| 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 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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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.
Though there is no evidence to suggest that Sharif Hussein bin Ali was inclined to Arab nationalism before 1916, the rise of Turkish nationalism under the Ottoman Empire, that culminated in the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, nevertheless displeased the Hashemites and resulted in a rift between them and the Ottoman revolutionaries.[3] During World War I, Hussein initially remained allied with the Ottomans but began secret negotiations with the British on the advice of his son, Abdullah, who had served in the Ottoman parliament up to 1914 and was convinced that it was necessary to separate from the increasingly nationalistic Ottoman administration.[3] Further, evidence that the Ottoman government was planning to depose him at the end of the war helped sour this alliance. The British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, appealed to him for assistance in the conflict on the side of the Triple Entente. Starting in 1915, as indicated by an exchange of letters with British High Commissioner Henry McMahon, Hussein seized the opportunity and demanded recognition of an Arab nation that included the Hejaz and other adjacent territories as well as approval for the proclamation of an Arab Caliphate of Islam.[3] McMahon accepted and assured him that his assistance would be rewarded by an Arab empire encompassing the entire span between Egypt and Persia, with the exception of imperial possessions and interests in Kuwait, Aden, and the Syrian coast. But after protracted negotiations, with neither side committing to clear terms, including on key matters such as the fate of Palestine,[3] Hussein became impatient and commenced with what would become known as The Great Arab Revolt against Ottoman control in 1916.
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.
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.[4] 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.
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.
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:
With his second wife Madiha he had:
With his third wife Adila Khanmun he had:
In the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, Alec Guinness portrayed Prince Faisal, Sharif Hussein's son.
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New creation Ottoman Empire |
King of Hejaz 1916-1924 |
Succeeded by Ali bin Hussein |