Dear Baha'i friends,
Five months before he passed away, the beloved Guardian in his cable to the Baha'i world, dated 4 June 1957, drew our attention to the fact that from both without and within the Faith evidences of "INCREASING HOSTILITY" and "PERSISTENT MACHINATIONS" were apparent, and that they foreshadowed the "DIRE CONTEST" predicted by 'Abdu'l-Baha, which was destined to "RANGE [the] ARMY [of] LIGHT [against the] FORCES [of] DARKNESS, BOTH SECULAR [and] RELIGIOUS.
The marvellous victories won in the name of Baha'u'llah, since those words were written; and the triumphs increasingly being achieved by His dedicated and ardent lovers in every land, will no doubt serve to rouse the internal and external enemies of the Faith to fresh attempts to attack the Faith and dampen the enthusiasm of its supporters, as evidenced by the book attacking Shoghi Effendi recently published in Germany by Hermann Zimmer, a Covenant-breaker, and the new book misrepresenting the Faith written by William Miller, a long-time enemy of the Faith who used to be a missionary in Persia.
We felt, therefore, that we could contribute to your devoted and incessant efforts to protect our precious Cause by placing in your hands a compilation from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, of 'Abdu'l-Baha and of Shoghi Effendi, clearly outlining the principle that the progressive unfoldment and onward march of the Faith of God are bound to raise up adversaries, indubitably foreshadowing the world-wide opposition which is to come, and unequivocally giving the assurance of ultimate victory. This compilation is far from complete and exhaustive, but provides a basis for the study of this all-important subject.
We leave it to your discretion, in consultation with a Hand or Hands of the Cause who may be available, as well as with the Counsellors, to decide in what manner, and how much of this material should be shared with the friends. In some areas it may be best for National Spiritual Assemblies to publish these extracts in Baha'i newsletters gradually, in others the circulation or even publication of the entire compilation, with other pertinent texts, if called for, may be desirable; in yet other areas it may be enough to draw the attention of the friends to this important subject, through courses and lectures based on these texts and given in conferences and summer schools.
We feel strongly that, whatever method is chosen to inform the friends, the time has come for them to clearly grasp the inevitability of the critical contests which lie ahead, give you their full, support in repelling with confidence and determination "the darts" which will be levelled against them by "their present enemies, as well as those whom Providence will, through His mysterious dispensations, raise up, from within or from without," and aid and enable the Faith of God to scale loftier heights, win more signal triumphs, and traverse more vital stages in its predestined course to complete victory and world-wide ascendancy.
With loving Baha'i greetings,
The Universal House of Justice
(Messages from the Universal House of Justice, ‘1963-1986’)
