Those matters of major importance which constitute the
foundation of the Law of God are explicitly recorded in the Text, but
subsidiary laws are left to the House of Justice. The wisdom of this is that
the times never remain the same, for change is a necessary quality and an
essential attribute of this world, and of time and place. Therefore the House
of Justice will take action accordingly.
Let it not be imagined that the House of Justice will take any decision
according to its own concepts and opinions. God forbid! The Supreme House of
Justice will take decisions and establish laws through the inspiration and
confirmation of the Holy Spirit, because it is in the safekeeping and under the
shelter and protection of the Ancient Beauty, and obedience to its decisions is
a bounden and essential duty and an absolute obligation, and there is no escape
for anyone. ('Abdu'l-Bahá,
"Rahíq-i-Makhtúm" vol. I, pp. 302-4; "Bahá'í News, September 1966;
cited in "Wellspring of Guidance"; The Compilation of Compilations,
vol. I, Establishment of the Universal House of Justice)
