WHAT
WAS THE ACTION OF THE TRUE BELIEVERS AFTER THE DEMISE OF THE FIRST
GUARDIAN? (Part-II)
This
article is a continuation of my article in which
I brought to the attention of the Bahá'í World the information
that, following the passing of Shoghi Effendi, the members of the
Local Spiritual Assemblies of Lahore, Rawalpindi and Layalpur in
Pakistan had voted to accept Mason Remey as the second Guardian of
the Bahá'í Faith.
Again,
I was further encouraged by the beloved third Guardian, Joel Bray
Marangella, to inform the Bahá'í s about the other Assemblies in
the world that also understood well the sacred and immutable terms of
the “Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá” that clearly provided
for the continuity of Guardianship in the Baha’i Faith. For as
the Master `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote:
“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”.
In
this article I bring to the notice of the Bahá'í friends the
actions taken by the National Spiritual Assembly of France, and the
LSA’s of Lucknow (India) and Iran.
In fact, I neglected in my first article to write about the action of the National Spiritual Assembly of France which, notably, was only the NSA of the 12 NSA’s in the world, at the time, which voted to recognize and accept Mason Remey as the second Guardian of Bahá'í Faith following the receipt of his Proclamation in May 1960. And that is why I believe that the then President (Chairman) of that NSA, Joel Bray Marangella, was selected as the third Guardian of Bahá'í Faith in the Abha Kingdom by Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi and duly appointed by Mason Remey as his successor in a letter, dated 5 December 1951, and further confirmed by him in appointing him President of the second International Bahá'í Council, a position that can only be rightfully occupied by the Guardian of the Faith. I am therefore proud that I am a Bahá'í under the Guardianship of the third Guardian, Joel Bray Marangella.
The third Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith has explained in detail, as
follows: Why
the NSA of France voted to accept the Guardianship of Mason Remey
upon receipt of his Proclamation during Ridván 1960.
“To
adequately understand the reasons for this decision it is essential
for the reader to be familiar, to some extent, at least, with the
fact that all Bahá'í's believe that the Bahá'í Administrative
Order, is based on the divinely-conceived Will and Testament of
'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Son of the Founder of the Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, a
Document which Shoghi Effendi, the first Guardian of the Faith, has
described as "the
Heir of both the Originator [Bahá'u'lláh]
and the Interpreter ['Abdu'l-Bahá]
of the Law of God,"
having been conceived, as he has stated, through the
"mystic intercourse between Him Who communicated The generating
influence of His divine Purpose and the One Who was its vehicle and
chosen recipient" and
therefore
the sacred and immortal "Child
of the Covenant"—
a Covenant made by Bahá'u'lláh with those who had embraced His
Cause and regarded 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as Shoghi Effendi has written:
"first
and foremost as the Center and Pivot of Bahá'u'lláh's peerless and
all-enfolding Covenant, His most exalted handiwork, the stainless
Mirror of His light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the
unerring Interpreter of His Word . . . "
and as stated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá: "a
Covenant so firm and mighty that from the beginning of time until the
present day no religious Dispensation hath produced its like.”
The believers in France.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of France was duly elected on the 23rd of April 1960 in the Bahá'í year 117 during Ridván, the only period during which National Spiritual Assemblies may be elected, in conformity with the instructions of the first Guardian, Shoghi Effendi with the following members duly elected by the delegates to this convention and then subsequently elected by the members to the offices shown below:
Mr, Joel B. Marangella (President)
Mr. Bernard Fillon (Secretary)
Mr. Donald Harvey
(Treasurer)
Mr. Alain Tamenne
(Vice-President)
Mrs. Henriette Samimy
(Reporting Secretary)
Mrs. Sara Kenny
(Member)
Mr. A. M. Barafroukhteh (Member)
Mr. Monir Derakhchan
(Member)
Mr. Jacques Soghomonian (Member)
Mason
Remey had sent his Proclamation, as the second Guardian of the Faith,
to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States during Ridván
1960 in anticipation that this Assembly would, in turn, send it to
the eleven other NSA’s in the Bahá'í World existing at that time
which would, in those countries where the believers were not
conversant in the English language, be further translated into their
native tongue before distribution. But the Proclamation was never
sent to them.
The National Spiritual Assembly of France was the only NSA other than the United States to directly receive this Proclamation, as Mason Remey had fortunately decided to make an exception in sending a copy to this Assembly. (Perhaps he had done so because of his affinity for Paris where he had first become a Bahá'í as a student at the turn of the century). The NSA of France then reviewed applicable documentation, duly consulted upon the lucid arguments presented in the Proclamation and, after finding them to be completely valid, voted affirmatively to accept Mason Remey as the rightful successor to Shoghi Effendi. However, as the NSA of the United States did not send the Proclamation to the NSA’s of the world, all of which, in the meantime, had received a cablegram from the Hands in Haifa denouncing Mason Remey’s accession to the Guardianship, these Assemblies then blindly complied with the judgment of the Hands and consequently they and the believers under their respective jurisdictions tragically never had the opportunity to judge for themselves the validity of the evidence presented by Mason Remey that clearly validated his accession to the Guardianship.
In the vote taken by the NSA of France, initially only a single member had dissented in the vote taken by the Assembly to accept Mason Remey as the second Guardian and that was Mr. M. Barafroukhteh. The reason was that he was not capable of investigating the truth independently and that is why Mr. Barafroukhteh telephoned the Hands in Haifa about the decision and when (in the meeting of NSA) the motion was made to accept the second Guardian, at that moment, he threatened to walk out of the meeting if this motion was carried. The President then told him to await the result of the vote and if he so judged that the result precluded his working further with the National Spiritual Assembly, he could exempt himself from doing so. He then decided to leave before the vote. His words were: "Very well, inasmuch as it’s like that, I'll leave."
Role
of Abu’l Qasim Faizi and Mr. Navidi
Alarmed
by the decision taken by the NSA of France, a telegram was received
from the Hands of the Faith in Haifa, announcing the visit of then
Hand of the Cause 'Abu'l-Qasin Faizi. The President was informed of
this by telephone and with his consent, the secretary convened an
extraordinary meeting [of the NSA] for Saturday, the 7th
of May 1960 at 1400 hours. At almost the same moment, each member of
the NSA of France received a telegram from Mr. Barafroukhteh, who, on
his own authority and for his own purpose,
was convening a meeting at the same time (to receive Mr. Faizi).
At
the appointed time, Mr. Faizi, accompanied by Mr. Navidi, an
Auxikliary Board member, resident in Monte Carlo, presented
themselves at the Haziratu'l-Quds. The President, Mr. Marangella, who
had arrived at precisely 1400 hours apprised Mr. Faizi that the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of France would meet
prior to their being received by the Assemby in order to administer
certain matters. Mr. Faizi took no notice of this and showed him a
letter of introduction.
The
President told Mr. Faizi that he was in no doubt, as to his mission
on behalf of the Hands in Haifa, but that the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá'ís of France only recognized the authority of
the living Guardian of the Faith and of a future Universal House of
Justice that is inseparable from a living Guardian (presiding as its
“sacred
head”) and
whose establishment will be announced at a date to be fixed by the
present Guardian or one of his legitimate successors according to the
Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, but in any case, the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of France needed to be convened
prior to receiving him. In every way, Mr. Marangella was exercising
his rights as President of the NSA of France and he tried to convene
the NSA of France before receiving Mr. Faizi.
Mr.
Faizi refused to allow the NSA to convene, insisting that they meet
and place themselves at his disposal. This exchange lasted a fair
while, but owing to the impossibility of obtaining from Mr. Faizi its
right to convene, the NSA concluded: “We will receive you outside
of any normal and legal session of the NSA, simply as a group of
individual Bahá'ís.”
After
the reading of a prayer, Mr. Barafroukhteh, prompted by Mr. Tamenne,
made an disingenuous remark directed to Mr. Marangella and Mr.
Fillon, because they had conferred together apart from the rest,
regarding the illegality of the acceptance of the meeting, which was
outside a normal legal session of the NSA and consequently out of
order. The result of this remark was that Mr. Marangella and Mr.
Fillon, who had been seated together, were separated by Mr. Tamenne,
who, on his own authority, chose to sit between them.
This
description of the atmosphere at the commencement of this meeting,
whilst excessively negative, is described in order to show the
complete absence of spiritual life, which characterized it, as well
as the absolute illegality, and irregularity of the meeting according
to proper Bahá'í Administration. During the meeting Mr. Faizi asked
who were the members who had recognized Mason Remey as the Second
Guardian. There was, initially, a protest among a certain number of
them regarding this inquisitorial question, the vote being regarded
as strictly confidential, secret and within the purview of the
National Spiritual Assembly. Finally, in face of such a flagrant
violation, Messrs. Joel B. Marangella, Monir Derakhchan, Jacques
Soghomonian, Donald Harvey and Bernard Fillon raised their hands in
unison, whereupon Mr. Faizi declared that he was dissolving the
National Spiritual Assembly of France. This action on the part of Mr.
Faizi left one speechless.
By
what right was this [National Spiritual Assembly] dissolved [by a
Hand of the Cause]? Can one find this authority within the Will and
Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá?
Although
Mr. Faizi, as a Hand of the Cause, lacked any authority under the
terms of the Will and Testament of`Abdu'l-Bahá to declare a
National Spiritual Assembly dissolved, but because, after this
meeting with the NSA he had then journeyed throughout France to meet
with the several LSA’s for the purpose of denouncing Mason Remey,
his pernicious influence over these Assemblies was such as to make it
impossible for the National Spiritual Assembly to continue to
effectively function the Assembly decided to terminate further
activity.
The believers in Lucknow (India)
The
second Guardian, Charles Mason Remey wrote in his dairy: “Daily
Observations,”(written during the years he resided in Haifa and
while he was one of the so-called Custodian Hands) about the
remarkable action taken by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Lucknow,
India, following the passing of Shoghi Effendi:
“This
afternoon (12 February 1959) there was a meeting of seven of us
Custodian Hands of the Cause now here in the Holy Land at which there
was a discussion of many things - details of comings and goings of
pilgrims all of routine work, and a letter from the Local Assembly of
Lucknow, India, was laid upon the table without remark, someone
saying that it was a local problem – a matter that should be
referred not to the Hands but to the National Assembly of India.
“Seeing the letter, as it lay there on the table, I glanced at it and was astonished indeed at its contents. It was a record of action of that local Assembly in which seven of the nine members had united to dissolve that local body until such time as the Guardianship be renewed and functioning again – this letter (copy of which was addressed to the Hands in the Holy Land, dated 18 November 1958) was being sent to the Indian National Assembly in New Delhi. This was indeed a most remarkable statement (in six short paragraphs) of the reasons why these friends cannot accept the present condition of the Cause without a Guardian.”
A
summary of the original letter:
Mr.
Gupta wrote
the following letter on 18 November 1957 from 51 Sundarbagh, Lucknow
U.P (India).
Resolution: Where as by a resolution passed in the presence of seven members of the Assembly on November 9, 1957, [five days after the passing of Shoghi Effendi] it was resolved that “the activities of this LSA be suspended till the appointment of the next Guardian of the Faith” and the same was intimated to the NSA, New Delhi, and whereas it comes under the purview of the Supreme Council, so therefore it behooves this assembly to place the following arguments without prejudice, before the aforementioned Supreme Council through Raffanian, Haifa (Israel):
- Man’s nature is two-fold; he is spirit and body and therefore, at once, a citizen of this world and of the Heavenly City.
- The State of Guardianship is the super most thing upon the Earth.
- The Guardian ought to have no equal in his realm because this would nullify the rule that an equal cannot have authority over his equals.
- The Supremacy of the Guardian in spiritual matters is absolute under the God…The Guardian has full power to create Hands of the Cause and can do so without any of the customary forms of election.
- The unique power possessed by the Guardian alone is, therefore a “Divine Right”…In substance the Guardian alone is the head of entire legal system, not, indeed, as a universal executive but as a court of final authority which functions not in absentia but by presence.
- The present system is but conciliary and the concilliarists have set against it the ideal of harmony of powers cooperating by free and mutual consent. Such an argument is fraught with the implication that God had changed the mode of imposing His Divine Right according to the wishes of the few. Such a democratic conception is vitally opposed to the Spirit of the Faith.
Alert Bahá'í Brethren!
From
the above, it is clear that those who investigate the truth
independently, find the truth but those who do not struggle for the
truth, God seals their hearts.
Action of the believers
of Iran after the death of Shoghi Effendi:
When Mason Remey, the second Guardian of the Cause of God, dispatched his Proclamation, the other former Hands of the Cause concentrated all their efforts to prevent the Bahá'ís from being informed, so it took a while before some of the knowledgeable Bahá'ís who were steadfast in the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh to find out that, as expected, Shoghi Effendi had faithfully appointed his successor according to the sacred Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá during his own lifetime. Despite the harsh opposition of the heterodox organization in Iran and despite excommunications and the breaking up of families by Iran’s National Spiritual Assembly under the direction of the violating Hands they spread the truth and considerable numbers of Bahá'ís accepted the second Guardian of the Cause of God in many cities of Iran such as:
- Isfahan,
- Shiraz,
- Tabriz
- Azerbaijan,
-
Tehran
in
which groups of believers of the true Faith of God assembled and, as
a result, a Central
Spiritual Assembly under the Guardianship was
established
in Tihran.
Subsequently,
when the
members of this Central Spiritual Assembly had received inexplicably
confusing letters from Mason Remey during the 1966-1967 time period,
following his abdication of the Guardianship, and had then further
confirmed their authenticity, but unfortunately, at the same time,
had not been aware of the issuance of the Proclamation of Joel Bray
Marangella announcing his accession to the Guardianship, this
Assembly then erroneously and sadly concluded that the Guardianship
of the Faith had, in fact, come to a premature end, and felt
compelled to dissolve itself.
There
were true believers in all the parts of the world but due to a lack
of communication they did not survive and they either died with the
pure Faith in their heart or they traveled to safe places. Hand of
the Cause, Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand was one of these believers who
went to Australia and then surprisingly discovered that the third
Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith resided in the same city where he had
taken up his own residence, as an exile from his rightful home in
Haifa. He then joyfully recognized and accepted his Guardianship and
remains under his shelter, as this is written, as a very steadfast
and faithful believer who has been named a Hand of the Cause by the
Guardian and who has now established an internet site in the Persian
language which includes documentation that provides irrefutable proof
of the continuing Guardianship. The Persian Bahá'ís are invited and
encouraged to visit this site.
By Hand of the Cause of God Dr. A. Parikh
Note: This article has been reviewed, edited and approved by the Guardian of the Faith.