Mohammed Tahir al-Husayni
Mohammed Tahir Mustafa Tahir al-Husayni (alternatively transliterated al-Husseini) (Arabic: محمد طاهر مصطفى طاهر الحسيني, 1842–1908) was the Qadi (Chief Justice) of the Sharia courts of Jerusalem and was the father of Kamil al-Husayni and Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, both of whom held the equivalent position in the British mandated period of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.
Born in Jerusalem to the al-Husayni family, Tahir was appointed the Qadi of Jerusalem in the 1860s by officials in the Ottoman Empire. He sat on the committee of A'ayan scrutinising land sales to foreigners in the Jerusalem area, this in effect stopped land sales to Jews for a few years, beginning in 1897. When he died, his son Kamil became the Grand Mufti.
Mohammed Tahir al-Husayni was one of the earliest critics of Zionism and he tried several times to prevent Jewish immigrants from purchasing lands in the Mutasarrifiyya of Jerusalem.[1]
References
- Zvi Elpeleg (1992, David Harvey, trans.). The Grand Mufti : Haj Amin al-Hussaini, Founder of the Palestinian National Movement (London: Frank Cass) ISBN 0-7146-3432-8