Regarding the question of Mr. and Mrs. ...: the
Administrative Order is not a governmental or civic body, it is to regulate and
guide the internal affairs of the Bahá’í community; consequently it works
according to its own procedure, best suited to its needs. A Bahá’í who does
more than visit temporarily a Community is considered for our administrative
purposes as a resident and can vote and serve accordingly. Students in foreign
lands, most obviously not residents, are registered as local Bahá’ís, and
therefore entitled to do their share of work and play their part in the local
Community life. This should be pointed out to ... who seem to be confusing our
internal administration with external practices which have no relation to it.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 30 October 1951 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the Canadian National
Spiritual; ‘Messages to Canada’)
