From the very outset of their custodianship of the Cause of
God the Hands realized that since they had no certainty of divine guidance such
as is incontrovertibly assured to the Guardian and to the Universal House of
Justice, their one safe course was to follow with undeviating firmness the
instructions and policies of Shoghi Effendi. The entire history of religion
shows no comparable record of such strict self-discipline, such absolute
loyalty and such complete self-abnegation by the leaders of a religion finding
themselves suddenly deprived of their divinely inspired guide. The debt of
gratitude which mankind for generations, nay, ages to come, owes to this
handful of grief-stricken, steadfast, heroic souls is beyond estimation.
- The
Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 9 March 1965; ‘Messages from
the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)