The Ottoman Empire: a Historical Encyclopedia [2 Volumes]
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Committee of Union and Progress (CUP).
See Young Turks
Hussein ibn Ali (1854–1931) and the
Hussein-McMahon Correspondence
(1915–1916)
Hussein ibn Ali (Husayn ibn Ali) was the ruler of Mecca from 1908 to 1916. From 1916 to 1924 he proclaimed himself the king of Arabs. The Allies, however, recognized him as the king of Hijaz (Hejaz) in western Arabia (present-day Saudi Arabia). He was born in 1854 in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and became emir of Mecca in 1908.
In 1915–1916 Sharif Hussein exchanged a series of letters with Sir Henry McMahon, the British high commissioner in Egypt, concerning the status of the Arab-populated provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the Near East after the end of World War I. In these letters Sharif Hussein proposed the creation of an independent Arab state after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and end of World War I. In response, Sir Henry McMahon promised British support for an independent Arab state in return for an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
As their military efforts against the Ottoman Empire at Gallipoli and in southern Mesopotamia (present-day southern Iraq) came to an unexpected halt, the British resorted to the more devious strategy of fomenting internal rebellions among the sultan’s Arab subjects. Two Arab leaders stood out. The first, Abdulaziz ibn Saud, was the master of Najd in Central Arabia. As the principal protector of the Wahhabi religious movement, Ibn Saud could rally the tribes of central and eastern Arabia against the Ottoman state. However, the British cast their lot with Hussein ibn Ali, also known as Sharif Hussein of Mecca. Claiming direct lineage from the prophet Muhammad, Sharif Hussein and his sons dreamed of carving out a united Arab state from the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. In negotiations between Sharif Hussein and the British high commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, the British government made a critical promise to Sharif Hussein that if he organized and led a revolt against the Ottoman Empire, after the end of the war the British government would allow the creation of an independent Arab kingdom under his leadership. This promise was the principal reason for Sharif Hussein’s revolt against the Ottoman government.
Hussein ibn Ali (center) arrives in Amman, Transjordan, on January 18, 1924, where he is greeted by British representative Gen. Peake Pasha. (Library of Congress)
The Arab revolt, which began in June 1916, contributed to the victory of the British over the Ottoman Empire during World War I. By October 1, 1918, an Arab army led by one of Sharif Hussein’s sons, Faisal, had reached Damascus, the capital of the greater Syria province. A month later the Ottoman government agreed to an armistice. Unbeknownst to the Arabs, however, the British, together with their closest ally in Europe, namely the French government, had already negotiated the partition of the Arab Middle East into British and French spheres of influence. In negotiations between Sir Mark Sykes, who represented the British government, and his French counterpart, Charles François Georges Picot, the two European powers had carved the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire into British- and French-administered areas. In November 1917 the British had also promised the Zionist movement their support for the establishment of a “Jewish national home” in Palestine.
Hussein ibn Ali rejected the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 to register his opposition to the establishment of French rule over Greater Syria and British rule over Palestine and Iraq. He viewed the British secret agreement with the French as represented by the Sykes-Picot Agreement as a betrayal of the Arabs by the British government. In March 1924 Sharif Hussein proclaimed himself the caliph or the religious and spiritual leader of the Islamic world. In September 1924, with support from the British, Ibn Saud, the ruler of Najd and the political leader of the radical Wahhabi movement, attacked Taif near Mecca. Realizing that he could not defend his territory against the ambitious and ruthless Wahhabi leader, Sharif Hussein abdicated on October 5, 1924. The British transported the humiliated ruler of Hijaz to the island of Cyprus, where Sharif Hussein lived until 1930, when he moved to Amman, Jordan, which was ruled by his son, Abdullah. Sharif Hussein died in Amman in 1931. Sharif Hussein had four sons: Ali, Abdullah, Faisal, and Zayd. Ali became the king of Hijaz after his father’s abdication, but he was forced to abdicate in 1925. Abdullah became the king of Jordan, and Faisal became the king of Iraq.
See also: Battles and Treaties: Balfour Declaration; Sykes-Picot Agreement; Primary Documents: Document 15; Document 16; Document 17
Further Reading
Hurewitz, J. C. Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: A Documentary Record. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1956.
Quataert, Donald. The Ottoman Empire, 1700–1922. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Rogan, Eugene. The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East. New York: Basic Books, 2015.
Zürcher, Erik-Jan. Turkey: A Modern History. London: I. B. Tauris, 2004.
ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Muhammad (1703–1792)
An 18th-century Muslim Arab scholar and theologian who founded a revivalist religious movement called Wahhabism. The followers of ibn Abd-al-Wahhab are referred to as the Wahhabis, but the Wahhabis call themselves al-Muwahiddun (“the Unitarians”), or those who practice strict monotheism.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was born in 1703 in al-Uyaynah, in the region of Najd in central Arabia (present-day Saudi Arabia). His father was a religious scholar. Under the guidance of his father, ibn Abd al-Wahhab studied the basic tenets of Islam. The young Muhammad traveled to Mecca and Medina, as well as Basra and Baghdad, where he studied Islamic law (sharia), theology, and Sufism. Through his studies ibn Abd al-Wahhab came under the influence of the 14th-century Muslim thinker ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), and the interpretations of the Hanbali school, the strictest and most rigid of the four Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence.
Based on his studies and travels, ibn Abd al-Wahhab concluded that the conditions of the Islamic world in the 18th century resembled those of Arabia before the introduction of Islam by the prophet Muhammad. For devout Muslims, the pre-Islamic era in Arabia, known as jahilliya (period of ignorance), was characterized by greed, corruption, depravity, idolatry, and the absence of monotheism or belief in one god. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab believed that the political weakness and the moral decline of the Muslim community in the 18th century were the direct result of Muslims deviating from the true teachings of Islam and adopting beliefs and practices that were fundamentally opposed to the principles espoused in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The Ottoman dynasty, which had usurped political power in the name of Sunni Islam, had itself strayed from the original teachings of Islam and therefore could not be legitimately called an Islamic state. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab stressed the importance of following the example set by Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and focused on eliminating practices that were not grounded in the Quran. For example, he denounced the practice of veneration of saints and their tombs, which was popular among some Sufi orders and Shia Muslims. For ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the worship of saints was a form of idolatry because it was based on the heretical notion that earthly authorities could replicate the power of God. For ibn Abd al-Wahhab, pleas for intercession from earthly beings constituted the very essence of heresy and paganism.
According to ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the remedy for the political and moral decline of Muslim societies was a return to the original teachings of Islam as preached and practiced by Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. The Muslim community had to be re-established on the basis of the Quran and the Islamic law. Muslims had to stop blindly obeying the various interpretations of Islam that were introduced centuries after the death of the prophet. Instead of practicing taqlid, or adherence to a particular tradition or school of Islamic jurisprudence, Muslims were obligated to practice ijtihad, or a rational interpretation of Islamic law based on their own personal study of the Quran.
In 1744 Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab formed an alliance with Muhammad ibn al-Saud (died 1765), the tribal chief of al-Dir’iya (ad-Diriyyah) in the Najd region of Ara
bia. Ibn Saud committed himself to practicing, protecting, and spreading ibn Abd-al-Wahhab’s vision of Islam. In return, ibn Abd al-Wahhab committed himself to supplying religious legitimization for the ambitious Saudi chief. The marriage of convenience between the ruthless tribal chief and the puritanical religious reformer allowed Ibn Saud to exploit the zeal and passion of the Wahhabi movement to impose his rule over the Arabian Peninsula, while ibn Abd al-Wahhab used the growing military power of the Saudi state as a means of propagating his unique interpretation of Islam and increasing the number of his followers. The territorial expansion of the Saudi state facilitated the spread of Wahhabism and the growing influence of ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s teachings throughout Arabia. The alliance between ibn Saud and ibn Abd al-Wahhab culminated in the sacking of Taif in western Arabia and the occupation of the holy city of Mecca, in 1803. This first Wahhabi campaign of conquest was short-lived, and it was quickly suppressed by the Ottomans through the direct military intervention of Mehmed Ali (Muhammad Ali), the Ottoman governor of Egypt, and his son, Ibrahim Pasha. Wahhabism, however, refused to disappear. With direct support from the British, who maintained a close friendship with the head of the Saudi family, Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud (1880–1953), the Saudi dynasty returned in triumph after the end of World War I, defeating Sharif Hussein of Mecca, unifying much of the Arabian Peninsula, and establishing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Wahhabism did not, however, find many adherents outside Saudi Arabia until the Saudi monarchy began to invest a massive amount of petrol dollars in the construction of mosques, religious schools, and various Islamic centers abroad, which propagated Wahhabism as the only true form of Islam.
From its very inception, Wahhabism rejected many traditional beliefs and practices of Sunni Islam and declared permissible warfare against all Muslims who disputed the validity of the teachings of its founder, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Due to its insistence on reinstating the practices associated with the Islam of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, many in the Islamic world and in the West view the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab as archaic, obsolete, and unduly strict, rigid, and intolerant. These critics blame the teachings of Wahhabism and its strict interpretation of Islam for the harsh and oppressive rules and laws introduced by the Saudi state regarding women, non-Muslims, and non-Wahhabi Muslims, particularly the Shia Muslims, who are routinely discriminated against as a minority in Saudi Arabia today.
See also: Beys and Pashas: Mehmed Ali; Rebels: Ibn Saud Family; Sultans: Mahmud II
Further Reading
Algar, Hamid. Wahhabism: A Critical Essay. Oneonta, NY: Islamic Publications International, 2002.
Allen, Charles. God’s Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad. London: Da Capo Press, 2007.
Commins, David. Mission and the Kingdom: Wahhabi Power Behind the Saudi Throne. London: I. B. Tauris, 2016.
Hughes, Thomas Patrick. Dictionary of Islam. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1999.
Quataert, Donald. The Ottoman Empire, 1700–1922. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Ibn Saud Family
A Muslim Arab tribal family that rose to power in the 18th century and after several attempts established the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. The Ibn Saud family traces its origins to Muhammad ibn Saud, a charismatic tribal chief from al-Dir’iya (ad-Diriyyah) in the Najd region of Arabia. Because of its distance from the major urban centers and trade routes of Arabia, al-Dir’iya had not been occupied by the Ottomans. In 1744 Muhammad ibn Saud formed an alliance with Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a religious reformer and scholar who preached a puritanical form of Islam, which would later come to be called Wahhabism. Ibn Saud committed himself to protecting and promoting ibn Abd-al-Wahhab’s stern, austere, harsh, and strict interpretation of Islam. In return, ibn Abd al-Wahhab committed himself to providing religious legitimization for the ambitious Saudi chief. The marriage of convenience between the Saudi tribal chief and the puritanical religious reformer allowed Ibn Saud to exploit the zeal and passion of the Wahhabi movement to impose his rule over Arabia, while ibn Abd al-Wahhab used the growing military power of the Saudi state as a means of propagating his unique interpretation of Islam and increasing the number of his followers. The territorial expansion of the Saudi state facilitated the spread of Wahhabism and the growing influence of ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s teachings throughout Arabia.
After Muhammad ibn Saud died in 1765, he was succeeded by his son, Abd al-Aziz I (r. 1765–1803). The alliance between Abd al-Aziz I and the Wahhabi movement culminated in the invasion of Hijaz in western Arabia. In the last year of Abd al-Aziz’s reign and the first year of the rule of his successor, Saud I (r. 1803–1814), the Saudis captured Mecca and Medina, the first and the second holiest cities in Islam. This first Wahhabi campaign of conquest was short-lived, and it was quickly suppressed by the Ottomans. Recognizing the growing threat posed by the Saudis, the Ottoman sultan, Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839), called on the governor of Egypt, Mehmed Ali (Muhammad Ali), to suppress the Saudis and their Wahhabi allies. Mehmed Ali dispatched a large army led by his son, Ibrahim Pasha, which crushed the Saudis and restored Ottoman rule over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina by 1818.
Though defeated, the Saud family refused to disappear. By 1824 a grandson of Muhammad ibn Saud, Turki (r. 1823–1834), had captured Riyadh, converting the small town into his capital. After the death of Turki’s son Faisal (r. 1834–1838, 1843–1865), a civil war erupted between the contenders to the Saudi throne. After the passage of nearly four decades, Saudi power was restored under the leadership of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud (1880–1953), a direct descendant of the 18th-century Ibn Saud, who returned from exile in Kuwait to defeat the pro-Ottoman Al Rashid family and re-establish his rule over Riyadh in 1902. Ibn Saud enjoyed a close friendship with the British, who supplied him with funds and guns. During World War I, however, the British chose not Ibn Saud, but another leader, Sharif Hussein of Mecca, to lead an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Their military, political, and financial support for Sharif Hussein did not prevent the British from maintaining their close alliance with Ibn Saud. After the end of World War I the Al Saud family returned in triumph, defeating Sharif Hussein of Mecca, unifying Arabia, and creating a Saudi monarchy with direct support from the British. Between 1925 and 1932, with military and financial support from the British government, Ibn Saud also attacked and suppressed the radical Wahhabis (i.e., Ikhwan), who demanded relentless and continuous attacks on neighboring countries, including present-day Jordan and Iraq. In 1932 Ibn Saud, who had already unified Najd in central Arabia with Hijaz in western Arabia, Asir in southwestern Arabia, and Al Hasa in eastern Arabia, established the kingdom of Saudi Arabia through a royal decree. Since Ibn Saud’s death in 1953, six of his sons have ruled Saudi Arabia: Saud (r. 1953–1964), Faisal (r. 1964–1975), Khalid (r. 1975–1982), Fahd (r. 1982–2005), Abdullah (r. 2005–2015), and Salman (r. 2015–present). Wahhabism, the sect to which the Saudi royal family belongs, did not find many adherents outside Saudi Arabia until the Saudi monarchy began to invest a massive amount of petrol dollars in the construction of Wahhabi mosques, religious schools, and various Islamic centers across the globe.
See also: Battles and Treaties: Arab Revolt; Sykes-Picot Agreement; Beys and Pashas: Mehmed Ali; Rebels: Hussein ibn Ali and the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence; ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Muhammad
Further Reading
Commins, David. Mission and the Kingdom: Wahhabi Power Behind the Saudi Throne. London: I. B. Tauris, 2016.
Darlow, Michael, and Barbara Bray. Ibn Saud: The Desert Warrior Who Created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2012.
Lacey, Robert. Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia. New York: Penguin Books, 2010.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire
and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Vassiliev, Alexei. The History of Saudi Arabia. New York: New York University Press, 2000.
Karadjordje (Kara George) (1762–1817)
Karadjordje, or Kara George (Black George), is the nickname of Djordje Petrović, the Serbian leader who fought for the independence of Serbia from the Ottoman Empire. He was the founder of the Karadjordjević dynasty. Djordje Petrović was nicknamed Karadjordje because of his dark complexion.
Karadjordje was born into a peasant family in Viševa, Serbia, in 1762. In 1787, after killing a Turk in a quarrel, he fled Serbia for Austria, where he served with distinction in the Austrian army. He fought in Italy and in the Austrian-Ottoman war of 1788–1791. Karadjordje returned to Serbia in 1794 and settled in Topola, where he prospered in trading livestock. In 1804, when the Ottoman governor of Serbia organized an army to suppress a rebellion staged by the local janissaries, Karadjorje joined the Ottoman force as a captain. At a conference that was convened in Orašac in 1804, Karadjordje was elected as the leader of the revolt against the corruption and oppression of the local janissaries. This revolt soon turned into an all-out mass uprising against Ottoman rule in Serbia. The Serbs, led by Karadjordje, defeated the Ottomans. During the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1807, the Serbian revolutionaries received support from Russia. In 1808, however, as the growing power and influence of Russia began to threaten the Serbian independence movement, the so-called State Council drafted a constitution and declared Karadjordje the first hereditary ruler of Serbia.
In 1812, when Napoleon invaded Russia, the Russian government signed a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire at Bucharest (present-day capital of Romania) and abandoned the Serbs to their fate. Freed from their war with Russia, the Ottomans organized a military campaign against the Serbian revolutionaries and crushed their rebellion in 1813. Karadjordje had no alternative but to flee Serbia. He first fled to Austria, and from there he traveled to Russia, where he received a warm welcome. In 1814 Karadjordje joined the Greek secret society Philiki Hetairia (Society of Friends/Friendly Society), which was founded by young Phanariote Greeks in Odessa in 1814. In 1815 another Serbian leader, Miloš Obrenović, led the second Serbian uprising against the Ottomans. Obrenović did not, however, allow Karadjordje to return to Serbia. In 1817, after being chosen as the leader of an all-Balkan uprising, Karadjordje returned secretly to Serbia to organize another uprising against the Ottoman Turks. Recognizing the threat posed by his popular rival, Miloš Obrenović ordered the assassination of Karadjordje, who was killed in his sleep in 1817. The murder of Karadjordje ignited a vendetta between the families of Karadjordje and Obrenović, which continued until the assassination of King Aleksander Obrenović in 1903. One of Karadjordje’s sons, Aleksander, ruled as the prince of Serbia from 1842 to 1858, and his grandson, Patar, reigned as the king of Serbia from 1903 to 1918.