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The Báb
Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad (Persian: سيد علی محمد) (October 20, 1819 – July 9, 1850) was a prophet and founder of theBábí religion. He was a merchant from Shíráz, who at the age of twenty-five revealed Himself to be the promised Qá'im (or Mihdí). After His declaration He took the title of Báb (Arabic: باب) meaning "Gate." He composed hundreds of letters and books (often termed tablets) in which He stated His mission and defined his teachings, which constituted a newsharí'ah or religious law. His movement eventually acquired tens of thousands of supporters, was virulently opposed by Iran's Shí'í clergy, and was bloodily suppressed by the Iranian government. Thousands of His followers, termed Bábís, died. In 1850 the Báb was shot by a firing squad in Tabríz. His titles include, among others, the "Primal Point" and the "Point of the Bayán." The Báb was the forerunner to Bahá’u’lláh.
Early life Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad Shírází was born on October 201819, in Shíráz to a middle-class merchant family of the city. His father, Siyyid Muhammad Ridá, was a prominent mercer of the city. His mother was Fátimih Bagum, also a daughter of a famous merchant named Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad Husayn. An only child, the little ‘Alí-Muhammad would play with His cousins, who were of similar ages. Through both His parents, He was a relation of the Imám Husayn.
When He was 9, His father died. Consequently He was raised by His devoted maternal uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí. Although little is known of His childhood, all accounts emphasize the young boy’s immense piety. When He went to school, His teacher, Shaykh Abid, thought it unnecessary for him to peruse education. Shaykh Abid stated how “unworthy I felt to teach so remarkable a child”. At about the age of 15, Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad joined His family business and became a merchant. He also studied Islamic writings making a pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbilá.
Declaration to Mullá Ḥusayn Soon after he arrived in Shiraz, on May 23, 1844, Mullá Ḥusayn was approached by a young man wearing a green turban, an indication that the wearer was a descendent of the Prophet Muḥammad. The stranger, the Báb, invited Mullá Ḥusayn to His home.
After being asked by the Báb what he was doing in Shiraz, Mullá Ḥusayn replied that he was searching for the Promised One. The Báb then asked how the Promised One would be recognized, to which Mullá Ḥusayn replied "He is of a pure lineage, is of illustrious descent, is endowed with innate knowledge and is free from bodily deficiency." To the shock of Mullá Ḥusayn, the Báb declared "Behold, all these signs are manifest in me."
Mullá Ḥusayn had one more sign by which to identify the Promised One: He had been told by Siyyid Káẓim that the Promised One would write a commentary on theSurih of Joseph without being asked. The Báb fulfilled this requirement as well, writing the commentary after making His declaration.
The room where the Declaration of the Báb took place on May 23, 1844. After spending the night in conversation with the Báb, Mullá Ḥusayn recorded the following:
“This Revelation, so suddenly and impetuously thrust upon me, came as a thunderbolt… the knowledge of His Revelation had galvanised my being. I felt possessed of such courage and power that were the world, all its peoples and its potentates, to rise against me, I would, alone and undaunted, withstand their onslaught. The universe seemed but a handful of dust in my grasp. I seemed to be the Voice of Gabriel personified, calling unto all mankind: “Awake, for lo! the morning Light has broken. Arise, for His Cause is made manifest. The portal of His grace is open wide; enter therein, O peoples of the world! For He who is your promised One is come!
Martyrdom of the Báb In mid 1850 a new prime-minister, Amir Kabir, ordered the execution of the Báb, probably because various Bábí insurrections had been defeated and the movement's popularity appeared to be waning. The Báb was brought back to Tabríz from Chihríq, so that He could be shot by a firing squad. The night before His martyrdom, as He was being conducted to His cell, a young Bábí, Muḥammad-`Alíy-i-Zunúzí, called Anís, threw himself at the feet of the Báb and begged to be killed with Him. He was immediately arrested and placed in the same cell as the Báb.
On the morning of July 9, 1850, the Báb was taken to the courtyard of the barracks in which He was being held, where thousands of people had gathered to watch His execution. As the Báb had been removed from His cell in conversation with an associate he stated "Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say, can any earthly power silence Me. Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall they be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention." The Báb and Anís were suspended on a wall and a large firing squad of Christian soldiers prepared to shoot.Sam Khan, the leader of this troop is recorded to have pleaded with the Báb for clemency; "I profess the Christian Faith," he explained to the Bab, "and entertain no ill will against you. If your Cause be the Cause of Truth, enable me to free myself from the obligation to shed your blood.", to which the Báb replied "Follow your instructions," the Bab replied, "and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity."Numerous eye-witness reports, including those of Western diplomats, recount the result. The order was given to fire and the barracks square filled with musket smoke. When it cleared the Báb was no longer in the courtyard and his companion stood there unharmed; the bullets apparently had not harmed either man, but had cut the rope suspending them from the wall. There was a great commotion, many in the crowd believing the Báb had ascended to heaven or simply disappeared. But the soldiers subsequently found the Báb in another part of the barracks, completely unharmed. He and Anís were tied up for execution a second time, a second firing squad of Muslim soldiers was ranged in front of them, as Khan and his armenian troop refused to shoot again, and a second order to fire was given. This time, the Báb and his companion were killed. In the Bábí-Bahá’í tradition, the failure of the first firing squad to kill the Báb is believed to have been a miracle in fulfilment of the Báb's promise to Sam Khan and His admonition that He could not die until He so wished. Their remains were dumped outside the gates of the town to be eaten by animals.
The remains, however, were clandestinely rescued by a handful of Bábis and were hidden. Over time the remains were secretly transported by way of Iṣfahán, Kirmansháh, Baghdad and Damascus, to Beirut and thence by sea to 'Akká on the plain below Mount Carmel in 1899.[30] In 1909, the remains were then interred in a special tomb, erected for this purpose by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. The Universal House of Justice is located close to this site and visitors are welcome to tour the gardens.
Bahá’u’lláh (ba-haa-ol-laa Arabic: بهاء الله "Glory of God") (November 12, 1817 - May 29, 1892), born MírzáḤusayn-‘Alí (Persian: میرزا حسینعلی), is the founder of the Bahá’í Faith.
He fufilled the Bábí prophecy of "He whom God shall make manifest", but in a broader sense He was also the "supreme Manifestation of God", referring to the fulfillment of the eschatological expectations of a prophetic cyclebeginning with Adam, and including Abrahamic religions, as well as Zoroastrianism, the Indian religions, and others. Bahá’u’lláh is the initiator of a new religion, as Jesus or Muhammad were — but also the initiator of a new cycle, like that attributed to Adam.
Bahá’u’lláh authored many religious works, most notably the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Kitáb-i-Íqán. He died in Bahjí, present-day Israel, and is buried there.
Bahá’u’lláh was born on November 12, 1817, in Tehran, the capital city of Persia, in present-day Iran. His mother wasKhadíjih Khánum and His father was Mírzá Buzurg. As a young child, Bahá’u’lláh was privately tutored and was known to be intelligent. He was a devout Shi'a Muslim, and by the age of 13 or 14 He discussed intricate religious matters with leading ulema.
Bahá’u’lláh's father, Mírzá Buzurg, served as vizier to Imám-Virdi Mírzá, the twelfth son of Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar. Mírzá Buzurg was later appointed governor of Burujird and Lorestan, a position that he was stripped of during a government purge when Muhammad Shah came to power. After His father died, Bahá’u’lláh was asked to take a government post by the new vizier Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, but He declined the position.
Acceptance of the Báb
Bahá'u'lláh first heard of the Báb when he was 27, and received a messenger, Mullá Husayn, telling him of the Báb. Bahá'u'lláh accepted the Báb's claims, becoming a Bábí and helping to spread the new movement, especially in his native province of Núr, becoming recognized as one of its most influential believers.His notability as a local gave him many openings, and his trips to teach the religion were met with success, even among some of the religious class. He also helped to protect his co-religionists, such as Táhirih, but did so at some risk, since the aid he was giving led to his being temporarily imprisoned in Tehran and enduring bastinado. Bahá'u'lláh, in the summer of 1848, also attended the conference of Badasht in the province of Khorasan, where 81 prominent Bábís met for 22 days; at that conference where there was a discussion between those Bábís who wanted to maintain Islamic law and those who believed that the Báb's message began a new dispensation, Bahá'u'lláh took the pro-change side, which eventually won out. It is at this conference that Bahá'u'lláh took on the name Bahá.
When violence started between the Bábís and the Qajar government in the later part of 1848, Bahá'u'lláh tried to reach the besieged Bábís at the Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazandaran, but was arrested and imprisoned before he could get there. The following years until 1850 saw the Bábís being massacred in various provinces after the Báb made his claim of being Manifestation of God more public.
Revelation in the Síyáh-Chál
It was during Bahá’u’lláh's imprisonment in the Síyáh-Chál that He received a vision of a Maiden from God, through whom He received His mission as a Messenger of God and as the One whose coming the Báb had prophesied. After four months in the Síyáh-Chál, owing to the insistent demands of the Ambassador of Russia, and
A view of the city of Tehran, where Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned in 1852. after the person who tried to kill the Shah confessed and exonerated the Bábi leaders, the authorities released Him from prison. Bahá’u’lláh refers to the assistance of the Russian ambassador when He wrote to the Czar Alexander II of Russia:
"Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me His aid. Wherefore hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend except His knowledge."The authorities then banished Bahá’u’lláh from Persia, and He chose to go to Baghdad, then a city in the Ottoman Empire. Declaration in the Garden of Ridvan
On April 22, 1863, Bahá’u’lláh left Baghdad and entered the Garden of Ridván near Baghdad. Bahá’u’lláh and those accompanying Him would stay in the garden for twelve days before departing for Constantinople. It was during His time in the Garden of Ridván that Bahá’u’lláh declared to His companions His mission and Station as a Messenger of God. Today Bahá’ís celebrate the twelve days that Bahá’u’lláh was in the Garden of Ridván as the festival of Ridván.
The eleven years of secrecy that passed between when Bahá’u’lláh saw the Maiden of Heaven in the Síyáh-Chál and this declaration are referred to by Bahá’í chroniclers and by Bahá’u’lláh Himself as Ayyam-i butun ("Days of Concealment"). Bahá’u’lláh stated that this period was a "set time of concealment".
Proclamations
Bahá’u’lláh declared that He was the "Promised One" of all religions, fulfilling the messianic prophecies found in world religions. He stated that being several messiahs converging one person were the spiritual, rather than material, fulfilment of the messianic and eschatological prophecies found in the literature of the major religions. Bahá’u’lláh's eschatological claims constitute six distinctive messianic identifications: from Judaism, the incarnation of the "Everlasting Father" from the Yuletide propechy of Isaiah 9:6, the "Lord of Hosts"; from Christianity, the "Spirit of Truth" or Comforter predicted by Jesus in His farewell discourse of John 14-17 and the return of Christ "in the glory of the Father"; from Zoroastrianism, the return of Shah Bahram Varjavand, a Zoroastrian messiah predicted in various late Pahlavi texts; from Shi'a Islam the return of the Third Imam, Imam Husayn; from Sunni Islam, the return of Jesus, Isa; and from the Bábí religion, He whom God shall make manifest.
While Bahá’u’lláh did not state Himself to be either the Hindu or Buddhist messiah, but He did so in principle through His writings. Later, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated that Bahá’u’lláh was the Kalki avatar, who in the classical Hindu Vaishnavas tradition is the tenth and final avatar (great incarnation) of Vishnu who will come to end The Age of Darkness and Destruction. Bahá’ís also believe that Bahá’u’lláh is the fulfilment of the prophecy of appearance of the Maitreya Buddha, who is a future Buddha who will eventually appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure Dharma. Bahá’ís believe that the prophecy that Maitreya will usher in a new society of tolerance and love has been fulfilled by Bahá’u’lláh's teachings on world peace. Bahá’u’lláh is a descendant of a long line of Kings in Persia through Yazdgerd III, the last monarch of the Sasanian Dynasty; he also asserted to be a descendant of Abraham through His third wife Keturah.
Baha'u'llah A web site on the life and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Includes a history and selected Writings.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá (‘Abbás Effendi, May 23, 1844 - November 28, 1921), eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh and successor to Him as leader of the Bahá’í Faith; appointed by Bahá’u’lláh as the authoritative expounder and perfect exemplar of the Bahá’í teachings and as the Center of Bahá’u’lláh's Covenant.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was born in Tehran on May 23, 1844 (the same day as the Declaration of the Báb, and was named 'Abbás, after His grandfather, Mírzá Buzurg Núrí. His mother was Ásiyih Khánum, herself of a notable Iranian family. Shortly after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's birth, His father became a prominent member of the Bábí religionwhich was to change the life of the family dramatically. The most memorable event in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's childhood was the imprisonment of His father following the attempt made on the life of the Shah on 15 August 1852. Bahá’u’lláh had nothing to do with this attempt, yet the mere fact that He was a prominent Bábí was sufficient to imprison Him. The results for the family were catastrophic. Despite their high social position, their house was looted and they were reduced to poverty. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who was then eight years old, was attacked in the streets by other children. He records His distress when on one occasion He was taken to see His father in prison.
After four months Bahá’u’lláh was released from prison but ordered into exile. The conditions of the journey to Baghdad in March 1853 were very harsh as the family was ill-prepared for traveling in winter conditions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's sister, Bahiyyih Khánum, records that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá suffered from frost-bite during the journey. InBaghdad there was a period of respite for the family; but then, Bahá’u’lláh, deciding that He could not endure the conflicts among the Bábís in Baghdad (see "Bahá’u’lláh.3"), departed suddenly on 10 April 1854, leaving His family behind. For almost two years there was no news of Bahá’u’lláh, which was very hard on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who was very attached to His father. Eventually Bahá’u’lláh was located and persuaded to return to Baghdad
Some of the most important formative years of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's life were the ones that He spent in Baghdad as a child and young man. He records that He spent His time reading the writings of the Báb and committing them to memory. His education was under the personal supervision of Bahá’u’lláh. He also enjoyed horse-riding and frequented Baghdad's intellectual circles. It was here, while still only seventeen years of age, that He wrote for 'Alí Shawkat (Ali evket) Páshá a treatise on mysticism and metaphysics called the Sharḥ-i Kuntu Kanzan Makhfiyan(Commentary on the Islamic Tradition: 'I was a Hidden Treasure. . .'), a remarkable feat for one so young.
During the course of the journey from Baghdad to Istanbul, and later, in both Edirne and Akka, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá increasingly assumed the role of Bahá’u’lláh's chief steward, taking responsibility for organizing the household and seeing to Bahá’u’lláh's personal requirements. He also gradually took over responsibility for the relationships between the small exile community and the outside world. It was He who arranged for Bahá’u’lláh to move outside the walls of Akka in 1877. He personally undertook all contacts with government officials, and supervised and vetted the stream of visitors that came to see His father, including the increasingly large numbers who came as pilgrims from Iran.
Early years of his ministry 1892-1911 Bahá’u’lláh passed away on 29 May 1892. In such works as the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Tablet of the Branch, Bahá’u’lláh had indicated that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was to be His successor. The successorship was then clearly and unequivocally stated in Bahá’u’lláh's Will and Testament, the Book of the Covenant.
With such a clear designation, it would seem to have been impossible to challenge ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's authority. Mírzá Muḥammad 'Alí, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's half-brother, did, however, do this on the grounds that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had exceeded His station and claimed to be a prophet with a revelation from God. Although ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on numerous occasions denied the station of prophethood as either a lesser prophet of a Manifestation of God and specifically refuted those who were inclined to make excessive claims about Him, Mírzá Muḥammad 'Alí continued to press these charges. At first, Mírzá Muḥammad 'Alí appeared to have a good deal of success and several prominent Bahá’ís supported him. This episode of Covenant-breaking, as it was called by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, raged at its most fierce from about 1895 to 1905. Thereafter, the outcome was clear and many who had supported Mírzá Muḥammad 'Alí either reverted to the cause of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or left the Bahá’í Faith altogether.
A staircase leading to the section House of ‘Abdu’lláh Páshá occupied by the Holy Family. As a result of accusations against ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made by Mírzá Muḥammad 'Alí to the authorities, the strict terms of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá imprisonment were re-introduced in August 1901. Then, in 1905, a government commission of enquiry arrived in Akka to look into the charges that had been made by Mírzá Muḥammad 'Alí. This was a time of great danger for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but it passed and the commission's findings were lost in the political upheavals that were taking place at this time. In 1908 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was freed from imprisonment, under the general amnesty after the re-establishment of the Turkish Constitution (see "'Abdu'l-Ḥamíd, Sulṭán").
The other important events during this period were the growth of a large community of Bahá’ís in North America and of a few Bahá’í groups in Europe; the arrival of the first group of Western Bahá’ís in Akka on 10 December 1898 (others soon followed); and the entombment of the remains of the Báb in a shrine on Mount Carmel.
In August 1910 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá traveled to Egypt. He remained in Port Said for one month and then moved toAlexandria until May 1911 when He transferred to Cairo. On 11 August 1911 He left aboard a ship headed for Marseilles. On this trip He visited London, Bristol, and Paris, returning to Egypt in December.
The following year He undertook a much more extensive journey. He boarded the S.S. Cedric and set off for New York on 25 March 1912, arriving on 11 April. (Although encouraged by friends--who had even raised funds for the trip--to sail on the Titanic, He mysteriously declined, returning the money, in favor of the other ship.) He visited Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., going back to New York by 11 May. For the next few months He remained in New York with occasional brief visits to Boston, Philadelphia, and a number of smaller towns as well as the Lake Mohonk Peace Conference. In August He began a more extensive journey, starting in New Hampshire and the Green Acre School in Maine and going on to Montreal, Buffalo, Chicago, Kenosha, and Minneapolis. He traveled west, reaching San Francisco at the beginning of October. In California He visited Oakland, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles before heading back eastward on 26 October. He traveled through Chicago, Cincinnati, Washington D. C., and Baltimore to New York. On 5 December He set sail from New York, arriving in Liverpool on 13 December. From Liverpool He went to London, where He remained until 21 January 1913 with a number of trips to Oxford, Edinburgh, and Bristol. In Paris, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed two months before making a journey to Stuttgart, Budapest, and Vienna. After another six weeks in Paris, hHe left for Marseilles on 12 June and set sail for Port Said the next day. From 13 June until 2 December He remained in Egypt and then returned to Haifa.
The First World War broke out in the year after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's return from His western journeys. For a time, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá moved most of the Bahá’ís of the Haifa-Akka area to the Druze village of Abú-Sinán, because of the threat of Allied bombardment of the coast. Later the danger to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's person was renewed through the threats of the Turkish commander Jamál (Cemal) Páshá. There was also famine in Palestine. Eventually the war years passed and the British Mandate over Palestine brought the threat to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to an end. His final years saw a growing stream of visitors and pilgrims from all parts of the world who came to Haifa to see Him. He was awarded a knighthood by the British government on 27 April 1920. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away on 28 November 1921 at about 1:00 AM in his house in Haifa. He was buried following a large public funeral in a room in the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel.
Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá's principal writings are His correspondence with numerous Bahá’ís, well-wishers, government officials, and others. He wrote primarily in Persian and Arabic but there is also a small amount of material in Ottoman Turkish. The Bahá’í World Center currently holds over 27,000 letters of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and He must have written many more. A large number of compilations of these letters have been published over the years. Some of the most important of the tablets, such as the Tablet to Dr. Forel, have been published separately. Although most of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's correspondence is with individual Bahá’ís, some of it is addressed to Bahá’í groups and communities. The most important of the latter category are The Tablets of the Divine Plan, written in 1916-17 and addressed to the Bahá’ís of North America, which Shoghi Effendi calls the "Charter" for the propagation of the Bahá’í Faith (MBW 84). ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also wrote to organizations, such as the Central Organization for a Durable Peace at the Hague, and occasionally to newspapers, such as the Christian Commonwealth.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote three books: The Secret of Divine Civilization (1875), A Traveler's Narrative(q.v., 1886), and Risáliy-i-Siyásiyyih (Treatise on Politics, 1892-3). Two of these were written during the lifetime of his father; in later years He had little time for such work. Many talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have been published. Some of these, such as Memorials of the Faithful and Some Answered Questions, were read and corrected by Him prior to publication. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also wrote a large number of prayers, some Tablets of Visitation for prominent Bahá’ís, and some poetry. Lastly, there is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Will and Testament, which is referred to by Shoghi Effendi as the "Charter of Bahá’u’lláh's New World Order" (GPB xv). There is also a large body of literature consisting of pilgrims' notes about their visit to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
After the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921, the leadership of the Bahá’í community entered a new phase, evolving from that of a single individual to an administrative order founded on the "twin pillars" of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, being the executive and legislative branches.
Shoghi Effendi is not regarded as one of the Central Figures of the Bahá’í Faith. Whereas the works of the threeCentral Figures constitute the source of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi's writings are effectively limited to commentaries on the works of the Central Figures.
Born in ‘Akká in March 1897, Shoghi Effendi was related to The Báb through his father, Mírzá Hádí Shírází, and to Bahá’u’lláh through his mother, Ḍiyá'iyyih Khánum, the eldest daughter of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. From the early years of his life, Shoghi Effendi was greatly influenced by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who provided much of his initial training. Shoghi Effendi would pray at every dawn for one hour in his grandfather's room and learned numerous prayers which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá encouraged him to chant. It was also ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who insisted that the appellation given to the child should be "Shoghi Effendi", ("Effendi" signifies "Sir"), rather than simply "Shoghi", as a mark of respect towards him.
From his early years, Shoghi Effendi was introduced to the suffering which accompanied the Bahá’ís in Akká, including the attacks by Mírzá Muhammad `Alí against ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As a young boy, he was aware of Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamíd's desire to banish ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the torrid deserts of North Africa where he was expected to perish. At one point, Shoghi Effendi was warned not to drink coffee in the homes of any of the Bahá’ís in the fear that he would be poisoned.
Guardianship
Shoghi Effendi at the time of becoming Guardian in 1921. Taken in Haifa. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Will and Testament is considered one of the three charters of the Bahá’í Administrative Order. In it he laid down the authority of the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice:
"...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... 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."(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Will and Testament, p. 11)
Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
On 29 November 1921, the news of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's passing reached Shoghi Effendi, which left him "in a state of collapse," according to Tudor Pole, the deliverer of the cable. After spending a couple of days in bed, and making the proper arrangements, he arrived in Haifa on 29 December, and a few days later opened ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Will and Testament, which was addressed to Shoghi Effendi.
In the Will Shoghi Effendi found that he had been designated as "the Sign of God, the chosen branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God". He also learned that he had been designated as this when he was still a small child.
Shoghi Effendi later expressed to his wife and others that he had no foreknowledge of the existence of the Institution of Guardianship, least of all that he was appointed as Guardian. The most he expected was perhaps, because he was the eldest grandson, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá might have left instructions as to how the Universal House of Justice was to be elected and he might have been designated as Convener of the gathering which would elect it. Unexpected death
Shoghi Effendi's passing came unexpectedly in 1957 as he was traveling to Britain and caught the Asiatic flu. The news flashed around the world in the following cable:
"Shoghi Effendi beloved of all hearts sacred trust given believers by Master passed away sudden heart attack in sleep following Asiatic flu. Urge believers remain steadfast cling institution Hands lovingly reared recently reinforced emphasized by beloved Guardian. Only oneness heart oneness purpose can befittingly testify loyalty all National Assemblies believers departed Guardian who sacrificed self utterly for service Faith."Ruhiyyih
(Priceless Pearl, p. 447) According to the framework of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, it was not possible to appoint a successor, and the legislative body "possessing the exclusive right to legislate on matters not explicitly revealed" was not yet established in the world. Furthermore, The Guardian left no will as attested to by the Hands of the Cause of God, who were required to ratify his selection. All of the 27 living Hands of the Cause unanimously signed a statement shortly after the passing of Shoghi Effendi stating that he had died "without having appointed his successor...". Ministry of the Custodians
The suddenness of his death caught the Bahá’í world off-guard, and the Bahá’í Faith was temporarily stewarded by the Hands of the Cause, who elected among themselves 9 "Custodians" to serve in Haifa as the head of the Faith. They reserved to the "entire body of the Hands of the Cause" the responsibility to determine the transition of the International Bahá’í Council into the Universal House of Justice, and that the Custodians reserved to themselves the authority to determine and expel Covenant-breakers. (Ministry of the Custodians, p. 34)
Election of the Universal House of Justice At the end of the Ten Year Crusade, planned by Shoghi Effendi and concluding in 1963, the Universal House of Justice was first elected. As its first order of business, the Universal House of Justice evaluated the situation caused by the fact that the Guardian had not appointed a successor. It determined that under the circumstances, given the criteria for succession described in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, there was no legitimate way for another Guardian to be appointed. Therefore, although a succession of Guardians is envisioned in the Will and Testament, Shoghi Effendi remains the first and last occupant of this office.