September 20. On this date in 1975, the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama wrote to the Universal House of Justice asking about books by William Miller and Hermann Zimmer.

 

September 20. On this date in 1975, the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama wrote to the Universal House of Justice asking about books by William Miller and Hermann Zimmer.  William Miller translated the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, which was published by the Royal Asiatic Society in 1961, three decades before the Bahá'í Administration's officially-sanctioned translation in 1992.  Hermann Zimmer was an early pioneer of the Bahá'í Faith in Germany who, like Ruth White and other Free Bahá'ís, believed that the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá was a forgery, based on hand writing analysis by the criminologist C. Ainsworth Mitchell as well as the belief that the nascent Bahá'í Administration being formed under the auspices of Shoghi Effendi was against the teachings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The Universal House of Justice advised "that the friends should be advised to ignore these books and any similar ones which might be written by enemies of the Faith."

627. Literature Written by Enemies of the Faith

"In reply to your letter of September 20, 1975, the Universal House of Justice instructs us to say that the friends should be advised to ignore these books and any similar ones which might be written by enemies of the Faith. There should certainly be no attempt made to destroy or remove such books from libraries. On the other hand there is no need at all for the friends to acquire them and, indeed, the best plan is to ignore them entirely."

(Referring to books by Hermann Zimmer and William Miller. Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama, October 2, 1975)