Commentary on the Will & Testament of Abdul-baha

This Commentary by Joel B. Marangella sheds light on both the text and the tragic historic events surrounding this Sacred Document of the Baha'i Faith. The book recounts the intrigue that took place at the Baha'i World Center in 1957 that stifled the growth of this infant Faith, threatened to permanently diminish its prestige in the eyes of the world and destroyed the very safeguard built into the Faith that was to prevent it from falling into false leadership. 

Despite the darkness that has befallen this most recent revelation from God, this brilliant Commentary reveals the truth of what remains alive and well today, the true sign of God on earth who alone maintains the spirit and meaning of the Baha'i teachings. The Will and Testament of Abdul-BahÃ, is the vital and eternal link between Baha'u'llah and the sacred Administrative Order that is the true channel of the spirit. 

This book by Mr. Marangella clearly illuminates important passages within it that have been misunderstood, overlooked or intentionally distorted.The question may well be asked, what is so threatening about this book that millions of Baha'is around the world won't be allowed by their leadership to read it? 

Surely, all Baha'is must recognize the fundamental principle of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith, to exercise their human right of an unfettered, independent investigation of truth.Mr. Marangella's book also includes the complete Will and Testament of Abdul- Baha, which can be read along with the Commentary, as well as a Summary of the Baha'i Faith by the author, recognized by Orthodox Baha'is as the third Guardian of Baha'i Faith. 

This Summary gives the uninitiated an authoritative treatise on the history and teachings of the Baha'i Faith.

Sectarianism and Schism

The world's extant religions have without exception fallen prey to sectarianism and schism that have preoccupied and divided their followers to such an extent that the true spirit of the Teachings of the Authors of their respective Revelations has been so obscured that the spiritual effect which these Teachings have had on the hearts of men has been progressively weakened. Sectarianism and schism have stemmed from differences over interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and the introduction into the original Teachings of man-made dogmas and rituals. 
Had the Founders of the past great religions made specific provisions concerning the matter of succession; that is, had they formally designated a successor or established a system whereby a successor or series of successors would have been endowed with unequivocal authority to interpret Holy Writ, there would have been no basis for the divisive interpretations that have sundered these Faiths, even in early Christendom, the institution of the Papacy and hierarchy of the Church had as the sole basis for its authority their interpretation of the meaning of a verbal statement that Christ had made to His Apostle, Peter. 
While this authority remained unchallenged for centuries during which time the Church remained united, it was ultimately challenged by the Protestant movement with the result that today Christianity finds itself divided into hundreds of sects.

To Live............The Life

"To be no cause of grief to anyone.

To be kind to all people and to love them with a pure spirit.

Should opposition or injury happen to us, to bear it, to be as kind as ever can be, and through all, to love the people.   Should calamity exist in the greatest degree, to rejoice, for these things are the gifts and favors of God.

To be silent concerning the faults of others, to pray for them, and to help them, through kindness, to correct their faults.

To look always at the good and not at the bad.  If a man has ten good qualities and one bad one, look at the ten and forget the one. And if a man has ten bad qualities and one good one, to look at the one and forget the ten.

Never to allow ourselves to speak one unkind word about another, even though that other be our enemy.

To do all of our deeds in kindness.

To cut our hearts from ourselves and from the world.

To be humble.

To be servants of each other, and to know that we are less than anyone else.

To be as one soul in many bodies, for the more we love each other, the nearer we shall be to God; but to know that our love, our unity, our obedience must not be by confession, but of reality.

To act with cautiousness and wisdom.

To be truthful.

To be hospitable.

To be reverent.

To be the cause of healing for every sick one,
          a comforter for every sorrowful one,
          a pleasant water for every thirsty one.
          a heavenly table for every hungry one,
          a star to every horizon,
          a light for every lamp,
          a herald to everyone who yearns for the kingdom of God"

Abdu'l-Baha

A Humiliating Defeat at the Hand of the Faithful Followers of Baha'u'llah under the Guardianship of the third Guardian, Joel B. Marangella

It is really shameful on the part of the bogus UHJ to file a petition in the Court of Appeals to review the case. It looks like that the sans-Guardian organization has lost its mental balance and hence has failed to take any lesson from such a humiliating defeat at the band of the faithful followers of Baha'u'llah under the Guardianship of the third Guardian, Joel B. Marangella. The sans-Guardian organization is built on shifting sand, which with every passing day, is losing its stature.


The NSA-UHJ obviously knew that their case would not be worth anything if it was based on the 1966 trademark ruling so they blatantly attempted to have the previously applied injunction towards Remey’s organization applied to the Orthodox Baha’i Faith. But they failed to prove (twice) that the 1966 ruling applied to the Orthodox Baha’i Faith.

Instead of the bogus UHJ clarifying the matter of the continuation of the Guardianship for its followers, the bogus UHJ is trying to harass the faithful followers of Baha'u'llah with the might of money and power. This is exactly what Hand of Cause, Mr. David Maxwell predicted would occur in one of his letters addressed to the Third International Baha’i Council after our first court victory.

The Indian heterodox Baha’is are wondering how much this NSA-UHJ’s wrong doing is costing them? They are now realizing that the money that they have been paying in the name of Huququllah is being spent in a disastrously destructive manner which has not brought anything other than humiliation for them?

Honestly, the pursuance of this legal case has been obviously embarrassing for all the heterodox Baha’is throughout the world, and especially so for those in India. This unsuccessful outcome is not surprising at all and it has come at a great price to them, both financially and prestige wise. There is already considerable media attention covering the decision which naturally reflects against the heterodox organization. This recent verdict will further focus unfavorable media attention on them.

But the basic question remains and that is: was the sans-Guardian organization unaware:

1-That the law does not allow for terms employed in the public domain to be trademarked or copyrighted. This is why no one can lay claim to the word “Muslim”or “Christian” or the symbol of the Cross, etc. In view of this fact, it is astonishing that the NSA made such a foolish decision to go ahead and waste their time and the funds of the Faith in such a manner.

2-They either had most incompetent legal representation who failed to inform them of this very basic and fundamental legal fact, or they were informed and chose to ignore such advice and forged ahead nevertheless.

The obvious answer to the question is that the this new appeal has been filed by the bogus UHJ, due to compulsion and not by choice. Because they know that the orthodox Baha’is are continuing to ask their basic question about their refusal to accept the continuation of the Guardianship so clearly promised and provided for in the sacred and immutable provisions of the WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ABDU'L-BAHA. The UHJ is well aware that they cannot provide a valid answer to this question so, therefore, it is better to keep the Baha’is busy with the court case.

Y.H. Taylor

Baha'i Faith is Incomplete Without a Guardian

The visit of hand of the cause and the vice-president of International Baha'i Council Mr. Nosratullah Bahremand was highly successful. He gave an interview to Mumbai English daily newspaper and gave his view on the current situation of the Baha'i Faith. We have uploaded the clip of the news appeared in "The Asian Age" of today's edition. Please click on image to enlarge.

60 second explanation of the Baha'i Covenant

Megan, why she is an Orthodox Bahá'í

Fasting in Baha'i Faith

Click on image to enlarge.

THE ILLEGITIMACY AND FRAUD OF THE BOGUS UHJ IS EXPOSED THROUGH ALI NAKHJAVANI'S BLATANT PERVERSION OF THE TRUTH. (Part Five)

Nakhjavani has written:
“In his personal conversations with pilgrims Shoghi Effendi was reported to have repeatedly said that his ‘Dispensation’ was like his Will and Testament. The closest statement made by him in writing, however, hinting at such a conclusion, is a letter, written on his behalf, dated 10 January 1935 to Dr. Mühlschlegel, in which he states that his ‘Dispensation’ constitutes “an invaluable supplement” to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as well as to the Book of the Covenant, which is Bahá’u’lláh's Will and Testament. (LDG Vol. 1, 65)”

Comment:
The Hand of Cause of God Nosratullah Bahremand replies to the cunningly and diabolically attempts of Mr. Ali Nakhjavani to mislead the believers:
It is true that Shoghi Effendi considered “The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah” as his spiritual Testament, as recorded in the jointly authored and renown Haifa Notes of May Maxwell and her daughter, Mary Maxwell (later his wife, Ruhiyyih Khanum) but it is noticeable that Nakhjavani cunningly and diabolically attempts to mislead the new believer, who undoubtedly is unfamiliar with this publication, and unmindful of the fact that the term Dispensation may only be correctly applied to the Dispensation of the Manifestation, when reference is made to “His Dispensation. ” He has done this with the obvious intention of creating an erroneous belief in the mind of the reader that the ministry of Shoghi Effendi should be considered as a “Dispensation” during which he faithfully exercised the function of Guardianship according to the terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and therefore ended with his passing, instead of a reference to Shoghi Effendi’s letter in which he has so strongly emphasized the absolute essentiality of, and the imperative need for the enduring continuance of the Guardianship as a permanent and irreplaceable Institution, in the World Order of Baha’u’llah. Nakhjavani would certainly not want the believers to be familiar with Shoghi Effendi’s letter of 10 January 1935 addressed to Dr.Mühlschlegel in Germany for in this letter he has written:

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Appointment of New Hands of Cause of God

The Third Guardian of Baha’i Faith Joel Bray Marangella in his Ridvan Message (April-2009) introduced the new Hands of Cause of God.

1. Grace Behrens (Posthumously).

I take this opportunity to recognize belatedly and to name posthumously, dear Grace Behrens, a Hand of the Cause of God. She became renowned for the publication of letters submitted to the editor of the newspaper of Lancaster Pennsylvania, almost on a daily basis over a period of forty one years, totaling 846 letters according to her daughters report, in which she invariably mentioned the Baha’i Faith in some way, to the extent that the readers of the Lancaster newspaper would have all become well aware of the Faith by the time of her passing in 1998.

I also take this opportunity to elevate the following devoted Baha’is whose outstanding services, in various ways, in support of the true Faith and whose exemplary, steadfast and faithful support of my Guardianship over the years have deservedly entitled them to join the ranks of the Hands of the Cause who have been previously named during my ministry:

2. Joel Jani Marangella.

Whose assistance in initially designing, and subsequently establishing and maintaining my internet web page over the years since 1995 has been invaluable and whose expertise has been essential in the subsequent displaying and preserving in an attractive manner on that page of numerous articles, documents, historical photographs, past newspaper advertisements, as well as material from other sources, in support of the Guardianship, all of which has facilitated and contributed to the effective presentation to the Baha’i world via this unique instrumentality of incontrovertible evidence proving the continuation of the Guardianship.

3. James Meyer.

To whom we owe a particular debt of gratitude for the erection of and continued maintenance of a facility on the Meyers property for our use as the National Archives of the Orthodox Baha’i Faith wherein documents of historical value and particularly those covering the years of The Great Violation, among others, are preserved for safekeeping and can be made available for reference by future Baha’i scholars and historians.

4. Dr.A. Parikh.

Whose multiple, untiring and exemplary activities in support of the Guardianship in India have been exemplary and most praiseworthy.

5. Martin Lavalle.

Who has translated numerous long articles of mine into French which have then been posted in the French section of my web page and who has been very active in promoting the Orthodox Baha’i Faith in Eastern Canada.

With loving Ridvan greetings to all,

Joel Bray Marangella

GREETINGS OF RIDVAN

On the happy occasion of Ridvan, first of all I wish to extend my heartiest greetings to the beloved Third Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, Joel Bray Marangella and on behalf of the National (Orthodox) Baha’i Council of India extend greetings to all the Baha’i friends of the world, affiliated with any group, inviting their attention to the following very important quote from his writings:

“To be or not to be faithful to the Covenant, that is the question?”

I pray on this first day of the Baha'i Administrative Year that all of us may be included in the list of those: “Faithful to the Covenant.”

Secretary,
National (Orthodox) Baha’i Council of India.