March 21. On this date in 1958, nearly five months after Shoghi Effendi's death, the Hands of the Cause of God in the Holy Land addressed a letter to the Hands of the Cause of God throughout the World announcing "nine Custodians seeking to shoulder on behalf of all the Hands some of those tasks our dearly loved Guardian carried out to such perfection!"
To the Hands of the Cause of God throughout the World
March 21, 1958
Beloved Fellow-Hands:
Daily our thoughts and our prayers have been
with you since we
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separated from each other after our great ordeal at Bahji We know your thoughts and loving prayers have surrounded us as we struggle to meet the problems here at the World Centre and to find our way in service at so critical and heart-rending a time in the history of our beloved Faith.
It is being increasingly borne in upon us
from news received here as well as the reports of those of us who
have been out in the Bahá'í world to serve and returned again, such
as Ruhiyyih Khanum, Jalal Khazeh, Paul Haney and Shu'a'u'llah 'Ala'i
that the only possible way the work of this holy Faith, which our
beloved Guardian inspired, organized and brought to such a high
level, can be maintained and further consolidated, is by focusing
both the consciousness of the believers and the work of the Cause
of God upon its World Spiritual and Administrative Centre. The
strength of a wheel and its power to roll forward are entirely
dependent upon the hub, and the solidity of the spokes united in
the hub. We have come to see that the supreme work of the Hands-all
twenty-seven of them-is to maintain this focal Centre of Unity in
the Holy Land at this dangerous time the Faith is passing through.
There exists no other instrument for this purpose except ourselves.
As you can well imagine it has been a very trying time. The work
is so sacred, the burden of responsibility so heavy on each Hand
everywhere in the world-how much more here on the nine Custodians
seeking to shoulder on behalf of all the Hands some of those tasks
our dearly loved Guardian carried out to such perfection! Slowly
we have been able to get our work organized and daily a stronger
pattern is emerging. We feel that to have nine here has not only
a spiritual significance in itself but that it also greatly helps
in making decisions as we get the benefit of the considered
opinions of more of the Hands. There is also the influence on the
morale of the believers all over the world which is exerted by
their knowing that nine of us are constantly engaged in protecting
and serving the interests of the Faith at its Heart. Unfortunately
thus far it has not been possible to maintain this number at all
times.
Of the permanent Custodians six are now here-Ruhiyyih
Khanum, Amelia Collins, Jalal Khazeh 'Ali-Akbar Furutan Paul Haney
and Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, as well as the alternate Custodian Ugo
Giachery, Mason Remey has just left for Sydney. Hasan Balyuzi has
not yet been able to arrange his business and family affairs (he
hopes to do this within a few months), and Leroy Ioas has had to
go to a sanatorium in Switzerland to treat a heart condition which
has been developing for some time. He is better now and we hope to
have him with us about the beginning of May. John Ferraby and
Shu'a'u'llah 'Ala'i have been acting as substitutes, but as one is
the British National Spiritual Assembly Secretary and the other the
Chairman of the Persian National Spiritual Assembly, they
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have been forced to return to their posts where they were urgently needed. In a few weeks Ugo Giachery, will have to return to Europe en route to the Chicago Conference. We find that during the summer months we might even be reduced to six temporarily, in spite of the fact that 'Ali Muhammad Varqa will be coming to act as a substitute for some months. We feel you should know this because it has a direct bearing on the work all of us are doing and on our future plans.
Daily we are more convinced of the need for the Hands to not
only be strongly represented here by nine resident Hands as much
of the time as possible, but that increasingly during the coming
years until the Universal House of Justice can be formed, the other
Hands must be made free to travel and circulate amongst the
believers, so that they can not only watch over and protect the
Faith better, but ensure that an uninterrupted flow of spiritual
life continues to pour out from the World Centre. The beloved
Guardian was in his person the very heart of our Faith; we are but
his most humble and inadequate servants, but the supreme function
of the heart as the key organ of the whole must go on, and it is
our duty at this time and ours alone to see that it does. There are
many obstacles in the way of our accomplishing this, the two
greatest being financial means and health. Some of the Hands are
too frail to carry on heavy duties or travel. The funds of the
Faith, already heavily committed, are not at the present in a
position to support extensive travelling on the part of the Hands.
We share these thoughts with you so that you can better understand
our problems and the way the Custodians you have appointed see at
least some of the urgent needs of the Faith.
From a recently issued
statement of the American Hands and National Spiritual Assembly,
from letters received regarding remarks made by some of the Asiatic
and European Hands, it is becoming obvious that in a perfectly
natural course of human events, and with no awareness of its
perils, there has been a tendency for different interpretations of
our present situation and different prognostications of the future
to be made. At times such as this in history, when a firmly
integrated organism is suddenly deprived of its pivot, there is a
strong centrifugal force released, and we believe that the urgent
and most sacred duty of the Hands now is to offset this process at
all costs. We feel very strongly that unless we hear from you all
about conditions in your areas in more detail and more frequently,
we will not be able to discharge the heavy responsibilities you
have given us.
The first step must surely be to think, to catch the
vision of the Bahá'í world and its work as the Guardian himself saw
it. Even those of us serving here at the World Centre-some of us
privileged to have been guided by the Guardian himself-realize only
now that he is no longer
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here, and we are forced to assume responsibility, how vast is the field and how tremendous the work required to preserve what has been won and carry on what has not yet been finished, thus ensuring that our beloved Guardian did not lay down his life in vain, and that his work is accomplished.
We feel a great adjustment in our
thinking is required on the part of the Hands here and abroad; we
must think deeply and quickly. The time is flying, and the need for
action on a world scale constantly before us. The minds of National
Spiritual Assembly members are focused on carrying on the work
within the area of their own jurisdiction. Very much the same thing
is true of the Hands, as during the beloved Guardian's lifetime
they were called upon to discharge continental duties. Now with the
sudden irreparable loss of our beloved Guardian the Hands are
compelled to see the Bahá'í world as a whole, as he always did, to
forget regional consciousness (although of course they will
continue to watch over the work in their respective areas), and to
think on behalf of Shoghi Effendi of the world needs, world
protection, world consolidation of this mighty Faith. God forbid
that we should fall short of our duty. How will we ever account to
him who appointed us if we do?
We feel that as you associate with
the various National Spiritual Assemblies in the discharge of your
duties, you should constantly remind them of these things and help
them to bear in mind that if they are a national body, say in Latin
America, the spiritual health and entire future of what they love
most in this world-the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh-depends not only on
their own condition but on that of their counterparts in Europe,
Asia or Africa, and that the tie binding them to those sister
bodies passes straight through the heart of the Faith, through
Haifa, its World Centre. To the degree to which the Bahá'í world
begins to think this way, to just this degree will we Hands be able
to protect it and hold it together until the House of Justice comes
into being.
We feel that from now on the Hands of the Faith should
consider arranging their personal affairs so that they may to as
great a degree as possible be free to serve at the World Centre or
throughout the Bahá'í world, travelling and inspiring the
believers, and keeping before their eyes what we must first
ourselves firmly grasp-the world picture of the Faith and its
present needs. The question of finances must naturally be
considered but we believe that support will not fail if the
believers behold in the Hands those spiritual qualities
commensurate with the high station conferred upon them as stewards
of the Faith.
We believe that there would be a great advantage
gained in having Hands from one continent visit another continent.
We all know the impetus a local community receives through outside
visitors. The effect is infinitely greater if the visitor is a Hand
of the Faith. Let us therefore
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ponder these things, reorient our thinking, and reorient it quickly.
After the ascension of the Guardian, we are still in a
state of shock. Neither our enemies nor any doubters there may be
in our midst have yet rallied their forces. The love of the friends
for their beloved Guardian has welled up a mighty flow of devotion
and determination to carry on his plans. The iron is hot, and if
we do not strike now, we Hands may never as long as we live have
another opportunity like this.
We believe this is a formative
moment in both Bahá'í and world history. The five Intercontinental
Conferences offer the unique opportunity to inspire and set afire
the believers. This was one of the purposes of the Guardian in
calling for them, and we must utilize them to the full, to raise
up a new spirit of consecration which in turn will stimulate an
increasing flow of pioneers and larger sums to carry on the work
before us. We hope you will do all you can to encourage the friends
to attend them and that those of you who are present yourselves
will do your best to keep the discussion on a high spiritual plane
and focus on the work to be done during die next five years. It
seems to us that what has happened historically-the passing of the
Guardian and his leaving no Will-has placed the Bahá'ís in a
position which no mere intellectual approach can either mitigate
or solve. Spiritual forces alone, resignation to the will of God,
prayer, consecration, self-sacrifice, devotion, can carry us
forward through this period.
We want you to know that in a most
remarkable way the problems connected with protecting various
properties at the World Centre and in the Cradle of the Faith have
been overcome. It is not wise as yet to write in detail as it might
jeopardize what is being done, but we will report to you in full
in November when we meet at Bahji The preservation of this Centre
and those functions it can and must still fulfil in the absence of
him who was the interpreter of the Word of God is, we believe, not
only our supreme duty, but that of each one of you equally.
None
of us can ever be the same after last November 4th. We must then
ask ourselves what are we going to be from now on? What are the
opportunities that lie before us? Not having our Guardian now in
this physical world, we must cling the more tightly to each other,
we the Hands he raised up for the protection of his work. Would
that we were more adequate to meet the needs of this tragic hour!
To you, the closest kindred of our hearts, we send our love, and
we pray for you all every time we visit the Holy Shrines, and daily
as well.
Yours in the service of the beloved Guardian,
HANDS OF THE
CAUSE IN THE HOLY LAND
P.S. May we remind you that the text of this communication is addressed to the Hands alone.
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