July 7. On this date in 1960, the Custodians wrote to all of the Hands of the Cause of God concerning "the Remey matter" asking "support the recommendations for immediate expulsion of Mason and announcement of this to the believers."
To the Hands of the Cause of God throughout the World
CONFIDENTIAL
In accordance with our principles of procedure, the Hands in the Holy Land have the duty and responsibility of calling the Annual Meeting of the entire body of the Hands. After consideration of all factors, we have chosen the period October 18-27 as the dates for this year's Conclave, with the understanding that the time will be extended if necessary. Before this meeting we will as usual send to each Hand a tentative or suggested agenda for consideration.
It has been recommended that this year a special effort be made by all the Continental Hands to arrange for visits to as many Bahá'í centres as possible on their way to or from the Conclave. We feel that such visits at this time will have great influence in unifying the friends and deepening them in their understanding of the Covenant. We urge each Hand to work out as extensive an itinerary as possible.
You have been kept informed of the main developments to date in the Remey matter through our various communications, but we feel the time has now come to refer to the entire body of our fellow-Hands the information, views and recommendations received from various individual Hands calling for further action.
As most of you undoubtedly know, Mason has followed up his original proclamation with other documents including one entitled "The Question of the Guardianship", and another document which he calls his first "Encyclical" to the Bahá'í world. In the latter document he definitely classifies all of the Hands as violators, calls upon the believers to abandon their activities in support of the plans announced by the Hands for the remainder of the beloved Guardian's Crusade, to withdraw their financial support of these activities, and directs them to turn to him alone for guidance and instructions. He is distributing these documents widely, and his leading supporters are writing to the believers, urging them to investigate the Remey claim and accept his station as the second Guardian of the Faith. We are enclosing for your information a copy of another communication which we have just sent to all National Assemblies, calling upon the friends to refrain from any association with those who support Mason's claim.
In France, the reconstituted National Assembly has taken action depriving the five disloyal former members of that Assembly of their voting right and membership in the Community.
We wish to report that our representative, Mr. Faizi, recommended expulsion of the disloyal individuals in France, who in his view are suffering from a real spiritual illness. He was joined in this recommendation by Dr. Giachery, but the other two European Hands, Mr. Balyuzi and Dr. Muhlschlegel, did not concur; therefore the European Hands as a body did not recommend expulsion. The attached excerpts from communications received in Haifa will give you their views and recommendations, and those of Mr. Faizi.
All of you will recall that at our first Conclave a formal action was recorded, giving the Hands in the Holy Land the responsibility for expelling people from the Faith, but only on recommendation of the Continental Hands concerned, after investigation by them. Thus in the case of the disloyal members in France, the Hands in the Holy Land were bound by the action of the majority of the European Hands in not recommending expulsion at this time.
With regard to Mason himself, since we had no instructions covering defection by one of the Hands of the Cause, we have felt that any action in his case beyond the steps already taken, should be by the body of the Hands itself. In view of the increasingly insistent recommendations received from the Hands now in the Western Hemisphere calling for Mason's immediate expulsion, we believe this question must now be referred to the body of the Hands for advice and decision. Attached are copies of their views and recommendations.
To these we wish to add our own view that Mason's claim and activities in opposition to the decisions and Plans of our beloved Guardian, constitute a basis for expulsion from the Faith, because they are in fact a protest against the decision of Shoghi Effendi in not appointing a successor to him as the Guardian of the Faith. Our Beloved did not make such an appointment because to do so in the circumstances with which he was faced would have been a violation of the Sacred Texts; thus his nonappointment of a successor upheld the Text of the written Covenant of God. This was explicitly stated in the Proclamation issued from our first Conclave in which we said that "no successor to Shoghi Effendi could have been appointed by him". This Proclamation was signed by Mason, who now states in one of his documents that he has known for the past twelve years that he was to be the second Guardian of the Faith, and the successor to Shoghi Effendi in that station!
We believe that Mason's claim and activities fall within the warning and injunction contained in these words of the sacred Will and Testament of the Master: "It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsan, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His Word and will become a manifestation of the Centre of Sedition. Beware, beware, lest the days after the Ascension (of Bahá'u'lláh) be repeated when the Centre of Sedition waxed haughty and rebellious and with Divine Unity for his excuse deprived himself and perturbed and poisoned others. No doubt every vain-glorious one that purposeth dissension and discord will not openly declare his evil purposes, nay rather, even as impure gold, will he seize upon divers measures and various pretexts that he may separate the gathering of the people of Baha) My object is to show that the Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and protest against the Guardian of the Cause of God, cast him out from the congregation of the people of Baha) and in no wise accept any excuse from him. How often hath grievous error been disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of-doubt in the hearts of men!"
As you know, there are many other passages in the Will and Testament more strongly condemning Covenant-breakers, in which it is said they should be cut off from the Community of the believers, shunned and avoided entirely.
The questions now referred to you, our fellow-Hands, for decision are:
(1) Whether you wish to support the recommendations for immediate expulsion of Mason and announcement of this to the believers, or
(2) Whether you wish action on this whole question to be deferred until the Conclave in October. We request you to study this letter and the attached recommendations carefully and prayerfully, and then send us your reply immediately by cable.
We send you our warmest greetings and loving prayers.
In the service of the beloved Guardian,
HANDS OF THE CAUSE IN THE HOLY LAND
Excerpts from Communications Received from Various Hands Containing Comments and Recommendations on Mason Remey's Status (and that of his chief supporters).
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