The Custodians is terminology in the Bahá'í Faith, which refers to nine Hands of the Cause assigned specifically to work at the Bahá'í World Centre in attendance to the Guardian of the Faith. They are chosen by secret ballot, with all living Hands of the Cause voting.
The position of the Custodians was referred to in the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá:
- "The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the Guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the Guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor."
- (`Abdu'l-Bahá, The Will And Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 12)
The Hands of the Cause are also referred to by Shoghi Effendi as the "Chief Stewards of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Commonwealth". (Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World - 1950-1957, p. 127)
Read more about Custodians: Ministry 1957 - 1963, Turning To The Universal House of Justice
Famous quotes containing the word custodians:
“All ... forms of consensus about “great” books and “perennial” problems, once stabilized, tend to deteriorate eventually into something philistine. The real life of the mind is always at the frontiers of “what is already known.” Those great books don’t only need custodians and transmitters. To stay alive, they also need adversaries. The most interesting ideas are heresies.”
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