hussein+ibn+ali

Sharif Hussein of Mecca- Ruler of the Hejaz (1855-1931)
 * Emir of Mecca and King of the Arabs, he was the last of the Hashemite Sharifians that ruled over Mecca, Medina and the Hijaz in unbroken succession from 1201 to 1925
 * He was the Arab figure with the "greatest prestige and potential power" (35) at that time
 * He was a Hashemite which means he was also a member of the Prophet Muhammad's house and guardian of the Holy Places of Islam.
 * "Although the Ottoman governor of the Hijaz was actually in charge of administrative affairs and military security in the region, the amir of Mecca was "responsible for maintaining the sanctity of the two holy cities and ensuring that the annual pilgrimage was properly and safely conducted" (154).
 * He "was appointed to the office of amir by Abdul Hamid II in 1908" (William Cleveland 155).
 * "He distrusted the CUP on both political and religious grounds" (155).
 * "Husayn devoted his first years in office to the construction of a network of tribal alliances that would enable him to obtain a greater degree of autonomy from Istanbul" (155).
 * After the start of the war he exchanged letters with Sir Henry McMahon, the British high commissioner in Egypt
 * The letters "discussed the conditions for an Arab uprising against the Turks in exchange for Arab independence." (35)
 * Hussein wanted to be established as the Arab Caliphate (Bickerton and Klausner).
 * Sharif Hussein is best known for launching the Great Arab Revolt in June 1916 against the Ottoman army.
 * During the First World War, the Turkish dominated Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers against the Allies, allowing the Emir of Mecca to seize the opportunity to liberate the Arab lands from Turkish rule by allying himself with the British and the French.
 * His objective in undertaking the Great Arab Revolt was to establish a single independent and unified Arab state stretching from Aleppo (Syria) to Aden (Yemen), based on the ancient traditions and culture of the Arab people, the upholding of Islamic ideals and the full protection and inclusion of ethnic religious minorities.
 * "The Arab Revolt began on June 10, 1916, when Husayn's tribal forces attacked the Ottoman garrison at Mecca. By September most of the principal towns of the Hijaz were in Husayn' s hands, with the exception of Medina, which was placed under siege for the duration of the war" (Cleveland 157).
 * Hussein "appealed primarily to the cause of Islamic solidarity" (157)
 * Because of his vulnerable position of leadership against the Ottoman sultan, he claimed his revolt was an act of Islam.
 * The religious angle from which he led allowed him to rally together discontented Muslims.
 * He was "careful no to attack the caliph" (158), he just stressed the importance of rising above the CUP
 * Since he ruled as a Muslim, he was not an Arab nationalist in terms of Arabism
 * He was an "ambitious dynast who used his Islamic status as a sharif and the amir of Mecca in an attempt to acquire a hereditary kingdom or principality for his family" (158).
 * Arab nationalists found in the Hashemite commanders of the Great Arab Revolt the leadership that could realize their aspirations, and thus coalesced around them.
 * Sharif Hussein’s sons Emir Ali, Emir Abdullah (King Hussein’s grandfather), Emir Faisal and Emir Zeid’s forces led the Arab Army against the Turks.
 * While the colonial powers of Britain and France denied the Arabs their promised single unified Arab state, it is nevertheless testimony to the effectiveness of the Great Arab Revolt that the Hashemite family secured Arab rule over all of modern Jordan, most of the Arabian peninsula and Syria.

Title: A History of the Modern Middle East Publisher: Westview Press Publication Date: 2000 Page No: 154

Bickerton, Ian J, and Carla L Klausner. //A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict//. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2005. Cleveland, William L. __A History of the Modern Middle East__. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000. __Questia__. 30 Oct. 2009 .