1. Questions to the Universal House of Justice
... I have heard many reasons why the friends do not have copies of the
photograph of Bahá'u'lláh, such as the friends should avoid praying to it,
etc., but I have never heard an official reason. Have the Guardian or the
House of Justice pronounced on this?
One final thing I have heard we should not have: The book attacking
the Faith, by William Miller...
2. Response from the Universal House of Justice
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
BAHA'I WORLD CENTRE
Department of the Secretariat
Dear Bahá'í Friend,
[Personal greetings deleted...] The House of Justice requests us to
reply to your questions as follows.
It is apparent in letters written on behalf of the Guardian that he did
not approve the publication of any photograph of Bahá'u'lláh, and regarded
such publication to be offensive to religious feeling. Nor did he approve
that the photograph be exposed openly to the public, even in Bahá'í homes.
Only on special occasions did he permit the photograph to be displayed,
and then he urged that it be done with the utmost reverence. The House of
Justice, basing its comments on these instructions, has written a few
letters to friends who have inquired about this subject and related
matters, and for your guidance a compilation of extracts of these letters
is enclosed.
With loving Bahá'í greetings,
For Department the Secretariat
Encs.
Photographs of Bahá'u'lláh
"Concerning the question of display of the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh, the
Guardian's instructions were that this should be done only with the utmost
reverence, and then only on special occasions. While the Guardian did not
require believers to send such photographs to the Holy Land, he said that
it was better to do so. However, if you have made any photographic copies
or negatives of the photograph or the portrait, these should be forwarded
to the Holy Land in a safe way."
(From a letter dated 1 August 1967 written by the Universal House of
Justice to an individual believer)
"It would be good to advise the young Persian believer who has this
picture that, while we do not wish to suggest that he should remove the
photograph from his book, it would be inappropriate for him to show it to
others in a casual manner. As you know, the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh is
very precious and it should be handled with due reverence and respect."
(From a letter dated 7 February 1972 written by the Universal House of
Justice to an individual believer)
"The portraits of the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh should be shown infrequently and
on very special occasions, such as a special observance connected with an
event intimately associated with the Forerunner or Founder of our Faith.
"We do not think that the regular National Convention is such a special
occasion, and we feel that the privilege of displaying these very precious
portraits should not be abused."
(From a letter dated 12 July 1973 written by the Universal House of
Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama)
Excerpts from other letters
"The picture on page 83 of William Miller's book is a portrait of
Bahá'u'lláh, but different from the one displayed in the International
Archives."
Universal House of Justice to an individual 30 March 1980
Letter Two:
"We would like to point out to you that the National Spiritual Assembly
has no documentation verifying the authenticity of the illustrations in Mr.
William McElwee Miller's book, and as such they cannot be regarded as
being of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab."
Letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United
States to an individual 6 February 1981
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