PART ONE

Exposition:

In the preamble, Nakhjavani has stated:

“When the beloved Guardian passed away on November 4, 1957, the news of his passing convulsed the entire Baha’i World. Second distress soon followed when the announcement was made by the Hands of the Cause that Shoghi Effendi had left no Will and Testament, and had appointed no successor as Guardian of the Faith because the Aghsan one and all had broken the Covenant. The “first effect” of this realization, as stated in the message of the Hands of the Cause to the Baha’i world, “was to plunge” them “into the very abyss of despair” (MC36).

A similar sense of dismay seized the entire Baha’i World.

Comment:

It is obvious that the Baha’is in 1957 were shocked by the passing of the first Guardian, and further anguished by the erroneous statement made by the Hands of the Cause in their declaration to the Baha’i world following the outcome of the conclave they had held in ‘Akka, a few weeks following his passing in compliance with Ruhiyyih Khanum’s desire and directions, a conclave during which the Hands, with a single exception, blatantly ignored and incredulously disregarded the wishes and instructions of the late Guardian. For they inexcusably failed to recognize the only person upon Shoghi Effendi’s passing who had inherited supreme authority in the Faith and the one that Shoghi Effendi had faithfully and unmistakably appointed to be his successor in accordance with the terms of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Baha and who therefore possessed an authority on the basis thereof, which, prior to his passing had remained potential, but which upon his passing had automatically become actual, in his capacity as Shoghi Effendi’s appointed Head of the embryonic Universal House of Justice, (named by Shoghi Effendi in the first stage of its projected four-fold stage of development as the International Baha’i Council) a position that can only be rightfully occupied by the Guardian of the Faith according to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.

The former Hands, however, failing to perceive that Shoghi Effendi had clearly provided in this manner for his successor, informed the Baha’i World that Shoghi Effendi had been unable to appoint a successor because all of the Aghsan had become disloyal which should have been immediately recognized by the believers, but unfortunately was not so recognized, as a patently ludicrous reason. For, although the Baha’is were quite certain that Shoghi Effendi did not have a son who had been concealed during his ministry and possibly primed to inherit the Guardianship, it was irrelevant news and certainly not new news that all of the Aghsan (the sons of Baha’ullah) had broken the Covenant since all of them had opposed the Center of the Covenant, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and had thereby detached themselves from the Cause of God before the ascension of Abdu’l Baha. Moreover the Aghsan, as contemporaries of Abdu’l-Baha, would never have lived long enough to succeed Shoghi Effendi and to have been eligible for appointment as his successor. The alleged reason therefore given by the Hands as to why Shoghi Effendi had not appointed a successor was clearly without any foundation whatsoever and completely fallacious. A believer well versed in the writings of Shoghi Effendi might well ask how these Hands, with a single notable exception, could have believed that Shoghi Effendi had failed to appoint a successor when, in his extensive writings, historic messages and recorded talks to pilgrims they had all abundantly testified to the fact, that to the very last days of his life, he had repeatedly and consistently emphasized the continuity and the absolute essentiality of the Guardianship to the World Order of Baha’u’llah as long as the Dispensation of Baha’u’llah endured?

Nakhjavani has written:

“Soon after the Universal House of Justice was established it sent a message (dated 6 October 1963) to the Baha’i World. This message states that the House of Justice “finds that there is no way to appoint or to legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi” (MUHJ 14). Reflecting on this message, the friends everywhere soon realized that they had not properly understood the contents of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Baha. ”

Comment:

It must be noted that the now violating Hands during the period 1957- 1963 forbid any talk about the Guardianship and in response to die enquiries of the Baha’is were telling them that it was better to leave the matter to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice (an illegitimate body that would be elected in 1963, having abolished, as mentioned previously, the embryonic Universal House of Justice established by Shoghi Effendi in his Proclamation of 1951) while pretending that one of goals of the Ten Year Global Crusade (1953-1963) had been the establishment of that body while even a true and legitimate Universal House of Justice which in the future will be established in conformity with the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha cannot and will never enter into discussions on this matter, since the appointment of the Guardian’s successor is within the exclusive domain and the authority of the Guardians of the Faith and completely outside the sphere of the jurisdiction of that legislative body. Of course, since the current bogus UH J in Haifa does not have the Guardian presiding as its “sacred head” as required by the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l- Baha, it is not legitimate and therefore, as a man-made and fallible body, it will inevitably make a lot of errors, inevitably violate the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and contradict the writings, arrangements, and plans of the first Guardian.

Then he has written:

“Shoghi Effendi had already stated that the World Order as delineated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in His Will “undoubtedly” contained “manifold mysteries ” (BA p. 8), and that we “must trust to time, and the guidance of God’s Universal House of Justice, to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of its provisions and implications” (BA p. 62). “

Comment;

Readers conversant with the writings of Shoghi Effendi may wonder why Nakhjavani has picked the two words: “manifold mysteries” from page 8 of the book, Baha’i Administration (as he has referred to), and erroneously linked these two words to statement appearing on page 62 of that same book as these two words actually are not found on page 8 of that book which contains excerpts from the Will and Testament of Abdu’l- Baha.

The quoted words found on page 8 of the World Order of Baha’u’llah, in that page Shoghi Effendi has referred to the mysteries to be found in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and extols the value and significance of the Will and Testament that ‘Abdu’l-Baha bequeathed to us and contains the following statement pertaining to the institution of the Guardianship:

“It enhances the prestige of that exalted assembly (the UHJ), stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the continuity of its labors, without presuming in the slightest to infringe upon the inviolability of its clearly-defined sphere of jurisdiction. We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains. Only future generations can comprehend the value and the significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece, which the hand of the Master-builder of the world has designed for the unification and the triumph of the worldwide Faith of Baha’u’llah. Only those who come after us will be in a position to realize the value of the surprisingly strong emphasis that has been placed on the institution of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 8)

While the whole paragraph is another testimony of the first Guardian to the continuation of the Guardianship it is obvious that the quoted phrase “the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains.” refers to the Will and Testament of Master which Nakhjavani deceitfully has attributed instead to the “World Order.” Moreover, Nakhjavani has again misrepresented Shoghi Effendi’s statement in which he had referred to the Will and Testament and applied it to the World Order instead in stating that we “must trust to time, and the guidance of God’s Universal House of Justice” to achieve a fill! understanding of this New World Order as may be noted in the following paragraph: “And as we make an effort to demonstrate that love to the world may we also clear our minds of any lingering trace of unhappy misunderstandings that might obscure our clear conception of the exact purpose and methods of this new world order, so challenging and complex, yet so consummate and wise. We are called upon by our beloved Master in His Will and Testament not only to adopt it unreservedly but to unveil its merit to all the world. To attempt to estimate its full value, and grasp its exact significance after so short a time since its inception would be premature and presumptuous on our part. We must trust to time, and the guidance of God’s Universal House of Justice, to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of its provisions and implications. But one word of warning must be uttered in this connection. Let us be on our guard lest we measure too strictly the Divine Plan with the standard of men”

(Shoghi Effendi, Baha’i Administration, p. 62)

After the passing of the first Guardian, the former Hands of the Cause not only did not adopt the New World Order unreservedly due to their ignorance of its “Charter” but did not take the time to study the Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha, “the Charter of the New World Order” or the pertinent writings of Shoghi Effendi, and especially his Proclamation of 9 January 1951, and quickly rushed to put an end to the Guardianship under the direction of Ruhiyyih Khanum. They ignored the fact that God’s Universal House of Justice had been formed by the first Guardian in its embryonic form under the temporary name of “International Baha’i Council. Needless to say, the bogus UHJ that they created in its place without its “sacred head and the distinguished member “the Guardian of the Cause of God could not be considered as “God’s Universal House of Justice” since it was formed contrary to the “the Charter of the New World Order.”