Universal House of Justice
Establishment:
The men of God's House of Justice have been charged with the affairs of
the people. They, in truth, are the Trustees of God among His
servants and the daysprings of authority in His countries.
(Baha'u'llah: Aqdas: Other Sections, p. 91)
And now, concerning the House of Justice which God hath ordained as the
source of all good and freed from all error, it must be elected by
universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. Its members must be
manifestations of the fear of God and daysprings of knowledge and
understanding, must be steadfast in God's faith and the well-wishers of
all mankind. By this House is meant the Universal House of
Justice, that is, in all countries a secondary House of Justice must be
instituted, and these secondary Houses of Justice must elect the
members of the Universal one. Unto this body all things must be
referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be
found in the explicit Holy Text.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Will and Testament, p. 14)
The Supreme House of Justice should be elected according to the system
followed in the election of the parliaments of Europe. And when
the countries would be guided, the Houses of Justice of the various
countries would elect the Supreme House of Justice.
At whatever time all the beloved of God in
each country appoint their delegates, and these in turn elect their
representatives, and these representatives elect a body, that body
shall be regarded as the Supreme House of Justice.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Establishment of U.H.J., p. 322)
For instance, the Universal House of Justice,(1) if it be established
under the necessary conditions - with members elected from all the
people - that House of Justice will be under the protection and the
unerring guidance of God. If that House of Justice shall decide
unanimously, or by a majority, upon any question not mentioned in the
Book, that decision and command will be guarded from mistake. Now
the members of the House of Justice have not, individually, essential
infallibility; but the body of the House of Justice is under the
protection and unerring guidance of God: this is called conferred
infallibility.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, pp. 172-173)
The National Spiritual Assemblies, like unto pillars, will be gradually
and firmly established in every country on the strong and fortified
foundations of the Local Assemblies. On these pillars, the mighty
edifice, the Universal House of Justice, will be erected, raising high
its noble frame above the world of existence. The unity of the
followers of Baha'u'llah will thus be realized and fulfilled from one
end of the earth to the other. The explicit ordinances of His Most Holy
Book will be promulgated, applied and carried out most befittingly in
the world of creation, and the living waters of everlasting life will
stream forth from that fountain-head of God's World Order upon all the
warring nations and peoples of the world, to wash away the evils and
iniquities of the realm of dust, heal man's age-old ills and ailments.
(Shoghi Effendi: Establishment of the UHJ, p. 333)
In His Will and Testament Abdu'l-Baha conferred the mantle of Guardian
of the Cause and infallible Interpreter of its teachings upon His
eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, and confirmed the authority and
guarantee of divine guidance decreed by Baha'u'llah for the Universal
House of Justice on all matters "which have not outwardly been revealed
in the Book". The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice
can thus be seen to be, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, the "Twin
Successors" of Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha. They are the supreme
institutions of the Administrative Order which was founded and
anticipated in the Kitab-i-Aqdas and elaborated by Abdu'l-Baha in His
Will.
During the thirty-six years of his ministry,
Shoghi Effendi raised up the structure of elected Spiritual Assemblies
- the Houses of Justice referred to in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, now in their
embryonic stage - and with their collaboration initiated the systematic
implementation of the Divine Plan that Abdu'l-Baha had laid out for the
diffusion of the Faith throughout the world. He also set in
motion, on the basis of the strong administrative structure that had
been established, the processes which were an essential preparation for
the election of the Universal House of Justice. This body, which
came into existence in April 1963, is elected through secret ballot and
plurality vote in a three-stage election by adult Baha'is throughout
the world. The revealed Word of Baha'u'llah, together with the
interpretations and expositions of the Centre of the Covenant and the
Guardian of the Cause, constitute the binding terms of reference of the
Universal House of Justice and are its bedrock foundation.
(The Universal House of Justice: Aqdas: Other Sections, pp. 3-4)
Duties and Functions:
We exhort the men of the House of Justice and command them to ensure
the protection and safeguarding of men, women and children. It is
incumbent upon them to have the utmost regard for the interests of the
people at all times and under all conditions.
(Baha'u'llah: Tablets of Baha'u'llah, pp. 69-70)
It is incumbent upon the Trustees of the House of Justice to take
counsel together regarding those things which have not outwardly been
revealed in the Book, and to enforce that which is agreeable to
them. God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth,
and He, verily, is the Provider, the Omniscient.
(Baha'u'llah: Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 68)
Inasmuch as for each day there is a new problem and for every problem
an expedient solution, such affairs should be referred to the Ministers
of the House of Justice that they may act according to the needs and
requirements of the time. They that, for the sake of God, arise
to serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the
unseen Kingdom. It is incumbent upon all to be obedient unto
them. All matters of State should be referred to the House of
Justice, but acts of worship must be observed according to that which
God hath revealed in His Book.
(Baha'u'llah: Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 27)
Religion bestoweth upon man the most precious of all gifts, offereth
the cup of prosperity, imparteth eternal life, and showereth
imperishable benefits upon mankind. It behoveth the chiefs and
rulers of the world, and in particular the Trustees of God's House of
Justice, to endeavour to the utmost of their power to safeguard its
position, promote its interests and exalt its station in the eyes of
the world. In like manner it is incumbent upon them to enquire
into the conditions of their subjects and to acquaint themselves with
the affairs and activities of the divers communities in their dominions.
(Baha'u'llah: Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 130)
It is incumbent upon the ministers of the House of Justice to promote
the Lesser Peace so that the people of the earth may be relieved from
the burden of exorbitant expenditures.
(Baha'u'llah: Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 89)
In the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith, in the
enactment of the legislation necessary to supplement the laws of the
Kitab-i-Aqdas, the members of the Universal House of Justice, it should
be borne in mind, are not, as Baha'u'llah's utterances clearly imply,
responsible to those whom they represent, nor are they allowed to be
governed by the feelings, the general opinion, and even the convictions
of the mass of the faithful, or of those who directly elect them.
They are to follow, in a prayerful attitude, the dictates and
promptings of their conscience. They may, indeed they must, acquaint
themselves with the conditions prevailing among the community, must
weigh dispassionately in their minds the merits of any case presented
for their consideration, but must reserve for themselves the right of
an unfettered decision. "God will verily inspire them with
whatsoever He willeth," is Baha'u'llah's incontrovertible
assurance. They, and not the body of those who either directly or
indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients of the divine
guidance which is at once the life-blood and ultimate safeguard of this
Revelation.
(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 153)
Legislative Powers:
Those matters of major importance which constitute the foundation of
the Law of God are explicitly recorded in the Text, but subsidiary laws
are left to the House of Justice. The wisdom of this is that the
times never remain the same, for change is a necessary quality and an
essential attribute of this world, and of time and place.
Therefore the House of Justice will take action accordingly.
Let it not be imagined that the House of
Justice will take any decision according to its own concepts and
opinions. God forbid! The Supreme House of Justice will
take decisions and establish laws through the inspiration and
confirmation of the Holy Spirit, because it is in the safekeeping and
under the shelter and protection of the Ancient Beauty, and obedience
to its decisions is a bounden and essential duty and an absolute
obligation, and there is no escape for anyone.
Say, O people: Verily the Supreme House
of Justice is under the wings of your Lord, the Compassionate, the
All-Merciful, that is, under His protection, His care, and His shelter;
for He has commanded the firm believers to obey that blessed,
sanctified and all-subduing body, whose sovereignty is divinely
ordained and of the Kingdom of Heaven and whose laws are inspired and
spiritual.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Establishment of U.H.J., p. 323)
It is incumbent upon these members (of the Universal House of Justice)
to gather in a certain place and deliberate upon all problems which
have caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are
not expressly recorded in the Book. Whatsoever they decide has
the same effect as the Text itself. Inasmuch as the House of
Justice hath power to enact laws that are not expressly recorded in the
Book and bear upon daily transactions, so also it hath power to repeal
the same. Thus for example, the House of Justice enacteth today a
certain law and enforceth it, and a hundred years hence, circumstances
having profoundly changed and the conditions having altered, another
House of Justice will then have power, according to the exigencies of
the time, to alter that law. This it can do because these laws
form no part of the divine explicit Text. The House of Justice is both
the initiator and the abrogator of its own laws.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Will and Testament, p. 20)
Referring to both the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice we
read these emphatic words: "The sacred and youthful Branch, the
Guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice
to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and
protection of the Abha Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance
of the Exalted One (the Bab) (may my life be offered up for them
both). Whatsoever they decide is of God."
From these statements it is made indubitably
clear and evident that the Guardian of the Faith has been made the
Interpreter of the Word and that the Universal House of Justice has
been invested with the function of legislating on matters not expressly
revealed in the teachings. The interpretation of the Guardian,
functioning within his own sphere, is as authoritative and binding as
the enactments of the International House of Justice, whose exclusive
right and prerogative is to pronounce upon and deliver the final
judgment on such laws and ordinances as Baha'u'llah has not expressly
revealed. Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and
prescribed domain of the other. Neither will seek to curtail the
specific and undoubted authority with which both have been divinely
invested.
(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha'u'llah, pp. 149-150)
Obedience by Believers:
A universal, or international, House of Justice shall also be
organized. Its rulings shall be in accordance with the commands
and teachings of Baha'u'llah, and that which the Universal House of
Justice ordains shall be obeyed by all mankind. This
international House of Justice shall be appointed and organized from
the Houses of Justice of the whole world, and all the world shall come
under its administration.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 455)
...There are statements from the Master and the Guardian indicating
that the Universal House of Justice, in addition to being the Highest
Legislative Body of the Faith, is also the body to which all must turn,
and is the `apex' of the Baha'i Administrative Order, as well as the
`supreme organ of the Baha'i Commonwealth.'
(The Universal House of Justice: Lights of Guidance, p. 315)
1. The House of Justice (Baytu'l-Adl) is an institution created
by Baha'u'llah. He refers to two levels of this
institution: the Local Houses of Justice, responsible for each
town or village, and the Universal House of Justice. Abdu'l-Baha,
in His Will and Testament, added an intermediate level, the Secondary
Houses of Justice. It is only on the Universal House of Justice
that infallibility has been conferred. At the present time, to
stress their purely spiritual functions, the Local and Secondary Houses
of Justice are designated Local and National Spiritual Assemblies.
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