Shoghi Effendi excommunicated his brother for marrying a lowborn Christian girl

Husayn Ali was Shoghi Effendi's brother. In April 1945, Shoghi Effendi sent the following cable to the Bahá'í world: "My faithless brother Husayn, after long period of dishonourable conduct, has abandoned the Master's home to consort with his sister and other Covenant-breakers" (''Bahá'í News'', No. 174, p.2).

In March 1950, Shoghi Effendi would send a further cable: "Faithless brother Hussein, already abased through dishonorable conduct over period (of) years followed by association with Covenant-breakers (in) Holy Land and efforts (to) undermine Guardian's position, recently further demeaned himself through marriage under obscure circumstances with lowborn Christian girl (in) Europe" (''Bahá'í News'', No. 229, p.1).

Shoghi Effendi would later defend the use of the term "lowborn Christian girl" as follows: "Regarding his cable concerning Hussein: he has been very surprised to note that the terms 'low-born Christian girl ' and 'disgraceful alliance' should arouse any question; it seems to him that the friends should realize it is not befitting for the Guardian's own brother, the grandchild of the Master, an [[Afnán]] and [[Aghsán]] mentioned in the Will and Testament of the Master, and of whom so much was expected because of his relation to the family of the Prophet, to marry an unknown girl, according to goodness knows what rite, who is not a believer at all" (''Bahá'í News'', No. 236, p.4).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant-breaker#Husayn_Ali

https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File%3ABaha%27i_News_174.pdf&page=2

https://bahai.works/Baha%27i_News/Issue_229

https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File%3ABaha%27i_News_236.pdf&page=4