The Universal House of Justice is the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith. Bahá’ís believe that its decision-making is guided by God. The Universal House of Justice has the authority to legislate on all matters which Bahá’u’lláh himself did not explicitly address. It also has the authority to repeal or change its own legislation as conditions change, providing necessary flexibility for the future. The Universal House of Justice guides and oversees the development of the Bahá’í community.
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Bahá’u’lláh wrote that “the men of the House of Justice … are the trustees of God among His servants and the daysprings of authority in His countries”.
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Various people have tried to take power to themselves over the decades but their efforts have always come to nothing in the end.
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Through the guidance of the Universal House of Justice, which began to develop global ‘plans’ for the guidance and development of the Bahá'í international community, the Bahá'í population around the world grew significantly and the number of national spiritual assemblies more than doubled in ten years.
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The Guardian (Shoghi Effendi) passed away in 1957, and for the next 6 years the affairs of the worldwide Bahá’í community were administered by a group of individuals whom Shoghi Effendi had designated ‘Hands of the Cause of God’. This process had been described in `Abdu’l-Bahá’s will. They called an election in 1963 for the first Universal House of Justice, declaring that they themselves were ineligible for election.
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The election was held in the former home of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa. 288 members of 51 national spiritual assemblies were present at the election, and ballots were received from all 56 national spiritual assemblies in existence at the time.
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This ensures that no-one can appear to have a status above the other members. Their letters are not signed with anyone’s name, but just “The Universal House of Justice”.
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Very soon after the election of the first Universal House of Justice, the first Bahá’í World Congress was held in London and the new body met during this period.
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Elections are held every 5 years, and an individual member can be re-elected any number of times.
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Members of bodies appointed by the Universal House of Justice may work with individual Bahá’ís, to stimulate and encourage them in their work, but this is not a task generally undertaken by the Universal House of Justice as a body.
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The Universal House of Justice writes a message to the Bahá’ís of the world every year at the festival of Ridván (21 April), encouraging and guiding them in their activities. It may also send additional messages at any time, as necessary.
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