[1] “The Baha’i Commonwealth of the future, of which this vast Administrative Order is the sole framework, is, both in theory and practice, not only unique in the entire history of political institutions, but can find no parallel in the annals of any of the world’s recognized religious systems. No form of democratic government; no system of autocracy or of dictatorship, whether monarchical or republican; no intermediary scheme of a purely aristocratic order; nor even any of the recognized types of theocracy, whether it be the Hebrew Commonwealth, or the various Christian ecclesiastical organizations, or the Imamate or the Caliphate in Islām—none of these can be identified or be said to conform with the Administrative Order which the master-hand of its perfect Architect has fashioned,” Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 152.  “The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored,” Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 157.

[2] “The system of government which the British people have adopted in London appeareth to be good, for it is adorned with the light of both kingship and of the consultation of the people,” Bahā’u’llāh, Tablets of Bahā’u’llāh Revealed After the Kitāb-i-Aqdas, p. 93.

[3] “The [members of] House of Justice must be selected using the same mechanism and methods that the [members] of parliament in European countries are selected,” `Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 3, p. 501.

2. Are the Decisions of the UHJ Free from Error?

Shoghi, `Abdu’l-Bahā, and Bahā’u’llāh:

The UHJ is under the protection of the unerring guidance of God.[4]

Shoghi:

If the members of the UHJ make an erroneous decision, the Guardian must correct them.[5]

[4] “God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth,” Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 23; “They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen Kingdom,” Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, pp. 90–91; and “House of Justice will be under the protection and the unerring guidance of God . . . decision and command will be guarded from mistake,” `Abdu’l-Bahā, Some Answered Questions, p. 172.

[5] “He cannot override the decision of the majority of his fellow-members, but is bound to insist upon a reconsideration by them of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahā’u’llāh’s revealed utterances,” Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 150.

3. Is It Possible to Separate the Guardian from the Universal House of Justice?

Shoghi:

The Guardian is inseparable from the Universal House of Justice.[6]

Baha’ism in its current state lacks any credibility because it has no Guardian.

[6] “This new Order which is superior to the void sickly orders of the world and is unique, unparalleled, and unheard of throughout the history of religions, is based on two powerful pillars: the first which is greater is the pillar of divine Guardianship that is the source of interpretations and the second pillar is the divine Universal House of Justice that is the reference of legislation. Just as it is impossible to separate between the laws of the Legislator of the Order (meaning Bahā’u’llāh) and his fundamental basis’ which the Center of the Covenant has declared, separating the two pillars of the New Order from each-other is impossible and infeasible,” Shoghi Effendi, Tauqī’āt mubāraki khiṭāb bi aḥibbā’ sharq, p. 301.

4. Are Baha'is Allowed to Participate in Political Matters?

Bahā’u’llāh and `Abdu’l-Bahā:

Baha’is must not interfere in political and government matters and must not utter a single word about political matters, even privately amongst themselves. Who that does so is not a Baha’i.[7]

Shoghi:

Baha’is are allowed to vote to political parties.[8]

[7] “The friends of God must not utter a single word about politics because it is not their concern,” “we have been prohibited from speaking about or interfering in political matters by definite decrees.” “If a single person from the friends wants to discuss political affairs at his own home or at other gatherings, then he must first cut all relationships with this Cause, and everyone must know that he [no longer] has any relation with this Cause. It’s up to him [to decide],” “If any [Baha’i] wants to utter a single word about the affairs of the government or protest about the guardians of [governmental] affairs, others must disagree with him,” `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganjīniy-i ḥudūd wa aḥkām, chap. 52, pp. 335–337.

[8] “As regards the non-political character of the Faith,... The friends may vote, if they can do it, without identifying themselves with one party or another,” Helen Bassett Hornby, Lights of Guidance: A Baha’i Reference File, chap. XXXIX, no. 1443.

5. Who Will Govern the Baha'i Kingdom?

Shoghi:

Baha’is will rule the world.[9]

`Abdu’l-Bahā and Bahā’u’llāh:

Baha’is must not interfere in political and government matters and must not utter a single word about political matters, even privately amongst themselves. Who does so is not a Baha’i.[10]

[9] “Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the “Most Great Peace”; its consummation the advent of that golden millennium—the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Bahā’u’llāh,” Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 157.

[10] “The friends of God must not utter a single word about politics because it is not their concern,” “we have been prohibited from speaking about or interfering in political matters by definite decrees.” “If a single person from the friends wants to discuss political affairs at his own home or at other gatherings, then he must first cut all relationships with this Cause, and everyone must know that he [no longer] has any relation with this Cause. It’s up to him [to decide],” “If any [Baha’i] wants to utter a single word about the affairs of the government or protest about the guardians of [governmental] affairs, others must disagree with him,” `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganjīniy-i ḥudūd wa aḥkām, chap. 52, pp. 335–337.

6. Obeying the Government

`Abdu’l-Bahā:

Obey the Government in all matters. This order needs no interpretation.[11]

Shoghi:

Disobey government orders in matters of faith even if the result is your death or banishment.[12]

[11] “No movement—minor or major—must be made without the consent and permission of the government. Whoever makes the slightest movement without the permission of the government will have disobeyed the Blessed Affair (meaning the Baha’i creed) and no excuse will be accepted from him. God’s definite order is that the government must be obeyed. This [order] neither needs to be paraphrased or interpreted. An example of obeying the government is this: not a single word can be published without the government’s permission. The duty of God’s Friends is to obey and submit to the government whether [that government is] a state or constitutional,” `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganjīniy-i ḥudūd wa aḥkām, chap. 75, p. 463–464.

[12] “Obedience to the state is so vital a principal of the Cause that should the authorities in . . . [sic] decide to-day to prevent the Baha’is from holding any meeting or publishing any literature they should obey . . . [sic] But, as already pointed out, such an allegiance is confined merely to administrative matters which if checked can only retard the progress of the Faith for some time. In matters of belief, however, no compromise whatever should be allowed, even though the outcome of it be death or expulsion(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, February 11, 1934),” Helen Bassett Hornby, Lights of Guidance: A Bahā’ī Reference File, chap. XXXIX, no. 1455.

7. Baha'i Prophecies Fulfilled?

`Abdu’l-Bahā:

The guardians are Shoghi’s lineal descendants.[13]

But, Shoghi dies and leaves behind no descendants!

`Abdu’l-Bahā:

Shoghi must appoint the next Guardian whilst alive. [14]

But, Shoghi dies without appointing a Guardian.

Shoghi:

The Guardian is inseparable from the UHJ.[15]

But, A Guardian no longer exists!

[13] “O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the Aghsān (Branches), the Afnān (Twigs) of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the Abhā Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi . . . He is the Interpreter of the Word of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendents,” `Abdu’l-Bahā, The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahā, p. 11.

[14] “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,” `Abdu’l-Bahā, The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahā, p. 12.[15] “the Guardian of the Faith has been made the permanent head of so august a body,” Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 150; “This new Order which is superior to the void sickly orders of the world and is unique, unparalleled, and unheard of throughout the history of religions, is based on two powerful pillars: the first which is greater is the pillar of divine Guardianship that is the source of interpretations and the second pillar is the divine Universal House of Justice that is the reference of legislation. Just as it is impossible to separate between the laws of the Legislator of the Order (meaning Bahā’u’llāh) and his fundamental basis’ which the Center of the Covenant has declared, separating the two pillars of the New Order from each-other is impossible and infeasible,” Shoghi Effendi, Tauqī’āt mubāraki khiṭāb bi aḥibbā’ sharq (Langenhain [Germany]: Lajniyi Millī Nashr Āthār Amrī Bi Zabānhayi Fārsī wa `Arabī, 149 B.[1992]), p. 301; “Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahā’u’llāh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as `Abdu’l-Bahā has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God . . . 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. Severed from the no less essential institution of the Universal House of Justice this same System of the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahā would be paralyzed in its action and would be powerless to fill in those gaps which the Author of the Kitāb-i-Aqdas has deliberately left in the body of His legislative and administrative ordinances,” Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 148.

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