Shoghi Effendi Rabbānī

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Shoghi Effendi Rabbānī (1897–1957). Guardian (valī) of the Bahāʾī Faith (1922–57), eldest grandson of ʿAbduʾl-Bahā, and his appointed successor. He effectively established the modern system of Bahāʾī administration with its locally and nationally elected Spiritual Assemblies (1922–3) and its separate branch of advisory leaders (from 1951). He instituted a series of plans for the expansion of the religion which eventually extended to most parts of the world. By his own voluminous writings, he provided authoritative interpretations of Bahāʾī scripture and doctrine. His main writings include his early letters on Bahāʾī Administration (1922–9), his delineation of the goals and characteristics of the World Order of Bahāʾuʾllāh (1929–36), and his interpretative history of Bābī and Bahāʾī history, God Passes By (1944). He died unexpectedly, 4 Nov. 1957, in London. No new guardian was appointed, and only a tiny minority of Bahāʾīs followed the American claimant, Charles Mason Remey.