Naqi al-Akram’s widow. Haroun could not find a decent way to ask questions about Naqi’s death, so he sent her a note of condolence instead. (S6)
The Household (S6)
- Rashida al-Sabri — Naqi’s wife.
- Sajid — their son.
- Rim — their daughter.
- They are not of the main al-Akram line. Hazadi clans run much larger than Imperial families, and Naqi’s branch is a distant one — which is why he never appears on the gazetteer’s house roster.
Naqi died at the family estate, having gone there for his sister’s funeral and taken ill. So this household was there when he died — and they buried a sister-in-law and a husband in the same season. See The Death of Naqi al-Akram.
Why She Matters
Every other route into Naqi’s death is institutional — the Eagle, Sadiq, the records. Rashida was in the house. She is the only person who can say what the illness looked like, how fast it took him, who attended him, and who else was there. And Haroun has already opened a correspondence with her on the one footing that doesn’t require a cover story: he was her husband’s squire.
Speculation
Approaching a grieving widow for intelligence is exactly the sort of thing that gets a Hazadi noble’s name repeated in the wrong rooms — and Naqi’s branch is House al-Akram, the house that leads the Conservatives and produced Haroun’s nemesis and ex-betrothed. The condolence note was correct. A second letter needs a better reason than the first.
Relationships
- Naqi al-Akram — her late husband
- Haroun al-Affan — her husband’s squire; sent condolences
- House al-Akram — her husband’s house, distant branch