June 11. On this date in 1934, Shoghi Effendi appended a letter he had written to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, affirming "the supreme authority of the National Assembly in all matters that affect the interests of the Faith in that land. There can be no conflict of authority, no duality under any form or circumstances in any sphere of Bahá'í jurisdiction whether local, national or international."

 

June 11. On this date in 1934, Shoghi Effendi appended a letter he had written to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, affirming "the supreme authority of the National Assembly in all matters that affect the interests of the Faith in that land. There can be no conflict of authority, no duality under any form or circumstances in any sphere of Bahá'í jurisdiction whether local, national or international."

1439. I wish to reaffirm, in clear and categorical language, the principle already enunciated upholding the supreme authority of the National Assembly in all matters that affect the interests of the Faith in that land. There can be no conflict of authority, no duality under any form or circumstances in any sphere of Bahá'í jurisdiction whether local, national or international. The National Assembly, however, although the sole interpreter of its Declaration of Trust and by-laws, is directly and morally responsible if it allows any body or institution within its jurisdiction to abuse its privileges or to decline in the exercise of its rights and prerogatives. It is the trusted guardian and the mainspring of the manifold activities and interests of every national community in the Bahá'í world. It constitutes the sole link that binds these communities to the International House of Justice--the supreme administrative body in the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.

(In the hand writing of Shoghi Effendi, appended to a letter dated 11 June 1934 written on his behalf to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada)