the Cause stated in 1957, it is clear that there was no one he could have
> appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Will. 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.
> 
> 58.3        The fact that Shoghi Effendi did not leave a will cannot be adduced as evidence of his failure
> to obey Bahá’u’lláh—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. Do not forget that Shoghi Effendi
> said two things were necessary for a growing understanding of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh:
> the passage of time and the guidance of the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> 58.4       The infallibility of the Universal House of Justice, operating within its ordained sphere, has
> not been made dependent upon the presence in its membership of the Guardian of the Cause.
> Although in the realm of interpretation the Guardian’s pronouncements are always binding, in
> the area of the Guardian’s participation in legislation it is always the decision of the House itself
> which must prevail. This is supported by the words of the Guardian: “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 judgement on such laws and ordinances as Bahá’u’lláh 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
> divinely invested.
> 
> 58.5       “Though the Guardian of the Faith has been made the permanent head of so august a body he
> can never, even temporarily, assume the right of exclusive legislation. He cannot override the
> decision of the majority of his fellow-members, but 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 Bahá’u’lláh’s revealed utterances.”
> 
> 58.6        However, quite apart from his function as a member and sacred head for life of the Universal
> House of Justice, the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere, had the right and duty “to
> define the sphere of the legislative action” of the Universal House of Justice. In other words, he
> had the authority to state whether a matter was or was not already covered by the Sacred Texts
> and therefore whether it was within the authority of the Universal House of Justice to legislate
> upon it. No other person, apart from the Guardian, has the right or authority to make such
> definitions. The question therefore arises: In the absence of the Guardian, is the Universal House
> of Justice in danger of straying outside its proper sphere and thus falling into error? Here we
> must remember three things: First, Shoghi Effendi, during the thirty-six years of his
> Guardianship, has already made innumerable such definitions, supplementing those made by
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and by Bahá’u’lláh Himself. As already announced to the friends, 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. Second, 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
> has confidently described as “clearly defined”. Third, we must not forget the Guardian’s written
> statement about these two Institutions: “Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and
> prescribed domain of the other.”
> 
> 58.7       As regards the need to have deductions made from the Writings to help in the formulation of
> the enactments of the House of Justice, there is the following text from the pen of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
> 
> Those matters of major importance which constitute the foundation of the Law of
> God are explicitly recorded in the Text, but subsidiary laws are left to the House of
> Justice. The wisdom of this is that the times never remain the same, for change is a
> necessary quality and an essential attribute of this world, and of time and place.
> Therefore the House of Justice will take action accordingly.
> 
> Let it not be imagined that the House of Justice will take any decision according to
> its own concepts and opinions. God forbid! 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.
> 
> Say, O people: Verily the Supreme House of Justice is under the wings of your Lord,
> the Compassionate, the All-Merciful, that is, under His protection, His care, and His
> shelter; for He has commanded the firm believers to obey that blessed, sanctified and all-
> subduing body, whose sovereignty is divinely ordained and of the Kingdom of Heaven
> and whose laws are inspired and spiritual.
> 
> Briefly, this is the wisdom of referring the laws of society to the House of Justice. In
> the religion of Islám, similarly, not every ordinance was explicitly revealed; nay not a
> tenth part of a tenth part was included in the Text; although all matters of major
> importance were specifically referred to, there were undoubtedly thousands of laws
> which were unspecified. These were devised by the divines of a later age according to the
> laws of Islamic jurisprudence, and individual divines made conflicting deductions from
> the original revealed ordinances. All these were enforced. Today this process of
> deduction is the right of the body of the House of Justice, and the deductions and
> conclusions of individual learned men have no authority, unless they are endorsed by the
> House of Justice. The difference is precisely this, that from the conclusions and
> endorsements of the body of the House of Justice whose members are elected by and
> known to the worldwide Bahá’í community, no differences will arise; whereas the
> conclusions of individual divines and scholars would definitely lead to differences, and
> result in schism, division, and dispersion. The oneness of the Word would be destroyed,
> the unity of the Faith would disappear, and the edifice of the Faith of God would be
> shaken.
> 
> 58.8        In the Order of Bahá’u’lláh there are certain functions which are reserved to certain
> institutions, and others which are shared in common, even though they may be more in the
> special province of one or the other. For example, although the Hands of the Cause of God have
> the specific functions of protection and propagation, and are specialized for these functions, it is
> also the duty of the Universal House of Justice and the Spiritual Assemblies to protect and teach
> the Cause—indeed teaching is a sacred obligation placed upon every believer by Bahá’u’lláh.
> Similarly, although after the Master authoritative interpretation was exclusively vested in the
> Guardian, and although legislation is exclusively the function of the Universal House of Justice,
> these two Institutions are, in Shoghi Effendi’s words, “complementary in their aim and purpose.”
> “Their common, their fundamental object is to ensure 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.” Whereas the Universal House of Justice
> cannot undertake any function which exclusively appertained to the Guardian, it must continue
> to pursue the object which it shares in common with the Guardianship.
> 
> 58.9        As you point out with many quotations, Shoghi Effendi repeatedly stressed the inseparability
> of these two institutions. Whereas he obviously envisaged their functioning together, it cannot
> logically be deduced from this that one is unable to function in the absence of the other. During
> the whole thirty-six years of his Guardianship Shoghi Effendi functioned without the Universal
> House of Justice. Now the Universal House of Justice must function without the Guardian, but the
> principle of inseparability remains. The Guardianship does not lose its significance nor position in
> the Order of Bahá’u’lláh merely because there is no living Guardian. We must guard against two
> extremes: one is to argue that because there is no Guardian all that was written about the
> Guardianship and its position in the Bahá’í World Order is a dead letter and was unimportant; the
> other is to be so overwhelmed by the significance of the Guardianship as to underestimate the
> strength of the Covenant, or to be tempted to compromise with the clear texts in order to find
> somehow, in some way, a “Guardian”.
> 
> 58.10        Service to the Cause of God requires absolute fidelity and integrity and unwavering faith in
> Him. No good but only evil can come from taking the responsibility for the future of God’s Cause
> into our own hands and trying to force it into ways that we wish it to go regardless of the clear
> texts and our own limitations. It is His Cause. He has promised that its light will not fail. Our part
> is to cling tenaciously to the revealed Word and to the Institutions that He has created to preserve
> His Covenant.
> 
> 58.11        It is precisely in this connection that the believers must recognize the importance of
> intellectual honesty and humility. In past dispensations many errors arose because the believers
> in God’s Revelation were over-anxious to encompass the Divine Message within the framework
> of their limited understanding, to define doctrines where definition was beyond their power, to
> explain mysteries which only the wisdom and experience of a later age would make
> comprehensible, to argue that something was true because it appeared desirable and necessary.
> Such compromises with essential truth, such intellectual pride, we must scrupulously avoid.
> 
> 58.12        If some of the statements of the Universal House of Justice are not detailed the friends should
> realize that the cause of this is not secretiveness, but rather the determination of this body to
> refrain from interpreting the teachings and to preserve the truth of the Guardian’s statement that
> “Leaders of religion, exponents of political theories, governors of human institutions … need have
> no doubt or anxiety regarding the nature, the origin, or validity of the institutions which the
> adherents of the Faith are building up throughout the world. For these lie embedded in the
> teachings themselves, unadulterated and unobscured by unwarranted inferences, or unauthorized
> interpretations of His Word.”
> 
> 58.13        A clear distinction is made in our Faith between authoritative interpretation and the
> interpretation or understanding that each individual arrives at for himself from his study of its
> teachings. While the former is confined to the Guardian, the latter, according to the guidance
> given to us by the Guardian himself, should by no means be suppressed. In fact such individual
> interpretation is considered the fruit of man’s rational power and conducive to a better
> understanding of the teachings, provided that no disputes or arguments arise among the friends
> and the individual himself understands and makes it clear that his views are merely his own.
> Individual interpretations continually change as one grows in comprehension of the teachings. As
> Shoghi Effendi explained: “To deepen in the Cause means to read the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and
> the Master so thoroughly as to be able to give it to others in its pure form. There are many who
> have some superficial idea of what the Cause stands for. They, therefore, present it together with
> all sorts of ideas that are their own. As the Cause is still in its early days we must be most careful
> lest we fall under this error and injure the Movement we so much adore. There is no limit to the
> study of the Cause. The more we read the writings the more truths we can find in them and the
> more we will see that our previous notions were erroneous.” 6 So, although individual insights can
> be enlightening and helpful, they can also be misleading. The friends must therefore learn to
> listen to the views of others without being overawed or allowing their faith to be shaken, and to
> express their own views without pressing them on their fellow Bahá’ís.
> 
> 58.14       The Cause of God is organic, growing and developing like a living being. Time and again it
> has faced crises which have perplexed the believers, but each time the Cause, impelled by the
> immutable purpose of God, overcame the crisis and went on to greater heights.
> 
> 58.15        However great may be our inability to understand the mystery and the implications of the
> passing of Shoghi Effendi, the strong cord to which all must cling with assurance is the Covenant.
> The emphatic and vigorous language of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament is at this time, as at
> the time of His own passing, the safeguard of the Cause:
> 
> “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….” And again: “… All must
> seek guidance and turn unto the Centre of the Cause and the House of Justice. And he
> that turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error.”
> 
> 58.16        The Universal House of Justice, which the Guardian said would be regarded by posterity as
> “the last refuge of a tottering civilization,” is now, in the absence of the Guardian, the sole
> infallibly guided institution in the world to which all must turn, and on it rests the responsibility
> for ensuring the unity and progress of the Cause of God in accordance with the revealed Word.
> There are statements from the Master and the Guardian indicating that the Universal House of
> Justice, in addition to being the Highest Legislative Body of the Faith, is also the body to which all
> must turn, and is the “apex” of the Bahá’í Administrative Order, as well as the “supreme organ of
> the Bahá’í Commonwealth”. The Guardian has in his writings specified for the House of Justice
> such fundamental functions as the formulation of future world-wide teaching plans, the conduct
> of the administrative affairs of the Faith, and the guidance, organisation and unification of the
> affairs of the Cause throughout the world. Furthermore in “God Passes By” the Guardian makes
> the following statement: “the Kitáb-i-Aqdas … not only preserves for posterity the basic laws and
> ordinances on which the fabric of His future World Order must rest, but ordains, in addition to
> the function of interpretation which it confers upon His Successor, the necessary institutions
> through which the integrity and unity of His Faith can alone be safeguarded.” He has also, in “The
> Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, written that 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.”
> 
> 58.17        As the Universal House of Justice has already announced, it cannot legislate to make possible
> the appointment of a successor to Shoghi Effendi, nor can it legislate to make possible the
> appointment of any more Hands of the Cause, but it must do everything within its power to
> ensure the performance of all those functions which it shares with these two mighty Institutions.
> It must make provision for the proper discharge in future of the functions of protection and
> propagation, which the administrative bodies share with the Guardianship and the Hands of the
> Cause; it must, in the absence of the Guardian, receive and disburse the Ḥuqúqu’lláh, in
> accordance with the following statement of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Disposition of the Ḥuqúq, wholly or
> partly, is permissible, but this should be done by permission of the authority in the Cause to
> whom all must turn”; it must make provision in its Constitution for the removal of any of its
> members who commits a sin “injurious to the common weal”. Above all, it must, with perfect
> faith in Bahá’u’lláh, proclaim His Cause and enforce His Law so that the Most Great Peace shall
> be firmly established in this world and the foundation of the Kingdom of God on earth shall be
> accomplished.
> (From a letter dated 27 May 1966 written by the Universal House of Justice to an
> individual believer)
> 
> 59.1       Your recent letter, in which you share with us the questions that have occurred to some of the
> youth in studying “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, has been carefully considered, and we feel
> that we should comment both on the particular passage you mention and on a related passage in
> the same work, because both bear on the relationship between the Guardianship and the
> Universal House of Justice.
> 
> 59.2        The first passage concerns the Guardian’s duty to insist upon a reconsideration by his fellow-
> members in the Universal House of Justice of any enactment which he believes conflicts with the
> meaning and departs from the spirit of the Sacred Writings. The second passage concerns the
> infallibility of the Universal House of Justice without the Guardian, namely Shoghi Effendi’s
> statement that “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.”
> 
> 59.3       Some of the youth, you indicate, were puzzled as to how to reconcile the former of these two
> passages with such statements as that in the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá which affirms that the
> Universal House of Justice is “freed from all error”.
> 
> 59.4        Just as the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá does not in any way contradict the Kitáb-i-
> Aqdas but, in the Guardian’s words, “confirms, supplements, and correlates the provisions of the
> ‘Aqdas’”, so the writings of the Guardian contradict neither the revealed Word nor the
> interpretations of the Master. In attempting to understand the Writings, therefore, one must first
> realize that there is and can be no real contradiction in them, and in the light of this we can
> confidently seek the unity of meaning which they contain.
> 59.5       The Guardian and the Universal House of Justice have certain duties and functions in
> common; each also operates within a separate and distinct sphere. As Shoghi Effendi explained,
> “… it is made indubitably clear and evident that the Guardian of the Faith has been made the
> Interpreter of the Word and that the Universal House of Justice has been invested with the
> function of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings. 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 judgement on such laws and ordinances as Bahá’u’lláh has
> not expressly revealed.” He goes on to affirm, “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 divinely invested.” It is impossible to conceive that two
> centres of authority, which the Master has stated “are both under the care and protection of the
> Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One”, could
> conflict with one another, because both are vehicles of the same Divine Guidance.
> 
> 59.6        The Universal House of Justice, beyond its function as the enactor of legislation, has been
> invested with the more general functions of protecting and administering the Cause, solving
> obscure questions and deciding upon matters that have caused difference. Nowhere is it stated
> that the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice is by virtue of the Guardian’s membership
> or presence on that body. Indeed, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Shoghi Effendi in his
> “Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh” have both explicitly stated that the elected members of the
> Universal House of Justice in consultation are recipients of unfailing Divine Guidance.
> Furthermore the Guardian himself in “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh” asserted that “It must be
> also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of Guardianship does not under any
> circumstances abrogate, or even in the slightest degree detract from, the powers granted to the
> Universal House of Justice by Bahá’u’lláh in the “Kitábu’l-Aqdas”, and repeatedly and solemnly
> confirmed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will. It does not constitute in any manner a contradiction to the
> Will and Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions.”
> 
> 59.7        While the specific responsibility of the Guardian is the interpretation of the Word, he is also
> invested with all the powers and prerogatives necessary to discharge his function as Guardian of
> the Cause, its Head and supreme protector. He is, furthermore, made the irremovable head and
> member for life of the supreme legislative body of the Faith. It is as the head of the Universal
> House of Justice, and as a member of that body, that the Guardian takes part in the process of
> legislation. If the following passage, which gave rise to your query, is considered as referring to
> this last relationship, you will see that there is no contradiction between it and the other texts:
> 
> “Though the Guardian of the Faith has been made the permanent head of so august a
> body he can never, even temporarily, assume the right of exclusive legislation. He cannot
> override the decision of the majority of his fellow-members, but 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 Bahá’u’lláh’s revealed utterances.”
> 
> 59.8        Although the Guardian, in relation to his fellow-members within the Universal House of
> Justice, cannot override the decision of the majority, it is inconceivable that the other members
> would ignore any objection he raised in the course of consultation or pass legislation contrary to
> what he expressed as being in harmony with the spirit of the Cause. It is, after all, the final act of
> judgement delivered by the Universal House of Justice that is vouchsafed infallibility, not any
> views expressed in the course of the process of enactment.
> 
> 59.9       It can be seen, therefore, that there is no conflict between the Master’s statements concerning
> the unfailing divine guidance conferred upon the Universal House of Justice and the above
> passage from “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”.
> 
> 59.10       It may help the friends to understand this relationship if they are aware of some of the
> processes that the Universal House of Justice follows when legislating. First, of course, it observes
> the greatest care in studying the Sacred Texts and the interpretations of the Guardian as well as
> considering the views of all the members. After long consultation the process of drafting a
> pronouncement is put into effect. During this process the whole matter may well be reconsidered.
> As a result of such reconsideration the final judgement may be significantly different from the
> conclusion earlier favoured, or possibly it may be decided not to legislate at all on that subject at
> that time. One can understand how great would be the attention paid to the views of the
> Guardian during the above process were he alive.
> 
> 59.11       In considering the second passage we must once more hold fast to the principle that the
> teachings do not contradict themselves.
> 
> 59.12        Future Guardians are clearly envisaged and referred to in the Writings, but there is nowhere
> any promise or guarantee that the line of Guardians would endure for ever; on the contrary there
> are clear indications that the line could be broken. Yet, in spite of this, there is a repeated
> insistence in the Writings on the indestructibility of the Covenant and the immutability of God’s
> Purpose for this Day.
> 
> 59.13      One of the most striking passages which envisage the possibility of such a break in the line of
> Guardians is in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas itself:
> 
> The endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the Revealer of Signs. No one
> has the right to lay hold on them without leave from the Dawning-Place of Revelation.
> After Him the decision rests with the Ag͟hṣán [Branches], and after them with the House
> of Justice—should it be established in the world by then—so that they may use these
> endowments for the benefit of the Sites exalted in this Cause, and for that which they
> have been commanded by God, the Almighty, the All-Powerful. Otherwise the
> endowments should be referred to the people of Bahá, who speak not without His leave
> and who pass no judgement but in accordance with that which God has ordained in this
> Tablet, they who are the champions of victory betwixt heaven and earth, so that they
> may spend them on that which has been decreed in the Holy Book by God, the Mighty,
> the Bountiful.
> 
> 59.14        The passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957 precipitated the very situation provided for in this
> passage, in that the line of Ag͟hṣán ended before the House of Justice had been elected. Although,
> as is seen, the ending of the line of Ag͟hṣán at some stage was provided for, we must never
> underestimate the grievous loss that the Faith has suffered. God’s purpose for mankind remains
> unchanged, however, and the mighty Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh remains impregnable. Has not
> Bahá’u’lláh stated categorically, “The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon
> an unassailable, an enduring foundation.” While ‘Abdu’l-Bahá confirms: “Verily, God effecteth
> that which He pleaseth; naught can annul His Covenant; naught can obstruct His favour nor
> oppose His Cause!” “Everything is subject to corruption; but the Covenant of thy Lord shall
> continue to pervade all regions.” “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 severe…. These agitations of the
> violators are no more than the foam of the ocean,… This foam of the ocean shall not endure and
> shall soon disperse and vanish, while the ocean of the Covenant shall eternally surge and roar.”
> And Shoghi Effendi has clearly stated: “The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is
> founded is God’s immutable Purpose for mankind in this day.” “… this priceless gem of Divine
> Revelation, now still in its embryonic state, shall evolve within the shell of His law, and shall
> forge ahead, undivided and unimpaired, till it embraces the whole of mankind.”
> 
> 59.15        In the Bahá’í Faith there are two authoritative centres appointed to which the believers must
> turn, for in reality the Interpreter of the Word is an extension of that centre which is the Word
> itself. The Book is the record of the utterance of Bahá’u’lláh, while the divinely inspired
> Interpreter is the living Mouth of that Book—it is he and he alone who can authoritatively state
> what the Book means. Thus one centre is the Book with its Interpreter, and the other is the
> Universal House of Justice guided by God to decide on whatever is not explicitly revealed in the
> Book. This pattern of centres and their relationships is apparent at every stage in the unfoldment
> of the Cause. In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh tells the believers to refer after His passing to the
> Book, and to “Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.” In the
> Kitáb-i-‘Ahdí (the Book of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant), He makes it clear that this reference is to
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In the Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh also ordains the institution of the Universal House of
> Justice, and confers upon it the powers necessary for it to discharge its ordained functions. The
> Master in His Will and Testament explicitly institutes the Guardianship, which Shoghi Effendi
> states was clearly anticipated in the verses of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, reaffirms and elucidates the
> authority of the Universal House of Justice, and refers the believers once again to the Book: “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,” and at the very end of the Will He says: “All must seek
> guidance and turn unto the Centre of the Cause and the House of Justice. And he that turneth
> unto whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error.”
> 
> 59.16        As the sphere of jurisdiction of the Universal House of Justice in matters of legislation
> extends to whatever is not explicitly revealed in the Sacred Text, it is clear that the Book itself is
> the highest authority and delimits the sphere of action of the House of Justice. Likewise, the
> Interpreter of the Book must also have the authority to define the sphere of the legislative action
> of the elected representatives of the Cause. The writings of the Guardian and the advice given by
> him over the thirty-six years of his Guardianship show the way in which he exercised this
> function in relation to the Universal House of Justice as well as to National and Local Spiritual
> Assemblies.
> 
> 59.17        The fact that the Guardian has the authority to define the sphere of the legislative action of
> the Universal House of Justice does not carry with it the corollary that without such guidance the
> Universal House of Justice might stray beyond the limits of its proper authority; such a deduction
> would conflict with all the other texts referring to its infallibility, and specifically with the
> Guardian’s own clear assertion that the Universal House of Justice never can or will infringe on
> the sacred and prescribed domain of the Guardianship. It should be remembered, however, that
> although National and Local Spiritual Assemblies can receive divine guidance if they consult in
> the manner and spirit described by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, they do not share in the explicit guarantees of
> infallibility conferred upon the Universal House of Justice. Any careful student of the Cause can
> see with what care the Guardian, after the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, guided these elected
> representatives of the believers in the painstaking erection of the Administrative Order and in the
> formulation of Local and National Bahá’í Constitutions.
> 
> 59.18        We hope that these elucidations will assist the friends in understanding these relationships
> more clearly, but we must all remember that we stand too close to the beginnings of the System
> ordained by Bahá’u’lláh to be able fully to understand its potentialities or the inter-relationships
> of its component parts. As Shoghi Effendi’s secretary wrote on his behalf to an individual believer
> on 25 March 1930, “The contents of the Will of the Master are far too much for the present
> generation to comprehend. It needs at least a century of actual working before the treasures of
> wisdom hidden in it can be revealed….”
> (From a letter dated 7 December 1969 written by the Universal House of Justice to an
> individual believer)
> 
> 60.1       Although the Universal House of Justice has to apply and supplement the laws of the Aqdas it
> has no right at all to change any law that Bahá’u’lláh has specifically revealed. As clearly stated
> by the Guardian, the provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas “remain inviolate” during the entire
> Dispensation.
> (From a letter dated 28 April 1974 written by the Universal House of Justice to an
> individual believer)
> 61.1   A Covenant in the religious sense is a binding agreement between God and man, whereby God
> requires of man certain behaviour in return for which He guarantees certain blessings, or
> whereby He gives man certain bounties in return for which He takes from those who accept them
> an undertaking to behave in a certain way. There is, for example, the Greater Covenant which
> every Manifestation of God makes with His followers, promising that in the fulness of time a new
> Manifestation will be sent, and taking from them the undertaking to accept Him when this
> occurs. There is also the Lesser Covenant that a Manifestation of God makes with His followers
> that they will accept His appointed successor after Him. If they do so, the Faith can remain united
> and pure. If not, the Faith becomes divided and its force spent. It is a Covenant of this kind that
> Bahá’u’lláh made with His followers regarding ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá perpetuated
> through the Administrative Order that Bahá’u’lláh had already created.
> (From a letter dated 23 March 1975 written by the Universal House of Justice to an
> individual believer)
> 
> 62.1        Regarding your first question, it is important that when considering the references to the
> Guardianship in the writings of the Faith, and especially when striving to understand how these
> references apply at the present time, you should realize that the word “guardianship” is used with
> various meanings in different contexts. In certain contexts it indicates the office and function of
> the Guardian himself, in others it refers to the line of Guardians, in still others it bears a more
> extended meaning embracing the Guardian and his attendant institutions. Nevertheless, it would
> be quite incorrect to state, at the present time when there is no Guardian, that the Hands of the
> Cause are members of the Institution of Guardianship. Nor would it be correct to so designate the
> International Teaching Centre, the Counsellors, the members of the Auxiliary Boards and their
> assistants.
> 
> 62.2        In the specific sense of referring to the office and function of the Guardian himself, the House
> of Justice finds that the prerogatives and duties vested in him are of three kinds. First, as was
> explained in a letter to an individual believer which was published in “Wellspring of Guidance”, 7
> there are a number of functions and objects which the Guardianship shares with the Universal
> House of Justice and which the House of Justice must continue to pursue. Secondly, there are
> other functions of the Guardianship which, in the absence of a Guardian, devolve upon the
> Universal House of Justice, for example, the Headship of the Faith, the responsibility for directing
> the work of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God and of ensuring the continuing
> discharge of the functions of protection and propagation vested in that Institution, and the right
> to administer the Ḥuqúqu’lláh. Thirdly, there are those prerogatives and duties which lie
> exclusively within the sphere of the Guardian himself and, therefore, in the absence of a
> Guardian, are inoperative except insofar as the monumental work already performed by Shoghi
> Effendi continues to be of enduring benefit to the Faith. Such a function is that of authoritative
> interpretation of the Teachings.
> (From a letter dated 5 May 1977 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 
> 63.1        Shoghi Effendi was asked several times during his ministry to define the sphere of his
> operation and his infallibility. The replies he gave and which were written on his behalf are most
> illuminating. He explains that he is not an infallible authority on subjects such as economics and
> science, nor does he go into technical matters since his infallibility is confined to “matters which
> are related strictly to the Cause”. He further points out that “he is not, like the Prophet,
> omniscient at will”, that his “infallibility covers interpretation of the revealed word, and its
> application”, and that he is also “infallible in the protection of the Faith”. Furthermore, in one of
> the letters, the following guideline is set forth:
> It is not for 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 the appointed interpreter of the Teachings, it is his responsibility to state
> what matters, affecting the interests of the Faith, demand on the part of the believers
> complete and unqualified obedience to his instructions.
> 
> 63.2        It must always be remembered that authoritative interpretation of the Teachings was, after
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the exclusive right of the Guardian, and fell within the “sacred and prescribed
> domain” of the Guardianship, and therefore the Universal House of Justice cannot and will not
> infringe upon that domain. The exclusive sphere of the Universal House of Justice is to
> “pronounce upon and deliver the final judgment on such laws and ordinances as Bahá’u’lláh has
> not expressly revealed”. Apart from this fundamental difference in the functions of the twin
> pillars of the Order of Bahá’u’lláh, insofar as the other duties of the Head of the Faith are
> concerned, the Universal House of Justice shares with the Guardian the responsibility for the
> application of the revealed word, the protection of the Faith, as well as the duty “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”.
> However, the Universal House of Justice is not omniscient; like the Guardian, it wants to be
> provided with facts when called upon to render a decision, and like him, it may well change its
> decision when new facts emerge.
> (From a letter dated 22 August 1977 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> 64.1        … the Tablets of the Divine Plan, which were revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during the First World
> War, are the Charter for the teaching of the Faith. All the teaching plans launched by the beloved
> Guardian, as well as those subsequently directed by the Universal House of Justice, are stages in
> the implementation of this master plan conceived by the Centre of the Covenant for the diffusion
> of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> 64.2        When it is working out the goals of a plan, such as the Five Year Plan, the Universal House of
> Justice, in collaboration with the International Teaching Centre, collates information on the
> current status of the Faith throughout the world, considers the condition of mankind as a whole
> and the direction in which political and economic events throughout the world are moving, gives
> thought to the specific needs of the evolving pattern of the Bahá’í community in each country,
> and sets goals which, in the light of the information before it, it judges to be both essential of
> achievement and also within the capacity of the Bahá’í communities to reach. All the goals thus
> set are minimum goals; that is to say, the needs of humanity are far greater than anything the
> Bahá’í community can plan to meet at the present time, and therefore, although the goals are set
> as high as the Universal House of Justice considers it possible for the Bahá’ís to reach within the
> time provided, the friends should always strive to exceed them if they can.
> 
> 64.3        In setting the goals the House of Justice cannot take into account the unpredictable
> operations of God’s Supreme Plan. At times it may seem that the operation of the Major Plan
> causes a disruption in the work of the Minor Plan, but the friends should not let this distress
> them. In 1955 a sudden recrudescence of the persecution of the Faith in the land of its birth
> intervened dramatically in the progress of the Ten Year Crusade. Referring to this, the Guardian
> wrote, as recorded on page 140 of “Citadel of Faith”:
> 
> For though the newly launched World Spiritual Crusade, constituting at best only
> the Minor Plan in the execution of the Almighty’s design for the redemption of mankind
> —has, as a result of this turmoil, paralyzing temporarily the vast majority of the
> organized followers of Bahá’u’lláh within His birthplace, suffered a severe setback—yet
> the over-all Plan of God, moving mysteriously and in contrast to the orderly and well-
> known processes of a clearly devised Plan, has received an impetus the force of which
> only posterity can adequately assess.
> (From a letter dated 29 September 1977 written on behalf of the Universal
> House of Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> 65.1   You express the fear that the authority conferred upon ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Guardian and the
> Universal House of Justice could lead to a progressive reduction in the “available scope for
> personal interpretation”, and that “the actual writings of the Manifestation will have less and less
> import”, and you instance what has happened in previous Dispensations. The House of Justice
> suggests that, in thinking about this, you contemplate the way the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh has
> actually worked and you will be able to see how very different its processes are from those of, say,
> the development of the law in Rabbinical Judaism or the functioning of the Papacy in Christianity.
> The practice in the past in these two religions, and also to a great extent in Islám, has been to
> assume that the Revelation given by the Founder was the final, perfect revelation of God’s Will to
> mankind, and all subsequent elucidation and legislation has been interpretative in the sense that
> it aimed at applying this basic Revelation to the new problems and situations that have arisen.
> The Bahá’í premises are quite different. Although the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is accepted as the
> Word of God and His Law as the Law of God, it is understood from the outset that Revelation is
> progressive, and that the Law, although the Will of God for this Age, will undoubtedly be changed
> by the next Manifestation of God. Secondly, only the written text of the Revelation is regarded as
> authoritative. There is no Oral Law as in Judaism, no Tradition of the Church as in Christianity,
> no Hadíth as in Islám. Thirdly, a clear distinction is drawn between interpretation and legislation.
> Authoritative interpretation is the exclusive prerogative of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian, while
> infallible legislation is the function of the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> 65.2        If you study the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and of the Guardian, you will see how
> tremendously they differ from the interpretations of the Rabbis and the Church. They are not a
> progressive fossilization of the Revelation, they are for the most part expositions which throw a
> clear light upon passages which may have been considered obscure, they point up the intimate
> interrelationship between various teachings, they expound the implications of scriptural
> allusions, and they educate the Bahá’ís in the tremendous significances of the Words of
> Bahá’u’lláh. Rather than in any way supplanting the Words of the Manifestation, they lead us
> back to them time and again.
> 
> 65.3        There is also an important distinction made in the Faith between authoritative interpretation,
> as described above, and the interpretation which every believer is fully entitled to voice. Believers
> are free, indeed are encouraged, to study the Writings for themselves and to express their
> understanding of them. Such personal interpretations can be most illuminating, but all Bahá’ís,
> including the one expressing the view, however learned he may be, should realize that it is only a
> personal view and can never be upheld as a standard for others to accept, nor should disputes
> ever be permitted to arise over differences in such opinions.
> 
> 65.4        The legislation enacted by the Universal House of Justice is different from interpretation.
> Authoritative interpretation, as uttered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian, is a divinely guided
> statement of what the Word of God means. The divinely inspired legislation of the Universal
> House of Justice does not attempt to say what the revealed Word means—it states what must be
> done in cases where the revealed Text or its authoritative interpretation is not explicit. It is,
> therefore, on quite a different level from the Sacred Text, and the Universal House of Justice is
> empowered to abrogate or amend its own legislation whenever it judges the conditions make this
> desirable. Moreover, the attitude to legislation is different in the Bahá’í Faith. The human
> tendency in past Dispensations has been to want every question answered and to arrive at a
> binding decision affecting every small detail of belief or practice. The tendency in the Bahá’í
> Dispensation, from the time of Bahá’u’lláh Himself, has been to clarify the governing principles,
> to make binding pronouncements on details which are considered essential, but to leave a wide
> area to the conscience of the individual. The same tendency appears also in administrative
> matters. The Guardian used to state that the working of National Spiritual Assemblies should be
> uniform in essentials but that diversity in secondary matters was not only permissible but
> desirable. For this reason a number of points are not expressed in the National Bahá’í
> Constitution (the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of National Assemblies); these are left to each
> National Spiritual Assembly to decide for itself
> (From a letter dated 3 January 1982 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> 66.1        While ultimately the major function of the Universal House of Justice will be that of
> legislation, it has continuing responsibility for executive and judicial functions of the institution.
> (From a letter dated 19 May 1985 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> 67.1       Your letter touches upon a subject which, as time passes, will increasingly engage the
> attention of the House of Justice in accordance with its responsibilities as explicitly assigned in
> the Holy Texts. For instance, Bahá’u’lláh states:
> 
> According to the fundamental laws which We have formerly revealed in the Kitáb-i-
> Aqdas and other Tablets, all affairs are committed to the care of just kings and presidents
> and of the Trustees of the House of Justice.
> (“Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas”, p. 93)
> 
> Elsewhere He states:
> 
> It is incumbent upon the ministers of the House of Justice to promote the Lesser Peace so
> that the people of the earth may be relieved from the burden of exorbitant expenditures.
> This matter is imperative and absolutely essential, inasmuch as hostilities and conflict lie
> at the root of affliction and calamity.
> (“Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas”, p. 89)
> 
> And yet again He asserts:
> 
> 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.
> (“Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas”, p. 27)
> 
> Furthermore, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is reported to have said in a talk:
> 
> He [Bahá’u’lláh] has ordained and established the House of Justice, which is
> endowed with a political as well as a religious function, the consummate union and
> blending of church and state. This institution is under the protecting power of
> Bahá’u’lláh Himself.
> (“The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, 1982 ed., p. 455)
> 
> 67.2       As can be seen from the current situation in the world and the current state in the
> development of the Bahá’í community, statements such as these indicate a future stage in the
> functioning of the House of Justice and of the operation of our world community; but in the
> meantime, the House of Justice will determine, as particular circumstances warrant, how the
> Bahá’ís and their national and local institutions will relate to their respective governments.
> (From a letter dated 23 June 1987 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 
> 68.1   … it should be noted that in most areas of human behaviour there are acts which are clearly
> contrary to the law of God and others which are clearly approved or permissible; between these
> there is often a grey area where it is not immediately apparent what should be done. It has been a
> human tendency to wish to eliminate these grey areas so that every aspect of life is clearly
> prescribed. A result of this tendency has been the tremendous accretion of interpretation and
> subsidiary legislation which has smothered the spirit of certain of the older religions. In the
> Bahá’í Faith moderation, which is so strongly upheld by Bahá’u’lláh, is applied here also.
> Provision is made for supplementary legislation by the Universal House of Justice—legislation
> which it can itself abrogate and amend as conditions change. There is also a clear pattern already
> established in the Sacred Scriptures, in the interpretations made by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi
> Effendi, and in the decisions so far made by the Universal House of Justice, whereby an area of
> the application of the laws is intentionally left to the conscience of each individual believer. This
> is the age in which mankind must attain maturity, and one aspect of this is the assumption by
> individuals of the responsibility for deciding, with the assistance of consultation, their own course
> of action in areas which are left open by the law of God.
> 
> 68.2         It should also be noted that it is neither possible nor desirable for the Universal House of
> Justice to set forth a set of rules covering every situation. Rather is it the task of the individual
> believer to determine, according to his own prayerful understanding of the Writings, precisely
> what his course of conduct should be in relation to situations which he encounters in his daily
> life. If he is to fulfil his true mission in life as a follower of the Blessed Perfection, he will pattern
> his life according to the Teachings. The believer cannot attain this objective merely by living
> according to a set of rigid regulations. When his life is oriented towards service to Bahá’u’lláh,
> and when every conscious act is performed within this frame of reference, he will not fail to
> achieve the true purpose of his life.
> 
> 68.3       Therefore, every believer must continually study the Sacred Writings and the instructions of
> the beloved Guardian, striving always to attain a new and better understanding of their import to
> him and to his society. He should pray fervently for divine guidance, wisdom and strength to do
> what is pleasing to God, and to serve Him at all times and to the best of his ability.
> (From a letter dated 5 June 1988 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 
> 69.1       One of the major concerns of the Universal House of Justice, as the Bahá’í Administrative
> Order unfolds, will be to ensure that it evolves in consonance with the spirit of the Bahá’í
> Revelation. While many beneficial aspects of human society at large can be safely incorporated
> into Bahá’í Administration, the House of Justice will guard against the corrupting influence of
> those non-Bahá’í political and social concepts and practices which are not in harmony with the
> divine standard.
> (From a letter dated 27 April 1995 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 
> 70.1        The House of Justice notes that you have been disturbed by some of the postings made to the
> email discussion group of which you have recently been a member. Email discussion groups are a
> new phenomenon; they can provide immense benefits for communication between people and for
> the teaching of the Faith, but, as you have seen, they can also give rise to far-reaching problems.
> The use of email requires an adjustment of perception. In the past, discussions among Bahá’ís
> would take place orally among groups of friends in private, or at summer schools and other
> Bahá’í events, or in letters between individuals. Inevitably, many erroneous statements were
> made; not all comments were as temperate as they should have been; many statements were
> misunderstood by those who heard them. After all, not all Bahá’ís have a profound knowledge of
> the teachings, and it is clear that even academic eminence is no guarantee of a correct
> understanding of the Revelation of God. Before email such extravagances had a limited range and
> were of an ephemeral nature. Now, the same kind of discussion is spread among a hundred or
> more people, who often do not know one another, is in a form more durable than speech, and can
> be disseminated to a vast readership at the touch of a button. A new level of self-discipline,
> therefore, is needed by those who take part. Such discussions among Bahá’ís call for self-restraint
> and purity of motive as well as cordiality, frankness and openness.
> 
> 70.2       The central, unifying element of the Faith is the Covenant. This is the institution which
> guarantees that the Faith and its teachings will remain true to the Revelation brought by
> Bahá’u’lláh and expounded by His divinely guided Interpreters. It is the one agency which can
> protect the Faith against the distortion and disruption to which all previous Revelations have
> been subjected by the efforts—whether well-intentioned or not—of the self-opinionated and
> ambitious among their followers to force the Cause of God into patterns which they personally
> favoured.
> 
> 70.3        Thus, if any participant in an email discussion feels that a view put forward appears to
> contradict or undermine the provisions of the Covenant, he should be free to say so, explaining
> candidly and courteously why he feels as he does. The person who made the initial statement will
> then be able to re-evaluate his opinion and, if he still believes it to be valid, he should be able to
> explain why it is not contrary to either the letter or the spirit of the Covenant. The participants in
> such a discussion should avoid disputation and, if they are unable to resolve an issue, they should
> refer the point to the Universal House of Justice since, in accordance with the Will and Testament
> of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved…” and it has the
> authority to decide upon “all problems which have caused difference, questions that are obscure
> and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book.” In this way the Covenant can illuminate
> and temper the discourse and make it fruitful.…
> 
> 70.4       The Administrative Order of Bahá’u’lláh is in the process of growth and unfoldment. In its
> structure and functioning there are aspects which, the Guardian explained, should be uniform
> throughout the world. There are also secondary aspects which can be varied from country to
> country as decided by the responsible National Spiritual Assembly in accordance with the needs
> and conditions in the area under its jurisdiction. The aspects which must be uniform are set out in
> the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice and the Constitutions of the National and Local
> Spiritual Assemblies.
> 
> 70.5       As the Bahá’í communities grow, the Universal House of Justice will ensure that this
> divinely-founded system will unfold in accordance with the unerring guidance of which it is the
> recipient.
> 
> 70.6        Those who from time to time express their dissatisfaction with the current structure of the
> Administrative Order would be better advised to turn their attention to a thorough study of the
> principles upon which it is based, as expounded by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and to
> concentrate their efforts on putting into practice the spirit and letter of these texts. Virtually
> every problem which is blamed on a deficiency of structure is, in fact, traceable to a defect in the
> manner in which the individual believers understand and implement the administrative principles
> of the Faith.
> 
> 70.7       In “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, Shoghi Effendi states:
> 
> 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.
> 
> 70.8       The three forms of secular government to which the Guardian refers are autocracy (rule by
> one person), aristocracy (rule by the best people) and democracy (rule by all the people).
> Referring again to these three forms of secular government, the Guardian writes, later in that
> same document:
> 
> Whereas this Administrative Order cannot be said to have been modelled after any
> of these recognized systems of government, it nevertheless embodies, reconciles and
> assimilates within its framework such wholesome elements as are to be found in each
> one of them. The hereditary authority which the Guardian is called upon to exercise, the
> vital and essential functions which the Universal House of Justice discharges, the specific
> provisions requiring its democratic election by the representatives of the faithful—these
> combine to demonstrate the truth that this divinely revealed Order, which can never be
> identified with any of the standard types of government referred to by Aristotle in his
> works, embodies and blends with the spiritual verities on which it is based the beneficent
> elements which are to be found in each one of them. The admitted evils inherent in each
> of these systems being rigidly and permanently excluded, this unique Order, however
> long it may endure and however extensive its ramifications, cannot ever degenerate into
> any form of despotism, of oligarchy, or of demagogy which must sooner or later corrupt
> the machinery of all man-made and essentially defective political institutions.
> 
> 70.9        In “God Passes By” the Guardian comments further on the same theme of the characteristics
> of the Bahá’í Administrative Order:
> 
> It incorporates within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the
> three recognized forms of secular government, is devoid of the defects which each of
> them inherently possesses, and blends the salutary truths which each undoubtedly
> contains without vitiating in any way the integrity of the Divine verities on which it is
> essentially founded. The hereditary authority which the Guardian of the Administrative
> Order is called upon to exercise, and the right of the interpretation of the Holy Writ
> solely conferred upon him; the powers and prerogatives of the Universal House of
> Justice, possessing the exclusive right to legislate on matters not explicitly revealed in the
> Most Holy Book; the ordinance exempting its members from any responsibility to those
> whom they represent, and from the obligation to conform to their views, convictions or
> sentiments; the specific provisions requiring the free and democratic election by the mass
> of the faithful of the Body that constitutes the sole legislative organ in the world-wide
> Bahá’í community—these are among the features which combine to set apart the Order
> identified with the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh from any of the existing systems of human
> government.
> 
> 70.10        Although the Administrative Order must now function without a living Guardian, and thus
> without a continuing source of divinely guided authoritative interpretation, beneficial elements of
> all three types of government are still embodied in this Order: in the continuing authority of the
> Sacred Texts and the binding effect of the interpretations of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian; in
> the obligation resting on the members of the House of Justice “to follow, in a prayerful attitude,
> the dictates and promptings of their conscience” ungoverned by “the feelings, the general opinion,
> and even the convictions of the mass of the faithful…”; in the election (direct or indirect) of the
> members of all governing bodies by the unfettered vote of the mass of the believers, uninfluenced
> by either nominations or electioneering and untroubled by the spirit of factionalism and of
> concern for power which are such common features of current society. Above all, it is firmly
> rooted in the “spiritual verities” revealed by Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> 70.11       In the years following the writing of the words quoted above, moreover, Shoghi Effendi not
> only accelerated the process of bringing the Universal House of Justice into being by appointing
> the International Bahá’í Council, but also, in accordance with the provisions of the Will of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, appointed the Hands of the Cause of God and began the development of the series
> of institutions comprising “eminent and devoted believers appointed for the specific purposes of
> protecting and propagating the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh under the guidance of the Head of that
> Faith”, 8 the vital importance of which can now be clearly seen in the functioning of the
> International Teaching Centre, the Continental Boards of Counsellors, the Auxiliary Board
> members and their assistants.
> 
> 70.12        From certain quarters, for a number of decades, there have been repeated attempts to import
> into the Bahá’í Administration the concept that it is desirable and proper to bring about change in
> the community by forming a constituency of like-minded believers to bring pressure to bear on
> the elected Assemblies. Such a concept is very similar to the formation of parties and factions
> which is an accepted and familiar feature of many representative democracies. It is, however,
> wholly antithetical to the spirit of Bahá’í Administration, and would distort its nature and
> undermine that unity which the Covenant is designed to preserve.
> 
> 70.13       The elected institutions do, indeed, have the responsibility to “acquaint themselves with the
> conditions prevailing among the community” and “must weigh dispassionately in their minds the
> merits of any case presented for their consideration”, but this process is not helped by a
> prevalence of negative criticism and disunity among the friends.
> (From a letter dated 16 February 1996 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> 71.1       You express disquiet that attempts being made to introduce a distinction between “Bahá’í
> laymen” and “Bahá’í scholars” with respect to the study of the Faith tend to generate a spirit of
> disunity among the friends. Your concern is fully justified. Such an approach to the study of the
> Cause would betray a fundamental misunderstanding of the pattern of Bahá’í society as set out in
> the Teachings of the Faith.
> 
> 71.2       As you know, Bahá’u’lláh says that the pursuit of knowledge has been enjoined upon
> everyone, and knowledge itself is described by Him as “wings to man’s life” and “a ladder for his
> ascent”. Those whose high attainments in this respect make it possible for them to contribute in
> important ways to the advancement of civilization are deserving of society’s recognition and
> gratitude.
> 
> 71.3       In the study of the Revelation of God, an individual’s proficiency in one of the physical or
> social sciences, in law, philology, or other fields of specialization will often throw valuable light
> on issues being examined, and such contributions are greatly to be appreciated. The field of Near
> East studies, mentioned in your letter, is one that can assist in this way. However, no one
> specialization among the many branches of scholarly research can confer upon its practitioners
> an authoritative role in the common effort of exploring the implications of so staggering and all-
> encompassing a body of truth.
> 
> 71.4        Collateral with His summons to the pursuit of knowledge, Bahá’u’lláh has abolished entirely
> that feature of all past religions by which a special caste of persons such as the Christian
> priesthood or the Islamic ‘ulamá came to exercise authority over the religious understanding and
> practice of their fellow believers. In a letter written in Persian on his behalf to the Spiritual
> Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Istanbul, the Guardian is at some pains to underline the importance of
> this marked departure from past religious history:
> 
> But praise be to God that the Pen of Glory has done away with the unyielding and
> dictatorial views of the learned and the wise, dismissed the assertions of individuals as an
> authoritative criterion, even though they were recognized as the most accomplished and
> learned among men, and ordained that all matters be referred to authorized centres and
> specified assemblies.
> 
> 71.5        The Bahá’í Dispensation is described in the words of its Founder as “a day that shall not be
> followed by night”. Through His Covenant, Bahá’u’lláh has provided an unfailing source of divine
> guidance that will endure throughout the Dispensation. Authority to administer the affairs of the
> community and to ensure both the integrity of the Word of God and the promotion of the Faith’s
> message is conferred upon the Administrative Order to which the Covenant has given birth. It is
> solely by the process of free election or by unsought appointment that the members of the
> institutions of this Order are assigned to their positions in it. There is no profession in either the
> teaching of the Faith or its administration for which one can train or to which a believer can
> properly aspire. Cautionary words of Bahá’u’lláh are particularly relevant:
> 
> Ever since the seeking of preference and distinction came into play, the world hath been
> laid waste. It hath become desolate….
> 
> Indeed, man is noble, inasmuch as each one is a repository of the sign of God.
> Nevertheless, to regard oneself as superior in knowledge, learning or virtue, or to exalt
> oneself or seek preference, is a grievous transgression.
> 
> 71.6       The promotion of learning of every kind among the Faith’s members is an activity
> fundamental to the achievement of the community’s wide-ranging goals. Consequently, the
> encouragement of individual believers to acquire knowledge, the operation of Bahá’í schools,
> universities, and training institutes, the organization of study groups, and the work of task forces
> dedicated to relating the principles of the Revelation to the challenges facing humankind all
> represent activities with which both the Counsellors and their auxiliaries, on the one hand, and
> National and Local Spiritual Assemblies, on the other, must concern themselves. In shouldering
> these demanding responsibilities, Bahá’í institutions everywhere find their efforts greatly
> enhanced by the assistance of believers whose intellectual pursuits, qualities of character, and
> devotion to the Cause particularly fit them to contribute their services.
> 
> 71.7        A special responsibility in the matter rests on the Counsellors because of the duty assigned to
> them to assist in releasing the potential of the individual believer. The members of this institution,
> appointed for specific terms, have been given the task of carrying forward into the future the
> functions of the protection and propagation of the Faith conferred in the Will and Testament of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the Hands of the Cause. Thus, the Counsellors are called on 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.”
> Like the Hands, the Counsellors have no interpretive authority, an authority conferred by the
> Covenant only on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian of the Faith. While some Counsellors, like some
> of the Hands, will have pursued various academic or professional disciplines in their individual
> careers, their discharge of their duties is not dependent on proficiencies of this kind. All of them
> share fully in the vital task of encouraging believers everywhere in the acquisition of knowledge,
> in all its dimensions. All share, too, in the responsibility assigned to the institution of which they
> are members to protect the Faith against its enemies, both external and internal, a concern to
> which both the Master and the Guardian attached pre-eminent importance.
> 
> 71.8       An understanding of the principles by which we explore the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh
> depends, too, on an appreciation of the broad nature of the authority conferred on the Universal
> House of Justice. Speaking of the relevant responsibilities of its elected membership, the Will and
> Testament states:
> 
> 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.
> 71.9        Emphasizing, in this same Charter of the Administrative Order, the importance of believers’
> wholehearted adherence to the guidance given by both the Guardian and the Universal House of
> Justice, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:
> 
> 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….
> (From a letter dated 14 March 1996 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> 72.1        It is the exclusive sphere of the Universal House of Justice to “pronounce upon and deliver
> the final judgment on such laws and ordinances as Bahá’u’lláh has not expressly revealed.” It
> carries responsibility for the application of the revealed Word, the protection of the Faith, as well
> as the duty “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.” However, the Universal House of Justice is not omniscient, and the
> friends should understand that there is a difference between infallibility and omniscience. Like
> the Guardian, the House of Justice wants to be provided with facts when called upon to render a
> decision, and like him it may well change its decision when new facts emerge, or in light of
> changed conditions at some point in the future. We have found nothing in the writings of Shoghi
> Effendi which suggests that the House of Justice would on any occasion reach a “wrong decision”.
> (From a letter dated 14 June 1996 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 
> 73.1       The institutions of the Administrative Order of Bahá’u’lláh, rooted in the provisions of His
> Revelation, have emerged gradually and organically, as the Bahá’í community has grown through
> the power of the divine impulse imparted to humankind in this age. The characteristics and
> functions of each of these institutions have evolved, and are still evolving, as are the relationships
> between them. The writings of the beloved Guardian expound the fundamental elements of this
> mighty System and make it clear that the Administrative Order, although different in many ways
> from the World Order which it is the destiny of the Bahá’í Revelation to call into being, is both
> the “nucleus” and “pattern” of that World Order. Thus, the evolution of the institutions of the
> Administrative Order, while following many variants to meet changing conditions in different
> times and places, should strictly follow the essential principles of Bahá’í administration which
> have been laid down in the Sacred Text and in the interpretations provided by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and
> the Guardian.
> (From a message dated 30 May 1997 written by the Universal House of Justice to
> National Spiritual Assemblies)
> 
> 74.1   Already in “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh” Shoghi Effendi has shown, beyond any doubt, that
> the function of making authoritative interpretations of the Teachings is confined solely and
> exclusively to the Guardian. Neither the Universal House of Justice, nor any other institution,
> person or group of persons can assume that function. That the Universal House of Justice will
> never infringe on the functions reserved to the Guardian is shown, not only by its own words and
> actions, but by Shoghi Effendi’s statement in that same document: “Neither can, nor will ever,
> infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other.” It is guaranteed by the fact that the
> Universal House of Justice as well as the Guardian are both “under the care and protection of the
> Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One”.
> (From a letter dated 3 June 1997 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 
> 75.1        The meanings of the terms “elucidation” and “interpretation”, as they are used with regard to
> the functions of Bahá’í institutions, should not of course be confused with each other. The
> elucidations of the Universal House of Justice stem from its legislative function, and as such differ
> from interpretation. The divinely inspired legislation of the House of Justice does not attempt to
> say what the revealed Word means—it states what must be done in cases where the revealed Text
> or its authoritative interpretation is not explicit; and in this context it offers explanations. It is,
> therefore, on quite a different level from the sacred Text, and the Universal House of Justice is
> empowered to abrogate or amend its own legislation whenever it judges the conditions make this
> desirable. The major distinction between the two functions of elucidation and interpretation, to
> repeat the point differently, is that legislation with its resultant outcome of elucidation is
> susceptible of amendment by the House of Justice itself, whereas the Guardian’s interpretation is
> a statement of truth which cannot be varied.
> (From a letter dated 27 August 1998 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> 76.1        We have received a letter from a believer in Iran with questions about the Guardianship and
> the Universal House of Justice. We appreciate that firmness in the Covenant is among the
> distinctive characteristics of the believers in that land, who are informed of the principles and
> essential facts pertaining to the succession of authority in the Cause. Nevertheless, none among
> them should hesitate to seek clarification of matters about which they have questions, for the
> enemies of the Faith are tireless in their attempts to sow seeds of confusion and doubt. Moreover,
> it is beneficial, in view of the beloved Master’s exhortations to us all to be ever-vigilant
> concerning matters of protection, for the friends to review the relevant essentials from time to
> time. We have therefore decided to provide you with the following comments.…
> 
> 76.2       Questions concerning the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice can be resolved
> through careful study of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi and the
> elucidations of the House of Justice, which, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states, will “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,” He assures the friends, “has the same effect as the
> Text itself.”
> 
> 76.3       Prior to the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921, the provisions He had put in place in His Will
> and Testament to safeguard the Faith and ensure its steady advancement into the future were
> generally unknown. The believers anticipated a day when the Universal House of Justice would
> be established since it had been specifically mentioned in the Sacred Texts. There was, however,
> no definite understanding that there would be a Guardian. Indeed, Shoghi Effendi later indicated
> that he had no foreknowledge of the position to which he would be called. At most, he had
> reportedly thought the Will and Testament might charge him, as the eldest grandson of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá, with responsibility for arranging for the election of the House of Justice. Only after the
> reading of the Will did the institution of the Guardianship become widely known, and the Bahá’í
> community worldwide acknowledged Shoghi Effendi as the Head of the Faith to whom all must
> turn.
> 
> 76.4       An attentive reading of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will makes it clear that He did not indicate a
> predestined outcome but did provide for a number of circumstances which, depending on future
> conditions, might eventually confront the Faith. The second section of the Will, for instance,
> which refers only to the Universal House of Justice, with no mention of the Guardianship, was
> written at a time when His own life was in imminent danger and Shoghi Effendi was but a small
> boy. During that same period, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had made arrangements for the election of the
> Universal House of Justice to take place immediately, should the threat on His life materialize.
> Through the grace of God, the crisis passed, and it was ultimately left to Shoghi Effendi many
> years later, as Guardian and Head of the Faith, to determine the timing of the formation of the
> House of Justice. Early on he considered the possibility of holding the election soon after the
> passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in which case the House of Justice and the Guardian would have
> functioned simultaneously. He determined, of course, that the foundations of the Administrative
> Order needed first to be firmly laid at the local and national levels, and it eventually transpired
> that the House of Justice was established several years after his own passing. That the transition
> from the ministry of the Guardian to the election of the Universal House of Justice occurred with
> such relative ease can, itself, be attributed to the way certain provisions in the Will were
> formulated.
> 
> 76.5        ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament clearly allows for the possibility of a successor to Shoghi
> Effendi, and in this light, we find statements written by him or on his behalf over the course of his
> thirty-six-year ministry that envision future Guardians. However, there are no assurances in the
> Writings that the line of Guardians would continue throughout the Dispensation; rather, the
> possibility is envisaged that such a line would come to an end. In this respect, Bahá’u’lláh states
> in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas:
> 
> 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 Ag͟hṣán, and after them to the
> House of Justice—should it be established in the world 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 Bahá 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.
> 
> The passing of Shoghi Effendi precipitated the situation described, in which the authority vested
> in the Ag͟hṣán—first in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and then in Shoghi Effendi—ended before the House of
> Justice was established.
> 
> 76.6       In His Will and Testament, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá specifies in the clearest terms the conditions
> according to which Shoghi Effendi was to have named his successor as Guardian:
> 
> O ye beloved of the Lord! 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. He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment
> from all worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of
> God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should the first-born of the guardian of the
> Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words:—“The child is the secret
> essence of its sire,” that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian
> of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character,
> then must he, (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him.
> 
> The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons that
> shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the guardian of the
> Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by
> majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these, whether
> unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to the choice of the one whom
> the guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor. This assent must be given
> in such wise as the assenting and dissenting voices may not be distinguished (i.e., secret
> ballot).
> 76.7        The personal views of any individual regarding the above statement, no matter how learned,
> cannot compare with the Guardian’s infallible understanding of the passage. Shoghi Effendi, who
> faithfully adhered to the wishes of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá throughout his ministry, would
> never have been careless in a matter so essential to the integrity of the Faith as the question of the
> appointment of his successor. It is unthinkable that he would appoint someone to succeed him
> who did not possess the qualifications laid down by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will. It is equally
> untenable to suggest that he would do so in a manner which deviated from the explicit
> requirements in that same document, which included the affirmation of his choice by nine
> designated Hands of the Cause of God, so that “differences” would “not arise after his passing.”
> How perverse the suggestion of the violators of the Covenant that Shoghi Effendi would ignore
> the Master’s instructions and make a veiled and indirect appointment of his successor! Rather
> should the fact that Shoghi Effendi did not name a successor be seen as a sign of his meticulous
> adherence to every word of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and an indication of his conclusion that there was
> no qualified individual whom he could appoint.
> 
> 76.8        Therefore, it should be clear to every steadfast follower of Bahá’u’lláh that the end of the line
> of Guardians was not the result of any decision or action taken by the Hands of the Cause of God
> following the sudden passing of Shoghi Effendi. The line was brought to a close when, compelled
> by existing circumstances and the strict provisions of the Will, Shoghi Effendi did not name a
> successor. To entertain the possibility that it may one day be re-established is futile. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> wrote that “ere the expiration of a thousand years, no one has the right to utter a single word,
> even to claim the station of Guardianship.” And in the same passage He exhorted the friends,
> “Should there be differences of opinion, the Supreme House of Justice would immediately resolve
> the problems.” The Universal House of Justice, soon after its formation, stated that it “finds that
> there is no way to appoint or to legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to
> succeed Shoghi Effendi.”
> 
> 76.9        While the line of Guardians has ended, the Covenant is preserved. The vast body of
> interpretations of Shoghi Effendi informs the decisions of the Universal House of Justice as the
> Faith continues its onward march. The unity of the Faith is safeguarded, and the realization of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s great purpose for humanity assured. “The Hand of Omnipotence hath established
> His Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation,” Bahá’u’lláh has stated. “Storms of
> human strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor will men’s fanciful theories succeed in
> damaging its structure.”
> 
> ***
> 76.10        With reference to the specific questions raised in the letter we have received, one concerns
> the meaning of the designation “Ag͟hṣán”, as found in the Writings. While in some cases, as
> affirmed by the Guardian, the term applies specifically to Bahá’u’lláh’s sons, at other times it is
> used more broadly to include His male descendants. For example, in His Will and Testament
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers to Shoghi Effendi as “the chosen branch”. The reference to Shoghi Effendi as
> Ghuṣn here—the singular form of Ag͟hṣán—follows the usage of Bahá’u’lláh in relation to the titles
> He gave His sons, that is, the Most Great Branch, the Greater Branch, and the Purest Branch. A
> letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi explains that the word Ag͟hṣán “refers to Bahá’u’lláh’s
> descendants”; another describes Hussein Rabbani, the Guardian’s brother, as “the grandchild of
> the Master, an Afnán and Ag͟hṣán mentioned in the Will and Testament of the Master.” It is
> evident, then, that the designation Ag͟hṣán, or Ghuṣn, includes Shoghi Effendi and the other male
> descendants of Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> 76.11        If, at any time, male descendants of Bahá’u’lláh appear who are faithful to the Covenant, it
> would nevertheless not be possible for any of them to occupy the office of Guardian, for, as
> already explained, in the absence of appointment by Shoghi Effendi, they cannot claim the station
> of Guardianship and there is no way for one to be named to it by an act of the House of Justice.
> ***
> 76.12       Another query concerns the establishment of the Universal House of Justice. Specifically, the
> question has been asked whether the functioning of an “officially recognized” International Bahá’í
> Court in the Holy Land, mentioned by Shoghi Effendi, was an essential preliminary step in the
> evolution of the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> 76.13        As you are no doubt aware, Shoghi Effendi explained that “‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Himself, in one of
> His earliest Tablets, contemplated the possibility of the formation of the Universal House of
> Justice in His own lifetime.” The Master described the requirements necessary for its formation,
> which did not include the establishment of a religious court:
> 
> The Supreme House of Justice should be elected according to the system followed in
> the election of the parliaments of Europe. And when the countries would be guided the
> Houses of Justice of the various countries would elect the Supreme House of Justice.
> 
> At whatever time all the beloved of God in each country appoint their delegates, and
> these in turn elect their representatives, and these representatives elect a body, that body
> shall be regarded as the Supreme House of Justice.
> 
> The establishment of that House is not dependent upon the conversion of all the
> nations of the world. For example, if conditions were favourable and no disturbances
> would be caused, the friends in Persia would elect their representatives, and likewise the
> friends in America, in India, and other areas would also elect their representatives, and
> these would elect a House of Justice. That House of Justice would be the Supreme House
> of Justice. That is all.
> 
> 76.14        Over the thirty-six years of his ministry, as he guided the Bahá’í world, striving to lay the
> foundations of the Administrative Order, Shoghi Effendi outlined specific developmental steps to
> be taken, which were intended to lead to the eventual establishment of the Universal House of
> Justice. The accomplishment of some depended largely on the exertions of the believers
> themselves—an increase in the number of Local and National Spiritual Assemblies, the
> appointment of the International Bahá’í Council and its evolution into an elected body. Others,
> however, were subject to the forces operating in society and, no matter what the efforts made by
> the Bahá’í community, could not be accomplished.
> 
> 76.15       In 1929, for instance, the Guardian stated, “given favorable circumstances, under which the
> Bahá’ís of Persia and of the adjoining countries under Soviet rule may be enabled to elect their
> national representatives … the only remaining obstacle in the way of the definite formation of the
> International House of Justice will have been removed.” Later, following the expulsion of Bahá’ís
> from Russia by the authorities, a letter written on his behalf explained, “At the time he referred to
> Russia there were Bahá’ís there, now the Community has practically ceased to exist; therefore the
> formation of the International House of Justice cannot depend on a Russian National Spiritual
> Assembly.”
> 
> 76.16       In the same way, goals were specified by Shoghi Effendi for the establishment of Bahá’í
> courts, including national courts in certain countries in Asia and, as a step in the development of
> the International Bahá’í Council, the precursor to the Universal House of Justice, a court in the
> Holy Land. Recognition by the Egyptian government of the National Spiritual Assembly as an
> independent Bahá’í court was sought as far back as 1929. Over time, changing conditions
> rendered the formation of such religious courts impossible. As the Hands of the Cause of God
> commented in 1959 in calling for the election of the International Bahá’í Council and the eventual
> establishment of the House of Justice,
> We wish to assure the believers that every effort will be made to establish a Bahá’í
> Court in the Holy Land prior to the date set for this election. We should however bear in
> mind that the Guardian himself clearly indicated this goal, due to the strong trend
> towards the secularization of Religious Courts in this part of the world, might not be
> achieved.
> 
> ***
> 76.17        Yet another question that has been raised concerns the discharge by the Universal House of
> Justice of certain functions previously performed by the Guardian. With regard to Ḥuqúqu’lláh,
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has explained that “Disposition of the Ḥuqúq, wholly or partly, is permissible, but
> this should be done by permission of the authority in the Cause to whom all must turn.” Likewise,
> the expulsion of Covenant-breakers is an obligation exercised by the Head of the Faith in the
> context of the duty to protect the Cause from those who would seek to undermine its unity.
> Shoghi Effendi, it is well known, was obliged to expel Covenant-breakers from the Faith at
> different points throughout his ministry, both before and after the appointment of the Hands of
> the Cause of God. This responsibility now falls on the Universal House of Justice, as the centre of
> authority to whom all must turn. The current procedures followed in this respect are outlined in
> the statement “The Institution of the Counsellors”.
> 
> 76.18       In this connection it should be noted that after the passing of Shoghi Effendi, although
> overwhelmed with grief, the Bahá’í world maintained its unity during the tenuous period
> between his ministry and the election of the Universal House of Justice. The sole challenge to its
> integrity appeared some two years after his death when Charles Mason Remey, who was at that
> time one of the Hands of the Cause, laid claim to the Guardianship. As you are aware, Remey
> asserted that his appointment in 1951 as president of the nascent International Bahá’í Council
> meant that he should automatically assume the position of head of the Universal House of Justice
> and was, therefore, the second Guardian.
> 
> 76.19        The absurdity of Remey’s claim is obvious and requires little elaboration. In 1957, he was
> among the Hands of the Cause who gathered in the Holy Land to consider what course of action
> should be taken following the unexpected passing of the Guardian. He personally affirmed that
> Shoghi Effendi had appointed no successor, signing a document issued unanimously by the Hands
> to this effect. As signatory to yet another such document, he agreed that the entire body of the
> Hands of the Cause would determine when and how the evolution of the International Bahá’í
> Council would culminate in the election of the House of Justice. For two years, as one of the nine
> Hands designated to serve in the Holy Land, he participated in the consultations that guided the
> development of the Bahá’í community. Then, without notice or discussion with his fellow Hands,
> he claimed the station of Guardianship, lacking explicit appointment by Shoghi Effendi as
> specified in the Will and Testament and in direct violation of the command of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that
> no one could make such a claim. Exercising the authority conferred on them in accordance with
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will, the Hands of the Cause expelled him from the Faith as a Covenant-breaker.
> 
> ***
> 76.20        In matters related to the Covenant, the friends must be firm and steadfast; they should be
> wary, lest the arguments put forward by those who sow seeds of doubt become the cause for
> confusion or lead to disputation and disunity. Should questions arise that cannot be resolved, they
> should be placed immediately before the Universal House of Justice. The friends must be
> especially careful to avoid being enticed by the whisperings of the remnants of the Covenant-
> breakers and their supporters, who seek to shake the believers’ faith. Whereas in the past the
> violators of the Covenant sought to undermine the authority of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and
> Shoghi Effendi, today they challenge the Universal House of Justice. Of particular concern are
> those who, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá warns, “assert their firmness and steadfastness in the Covenant but
> when they come across responsive ears they secretly sow the seeds of suspicion.”
> 
> 76.21        Remey’s small band of associates, bedevilled by half a century of infighting among competing
> factions, have had negligible effect on the progress of the Faith. The flurry caused by their actions
> does nothing more than shake a few lifeless twigs and leaves from the tree of the Cause. Those
> who are naïve, those who are not deepened in the Teachings or not firm in the Covenant, those
> who are controlled by their egos and lust for leadership can be misled and fall away. The friends
> are urged to protect themselves and their community by adhering strictly to the emphatic
> exhortations repeated throughout the Sacred Texts. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states,
> 
> 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. By this House is meant
> that Universal House of Justice which is to be elected from all countries, that is from
> those parts in the East and West where the loved ones are to be found, after the manner
> of the customary elections in Western countries such as those of England….
> 
> And now, one of the greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause of God is
> to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant-breakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause
> of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past. O
> friends! It behooveth you to call to mind with tenderness the trials of His Holiness, the
> Exalted One, and show your fidelity to the Ever-Blest Beauty. The utmost endeavour
> must be exerted lest all these woes, trials and afflictions, all this pure and sacred blood
> that hath been shed so profusely in the Path of God, may prove to be in vain….
> 
> O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive with all your heart to shield the Cause of God from
> the onslaught of the insincere, for souls such as these cause the straight to become
> crooked and all benevolent efforts to produce contrary results.
> 
> 76.22        The believers in the Cradle of the Faith, who have withstood for more than a century the
> onslaught of government and clergy, who triumphed over the perils posed by the rebellions of
> Azal and Muḥammad-‘Alí, who severed themselves from those who opposed Shoghi Effendi, will
> easily discount the spurious and ridiculous arguments of those few individuals who vie among
> themselves to exploit Remey’s deviation as a pretext for attracting a handful of personal
> followers. Be assured of our supplications at the Holy Threshold on behalf of the beloved friends
> everywhere in that sacred land.
> (From a message dated 18 February 2008 written by the Universal House of Justice to
> the Friends in Iran)
> 
> 77.1       In general, the House of Justice wishes to preserve the widest possible latitude for the friends
> to explore the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh and to share their individual understanding of the
> Teachings. Yet it must be remembered that, with regard to deductions drawn from the Texts, the
> Master clearly states:
> 
> … the deductions and conclusions of individual learned men have no authority, unless
> they are endorsed by the House of Justice. The difference is precisely this, that from the
> conclusions and endorsements of the body of the House of Justice whose members are
> elected by and known to the worldwide Bahá’í community, no differences will arise;
> whereas the conclusions of individual divines and scholars would definitely lead to
> differences, and result in schism, division, and dispersion. The oneness of the Word
> would be destroyed, the unity of the Faith would disappear, and the edifice of the Faith of
> God would be shaken.
> 
> 77.2       The Universal House of Justice does not intend at this time to elaborate further on previous
> explanations given of its duties and powers. That the House of Justice itself does not find it
> necessary to do so should alert the friends as to the unwisdom of their attempting to define so
> precisely its sphere of action. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that, while there are explicit
> passages in the authoritative texts that make reference to the infallibility of the House of Justice
> in the enactment of legislation, the argument that it is free from error only in this respect is
> untenable. Surely, the many emphatic statements found in the Writings, such as the following
> excerpt from the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, should suffice to dismiss any claims of this
> kind:
> 
> 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 Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His
> Holiness, 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….
> 
> 77.3        Apart from the question of infallibility, there is the matter of authority. A letter written on
> behalf of Shoghi Effendi states: “It is not for 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 judgement. Such an attitude would evidently lead to confusion and to schism.” In regard
> to the Universal House of Justice, the same understanding applies.
> 
> 77.4       Infallibility is a profound spiritual concept inherent in the Bahá’í Writings. In meditating
> upon the relevant passages, the believers will naturally reach their own understanding of the
> subject. Individual opinions, however, should not be imposed on others, nor so promoted as to
> crystallize into doctrines not found in the explicit Text. When exchanging views about the
> Universal House of Justice—the body to which all things must be referred—the friends should
> exercise care lest they go to extremes, by either diminishing its station or assigning to it
> exaggerated attributes. What better admonition to heed in a matter of this nature than that given
> by the beloved Master, when some believers fell into disagreement about His own station:
> 
> These discussions will yield no result or benefit: we must set all such debates and
> controversies entirely aside—nay, we must consign them to oblivion and arise to
> accomplish that which is enjoined and required in this Day. These debates are mere
> words bereft of inner meaning; they are mere illusions and not reality.
> 
> That which is true and real is this: that we become united and agreed in our purpose
> and arise to flood this darksome world with light, to banish enmity and foreignness from
> among the children of men, to perfume and revive the world with the sanctified breezes
> of the character and conduct of the Abhá Beauty, to cast the light of divine guidance
> upon East and West, to raise the tabernacle of the love of God and gather all people
> under its sheltering shadow, to confer peace and composure upon every soul beneath the
> shade of the blessed Tree, to show forth such love as to astonish the enemy, to turn
> ravenous and bloodthirsty wolves into the gazelles of the meadows of the love of God, to
> cause the oppressor to taste the sweet savour of meekness, to teach them that kill the
> submission and acquiescence of those that suffer themselves to be killed, to spread
> abroad the verses of the one true God, to extol the virtues and perfections of the all-
> glorious Lord, to raise to the highest heaven the cry of “O Thou the Glory of Glories!”,
> and to cause the call of “The earth will shine with the light of her Lord!” 9 to reach the
> ears of the denizens of His Kingdom.
> 77.5       The House of Justice appeals to the friends not to become embroiled in the kind of fruitless
> theological discussions that caused conflict and contention in past dispensations, lest they lose
> sight of their responsibility to promulgate the oneness of humanity and of the role of the
> Covenant established by Bahá’u’lláh in uniting minds, hearts, and souls.
> (From a letter dated 7 April 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> the Friends in Iran)
> 
> 78.1        It is heartening to note that the friends are approaching the study of the messages of the
> Universal House of Justice related to the Plan with such diligence. The level of discussion
> generated as they strive to put into practice the guidance received, and to learn from experience,
> is impressive. We cannot help noticing, however, that achievements tend to be more enduring in
> those regions where the friends strive to understand the totality of the vision conveyed in the
> messages, while difficulties often arise when phrases and sentences are taken out of context and
> viewed as isolated fragments. The institutions and agencies of the Faith should help the believers
> to analyse but not reduce, to ponder meaning but not dwell on words, to identify distinct areas of
> action but not compartmentalize. We realize that this is no small task. Society speaks more and
> more in slogans. We hope that the habits the friends are forming in study circles to work with full
> and complex thoughts and to achieve understanding will be extended to various spheres of
> activity.
> (From a message dated 28 December 2010 written by the Universal House of Justice to
> the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
> 
> 79.1        As has become progressively apparent, the organic process of growth outlined by the House
> of Justice in recent Plans is reaching higher levels of complexity, especially in those clusters
> where the number of active participants has increased significantly. The transformation of
> communities under way across the globe in cluster after cluster, while still in its early stages,
> touches upon the most fundamental of social and cultural forces, currents, and aspirations. This
> growth process involves a coherent and systematic pattern of activity focused upon community
> building and includes the multiplication of study circles and institute campaigns, the education of
> children, the spiritual empowerment of junior youth, individual and collective teaching efforts,
> visits to the homes of believers and their friends, a cultivation of collective devotional life, social
> action, greater involvement in the discourses of society, as well as many other elements that
> enhance the capacity of individuals, institutions, and the community—the three protagonists of
> the Plan. Pivotal to this pattern of activity is the development of human resources through the
> training institute, with a sequence of courses that reinforce in the participants a posture of
> learning by which understanding continues to expand as they carry out acts of service of
> increasing complexity. This educational process nurtures a thirst for the Word of God, not only
> fostering an enduring habit of study and reflection on that wellspring of all progress but also
> enabling the friends to apply the Teachings in their own lives and in the bourgeoning life of the
> community. In its communications with the Bahá’í world, the House of Justice has described and
> elucidated these unfolding developments, and the Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies,
> the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, as well as regional and local institutions, have
> laboured shoulder to shoulder with the believers who are striving to understand and respond to
> this guidance. As the friends, including those who do not wish to study the courses of the
> institute, embrace the guidance of the House of Justice in its entirety and, with love and a true
> Bahá’í spirit, rally around their institutions, they find that questions they may have are resolved.
> (From a letter dated 18 January 2013 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 80.1        As you are no doubt aware, the Bahá’í teachings stress both the immutability of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> laws and the flexibility associated with their application. Bahá’u’lláh has given the House of
> Justice the responsibility to supplement and apply His laws, and He states that its Ministers “may
> act according to the needs and requirements of the time.”
> (From a letter dated 1 December 2013 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> 81.1       In striving to overcome their difficulties and create new patterns of action, the friends must,
> whether as individuals or members of institutions, be mindful of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s admonition about
> the importance of love and fellowship and His assurance that “it is in unity the truth will be
> revealed and the wrong made right”. The system that Bahá’u’lláh has brought into the world will
> take decades and centuries to unfold, attaining ever-increasing levels of complexity, effectiveness,
> and influence. Shoghi Effendi explained 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.” He also warned that “the promised glories of the Sovereignty which the Bahá’í
> teachings foreshadow, can be revealed only in the fullness of time”.
> (From a letter dated 17 February 2014 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> 82.1       Bahá’í administration is, of course, an integral part of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
> Accordingly, then, it is the continuing task of His loved ones to deepen their appreciation of the
> principles on which it is founded and faithfully observe them in their actions. The institutions of
> the Bahá’í Administrative Order, the Guardian asserts, act as channels through which the
> promised blessings of Bahá’u’lláh may flow. They serve “to further the interests, to co-ordinate
> the activities, to apply the principles, to embody the ideals and execute the purpose of the Bahá’í
> Faith” and function “not only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order”.
> (From a letter dated 9 July 2015 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a
> National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> 83.1        The House of Justice has asked us to assure you that it appreciates the deep concern you have
> about its membership being confined to men as well as your commitment to the principle of the
> equality of the sexes. However, as the House of Justice has previously explained, “the important
> point for Bahá’ís to remember is that in the face of the categorical pronouncements in Bahá’í
> Scripture establishing the equality of men and women, the ineligibility of women for membership
> of the Universal House of Justice does not constitute evidence of the superiority of men over
> women.” Regarding the membership of the Universal House of Justice, the beloved Guardian
> explained in a letter dated 14 December 1940 written on his behalf: “From the fact that there is no
> equality of functions between the sexes one should not, however, infer that either sex is
> inherently superior or inferior to the other, or that they are unequal in their rights.” That we
> cannot currently understand the wisdom of this limitation—a wisdom that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> emphatically promised would eventually become clear—does not mean that the wisdom does not
> exist or will not eventually become known.
> 
> 83.2        Having accepted the claim of Bahá’u’lláh to be a Manifestation of God and His Teachings to
> be statements of divine truth, believers may rest assured that the stipulation in the Writings
> regarding the membership of the Universal House of Justice is not at variance with the principle
> of the equality of men and women that those same Writings proclaim. As Shoghi Effendi has
> stated in this connection…, “The Bahá’ís should accept this statement of the Master in a spirit of
> deep faith, confident that there is a divine guidance and wisdom behind it which will be gradually
> unfolded to the eyes of the world.” 10
> (From a letter dated 16 February 2016 written on behalf of the Universal House of
> Justice to an individual believer)
> 
> 84.1   A careful reading of the Bahá’í writings and the guidance of the House of Justice can clarify how
> two matters that appear to be in tension with one another are coherent once the concepts and
> principles that connect them are understood. Particular circumstances in a locality, timeliness,
> and the periodic need for focus also have a bearing on such issues.
> (From a letter dated 27 April 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 
> 85.1        Just as the Guardian has received the assurance of divine guidance and protection in fulfilling
> his responsibilities, so too the Universal House of Justice is provided this assurance in the Sacred
> Text for the discharge of its responsibilities. It is this guidance, rather than any capacity for
> authoritative interpretation, that ensures the conformity of its decisions with the meaning of the
> Sacred Text….
> 
> 85.2       … to fulfil such divinely appointed responsibilities and to reach its divinely guided
> conclusions on what Bahá’ís must do when the meaning of the Book is not explicit, the Universal
> House of Justice studies carefully and exhaustively both the Sacred Texts and the writings of
> Shoghi Effendi on a subject and then comes to a determination.
> (From a letter dated 19 March 2018 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)
> 
> 86.1        Your letter inquiring about certain issues being discussed among the friends pertaining to the
> infallibility of the Universal House of Justice was received….
> 
> 86.2       As you are surely aware, there are many statements in the Bahá’í writings that set out in
> broad and emphatic terms the assurance of divine guidance and protection provided to the
> Guardian and the Universal House of Justice and describe conferred infallibility in these terms.
> Among these statements are the following from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
> 
> 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 Abhá 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….
> 
> ***
> 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.
> 
> ***
> Should that House of Justice decide, either unanimously or by a majority, upon a matter
> that is not explicitly recorded in the Book, that decision and command will be guarded
> from error. Now, the members of the House of Justice are not essentially infallible as
> individuals, but the body of the House of Justice is under the protection and unerring
> guidance of God: This is called conferred infallibility.
> 
> ***
> Let it not be imagined that the House of Justice will take any decision according to
> its own concepts and opinions. God forbid! 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.
> 
> Say, O people: Verily the Supreme House of Justice is under the wings of your Lord,
> the Compassionate, the All-Merciful, that is, under His protection, His care, and His
> shelter; for He has commanded the firm believers to obey that blessed, sanctified and all-
> subduing body, whose sovereignty is divinely ordained and of the Kingdom of Heaven
> and whose laws are inspired and spiritual.
> 
> Moreover, Shoghi Effendi states:
> 
> In the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith, in the enactment of the
> legislation necessary to supplement the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the members of the
> Universal House of Justice, it should be borne in mind, are not, as Bahá’u’lláh’s
> utterances clearly imply, responsible to those whom they represent, nor are they allowed
> to be governed by the feelings, the general opinion, and even the convictions of the mass
> of the faithful, or of those who directly elect them. They are to follow, in a prayerful
> attitude, the dictates and promptings of their conscience. They may, indeed they must,
> acquaint themselves with the conditions prevailing among the community, must weigh
> dispassionately in their minds the merits of any case presented for their consideration,
> but must reserve for themselves the right of an unfettered decision. “God will verily
> inspire them with whatsoever He willeth,” is Bahá’u’lláh’s incontrovertible assurance.
> 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.
> 
> 86.3       Beyond these and other such quotations, a number of passages from the writings describe the
> range of responsibilities invested in the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice. First, it is
> evident that each has a separate and distinct sphere. As Shoghi Effendi explains in “The
> Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh”, “it is made indubitably clear and evident that the Guardian of the
> Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word and that the Universal House of Justice has been
> invested with the function of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings.” Thus,
> the Universal House of Justice does not engage in interpretation of the Text, and the Guardian did
> not enact legislation, although in some instances, as Head of the Faith, he made certain decisions
> to guide the actions of the friends until such time as the Universal House of Justice would be
> established.
> 
> 86.4        While interpretation and legislation are the exclusive spheres, respectively, of the Guardian
> and the Universal House of Justice, these functions in no way represent the full extent of their
> powers and responsibilities as set forth in the writings. For example, about these two institutions
> Shoghi Effendi writes: “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, coördinate its activities,
> promote its interests, execute its laws and defend its subsidiary institutions.” Further, concerning
> the Universal House of Justice, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states in His Will and Testament, “By this body all
> the difficult problems are to be resolved….” And He explains that it is incumbent upon the
> Universal House of Justice to deliberate upon “all problems which have caused difference,
> questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book.”
> 
> 86.5        In response to questions about the scope of the Guardian’s infallibility, a letter written on his
> behalf explains: “The infallibility of the Guardian is confined to matters which are related strictly
> to the Cause and interpretation of the teachings; he is not an infallible authority on other
> subjects, such as economics, science, etc.” Another such letter states: “The Guardian’s infallibility
> covers interpretation of the revealed word, and its application. Likewise any instructions he may
> issue having to do with the protection of the Faith, or its well-being, must be closely obeyed, as he
> is infallible in the protection of the Faith. He is assured the guidance of both Bahá’u’lláh and the
> Báb, as the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá clearly reveals.” Thus, while there were indeed
> limits to his conferred infallibility, it was not confined merely to authoritative interpretation of
> the Bahá’í Writings but extended to the range of his responsibilities as Guardian and Head of the
> Faith. “It is not for 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 judgement. Such an
> attitude would evidently lead to confusion and to schism”, yet another letter written on behalf of
> Shoghi Effendi states. These passages about the Guardian’s conferred infallibility and authority
> can also serve to assist believers in understanding the scope of the conferred infallibility and
> authority of the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> 86.6       Finally, you ask whether it is possible to enact laws within the framework of the Writings of
> Bahá’u’lláh without a thorough and accurate understanding of the meaning of each one of the
> Writings. In the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, there is no reference to the nature and
> extent of the information to which the Universal House of Justice should have access when
> making its decisions. The House of Justice itself determines what information it needs to reach a
> decision. Before legislating or deciding upon any vital matter, it studies carefully and exhaustively
> both the Sacred Texts and the writings of Shoghi Effendi on the subject. It also consults the views
> of experts as needed. The concept of conferred infallibility of the Universal House of Justice does
> not rest upon the power of authoritative interpretation nor access to perfect knowledge and
> understanding—it is an unqualified assurance of divine guidance and protection from error as
> described in the Bahá’í writings.
> 
> 86.7        A discussion on the concept of conferred infallibility that centers on the abundant guidance
> set forth in the Bahá’í writings and from the Universal House of Justice can contribute to firmness
> and faith. But the friends cannot be naïve or vacillate when it comes to a matter so fundamental
> to the protection of the Cause and the integrity of the teachings as the provisions of the
> Covenant. Those who oppose the Faith and regrettably, in a few instances, believers who wish to
> advance their own personal views may use such discussions as an opportunity to weaken the
> confidence of Bahá’ís in the guidance of the Universal House of Justice. During the ministry of the
> Guardian, would his lack of omniscience have been grounds for the friends to question his
> protective action to expel someone from the Faith? Were the provisions of the Ten Year Crusade
> subject to the preferences of the generality of the friends? Were the temporary administrative
> measures he enacted, pending the formation of the Universal House of Justice, open to debate
> among individuals or institutions? Without the assurances of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to rely
> upon a designated and authoritative center, any individual could have insisted upon the
> correctness of his or her views on any matter, and the Faith would have been mired in endless
> quarrelling, chaos, and division.
> 
> 86.8       Thus, perhaps more important for Bahá’ís than a common understanding of the meaning of
> conferred infallibility is a common understanding of its purpose and the implications for how
> they should conduct themselves. The Covenant establishes a center to which all Bahá’ís turn, a
> center which is assured divine guidance and protection, and which ensures the continuity of the
> divinely-appointed authority that flows from the Source of the Faith, safeguards the unity of its
> followers, and maintains the integrity and flexibility of its teachings. Shoghi Effendi explains that
> Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have “in unequivocal and emphatic language, appointed those twin
> institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship as their chosen Successors, destined
> to apply the principles, promulgate the laws, protect the institutions, adapt loyally and
> intelligently the Faith to the requirements of progressive society, and consummate the
> incorruptible inheritance which the Founders of the Faith have bequeathed to the world.” This is
> the guarantee that the purpose of Bahá’u’lláh will ultimately be realized. “For nothing short of the
> explicit directions of their Book, and the surprisingly emphatic language with which they have
> clothed the provisions of their Will,” Shoghi Effendi explains, “could possibly safeguard the Faith
> for which they have both so gloriously labored all their lives. Nothing short of this could protect
> it from the heresies and calumnies with which denominations, peoples, and governments have
> endeavored, and will, with increasing vigor, endeavor to assail it in future.” In a statement in
> defence of the Covenant, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá indicates:
> 
> Hath the Blessed Beauty instituted this Covenant and Testament in order to exact
> obedience from all, or to bring about disobedience? If the latter is intended, then we have
> nothing to say; but if obedience and compliance are the goal, then wavering will lead to
> utter loss, and disobedience and waywardness are grievous error.
> 
> Again He states:
> 
> Now one must either say that the Blessed Beauty erred and led the people astray, for He
> directed them to obey someone who ought not to have been obeyed, or else say that the
> least deviation from the Covenant and the Testament entaileth deprivation from the
> bounties of Him Who is the Luminary of the world. Of these two alternatives, one must
> be true; there is no third.
> 
> 86.9       It is evident that the purpose of the Covenant, the purpose of the divine guidance and
> protection vouchsafed to the Universal House of Justice, the purpose of the clear and emphatic
> language in which the assurance of this guidance is given, are all to establish and preserve the
> unity of the Faith. Without such a Covenant, as in past dispensations, everyone would insist upon
> the correctness of their own view, the Faith of God would be splintered, and the divine purpose—
> the unity of humanity—would be impossible to achieve.
> 
> 86.10        The friends would do well to ponder “this unique, this wondrous System” Bahá’u’lláh has
> bequeathed to the world. Shoghi Effendi explains: “An exact and thorough comprehension of so
> vast a system, so sublime a revelation, so sacred a trust, is for obvious reasons beyond the reach
> and ken of our finite minds”; yet, he assures us: “We can, however, and it is our bounden duty to
> seek to derive fresh inspiration and added sustenance as we labor for the propagation of His Faith
> through a clearer apprehension of the truths it enshrines and the principles on which it is based.”
> To attempt to precisely define the workings of conferred infallibility, to attribute exaggerated
> powers to the Universal House of Justice such as omniscience or even authoritative interpretation,
> or to insist that fallible human beings can use their own limited powers of reason to test the
> validity of divinely guided decisions and determine whether to challenge them would be futile
> and, ultimately, harmful. Rather, the friends are to strive to understand the guidance provided by
> the Universal House of Justice and thoughtfully apply it. They are free to share observations,
> information, or questions with the Universal House of Justice. But they should not allow
> themselves to be caught up in the divisive practices and intractable disputes that consumed
> religion in past dispensations. The collective interests of the Faith are fostered through
> consultation and cooperation, not conflict and contention.
> (From a letter dated 18 May 2018 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 87.1        The House of Justice acknowledges your thoughtful and heartfelt comments on the
> relationship between the principle of the equality of the sexes and the ineligibility of women to
> serve on the House of Justice. As you are aware, Bahá’u’lláh Himself established the principle of
> the equality of men and women. Just as He set forth this principle, He also instructed, as
> confirmed in the authoritative statements of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, that the
> membership of the House of Justice be confined to men. In your letter, you explore various factors
> and conclude you cannot accept “the reasons thus far offered”. However, no reason has been
> offered in the Bahá’í writings, and the House of Justice has not provided one. In the Bahá’í
> writings, there is only reference to a “wisdom” that “will be gradually unfolded to the eyes of the
> world”. Of course, that we cannot currently understand the wisdom of the limitation does not
> mean that the wisdom does not exist or will not eventually become known. Until then, because
> we as Bahá’ís recognize Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God for this Day and place our faith
> in Him as the Divine Physician who will remedy the problem of the inequality of the sexes, we
> acknowledge the principle that “He doeth whatsoever He willeth”.
> (From a letter dated 18 June 2019 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
> an individual believer)
> 
> Index
> 
> Administrative Order, 69.1, 70.4, 71.5, 73.1, 82.1
> believers’ support of, 50.1; faith, 57.14, 58.10, 83.2; humility, 57.14,
> 58.11, 71.5; love, 70.13, 77.4, 81.1
> channel through which blessings flow, 82.1
> flexibility in secondary aspects, 55.1, 65.4, 70.4
> institutions of, emerge organically, 32.1–3, 73.1
> nucleus and pattern of World Order, 34.1, 54.1, 73.1, 82.1
> origin of, 1.1, 4.1–2, 33.1–3, 38.1, 59.15
> and other systems of government, 39.1, 70.7–10, 70.12
> twin pillars of, 38.2, 63.2
> without the Guardian, 38.4, 57.10, 58.9, 70.10, 76.9
> Ag͟hṣán, designation of, 76.10
> authoritative Centres, 16.1, 59.5, 59.15, 86.7
> authority
> divine, continuity of, 38.3, 46.1, 51.1, 55.1, 58.8, 63.2, 72.1, 86.4, 86.8
> of the Universal House of Justice, 52.1, 53.1, 77.2–3; as body to
> which all must turn, 13.1, 52.2, 58.15–16, 59.15, 76.17, 86.8; as body to which all
> things must be referred, 11.1, 55.1, 77.4; broad nature of, 71.8, 77.2–3, 86.4; to
> make subsidiary laws (see under legislation of the Universal House of Justice); on
> matters not expressly revealed, 5.1, 12.1–2, 20.1, 36.1, 57.11, 57.13, 58.15, 59.15,
> 70.3, 71.8, 75.1, 76.2, 76.21, 86.2, 86.4; on obscure questions, 12.2, 53.1, 57.3, 57.13,
> 57.15, 59.6, 70.3, 71.8, 76.2, 86.4; on problems that cause difference, 12.2, 16.1,
> 17.1, 53.1, 57.8, 57.13, 59.6, 70.3, 71.8, 76.2, 76.8, 86.4; to repeal its own laws, 12.2,
> 37.1, 46.1, 57.13, 65.4, 68.1, 75.1
> twin successors, 34.1, 34.3, 51.1, 57.11, 86.8
> 
> Carmel, Tablet of, 4.1–2, 33.3, 42.1, 49.1
> Constitutions of Local and National Spiritual Assemblies, 59.17, 65.4, 70.4
> Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, 51.1, 52.1–2, 53.1, 54.1, 57.16,
> 58.17, 70.4
> corruption, protection against, 2.1, 34.1–5, 35.1, 59.14, 69.1, 77.1
> Covenant, 2.1, 10.1, 22.2, 34.2–3, 55.1, 57.14, 57.11, 58.10, 59.12, 61.1, 70.2–3,
> 71.5, 76.20, 77.5, 86.7–9
> channel of divine guidance remains open, 55.1, 71.5, 86.8
> continuity of, 4.2, 59.14, 76.9, 86.8
> Greater and Lesser, 61.1
> Covenant-breaking, 13.1, 16.2, 57.7, 57.16, 71.9, 76.17–22, 86.2
> 
> election of the Universal House of Justice, 20.1, 32.1, 54.1, 70.9, 86.2
> method of, 10.1, 11.1, 12.1, 17.2–3, 22.1, 57.8, 76.13, 76.21
> three-stage process, 29.1–3, 57.8, 76.13
> timing of, 32.3, 33.3, 48.1, 54.1, 57.3, 57.6, 57.9, 58.1, 76.3–4
> elucidation, 53.1, 57.13, 75.1
> establishment of the Universal House of Justice, 4.1–2, 8.1–2, 23.1, 30.1, 33.3,
> 42.1, 49.1, 59.15, 76.13–16
> preparation for, 24.1, 25.1, 26.1, 28.1, 33.1–2, 41.2, 47.1, 50.1,
> 57.14, 70.11, 76.4, 76.14
> 
> functioning of the Universal House of Justice
> decision making, basis of, 17.1, 19.2, 39.1, 58.7, 76.9, 86.2;
> conscience of individual believer, in relation to, 65.4, 68.1–2, 77.1; consultation in
> the process of, 5.1, 59.8; facts, role of, 63.2, 72.1, 86.6; Guardian’s objections, how
> handled, 59.8; system of, 17.1, 20.1, 21.3, 57.8, 86.2
> in future, 26.1, 32.2, 33.3, 42.1, 67.1–2;
> in relationship with governments, 11.1, 36.1
> without a Guardian, 57.10–11, 57.16, 58.6, 58.9, 58.12,
> 58.17, 59.2, 59.16–17. See also relationship between the Universal House of
> Justice and the Guardian
> 
> Guardian and Guardianship, 10.1, 62.1, 76.3
> break in the line, 3.1, 56.1, 57.3, 58.2, 59.12–14, 76.5, 76.8–9
> head of the Universal House of Justice, 11.1, 57.11, 58.5, 59.7
> responsibilities of, 57.11–13, 58.4, 59.7, 62.2, 63.1, 74.1, 86.3
> See also relationship between the Universal House of Justice
> and the Guardian; Shoghi Effendi, successorship of
> guidance of the Universal House of Justice, 13.1, 27.2, 57.6, 57.14–15, 58.3, 58.15,
> 59.15, 71.5, 71.9, 78.1, 79.1, 81.1, 84.1, 86.7, 86.10
> 
> Hands of the Cause of God, 38.1, 57.4–5, 57.7, 58.2, 58.17, 62.1–2, 76.6–7, 76.19
> Head of the Faith, 52.2, 62.2, 63.2, 70.11, 76.3–4, 76.17, 86.3, 86.5
> heresy, 18.1, 34.4, 86.8
> 
> infallibility, 21.1, 45.1, 77.4
> conferred, 21.2–3, 86.2, 86.6–8, 86.10
> essential, 21.1, 21.4
> of the Guardian, 59.5, 63.1, 74.1, 77.3, 85.1, 86.5, 86.7
> national and local Assemblies do not share in, 59.17
> of the Universal House of Justice, 86.1; implications of,
> 10.1, 17.1, 19.2, 57.8, 58.7, 59.5, 74.1, 76.21, 77.2, 86.2; and information it receives,
> 72.1, 86.6; not individual members, 86.2; not up to individuals to limit, 77.3, 86.5;
> promise of, 5.1, 10.1, 19.3, 39.1, 58.7, 58.16, 59.17, 77.2, 85.1, 86.2, 86.6, 86.9; scope
> of, 77.2, 85.1, 86.5; sphere of legislative action, in relation to, 58.6, 59.17; without
> a Guardian, 57.10, 58.4, 58.6, 59.6
> inspired by God, 5.1, 8.2, 19.2–3, 26.1, 39.1, 58.7, 65.4, 75.1, 86.2
> International Bahá’í Council, 47.1, 57.2–3, 70.11, 76.14, 76.16, 76.19
> International Bahá’í Court, 76.12–13, 76.16
> interpretation, 40.1, 57.12–13, 58.4, 58.8, 58.13, 59.5, 59.7, 59.15, 63.2, 68.1, 70.9,
> 71.7, 74.1
> difference from elucidation, 57.13, 75.1
> difference from interpretation in other religions, 65.1–2, 68.1
> personal, 19.4, 58.7, 58.11, 58.13, 65.1, 65.3, 68.1, 71.3–4, 77.1, 77.4
> 
> Kitáb-i-‘Ahd, 34.3, 59.15, 86.8
> Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 8.1, 32.1, 32.4, 33.1, 38.1, 38.5, 39.1, 40.1, 57.11, 58.16, 59.4, 59.6,
> 59.13, 59.15, 60.1, 67.1, 76.5, 86.2
> as Charter of future world civilization, 23.1
> laws of, 37.1, 39.1, 40.1, 60.1
> 
> learned
> deductions of, have no authority unless endorsed, 19.4, 58.7, 77.1
> views of, 65.3, 71.4, 76.7
> learning, promotion of, 71.6–7, 78.1, 79.1
> legislation of the Universal House of Justice, 49.1, 53.1, 58.7–8,
> 59.5, 59.8, 66.1, 68.1–2
> difference from interpretation, 40.1, 58.4, 65.1, 65.4, 75.1
> difference from legislation in other religions, 19.4, 58.7, 65.1, 65.4, 68.1
> and elucidation, 75.1
> moderation in, 68.1
> process of, 39.1, 57.12, 58.6, 59.10, 63.2, 72.1, 85.2, 86.2, 86.6
> sphere of, 38.4, 57.10, 58.6, 59.2, 59.16–17
> subsidiary laws, 11.1, 17.1, 20.1, 39.1, 40.1, 44.1, 53.1, 57.8, 57.11, 57.13,
> 58.4, 59.5, 59.16, 60.1, 63.2, 72.1, 80.1, 86.2–3; approach to making, 65.4, 68.1;
> requirements of the time, 12.2, 19.1, 53.1, 58.7; wisdom of, 19.1, 19.4, 35.1, 46.1,
> 57.13, 58.7
> 
> maturation of mankind, 68.1
> membership of the Universal House of Justice, 23.1, 43.1
> expulsion from, 11.1, 57.16, 58.17
> qualifications for, 11.1
> women and, 15.2, 83.1–2, 87.1
> moral rectitude as requirement of elected representatives, 41.1–2
> 
> National Spiritual Assemblies
> designated as secondary Houses of Justice, 11.1, 26.1, 29.3, 32.1, 33.3
> electors of the Universal House of Justice, 29.3, 54.1, 76.13
> pillars of the Universal House of Justice, 33.1, 50.1
> 
> obedience to the Universal House of Justice, 8.2, 10.1, 12.1, 13.1, 14.1,
> 16.1, 17.1, 19.2–3, 20.1, 57.8, 58.7, 58.15, 71.9, 76.21, 77.2–3, 86.2
> 
> protection of the Universal House of Justice by God,
> 17.1, 19.2–3, 58.7, 59.5, 85.1, 86.2, 86.6
> 
> relationship between the Universal House of Justice and the Guardian,
> 32.4, 38.3, 57.11, 58.4, 58.6, 59.5, 63.2, 74.1
> in legislation, 40.1, 57.11–12, 58.4–6, 59.7–8
> inseparability of, 38.3, 58.9, 86.4
> See also Guardian and Guardianship, head of the
> Universal House of Justice
> responsibilities of the Universal House of Justice, 53.1, 66.1, 77.2
> act according to requirements of the time, 8.2, 12.2, 19.1, 35.1,
> 53.1, 57.11, 57.13, 57.15, 58.7, 68.1, 72.1, 80.1, 86.8
> affairs of the people, 8.1, 9.1
> interests of the people, 6.1
> matters of state, 8.2, 36.1, 67.1–2
> protection: of the Faith, 58.8, 59.6, 72.1, 76.17;
> of the people, 2.1, 6.1, 7.1
> safeguarding human honour, 7.1, 53.1
> safeguarding integrity and unity of the Faith, 51.1, 52.2, 57.13, 58.16
> safeguarding religion, 9.1
> shared with the Guardian: 34.1, 57.11, 58.8, 58.17, 62.2, 63.2, 76.17;
> application of the revealed Text, 57.13, 63.2, 72.1, 86.4; maintenance of integrity
> and flexibility of the Teachings, 38.3, 51.1, 58.8, 63.2, 72.1, 86.4, 86.8; preservation,
> protection, and propagation of the Faith, 53.1, 58.8, 58.16–17, 72.1, 86.8;
> safeguarding unity of the believers, 38.3, 58.8, 58.16, 63.2, 72.1, 86.4, 86.8
> training of peoples, 7.1
> upbuilding of nations, 7.1
> 
> scholars, 19.4, 58.7, 71.1, 71.3, 77.1. See also learned
> scientific and social institutions, 33.3, 42.1, 71.6
> Shoghi Effendi
> had no foreknowledge of appointment as Guardian, 76.3
> passing of, 58.15, 59.14, 76.5, 76.8, 76.18–19
> successorship of, 52.2, 56.1, 57.3, 58.2, 58.17, 76.6–8, 76.11, 76.19
> will of, 58.2–3
> 
> Tablets of the Divine Plan, 64.1
> 
> Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 27.2, 29.1, 29.3, 33.3, 34.3, 38.2, 38.5, 49.1,
> 54.1, 57.3, 57.8–9, 57.14–15, 58.2, 59.4, 59.15, 59.18, 71.7–8, 76.3–7, 76.10, 76.19,
> 86.5
> as Charter of the Administrative Order, 71.9
> full implications of, revealed over time, 27.2, 57.15
> mysteries and realities of the Kingdom deposited within, 25.1
> women, 15.1–2, 83.1–2, 87.1
> World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, 1.1
> believers called upon to adopt, 27.2, 50.1, 57.14
> trust to time and guidance to obtain understanding of, 27.2, 57.15,
> 58.3, 81.1
> Universal House of Justice: as crown of institutions of, 50.1;
> as fountain-head of, 33.1; in position to do everything necessary to establish,
> 57.13
> world’s equilibrium upset by, 1.1
> worship, acts of, 8.2, 67.1
> Notes
> 
> 1 The Bahá’í Administrative Order. ↩
> 2 The continent of America. ↩
> 3 Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf. ↩
> 4 The Twin Holy Shrines in ‘Akká and Haifa. ↩
> 5 21 April 1963 A.D. ↩
> 6 Written by the Guardian’s secretary to an individual believer, on 25 August 1926.                                                        ↩
> 7 See extract 58. ↩
> 8 The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, preamble to the
> By-Laws. ↩
> 9 Qur’án 39:69. ↩
> 10 See extract 15. ↩
> 
> This document has been downloaded from the Bahá’í Reference Library. You are free to use its content subject to the terms of use found at www.bahai.org/legal
>
> — *Source (Used by permission of the curator)*