A collection of excerpts containing chronologically issued answers to some of the questions submitted by individual believers and institutions
The adoption of a local plan by the Local Assembly can exert a far-reaching influence on its work and on the life of the community.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter dated December 24, 1975, to a National Spiritual Assembly; Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
Upon attaining the age of fifteen a child becomes spiritually mature and is responsible for stating on his own behalf whether or not he wishes to remain a member of the Bahá'í community. If he does not then reaffirm his faith, he must be treated, administratively, as a non-Bahá'í.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated December 12, 1975; Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
Both children of Bahá'í parents, and children who, with their non-Baha'i parents' consent, declare their faith in Bahá'u'lláh before they are fifteen years old, are regarded as Bahá'ís and it is within a Spiritual Assembly's discretion to request such children to undertake work of which they are capable in the service of the Faith, such as service on suitable committees.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter dated December 1975, in Handbook for Local Spiritual Assemblies in Australia, 1980 version, p. 24; Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
It is quite possible that non-Bahá'í relatives of believers or others may be permitted to be buried in a Bahá'í cemetery.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated December 3, 1975, in ‘Lights of Guidance’; Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
As the law of burial, the Universal House of Justice suggest that you confine your statement to the following parts of this law which are now binding on the believers in the West:
(1) That must be buried, not cremated.
(2) That the prayer for the dead is to be recited for a believer of the age of 15 years or over. This, as you know, is the prayers which appears as number CLXVII in Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh.
(3) That the body not be transported more than one hour's journey from the place of death. The method of transport is not specified, but the journey must not take longer than one hour.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador, December 3, 1975; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 17 November 1975 and in reply to your specific question, "May our Bahá'í-owned retail mattress store remain open in the care of our non-Bahá'í employees on the Holy Days when we refrain from working?", has instructed us to say that in shops or stores owned by Bahá'ís, the fact that they may have non-Bahá'ís in employment does not exempt the Bahá'í owners from closing their businesses on Bahá'í Holy Days.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated November 30, 1975, to an individual believer; Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 13th November, 1975 asking about the policy to be followed for keeping correspondence and we have been asked to reply as follows:
While it is within the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly to decide which papers in its files are not of long-term value and to have them destroyed you should always bear in mind the historical value of your files. Letters which at this time seem to be of little value could prove to be of great interest to future historians of the development of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh in the... We suggest that when your secretary has sorted out from among your files the papers which she feels could be destroyed, you should appoint a committee composed of members of your National Assembly to go over them with their historical value in mind and submit a recommendation to your National Assembly. Obviously, those records or letters needed for legal purposes should be retained.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, November 26, 1975; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
In reply to your memorandum of 16 November 1975 requesting elucidation of a statement from the Guardian published on page 367 of Volume IV of "Amr va Khalq", " later instructions of the beloved Guardian clearly forbid attendance at the Nineteen Day Feast by those deprived of their voting rights and the quotation published in "Amr va Khalq" should therefore be replaced by another statement by the Guardian.
- The Universal House of Justice (24 November 1975, memorandum to the International Teaching Centre)
A Local Spiritual Assembly should be formed in any locality where nine or more adult believers reside. The fact that some of them are not well grounded in the Faith is not a reason for delaying formation of the Assembly, but is a matter to be dealt with separately."
- The Universal House of Justice (From a Letter written by the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly, November 23, 1975: Teaching and Commitment, a compilation from the World Centre; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
It is reassuring to know that you understand that the basic objective of teaching is to promote the Cause of God -- not merely to increase numbers for numbers' sake. However, care should be exercised in applying this principle lest we become so rigid as to exclude from our rolls those waiting souls who have been touched by the spirit of the Faith without being very knowledgeable about all the Teachings.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a Letter written by the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly, November 23, 1975: Teaching and Commitment, a compilation from the World Centre; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
…that such inscriptions as a nine-pointed star and extracts from the Writings would be suitable.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated November 13, 1975, in Australian Local Spiritual Assembly Handbook, p. 345, par. 12.6.4; Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
Concerning the burial of a Bahá'í youth, if the burial has not taken place and there is time to do so, the non-Bahá'í family should be advised that the deceased is a Bahá'í (assuming they do not already know it), and every effort should be made to induce the family to allow the body of their deceased Bahá'í relative to be buried according to the requirements of his Faith. However, if they remain adamant, or if the burial has already taken place, there is nothing which can be done except, perhaps, to say prayers for the deceased.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated November 13, 1975, in Australian Local Spiritual Assembly Handbook, p. 343, par. 12.5.5; Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
One of the friends of Persia wrote to Shoghi Effendi and asked this question: "Is it true that 'Abdu'l-Bahá has said that biochemical homeopathy, which is a form of food medicine, is in conformity with the Bahá'í medical concept?" The beloved Guardian's reply to this question in a letter dated 25th November, 1944 was as follows: "This statement is true, and the truth thereof will be revealed in the future." (The question and answer are translated from the Persian.)
The Universal House of Justice has also asked us to inform you that it does not wish the above statement to be circulated in isolation from the many and varied other texts in the Writings on medicine. However, you may share it with any of your friends who are interested.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 12 November 1975, written by the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Some Aspects of Heath, Healing, Nutrition and Related Matters)
Appointment of a believer as a Board member's assistant does not require the resignation of the appointee from a Spiritual Assembly or a committee. The House of Justice leans towards "assistants" not retiring from administrative work, although in consultation with their Spiritual Assembly it may be quite in order; it would be preferable, however, for the suggestion to come from the appointee and not from the Spiritual Assembly.
- The Universal House of Justice (Written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated November 10, 1975, to a National Spiritual Assembly; compilation: Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
There is no requirements in Bahá'í administration for a new believer to sign an enrollment card. It is for each National Spiritual Assembly to decide in the light of conditions in the territory under its jurisdiction how it wishes a declaration of faith to be made. For a number of reasons it has been found in most countries that an enrollment card is a simple and useful way of registering new believers, but this is not a universal requirement...
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany, October 28, 1975; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
The way in which Bahá'í children should be registered upon reaching the age of fifteen is within the discretion of each National Spiritual Assembly; there is no objection to using for this purpose the general enrollment card, if such a card is adopted, or a new and separate one specially for Bahá'í children attaining the age of fifteen. It is important, however, that whatever method of enrollment is used or card adopted, it is clear to such children that they had been Bahá'ís up to that time, and that on attaining the age of spiritual maturity they are reaffirming their belief in Bahá'u'lláh.
The form and wording of an enrollment or registration card is also within the discretion of a National Spiritual Assembly.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated October 28, 1975; compilation: Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
Basically, Bahá'í Law pertaining to marriage requires that the parties intending to marry must obtain consent of all living natural parents. Further, the responsibility of the parents in giving their consent is unrestricted and unconditioned, but in discharging this duty they are responsible for their decision to God. Should the parents in their letter of consent, as you indicated, not name a specific future spouse, the House of Justice states that it could be accepted and it would be permissible to perform a Bahá'í marriage ceremony on the basis of such a letter.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, October 9, 1975; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
It is the hope of the Universal House of Justice that the excellent plans adopted will be implemented, however difficult and challenging the tasks may be. These nationally directed projects, however, should be supported by locally sponsored teaching activities carried out by Local Spiritual Assemblies. By combining the two levels of Bahá'í activity, and by seeking the collaboration of the Counselors in providing the guidance and stimulation of the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants at the local level, excellent results will be obtained and your high aspirations in the expansion and consolidation work will be fully realized.
- The Universal House of Justice (Letter dated October 7, 1975, to a National Spiritual Assembly, in an unpublished compilation prepared by the International Teaching Center; compilation: Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities, NSA of USA, 1998 edition)
In reply to your letter of September 20, 1975 the Universal House of Justice instructs us to say that the friends should be advised to ignore these books and any similar ones which might be written by enemies of the Faith. There should certainly be no attempt made to destroy or remove such books from libraries. On the other hand there is no need at all for the friends to acquire them and, indeed, the best plan is to ignore them entirely.
- The Universal House of Justice (Referring to Books by Hermann Zimmer and William Miller. Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama, October 2, 1975; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)