On the occasion of EID of RIDVAN, I extend my Greetingsto all the Baha’is of the world on behalf of all the members of National Teaching Committee of Orthodox Baha’is of India, New Delhi and the Local Council of Orthodox Baha’is of New Delhi and also invite everyone to be united under the guardianship of the Third Guardian of Baha'i Faith, Joel Bray Marangella.
The following article is written in Persian language by the Hands of Cause, the Vice President of the Third International Bahai Council, Nosratullah Bahremand.
The first day of Ridvan (Eid e Ridvan) falling on 21st April, is a very special historic day for the Baha’is. “The Day of Supreme Felicity” as described by Baha’u’llah for the first day of Ridvan, marks the beginning of the 12-day festival of Ridvan. Ridvan is celebrated to commemorate the days of Baha’u’llah in the Garden of Ridvan after his exile from Baghdad. This is where He declared to some of the people gathered there that He was the Messenger of God. History of Ridvan
"The battle between the forces of good and evil, the Army of Light and the minions of the dark, rages on in the world and in the hearts and minds of men and women around the globe. It is essential for Baha'is to understand this, and to choose correctly on which side they will fight."
Below is the extract of an article "SOME BASIC FACTS RELATED TO THE BAHÁ'Í COVENANT" by Hand of the Cause, Frank Schlatter, Secretary-General, International Baha'i Council.
We extend our heartiest greetings to the beloved Guardian Joel Bray Marangella on the occasion of Naw-Rúz.“It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsan, the Afnan, the Hands of Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him.”
We also extend our heartiest greetings to all the Bahá’í friends irrespective of any differences.
PNBC OF INDIA.
Mr. A. Parikh, Secretary, PNBC of the Baha'is of India,
1) Thou hast written about the Fast. This is a most weighty matter and thou shouldst exert thine utmost in its observance. It is a fundamental of the Divine law, and one of the pillars of the religion of God. 2) Well is it with you, as you have followed the Law of God and arisen to observe the Fast during these blessed days, for this physical fast is a symbol of the spiritual fast. This Fast leadeth to the cleansing of the soul from all selfish desires, the acquisition of spiritual attributes, attraction to the breezes of the All-Merciful, and enkindlement with the fire of divine love.
3) Fasting is the cause of the elevation of one's spiritual station.
Huququ'llah is to be offered through the Guardian of the Cause of God.
Hands of the Cause Nosratullah Bahremand in his article “ARE THE PAWNS OF THE BOGUS UHJ BLIND AND DEAF OR DO THEY PRETEND TO BE?” writes: (The Child of the Covenant, p. 318)
In Shoghi Effendi's Proclamation of
"Nascent Institution now created is invested with threefold function: first, to forge link with the authorities of the newly emerged State; second, to assist me to discharge responsibilities involved in erection of mighty superstructure of the Bab's Holy Shrine; third, to conduct negotiations related to matters of personal status with civil authorities. TO THESE WILL BE ADDED FURTHER FUNCTIONS IN COURSE OF EVOLUTION OF THIS FIRST EMBRYONIC INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTION, MARKING ITS DEVELOPMENT INTO OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED
(Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World - 1950-1957, p. 7)
And Shoghi Effendi's message of
"For unlike the first and second Seven Year Plan, [2nd '46-53] inaugurated by the American Baha'i Community, the scope of the third Seven Year Plan [later superseded by the Ten Year Global Crusade, [1953-1963], the termination of which will mark the conclusion of the first Epoch in the evolution of the Master Plan designed by 'Abdu'l Baha will embrace all the continents of the earth and, WILL BRING THE CENTRAL BODY [the IBC] DIRECTING THESE WIDELY RAMIFIED OPERATIONS INTO DIRECT CONTACT WITH ALL THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES OF THE BAHA'I WORLD which, in varying degrees, will have to contribute their share to the world establishment of the Cause of Baha'u'llah, as prophesied by 'Abdu'l-Baha and envisioned by Daniel,--a consummation that, God willing, will be befittingly celebrated on the occasion of the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the formal assumption by Baha'u'llah of His Prophetic Office."
The typical pawns of the bogus UHJ ignore the fact that the World Order of Baha'u'llah itself is still in its embryonic form and all its administrative institutions were in their embryonic form, during the ministry of the first Guardian. Local and National Houses of Justice which, in their embryonic form, have been currently named Spiritual Assemblies were exercising only a portion of their duties and still are, so they were then and are still active. But the Universal House of Justice that came into existence in 1951 in its embryonic form, as the International Baha'i Council, did not become an active body and never was convened as a functioning body. It is a fact that the pawns of bogus UHJ have made themselves deaf, not to hear, and blind not to read and understand, that although Mason Remey and some of the members of the IBC respectfully were honoured to have lunch or dinner at the table with the first Guardian, when most of the time there were some pilgrims present too, that could in no way be considered as a meeting of the International Baha'i Council.
These pawns do not know or pretend to not know that the presidency of the Universal House of Justice exclusively is the function of the Guardian and no one other than Guardian can occupy this position. Also they show ignorance about the fact that although the members of the International House of Justice will be elected when the time is ripe, the head of this Body is preappointed 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 as the president and Head of the real Universal House of Justice, in embryonic form, 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.
In 1957 when the first Guardian passed to the Abha Kingdom, despite the situation which was portrayed by Ruhiyih Kanum and the former Hands who followed her, in her false assertion that because after Shoghi Effendi there was no longer any authority, the Hands justified their usurpation of the authority of the Guardian. In doing this they ignored the fact that Shoghi Effendi had already established the highest administrative Body of the Faith, and why would the Baha'is "cling to the Hands" as RK 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.
Who gave the authority of the former hands to say:
"We nominate and appoint from our own number to act on our behalf as the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith to exercise -- subject to such directions and decisions as may be given from time to time by us as the Chief Stewards of the Baha'i World Faith -- all such functions, rights and powers in succession to the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith,"
(The Ministry of the Custodians, p. 29)
The International Baha'i Council was the legitimate, rightful and highest institution of the Baha'i Faith while in contrast the Hands of the Cause do not have administrative authority in the Faith. I think by now everybody knows the famous admission of RK in this regard: "How to assume the reins of authority, with no document to support us,"
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.
The reason that from the moment of the passing of the first Guardian, RK tried to direct the Baha'is to the Hands instead of to the embryonic Universal House of Justice was that the embryonic Universal House of Justice had a president who was appointed by the first Guardian and if that Body became active Baha'is would discover the station of the President as the second Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. This is quite clear from her statement:
"We had decided, from the time of our first Conclave that, in order to protect the Cause of God, we would have no officers, such as President, Chairman, Secretary, etc. lest one of the male Hands, holding such a position, should begin to assume in the eyes of the Baha'is the function of the leader, and, God forbid, begin to be seen as a sort of second Guardian in importance."
(The Ministry of the Custodians, p. 11)
Interesting, protecting the Cause of God from the Guardian of the Cause of God, this was her intention.
A few years ago one of the Heterodox Baha'is told me that when Mason Remey, the second Guardian of the Cause of God broke his silence and sent his Proclamation to the American National Convention, the former Hands desperately started looking every where in the Writings to find anything to support their bogus claim and any thing to give legitimacy to their illegitimately appointed body of Custodians. Of course there was not even a word that they could find, so they had exhausted their search and were disappointed. Then one day, Mr. Varqa, one of the Hands, said he had good news as he had found something and then showed them a passage in the Aqdas regarding "Endowments dedicated to charity" and gave his interpretation which was accepted by the desperate Hands. That unauthorized and erroneous interpretation is the one which now is used by the bogus UHJ and its pawns. I am not sure how much of this story is accurate but I believe there is no reason to doubt its accuracy. Mr Varqa was the originator of this erroneous interpretation or if it was someone else. It seems that the headless and bogus UHJ, which is the product of the violators of the Covenant, i.e. the former Hands of the Cause, is cursed and trapped in their malice and wickedness for they have not only violated and misrepresented the Will and Testament of the Master but they have also transgressed against the Aqdas and violated this most Holy Book. They disregarded the following warning of Baha'u'llah in The Aqdas:
"Whoso interpreteth what hath been sent down from the heaven of Revelation, and altereth its evident meaning, he, verily, is of them that have perverted the Sublime Word of God, and is of the lost ones in the Lucid Book." (The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 57). >>>>>For detail Click
One of the friends Mr. Robert Clifton has left a comment that: “I am a Baha’i. I do not follow the Will and Testament. I do not follow the UHJ. I follow Baha’u’llah. Baha’i is defined as someone who follow Baha’u’llah.”
Only the Guardian permanently presides as the “sacred head” of the Universal House of Justice under the terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, why had Shoghi Effendi not assumed the Presidency himself of its embryonic entity—the International Bahá’í Council—but, in appointing its membership and designating its officers, had appointed as its President, Hand of the Cause, Mason Remey, who, if the Council were to immediately become an actively functioning administrative body, he would then have to either depose Mason Remey and assume the Presidency himself or otherwise have to abdicate the Guardianship. Shoghi Effendi had therefore, of necessity, retained the International Council, as an inactively functioning body during the remaining years of his ministry, as confirmed by Mason Remey, who has stated that Shoghi Effendi never instructed him to activate the Council. For this same reason, Shoghi Effendi had appointed Rúhiyyíh Khánum, in his message of 8 March 1952, as the “chosen liaison” between himself and the Council, which would preclude any semblance of assuming direction of the Council himself. In this way Shoghi Effendi carefully retained the Council as an inactive body during the remaining years of his ministry, and only assigned tasks, from time to time, to individual members. As further evidence of its inactive status, is the fact that the members whom he had appointed as Secretary-General, Hand of the Cause, Leroy Ioas, and his two Assistant Secretaries, for the East and West respectively (Lotfullah Hakim and Ethel Revell), never wrote a single letter in these secretarial capacities, at the direction of Mason Remey, as President of the Council, during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi.>>>>detail
Whatsoever hath led the children of men to shun one another, and hath caused dissensions and divisions amongst them, hath, through the revelation of these words, been nullified and abolished."
~Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 95
Baha'is have endured tremendous sacrifices since the birth of our Faith. Sixty years of the practice of shunning, causing us to fear being labeled a "violator of the Covenant" for simply exercising our right to unfettered search for truth, has divided us, misdirected us, weakened us, and dehumanized us until we're no longer effective Ambassadors of Baha'u'llah's Kingdom!!! Baha'u'llah's
Baha'u'llah's central spiritual message is that all humanity descends from the same Light. So why not try to go beyond what we're "sure" is certainty, and join others who, through Holy Spirit's assistance, are moving beyond division?
Let us shun our divisions. Let us stop labeling each other covenant-breakers. Let us stop slandering each other and UNITE under Guardian and consolidate the Mission of Baha’u’llah.
The Blessed Beauty was born in Tehran on 12th November, 1817 in the family of a Persian Vazir (Minister). Baha’is worship the Ancient Beauty as the Manifestation of God on the earth, the Prophet of the Baha’i Religion and the Promised One of all ages. His intimate proclamation took place at the “Black Pit” of Tehran in 1853 when He was 36. He proclaimed His mission to the world by sending out tablets from Adrianople to the Rulers of States, Kings, Emperors, Presidents and Religious Leaders during the year 1867 to 1873. The duration of His Prophethood was 39 years. Over a hundred volumes were revealed from his Pen, among which we can name the Kitab-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), The Hidden Words, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Tablets to the Leaders of the World, Kitab-i-Iqan (The Book of Certitude), The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, many tablets to various believers and many prayers. The Glory of God, Baha’u’llah revealed in Kita-b-i-Aqdas:
"Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to embrace the truth of this Cause. A Cause through which the potentialities of the might of God have been revealed and His sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten you unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Let hath refused to seek it verily; God is Self Sufficient, above need of His creatures."
(Kitab-i-Aqdas, quoted in A Synopsis and Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, pp 27-28)
In India there are a number of Christians, Hindus and the Muslims religious denominations, all calling them Christians, Hindus and Muslims. But this is unprecedented in the history of the Faiths that a Bahai denomination has taken the help of Court to silence the other Bahai denominations.....>>>>for detail click
A comment made in the article of a post by one Mr. Mac that, Why the Sans Guardian Bahai's do not read The WILL and TESTAMENT with open eyes?We reply: They read it with open eyes but their hearts are sealed therefore the guidance can not enter in their hearts.
“…every fair minded inquirer will readily admit that they (Will and Testament & Kitab-i-Aqdas) are not only complementary but that they mutually confirm one another and are inseparable parts of one complete unit. A comparison of their contents with the rest of Baha’i sacred writings will similarly establish the conformity of the authenticated writings and sayings of Baha’u’llah and Abdu’l-Baha.
…Infact he who reads the Aqdas with care and diligence will not find it hard to discover that the Most Holy Book it self anticipates in number of passages the institutions with Abdu’l-Baha ordains in His Will.
…I truly deplore the unfortunate distortions that have resulted in days past from the incapacity of the interpreter to grasp the meaning of Abdu’l-Baha and from his incompetence to render adequately such truths as have been revealed to him by the Master’s statements.
…Much of the confusion that has obscured the understanding of the believers should be attributed to this double error involved in the inexact rendering of an only partially understood statement.
…It must be also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of Guardianship does not under any circumstances abrogate or even in the slightest degree detract from the powers granted to the Universal House of Justice by Baha solemnly confirmed by Abdu’l-Baha in His Will.
…It does not constitute in any manner a contradiction to the Will and Writings of Baha’u’llah, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions”.
BAB – THE FORERUNNER OF BAHA’U’LLAH
By this body[the Universal House of Justice] all things must be referred. It enacted all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body.
Master Abdu'l-Baha states:
Some of the friends enquire as to why the Divine Cause (Bahá'í Faith) has become divided into different sects? What are the factors behind it? Who is responsible for this division?
