March 8. On this date in 1873, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá married Munírih Khánum. By the time of Shoghi Effendi's death in 1957, all of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Munírih Khánum's children and grandchildren had been declared Covenant-Breakers.

 

March 8. On this date in 1873, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá married Munírih Khánum. By the time of Shoghi Effendi's death in 1957, all of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Munírih Khánum's children and grandchildren had been declared Covenant-Breakers.

The marriage of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Munírih Khánum resulted in nine children, five of whom died in childhood: Husayn Effendi (d. 1305/1887, aged two), Mihdí (died aged two-and-a-half), Túbá, Fu'ádiyyih, and Ruhangíz.

Four daughters grew to adulthood. The oldest of these was Diyá'iyyih (d. 1951), who married Mírzá Hádí Shírází (d. 1955) in 1313/1895; their children were Shoghi Effendi, Rúhangíz, Mihrangíz, Husayn, and Riyád, who all took the surname Rabbání.

The second daughter, Túbá Khánum (1880-1959), married Mírzá Muhsin Afnán (1863-1927); their children were Rúhí (1899-1971), Thurayyá, Suhayl, and Fu'ád (d. 1943), who all took the surname Afnán.

The third daughter of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Rúhá, married Mírzá Jalál, the son of Mírzá Muhammad Hasan, the King of Martyrs (see "Nahrí family"); their children were Maryam, Muníb, Zahrá and Hasan, who all took the surname Shahíd.

The fourth daughter, Munavvar (d. 1971), married Mírzá Ahmad, the son of Mírzá 'Abdu'r-Rahím Yazdí; they were childless.

In the 1930s and 1940s a series of marriages linked the sons of Sayyid 'Alí Afnán and Furúghiyyih Khánum, who had been supporters of Mírzá Muhammad 'Alí, with the grandchildren of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. As a result of these marriages, other inappropriate marriages (for example, that of Shoghi Effendi's brother Husayn to a "lowborn Christain girl", or refusal to break ties with Covenant-breakers in the family, Shoghi Effendi, in the 1940s and early 1950s, declared all the surviving grandchildren of 'Abdu'l-Bahá (except himself) Covenant-breakers.