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Marangella is just confusing things, not clarifying them.
Both Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha had appointed Their Successors during
Their lifetimes, by specifying them in Their Wills, but had not made
their identities known, perhaps to protect their lives. However, the
situation changed, and the Cause was on more secure footing, as was the
society in which they lived. On page 12 of the Will, Abdu'l-Baha directs
the Guardian to make known the identity of his successor Guardian, to
the nine Hands of the Cause. This is why the appointment had to be made
"during his lifetime"-- they had to vote on the successor.
Putting all of this together, and making certain extrapolations, here is
my personal understanding of how these provisions in the Master's Will
might have been carried out had the circumstances allowed. The Guardian
would select his successor, and, following the example of his Forbears,
name him in writing in his own Will and Testament. He would then present
his Will and Testament to the nine Hands of the Cause, who would
familiarize themselves with the appearance of the Will, and give their
assent to the Guardian's choice of successor. Perhaps they would all
have countersigned the Will, confirming it as the Guardian's Will and
Testament, and assenting to his choice of successor Guardian.
After the passing of the Guardian, these Hands would then present to the
Universal House of Justice and the Baha'i world, the Will and Testament
of the Guardian. They would confirm that it was the same document that
the Guardian had presented to them. The Universal House of Justice and
the nine Hands would then present the new Guardian to the Baha'i world.
These high officers who had been the closest persons to Shoghi Effendi,
would be the first to turn to his successor Guardian. All of the Baha'is
would be assured by this that the Guardian's will was authentic, and
that that successor was the one who had actually been chosen by Shoghi
Effendi. This is conjecture on my part, based on my understanding that
Abdu'l-Baha put these provisions in His Will for unmistakable clarity,
as safeguards to remove all doubt and place the successorship on an
absolutely clear foundation. As He wrote in a passage quoted above,
these provisions were so that differences would not arise.
The choice of successor had to be during “his own life-time” because the
Master's Will required the Guardian to provide the identity of his
successor to the nine Hands of the Cause for their assent. He would be
of course available to them to personally verify the authenticity of his
Will and his choice of successor; so that these Hands could, in turn,
provide ironclad assurance to the Baha'i world when the time came,
adding their personal testimony—these most trustworthy of all the
believers in the world—to the written provisions in the Guardian's Will
and Testament. During the lifetime of Shoghi Effendi he did not direct
the Hands of the Cause to elect nine of their members to be involved in
the important work of the Guardian; nor did he identify a successor
Guardian, or show a Will and Testament to anyone.
There is far more to the issue than that it be "during his lifetime."
The successor must be a male descendant of Baha'u'llah to fill what
Shoghi Effendi calls the "hereditary" office of the Guardianship; he
must meet the spiritual qualifications; his identity must be presented
to the Hands of the Cause and they must vote on it. And it seems
obvious, but it has to be somebody who will uphold the Cause of God --
and Remey didn't. Mason Remey stated, as quoted in a letter from the
House of Justice, that Shoghi Effendi made a great mistake by
misinterpreting the Master's Will, so everything Shoghi Effendi did has
to be undone, because he didn't establish the Baha'i Faith, and Remey
now will. Remey worked against Shoghi Effendi, and that proves quite
clearly that he was no Guardian.
(And how Marangella gets around the requirement that he, Marangella must
be a male descendant of Baha'u'llah is interesting to say the least.)
I have addressed this in several postings on my blog:
http://tinyurl.com/succession-1 "Observations on Shoghi Effendi not
having written a last will and testament"
http://tinyurl.com/succession-2 "Resting on No Foundations Whatever: The
Preposterous Claims of Charles Mason Remey"
There are others on this subject as well, listed along the right side of
the blog http://bahai-covenant.blogspot.com
Brent
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