Letter One:
Susan Maneck to the Universal House of Justice
From: Susan Maneck
To: Bahai World Centre
Subject: Letter to the House
Date sent: Wed, 30 Dec 1998
Dear Universal House of Justice,
I am writing this letter in regards to a matter which has been
troubling me and a number of other Baha'i scholars, both academics and
amateurs. A lot of confusion currently exist surrounding the policies
regarding access to sources at the World Centre and regarding the
publication of primary source material (memoirs, etc.) available
through other avenues.
In your letter to me dated Feb. 8, 1998 you stated in no uncertain
terms, "The purpose of scholarship in such fields should obviously be
the ascertainment of truth, and Baha'i scholars should, of course,
observe the highest standards of honesty, integrity and truthfulness.
A good portion of that letter was devoted to expounding on the
principle of independent investigation of truth as it relates to
Baha'i scholarship. I also note that a letter written on behalf of the
House of Justice dated July 18, 1979 stated "The fact that the Faith,
as the Guardian state, "enjoins upon its followers the primary duty of
an unfettered search after truth". Should reassure any aspiring Baha'i
historian that there can be no question of any requirement to distort
history in the so-called "interests" of the Faith."
I am having some difficulties reconciling the current policies
regarding access and publication of primary source documents with the
principles outlined above. I am aware of the Oct. 5, 1993 letter
written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice where it is stated
that at present scholars have been frequently denied access to sources
because of inadequate resources to accommodate them. Yet, the recent
correspondence between Dr. ... and you
regarding the memoirs of Vakilu'd Dawlih, his earlier correspondence
regarding the memoirs of Aqa Husayn Ashchi, and the actions taken by
the Universal House of Justice some years ago in regards to the
memoirs of Ustad Salmani suggests that there are a number of other
issues at stake here as well. I wonder if I could ask the House of
Justice to clarify these? The circumstances involving elimination of
certain passages of Salmani's memoirs is, of course well known by now
and I need not go over those. In the case of the Aschi's narrative,
Dr. ... possessed the manuscript in question and
sought from the World Centre permission to proceed with the work of
translation and publication. The Secretariat informed him however that
the World Centre itself would take steps towards the publication of
such writings in due time. In the meantime it felt that the select
portions of Aschi's memoirs available through Mr. Balyuzi's secondary
account should be sufficient. In regards to his request for the
memoirs of Vakilu'd-Dawlih, Dr. ... was initially
told that these memoirs were unavailable due to considerations of
family confidentiality. When he assured the World Centre that he had
the full support and cooperation of the principle family members
involved he was told that because of Vakil-ud-Dawlih's "high station
in the Faith" these memoirs would not be available until the House of
Justice was able to "familiarize itself with the nature and content"
of this material.
Some of the policies of the House of Justice, such as those involving
the protection of privacy, are quite understandable. Others, such as
the bearing of an author's "station" on accessibility of sources, I
find quite confusing. In fact, they are deeply troubling because they
leave the unfortunate impression that the World Centre wishes to
"sanitize" this material before it is made accessible to the public.
This has disturbing implications, as it calls into question our
dedication as a community to the principle of the independent
investigation of truth. My question is this: How can we with
integrity uphold the principle of the independent investigation of the
truth, both for Baha'is and non- Baha'is, if we exercise such tight
control over access to truth, even in cases where the resources of the
World Centre need not be utilized? I understand the risks that open
access to such materials can easily lead to misinformation,
misunderstandings and even misrepresentation of the reality of the
Cause, however, I would think such a danger will always be a necessary
corollary to any serious commitment to independent investigation. I
know also that the House of Justice considers issues of wisdom and
timeliness in deciding what materials to release, but here again I am
having trouble understanding the compatibility of those principles
with that of the unfettered search for truth. Or does wisdom override
this principle?
I hope that the Universal House of Justice will consider this question
in the spirit in which it is asked and offer us guidance which can
give scholars and academics the assurance they require regarding these
matters at a time when the community is coming under increasing
criticism and challenges to its integrity and when the the bulk of
materials available on the Baha'i Faith is being sought, not through
official Baha'i channels, but on the internet, often from those
antagonistic towards the Baha'i Institutions.
I would ask that you remember the Baha'i scholars and academics in
your prayers.
With loving Baha'i greetings,
Susan Maneck
Letter Two:
The Universal House of Justice to Susan Maneck
Date sent: Tue, 11 May 99
To: Susan Maneck
Subject: Access to materials at the Baha'i World Centre
From: Baha'i World Centre
4 May 1999
Transmitted by email: smaneck@stetson.edu
Dr. Susan Maneck
U.S.A.
Dear Baha'i Friend,
The Universal House of Justice has received your email of 30 December
1998 requesting clarification of the policies governing access to
sources at the Baha'i World Centre and regarding publication of
primary source material available to people through other avenues.
It welcomes the opportunity to provide further information on these
issues and has instructed us to send you the following reply.
Your questions have to be considered in the context of the range of
the work and responsibilities of the Universal House of Justice. One
of the most important functions of the Head of the Cause is to guide
the faithful to the tasks which need to be performed at each stage in
its progress. It must allocate the resources of the Faith and point
out those areas on which attention should be focused. Naturally,
each individual tends to see the importance of his or her special
interests or to focus on needs which are immediately apparent. All
these have their own validity, but it is the Universal House of
Justice which sees the whole picture and can guide the process. The
friends must have faith in this, otherwise their efforts will be
dissipated and even mutually conflicting.
The question of providing access to primary source materials is but
one of the matters which must occupy the attention and consume the
resources of the Cause. The written material of this Dispensation is
incomparably rich and varied, and we now stand only a century and a
half from the day on which the Bab announced His Mission to Mulla
Husayn in Shiraz.
Access to source documents relating to the Baha'i Faith which are
held in libraries in different parts of the world, or are in the hands
of individuals, is open to anyone who wishes to consult them,
dependent only on the permission of the institution or individual in
whose possession the documents are held. A major service which a
number of Baha'i scholars have rendered to the Faith is in tracing
such deposits and, where possible, obtaining archival quality
photocopies for the World Centre Archives and
Library.
As for source documents at the World Centre itself: these are held
by the Universal House of Justice in trust for the entire Baha'i world
and ultimately for the whole of humankind, of both present and future
generations. There is tremendous work to be accomplished in sorting,
identifying and cataloguing such documents so that they can be
effectively studied without either damaging them or losing vital
information by disturbing their inter- relationships. As far as the
urgent needs of the Faith are concerned, the
Dr. Susan Maneck 4 May 1999 Page 2
primary work in this respect must be devoted to the Sacred Texts
rather than to documents of historical interest, although the latter
are by no means ignored. It would be irresponsible for the House of
Justice, without itself first being fully informed of what is in the
Archives, to consider opening them to individual scholars for the
pursuit of purely personal interests.
Far from allowing anyone to tamper with the historical records, the
Universal House of Justice has the obligation to preserve the
integrity, not only of the Sacred Texts, but of all the historical
documents in its possession. It has, moreover, a responsibility for
arranging their publication for the scholarly world in a coherent
manner that will not give a misleading impression of events as a
result of the mere choice of the items and the order in which they are
made public. Undoubtedly, in due course, it will be possible to
publish editions of historical documents in facsimile accompanied, in
the case of each document, by a printed transcription, and
supplemented by necessary commentaries and notes. It is with such
thoughts in mind that the House of Justice feels that a certain
discipline is required of those individual believers who decide, for
their own purposes, to publish or translate documents which they have
at hand.
This entire process is made the more delicate by past experience with
those who, pursuing unacknowledged agendas of their own, have wished
to publish certain documents for ulterior motives, or with others who
have lacked the good sense and breadth of vision to act responsibly.
You refer to the principle of the unfettered search after truth. This
is certainly upheld, but it cannot imply that the institutions of the
Faith have a duty to make available to each enquirer every piece of
information he or she requests. We are faced here, not with wisdom
prevailing over the search for truth, but with a process of organic
growth, both in the world and, commensurate with it, at the World
Centre of the Faith.
The Universal House of Justice has asked us to assure you of its
prayers on your behalf in the Holy Shrines for the reinforcement of
your devoted endeavours to advance the interests of the Cause of
Baha'u'llah.
With loving Baha'i greetings,
Department of the Secretariat
cc: International Teaching Centre