The separation that has set in between the institutions of
the Bahá'í Faith and the Islamic ecclesiastical organizations that oppose it --
a movement that has originated in Egypt and is now spreading steadily
throughout the Middle East, and will in time communicate its influence to the
West -- imposes upon every loyal upholder of the Cause the obligation of
refraining from any word or action that might prejudice the position which our
enemies have, in recent years and of their own accord, proclaimed and
established.... Our adversaries in the East have initiated the struggle. Our
future opponents in the West will, in their turn, arise and carry it a stage
further. Ours is the duty, in anticipation of this inevitable contest, to
uphold unequivocally and with undivided loyalty the integrity of our Faith and
demonstrate the distinguishing features of its divinely appointed institutions.
(In the hand writing of Shoghi Effendi, appended to a letter dated 15 June 1935
written on his behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States
and Canada, published in "Bahá'í News" 95, October 1935; The
Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Opposition)
