New Site: Messages from the Universal House of Justice to Individual Believers

A collection of messages to individual believers in chronological order.

“in these we can discern the faint glimmerings and discover the earliest intimation of the nature and working of the Administrative Order”

• In the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh where the institutions of the International and Local Houses of Justice are specifically designated and formally established;
• in the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God which first Bahá’u’lláh and then ‘Abdu’l Bahá brought into being;
• in the institution of both local and national Assemblies which in their embryonic stage were already functioning in the days preceding ‘Abdu’l Bahá’s ascension;
• in the authority with which the Author of our Faith and the Center of His Covenant have in their Tablets chosen to confer upon them;
• in the institution of the Local Fund which operated according to ‘Abdu’l Bahá’s specific injunctions addressed to certain Assemblies in Persia;
• in the verses of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas the implications of which clearly anticipate the institution of the Guardianship;
• in the explanation which ‘Abdu’l Bahá, in one of His Tablets, has given to, and the emphasis He has placed upon, the hereditary principle and the law of primogeniture as having been upheld by the Prophets of the past—

in these we can discern the faint glimmerings and discover the earliest intimation of the nature and working of the Administrative Order which the Will of ‘Abdu’l Bahá was at a later time destined to proclaim and formally establish. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah; included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

Utterances of the Báb to Governor of Isfahán, Manuchihr Khán, as he expressed concerns about the safety of the Báb after he has passed away

Fear not I have committed Myself into the hands of God. My trust is in Him. Such is the power which He has bestowed upon Me that if it be My wish, I can convert these very stones into gems of inestimable value, and can instil into the heart of the most wicked criminal the loftiest conceptions of uprightness and duty. Of My own will have I chosen to be afflicted by My enemies, ‘that God might accomplish the thing destined to be done.’ 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga

 

“We have elevated thee to the rank of one of the most distinguished among thy sex, and granted thee, in My court, a station such as none other woman hath surpassed.”

Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf

Let these exalted words be thy love-song on the tree of Bahá, O thou most holy and resplendent Leaf: 'God, besides Whom is none other God, the Lord of this world and the next!' Verily, We have elevated thee to the rank of one of the most distinguished among thy sex, and granted thee, in My court, a station such as none other woman hath surpassed. Thus have We preferred thee and raised thee above the rest, as a sign of grace from Him Who is the Lord of the throne on high and earth below. We have created thine eyes to behold the light of My countenance, thine ears to hearken unto the melody of My words, thy body to pay homage before My throne. Do thou render thanks unto God, thy Lord, the Lord of all the world.

How high is the testimony of the Sadratu'l-Muntahá for its leaf; how exalted the witness of the Tree of Life unto its fruit! Through My remembrance of her a fragrance laden with the perfume of musk hath been diffused; well is it with him that hath inhaled it and exclaimed: 'All praise be to Thee, O God, my Lord the most glorious!' How sweet thy presence before Me; how sweet to gaze upon thy face, to bestow upon thee My loving-kindness, to favour thee with My tender care, to make mention of thee in this, My Tablet—a Tablet which I have ordained as a token of My hidden and manifest grace unto thee. 

- Baha’u’llah  (From a Tablet; compilation: ‘Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf’, prepared by the Research Department of the Baha’i World Center) 

“The law of consultation”

The law of consultation, as revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, is a fundamental teaching of the Faith. He tells us that through consultation the “maturity of the gift of understanding” is made manifest. “It is and will always be”, He states, “a cause of awareness and of awakening and a source of good and well-being.” “Consultation bestoweth greater awareness and transmuteth conjecture into certitude”, He further asserts. “It is a shining light which, in a dark world, leadeth the way and guideth.” Consultation paves the path of individual and collective endeavour. The growth, progress, and enduring unity of the community are ensured by its practice. It is indispensable for the ordering of human affairs. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá refers to consultation as “the cause of great victories”, assuring us that “it attracteth the aid and bestowal of God.”

As you know, Bahá’í consultation is to be undertaken with the utmost love, sincerity, and unity. Its participants must come together in a prayerful attitude, seeking assistance from the Realm of Glory, expressing their thoughts freely, surrendering all attachment to their individual opinions, and giving fair-minded and careful consideration to the views of others, in an effort to reach consensus. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá advises us that should it be found, in the course of coming to a decision, that discussion has become prolonged or given rise to disputation, consultation should be deferred and taken up at a more propitious time…. Of course, it must be remembered that the purpose of consultation need not always be to arrive at a particular or final decision. Often the aim may simply be to engage in an exchange of views so as to help clarify a certain matter and bring about unity of vision. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 19 May 2009 addressed to the Believers in the Cradle of the Faith; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)