International Baháʼí Council


The International Baháʼí Council was an administrative institution of the Baháʼí Faith, first created in 1951 as a precursor to the Universal House of Justice, which replaced it in 1963.

Formation

The following is a January 9, 1951 telex to the Baháʼí world from Shoghi Effendi announcing the Council:
In this telex Shoghi Effendi described the significance of the International Baháʼí Council:
Shoghi Effendi also laid out several steps for the IBC's evolvement into the Universal House of Justice:

Evolvement

Appointed International Baháʼí Council

In March 1951 Shoghi Effendi began appointing the membership of the IBC . During its first year, eight men and women were appointed. In 1952 two members had left due to reasons of health. In 1955 Shoghi Effendi appointed a ninth member. The members of the International Baháʼí Council, the dates of their appointment, their offices on the IBC and those that were Hands of the Cause were:
Between 1951 and 1957 Shoghi Effendi directed the members and used the Council to create an image of an international body handling the Baháʼí affairs in Haifa. According to Shoghi Effendi, the Council's responsibilities were to:
In Messages to the Baháʼí World – 1950–1957, Shoghi Effendi described the Baháʼí Court as an “essential prelude to the institution of the Universal House of Justice” and that the IBC “must pave the way for the formation of the Baháʼí Court.” It was also cited as one of Shoghi Effendi's goals for the Ten Year Crusade. The Court was to come about as a result of its recognition as a legal non-Jewish religious court inside of the state of Israel and was to be composed of the appointed members from the IBC. Despite his efforts, the Court had not yet come into existence at the time of Shoghi Effendi's death in 1957.
From this point forward the IBC operated under the direction of the Custodial Hands of the Cause and they agreed to carry out Shoghi Effendi's plans for its evolvement. In November 1959 the Hands announced to the Baháʼí world that the International Baháʼí Council would go from an appointed body to an elected body. They said: "We wish to assure the believers that every effort will be made to establish a Baháʼí Court in the Holy Land prior to the date set for this election. We should however bear in mind that the Guardian himself clearly indicated this goal, due to the strong trend towards the secularization of Religious Courts in this part of the world, might not be achieved." The IBC's recognition as a Baháʼí court was never achieved.
In 1960 one of the members of the IBC, Charles Mason Remey, was declared as a Covenant-breaker by the Hands for claiming to be the Guardian and was expelled from the Baháʼí Faith.

Duly Elected Body

The election for the new International Baháʼí Council was scheduled for Ridvan 1961. The Hands of the Cause declared themselves ineligible for election and requested the Baháʼís not vote for them since the appointed institutions of the Baháʼí Faith were different in both nature and function from the elected administrative bodies. The election was concluded via postal ballot by all members of National Spiritual Assemblies and regional spiritual assemblies of 1960–61. All adult Baháʼís were eligible for election except for the Hands of the Cause. The members of the elected Council were:
The elected IBC was under the direction and supervision of the Hands of the Cause of God. The Council's responsibilities included two of the original functions assigned by Shoghi Effendi:
In addition to these, the Hands instructed the Council to assist them with:
The election of the Universal House of Justice took place on Ridvan 1963. With this election, the International Baháʼí Council ceased to exist although five male members of the Council were elected.