May 24

Our present generation, mainly due to the corruptions that have been identified with organizations, seem to stand against any institution. Religion as an institution is denounced. Government as an institution is denounced. Even marriage as an institution is denounced. We Bahá’ís should not be blinded by such prevalent notions. If such were the case, all the divine Manifestations would not have invariably appointed someone to succeed Them. Undoubtedly corruptions did enter those institutions, but these corruptions were not due to the very nature of the institutions but to the lack of proper directions as to their powers and nature of their perpetuation. What Bahá’u’lláh has done is not to eliminate all institutions in the Cause but to provide the necessary safeguards that would eliminate corruptions that caused the fall of previous institutions. What those safeguards are is most interesting to study and find out and also most essential to know. In a letter that Shoghi Effendi has lately written to the friends in the West, he mentions the distinguishing features of the institution that Bahá’u’lláh has left as well as some of the safeguards that He has provided against its corruption. One of the main things we boast about is that whereas previous religions were more or less static in their nature the Bahá’í teachings are progressive. Now, how could this progressive tendency be maintained without an institution such as the Guardianship and the House of Justice, who are empowered to legislate upon matters not referred to by Bahá’u’lláh? 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 25 March 1930 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation: “The Universal House of Justice”, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 2021)