Editing Shoghi Effendi (section)

==Guardianship==
{{main|Baháʼí administration}}
The institution of the 'Guardian' provided a hereditary line of heads of the religion, in many respects similar to the [[Imamate in Shia doctrine|Shia Imamate]].{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=169–170}} Each Guardian was to be appointed by the previous from among the [[Aghsán|male descendants of Baháʼu'lláh]], preferably according to [[primogeniture]].{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=169–170}} The appointment was to be made during the Guardian's lifetime and clearly assented to by a group of [[Hands of the Cause]].{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=169–170}} The Guardian would be the head of the [[Universal House of Justice]], and had the authority to expel its members. He would also be responsible for the receipt of [[Huqúqu'lláh]], appoint new [[Hands of the Cause]], provide "authoritative and binding" interpretations of the Baháʼí writings, and excommunicate [[Covenant-breakers]].{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=169–170}}

The issue of successorship to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was in the minds of early Baháʼís, and although the [[Universal House of Justice]] was an institution mentioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the institution of the Guardianship was not clearly introduced until the ''[[Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]]'' was publicly read after his death.{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=356–357}}

In the will, Shoghi Effendi found that he had been designated as "the Sign of God, the chosen branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God". He also learned that he had been designated as this when he was still a small child. As Guardian, he was appointed as head of the religion, someone to whom the Baháʼís had to look for guidance.{{sfn|Smith|2000}}

===Shoghi Effendi on the Guardianship===
Building on the foundation that had been established in ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's will, Shoghi Effendi elaborated on the role of the Guardian in several works, including ''Baháʼí Administration'' and the ''World Order of Baháʼu'lláh''.{{sfn|Smith|2000}}{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=169–170}} In those works, he went to great lengths to emphasize that he himself and any future Guardian should never be viewed as equal to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, or regarded as a holy person. He asked Baháʼís not to celebrate his birthday or have his picture on display.{{sfn|Smith|2000}} In his correspondences, Shoghi Effendi signed his letters to Baháʼís as "brother" and "co-worker," to the extent that even when addressing youth, he referred to himself as "Your True Brother."{{sfn|Effendi|1991}}{{sfn|Effendi|1974}}

Shoghi Effendi wrote that the infallibility of his interpretations only extended to matters relating to the Baháʼí Faith and not subjects such as economics and science.{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=169–170}}

Shoghi Effendi explained that the successor appointed in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will was not just the Guardianship; it was the [[Baháʼí administration|Administrative Order]], headed by the [[Universal House of Justice]], which was first elected in 1963. With this understanding, Shoghi Effendi delineated a distinct separation of powers between the "twin pillars" of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.{{sfn|Effendi|1938|p=148}} The roles of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice are complementary, the former providing authoritative interpretation, and the latter providing flexibility and the authority to adjudicate on "questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book."{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=169–170}}{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=346–350}} Shoghi Effendi went into detail explaining that the institutions are interdependent and had their own specific spheres of jurisdiction.{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=346–350}} For example, the Guardian could define the sphere of legislative action and request that a particular decision be reconsidered, but could not dictate the constitution, override the decisions, or influence the election of the Universal House of Justice.{{sfn|Adamson|2009|pp=201–208}} In explaining the importance of the Guardianship, Shoghi Effendi wrote that without it the World Order of Baháʼu'lláh would be "mutilated."{{sfn|Johnson|2020|p=4}}{{sfn|MacEoin|1997}}{{sfn|Adamson|2007|p=206}} At the same time, Shoghi Effendi indicated that “Severed from the no less essential institution of the Universal House of Justice this same System of the Will of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá would be paralyzed in its action and would be powerless to fill in those gaps which the Author of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has deliberately left in the body of His legislative and administrative ordinances.”{{sfn|Vafai|2005|p=129}} In its legislation the Universal House of Justice turns to the mass of interpretation left by Shoghi Effendi.{{sfn|Smith|2000|pp=169–170}} The existence of the institution of the Guardianship for 36 years under Shoghi Effendi and its ongoing interpretative authority in the decision making of the Universal House of Justice demonstrates how the Administrative Order is neither "mutiliated" nor "paralyzed."{{sfn|Nakhjavani|2006|p=18}}. The House of Justice has explained that the [[Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá|Will and Testament of ''ʻ''Abdu'l-Bahá]] had allowed for different possibilities for the Faith’s future leadership after the first Guardian - a House of Justice with and without a Guardian.{{sfn|Nak̲h̳jávání|2006|p=37}} Thus, in not appointing another Guardian, Shoghi Effendi had been faithful to the inherent logic of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will, and as foreshadowed in verse 42 of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the line of Guardians ended with the Faith under the direction of the Universal House of Justice alone.{{sfn|Heller|2021|p=422}}