Shoghi Effendi on the Charity Fund T ranslations of Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Texts, vol. In a large manuscript in my possession that contains some of Shoghi Effendi's largely unpublished early letters to the local spiritual assembly of Tehran and then the Iran national assembly, there is a striking emphasis put on the establishment of local and national Charity Funds.
Emphasis is too weak a word.
He is quite insistent . The Charity Fund must be founded the moment a local assembly is. Administering this Fund and teaching the faith are mentioned as the two paramount duties of the local assembly. Until such funds are established, the 'most beloved of hopes' will never show her face. In societies like Iran that consist far more of families than of individuals, any philanthropic or development effort is often stymied by the tendency of anyone who oversees money to feel he has to share it with his cousins.