UHJ is under the “care and protec­tion” of Baha'u'llah and the “shelter and unerring guidance” of the Bab

The following statements of Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha are considered to relate solely to the Universal House of Justice: (a) It is under the “care and protec­tion” of Baha'u'llah and the “shelter and unerring guidance” of the Bab (Will and Testament, p. 11) and is “the source of all good and freed from all error” (ibid., p. 14); (b) its membership is confined to men (Selections, p. 80); (c) it can legislate laws and ordinances to cover all areas that are not expressly laid down by Baha'u'llah and may also repeal laws enacted previously by the Universal House of Justice, but it cannot alter the laws laid down by Baha'u'llah (Kalamāt-e ferdowsīya, in Majmūʿa, p. 37, tr. Tablets, p. 68; see also Will and Testament, pp. 14, 19-20); (d) it administers all religious endowments (awqāf: al-Ketāb al-aqdas quoted in Gan­jīna-ye ḥodūd, p. 221); (e) it receives the religious tax of Ḥoqūq Allāh and has full authority over its expenditure (Ganjīna-ye ḥodūd, p. 107); (f) all matters of state (omūr-­e sīāsīya) should be referred to this body (Lawḥ-e bešārat in Majmūʿa, p. 14; tr. Tablets, p. 27); (g) it must promote the “lesser peace” (Lawḥ-e donyā in Majmūʿa, p. 50; tr. Tablets, p. 89); (h) whosoever disobeys or opposes the House of Justice has disobeyed and opposed God (Will and Testament, p. 11).

Contributed by Moojan Momen

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bayt-al-adl-house-of-justice-a-bahai-administrative-institution