Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1986-2001

Wilmette, Illinois

Bahá’í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois 60091-2886 Copyright © 2009 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States All rights reserved. Published 2010 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ∞ 13

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Universal House of Justice.

Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1986–2001. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-87743-356-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Bahai Faith.

2. Universal House of Justice. I. Title.

BP382.M47 2010 297.9’387—dc22 2009038602

Cover design by Robert A. Reddy Book design by Patrick Falso Photograph by Dean Wilkey

Foreword The early years of the history of the Bahá’í Faith are defined by Shoghi Effendi as the Heroic Age, an age that began with the Báb’s declaration of His divine mission in 1844 and continued through the ministries of both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. It was an age characterized by vicious persecution of the Faith’s twin Prophet-Founders and Their followers. It was a time of hardship but also of glory, for the brightness of dawn dispelled the dark of night, and Bahá’u’lláh’s voluminous writings set forth the pathway to a divine civilization that would ensure peace and prosperity for all by offering the means for individual spiritual transformation and the final unification of human society. Bahá’u’lláh urged the kings and rulers of His time to recognize and partake of this gift. None heeded His call, assuring that He would not see His own promises realized in His lifetime. After Bahá’u’lláh’s passing, the small community of believers was entrusted with bringing His world order into reality.

To build a new world order would be a hopeless task indeed had Bahá’u’lláh not given His followers a means to ensure its realization. In His will and testament He established a Covenant, unprecedented in religious history, that would protect and shelter the Bahá’ís by preserving the continuity of divine authority through a never-ending link to God’s will for humanity.

Through this Covenant Bahá’u’lláh passed leadership of the Bahá’í community to His eldest son and appointed successor, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in turn perpetuated this Covenant by designating, in his will and testament, the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice as his successors.

With ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing in 1921, the sun set on the Heroic Age of the Faith, and a new age began: the Formative Age, an age destined to precede and prepare the way for the Golden Age of the Most Great Peace, the emergence of a global commonwealth, and the fulfillment of Bahá’u’lláh’s holy vision of the oneness of humankind. xix

foreword

During the Formative Age, the strength of the Covenant would not only protect the Faith from schism but also provide for its florescence. Upon Shoghi Effendi, his eldest grandson, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the mantle of the Guardian of the Cause of God. Under his leadership during the First Epoch of the Formative Age, spanning the years 1921 to 1946, the seeds of the Bahá’í Administrative Order that Bahá’u’lláh had planted and that ‘Abdu’lBahá had carefully nurtured began to sprout. Guided by the Guardian, the Bahá’í community established the primary stages of its expansion—slowly building in all continents the local and national institutions that would facilitate the spread of the Faith to the entire world through the execution of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan. That Plan was the blueprint carried forward

by Shoghi Effendi as he initiated the first of many systematic teaching plans implemented and carried out during his stewardship of the worldwide Bahá’í community. These successive plans, beginning with the first Seven Year Plan in 1937, were directed at establishing Bahá’í communities in every country in the Western Hemisphere and deepening the roots of already existing communities.

These teaching plans continued throughout the Second Epoch of the Formative Age (1946–63), culminating in the Ten Year World Crusade from 1953 to 1963, which summoned the twelve existing National Spiritual Assemblies to unite in a focused effort to spread the Faith to all corners of the globe. The Crusade opened 131 new countries to the Faith, achieving a complementary increase in the diversity of the Bahá’í community and expanding the number of National Assemblies to fifty-six. These successes were matched by the evolution of the Administrative Order and the simultaneous development of the Faith’s World Center in Haifa. Auxiliary Boards were introduced and the International Bahá’í Council was established. The Hands of the Cause of God, an institution created by Bahá’u’lláh, came into its own through the appointment to its ranks of souls of remarkable character and capacity, to carry out its purpose of propagating the Faith of God and protecting its unity.

Shoghi Effendi’s unexpected death midway through the Crusade in 1957, however, deprived the Bahá’ís of their source of divine guidance and their beloved Guardian. At this moment of despair, the Hands of the Cause of God, whom Shoghi Effendi called the “Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Commonwealth,” heroically arose to lead the community to complete the plan laid out by Shoghi Effendi and to establish the Universal

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1986–1992 •

The Six Year Plan

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Martyrdom of Three Bahá’ís in Iran 12 May 1986

To all National Spiritual Assemblies with heavy hearts announce martyrdom three valiant souls iranian 1.1 bahá’í community. mr. sirru’lláh vaþdat-niþámí was executed by hanging 4 may 1986 in tehran. he had been imprisoned since 13 february 1984. mr. fidrus shabrukh, 38, was executed by hanging 9 may 1986 in záhidán. he had been imprisoned for a second time since 26 september 1983. both these friends had been severely tortured much of their time in prison. the third victim, fifteen year old paymán subhání was taken togeth- 1.2 er with his father rúþu’l-amín subhání by a group of fanatics encouraged by official religious elements, to the mountains, where they were beaten and stoned. both were presumed dead and thrown over a cliff. accidentally a vehicle strayed into the area and found them. the father, barely alive, was taken to a hospital in tehran where he is still in serious condition. the son, paymán was dead. these crimes after relative quiet period in iran have caused concern 1.3 safety, well-being iranian bahá’í community. . . .

Universal House of Justice

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Assignments of the Continental Boards of Counselors 25 May 1986

To the Bahá’ís of the World Beloved Friends, The Six Year Plan has been launched and national Bahá’í communities throughout the world are engaged in formulating their national goals. On the Day of the Covenant, 26 November 1986, a new term of five years will begin for those appointed to the Auxiliary Boards. In preparation for that event, we find it propitious to announce the following decisions.

As from last Ri¤ván, Turkey has been transferred from the area of responsibility of the Continental Board of Counselors in Asia to that of the Continental Board of Counselors in Europe. Counselor Ilhan Sezgin is, 

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therefore, a member of the European Board of Counselors. It has also been decided to increase the size of the European Auxiliary Board for the Protection of the Faith to 36 members, which is the same as the number currently authorized for the Propagation Board in that continent.

In view of the growth of the Bahá’í community and its emergence from obscurity, we have decided to make the following further changes in the number of members of the Auxiliary Boards, to be effective from 26 November 1986:

New Number

Protection Propagation

81 99

9 9

90 108

Americas

Protection Propagation

54 117

9 0

63 117

Asia

Protection Propagation

99 117

0 9

99 126

Australasia

Protection Propagation

27 36

9 9

36 45

Europe

Protection Propagation

36

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36

36

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36

Total

702

54

756

Total Protection Total Propagation

297 405

27 27

324 432

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Number Added

Africa

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Present Number

This further expansion of the institution of the Auxiliary Boards reflects the recent increase of the number of Continental Counselors from sixty three to seventy two and is required by the marked growth in the size of Bahá’í communities, a growth which it is confidently expected will accelerate during the Six Year Plan as the impact of the Faith’s emergence from obscurity begins to make itself evident in a growing interest in its teachings by people in all walks of life.

It will also assist the vital development in maturity and experience of the National and Local Spiritual Assemblies, a process which must synchronize with the further development of the World Center of the Faith and the advance of mankind towards the attainment of the lesser peace. Who can 

1986–1992 •

The Six Year Plan

tell what challenges these burgeoning divine institutions will have to face in the years immediately ahead—years which may well see the realization of mankind’s gravest fears and the appearance of the fulfillment of its highest hopes.

Our prayers at the Sacred Threshold are offered on behalf of every faithful follower of the Blessed Beauty who is laboring for the promotion of His Cause.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

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The Universal House of Justice

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Execution of a Bahá’í in Iran 25 June 1986

To all National Spiritual Assemblies with heavy hearts we announce execution by hanging of faríd bihmardí 3.1 on 10 june 1986 in tehran. his family were unaware of his execution and found out about this sad event a few days after he was buried by the authorities. mr. bihmardí, age 46, was one of the outstanding bahá’ís in the cradle of the faith. he was under torture for a very prolonged period of time, but his endurance was a source of encouragement to other bahá’í prisoners who were witnesses to his suffering. five other prisoners have indicated to their visiting relatives that it may be the last visit they will have, which implies their imminent execution. . . .

Universal House of Justice

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Visit to the World Center by Prime Minister of the Cook Islands 8 August 1986

To all National Spiritual Assemblies in humble acknowledgment bahá’u’lláh’s unabating confirmations, 4.1 we inform friends everywhere private visit to bahá’í world center prime minister cook islands sir thomas davis and lady davis 3 and 4 au-

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m e ss a g e s f r o m t h e u n i v e r s a l h o u s e o f j u st i c e

gust. occasion made historic by prime minister’s initiative in requesting consultation with universal house of justice regarding world peace. visit also marked most concrete response to date by political leader to peace statement released to peoples world last october. during consultations which took place on first day in council chamber following prime minister’s visit shrine báb and on second day at mansion bahjí following his visit shrine bahá’u’lláh, sir thomas discussed his thoughts about world peace and his desire for practical action consonant with challenges and opportunities facing vast pacific area.

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occasion also enabled lady davis, leading member cook islands nobility and one of first bahá’ís that country, to undertake brief pilgrimage thus spiritually enhancing total unprecedented experience associated with visit to world center these two distinguished persons. while sir thomas met with us in council chamber, lady davis was received at seat international teaching center. punctuated by banquet at seat universal house of justice, their activities at world center ended with lunch at mazra‘ih. subsequently sir thomas and lady davis traveled to jerusalem where they were entertained by officials government israel. they departed holy land on morning 5 august.

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once again action by leader from pacific ocean calls to our minds one of bahá’u’lláh’s most trenchant assertions concerning power his cause: “should they attempt to conceal its light on the continent,” he wrote, “it will assuredly rear its head in the midmost heart of the ocean, and, raising its voice, proclaim: ‘i am the lifegiver of the world!’”4-1

Universal House of Justice

4-1. GPB, p. 253. 

1986–1992 •

The Six Year Plan

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Bahá’í Youth Killed in Iran 8 October 1986

To all National Spiritual Assemblies in vardávard, a village in outskirts karaj, near tehran, sixteen year 5.1 old boy, member devoted bahá’í family, bízhan Ṭálibí, was killed a few days ago. fanatical elements in village had repeatedly abused this family and other local friends. body found in garden with evidence severe injuries through brutal beating. murderers had the body hanged to suggest suicide. however local gendarmes who arrived on scene averred death was due to injuries. members family complained to local authorities, but this resulted in his mother, brother and cousin being held in solitary confinement in tehran. . . .

Universal House of Justice

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Apartheid

12 October 1986 To all National Spiritual Assemblies Dear Bahá’í Friends, The above statement which was sent to you with our covering letter of 21 February 1986 has been revised by the Office of Public Information and approved by the Universal House of Justice. At the direction of the House of Justice, we enclose a copy of the revised statement, which supersedes the previous one.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

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Department of the Secretariat

Apartheid: A Bahá’í View A little more than a hundred years ago, Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, declared that mankind was entering upon a new era in its history when accelerating processes of unification would soon compel universal recognition that humanity is one single race, one distinct species. He appealed 

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to the peoples of the world to accept this central truth and to set aside the barriers of race, nationality, and culture which have been principal causes of war throughout history. There is, He said, no possibility of achievement of world peace until the fundamental principle of unity has been accepted and given practical effect in the organization of society.

Consequently, from the time of its inception more than a century ago, the Bahá’í world community has been characterized by the integration of the many religious, racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic and national elements which it comprises. Marriage between persons of different ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, and particularly between black and white Bahá’ís, is warmly encouraged in the Bahá’í scriptures. In order to make certain that those members who suffer discrimination in society as a whole are not prevented from full participation in the life of the community, the Bahá’í teachings contain certain administrative principles which are designed to overcome the handicaps created by social inequalities. For example, where a tie vote has been cast in a Bahá’í community election or where two or more believers are equally qualified for a particular office, priority is given as a matter of principle to the one representing the disadvantaged or oppressed sector of society.

It is these principles which have guided the Bahá’ís in South Africa since the opening years of this century. When the apartheid laws made it illegal for certain local groups, including elected Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies, to contain members from different racial backgrounds, it was the white Bahá’ís who surrendered the privilege of elected membership so that the principle of giving priority to disadvantaged segments of society could continue to prevail. Except for these local decision-making bodies whose membership was explicitly limited by civil law, Bahá’í meetings in South Africa have been racially integrated, a fact well known to the civil authorities.

Beyond attempting to provide an encouraging example of racial integration, the Bahá’í community in South Africa has devoted much of its energy to the inculcation of Bahá’í principles related to the oneness of mankind and on the development of a sense of self-worth and of social responsibility in the individual. Parallel with these activities has been a program aimed at training Spiritual Assemblies in principles of consultation and problemsolving. Bahá’ís are particularly proud of the results of this effort because through it black believers have assumed the highest elective and appointive offices in the community.

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1986–1992 •

The Six Year Plan

This historical background points up the Bahá’í conviction that solutions to situations such as that which prevails in South Africa must draw on the force of example. Fundamental changes in social attitude will be most readily achieved if the relevant spiritual and moral principles are courageously set forth and if men and women of good will can see others attempting successfully to give these ideals practical expression in individual and community life.

Violating as it does the very honor of humanity, the system of apartheid arouses in peoples of all nations and cultures deep feelings of abhorrence.

Bahá’ís share these feelings particularly keenly. The moral challenge which the situation represents, however, has now become intertwined with partisan political concerns. So complete is this interrelationship that the issues in the conflict are inextricable from one another: social protest originating in moral outrage has assumed the character of political action.

It is natural that it should do so, given the adversary principle that characterizes our political traditions throughout the world. But political action, in the absence of conditions for genuine consultation, in which partisan interests are subordinated to the interests of the whole, will not itself bring an enduring resolution of problems as serious as those convulsing South Africa. However difficult the task and however disheartening the present situation may seem, segments of South African society who believe full integration to be the fundamental issue face the challenge of focusing their efforts on creating such conditions. This is a moral imperative as urgent as any other motivating peoples of good will who seek to free South Africa from its terrible burden.

Bahá’ís are required by the teachings of their Faith to refrain from involvement in partisan political activity and civil disorder. This is true whether such activity is a response to racial oppression, as is generally the case in South Africa, or to more widespread attempts to keep people divided and vulnerable such as the persecution of religious belief, the suppression of women, or the denial of political freedom. The hard-won experience of Bahá’ís under all these conditions convinces them beyond any doubt that humanity can learn to live as one family and that all the forces of contemporary history are rapidly impelling the race in this direction. The pressure of these forces is inescapable; eventually even South Africa will respond. The quality of that response, and its speed, will depend as much on spiritual and moral conditions as it will on economic and political ones.

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Equality of Women and Men 27 October 1986

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To an individual Bahá’í Dear Bahá’í Friend, Your very thought-provoking letter of 24 June 1986 has been the subject of considerable research, and the Universal House of Justice has instructed us to send you the following reply.

The crucial task before you in relation to your two little daughters would seem to be to foster their confidence in and love for God, their acceptance of His Will and their assurance of the validity of the Bahá’í principle of the equality of men and women. In working towards this there are certain facts of history and principle in the Faith that you need to accept and reconcile.

You raise two basic issues, that all the Manifestations of God known to us have been men, and that they have appeared in the East.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself in a talk given in Malden, Massachusetts, confirms that “The East has ever been the dawning point of the Sun of Reality. All the Prophets of God have appeared there. The religions of God have been promulgated, the teachings of God have been spread, and the law of God founded in the East. The Orient has always been the center of lights.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 289) Indeed, one can see that the Prophets of God named in the Scriptures have appeared, not just in the East, but in a very limited area of the East, stretching from the Levant and Egypt across Iran as far as India. We have no authenticated records of Chinese or Japanese Prophets. However, to complement this we must remember that the Founders of the Great Religions are but one of the kinds of prophet, and we should study the following Qur’ánic statements: And every nation had an apostle; so when their apostle came, the matter was decided between them with justice and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.

(Surah 10, verse 47)

7.4b

And certainly We raised in every nation an apostle saying: Serve God and shun the devil. . . .

(Surah 16, verse 36) 

1986–1992 •

The Six Year Plan

And on the day when We will raise up a witness out of every nation, then shall no permission be given to those who disbelieve, nor shall they be made to solicit favor.

7.4c

(Surah 16, verse 84)

. . . And there is not a people but a warner has gone among them.

7.4d

(Surah 35, verse 24)

There are Prophets mentioned in the Qur’án, such as Húd and ßáli¥, about whom the Bible is silent. Idrís, whom the Qur’án states was a Prophet, is identified with Hermes by Bahá’u’lláh, Who states “In every tongue he hath a special name.”7-1 It is clear that He must have lived in very ancient times. Bahá’u’lláh made no mention of Buddha, and if it had not been for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement we would not have been in a position to state definitely that Buddha had been a Manifestation of God. There are a myriad traditions in the legends of peoples that point back to some sort of divine revelation but, as the beloved Guardian’s secretary pointed out on his behalf in a letter written to an individual believer on 13 March 1950, “. . . We cannot possibly add names of people we (or anyone else) think might be Lesser Prophets to those found in the Qur’án, the Bible and our own Scriptures.

For only these can we consider authentic Books.” We must just accept that there are undoubtedly many prophetic figures of whom all authentic record has been lost. As to the future, the Research Department knows of no Text which states explicitly in which country Manifestations of God will appear.

The reason for the appearance of a Manifestation of God in a given place is not to honor a particular people or nation. Shoghi Effendi indicates a quite different reason in The Advent of Divine Justice and, more concisely, in a letter to an individual written on his behalf on 23 January 1944: The ever-recurring miracle in the establishment of every religion is that such poor instruments accomplish the work of God. It is to demonstrate the fact that God is the power that overcomes every obstacle, and that Revelations are divine in origin, that leads Him to always

7-1. TB, p. 148. 

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choose the worst people among whom to manifest His Messenger and the most obscure and helpless of the population—relatively speaking—to establish the foundations of His Faith. The Bahá’í Dispensation is no exception to this rule, as you yourself have observed.

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Beyond these points is the fact that God, the Almighty Creator, does not have to justify His choice of a race or nationality from which to raise up a Manifestation. As all sacred scriptures tell us, He does as He wills and shall not be asked of His doing, and we bow in humility before Him. Besides, as you must know, conceptions of race, nation, oriental, occidental, and the like reflect earthly limitations and are not qualifications attached to the reality of the soul in the limitless realms of God. Regarding your desire to assist your daughters to overcome their perceptions of the unequal status of women, you are perhaps not aware of the compilation on women recently released to National Spiritual Assemblies.7-2 Through the divine insights and instructions provided in this compilation, you can inspire your daughters with knowledge of the glorious station to which women are called in the Age of Bahá’u’lláh, and imbue them with assurance in the promises of the Blessed Beauty, so that through constant endeavor they may become as brilliant stars radiating a spirit of freedom from the stultifying notions of the past. On the particular question of the relationship between womanhood and prophethood, it is hoped that the following comments will be of help.

Even though there have been outstanding women such as Sarah, Ásíyih, the Virgin Mary, Fá¬imih, øáhirih and the Greatest Holy Leaf in every Dispensation, it is an incontrovertible fact that all Manifestations of God known to us have been men. Moreover, it is a clear provision in Bahá’í administration that the Guardians were to be men and that membership on the Universal House of Justice is confined to men. Whether these facts point to a differentiation in function that is unalterable, or whether it was merely a characteristic of a period which will change when mankind attains its maturity is a matter that will, no doubt, become clear in the future. The important point for Bahá’ís to remember is that, in face of the categorical

7-2. For the compilation, see CC 2:355–406 or http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/c/ CW/. 

1986–1992 •

The Six Year Plan

pronouncements in Bahá’í Scripture establishing the equality of men and women, even these facts are no evidence at all of the superiority of the male over the female sex. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has explained that equality does not mean identity of function. He has also stated that the few areas in which men and women are not equal are “negligible.”7-3 We must also remember that sex is a characteristic of this world, not of the spiritual world. When the Guardian was asked about “soul mates” and the problem that could arise in the next world if one were to remarry in this life, his secretary replied on his behalf, on 4 December 1954: There is no teaching in the Bahá’í Faith that “soul mates” exist.

What is meant is that marriage should lead to a profound friendship of spirit, which will endure in the next world, where there is no sex, and no giving and taking in marriage; just the way we should establish with our parents, our children, our brothers and sisters and friends a deep spiritual bond which will be everlasting, and not merely physical bonds of human relationship.

The House of Justice hopes that these remarks will help to ease some of your perplexity and will assist you and your dear wife to raise your daughters as devoted and knowledgeable Bahá’ís, confident of the validity of the principles promulgated by Bahá’u’lláh. Surely as they meet problems and questions and face them fearlessly, their understanding of the Cause of God will deepen and this will increase their ability to deal with the difficulties of life.

We are asked to assure you of the prayers of the House of Justice in the Holy Shrines that . . . and . . . may be the recipients of God’s constant benediction and that their parents may be divinely assisted to protect and train them.

With loving Bahá’í greetings, Department of the Secretariat

7-3. CC 2:371. 

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New Stage in External Affairs of the Faith 29 October 1986

To the meeting of the Senior Officers of the United Nations Office and the Office of Public Information 8.1

the gathering in new york on 31 october of the senior staff of the overseas offices of the bahá’í international community marks a new, potent stage in the development of the external affairs of the worldwide bahá’í community. this stage betokens the prominence attained by the cause of god in its emergence from obscurity and is characterized by the new, inescapable challenges immediately to be met as a direct result of the operation of the onrushing processes through which are evolving the reconstructive influences of bahá’u’lláh’s world order. a striking manifestation of the new situation can be seen in the accumulating evidence of the salutary relationship developing between the bahá’í community and the world at large. this relationship must be expanded. as windows of the bahá’í community to the world, these offices must display ever more clearly the unifying principles, the hope, the promise, the majesty of this emerging order.

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a glance backward to the embryonic efforts 39 years ago to associate the interests of the faith with the work of the united nations cannot but arouse in every observant bahá’í a deep sense of pride and wonderment at the momentous progress achieved. the foundation of eight national spiritual assemblies on which those efforts were launched has, by the establishment of 148 national spiritual assemblies, broadened nearly nineteenfold. from that small beginning to the historic moment in 1970 when the bahá’í international community was accorded consultative status with the economic and social council, followed by a similar accreditation with the united nations children’s fund in 1976, to the remarkable occasion in december 1985 when the name of the faith was recorded in a resolution passed by the general assembly itself, the world order of bahá’u’lláh has surely justified its promise to come forth as a force to be reckoned with in the closing years of the twentieth century.

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you have witnessed in the last three years the establishment of the office of public information, the consolidation of the executive

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