Munib Shahid

Munib Shahid
منيب شهيد
Born1908 (1908)
Acre, Palestine
Died1973 (aged 64–65)
Other namesM. Shahid, M J Shahid
OccupationHematologist

Munib Jalal Shahid (Arabic: منيب جلال شهيد, romanized: Munīb Jalāl Shahīd; 1908–1973) was Chairman of Hematology and Oncology at the Faculty of Medicine of the American University of Beirut.[1][2] He built the hematology laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine, a development that increased research output significantly.[3] The Dr. Munib Shahid Award is presented annually at the American University of Beirut to the fourth year medical student demonstrating the best performance in internal medicine and a mature character.[4]

Munib Shahid was born in 1908 in Acre, Palestine to a prominent Baháʼí lineage. He was the great-grandson of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder-prophet of the Baháʼí Faith. His parents were Jalal, an Afnán, and Rúḥá, a daughter of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. His paternal grandfather was Muhammad-Hasan, titled "King of the Martyrs".[citation needed] In 1944, he married Serene Husseini according to the Muslim rites. She was related to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem[which?], an enemy of the Baháʼís. Shoghi Effendi, Munib's cousin and then head of the Baháʼí Faith, labeled this marriage a "treacherous act" and excommunicated Munib Shahid as a Covenant-breaker.[5][6]

Munib and Serene Husseini continued to live in Beirut, where he pursued his academic career, and she promoted cottage industries among Palestinian refugees. Serene Shahid wrote a critically acclaimed autobiography of her childhood, titled, Jerusalem Memories.[7] The couple had three daughters, including Leila Shahid.[8]

  1. ^ Mishalany, H (April 1973). "Professor Munib Shahid, 1908-1973". Le Journal Médical Libanais. 26 (4): 323. PMID 4594344.
  2. ^ Nassar, Mounir (Munir) (May 7, 2014). Clinical Medicine Research History at the American University of Beirut, Faculty of Medicine 1920-1974. Bloomington, Indiana: WestBow Press. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-1-4908-3279-1.
  3. ^ "Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center: Deep Roots, Endless Skies". MainGate. V (4). Summer 2007. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  4. ^ "University Prizes and Awards". p. 5. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  5. ^ "Messages from the Guardian". Baháʼí News. No. 172. December 1944. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  6. ^ Baháʼí News, No. 172
  7. ^ Shahid, Serene (1999). Jerusalem Memories (PDF). Beirut, Lebanon: Naufal.
  8. ^ Al-Kulliyah. 1973.