Chapter 4.
lV. CRITICAL COMMENTS ABOUT THE FICTITIOUS WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ABDUL BAHA
The
leitmotiv is: Keep a distance from those who think things over
critically — Outrageous statements of the non-historical Abdul Baha
about his fellow-man - Further Internal contradictions in the alleged
testament of Abdul Baha - The alleged testament of Abdul Baha exercises
the strongest Involvement In politics -Comparison of the style and
sentence structure in the alleged testament of Abdul Baha and in
Shoghi's works God Passes By and The Promised Day is Come - "Le style,
c'est l'homme" or "the style is the man" — Built-in safeguards in the
alleged testament of Abdul Baha — Opinions concerning the alleged
testament of Abdul Baha — There can be no further interpreter of the
Word of God after Abdul Baha - In the Kitab-i-Akdas, the "Most Holy
Book", no omission is possible.
The leitmotiv carried throughout the whole alleged testament is the warning about the covenant breakers.
Already
in the first sentence our attention is called to the ones "that have
threatened to subvert His divine edifice. . ."The''divine edifice" is
the religion of Baha'u'llah: because Abdul Baha was the "Center of the
Covenant", so designated by Baha'u'llah as his successor, the "covenant
breaker" is basically whoever does not acknowledge Abdul Baha as the
successor of Baha'u'llah. At the same time is praised as "the temple of
His Cause" — the religion of Baha'u'llah — has been protected from "the
darts of doubtfulness". How was this accomplished? "..through the aid of
men whom the slander of the slanderer affect not. ." 27
Thus,
from the first sentence of the twenty-four-page testament on, there is a
counter-defense against the doubters, who turn Into "covenant-breakers"
by communicating their doubts to others. Whatever is not believed, but
on the contrary doubted and passed on as doubts, these are the "slanders
of the slanderers".
The
trespasses of Mohammed Ali — covenant breaking, falsifications and
distortions of the Holy Text which are enumerated for pages and are
repeated in ever new definitions — serve to use Abdul Baha's alleged
testamentai statements for the benefit of his grandson Shoghi (Effendi)
Rabbani and to shield against every criticism and critical judgement.
Shoghi Effendi is the Guardian of the Bahai religion and expounder and
interpreter of the words of Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha. His heirs follow
him and form a Guardian dynasty. The "Hands of the Cause of God" form a
kind of bodyguard and helper. As "Head of the House of Justice",
Shoghi
is the main political functionary, and the dues of his believers,
called "Huquq'u'llah" or "Right of God" form the private income of this
"emperor without a country".
Moreover,
the position of the Guardian is given a much higher value and he is
practically put on the level of a manifestation of God when it says,
"Whoso
opposeth him hath opposed God; ... whoso disputeth with him hath
disputed with God; whoso denieth him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth
In him hath disbelieved In God; whoso deviateth, separateth himself and
turneth aside from him hath in truth deviated, separated himself and
turned aside from God." 28
Whosoever
has been sent to the godless side in this way must still accept the
medieval verdict of damnation, "May the wrath, the fierce indignation,
the vengeance of God rest upon him!"29 Because
the forger has put himself on a medieval level so well, we want to
bring up another similar voice from the past, a counterpart as it were,
in order to show that such utterances belonged to the handcraft in that
period.
The
Abbot Hilduin of St. Denis (near Paris) triad to prove that the founder
of his order, the holy Dionysius was the same Dionysius who went with
the Apostle Paul as a companion on his missionary journeys. After taking
great pains to present much evidence that the two Dionysius' were
identical, this Abbot, at the end, "held out the prospect of heavenly
reward to the believers in the identity of the two Dionysius' — eternal
damnation to the deniers of this tearing and to the doubters."30
But
back to the alleged testament of Abdul Baha. By this, a "new covenant"
has been created. Thus, whoever does not acknowledge the favored one of
this "covenant", Shoghi Rabbani is therefore also a "covenant-breaker".
The above mentioned warning can refer lo the old or the new
covenan-breakers, "for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God,
exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the
past".31
Now
follows the triple repetition of the concept of "covenant-breaker" and
the quadruple repetition of the word "falsifier" or "counterfeiter" on
the space of one page. This concentrated enumeration of crimes committed
is supposed to create the psychological basis for the transition
allegedly expressed by Abdul Baha from the Testament of Baha'u'llah to
his own alleged testament:
"that
— the friends that are fast and firm in the Covenant and Testament to
be ever wakeful lest after this wronged one is gone this alert and
active worker ot mischief may cause disruption, privily sow the seeds of
doubt and sedition and utterly root out the Cause of God." 32
The
testament forger makes it completely clear that the alleged testament
of Abdul Baha will kindle "doubt and sedition" and cause a division
which naturally then took place. The illegitimacy of the
covenant-breakers' attacks on Abdul Baha (after Baha'u'llah's death) is
now transferred to the alleged testament of Abdul Baha. These attacks
are supposed to be just as illegitimate as before, and the attackers who
sow the "seeds of doubt and sedition" are "covenant-breakers", just as
before.
In
the reading of the testament one is buried under the concepts of
"falsification and misrepresentation of the Holy Text." This frequent
repetition pursues a completely definite goal: Whoever so often
enumerates the falsifications and misdeeds of others cannot also be a
forger himself! The outcome has shown that these considerations of the
forger of Abdul Baha's valid Testament were right. The great majority of
Bahais were smoothly taken in by the Guardian!
The
moment that the alleged testament of Abdul Baha appeared, the Bahais
were divided into two groups: the "fellow-travellers" and the
"doubters". The doubters could refer to the first statement of the Bahai
principles, "All men should investigate religious truth independently".
The truth concerning the alleged testamentshould not, however, be
investigated. "The Bahai authorities of the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahais of the United States and Canada have set it up (the
Testament) as the test of fidelity ... Furthermore, it never is
commented on within the movement as it considered the ultimate word." 33 And
Sohrab continues, "... even now, twenty-three years after the departure
of the Master from our midst, his last instructions are never openly
and frankly discussed . . . the Will is ranked as more important than
the actual Teachings..." 34
In
a discussion; that is, a more exact preoccupation with such last
instructions, doubts become apparent and contradictions evident. The
doubts which are communicated in conversation change into certainties.
This is exactly what should be prevented!
In
the third part of the alleged testament, the continuation of defense
against the "covenant-breakers" who have "turned away from your
Testament" follows methodically. The subject here is first, naturally,
Baha'u'llah's Testament. Once again the whole list of attacks on Abdul
Baha is dragged into memory: the "arrows of hate", the "sword of
tyranny", the "darts of calumny". They sowed "the sore seeds of
sedition" and wanted "to ruin the edifice of the Covenant", "sowing the
seeds of doubt", "to bring to naught the Covenant and the Testament".
At
this point Shoghi is again presented and is once more raised to the
level of a manifestation: "He that obeyeth him not, hath not obeyed God
.. ." The forger knows it is not hard to attack these statements and
therefore continues again with a warning, "'Beware lest anyone falsely
interpret these words, and like unto them that have broken the Covenant
after the Day of Ascension of {Baha'u'llah) advance a pretext, raise the
standard of revolt, wax stubborn and open wide the door of false
interpretation." 35
Critics
of this alleged testament of Abdul Baha were thus put on the same level
as the text forger and the covenant-breakers, who did not acknowledge
Abdul Baha after Baha'u'llah's death as the "Center of the Covenant".
The
Persian H. Sabet, one of the chief ideologists of the Bahai
Administration, in his 1967 book, The Divided Heaven, said about Abdul
Baha, "his thoughts centered only around love, forgiveness and the unity
of mankind . .." 36
In
Abdul Baha's alleged testament, however, we find expressions which are
attributed to him and are far from these thoughts. We read there,
"Consider how foolish are the peoplel"37 Or
remembering the Testament of Baha'u'llah in which Abdul Baha was named
as the center of the covenant and interpreter of the Holy Teachings,
"with whom Thou didst make . . . Thy firm Testament, wherein Thou
biddest them . . . to keep away from me the foolish, the unjust.. ." 38 This
part has much in common with the following from Shoghi Effendi's The
Promised Day is Come: "He (Baha'u'llah) referring to the foolish ones of
the earth, has written..."39 A
page further, the fictitious Abdul Baha becomes still clearer. "The
Covenant-breakers ... waxed fiercer in their rancour ... are foolish and
ignoble ... and walk in the footsteps of the most imperfect and foolish
amongst them." 40
Still
another statement from the alleged testament certainly does not
originate from the personality with which it is associated as It
expresses an absolutely different attitude. "For so grievous is the
conduct and behavior of this false people that they. .." 41 These
statements are attributed to the historical Abdul Baha, of whom Kurt
Hutten, the director of the "Protestant Center for Ideological Questions
Stuttgart" says, "that the Bahai religion possesses in Its three
prophetic leaders . . . much that is worthy of devotion. Is not this
mild spirit of practical philosophy, the breadth of view, the pacifism
and the brotherhood, is this not a gift which our world, torn by hate
and distrust, bitterly needs?" 42
The
expressions attributed to Abdul Baha above fit poorly with this image
of the Bahai leaders shown by a recognized theologian and publisher —
expressions such as "false people", the "Covenant-breakers .... foolish
and ignoble", "to keep away from me the foolish, the unjust..." and "how
foolish are the people..." These expressions attributed to Abdul Baha
fit more honestly to the one who said, "The new believers should be
protected from the poison which he is trying to instill into their minds
and souls."
"He"
here is Ahmad Sohrab, who in collaboration with the Chanler couple took
great pains to circulate the thoughts of Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha in
New York, independent of the Bahai organization. Through his more
liberal methods which he had learned from Abdul Baha as his former
secretary, he couid actually achieve greater success than the
Administration. This above quoted letter of the Guardian Shoghi ends
with the prophecy of "his (Sohrab's) ultimate downfall and complete
obliteration". 43
Exactly
the same tenor confronts us in a statement of the alleged Will of Abdul
Baha: ". . . how day by day he (Mohammed Ali) Is speeding towards
destruction. Ere long will ye behold him and his associates, outwardly
and inwardly, condemned to utter ruin." 44
In
the second part of the testament we find the statement, "Unto the most
Holy Book everyone must turn and all that is not expressly recorded
therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice." 45
In
the Kitab-i-Akdas, the Most Holy Book, however, there is no statement
about Guardian, Guardianship and Guardian dynasty nor about his being
the head of the House of Justice or his livelihood being financed by his
believers. There is nothing in it about the "Hands of the Cause", the
new clergy with a new name.
With
this statement which appears three times,the whol ealleged testament
has become still more questionable than it already was before. All the
innovations that it brings are again untenable. Very briefly, this was
pointed out already in tho first part, where it says,
"It
enacteth all ordinances and regulations (of the Universal House of
Justice) that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text."* 46
On
page 20 it is once again pointed out that "this House of Justice hath
power to enact laws that are not expressly recorded in the Book. . ."
Other passages in the alleged testament of Abdul Baha are diametrically
opposed to pronouncements of Abdul Baha. Thus, it says in the alleged
testament, for example, "... that the Hands of the Cause of God must be
ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and
protest aginst the guardian of the Cause of God, cast him out from the
congregatlon of the people of Baha and in no wise accept any excuse from
him..." 47
what
is Abdul Baha's opinion, however, about one who asks for pardon or
forgiveness? In Esslemont 1970, loc. cit., p. 82 we find the words of
Abdul Baha, "Among the teachings of Baha'u'llah is one requiring man,
under all conditions and circumstances, to be forgiving..."
How petty, ugly and also untrue, on the contrary, the statement from the alleged testament of Abdul Baha sounds!
Whoever
rebels against the recognition of the Guardian's coercion which he
built up so suddenly with a good bit of stage effect is supported by
Baha'u'llah himself. When it says in the alleged testament of Abdul
Baha,
"Whoso obeyeth him not (the Guardian), neither obeyeth them (Members of the House of Justice) hath not obeyed God..." 48
Esslemont
is referring to something else: Baha'u'llah . .. is entitled to claim
obedience from all men, and has authority to abrogate, alter, or add to
the teachings of His predecessors." 49 Thus, this statement clarifies two facts:
1 Obedience is to be rendered to the manifestation. Is the Guardian a manifestation?
2
Only a manifestation has the power to complete the teachings. Abdul
Baha never said he was a manifestation, but always only that he was the
expounder and interpreter of the manifestation. Thus, he cannot complete
his teachings in his alleged testament. It is therefore, in contrast to
the assertions of Shoghi, not the duty of Abdul Baha in his alleged
testament
"to
fill in those gaps which the Author of the Kitab-i-Akdas has
deliberately left in the body of His legislative and administrative
ordinances." 50
The
double tract; that is, the contradiction which we identified already in
the alleged testament and in the first edition of the Esslemont book,
appears again here in the lust quoted, well-circulated work Tfte
Dispensation of Baha'u'llah. On the same page we read as a poor copy of
the alleged testament,
"Unto
the Most Holy Book (the Kitab-i-Akdas) ... everyone must turn, and all
that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal
House of
Justice." 51
No
more word of "filling in gaps"! One has the impression that the clever
writer Shoghi tests the intelligence of his readers and is certain from
there on in that no one is aware of these contradictions!
Another striking contradiction : At the end of the first para we read,
"Without
their (the sovereigns of the world and the governments) leave and
permission do not meddle with political affairs, for disloyalty to the
just sovereign Is disloyalty to God Himself." 52
That
is very nicely said. However, these statements only cover the deed
because the maker of the alleged testament of Abdul Baha already
accomplished this involvement in political affairs on the page before in
that he catapulted himself to the "Head of the House of Justice" at the
peak of this body.
"This
House of Justice enacteth) His laws and the government enforceth them …
that through the close union … of these two forces… all the regions of
the world may become even as Paradise Itself." 53
Thus, the Guardian sits in the legislature and has become a pure politician!
As
a completion and extension of the comparable manner ol expression In
the alleged testament of Abdul Baha and Shoghi’s major work God Passes
By, we should consider the sentence structure and style of both works
more closely.
In
the alleged testament the overlong length of the sentences is
especially striking as is the long windedness, the vagueness and the
unintelligibility. The third sentence fills almost half a page. On pages
4, 5, 10 and 11 are found sentences a quarter page in length: one also
finds such sentence monstrosities in God Passes By. On page 69/70 we
find an involved sentence almost 24 lines long: on page 100, a sentence
with 20 lines, on page 72/73 one with 16 lines and on page 318 one with
14 lines. With a normal page size and forty-one lines to a page these
sentences encompass an area which one does not often find. The existence
of these mammoth sentences has certainly already occurred to many a
reader. Firuz Kazemzadeh, associate professor of history at Yale
University and a compatriot of Shoghi, made note of this peculiarity in
the foreword to The Promised Day is Come, 1967, whose author is Shoghi
Effendi. "The style … is entirely original. Some readers find it
difficult at first. .. The sentences are long . -."" This style,
difficult at first, is nevertheless the special characteristic not only
of many sentences In God Passes By but also above all of the alleged
testament. In the following section, we will compare a sentence of the
alleged testament with a sentence from God Passes By.
Alleged Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, Wilmette 1971
Long sentence, p.3
"Salutation
and praise, blessing and glory rest upon that primal branch of the
Divine and Sacred Lote-Tree, grown out, blest, tender, verdant and
flourishing from the Twin Holy Trees; the most wondrous, unique and
priceless pearl that does gleam from out the Twin surging seas; upon the
offshoots of the Tree of Holiness, the twigs of the Celestial Tree,
they that in the Day of (the Great Dividing have stood fast and firm in
the Covenant; upon the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God that have
diffused widely the Divine Fragrances, declared His Proofs, proclaimed
His Faith, published abroad His Law, detached themselves from all things
but Him, stood for righteousness in this world, and kindled the Fire of
the Love of God In the very hearts and souls of His servants; upon them
that have believed, rested assured, stood steadfast in His Covenant and
followed the Light that after my passing shineth from the Day spring of
Divine Guidance — for behold! he is the blest and sacred bough that
hath branched out from the Twin Holy Trees."
Shoghi Effendi God Passes By, Wilmette 1970
Long sentence p. 69-70:
"Afire
from the very beginning with an uncontrollable enthusiasm for the Cause
He had espoused; conspicuously fearless In His advocacy of the rights
of the downtrodden; in the full bloom of youth; immensely resourceful;
matchless in His eloquence; endowed with inexhaustible energy and
penetrating judgment; possessed of the riches, and enjoying, In full
measure, the esteem, power and prestige associated with an enviable high
and noble position, and yet contemptuous of all earthly pomp, rewards,
vanities and possessions; closely associated, on the one hand, through
His regular correspondence with the Author of the Faith He had risen to
champion, and intimately acquainted, on the other, with the hopes and
fears, the plans and activities of its leading exponents; at one time
advancing openly and assuming a position of acknowledged leadership In
the forefront of the forces struggling tor that Faith's emancipation, at
another deliberately drawing back with consummate discretion In order
to remedy, with greater efficacy, an awkward or dangerous situation; at
all times vigilant, ready and indefatigable in His exertions to preserve
the Integrity of that Faith, to resolve its problems, to plead its
cause, to galvanize its followers, and to confound its anyagonists,
Baha'ullah, at this supremely critical hour in Its fortunes, was at last
stepping into the very centre of the stage so tragically vacated by the
Bab on which He was destined, for no less a period than forty years, to
play a part unapproached in its majesty, pathos and splendor by any of
the great Founders of the world's historic religions."
In
our opinion the same writer is hidden behind these unclear mammoth
sentences which one must break into smaller parts in order to
understand.
As
regards the content, the last line of this overly long sentence, where
there is much to read about Baha'u'llah's "part unapproached in its
majesty, pathos and splendor..." and which is again compared with the
other "great founders of the historical religions of the world. . ."
might be as much a fairy tale — at least in reference to the splendor —
as the alleged testament of Abdul Baha and His alleged "Last Main
Tablet" which will be a later topic.
In
France they say, "Le style, c'est l'homme" or "the style is the man".
This style is long winded, vague and indefinite. Shoghl took pains to
remain unknown and unrecognized, always to hide. In the single Shoghi
report "Shoghi Effendi, An Appreciation" by Marcus Bach, New York, 1958,
which after the death of the Guardian was sorted out from Bach's work,
published in 1957, The Circle of Faith", and was published as a separate
manuscript (without page numbers), it says on the back of the
bookjacket: Shoghi Effendi . . . who was never photographed . .." In a
time with so much focus on the mass media, such behavior is
incomprehensible. One cannot, however, speak of exaggerated modesty in
this connection. Whoever has himself addressed as "Eminence" according
to Webster, "used as a title for a cardinal") is already extremely
conceited. When Ethel Revell, secretary of the International Bahai
Council in Haifa, turning to Marcus Bach, the author of the report and
professor of comparative religion at the American University of Iowa,
says, "His Eminence will dine with us", 55 one
remembers the time when during Abdul Baha's visit in Stuttgart in 1913
the situation was approximately as follows: The Master wants to meet
with all the friends in the Schwarz family's garden in the Wagenburg
area to be united with them in a photograph. But when one reads further
and finds the sentence, "Madame Rabbani .the wife of the Guardian) ...
said she would see whether His eminence was now ready to see me. .."56, one thinks on closer view that the Guardian has a completely different face!
Yet
this other face was present from the beginning. Already in the letter,
the "Greatest Holy Leaf" (in the German reproduction without date, place
information: Persian Colony on Mount Carmel, Palestine) the sister of
Abdul Baha, who was Shoghi's representative in 1922 during his eight
month absence from Haifa, speaks of "reporting the misfortune to His
Highness Shoghi Effendi". This concerns the sham fight with Mohammed
Ali, brother and main opponent of the Master in his lifetime, who had
acquired the keys to the burial vault of his father Baha'u'llah.
From
a distance, the Guardian appears to be a complete democrat — at least
until the Guardianship was firmly established — for he writes, for
example, "Dearly beloved co-workers" 57 or, "Fellow-believers in the Faith of Baha'u'llah" 58 Further: "Friends and fellow-defenders of the Faith of Baha'u'llah."59 More: "Friends and fellow-promoters of the Faith of God" and "Fellow-laborers in the Divine Vineyard".60
Even
the salutations at the end of his letters are thoroughly democratic
when he closes them with the greetings, "Your true brother Shoghi"61 or with, "Your brother and co-worker Shoghi".62 The
letter of 1934, published in German as a brochure under the title, "The
Dispensation of Baha'u'llah", ends in the original English text with
only "Shoghi". In the German transcription, the "Shoghi" is completely
gone in spite of the letter's beginning, "Fellow-laborers in the Divine
Vineyard". Also in the last letter in WOB of 1936, only "Shoghi" stands
at the end of the English .original. The democrat had to yield to the
autocrat! The next voluminous letter, dated March 21, 1941, which was
published in English under the name "The Promised Day is Come" is signed
with "Shoghi Effendi". The aristocrat takes his place next to the
autocrat. We have already seen how the antidemocratic attitude is
further developed: Shoghi's wife has to speak of her husband as "His
Eminence' !
This
is not a new world the Master spoke of In words of such plasticity.
This is only a new hierarchy with its center not in Rome, Bethlehem or
Jerusalem but in Haifa. The cardinals only have a new name: They are
called the "Hands of the Cause" and when they assemble one simply uses
the old word, as in the following sentence, "Considering the extensive
area of the Western Hemisphere ... was decided by the recent conclave of
the Hands (according to Merriam-Websters dictionary 1971, p. 172: "a
meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals .. . while choosing a pope." (The
English meaning of conclave is broader than the German one — author's
statement).63 There
was certainly no new Guardian chosen there; on the contrary, the
president of the International Bahai Council, Mr. Mason Remey, who would
have gladly played Guardian number two was fired; that is,
excommunicated, about this time together with his men. But the word
"conclave" gives such a vague exultation, a foretaste of the speedy
victory which was constantly apostrophied by Shoghi. Bahai Religion, how
you have changed!
It
is very interesting to pursue which safety valves the forger
established in order to hinder the discovery of this fictitious
document.
Right
after the previously mentioned statements, in which rejection and
non-recognition of the Guardian is equivalent to rejection and
non-recognition of God, follows the final destruction of the soul by God
himself: "May the wrath, the fierce indignation, the vengeance of God
rest upon him."64
But
how can this unfortunate situation be avoided? Well, by obedience, and
again obedience, submissiveness, subordination and humility before the
Guardian. The watchful Hands of the Cause of God must "so soon as they
find anyone beginnning to oppose and protest against the Guardian of the
Cause of God, cast him out from the congregation of the people of Baha.
.."65
At
the end of Part II of the Testament the forger turns to all believers.
Here the transition from the Testament of Baha'u'llah takes place.
Baha'u'llah's Testament was published long before his death in contrast
to the alleged testament of Abdul Baha, which was first made known ten
weeks (the middle of February, 1922) after his death (November 26,
1921). The warning is given that "this alert and active worker of
mischief may cause disruption, privily sow the seeds of doubt and
sedition and utterly root out the Cause of God." (W.&T. 1971, p. 21)
Every contact with him should therefore be avoided and whoever has "the
least connection with him" should be cast out, for "he will surely
cause disruption and mischief." (W.&T. 1971, p. 21) The forger makes
it clear that after the death of Abdul Baha the attacks apply not only
against the favored one of this alleged testament, thus against him
himself, but also just as strongly against the testament about whose
existence nothing at all was earlier known.
The tried and true method turns out to be "to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant -breakers".66 This
obligation is repeated and completed as follows: "the beloved of the
Lord must entirely shun them, avoid them, foil their machinations and
evil whisperings ..." 67
An
equivalent proposal was already recommended somewhat earlier: "Beware
lest ye approach this man (Mohammed Ali) . . ." The critics of the
alleged testament of Abdul Baha, working with objective arguments, are
evaluated in the same way as the critics of Baha'u'llah's Testament, who
are identical with the falsifiers and forgers of some of his tablets.
Here at this juncture (the death of Abdul Baha), the fact that the doubt
concerning the Testament of Baha'u'llah was unjustified is further
applied to the alleged testament of Abdul Baha. The criticisms of this
testament are supposed to be just as groundless. A further security
measure: In the Testament of Baha'u'llah, It says, "He (God) forbade
conflict and strife — a rigid prohibition in the Book (Kitab-i-Akdas}" 69 The
forger snatches up this phrase and repeats it. Baha'u'llah, according
to our view, had prohibited fighting and quarreling with weapons. But
mental battles and disputes with mental weapons exist and must always
exist because graveyard peace and paradise stillness are not the
nourishing soil for great development. The letters of Baha'u'llah to the
kings and leaders of the world are not doves of peace. For the forger,
this statement is very convenient and he amply exploits it for himself:
"Every aggressor deprives himself of God's grace." (W.&T., p. 13)
For the situation where all safety valves give way and do not function,
the all- encompassing protection must apply, "To none is given the right
to put forth his own opinion or express his particular conviction."70 Because
we have come further today in both the great Christian confessions than
this exacting demand, the result of this command would be a regression
into the Age of the inquisition. Even to the straightline Bahais this
statement seems a little too much. Thus, the Englishman David Hofman in
his small semi-official brochure, A Commentary on the Will and Testament
of Abdul Baha (1948) has watered down this thesis considerably. This
sentence "cannot be lifted from its context and applied to anything
else. It applies only to the appointment of the Guardian and the
authority vested in him."71 Expressed
in other words, with the designation of the Guardian one must ignore
his intellect, not have his own opinion and simply believe this document
of designation, the alleged testament of Abdul Baha, this "Charter of a
New World Order". If one is supposed to ignore his intellect as is here
demanded, if this demand refers only to the designation of the
Guardian, this is indeed a clear admission that something here is not
right, that here a shady deal has been undertaken.
The
free Bahais, too, have contributed a commentary about this statement.
In his "Explanations about the Testament of Abdul Baha" (duplicated, no
date, originated in 1930), Alfred Diebold gave the following
interpretation to the above mentioned important last statement from the
alleged testament of Abdul Baha, "And which Bahai who has perceived the
all encompassing spirit of Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha does not have to
set forth doubts about the originality of the Testament for this one
sentence's sake? How crass Abdul Baha's
words sound against such a statement: 'The Bahai Religion is not an
exclusive society, but a Divine congregation, the dome of which Is the
Infinite Heaven, and the temple of which is the expanse of the earth.'
(cit. White, loc. cit, p. 26) Our spirit wants to enter this unending
dome. We want to worship God in spirit In this earthwide temple; but we
do not want to enter this prison of the spirit, whose jailguard is a
Guardian, as he is ordered in the alleged testament."72 In another place in the same pamphlet, Diebold writes about this same statement,
"After
receiving stimulus from Shoghi Effendi to settle in Stuttgart and to
work for the cause, Mr. Klus .. - thinks that this statement Is
necessary because unity and subordination never take place if everyone
gives voice to his opinions. One needs only to think of the first
principle ol Baha'u'llah, It is everyone's duty to search for truth
independently', In order to recognize that this kind of passage could
never have come from Abdul Baha. The Bahai cause was necessary and came
into the world to set men free from the chains of spiritual imprisonment
and lower thoughts, not to enslave them still more."73
The
alleged last will of the expounder and interpreter of the teachings of
God's messenger in our day has created an impressive position for the
Guardian, in the 1930's the free Bahais designated Shoghi Effendi as
World Pope and World Emperor because, as Guardian, he stands not only at
the pinnacle of the Bahai religion but, as head of the House of
Justice, in that prophesied world parliament which "enacteth the laws"
at the pinnacle of the world legislature. The "Huquq" assures, then, the
required means to a life according to the standard. Thus, it cannot
surprise us when Shoghi speaks of it as "that immortal Document",74 or views it so: 'The Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, His greatest legacy to posterity, the brightest emanation of His mind."75 There
is no political system at all "to conform with the Administrative Order
which the master-hand of its perfect Architect has fashioned".76
Earlier in the same volume he had already compared the fictitious Will
and Testament with "this Divine Masterpiece, which the hand of the
Master-builder of the world has designed . . ."77
The
Englishman David Hofman, later appointed as a "Hand of the Cause", has
expressed himself almost as enthusiastically when he writes, "The more
frequently one reads the Will and Testament the more is one intrigued
and delighted by its artistic and aesthetic qualities".78 Shoghi
is somewhat more honest there when he underlines the "vigorous language
employed by Abdul Baha with reference to the band of Covenant-breakers
that has opposed Him in His days".79 Moreover,
Hofman appears not to have studied this document so intensively at all,
because he pronounces, "No human being would claim today to understand
fully the Will end Testament of Abdul Baha".80 Just
how much dishonesty, how much byzantinism is put in this base flattery,
is revealed in the following sentence: "The Guardianship is another
mystery whose full significance will only be discovered by later
generations."81 Exactly
twenty years after the first edition of this commentary on the Will and
Testament of Abdul Baha, thus 1963, the Guardianship was officially
removed by the Bahai organization itself.
Hofman
reaches the high point ot adulation, however, when he maintains, "It
(the Will and Testament of Abdul Baha) is no less than the Charter of
world civilization, the 'Bill of Rights' of all mankind." (page 9) This
can only be lip service, from which it must be insinuated that he has
not read the real Bill of Rights at all. The testament really only has
the single goal of raising a totally unknown relative of Abdul Baha's on
a pedestal he would not have been able to reach on the strength of his
own performances.
George
Townshend, M. A., former canon of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin,
Archdeacon of Clonfert, converted to the Bahai religion and was later
appointed by Shoghi as the "Hand of the Cause". In his small 1957
volume, Christ and Baha'u'llah, Townshend delivers two statements about
the alleged testament of Abdul Baha:
"On
His death the most deeply conceived and constructive of His works was
published, known as The Will and Testament of Abdul Baha. It completed
the great masterpiece of Baha'u'llah — His book of laws (Kitab-l-Akdas) —
the two works together composing one complete and harmonious whole." 82
How
a former clergyman can speak of this alleged testament of Abdul Baha in
its caustic and puffed up language, garnished with the endless
repetition ol a number of lower human instincts as a "Most deeply
conceived and constructive work" becomes understandable to us if we only
remember that Shoghi was the employer of the "Hands", the one who
appointed them and gave orders that the salary was remitted to them from
any funds. Has one read anywhere that a masterwork was completed fifty
years later by any descendant or follower of a 'Master School'? In the
whole history of the fine arts, poetry or music this is unthinkable, and
therefore also in the area of religion.
In
the alleged testament of Abdul Baha it says, "Shoghi Effendi ... the
Guardian of the Cause of God — is the expounder of the words of God. .
." 83 What,
however, do we know from Abdul Baha about the interpretation of the
Bahai teachings? Even in the lifetime of Abdul Baha, long balore the
dispute about the validity of the alleged testament was initiated, we
can read in a tablet of Abdul Baha in "Star of the West", Vol. VIII, p.
187, "One ol the al teachings of this cycle ... is that His Holiness
Baha'u'llah left no possibility for differences .. . and proclaimed the
one to whom all should turn; and He referred expressly to the
interpreter book and in this way closed the door for interpretations." 84
The
above quoted passage in the alleged testament of Abdul Baha is ravealed
to be false by the following explanations of Abdul Baha. This is
confirmed by further sayings of Abdul Baha: Center of the Covenant
(Abdul Baha) . . . is the Expounder Book. No mortal has the right,
publicly or privately, to say only one word by himself or to expound the
text of the Book." 85
Shoghi
also expresses his opinion about this theme in different publications.
In the widely distributed small work, "The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah"
(1934) which refers to a letter of Shoghi from 1934, we read "passages
in the writings of Abdui Baha, the appointed interpreter of these same
utterances . . ." 86 Shoghi
Effendi remarks further about the same theme in the same writing: "To
these authoritative assertions and solemn declarations made by
Bahau'llah and the Bab must be added Abdui Baha's own incontrovertible
testimony. He, the appointed interpreter of the utterances of both
Baha'u'llah and the Bab..." 87 Abdul Baha himself says, "I am the Interpreter of the Word of God; such is my interpretation".88 Shoghi
Effendi states, "Abdul Baha... whose function is to be confined to that
of an authorized interpreter of His Father's teachings..." 89 The Guardian explains that Abdul Baha is "the unerring interpreter of His Word . . ." 90 Shoghi
Effendi quotes Abdul Baha further: "In accordance with the explicit
texts Kitab-i-Akdas Baha'u'llah hath made the Center of the Covenant the
Interpreter of His Word . . " 91
Abdul Baha repeats, . . ." I am... according to the explicit texts of
the Kitab-i-Akdas and the Kitab-i-Ahd the manifest Interpreter of the
Word of God ... Whoso deviates from my interpretation is a victim of his
own fancy." 92
In
two further passages Shoghi stresses the fact that Abdu! Baha is the
interpreter of the Word of God. "Being the Child of the Covenant-the
Heir of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the 'Law of God..." 93
(This refers to the alleged testament of Abdul Baha) Shortly before the
concluding sentences, Shoghi once aqain repeats, "Its guiding
principles are the truths which He Who is the unerring Interpreter of
the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public
addresses throughout the West." (WOB. p. 156)
Shoghi
also sticks to the same line of these sayings in other publications. In
the introduction to The Promised Day is Come, (in German) entitled The
Faith of Baha'u'llah, Shoghi Effendi points out, "Abdul Baha was
appointed by Him (Baha'u'llah) as His lawful successor and the
authorized Interpreter of His teachings." Two pages later, however, the
Guardian continues, "This administrative order ... functions in strict
accordance with the interpretations of the authorized interpreters of
its holy scriptures."94 Here the Guardian calls on the alleged testament of Abdul Baha which was quoted at the beginning.
This
alleged testament of the Master gives him the basis for his claim to be
the expounder and interpreter of God's word. From "The Dispensation of
Baha'u'llah" we hear the Guardian's claims,
"the
Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word..." 95
and however much he (the Guardian) may share with Abdul Baha the right
and obligation to Interpret the Bahai teachings..." 96 Further
"The fact that the Guardian has been specifically endowed with such
power as he may need to reveal the purport and disclose the implications
of the utterances of Baha'u'llah and of Abdul Baha..." 97
And lastly,
"Moreover, he (Shoghi Effendi) ... has been made the Interpreter of the words of its Author..." 98
Even In the major work of the Guardian, God Passes By, we find the same tactic:
"The Kitab-i-Akdas... ordains, in addition to the function of Interpretation which it confers upon His Successor...." 99
One page further, we read,
"He, (Baha'u'llah) ... invests Him {Abdul Baha) with the right of Interpreting His holy
Writ..." 100 Or,
"On Him (Abdul Baha) ... had bestowed the function of Interpreting His Holy Writ...." 101
Furthermore,
"...the appointed Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant and the authorized Interpreter of His teaching,.." 102
In two later passages, Shoghi pays further tribute to the truth:
"... between Him (Baha'u'llah} ... and the One Who had been made its sole Interpreter..." 103
In the next sentence, Shoghl repeats,
"The
creative energies (Baha'u'llah's)... gave birth, through their Impact
upon the mind of Him Who had been chosen as its unerring Expounder..." 104
On the following page the alleged testament is now introduced and the Guardian continues,
"... the Administrative Order which the authorized Interpreter of Baha'u'llah's teachings has instituted..." 105 In the next sentence Shoghi therefore speaks of "the right of Interpretation with which He (Abdul Baha) has invested its
Guardian.... " 106
To make a better impression, he repeats,
"The Guardian ... (has) ... the right of the Interpretation of the Holy Writ solely conferred upon him..." 107
The wife of the Guardian, Ruhiyyih Khanum, naturally works along the same lines:
"the hereditary office of Interpreter and Protectorof the Faith..."108
Whatever is repeated a few times is easier to retain:
"The principle of successorehip endowed with the right of Divine
Interpretation..." 109
The
single proof that the Guardian is the expounder and interpreter of
God's word is the alleged testament of Abdul Baha. Because this is
fraudulent, as we have proved, Shoghi's claim to be the expounder and
interpreter of the teachings of Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha is untenable.
Thus, Abdul Baha is again the single interpreter of the teachings of
Baha'u'llah.
From the Greatest prison of Akka, Baha'Li'llah wrote,
"We
verily ... have not fallen short of Our duty to exhort men, and to
deliver that whereunto I was bidden by God, the Almighty, the
All-Praised." 110
If
a Manifestation of God writes this sentence, this means that he has
said and commanded everything that has been communicated to him by God
to say to mankind for this era. We know that his son Abdul Baha always
asserted himself as only the expounder and interpreter of the words of
his father. If a relative of this generation which follows the second
generation after the manifestation; thus, the great-grandson, maintains,
"By
leaving certain matters unspecified and unregulated in His Book of
Laws, Baha'u'llah seems to have deliberately left a gap in the general
scheme of the Bahai Dispensation, which the unequivocal provisions of
the Master's Will has filled..."111 then
this sentence stands in absolute contradiction to the Manifestation
himself as well as to his expounder and Interpreter, Abdul Baha.
Have
people sometimes also appeared after Moses, after Jesus, after
Zoroaster, after Buddha or after Mohammed, who criticized these
manifestations fifty years later and said that they had forgotten to say
this and that? And if these proclamations stand in flat contradiction
to other words of these personalities, what is one supposed to say to a
man like Shoghi Effendi?
Shoghi's wife, Ruhiyyih Khanum, also takes up her husband's gap theory.
"In
many ways the Will of the Master completes and supplements the Aqdas .
.. He (Abdul Baha) also fills In a remarkable gap In that mighty book of
laws and one which any intelligent commentator on that document must be
immediately struck by ... Abdul Baha's Will ...fills In the conspicuous
blank left by Baha'u'llah." 112
In
other places the Guardian expresses himself about the Kitab-i-Akdas in
such a form that one's head reels with the contradictions.
"this
'Most Holy Book' ... the brightest emanation of the mind of Baha'u'llah
... the Mother Book of His Dispensation ... stands out ... unique and
incomparable among the world's sacred Scriptures." 113
If there was still something else to be completed, what purpose does Baha'u'llah then serve?
"By
the elaboration and elucidation of some of the laws He had already laid
down ... by the establishment of subsidiary ordinances designed to
supplement the provisions of His Most Holy Book. These were recorded in
unnumbered Tablets which He continued to reveal until the last days of
His earthly life..." 114
In his letter of March 28, 1941, which was published under the title The Promised Day is Come, Shoghi writes,
"In
the Kitab-i-Akdas (The Most Holy Book), that priceless treasury
enshrining for all time the brightest emanations of the mind of
Baha'u'llah, the Charter of His World Order, the chief repository of His
laws, the Harbinger of His Covenant, the Pivotal Work containing some
of His noblest exhortations, weightiest pronouncements, and portentous
prophecies..." 115
And in such a work are there supposed to be "obvious gaps"? As Shoghi writes to excess further about Baha'u'llah,
"He
... enunciates the Doctrine of the 'Most Great Infallibility' of the
Manifestatlon of God; asserts this Infallibility to be the inherent and
exclusive right of the Prophet.. ." 116
Instead
of filling in the "obvious" and "noteworthy gap", which would suit an
infallible manifestation, Shoghi speaks now of something completely
different. He mentions "the translation into English of the Appendix to
the Kitab-i-Akdas, entitled "Questions and Answers"...117
And
what sort of "questions and answers" are these? "A reference ... to the
'Questions and Answers' which elucidates the laws and ordinances of the
KItab-i-Akdas..." 118
Thus,
these methodical-didactic comparisons are still applied to the
omissions which would certainly be very worthy of a pedagogue, but for a
manifestation of God it seems only a superflous pastime ! And no one
has had these "Questions and Answers" in hand or even mentioned them,
not even such diligent source researchers as the doctors Rudolf Jockel
II (1952) and Udo Schaefer (1957). Judging from the situation of things,
the "Questions and Answers" referred to in both the previously
mentioned passages as Baha'u'llah's epilogue to the Kitab-l-Akdas are a
further fiction, a further invention of Shoghi's. In order to fill the
measure of contradictions, still another passage from God Passes By: "To
the trustees of the House of Justice He (Baha'u'llah) assigns the duty
of legislating on matters not expressly provided in His writings.. ." 119 This
passage corresponds to the one which is left out in the "improved"
second edition of the Esslemont book, but can be read three times in the
alleged testament of Abdul Baha (W.&T., p. 14, 19, 20).
After
these different sayings of Shoghi's there remains only the conclusion
that then Baha'u'llah, the manifestation of God in our time, simply
forgot in his Book of the Laws, Guardian and Guardianship, treasury, the
Hands of the Cause, the bodyguard and the position of the Guardian as
Head of the World Parliament, just as schoolboys forget something, or
old men whose memory is slowly fading. But Baha'u'llah was not yet sixty
years old at the time of the writing of Kitab-i-Akdas and many past and
present politicians prove that it Is quite possible to possess full
mental power at such an age.
The opinion of Abdul Baha might settle the matter in these statements about the "gap" left open by Baha'u'llah'
"Praise
be to God! Baha'u'llah left nothing unsaid. He explained everything. He
left no room for anything further to be said... If you find harmful
teachings are being set forth by some individual, no matter who that
individual be, even though he should be my own son, know verily that I
am completely severed from him ... Those who speak falsehoods, who covet
worldly things and seek to accumulate the riches of this earth are not
of me ...If on the other hand you see
anyone whose deeds and conduct are contrary to and not in conformity
with the good-pleasure of the Blessed perfection and against the spirit
of the Hidden Words, let that be your standard and criterion of judgment
against him, for know that I am altogether severed from him no matter
who he may be. This is the truth." 120
Were
not the Guardianship and the heirs of its dynasty a lie? Does not the
appointment to the "Head of the Universal House of Justice" signify the
just quoted "lust after worldly things"? Has Shoghi not sought to hoard
"the treasures of this world" when he mentions in the table of contents
of his compiled work The Bahai Belief 1844-1952 (Frankfurt 1956),
"Data about important national and International Bahai possessions page 18
National American Bahai possessions page 20
Evaluated worth of American possessions page 21
Has Shoghi forgotten that in 1803 the majority of
ecclesiastical possessions came into government hands in Europe and were
thus secularized? Already in the early Middle Ages, in the Lombardian
and Frankish times it was reported that the princes appropriated the
possessions of the Christian church in order to finance their armies.
Doesn't Shoghi himself write that 10,000 square miles of land were taken
away from the Christian church in the USSR? 121
Has Shoghi already forgotten that it was in the USSR itself that all
Bahai possessions were also confiscated, including the Bahai temple in
Ishkabad, which he praises as follows:
"This
enterprise must rank not only as the first major undertaking launched
through the concerted efforts of His followers In the Heroic Age of His
Faith, but as one of the most brilliant and enduring achievements In the
history of the first Bahai century." 122
Not
even for the duration of the completion of his major work was the
temple in Bahai possession. We read on page 360, "culminating in the
seizure of the first MashriquI-Adhkar of the Bahai world and of the few
accessory institutions already reared about it". In the 50's the temple
was torn down and its former site was leveled. "Sic transit gloria mundi
(Thus passes the glory of the world)!"
PART FOUR
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
27. W..& T., p. 3
28. W..& T., p. 11
29. W..& T., p. 11
30. Max Buchner, Die Areopagitika des Abtes Hilduin von St. Denis..., Studien...zur Falschungstechnik am
Vorabend der Entstehung der Pseudoisidorlschen Dekretalen, 1939, p.192
31. W..& T., p. 20
32. W..& T., p. 21
33. Sohrab, Will. Author's Statement
34. Sohrab, loc. cit., p. 10
35. W..& T. p. . 25 f
36. Sabet, loc. cit.. p. 118
37. W.&T., p. 6
38. W.&T., p. 17
39. Shoghi Effendi, loc. cit., p. 2
40. W..& T., p. 18
41. W..& T., p. 25
42. Hutten, Ssher, Grubler, Enthusiasten, 195B, p. 276
43. Excerpts from letter from the Guardian in "Bahai News" Nr. 145, July 1941, quoted by Sohrab, Silence, p. 424
44. W.& T. p. 6
45. W.& T. p. 19
46. W.&T.. p. 14
47. W..& T., p. . 12
48. W..& T., p. 11
49. Esslemont 1970, loc. cit., p. 124
50. Shoghi Effendi, WOB, 1938, p. 148
51. Shogtii Effendi, WOB, 1938. p. 149
52. W..& T., p. 15
53. W..& T., p. 14 f.
54. Shoghi Effendi, loc. cit., p. IX
55. Bach, loc. cit., 3rd part
56. Bach, loc. cit., 5th part
57. WOB, Letter of February 27, 1929 and March 21, 1930
58. WOB, Letter of November 28, 1931
59. WOB. Letter of March 21, 1932
60. WOB. pp. 71 and 97
61. WOB, Letters 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933
62. WOB, Letter of 1930
63. "Bahai Nachrichten" of March 2. 1960. Vol. 17, p. 1, "Nachricten aus dem Weltzantrum des Glaubens".
64. W.& T. 1971, p. 11
65. W.& T. p. 12
66. W.& T. p. 20
67. W.& T. p. 25
68. W.& T. p. 21
69. Baha'u'llah, Kitab-l-Ahd. published in BWF 1971, p. 209
70. W.& T., p. 26
71. Hofman. loc. cit., p. 27f
72. Alfred Diebold, loc. cit., p. 4
73. Alfred Diebold, loc. cit., p. 18f
74. GPB. p. 268
75. GFB, p. 325
76. WOB, p. 152
77. WOB, p. 8
78. Hofman, Commantary, 1955, p. 29
79. WOB. p, B
80. Hofman, loc. cit., p. 3
81. Hofman, loc. cit., p. 7
82. Townshend, loc. cit, p.97
83. W.&T., p. 11
84. Abdul Baha. Tablet, quoted In "Star of West", Vol. VIII, p. 187, (retranslated) cited in The Covenant and
Administration 1971, p. 17f.
85. Abdul Baha. Tablet, quoted In "Star of West", Vol. VIII, p. 223, (retranslated) cited in The Covenant and
Administration 1971, p. 16
86. WOB 1938, p. 110
87. WOB 1938, p. 127
88. WOB 1938, p. 133
89. WOB, p. 133
90. WOB, p. 134
91. WOB, p. 136
92. WOB, p. 138
93. WOB, p. 144
94. Shoghi Effendi, The faith of Bahaullah, 1971, pp. 10 and 13
95. WOB, p.150
96. WOB, p. 151
97. WOB, p. 151
98. WOB, p. 153
99. GPB, p. 213
100. GPB, p. 214
101. GPB, p. 242
102 GPB, p. 244
103. GPB, p.325
104. GPB, p.325
105. GPB, p. 326
106. GPB, p. 326
107. GPB, p. 326
108 . Ruhiyyih Khanum, Guardianship, p. 4 Guardianship, p. 4
109. Guardianship, p.23
110. GPB. p. 220
111. WOB p.4
112. Ruhiyyih Khanum, Guardianship, p. 4
113. GPB. p. 213
114. GPB, p. 216
115. loc. cit.. p. 24
116. GPB, p. 214
117. GPB, p. 383
118. GPB, p.
119. GPB p. 218f
120. Abdul Baha, The Promulgation ot Universal Peace. 1925, Vol. II. p. 452f.
121. Promised Day, p. 103
122. GPB, p. 300
