(Extract form the article of Joel Bray Marangella, the
Third Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith)
The
distinguishing feature of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh is the binding Covenant
He made with His followers to turn to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, His eldest son, after His
Ascension as his appointed Successor, the sole Interpreter of His Word, the
Expounder of His Book, and the Center of His Covenant; that is: the sole Center
to whom all Bahá'ís should turn for spiritual guidance and interpretation of
His Holy Writ. This Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh was made in a written Will and
Testament which was opened on the ninth day following His Ascension in the
presence of nine witnesses and read to His followers assembled in His Holy
Tomb. Bahá'u'lláh has described this firm Testament as "The Book of
My Covenant" (Kitáb-i-'Ahd) and "His Most Great
Tablet". He has further extolled this mighty Covenant as the "Conclusive
Testimony", the "Universal Balance", the "Magnet
of God's grace", the "Upraised Standard",
the "Irrefutable Testament", the "almighty
Covenant, the like of which the sacred Dispensations of the past have never
witnessed", and "one of the distinctive features of
this most mighty cycle”.
It
will suffice for our purpose to quote the following excerpt from Bahá'u'lláh's
Testament as evidence of the uniqueness and strength of His Covenant with His
followers:
"It is incumbent upon the Aghsan
(His sons), the Afnán (kindred
of the Báb) and My kindred to turn, one and all, their faces toward the
Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book (Kitáb-i-Aqdas):
'When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation
is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched
from this Ancient Root.' The object of this sacred verse is none other except
the Most Mighty Branch ('Abdu'l-Bahá). Thus have we graciously
revealed unto you our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the
All-Powerful".
Further
corroboration of Bahá'u'lláh's appointment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as His successor is
contained in His Most Holy Book wherein He proclaims:
"When the Mystic Dove will have
winged its flight from its Sanctuary of Praise and sought its far-off goal, its
hidden habitation, refer whatsoever ye understand not in the Book, to Him
('Abdu'l-Bahá) Who hath branched from this mighty Stock."
In
an address given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York City during His visit to America
in 1912 His statements concerning His appointment as the Center of His Father's
Covenant included the following:
"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 schisms, 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."
In
spite of the firmness and clarity of Bahá'u'lláh's testamentary instructions
concerning the appointment and authority of 'Abdu'l-Bahá (accepted by the
Heterodox Bahá'ís, too), following the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh these
instructions were flagrantly violated as 'Abdu'l-Bahá had to contend with betrayal,
treachery and infidelity within the ranks of most of those who had been the
closest to Bahá'u'lláh.
As
time went on, however, the faithful rallied to the support of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and
it became increasingly clear that only through the providential provisions of
Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant appointing a Center to whom all Bahá'ís could turn
following His Ascension and vesting in Him sole authority for interpretation of
His Holy Writ had Bahá'u'lláh protected and safeguarded His teachings from
corruption – a protection that could only continue to be vouchsafed to it down
through the ages to come of His Dispensation if the same Center provided in His
unique Covenant were perpetuated for as long as this Dispensation endured. For
as 'Abdu'l-Bahá stated:
"Were it not for the protecting
power of the Covenant to guard the impregnable fort of the Cause of God, there
would arise among the Bahá'ís, in one day, a thousand different sects as was
the case in former ages..."
The
uninterrupted continuity of a Center to whom all Bahá'ís were enjoined
to turn following His passing was provided by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in a Will and
Testament written in His own hand. This Document did far more than appoint an
immediate successor to serve as the Center of the Cause. 'Abdu'l-Bahá
established an Institution – the Institution of the guardianship of the Cause
of God in which a "Center of the Cause" and an unchallengeable and
continuing source of interpretative authority would be preserved down through
the centuries to come of the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh. His Will and
Testament called for the Institution of the guardianship to be occupied by a
continuous and unbroken succession of Guardians each of whom would be chosen
and appointed by the predecessor-Guardian "in his own
life-time" (i.e. not designated by testamentary document). As
the first occupant of this supreme Office 'Abdu'l-Bahá appointed His eldest grandson
(i.e. a "twig" and not a "Branch" of His Family Tree). More
than this 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His Will and Testament delineated the other
institutions of the Bahá'í Administrative Order and this momentous Document
constituted the Charter of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. The other
administrative institutions incorporated in this Charter included the
International (or Universal) House of Justice – the supreme legislative
institution of this Order, the institution of the Hands of the Cause and the
National and Local Houses of Justice. All of these institutions were made
subordinate to the Guardian of the Cause as 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will included the
clear injunction:
"The mighty stronghold shall
remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the
Cause of God."
