Covenant-Breaking in Shoghi Effendi's Immediate Family
Through the influence of Bahiyyih Khanum, the eldest daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, everyone in the household initially rallied around Shoghi Effendi after the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá. For several years his brother Husayn and several cousins served him as secretaries. The only ones publicly opposing him were Mirza Muhammad-Ali and his followers, who were declared Covenant-breakers by `Abdu'l-Bahá. Contrary to `Abdu'l-Bahá's specific instruction, certain family members established illicit links with those declared Covenant-breakers by `Abdu'l-Bahá. After Bahiyyih Khanum died in 1932, Shoghi Effendi's eldest sister--Ruhangiz --married a son of Siyyid Ali Afnan. Bahá'u'lláh's son-in-law was, thus, a long-standing enemy of `Abdu'l-Bahá (who had declared him a Covenant-breaker.) Through Ruhangiz's efforts, Shoghi Effendi's other sister and his cousin Thurayya also married sons of Siyyid Ali Afnan. Presumably being faced with a choice between shunning their disobedient family members and being themselves disobedient to `Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, his cousins, aunts and uncles chose the latter.
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