THE ACTION OF THE TRUE BELIEVERS (Part-II)
Rajendra
WHAT WAS THE ACTION OF THE TRUE BELIEVERS AFTER THE DEMISE OF THE
FIRST GUARDIAN? (Part-II)
This article is a continuation of my article in which I brought to the
attention of the Bahá'í World the information that, following the
passing of Shoghi Effendi, the members of the Local Spiritual
Assemblies of Lahore, Rawalpindi and Layalpur in Pakistan had voted to
accept Mason Remey as the second Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.
Again, I was further encouraged by the beloved third Guardian, Joel
Bray Marangella, to inform the Bahá'í s about the other Assemblies in
the world that also understood well the sacred and immutable terms of
the “Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá” that clearly provided for the
continuity of Guardianship in the Baha’i Faith. For as the Master
`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote:
“It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in
his own life time him that shall become his successor, that
differences may not arise after his passing”.
In this article I bring to the notice of the Bahá'í friends the
actions taken by the National Spiritual Assembly of France, and the
LSA’s of Lucknow (India) and Iran.
In fact, I neglected in my first article to write about the action of
the National Spiritual Assembly of France which, notably, was only the
NSA of the 12 NSA’s in the world, at the time, which voted to
recognize and accept Mason Remey as the second Guardian of Bahá'í
Faith following the receipt of his Proclamation in May 1960. And that
is why I believe that the then President (Chairman) of that NSA, Joel
Bray Marangella, was selected as the third Guardian of Bahá'í Faith in
the Abha Kingdom by Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi and
duly appointed by Mason Remey as his successor in a letter, dated 5
December 1951, and further confirmed by him in appointing him
President of the second International Bahá'í Council, a position that
can only be rightfully occupied by the Guardian of the Faith. I am
therefore proud that I am a Bahá'í under the Guardianship of the third
Guardian, Joel Bray Marangella.
The third Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith has explained in detail, as
follows: Why the NSA of France voted to accept the Guardianship of
Mason Remey upon receipt of his Proclamation during Ridván 1960.
“To adequately understand the reasons for this decision it is
essential for the reader to be familiar, to some extent, at least,
with the fact that all Bahá'í's believe that the Bahá'í Administrative
Order, is based on the divinely-conceived Will and Testament of
'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Son of the Founder of the Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, a
Document which Shoghi Effendi, the first Guardian of the Faith, has
described as "the Heir of both the Originator [Bahá'u'lláh] and the
Interpreter ['Abdu'l-Bahá] of the Law of God," having been conceived,
as he has stated, through the "mystic intercourse between Him Who
communicated The generating influence of His divine Purpose and the
One Who was its vehicle and chosen recipient" and therefore the sacred
and immortal "Child of the Covenant"— a Covenant made by Bahá'u'lláh
with those who had embraced His Cause and regarded 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as
Shoghi Effendi has written: "first and foremost as the Center and
Pivot of Bahá'u'lláh's peerless and all-enfolding Covenant, His most
exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the perfect
Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter of His Word . . .
" and as stated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá: "a Covenant so firm and mighty that
from the beginning of time until the present day no religious
Dispensation hath produced its like.”
The believers in France.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of France was duly
elected on the 23rd of April 1960 in the Bahá'í year 117 during
Ridván, the only period during which National Spiritual Assemblies may
be elected, in conformity with the instructions of the first Guardian,
Shoghi Effendi with the following members duly elected by the
delegates to this convention and then subsequently elected by the
members to the offices shown below:
Mr, Joel B. Marangella (President)
Mr. Bernard Fillon (Secretary)
Mr. Donald Harvey (Treasurer)
Mr. Alain Tamenne (Vice-President)
Mrs. Henriette Samimy (Reporting Secretary)
Mrs. Sara Kenny (Member)
Mr. A. M. Barafroukhteh (Member)
Mr. Monir Derakhchan (Member)
Mr. Jacques Soghomonian (Member)
Mason Remey had sent his Proclamation, as the second Guardian of the
Faith, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States during
Ridván 1960 in anticipation that this Assembly would, in turn, send it
to the eleven other NSA’s in the Bahá'í World existing at that time
which would, in those countries where the believers were not
conversant in the English language, be further translated into their
native tongue before distribution. But the Proclamation was never sent
to them.
The National Spiritual Assembly of France was the only NSA other than
the United States to directly receive this Proclamation, as Mason
Remey had fortunately decided to make an exception in sending a copy
to this Assembly. (Perhaps he had done so because of his affinity for
Paris where he had first become a Bahá'í as a student at the turn of
the century). The NSA of France then reviewed applicable
documentation, duly consulted upon the lucid arguments presented in
the Proclamation and, after finding them to be completely valid, voted
affirmatively to accept Mason Remey as the rightful successor to
Shoghi Effendi. However, as the NSA of the United States did not send
the Proclamation to the NSA’s of the world, all of which, in the
meantime, had received a cablegram from the Hands in Haifa denouncing
Mason Remey’s accession to the Guardianship, these Assemblies then
blindly complied with the judgment of the Hands and consequently they
and the believers under their respective jurisdictions tragically
never had the opportunity to judge for themselves the validity of the
evidence presented by Mason Remey that clearly validated his accession
to the Guardianship.
In the vote taken by the NSA of France, initially only a single member
had dissented in the vote taken by the Assembly to accept Mason Remey
as the second Guardian and that was Mr. M. Barafroukhteh. The reason
was that he was not capable of investigating the truth independently
and that is why Mr. Barafroukhteh telephoned the Hands in Haifa about
the decision and when (in the meeting of NSA) the motion was made to
accept the second Guardian, at that moment, he threatened to walk out
of the meeting if this motion was carried. The President then told him
to await the result of the vote and if he so judged that the result
precluded his working further with the National Spiritual Assembly, he
could exempt himself from doing so. He then decided to leave before
the vote. His words were: "Very well, inasmuch as it’s like that, I'll
leave."
Role of Abu’l Qasim Faizi and Mr. Navidi
Alarmed by the decision taken by the NSA of France, a telegram was
received from the Hands of the Faith in Haifa, announcing the visit of
then Hand of the Cause 'Abu'l-Qasin Faizi. The President was informed
of this by telephone and with his consent, the secretary convened an
extraordinary meeting [of the NSA] for Saturday, the 7th of May 1960
at 1400 hours. At almost the same moment, each member of the NSA of
France received a telegram from Mr. Barafroukhteh, who, on his own
authority and for his own purpose, was convening a meeting at the same
time (to receive Mr. Faizi).
At the appointed time, Mr. Faizi, accompanied by Mr. Navidi, an
Auxikliary Board member, resident in Monte Carlo, presented themselves
at the Haziratu'l-Quds. The President, Mr. Marangella, who had arrived
at precisely 1400 hours apprised Mr. Faizi that the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá'ís of France would meet prior to their being
received by the Assemby in order to administer certain matters. Mr.
Faizi took no notice of this and showed him a letter of introduction.
The President told Mr. Faizi that he was in no doubt, as to his
mission on behalf of the Hands in Haifa, but that the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of France only recognized the
authority of the living Guardian of the Faith and of a future
Universal House of Justice that is inseparable from a living Guardian
(presiding as its “sacred head”) and whose establishment will be
announced at a date to be fixed by the present Guardian or one of his
legitimate successors according to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-
Bahá, but in any case, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís
of France needed to be convened prior to receiving him. In every way,
Mr. Marangella was exercising his rights as President of the NSA of
France and he tried to convene the NSA of France before receiving Mr.
Faizi.
Mr. Faizi refused to allow the NSA to convene, insisting that they
meet and place themselves at his disposal. This exchange lasted a fair
while, but owing to the impossibility of obtaining from Mr. Faizi its
right to convene, the NSA concluded: “We will receive you outside of
any normal and legal session of the NSA, simply as a group of
individual Bahá'ís.”
After the reading of a prayer, Mr. Barafroukhteh, prompted by Mr.
Tamenne, made an disingenuous remark directed to Mr. Marangella and
Mr. Fillon, because they had conferred together apart from the rest,
regarding the illegality of the acceptance of the meeting, which was
outside a normal legal session of the NSA and consequently out of
order. The result of this remark was that Mr. Marangella and Mr.
Fillon, who had been seated together, were separated by Mr. Tamenne,
who, on his own authority, chose to sit between them.
This description of the atmosphere at the commencement of this
meeting, whilst excessively negative, is described in order to show
the complete absence of spiritual life, which characterized it, as
well as the absolute illegality, and irregularity of the meeting
according to proper Bahá'í Administration. During the meeting Mr.
Faizi asked who were the members who had recognized Mason Remey as the
Second Guardian. There was, initially, a protest among a certain
number of them regarding this inquisitorial question, the vote being
regarded as strictly confidential, secret and within the purview of
the National Spiritual Assembly. Finally, in face of such a flagrant
violation, Messrs. Joel B. Marangella, Monir Derakhchan, Jacques
Soghomonian, Donald Harvey and Bernard Fillon raised their hands in
unison, whereupon Mr. Faizi declared that he was dissolving the
National Spiritual Assembly of France. This action on the part of Mr.
Faizi left one speechless.
By what right was this [National Spiritual Assembly] dissolved [by a
Hand of the Cause]? Can one find this authority within the Will and
Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá? Although Mr. Faizi, as a Hand of the Cause,
lacked any authority under the terms of the Will and Testament
of`Abdu'l-Bahá to declare a National Spiritual Assembly dissolved, but
because, after this meeting with the NSA he had then journeyed
throughout France to meet with the several LSA’s for the purpose of
denouncing Mason Remey, his pernicious influence over these Assemblies
was such as to make it impossible for the National Spiritual Assembly
to continue to effectively function the Assembly decided to terminate
further activity.
The believers in Lucknow (India)
The second Guardian, Charles Mason Remey wrote in his dairy: “Daily
Observations,”(written during the years he resided in Haifa and while
he was one of the so-called Custodian Hands) about the remarkable
action taken by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Lucknow, India,
following the passing of Shoghi Effendi:
“This afternoon (12 February 1959) there was a meeting of seven of us
Custodian Hands of the Cause now here in the Holy Land at which there
was a discussion of many things - details of comings and goings of
pilgrims all of routine work, and a letter from the Local Assembly of
Lucknow, India, was laid upon the table without remark, someone saying
that it was a local problem – a matter that should be referred not to
the Hands but to the National Assembly of India.
“Seeing the letter, as it lay there on the table, I glanced at it and
was astonished indeed at its contents. It was a record of action of
that local Assembly in which seven of the nine members had united to
dissolve that local body until such time as the Guardianship be
renewed and functioning again – this letter (copy of which was
addressed to the Hands in the Holy Land, dated 18 November 1958) was
being sent to the Indian National Assembly in New Delhi. This was
indeed a most remarkable statement (in six short paragraphs) of the
reasons why these friends cannot accept the present condition of the
Cause without a Guardian.”
A summary of the original letter:
Mr. Gupta wrote the following letter on 18 November 1957 from 51
Sundarbagh, Lucknow U.P (India).
Resolution: Where as by a resolution passed in the presence of seven
members of the Assembly on November 9, 1957, [five days after the
passing of Shoghi Effendi] it was resolved that “the activities of
this LSA be suspended till the appointment of the next Guardian of the
Faith” and the same was intimated to the NSA, New Delhi, and whereas
it comes under the purview of the Supreme Council, so therefore it
behooves this assembly to place the following arguments without
prejudice, before the aforementioned Supreme Council through
Raffanian, Haifa (Israel):
Man’s nature is two-fold; he is spirit and body and therefore, at
once, a citizen of this world and of the Heavenly City.
The State of Guardianship is the super most thing upon the Earth.
The Guardian ought to have no equal in his realm because this would
nullify the rule that an equal cannot have authority over his equals.
The Supremacy of the Guardian in spiritual matters is absolute under
the God…The Guardian has full power to create Hands of the Cause and
can do so without any of the customary forms of election.
The unique power possessed by the Guardian alone is, therefore a
“Divine Right”…In substance the Guardian alone is the head of entire
legal system, not, indeed, as a universal executive but as a court of
final authority which functions not in absentia but by presence.
The present system is but conciliary and the concilliarists have set
against it the ideal of harmony of powers cooperating by free and
mutual consent. Such an argument is fraught with the implication that
God had changed the mode of imposing His Divine Right according to the
wishes of the few. Such a democratic conception is vitally opposed to
the Spirit of the Faith.
Alert Bahá'í Brethren!
From the above, it is clear that those who investigate the truth
independently, find the truth but those who do not struggle for the
truth, God seals their hearts.
Action of the believers of Iran after the death of Shoghi Effendi:
When Mason Remey, the second Guardian of the Cause of God, dispatched
his Proclamation, the other former Hands of the Cause concentrated all
their efforts to prevent the Bahá'ís from being informed, so it took a
while before some of the knowledgeable Bahá'ís who were steadfast in
the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh to find out that, as expected, Shoghi
Effendi had faithfully appointed his successor according to the sacred
Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá during his own lifetime. Despite
the harsh opposition of the heterodox organization in Iran and despite
excommunications and the breaking up of families by Iran’s National
Spiritual Assembly under the direction of the violating Hands they
spread the truth and considerable numbers of Bahá'ís accepted the
second Guardian of the Cause of God in many cities of Iran such as:
Isfahan,
Shiraz,
Tabriz
Azerbaijan,
Tehran
in which groups of believers of the true Faith of God assembled and,
as a result, a Central Spiritual Assembly under the Guardianship was
established in Tihran. Subsequently, when the members of this Central
Spiritual Assembly had received inexplicably confusing letters from
Mason Remey during the 1966-1967 time period, following his abdication
of the Guardianship, and had then further confirmed their
authenticity, but unfortunately, at the same time, had not been aware
of the issuance of the Proclamation of Joel Bray Marangella announcing
his accession to the Guardianship, this Assembly then erroneously and
sadly concluded that the Guardianship of the Faith had, in fact, come
to a premature end, and felt compelled to dissolve itself.
There were true believers in all the parts of the world but due to a
lack of communication they did not survive and they either died with
the pure Faith in their heart or they traveled to safe places. Hand of
the Cause, Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand was one of these believers who went
to Australia and then surprisingly discovered that the third Guardian
of the Bahá'í Faith resided in the same city where he had taken up his
own residence, as an exile from his rightful home in Haifa. He then
joyfully recognized and accepted his Guardianship and remains under
his shelter, as this is written, as a very steadfast and faithful
believer who has been named a Hand of the Cause by the Guardian and
who has now established an internet site in the Persian language which
includes documentation that provides irrefutable proof of the
continuing Guardianship. The Persian Bahá'ís are invited and
encouraged to visit this site.
By Hand of the Cause of God Dr. A. Parikh
Note: This article has been reviewed, edited and approved by the
Guardian of the Faith Joel Bray Marangella.