Circumstances of Husayn’s Appointment

In light of Husayn Ibn ‘Ali’s role in the Arab Revolt, there has been a great deal of retrospective speculation about the conditions of his fateful appointment to the emirate of Mecca. While some (including Shakib Arslan) have argued that his appointment was a decision of the Unionists,^[10] others have maintained that Abdülhamid appointed Sharif Husayn in the face of opposition from the CUP.^[11] It has also been argued that Husayn was the candidate favored by the British, who exerted influence through the Anglophile grand vizier, Kamil Pasha,^[12] as well as the British ambassador.^[13]

One candidate for the post of grand sharif was Sharif ‘Ali Haydar, who represented the Zayd family, rivals to the ‘Awn, of which Husayn was a scion.^[14] Between 1908 and 1916 Haydar stayed in İstanbul and maintained friendly relations with the Unionist leaders as a member of the Chamber of Notables (Senate). It was in the interest of the Unionist-dominated governments to cultivate good relations with Husayn’s rival in order to intimidate the latter into cooperation. Yet even though ‘Ali Haydar was upheld in this alternate role and was in fact appointed grand sharif after the revolt, it is doubtful that he was a strong candidate, or the main rival to Sharif Husayn at the time of the latter’s appointment.

When Sharif ‘Ali (also of the ‘Awn family) was deposed in October 1908 his uncle ‘Abd al-Ilah emerged as his legitimate successor. ‘Abd al-Ilah had been bypassed in 1905 in favor of ‘Ali, a younger sharif of the ‘Awn family.^[15] He now seemed to be the obvious choice to replace his nephew, who had not been accorded formal investiture as grand sharif until three months before the revolution,^[16] had now fallen in disfavor for his equivocal endorsement of the constitutional order, and defied the new governor Kazım Pasha’s^[17] request to come from Taif to Mecca.^[18] On 26 October Tanin reported the designation of ‘Abd al-Ilah in İstanbul as grand sharif. However, he died before he set out for Mecca.

The death of the emir-designate vexed the government, because it feared the escalation of lawlessness among the Beduin tribes, who were all too ready to take advantage of the political turmoil and to oppose the recent completion of the Damascus-Medina stretch of the Hijaz Railway. The Grand Vizierate informed Governor Kazım Pasha that the İstanbul papers had incorrectly announced the appointment of ‘Abd al-Ilah Pasha as grand sharif and urged him to deny the rumor, should it spread in the Hijaz, because the Pasha had died unexpectedly.^[19]

The circumstances made it imperative to appoint a grand sharif in the shortest time possible. Even though the official decree of Husayn’s appointment bears the date of 24 November 1908, an earlier decree dated 12 November refers to him as emir of Mecca.^[20] The decree of appointment lacks the usual enclosures that accompany this kind of document. Thus it falls in the category of re’sen (direct) irades, which were decrees issued by the sultan without the benefit of recommendations and counsel of the cabinet. It can be deduced, therefore, that the appointment of Sharif Husayn did not come as a result of competition among various parties (the CUP, the sultan, the grand vizier, the British Embassy, Sharif Haydar) but rather represented the reasonable and not especially controversial choice by Sultan Abdülhamid. Indeed, it is questionable whether the CUP was a real factor at this early stage in determining the decisions pertaining to prominent provincial posts. Furthermore, because of the political ferment in the Hijaz, the sultan had to act under pressure, which did not allow for drawn-out negotiations. Husayn, having received an Ottoman training and served in the Council of State, possessed the necessary qualifications for the grand sharifate, for which he had made a first bid in 1905. In 1908 he was, after the death of ‘Abd al-Ilah, the rightful heir of the ‘Awns. Finally, given the precarious political conditions, the government was not inclined to undertake as drastic an action as the transfer of the grand sharifate to the Zayd family, the competitor for the honor.