Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca
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| Sayyid Hussein bin Ali | |
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| Reign | 1908–1924 |
| Predecessor | Ali Abdullah Pasha |
| Successor | Ali bin Hussein |
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| Reign | 10 June 1916 – 3 October 1924 (8 years, 115 days) |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Ali bin Hussein |
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| Reign | 1916–1918 |
| Successor | None |
| Issue | |
| King Ali of Hejaz King Abdullah I of Jordan Princess Fatima King Faisal I of Iraq and Syria Princess Saleha Princess Sarra Prince Zeid |
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| Full name | |
| Sayyid Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi | |
| Father | Sharif Ali bin Muhammad |
| Mother | Salha Bani-Shahar (Yemeni from the Bani-Shahar tribe) |
| Born | 1854 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 4 June 1931 Amman, Transjordan |
| Burial | Royal Mausoleum, Adhamiyah |
| Religion | Sunni Islam [2] |
Sayyid Hussein bin Ali, GCB (1854 – June 4, 1931) (حسین بن علی; Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī), was the Sharif of Mecca, and Emir of Mecca, from 1908 until 1917, when he proclaimed himself King of the Hejaz, which received international recognition. He initiated the Arab Revolt in 1916 against the increasingly nationalistic Ottoman Empire during the course of the First World War. In 1924, when the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished, he further proclaimed himself Caliph of all Muslims. He ruled Hejaz until 1924, when, defeated by Abdul Aziz al Saud, he abdicated the kingdom and other secular titles to his eldest son Ali.
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[edit] Early life
The eldest son of Sharif Ali ibn Muhammad by his wife, Salha Bani-Shahar, Hussein bin Ali was born in 1853 in Istanbul and was the last of the Hashemite rulers over the Hejaz to be appointed by the Ottoman Sultan. The Hashemites and their followers believe that they descended from Prophet Muhammad and therefore were highly respected amongst such Muslims.
[edit] Following World War I
In the aftermath of the war, the Arabs found themselves freed from centuries of Ottoman Sultanate rule, and under the mandate colonial rule of France and the United Kingdom. As these mandates ended, the sons of Hussein were made the kings of Transjordan (later Jordan), Syria and Iraq. However, the monarchy in Syria was short-lived, and consequently Hussein's son (Faisal) instead presided over the newly-established Iraq.
[edit] King of Hejaz
When Hussein declared himself King of the Hejaz, he also declared himself King of all Arabs (malik bilad-al-Arab). This only aggravated his conflict with Ibn Saud which was already present because of their differences in religious beliefs and with whom he had fought before WWI siding with fellow anti Wahhabi Ottomans in 1910. Two days after the Turkish Caliphate was abolished by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on March 3, 1924, Hussein declared himself Caliph at his son Abdullah's winter camp in Shunah, Transjordan.[3] The claim to the title had a mixed reception, and he was soon ousted and driven out of Arabia by the Saudis, a rival clan that had no interest in the Caliphate. Saud defeated Hussein in 1924. Hussein continued to use the title of Caliph when living in Transjordan.
[edit] Exile and abdication
Though the British had supported Hussein from the start of the Arab Revolt and the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence, they elected not to help Hussein repel the Saudi attack, which eventually took Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah. He was then forced to flee to Cyprus, where he donated funds for the construction of an Armenian church. He went to live in Amman, Transjordan, where his son Abdullah was king. After his abdication, his son Ali briefly assumed the throne, but then he too had to flee the encroachment of Ibn Saud and his Salafi forces. His son Faisal was briefly King of Syria and later King of Iraq.
Hussein died in Amman in 1931 and is buried in Jerusalem.
[edit] Marriage and children
Hussein, who had four wives, fathered four sons and three daughters with three of his wives. With his first wife Abdiya bin Abdullah he had:
- Prince Ali, last King of Hejaz married to Nafisa bint Abdullah.
- Prince Abdullah, Emir (later King) of Transjordan married to Musbah bint Nasser, Suzdil Hanum, and Nahda bint Uman.
- Princess Fatima - married a European Muslim Businessman from France.
- Prince Faisal, King of Iraq and Syria married to Huzaima bint Nasser.
With his second wife Madiha he had:
- Princess Saleha married to Abdullah bin Muhammed.
With his third wife Adila Khanmun he had:
- Princess Sara married Muhammad Atta Amin in July 1933 divorced September 1933.
- Prince Zeid, succeeded King Faisal II of Iraq on his assassination in 1958, but never ruled as Iraq became a republic. Married to Fahrelnissa Kabaağaç.
[edit] Film
In the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, Alec Guinness portrayed Prince Faisal, Sharif Hussein's son.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Marshall Cavendish Corporation. History of World War I, Volume 1. Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2002. Pp. 255
- ^ "IRAQ - Resurgence In The Shiite World - Part 8 - Jordan & The Hashemite Factors". APS Diplomat Redrawing the Islamic Map. 2005. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6511/is_2_49/ai_n29160130/.
- ^ Teitelbaum, 2001, p. 243.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Teitelbaum, Joshua (2001). The Rise and Fall of the Hashemite Kingdom of the Hijaz. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 1850654603
- A detailed genealogy
| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by New creation Ottoman Empire |
King of Hejaz 1916–1924 |
Succeeded by Ali bin Hussein |
