The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahai Community Part 28

At our beloved Guardian's direction I gratefully acknowledge the receipt of your communications dated February 19th, March 7th and 27th, May 3rd with enclosures, written on behalf of the British N.S.A.

He has noted with considerable satisfaction the report of the progress recently achieved in Bradford and Torquay where, he is most delighted to know, the friends, and particularly the newly enrolled young believers, are displaying great enthusiasm in their activities and have obtained many openings of presenting the Cause.

The news of the confirmation of Mr. Frank Hurst is specially gratifying and should prove of deep encouragement to all the friends who should indeed avail themselves of the opportunity of his presence in the community to give intensive publicity to the Faith.

Regarding the new prayer book which the N.S.A. is proposing to publish; the ma.n.u.script has already been returned to your address and the suggestions and recommendations of the Guardian on the matter duly conveyed to your a.s.sembly in a recent letter. He would advise that on the inside cover mention should be made only of the British Reviewing Committee's approval, as it is invariably done in the case of all official Baha'i publications.

In connection with the problem of Baha'i refugees, the Guardian feels this is a matter which concerns the N.S.A., who would be justified in taking any action they deem appropriate, provided the state of the National Fund permits it, and only after the particular case of each individual applicant has been thoroughly investigated, and his status as a believer duly ascertained.

With reference to your suggestion as to the advisability of your approaching Mr. Eden, and through him possibly Lord Halifax, with the view to obtaining from them statements for the "Baha'i World", Shoghi Effendi would approve of your seeing Mr. Eden only, and would leave it to the N.S.A.'s discretion whether you should approach him as his representative or as the representative of the British National a.s.sembly.

Concerning Mrs. Basil Hall's paper which she had prepared for last year's Summer School; the N.S.A.'s approval sanctioning its publication would be sufficient. You need not, therefore, send the ma.n.u.script to Haifa. But as to the pa.s.sages she had quoted from Myron Phelps' book, the Guardian does not advise that these quotations be included in the pamphlet, as Phelps'

book is full of inaccuracies that are misleading, and for this reason should be ignored by the believers.

The Guardian is inexpressibly delighted at the news of the completion of the N.S.A.'s incorporation certificate, and would appreciate your sending him three photostat reproductions of the original, one of which he will arrange to be placed in the Mansion at Bahji, and the second he will include in the next issue of "Baha'i World", and the third he will keep in his own files.

The Guardian wishes me in closing to urge your a.s.sembly to make a special effort during this year to concentrate on furthering the teaching work in Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Brighton, Sheffield and Bournemouth, in view of the teaching opportunities that these centres, as indicated in your letter, seem to offer at present. He welcomes the recommendation made to this effect at the last Annual Convention and would urge the newly elected N.S.A. to give this task its continued and fullest attention. However stupendous the plan now confronting your a.s.sembly may be, you should resolutely and relentlessly endeavour to carry it through, ever confident in the promised a.s.sistance and unfailing guidance of Baha'u'llah.

To you and your distinguished fellow-members I beg to convey the a.s.surances of his profound and loving appreciation of your loyal and affectionate greetings....

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-workers,

The extension, along sound lines and with such memorable swiftness and harmony, of the activities in which the believers of the United Kingdom are so earnestly and devotedly engaged, merits the highest praise and is a source of constant encouragement and satisfaction to me in my arduous work. They are taking a momentous step forward and are launching enterprises that will no doubt shed fresh l.u.s.tre on their beloved Faith and leave a distinct mark on Baha'i history. I will continue to pray on their behalf, and feel certain that if they persevere the Beloved will richly bless their concentrated and highly meritorious efforts.

Shoghi

Letter of 4 June 1939

4 June 1939

Dear Baha'i Brother,

I am charged by our beloved Guardian to inform you of the receipt of your letter of May 9th written on behalf of the British N.S.A. on the subject of the Baha'i att.i.tude towards war.

His instructions on this matter, conveyed in a letter addressed to your a.s.sembly during last November, were not intended for that particular occasion, but were meant for present conditions, and for any such emergency as may arise in the immediate future.

It is still his firm conviction that the believers, while expressing their readiness to unreservedly obey any directions that the authorities may issue concerning national service in time of war, should also, and while there is yet no outbreak of hostilities, appeal to the government for exemption from active military service in a combatant capacity, stressing the fact that in doing so they are not prompted by any selfish considerations but by the sole and supreme motive of upholding the Teachings of their Faith, which make it a moral obligation for them to desist from any act that would involve them in direct warfare with their fellow-humans of any other race or nation. The Baha'i Teachings, indeed, condemn, emphatically and unequivocally, any form of physical violence, and warfare in the battlefield is obviously a form, and perhaps the worst form which such violence can a.s.sume.

There are many other avenues through which the believers can a.s.sist in times of war by enlisting in services of a non-combatant nature-services that do not involve the direct shedding of blood-such as ambulance work, anti-air raid precaution service, office and administrative works, and it is for such types of national service that they should volunteer.

It is immaterial whether such activities would still expose them to dangers, either at home or in the front, since their desire is not to protect their lives, but to desist from any acts of wilful murder.

The friends should consider it their conscientious duty, as loyal members of the Faith, to apply for such exemption, even though there may be slight prospect of their obtaining the consent and approval of the authorities to their pet.i.tion. It is most essential that in times of such national excitement and emergency as those through which so many countries in the world are now pa.s.sing that the believers should not allow themselves to be carried away by the pa.s.sions agitating the ma.s.ses, and act in a manner that would make them deviate from the path of wisdom and moderation, and lead them to violate, however reluctantly and indirectly, the spirit as well as the letter of the Teachings.

The N.S.A., in this and similar issues that may arise in future, should act with firmness and vigilance and with such wisdom and tact as would make them an example worthy of the confidence and admiration of all the believers....

[From the Guardian:]

May the beloved bless and guide you in collaboration with your fellow members, to uphold the integrity, vindicate the truth, demonstrate the power, and promote the spirit of the exalted teachings of Baha'u'llah.

Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi

Letter of 26 June 1939

26 June 1939

Dear Baha'i Brother,

On behalf of our beloved Guardian I beg to acknowledge with grateful thanks the receipt of your a.s.sembly's communications of May 26th and June 1st, together with the accompanying copy of the minutes of your meeting held on May 20th-21st, and the latest issue of the "Baha'i Journal"

containing your Annual Report and the account of the Convention proceedings for this year.

He found the Annual Report published in the Journal so encouraging that he decided to have certain sections of it translated into Persian, and sent through the Haifa a.s.sembly's newsletter, to different Baha'i centres throughout the East.

In response to your request for one copy of each of the printed translations of Dr. Esslemont's book which the N.S.A. wishes to include as part of the Baha'i exhibit at the forthcoming "Sunday Times" Book Exhibition to be held in London during next Autumn, the Guardian has directed me to mail to your address thirty-one printed translations of that book, which are the only ones available at present. There are a few more translations in process of publication, among which, it will surely interest the friends to know, is the Icelandic version which, it is hoped, will be off the press sometime in the course of this Summer. The new revised edition of the German translation, which is being published under the auspices of the International Baha'i Bureau in Geneva, will be soon ready, and you can obtain a copy of that new edition by applying to Mrs.

Lynch.

The Guardian does not want these books to be returned to Haifa after the closing of the Exhibition, but wishes you to accept them as his gift to the National Baha'i Library at the Centre in London, and would suggest that you keep them for any future Baha'i exhibit which the N.S.A. may propose to hold in other parts of England.

He wishes me, in this connection, to express the hope that the exhibition you have arranged for this coming Autumn will prove highly successful and a most useful and effective medium of teaching the Cause. The idea of a Baha'i display, chiefly of publications, he feels, is indeed excellent, and he will specially pray therefore that the one you are now preparing will achieve such results as to encourage and stimulate the N.S.A. to arrange for similar exhibits in the future.

Regarding the originals of Tablets revealed in honour of the late Miss Rosenberg, there are only one or two of them, here in Haifa, and these were sent by Miss Rosenberg herself. The Guardian is keeping them for the present as they contain important references concerning the practice of monogamy in the Cause.

To you and your dear fellow-members I seize this opportunity of renewing the a.s.surances of his abiding and loving grat.i.tude, and of wishing you continued guidance for the further promotion of the Faith in England....

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-workers,

The determination of the English believers to extend rapidly and systematically the range of their teaching and administrative activities is a welcome evidence of the genuineness of their faith, the n.o.bility of their purpose and the depth of their devotion. That such a determination may yield the richest fruit is my special and constant prayer. What they have already achieved fortifies my hopes and confidence in them. They have laid a firm and una.s.sailable basis for their future work. Perseverance, co-ordination, fearlessness, vigour and wisdom will enable them to gradually rear on this basis the majestic structure of Baha'u'llah's administrative order, which in the fulness of time must yield, on the soil of their country a harvest unexampled in its abundance and glory. May His Spirit guide and sustain them to hasten that hour and consummate that task.

Your true brother, Shoghi

Letter of 2 July 1939

2 July 1939