Authority of the International Teaching Centre in expelling Covenant-breakers

5 January 1998

To: Mr. ..., Canada

The Universal House of Justice has received your email of 27 November 1997 enquiring about the authority of the International Teaching Centre in matters related to the expulsion of Covenant-breakers, and has instructed us to send you the following reply, describing the procedures which have been in force since the Universal House of Justice decided upon them in June 1993.

In matters of protection, the authority to expel and reinstate Covenant-breakers, conferred upon the Hands of the Cause of God in accordance with the Will and Testament of 'Abdu’l-Baha, remains with them, and their relationship with the Universal House of Justice continues unaltered. In view of the exigencies of the development of the Cause, however, the House of Justice has vested in the International Teaching Centre added responsibilities in the context of its overall responsibility for the protection of the Faith.

Most of the attention of the International Teaching Centre and the Continental Counsellors in relation to the protection of the Faith is directed towards the deepening of the understanding of the individual believers, the strengthening of their faith, the consolidation of their communities, and watching over the unity of the Faith. It is with such matters that the members of the Auxiliary Boards for Protection are principally concerned.

Obligatory Prayer, Greatest Name, exemptions, by Universal House of Justice, procedures on contacting the Universal House of Justice

2 January 1998

Dear Bahá'í Friend,

Your email of 28 October 1997 inquiring about the recitation of obligatory prayers was forwarded by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States to the Universal House of Justice. It in turn referred your query to the Research Department for further study, and we are enclosing a copy of the memorandum that was produced in reply.

You also inquire as to the circumstances under which an individual believer may submit questions to the National Assembly or the House of Justice, directly. As you know, Bahá'ís turn to Bahá'í literature, their fellow-believers (particularly those well-versed in the Writings) and the local and national institutions of the Faith for answers to any question they may have. If these avenues are explored to the utmost and further clarification is still needed, the friends are free to refer to the House of Justice for such guidance. It is hoped that this information will be of assistance to you in your endeavours.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,

For Department of the Secretariat

Enclosure

cc: National Assembly of the United States (with enclosure)

(Baha’i Library Online)

Bahá'í Obligatory Prayer and the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár

1998

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

The Universal House of Justice received your email of 15 February 1998 requesting guidance concerning the appropriateness of offering the Obligatory Prayer in the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and it has instructed us to send you the following reply.

You quote a passage from Tablets of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas, p. 464. This has been checked with the original, and a new translation has been made which reads:

“As regards obligatory prayer, this should be recited by each believer individually, albeit its performance is not dependent upon the availability of a private place. In other words, obligatory prayer may be performed alike at home or in the Temple, which latter is a public place, but on condition that each believer recite it individually. As for devotions other than obligatory prayer, if these be chanted jointly and with a pleasant and affecting melody, this would be most acceptable.”

You also cite the following statement from a letter dated 1 September 1983 from the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Norway which, you feel, contradicts the passage quoted above.

“It is striking how private and personal the most fundamental spiritual exercises of prayer and meditation are in the Faith. Bahá’ís do, of course, have meetings for devotions, as in the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár or at Nineteen Day Feasts, but the daily obligatory prayers are ordained to be said in the privacy of one's chamber, and meditation on the Teachings is, likewise, a private individual activity, not a form of group therapy.”

We are asked to explain that, just as one should not deduce from Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet that there are only two places where one can recite the Obligatory Prayer -- at home or in a place of worship -- so the phrase "in the privacy of one's chamber" should not be read literally and exclusively.

Both passages are applications, in response to specific questions, of the laws of Bahá’u’lláh which prescribe the saying of obligatory prayers (salat), but prohibit the practice of saying salat in congregation, with the exception of the Prayer for the Dead. In a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer in 1949, this issue is expressed succinctly:

“The daily prayers are to be said each one for himself, aloud or silent makes no difference.”

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

(Baha’i Library Online)

Encountering Covenant-breakers online

27 October 1997

Dear Bahá'í friend,

Your letter dated 4 July 1997 concerning the situation in ... and occasions of Covenant-breakers' participating on America Online was passed by Mr. ... to the Universal House of Justice, which has considered the situation described. We are to reply as follows.

The House of Justice feels that, when Bahá'ís are teaching in an online "chat room" and Covenant-breakers intrude upon the discussion, the friends should not feel obliged to sign off simply because Covenant-breakers are present in this virtual space. They should, however, refrain from knowingly engaging the Covenant-breakers in discussions and, in any case, should avoid being drawn into contentious or disputatious situations.

With Loving Bahá'í greetings,

For Department of the Secretariat

(Baha’i Library Online)

Authority of the Hands of the Cause to direct the Faith and expel Covenant-breakers

4 June 1997

Dear Bahá'í Friend:

... As to the authority of the Hands of the Cause to assume the direction of the Faith following Shoghi Effendi's passing, the following points should be noted.

The letter which you quote, written on behalf of the Guardian on 31 March 1949, some two years before the formal appointment of the Hands of the Cause, stated that "The Hands of the Cause will have executive authority in so far as they carry out the work of the Guardian." On 4 June 1957, some six years after the appointment of the first contingent of Hands of the Cause, and but four months before his passing, the Guardian referred to the "TWIN FUNCTIONS PROTECTING PROPAGATING FAITH BAHA'U'LLAH" invested in the Institution of the Hands of the Cause by "VIRTUE AUTHORITY CONFERRED TESTAMENT CENTRE COVENANT", and stated: "TO ITS NEWLY ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY ASSIST NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES BAHA'I WORLD SPECIFIC PURPOSE EFFECTIVELY PROSECUTING WORLD SPIRITUAL CRUSADE PRIMARY OBLIGATION WATCH OVER ENSURE PROTECTION BAHA'I WORLD COMMUNITY IN CLOSE COLLABORATION THESE SAME NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES NOW ADDED."

Although the authority to expel Covenant-breakers had been conferred upon the Hands of the Cause in the Will and Testament, the Guardian had reserved the exercise of this authority to himself during his lifetime. In his last message to the Bahá'í world in October 1957, when he appointed the last contingent of Hands, he characterized them as "the Chief Stewards of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Commonwealth, who have been invested by the unerring Pen of the Centre of His Covenant with the dual function of guarding over the security, and of ensuring the propagation, of His Father's Faith." He referred further to "their sacred responsibility as protectors of the Faith", designating them "high-ranking officers of a fast evolving world Administrative Order" and members of "one of the cardinal and pivotal institutions" of the Faith.

“the authority of the Universal House of Justice is unchallengeable”

3 June 1997

Dear Bahá'í Friend,

The Universal House of Justice has received your email of 29 April 1997 and has instructed us to send you the following reply.

The questions you pose, arising out of an email conversation between yourself and one of the other contributors to the discussion group in which you participate, are of fundamental importance, and the House of Justice warmly appreciates the spirit of your enquiry.

The issues raised seem to resolve themselves into two points: the first being whether or not the Universal House of Justice has the authority to make authoritative interpretations; the second is whether anyone has the right to challenge the authority or actions of the Universal House of Justice. When these issues are approached with an understanding of the unity underlying all the Teachings, clarification results. Should the seeker, however, be influenced by a spirit of mistrust and conflict, then unending problems appear.

The above points have both been covered in three letters written by the Universal House of Justice on 9 March 1965, 27 May 1966 and 7 December 1969. Unfortunately it seems that many of the friends have not studied these letters deeply or understood their implications. Already in "The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh" Shoghi Effendi has shown, beyond any doubt, that the function of making authoritative interpretations of the Teachings is confined solely and exclusively to the Guardian. Neither the Universal House of Justice, nor any other institution, person or group of persons can assume that function. That the Universal House of Justice will never infringe on the functions reserved to the Guardian is shown, not only by its own words and actions, but by Shoghi Effendi's statement in that same document: "Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other." It is guaranteed by the fact that the Universal House of Justice as well as the Guardian are both "under the care and protection of the Abha Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One".