The Guardian was most pleased to receive your letter of the 3rd inst. and has noted with genuine satisfaction the farewell meeting which the N.S.A.
had arranged in Bombay in honour of our indefatigable and distinguished Baha'i sister Miss Martha L. Root on the occasion of her departure to Australia.
The feelings of unbounded joy with which you all unanimously acclaimed her arrival in India, and the expressions of deep and sorrowful regret which your National Assembly, as the official mouthpiece of all the Indian and Burmese believers, had been moved to convey to her upon her leaving your shores, all attest the high value which the friends have attached to her presence in India and the splendid work accomplished by her throughout her travels in that country. The cooperation she had received from the Assemblies and individual believers in every centre she visited, and the effective support, both moral and material, so lovingly and continually extended to her by the N.S.A. in the execution of her teaching plans, have contributed to a marked degree to the success of her journey, which has been indeed the longest and most fruitful she had ever undertaken to your shores.
The Guardian hopes that the friends, and in particular the N.S.A., will now endeavour to follow up, with united and unflinching resolve, the splendid work accomplished by Miss Root. The contacts she has formed with leading personalities in social, religious and university circles should be maintained, nay extended and consolidated, and every effort exerted in order to speed up the progress of the teaching work which has received such a fresh impetus as a result of her uninterrupted teaching activity during this past year.
January 25, 1939
He has noted with profound appreciation, in particular, the account of the farewell meeting held in Bombay under the auspices of your Assembly on the occasion of the departure of our indefatigable and highly esteemed Baha'i sister Miss Martha Root from India. No more eloquent tribute could have been paid indeed to the historic work accomplished by that well-beloved star-servant of the Cause during her stay of one full year in that country than that beautiful and impressive gathering which had met to bid her a last farewell upon her leaving your shores. The warmth and spontaneity of your love must have profoundly impressed and moved her heart, and given her an added proof of the unbounded gratitude which you all surely cherish for her, after these many months of ceaseless teaching activity she has spent in your midst.
The Guardian wishes to express his own gratitude to the members of the N.S.A., and through them to the community of believers throughout India and Burma for the hospitality and loving assistance you have all, individually as well as collectively, continually extended to Miss Root all through her stay in your country. The essential now, he feels, is for each one of the friends, and particularly the local Assemblies, to arise and with unflinching resolve to endeavour to follow up the splendid work she has so ably, yet so unostentatiously, accomplished. They would be certainly failing in their debt of gratitude to her, if they allow the seeds she has faithfully and painstakingly scattered, during these months of arduous and uninterrupted effort, to get lost. Rather, they should spare no effort to water these seeds and enable them to germinate and yield in due time most abundant and lasting results.
Baha'i Youth Groups
With regard to the formation of Baha'i Youth groups; the Guardian is most pleased to hear of the satisfactory progress that has been accomplished along this line, and of the extensive programme you have arranged for the development of Baha'i Youth activity during the coming year. He wishes me to express, in particular, his appreciation of the very warm response made by six of these youth groups to the suggestion of the National Youth Committee of America regarding the holding of special youth meetings on the 26th of this month. He wishes you to assure them of his special prayers for the success and confirmation of their efforts. Six-Year Plan-Spontaneous Undertaking of Indian Baha'i Community
In connection with the Six-Year Plan initiated by your N.S.A.; the Guardian cannot too highly praise this undertaking of unprecedented magnitude which your Assembly has resolved to carry out. One year has already elapsed since that Plan was first launched, and the task that will have to be accomplished during the remaining five years is indeed immense, and calls for no less than a combined and tremendous sacrificial effort by every Assembly, group and individual believer throughout India and Burma.
But the friends should derive much encouragement at the realization that their efforts for the prosecution of this Plan are, in a way, far more meritorious than those which their fellow-believers in the American Continent are exerting in connection with the Seven-Year Plan of the American N.S.A.
Whereas this latter Plan, which, it should be fairly admitted, is the largest enterprise of its kind ever undertaken by any national Baha'i Community, has been conceived and formulated directly by the Guardian himself, the Six-Year Plan adopted by the Indian N.S.A. has been initiated solely through the efforts of the elected body of the national representatives of the Indian and Burmese believers, and represents therefore the spontaneous undertaking of the Indian Baha'i Community itself, and as such is endowed with a special merit and a unique spiritual potency. When successfully completed this Plan will constitute indeed an abiding monument to the resourceful energy, the unstinted devotion, and the unquenchable enthusiasm of the Indian Baha'is, from which future generations of believers in that land will derive endless inspiration and guidance.
In view of the paramount importance of this Six-Year Plan, and the urgency which the friends must undoubtedly feel to carry it out as speedily and efficiently as possible during the remaining five years, the Guardian would advise that in the next Annual Convention meeting in Calcutta a special session be devoted to the findings and consideration by all the delegates and friends present of such policies and means as, in their considered opinion, can best insure the speedy and timely completion of this glorious undertaking.
The Guardian would particularly suggest that special stress be laid on the necessity for pioneer teaching in those states and provinces in India and Burma, where the Cause has not yet been introduced. Those believers who have the means, and also the capacity to teach, should be encouraged, no matter how great the sacrifice involved, to settle in these virgin territories, until such time as a local assembly has been constituted, or at least a group of firm believers formed that can safely and gradually evolve into a firmly-organized and properly-functioning local assembly.
This policy of teaching by settlement which the Guardian has also advised and indeed urged the American believers to adopt has been proved by experience to be the most effective way of establishing the Faith in new territories, and he therefore confidently recommends it for adoption by your Assembly.
Summer School
As regards the Indian Summer School; its importance, the Guardian feels, cannot be overstressed, specially in view of its recognized teaching value, both as a centre for the training of Baha'i teachers, and also for the attraction of outsiders to the Cause. The wide popularity which this newly-established yet highly-promising institution is already enjoying, truly attests its high value as one of those vital institutions of the Faith in this formative age of its development.
David
...The David referred to by the Bab, and stated by Him to have preceded Moses, is not the same one as King David, the father of King Solomon, who lived in the tenth century B.C. and who obviously lived many years, and indeed many centuries after Moses. Abdu'l-Baha has explained this in a Tablet.
Inheritance
...Although in the "Questions & Answers" Baha'u'llah has specifically stated that non-Baha'is have no right to inherit from their Baha'i parents or relatives, yet this restriction applies only to such cases when a Baha'i dies without leaving a will and when, therefore, his property will have to be divided in accordance with the rules set forth in the Aqdas.
Otherwise, a Baha'i is free to bequeath his property to any person, irrespective of religion, provided however he leaves a will, specifying his wishes. As you see therefore it is always possible for a Baha'i to provide for his non-Baha'i wife, children or relatives by leaving a will.
And it is only fair that he should do so.
Reason of Severe Laws Revealed by the Bab
...The severe laws and injunctions revealed by the Bab can be properly appreciated and understood only when interpreted in the light of His own statements regarding the nature, purpose and character of His own Dispensation. As these statements clearly reveal, the Babi Dispensation was essentially in the nature of a religious and indeed social revolution, and its duration had therefore to be short, but full of tragic events, of sweeping and drastic reforms. These drastic measures enforced by the Bab and His followers were taken with the view of undermining the very foundations of Shi'ah orthodoxy, and thus paving the way for the coming of Baha'u'llah. To assert the independence of the new Dispensation, and to prepare also the ground for the approaching Revelation of Baha'u'llah the Bab had therefore to reveal very severe laws, even though most of them, were never enforced. But the mere fact that He revealed them was in itself a proof of the independent character of His Dispensation and was sufficient to create such widespread agitation, and excite such opposition on the part of the clergy that led them to cause His eventual martyrdom.
The Bab specified that the "Bayan" is not completed and that "He Whom God would manifest" (Baha'u'llah) would complete it, though not in its actual form, but only spiritually in the form of another book. The "Iqan" is believed to be its continuation.
February 17, 1939
Teaching-The Paramount Task
He is truly delighted to know that your Annual Convention this year has been most united, and highly constructive and fruitful in its result, and trusts that the important discussions and deliberations held by the delegates at various Convention sessions will have the result of stimulating afresh the progressive and systematic penetration of the teaching work throughout India and Burma. The Six-Year Plan of teaching inaugurated last year by your N.S.A., the Guardian feels, however, cannot succeed unless it receives the continued moral and material support of the entire body of the Indian and Burmese believers, and it is this fact which the National Assembly should continually endeavour to impress upon them all, through frequent appeals destined at once to encourage and provide the facilities required for all those friends who are qualified to work in the field of pioneer teaching. The Guardian would particularly recommend that the N.S.A. should make every possible effort to open up to the Cause those Indian provinces which still remain deprived of the light of the Teachings, and to this end would suggest that those believers who can arrange to settle in those virgin territories should at once be urged to do so, and the necessary facilities extended to them by the N.S.A., with the view of enabling them to prolong their stay until some definite results are accomplished. Also, he feels, your Assembly should endeavour to strengthen the weak areas which have been recently opened, and also launch a wide and systematic campaign for the dissemination of Baha'i literature throughout the whole country. Membership in Baha'i Assembly or Committee is a Sacred Obligation
...The Guardian wishes you to make clear to all the believers that membership in a Baha'i Assembly or Committee is a sacred obligation which should be gladly and confidently accepted by every loyal and conscientious member of the Community, no matter how humble and inexperienced. Once elected to serve in a given Assembly a believer's duty is to do his utmost to attend all Assembly meetings, and cooperate with his fellow-members, unless, however, he is prevented from doing so by some major reason such as illness, and even then he should notify the Assembly to this effect.
The N.S.A.'s duty is to urge, and also facilitate attendance at assembly meetings. If a member has no valid reason to justify his repeated absence from assembly meetings, he should be advised, and even warned, and if such warning is deliberately ignored by him, the assembly will then have the right to suspend his rights as a voting member of the Community. Such administrative sanction would seem to be absolutely imperative and necessary, and while not tantamount to a complete expulsion of such a member from the Cause, deprives him of any real participation in its administrative functions and affairs, and is thus a most effective corrective measure which the Assembly can use against all such half-hearted and irresponsible individuals in the Community.
Meaning of Resurrection
...Concerning the meaning of "Resurrection": although this term is often used by Baha'u'llah in His Writings, as in the passage quoted in your letter, its meaning is figurative. The tomb mentioned is also allegorical, i.e. the tomb of unbelief. The Day of Resurrection, according to Baha'i interpretation, is the Judgement Day, the Day when unbelievers will be called upon to give account of their actions, and whether the world has prevented them from acknowledging the new Revelation.
The passage in Baha'u'llah's Tablet in which He explains the Sura of "The Sun" should not be interpreted literally. It does not mean that after the Day of Resurrection praise and peace will cease to be vouchsafed to the Prophet. Rather it means to the end of time, i.e. indefinitely and for all times.
The intercession spoken of by Baha'u'llah in one of His prayers which you have quoted is a purely spiritual act and is applicable to Muhammad as well as to all Prophets. This passage, however, refers more particularly to that kind of intercession in which Muslims believe, though the manner and circumstances of it, according to Baha'i belief, are mysterious and unknowable.
Teaching-The Paramount Task