Dear friends,
I recently came across this letter from the House of Justice on
Jonah's website which I thought you might find interesting.
warmest, Susan
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The issue you have raised about the writings of the Guardian requires
an accurate and balanced treatment in Bahá'í publications. As you are
well aware, an essential element of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh is the
acceptance of the infallibility of the Guardian. In response to
questions about this matter, a letter written on his behalf in 1944
stated:
The infallibility of the Guardian is confined to matters which are
related strictly to the Cause and interpretation of the teachings; he
is not an infallible authority on other subjects, such as economics,
science, etc.
A further clarification was provided in another letter prepared on
behalf of the Guardian by his secretary in 1956:
The Guardian's infallibility covers interpretation of the revealed
word, and its application. Likewise any instructions he may issue
having to do with the protection of the Faith, or its well-being, must
be closely obeyed, as he is infallible in the protection of the Faith.
He is assured the guidance of both Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, as the
Will and Testament of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá clearly reveals.
As is the case with the House of Justice, the Guardian was not
omniscient, and relied on the facts available to him in carrying out
his functions. Beyond that, he was meticulous about the authenticity
of historical fact. One of the friends in Yazd once wrote to him
stating that the account given by ‘Abdu'l-Bahá in one of His Tablets
about events related to the martyrdom of some of the believers in that
place was in conflict with known facts about these events. Shoghi
Effendi replied saying that the friends should investigate the facts
carefully and unhesitatingly register them in their historical
records, since ‘Abdu'l-Bahá Himself had prefaced His recording of the
events in His Tablet with a statement that it was based on news
received from Yazd.
The faith of the believers should not be disturbed, nor their
adherence to the provisions of the Covenant diminished, by the
occasional discovery of factual inaccuracies in the Guardian's
writings such as “God Passes By” or his translation of “Nabil's
Narrative”. It is useful to recall the following description penned by
Amatu'l-Bahá Rú>íyyih Khánum of Shoghi Effendi's preparation for
writing “God Passes By”, taken from her book “The Priceless Pearl”:
The method of Shoghi Effendi in writing “God Passes By” was to sit
down for a year and read every book of the Bahá'í Writings in Persian
and English, and every book written about the Faith by Bahá'ís,
whether in manuscript form or published, and everything written by non-
Bahá'ís that contained significant references to it. I think, in all,
this must have covered the equivalent of at least two hundred books.
As he read he made notes and compiled and marshalled his facts. Anyone
who has ever tackled a work of an historical nature knows how much
research is involved, how often one has to decide, in the light of
relevant material, between this date given in one place and that date
given in another, how back-breaking the whole work is. How much more
so then was such a work for the Guardian who had, at the same time, to
prepare for the forthcoming Centenary of the Faith and make decisions
regarding the design of the superstructure of the Báb's Shrine. When
all the ingredients of h
is book had been assembled Shoghi Effendi commenced weaving them into
the fabric of his picture of the significance of the first century of
the Bahá'í Dispensation.
That some of the historical reference material he consulted may have
contained inaccuracies, which inadvertently found their way into his
book, should not be surprising. Such
Concerning the Infallibility of Shoghi Effendi
and the Universal House of
Justice
Page 2
factual discrepancies do not result in any blemish on the infallible
insight with which the Guardian treats such subjects as the
development of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, the significance and import
of the turbulent events in its history, and the interpretation of its
Teachings.
As you have pointed out in your letter, this matter should be treated
with care and wisdom. When the believers are properly informed of it,
they will thereby be immunized against the attempts of the malicious
to sow the seeds of doubt through propagating unwarranted inferences
about the Guardian's infallibility on the basis of their discovery of
historical inaccuracies.
(20 January 1998) [1]
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