Critique of ITC Study on Guardianship and UHJ – Part Three

Posted on April 1, 2009. Filed under: book analysis | Tags: itc study |

This is part Three of a Critique by Hand of Cause of God David Maxwell of A Study for Auxiliary Board Members of the Guardianship & The Universal House of Justice Prepared by the International Teaching Centre (of the heterodox Bahá’ís). Click here to read: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5| Part 6

HIDING BEHIND THE CLAMOR OF THE DISCUSSION ABOUT NINE HANDS

ITC Position:

3. Must be appointed by Shoghi Effendi

The Master made it explicitly clear that any future guardian must be appointed by Shoghi Effendi. He wrote:

It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own lifetime him that shall become his successor . . . .(13)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá emphasised this particular condition by categorically excluding the possibility of anyone claiming the Guardianship: My purpose is this, that ere the expiration of a thousand years, no one has the right to utter a single word, even to claim the station of Guardianship. (14)

4. Nine Hands of the Cause of God elected from amongst all the Hands must give
assent to the choice

The requirement that the Hands of the Cause of God must give assent to the Guardian’s
choice was for the protection of the Cause and after the passing of Shoghi Effendi enabled them to ward off the attempt to usurp the position of the Guardian. Abdu’l-Bahá stated in His Will and Testament: 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.(15)

Critique:

Since this critical issue is not understood by the sans-guardian Bahá’í’s, it must be emphasized that the purpose of this clause is to ensure that nine Hands must (MUST) give their assent to the one chosen by their current guardian, within his lifetime, in order that they may testify to all the believers after his passing as to the appointment’s validity. The Hands have no choice in the matter; they MUST assent to the guardian’s choice. And beyond that, Shoghi Effendi had not yet appointed a contingent of Hands at the time of his appointment of Mason Remey as the President of the first International Bahá’í Council on March 2, 1951.

Shoghi Effendi’s first contingent of 12 Hands was appointed on December 24, 1951. He specifically defined each Hand’s area of responsibility by Continent, with three of them to reside in the Holy Land; Amelia Collins, Sutherland Maxwell, and Mason Remey. Of the seven additional Hands he appointed February 2, 1952, none of them were assigned to that location either. In fact, Shoghi Effendi never directed nine Hands to meet together in the Holy Land. There was no need within the unique circumstances of appointing the Second Guardian for Hands to validate at any time his appointment. He had announced that appointment in “Messages to the Bahá’í World.” In that manner, all the world’s believers had access to the appointee information. The purpose of validation is to ensure to the believers the authenticity of a particular appointment.

Another point to be made is that even though a provision was made in the Will for confirmation of the appointee, that was not necessary within the unique circumstances Shoghi Effendi found himself. He had announced his successor in “Messages to the Bahá’í World” in the only Proclamation he ever issued. When push came to shove after the death of the First Guardian, one of the hang-ups the Hands allowed themselves to become captive to was centered around the issue that Nine Hands had not approved the appointment. This has to rank right up there at the top of the all-time examples of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. By having spent time arguing about the Nine Hands issue, they were self-satisfied that they had addressed the primary problem, solved it, and that they could move on.

ITC Position:

The principle is referred to in a letter of the House of Justice in connection with the decision of all the Hands of the Cause after the passing of Shoghi Effendi: The nine Hands to be elected by the body of the Hands were to give their assent by secret ballot to the Guardian’s choice. In 1957 the entire body of the Hands, after fully investigating the matter, announced that Shoghi Effendi had appointed no successor and left no will. This is documented and established. (16)

Critique:

As explained above, it was premature, unwarranted and ridiculous for a body to convene and announce the non-appointment of a successor. There will never be an instance in the 1,000 year Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh when Hands will truthfully announce that. Their only option will be to announce the newly designated guardian. You either believe ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or you don’t. Since He had commanded that a guardian must appoint his successor in his own lifetime, it was a given that Shoghi Effendi had appointed a successor. It was up to the Hands to find that appointee. And as to them collectively announcing that he did not leave a Will, that is a true statement. But so what? The Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Bahá says nothing about a guardian having to announce his successor in a (secular) will. The Will states only that he must appoint his successor in his own lifetime. (Emphasis added) The only qualification required is that of timing, during his own lifetime (before he becomes deceased.) Shoghi Effendi clearly did that in “Messages to the Bahá’í World.” There are other requirements in the Will, essentially spiritual in nature, but they have nothing to do with timing.

And speaking of timing, it should be noted that Rúhíyyih Khánum was appointed as liaison between Shoghi Effendi and the International Bahá’í Council some two months before she was named a Hand, on February 29, 1952, to replace her recently deceased father, Hand of the Cause Sutherland Maxwell. The sequence is Mason Remey being appointed President of the IBC, and later as a Hand. Later still, Rúhíyyih Khánum was appointed liaison between the First Guardian and the IBC prior to becoming a Hand.

Yet, it was Rúhíyyih Khánum who became the Hand’s de facto anointed leader during their meetings after Shoghi Effendi’s death. Appropriate leadership should have been by
the President of the IBC, Mason Remey, but the majority of them did not want that. In reading Shoghi Effendi’s instructions, it is clear that Mason Remey was the only one who had been given authority to convene the International Bahá’í Council, yet that was never allowed to happen. The Hands dissolved Shoghi Effendi’s IBC and *elected* one of their own, which had no God-given authority whatsoever. This signaled the beginning of the end, when they finally removed the invisible thread of Infallibility from their midst. Shoghi Effendi’s instructions were never followed, and it was eventually Mason Remey who was belittled and banished by them. Upon leaving, Mason Remey took the invisible thread of Infallibility with him, leaving them naked. Up until then, they had that unacknowledged and hidden invisible thread in their midst; but now it was gone.

And another thing. The Hands that Shoghi Effendi appointed were accepted without question, while his International Bahá’í Council, the first stage of the unfolding embryo of the Universal House of Justice, was completely ignored. This signals an early success in their finding a process that the believers would accept; they were then emboldened to continue to pick-and-chose among the Writings. That solidified a pattern that allows today’s bogus UHJ to justify its nefarious deeds from their seat of power in Haifa.

Additionally, it is clear that the Hands were aware of the contents of “Messages to the Bahá’í World 1950-1957,” but for reasons known only to themselves did not want to recognize many more of those instructions than their own appointments.

ITC Position:

5. Must possess a “goodly character”
Regarding the stipulation that the noble heritage of the successor to the Guardian must be “matched with a goodly character, (17) the Master stated:

He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all worldly things, mustbe the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom andlearning. (18)

What happened to the successorship of Shoghi Effendi after his passing?
In His Will and Testament, the Master stated that “It is incumbent upon the guardian ofthe Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing.” (19) In light of this statement it may be asked why it was that Shoghi Effendi did not appoint a successor and why the line of the Guardians came to an end.

The Universal House of Justice has explained: At the time of our beloved Shoghi Effendi’s death it was evident, from the circumstances and from the explicit requirements of the Holy Texts, that it had been impossible for him to appoint a successor in accordance with the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. This situation, in which the Guardian died without being able to appoint a successor, presented an obscure question not covered by the explicit Holy Text, and had to be referred to the Universal House of Justice. The friends should clearly understand that before the election of the Universal House of Justice there was no knowledge that there would be no Guardian.nor the International Bahá’í Council, nor any other existing body could make a decision upon this all-important matter. Only the House of Justice had authority to pronounce upon it. (20)
There could not have been any such foreknowledge, whatever opinions individual believers may have held. Neither the Hands of the Cause of God,

Critique:

“Nor the International Bahá’í Council.” My God! Would you please go back and read those last two sentences? I missed it upon first reading and caught it later. This is a prime example of how misleading their statements can be. Even though it was in bold text, it does not stand out as being particularly more in error than most other things they discuss. Those two sentences may be the nadir of their ego-infested position. Fact: The International Bahá’í Council was the only, the only body that was authorized to lead the search for the next guardian! That is precisely what Shoghi Effendi had in mind when he formed the First International Bahá’í Council! That body provided his means of naming his successor. The announcements authorizing, and the formation of that body provided the avenue for instructing the believers that Mason Remey was the Second Guardian! Yet the Hands ignored and, in essence, ridiculed that body from the outset of their meetings. They not only refused to allow Mason Remey to convene the IBC that Shoghi Effendi named, but later dissolved it, *electing* an IBC of their own. The only power their IBC was invested with was their own. The IBC they destroyed, the one named by Shoghi Effendi, was the only one fueled by the power of the Covenant. They ousted the power of the Covenant and installed the power of the Hands. It has occurred to me that perhaps some of the Hands did *get it* and that is why they were so adamant about not allowing Mason Remey to have his say. From its actions, the ITC infers that both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not know what they were doing, and that Shoghi Effendi was not the First Guardian! Why did the believers accept Shoghi Effendi’s station before he died, and then almost immediately thereafter refuse to accept his actions as First Guardian, when he had named his successor and established the beginning stages of the International House of Justice?

As cold as it seems, that is the result. The Hands began selectively believing Shoghi Effendi immediately upon his death, after he spent his 36 year ministry clarifying and developing the administrative order in compliance with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament, going so far as to announce to the Bahá’í World in 1951 that he was presenting to them the beginnings of the Universal House of Justice in embryonic form, and then naming his successor, Mason Remey. Later that year, he announced his first contingency of Hands of the Cause of God. The Hand’s appointments were accepted; that of the next guardian was not. Is this selectivity 101.1 or 101.17? Who knows; do they know? How many iterations of 101 are there?

The denial of Shoghi Effendi’s choice for the second guardian, Mason Remey, by the Hands and the believers, was the greatest act of arrogance by humans that could be imagined. Not only were they denying Bahá’u’lláh’s Command, they were actually denying all the prior Manifestations and God Himself.

The Message of God has been progressively developing for centuries, and will continue to develop for many centuries more, whether humans are ready or not. The only problem is that humans will suffer in not following His Will. God’s Will will eventually be fulfilled in the manner He Willed it from the beginning that had no beginning.

The ITC statement above that there were no prior conclusions made before they announced that the guardianship was ended is of itself questionable. It takes only a quick reading of the book “Ministry of the Custodians,” which has Rúhíyyih Khánum’s fingerprints all over it, to determine that the decision to end the guardianship was made,
if not immediately after Shoghi Effendi’s passing, then within mere weeks later.

All that the Hands had to do to find the second guardian was to accept and follow Shoghi Effendi’s copious writings about the Institutions of the Faith. “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh,” with its section “The Dispensation,” includes the basic guidance they needed. “Messages to the Bahá’í World, 1950-1957” contains his specific actions and appointments. And to this very day, the present bogus Universal House of Justice could peruse those same documents, as originally written, and announce to the Bahá’í World that they had finally “found” both the second and third guardians, Charles Mason Remey and Joel B. Marangella.

Conclusion of Part Three of the Critique.