Nearly 3 years after the first guardian of the Baha’ism faith death in 1957 A.D. and in 1960 A.D., Mason Remey from the national convention of America published a manifest addressing the world Baha’is. He introduced himself as the second guardian of the faith of Baha’ism after Shoqi Affendi and sent its copy for the national assemblies and the members called Ayadi Amrullah.
The foundation of the universal house of justice answered the announcement for the guardian of the faith of the Baha’is by Mason Remey and claimed for two conditions for appointing the guardian of the faith by the Baha’i leaders which Remey is in lack of them: 1) offspring relationship with Shoqi effendi or 2) that with Bahaullah: “The appointed person must be appointed by the Excellency the guardian of God’s faith and this person must be one of his sons or male offspring of the Excellency Bahaullah. Ayadi Amrullah these nine people must approve appointing the successor by the guardian of the faith. When the Excellency the guardian of the faith is alive, everybody knows who is his successor in order for differences not to be created.[1]”
The Answer:
As the foundation of the universal house of justice mentioned, the guardian of the faith must be of the male offspring of Shoqi or Baha. However, the question is that: It is said that the Baha’i leaders have considered the system of the leadership after themselves as based on two pillars of the guardian of the faith and the universal house of justice. How couldn’t the Baha’i leaders as so-called divine ones predict that Shoqi Effendi has boycotted all Baha’s offspring and he himself would die aborted?!
Abdul Baha hasn’t considered the guardian of the faith as the head and the greatest member of the universal house of justice and hasn’t announced holding the universal house of justice sessions without the presence of the guardian of the faith (or his deputy): “The guardian of God’s faith is the holy head of this assembly and is the greatest member of it. He must appoint a deputy if he doesn’t participate in the assemblies…[۲]”
The universal house of justice claimed for the guardian of the faith of Mason Remey must be approved by nine-people board when Shoqi Effendi is alive according to the Baha’i texts while Shoqi Effendi wasn’t in need of holding nine-people board and electing the next guardian of the faith. How is it possible for the first guardian of the faith of Baha’ism, Shoqi Effendi who has stressed on the necessity for leadership of the guardian of the faith over the universal house of justice and has considered the basis of Baha’ism leadership as unstable[3] doesn’t need for the guardian of the faith to be elected?! How is it acceptable for the Baha’is that Shoqi Effendi could evade the responsibility assigned to him by Abdul Baha?!
Nevertheless, the universal house of justice hasn’t answered the following statement yet:
The universal house of justice isn’t legitimate without the presence of the guardian of the faith.
[۱] Narrated by the proselytizing media of the Baha’ism organization
[۲] Refer to Abbas Effendi, the will tablets, the national assembly of the Baha’is of Pakistan: Sterling garden road publishing house, Nov. 1960, p. 16.
[۳] Shoqi effendi, Germany: The national assembly of publishing the faith works, 3rd edition, 1998 A.D., p. 80.
