Amin al-Husseini

Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini was born into Jerusalem's foremost patrician family and studied at Al-Azhar in Cairo and the Imperial Civil Academy in Istanbul. In 1921, the British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel appointed him Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and President of the Supreme Muslim Council, giving him control over Islamic courts, endowments, and schools.

Husseini spearheaded the restoration of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque and led Palestinian opposition to British Mandate immigration policies. Exiled after leading the 1936 Arab Revolt, his controversial wartime diplomacy and leadership of the Arab Higher Committee during the 1948 war defined a fateful era of Middle Eastern history.