February 27. On this date in 1929, Shoghi Effendi wrote a lengthy letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, later published in "World Order of Bahá'u'lláh," wherein he stated "Not only will the present day Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in future, but they will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Bahá'í Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Bahá'í Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world's future superstate."

 

February 27. On this date in 1929, Shoghi Effendi wrote a lengthy letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, later published in World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.

It should be carefully borne in mind that the local as well as the international Houses of Justice have been expressly enjoined by the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, as an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master’s Will as the “Secondary House of Justice,” has the express sanction of 'Abdu’l-Bahá; and that the method to be pursued for the election of the International and National Houses of Justice has been set forth by Him in His Will, as well as in a number of His Tablets. Moreover, the institutions of the local and national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to all local and national spiritual assemblies, have not only been established by 'Abdu’l-Bahá in the Tablets He revealed to the Bahá’ís of the Orient, but their importance and necessity have been repeatedly emphasized by Him in His utterances and writings. The concentration of authority in the hands of the elected representatives of the believers; the necessity of the submission of every adherent of the Faith to the considered judgment of Bahá’í Assemblies; His preference for unanimity in decision; the decisive character of the majority vote; and even the desirability for the exercise of close supervision over all Bahá’í publications, have been sedulously instilled by 'Abdu’l-Bahá, as evidenced by His authenticated and widely-scattered Tablets. To accept His broad and humanitarian Teachings on one hand, and to reject and dismiss with neglectful indifference His more challenging and distinguishing precepts, would be an act of manifest disloyalty to that which He has cherished most in His life.

That the Spiritual Assemblies of today will be replaced in time by the Houses of Justice, and are to all intents and purposes identical and not separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by 'Abdu’l-Bahá Himself. He has in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the first Chicago Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Bahá’í body instituted in the United States, referred to them as the members of the “House of Justice” for that city, and has thus with His own pen established beyond any doubt the identity of the present Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies with the Houses of Justice referred to by Bahá’u’lláh. For reasons which are not difficult to discover, it has been found advisable to bestow upon the elected representatives of Bahá’í communities throughout the world the temporary appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a term which, as the position and aims of the Bahá’í Faith are better understood and more fully recognized, will gradually be superseded by the permanent and more appropriate designation of House of Justice. Not only will the present-day Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in future, but they will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Bahá’í Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Bahá’í Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world’s future super-state. It must be pointed out, however, in this connection that, contrary to what has been confidently asserted, the establishment of the Supreme House of Justice is in no way dependent upon the adoption of the Bahá’í Faith by the mass of the peoples of the world, nor does it presuppose its acceptance by the majority of the inhabitants of any one country. In fact, 'Abdu’l-Bahá, Himself, in one of His earliest Tablets, contemplated the possibility of the formation of the Universal House of Justice in His own lifetime, and but for the unfavorable circumstances prevailing under the Turkish régime, would have, in all probability, taken the preliminary steps for its establishment. It will be evident, therefore, that given favorable circumstances, under which the Bahá’ís of Persia and of the adjoining countries under Soviet rule, may be enabled to elect their national representatives, in accordance with the guiding principles laid down in 'Abdu’l-Bahá’s writings, the only remaining obstacle in the way of the definite formation of the International House of Justice will have been removed. For upon the National Houses of Justice of the East and the West devolves the task, in conformity with the explicit provisions of the Will, of electing directly the members of the International House of Justice. Not until they are themselves fully representative of the rank and file of the believers in their respective countries, not until they have acquired the weight and the experience that will enable them to function vigorously in the organic life of the Cause, can they approach their sacred task, and provide the spiritual basis for the constitution of so august a body in the Bahá’í world.

February 27. On this date in 1922, Shoghi Effendi wrote to Auguste Forel, the Swiss scientist and eugenicist. Forel International School, a Bahá'í-inspired school located in Bratislava, Slovakia, was named after him.

 

February 27. On this date in 1922, Shoghi Effendi wrote to Auguste Forel, the Swiss scientist and eugenicist. Forel International School, a Bahá'í-inspired school located in Bratislava, Slovakia, was named after him.

27 February (1922) [to Professor Auguste Forel]

Honoured Sir:

It is with regret and sorrow that I enclose at last the long-protracted translations of `Abdu'l-Bahá's answer to your letter. His sudden passing to the Great Beyond has plunged us all in profound grief and added heavily to our preoccupations and responsibilities. Happily, however, the full answer to your epistle, had been written, and signed by him many days before his passing and were it not for the desire to have it adequately rendered into English and French, it would have reached you far sooner than now. As I am not certain of your address at the present moment, I am enclosing a copy of the original text which bears his signature, hoping to forward the text as soon as I am assured of your true address.

I am sending, too, a copy of the English version to Mr. A. Isfáhání, a Bahá'í friend of ours who, I understand, has had the pleasure and privilege of meeting you on more than one occasion, and who I am sure will submit it to you, should this letter fail to reach its destination.

The Bahá'ís the world over will be delighted to have copies of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's answer to your letter circulated amongst them, as it is unique in many respects and much appreciated in its nature and comprehensiveness. I have refrained from giving them copies until I hear of your desire to do so.

Being a personal letter I thought it incumbent upon me to inform you and request you on this point.

My very best wishes and kind regards and hoping to hear from you soon,

I am yours very sincerely

Shoghi Rabbani

(grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá)

On September 10, 1931, Shoghi Effendi wrote the daughter of Auguste Forel, who had died a few months previous. 

10 September 1931[to Mrs. Marta Brauns-Forel]

In regard to your father's spiritual testament, which betrays on the part of the author an inadequate knowledge of the Bahá'í Faith, the Guardian feels that you should make it clear to all the inquirers that the late Dr. Forel, as many other persons who have embraced the Cause, did not have a complete understanding of the fundamentals of the Bahá'í religion. He was particularly interested in the social aspect of the Movement and owing to some psychological reasons he did not lay much emphasis on its doctrinal side. This can be explained by the fact that our lamented doctor being advanced in age at the time of his acquaintance with the Bahá'í teachings was not able to devote all his time to a deep study of the tenets of the Faith.

Shoghi Effendi, however, in his letter addressed personally to your father explained to him that the Bahá'ís should firmly believe in the existence of God and in the immortality of the soul and in many other fundamental teachings which the Bahá'ís share with the adherents of many other religions. Our lamented doctor may have most probably considered it unwise to declare openly that he had rejected all his previous conceptions in regard to the existence of God and such similar ideas and preferred to express in an indirect way the many changes which the knowledge of the Faith had brought in his mind by declaring that he had become a Bahá'í.

At any rate there is no doubt whatever that the well-known Tablet revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá for him had brought a tremendous change in his monistic theories and induced him to accept the Message openly.

However great the contradictions in Dr. Forel's testament in regard to his attitude towards the Cause we cannot fail but to recognize him as a Bahá'í who had but a partial glimpse of the Bahá'í Revelation. No one can claim that his knowledge of this Revelation is adequate, especially at this time when the Bahá'í Faith is still in the embryonic stage of its development. Dr. Forel was sincere in his convictions but like every human being his comprehension was limited and this was not in his power to change.

These are the ideas which came to Shoghi Effendi's mind when he read a `&resume' of Dr. Forel's testament in one of the well-known Swiss journals and he wishes you to share them with all those who are interested to know of the Doctor's attitude towards this Movement....

In the Guardian's own handwriting:

Dear and valued co-worker:

The passing of your distinguished father has indeed grieved me profoundly and I wish to assure you of my heartfelt sympathy in your irreparable loss. I would deeply appreciate a written account of his eventful life and of the meritorious services he rendered humanity, either from your pen or any other friend in Germany, for publication in the next issue of the Bahá'í World. I feel that his reference to the Cause in the codicil of this testament indicates the perceptible change in his mental outlook since he penned the earlier passages of his will, for he must have known from the Tablet he received as well as from the letters I wrote him and from many other Bahá'í publications the fundamental and distinguishing features of the Cause. That is why I feel that with your consent and approval, the publication of his references to the Cause in his testament could very well be published in the Bahá'í World. With my best wishes and deepest sympathy,

Shoghi

February 27. On this date in 1983, the New York Times carried an article titled "Iran's Baha'is: Some Call it Genocide."

 

February 27. On this date in 1983, the New York Times carried an article titled "Iran's Baha'is: Some Call it Genocide."

IRAN'S BAHA'IS: SOME CALL IT GENOCIDE

By R.w. Apple Jr.

Feb. 27, 1983

For centuries the city of Shiraz, in southwestern Iran, has been a center of Persian poetry and intellectual life. The very word ''Persian'' comes from Pars, the name of the region centering on Shiraz. It is also the birthplace of the Bab, a 19th-century prophet whose teachings led to the creation of the Baha'i faith.

Two weeks ago in that city, the latest chapter in a long history of the Baha'i persecution unfolded before an Islamic tribunal. Of 21 members of the sect on trial for spying and alleged links with Israel, 20 were condemned to death, according to a Baha'i spokesman in London. The remaining defendant was pardoned.

The Baha'is have been the scapegoats of Persian and then Iranian society for generations. Donald M. Barrett, the secretary-general of the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel, says 20,000 Baha'is have been killed in Iran during the last 100 years. Since the advent of the Khomeini regime in 1979 at least 135 Baha'is, many of them spiritual leaders, have been executed.

The adherents of this relatively little-known religion seem unlikely villains. They uphold the divine origin of all major religions, including Islam. They shun violence, abstain from partisan politics and advocate unexceptionable principles such as the ''development of good character'' and the ''eradication of prejudices of race, creed, class, nationality and sex,'' to quote from a recent pamphlet. Claiming adherents in 173 countries, the Baha'i faith published literature in some 600 languages and dialects. It maintains vast domed houses of worship in Wilmette, Ill.; Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany; Kampala, Uganda; Sydney, Australia and Panama City, Panama. Others are being built in India and Samoa.

In Iran, however, members of the sect have always been considered heretics by the Shi'ite Muslim majority, while their relative prosperity has attracted the hostility of those less well-off. There are between 300,000 and 400,000 Baha'is in Iran, according to officials of the faith. Mr.Barrett estimated that 10,000 have left the country since the revolution. For the last six months, he added, none have been able to leave. Applications for exit visas must now specify the applicant's religion, and Baha'is are being turned down.

Although Savak, the secret police of the late Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, is believed to have persecuted some members of the sect, and despite the Shah's refusal to reopen Baha'i schools closed by his father in 1934, the Baha'is served the old regime under their doctrine of obedience to the temporal authorities of the country of residence. Indeed, the Shah was so certain of their loyalty, he used Bahai's to maintain army communications. That led the Khomeini regime - especially the mullahs, who resent the Baha'i challenge to their authority - to accuse the sect of collaborating with a corrupt government.

''That is absolutely false,'' Mr. Barrett said. ''Baha'is are forbidden from participating in partisan politics. Baha'is were the only group who, at great risk, refused to join the Shah's political party. We were nonpolitical and continue to be nonpolitical.''

Nonetheless, officials in Teheran see the sect as a classic example of the impurity of the Shah's Iran. They further believe that Baha'is are in league with an Iranian enemy, Israel, citing as evidence receipts from contibutions made by Iranian Baha'is to shrines at Haifa and at Acco in Israel. In fact, Israel is the Baha'i holy land.

Religious differences heighten Iran's contempt for the sect. Because Baha'is do not make distinctions between men and women, they do not segregate the sexes at religious services, as demanded by Iran's Islamic fundamentalists. Baha'i women wear no veils, having cast them aside in the last century. Baha'is are accused of immorality because their marriage rites are not recognized in Iran and no civil marriage exists. A member of the sect commented, ''We can betray our faith and marry according to Moslem precepts, or we can remain true to our beliefs and find ourselves accused of adultery, prostitution and other sins.''

Meanwhile, Baha'is are being denied recognition under the Islamic constitution, which in theory protects Iran's Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian minorities. This has permitted what the Baha'i office at the United Nations calls a ''campaign of religious persecution so malevolent, so intense, so sustained and so far-reaching that it presages the eradication of the Baha'i community as a religious minority in Iran.'' It appears now that about three years ago the Khomeini Government initiated a program to break the sect's organizational back. The faith has no priests or mullahs and hence no ecclesiastic hierarchy; it is run by councils or assemblies elected by secret ballot each year. On Aug.21, 1980, all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly in Teheran were arrested. Nothing has been heard of them. Since then, Mr. Barrett said, members of local spiritual assemblies in every locality have been picked up. Exact numbers are not known, but it seems that thousands have been jailed or abducted.

Businesses have been confiscated, trade licenses revoked; retired government employees have lost pensions. Houses, crops and animals have been destroyed; shrines and cemeteries demolished; children have been denied places in schools. The house of the Bab in Shiraz - which means as much to Baha'is as the Church of the Nativity means to Christians, the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem means to Jews and the Kaaba shrine in Mecca means to Muslims - was bulldozed, Mr. Barrett said. The site is now a parking lot.

Condemnations by the European Community, the United States and the United Nations have ''slowed the process of total obliteration of the Baha'i faith in Iran,'' according to Mr. Barrett. But other Baha'i leaders and several independent observers use the word ''genocide'' to describe what they fear is happening.

February 27. On this date in 2013, The Guardian newspaper carried an article titled "Bahá'í student expelled from Iranian university 'on grounds of religion'"

 

February 27. On this date in 2013, The Guardian newspaper carried an article titled "Bahá'í student expelled from Iranian university 'on grounds of religion'"

Bahá'í student expelled from Iranian university 'on grounds of religion'

'Impressively talented' Paniz Fazl-Ali reportedly had one year to go to complete her engineering degree

An Iranian student belonging to one of the country's most persecuted religious minorities appears to have been expelled from university because of her beliefs.

Paniz Fazl-Ali, a civil engineering student at Iran's University of Science and Technology (IUST) in Tehran, has been banned from continuing her undergraduate degree after it emerged that she is a member of the Bahá'í community, activists said.

Daneshjoo News, a website which gathers information about students across Iran, reported on Wednesday that Fazl-Ali, who is described as "impressively talented", was informed last week that she has been expelled.

She is reported to have successfully finished her third year and had only one year to graduate from the typical four-year engineering programme.

Every year hundreds of thousands of students across the Islamic republic compete with each other in a keenly contested entrance exam held for public universities. Only a few thousands are accepted in top Iranian universities such as the IUST.

In university registration forms, students are required to reveal their religion, but Bahá'ís, who are a banned religious minority, usually leave it blank – as did Fazl-Ali.

"Last month the university administrators summoned me and asked me to fill the section about my religion and I wrote Bahá'í," she told Daneshjoo News. "Last week, as I went to see one of my test results, I noticed that I have been expelled."

Islam is the official religion in Iran and only Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians are tolerated as accepted religious minorities with access to higher education, although each face various restrictions. Bahá'ís, however, have been banned since 1981.

"The day after I got the news I went to the university with my father to pursue what had happened. But nobody gave us any explanation," she said.

Iran considers the religion of a child to be that of his father. Those who convert to other religions risk arrest or even execution for apostasy. In October 2009, an Iranian Christian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, was arrested for converting at the age of 19 to Christianity from Islam, his parent's religion, although he insisted he was never a practising Muslim. He was initially sentenced to death for apostasy but was released from jail in September.

After the 1979 Islamic revolution, the authorities stepped up the persecution of the Bahá'í community, accusing its members of having links with or spying for Israel, mainly because the Bahá'í governing body, the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, is based in Haifa.

At least 219 Bahá'í in Iran were executed because of their religious allegiance after the 1979 revolution.

Iranian Bahá'ís have been deprived of their rights, such as access to education or the right to own a business, and are often persecuted for their beliefs. Seven leaders of the Bahá'í community have been in prison for the past five years, each serving 20-year jail sentences.

Bahá'ís might be able to survive in the Iranian society as long as they keep their religion secret, but according to their beliefs they cannot lie if forced to reveal their faith. In 2001, only five Bahá'ís were in jail in Iran, but since 2004 more than 600 arrests have been made and at least 110 Bahá'ís are currently in jail, including the seven leaders, Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Saeid Rezaie.

Scores of Bahá'ís have been expelled from universities in Iran in recent years.

"International law provides that access to education is a basic human right, and Iranian universities have no excuse for denying qualified students the right to attend simply because they are Bahá'ís," said Kishan Manocha, a spokesman for the UK's Bahá'í community. "It is clear that, so long as Bahá'ís are unjustly denied access to higher education, the years of systematic persecution and quiet strangulation against the Iran's sore-tried Bahá'ís continue unabated.

"We call for this injustice to cease, and that Iran's Bahá'í community be treated with the same rights as the ordinary Iranian citizens they are."

The UN's special rapporteur on Iran, Ahmad Shaheed, has described Bahá'ís as "the most persecuted religious community" in the Islamic republic and has repeatedly expressed concerns about their access to education in the country.

"The numbers of Bahá'ís that are in prison have increased – over 100 at the present time according to the information I have," Shaheed said in a speech in New York in October 2012.

"They face a whole range of discrimination, from being unable to practice their faith [to] being denied access to basic services," he said. "And often they face charges unrelated to their faith – national security charges."

A leaked official communication from Iran's ministry of science, research and technology to 81 universities across the country in 2006 shows that they have been instructed to expel all their Bahá'í students.

"If the identity of Bahá'í individuals becomes known at the time of enrolment or during the course of their studies, they must be expelled from university," stated the letter, according to the Bahá'í World News Service.

February 26. On this date in 1973, the Universal House of Justice wrote about Huqúqu’lláh that "The devoted believer who is privileged to pay "the right of God", far from seeking excuses for evading this spiritual obligation, will do his utmost to meet it."

 

February 26. On this date in 1973, the Universal House of Justice wrote about Huqúqu’lláh that "The devoted believer who is privileged to pay "the right of God", far from seeking excuses for evading this spiritual obligation, will do his utmost to meet it." 

57. "The devoted believer who is privileged to pay "the right of God", far…"

The devoted believer who is privileged to pay "the right of God", far from seeking excuses for evading this spiritual obligation, will do his utmost to meet it. On the other hand, inasmuch as obedience to this Law is a matter of conscience, and payment of Huqúqu’lláh is a voluntary act, it would not be seemly to go beyond informing the … friends of their spiritual obligation, and leaving to them to decide what they wish to do about it.

The same principle applies to those friends who spend lavishly on their families, who purchase or build residences and furnish them far in excess of their needs, and rationalize these expenditures in their desire to avoid payment of Huqúqu’lláh.

(26 February 1973, written by the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, translated from the Persian)

February 26. On this date in 1955, Shoghi Effendi commented on atomic weapons

 J

February 26. On this date in 1955, Shoghi Effendi commented on atomic weapons and a "prophecy in the Tablets about there being a strange and wonderful instrument in the world that had the power to infect the atmosphere of the whole earth...He said now is the time to call attention to this prophecy of Bahá'u'lláh's in our teaching work and to quote the article in the London Times...Perhaps someone at table that night has already sent this word to you, as he wished the Americans to use this in their teaching."

"........One evening he (the Guardian) came to dinner with the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh and a newspaper, the London times, Dec. 16th issue. After dinner he began to speak about the article in the London Times and later gave it to us to copy .....article entitled: "Dangers of Atomic Explosions, Assessing the Risk"....."Mr. Wyatt asked the Prime Minister whether he could state with greater exactness the number of atomic and nuclear explosions that he was advised would make lethal the atmosphere over substantial areas of the world; and whether he had now studied the evidence that he (Mr. Wyatt) had submitted to him?"

The article stated Mr. Churchill had no further comment but the Guardian was quite excited about it. He recalled the prophecy in the Tablets about there being a strange and wonderful instrument in the world that had the power to infect the atmosphere of the whole earth. This is not a direct quote but he commented that neither "wonderful" nor "instrument" were correct translations.....the word that should be used in the place of "wonderful" was "astonsihing" and perhaps "material" could be used in place of "instrument"..... Anyway he said this prophecy referred to the atom or hydrogen bobmb. There were three stage in the development of the bobmb. The first stage was the explosion at Hiroshima or Nagasaki - just the immediate vicinity. The second was the development they were speaking about in the London Times - where a "substantial" area of the earth's atmosphere could be infected or contaminated. the third was the one prophesied by Bahá'u'lláh where the atmosphere could be contaminated or infected. He said now is the time to call attention to this prophecy of Bahá'u'lláh's in our teaching work and to quote the article in the London Times.....Perhaps someone at table that night has already sent this word to you, as he wished the Americans to use this in their teaching.

Another thing he said of great importance was his emphatic explanation of the infallibility of the Guardian. He said the Guardian was not only infallible from the standpoint of interpretation of the Writings but he was infallible in whatever he declared himself to be infallible - that was the very nature of infallibility - that he knew when he was infallible. He knew when he was receiving Divine Guidance. Even the designs of the gardens and their development he did not know ahead of time, but each step was revealed to him as he went along. And many other things were the same way - whenever guidance was necessary it was there because he is under the unerring guidance of the Blessed Perfection and "unto him all must turn". Since hearing him speak on this subject one reads the Will and Testament with new eyes and new understanding.

February 26. On this date in 1955, Shoghi Effendi "said the Guardian was not only infallible from the standpoint of interpretation of the Writings but he was infallible in whatever he declared himself to be infallible - that was the very nature of infallibility - that he knew when he was infallible. He knew when he was receiving Divine Guidance."

 

February 26. On this date in 1955, Shoghi Effendi "said the Guardian was not only infallible from the standpoint of interpretation of the Writings but he was infallible in whatever he declared himself to be infallible - that was the very nature of infallibility - that he knew when he was infallible. He knew when he was receiving Divine Guidance. Even the designs of the gardens and their development he did not know ahead of time, but each step was revealed to him as he went along. And many other things were the same way - whenever guidance was necessary it was there because he is under the unerring guidance of the Blessed Perfection and "unto him all must turn". Since hearing him speak on this subject one reads the Will and Testament with new eyes and new understanding."

"........One evening he (the Guardian) came to dinner with the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh and a newspaper, the London times, Dec. 16th issue. After dinner he began to speak about the article in the London Times and later gave it to us to copy .....article entitled: "Dangers of Atomic Explosions, Assessing the Risk"....."Mr. Wyatt asked the Prime Minister whether he could state with greater exactness the number of atomic and nuclear explosions that he was advised would make lethal the atmosphere over substantial areas of the world; and whether he had now studied the evidence that he (Mr. Wyatt) had submitted to him?"

The article stated Mr. Churchill had no further comment but the Guardian was quite excited about it. He recalled the prophecy in the Tablets about there being a strange and wonderful instrument in the world that had the power to infect the atmosphere of the whole earth. This is not a direct quote but he commented that neither "wonderful" nor "instrument" were correct translations.....the word that should be used in the place of "wonderful" was "astonsihing" and perhaps "material" could be used in place of "instrument"..... Anyway he said this prophecy referred to the atom or hydrogen bobmb. There were three stage in the development of the bobmb. The first stage was the explosion at Hiroshima or Nagasaki - just the immediate vicinity. The second was the development they were speaking about in the London Times - where a "substantial" area of the earth's atmosphere could be infected or contaminated. the third was the one prophesied by Bahá'u'lláh where the atmosphere could be contaminated or infected. He said now is the time to call attention to this prophecy of Bahá'u'lláh's in our teaching work and to quote the article in the London Times.....Perhaps someone at table that night has already sent this word to you, as he wished the Americans to use this in their teaching.

Another thing he said of great importance was his emphatic explanation of the infallibility of the Guardian. He said the Guardian was not only infallible from the standpoint of interpretation of the Writings but he was infallible in whatever he declared himself to be infallible - that was the very nature of infallibility - that he knew when he was infallible. He knew when he was receiving Divine Guidance. Even the designs of the gardens and their development he did not know ahead of time, but each step was revealed to him as he went along. And many other things were the same way - whenever guidance was necessary it was there because he is under the unerring guidance of the Blessed Perfection and "unto him all must turn". Since hearing him speak on this subject one reads the Will and Testament with new eyes and new understanding.