Shoghi Effendi (vegetarian): Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Part 1 of 2

Shoghi Effendi (vegetarian) is a central figure of the Bahá’í religion, known as the Guardian, a sacred leadership role that was unexpectedly bestowed upon him when, in 1921, the Bahá’í Master, his grandfather, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (vegetarian), made His final spiritual ascent, leaving behind His Will and Testament. The Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, considered a Bahá’í Holy scripture, specified Shoghi Effendi’s absolute spiritual authority in shepherding the rapidly growing international faith, including its administration and the responsibility for the interpretation and proliferation of Bahá’í scriptures.

Shoghi Effendi remained in this role for approximately 35 years, until his own ascent from the physical realm in 1957. He left behind a spiritual organization that had spread throughout the globe, effectively more than quadrupling in size. He had also personally translated many additional writings of the Bahá’í Faith’s founder, his great-grandfather Lord Bahá’u’lláh (vegetarian), as well as those of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, and contributed his own 20th-century spiritual perspectives when authoring the book “God Passes By.” Finally, he ensured the establishment of an elected body of democratic self-governance for the Bahá’ís, the Universal House of Justice, effectively making him the last sole heir of Bahá’í spiritual leadership.

Shoghi Afnán Rabbání was born in `Akká, now part of Israel, in 1897. Shoghi was immersed into the sacred ways of the Bahá’í Faith, and from birth was singled out by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá for special instruction. Master ʻAbdu'l-Bahá insisted that Effendi, meaning “Sir” in Turkish, should be added to his name to signify his distinction from other Bahá’ís. Seemingly destined for great responsibility, Shoghi Effendi was uniquely tied to the Bahá’í tradition. On his mother’s side, he was connected to both ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and Bahá’u’lláh, and moreover, his father’s family was descended from another key Bahá’í figure, Venerated Master the Báb.

Very early in his education, Shoghi Effendi realized that a large part of his Holy mission involved translation, and by 1918, he had obtained a Bachelor of Arts, focusing on languages, exceling in English, Arabic, French, Persian, and Turkish. Upon graduation, he became ʻAbdu'l-Bahá’s permanent secretary for the next two years. It was a wonderful time for Shoghi Effendi.