The foes of the Faith then say that if Shoghi Effendi could not “appoint in his own life time hm that shall become his successor,” it means that the Administrative Order of the Baha’i Faith was not well designed, and it is imperfect, etc..
“There is no doubt at all that in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l Bahá Shoghi Effendi was the authority designated to appoint his successor, but he had no children and all the surviving Aghsan had broken the Covenant.
“appoint in his own life time him that shall become his successor,” not in the form of a will which usually is disclosed after the passing.
The Guardian of the Cause of God cannot be silent, and the first Guardian never was silent. What guidance is anticipated from silence, which opens the door to different assumptions and speculations?
“No, there will always be evil in the world and doubtless the succeeding Manifestations would be persecuted though in a lesser degree.” The meaning of the verse was that the Guardians would be sources of guidance and protection for the Faith until the coming of the subsequent Manifestation which might not be for 6000 years although He might come any time after 1000 years depending on need.
“In the future, when the next Manifestation appears, the Guardian of the Cause at that time will tell the believers who the Manifestation is and will call on them to accept Him. What is the use of the infallibility of the Guardian if he does not do this? This is one of the very important things that he will do. Opposition to the next Manifestation will thus be much less than in former times that is to say, the area of opposition will be reduced.
“The Guardian said there will be Bahá’í Kings. The Hands of the Cause of God, with their own organization, will be these kings. Their duties, specifically, will be to propagate the Faith and protect it. The Hands of the Cause will outrank the members of the House of Justice. Hujoj. [Huquq.] More will be given on this in later years. It is solely for purification of money and one’s income.
In fact, Shoghi Effendi, in accordance to the provisions of the Will andTestament of Abdu’l-Baha, appointed His successor in His life-time.
In 9 January 1951 Shoghi Effendi by His Only Proclamation issued during his 36-year ministry announced the formation of the first International Bahá’í Council, the real Universal House of Justice, in embryonic form, and by cablegram of 2 March 1951, appointed Mason Remey as the President and Head of the true Universal House of Justice, in embryonic form, i.e. the next Guardian. The presidency of the Universal House of Justice exclusively is the function of the Guardian, and no one other than the Guardian can occupy this position.
The Head of the true Universal House of Justice is pre-appointed, and this capacity comes as an integral part of the authorities and responsibilities of the Guardian delineated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in His Testament. The Head of this body is the Guardian who is appointed by the predecessor Guardian.
No one on earth has the authority to remove the “Sacred Head” of this Body and elect someone instead to replace him.Mason Remey was appointed by the first Guardian, and after the passing of Shoghi Effendi, nobody had the authority to remove him from this Office to which he was appointed by the first Guardian. Moreover, nobody had the authority to dissolve the International Baha’i Council, all of whose members were appointed by the first Guardian, and this same body, as originally appointed, had to evolve “INTO OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BAHA’I COURT” as the “ESSENTIAL PRELUDE TO THE INSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE” as clearly stated in Shoghi Effendi’s Proclamation of 9 January 1951. But in the third stage of its evolution when the Court would be transformed “INTO A DULY ELECTED BODY,” the Head and President had to continue in his Office while the members would be elected.
While the appointment of the successor is not tied to writing a will, it must be done during the life-time of the predecessor Guardian. Shoghi Effendi appointed the second Guardian of the Cause of God during his life-time.
The fact that the former Hands of the Cause under the direction of Ruhiyyih Khanum, widow of the first Guardian, did not find His Will, must not be adduced as He had not written a Will. Shoghi Effendi always encouraged Baha’is to write a will according to the commandments of Baha’u’llah in the Most Holy Book: “Unto everyone hath been enjoined the writing of a will.” It is unlikely that He had not written a will. However, as mentioned before, the appointment of the Guardian’s successor does not need to be done by means of a will and testament.
The following passage was written by Ruhiyyih Khanum.
pilgrims to the Words of Shoghi Effendi about future Guardians and his emphasis on the continuation of the Guardianship to the end of the Baha’i Dispensation.
In 1957 when the first Guardian passed to the Abha Kingdom, the Hands who did not have and could not have administrative authority, justified their usurpation of the authority of the Guardian because of the situation which was portrayed by Ruhiyyih Khanum and the former Hands who followed her. Her false assertion was that after Shoghi Effendi there was no longer any authority. In doing this they (the Hands) ignored the fact that Shoghi Effendi had already established the highest administrative Body of the Faith.
Why would the Baha’is “cling to the Hands” as Ruhiyyih Khanum told the Baha’i world to do in a telegram, instead of clinging to the supreme international institution of the Faith established by the late Guardian himself? If it was necessary for a group of nine persons to administer the affairs of the Faith, why should it not be the Universal House of Justice, in its embryonic form, similar to the status of the National and Local Bodies, especially when all the members of that International Body had been selected and appointed by the Guardian himself?
It is of particular importance that they stripped themselves from their station as Hands of the Cause when they denied the fact that the first Guardian had appointed his successor by appointing Him as the Head of the embryonic Universal House of Justice, an Office, which can only be occupied by the Guardian.