Munírih
Munírih K͟hánum (Persian: منیره خانم; 1847 – April 28, 1938[1]) was the wife of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, a prominent figure in the Baháʼí Faith.
[6] Her father was one of the first Bábís in her city of birth, and Munírih was brought up as a devout Bábí and later Baháʼí under her parents care.
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.
[6] As a young woman, Munírih was regarded as a suitable match for marriage to Baháʼí families throughout Persia.
[10] They arranged that she be wedded to the young Mírzá Kázim, the youngest brother of the King and Beloved of Martyrs.
[9][10][12] In 1871, Baháʼu'lláh and Navváb expressed interest in Munírih to become the wife of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá[13] and she made a wearisome journey to Acre, Palestine.
[14] The sister of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá says that her parents wanted Munírih because she was "very beautiful and amiable, and in every way a suitable match".
[23] Four children survived to adulthood – all daughters; Ḍíyáʼíyyih K͟hánum (mother of Shoghi Effendi) (d. 1951) Túbá K͟hánum (1880–1959) Rúḥá K͟hánum and Munavvar K͟hánum (d.
[2] The oldest of these was Ḍíyáʼíyyih, who married Mírzá Hádí Shírází (1864–1955) in 1895;[25] their children were Shoghi Effendi, Rúḥangíz, Mihrangíz, Ḥusayn, and Riyáḍ, who all took the surname Rabbání.
[28] 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 ʻAlí, with the grandchildren of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.
She grew a close attachment with the mother of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Navváb and with his sister Bahíyyih Khánum who became her closest friend.
[29] The death of her most beloved child, a son named Husayn, caused her unbearable grief and anguish.
The death of Baháʼu'lláh in 1892 caused hardship for ʻAbdu'l-Bahá again and his family, after all of his half-siblings turned against him and Munírih too.
In the Kitáb-i-ʻAhd ("Book of the Covenant"), Baháʼu'lláh named ʻAbdu'l-Bahá as his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith.
Munírih Khánum suffered emotionally and physically from this news, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá sent her outside of Akko for a break from the stress.
News of these threats affected the prosecution of the war in the Palestine theatre (see Battle of Megiddo (1918))[35] and with the defeat of Jamal Pasha ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was safe as was his family.
In one letter she wrote following the one-year anniversary of her husband's death she writes "should I wish to describe fully this miserable year...I would need seventy reams of paper, and seas of blood.
"[36] She did console herself with Bahíyyih Khánum and the other mourners, such as Lady Blomfield, who records the aftermath of his death in her famous book The Chosen Highway.
Munírih also firmly backed Shoghi Effendi after he was named head of the religion following the death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.
Lady Blomfield described Munírih K͟hánum as "a majestic woman, stately yet simple, with an innate dignity and strength of character".
In one letter she wrote, "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.
"[39] The death of Munírih's confidante and closest friend Bahíyyih Khánum in 1932 was a further blow,[40] after which she secluded herself from society.
