Kitab-i-Aqdas

Impact

Although the Kitab-i-Aqdas is regarded as the core text of the Baha’i faith, it was not widely available in an authoritative version until 120 years after its completion. The text is not, at least in terms of its content, the most radical or imaginative of Baha’u’llah’s writings, but it is taken seriously by Baha’is as the primary and supremely authoritative document regarding religious polity and the administration of what was predicted to become a truly international religion. Baha’u’llah’s description of what would later be the Universal House of Justice inevitably became a point of contention that led to a minor schism in the Baha’i religion following the death of Shoghi Effendi (1897–1957), the final guardian of the mainstream Baha’i faith. The primary schism, which resulted in several different small Baha’i sects, arose over the transferal of leadership from Shoghi Effendi as guardian of the faith to the Universal House of Justice. Mason Remey (1874–1974) claimed to be appointed as the next guardian of the faith, a claim disputed by the mainstream faith, though he did have a considerable number of followers for a short time. Supporters of Remey see themselves as having allegiance to the institution of the guardian of the faith rather than to the elected House of Justice, and they took the name “Orthodox Baha’is.”

One unique aspect of the Kitab-i-Aqdas is its status as a religious text concerning laws and ecclesiastical polity issued as such by the founder of the religion itself. In light of this status, Baha’is have a high regard for the text over other writings of Baha’u’llah, and it contributes to the proofs of the authority of its author as a manifestation of God who established a religion for a new era of humanity.