DID YOU KNOW?

 The first organized system of compulsory funds in the Baha'i world did not come from Baha'u'llah or Abdu'l Baha. It began after 1921, under Shoghi Effendi.

On March 12, 1923, Shoghi Effendi issued a call for the establishment of local and national Baha'i Funds, placing them under the exclusive control of Spiritual Assemblies. From that moment onward, financial contribution was framed not simply as generosity, but as a “sacred obligation” tied to loyalty, conscience, and service to the Cause.

This marked a sharp departure from the spirit of the Faith as lived and taught by Baha'u'llah and the Master. Baha'u'llah revealed Huququ’llah as a personal spiritual law, based on inner willingness and detachment, not institutional pressure. Abdu'l Baha repeatedly refused money for himself and redirected offerings to the poor. Neither created a centralized, assembly-controlled funding structure.

Yet here, for the first time, believers were instructed that all donations must flow through administrative bodies, and that assemblies would decide how funds were spent. Teaching, education, service, and even aid to the needy were now filtered through bureaucratic approval.

This 1923 shift laid the foundation for what many Baha'is experience today: constant appeals, multiple funds, subtle pressure, and the merging of faithfulness with financial compliance. What began as a “necessity” has evolved into a system where spirituality is often measured by contribution rather than conduct.

For Free Baha'is, this moment is crucial. It helps explain how the Faith gradually moved away from a religion of the heart toward an institution sustained by control of money—something neither Baha'u'llah nor Abdu'l Baha ever intended.