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THE MINISTRY OF THE CUSTODIANS
+i
THE MINISTRY OF THE CUSTODIANS
1957-1963
+ii
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK
+iii
Light and glory, greeting and praise be upon the Hands of His
Cause, through whom the light of long-suffering hath shone forth,
and the declaration of authority is proven of God, the Powerful,
the Mighty, the Independent, and through whom the sea of bestowal
hath moved, and the breeze of the favour of God, the Lord of
mankind, hath wafted. BAHA'U'LLAH
+iv
[SIGNATURES OF 26 HANDS APPEAR ON THIS PAGE]
Devotedly, In service to the Faith of Baha'u'llah, Mansion of
Baha'u'llah, Bahji, Akka, Israel, November 25, 1957.
Signatures of the 26 Hands of the Faith present in Bahji who signed
the Proclamation on November 25, 1957.
+v
[GROUP PHOTOGRAPH OF HANDS APPEARS ON THIS PAGE]
The body of the Hands of the Cause taken in Bahji at their first
Conclave in 1957. (Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum and Clara Dunn
present but not shown.)
+vi
[A GROUP PHOTOGRAPH OF HANDS TAKEN IN APRIL, 1963 APPEARS ON THIS
PAGE]
PLENARY MEETING OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE, APRIL 1963 On the steps
of 'Abdu'l-Baha's home: (seated) Musa Banani; first row, left to
right: Leroy Ioas, Tarazu'llah Samandari, Agnes Alexander,
Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, Enoch Olinga, Jalal Khazeh; second
row, left to right: Dhikru'llah Khadem, behind him Collis
Featherstone, Adelbert Muhlschlegel, Shu'a'u'llah 'Ala'i, Hermann
Grossmann, Rahmatu'llah Muhajir, Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, John Robarts,
'Ali-Muhammad Varqa and 'Ali-Akbar Furutan; back row: Ugo Giachery,
William Sears, Paul Haney, Hasan Balyuzi and John Ferraby.
+vii
THE MINISTRY OF THE CUSTODIANS
1957-1963
An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause
With an Introduction by Hand of the Cause
'Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum
BAHA'I WORLD CENTRE
HAIFA
+viii
(c) 1992 THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
ISBN 0-85398-350-X
A Cataloguing-in-Publication number is available
from the British Library
Printed in Great Britain
[Pages ix-xviii, the Table of Contents, have been moved to a separate page.]
+xix
PREFACE
This book of messages of the Hands of the Cause, from the
passing of the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, in November 1957, to
the formation of the first Universal House of Justice in 1963, is
based on the files of the Hands in the Holy Land and on my personal
experience as one of the Custodians of the Baha'i Faith for five
and a half years. It does not pretend to be a history but rather
a record of the remarkable and unique accomplishments of an
unpretentious group of world religious officials who, with no
forewarning or preparation, suddenly, under the most tragic
circumstances, found themselves called upon to seize the helm of
their Faith, protect it from dissolution and schism, win the goals
of an ambitious, far-flung, world ten-year-teaching campaign, which
had only reached its hAli-way point, and steer it to the victory
of unitedly electing its Supreme Body in 1963! In other words, it
is a view from the inside looking out, as one of the Hands in the
Holy Land saw it, throughout that dangerous, challenging, but
obviously divinely protected period which will, I am confident,
increasingly be seen as one of the most extraordinary victories-won
by a handful of high-ranking officers of the Baha'i Faith, as
Shoghi Effendi designated us-ever witnessed in the religious annals
of mankind. The texts of these messages, however vital, could never
reflect our concern for the maintenance of the hard-won victories
our beloved Guardian had achieved during his thirty-six years of
unremitting labour, ending his life at 60, far too early an age for
these days. We Hands, particularly those who were acting as
Custodians in the Holy Land, passed through perilous shoals indeed
as we guided the precious barque of our Faith on its way through
the violent flood of events that followed upon the loss of our
hereditary Guardian. The Hands were widely scattered across the
world and communication in those days was almost exclusively
confined to air mail and cables. With exception of the women Hands,
who through age or circumstances were not employed, almost all the
men were earning their living and in no position to cease doing so.
We all felt that neither our teachings-which preclude a special
class of paid religious clergy-nor our limited resources and our
tremendous financial obligations could justify the body of the
Hands' beginning to live on the Baha'i Fund; those who were chosen
to act at the World
+xx
Centre as Custodians, devoting their full time to its
interests, obviously had to be supported as part of the expense of
running our International Headquarters. We had a strong sense of
the need for economy on the one hand, and of the stupendous sums
of money we should require in order to win the goals of our
Guardian's World Crusade on the other. It was not the power of our
intellect nor our personal capacities which carried us through that
period, but the love and loyalty of our hearts for Shoghi Effendi
the depth of our devotion to the Faith we believed in, and the
divine guidance, inspiration, and protection which were undoubtedly
vouchsafed to us-else how could we, all over the world, have held
the scattered and diversified community of Baha'u'llah together,
and victoriously won our Guardian's Crusade, crowning it with the
election of the Universal House of Justice? The leaders of neither
Christianity nor Islam had succeeded in protecting those world
religions from schism, but we protected ours from it. How? By the
power vested in us, in the texts of our Scriptures; by our selfless
devotion not only to a man who had died suddenly and left no direct
guidance or instructions behind him, but also to the great
international host of believers now left shepherdless,
widely-scattered, remote and isolated, throughout the continents,
seas, wildernesses and islands of the planet. So tightly knit was
the unity among these followers of Baha'u'llah that they proved
indivisible in heart, invincible in faith. Above all, we owed the
power we were able to exert during this unique crisis to the web
of tight, written texts of our teachings that, in spite of this
supreme test, could not be violated and to which we held fast,
sustaining both ourselves and the Baha'is down to the tiniest cell
of this great living organism, the Cause of God. The vast fabric
of our Faith was not without its own inner system of security: its
local and national Baha'i bodies constituted a world-wide
administrative network, and was in the largest sense a legal
entity. We had incorporated bodies all over the world, we had
national and international funds of the Faith, we had fabulous real
estate holdings at our World Centre. On the other hand, we had
obligations that brooked no delay. We were like a man who is
mortally ill but whose life depends on action. However
grief-stricken and lost we were, we could not delay any action of
any kind, for a moment. There was no time to pause, to contemplate,
to savour our grief. For almost six years we ran, we met the
challenges, problems, enemies-we ran. After the election of the
Universal House of Justice on April 21, 1963, when the Hands in the
Holy Land returned from the World Congress to Haifa, we held
constant meetings in the home of 'Abdu'l-Baha with the
newly-elected members of that Supreme Body to hand over to them the
administrative affairs of the Faith. Files and information were
turned over to them in a steady process of transfer from our
interim, provisional
+xxi
authority to their permanent established authority according to the
Holy Texts. It is foolish to ask questions of history; it is even
more foolish to ask questions of the Almighty. The Guardianship had
ceased to exist as an ongoing institution. The Hands had gloriously
crowned their function of protection of the Cause of God by calling
for and supervising the election of the Universal House of Justice,
the Supreme Body of the Baha'i world; through the aegis of the
Institution of the Counsellors, initiated and supported by that
Supreme Body, the vital functions of propagation and protection
will continue to be carried on. In 1973 the Hands of the Cause
became a part of the International Teaching Centre and in this
capacity, aside from specific meetings of their own with the
Universal House of Justice, both as individual Hands and as a body,
hold regular joint meetings with our Supreme Body. RUHIYYIH
+xxii
The Hands of the Cause of God APPOINTED BY BAHA'U'LLAH DURING HIS
MINISTRY,' 1863-1892 Haji Mulla 'Ali-Akbar-i-Shahmirzadi, known as
Haji Akhund Haji Mirza Muhammad Taqiy-i-Abhari, known as
Ibn-i-Abhar Mirza Muhammad-Hasan, entitled Adibu'l-'Ulama, known
as Adib I Mirza 'All-Muhammad, known as Ibn-i-Asdaq OUTSTANDING
BELIEVERS REFERRED TO BY 'Abdu'l-Baha, AS HANDS OF THE CAUSE
DURING HIS MINISTRY,' 1892-1921 Aqa Muhammad-i-Qa'ini, known as
Nabil-i-Akbar Mirza 'Ali-Muhammad-i-Varqa, the martyr Shaykh
Muhammad-Riday-i-Yazdi Mulla Sadiq-i-Muqaddas, entitled
Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq APPOINTED POSTHUMOUSLY BY SHOGHI Effendi DURING
HIS MINISTRY, 1921-1957 DATE ANNOUNCED John E. Esslemont [b. 19 May
1874, d. 22 Nov. 19251 30 Nov. 1925 Haji Abdu'l-Hasan Amin, Trustee
of Huququ'llah [b. ?, d. 27 May 19281 July 1928 Keith Ransom-Kehler
[b. 14 Feb. 1876, d. 23 Oct. 19331 28 Oct. 1933 Martha Root [b. 10
Aug. 1872, d. 28 Sept. 19391 2 Oct. 1939 'Abdu'l-Jalil Bey Sa'd [b.
?, d. 25 June 1942] 25 June 1942 Siyyid Mustafa Rumi [b. ?, d. 13
March 1942] 14 July 1945 Muhammad Taqi-i-Isfahani [b. ?, d. 13 Dec.
1946] 15 Dec. 1946 Louis Gregory [b. 6 June 1874, d. 30 July 1951]
5 Aug. 1951 Roy C. Wilhelm [b. 17 Sept. 1875, d. 20 Dec. 195 1 23
Dec. 1951 John Henry Hyde-Dunn [b. 5 March 1855, d. 17 Feb. 19411
26 Apr. 1952 See The Baha'i World, Vol. XIV, 1963-1968, pp.
445-446.
+xxiii
HANDS OF THE CAUSE APPOINTED BY SHOGHI Effendi FIRST
CONTINGENT, ANNOUNCED 24 DECEMBER 19511 Date of Birth Date of Death
Dorothy Baker 21 Dec. 1898 10 Jan. 1954 Amelia E. Collins 7 June
1873 1 Jan. 1962 'Ali-Akbar Furutan 29 Apr. 1905 Ugo Giachery, 13
May 1896 5 July 1989 Hermann Grossmann 16 Feb. 1899 7 July 1968
Horace Holley 7 Apr. 1887 12 July 1960 Leroy Ioas, 15 Feb. 1896 22
July 1965 William Sutherland Maxwell 14 Nov. 1874 25 Mar. 1952
Charles Mason Remey 15 May 1874 4 Feb. 1974 Tarazu'llah Samandari,
1874 2 Sept. 1968 George Townshend 14 June 1876 25 Mar. 1957
Valiyyu'llah Varqa 1884 12 Nov. 1955 SECOND CONTINGENT, ANNOUNCED
29 FEBRUARY 19521 Shu'a'u'llah 'Ala'i 16 Nov. 1889 16 Nov. 1984
Musa Banani; 1886 4 Sept. 1971 Clara Dunn 12 May 1869 18 Nov. 1960
Dhikru'llah Khadem 1904 13 Nov. 1986 Adelbert Muhlschlegel, 16 June
1897 29 July 1980 Siegfried Schopflocher 1877 27 July 1953 Corinne
True I Nov. 1861 3 Apr. 1961 THIRD CONTINGENT, ANNOUNCED OCTOBER
19572 Hasan Balyuzi 7 Sept. 1908 12 Feb. 1980 Abu'l-Qasim Faizi,
1906 19 Nov. 1980 H. Collis Featherstone 13 May 1913 29 Sept. 1990
John Ferraby 9 Jan. 1914 5 Sept. 1973 Rahmatu'llah Muhajir, 1923
29 Dec. 1979 Enoch Olinga, 24 June 1926 16 Sept. 1979 John Robarts,
2 Nov. 1901 18 June 1991 William Sears 28 Mar. 1911 25 Mar. 1992
Cables of appointment were sent the previous day. Cables of
appointment were sent on 2 October 1957.
+xxiv
INDIVIDUAL APPOINTMENTS BY SHOGHI
Effendi DATE ANNOUNCED (Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, [b. 8 Aug.
19 101 26 Mar. 1952 Jalal Khazeh [b 1897, d. 20 Feb. 1990] 6 Dec.
1953 Paul E. Haney [b. 20 Aug. 1909, d. 3 Dec. 1982] 19 Mar. 1954
'Ali-Muhammad Varqa [b. 1911 ] 15 Nov. 1955 Agnes B. Alexander [b.
21 July 1875, d. 1 Jan. 1971] 27 Mar. 1957
+1
INTRODUCTION
One of two things happens to great historic events,
either they are lost sight of temporarily, to sometimes be
re-discovered at a later date, or they form part of the great river
of man's destiny, never for an instant to be forgotten or
submerged. Of such is the unique period of almost six years during
which the Hands of the Cause of God, appointed during his lifetime
by Shoghi Effendi the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, who styled them
the "Chief Stewards of Baha'u'llah's embryonic World Commonwealth"
and its "high-ranking officers", arose and firmly seized and guided
the destiny of the endangered and grievously shaken body of
Baha'u'llah's followers the world over. When the appointed and
much-loved Head of our Faith suddenly passed away on November 4,
1957 in London, we were twenty-seven in number, five women and
twenty-two men, drawn from all continents of the globe, some of
whom had never even met the Guardian personally, indeed, eight of
us had only been appointed to the rank of Hand by Shoghi Effendi
a few weeks prior to his death. Those of us of longer standing felt
great compassion for this last contingent of our peers, who, in
addition to the shock each one of us had experienced when we were
elevated to this high position, were now faced with the additional
shock of the realization that Shoghi Effendi was no longer there
to guide them personally, that this door was closed forever. The
eldest among us, Corinne True, one of the early group of
'Abdu'l-Baha's disciples in America, was already 96; the youngest,
Enoch Olinga, a native of Uganda, only 3 1; listing us according
to our diminishing ages, covering sixty-five years of difference,
we were, after Corinne True, Clara Dunn in Australia-herself 88,
Amelia Collins at the World Centre, Tarazu'llah Samandari, in
Persia, Mason Remey at the World Centre, Agnes Alexander in Japan,
Musa Banani; in Africa, Horace Holley in America, Shu'a'u'llah
'Ala'i in Persia, Leroy Ioas at the World Centre, Ugo Giachery, in
Italy, Jalal Khazeh in Persia, Adelbert Muhlschlegel, and Hermann
Grossmann in Germany, John Robarts, in Africa, Dhikru'llah Khadem
in Persia, 'Ali-Akbar Furutan; in Persia, Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, in
Arabia, Hasan Balyuzi in England, Paul Haney in America,
(Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum at the World Centre, 'Ali-Muhammad
Varqa in Persia, William Sears in Africa, Collis Featherstone in
Australia, John Ferraby in
+2
England, Rahmatu'llah Muhajir in Indonesia and Enoch Olinga, in
Africa. Among the men five held the title of "Doctor", two of these
being medical men; some of the others had university degrees but
we five women, as far as I know, held no university degrees. I go
into these details because this is the backdrop, these the leading
actors, as the perilous drama of this most recent world religion
played itself out successfully from November 4, 1957 to April 21,
1963. The words of the Universal House of Justice, the Supreme Body
of the Baha'i Faith, in its first message to the Baha'is of the
world, dated April 30, 1963, at the time of the World Congress in
London, are the best tribute to our role in history: "We do not
wish to dwell on the appalling dangers which faced the infant Cause
when it was suddenly deprived of our beloved Shoghi Effendi but
rather to acknowledge with all the love and gratitude of our hearts
the reality of the sacrifice, the labour, the self-discipline, the
superb stewardship of the Hands of the Cause of God. We can think
of no more fitting words to express our tribute to these dearly
loved and valiant souls than to recall the words of Baha'u'llah
Himself: 'Light and glory, greeting and praise be upon the Hands
of His Cause, through whom the light of long-suffering hath shone
forth, and the declaration of authority is proven of God, the
Powerful, the Mighty, the Independent; and through whom the sea of
bestowal hath moved, and the breeze of the favour of God, the Lord
of mankind, hath wafted."' To this unique testimony should be added
the. fact that although the Hands were firmly established as the
ruling and guiding body of the entire Baha'i world, I can bear
witness that never for a single instant were the Hands influenced
by either ambition or self-esteem. Our sole objective, the purpose
of our every effort, was to succeed in electing in 1963 the
Universal House of Justice. The Universal House of Justice itself
testified that: "The entire history of religion shows no comparable
record of such strict self-discipline, such absolute loyalty, and
such complete self-abnegation by the leaders of a religion finding
themselves suddenly deprived of their divinely inspired guide. The
debt of gratitude which mankind for generations, nay, ages to come,
owes to this handful of grief-stricken, steadfast, heroic souls is
beyond estimation." Although Baha'u'llah created the Institution
of the Hands, appointing during His own lifetime four distinguished
Persian believers to fulfil this function, and His son and
successor, 'Abdu'l-Baha, later referred to four more outstanding
Persian followers of His Father as Hands, it remained for Shoghi
Effendi-according to the explicit text of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Will and
Testament the Hands may only be appointed by the Guardian
himself-to add forty-two more names to this unique list of people
heading the appointive half of Baha'u'llah's World Order, thus
raising the total to
+3
fifty individuals who have borne this exalted title. Ten Hands were
raised by him posthumously to this high rank; of these ten I was
present when he nominated six of them after their death. I gathered
from Shoghi Effendi that the reason he had not designated as Hands
these distinguished men and women during their lifetime was because
he considered that, for the most part, the Baha'is were still too
immature to accept, without jealousy and criticism, that a
fellow-believer should stand forth from the rank and file in such
a high station, bathed in such a bright light of distinction. I
remember how surprised I was when he said this. It was not until
six years before his death that Shoghi Effendi-after thirty years
of his ministry as Guardian had passed-announced in a cable to the
Baha'i world, dated December 24, 1951, that the hour was "now ripe
take long inevitably deferred step conformity provisions
'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament . . . through appointment first contingent
Hands Cause God, twelve in number . . .", linking it to his
November 30th; message in which he had outlined detailed plans for
the holding of four Intercontinental Conferences in Africa,
America, Europe, and Asia, and stating that this step marked the
"inauguration beyond limits World Centre Faith intercontinental
stage Baha'i activity". Two months later he followed this by the
announcement of the elevation of seven more individuals to the rank
of Hand, thus raising the number to nineteen. This initiation of
the active functioning of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause
under the aegis of the Guardian was not only an immense step
forward in the evolution of our Faith but an indication that the
still small and few in number Baha'i communities throughout the
world were now mature enough to accept the guidance and leadership
implicit in such a body. Between March 1952 and March 1957 Shoghi
Effendi appointed five more Hands to replace five who had died, and
a month before he passed away he added a final, last contingent to
the Hands of the Cause through raising their number by eight more,
thus bringing us to twenty-seven-three times nine. From 1951 to
1957 Shoghi Effendi constantly supervised and guided the
Institution of the Hands, that half of the institutions of the
World Order of Baha'u'llah which has the specialized function to
both propagate and protect it. Like a wise gardener, tending and
pruning a rare, promising and cherished fruit tree, he watched over
us as we Hands served him at the World Centre and in the five
continents of the globe. It was he who developed the second phase
of our activities through adding, in April 1954, to the powers of
our Institution by authorizing us to appoint Auxiliary Boards.
Looking back, I believe this constant care and encouragement he
gave us succeeded in creating among us not only a sense of
passionate loyalty and devotion to him, but a sense of belonging,
as a group, to the Institution of the Guardianship.
+4
I would never claim that my impressions are a reflection of Shoghi
Effendi's motives; anyone who ever pretends to really understand
the Centre of the Covenant-be it Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha, or
Shoghi Effendi-immediately presumes equality, which is of course
out of the question and utterly ridiculous. However, as a close
observer, one has a right to one's opinions. I believe, in choosing
those he elevated to the rank of Hand during their lifetime, Shoghi
Effendi was primarily influenced by their already demonstrated
devotion and capacity to serve the Faith, or the indications he saw
in them of a great potential capacity to do so. In rare cases, such
as Corinne True, or "Mother" Dunn, it was, I think, a well-deserved
crown of reward placed upon their heads for a singularly long and
distinguished period of service. The Guardian was certainly not
influenced for a moment by what the opinion of the Baha'is might
be of his choice. He was equally uninfluenced by how we might
personally feel; three of us were appointed to our face, so to
speak: I was present when he told Fred Schopflocher at the Pilgrim
House table that he was making him a Hand; Freddie turned so white
I thought he was going to faint! He told Musa Banani; likewise on
his pilgrimage, that he was appointing him a Hand; Mr. Banani;
begged not to be! I was not present but I heard this. And he told
me, after my father died, that he was appointing me a Hand in his
place; all my tears and remonstrances and begging him not to had
no effect. Shoghi Effendi was singularly uninfluenceable. Of the
thirty-two Hands he appointed during their lifetime the geographic
distribution was as follows: Holy Land 4, Asia 10, America 6,
Europe 6, Africa 4, Australasia 2; sometimes he associated these
appointments with a continental distribution. The final eight
Hands-whose names were announced a month before he died and who,
with the other nineteen still living Hands, were suddenly obliged
to assume the leadership of the Cause of God pending the time when
the Universal House of Justice could be elected on a firm
basis-were characterized in surprising and significant terms: he
said they had been chosen from four continents of the globe and
represented not only the black and white races but were of Afnan,1
Christian, Muslim, Jewish and pagan backgrounds. Surely this was
a most phenomenal statement, to bring up Enoch Olinga's "pagan"
background, considering that his immediate ancestors had been
Christians. It certainly emphasized the total lack of any form of
prejudice within the Baha'i Faith; I am sure, however, that the
Guardian made Enoch's appointment, like all the other appointments
of Hands, on the sole basis of individual merit. I think, moreover,
the fact that Enoch was a black African, from a continent which in
many cases still had a pagan I Relative of the Bab.
+5
element, was an added asset in Shoghi Effendi's eyes. It gave the
Institution of the Hands a very broad, world-wide base of not only
racial but religious background. As Shoghi Effendi never did
anything thoughtlessly, we should ponder the implications of the
terms he used. In 1957 there were-and still are-many millions of
pagans in the world. Whatever the reason for Shoghi Effendi's
choice of Hands, he once said to me that these were the best he had
to choose from; I got the impression he wished he had better.
Knowing myself, and my fellow Hands, I am sure all of us lamented
in our hearts that we were not worthier, had not more capacity in
every way to serve him. Before he died Shoghi Effendi had succeeded
in making us feel we were a body to assist him, a world-wide,
developing Institution, with an integral and essential part to play
in promoting the growth and expansion of our Faith. We were wholly
his creation. The Guardian, in a cable to the Baha'i world dated
January 9, 1951, had proclaimed his "weighty epoch-making decision"
to form the first International Baha'i Council, the "forerunner"
of the "supreme administrative institution"' of the Faith, which
was destined to emerge in the fullness of time, and he
characterized this "historic decision" as "Marking most significant
milestone evolution Administrative Order Faith Baha'u'llah course
last thirty years." Those thirty years were his own ministry since
the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1921. This first International
Baha'i Council was not elected but selected by Shoghi Effendi
himself from individual believers of long standing and proven
dedication to the service of the Cause. Less than one year later,
on December 24, 1951, he announced the names of the first
contingent of Hands. In view of the clear distinction in the
Teachings between the elected Universal House of Justice and the
appointed Hands of the Cause, it seems to me portentous that the
first membership of the International Baha'i Council included three
people soon to be nominated Hands, and that, at the time of the
beloved Guardian's passing, five of its officers, so designated by
him, namely, myself as liaison between it and him, Mason Remey, its
President, Amelia Collins, its Vice-President, Leroy Ioas its
Secretary General, and Ugo Giachery, its Member at Large-who lived
in Italy and functioned as a European Hand, but frequently visited
Haifa at Shoghi Effendi's request-were all Hands of the Cause. In
addition to being members of the International Baha'i Council,
these Hands, resident and serving at the World Centre, constituted
a separate body, specified by Shoghi Effendi to act as liaison
between him and the other Hands throughout the world, conveying
their messages to him and his to them, I The Universal House of
Justice.
+6
thus giving us, during his own lifetime, a dual function as Hands
directly serving under him and officers of the International Baha'i
Council. I believe that at that particularly dangerous juncture in
Baha'i history this duality was providential and greatly reinforced
the authority and power of the Custodians when faced by the crisis
of his sudden passing. When that terrible blow fell upon the Baha'i
world, these five Hands had been constantly serving under his
personal instructions for almost six years. Historic and stirring
events moved rapidly during those last years of the Guardianship:
on June 30, 1952, Shoghi Effendi wrote of the Faith that "at long
last the machinery of its highest institutions has been erected,"
and that around its most holy Shrines "the supreme organs of its
unfolding Order, are, in their embryonic form, unfolding . . ."
Block by block he had been laying the foundations of the future
World Commonwealth of Baha'u'llah in what he termed the "heart and
nerve-centre" of the Faith situated in the Holy Land. By April
1954, two years and four months after his first announcement of the
appointment of Hands of the Cause, he was able, in a cable
addressed to them and to the Baha'i world, to state how greatly he
valued the support of their members at the World Centre, citing
five particular fields of service that he considered outstanding:
the erection of the superstructure of the Bab's Shrine on Mount
Carmel; the reinforcement of the World Centre's ties with the new
State; the extension of international endowments in the Holy Land;
and, in his own words, the "initiation preliminary measures
establishment Baha'i World Administrative Centre"; to this
grandiose picture of our support of his work he added our
participation in the four successive Intercontinental Teaching
Conferences held at the inception of his World Crusade. In this
same message an immense step forward took place in the world-wide
function of the Hands-now nineteen in number-four in the Holy Land
and fifteen in the various continents, namely, six in Asia, one in
Africa, four in Europe, one in Australasia and three in the
Americas through the Guardian's instructions that these continental
Hands should appoint Auxiliary Boards, of nine members each, to
assist them in their continental areas. He also specified that in
addition to acting as deputies of the Hands in their respective
continents, they would "aid and advise them in the effective
prosecution of the Ten Year Plan" and that, at a later period, they
would assist "in the discharge of their dual and sacred task of
safeguarding the Faith and of promoting its teaching activities."
In October 1957 Shoghi Effendi implemented this duty to safeguard
the Faith, shortly before his passing, by creating an additional
Auxiliary Board, whose function was to be, under the direct
guidance of the Hands of the Cause, "watching over the security of
the Faith". He had already stated, only five months before he
passed away, in a general communication
+7
addressed to both the Hands and the National Spiritual Assemblies,
that the divinely appointed Institution of the Hands of the Faith
was entering a new phase in the unfoldment of "its sacred mission",
and that to their other functions was now added the "primary
obligation" to watch over and ensure the protection of the Baha'i
World Community "in close collaboration" with the National
Assemblies. The temporary headship of the Baha'i Faith by the Hands
of the Cause appointed by Shoghi Effendi commenced with his wholly
unexpected and sudden passing through a heart attack in London,
England, on November 4, 1957, after he had fully recovered from
Asiatic flu, an event which shook the Baha'i world to its roots.
I sent a cable as follows, via Haifa (our usual practice), on that
same day, which announced, from the World Centre, his passing:
SHOGHI Effendi BELOVED OF ALL HEARTS SACRED TRUST GIVEN BELIEVERS
BY MASTER PASSED AWAY SUDDEN HEART ATTACK IN SLEEP FOLLOWING
ASIATIC FLU. URGE BELIEVERS REMAIN STEADFAST CLING INSTITUTION
HANDS LOVINGLY REARED RECENTLY REINFORCED EMPHASIZED BELOVED
GUARDIAN. ONLY ONENESS HEART ONENESS PURPOSE CAN BEFITTINGLY
TESTIFY LOYALTY ALL NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES BELIEVERS DEPARTED GUARDIAN
WHO SACRIFICED SELF UTTERLY FOR SERVICE FAITH. RUHIYYIH Once this
official and tragic announcement had gone forth from the World
Centre, subsequent messages perforce were sent direct from London.
On November 5th another cable went out to all National Spiritual
Assemblies: BELOVED ALL HEARTS PRECIOUS GUARDIAN CAUSE GOD PASSED
PEACEFULLY AWAY YESTERDAY AFTER ASIATIC FLU. APPEAL HANDS NATIONAL
ASSEMBLIES AUXILIARY BOARDS SHELTER BELIEVERS ASSIST MEET
HEARTRENDING SUPREME TEST. FUNERAL OUR BELOVED GUARDIAN SATURDAY
LONDON. HANDS ASSEMBLY BOARD MEMBERS INVITED ATTEND. ANY PRESS
RELEASE SHOULD STATE MEETING HANDS SHORTLY HAIFA WILL MAKE
ANNOUNCEMENT TO BAHA'I WORLD REGARDING FUTURE PLANS. URGE HOLD
MEMORIAL MEETINGS SATURDAY. RUHIYYIH This terrible news evoked
throughout the Baha'i world a passionate wave of response; cables
and letters expressing the shock and sorrow of the believers and
their firm loyalty to the Hands poured in after his passing.
+8
Eighteen Hands of the Cause assembled in London to attend the
funeral of their Guardian. Those who were unable to be present were
either too old and frail to do so, or, in some cases, were
requested to remain at their posts for the protection of the Faith
at this moment of great crisis. The following cables were sent on
two successive days after the funeral, held on November 9th in the
Great Northern London Cemetery: BELOVED GUARDIAN LAID REST LONDON
ACCORDING LAWS AQDAS BEAUTIFUL BEFITTING SPOT AFTER IMPRESSIVE
CEREMONY HELD PRESENCE MULTITUDE BELIEVERS REPRESENTING OVER TWENTY
COUNTRIES EAST WEST STOP DOCTORS ASSURE SUDDEN PASSING INVOLVED NO
SUFFERING STOP BLESSED COUNTENANCE BORE EXPRESSION INFINITE BEAUTY
PEACE MAJESTY STOP EIGHTEEN HANDS ASSEMBLED FUNERAL URGE NATIONAL
BODIES REQUEST ALL BELIEVERS HOLD MEMORIAL MEETINGS EIGHTEENTH
NOVEMBER COMMEMORATING DAYSPRING DIVINE GUIDANCE WHO HAS LEFT US
AFTER THIRTY-SIX YEARS UTTER SELF-SACRIFICE CEASELESS LABOURS
CONSTANT VIGILANCE. RUHIYYIH ASSURE FRIENDS BELOVED SACRED GUARDIAN
BEFITTINGLY LAID REST SURROUNDED BY LARGE REPRESENTATIVE GATHERING
BELIEVERS EAST WEST STOP LIGHT OUR LIVES DEPARTED WE MUST NOW STAND
FIRM REMEMBERING PEERLESS EXAMPLE HIS DEDICATION WORK BLESSED
PERFECTION GLORIOUS VICTORIES HE WON PLANS HE LONGED SEE COMPLETED
STOP ONLY REDEDICATION GREATER UNITY STEADFAST SERVICE CAN
BEFITTINGLY SHOW OUR GRIEF MAKE US ACCEPTABLE HOLY THRESHOLD.
RUHIYYIH The labours of the Hands of the Cause at the time of this
unique crisis followed an unbroken pattern till the day the
Universal House of Justice was elected on April 21, 1963. The Hands
who had gathered in London met and, in spite of their shock and
grief, decided not an instant's time must be lost in holding a
plenary meeting of our entire body at our World Centre in the Holy
Land. This was called for November 18th. Our first act was to
choose a delegation to open the apartment of Shoghi Effendi which
had been sealed by the International Baha'i Council right after his
passing (in addition to being locked by him when we left Haifa, as
was his usual custom) and to make an exhaustive search for any
document he might have left-a Will or otherwise. There was no such
thing to be found. The general body of the Hands then met in the
upper hall of the
+9
Mansion of Baha'u'llah at Bahji near His resting-place, for the
first of their six Conclaves until the election of the Universal
House of Justice took place. Of all our Conclaves-the only
befitting term for such august gatherings-that first one was the
most epoch-making. Not only were we dazed and grieving, we were
orphans, deprived of our father. The responsibility for the entire
Cause of God, to which each one of us was wholly consecrated, had
been placed in our hands, with neither premonition, warning nor
advice. Aside from the thought that we were now the only ones to
direct the Baha'is of the world, to protect and guide them and to
win the Crusade of our beloved Guardian, we were faced with
problems of inconceivable magnitude. How to assume the reins of
authority, with no document to support us, other than the general
theological statements about the Hands? What should we do regarding
money, urgently needed for the monthly upkeep of the Shrines, Holy
Places, pilgrim houses, and gardens, and to pay not only these
substantial recurring bills but continue to finance innumerable
vital Baha'i undertakings throughout the world which Shoghi Effendi
himself had inaugurated and supported from his funds as Head of the
Faith? What was our legal status, on which hinged the delicate
question that all the international financial assets of the Faith
were in the name of Shoghi Effendi What would we say about the
Guardianship? When one adds to the staggering total of the above
enumerated problems the fact that all this rested on the shoulders
of twenty-seven Hands, the first of whom had only been called to
their high office six years previously and the last of whom were
appointed a bare four weeks before Shoghi Effendi passed away, one
gets some idea of the state and the burden of the Hands of the
Cause of God. As we sat in the great upstairs hall of the
Mansion-so sacred, so private-our historic Proclamation was worked
out; it was signed by all the Hands of the Cause except Corinne
True, then aged 96, who was unable to travel from the United States
to the Holy Land but quite capable of being one of the signatories
by consent of that historic document. Clara Dunn, 88, was, however,
present in Haifa and signed the document herself, but because of
age and infirmity was not able to attend our meetings. When one
remembers that of the twenty-five of us gathered in the Mansion,
most of our Persian Hands spoke little or no English at this time
and none of the Western Hands spoke any Persian except myself-and
my vocabulary in no way covered the issues facing us-and that only
two of the Persian Hands were completely bilingual and therefore
we had to translate every word, back and forth-as each Hand,
conscious of the frightening responsibilities resting upon us,
insisted on exact translation of the opinions voiced in the other
language not his own-and that this
+10
went on hour after hour, in day-long sessions, morning and
afternoon, one gets a glimpse of what kind of burdens were added
to our sorrow. At this first Conclave we were faced with the
inescapable obligation of voting from amongst the membership of the
Hands of the Cause for who would, if chosen by all of us, accept
to live and serve at the World Centre as one of the nine legal
Custodians. For those who were not already part of the body of the
Hands in Haifa this meant literally burning all their bridges
behind them. I can remember the words of Paul Haney, an economist
just promoted in the prominent investment firm to which he had
belonged for some years, with the assurance of financial increases
and a substantial pension on retirement, as he bowed his head and
said, "You are only called once." We had, from our very first
Conclave, a fixed procedure: every morning we went to pray in the
Shrine of Baha'u'llah before our meetings started and our last act
every evening was to visit the room in which He passed away for
closing prayers. If my memory serves me, the longest Conclave
lasted twenty-two days-all the days being the same. We were not
interested in days off! A policy was established that no notes of
individual Hands would be taken out of that hall, but would be
gathered and burned at the end of the day by one of the Hands. As
our consultations were full, free and frank, the notes-in
discussions involving more than twenty people, where each one had
to wait his turn-were obviously far too pertinent to risk
individual opinions leaving that room. Any carelessness, any gossip
or speculation at such a juncture could have divided the Hands from
each other and split the Baha'i Faith. After long and often
agonizing consultation and soul-searching which took place in
discussion at more than one Conclave-we finally agreed as a body
to announce to the Baha'i world that the Institution of the Hands,
different in both nature and function from the structure
constituting the elected administrative bodies of the Faith, placed
us in a separate category and we requested the believers not to
vote for the Hands of the Cause in Baha'i elections. We Hands
burned in the fire of this weighty decision until it became clear
to us that greater strength, diversity, and breadth lay in keeping
these two aspects of the system of Baha'u'llah separate and
therefore more mobile, each free to function in its own field. When
the Guardian passed away the paramount, supremely urgent task
confronting us at our first Conclave was to ensure that everything
connected with the affairs, direction and administration of the
Faith was solidly and speedily vested in the Institution of the
Hands. We were blessed in the unity and strength we found among
ourselves-some of the
+11
Hands meeting each other for the first time-and also in having the
loyal advice and assistance of Dr. Abraham Weinshall, a
distinguished lawyer who had attended to all the legal affairs of
the Guardian for many years, each one holding the other in high
esteem, and whom we now called upon to advise and assist us. All
the legal powers at the World Centre of the Faith-which had been
vested in Shoghi Effendi as the appointed successor of 'Abdu'l-Baha
-- were left in limbo when he passed away as he himself had made
neither a Will nor a statement of his intentions. The holdings at
the World Centre, including its sacred Shrines, its historic
buildings, hundreds of square metres of prime real estate, and
substantial local bank accounts, were therefore in great danger.
The Hands were able, however, to successfully and legally establish
the principle that the Guardian held all properties as the Head of
the Faith and not as an individual, and to have this priceless
heritage safely placed in the hands of the Custodians. A further
large deposit, invested for safekeeping in Switzerland in both his
and my name, I later turned over to the Universal House of Justice
after its election. I remember remonstrating with Shoghi Effendi
when he made this arrangement, that it was unnecessary to include
my name on this account; but when he passed away so suddenly in
London I was in a position, with grace and dignity, to draw on this
money to pay for all his funeral expenses and our hotel bills and
later to design and supervise the construction and erection of the
monument, in white Carrara marble, marking his grave, without
turning to any Baha'i source for assistance. This was a great
consolation to me in my sorrow and surely reflected the mercy of
God in an hour of terrible trial and suffering. Following the
historic inaugural Conclave in Bahji from November 18th to the
25th, 1957, one of the first acts of the Custodians was to fulfil
what had been a cherished plan of Shoghi Effendi himself, namely,
to tear down the long, two-storey house occupied by a remnant of
the Covenant-breakers, a building which abutted on the garden wall
of the Mansion of Baha'u'llah in Bahji towards the north, the legal
possession of which he had acquired, after years of effort, shortly
before his passing. We accomplished this in December 1957 not only
in a spirit of fidelity to his wishes, but, in our deep sorrow,
longing to please him by fulfilling one of his last cherished plans
for the beautification of the precincts of our Most Holy Shrine,
the Qiblih of our Faith. As the clouds of dust arose from the
demolition of this ugly building, in some strange way it assuaged
our aching hearts. It was a revelation to me, when we extended the
pattern of Shoghi Effendi's garden into the space the demolished
building had occupied, to see how, within half a metre, the large
symmetrical design of the existing gardens he had made was
completed.
+12
Indeed, in the years following his passing, in one field after
another, one plan Shoghi Effendi had made after another, whether
in connection with the Baha'i properties in the Holy Land or
throughout the world in detailed national plans and objectives, was
fulfilled. This included the five large Intercontinental
Conferences he announced would be held during 1958-the midway point
of his decade-long global Spiritual Crusade. In spite of our
heartbreak, the fidelity of the Hands was so great we each went to
the Intercontinental Conference the Guardian had specified. He had
sown and we reaped, and still do, his harvest. In the meetings of
the Custodians we almost never worked to an agenda and had no rigid
format. We had decided, from the time of our first Conclave that,
in order to protect the Cause of God, we would have no officers,
such as President, Chairman, Secretary, etc. lest one of the male
Hands, holding such a position, should begin to assume in the eyes
of the Baha'is the function of the leader, and, God forbid, begin
to be seen as a sort of second Guardian in importance. I think this
was one of our wisest decisions and a great shield for the purity
of our services. Likewise, in the Custodian's meetings we had no
"head", but took the chairmanship in rotation. We did, however,
divide our work in the sense that Persian Hands handled the
correspondence in Persian and Arabic and those of us from the West,
all correspondence in western languages. In spite of all our
devotion and sacrifices, one of our greatest problems was to
ensure, all the year, every year, that a quorum of Hands was
present in the Holy Land for our decisions. Within the first two
years of our ministry two of the Custodians found they could not
continue to serve in a permanent capacity at the World Centre, and
in order to maintain our number at nine, it was necessary to select
two other Hands to replace them. In November of 1959 the Hands
announced that John Ferraby and Horace Holley-an immemorial figure
in the development of the Administrative Order in America, which
was the world prototype-had been chosen to serve as Custodians.
During the period of our ministry we were grieved by the death of
four of our fellow-Hands, two of whom were Custodians. Only eight
months after having been chosen as a Custodian, Horace Holley
passed away, in July 1960; William Sears was called upon to serve
as his replacement. On January 1, 1962, our dear Amelia Collins
died and Hasan Balyuzi was appointed to act as a Custodian
temporarily to fill the vacancy created by her passing. If one is
to understand how the Institution of the Hands achieved the
preservation of the Faith between the passing of its hereditary
Head and the election of its Supreme Body, one cannot do so without
a clear picture of the stage of development at which the Faith of
Baha'u'llah found itself
+13
in 1957. As early as 1924 Shoghi Effendi stated that the Local and
National Assemblies constituted "the bedrock upon the strength of
which the Universal House of Justice is in future to be firmly
established", and in 1951 he cabled: ". . . Future edifice
Universal House of Justice depending for its stability on
sustaining strength pillars erected diversified communities East
West." In 1953, at the outset of Shoghi Effendi's World
Crusade-itself a direct projection of 'Abdu'l-Baha's "Tablets of
the Divine Plan" designed to spread His Father's message throughout
the world there were only twelve National Spiritual Assemblies;
when 'Abdu'l-Baha passed away in 1921 there were none. One of the
major acts of Shoghi Effendi two years before his passing, was to
call for the election, in Ridvan 1957, of thirteen National
Spiritual Assemblies, two of which already existed but would change
names and areas of jurisdiction, thus adding eleven in number;
these eleven, plus three more which had been elected in Africa in
1956, brought the total number formed by the Guardian during his
thirty-six-year ministry to twenty-six. The Hands of the Cause,
during our brief custodianship of less than six years, increased
this number to fifty-six.' When Shoghi Effendi succeeded his
Grandfather, 'Abdu'l-Baha, only thirty-five countries throughout
the entire world had received Baha'u'llah's Message: two in the
Bab's days, thirteen in Baha'u'llah's days, and twenty in
'Abdu'l-Baha's days. Shoghi Effendi enlarged this by 219 during the
thirty-six years of his ministry; the Hands of the Faith, during
the ministry of the Custodians, added five more. In his Ridvan 1957
Message the Guardian informed us there were 4,200 localities
throughout the world where Baha'is resided; at the end of his World
Crusade the Hands were able to report this total had reached 11,210
-- an increase of over 7,000. It is beyond the scope of this
introduction to present all the goals of Shoghi Effendi's vast Ten
Year Teaching and Consolidation Plan; 2 only the most arduous and
costly tasks which faced the Hands will be mentioned. The Guardian,
by the time of his passing, had either inaugurated, changed, or
accomplished some of his own goals; a few, dependent on political
situations, proved unfeasible. The monetary tasks alone which faced
the Hands were formidable. Shoghi Effendi had called for the
"doubling" of Baha'i Houses of Worship. The "Mother Temple of the
West", situated in the United States, near Chicago, whose
cornerstone 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself had laid in 1912, the Guardian
had, with the greatest difficulty, over a period of three
decades-decades which included the "Great Depression" in the United
States, which began in 1929 and 1 The 1992 number of National
Spiritual Assemblies is 165. 2 See "The Baha'i Faith 1844-1952
Information Statistical & Comparative".
+14
lasted over ten years-shepherded to completion, and it had been
opened to public worship at the beginning of his Crusade. However,
in the original Ten Year Plan goals for this Crusade he stipulated
that two more Temples should be built, one in Asia, one in Europe,
the Asian one to be erected in the Cradle of the Faith, in Teheran,
the European one in Frankfurt, Germany. During the five years prior
to Shoghi Effendi's passing it became evident there was no hope of
building a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Persia as both the official and
popular hatred of the Baha'is had not modified in over a century.'
The Guardian, saddened and indignant, decided to compensate the
steadfast, continuously oppressed and persecuted believers in that
country by erecting not two but three Temples. He launched, in his
own words, an "ambitious three-fold enterprise, designed to
compensate for the disabilities suffered by the sorely-tried
Community of the followers of His Faith in the land of His birth,
aiming at the erection, in localities as far apart as Frankfurt,
Sydney and Kampala, of the Mother Temples of the European, the
Australian and African continents, at a cost of approximately one
million dollars, complementing the Temples already constructed in
the Asiatic and American continents. One-third of this sum 1,
gladly and with a grateful heart, pledge at this auspicious hour,
a sum which, when added to the funds already donated for this
laudable purpose ... will constitute well-nigh half of the entire
amount required to ensure the consummation of this stupendous,
epoch-making undertaking." The Guardian, before announcing these
decisions, had privately calculated that about one-half of the cost
he already had in hand or was assured of receiving; the remainder,
so to speak, he trusted in God to provide. He gave them first the
Mother Temple of Africa in its heart, Kampala, Uganda, and later,
to everyone's joy and surprise, he added the Mother Temple of the
Antipodes in Sydney, Australia, and finally, the last of those to
be built, the Mother Temple of Europe in Frankfurt. Fortunately for
the Hands, he had already advanced his plans for these three
Temples by approving their designs. It was a great blessing for the
Baha'is of the world that the Commander-in-Chief of the forces of
Baha'u'llah's world-conquering spiritual army had announced and set
in motion himself such momentous projects. But think of the agony
of twenty-seven heart-broken Hands faced with the duty of
fulfilling these commitments! The cornerstone of the African Temple
in Kampala was laid on January 26, 1958; that of Sydney on March
22, 1958; and that of Frankfurt on November 20, 1960. Triumphantly
the Custodians were able to see the first of these I It seems
unbelievable that as recently as March 18, 1992, yet another
Iranian follower of Baha'u'llah, of an old and distinguished Baha'i
family, has been executed.
+15
precious Houses of Worship, chosen by our beloved Guardian himself,
opened to public worship, in Kampala on January 15, 1961, and the
one in Sydney on September 16, 1961. The purchase of the land and
commencement of work had been more complicated in Germany and the
foundation-stone for the Mother Temple of Europe was not laid until
November 1960; its superstructure was completed in November 1962
during the ministry of the Hands but the Temple was not opened to
public worship until July 4, 1964. It is, I think, impossible for
others to understand how hard the Hands in the Holy Land daily
worked, how much we struggled to raise the money for and to build
these three large and imposing edifices for Shoghi Effendi Many
times the diminishing number of Hands resident at the World Centre
have said to each other: "We could not again pass through even five
minutes of the suffering we went through in those years!" One of
our most pressing worries concerned the heavy financial obligations
left us in the plans of Shoghi Effendi regarding not only the
construction of Baha'i Temples but other properties, and the
monetary support we had to give to the new National Baha'i
Assemblies in developing countries. The national Baha'i bodies in
a position to provide any substantial aid at that period were those
of Iran and America. The main income of the Hands was from the
contributions of the Persian Baha'i community, which was the oldest
and at that time the most affluent Baha'i community in the world.
This monetary aid we estimated at about $100,000 a year. In June
1960, as we considered our financial position, we felt obliged to
vote this entire sum for Temple construction, the expenses of the
Institution of the Hands and support to the National Assemblies,
nearly all of which at that period were not self-supporting and
received most of their annual budget from the Hands at the World
Centre. The munificent financial contributions of our fellow-Hand
and Custodian Amelia Collins were of great assistance to the Hands;
her outstanding generosity afforded infinite comfort to our
heavily-burdened minds and hearts as we faced the ever-increasing
financial needs of the Faith. The following minute from our
Conclave meeting in 1959 conveys only one instance of her
magnanimous spirit: "Milly offered to provide one-third entire sum
to be given by Hands Holy Land to Hands in the continents." The
Hands living at the World Centre practised rigid economy; as the
pilgrimage had been suspended for a nine-month period of mourning
throughout the Baha'i world after the passing of Shoghi Effendi our
Eastern and Western Pilgrim Houses were available and the
newly-chosen Custodians and their wives resided in them for some
time, only moving to more suitable accommodation when the
pilgrimage was reopened.
+16
With very few exceptions, the Hands had all been, at some period,
members of various National Spiritual Assemblies; they were highly
informed and highly skilled Baha'is They not only had a right to
hold individual opinions but did so very strongly. Like most
consultative bodies, we got over the bumps, the exasperation at
interminable waits for one's turn to speak, the long-windedness
which our passionate sense of responsibility and the fact that most
of us were public speakers, produced. But there was one agonizing
issue we could not agree on. Year after year we could come to no
conclusion about whether the Guardianship was closed for the period
of this Faith. The death of Shoghi Effendi had really been like an
arrow shot into our hearts. Each one struggled with his bereavement
in his own way. One of us, Mason Remey, one of the oldest and most
distinguished, solved his personal dilemma by concluding that the
Baha'i Faith could not go on without a Guardian and that
undoubtedly Shoghi Effendi's successor was himself-for various
invalid and unprovable reasons, such as that he was one of the
earliest, famous believers of the West, had been made a Hand of the
Cause by Shoghi Effendi and President of the International Baha'i
Council. All this was true, but it still did not make him the
second Guardian. Mason Remey's activities, beginning in 1960, when
he "proclaimed" himself the second Guardian, were a profound source
of embarrassment to his fellow-Hands who, in addition to all their
other heavy, heartbreaking responsibilities, now found themselves
obliged to progressively remonstrate with, admonish, warn, expose
and finally excommunicate him. This extraordinary and sudden
display of unexpected pride and conceit passed over the Baha'i
world, producing a brief flutter in France, a passing ripple in
Chile and sundry vibrations in the United States, Pakistan and one
or two other countries, and was soon gone forever. For those who,
like myself and Paul Haney, had known and loved him all our lives,
and Milly Collins, who had been a particularly old friend and
co-worker, it was a very bitter and tragic experience. Unfollowed
and unmourned, alone and isolated in his old age, when he died he
was buried by his young secretary who was not a Baha'i Although
this whole episode had no effect on the Faith, it added to the
burdens of the Custodians, consumed hours of consideration better
spent on constructive matters, and saddened our hearts. Like any
branch cut off from the root, the Remey incident withered away. Far
more distressing to the Custodians, and indeed to the entire Baha'i
world, was the case of the fourteen Baha'i prisoners in Morocco,
three of whom were condemned to death and five to life imprisonment
for no other reason than their religious beliefs. Comparable to the
case of the Persian Baha'is during the lifetime of Shoghi Effendi
in 1955, when a violent national attack on the part of the
fanatical Muslim clergy took
+17
place in Iran headed by a particularly vehement priest who accused
the Baha'is over the national radio as well as from the pulpit, of
being the enemies of Islam, 1 and produced a major crisis in the
fortunes of the Baha'i Faith, now, in another continent, a very
similar storm of alarming proportions blew up. Though few in
number, the Baha'i community in Morocco was firmly established and
valiant in spirit. The first signs of this alarming crisis appeared
in 1961; on December 7th, an article appeared in the nationally
prominent newspaper Al Alam, lamenting the decline of Islam and
attacking the Baha'i Faith. Suddenly a spotlight was focused on a
small group of Baha'is in the northern provincial town of Nador who
were imprisoned and accused, fundamentally, of heresy, some of them
being sentenced to death. From its onset this case became a
constant preoccupation of the Custodians; ceaseless anxiety and
effort, and in the end acute anguish, became our daily lot as the
date for the execution of three of the prisoners in that city
approached. The extraordinary amount of material and comment
covering this case-which began in April 1962 and ended in December
1963 -- cannot be presented here. The facts, the highlights, and
some of the major documents are, however, included. The Moroccan
case involved the imprisonment of 14 Baha'is in three cities, 7 in
Nador, 2 in Fez, and 5 in Tetuan in the northern Province of Nador;
the arrest of the first five took place on April 10, 1962. Already,
however, throughout the Riff area religious opposition of the
Muslim community had been steadily increasing; some of the homes
of the Baha'is had been searched by the police and their Baha'i
literature seized, and in January 1962 a well-known Professor of
Fine Arts at the University of Tetuan was dismissed from his post
and warned to have no association with his co-religionists. Another
Baha'i a resident of Nador, lost his government job shortly
thereafter. All the accused were men of good repute; with one
exception they were all young men, holding respected jobs, with
some standing in the community; among them was a teacher, a Customs
official and a police inspector. Six of them were single, eight
were married, and seven had children. The youngest was only 20
years old, the eldest 38. One of the first five arrested, under
police interrogation, was hung upside down by the feet but refused
to divulge the names of any other Baha'is all of them 1 This was
a wholly unfounded and unsupportable standard accusation brought
against the Baha'is particularly in view of the fact that western
Baha'is of Christian background in the Western Hemisphere and
Europe acknowledge the spiritual station of Muhammad, the founder
of Islam, as a Divinely inspired Prophet of God.
+18
were brutally treated; they were arrested without any charge and
held in prison for four days before being brought to Court on April
15th. On October 31st; the fourteen B Baha'i men were brought to
the Regional Court of Nador to hear the charges against them and
were formally accused of: Rebellion, Disorder, Attack on Public
Security, Forming an Association of Criminals, and Attack on
Religious Faith. The difference between Baha'i religious
laws-fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, etc.-and those of Islam, were
compared in detail by the Court. The first intimation we received
at the World Centre of the arrest of the Baha'is was a newspaper
article from Morocco; on April 14th, news of these happenings burst
in the press through an article in the prestigious Le Courier du
Maroc. While the case was being widely publicized in Moroccan
newspapers and spreading to the foreign press, the Custodians were
constantly in touch with the Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies
in those days 44 in number-most notably that of the United States
of America, in which country is situated the seat of the United
Nations, by which we were recognized as a Non-Governmental
Organization with observer status, under the title of the Baha'i
International Community", which officially represented at that time
Baha'i communities in 257 countries, territories and dependencies.
All national Baha'i bodies were likewise urged to bring as much
pressure, by every means within their power, upon the Moroccan
authorities in defence of the innocence of their fellow believers,
whilst the Baha'is of the entire world, with full hearts, prayed
for their protection and release. Between the date the Moroccan
Baha'is had been arrested, in April, and the stage of our open,
world-wide publicity, every effort to protect the prisoners and
prove their innocence had been undertaken by the Hands in the Holy
Land. Two distinguished Moroccan lawyers had been engaged in their
defence and a famous French lawyer had come from Paris to join
them. The Custodians felt very strongly that no attack should be
made on the central authorities but that the blame should
rest-where it in fact originated-on a small, fanatical, prejudiced
and misinformed group of local leaders, who unfortunately at that
period did not seem susceptible to any central State control from
Rabat. Throughout the hearings it was repeatedly asserted that one
of the cardinal teachings of the Baha'i Faith is obedience to
government, that the Baha'i International Community is accredited
to agencies of the United Nations as a Non-Governmental
Organization, and so on, to no avail. On December 14, 1962 the
Regional Court of Nador pronounced its verdict. Of the original 14
people involved in the case, four were acquitted, stating they were
Muslims, one was acquitted through what appears to be
+19
family connections, one was released from prison on 15 years'
probation because he was a serious diabetic, five were committed
to life imprisonment and three were condemned to death. The
announcement of these sentences stunned the Baha'i world. It also
stunned the media. The new Moroccan Constitution had just been
overwhelmingly accepted by a national referendum and on December
7th, three days before the Baha'i trial opened, Morocco had voted
in the United Nations in favour of a resolution for a draft
convention on the elimination of all forms of religious
intolerance. On January 1st all National and Local Baha'i Spiritual
Assemblies were requested by the Custodians to cable His Majesty
the King of Morocco appealing for justice for the Baha'is. This
universal demonstration of international Baha'i solidarity would
leave no doubt in the minds of the authorities of the world-wide
existence of the Baha'i community. For those of us in Haifa who had
lived, under the aegis of our beloved Guardian, through the
agonizing days in 1955 when another group of Baha'is were being
unjustly persecuted, that time in Persia where the friends suffered
senseless acts of barbarism, murder, rape and pillage of property,
it was history repeating itself-but with no Shoghi Effendi at the
helm to guide and comfort us. We had to pray, act, endure the
heavy-footed hours that never seemed to pass as the time for the
execution of our fellow-Baha's drew nearer and nearer. The burden
of anxiety for the fate of their co-religionists was shared by the
entire Baha'i world; the burden of responsibility and decision,
however, fell upon the Hands of the Cause, particularly the body
of the Custodians in Haifa, and was, indeed, an agonizing and
almost insupportable burden to bear. "The Moroccan Case" ran for
some twenty months. Ultimately by decision of the Moroccan Supreme
Court all Baha'i prisoners were set free on December 13, 1963. The
civil authorities not only released and fully exonerated them from
any culpability but paid them financial compensation for their loss
of freedom to earn their living and, in a few cases, where they
were employed by the Government, indemnified them. All National
Spiritual Assemblies, wherever possible, were asked by the
Universal House of Justice to express gratification, through the
Moroccan Embassy or Consulate in their areas, to the King for this
decision of the Supreme Court. In Shoghi Effendi's vision for the
development of the World Administrative Centre on the great
semi-circular "arc" he laid out on Mount Carmel, he foresaw a Seat
for its supreme governorship and Centres for the study of the Holy
Texts and for the protection and teaching of the Faith, under the
supervision of the Hands of the Cause, as well as an International
Archives. Before he passed away the Guardian himself
+20
chose both the site and the Grecian style of architecture for our
museum of historical material, the International Baha'i Archives;
this building was erected under his own supervision, but he passed
away before the completion of the interior and was not able
personally to arrange the unique and historic exhibits he had long
been collecting. The accomplishment of this task was one of the
labours of love of the Hands of the Cause. It was opened to Baha'i
pilgrims in the winter of 1961. One of the final and major
accomplishments of the Hands at the end of this historic
five-and-a-hAli-year period was to work out, during our last
Conclave, in Bahji -- to a great extent due to the vision of our
fellow-Hand Rahmatu'llah Muhajir -- a projected nine-year plan,
involving no less than sixty-nine national teaching plans, which
was to begin in Ridvan 1964 and end in Ridvan 1973, thus continuing
the unbroken sequence of the implementation of 'Abdu'l-Baha's
"Divine Plan" for the spiritual conquest of the globe. This was
submitted to our Supreme Body, the Universal House of Justice,
which adapted and adopted many of our suggestions when it finalized
the details of its majestic Nine Year Plan. The Hands of the Faith
and the members of the International Baha'i Council were
tremendously excited by the prospect of the first election of the
Universal House of Justice, which was to take place on the
Centenary of the Declaration of Baha'u'llah's Mission in Baghdad
in 1863. One evening, as one of the Council members was sitting
with me in the home of 'Abdu'l-Baha and we were discussing the
forthcoming International Baha'i Convention and election and where
it should be held, the idea was suggested by him that it might be
possible to hold it in that house. As the electoral college of the
Universal House of Justice is composed of the nine members of all
National or Regional Spiritual Assemblies and there were at that
time fifty-six of these national bodies, we would need space to
accommodate 504 delegates, plus the Hands of the Cause and members
of the International Baha'i Council. We measured the large main
hall and adjoining rooms and concluded that by removing all the
twelve doors on the four sides of the hall we might be able to do
this. It was 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself Who, in His Will and Testament,
had elaborated the nature and duties of both the Universal House
of Justice and the Hands of the Cause; what could be more sacred
and befitting than for the Hands to hold the election of the first
Universal House of Justice in His home? In preparation for this
election the Hands in the Holy Land, five years after the passing
of the beloved Guardian, wrote to all National Spiritual Assemblies
on November 4, 1962, enclosing nine ballot papers with full details
of how to fill them out and who was eligible for election. In this
letter, while not prohibiting the delegates from voting for any
male Hands of the Cause, we requested them to leave the Hands free
to discharge the
+21
duties of their own institution. During the years of our ministry
all such momentous decisions were made after exhaustive
consultation and ardent prayers for guidance. On April 21, 1963,
the delegates, many of them in native costume, stepped forward as
the roll call was read and cast their votes; the absentee votes of
delegates unable to attend, carefully sealed in double envelopes
to ensure secrecy, were likewise deposited in the ballot box, which
was later sealed and locked and shut into a locked room of
'Abdu'l-Baha's home while all the Hands and delegates present in
the Holy Land proceeded to the Tomb of Baha'u'llah in Bahji to
render praise and thanksgiving to Him for this great victory. The
goals of the Guardian had been won by the Baha'is of the world,
under the leadership of the Hands of the Cause he had appointed.
The election of the Universal House of Justice at the World Centre
had been triumphantly held. Both bodies now proceeded to London to
attend the World Centennial Congress he himself had planned.
Although the ministry of the Custodians terminated with the
election of the Universal House of Justice, this date did not end
the painstaking services of our august institution; the crowning
event of our custodianship at the end of our beloved Guardian's
World Crusade was the celebration of the Most Great Jubilee, during
the period of Ridvan held from April 28 -- May 2, 1963, in London.
In Shoghi Effendi's original announcement it was hoped that this
centennial anniversary could take place in Baghdad, the scene of
the Declaration of Baha'u'llah's Prophetic Mission. Circumstances,
however, made this impracticable and the Hands decided to hold it
in London, a city with many precious historic associations with
both 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi who studied at Oxford
University prior to becoming the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith when
his Grandfather died in 1921. As we cast about for a befitting
venue for this great Congress planned by Shoghi Effendi we found
that the unique and beautiful Royal Albert Hall, in the heart of
London, famous as a centre for concerts and conferences, which
accommodates about 7,000 people, could be rented for our great
occasion. Baha'is from all over the world, including Hands and
administrators, Knights of Baha'u'llah and pioneers, were present,
and the audience was addressed by members of the Institutions of
both the Hands and the Universal House of Justice. In this
wonderful fulfilment of the Guardian's own plan for the culmination
of his World Crusade my greatest joy was the words addressed to us
by various indigenous tribesmen from the continents and islands of
the globe, whether the much-loved "Uncle Fred", an illiterate
Australian Aborigine, who said, after describing his journey from
Australia as being carried across the ocean in
+22
a great new flying kangaroo" and being set down in London: "Yes,
dear friends, I am glad to see the people here, like flowers of all
colours ... Baha'u'llah has given me a good life ... I have joy in
my heart", or the cheerful Baha'i from the Mentawai Islands of
Indonesia, who assured us that if we could see him minus his
European suit of clothes he was tattooed from head to toe! For all
of us-largely sophisticates from Asia, Europe and North America-it
was a revelation to witness the aplomb, wisdom and highly
appropriate sentiments expressed by these fellow Baha'is from areas
often referred to as "the developing countries". There was an
unprecedented feeling of happiness and oneness of spirit in this
great Congress and the attendants lapped their first, newly-elected
Universal House of Justice, presented to them by the Hands of the
Cause, in a great wave of welcome and love. I am sure all the Hands
of the Cause felt that Shoghi Effendi's desires had been fulfilled.
+23
THE MINISTRY OF THE CUSTODIANS
1957
+24
THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY BLANK
+25
Haifa, Israel November 6, 1957 Ruhiyyih Khanum, telephoned me on
the evening of November 4th, of the great calamity which had
stricken the Baha'i world, in the passing of our dearly beloved
Guardian, in London, during the early morning hours of November
4th.
During our conversation it was decided I would remain in Haifa and
take all precautions to protect the Holy Places, the Guardian's
apartment, where all his records were kept, and the Faith from
attack by the enemies of the Faith here. The following actions were
taken: 1. The Guardian's apartment and office had been locked, so
no one could enter it during his absence. We assured ourselves that
it was carefully locked, and barriers were placed in front of the
door so no one could enter. We then locked and put iron bars across
the door to the entrance of the living quarters. These iron bars
were padlocked. All the keys to the apartment were then sealed in
an envelope, which envelope was signed by Sylvia Ioas Jessie
Revell, Ethel Revell and Leroy Ioas and placed in the safe of my
office, in such a way that if the envelope was tampered with in any
way, it would be seen immediately. We then arranged for the
Guardian's trusted servant to sleep outside the doors of the
apartment and office; likewise another trusted servant to sleep at
the foot of the steps, so no one could gain access to the area.
During the daytime, we maintained extra Baha'is in the building,
so no access could be gained. 2. The Shrine of Baha'u'llah was
guarded night and day, and one of the Baha'is slept in the Shrine
each night. , 3. The same action was taken with regard to the
Shrine of the Bab. 4. The same action was taken with regard to the
Mansion at Bahji The sealing of the Guardian's apartment and office
was done in the presence of the four members of the International
Council here, who have signed this document, in attestation
thereof. The envelope in which the keys to the apartment were
sealed, is attached. Leroy C. Ioas [Signed as follows] Leroy Ioas
Sylvia Ioas, Ethel Revell Jessie Revell
+26
HANDS IN THE HOLY LAND OFFICIAL STATEMENT Haifa, Israel November
15,1957 Allah-u-Abha! Ruhiyyih Khanum, Mr. Remey, Mrs. Collins, Dr.
Giachery, and Mr. Ioas, arrived from Lydda airport about 10:50 a.m.
November 15th, from the funeral of the dearly beloved Guardian. The
five Hands of the Cause, named above, then secured the sealed
envelope with the keys to the Guardian's apartment, opened it, and
proceeded to enter the apartment, at 11: 10 a.m. We immediately
proceeded to the safe where sacred documents were preserved, and
the logical place where the Will of the beloved Guardian would be
kept. The safe was sealed with tape, which was signed by all Hands
and then countersigned, and then sealed with sealing wax, on the
upper and lower doors of the safe. This was completed at 11: 15
a.m. The keys of the safe were then placed in an envelope which was
sealed with sealing wax, and signed by the Hands. This was done
immediately, and delivered to the Guardian's Assistant Secretary,
Mr. Leroy Ioas, Hand of the Faith, who placed it in the safe in his
office. As an additional measure of precaution, the drawers of the
desk of the Guardian were sealed, and the seals countersigned. This
was concluded at 12:07 p.m. The five Hands of the Faith who were
present at all times sign this document in attestation thereto.
[Signed as follows] Ruhiyyih Mason Remey Amelia E. Collins Ugo
Giachery, Leroy C. Ioas, PRESS RELEASE IN THE JERUSALEM POST
"BAHA'I 'HANDS' MEET FOR OBSEQUIES" Haifa, Monday November 18, 1957
A memorial ceremony for His Eminence Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, World
Head of the Baha'i Faith, who died in London on November 4, was
+27
held this afternoon at the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, world centre of
the Baha'i Faith, north of Acre. The ceremony was held at 2 p.m.
corresponding to the exact hour of the interment of the Guardian
of the Faith in London. Memorial services are being hold by
national and local Baha'i assemblies in all parts of the world
today. Twenty-six of the 27 'Hands' of the Baha'i Faith throughout
the world arrived yesterday to take part in the service. The "Hands
of the Cause", as the elders of the Faith are called, have come
from five continents. They include one who knew Baha'u'llah, the
founder of the Baha'i Faith; an 88-year-old woman from Australia,
who had to travel with her nurse; the only Negro "Hand", who comes
from the Cameroons in Africa; and others from Britain, the
Americas, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Iran, Germany, Italy,
Uganda, Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa. Messages of
condolence continue to arrive at the International Baha'i Council
from all parts of the world, from government heads, educators and
people from all walks of life. HANDS IN THE HOLY LAND OFFICIAL
STATEMENT Haifa, Israel November 19, 1957 Allah-u-Abha! This
morning immediately after 9:00 a.m. we, the five Hands of the Cause
assigned to service at the World Centre of the Faith, Ruhiyyih
Khanum, Mason Remey, Amelia E. Collins, Ugo Giachery, and Leroy
Ioas as well as Hands of the Cause Hasan Balyuzi, a member of the
Afnan family, Mr. Horace Holley, representing the believers of the
Western Hemisphere, Musa Banani; representing the believers of the
African continent, and Dr. 'Ali-Muhammad Varqa Trustee of the
beloved Guardian, representing also the Asian continent, (totaling
to, ' the number of Baha) have met, in order to open the Guardian's
safe and desk [and] search for a Will and Testament if one was
executed by Shoghi Effendi They found that the seals placed on the
safe by the five Hands in the Holy Land were intact and untouched;
and similarly the seals containing the keys to the safe were intact
and untouched and similarly that the sealed desk was intact. The
undersigned nine Hands of the Cause, appointed by the first
+28
Guardian, Shoghi Effendi each in the presence of the others, do
hereby individually and collectively certify to the following: That
the safe and desk have been opened and searched and the non
existence of a Will and Testament executed by Shoghi Effendi was
definitely established. [Signed as follows] Ruhiyyih Mason Remey
Amelia E. Collins Ugo Giachery, Leroy Ioas Hasan M. Balyuzi Horace
Holley M.B. Musa Banani; Dr. A. Vargha UNANIMOUS PROCLAMATION OF
THE 27 HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD Mansion of Baha'u'llah Bahji,
'Akka, Israel November 25, 1957 We the undersigned: Ruhiyyih
Rabbani Charles Mason Remey (who is President of the International
Baha'i Council) Amelia E. Collins (who is Vice President of the
International Baha'i Council) Leroy C. Ioas (who is Secretary
General of the International Baha'i Council) Dr. Ugo Giachery, (who
is member-at-large of the International Baha'i Council and Chairman
of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Switzerland)
Hasan M. Balyuzi (who is Chairman of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles) Shoaullah Ala'i (who
is Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
Iran) Ali Akbar Furutan (who is Secretary of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran) Zikrullah Khadem (who is Treasurer
of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran) Dr. Ali
Mohammad Varqa (who is a member of the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha'is of Iran) Tarazu'llah Samandari (who is a resident
of Shiraz, Iran) Djalal Khazeh (who is a resident of Teheran, Iran)
+29
John Ferraby (who is Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha'is of the British Isles Paul E. Haney (who is Chairman
of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United
States) Horace Holley (who is Secretary of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States) Abul Qasim F.
Teherani Dr. Adelbert Muh1schlegel (who is a member of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria) Dr.
Hermann Grossmann (who is a resident of Neckargemind, Germany) Musa
Banani (who is a resident of Kampala, Uganda) William Sears (who
is Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
South and West Africa) John Robarts, (who is Recording Secretary
of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South and West
Africa) Enoch Olinga, (who is a member of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of North West Africa) Agnes Alexander (who
is a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
North East Asia) H. Collis Featherstone (who is Chairman of the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia) Clara Dunn
(who is a resident of Sydney, Australia) Dr. Rahmatu'llah Mohajer
(who is a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is
of South-East Asia) in our capacity as Hands of the Cause of God
duly nominated and appointed by the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith,
His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, assembled this 25th
of November, 1957 at the Baha'i World Centre and constituting the
supreme body of the Baha'i World Community DO HEREBY UNANIMOUSLY
RESOLVE AND PROCLAIM AS FOLLOWS: WHEREAS THE Guardian of the Baha'i
Faith, His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, passed away
in London (England) on the 4th of November, 1957, without having
appointed his successor; AND WHEREAS it is now fallen upon us as
Chief Stewards of the Baha'i World Faith to preserve the unity, the
security and the development of the Baha'i World Community and all
its institutions; AND WHEREAS in accordance with the Will and
Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha) "the Hands of the Cause of God must
elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times
be occupied in the important services in the work of the Guardian
of the Cause of God";
+30
We nominate and appoint from our own number to act on our behalf
as the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith Ruhiyyih Rabbani
Charles Mason Remey Amelia E. Collins Leroy C. Ioas, Hasan Balyuzi
'Ali-Akbar Furutan; Jalal Khazeh Paul E. Haney Adelbert
Muhlschlegel to exercise-subject to such directions and decisions
as may be given from time to time by us as the Chief Stewards of
the Baha'i World Faith-all such functions, rights and powers in
succession to the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, His Eminence the
late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, as are necessary to serve the
interests of the Baha'i World Faith, and this until such time as
the Universal House of Justice, upon being duly established and
elected in conformity with the Sacred Writings of Baha'u'llah and
the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, may otherwise determine.
[Signed as follows] Ruhiyyih Rabbani Zikrullah Khadem M.B. Musa
Banani; Charles Mason Remey Ali Mohammad Varqa William Sears Amelia
E. Collins T. Samandari John Robarts, Leroy C. Ioas Djalal Khazeh
Enoch Olinga, Ugo Giachery, John Ferraby Agnes B. Alexander Hasan
M. Balyuzi Paul E. Haney H. Collis Featherstone Shoaullah Alai
Horace Holley Clara Dunn Ali Akbar Furutan Abul Qasim F. Teherani
Dr. R. Mohajer Hermann Grossmann Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel
AFFIDAVIT Wilmette, Illinois United States of America, November 30,
1957 The undersigned, Corinne True, being one of the twenty-seven
Hands of the Cause of God, duly nominated and appointed by the
Guardian of
+31
the Baha'i Faith, His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani,
having been prevented by the state of my health, to attend
personally the meeting of the Hands of the Cause of God held in the
Mansion of Baha'u'llah at Bahji in 'Akka, on the twenty-fifth of
November, 1957, declare to be in full agreement with the above
resolution, and I am joining my signature thereto. [Signed as
follows] Corinne True Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th;
day of November, 1957. [Signed as follows] Sophie Leading Notary
Public My commission expires September 27, 1959 UNANIMOUS
CERTIFICATION Mansion of Baha'u'llah Bahji 'Akka, Israel November
25, 1957 We, the undersigned Hands of the Cause of God, assembled
at the Baha'i World Centre, certify that by unanimous action we
have constituted a body of nine Hands to serve the interests of the
Baha'i World Faith at its World Centre in order to carry on from
this Centre the provisions of the World Baha'i Crusade and to
discharge there our responsibility of protecting and propagating
the Faith of Baha'u'llah. We further certify that the body consists
of the following persons: Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, Charles
Mason Remey Amelia E. Collins Leroy Ioas, Hasan Balyuzi 'Ali-Akbar
Furutan; Jalal Khazeh Paul E. Haney Adelbert Muhlschlegel 1 We
further certify that by unanimous action we have appointed Ugo As
it proved inexpedient for Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel to serve as a
Hand of the Cause in Israel, Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, was chosen in his
place.
+32
Giachery, as alternate member authorized to fill any temporary
vacancy that might arise from time to time. [Signed as follows]
Ruhiyyih Agnes B. Alexander Mason Remey Zikrullah Khadem Leroy C.
Ioas Hermann Grossmann Sh. Alai John Ferraby A. Q. Faizi; R.
Mohajer Jalal Khazeh A. Vargha Paul E. Haney A. Furutan Horace
Holley William Sears John Robarts, Enoch Olinga, Hasan M. Balyuzi
Adelbert Muhlschlegel, T. Samandari M.B. Musa Banani] Ugo Giachery,
H. Collis Featherstone Clara Dunn Amelia E. Collins [Corinne True
by affidavit] RESOLUTION OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD PASSED
AT THEIR MEETING AT THE BAHA'I WORLD CENTRE Mansion of Baha'u'llah
Bahji 'Akka, Israel November 25,1957 The following principles shall
apply to the relations between the Hands of the Cause of God and
the nine Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith and to the activities
of the said Custodians: 1. The Hands of the Cause shall have their
meetings at least once a year, and the time and place of their
meetings shall be determined by the Custodians, who shall be
responsible for convocation of such meetings. 2. The Hands of the
Cause shall have the full authority to introduce such changes in
the composition of the Custodians, to substitute Custodians by
others from their own number, to resolve upon such alterations in
functions, rights and powers of the Custodians and to give such
directions to the Custodians as the Hands of the Cause in their
free discretion may decide. 3. The quorum of the meetings of the
Hands of the Cause shall be a simple majority of their number, and
any resolution adopted by majority of the Hands attending such
meetings shall be deemed to have been validly passed by the Hands
of the Cause.
+33
4. The quorum of the meetings of the Custodians shall be five, and
any decision adopted by the majority of the Custodians attending
such meetings shall be deemed to have been validly passed by the
Custodians. 5. Dr. Ugo Giachery, is appointed as alternate
Custodian authorized to fill any temporary vacancy that may arise
in the body of the Custodians. 6. In the event of any vacancy
occurring in the composition of the Custodians, the remaining
Custodians shall have the duty and the power to fill the vacancy
temporarily up to the next meeting of the Hands of the Cause by
appointing one of the Hands of the Cause to act as a Custodian. 7.
The Custodians, in addition to their other functions, shall
administer all the properties, assets and accounts belonging to the
World Baha'i Community (other than those belonging to various
National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies or Baha'i local bodies)
and shall be entitled to appoint two or more of their midst to
operate the bank accounts, to receive and withdraw moneys, to
represent the Custodians in any dealings and transactions generally
or for any specific purpose and to execute and sign any documents
in connection therewith. 8. In all their dealings with the Israel
Government and any local authorities in Israel the Custodians shall
act through the Baha'i International Council, who shall act in
accordance with the instructions of the Custodians. 9. The
Custodians shall be deemed to succeed the Guardian of the Baha'i
Faith, His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, in Palestine
or Israel Branches of National Spiritual Assemblies of various
countries, which are registered in Israel, and the Custodians may
nominate one or more persons to act on their behalf in any such
Israel Branches. Completed, sealed and signed on this 25th day of
November, 1957. [Signed as follows] Ruhiyyih Rabbani Agnes B.
Alexander Mason Remey Zikrullah Khadem Amelia E. Collins Abul Qasim
F. Teherani Leroy C. Ioas, Djalal Khazeh Ugo Giachery, Hermann
Grossmann Hasan M. Balyuzi Enoch Olinga, Horace Holley Dr. Adelbert
Muhlschlegel, M.B. Musa Banani; John Robarts, Ali Akbar Furutan
Clara Dunn Shoaullah Alai H. Collis Featherstone Ali Mohammad Varqa
Paul Haney Dr. R. Mohajer William Sears John Ferraby Tarazu'llah
Samandari, [Corinne True by affidavit] inadvertently unsigned]
+34
RESOLUTION OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD Mansion of Baha'u'llah
Bahji 'Akka, Israel November 25, 1957 We the undersigned Hands of
the Cause hereby record the following action taken in unanimous
agreement: 1. That the body of nine Hands of the Cause already
constituted shall exercise these functions, namely, to correspond
with the National Spiritual Assemblies on matters related to the
prosecution of the Guardian's Ten Year Plan; to assist the National
Assemblies in the solution of administrative problems by citing
passages in Baha'i literature which clarify the nature of these
problems; to act for the protection of the Faith whenever its
teachings or institutions or properties are assailed by enemies
from within the Baha'i Community or outside its ranks; 2. That the
Council shall represent the Faith in all matters related to the
Israeli Government and its courts; 3. The nine Hands to reinforce
the membership of the International Baha'i Council through the
addition of the five Hands among the nine Hands not already members
of the Council; 4. That the entire body of the Hands of the Cause,
meeting annually or whenever convened by the nine Hands, shall
determine when and how the International Baha'i Council shall pass
through the successive stages outlined by Shoghi Effendi
culminating in the election of the Universal House of Justice; 5.
That the nine Hands serving at the Baha'i World Centre shall
maintain correspondence with the Hands stationed in the several
continents on all matters related to their work of propagating the
Faith and defending it from attack, coordinating and encouraging
their efforts; 6. That the authority to expel violators from the
Faith shall be vested in the body of nine Hands, acting on reports
and recommendations submitted by Hands from their respective
continents. 7. The Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land may, if
necessary, call upon any of the Hands to fill a vacancy
temporarily. [Signed as follows] Ruhiyyih Rabbani Zikrullah Khadem
Mason Remey A. Q. Faizi; Amelia E. Collins Ugo Giachery, Leroy C.
Ioas, Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel Hasan M. Balyuzi Djalal Khazeh
Horace Holley Hermann Grossmann
+35
M.B. Musa Banani John Robarts, A. Furutan Enoch Olinga, Dr. R.
Mohajer Ali Mohammad Varqa Sh. Alai H. Collis Featherstone John
Ferraby William Sears T. Samandari Paul Haney Agnes B. Alexander
Clara Dunn [Corinne True by affidavit] PROCLAMATION FIRST CONCLAVE
THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE NOVEMBER 18 - NOVEMBER 25,1957 To the
Baha'is
of East and West Mansion of Baha'u'llah Bahji, 'Akka, Israel
November 25,1957 Beloved Friends: Nine days had not yet elapsed
after the interment of the sacred remains of our beloved Guardian,
Shoghi Effendi in London, when the Hands of the Cause, to the
number of twenty-six, assembled at the World Centre of the Faith,
in our capacity as "Chief Stewards of the embryonic World
Commonwealth of Baha'u'llah", to consult together on the most
tragic situation facing the Baha'is since the Ascension of
'Abdu'l-Baha, and to take all necessary and appropriate measures
to safeguard the highest interests of our Faith. On November 18th
the Hands conducted a Memorial Meeting at Bahji, in the
Haram-i-Aqdas surrounding the most sacred Shrine in the Baha'i
world, afterward entering the Holy Tomb itself and prostrating
ourselves in utter humility at the Sacred Threshold. On the
following morning, November 19th, nine Hands of the Cause, selected
from the Holy Land, and the several continents of East and West,
with (Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, broke the seals placed upon the
beloved Guardian's safe and desk and made careful examination of
their precious contents. These same Hands, rejoining the other
Hands assembled in the Mansion of Baha'u'llah at Bahji, certified
that Shoghi Effendi had left no Will and Testament. It was likewise
certified that the beloved Guardian had left no heir. The Aghsan
(branches) one and all are either dead or have been declared
violators of the Covenant by the Guard
+36
Guardian for their faithlessness to the Master's Will and Testament
and their hostility to him named first Guardian in that sacred
document. The first effect of the realization that no successor to
Shoghi Effendi could have been appointed by him was to plunge the
Hands of the Cause into the very abyss of despair. What must happen
to the world community of his devoted followers if the Leader, the
Inspirer, the Planner of all Baha'i activities in all countries and
islands of the seas could no longer fulfil his unique mission? From
this dark abyss, however, contemplation of the Guardian's own life
of complete sacrifice and his peerless services gradually redeemed
our anguished hearts. Shoghi Effendi himself, we knew, would have
been the first to remind the Hands, and the widespread body of the
believers, that the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah has quickened those
powers and resources of faith within mankind which will achieve the
unity of the peoples and the triumph of His World Order. In this
new light of understanding the company of the Hands could perceive
with heightened gratitude the existence of those innumerable
blessings which Shoghi Effendi had created and left as his true
legacy to all Baha'is Has not the World Centre, with its sacred
Shrines and institutions, been firmly established? Has not the
Message been established in 254 countries and dependencies? Have
not the National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies, forerunners of
the Universal House of Justice, been implanted in twenty-six great
areas of all continents? Has not the Guardian left us not only his
incomparable translations for English-reading Baha'is of the Baha'i
Sacred Literature but also his own master works of interpretation
which disclose to us the unshatterable edifice of an evolving
Baha'i Order and world community? Has not the Guardian, building
upon the enduring foundation of the Master's Tablets of the Divine
Plan, created the World Crusade to guide our work until 1963? Has
not the Guardian, moreover, in his mysterious insight into the
present and future needs of the Baha'i community, called into being
the International Baha'i Council and the company of twenty-seven
Hands with their Auxiliary Boards, whom, in his final communication
to the Baha'is he designated "Chief Stewards of the embryonic World
Commonwealth of Baha'u'llah"? Such reflections cannot but, in such
a world-shattering experience as all Baha'is have this month
endured, reveal to us how strongly Shoghi Effendi has laid the
foundations of the World Order of Baha'u'llah through the
appointment of Hands of the Cause and likewise the appointment of
the International Baha'i Council, the institution destined to
evolve into the Universal House of Justice. In our capacity of
Chief Stewards of the embryonic World Common
+37
wealth of Baha'u'llah, we Hands of the Cause have constituted a
body of nine Hands to serve at the Baha'i World Centre. This body
of nine Hands will energetically deal with the protection of the
Faith whenever attacks, whether from within or outside the Baha'i
community, are reported by Hands from their areas or by National
or Regional Assemblies or whether they arise within the Holy Land.
Correspondence will likewise be maintained with the Hands of the
Cause working in the several continents. This same body will
correspond with National Assemblies on matters connected with the
prosecution of the objectives of the Ton Year Plan. On matters
involving administrative questions this same body will assist
National Assemblies by citing those passages of the Baha'i Sacred
Literature which direct the Assemblies to a sound solution. As to
the International Baha'i Council, appointed by the Guardian and
heralded in his communications to the Baha'i world, that body will
in the course of time finally fulfil its purpose through the
formation of the Universal House of Justice, that Supreme Body upon
which infallibility, as the Master's Testament assures us, is
divinely conferred: "The source of all good and freed from all
error." The main work of the Council has been to act as the
Guardian's representative in matters involving the Israeli
Government and its courts of law. Beloved friends! Is not the most
precious legacy bequeathed to us all by Shoghi Effendi the
privilege of constancy in the Faith of Baha'u'llah and devotion in
teaching His Message? This is the heartfelt plea we direct to every
Baha'i; The hour has come, as it came with the passing of
'Abdu'l-Baha, when true Baha'is will be distinguished by their
firmness in the Covenant and their spiritual radiance while
pressing forward the mighty work committed to every area of the
world community-to every individual Baha'i For now our implacable
opponents may, and probably will, unleash attacks, assuming in
their ignorance that the Faith of Baha'u'llah is weakened and
defenseless. By consecration of spirit we are armed against all
manner of assault and we hold the weapon of Faith with which the
triumph of the Guardian's aims and purposes is assured. The Hands
of the Cause, determined to carry out every aspect of the
Guardian's expressed wishes and hopes, call upon the National
Assemblies to proceed with the holding of the Intercontinental
Conferences which Shoghi Effendi has planned for 1958, and make
each of them a great rallying-point of determination to achieve the
tasks of the next phase of the World Crusade. We are, moreover, to
keep ever before us the other tasks fixed in the Ten Year Plan as
objectives to be won by 1963. Meanwhile the entire body of the
Hands, assembled by the nine Hands of the World Centre, will decide
when and how the International Baha'i
+38
Council is to evolve through the successive stages outlined by the
Guardian, culminating in the call to election of the Universal
House of Justice by the membership of all National Spiritual
Assemblies. When that divinely ordained Body comes into existence,
all the conditions of the Faith can be examined anew and the
measures necessary for its future operation determined in
consultation with the Hands of the Cause. "0 God, my God! Shield
Thy trusted servants from the evils of self and passion, protect
them with the watchful eye of Thy loving-kindness from all rancour,
hate and envy, shelter them in the impregnable stronghold of Thy
care and, safe from the darts of doubtfulness, make them the
manifestations of Thy glorious Signs, illumine their faces with the
effulgent rays shed from the Dayspring of Thy Divine Unity, gladden
their hearts with the verses revealed from Thy Holy Kingdom,
strengthen their loins by Thine all-swaying power that cometh from
Thy Realm of Glory. Thou art the All-Bountiful, the Protector, the
Almighty, the Gracious." "0 ye that stand fast in the Covenant!
When the hour cometh that this wronged and broken winged bird will
have taken its flight unto the Celestial Concourse, when it will
have hastened to the Realm of the Unseen and its mortal frame will
have been either lost or hidden neath the dust, it is incumbent
upon the Afnan, that are steadfast in the Covenant of God, and have
branched from the Tree of Holiness; the Hands (pillars) of the
Cause of God (the glory of the Lord rest upon them), and all the
friends and loved ones, one and all to bestir themselves and arise
with heart and soul and in one accord, to diffuse the sweet savours
of God, to teach His Cause and to promote His Faith. It behoveth
them not to rest for a moment, neither to seek repose. They must
disperse themselves in every land, pass by every clime and travel
throughout all regions. Bestirred, without rest and steadfast to
the end they must raise in every land the triumphal cry '0 Thou the
Glory of Glories!' (Ya Baha'u'l-Abha), must achieve renown in the
world wherever they go, must burn brightly even as a candle in
every meeting and must kindle the flame of Divine love in every
assembly; that the light of truth may rise resplendent in the
midmost heart of the world, that throughout the East and throughout
the West a vast concourse may gather under the shadow of the Word
of God, that the sweet savours of holiness may be diffused, that
faces may shine radiantly, hearts be filled with the Divine spirit
and souls be made heavenly. "In these days, the most important of
all things is the guidance of the nations and peoples of the world.
Teaching the Cause is of utmost importance for it is the head
corner-stone of the foundation itself. This wronged servant has
spent his days and nights in promoting the Cause and urging the
peoples to service. He rested not a moment, till the fame of the
Cause
+39
of God was noised abroad in the world and the celestial strains
from the Abha Kingdom roused the East and the West. The beloved of
God must also follow the same example. This is the secret of
faithfulness, this is the requirement of servitude to the Threshold
of Baha) Devotedly, in service to the Faith of Baha'u'llah, [Signed
as follows] Ruhiyyih Rabbani Dr. R. Mohajer Mason Remey Dr. A.
Vargha Amelia E. Collins John Ferraby Leroy C. Ioas Hermann
Grossmann Hasan M. Balyuzi Zikrullah Khadem T. Samandari Agnes B.
Alexander M.B. Musa Banani; Jalal Khazeh Adelbert Muhlschlegel, A.
Q. Faizi; John Robarts, Sh. Alai Horace Holley H. Collis
Featherstone Enoch Olinga, Clara Dunn William Sears Ugo Giachery,
A. Furutan Paul Haney [Corinne True by affidavit] PRESS RELEASE
FROM THE WORLD CENTRE OF THE BAHA'I FAITH November 1957 The Hands
of the Baha'i Faith, an institution established by Baha'u'llah, its
Founder, and designated as its Chief Stewards, who number
twenty-seven and represent the five continents of the globe, after
a meeting at the World Centre of the Faith, announce that they have
elected nine of their members to conduct and protect the affairs
of the Faith from its World Centre. This body of nine will maintain
the Baha'i Shrines and Holy Places in 'Akka, and Haifa, which His
Eminence, the late Shoghi Rabbani, World Head of the Faith, had
made into beauty spots of the Mediterranean area, and continue
their expansion. They will coordinate all the activities of Baha'i
Communities in over two hundred and fifty countries and islands of
the world, and will carry forward all the plans outlined by him for
its expansion and development, including the holding of the five
Intercontinental Conferences which he scheduled for 1958 in
Kampala, Uganda; Sydney, Australia; Chicago, United States;
Frankfurt, Germany; and Djakarta, Indonesia.
+40
They will also see that the two Baha'i Houses of Worship in Africa
and Australia, work on which was begun under the direction of the
late Head of the Faith, are completed; and that the third one,
contemplated for Europe, is built. It will be their responsibility
to see that the National and Regional Baha'i Assemblies, which
under his ministry grew in number from two to twenty-six, and which
at the present time represent more than 4,500 Baha'i Centres, are
steadily increased. The names of the body of nine elected to fulfil
these responsibilities from the World Centre are as follows:
Ruhiyyih Rabbani, Charles Mason Remey, Amelia Collins, Leroy Ioas
Hasan Balyuzi, 'Ali-Akbar Furutan; Jalal Khazeh Paul Haney and
Adelbert Muhlschlegel. To All National Spiritual Assemblies
December 2,1957 Dear Baha'i Friends: We send to your Assembly our
most cordial greetings in this first letter to you from the Hands
of the Cause in the Holy Land, and assure you of our determination
to exert every effort for the protection of the Cause of God and
the propagation of the Faith according to the beloved Guardian's
Ten Year Plan. The purpose of our letter is to enlist your aid to
facilitate the legal recognition of this body. We enclose a
photostat of a legal document signed by the 26 Hands of the Cause
present at the Conference in the Mansion of Bahji setting this body
up to act on behalf of the Hands generally, under the legal title
"The Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith". Our lawyer advises us
that we should also obtain from each National Assembly a letter
recognizing us as the supreme body in the Cause, and this letter
should include the following sentence: "We pledge our full support,
faith and allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the Baha'i
World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause." We therefore ask
you please to arrange by whatever means is most suited to the
conditions of working of your Assembly for a resolution to this
effect to be passed without delay, and incorporated in a letter to
be sent immediately to the Holy Land under the Assembly's seal,
signed by its Chairman and Secretary, or in their absence, by
officers authorized to act for them. The many legal negotiations
we have to conduct concerning properties at the World Centre and
elsewhere make speed in sending this letter of recognition vitally
important, and we are confident that all National Assemblies will
cooperate by seeing that the action is taken at once.
+41
The names of the nine Hands residing in the Holy Land are on the
photostat enclosed; they have been empowered to call upon any of
the other Hands to serve temporarily as a substitute for one who
is unable to serve in the Holy Land for the time being. Please keep
the photostat in a safe place, but we ask you not to display it or
give it general currency, since circulating this in addition to the
Proclamation of the Hands might cause confusion. We send your
Assembly and Community every good wish for success in all you do
to further the Cause of God. With Baha'i love, [Signed as follows]
Ruhiyyih A. Furutan Leroy C. Ioas Amelia E. Collins Jalal Khazeh
John Ferraby Mason Remey Adelbert Muhlschlegel Ugo Giachery, P.S.
All correspondence should be addressed from now on to "The Baha'i
Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land, P. 0. Box 155, Haifa, Israel."
Cable address HANDSFAITH HAIFA. UNANIMOUS PLEDGE OF LOYALTY FROM
26 NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES OF THE BAHA'I WORLD TO THE HANDS
AND CUSTODIANS [Excerpts from letters] ALASKA IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED
that the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska is in full accord
with the following statement issued by the 26 Hands . . "to
exercise-subject to such directions and decisions as may be given
from time to time by us as the Chief Stewards of the Baha'i World
Faith-all such functions, rights and powers in succession to the
Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi
Rabbani, as are necessary to serve the interests of the Baha'i
World Faith, and this until such time as the Universal House of
Justice, upon being duly established and elected in conformity with
the Sacred Writings of Baha'u'llah and the Will and Testament of
'Abdu'l-Baha, may otherwise determine." We pledge our full support,
faith and allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the Baha'i
World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause.
+42
ARABIAN PENINSULA We pledge our full support, faith and allegiance
to the body of Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith elected by the
Hands of the Cause. ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, CHILE, PARAGUAY AND URUGUAY
In our capacity of National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, we pledge our full
support, faith and allegiance to the body Of THE CUSTODIANS OF THE
Baha'i WORLD FAITH, elected by the Hands of the Cause. AUSTRALIA
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia
ratifies the action taken by the twenty-six Hands of the Cause in
their deliberations at the meeting held at the Mansion of
Baha'u'llah, Bahji 'Akka, on 25th November 1957, in electing nine
members from their own body to act as Custodians of the Baha'i
World Faith. Furthermore, we pledge our full support, faith and
allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith
elected by the Hands of the Cause. BENELUX COUNTRIES As a result
of our consultation, we wish to assure you of our unanimous and
complete loyalty and of our entire recognition of your Baha'i
Institution as the supreme Body in the Cause.... we pledge our full
support, faith and allegiance to the Body of the Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause. With our
prayers and all our complete devotion for the accomplishment of
your sacred task, we assure you, once again, of our deepest
thankfulness and full attachment to your supreme Body of the Cause,
necessary to serve the interests of the Baha'i World Faith. BRAZIL,
PERU, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR AND VENEZUELA We, the members of the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Brazil, Peru,
Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela have carefully read the photostatic
copy of the legal document signed by the 26 Hands of the Cause
present at the Conference in the Mansion of Bahji setting up the
following named Hands of the Cause: Ruhiyyih Rabbani, Charles Mason
Remey, Amelia E. Collins, Leroy C. Ioas Hasan Balyuzi, 'Ali-Akbar
Furutan; Jalal Khazeh Paul E. Haney and Adelbert Muhlschlegel, as
the body to act on behalf of the Hands generally, under the legal
title "The Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith".
+43
We pledge our full support, faith and allegiance to the body of the
Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the
Cause. BRITISH ISLES We, the members of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles, in session on this
day of November 30th; 1957, having heard the Proclamation, dated
November 25th 1957, by the Hands of the Cause of God at their
meeting at Bahji in the World Centre of the Faith, hereby declare
our grateful acceptance of this Proclamation and pledge our loyalty
and allegiance to all of its provisions. CANADA We, the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada pledge our full
support, faith and allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause. Be assured
of our devotion and dedication to these Chief Stewards of the
Baha'i World Faith. CENTRAL AMERICA, MEXICO AND PANAMA We remit the
following resolution "The National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'is of Central America, Mexico and Panama in its fourth meeting
held in the City of Panama, Republic of Panama on 25, 26, 27 and
28 of December 1957, in representation of the Baha'is of Central
America, Mexico and Panama pledge our full support, faith and
allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith,
elected by the Hands of the Cause." CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA It was
unanimously resolved in our meeting that we pledge our full
support, faith and allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause. Furthermore,
we take the greatest pleasure in recognizing you as constituting
the supreme body in the Cause which will exercise all the
functions, rights and powers in succession to the Guardian of the
Baha'i Faith, His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, as are
necessary to serve the interests of the Baha'i World Faith. GERMANY
AND AUSTRIA The National Spiritual Assembly as trustee of the
Baha'is of Germany and Austria recognizes the Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith nominated in the document of appointment made
out at Bahji
+44
Acre/Israel dated 25 November 1957 as the Supreme Body in
conformity with the Baha'i administration. The National Assembly
officially declares: "We pledge our full support, faith and
allegiance to the Body of the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith
elected by the Hands of the Cause," to exercise subject to such
directions and decisions as may be given from time to time by the
Hands of the Cause, the Chief Stewards of the Baha'i World
Faith--all such functions, rights and powers in succession to the
Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi
Rabbani, as are necessary to serve the interests of the Baha'i
World Faith ... GREATER ANTILLES In our recent meeting of the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Greater Antilles, just
concluded, the following action was taken: 14 MOTION NO. 85: "THAT,
WHEREAS, We, the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'is of the Greater Antilles now in session at Ciudad Trujillo
in the Dominican Republic, have learned, with joy, that as a result
of the Conference held at the Mansion of Bahji by twenty-six (26)
members of the Hands, the setting up of a body to be known as 'The
Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith' was made, 41 BE IT RESOLVED
that we pledge our full support, faith, and allegiance to the body
of The Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands
of the Cause; and 44 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this
Resolution, signed by the Chairman and Secretary of this Assembly,
be sent to them." IBERIAN PENINSULA BE IT KNOWN BY ALL MEN PRESENT
That the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the Iberian
Peninsula does hereby approve and endorse the election by the Hands
of the Cause of nine of their members to constitute the body of the
Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith, and that We recognize this
body of the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith to be the supreme
body in the Cause of Baha'u'llah, and that We pledge our full
support, faith and allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause. INDIA AND
BURMA RESOLUTION: The Proclamation issued by the Hands of the Cause
of God after ascension to Abha Kingdom of our beloved Guardian was
prayerfully studied and it was unanimously decided to approve of
the
+45
action taken by the Hands of the Cause of God in electing nine
persons from amongst themselves to act as Custodians of the Baha'i
World Faith and we pledge our full support, faith and allegiance
to the body of the said Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith
elected by the Hands of the Cause. We further unanimously resolve
to assure the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith of our
unreserved obedience and loyal allegiance to all their wishes and
directions that they may send us from time to time in the
performance of their sacred duties. IRAN We have great pleasure in
informing you that the Proclamation by the Hands of the Cause to
the Baha'is of East and West, dated 25th November, 1957, issued in
the Mansion of Bahji 'Akka, has been passed on to all the Spiritual
Assemblies, Baha'i groups and isolated centres in Iran. On reading
this Proclamation, all the members of the Baha'i community of Iran
recalled at once, in the spirit of absolute faith and solidarity,
which characterizes the community trained and guided by the beloved
Guardian for such a long time, that Shoghi Effendi has in his
Message of October, 1957 entrusted the Hands of the Baha'i Cause
with the all-important duty of protecting and propagating the Cause
and of guarding the Baha'i communities throughout the world. The
Guardian has called the Hands of the Cause in his Message the Chief
Stewards of Baha'u'llah's Embryonic World Commonwealth. Those
revered souls who, in accordance with the Proclamation of the Hands
of the Cause, have been appointed by the latter as the Baha'i Hands
of the Cause in the Holy Land assuming this important duty, will
doubtlessly be able under the divine protection and with their wise
actions, to safeguard this original unity and solidarity of the
Baha'i community and to take all necessary measures for the
development of the Cause in all its various stages and to carry out
the work of the Beloved Guardian at all times in accordance with
the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha. We ... do hereby announce
on behalf of this Assembly and of all members of the Baha'i
community in Iran and its institutions, the recognition by us of
the Nine Hands of the Cause elected by all Hands of the Cause as
"The Baha'i Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land", and wish to
express our unconditional loyalty to that Supreme Body. We feel
sure that with the trust we have in you we shall be able under your
guidance and supervision to fulfil our duties and obligation to the
Holy Cause of Baha'u'llah We pledge our full support, faith and
allegiance to the body of Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith,
elected by the Hands of the
+46
Cause and we also hereby undertake to submit to and obey the
decisions which the Hands of the Cause will adopt in future for
the progress of the Cause. 'IRAQ We, the elected National
Representatives of the Baha'is of 'Iraq and the adjacent Countries
of Syria, Lebanon and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and
Territories of Hadhramaut and the Seychelles Islands included in
our area of jurisdiction; members of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of 'Iraq do hereby unanimously declare
that, following the Ascension of our beloved Guardian, His Eminence
the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, we recognize you, since you have
been elected by the entire members of the Hands of the Cause of
God, the Divinely-ordained Institution, whose members were chosen
and appointed by the beloved Guardian, His Eminence, the late
Shoghi Effendi Rabbani and referred to them in his letters as "The
Chief Stewards of the World Faith of Baha'u'llah" recognize you as
the Most Supreme Body in the Baha'i World Faith. We, also, pledge
our full support, faith and allegiance to you. With heartfelt
gratitude, loyalty and love. ITALY AND SWITZERLAND We, as members
of the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assembly, 46 pledge our full
support, faith and allegiance" to the body of Nine Hands of the
Cause residing in the Holy Land, appointed by the entire body of
the Custodians of the Baha'i Faith, to act as Executor of all
Baha'i affairs in the Holy Land and abroad. NEW ZEALAND The
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of New Zealand sends you
its love and reaffirms its loyalty and devotion to the Faith of
Baha'u'llah. The following resolution was unanimously passed at a
meeting on Sunday, December 29th, 1957: "We pledge our full
support, faith and allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause." NORTH EAST
AFRICA We have great pleasure in informing you that the
Proclamation by the Hands of the Cause to the Baha'is of East and
West, dated 25th November 1957 issued in the Mansion of Bahji has
been passed on to
+47
all the Spiritual Assemblies, Baha'i groups and isolated centres
in North East Africa. On reading this Proclamation all the members
of the Baha'i community of North East Africa recalled at once, in
the spirit of absolute faith and solidarity, which characterizes
the community trained and guided by the beloved Guardian for such
a long time, that Shoghi Effendi has in his Message of October
1957, entrusted the Baha'i Cause Hands with the all-important duty
of protecting and propagating the Cause and of guarding the Baha'i
communities throughout the world. The Guardian has called the Hands
of the Cause in his Message the Chief Stewards of Baha'u'llah's
embryonic World Commonwealth. Those revered souls who, in
accordance with the Proclamation of the Hands of the Cause, have
been appointed by the latter as the Baha'i Hands of the Cause in
the Holy Land assuming this important duty, will doubtlessly be
able, under the Divine Protection and with their wise actions, to
safeguard this original unity and solidarity of the Baha'i
community and to take the necessary measures for the development
of the Cause in all its various stages and to carry out the work
of the beloved Guardian at all times in accordance with the Will
and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha. We, the undersigned, Chairman and
Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
North East Africa, do hereby announce on behalf of this Assembly
of all members of the Baha'i community in North East Africa and its
institutions, the recognition by us of the nine Hands of the Cause
elected by all Hands of the Cause as "The Baha'i Hands of the Cause
in the Holy Land", and wish to express our unconditional loyalty
to that Supreme Body. We feel sure that with the trust we have in
you we shall be able under your guidance and supervision to fulfil
our duties and obligations to the Holy Cause of Baha'u'llah. We
pledge our full support, faith and allegiance to the body of
Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith, elected by the Hands of the
Cause and we also hereby undertake to submit to and obey the
decisions which the Hands of the Cause will adopt in future for the
progress of the Cause. NORTH EAST ASIA Beloved Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith, We, the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'is of North East Asia, representing the Baha'is of this part
of the world embracing Japan, Korea, Formosa, Macau and Hong Kong,
at an official meeting held on 8 December 1957 adopted the
following resolution:
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"Whereas by action of the Baha'i Hands of the Cause as stated in
a letter dated 2 December 1957, a body of nine Hands was elected
and now designated by the title 'Custodians of the Baha'i World
Faith' as the supreme body of the Faith. "We pledge our full
support, faith and allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause." NORTH WEST
AFRICA The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Northwest
Africa, representing the Baha'is residing in twenty-five
territories, included along the North and the West Coasts of the
African continent, hereby declare our recognition of the nine Hands
of the Cause in the Holy Land as the supreme body in the Cause of
Baha'u'llah existing after the ascension of the late Shoghi
Effendi-the first Guardian of the Baha'i Cause. We, further, pledge
our full support, faith and allegiance to this body of the
Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the
Cause. This document is issued upon unanimous resolution of the
National Spiritual Assembly. PAKISTAN We, the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Pakistan, elected representatives of the
Baha'i community of Pakistan, at this extraordinary meeting held
at Baha'i National Headquarters (Pakistan) Karachi, on 16th
December 1957, do hereby unanimously resolve that we pledge our
full support and allegiance to and faith in the body of the
Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the
Cause. SCANDINAVIA AND FINLAND Having received the photostat of the
legal document signed by the 26 Hands we have circulated the text
to the members of our National Assembly and asked to have from each
member a signed pledge of support, faith and allegiance to the body
of the Custodians. Deeply grateful for the action taken by the
Hands of the Cause of God and in full recognition of the Divine
Inspiration behind the decision the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Baha'is of Scandinavia and Finland pledge our full support,
faith and allegiance to the body of the Custodians of the Baha'i
World Faith elected by the Hands of the Cause. Respectfully
returning to you the hopes and good wishes for the task of
protecting and furthering the Faith.
+49
SOUTH AND WEST AFRICA This Assembly recognizes you as the supreme
body in the Cause and has unanimously passed the following
resolution: "We pledge our full support, faith and allegiance to
the body of the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith elected by the
Hands of the Cause." You, who have been elevated to be Hands of the
Cause by our beloved Shoghi Effendi and are carrying out his
wishes, and are fulfilling the requirements of our dearly loved
Master's Will, are our solace and our inspiration. We pray
constantly for your well-being and guidance, and offer our grateful
and inadequate thanks to Baha'u'llah for having created your
station. SOUTH-EAST ASIA WE DO HEREBY pledge our full support,
faith and allegiance to the said body, namely, the nine Hands of
the Cause, residing in the Holy Land, as the Custodians of the
Baha'i World Faith elected by all the Hands of the Cause. UNITED
STATES In our capacity of duly elected members of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, conscious
of and obedient to the principles and institutions of the Baha'i
Administrative Order ordained by Baha'u'llah, elaborated by
'Abdu'l-Baha, and developed and guided by the late Guardian, Shoghi
Effendi Rabbani, we certify to the following resolutions
unanimously adopted and recorded in the minutes of our meeting held
at the National Baha'i Headquarters, Wilmette, Illinois, on January
3-4-5, 1958: WHEREAS the late Guardian, Shoghi Effendi Rabbani,
appointed Hands of the Cause, in accordance with the provisions of
the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, to the number of
twenty-seven; and WHEREAS Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, late Guardian,
designated these twenty-seven Hands of the Cause "Chief Stewards
of the embryonic World Commonwealth of Baha'u'llah and WHEREAS the
Guardian nominated no personal successor as second Guardian of the
Faith to hold this office after his own death; therefore be it
RESOLVED: that the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
the United States fully recognizes and affirms the authority of the
twenty-seven Chief Stewards to elect nine of their own number to
serve at the Baha'i World Centre, Israel, as the supreme
international body of the Baha'i community and carry out the plans
made for the future activities of the Faith by said Shoghi Effendi
Rabbani, late Guardian, as Custodians of the Baha'i Shrines and
Holy Places, co-ordinators
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of the work of the various National Assemblies, and protectors of
the security of the Faith; and further be it RESOLVED: that the
Custodians have been and are duly empowered to exercise such
functions, rights and powers in succession to the late Guardian of
the Baha'i Faith as are necessary to serve the interests of the
Baha'i World Faith, and continue to do so until such time as the
Universal House of Justice, upon being duly established and elected
in conformity with the Sacred Writings of Baha'u'llah and the Will
and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, may otherwise determine; and
further be it RESOLVED: that this National Spiritual Assembly
pledges its full support, faith and allegiance to the body of the
Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith elected by the Hands of the
Cause as the supreme international body of the Baha'i Community;
and further be it RESOLVED: that any two officers of this Assembly
are authorized to execute these resolutions on behalf of the
Assembly and transmit them to the nine Custodians of the Baha'i
World Faith. BAHA'I WILMETTE' DECEMBER 5,1957 PLEASE ANNOUNCE HANDS
FIVE CONTINENTS ALL NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES HEARTWARMING NEWS
CONSUMMATION VICTORY ANNOUNCED GUARDIAN'S MESSAGE SEPTEMBER 5th BY
TRANSFER TITLE DEEDS ALL PROPERTIES WITHIN HARAM-I-AQDAS [PRECINCTS
OF THE TOMB OF BAHA'U'LLAH] TO NAME ISRAEL BRANCH UNITED STATES
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THUS COMPLETING PURIFICATION AREA SURROUNDING
MOST HOLY SPOT BAHA'I WORLD. [CABLE) HANDS HOLY LAND BAHA'I
WILMETTE DECEMBER 11, 1957 CRITICAL JUNCTURE DEEP MOURNING SUPREME
CHALLENGE HANDS HOLY LAND CALL UPON FELLOW BELIEVERS PARTICULARLY
HANDS NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES ALL CONTINENTS EXERT UTMOST EFFORT ENSURE
SUCCESS FIVE INTERCONTINENTAL CONFERENCES ANNOUNCED BELOVED
GUARDIAN'S LAST MOMENTOUS MESSAGE BAHA'I WORLD. CONFERENCES PROVIDE
UNEX "BAHA'I WILMETTE" was the cable address for the National
Spiri