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Munírih Khánum (1847-April 28, 1938[1]) (Template:Lang-fa‎‎) was the wife of `Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh. She was entitled the Holy Mother. Her memoirs, first published in 1924, are regarded as one of the first published memoirs by a Persian woman in the 20th century.

Childhood

Munírih Khánum was born Fáṭimih Nahrí, the eldest child of Muhammad `Alí Nahrí and his wife, Zahrá Khánum of Isfahán in Isfahan.[2] The Nahrí family were a prominent family in the city,[3] and her family were one of the first Bábís of Isfahan who later became eminent Bahá'ís of Persia.[4] The family were also highly connected with high-ranking nobles and clerics of the city.[5] Her mother herself from a notable Persian family of Babís.[2] Her maternal uncle was killed at the age of fourteen in Persia because of his religion. According to her later memoirs her father died shortly after her eleventh birthday and she was left to the care of both her maternal and paternal extended families.[2]

Young womanhood

As a young woman, Munírih was regarded as a suitable match for marriage to Bahá’í families throughout Persia.[6] Some time after the death of her father, her family thought she had come of age for a marriage.[7] They arranged that be wedded to the young Mírzá Kázim, the youngest brother of King and Beloved of Martyrs.[7] Protocol demanded that Munírih consent to the marriage, however she rejected.[2] Finally she consented to the marriage – due to familiar pressure – despite her misgivings.[6] The two were married in a extravagant wedding with the crescendo being the young couple lead to the bedchamber.[2] However, Mírzá Kázim fell ill during the wedding ceremony and avoided his bride.[8] The same night he left the house to the horror and consternation of his family.[2][7] After six months his maid found him dead in the home of the young couple.[6][8] Munírih was humiliated and overwhelmed.[8] Perplexed, she resolved she would never marry again, instead she spent her days in prayer and meditation.[6][7][8]

Marriage

`Abdu'l-Bahá as a young man

In 1871, Bahá'u'lláh and Navváb expressed interest in Munírih to become the wife of `Abdu'l-Bahá[9] and she made a wearisome journey to Acre, Israel.[10] The sister of `Abdu'l-Bahá says that her parents wanted Munírih because she was "very beautiful and amiable, and in every way a suitable match".[11] She arrived in mid 1872 and lived in the house of Mírzá Músá for the time of the betrothal. Munírih later reminisced how she fell instantly in love with the young `Abdu'l-Bahá when they met one another.[12] `Abdu'l-Bahá had showed little inclination of marriage until he met twenty-four year old Munírih Khánum in 1872.[13][14] After five months betrothal the couple were finally married.[15] Bahá'u'lláh entitled Fáṭimih with the name Munírih (Illumined). The couple married on March 8, 1873 in the house of `Abbúd.[16] Munírih Khánum was twenty-five, `Abdu'l-Bahá was twenty-eight. The marriage was a a happy union.[17][18]

They had nine children: Ḥusayn Effendi (d. 1305/1887, aged five)[19], Mihdí (died aged two-and-a-half), Ṭúbá (died sometime in Akka), Fu'ádíyyih (died in infancy), and Ruḥangíz (died in 1893, she was the favorite grandchild of Bahá'u'lláh)[20] "five of my children died in the poisonous climate of 'Akká" she later bitterly reflected.[21] Four children survived adulthood all daughters; Ḍiyá'iyyih Khánum (mother of Shoghi Effendi) (d. 1951) Túbá Khánum (1880-1959) Rúḥá Khánum and Munavvar Khánum (d. 1971).[22] Munírih Khánum was very emotionally attached to her children and devoted to her husband.[2]

The oldest of these was Ḍiyá'iyyih, who married Mírzá Hádí Shírází (1864-1955) in 1895;[23] their children were Shoghi Effendi, Rúḥangíz, Mihrangíz, Ḥusayn, and Riyáḍ, who all took the surname Rabbání.[24] The second daughter, Ṭúbá Khánum , married Mírzá Muḥsin Afnán (1863-1927); their children were Rúḥí (1899-1971), Thurayyá, Suhayl, and Fu'ád (d. 1943), who all took the surname Afnán.[25] The third daughter of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Rúḥá, married Mírzá Jalál, the son of Mírzá Muḥammad Ḥasan, King of Martyrs; their children were Maryam (d.1933), Muníb, Zahrá and Ḥasan, who all took the surname Shahíd.[26] The fourth daughter, Munavvar , married Mírzá Aḥmad, the son of Mírzá 'Abdu'r-Raḥím Yazdí; they were childless.[27]

In the 1930s and 1940s a series of marriages linked the sons of Sayyid 'Alí Afnán and Furúghíyyih, who had been supporters of Mírzá Muhammad `Alí, with the grandchildren of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As a result of these marriages, other inappropriate marriages, or refusal to break ties with Covenant-breakers in the family, Shoghi Effendi, in the 1940s and early 1950s, reluctantly declared all the surviving grandchildren of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (except himself) Covenant-breakers.[2]

Life after marriage

She was very close to Bahiyyih Khánum and other members of the household. Often remembered for her active efforts in promoting the equality of the sexes and the education of women. Highly educated she had an excellent command of Persian and literature spending much of her time composing poetry and writing letters.[28] Lady Blomfield described Munírih Khánum as "she is a majestic woman, stately yet simple, with an innate dignity and strength of character".[29] Putting much of her energy towards women she worked to try and open schools for women and encouraged the Bahá'ís of Persia to include women in Bahá'í activities. In one letter she writes: "thus the education of girls is a matter of the greatest importance and is regarded as an obligatory law. Hence, the friends of the All-Merciful, and the beloved maidservants of the Lord, in all cities and countries must take action and endeavor to their utmost capacity to carry out this weighty injunction." [30] She stood faithful to the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh over years of infighting within Bahá'u'lláh's family that led to the expelling of many of them.[31]

Death

Munírih Khánum died in April of 1938 aged 91 and is buried near the vicinity of the Shrine of the Báb in the Monument Gardens at the Bahá'í World Centre.[32]

Notes

  1. ^ Effendi, Shoghi (1981). The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha'i Community. London: Baha'i Publishing Trust. pp. pg. 119. ISBN 9780900125430. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Ma'ani 2008, p. 309-360
  3. ^ Esslemont 1980, p. 54
  4. ^ Taherzadeh 1977, p. 202
  5. ^ Bayluzi 2000, p. 342
  6. ^ a b c d Khanum 1987, p. 18
  7. ^ a b c d Bayluzi 2000, p. 343
  8. ^ a b c d Phelps 1912, pp. 85–94
  9. ^ Esslemont 1980, p. 55
  10. ^ Smith 2000, p. 255
  11. ^ Phelps 1912, p. 110
  12. ^ Gail 1987, p. 281
  13. ^ Esslemont 1980, p. 54
  14. ^ Phelps 1912, p. 111
  15. ^ Taherzadeh 1977, p. 206
  16. ^ Smith 2000, p. 255
  17. ^ Esslemont 1980, p. 54
  18. ^ Khan 1998, p. 157
  19. ^ Gail 1987, p. 260
  20. ^ Blomfield 1975, p. 203
  21. ^ Blomfield 1975, p. 90
  22. ^ Family tree of Mirza Buzurg Nuri
  23. ^ Ma'ani 2008, p. 360
  24. ^ Smith 2000, p. 262
  25. ^ Taherzadeh 2000, p. 358
  26. ^ Taherzadeh 2000, p. 358
  27. ^ Ma'ani 2008, p. 362
  28. ^ Ma'ani 2008, p. 356
  29. ^ Blomfield 1975, p. 72
  30. ^ Khanum 1987, p. 77
  31. ^ Khan 1998, p. 159
  32. ^ Taherzadeh, A. (1972). The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. pp. p. 357. ISBN 0853983445. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)

References

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