Bahai Divisions

No use of the word “Guardian” in the Proclamation of the hands (November 25, 1957) referred to any future guardian. The word “Guardian” always refers to “the beloved Guardian” (i.e., Shoghi Effendi). That Shoghi Effendi “left no heir” did not necessarily mean nothing could be done to reinstate the guardianship. The infallible UHJ, after election in 1963, could reexamine this question. The document does say, however, that “no successor to Shoghi Effendi could have been appointed,” meaning apparently, as they considered it, that Shoghi Effendi had no valid candidates for appointment, being that he had no son and had declared all known “branches” to be covenant-breakers. The guardianship between 1957 and 1963 was an open question is something that was admitted by Ruhiyyih Khanum in The Ministry of the Custodians pg 16. It is to be noted that Mason Remey’s claim was not based on his being “one of the earliest, famous believers of the West” nor having “been made a Hand of the Cause by Shogh...

  An affront Remey Couldn’t Endure: October 1959: Mason Remey left Haifa, and went into "self-banished exile" (Spataro, p. 31) to Washington, D.C. Remey had agreed with the hands that if they would follow everything Shoghi Effendi laid out in his plans for 1963, he would go along with them. Shoghi Effendi's plan for the IBC, of which Remey was president, was that it would become a world court in 1963, and eventually it would blossom into the UHJ. However, in 1959, the hands called for the election of a new IBC in 1961. This led Remey to leave the hands, since he believed they had no authority to put anyone out of office who had been put there by Shoghi Effendi. A Vision Unveiled: Joel Marangella's account sheds light on Remey's evolving understanding of his role: “It was not until the end of His two-and-a-half year Period in Haifa and actually after his departure from Haifa when he was composing his appeals to the Hands of the Faith that for the first time,...

  The Haifa Baha’is point out that Mason Remey was one of the 26 hands present at the conclave who signed the document that no guardian could have been appointed. In this article, we aim to shed light on the reasons behind Remey's decision to sign the document. We'll explore the principle of collective action in the Baha'i Faith and Remey's commitment to maintaining unity, even when he had inner disagreements. Brent Mathieu mentions:  An explanation of Remey’s signature on the document, despite his belief in the necessity of a living Guardian, is that the established Baba’i principle in collective action is that once an assembly reaches a majority decision, all dissenters cease opposition, and accept the decision to maintain unity, even if they believe it in error. Baha’is trust God that eventually the truth will be revealed, and error corrected.  (Mathieu, “Biography of Charles Mason Remey,” on the Heart of the Baha’i Faith forum, December 28, 2004.) Mathieu is apparen...

  When Shoghi Effendi passed away suddenly in 1957, the hands of the cause met in secret deliberations to decide what should be done in the faith, now that Shoghi Effendi had passed on allegedly without naming a successor. They decided that God had changed his mind about the guardianship. There would be no continuing living guardians. Only Shoghi Effendi would continue to be guardian through his various writings and his oversight from the Abha kingdom. The word they used to express the idea that God had changed his mind was an Arabic word, BADA (Change in the plan of God).   The events after Shoghi Effendi’s death until election of the UH] were exceedingly strategic for the faith (1957-1963). This was a period when the faith had no infallible living spokesman nor infallible group or institution. The hands in the holy land spoke of it as “this dangerous time the Faith is passing through.” (Ministry of the Custodians, p. 68).   Several facts should be kept in mind. ...

  Have you ever wondered what happened to the leadership of the Baha'i Faith after the death of its first Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, in 1957? How did a religion that claimed to have a unique system of succession and unity end up with different sects and schisms? And why did the Guardian, who was supposed to appoint his successor, died without even leaving a will behind?   In this article, we will explore these questions and reveal some of the secrets and controversies that surround the Guardianship of the Baha'i Faith. We will also show you how the Baha'i scriptures and literature before 1957 clearly affirmed the continuation of the Guardianship until the end of this dispensation, and how this contradicts the current situation of the faith.   What is the Guardianship of the Baha'i Faith?   The Baha'i Faith is a religion that was founded by Baha'u'llah, a Persian nobleman who claimed to be a new messenger of God for this age. He revealed many writi...

The Bahá’í Faith is a world religion that was founded by Bahá’u’lláh in the 19th century. He revealed a new covenant for humanity, which included the establishment of a divine and infallible institution called the Guardianship. The Guardianship is the hereditary office of the head of the Bahá’í Faith, who is appointed by the previous Guardian in accordance with the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son and successor of Bahá’u’lláh.   The Guardianship is essential for the preservation and protection of the Bahá’í Faith, as it ensures the continuity and integrity of its teachings and laws. The Guardian is the authorized interpreter of the sacred writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the supreme judge of their application. The Guardian also defines the scope and limits of the legislative authority of the Universal House of Justice, the elected body that administers the affairs of the Bahá’í world community.   Without the Guardianship, the Bahá’í Faith would ...