Baha’is must reject the Guardianship!

By: Dale Husband

In previous blog entries, I have stated in many ways what has gone wrong with the religion known as the Baha’i Faith. After carefully considering the movement called the Unitarian Bahai Association, I have reached the conclusion that the only way to save the Baha’i Faith from ultimate destruction is to completely reject the concept of the Guardianship. And here is why:

Baha’u’llah left a Will and Testament known as the Book of the Covenant. Its sole purpose was to define who would be the leaders of the Faith after his passing.

“The Will of the divine Testator is this: It is incumbent upon the Aghsan, the Afnan and My kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book: ‘When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root’. The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch [`Abdu’l-Bahá]. Thus have We graciously revealed unto you our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful. Verily God hath ordained the station of the Greater Branch [Muhammad ‘Ali] to be beneath that of the Most Great Branch [`Abdu’l-Bahá]. He is in truth the Ordainer, the All-Wise. We have chosen ‘the Greater’ after ‘the Most Great’, as decreed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All Informed.”

This is entirely reasonable, that Abdu’l-Baha as the eldest son of Baha’ullah would be the leader and that Muhammad Ali as the second eldest living son would be his lieutenant (above all other Baha’is in rank) and eventual successor. But then Abdu’l-Baha totally rejected any authority whatsoever for his brother and claimed ALL authority for himself alone, thus violating Baha’u’llah’s will. If Abdu’l-Baha was at all justifed in that, then why did Baha’u’llah mention his second surviving son by name at all in the Will?

Most of Baha’u’llah’s family came to realize this problem and rejected Abdu’l-Baha’s absolutism, thus being labled Covenant-breakers by him. But that wouldn’t have happened if Abdu’l-Baha had not violated the Covenant first. He should have shared power with his brother and did not!

Decades later, Abdu’l-Baha, having successfully forced most Baha’is to follow him alone, would write his own Will and Testament to contradict and invalidate the one of his father. And in doing so, he would set the Baha’i Faith on a path to ultimate ruin!

“O’ my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the Agh s an (Branches), the Afnan (Twigs) of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the Abha Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi — the youthful branch branched from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the two offshoots of the Tree of Holiness, — as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Agh s an, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn. He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.”

Note that! Muhammad Ali was not yet dead, so Abdu’l-Baha had NO right to appoint someone else to succeed him as leader! Especially someone as young as Shoghi Effendi!

“The sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the Cause of God as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abha Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One (may my life be offered up for them both). Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth them, hath not obeyed God; whoso rebelleth against him and against them hath rebelled against God; whoso opposeth him hath opposed God; whoso contendeth with them hath contended with God; whoso disputeth with him hath disputed with God; whoso denieth him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in God; whoso deviateth, separateth himself and turneth aside from him hath in truth deviated, separated himself and turned aside from God. May the wrath, the fierce indignation, the vengeance of God rest upon him! The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the Cause of God. It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghs an, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His Word and will become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition. Beware, beware, lest the days after the ascension (of Bahá’u’lláh) be repeated when the Center of Sedition waxed haughty and rebellious and with Divine Unity for his excuse deprived himself and perturbed and poisoned others. No doubt every vainglorious one that purposeth dissension and discord will not openly declare his evil purposes, nay rather, even as impure gold, would he seize upon divers measures and various pretexts that he may separate the gathering of the people of Baha. My object is to show that the Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and protect against the guardian of the Cause of God, cast him out from the congregation of the people of Baha and in no wise accept any excuse from him. How often hath grievous error been disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of doubt in the hearts of men!”

Just as Abdu’l-Baha was profoundly wrong to assume absolute authority for himself and to share none with his brother, he was even more wrong to pass on that same authority to his eldest grandson, who, by the standards of Baha’u’llah himself, didn’t deserve it! Abdu’l-Baha equated any questioning of his absolute power with being in league with the “Center of Sedition”, which is what he falsely labled Muhammad Ali. Thus, far from being the “Center of the Covenant” as Baha’is call him, Abdu’l-Baha was actually the ultimate covenant breaker! Most of Shoghi Effendi’s own relatives (including other grandchildren of Abdu’l-Baha) slowly came to realize this and rejected his bogus authority, and were labled covenant breakers by him as a result.

“O’ ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing. He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all wordly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should the first-born of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words: — “The child is the secret essence of its sire,” that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he, (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him.

The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor. This assent must be given in such wise as the assenting and dissenting voices may not be distinguished. (i.e., secret ballot)

O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his shadow and obey his command. Should any, within or without the company of the Hands of the Cause of God disobey and seek division, the wrath of God and His vengeance will be upon him, for he will have caused a breach in the true Faith of God.”

I have already written how Shoghi Effendi, by his own actions and inactions, made it impossible for another Guardian to take his place after his passing.

Since the only purpose of Abdu’l-Baha’s establishing the Guardianship was to prevent Muhammad Ali from ever taking his rightful place as Abdu’l-Baha’s successor, the Guardianship itself is not a valid concept for Baha’is to follow. Not the Baha’is of the Haifa based Administrative Order, nor any of the splinter groups that arose after Shoghi Effendi’s passing to follow false Guardians who were not even descended from Baha’ullah at all. NONE of them are legitimate, because they falsely claim that the Baha’is ever needed or need now to be led by a Guardian! And that is a basic teaching of the newly formed Unitarian Baha’i Association.

Shoghi Effendi took the absolute authority his grandfather gave him and ran with it, with disasterous results:

“Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. “In all the Divine Dispensations,” He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, “the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophethood hath been his birthright.” Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn. (The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 148) “

Ever since Shoghi Effendi’s death and his failure to appoint a successor, Baha’is who follow the Guardianship-less Universal House of Justice in Haifa have claimed that the institution of the Guardianship remains even though the Guardian does not live, since we have his writings to guide us. BULL$#IT! If the President of the United States dies and no one succeeds him to the office of President, does the institution of the Presidency still exist? OF COURSE NOT!

I will say this as loudly as I possibly can: Baha’is do not need a Guardianship! In fact, we need to undo EVERYTHING Shoghi Effendi did and start over! We also need to REJECT the assumption of infalliblity and absolute authority of Abdu’l-Baha and just study the writings of Baha’u’llah himself to understand what he originally intended for Baha’is before it was corrupted. The Covenant of Baha’ullah was already broken by both Abdu’l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi, so why bother with the concept of a Covenant at all?

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