On behalf of Shoghi Effendi
Status of letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi[edit]
- https://bahai-library.com/uhj_authenticity_some_texts#memorandum
- https://bahai-library.com/uhj_letters_behalf_guardian (one quotation therein is also mentioned at https://bahai-library.com/uhj_homosexuality_uganda )
- https://bahai-library.com/uhj_letter_shoghi-effendi_1929
- https://bahai-library.com/uhj_secretaries_guardian_correspondence
Authoritativeness[edit]
Instructions sent on behalf of the Guardian are binding[edit]
"Instructions sent on behalf of the Guardian are binding, as are the words of the Guardian; although of course, they are not the Guardian's words.
- (From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, August 20, 1956, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1055)
Misleading to quote Shoghi Effendi's secretaries the same as his own; their style is not the same and their authority less (as they use their own terms and not his exact words)[edit]
"I wish to call your attention to certain things in "Principles of Bahá'í Administration" which has just reached the Guardian; although the material is good, he feels that the complete lack of quotation marks is very misleading. His own words, the words of his various secretaries, even the Words of Bahá'u'lláh Himself, are all lumped together as one text. This is not only not reverent in the case of Bahá'u'lláh's Words, but misleading. Although the secretaries of the Guardian convey his thoughts and instructions and these messages are authoritative, their words are in no sense the same as his, their style certainly not the same, and their authority less, for they use their own terms and not his exact words in conveying his messages. He feels that in any future edition this fault should be remedied, any quotations from Bahá'u'lláh or the Master plainly attributed to them, and the words of the Guardian clearly differentiated from those of his secretaries."
Letters on behalf of Shoghi Effendi (as with a P.S. attached) are all read and approved by Shoghi Effendi without exception[edit]
"The following statement, referred to by Mr. ... and published in "Principles of Bahá'í Administration" without a date, was added by Shoghi Effendi to a letter written on his behalf to an individual on 7 December 1930. He wrote:
- "I wish to add and say that whatever letters are sent in my behalf from Haifa are all read and approved by me before mailing.1 There is no exception whatever to this rule.
"This clear statement of Shoghi Effendi was written in response to the following question:
- "Can you make a statement which would establish the authenticity of your letters written by Ruhi or Soheil with your P.C. [sic] attached. There are still some people who continue to feel that these letters are not authorized by you and only express the personal opinions of the above writers.
- (Research Department, 13 October 1994, at https://bahai-library.com/uhj_authenticity_some_texts#memorandum )
