Great Arab Revolt Circle, Áqaba, Aqaba Governorate, Jordan
The Arab Revolt or Great Arab Revolt was officially initiated by Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, at Mecca on June 10, 1916 although his sons ‘Ali and Faisal had already initiated operations at Medina starting on 5 June with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state stretching from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.
Though the Sharifian revolt has tended to be regarded as a revolt rooted in a secular Arab nationalist sentiment, the Sharif did not present it in those terms; rather, he accused the Young Turks of violating the sacred tenets of Islam and called Arab Muslims to sacred rebellion against the ostensibly “impious” Ottoman government. Contrarily, Turks as well as many Arab leaders accused rebelling tribes of betraying the Muslim Caliphate during a campaign against imperialist powers which were trying to divide and govern the Muslim lands.
Ultimately, the revolt failed to generate significant support from within the Ottoman Empire’s Arab provinces, and remained largely limited to tribal levies from the Arabian Peninsula loyal to Sharif Hussein.
Epic Jordan Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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