tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post5498037357914228847..comments2024-01-20T03:06:23.903-05:00Comments on A Covenant Unique in the Spiritual Annals of Mankind: Observations on Shoghi Effendi not having written a Last Will and TestamentUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-10146582516132034942020-10-23T22:36:35.941-04:002020-10-23T22:36:35.941-04:00Dear Brent:
A humble suggestion. Perhaps it would...Dear Brent: <br />A humble suggestion. Perhaps it would help if you wrote an article explaining why it was necessary for the beloved Master to dedicate several passages of his Will & Testament to denounce the misdeeds of Muhammad Ali. <br />Western friends are often surprised when they read those paragraphs.Badí' Villarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03012183155501829383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-987851264213873452020-10-23T22:36:34.321-04:002020-10-23T22:36:34.321-04:00Dear Brent:
A humble suggestion. Perhaps it would...Dear Brent: <br />A humble suggestion. Perhaps it would help if you wrote an article explaining why it was necessary for the beloved Master to dedicate several passages of his Will & Testament to denounce the misdeeds of Muhammad Ali. <br />Western friends are often surprised when they read those paragraphs.Badí' Villarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03012183155501829383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-87379694699804223402018-08-06T18:44:53.453-04:002018-08-06T18:44:53.453-04:00Portions of this posting have been translated by B...Portions of this posting have been translated by Badi Villar into Spanish:<br /><br />https://www.facebook.com/notes/badi-villar/por-qu%C3%A9-shoghi-effendi-no-escribi%C3%B3-una-%C3%BAltima-voluntad-y-testamento/10155345188606805/Brent Poirierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09428119102240194683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-162147449448502522015-04-03T14:46:37.953-04:002015-04-03T14:46:37.953-04:00Very nice article, thank you. While Shoghi Effendi...Very nice article, thank you. While Shoghi Effendi did not leave a will in one sense, in another, I think he most definitely did. Hand of the Cause of God, Leroy Ioas indicated (at http://bahai-library.com/audio/i/ioas_days_guardian.mp3 , time: 42:13-42:39) that "You all know that the book The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah, he considered that his will and testament." and "he told many of the friends that in reality, this is my will and testament so that after me no differences may occur" (transcribed at http://bahaitalks.blogspot.com/2010/01/in-days-of-guardian-talk-by-hand-of.html ).<br /><br />To repeat the Kitab-i-Aqdas citation on the need to leave a will:<br /><br />"The testator should head this document with the adornment of the Most Great Name, bear witness therein unto the oneness of God in the Dayspring of His Revelation, and make mention, as he may wish, of that which is praiseworthy, so that it may be a testimony for him in the kingdoms of Revelation and Creation and a treasure with his Lord, the Supreme Protector, the Faithful."<br /><br />To go through each point:<br /><br />1. I don't know whether the original copy was headed with "the adornment of the Most Great Name" in the sense of a literal adornment, but the title of the document at least uses the Most Great Name.<br /><br />2. As far as bearing witness unto the oneness of God in the Dayspring of His Revelation, the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah makes reference, in connection with Baha'u'llah, to "The divinity attributed to so great a Being and the complete incarnation of the names and attributes of God in so exalted a Person" (World Order of Bah'u'llah, p. 112).<br /><br />3. As far as making mention of that which is praiseworthy, how could a document dwelling on the greatness of this Day and the stations of God's Successorship not be?Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04637501061198463702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-82790577230738832982009-11-10T12:55:15.053-05:002009-11-10T12:55:15.053-05:00Re: Stewardship, Mr. Varqa spoke about this in Hai...Re: Stewardship, Mr. Varqa spoke about this in Haifa just before he passed. He said that a "steward" was the next in command on a ship if the captain was unable to perform his duties, and that the duty of the steward was to bring the ship safely to the harbor. This is precisely what the Hands of the Cause accomplished, in bringing the Plan to it's conclusion and delivering the Cause to the House of Justice.-Richard StallerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-80796513325599519982009-11-07T03:15:50.705-05:002009-11-07T03:15:50.705-05:00The Beloved Guardian "did not write a will, n...The Beloved Guardian "did not write a will, not because he forgot, not because he was too busy, not because, God forbid, he was disobedient to either the law of the Aqdas, or to the provision in the Master's Will to designate a successor Guardian. He was silent, as the House of Justice writes, because he was guided by God to be silent."<br />This reminds me that SHoghi Effendi translated the Words of Wisdom, except for one or two verses, one of which is now translated by committee to read: <br /> "The essence of true safety is to observe silence, to look at the end of things and to renounce the world."(Baha'u'llah, TB, p. 156)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-79339742931786125702009-04-10T22:18:00.000-04:002009-04-10T22:18:00.000-04:00The conduct and writings and decisions of the Hand...The conduct and writings and decisions of the Hands show unmistakable signs of divine guidance. Even from the first week of their ministry, the documents they issued, and the organization they demonstrated in their proclamations of November 25, 1957 show an astonishing accuracy, power, and guidance. They were exemplary in their loyalty to Shoghi Effendi's Crusade. However, they themselves acknowledged they were not infallible, saying that when the House of Justice is elected "once again a precious source of divine infallibility will return to the earth." (Ministry of the Custodians, p. 122) The House of Justice has addressed this subject here. http://bahai-library.org/uhj/hands.html Some of the properties in the Holy Land were in the name of National Spiritual Assemblies, it did not take court action to place these into the name of the Hands as the Trustees of these Israel Branches. In sum, there was abundant divine guidance, but not infallibility. I greatly appreciate your suggestion. I have written some about the Hands and will be writing more, please check back in a few weeks, and I'll look forward to your comments. (Comment re-posted with corrections)Brent Poirierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07904903606388050080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-7822722375392414072009-04-10T22:16:00.000-04:002009-04-10T22:16:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Brent Poirierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07904903606388050080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-60485394717712268272009-04-10T02:04:00.000-04:002009-04-10T02:04:00.000-04:00One thing I have not yet seen mentioned here is th...One thing I have not yet seen mentioned here is that apart from and in addition to Shoghi Effendi's naming the Hands as "Chief Stewards" (a term that turned out to be the exact language to satisfy the Israeli courts concerning the stewardship of the Baha'i properties), there was no gap in divine guidance at any time between the passing of the Guardian and the election of the Universal House of Justice owing to the Ten Year Crusade being in full effect from 1953 until 1963.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-61443517654622149762009-04-07T13:03:00.000-04:002009-04-07T13:03:00.000-04:00Whether or not the process of informing the nine H...Whether or not the process of informing the nine Hands of the identity of the successor Guardian would have been made public at that time, the point I wish to make is that after the Guardian's passing the identity of the successor would be unmistakeably clear, and the assent of the nine Hands would have been a confirmation and a safeguard against dissent and doubt. Above and beyond his not leaving a will, the fact that the Guardian never directed the establishment of these nine, nor submitted the name of anyone to the Hands, is an additional proof that he never designated anyone as his successor. <BR/><BR/>The point I am making is that in particular this disembodies the weird claim that we should search the messages of Shoghi Effendi made during his lifetime for hints and suggestions that he was, by a process entirely at variance with that specified in the Will, designating Mason Remey--not one of the Aghsan, and incapable of reading the Sacred Texts--as his successor and as Interpreter of the Word of God. <BR/><BR/>There is nothing, in my view, that supports the notion that Shoghi Effendi would have composed a will and testament in accordance with the provisions of the Bayan and not in accordance with the provisions of the Aqdas. Abdu'l-Baha has written, “The Bayan hath been superseded by the Kitab-i-Aqdas, except in respect of such laws as have been confirmed and mentioned in the Kitab-i-Aqdas.” Doing a word search for “confirmed” in the Aqdas Notes, we see that there are about ten items from the Bayan, including the Badi calendar, the designation of the Qiblih, and other laws, identified as having been confirmed and brought forward in the Aqdas. The Aqdas clearly specified what contents of a will should be. <BR/><BR/>For the past 50 years, every scrap of paper Shoghi Effendi ever wrote on has been scrutinized by people familiar with English, Persian and Arabic, starting with several of the Hands of the Cause of God, to see if anything is testamentary in nature. The November 1957 pronouncement of the Hands, “the safe and desk have been opened and searched and the non existence of a Will and Testament executed by Shoghi Effendi was definitely established,” still stands. I think that the idea that somewhere in Shoghi Effendi's papers, there is some paper that for 50-plus years has escaped everyone's notice and is actually his will, is fanciful imagination. <BR/>BrentBrent Poirierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07904903606388050080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-5735900468016516682009-04-06T19:37:00.000-04:002009-04-06T19:37:00.000-04:00Thank you for clarifying this most important point...Thank you for clarifying this most important point that the Guardian's silence about the successorship was in fact infallible guidance. Since there was no eligible successor (no male heir and no Aghsan who was alive or who had not broken the Covenant)there was no need to write a Will. Philip CantorUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16135726438529803388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538379590376087070.post-77449688605706383792009-04-06T08:20:00.000-04:002009-04-06T08:20:00.000-04:00Abdu'l-Baha specifies how the Guardian was to go a...Abdu'l-Baha specifies how the Guardian was to go about nominating a successor here: <BR/><BR/>"The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons ... and these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the Guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor. This assent must be given in such wise as the assenting and dissenting voices may not be distinguished (i.e., secret ballot)." <BR/><BR/>Since the appointment did not need to be made in writing, there is no reason to think that Shoghi Effendi even considered this question as related to the writing of a Will. The Guardian could have simply introduced his chosen candidate to the nine Hands in person. It is only the votes of the Hands of the Cause that have to be written (ballots), and also anonymous, so that the Hands are free to dissent. Nor is there any reason to think that the appointment had to be kept secret once made: the succession would surely be far more secure if, following approval by the nine Hands, it was announced and celebrated. This is the procedure in the Persian monarchy (where the Crown Prince was not necessarily the eldest son) and in twelver Shi'ism. Shoghi Effendi's secret appointment is the exception here, not the rule. <BR/><BR/>This means that "writing a will" -- a duty of all believers on reaching the age of maturity -- is an entirely separate issue to the Guardian appointing a successor. <BR/><BR/>Given his conscientious character, I think it very likely that Shoghi Effendi did in fact write a Will, as soon as he reached the age of maturity, and that he would have followed the Bayan exactly as to its contents. Perhaps this document survives among his childhood papers, where it could easily be mistaken for an Arabic exercise, for the content prescribed in the Bayan does not resemble the contents of what we conventionally think of as a "Will and Testament." <BR/><BR/>~~ Sen McGlinnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com