Chapter 11

A strict and undeviating adherence to the spiritual laws and administrative principles constituting the bedrock of the Faith; a constant and complete awareness of the nature, the sacredness and vital importance of the Covenants established successively by Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha; an immediate cessation of every controversy agitating the life of that community in the present and critical stage in its development; close cooperation, complete harmony and continued understanding between the various agencies, whether assemblies or communities participating in its evolution; concentration on the immediate measures required to ensure the total success of the newly launched Five Year Plan, on the part of all its members and their elected representatives; constant vigilance on the part of each and every one of the adherents of the Faith to avoid any act, word or association that would violate its integrity, break its laws, subvert its administrative order, or retard its progress and consolidation--these stand out as the urgent, the sacred and inescapable obligations and responsibilities facing its promoters at this fateful hour in their history.

The immediate past, with all its confused issues and unpleasant memories must be entirely forgotten, if the task that lies ahead is to be efficiently prosecuted. Personal animosities, suspicions, accusations, wounded pride, controversial issues must all be laid aside. Members of assemblies, national and local, must be the first to set a worthy example to their fellow-believers. All thought and discussion must henceforth centre around the measures required to stimulate the growth of the Faith, to deepen and enrich the spiritual life of its members, to familiarize them more intimately with the character and workings of the Administrative Order, and enable them to participate more actively in the prosecution of the Plan to which they are committed.

I appeal to them, with all my heart, to close their ranks, purge their hearts, broaden their vision, renew their determination, rededicate themselves to their glorious task, march resolutely forward along the road traced for them by 'Abdu'l-Baha, beat down every barrier obstructing their path, and press on, confidently, unitedly and uncompromisingly, until their goal is attained, and the first stage in the evolution of their collective task is brought to a victorious conclusion.

May the Beloved Who loved them so dearly, Who participated personally in the initial stage of their evolution, Who cherished such bright hopes for their future and uttered such noble prophecies concerning the greatness of that future, guide their steps, bless their endeavours and fulfil their dearest hopes.

Your true brother, Shoghi

LETTER OF 3 JULY 1949 (FIRST PIONEER SCHOOL)

3 July 1949 (First Pioneer School)

Dear Baha'i Friends:

Your message, sent from your school session to our beloved Guardian, reached him, and he has instructed me to answer it on his behalf, and to assure you he was delighted to see that such a school for pioneering had been held.

He was also very glad to see that the believers are studying the Covenant of the Master. For in the Master's Will and Testament are enshrined the principles underlying the World Order, and unless the believers fully grasp the greatness, functions, and purpose of the institutions outlined in that Testament (and elaborated by the Guardian in his book "The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah") they will not be able to properly function as Baha'is individually or collectively. The German friends need to acquire a profound understanding of the Baha'i Administrative Order to enable them to function as a Community, according to Baha'i laws, and to protect them from tests and the attacks of the enemies of the Faith....

[From the Guardian:]

Dear co-workers:

I was so pleased and encouraged to receive your message and to learn of the activity you have initiated. I will pray for its success and extension from the depths of my heart. Persevere in your labours, and rest assured that you will be guided, sustained and fully rewarded for your meritorious and timely accomplishments,

Your true brother, Shoghi

LETTER OF 4 SEPTEMBER 1949 (SUMMER SCHOOL)

4 September 1949 (Summer School)

Dear Baha'i Friends:

Your letter reached our beloved Guardian, and he was delighted to see so many believers and friends were present at the July session of the School, and also to note the excellent courses you were given by the teachers and visitors present at the School.

He was also very pleased to see the program for the Youth Week being held in the Schwarzwald, and the emphasis which is being placed on teaching the Covenant in both Esslingen and this Youth week he considers very important.

The German Baha'is, like all the believers everywhere, will be strong, united and protected to the degree to which they are firm in the Covenants of both Baha'u'llah and the Master.

He hopes the teaching work in Germany will make great progress, and he urges you all to devote yourselves to this mighty task, and to promoting love and unity amongst the Baha'is and a better understanding of the administrative order of our Faith....

[From the Guardian:]

Dear co-workers:

Your joint message brought joy and gladness to my heart and was a powerful reminder of the staunchness of the faith of the dearly-beloved German believers, their constancy and determination, their thoroughness and diligency in the study of the Faith and of its teachings, and their devotion to the interests of its institutions. I will supplicate the Beloved on your behalf to enable you to acquire a still deeper understanding of the essentials of His Revelation, and to promote, with increasing effectiveness, the best interests of His Cause,

Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi

LETTER OF 23 DECEMBER 1949

23 December 1949

CONVEY GERMAN YOUTH COMMITTEE ASSURANCE PRAYERS LOVING APPRECIATION.

SHOGHI RABBANI

LETTER OF 6 MARCH 1950

6 March 1950

INFORM GERMAN ASSEMBLY MORTGAGE HAZIRA INADVISABLE RELIEF FUND EXHAUSTED. APPROVE RENTING ROOMS.

SHOGHI

LETTER OF 13 APRIL 1950

13 April 1950

INFORM GERMAN ASSEMBLY PREPARE PROMPTLY MAP GERMANY AUSTRIA SHOWING ASSEMBLIES GROUPS AND ISOLATED CENTRES AIRMAIL HAIFA.

SHOGHI

LETTER OF 28 JUNE 1950

28 June 1950

Dear Baha'i Friends:

Your letters addressed to our beloved Guardian and dated May 26, June 29, August 30 from Mr. Gollmer, November 19, December 7, of 1949, and January 15, February 15, and April 18, of 1950, have been received, as well as their enclosures and other material and photographs sent, and he has instructed me to answer them on his behalf.

The past winter and spring have been very difficult for our beloved Guardian, and this is why he has not been able to reply to you, (or to any other National Assembly), for so long. As you know, he has been carrying on the construction of the first stage, the arcade, of the Bab's Shrine in anticipation of having it finished for the July 9 Centenary Celebrations of His Martyrdom. This necessitated a great deal of excavation of the solid rock behind the Shrine in order to enable the arcade to be built. The Guardian himself supervised this work in order to see it was done the most economical way and as quickly as possible; this took up a great deal of his time and energy.

At the beginning of April, just when he was planning to devote himself to the correspondence of the various N.S.A.'s, Mr. Maxwell, the architect of the Shrine, became very dangerously ill, and until the present time is in Hospital with special nurses day and night. His condition is now very much better, but the constant worry, and the problems arising daily, have hitherto prevented our Guardian and his secretary from answering any mail. He wishes you to know that these are the reasons you have not heard from him for so long.

In regard to certain matters you raised in your letters: he does not consider it necessary to publish at present "This Earth One Country"; there are other books more urgently needed by the German friends such as "Some Answered Questions" and the "Paris Talks" of the Master.

He sees no objection to your Assembly's renting to suitable tenants some of the rooms in the Hazira of Frankfurt in order to assist you in financing its construction. Also he feels you are free to rent the Baha'i Hall in that building to groups, who have similar aims to ours, or to the University.

As to purchasing the property next door: although this would be desirable, he feels at present it is out of the question, as you have not got sufficient funds to do so, and are already having difficulty meeting the heavy expenses involved in building the Hazira itself.

The Guardian has already had a sum transferred to Mr. Hofman to meet the expenses of publishing "God Passes By". He trusts this important work will soon be in your hands, as it will be of great educational value to the German believers. They are, he feels, just the people to appreciate such a weighty history and review of the Faith.

The whole-hearted response made by the German Baha'is to his appeal last year to become united and to deepen their understanding of the Covenant pleases him greatly. He feels this has demonstrated anew the loyalty and faith of this Community, and justifies his hopes for the brilliant future he is convinced lies ahead of them.

The entire Community of friends in Austria and Germany should now concentrate on fulfilling their Plan. The success of the American friends, the remarkable victory of the British Baha'is and the Persian believers, the progress being made by the distant communities in Australia and New Zealand, as well as India, Pakistan and Burma, should encourage them to gird up their loins and crown their own efforts with victory.

The Guardian feels sure that, now that a greater degree of unity has been achieved by the German believers, they will find that God gives them far greater strength to carry out their work for His Faith. He assures you he will pray for all the friends to become increasingly as one soul labouring in many bodies.

He will also pray for all the members of your Assembly to be strengthened to perform your historic work successfully....

P.S. He thanks you for the map showing Baha'i distribution in Germany and Austria, and will publish it in the next edition of "Baha'i World".

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-workers:

The progress achieved by the German Baha'i community in recent months, under the able direction, and through the constant vigilance and loving care of its elected national representatives, is highly gratifying and fills me with hope, gratitude and admiration for the sterling qualities that distinguish its members in their steadfast service to the Faith of Baha'u'llah. The restoration of harmony and cooperation among the dearly loved, high-minded, great-hearted German believers, the vigorous prosecution of their newly-adopted Plan, the gradual restoration of their newly purchased Haziratu'l-Quds, the steady extension in the range of their publications, and the notable multiplication and consolidation of their rehabilitated institutions, are the latest evidences of the unconquerable spirit and indomitable faith which have consistently animated them in the past, and which have enabled them to weather, in the course of the last world conflict, the severest storm that has afflicted them since the inception of the Faith in their land.

The process of harmonious cooperation and the spirit of mutual understanding, remarkably evident in the life of a newly resuscitated, highly promising, spiritually enriched community must, particularly in its relation with the local communities in Hamburg and Vienna, be steadily fostered, however great the obstacles that may be encountered. The education of the members of the community in the principles and essential verities underlying the Covenants of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha as well as the Administrative Order of the Faith--the twin pillars sustaining the spiritual life and the institutions of every organized Baha'i community--must, at all costs, be vigorously pursued and systematically intensified. The multiplication and consolidation of Baha'i administrative institutions, in both zones under the jurisdiction of the elected representatives of the community, and in the neighbouring territory of Austria, must be given a fresh impetus through repeated exertions and carefully devised measures. The initial steps, aiming at the incorporation of the National Assembly and of every soundly grounded properly functioning local assembly, should be promptly taken, as a prelude to the establishment of the national and local Baha'i endowments for the benefit of the entire community. The utmost effort should be exerted to hasten, on the one hand, the completion of the restoration of the national administrative Headquarters, and centralize, on the other, the national activities and manifold agencies of the Faith in that newly-appointed centre established in the heart of that country. Particular attention should, moreover, be given to the vital city of Berlin, its needs, its interests and future prospects. The teaching work, the cornerstone of the Baha'i Edifice and the primary purpose of every Baha'i institution, so emphatically stressed by 'Abdu'l-Baha in His Will, should, above all, be reinvigorated and relentlessly expanded. A closer association through correspondence, attendance at Summer Schools, participation at Teaching Conferences and collaboration in publications should be carefully fostered with the sister communities now rapidly emerging on the European continent, in the British Isles, in the North and South American continents, in Asia, Africa and Australasia.

To these immediate tasks, so vital, so sacred, a community, purged in the fires of suffering, revitalized and functioning with unity, zeal, fidelity and enthusiasm, must address itself without delay, with complete dedication and renewed and undefected resolve, as a prelude to the future unfoldment of its mission, beyond the confines of its homeland. For a national community so vibrant with life, so painstaking in its labours, so efficient in its methods, so impervious to the slings and arrows of affliction, occupying so central a position in a continent, so politically confused, so spiritually starved, so socially agitated, and the recipient of such favours and promises, from the lips and pen of 'Abdu'l-Baha, cannot, if faithful to its destiny, remain confined in its future activities, to the narrow compass of its homeland, and fall behind its sister communities in East and West, which are forging ahead and are in addition to their tasks at home, carrying forward the banner of the Faith in both distant lands and neighbouring territories, such as Latin America, the Goal countries of Europe, the Dependencies in the Far North, the Territories of the Arabian Peninsula, Central, East and West Africa, the Islands of the Pacific and South East Asia.

Already this community has, in the years preceding the great ordeal to which it has been subjected, initiated in however tentative a manner, its teaching enterprises beyond the confines of its homeland in one of the neighbouring Balkan Territories, and laid to rest, as an everlasting memorial to its pioneering spirit, the remains of its first martyr in the soil of that Territory.

No more adequate and better field can be imagined, as an outlet for the long-hemmed in energies of a spiritually virile, highly developed outstandingly loyal branch of the family of Baha'i national communities, than the neighbouring territories situated in the Balkan Peninsula, the Baltic States, and further afield the vast stretches now enveloped in darkness, and whose teeming millions hunger for the Light of God's saving grace and redemptive power.

For so glorious and mighty a mission, this community, however limited its present resources, however circumscribed in its numbers, however formidable the various obstacles that now stand in its path, must, by applying itself assiduously to the tasks of the present hour, prepare itself and acquire the necessary spiritual capacity to launch, in the years that lie ahead and possibly on the morrow of the celebrations of the centenary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's prophetic Mission, the first stage in its historic Mission destined to embrace so vital a section of the European, and so colossal an area in the Asiatic, continents. May this community prove itself worthy of its high destiny.

Shoghi

LETTER OF 30 DECEMBER 1950

30 December 1950

NONATTENDANCE FEAST DOES NOT JUSTIFY SUSPENSION VOTING RIGHTS.

SHOGHI

LETTER OF 2 MARCH 1951

2 March 1951

Dear Baha'i Friends:

Your letters dated June 12th, October 23rd and December 14th, 1950, and February 12th and 13th, 1951, as well as your latest dated 2.3.51, together with their enclosures, have been received, and our beloved Guardian has instructed me to answer you on his behalf. The material sent under separate cover has also been received.

In regard to the various questions you have raised in your letters, the Guardian does not feel that we are justified in removing a Baha'i from the voting list just because they resign from the Spiritual Assembly. Although it is considered a moral responsibility on the part of the believers to serve on Spiritual Assemblies if they are elected, if for some reason, they feel they must resign from that body--in other words for some really weighty reason--it certainly does not mean that they have lost their Baha'i voting rights. The friends should be encouraged to shoulder the burdens of the administrative work--on the other hand, they cannot be forced to do so if they have any valid reason to support their refusal.

The Guardian was pleased to note that the Baha'is figured on the census for the first time. He hopes that, in the future, your Assembly will be able to establish itself legally in such a manner as to be the absolute owner and the administrator of Baha'i endowments. If you already have this status, he would like to be informed of it.

A Baha'i can certainly be an Esperantist. The Guardian does not think that in the case you mention, it is right to ask this old man to resign from his Masonic Lodge. Generally speaking, the friends should not enter secret societies. It is certainly much better for the believers to dissociate themselves from such organizations; but as I said, it would seem unnecessary, in this particular case, to ask a very old man to break this connection at the end of his life.

...It is most unfortunate that just as the believers in the eastern zone were beginning to be more active and able to keep in contact with your Assembly and with the Baha'i in other parts of the world, they should now be suddenly entirely cut off and their activities banned. He feels, however, that your Assembly has taken the wise decision in regard to connection with them. If, through any personal letters, it is possible to assure them of his prayers, he would like you to please do so.

He is very glad to hear that the National Headquarters is now practically finished; and assures your Assembly that he approves of your raising a first mortgage on it, provided this is absolutely necessary, and you are sure that you can handle the repayment of it in the future. He would prefer, naturally, that this building which is of such importance to your national activities, and of which the believers are all so proud, should be free of any incumbency.

The desire of the German believers to participate in the construction of the Holy Tomb of the Bab touches him very much; and he would suggest that, as it is not feasible at present for any funds to be sent out of that country, you accept contributions for this Fund and spend them at present in Germany, until such future time as it will be possible to remit the sum to Haifa.

Naw-Ruz and Ridvan are celebrated all over the Baha'i world according to the solar calendar--there is no difference in the dates in the east or the west.

In regard to your publishing work: It is most unfortunate that, through the delay in printing "God Passes By", you now require such an exorbitant sum to be expended on it, if it is gotten out in England. The Guardian has explained to Mr. Hofman that he feels that unless some arrangement can be made with your Assembly to get out this book with the sum already forwarded by him for this purpose, that it is not possible to go on with the publication at this time, as the funds of the Cause, limited as they are, must now be concentrated on building the upper parts of the Shrine of the Bab. If there is any way that your Assembly can arrange with Mr. Hofman to receive a certain number of copies--perhaps unbound--at this time, and have them bound in Germany, he would approve of this, and suggests you look into the matter. Of course, if there was any way Mr. Hofman could transmit to you the money he has received, and you could publish the book in Germany, the Guardian would approve of this.

He thinks that "Some Answered Questions" is more important in the teaching work than "Paris Talks", and recommends to get "Some Answered Questions" out first.

The Guardian has already written to ..., asking him to reconcile himself with your Assembly and to entirely forget this episode, which he considers to have been due to a misunderstanding, and certainly not worth the amount of feeling that was expended upon it on all sides. He hopes that your Assembly will accept any overtures he and his dear Father may make, and assist them to put the whole thing behind them, and go on with their active service in the Cause to which we know they are both so attached at heart.

In this connection, the Guardian would like to point out to your Assembly that, although it is sometimes necessary to take away the voting rights of a believer for purposes of discipline, that this prerogative of the National Assembly should be used only in extreme cases. It is very bad for the believers to have the feeling that their Assembly will deal too harshly with them, and the net result can only be that a feeling of fear or alienation or resentment may grow up in their hearts towards the body that they should look to as being, not only their elected representatives, but their helper,--one might almost say their father--and the one to whom they can confidently take their problem, and whose wishes and decrees they will respect and obey unhesitatingly.

The Guardian has never heard of any ruling by which a believer who does not attend three consecutive 19 Day Feasts can be deprived of his voting rights. He does not consider that such action is justifiable at all. The whole question is whether a person considers himself a Baha'i or not, and is willing to adhere to the principles of the Faith and accept the authority of the Guardian and the Administration,--whether that individual is able, or always in a condition psychologically to attend Feasts and Baha'i meetings is an entirely different subject. If a person makes it quite clear that they do not wish to be considered an active member of the Baha'i Community and be affiliated with it and exert their voting right, then their name should be removed from the voting list; but if a person considers himself or herself a Baha'i, and for various reasons is not able to be active in the affairs of the Community, then they should certainly not be removed from our voting list, least of all at present, when the number of the Baha'i Community is so small.