# Hands of the Cause (Ayadi Amr Allah)

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Eunice Braun, Hands of the Cause (Ayadi Amr Allah), bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Hands of the Cause of God
> (in Arabic: Ayádí Amru’lláh)
> Administrative institution—established by Bahá’u’lláh and consisting of
> individuals named by Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi—charged with
> the functions of protecting and propagating the Bahá’í Faith; the generative body
> for one of two parallel lines of responsibility in Bahá’í administration.
> 
> ARTICLE OUTLINE:                                                 ORIGINS
> Origins                                                    The institutional framework of Bahá’í
> Appointment of the First and Second                        administration consists of two parallel lines of
> Contingents                                                responsibility and authority: elected councils,
> Institutional Development and                              which have legislative, executive, and judicial
> Appointment of a Third Contingent                          authority; and appointed individuals with specific
> Six-year Interregnum of the Chief                          responsibilities for protecting, advising, and
> Stewards, 1957–63                                          influencing the community in its growth and
> Extending the Functions of the Hands of                    development (See: Administration,
> the Cause into the Future
> Bahá’í.Foundations of Bahá’í Administration. The
> Worldwide Activities after 1963
> "Rulers" and the "Learned" in the Bahá’í
> Lasting Influence
> Administrative Order). Bahá’u’lláh refers to both
> ARTICLE RESOURCES:                                               lines of responsibility and authority in several of
> His most important writings.
> Notes
> Other Sources and Related Reading
> Governing authority in the Bahá’í Faith is vested in
> institutions freely elected by adult Bahá’ís at the
> local, regional, national, and international levels.
> The electoral process begins at the grass roots
> and culminates in the election of the Universal
> House of Justice, the supreme council of the
> Bahá’í Administrative Order (See: Administration,
> Bahá’í.Institutions of Bahá’í Administration. The
> Universal House of Justice), which has its seat at
> the Bahá’í World Center in Haifa, Israel. The
> members of the elected institutions function
> corporately for a prescribed term of office.
> 
> The second line of responsibility, of which the
> institution of the Hands of the Cause of God is
> the generative body, consists of institutions
> established by Shoghi Effendi and the Universal
> House of Justice that function at the international, Hands of the Cause of God and members of the first Universal House of
> Justice, elected in 1963, at Bahjí. National Bahá’í Archives, United States.
> continental, regional, and local levels (See:
> Administration, Bahá’í.Institutions of Bahá’í Adminisration.The Institution of the Counselors). The
> members, who are appointed, perform their duties in collaboration with the elected councils under the
> guidance of the Head of the Bahá’í Faith (since 1963, the Universal House of Justice). Although these
> appointed institutions have corporate functions at the international and, to a limited extent, the
> continental levels, most of the work at the grass roots is accomplished through individual activity by the
> members.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh first mentioned the "Hands of the Cause" (the term "Hands of the Cause of God" is
> frequently shortened to "Hands of the Cause" or "Hands") in 1887. In a letter addressed to Ibn Asdaq,
> whom He later appointed a Hand of the Cause, Bahá’u’lláh asks God "to confirm the chosen ones, that
> is those souls who are Hands of the Cause, who are adorned with the robe of teaching, and have arisen
> to serve the Cause." 1 In other writings Bahá’u’lláh refers to "hands" to be raised up to assist Him in the
> work of forwarding His cause 2 and also mentions their role in unifying and protecting the Bahá’í Faith.3
> His Tablet of the World (Lawh-i-Dunyá ), revealed in 1891, includes a prayer or invocation for the
> Hands of the Cause. 4 In the last few years of His life, He named as Hands of the Cause four
> distinguished individuals, all living in Iran.
> 
> TABLE 1: HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD APPOINTED BY
> BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
> PLACE
> MALE/     DATE OF       PLACE OF       DATE OF
> NAME                                                                         OF
> FEMALE      BIRTH         BIRTH          DEATH
> DEATH
> Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar Shahmírzádí, known as      M     1258/        Shahmírzád,      21 Safar    Tehran,
> Hájí Ákhúnd                                       1842–43      near Semnān      1328/       Iran
> [Simnán], Iran   4 Mar. 1910
> 
> Áqá Mírzá Muhammad-Taqí Abharí, also        M     1270/1853– Abhar, between 27 Rabí` II      Tehran,
> known by the designation Ibn Abhar                54         Qazvin and     1337/30          Iran
> [Ibn-i-Abhar]                                                Zanjan, Iran   Jan. 1919
> 
> Mírzá Muhammad-Hasan Tálaqání, also         M     Shavvál    Karkabúd, near 6 Dhi’l-    Tehran,
> known by the title Adíbu’l-‘Ulamá and             1264/Aug.– Tálaqán, Iran  Qa`dih      Iran
> the designation Adíb                              Sept. 1848                1337/3 Aug.
> 1919
> 
> Áqá Mírzá ‘Álí-Muhammad, also known         M     1267/1850– Mashhad, Iran      13 Farvardín Tehran,
> by the designation Ibn Asdaq [Ibn-i-              51                            1307/2 Apr. Iran
> Asdaq]                                                                          1928
> 
> Note: Information for this table, including the presentation of personal names, was provided by
> the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice (memorandum to the Universal House
> of Justice, "Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project: Biographic Information about the Hands of the Cause of
> God," 25 July 2005).
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’u’lláh’s eldest son and appointed successor, guided the work of the four Hands, who
> continued to function throughout most of the period during in which He was Head of the Faith (1892–
> 1921). They played a prominent role in protecting the Bahá’í Faith from attacks by supporters of Mírzá
> Muhammad-‘Alí, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s younger half-brother, who challenged ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s authority as
> Bahá’u’lláh’s chosen successor (See: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.Life with Bahá’u’lláh, 1844-92.Exile and
> Imprisonment, 1853-92). The Hands of the Cause also worked to bring elected Bahá’í institutions into
> existence. In 1897 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá instructed them to form a consultative body, consisting of themselves
> and other outstanding teachers, in Tehran, where they all resided at that time. Their efforts led to the
> formation in 1899 of the first elected Bahá’í council in the world, of which they were members (See:
> Tehran.The Bahá’í Period to 1921).
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá honored several notable Iranian Bahá’ís who died before the end of the nineteenth century
> by conferring the title Hand of the Cause on them posthumously. He appointed no living Hands of the
> Cause. The four Hands appointed by Bahá’u’lláh and the four known to have been appointed
> posthumously by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá do not necessarily constitute a complete list of the Hands of the Cause
> from this early period. Shoghi Effendi clarifies that "The Hands of the Cause, of Bahá’u’lláh’s days, will
> be known . . . when the history of the Cause in Persia and the Near East is written and available." 5 The
> Research Department of the Universal House of Justice has observed that those conditions have not yet
> been met. 6
> 
> TABLE 2: OUTSTANDING BELIEVERS REFERRED TO
> POSTHUMOUSLY AS HANDS OF THE CAUSE BY ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ*
> MALE/     DATE OF       PLACE OF       DATE OF        PLACE OF
> NAME
> FEMALE      BIRTH         BIRTH          DEATH          DEATH
> Áqá Muhammad Qá’iní, also              M     23         Naw-Firist,     9 Dhi’l-    Bukhara, Russian
> known by the designation Nabíl               Ramadán    near Bīrjand Hijjih         Turkistan, now in
> Akbar [Nabíl-i-Akbar]                        1244/29    [Bírjand], Iran 1309/5 July Uzbekistan
> March 1829                 1892
> 
> Mírzá ‘Alí-Muhammad, also              M     unknown      Yazd, Iran     17 Dhi’l-  Tehran, Iran
> known by the nom de plume and                                            Qa`dih
> designation Varqá                                                        1313/1 May
> 1896
> 
> Shaykh Muhammad-Ridá Yazdí
> [Note: No clear evidence has so far been found to resolve the identity of the man by this name
> mentioned by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.]
> 
> Mullá Sádiq Muqaddas Khurásání,        M     unknown      Mashhad, Iran 1291/1874– Hamadan, Iran
> also known by the designation                                           1875
> Ismu’lláhu’l-Asdaq
> 
> *In talks about early Bahá'ís given in Haifa in 1915; see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful,
> trans. Marzieh Gail, 1st softcover ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1997) 2.1: 7.
> 
> Note: Information for this table, including the presentation of personal names, was provided by
> the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice (memorandum to the Universal House
> of Justice, "Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project: Biographic Information about the Hands of the Cause of
> God," 25 July 2005).
> 
> Although ‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed no living Hands of the Cause, He nonetheless laid the foundation for
> the systematic development of the institution. In His Will and Testament , He confirms the institution
> of the Hands of the Cause and establishes the institution of the Guardianship (See: Administration,
> Bahá’í.Foundations of Bahá’í Administration.The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice). He
> gives the Guardian exclusive responsibility for appointing and directing the Hands of the Cause: "The
> Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the guardian of the Cause of God. . . .
> This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the direction of the guardian of the Cause of God.
> He must continually urge them to strive and endeavor to the utmost of their ability to diffuse the sweet
> savors of God, and to guide all the peoples of the world, for it is the light of Divine Guidance that
> causeth all the universe to be illumined."7
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá defines in considerable detail the duties and functions of the Hands of the Cause and their
> relationship to the Guardianship. "The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God," He states, "are to
> diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote learning, to improve the character
> of all men and to be, at all times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things.
> They must manifest the fear of God by their conduct, their manners, their deeds and their words."8 He
> also stresses their protective function. They are to be "ever watchful"—alert to any who might oppose
> the Guardian or claim authority for themselves.9
> 
> Although ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament was released to the Bahá’í community shortly after His
> passing in November 1921, His grandson Shoghi Effendi, the designated Guardian, did not immediately
> initiate any major development of the institution of the Hands of the Cause. During the next three
> decades, while guiding the expansion of the Bahá’í Faith and the extension of the network of elected
> Bahá’í councils (Local and National Spiritual Assemblies) throughout the world, Shoghi Effendi continued
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s practice of making posthumous appointments. He named ten outstanding individuals
> Hands of the Cause. Representing the diversity of the Bahá’í membership during the period, they were
> men and women; Iranian, Egyptian, Iraqi, British, and American; white and black; of Muslim and
> Christian background. All had made extraordinary contributions to the development of the Bahá’í Faith
> as a worldwide community (See: Dunn, Clara, and Dunn, John Henry Hyde; Gregory, Louis George; and
> Ransom-Kehler, Keith).
> 
> TABLE 3: HANDS OF THE CAUSE APPOINTED POSTHUMOUSLY BY
> SHOGHI EFFENDI
> DATE
> MALE/              PLACE OF      DATE OF    PLACE OF       APPOINTMENT
> NAME                        OF
> FEMALE               BIRTH         DEATH      DEATH          ANNOUNCED
> BIRTH
> Hájí Mírzá Abu’l-Hasan       M      c. 1248/ Ardikán, near 6 Khurdád   Tehran, Iran    July 1928
> Ardikání, known as Hájí             1832–33 Yazd, Iran     1307/27
> Amín                                                       May 1928
> 
> John Henry Hyde Dunn         M      5 Mar.    London,       17 Feb.    Sydney,         26 Apr. 1952
> 1855      England       1941       Australia
> 
> John Ebenezer                M      19 May    Aberdeen,     22 Nov.    Haifa, Israel   30 Nov. 1925
> Esslemont                           1874      Scotland      1925
> 
> Louis George Gregory         M      6 June    Charleston,   30 July    Eliot, Maine,   5 Aug. 1951
> 1874      South         1951       USA
> Carolina, USA
> 
> Áqá Muhammad-Taqí            M      unknown Sidih, near   13 Dec.      Cairo, Egypt    13 Dec. 1946 or
> Isfahání                                    Isfahan, Iran 1946                         later
> 
> Keith Bean Ransom-           F      14 Feb.   Dayton,       23 Oct.    Isfahan, Iran 28 Oct. 1933
> Kehler                              1876      Kentucky,     1933
> USA
> 
> Martha Louise Root           F      10 Aug. Richwood,       28 Sept.   Honolulu,       2 Oct. 1939
> 1872    Ohio, USA       1939       USA
> 
> Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí          M      1845 or unknown         13 Mar.    Daidanaw,       14 July 1945
> 1849                    1942       Burma, now
> Myanmar
> 
> Abdu’l Jalil Saad            M      unknown unknown         25 June    Cairo, Egypt    25 June 1942
> [‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bik Sa‘d]                                    1942
> 
> Roy Cochran Wilhelm          M      17 Sept. Zanesville,    20 Dec.    North Lovell,   23 Dec. 1951
> 1875     Ohio, USA      1951       Maine, USA
> 
> Note: Information for this table, including the presentation of some personal names, comes from
> the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, memorandum to the Universal House
> of Justice, "Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project: Biographic Information about the Hands of the Cause of
> God," 25 July 2005; The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957–1963: An Account of the Stewardship of
> the Hands of the Cause (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1992, 1997 printing with corr.); and the
> National Bahá’í Archives, United States.
> 
> Additional individuals may have been mentioned by Shoghi Effendi as Hands of the Cause before
> he appointed the first contingent in 1951, but their appointment was not announced publicly.
> Thorough archival research—some of it in Iran, where current conditions make such work
> impossible—will be necessary before their status can be confirmed. The Universal House of Justice
> has instructed that for now additional names should not be included in the list of Hands of the
> Cause (Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, memorandum to the Universal
> House of Justice, "Hands of the Cause," 30 Sept. 1991).
> 
> APPOINTMENT OF THE FIRST AND SECOND CONTINGENTS
> On 24 December 1951 Shoghi Effendi cabled the Bahá’ís of the world, announcing that he had taken
> the "long inevitably deferred step in conformity with provisions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament" of naming
> twelve individuals Hands of the Cause, "equally allocated Holy Land [i.e., the Bahá’í World Center],
> Asiatic, American, European continents"10 .
> 
> TABLE 4: HANDS OF THE CAUSE APPOINTED BY SHOGHI
> EFFENDI
> FIRST CONTINGENT, ANNOUNCED 24 DEC. 1951
> RESIDENCE DATE
> MALE/    DATE OF       PLACE OF                              PLACE OF
> NAME                                                     WHEN     OF
> FEMALE     BIRTH         BIRTH                                 DEATH
> APPOINTED DEATH
> Dorothy Beecher Baker         F     21 Dec.      Newark, New     United       10 Jan. Mediterranean
> 1898         Jersey, USA     States       1954    Sea (near the
> island of
> Elba)+
> 
> Amelia Engelder Collins       F     7 June 1873 Pittsburgh,      Bahá’í World 1 Jan.   Haifa, Israel
> Pennsylvania,    Center       1962
> USA
> 
> Ali Akbar Furutan [‘Alí-     M      9 Urdíbihisht Sabzevār       Iran         26       Haifa, Israel
> Akbar Furútan]                      1284/29       [Sabzivár],                 Nov.
> Apr. 1905     Iran                        2003
> 
> Ugo Giachery                 M      13 May       Palermo, Italy Italy         5 July   Apia, Western
> 1896                                      1989     Samoa
> 
> Hermann Grossmann            M      16 Feb.      Rosario, Santa Germany       7 July   Neckargemünd,
> 1899         Fe Province,                 1968     Germany
> Argentina
> 
> Horace Hotchkiss Holley      M      7 Apr. 1887 Torrington,      United       12 July Haifa, Israel
> Connecticut,     States       1960
> USA
> 
> Leroy C. Ioas                M      15 Feb.      Wilmington,     United       22 July Haifa, Israel
> 1896         Illinois, USA   States       1965
> 
> William Sutherland           M      14 Nov.      Montreal,       Canada       25       Montreal,
> Maxwell                             1874         Canada                       Mar.     Canada
> 1952
> 
> Tarazullah Samandari         M      16 Ramadán Qazvin, Iran      Iran         2 Sept. Haifa, Israel
> [Tarázu’lláh Samandarí]             1292/17                                   1968
> Oct. 1875
> 
> George Townshend             M      14 June      Dublin, Ireland Ireland      25       Dublin, Ireland
> 1876                                      Mar.
> 1957
> 
> Valíyu'lláh Varqá            M      1263       Tabriz, Iran      Iran         12       Tübingen,
> sh.*/1884–                                Nov.     Germany
> 85                                        1955
> 
> Charles Mason Remey,         M      15 May       Burlington,     Bahá’í World 4 Feb.   Florence, Italy
> expelled as a Covenant-             1874         Iowa, USA       Center       1974
> breaker 26 July 1960
> +as a result of an air crash
> 
> *shamsí (the Iranian solar calendar)
> 
> Note: Information for this table, including the presentation of some personal names, comes from
> the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, memorandum to the Universal House
> of Justice, "Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project: Biographic Information about the Hands of the Cause of
> God," 25 July 2005; and The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957–1963: An Account of the
> Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1992, 1997 printing with
> corr.).
> 
> A few months later, on 29 February 1952, Shoghi Effendi appointed a second contingent of seven,
> bringing the total to nineteen. In this contingent he included residents of Africa and Australia (See:
> Dunn, Clara, and Dunn, John Henry Hyde), further extending the institution’s geographic range, and
> added to its diversity of background by choosing two individuals of Jewish descent (See: Schopflocher,
> Siegfried).
> 
> TABLE 5: HANDS OF THE CAUSE APPOINTED BY SHOGHI
> EFFENDI
> SECOND CONTINGENT, ANNOUNCED 29 FEB. 1952
> RESIDENCE DATE
> MALE/      DATE OF         PLACE OF                       PLACE OF
> NAME                                                         WHEN     OF
> FEMALE       BIRTH           BIRTH                          DEATH
> APPOINTED DEATH
> Shuaullah Alai             M      28 Ábán         Tehran, Iran      Iran         16       Scottsdale,
> [Shu‘á‘u’lláh ‘Alá’í]             1268/19 Nov.                                   Nov.     Arizona,
> 1889                                           1984     USA
> 
> Musa Banani [Músá          M      1265            Baghdad, Iraq     Uganda       4 Sept. Kampala,
> Banání]                           sh.*/1886–87                                   1971    Uganda
> 
> Clara Dunn                 F      12 May 1869     London, England   Australia    18       Sydney,
> Nov.     Australia
> 1960
> 
> Zikrullah Khadem           M      1283            Tehran, Iran      Iran         13       Chicago,
> [Dhikru’lláh Khádim]              sh.*/1904–05                                   Nov.     USA
> 1986
> 
> Adelbert Mühlschlegel      M      16 June 1897    Berlin, Germany   Germany      29 July Athens,
> 1980    Greece
> 
> Siegfried Schopflocher     M      26 Sept. 1877   Fürth, Bavaria,   Canada       27 July Montreal,
> Germany                        1953    Canada
> 
> Corinne Knight True        F      1 Nov. 1861     Oldham County,    United       3 Apr.   Wilmette,
> Kentucky, USA     States       1961     Illinois,
> USA
> 
> *shamsí (the Iranian solar calendar)
> 
> Note: Information for this table, including the presentation of some personal names, comes from
> the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, memorandum to the Universal House
> of Justice, "Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project: Biographic Information about the Hands of the Cause of
> God," 25 July 2005; The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957–1963: An Account of the Stewardship of
> the Hands of the Cause (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1992, 1997 printing with corr.); the Khadem
> family; Encyclopedia Project research files; and the National Bahá’í Archives, United States.
> Shoghi Effendi maintained the number of Hands at nineteen for the next five years, making single
> appointments to replace each of the five who had died.
> 
> TABLE 6: HANDS OF THE CAUSE APPOINTED INDIVIDUALLY BY
> SHOGHI EFFENDI
> PLACE             RESIDENCE DATE PLACE
> MALE/    DATE OF             DATE OF
> NAME                                   OF                 WHEN     OF    OF
> FEMALE     BIRTH            APPOINTMENT
> BIRTH             APPOINTED DEATH DEATH
> Agnes Baldwin            F      21 July     Honolulu, 27 Mar. 1957   Japan         1 Jan.   Honolulu,
> Alexander, after the            1875        Kingdom                                1971     USA
> death of George                             of
> Townshend                                   Hawai‘i
> 
> Paul Edmond              M      20 Aug.     Los      19 Mar. 1954    United        3 Dec. Haifa,
> Haney, after the                1909        Angeles,                 States        1982   Israel
> death of Dorothy                            USA
> Baker
> 
> Jalal Khazeh [Jalál      M      21          Tehran,   6 Dec. 1953    Iran          21 Feb. Toronto,
> Kházi‘], after the              Ramadán     Iran                                   1990    Canada
> death of Siegfried              1314/24
> Schopflocher                    Feb. 1897
> 
> Rúhíyyih Rabbani         F      8 Aug. 1910 New       26 Mar. 1952   Bahá'í World 19 Jan. Haifa,
> [Amatu'l-Bahá                               York,                    Center       2000    Israel
> Rúhíyyih Khánum],                           USA
> née Mary Maxwell,
> after the death of
> her father, William
> Sutherland Maxwell
> 
> Ali-Muhammad             M      11          Tehran,   14 Nov. 1955   Iran          22       Haifa,
> Varqa [‘Alí-                    Muharram    Iran                                   Sept.    Israel
> Muhammad Varqá],                1330/2 Jan.                                        2007
> after the death of              1912, or 2
> his father,                     Dalv
> Valiyu’lláh Varqá               1290/23
> Jan. 1912
> 
> Note: Information for this table, including the presentation of some personal names, comes from
> the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, memorandum to the Universal House
> of Justice, "Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project: Biographic Information about the Hands of the Cause of
> God," 25 July 2005; The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957–1963: An Account of the Stewardship of
> the Hands of the Cause (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1992, 1997 printing with corr.); and the
> National Bahá’í Archives, United States.
> 
> In effect, because neither ‘Abdu’l-Bahá nor Shoghi Effendi established a term of service for the Hands of
> the Cause, appointment was for the individual’s lifetime. Unless they were retired or had independent
> means, the Hands of the Cause usually continued to work in their professions and to fulfill other Bahá’í
> administrative responsibilities to which they were elected or appointed. Many were members of National
> Spiritual Assemblies before the Universal House of Justice announced in November 1964 their
> ineligibility for election or appointment to administrative roles because of their "exalted rank" and
> "specific functions" as Hands of the Cause and because of their wish, affirmed by the House of Justice,
> to "be free to devote their entire energies to the vitally important duties conferred on them." 11
> 
> Although Shoghi Effendi would later describe the twofold responsibility of the Hands of the Cause as
> "the propagation and preservation of the unity of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,"12 for the first five years he
> assigned the Hands tasks related only to their role in spreading the Bahá’í Faith. During the Ten Year
> Plan (1953–63), a comprehensive expansion program of worldwide scope, he allocated to the Hands of
> the Cause the role of "standard-bearers" of the plan. 13 He asked five Hands to serve as his
> representatives at four intercontinental conferences he convoked in 1953 to launch the new plan, which
> included among its goals quadrupling the number of National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies, from
> twelve to forty-eight. As new Assemblies were formed (sixteen new Regional and National Assemblies as
> of October 1957, with thirteen formed in that year alone), Shoghi Effendi dispatched a Hand of the
> Cause to represent him at each Assembly formation.
> 
> In early 1952, when he announced the appointment of the second contingent of Hands, Shoghi Effendi
> first alluded to the creation of institutions directed by the Hands that would parallel "those revolving
> around the Universal House of Justice."14 A year earlier, in January 1951, he had appointed an
> International Bahá’í Council, initiating the process that would lead to the election of the Universal House
> of Justice. The Hands of the Cause played a central role in the process, as they had in establishing the
> first elected council in Tehran half a century earlier. Among the International Bahá’í Council’s initial
> members were three who would soon be appointed Hands, and in 1957 five of its nine members were
> Hands (See: Bahá’í World Center.Development under Shoghi Effendi).
> 
> Shoghi Effendi took another step late in 1952 that further developed the administrative institutions
> revolving around the Hands of the Cause. To facilitate their work as "chosen instruments for the
> propagation of the Faith," he called on them to appoint nine-member Auxiliary Boards for the African,
> American, Asiatic, Australian, and European continents, beginning in April 1954, to serve as their
> "adjuncts, or deputies," and to work "in conjunction with the various National Spiritual Assemblies
> functioning on each continent."15 He also established five Continental Funds to advance the work of the
> Hands of the Cause and the Auxiliary Boards and named a Hand as Trustee for each Continental Fund.
> 
> Over the next three years, the institution of the Hands of the Cause developed in ways that served as
> models for future functioning. The Auxiliary Board members, reporting to the Hands of the Cause, made
> systematic visits to Bahá’í communities to encourage the prompt execution of the Ten Year Plan. The
> individual Hands of the Cause, in turn, advised the National Assemblies in their respective areas and
> also sent reports to the Hands of the Cause serving at the Bahá’í World Center, who functioned as
> liaison between them and the Guardian.
> 
> INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND APPOINTMENT OF A THIRD
> CONTINGENT
> On 4 June 1957, advising the Bahá’ís of the world that the institution of the Hands of the Cause was
> beginning a "new phase in the process of the unfoldment of its sacred mission," Shoghi Effendi enlarged
> the scope of its responsibilities. He called on the Hands, in addition to assisting in prosecuting the Ten
> Year Plan, to undertake "in close collaboration" with the National Assemblies "the primary obligation to
> watch over and insure protection to the Bahá’í world community." 16
> 
> Protection within the context of the Bahá’í teachings has as its ultimate purpose preserving the Bahá’í
> Faith’s unity, the integrity of its institutions as ordained by Bahá’u’lláh and further delineated by ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and the authenticity of its scripture. Shoghi Effendi’s 4 June 1957 letter was a
> strongly worded summons that appeared to foreshadow a new round of attacks on the Bahá’í Faith
> from adversaries of the Bahá’í community, both within and without. Shoghi Effendi called for "closer
> association of the Hands of the five continents" with the National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies in
> their areas. On such effort, he stated, depended "the spiritual health of the Bahá’í communities, the
> vitality of the faith of its individual members, the proper functioning of its laboriously erected
> institutions, the fruition of its worldwide enterprises, the fulfilment of its ultimate destiny."17
> 
> At the beginning of October 1957, Shoghi Effendi announced a further expansion of the institution. "In
> view of the recent assumption by them of their sacred responsibility as protectors of the Faith," he
> authorized the Hands of the Cause to appoint a second Auxiliary Board on each continent. This Board
> was to be "equal in membership to the existing one, and charged with the specific duty of watching
> over the security of the Faith, thereby complementing the function of the original Board, whose duty
> will henceforth be exclusively concerned with assisting the prosecution of the Ten-Year Plan." In this
> same message he appointed a third contingent of eight Hands of the Cause, bringing the total of living
> Hands to twenty-seven. Addressing them as the "Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World
> Commonwealth," he further widened their diversity to include a member of the Báb’s kindred (who are
> known by the term Afnán [Arabic: Twigs]), an Australian, and a sub-Saharan African. 18 Three of the
> new Hands resided on the African continent, strengthening the allocation to a region where the Bahá’í
> Faith was expanding rapidly. Over the years, the Hands’ geographic distribution, which had already
> changed as individuals died or relocated because of altered needs in the continents or at the Bahá’í
> World Center, or because of health and other personal reasons, would remain comprehensive but
> flexible.
> 
> TABLE 7: HANDS OF THE CAUSE APPOINTED BY SHOGHI
> EFFENDI
> THIRD CONTINGENT, ANNOUNCED OCT. 1957
> DATE                       RESIDENCE        DATE
> MALE/               PLACE OF                             PLACE OF
> NAME                         OF                          WHEN            OF
> FEMALE                BIRTH                                DEATH
> BIRTH                      APPOINTED       DEATH
> Hasan Muvaqqar Balyuzi         M      7 Sept. Shiraz, Iran     England           12 Feb. London,
> [Hasan Muvaqqar Balyúzí]              1908                                       1980    England
> 
> Abu’l-Qasim Faizi [Abu’l-      M      1906    Qum, Iran        Bahrain           19      Haifa,
> Qásim Faydí]                          or                                         Nov.    Israel
> 1907                                       1980
> 
> Harold Collis Featherstone     M      5 May Quorn, South       Australia         29      Kathmandu,
> 1913 Australia                             Sept.   Nepal
> 1990
> 
> John Ferraby                   M      9 Jan. Southsea, England England           5 Sept. Cambridge,
> 1914                                       1973    England
> 
> Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir           M      4 Apr. Shah ‘Abdu’l-     Indonesia         29      Quito,
> 1923 ‘Azím, near                           Dec.    Ecuador
> Tehran, Iran                        1979
> 
> Enoch Olinga                   M      24      Abaango, Uganda British            16      Kampala,
> June                    Cameroon, now      Sept.   Uganda
> 1926                    Cameroon           1979
> 
> John Aldham Robarts            M      2 Nov. Waterloo, Ontario, Southern         18      Rawdon,
> 1901 Canada               Rhodesia, now    June    Quebec,
> Zimbabwe         1991    Canada
> 
> William Sears                  M      8 Mar. Duluth,           South Africa      25      Tucson,
> 1911 Minnesota, USA                        Mar.    Arizona,
> 1992    USA
> 
> Note: Information for this table, including the presentation of some personal names, comes from
> the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, memorandum to the Universal House
> of Justice, "Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project: Biographic Information about the Hands of the Cause of
> God," 25 July 2005; and The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957–1963: An Account of the
> Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1992, 1997 printing with
> corr.).
> 
> Shoghi Effendi also convoked five intercontinental conferences to be held in 1958 to celebrate the
> progress made in the plan and to deliberate on ways and means to complete it successfully. Again, he
> named five Hands of the Cause to act as his "special representatives" at the conferences.19
> 
> Shoghi Effendi’s October 1957 letter proved to be his final message to the Bahá’ís of the world. A few
> weeks later, on 4 November 1957, he passed away suddenly at the age of sixty, having suffered a
> heart attack while recuperating in London from a bout of influenza. He was interred there on 9
> November, with eighteen Hands of the Cause present among the mourners. The Hands of the Cause
> conferred and decided to hold a meeting of the entire body immediately at the Bahá’í World Center.
> 
> SIX-YEAR INTERREGNUM OF THE CHIEF STEWARDS, 1957–63
> The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá      specifies that
> "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." 20 On the evening of 4 November, on being
> notified of Shoghi Effendi’s death, four members of the
> International Bahá’í Council took steps to safeguard his
> papers by sealing his apartment and office in Haifa. On
> November 15, the five Hands of the Cause in the Holy
> Land, including Rúhíyyih Khánum Rabbani (née Mary
> Sutherland Maxwell), Shoghi Effendi’s widow, entered his
> The Hands of the Cause of God gathered in their first conclave,
> Bahjí, Acre, 18–25 November 1957. National Bahá’í Archives,     apartment to seal his safe and desk. Four days later,
> United States.
> nine of the Hands of the Cause inspected the premises to
> assure that nothing had been removed and to search for a will. Finding none, they issued a statement:
> "That the safe and desk have been opened and searched and the nonexistence of a Will and Testament
> executed by Shoghi Effendi was definitely established." 21
> 
> Meanwhile, twenty-five Hands of the Cause had gathered at the Bahá’í World Center for their first
> institutional meeting, or conclave, which was held from 18 to 25 November. A twenty-sixth Hand, Clara
> Dunn, then in her late eighties, traveled to Haifa from Australia but was prevented by age and frail
> health from participating in the meeting. The twenty-seventh, Corinne True, was unable at the age of
> ninety-six to make the long trip from her home near Chicago.
> 
> The purpose of the conclave was to consider the status of the religion and the sudden, heavy
> responsi¬bilities that had descended on the Hands of the Cause with no living Guardian to guide them.
> Still stunned and grief-stricken, many meeting one another for the first time, the Hands gathered in the
> large upstairs hall of the Mansion at Bahjí, Bahá’u’lláh’s home during the final years of His life.
> 
> Those present ranged in age from thirty-one to eighty-four. Their experiences as Bahá’ís were equally
> wide-ranging: one of their number had been in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, several had been Bahá’ís
> since the time of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and a few were relatively recent converts to the Faith. The most
> experienced had been appointed not quite six years earlier, and eight had served for just two months.
> At the time only two of the Hands of the Cause from Iran were bilingual in English and Persian, the
> most widely spoken languages among the members, and only one of the Western Hands of the Cause
> spoke Persian. Thus the body’s deliberations, which would have been challenging even without the
> language barrier, had to be fully translated into both English and Persian.
> 
> After just a week, the conclave produced its first statement. On 25 November 1957 the twenty-six
> Hands of the Cause, with Clara Dunn participating as a signatory, issued a unanimous proclamation
> confirming that Shoghi Effendi had left no heir and had not appointed another Guardian to succeed
> him. Having carefully examined ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament and various messages from Shoghi
> Effendi pertaining to the development of the institutions of the Bahá’í Faith, the Hands of the Cause
> constituted a body of nine from among their number, as called for in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament,
> to serve in the Holy Land and to act as Custodians of the Bahá’í Faith. Corinne True added her
> signature to this proclamation by affidavit on 30 November 1957. All National and Regional Assemblies,
> on receiving information about this action, pledged their "full support, faith and allegiance" to the
> Custodians. 22 The civil authorities in Israel also gave the Custodians official recognition.
> 
> The duties of the Custodians, who functioned without officers and with a quorum of five, included taking
> care of Bahá’í World Center properties and other assets; corresponding with and advising National and
> Regional Spiritual Assemblies; acting on behalf of the Bahá’í Faith for its protection; and maintaining
> close contact with the rest of the Hands, who would henceforth devote their time to the successful
> completion of the goals of the Ten Year Plan. The Hands of the Cause maintained the number of
> Custodians, replacing those who died or were unable, for health or personal reasons, to remain at the
> Bahá’í World Center permanently. Those who served as Custodians, some for limited periods, were:
> Hasan Balyuzi, Amelia Collins, Abu’l-Qasim Faizi, John Ferraby, Ali Akbar Furutan, Paul Haney, Leroy
> Ioas, Jalal Khazeh, Adelbert Mühlschlegel, Charles Mason Remey, Horace Holley, William Sears, and
> Rúhíyyih Khánum. To maintain the quorum of five Custodians at the Bahá’í World Center, the Hands
> appointed alternates or substitute Custodians. Their numbers included Shuaullah Alai, Ugo Giachery,
> and Ali-Muhammad Varqa, as well as several who also served as permanent Custodians for some time.
> 
> A conclave of the Hands of the Cause took place annually in the Holy Land (with the exception of 1962)
> until April 1963, when the last conclave was held just before the election of the Universal House of
> Justice, which ended the interregnum. The conclaves from 1957 to 1961 each sent a full and detailed
> message to the Bahá’ís of the world.
> 
> In 1959, only two years after taking up their assigned protective role, the Hands of the Cause faced a
> serious threat to the unity of the Bahá’í Faith. It came from an unexpected source: Charles Mason
> Remey, a colleague who had until recently served as a Custodian. A distinguished Bahá’í since the time
> of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the architect of several Bahá’í Houses of Worship (See: Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.Houses
> of Worship around the World.Kampala; Houses of Worship around the World.Sydney; and Future Plans),
> Remey had been among the first Hands of the Cause appointed in 1951. Shoghi Effendi had also
> appointed him president of the International Bahá’í Council in 1952. Despite being in his mid-eighties,
> Remey had served as a Custodian from November 1957 through October 1959, when he and Hasan
> Balyuzi—both unable to continue as permanent members—were replaced. In April 1960, a few months
> after leaving Haifa, Remey made a sudden claim to be the second Guardian, although he had signed
> the 25 November 1957 proclamation in which the Hands of the Cause stated that Shoghi Effendi had
> not appointed a successor. Moreover, Remey was not a "branch," or descendant of Bahá’u’lláh, as
> specified in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament, and could thus not have been named Guardian by
> Shoghi Effendi.23 On 28 April 1960 the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land cabled an announcement of
> Remey’s "PREPOSTEROUS CLAIM " and called on Bahá’ís everywhere to repudiate completely "THIS
> MISGUIDED ACTION ."24
> 
> Remey’s claim was immediately rejected by the International Bahá’í Council; all the Hands of the
> Cause; all National Spiritual Assemblies except that of France, five of whose members supported
> Remey; and the vast majority of Bahá’ís around the world. The Custodians dissolved the National
> Spiritual Assembly of France and called for a new election. In July 1960—having found that Remey’s
> actions were the result of "a persistent and well-thought-out campaign," rather than "the evidence of a
> great emotional disturbance and unbalance," perhaps temporary, as they had at first thought25 —the
> entire body of the Hands of the Cause expelled Remey from the Bahá’í Faith on the grounds that he
> had broken Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, which establishes clear guidelines for the succession of authority.
> 
> Undeterred by Remey’s defection, the Hands of the Cause persevered in carrying out Shoghi Effendi’s
> vision. He had left detailed plans to guide the development of the Bahá’í Faith until the end of the Ten
> Year Plan in 1963. At a meeting held in November 1959, the Hands of the Cause decided it would be
> necessary to elect the Universal House of Justice at the end of the plan. They gave primary
> consideration to the instructions in Shoghi Effendi’s cablegram of 9 January 1951, in which he appointed
> the International Bahá’í Council as the beginning of a process leading to the election of the Universal
> House of Justice. The Hands of the Cause initiated the second stage of the process by calling for the
> Council to be elected by the existing National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies. This first international
> Bahá’í election was carried out by postal ballot in April 1961.
> 
> In April 1963 the Hands of the Cause achieved the final
> stage in the evolution of the International Bahá’í Council
> into the Universal House of Justice: during an
> international convention held at the Bahá’í World Center,
> members of fifty-six National and Regional Spiritual
> Assemblies elected the first Universal House of Justice. In
> a renunciatory action, the Hands of the Cause removed
> themselves from consideration for election, asking—as
> they had done in 1961, when the International Bahá’í
> Council was elected—that they be left "free . . . to
> discharge their duties." 26 On 21 April 1963 they
> The Hands of the Cause of God and eight of the nine elected
> members of the International Bahá’í Council, 1961–63, gathered   announced the results of the election in a cabled
> at Bahjí. National Bahá’í Archives, United States.
> message disseminated to the Bahá’ís of the world. 27
> 
> For six years, from 1957 to 1963, the Hands of the Cause of God maintained the unity and integrity of
> the Bahá’í Faith and led its unprecedented expansion during the Ten Year Plan. The Universal House of
> Justice paid tribute to them in its first message, addressed to more than six thousand Bahá’ís gathered
> in London for the first Bahá’í World Congress, 28 April–2 May 1963. Calling the occasion, which marked
> the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration of His mission and celebrated the completion of the Ten Year
> Plan, "the crowning victory of the lifework of Shoghi Effendi," the Universal House of Justice also paid
> tribute to the Hands of the Cause: "For they share the victory with their beloved commander, who
> raised them up and appointed them. They kept the ship on its course and brought it safe to port." 28 On
> 7 June 1963 the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land performed their last action as Custodians when
> they officially transferred their authority to the Universal House of Justice, stating that "the office of
> Custodians of the Bahá’í World Faith has thus ceased to exist."29
> 
> EXTENDING THE FUNCTIONS OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE INTO THE
> FUTURE
> In 1964, with twenty-two remaining Hands of the Cause, five fewer than at the time of Shoghi Effendi’s
> death, the Universal House of Justice inaugurated a nine-year global plan that named as one of its
> primary goals the "development of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, in consultation
> with the body of the Hands of the Cause, with a view to the extension into the future of its appointed
> functions of protection and propagation."30 Following a fourteen-day gathering of the Hands of the
> Cause at the Bahá’í World Center in November 1964, the House of Justice advised the Bahá’ís of the
> world that it had found "no way to appoint, or to legislate to make it possible to appoint, Hands of the
> Cause of God," this being the prerogative of the Guardianship.31
> 
> The Universal House of Justice further stated that "Responsibility for decisions on matters of general
> policy affecting the Institution of the Hands of the Cause," which had been carried out formerly by
> Shoghi Effendi, "now devolves upon the Universal House of Justice as the supreme and central
> institution of the Faith."32 In line with that responsibility, the Universal House of Justice announced
> several initial decisions. It refined the continental zones to which the Hands of the Cause were
> assigned, increased the number of Auxiliary Board members, and freed the Hands of the Cause and
> their Auxiliary Board members from service in other appointed or elected positions.33
> 
> A major step in the evolution of the institution of the Hands of the Cause occurred in June 1968. To
> carry forward the functions of the Hands of the Cause, the Universal House of Justice established
> eleven Continental Boards of Counselors—for Australasia (Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
> and the islands of the Pacific), Europe, and three zones each in Africa, the Americas, and Asia—and
> appointed thirty-six individuals to serve as Counselors (See: Administration, Bahá’í.Institutions of Bahá’í
> Administration.The Institution of the Counselors). The Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land became the
> liaison between the Universal House of Justice and the Counselors.
> 
> The Universal House of Justice subsequently redefined the continental zones, increased the number of
> Counselors, and established five-year terms of service. Currently, a total of eighty-one Counselors serve
> on five Continental Boards: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australasia, and Europe.
> 
> In June 1973 the Universal House of Justice announced
> another major institutional development, the formation at
> the Bahá’í World Center of the International Teaching
> Center (See: Administration, Bahá’í.Institutions of Bahá’í
> Administration.The Institution of the Counselors). This
> step, taken with the assistance of the Hands of the
> Cause in the Holy Land, "brings to fruition the work of
> the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land and
> provides for its extension into the future," the Universal
> House of Justice stated, "links the institution of the
> Boards of Counselors even more intimately with that of
> the Hands of the Cause of God, and powerfully reinforces
> The Hands of the Cause with Counsellors of the International
> the discharge of the rapidly growing responsibilities of     Teaching Centre, 1973: (front row, left to right) Mr. Ali - Akbar
> the Universal House of Justice."34 A few months later, in    Furutan, Mrs. Florence Mayberry, Madame Ruhiyyih Rabbani, Mr.
> Abul- Qasim Faizi, (back row, left to right) Mr. Paul Haney, Mr.
> October 1973, the Universal House of Justice extended        Aziz Yazdi, Mr. Hooper Dunbar. 1973, Haifa, Israel. © Bahá’í
> the functions of the institution of the Boards of            International Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> 
> Counselors at the grassroots level by authorizing Auxiliary Board members to appoint assistants to work
> with Local Spiritual Assemblies, groups, and individuals.
> 
> The operating nucleus of the International Teaching Center at its inception in 1973 included the four
> Hands of the Cause resident in Haifa at that time: Rúhíyyih Khánum, Abu’l-Qasim Faizi, Ali Akbar
> Furutan, and Paul Haney. The Universal House of Justice also appointed three Counselor members, a
> number that would grow over the years to the current total of nine. All Hands of the Cause—a total at
> that time of seventeen—were members of the International Teaching Center, receiving and sending
> reports and, when in Haifa, joining its deliberations when they wished. "Through the emergence of this
> Center," the House of Justice states, "the seal has been set on the accomplishment of the goal . . . of
> ensuring the extension into the future of the specific functions of protection and propagation conferred
> upon the Hands of the Cause in the Sacred Text. Through the work of the International Teaching
> Center, which supervises and coordinates the work of the Boards of Counselors around the world, the
> love, the guidance, the assistance of the Hands, through the Boards of Counselors, their Auxiliary
> Board members and their assistants, permeates the entire structure of Bahá’í society." 35
> 
> WORLDWIDE ACTIVITIES AFTER 1963
> Under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice, the Hands of the Cause who resided at the Bahá’í
> World Center fulfilled special duties, as needed, to protect the religion. At the request of the Universal
> House of Justice, they also continued to arrange for pilgrimages to the Bahá’í World Center until the
> responsibility could be taken on by the staff of the Universal House of Justice.
> The remaining Hands of the Cause, reassigned to the five continents, carried out an array of activities.
> They consulted with National Spiritual Assemblies; supervised the work of the Auxiliary Boards; visited
> Bahá’í communities; attended conferences and other gatherings; and represented the Bahá’í Faith in
> meetings with dignitaries.
> 
> Especially after 1968, when they were freed from administrative
> duties by the appointment of the Continental Boards of
> Counselors, the Hands of the Cause living outside the Holy Land
> were increasingly able to widen the scope of their activities from
> the continental to the international level. While they continued
> to consult with the National Assemblies and the newly formed
> Boards of Counselors on the continents where they resided,
> many of the Hands traveled more widely throughout the globe
> than before. Rahmátu’lláh Muhájir, an Iranian physician who
> lived and worked in Southeast Asia for many years, visited every
> region and was on the road almost constantly for two decades
> until his death in Quito, Ecuador, in 1979. He was closely
> associated with many plans for large-scale expansion of Bahá’í
> communities in rural areas of the developing world, where he
> also encouraged the establishment of schools and health
> projects. Other Hands of the Cause—including William Sears, an
> American who resided for many years in Africa; Enoch Olinga of
> Uganda; Zikrullah Khadem, an Iranian who moved to the United
> States in 1960 because, of the Hands originally allocated to the
> Americas, all but the nonagenarian Corinne True had either died
> Madame Rúhíyyih Rabbani, a Hand of the Cause, and
> Violette Nakhjavani with a Bahá’í who hosted them at or been called to serve at the Bahá’í World Center; Collis
> Aumu village, Papua New Guinea, 12 July 1984. ©      Featherstone of Australia, who died while visiting Kathmandu,
> Bahá’í International Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> Nepal; and Ugo Giachery, an Italian, who died in Western
> Samoa—journeyed from their home continents to an extraordinary number of locales around the world.
> 
> Over the years, no one traveled more extensively than Shoghi Effendi’s widow, Rúhíyyih Khánum.
> During the interregnum between Shoghi Effendi’s death and the election of the Universal House of
> Justice, her responsibilities as a Custodian occupied much of her time. In 1964, however, she was able
> to begin traveling systematically, eventually visiting 185 countries and territories, some repeatedly.
> Among her most extensive journeys were four lengthy trips between 1969 and 1973 through sub-
> Saharan Africa (known as her Great Safari); a six-month Green Light Expedition through South
> America, February–August 1975, which she recorded on film and during which she visited indigenous
> peoples of the Amazon basin and the Andes; eight- and seven-month-long trips through Asia and the
> Pacific in 1978 and 1984; and four months of travel throughout the former Soviet Union in 1993. In
> 1996 she spent a month in Brazil, where the Bahá’í community was commemorating its seventy-fifth
> anniversary. During this visit, she represented the Bahá’í World Center at a special session of the
> Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, met with the president of the country at his palace, visited locales in the
> north and south of the nation, and traveled to the Amazon to commemorate the twentieth anniversary
> of the Green Light expedition. In 1997, a little more than two years before her death at the age of
> eighty-nine, she participated in events in Luxembourg, Spain, and Switzerland.
> 
> In their journeys and at the Bahá’í World Center, the Hands of the Cause met innumerable religious
> leaders, including the Dalai Lama; presidents, prime ministers, and other heads of state; and members
> of royalty and dignitaries ranging from Prince Philip Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh, to United
> Nations Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar. Ugo Giachery, born into an aristocratic family on the
> island of Sicily, had a particularly close relationship with His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II, Head of
> State of Western Samoa, the first reigning monarch to become a Bahá’í. In addition to participating in
> official meetings with dignitaries, several of the Hands engaged in sensitive negotiations with
> governments on behalf of the Bahá’í Faith.
> 
> Hands of the Cause continued to represent the Universal
> House of Justice, as they had Shoghi Effendi, at the
> formation of new National Spiritual Assemblies in every
> continent, at international and regional Bahá’í
> conferences, and at foundation ceremonies for Houses of
> Worship and dedication ceremonies marking their
> completion. These activities gradually decreased as the
> number of Hands of the Cause able to travel was
> reduced by illness and death.
> 
> In 1973 sixteen of the seventeen surviving Hands were
> able to function actively. The next decade saw the loss of
> seven Hands of the Cause, including the two youngest,
> and the following decade another seven. In November
> 1992 the three surviving Hands—Rúhíyyih Khánum, Ali
> Akbar Furutan, and Ali-Muhammad Varqa—addressed the          A historical photograph of the Hand of the Cause of God Enoch
> Olinga with some Fijian Bahá’ís in 1971. © Bahá’í International
> Second Bahá’í World Congress in New York City at which       Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> some twenty-seven thousand Bahá’ís gathered.
> 
> Many Hands of the Cause participated actively in International Bahá’í Conventions held in Haifa at five-
> year intervals from 1963 until 1998 (the convention in April 2003 was canceled because of world events
> affecting travel) and in conferences of the Continental Counselors held after the international
> conventions and on separate occasions in December 1985–January 1986 and December 1995. In
> January 2001 a conference attended by nearly one thousand Counselors and Auxiliary Board members
> from 172 countries commemorated the inauguration of the newly constructed seat of the International
> Teaching Center (See: Bahá’í World Center.Development under the Universal House of Justice). The two
> surviving Hands of the Cause—Ali Akbar Furutan and Ali-Muhammad Varqa—were invited to address
> the conference, which marked the first such worldwide gathering of the members of the institution
> created to perpetuate their work.
> 
> LASTING INFLUENCE
> The Hands of the Cause exerted a profound impact on the lives of thousands of Bahá’ís and others who
> met them or heard them speak throughout the globe and at the Bahá’í World Center. These individuals
> in turn, by sharing their personal reminiscences, continue to affect others who never had the
> opportunity to meet the Hands of the Cause.
> 
> All the Hands of the Cause were effective communicators, and many were particularly talented as public
> speakers. Dorothy Baker, for example, a veteran lecturer at American colleges and before diverse
> audiences in the United States and Latin America, was regarded as one of the best Bahá’í speakers in
> the United States. Rúhíyyih Khánum, who spoke French and Persian as well as her native English, gave
> talks in an engagingly direct, extemporaneous style. Ali Akbar Furutan was an eloquent speaker whose
> mastery of Persian was legendary. Abu’l-Qasim Faizi—another excellent speaker fluent in Persian,
> Arabic, French, and English—was erudite but humorous, authoritative but humble. William Sears, who
> had worked professionally in both radio and television, captured the attention of audiences around the
> world and regularly brought them to both tears and laughter.
> 
> In their addresses to Bahá’ís, individual Hands of the Cause often focused on themes with which they
> were particularly associated. Zikrullah Khadem conveyed a profound love of Shoghi Effendi; John
> Robarts inspired or rekindled commitment to the power of prayer; Collis Featherstone, punctuating his
> talks with humor, quoted from the Bahá’í writings and encouraged his listeners to study them. The
> Hands of the Cause developed deep personal bonds with individuals and maintained the connection, in
> many cases, through an extensive personal correspondence with people in all parts of the world.
> 
> A number of the Hands, including those based in Haifa, also
> continued to fulfill their responsibilities to promote learning and
> uplift souls by engaging in research, writing, and media
> production, often managing to combine these activities with
> extensive international travel. Those who were already known as
> accomplished authors before their appointments continued to
> render distinguished services.
> 
> Horace Holley, for example, had been a prolific writer for
> decades; after becoming a Hand, he went on to publish a
> A gathering of North American Bahá’ís, 14 June 1931,   collection of essays entitled Religion for Mankind,36 a number of
> including five individuals whom Shoghi Effendi would
> later name as Hands of the Cause: Roy Wilhelm          study guides to Bahá’í books, and several pamphlets. George
> (second from left), Martha Root (third from left),
> Horace Holley (seated, front center), Siegfried
> Townshend, an Anglo-Irish former cleric and another prolific
> Schopflocher (seated on rock), and Louis Gregory       author, published his last major work, Christ and Bahá’u’lláh, in
> (standing, right). Wilhelm, Root, and Gregory were all
> appointed posthumously. National Bahá’í Archives,      1957.37 John Ferraby’s widely read introductory work, All Things
> United States.                                         Made New: A Comprehensive Outline of the Bahá’í Faith,
> appeared in 1958. Hermann Grossmann—who had been writing about the Bahá’í Faith since the 1920s
> 
> —published additional works, including Was ist die Bahá’í Religion? (What is the Bahá’í Religion?) and
> Der Bahá'í-Glaubige und die Bahá'í Gemeinschaft (The Bahá’í Believer and the Bahá’í Community).39 He
> also translated writings by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá into German.
> 
> Rúhíyyih Khánum Rabbani published a popular introductory book called Prescription for Living in 1950.40
> As a Hand of the Cause, she wrote several more books; a humorous play called A Spiritual Assembly’s
> Growing Pains;41 and a volume of poetry about the loss of Shoghi Effendi.42 Her seminal biography of
> Shoghi Effendi, The Priceless Pearl, was first published in 1969.43 She also compiled The Ministry of the
> Custodians, 1957–1963, a collection of documents produced by the Hands of the Cause during the
> interregnum, to which she contributed a short but historically invaluable introduction.44 In addition to
> her film The Green Light Expedition, she directed and produced another documentary called The
> Pilgrimage, which introduced viewers to the shrines and holy sites at the Bahá’í World Center. 45
> 
> Hasan Balyuzi, unable to travel after 1963 because of ill health, concentrated on scholarly research and
> writing, to which he would make major contributions until his death in 1980. His works include major
> biographies of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; Edward Granville Browne and the Bahá’í Faith;
> Eminent Bahá’ís in the Time of Bahá’u’lláh; and Muhammad and the Course of Islám.46
> 
> Abu’l-Qasim Faizi wrote a variety of articles and books, including a biography of Amelia Collins, one of
> the Hands of the Cause with whom he worked closely.47 Works in English that he translated into Persian
> include letters written by Shoghi Effendi and Rúhíyyih Khánum’s The Priceless Pearl. He also translated
> works from Persian into English.
> 
> Ugo Giachery penned a memoir called Shoghi Effendi: Recollections.48 Adelbert Mühlschlegel wrote
> poetry in German. Ali Akbar Furutan engaged in scholarly research and wrote articles and books in
> Persian, some of which have been translated into English and other languages, including Mothers,
> Fathers, and Children: A Practical Guide to Parenting and a personal memoir, The Story of My Heart.49
> 
> William Sears coproduced a television series on the Bahá’í Faith, recorded talks, gave dramatic
> presentations, and continued to produce a stream of popular books, including Release the Sun, a
> history of the Bábí movement; Thief in the Night, which deals with the fulfillment of biblical prophecies;
> God Loves Laughter, a humorous biographical account; and A Cry from the Heart: The Bahá’ís in Iran, a
> personal response to persecution of the Bahá’ís following the Islamic Revolution in 1978–79.50
> 
> Despite his advanced age, Tarazullah Samandari, who had met Bahá’u’lláh, not only journeyed widely
> throughout the Northern Hemisphere from 1953 until his death in 1968, but, because of his expertise
> as an authority on the handwriting of Bahá’u’lláh and His amanuenses, also assisted the Universal
> House of Justice with identifying and classifying archival manuscripts and letters. Rahmátu’lláh Muhájir
> also helped to catalog sacred texts at the Bahá’í World Center. Over a period of five years in the 1970s,
> Zikrullah Khadem compiled in 137 volumes an international registry of Bahá’í holy places and historic
> sites associated with the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, including places ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited in
> England and North America. Jalal Khazeh started a newsletter in Spanish that circulated throughout
> Latin America. Ali-Muhammad Varqa assisted the Universal House of Justice by compiling accounts of
> the early history of Bahá’í communities around the world.
> 
> After 1995 all three surviving Hands of the Cause resided in Haifa. Thus, although age and health
> gradually curtailed their travels, they were able to interact with workers at the Bahá’í World Center—a
> large proportion of whom are youth volunteers from around the world—and with pilgrims and visitors.
> Rúhíyyih Khánum spoke annually to an average of two thousand pilgrims who visited the House of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (See: Bahá’í World Center.Early Development), where she resided from her marriage to
> Shoghi Effendi in 1937 until her death in 2000. Literally until the end of his life, Ali Akbar Furutan
> addressed pilgrims and visitors and, almost every evening, conversed with them informally at the
> Pilgrim House and the Reception Center near the Shrine of the Báb (See: Bahá’í World
> Center.Development under the Universal House of Justice); at the conclusion of one such evening, on
> 26 November 2003, he died suddenly at the age of ninety-eight.
> 
> When Ali-Muhammad Varqa became a Hand of the Cause in
> 1955, he succeeded his father both as a Hand and as the
> Trustee of Huqúqu’lláh (Arabic: the Right of God). An institution
> established by Bahá’u’lláh in His book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> (Most Holy Book), Huqúqu’lláh provides for payment by
> Bahá’ís, as a private act of conscience, of a percentage of
> accumulated savings, after the deduction of essential expenses
> and exempt properties, to a fund at the disposition of the Head
> of the Faith. The law was binding only on Bahá’ís from the
> Middle East until 1992, when the Universal House of Justice
> made it applicable worldwide. Thus, as Trustee of Huqúqu’lláh,
> Dr. Varqa oversaw major institutional developments in the
> 1990s: the establishment of a central office at the Bahá’í World
> Center and the creation of an international network of deputies
> and representatives who receive payments and systematically
> educate Bahá’ís about the law.
> Shown here, left to right, are the three Hands of the
> Cause still living in 1992: Ali - Muhammad Varqa,
> The last living Hand of the Cause, Dr. Varqa, died in Haifa on 22 Amatu’l- Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, and Ali Akbar
> September 2007. An Iranian by birth, a Sorbonne-educated              Furutan. © Bahá’í International Community. Bahá’í
> Media Bank
> university professor, a multilingual world citizen, a person of
> distinguished bearing but abiding personal humility, he demonstrated in his own life the essential nature
> of the institution of the Hands of the Cause, its evolution into an international institution since its
> inception in the late nineteenth century, and its lasting influence on the Bahá’í world.
> 
> As early as April 1967, characterizing the services of the Hands of the Cause during that year as having
> "shone with an unfailing light," the Universal House of Justice observed: "These few gallant and
> dedicated believers, whose place in history is forever assured by virtue of their appointment to their
> high office, are indeed a precious legacy left to us by our beloved Guardian, and as the years go by
> there is increasingly added to the honor and respect which is their due, by reason of their exalted rank,
> the love and admiration . . . evoked by their constant services." 51
> 
> Author: Eunice Braun and the Editors
> 
> © 2009 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Terms of Use.
> 
> .
> 
> Notes:
> 1. Bahá’u’lláh quoted (translated by the author) in H. M. Balyuzi, Eminent Bahá’ís in the Time of
> Bahá’u’lláh: With Some Historical Background (Oxford: George Ronald, 1985) 173.
> 2. See, for example, Bahá’u’lláh, Súriy-i-Haykal (Súrih of the Temple), The Summons of the Lord of Hosts:
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing, 2006) 31: 26; 34: 28; 41: 32.
> 3. Bahá’u’lláh quoted in ‘Abdu’l-‘Alí ‘Alá’í, Mu’assisih Ayádíy-i-Amru’lláh (Tehran: Mu’assasiy-i-Millíy-i-
> Matbú‘át-i-Amrí, 130/1973–74) 11, 12; the latter reference also appears in Asadu’lláh Fádil Mázandarání,
> Amr va khalq, 4 vols. in 2 (1954–74; Hofheim–Langenhain, Ger.: Bahá’í-Verlag, 1985) 4: 422.
> 4. Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, comp. Research Department of the
> Universal House of Justice, trans. Habib Taherzadeh, 1st pocket-size ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1988, 2005 printing) 7: 83.
> 5. From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 19 Apr. 1947, quoted in Research Department of the
> Universal House of Justice, "The Hands of the Cause of God," memorandum to the Universal House of
> Justice, 13 Sept. 1992.
> 6. Research Department, "The Hands of the Cause of God."
> 7. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1944,
> 1997 printing) 12–13.
> 8. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament 13.
> 9. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament 12.
> 10. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World, 1950–1957 (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
> 1971, 1999 printing) 20.
> 11. Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963–1986: The Third Epoch
> of the Formative Age (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1996) 20.9: 45.
> 12. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World 21.
> 13. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World 153.
> 14. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World 21.
> 15. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World 44.
> 16. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World 122.
> 17. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World 123.
> 18. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World 127—28.
> 19. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World 128–29.
> 20. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament 12.
> 21. The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957–1963: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause
> (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1992, 1997 printing with corr.) 28.
> 22. The Ministry of the Custodians 40–50.
> 23. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament 12.
> 24. The Ministry of the Custodians 196–97.
> 25. Ministry of the Custodians 224.
> 26. Ministry of the Custodians 321.
> 27. See Ministry of the Custodians 425–26.
> 28. Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963–1986 1.2–3: 5–6.
> 29. Ministry of the Custodians 433.
> 30. Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963–1986 14.5: 32.
> 31. Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963–1986 20.4a–b: 44.
> 32. Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963–1986 20.4a–b: 44.
> 33. Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963–1986 20.6–9: 44–45; 21.5: 46–47.
> 34. Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963–1986 131–32.1: 246.
> 35. Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963–1986 141.18: 265.
> 36. Horace Holley, Religion for Mankind (Oxford: George Ronald, 1976).
> 37. George Townshend, Christ and Bahá’u’lláh, rev. ed. (Oxford: George Ronald, 1990).
> 38. John Ferraby, All Things Made New: A Comprehensive Outline of the Bahá’í Faith, 2nd rev. ed. (London:
> Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1987).
> 39. Hermann Grossmann, Was ist die Bahá’í Religion? [What is the Bahá’í Religion?] 5th ed. (Hofheim:
> Bahá’í-Verlag, 1991), and Der Bahá'í und die Bahá'í-Gemeinschaft [The Bahá’í and the Bahá’í Community]
> 3rd ed. (Hofheim: Bahá’í-Verlag, 1994).
> 40. Rúhíyyih Rabbani, Prescription for Living, 2nd rev. ed. (Oxford: George Ronald, 1989).
> 41. Rúhíyyih Rabbani, A Spiritual Assembly’s Growing Pains [Mona Vale, NSW, Aust.]: Bahá’í Publications
> Australia, 1989.
> 42. Rúhíyyih Rabbani, Poems of the Passing (Oxford: George Ronald, 1996).
> 43. Rúhíyyih Rabbani, The Priceless Pearl, 2nd ed. (Oakham, U.K.: Bahá’í Publishing, 2000).
> 44. "Introduction," Ministry of the Custodians 1–22.
> 45. Rúhíyyih Rabbani, dir., The Green Light Expedition: With Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, videocassette
> and DVD (1976; Toronto: Unity Arts, 2003); and The Pilgrimage: With Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum,
> videocassette and DVD (1980; Toronto: Unity Arts, 2003).
> 46. H. M. Balyuzi, The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days (Oxford: George Ronald, 1973); Bahá’u’lláh: A
> Brief Life (Oxford: George Ronald, 1984); Bahá’u’lláh: The King of Glory, 2nd rev. ed. (Oxford: George
> Ronald, 1991); ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, 2nd ed. (Oxford: George Ronald,
> 1987); Edward Granville Browne and the Bahá’í Faith (Oxford: George Ronald, 1980); Eminent Bahá’ís in
> the Time of Bahá’u’lláh: With Some Historical Background (Oxford: George Ronald, 1985); and Muhammad
> and the Course of Islám (Oxford: George Ronald, 1976).
> 47. A. Q. Faizi, Milly: A Tribute to the Hand of the Cause of God Amelia E. Collins (Oxford: George Ronald,
> 1977).
> 48. Ugo Giachery, Shoghi Effendi: Recollections (Oxford: George Ronald, 1974).
> 49. A[‘Alí-Akbar] Furútan, Mothers, Fathers, and Children: Practical Advice to Parents, trans. Katayoun and
> Robert Crerar (Oxford: George Ronald, 1990); and The Story of My Heart: Memoirs of ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan
> (Hikáyat-i-Dil), trans. Mahnaz Aflatooni Javid (Oxford: George Ronald, 1984).
> 50. William Sears, Release the Sun, new ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing, 2003); Thief in the
> Night, or The Strange Case of the Missing Millenium (Oxford: George Ronald, 1980, 2002 printing); God
> Loves Laughter (Oxford: George Ronald, 1991); and A Cry from the Heart: The Bahá’ís in Iran (Oxford:
> George Ronald, 1982).
> 51. Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963–1986 42.9: 102.
> 
> Understanding the Citations
> Citing Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project Articles
> Other Sources and Related Reading:
> For passages from the authoritative Bahá’í writings on the institution of the Hands of the Cause, see in
> particular: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament 3, 12–13; Universal House of Justice, Messages from the
> Universal House of Justice, 1963–1986: The Third Epoch of the Formative Age (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1996) 10: 22–23, 20–21: 44–47; Universal House of Justice, letter to the Bahá’ís of the
> world, 26 Nov. 2007; and Lights of Guidance: A Bahá'í Reference File, comp. Helen Hornby, 6th ed. (New
> Delhi: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1999) 621–23: 189; 1078–86: 321–24; 1094: 326. Sources in Persian are
> compiled in ‘Abdu’l-‘Alí ‘Alá’í, Mu’assisih Ayádíy-i-Amru’lláh. For biographical sketches by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, see
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, trans. Marzieh Gail, 1st softcover ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1997) 1: 3–7 (Nabíl Akbar), 2: 7–10 (Ismu’lláhu’l-Asdaq), 3: 10–14 (Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar,
> known as Hájí Ákhúnd).
> Accounts of the development of the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God and of the activities of the
> Hands are found in Bahá’í World volumes (original series), beginning with "Appointment of the Hands of the
> Cause of God," The Bahá’í World, vol. 12: 1950–54 (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1956)
> 374–78. The next volume includes an important overview: Paul E. Haney, "The Institution of the Hands of
> the Cause of God," The Bahá’í World, vol. 13: 1954–63 (Haifa: The Universal House of Justice, 1970) 333–
> 94. Subsequent volumes devote entire sections to the Hands of the Cause, in many cases with photographs
> and articles on specific topics, including, in later years, the International Teaching Center and the
> Institution of the Counselors; see: The Bahá’í World, vol. 14: 1963–68 (Haifa: The Universal House of
> Justice, 1974) 455–74; The Bahá’í World, vol. 15: 1968–73 (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1976) 573–628;
> The Bahá’í World, vol. 16: 1973–76 (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978) 406–48; The Bahá’í World, vol. 17:
> 1976–79 (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1981) 317–33; The Bahá’í World, vol. 18: 1979–83 (Haifa: Bahá’í
> World Centre, 1986) 473–535; The Bahá’í World, vol. 19: 1983–86 (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1994)
> 465–506; and The Bahá’í World, vol. 20: 1986–92 (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1998) 624–93. The format
> of the recent Bahá’í World series (beginning in 1992–93) integrated reports on the activities of individual
> Hands of the Cause into topical articles.
> The major repository of information on the period of the Custodianship is The Ministry of the Custodians,
> 1957–1963: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause, a compilation of source documents,
> with a lengthy historical introduction written by Rúhíyyih Khánum.
> The following works provide information on the institution of the Hands of the Cause: Adib Taherzadeh, The
> Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 4: Mazra’ih & Bahjí, 1877–92 (Oxford: George Ronald, 1987) 274–328; Adib
> Taherzadeh, The Child of the Covenant: A Study Guide to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Oxford:
> George Ronald, 2000) 322–46, 364–73; Adib Taherzadeh, The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh (Oxford: George
> Ronald, 1992) 322–24, 377–93; Eunice Braun, The March of the Institutions: A Commentary on the
> Interdependence of Rulers and Learned (Oxford: George Ronald, 1984) 16–18, 21–28; and Michael
> Woodward, The Unforgettable Hands of the Cause: Times with the Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s World
> Commonwealth (New Delhi: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2008).
> Biographical accounts of Hands of the Cause appear as chapters in: Balyuzi, Eminent Bahá’ís in the Time of
> Bahá’u’lláh 7–23 (Ismu’lláhu’l-Asdaq), 75–97 (Mírzá ‘Alí Muhammad Varqá, the martyr), 98–111
> (Muhammad Ridá Muhammadábádí Yazdí), 112–15 (Nabíl Akbar), 171–76 (Ibn Asdaq), 263 (Hájí Amín),
> 265–66 (Hájí Ákhúnd), 268 (Ibn Abhar), 272–73 (Adíb); Barron Deems Harper, Lights of Fortitude:
> Glimpses into the Lives of the Hands of the Cause of God (Oxford: George Ronald, 1997); Janet Ruhe-
> Schoen, A Love Which Does Not Wait (Riviera Beach, FL, USA: Palabra, 1998) 65–96 (Martha Root), 97–124
> (Hyde Dunn), 199–232 (Dorothy Baker), 125–66 (Keith Ransom-Kehler); O. Z. Whitehead, Some Early
> Bahá’ís of the West (Oxford: George Ronald, 1976) 87–99 (Roy Wilhelm), 171–79 (John Esslemont), 197–
> 214 (George Townshend); O. Z. Whitehead, Some Bahá’ís to Remember (Oxford: George Ronald, 1983)
> 153–75 (Clara and Hyde Dunn); O. Z. Whitehead, Portraits of Some Bahá’í Women (Oxford: George Ronald,
> 1996) 73–106 (Amelia Collins). See also, Moojan Momen, "Hasan M. Balyuzi (1908–1980): A Bio-
> Bibliographical Sketch," in Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi, ed. Moojan Momen (Los Angeles:
> Kalimát Press, 1988) xi-xx.
> Articles on individual Hands of the Cause in encyclopedias and other reference volumes include the following
> articles in Encyclopedia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yarshater, http://www.iranica.com/newsite/    (accessed 14 Jan.
> 2009): M[oojan] Momen, "Adīb Tālaqānī, Hājj Mīrzā Hasan"; M[oojan] Momen, "‘Alī Akbar Šahmīrzādī,
> Hājjī Mollā"; M[oojan] Momen, "Amīn, Hājjī"; D[enis] MacEoin, "Ardakānī, Hājjī Abu’l-Hasan" ; M[oojan]
> Momen, "Bālyūzī, Hasan Mowaqqar"; S[tephen] Lambden, "Ebn Abhar, Mohammed-Taqī; S[tephen]
> Lambden, "Ebn Asdaq, Mīrzā ‘Alī-Mohammed"; M[oojan] Momen, "Fayżī, Abu’l-Qāsem"; and M[inou] Foadi,
> "Nabil-e Akbar". See also: Duane Troxel, "Alexander, Agnes," Notable Women of Hawaii, ed. Barbara
> Bennett Peterson (Honolulu: U of Hawaii P) 1–4; Angelita D. Reyes, "Olinga, Enoch," Holy People of the
> World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia, ed. Phyllis Jestice, vol. 2 (Santa Barbara, CA, USA: ABC–CLIO, 2004)
> 655–56; Moojan Momen, "Gregory, Louis," Holy People, vol. 1: 323; Loni Bramson, "Ransom-Kehler,
> Keith," Holy People, vol. 3: 725–26; Loni Bramson, "Root, Martha Louise," Holy People, vol. 3, 746–47;
> Loni Bramson, "Rúhíyyih Khánum," Holy People, vol. 3, 747–48; Robert H. Stockman, "True, Corinne
> Knight," Women Building Chicago, 1790–1990: A Biographical Dictionary (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2001)
> 891–93; "Gregory, Louis George," Encyclopedia of African American Religions (New York: Garland, 1993)
> 313; Angelita D. Reyes, "Gregory, Louis George (6 June 1874–30 July 1951)," The African American
> National Biography, ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Evelyn Brooks-Higginbotham, vol. 3 (New York: Oxford
> UP, 2008) 634–35.
> An obituary for each Hand of the Cause appointed by Shoghi Effendi appears in the Bahá’í World volume
> that covers the year during which the individual died. More detailed information on individual Hands of the
> Cause is found in book-length biographies, including: Anita Ioas Chapman, Leroy Ioas: Hand of the Cause
> of God (Oxford: George Ronald, 1998); A. Q. Faizi, Milly: A Tribute to the Hand of the Cause of God Amelia
> E. Collins (Oxford: George Ronald, 1977); M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold (Wilmette, IL,
> USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1983); Dorothy Freeman Gilstrap, From Copper to Gold: The Life of Dorothy
> Baker, ed. Louise B. Mathias, new ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1999); David Hofman,
> George Townshend: Hand of the Cause of God (Sometime Canon of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin,
> Archdeacon of Clonfert) (Oxford: George Ronald, 1983); Javidukht Khadem, Zikrullah Khadem: The
> Itinerant Hand of the Cause of God: With Love (Wilmette, IL, USA; Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990); Gayle
> Morrison, To Move the World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America (Wilmette,
> IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982, 1995 printing); Írán Furútan Muhájir, Dr Muhájir: Hand of the Cause
> of God, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh (London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1992); Violette Nakhjavani, The Great
> African Safari: The Travels of Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum in Africa, 1969–73 (Oxford: George Ronald,
> 2002), and A Tribute to Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum (Thornhill, ON, Can.: Bahá’í Canada; Nepean ON,
> Can.: Nine Pines, 2000); and Nathan Rutstein, Corinne True: Faithful Handmaid of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Oxford:
> George Ronald, 1987).
> Journal articles concerning Hands of the Cause include: "Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, 1910–2000,"
> World Order ns 31.2 (1999–2000): 2–3; Sandra Hutchinson, "The Path of Beauty: The Literary Life of
> Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, 1910–2000," World Order ns 31.2 (1999–2000): 9–21; Graham Hassall,
> "Martha Root’s Tours: 1924, 1929," Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 3.3 (1985): 92–99; Kazem Kazemzadeh, "Varqá
> and Rúhu’lláh: Deathless in Martyrdom," World Order ns 9.2 (1974–75): 29–44 (Mírzá ‘Alí Muhammad
> Varqá, the martyr).
> Autobiographical works by Hands of the Cause of God not already cited include: Agnes Alexander, Personal
> Recollections of a Bahá’í Life in the Hawaiian Islands: Forty Years of the Bahá’í Cause in Hawaii, 1902–
> 1942, rev. ed. (Honolulu: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Hawaiian Islands, 1974), and
> History of the Bahá’í Faith in Japan, 1914–1938 ([Osaka]: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, Japan, 1977);
> Tarázu’lláh Samandari, Moments with Bahá’u’lláh: Memoirs of the Hand of the Cause of God Tarázu’lláh
> Samandari, trans. Mehdi Samandari and Marzieh Gail (Los Angeles: Kalimát Press, 1995); and Louis G.
> Gregory, A Heavenly Vista: The Pilgrimage of Louis G. Gregory (Washington: n.p., n.d.), reprinted as A
> Heavenly Vista, 1997 ed. (Fernale, MI, USA: Alpha Services, 1997), and available online at
> http://www.bahai-library.org/file.php?file=gregory_heavenly_vista        (accessed 14 Jan. 2009). Several
> Hands of the Cause also contributed their recollections and personal knowledge to The Vision of Shoghi
> Effendi: Proceedings of the Association for Bahá’í Studies Ninth Annual Conference, November 2–4, 1984,
> Ottawa, Canada (Ottawa: Association for Bahá’í Studies, 1993) 69–72 (Furútan), 103–27 (Khadem), 171–
> 77 (Robarts), and 209–19 (Varqá).
> 
> Understanding the Citations
> Citing Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project Articles
>
> — *Hands of the Cause (Ayadi Amr Allah) (Used by permission of the curator)*