Bahai 101

Lesson 3: The Evolution Of The Faith

The Administrative Order

The Bahai Faith does not consist of preachers, monks, rabbis, or any other type of one leader in religious authority. Today, the Bahai Faith functions under what is called the Administrative Order. This was first a seed planted by Baha'u'llah's words, and was further developed through Abd'u'lBaha, and especially, Shoghi Effendi.

The function of the administration of the Faith is two-fold. One is protecting the Faith and the other is proclamation of the Faith.

The administrative order is rooted in locality. Each town that has nine or more members which form a local spiritual assembly. If you are 21 years of age or over, you are eligible to be voted in on the assembly. Once a year, the Bahais will vote on who is to be on this functioning team. No member is allowed to proclaim himself as wanting to be voted for. Once a member is elected, they hold two main responsibilities. These are for propogation of the Faith and protection of the Faith. This has several duties, including corresponding with the other Bahai members, making sure that the members are in unity, and overlooking the Bahai functions and making sure they are carried out on a regular basis.

Overlooking the local spiritual assemblies are the regional councils and auxiliary board members (ABMs). The ABMs are two in number, and there is usually one in each divided region. One of the ABM's will help communities with protection, and the other with proclamation. Protection means consulting and visiting communities in order to make sure that the unity is stable in the community. The ABM for proclamation holds the responsibility of focusing on unity in each community, as well as events and how they are carried out. Their largest responsibility is to be a messenger from the national and international assemblies to the local assemblies. The regional council is a type of assembly which is unique to the United States. The states are divided into four regions: west, east, south, and north. The regional councils function is the same as the local spiritual assembly, only on a wider scale.

Beyond the regional framework, is the National Spiritual Assembly. This also consists of nine members, who are elected by the Bahais every five years. When there is a five year mark, representatives from every Bahai community are elected to go to the National Center of their country. When they are there, they will represent their community by voting in the nine members whom will be on the National Spiritual Assembly. The functions of the National Spiritual Assembly are to overlook the activities of the Bahais in the entire nation. It also includes direction for maintaining Bahai unity and responding to messages with action. Often times, the National Spiritual Assembly will have plans which the Bahai local communities will follow for action. These plans can be divided into Bahai months, or even years. For example, every nineteen days the national spiritual assembly will send a letter to all of the local spiritual assemblies. This correspondence is then read at feast, or one of the major Bahai functions. Sometimes these letters focus on Baha'u'llah's life and mission, other times they remind us of maintaining unity, and give practical ways on how to do so.

Between the national level and the universal level are the counselors. These counselors are also The counselors' function is to be a messenger between the national spiritual assemblies and the Universal House of Justice. (Will be discussed below). Each counselor is also elected every five years by the national spiritual assemblies. Their role is to overlook the activities of each nation and to be a correspondent between the national spiritual assembly and the Universal House of Justice. Each counselor is given one nation or part of a nation to correspond with. They then consult with the Bahai activities and offer guidance with Bahai activities and functions.

Lastly there is the Universal House of Justice. This body was first formed in 1963 by election of many of the Bahais around the world. It resulted in the establishments that Shoghi Effendi had set up for an administrative order in his writings. It consists of nine members elected by the national spiritual assemblies. Their responsibility is to deal with the growth and unity of the Bahai world, as well as to protect Baha'u'llah's writings and religion. They are the only body that can interpret Baha'u'llah's writings. Beyond this, they are a source of divine guidance for the Bahai community. The Universal House of Justice is elected every five years, and is located on Mount Carmel, in Haifa, Israel.

"This Administrative Order is fundamentally different from anything that any Prophet has previously established, inasmuch as Bahá'u'lláh Himself revealed its principles, established its institutions, appointed the person to interpret His Word, and conferred the necessary authority on the body [the Universal House of Justice] designed to supplement and apply His legislative ordinances." (Shoghi Effendi)

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