WHAT WAS THE ACTION OF THE TRUE BELIEVERS AFTER THE DEMISE OF THE FIRST GUARDIAN?
According to the divinely-conceived sacred and immutable provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Guardian of the Cause of God is designated as:
“The sacred head and the distinguished member for life of the Universal House of Justice.”
"The Center of the Cause of God."
"The sign of God."
"The expounder of the words of God."
“The nominator and appointer of the Hands of the Cause.
“The appointer "in his own life-time" of his successor.”
It was crystal clear to the true believers that, as only a living Guardian can perform the above functions, Shoghi Effendi would definitely have appointed a successor to be the Second Guardian of the Faith.
Although, upon the passing of Shoghi Effendi, the identity of his successor had not been immediately perceived, on the one hand, true believers, who had remained steadfast in their faith in the Covenant of Baha’u’llah and the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha remained confident that a successor had been appointed by Shoghi Effendi. (This was the obligatory duty of every faithful believer) and their faith was confirmed when the truth was revealed to them. On the other hand, the week believers allowed themselves to be influenced by the Hands of the Cause who (with a single exception) had tragically fallen victims to the “Satanic Trinity of faithlessness, disobedience and perversion” and had declared that the Guardianship had come to an end.
It is my intention in this article to bring to the notice of all Baha’is that, after the death of Shoghi Effendi, many believers from different corners of the world declared their allegiance to the second Guardian, Mason Remey, following the issuance of his Proclamation during Ridvan 1960, in which he clearly explained the valid basis upon which he had acceded to the Guardianship.
The believers in Lahore:
After the death of Shoghi Effendi, the whole community of Lahore understood well the need for the continuity of the Guardianship in the Baha’i Faith and wrote a letter to Mason Remey through Joel Bray Marangella accepting the Guardianship of the Second Guardian, Mason Remey. For the information of the reader, I am writing here some of the contents of the letter, written by Mr. Zafar Ali Khan:
“We thank Almighty God on this day, the 17th September 1960, when we received your Blessed Promulgation through Mr. (Joel Bray) Marangella of France for which [we]were anxiously waiting and trying from various sources and now we hereby declare allegiance to your authority as the second Guardian of the Baha’i Faith. The community accepting and supporting your Claim and desirous of serving the Beloved Faith under the direction of your infallible Commands consists of the following members:
1. Major Nawazish Ali Siyyid, Member of NSA Pakistan.
2. Mr. Kabir Khan, President LSA Lahore
3. Mr. Jan Mohammad, Vice-President LSA
4. Mr. Zafar Ali Khan, Secretary of LSA
5. Mr. Shabbir Hussain, Treasurer
6. Mr. Siraj Din, Member
7. Mrs. Nawazish Ali Siyyid
8. Mrs. Zafar Ali Khan
9. Subedar Ghulam Shah
The believers from Rawalpindi:
The Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Rawalpindi, Mr. S.A Kazmi, wrote a “two page” letter on 7th October 1960 addressed to the NSA, LSA, Baha’i Groups and isolated believers in Pakistan. The following is an excerpt from the letter:
“Ever since the death of our Beloved First Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi, we have been pondering over the question of the Guardianship that is inseparable from the Administration of the Baha’i Faith as given in the Will and Testament of the Beloved Master Abdu’l Baha…
We earnestly hope that the believers will read and re-read the Will and Testament of the Blessed Master Abdu’l Baha in a true Bahai spirit with a view to upholding the principle of independent investigation of truth since enunciated by Baha’u’llah and moreover when it is purely meant for this purpose and none else.
You are now to judge and decide individually whether you need the Divine Guidance through the line of Infallible Guardians exactly in accordance with the Will and Testament of Master Abdu’l Baha or Administration run by the Hands of the Faith contrary to the aforesaid Sacred Document, meets your spiritual requirements?”
Believers from Lyallpur:
Six members of the Spiritual Assembly of Lyallpur jointly wrote on 26th September 1960 under the heading of “Declaration of faithfulness to the Second Guardian of the Baha’i Faith” as under:
“The spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Lyallpur has studied the Proclamation to the Baha’is of the World from Mason Remey and has come to the conclusion that the line of Guardianship of the Baha’i Faith is unbroken and hereby declare its faithfulness to Mason Remey, whom Shoghi Effendi DURING HIS OWN LIFETIME, in accordance to the Will and Testament of Master Abdu’l Baha, has appointed to fill the office of Guardianship of the Faith, is the Second infallible Guardian of the Baha’i Faith after ascension of the First Beloved Guardian of the Cause of God”
Names of the believers:
1. Sh. Ahsan Elahi, President
2. Dr. Altaf Rana, Vice President
3. Dr. M. A Samdani, Joint Secretary
4. Mrs. Majida Altaf, Member
5. Mr. Muhammad Ahsan Khan, Member
6. Ms. Zaheda Khanum, Member
They understood well that:
1. The Guardianship is inseparable from the Administration of the Baha’i Faith
2. It is clearly written in The Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha that the guardian should appoint his successor in his own life-time therefore Shoghi Effendi appointed Mason Remey as the Second Guardian of Baha’i Faith.
3. Following the sans-Guardian Administration is contrary to the Sacred Document the “Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha..
4. The Hands of the Cause have falsely claimed that the Baha’i Faith had only one Guardian and the Guardianship was discontinued after the death of Shoghi Effendi.
For the ready references of readers I add here some of the statements by Shoghi Effendi, as outlined in The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh about the essentiality of the Guardianship to the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:
“in the verses of the Kitáb i-Aqdas the implications of which clearly anticipate the institution of the Guardianship . . ."
" . . . the twin pillars that support this mighty Administrative Structure–the institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice."
" . . . these two fundamental organs of the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bahá [the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice]. . ."
" . . . these twin institutions of the Administrative Order of Bahá'u'lláh [the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice] should be regarded as divine in origin, essential in their functions and complementary in their aim and purpose.."
"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."[the Guardian-to-be inheriting his station from an appointment made 'in his own life-time' by his predecessor in office]
"Without such an institution, [the Guardianship] the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered.”
" . . .the Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word" of God
"The interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere, is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International House of Justice. . . "
The Guardian "is bound to insist upon a reconsideration by them (the Universal House of Justice) of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's revealed utterance."
As the present Guardian of the Faith has pointed out: “The above statements by Shoghi Effendi make it clear that the future World Order of Bahá'u'lláh can never become a reality with only a single institution — the [current illegitimate] Universal House of Justice [in Haifa] — that has assumed both legislative and executive functions in directing the affairs of the Faith, and a body, moreover, that is obviously incomplete, deformed and fallible, without a living Guardian presiding as its ‘sacred head.’"
“It should be clear from the foregoing that those who have abandoned the Guardianship have, in so doing, not only declared the major provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá null and void — a Document whose sacredness and immutability Shoghi Effendi has equated with Bahá'u'lláh's Most Holy Book, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — but repudiated, as well, the words of Shoghi Effendi quoted above. What greater violation of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh can there be than this?”
Dr. A. Parikh
Hand of Cause of God