| The Guardianship as an institution was anticipated in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and formally stated in. ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament, in which He named Shoghi Effendi as ‘the guardian of the Cause of God' and ‘the expounder of the words of God',13 whose word was to be infallible and binding on all. His successor was to be appointed by him from his descendants. The Guardian was to act as sole interpreter of the Bahá'í Scriptures, while power to legislate on questions not mentioned in the Sacred Texts was given exclusively to the Universal House of Justice as whose permanent head he was to serve. When Shoghi Effendi died in 1957, however, the Universal House of Justice had not yet been elected. |
| The successor to the Guardian was to be his first-born son or another male member of the family of Bahá'u'lláh. However, Shoghi Effendi died without children and was unable to appoint a successor from among the members of Bahá'u'lláh's family as they had all broken the Covenant. In 1963 the Universal House of Justice sent the following cable to the Bahá'Is of the world: ‘After prayerful and careful study of the Holy Texts bearing upon the question of the appointment of the successor to Shoghi Effendi as Guardian of the Cause of God, and after prolonged consultation . . . the Universal House of Justice finds that there is no way to appoint or legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi.'14 |
| Thus in one sense the institution of the Guardianship came to an end, because there could be no new Guardians; but in another sense the institution continues on, as the voluminous writings of Shoghi Effendi set a lasting standard of guidance for the future. |
| [BD 92] |
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| See Shoghi Effendi. |
| [BG 16] |
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| See also: |
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