The world-at-large has been shocked during the last decade at the reprehensible
actions of the Iranian government toward members of the Bahá'í
Faith, prompted, in the main, by the Bahá'ís' purported heresy
against the Islamic religion. For although the Bahá'ís accept
Muhammad, along with Christ, Moses, Buddha, and a number of other prophets,
their acceptance of Bahá'u'lláh, who proclaimed a new revelation
from God in 1863, proves to Muslims that the Bahá'ís have
denied the general Islamic belief that God would send no prophets after
Muhammad. Thus, the Islamic government in Iran has maintained that the
Bahá'ís are "fighting God and His Messenger (the Muslim
prophet Muhammad)" and are "creating discord among Muslims,"
and because the Iranian Constitution provides no protection to the Bahá'ís,
they have been fair game for persecution.
Muslims and the Iranian government aren't the only ones who accuse the
members of the Bahá'í Faith of heresy, though. Members of
the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith have also levied heresy charges
of a different sort against those whose believers have suffered persecution
in Iran. However, those within the Orthodox Faith have no intention of
persecuting anybody, least of all the members of an organization that ascribes
to almost every belief that they do. Besides, like the littlest kid on
the block, they are in no position to beat up on anyone, for they are a
minority of a minority--a small band of Bahá'ís who have
separated themselves from the larger body and for some 30 years have attempted
to get those whom they call "heterodox Bahá'ís"
to change their heretical doctrines. Then, too, Holy War is prohibited
by their Faith.
Having achieved no success in changing the minds of those who call themselves
Bahá'ís but who have instead disavowed some of the fundamental
verities of the Bahá'í Faith, the members of the Orthodox
Faith want to tell the world about the heresy that they see WITHIN the
Bahá'í Faith, and not the Faith's purported opposition to
some other religion. For the belief of the Bahá'ís in Iran
that has been called a heresy by the Muslims is the belief of the Orthodox
Bahá'ís as well, and they, too, would be condemned by the
Islamic government of Iran for it.
But no matter how many beliefs the Orthodox Bahá'ís share
with the other Bahá'ís, the Orthodox believers are opposed
to the unauthorized, illegitimate leadership that now heads the larger
body. According to the Orthodox Bahá'ís, the world needs
to recognize that the plan for a universal order that is now espoused by
the heterodox Bahá'ís is suspect because of the changes that
the major body is making within the Faith, the most important of which
pertain to the administrative order of the Faith. The Bahá'í
Administrative Order, say the Orthodox Bahá'ís, is supposed
to be the pattern for a future world order, but not with the modifications
being put into place by those whose present world headquarters is in Haifa,
Israel. Those changes, say the Orthodox Bahá'ís, constitute
a monumental heresy.
According to the Orthodox Bahá'ís, the beginnings of the
heresy occurred in 1957 upon the death of Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, the leader
of the Faith who was known as the first Guardian. When Shoghi Effendi died,
the second Guardian was to assume command of the Faith, but that didn't
happen. What occurred instead was a religious coup d'etat. Despite the
fact that the Bahá'í writings explicitly call for a successor
Guardian, a group of individuals-- who had recently been appointed by the
first Guardian to subordinate positions directly under him--usurped command
of the Faith. They claimed that they could find no evidence of an appointed
successor, and they themselves fabricated a way for them to take over the
Faith. Their leadership eventually won complete acceptance by almost all
Bahá'ís (except for those in the Orthodox camp).
Orthodox Bahá'ís claim that the usurping subordinates, who
were known as Hands of the Cause, simply did not want a Guardian and they
did not look for the successor appointed by the first Guardian. The Hands,
whose function was to assist the Guardian of the Faith, had made up their
minds that the institution of Guardian was to be no more, so they decided
amongst themselves that God had changed his mind about the necessity for
such an institution. They further decided that one of the most basic writings
of the Faith, the Document that had established the institution of the
Guardian, was no longer operative.
They didn't divulge such decisions to the Bahá'ís at large,
deciding, from their assumed position of command, to condition the believers
to the absence of a Guardian. The Hands immediately revised the plans that
had been developed for the Bahá'í Administrative Order by
the recently deceased Guardian, and they refused to listen to anyone (at
first just one of their own number) who pointed out to them that the sacred
writings of the Faith made it absolutely essential that there be a Guardian.
At the time when the Hands first began to implement their heretical plans,
the individual who had actually been appointed as the first Guardian's
successor and who, as a Hand of the Cause himself, was in their very midst
repeatedly called upon his fellow Hands to look for and to accept the second
Guardian. But the other Hands were so obsessed with what they were doing
that they would brook no interference with their plans from anyone, even
the second Guardian of the Faith, whose appointment to office they refused
to recognize.
Orthodox Bahá'ís maintain that the real heresy within the
Bahá'í Faith becomes clear when one looks at the Covenant
of Bahá'u'lláh and the "Child of the Covenant,"
the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Bahá'u'lláh's
Covenant designated His eldest son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as His successor
and the interpreter of His book. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will--which was
identified by Shoghi Effendi as "inseparable" from Bahá'u'lláh's
Book of Laws--perpetuated the line of succession by naming his eldest grandson
(Shoghi Effendi) the first Guardian of the Faith and making it incumbent
upon him to appoint his successor, in his own lifetime, that "differences
may not arise after his passing." 'Abdu'l-Bahá explained the
importance of the Bahá'í Covenant in this manner:
As to the most great characteristic of the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh--a specific teaching not given by any of the Prophets of the past--it is the ordination and appointment of the Center of the Covenant. By this appointment and provision He has safeguarded and protected the religion of God against differences and schism, making it impossible for any one to create a new sect or faction of belief. To insure unity and agreement He has entered into a Covenant with all the people of the world including the Interpreter and Explainer of His teachings so that no one may interpret or explain the religion of God according to his own view or opinion and thus create a sect founded upon his individual understanding of the divine words. The Book of the Covenant or Testament of Bahá'u'lláh is the means of preventing such a possibility, for whosoever shall speak from the authority of himself alone shall be degraded. Be ye informed and cognizant of this.
As to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi
emphasized its importance in such statements as this: "That Bahá'u'lláh
in His Book of Aqdas [the Prophet-Founder's Book of Laws], and later 'Abdu'l-Bahá
in His Will--a document which confirms, supplements, and correlates the
provisions of the Aqdas-- have set forth in their entirety those essential
elements for the constitution of the world Bahá'í Commonwealth,
no one who has read them will deny." He characterized the Will of
'Abdu'l-Bahá as "The Charter of the New World Order,"
and while focusing on the Administrative Order of Bahá'u'lláh,
he said: "The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá unveiled its
character, reaffirmed its basis, supplemented its principles, asserted
its indispensability, and enumerated its chief institutions."
To support the Administrative Structure, the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
clearly establishes two institutions--twin pillars: the institution of
the Guardianship (the interpreter of the Word) and the Universal House
of Justice (the supreme legislative body). The Will conclusively identifies
the Guardian as the "sacred head and the distinguished member for
life" of the Universal House of Justice. However, when the Hands of
the Faith formed their Universal House of Justice in 1963, they constituted
a body without a Guardian at its head.
In the meantime, in 1960, Hand of the Cause Charles Mason Remey proclaimed
himself to be the second Guardian of the Faith. A distinguished Bahá'í
of long-standing, whose membership in the Faith traced back to the turn
of the century, and whom, on more than one occasion 'Abdu'l-Bahá
called his son, he made his proclamation on the basis of his appointment
by the first Guardian to the presidency of the embryonic Universal House
of Justice in 1951. In that year Shoghi Effendi had issued a proclamation
of his own to signal the most important historical development in the Faith
since the death of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the reading of his Will in 1921.
Shoghi Effendi's proclamation announced the constitution of the First International
Bahá'í Council, the embryonic Universal House of Justice.
He subsequently appointed the membership of the Council and designated
its officers, identifying Mason Remey as its president.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, in his writings, had stated that "the embryo
possesses from the first all perfections,...--in one word, all the powers--but
they are not visible, and become so only by degrees." On the basis
that the head of the embryo stays with the body from its conception and
the fact that Shoghi Effendi had appointed him president--or head--of the
embryonic Universal House of Justice, Mason Remey informed the Bahá'ís
that he was Shoghi Effendi's successor, since the presidency of the Universal
House of Justice and the Guardianship are synonymous. But by the time Mason
Remey made his proclamation, the Hands of the Faith were entrenched in
their leadership roles. Their plans were far advanced. In addition, Mason
Remey did not meet their expectations as a second Guardian. And because
the Bahá'ís around the world had become so accustomed to
following the lead of the Hands, when the Hands denounced him as an imposter,
the great majority of Bahá'ís rejected Mason Remey's claims.
Then, assuming additional powers which were not theirs to assume, the Hands
cast Mason Remey and his followers out of the Faith which they now controlled.
From that point on, the majority Bahá'ís have called the
followers of Mason Remey and his duly-appointed successor, Joel B. Marangella,
"Covenant-breakers" (the Bahá'í term for heretics),
since the Remey/Marangella followers (Orthodox Bahá'ís) refuse
to accept the changes the Hands--and now their Universal House of Justice--
have made in the Administrative Order that Bahá'u'lláh and
'Abdu'l-Bahá originally established. As a result of the Hands' labeling
the Orthodox Bahá'ís as "Covenant-breakers", the
followers of the Hands and their Universal House of Justice are instructed
to have nothing to do with the Orthodox Bahá'ís, and they
are even forbidden to read the printed materials that the Orthodox Bahá'ís
have prepared in defense of their position for the continuance of the Guardianship.
Among the arguments that the Orthodox Bahá'ís have raised
with the heterodox believers is their position that Shoghi Effendi called
for adherence to every clause of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament
as a requirement for membership in the Faith. That requirement was subsequently
included in the Declaration of Trust of all national Bahá'í
bodies. But now, say the Orthodox Bahá'ís, the heterodox
Bahá'ís have abandoned such requirements. Indeed, they maintain
that the heterodox Bahá'ís have abandoned the Will itself.
Naturally, the heterodox or sans-Guardian Bahá'ís (the majority
body) maintain that the course they are following is right. They emphasize
that their interpretation of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
justifies their actions. Of crucial importance to them is their claim that
Mason Remey was ineligible to be a Guardian because he was not a member
of Bahá'u'lláh's family. The sans-Guardian believers contend
that the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bahá calls for all Guardians to be in Bahá'u'lláh's
blood-line. They base their interpretation upon the provisions in the Will
which say that after the Guardian "will succeed the first-born of
his lineal descendants," and "should he [the first-born] not
inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God)...then
must he, (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed
him." The sans-Guardian believers interpret the word branch in the
preceding sentence to refer to a member of Bahá'u'lláh's
family, and since Shoghi Effendi had had no children and since all the
other members of Bahá'u'lláh's family were either dead or
had become Covenant-breakers, they contend no succession to the Guardianship
was possible.
The Orthodox Bahá'ís, on the other hand, point to the same
passage within the Will and say that the word branch refers to the spiritual
family of Bahá'u'lláh: members of the Faith. They maintain
that the spiritual relationship in such appointments always takes precedence
over the physical, the lineage of the prophet. The Orthodox Bahá'ís
accuse the sans-Guardian believers of failing to read the entire passage
in which the reference to the Guardian's choosing another branch is found,
for they say that when the sans-Guardian followers quote the passage they
tend to leave out, or misinterpret, a critical clause. The passage reads:
"should he [the child of the Guardian] not inherit of the spiritual
within him (the Guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage
not be matched with a goodly character, then must he, (the guardian
of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him." The crucial
words, say the Orthodox Bahá'ís, have to do with the Guardian's
lineage not being fulfilled so that he must go outside the blood-line.
The Orthodox Bahá'ís contend that a divinely-inspired spiritual
institution developed to last for ten centuries or more would surely not
be terminated at the end of a 36-year span on the death of the very first
Guardian. They therefore have tried to get the majority body to reassess
the provisions of the Document which, as Shoghi Effendi, that first Guardian,
wrote, "together with the Kitáb-i-Aqdas [Bahá'u'lláh's
Book of Laws], constitutes the chief depository wherein are enshrined those
priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which
is the primary mission of the Bahá'í Faith."
Since 1963, say the Orthodox Bahá'ís, the Hands' Universal
House of Justice has been manipulating those elements to which Shoghi Effendi
referred. The Hands' Universal House of Justice has now become both the
Center of their Cause--the Guardian--and the supreme legislative body.
Through such actions, the Universal House of Justice has completely contravened
Shoghi Effendi's assertion that neither the Guardian nor the Universal
House of Justice "can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and
prescribed domain of the other." Since the Hands' international body
is without a Guardian, that body has now taken over other functions that
the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bahá makes the exclusive domain of the Guardian,
such as removing a member from the Universal House if he commits a "sin
injurious to the common weal." Also, the Hands' Universal House of
Justice now appoints those who have the same functions that were originally
assigned to the Hands--individuals that the Will says are to be appointed
by the Guardian. Obviously, because of the exigencies of the time, those
with the functions of the Hands now serve under the Universal House rather
than under the Guardian alone.
Of prime significance, according to the Orthodox Bahá'ís,
is that the Universal House of the Hands has no one on the body to call
them to account. The first Guardian wrote that one of the functions of
the Guardian on the Universal House is "to insist upon a reconsideration
by them [the fellow-members of the Universal House of Justice] of any enactment
he conscientiously believes to conflict with the meaning and to depart
from the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's revealed utterances."
The members of the headless Universal House of Justice, though, say that
a living Guardian is not needed to insure that their decisions are correct.
They feel that the writings of the Faith are clear enough to dispense with
a Guardian. They have written: "In attempting to understand the Writings...one
must first realize that there is and can be no real contradiction in them,
and in the light of this we can confidently seek the unity of meaning which
they contain." Orthodox Bahá'ís point to such statements
of the Hands' Universal House of Justice as evidence that the majority
Bahá'í body is saying that there is now no need for the interpreter
'Abdu'l-Bahá said was essential to prevent somebody from creating
"a sect founded upon his individual understanding of the divine words."
It is through such pronouncements, say the Orthodox Bahá'ís,
that the Hands' Universal House of Justice continues to perpetuate the
heresy within their organization.
Those who follow the Hands' Universal House of Justice maintain that the
spread of their Faith is a sign that their cause is God's Cause, and they
encourage all comers to join with them in developing what they say are
the foundations of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
However, the Orthodox Bahá'ís are now attempting to warn
others to look closely at what the majority body under the Hands' Universal
House is doing. The Orthodox Bahá'ís are convinced that the
larger organization has been taken over by heresy and is creating an order
that will be far different from the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh
that is called for in the writings of the Prophet Founder and His appointed
interpreters.
-1990-