Shoghi Effendi spent his early childhood in Acre. In 1918 he earned a B.A. from the American University in Beirut, Lebanon. His education was directed to serving as secretary and translator to his grandfather, ʿAbd ol-Bahā, then leader of the Bahāʾī faith and son of the faith's founder, Bahāʾ Ullāh.

After further education at Balliol College, Oxford, he returned to Haifa (1921) to assume the office of the Guardian bestowed on him through the unexpected death of his grandfather, who had designated him as successor. His next year was spent in maintaining the organization and unifying its followers.

Within the context of his office as Guardian, Shoghi Effendi wrote extensively as chief interpreter of the Bahāʾī teachings from his home and headquarters of the religion in Haifa, Israel. As a result of his travels in Africa, the membership in the Bahāʾī faith increased considerably on that continent.

Although the office of Guardian had been envisioned as hereditary, it terminated with his death. The assistants appointed by Shoghi Effendi, known as the Hands of the Cause of God, currently serve under the Universal House of Justice, which is the supreme administrative body that assumed world leadership of the religion in 1963.