Guardianship

"Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Baha'u'llah would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as Abdu'l-Baha has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God... Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric world be gravely endangered..."
Shoghi Effendi, First Guardian of the Baha'i Faith