Who is the legitimate guardian of Universal House of Justice in bahai faith?

Question

I have been studying the history of bahai faith .I reached to this point that Shoughi , the second guardian of bahai faith , was abortive and then he had no son to continue the guardianship of this faith as a legitimate leader of the Universal House of Justice.

Answer 1

Let's see if I can provide some context for the issue without writing a book.

Prior to the death of Baha'u'llah, He indicated that His successor would be His eldest son, Abdu'l-Baha. His will made this explicit, naming Abdu'l-Baha as the Center of His Covenant with His followers. He also indicated that a second son, Muhammad Ali could succeed Abdu'l-Baha. However, nearly immediately, Muhammad Ali began a campaign against the authority of Abdu'l-Baha. By the late 1890's, he had gained the support of most of Baha'u'llah's family, and many rank and file Baha'is. Over the ensuing decade, his lack of spiritual and leadership qualifications alienated the vast majority of Baha'is. As a result, by the time of the death of Abdu'l-Baha in 1922, He was the undisputed leader of the Baha'i Faith, and had the good will of religious and political leaders around Haifa.

In His own will, Abdu'l-Baha discusses the attempts of Muhammad Ali to subvert the intentions of Baha'u'llah as expressed in His will, and to usurp control of the the Baha'i Faith. If Baha'u'llah was who He claimed to be, the Voice of God on earth, then to attack the provisions of His expressed will was the same as an attack on Baha'u'llah Himself. Therefore, he had put himself outside the pale, and could not be considered for leadership of the Faith founded by his father.

Therefore, Abdu'l-Baha named His grandson, Shoghi Effendi as His successor and Guardian of the Cause of God. He also specificed that Shoghi Effendi was enpowered to appoint a successor Guardian who would not only be noted for his spiritual endowments, but also must be a lineal descendant of Baha'u'llah.

Over the next 30 years, all the remaining descendants of Baha'u'llah either died, returned to Islam, or rejected the authority of Shoghi Effendi. As a result, when he died in 1957, there was no one eligible for him to appoint as his successor. Thus the line of living Guardians began and ended with Shoghi Effendi.

There were those who could not imagine the Baha'i Faith without a living Guardian. In particular, a prominent American Baha'i, Mason Remey, claimed that he had been effectively adopted by Abdu'l-Baha, and therefore was the only person who could be Guardian. He further claimed that Shoghi Effendi had effectively named him as such by appointing him to the presidency of the Baha'i International Council, a precursor to the Universal House of Justice. However this ignores the explicit statement of Abdu'l-Baha that future Guardians must be first born lineal descendants.

In spite of this, and the over-whelming lack of support from rank and file Baha'is, Remey persisted in his claim to be the second Guardian of the Faith. He and those who followed him were expelled from the Baha'i Faith. He apparently named several people as his own successors. On his death, each of them, and a few others claimed to be Remey's successor. They feuded among themselves and formed the basis for the various splinter groups you can find on the Internet today. As a result there are a number of people who currently claim to be the third or fourth Guardians of the Faith.

In evaluating the claim of these people, in addition to the argument above, it is useful to remember the admonition of Jesus concerning the faithful ones of these days - "By their fruit shall ye know them." What have these pretenders accomplished? Nothing. Their total numbers are probably limited to a couple 1000 among them. This is in contrast to the estimated 6-8,000,000 who are faithful to the Universal House of Justice in Haifa. There are fewer of them now, after 50 years, than there were in 1922 at the time of the death of Abdu'l-Baha.

Do a search of Google News and you'll find numerous articles about what individual Baha'is are doing for the betterment of humanity around the world. These articles are being written because they have attracted the attention of the non-Baha'i press. I doubt you'll find even one article concerning the services of a single member of one of these splinter groups to society. "By their fruit shall ye know them."

Answer 2

Shoghi Effendi was the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith.

He was abortive? What does that mean?

The Universal House of Justice is the legitimate governing body of the Baha'i Faith.

Answer 3

Shoghi Effendi was the one and only Guardian of the Baha'i Faith and no one else can claim that distinction because no else has meet the criteria for the position outlined by 'Abdu'l-Baha in His will and testament. Also, although Shoghi Effendi is not alive the body of writings he left behind is extensive and is still a guiding light for the Faith.