In the Bahá’í Faith there are two authoritative centers
appointed to which the believers must turn, for in reality the Interpreter of
the Word is an extension of that center which is the Word itself. The Book is
the record of the utterance of Bahá’u’lláh, while the divinely inspired
Interpreter is the living Mouth of that Book—it is he and he alone who can
authoritatively state what the Book means. Thus one center is the Book with its
Interpreter, and the other is the Universal House of Justice guided by God to
decide on whatever is not explicitly revealed in the Book. This pattern of
centers and their relationships is apparent at every stage in the unfoldment of
the Cause. In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh tells the believers to refer after
His passing to the Book, and to “Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched
from this Ancient Root.” In the Kitáb-i-‘Ahdí (the Book of Bahá’u’lláh’s
Covenant), He makes it clear that this reference is to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In the
Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh also ordains the institution of the Universal House of
Justice, and confers upon it the powers necessary for it to discharge its
ordained functions. The Master in His Will and Testament explicitly institutes
the Guardianship, which Shoghi Effendi states was clearly anticipated in the
verses of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, reaffirms and elucidates the authority of the
Universal House of Justice, and refers the believers once again to the Book:
“Unto the Most Holy Book everyone must turn, and all that is not expressly
recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice,” and at
the very end of the Will He says: “All must seek guidance and turn unto the
Center of the Cause and the House of Justice. And he that turneth unto
whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error.”
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 7 December 1969 to an individual believer; ‘Messages from
the Universal House of Justice, 1968-1973)
