Infallibility of the Manifestations of God

26 November 1986

To a National Spiritual Assembly

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The International Teaching Center has referred to the Universal House of Justice your letter of 29 September 1986 in which you seek comment on the draft of the letter you plan to send to the Local Spiritual Assembly of ...for the guidance of...,a believer who has written an article entitled, "The Infallibility of the Prophets."

The House of Justice has studied your draft response and . . .‘s paper in which he concludes, by means of logical analysis, based in part on his understanding of an article by Mr. Juan Ricardo Cole on the Tablet of Wisdom, that Bahá’u’lláh, and indeed all the Prophets of God, are not infallible. . . . expresses the opinion that attempts to resolve apparent contradictions in the Writings by seeking a broader context only serve to create insoluble logical difficulties, and he indicates that he is aware that the Institutions of the Faith may not agree with his views causing his status as a Bahá’í to be called into question. We are instructed by the Universal House of Justice to make the following reply.

. . .‘s article raises fundamental issues about the station of the Manifestations and Their authority, as well as about the nature of individual interpretation.

It is clear from a study of the Text that infallibility is an essential attribute of the Manifestation of God. Bahá’u’lláh wrote:

... the Most Great Infallibility is confined to the One Whose station is immeasurably exalted beyond ordinances or prohibitions and is sanctified from errors and omissions. . ..

. . . Were He to pronounce right to be wrong or denial to be belief. He speaketh the truth as bidden by God. This is a station wherein sins or trespasses neither exist nor are mentioned. (Tablets of Bahá'ulláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 108, 109)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Some Answered Questions, stresses the inseparability of "essential infallibility" from the Manifestation of God, and states:

Passing of the Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem

16 November 1986

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

WITH SORROWFUL HEARTS ANNOUNCE PASSING INDEFATIGABLE FEARLESS DEFENDER FAITH DEEPLY LOVED HAND CAUSE ZIKRULLAH KHADEM. HIS STERLING SERVICES TO THE CAUSE, HIS TOTAL CONSECRATION TO TASKS ASSIGNED TO HIM BY BELOVED GUARDIAN, HIS OUTSTANDING EFFORTS AS MEMBER NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY CRADLE FAITH, HIS VALUABLE SOUL-UPLIFTING STIMULATION IMPARTED BODY BELIEVERS NORTH AMERICA, PARTICULARLY UNITED STATES BAHÁ‘I COMMUNITY, HIS UNTIRING ENDEAVORS THROUGH HIS TALKS AND WRITINGS IN SAFEGUARDING COVENANT AND IN INSTILLING APPRECIATION LOVE FOR SHOGHI EFFENDI SHED UNDYING LUSTER OVER PERIOD HIS ADMIRABLE STEWARDSHIP CAUSE GOD. OFFERING PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS RADIANT SOUL ABHÁ KINGDOM. URGE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL GATHERINGS HIS NAME AT ALL HOUSES OF WORSHIP AS WELL AS IN ALL LOCAL BAHÁ‘I COMMUNITIES.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)

Murder of Two Bahá’ís in Iran

31 October1986

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We are saddened to receive the following information from Iran. .. .

Mr. Íraj Mihdí-Nizhád, 59 years old, a prominent Bahá’í in Bandar-Abbás, was stabbed to death by a group of people. Sixteen knife wounds were observed on his body. Mr. Mihdí-Nizhád had been a civil servant and was dismissed from his job because of his faith, like thousands of other Bahá’ís. Out of necessity, he became a peddler, selling various articles in the streets in order to earn an income. Following the murder, his son-in-law and his son were detained for 48 hours by the police for questioning. However, later on, the murderers were apprehended. They belonged to a family, one of whose members had studied the Bahá’í Faith and expressed acceptance of it. It was some of the fanatical members of that family who attacked Mr. Mihdí-Nizhád, a prominent and active Bahá’í.

The police assembled a file of evidence related to the crime and sent it to the Attorney-General. However, the Attorney-General was apparently notified in advance by the members of the murderers’ family, who may even have threatened him. As a result, before the file reached his desk he left his office, instructing his subordinate to refuse to accept the file on the pretext that the Attorney-General had gone on leave. In the meantime, the police, who had correctly carried out their duty in preparing the file, must have subsequently received instructions. As a consequence, when the file was returned to them, they indicated that no action would be taken, and even advised Mr. Mihdí-Nizhád’s family to let the matter drop.

The members of the family, however, have not given up their efforts to pursue their complaint, although it is fraught with danger and there is very little prospect of bringing the murderers to justice.

New Stage in External Affairs of the Faith

29 October 1986

To the meeting of the Senior Officers of the United Nations Office and the Office of Public Information

THE GATHERING IN NEW YORK ON 31 OCTOBER OF THE SENIOR STAFF OF THE OVERSEAS OFFICES OF THE BAHÁ’f INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MARKS A NEW, POTENT STAGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE WORLD- WIDE BAHÁ‘1 COMMUNITY. THIS STAGE BETOKENS THE PROMINENCE ATTAINED BY THE CAUSE OF GOD IN ITS EMERGENCE FROM OBSCURITY AND IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE NEW, INESCAPABLE CHALLENGES IMMEDIATELY TO BE MET AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE OPERATION OF THE ONRUSHING PROCESSES THROUGH WHICH ARE EVOLVING THE RECONSTRUCTIVE INFLUENCES OF BAHÁ’ULLÁH’S WORLD ORDER A STRIKING MANIFESTATION OF THE NEW SITUATION CAN BE SEEN IN THE ACCUMULATING EVIDENCE OF THE SALUTARY RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPING BETWEEN THE BAHÁ‘I COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD AT LARGE. THIS RELATIONSHIP MUST BE EXPANDED. AS WINDOWS OF THE BAHÁ‘I COMMUNITY TO THE WORLD, THESE OFFICES MUST DISPLAY EVER MORE CLEARLY THE UNIFYING PRINCIPLES, THE HOPE, THE PROMISE, THE MAJESTY OF THIS EMERGING ORDER

A GLANCE BACKWARD TO THE EMBRYONIC EFFORTS 39 YEARS AGO TO ASSOCIATE THE INTERESTS OF THE FAITH WITH THE WORK OF THE UNITED NATIONS CANNOT BUT AROUSE IN EVERY OBSERVANT BAHÁ‘I A DEEP SENSE OF PRIDE AND WONDERMENT AT THE MOMENTOUS PROGRESS ACHIEVED. THE FOUNDATION OF EIGHT NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES ON WHICH THOSE EFFORTS WERE LAUNCHED HAS, BY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 148 NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES, BROADENED NEARLY NINETEENFOLD. FROM THAT SMALL BEGINNING TO THE HISTORIC MOMENT IN 1970 WHEN THE BAHÁ‘I INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WAS ACCORDED CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, FOLLOWED BY A SIMILAR ACCREDITATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDRENS FUND IN 1976, TO THE REMARKABLE OCCASION IN DECEMBER 1985 WHEN THE NAME OF THE FAITH WAS RECORDED IN A RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ITSELF, THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’ULLÁH HAS SURELY JUSTIFIED ITS PROMISE TO COME FORTH AS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH IN THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

Apartheid

12 October 1986

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The above statement which was sent to you with our covering letter of 21 February 1986 has been revised by the Office of Public Information and approved by the Universal House of Justice. At the direction of the House of Justice, we enclose a copy of the revised statement, which supersedes the previous one.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

Apartheid: A Bahá’í View

A little more than a hundred years ago, Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Baha’i Faith, declared that mankind was entering upon a new era in its history when accelerating processes of unification would soon compel universal recognition that humanity is one single race, one distinct species. He appealed to the peoples of the world to accept this central truth and to set aside the barriers of race, nationality, and culture which have been principal causes of war throughout history. There is, He said, no possibility of achievement of world peace until the fundamental principle of unity has been accepted and given practical effect in the organization of society.

Consequently, from the time of its inception more than a century ago, the Baha’i world community has been characterized by the integration of the many religious, racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic and national elements which it comprises. Marriage between persons of different ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, and particularly between black and white Baha’is, is warmly encouraged in the Baha’i scriptures. In order to make certain that those members who suffer discrimination in society as a whole are not prevented from full participation in the life of the community, the Baha’i teachings contain certain administrative principles which are designed to

overcome the handicaps created by social inequalities. For example, where a tie vote has been cast in a Baha’i community election or where two or more believers are equally qualified for a particular office, priority is given as a matter of principle to the one representing the disadvantaged or oppressed sector of society.