Abdul Qadir al-Husayni (; 1907 – 8 April 1948) was a Palestinian revolutionary and

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

military leader. In late 1933, he founded the secret militant group known as the Organization for Holy Struggle (''Munathamat al-Jihad al-Muqaddas''), which he and

Hasan Salama Hasan Salama (also spelled Hassan Salameh; , ; 1913 – 2 June 1948) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist guerrilla leader and commander who led the Palestinian Holy War Army (''Jaysh al-Jihad al-Muqaddas'', Arabic: ) in the 1948 Palestine War ...

commanded as the

Army of the Holy War The Army of the Holy War or Holy War Army (; ''Jaysh al-Jihād al-Muqaddas'') was a Palestinian Arab irregular force in the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine led by Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni and Hasan Salama. The force has been de ...

(''Jaysh al-Jihad al-Muqaddas'') during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt and the

1948 war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionist forces conquered territory and established the Stat ...

Early life and militant career

Husayni was born to the prominent and influential

al-Husayni Husayni ( also spelled Husseini) is the name of a prominent Palestinian families, Palestinian Arab clan formerly based in Jerusalem, which claims descent from Husayn ibn Ali (the son of Ali). The Husaynis follow the Hanafi school of Sunni Isl ...

family of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He was the son of

Musa al-Husayni Musa Kazim Pasha al-Husayni (, ; 1853 – 27 March 1934) was a Palestinian politician and statesman. He belonged to the prominent al-Husayni family and was mayor of Jerusalem (1918–1920). He was dismissed as mayor by the British authorities and ...

.Khalidi, Walid. ''Before Their Diaspora : A Photographic History of the Palestinians, 1876-1948''. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1991, 209. He lost his mother a year and a half after his birth. Subsequently, his grandmother took care of him and his seven other siblings, three girls, four boys. His father,

, held various senior positions in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, working in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...

and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(Istanbul) in addition to Palestine. Because of his valuable service to the Ottoman Empire, the government granted him the title (Pasha). He was mayor of Jerusalem (1918–1920), before he was dismissed as mayor by the British authorities. He then became head of the nationalist Executive Committee of the

Palestine Arab Congress Between 1919 and 1928, the Palestinian Arab population in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine held a series of congresses, organized by a nationwide network of local Muslim-Christian Associations. Seven congresses were held in Jer ...

from 1922 until 1934. Musa was the first to raise his voice in the face of the British Mandate and the first to call the people of Palestine to protest, demonstrate, and show their discontent and anger against the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

. He participated in many demonstrations, the last of which was the large demonstration in Jaffa on 27 October 1933, in which he was severely beaten with batons by the British soldiers. Musa's injuries were so serious that he remained bedridden until he died in March 1934. Abdul Qadir completed his secondary education in Jerusalem with distinction and then started at the College of Arts and Sciences at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

, but did not continue his studies there. Instead, he went to and later graduated in chemistry at the

American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ) is a private research university in New Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs at undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, along with a continuing education program. ...

while organising the

Congress of Educated Muslims The Congress of Educated Muslims was founded by Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni in the early 1930s to fight discrimination against Palestinian Arabs Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Pa ...

. Initially, he took a post in the settlement department of the British Mandate government but eventually moved to the

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

area during the

1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...

to lead the struggle against the British.

Walid Khalidi Walid Khalidi (; born in Jerusalem on July 16, 1925) is a Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an inde ...

notes that he was a guerilla commander for the

district in the summer 1936. A member of the

Palestine Arab Party The Palestinian Arab Party ( ''‘Al-Hizb al-'Arabi al-Filastini'') was a political party in Palestine established in May 1935 by the influential Husayni family. Jamal al-Husayni was the founder and chairman. Emil Ghuri was elected general sec ...

, he served as its secretary-general and became editor-in-chief of the party's paper ''Al-Liwa'' and other newspapers, including ''Al-Jami'a Al-Islamiyya''.Faisal would go on to found and lead the Arab Studies Society, become the head of

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, and hold the position of Minister for Jerusalem Affairs within the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

. In 1938, Abdul Qadir was exiled and in 1939 moved to

where he took part in the Golden Square coup d'état. He moved to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in 1946, but surreptitiously returned to Palestine to lead the Army of the Holy War in January 1948.

Death

Husayni was killed while personally reconnoitring an area of Qastal Hill shrouded by fog, in the early hours of 8 April 1948. His forces later captured al-Qastal from the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

, which had occupied the village at the start of

Operation Nachshon Operation Nachshon (, ''Mivtza Nahshon''; 5–16 April 1948) was a military operation of the Haganah during the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine and part of Plan Dalet. Its objective was to open the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem road bl ...

six days earlier with a force of about 100 men. They retreated to the Jewish settlement of

Motza Motza, also Mozah or Motsa, (, ) is a neighbourhood on the western edge of Jerusalem. It is located in the Judaean Mountains, 600 metres above sea level, connected to Jerusalem by the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway, Highway 16, and the winding mo ...

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

troops recaptured the village on the night of 8–9 April, losing 18 men in the attack; most of the houses were blown up and the hill became a command post. Husayni's death was regarded as a factor in the loss of morale among his forces.''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', "War for Jerusalem Road" File:Abdul Qader al Husseini.jpg, Abdul Qader al-Husseini with his troops prior to the January 1948 attack on

Kfar Etzion Kfar Etzion (, ''lit.'' Etzion Village) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, organized as a religious kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank, established in 1927, depopulated in 1948 an ...

. Photograph taken by a Palmach spy File:Kastal.jpg, Palestine irregulars under Qader al-Husseini about to attack al-Qastal 7–8 April 1948 File:Abdul Qader April 1948.jpg, Abdul Qader al-Husseini with his officers on the day he was killed Image:Husseini funeral.jpg, Mourners at Husayni's funeral gather near

Sheikh Jarrah Sheikh Jarrah (, ) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City, on the road to Mount Scopus. It received its name from the 13th-century tomb of Hussam al-Din al-Jarrahi, a physician of Saladin, located ...

He was buried in the Khātūniyya by the

al-Aqsa Compound Al-Aqsa (; ) or al-Masjid al-Aqṣā () and also is the compound of Islamic religious buildings that sit atop the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif, in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the R ...

(Ḥaram esh-Sharīf); the tombs of his father and his son are in the same mausoleum. [structure number 88 on PDF's p. 40 (= p. 79). Text als
available here
]

Personal life

Abdul Qadir married in 1934. In 1940, his son Faisal Husseini was born.

Footnotes

References

* Meron Benvenisti, Benveniśtî, Mêrôn (2002). ''Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948''. University of California Press. * Levenberg, Haim (1993). ''Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine: 1945-1948''. London: Routledge. *

Morris, Benny Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the g ...

(2003). ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited''. Cambridge University Press. *Morris, Benny (2008). ''1948''. Yale University Press. * Robinson, Glenn E. (1997) ''Building a Palestinian State: The Incomplete Revolution''. Indiana University Press. * Sayigh, Yezid (2000). ''Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Swedenburg, Ted (1999). The role of the Palestinian peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936–39). In

Ilan Pappé Ilan Pappé ( ; born 7 November 1954) is an Israeli historian, political scientist, and former politician. He is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, director ...

(Ed.). ''The Israel/Palestine Question'' (pp. 129–168). London: Routledge.

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