The Hands of the Cause in the Baha'i Faith are a select group of appointed believers whose main function is to help propagate and protect the Baha'i Faith on the international level. This title is no longer given out. The work of the Hands is now carried out by the Continental Counselers and the Auxiliary Boards. As of February 2005 there are still two Hands living.
There were fifty Hands of the Cause in all, four named by Baha’u’llah, four named by Abdu’l-Baha and forty-two appointed by Shoghi Effendi (including ten posthumously). Twenty-seven Hands were alive when Shoghi Effendi passed away.
The most complete list of the Hands available is from "The Baha'i World: Vol XIV". The Universal House of Justice has confirmed that this list may not be complete, and that a study of the letters and archives may reveal others named to this station.
Note: Orthography of names below is not correct. Accented and underscored characters were not transcribed.
Appointed by Baha'u'llah
- Akhund, Haji. Haji Mulla `Ali-Akbar Shahmirzadi (1258/1842-1910), known as Haji Akhund [1]
- Haji Mirza Muhammad Taqui-i-abhari, known as Ibn-i-Abhar
- Mirza Huhammad-Hasan, entitle Adibu'l-Ulama, known as Adib
- Mirza 'Ali-Muhammad, known as Ibn-i-asdaq
Appointed by Abdu'l-Baha
- Aqa Muhammad-i-Qa'ini, known as Nabil-i-Akbar
- Mirza 'Ali-Muhammad-i-Varqa, the martyr
- Mulla Sadiq-i-Muqaddas, entitled Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq
- Shaykh Muhammad-Riday-i-Yasdi
Appointed by Shoghi Effendi
- Shu'a'u'lla 'Alai (Appointed 1952)
- Agnes Baldwin Alexander (appointed 1957)
- Haji 'Abu'l Hasan Ardakani, Amin-i-Ilahi , the trustee of the Huququ'llah (postumous)
- Dorothy Baker (Appointed 1951)
- Hasan M. Balyuzi (appointed 1957)
- Musa Banani (Appointed 1952)
- Amelia E. Collins (Appointed 1951)
- Clara Dunn (Appointed 1952)
- John Henry Hyde-Dunn (postumous)
- John E Esslemont (postumous)
- Abu'l-Qasim Faizi (appointed 1957)
- John Ferraby (appointed 1957)
- H Collis Featherstone (appointed 1957)
- ‘Ali Akbar Furutan (Appointed 1951)
- Ugo Giachery (Appointed 1951)
- Louis G. Gregory (postumous)
- Hermann Grossmann (Appointed 1951)
- Paul Haney (appointed 1954)
- Horace Holley (Appointed 1951)
- Leroy Ioas (Appointed 1951)
- Dhikru'llah Khadem (Appointed 1952)
- Jalal Khazeh (appointed 1953)
- Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khanum (Appointed 1952)
- Sutherland Maxwell (Appointed 1951)
- Rahmatu'llah Muhajir (appointed 1957)
- Adelbert Mühlschlegel (Appointed 1952)
- Enoch Olinga (appointed 1957)
- Keith Ramsom-Kehler (postumous)
- Charles Mason Remey (appointed 1951)
- John Robarts (appointed 1957)
- Martha Root (postumous)
- Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí (postumous)
- Abdu'l-Jalil Bey Sa'd (postumous)
- Taráz'u'lláh Samandari (Appointed 1951)
- Siegfried Schopflocher (Appointed 1952)
- William Sears (appointed 1957)
- Haji Mulla 'Ali Akbar Shahmirzadi
- Muhammed Taqiy-i-Isfahani (postumous)
- George Townshend (Appointed 1951)
- Corinne True (Appointed 1952)
- 'Ali-Muhammad Varqa (appointed 1955)
- 'Ali-Muhammad Varqd (Appointed 1951)
- Roy C. Wilhelm (postumous)
Others
Two people have been named as Hands by Joel Bray Marangella the Guardian of the Orthodox Bahai Faith
- Franklin Schlatter (1997)
- Marilyn Meyers (2004)
