It should be carefully borne in mind that the local as well as the
international Houses of Justice have been expressly enjoined by the
Kitab-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, as
an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master's Will as the
"Secondary House of Justice," has the express sanction of 'Abdu'l-Baha;
and that the method to be pursued for the election of the International
and National Houses of Justice has been set forth by Him in His Will, as
well as in a number of His Tablets. Moreover, the institutions of the
local and national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to all local
and national spiritual assemblies, have not only been established by
'Abdu'l-Baha in the Tablets He revealed to the Baha'is of the Orient, but
their importance and necessity have been repeatedly emphasized by Him in
His utterances and writings. The concentration of authority in the hands
of the elected representatives of the believers; the necessity of the
submission of every adherent of the Faith to the considered judgment of
Baha'i Assemblies; His preference for unanimity in decision; the decisive
character of the majority vote; and even the desirability for the exercise
of close supervision over all Baha'i publications, have been sedulously
instilled by 'Abdu'l-Baha, as evidenced by His authenticated and
widely-scattered Tablets. To accept His broad and humanitarian Teachings
on one hand, and to reject and dismiss with neglectful indifference His
more challenging and distinguishing precepts, would be an act of manifest
disloyalty to that which He has cherished most in His life.
That the Spiritual Assemblies of today will be replaced in time by the
Houses of Justice, and are to all intents and purposes identical and not
separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself. He has
in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the first Chicago
Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Baha'i body instituted in the United
States, referred to them as the members of the "House of Justice" for that
city, and has thus with His own pen established beyond any doubt the
identity of the present Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies with the Houses of
Justice referred to by Baha'u'llah. For reasons which are not difficult to
discover, it has been found advisable to bestow upon the elected
representatives of Baha'i communities throughout the world the temporary
appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a term which, as the position and
aims of the Baha'i Faith are better understood and more fully recognized,
will gradually be superseded by the permanent and more appropriate
designation of House of Justice. Not only will the present-day Spiritual
Assemblies be styled differently in future, but they will be enabled also
to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives
necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, not merely as
one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State
Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Baha'i Faith
permeates the masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is
embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign
States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the
plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Baha'i
Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent
upon the world's future super-state.
It must be pointed out, however, in this connection that, contrary to what
has been confidently asserted, the establishment of the Supreme House of
Justice is in no way dependent upon the adoption of the Baha'i Faith by
the mass of the peoples of the world, nor does it presuppose its
acceptance by the majority of the inhabitants of any one country. In fact,
'Abdu'l-Baha, Himself, in one of His earliest Tablets, contemplated the
possibility of the formation of the Universal House of Justice in His own
lifetime, and but for the unfavorable circumstances prevailing under the
Turkish regime, would have, in all probability, taken the preliminary
steps for its establishment. It will be evident, therefore, that given
favorable circumstances, under which the Baha'is of Persia and of the
adjoining countries under Soviet rule, may be enabled to elect their
national representatives, in accordance with the guiding principles laid
down in 'Abdu'l-Baha's writings, the only remaining obstacle in the way of
the definite formation of the International House of Justice will have
been removed. For upon the National Houses of Justice of the East and the
West devolves the task, in conformity with the explicit provisions of the
Will, of electing directly the members of the International House of
Justice. Not until they are themselves fully representative of the rank
and file of the believers in their respective countries, not until they
have acquired the weight and the experience that will enable them to
function vigorously in the organic life of the Cause, can they approach
their sacred task, and provide the spiritual basis for the constitution of
so august a body in the Baha'i world.