The responsibilities of the members of
the Spiritual Assemblies that are engaged in teaching the Cause of God in
Eastern lands have been clearly laid down in the holy Texts…
They further impress upon them the
virtue of trustworthiness and godliness, of purity of motive, kindliness of
heart, and detachment from the fetters of this material world … They urge them
to make detailed inquiry into the various branches of contemporary learning –
arts and sciences alike – and to concentrate their attention on serving the
general interests of the people; to deepen themselves by attentive study of the
sacred Texts, and to apply the divine guidance they contain to the
circumstances, needs and conditions of society today; to refrain from entering
into the tangled affairs of political parties and to have neither concern for,
nor involvement in, the controversies of politicians, the wranglings of
theologians or any of the ailing social theories current amongst men.
They finally exhort them to be
sincerely obedient, in both thought and word, to the laws duly enacted by the
government of the realm, and to distance themselves from the methods, concepts
and ill-grounded arguments of extreme traditionalists and modernists alike; to
accord honour, veneration and respect to – and endorse the efforts of –
exponents of the arts and sciences, and to esteem and revere those who are
possessed of extensive knowledge and scholarly erudition; to uphold the right
of freedom of conscience; and to abstain from criticizing and disparaging the
manners, customs and beliefs of other individuals, peoples and nations.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 30 January 1926 written by Shoghi
Effendi to the Spiritual Assemblies in Iran, translated from the Persian) The
Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Scholarship)
