Footnotes to Mitchell’s Mistake

1. In a letter to Ruth White, published in her booklet The Bahai Organisation, the enemy of the Bahai Religion: an Appendix to Abdul Baha and the Promised Age, self-published, January 1929. This reads:

January 19th, 1928
Dear Mrs. White,
I have your letter of yesterday and have also received the copies of your earlier letters …. I am glad to give you any information I can relating to the matter.
Answering more specifically the questions in your letter to me,
I have seen the Will.
It is written entirely in the Master’s own hand.
It is signed by him.
Its parts written before the Master’s seal was stolen from him in this country [the USA] are sealed.
It is not dated, but its approximate date appears from its contents.
It has not been probated in the sense that we use the word, as there is no provision under the laws of Islam for such a proceeding. It has, however, been officially recognized by the British Government, the Mandatory Power now governing Palestine.
I hope these answers will satisfy the doubts that have arisen in your mind concerning the authenticity of the Will. Please let me know. I have enjoyed exceptional opportunities to learn the facts about it and do not hesitate to assure you that the document of which copies have been circulated among the Bahais in this country is the Last Will and
Testament of Abdu’l Baha and embodies his final and most sacred message to his followers.”

And in a follow-up letter on January 22nd, 1928, in the same publication:

“Answering your specific questions,
All three sections are signed by Abdu’l Baha.
The first two sections are sealed.
All three sections are in the handwriting of Abdu’l Baha.
The Master’s seal was stolen during his visit to this country in 1912.
The first two sections were thus obviously written before 1912, the last section after his return to Palestine in 1913…”

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