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. (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)
