Handling emergencies between Spiritual Assembly meetings - July 2, 1971

It is for your Assembly to define the limits placed upon an emergency committee appointed by you from among your own membership to take action when absolutely necessary on emergencies which arise between meetings. Decisions of the committee of course always are subject to the subsequent approval of the National Assembly as a whole and you should assure yourselves that you are adequately informed of all its actions taken in your name. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated July 2, 1971 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

The 95 days engagement period -June 29, 1971

In principle, according to the decisive text of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the period of ninety-five days should commence only when the two parties have been betrothed, and the marriage is agreed. Therefore, the breaking of an engagement, although possible, should rarely occur. The Assemblies should, when the reason for breaking, or extending the fixed period of engagement is valid, render every assistance to the parties involved to remove their difficulties and facilitate their observance of the ordinance of the Book. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated June 29, 1971, to a National Spiritual Assembly; Developing Distinctive Baha'i Communities, NSA of USA, edition)

National Teaching Committee - June 23, 1971

There is no objection to a National Spiritual Assembly member serving on the National Teaching Committee, but if National Spiritual Assembly members were to predominate on the Committee the purpose of appointing it, which is to relieve the National Assembly of the details of the work, would be defeated. It is also preferable for some qualified native believers to serve on the National Teaching Committee so that they may thus be trained to carry on with the work.

... the beloved Guardian paid great attention to the administrative arrangements for teaching and was highly in favour of one central National Teaching Committee with Regional Committees responsible to it. He once pointed out that absorption of petty details of Bahá'í administration by the personnel of the National Spiritual Assembly is manifestly injurious to efficiency and an expert discharge of Bahá'í duties. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 23 June, 1971 to the National Spiritual Assembly of Brazil; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Treasurer of an Assembly - June 8, 1971

...The Treasurer of a Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly, even if momentarily holding Bahá'í funds in his own name, must take the greatest care never to commingle his own funds with those of the Faith or to leave the funds of the Faith subject to the vagaries of fortune which can afflict any one of us. 

- The Universal House of justice  (From a letter dated 8 June 1971 to an individual believer, included in a compilation of extracts concerning "The Need for Care in Handling Bahá'í Funds; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Cremation – wisdom of burial - June 6, 1971

Be sure that your letter was not a bother to us. Indeed, we were happy to learn that in the autumn years of your physical life your soul was illumined by the eternal light shed upon the world by Bahá'u'lláh.

Concerning your question about cremation, the Bahá'í law stipulates burial. The instructions of Bahá'u'lláh contained in His most holy book make this law clear. Shoghi Effendi, in a letter written on his behalf to an individual believer in 1955, comments that 'Abdu'l-Bahá “...also explained that burial is natural and should be followed.” The explanation of the master referred to by Shoghi Effendi is found in Tablets revealed by Him. One of those was published in Star of The West, Volume XI, No. 19, page 317, from which we quote:

"Thy letter has been received. Due to scarcity of time, I write the answer briefly: The body of man, which has been formed gradually, must similarly be decomposed gradually. This is according to the real and natural order and divine law. If it had been better for it to be burned after death, in its very creation it would have been so planned that the body would automatically become ignited after death, be consumed and turned into ashes. But the divine order formulated by the heavenly ordinance is that after death, this body shall be transferred from one stage to another different from the preceding one, so that according to the relations which exist in the world, it may gradually combine and mix other elements, thus going through stages until it arrives in the vegetable kingdom, there turning into plants and flowers, developing into trees of the highest paradise, becoming perfumed and attaining the beauty of colour.“

"Cremation suppresses it speedily from attainment to these transformations, the elements becoming so quickly decomposed that transformation to these various stages is checked”. 

When we realize that our physical bodies actually are composed of elements place in the earth by their creator, and which through the orderly processed of His Law are continually being used in the formation of beings, we can better understand the necessity for our physical bodies to be subjected to the gradual process of decomposition. As at the time of death, the real and eternal self of man, his soul, abandons its physical garment to soar in the realms of God, we may compare the body to a vehicle which has been used for the journey through earthly life and no longer needed once the destination has been reached." 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 6 June 1971 to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Circumstances under which parental consent for Bahá'í marriage not required - May 30, 1971

In reply to your letter about the problem of... who is unable to locate the natural father of her fiancé we are glad to offer you the following guidance:

The only circumstances under which parental consent for Bahá'í marriage is not required are the following:

1. If the parent is dead.

2. If the parent has absented himself to the degree that he can be adjudged legally dead.

3. If the parent is certified insane and therefore legally incompetent to give consent

4. If the parent is a Covenant-breaker.

5. It is possible under Bahá'í Law, in certain very rare cases, to recognize that a state of disownment exists. All such cases should be referred to the Universal House of Justice.

The problem therefore is reduced to the simple question of whether your National Assembly accepts that Miss...'s father-in-law elect cannot be traced and therefore may, to your satisfaction, be presumed to be legally dead. You should of course ascertain that Miss ... has made every effort possible to trace her fiancé’s father. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 30 May 1971 to the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Exclusion of women on the Universal House of Justice - May 26, 1971

Your letter of March 26th, 1971 asking for clarification of the exclusion of women from membership in the Universal House of Justice in view of the great principle of the Cause of the equality of men and women has been received and we offer you the following comments.

In a Tablet to an early woman believer 'Abdu'l-Bahá stated:

'O maidservant of God! Know thou that in the sight of God, the conduct of women is the same as that of men... From the spiritual point of view ... there is no difference between women and men ....' He added, however: 'As to the House of Justice: according to the explicit text of the Law of God, its membership is exclusively reserved to men. There is Divine wisdom in this which will presently be made manifest even as the mid-day sun.'

The beloved Guardian in reply to the same query from a believer pointed out in a letter written on his behalf on July 15th 1947: 'People must just accept the fact that women are not eligible to the International House of Justice. As the Master says the wisdom of this will be known in the future, we can only accept, believing it is right, but not able to give an explanation calculated to silence an ardent feminist!’

We must have faith in the Supreme Manifestation of God and His Exemplar, Whose prescience is revealed in such provisions which will one day 'be made manifest even as the mid-day sun. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 26 May 1971 to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Repeated warnings to an offender - May 20, 1971

The principle that an Assembly should repeatedly warn an offender to correct his ways before it deprives him of his voting rights applies to such continuing offenses as flagrant immorality, or membership in non-Bahá'í religious organizations. It cannot be applied in the same way to a one-time offense such as a breach of Bahá'í marriage laws. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated May 20, 1971, to a National Spiritual Assembly. Developing Distinctive Baha'i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)