Mohammed Tahir Mustafa Tahir al-Husayni (alternatively transliterated al-Husseini) (, 1842–1908) was the ''

Qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

'' (Chief Justice) of the Sharia courts 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 ...

and was the father of Kamil al-Husayni and

Mohammad Amin al-Husayni Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

, both of whom held the equivalent position in the British mandated period of

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including Al-Aqsa. The position was created by the British military government led by Ronald Storrs in 1918.See Islamic Leadership in Jerusa ...

. Born in Jerusalem to the

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, Tahir was appointed the Qadi of Jerusalem in the 1860s by officials 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 ...

. From 1865 until his death, he held the post of Mufti of Jerusalem. Tahir sat on the committee of ''A'ayan'' scrutinising land sales to foreigners in the Jerusalem area, this in effect stopped land sales to

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s for a few years, beginning in 1897. When he died, his son

Kamil Kamil is a name used in a number of languages. Kamil () is a Polish, Czech, and Slovak given name, equivalent to the Italian Camillo, Spanish/Portuguese Camilo and French Camille. It is derived from Camillus,stablishment and dissolution ...

became the Mufti of Jerusalem and later (1918) the Grand Mufti. Mohammed Tahir al-Husayni was one of the earliest critics of Zionism, and in the 1880s and 1890s, he tried several times to prevent Jewish immigrants from purchasing lands in the Mutasarrifiyya of Jerusalem.Beška, Emanuel: Responses of Prominent Arabs Towards Zionist Aspirations and Colonization Prior to 1908. In Asian and African Studies, 16, 1, 2007

/ref> In 1897, a commission headed by the Mufti managed to halt Jewish immigration for the next few years. When the Administrative Council received a report about Jewish immigration in September 1899, Mufti Husayni "proposed that the new arrivals be terrorised prior to the expulsion of all foreign Jews established in Palestine since 1891." But his extreme proposal was turned down by the Mutasarrif in favor of a policy which allowed Jewish immigration as long as the immigrants assimilated as Ottoman citizens.

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Palestinian Personalities: Al-Hussaini, Mohammed Tahir

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