Green Acre-a Testing Ground

It is my earnest hope and prayer that the forthcoming gathering at Green Acre, the program for which has been so carefully and judiciously prepared, may serve as a testing ground for the application of those ideals and standards that are the distinguishing features of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. May the a.s.sembled believers-now but a tiny nucleus of the Baha'i Commonwealth of the future-so exemplify that spirit of universal love and fellowship as to evoke in the minds of their a.s.sociates the vision of that future City of G.o.d which the almighty arm of Baha'u'llah can alone establish.

Not by merely imitating the excesses and laxity of the extravagant age they live in; not by the idle neglect of the sacred responsibilities it is their privilege to shoulder; not by the silent compromise of the principles dearly cherished by 'Abdu'l-Baha; not by their fear or unpopularity or their dread of censure can they hope to rouse society from its spiritual lethargy, and serve as a model to a civilization the foundations of which the corrosion of prejudice has well-nigh undermined.

By the sublimity of their principles, the warmth of their love, the spotless purity of their character, and the depth of their devoutness and piety, let them demonstrate to their fellow-countrymen the enn.o.bling reality of a power that shall weld a disrupted world.

We can prove ourselves worthy of our Cause only if in our individual conduct and corporate life we sedulously imitate the example of our beloved Master, Whom the terrors of tyranny, the storms of incessant abuse, the oppressiveness of humiliation, never caused to deviate a hair's breadth from the revealed Law of Baha'u'llah.

Such is the path of servitude, such is the way of holiness He chose to tread to the very end of His life. Nothing short of the strictest adherence to His glorious example can safely steer our course amid the pitfalls of this perilous age, and lead us on to fulfill our high destiny.

Your true brother, SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine, April 12, 1927.

Letter of April 27, 1927.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.

Dearly-beloved friends:

With feelings of horror and indignation I communicate to you the tale of yet another tragedy involving the shedding of the blood of a martyr of the Faith on Persia's sacred soil. I have before me, as I pen these lines, the report of the local Spiritual a.s.sembly of Ardibil, a town on the north-east confines of the province of a_dh_irbayjan, not far distant from those hallowed spots where the Bab suffered His last confinement and martyrdom. Addressed to the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha'is of Persia, this report recounts in simple but moving language the circ.u.mstances that have led to the cowardly crime committed in the darkness of the night at the instigation of the fanatical clergy-the deadliest opponents of the Faith in that town.

a.s.sa.s.sination of Persian Believer

Our martyred brother, Aminu'l-'Ulama' by name, had for some time past become notorious in the eyes of the Muslim inhabitants of Ardibil for his tenacity of faith by openly refusing at every instance to vilify and renounce his most cherished convictions. In the latter part of Ramadan-the month a.s.sociated with prayer, pious deeds and fasting-his use of the public bath (that long-established inst.i.tution the amenities and privileges of which are as a rule accorded only to the adherents of the Muslim Faith) had served to inflame the mob, and to provide a scheming instigator with a pretext to terminate his life. In the market place he was ridiculed and condemned as an apostate of the Faith of Islam, who, by boldly rejecting the repeated entreaties showered upon him to execrate the Baha'i name, had lawfully incurred the penalty of immediate death at the hands of every pious upholder of the Muslim tradition.

In spite of the close surveillance exercised by a body of guards stationed around his house, in response to the intercession of his friends with the local authorities, the treacherous criminal found his way into his home, and on the night of the 22nd of Ramadan, corresponding with the 26th of March, 1927, a.s.sailed him in a most atrocious and dastardly manner.

Concealing within the folds of his garment his unsheathed dagger, he approached his victim and claiming the need of whispering a confidential message in his ears, plunged the weapon hilt-deep into his vitals, cutting across his ribs and mutilating his body. Every attempt to secure immediate medical a.s.sistance seems to have been foiled by malicious devices on the part of the a.s.sociates of this merciless criminal, and the helpless victim after a few hours of agonizing pain surrendered his soul to his Beloved.

His friends and fellow-believers, alarmed at the prospect of a fresh outbreak that would inevitably result were his mortal remains to be accorded the ordinary privileges of a decent burial, decided to inter his body in one of the two rooms that served as his own dwelling, seeking thereby to appease the fury of an unrelenting foe.

He leaves behind in desperate poverty a family of minors with no support but their mother, expectant to bring forth her child, and with no hope of relief from their non-Baha'i relatives in whose eyes they deserve to be treated only with the meanest contempt.

It appears from the above-mentioned report that the merciless a.s.sailant has been arrested, waiting, however, as has been the case with similar incidents in southern Persia, to be sooner or later released under the pressure of bribery and intimidation sedulously exercised by an impenitent enemy.

Dearest friends! Any measure of publicity the concerted efforts of the Baha'i Spiritual a.s.semblies of the West, on whom almighty Providence has conferred the inestimable benefits of religious toleration and freedom, can accord to this latest manifestation of unbridled barbarism in Persia will be most opportune and valuable. It will, I am certain, confer abiding solace to those disconsolate sufferers who with sublime heroism continue to uphold the traditions of their beloved Faith. Our one weapon lies in our prayerful efforts, intelligently and persistently pursued, to arouse by every means at our disposal the conscience of unheeding humanity, and to direct the attention of men of vision and authority to these incredibly odious acts which in their ferocity and frequency cannot but const.i.tute in the eyes of every fair-minded observer the gravest challenge to all that is sacred and precious in our present-day civilization.

Your true brother, SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine, April 27, 1927.

Letter of May 27, 1927.

To the members of the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada:

Dearly-beloved co-workers:

Your communications dated April 15th and May 6th and 9th have been received, with their enclosures, and carefully perused.

Declaration of Trust and By-Laws

The Declaration of Trust, the provisions of which you have so splendidly conceived, and formulated with such a.s.siduous care, marks yet another milestone on the road of progress along which you are patiently and determinedly advancing. Clear and concise in its wording, sound in principle, and complete in its affirmations of the fundamentals of Baha'i administration, it stands in its final form as a worthy and faithful exposition of the const.i.tutional basis of Baha'i communities in every land, foreshadowing the final emergence of the world Baha'i Commonwealth of the future. This doc.u.ment, when correlated and combined with the set of by-laws which I trust are soon forthcoming, will serve as a pattern to every National Baha'i a.s.sembly, be it in the East or in the West, which aspires to conform, pending the formation of the First Universal House of Justice, with the spirit and letter of the world-order ushered in by Baha'u'llah.

I eagerly await the receipt of the complete set of the contemplated by-laws, the purpose of which should be to supplement the provisions, clarify the purpose, and explain more fully the working of the principle underlying the above-mentioned Declaration. I shall, after having given it my close and personal consideration, transmit it to you, in order that you may submit it to the local Spiritual a.s.semblies, who in turn will endeavor to secure its final ratification by the body of the recognized believers throughout the United States and Canada. I would urge you to insert the Text of the Declaration, the complete set of the by-laws, and the accompanying Indenture of Trust, all combined, in the next issue of the Baha'i Year Book, that sympathizers and believers alike in every land may obtain a clear and correct vision of the preliminary framework of that complete system of world administration implicit in the Teachings of Baha'u'llah.

Spirit and Method of Baha'i Elections

In connection with the best and most practical methods of procedure to be adopted for the election of Baha'i Spiritual a.s.semblies, I feel that in view of the fact that definite and detailed regulations defining the manner and character of Baha'i elections have neither been expressly revealed by Baha'u'llah nor laid down in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, it devolves upon the members of the Universal House of Justice to formulate and apply such system of laws as would be in conformity with the essentials and requisites expressly provided by the Author and Interpreter of the Faith for the conduct of Baha'i administration. I have consequently refrained from establishing a settled and uniform procedure for the election of the a.s.semblies of the East and the West, leaving them free to pursue their own methods of procedure which in most cases had been inst.i.tuted and practiced during the last two decades of the life of 'Abdu'l-Baha.

The general practice prevailing throughout the East is the one based upon the principle of plurality rather than absolute majority, whereby those candidates that have obtained the highest number of votes, irrespective of the fact whether they command an absolute majority of the votes cast or not, are automatically and definitely elected. It has been felt, with no little justification, that this method, admittedly disadvantageous in its disregard of the principle that requires that each elected member must secure a majority of the votes cast, does away on the other hand with the more serious disadvantage of restricting the freedom of the elector who, unhampered and unconstrained by electoral necessities, is called upon to vote for none but those whom prayer and reflection have inspired him to uphold. Moreover, the practice of nomination, so detrimental to the atmosphere of a silent and prayerful election, is viewed with mistrust inasmuch as it gives the right to the majority of a body that, in itself under the present circ.u.mstances, often const.i.tutes a minority of all the elected delegates, to deny that G.o.d-given right of every elector to vote only in favor of those who he is conscientiously convinced are the most worthy candidates. Should this simple system be provisionally adopted, it would safeguard the spiritual principle of the unfettered freedom of the voter, who will thus preserve intact the sanct.i.ty of the choice he first made. It would avoid the inconvenience of securing advance nominations from absent delegates, and the impracticality of a.s.sociating them with the a.s.sembled electors in the subsequent ballots that are often required to meet the exigencies of majority vote.

I would recommend these observations to your earnest consideration, and whatever decision you arrive at, all local a.s.semblies and individual believers, I am certain, will uphold, for their spiritual obligation and privilege is not only to consult freely and frequently with the National Spiritual a.s.sembly, but to uphold as well with confidence and cheerfulness whatever is the considered verdict of their national representatives.

Wishing you success from all my heart,

I am, your true brother, SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine, May 27, 1927.

Letter of October 17, 1927.

To the Honored Members of the Baha'i National Spiritual a.s.semblies throughout the West.