The Muslim Custodian of King David's Tomb Since 1529 al-Sayyid Sheikh Ahmad Dijani, the Jerusalemite (1459-1561)

Amjad M. al-Dajani and Muhsen A. al-Dajani

1 Introduction

Sufism has long been part of Islamic culture. Its beliefs are grounded in the same beliefs as mainstream Muslims. However, Sufis strive to moderate their desires for worldly riches through meditation on the divine purpose for creation. This practice reached its zenith under the Ottoman Empire when its leadership adopted Sufism as their official practice of Islam. Sufi dervishes managed to "capture the hearts and minds of a majority of the Sultan's subjects, Muslim and non-Muslim alike".1

After the Ottomans expanded into the Muslim Arab territories and ousted the Mamluks from Jerusalem in 1516,2 they followed several policies to strengthen their legitimacy in these Arab territories. This was particularly evident in Jerusalem after Sultan Sulieman the magnificent ascended to the throne. He erected various buildings and established institutions to legitimize Ottoman presence in the newly conquered city. He sent his famous architect Sinan to Jerusalem with Mustafa Pasha to renovate the Dome of the Rock, religious buildings, and mosques. He renovated the Umar Mosque, the Salahuddin Mosque, the Prophet Samuel Mosque, and the Sheikh Jarrah Mosque, with labor brought from Egypt.3

The Sultan ordered the construction of the Sabil channel, the digging of the Uzbek well, and the "Sultan's Pool" adjacent to the Jaffa gate entrance of the old city of Jerusalem.4 He also established various institutions to administer daily life in the city. One of these institutions was the Union of the Honorable "Naqabat al-Ashraf". It was a governmental body whose membership was exclusively open to descendants of the Prophet's family called in the Muslim world al-Ashraaf. It had its own elected leader known as the Naqib, and its members "were exempted from

A. M. al-Dajani (&). M. A. al-Dajani
North Park University, Chicago, USA
e-mail: amjad.aldajani@gmail.com

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 219 I. M. AlDajani and M. Leiner (eds.), Reconciliation, Heritage and Social Inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08713-4_15

220 A. M. al-Dajani and M. A. al-Dajani

paying taxes, and could be prosecuted only by their own council, not Ottoman authorities".5 This council was made of a high ottoman official and members of the Naqabat al-Ashraf.

To establish such an institution, it was necessary to gather intelligence on these families to discern genuine from fake claims of descent. Clearly, the Ottoman authorities had gathered and vetted information on these families because they issued official Ottoman certifications of family trees belonging to the al-Ashraaf across the empire. This enabled the Sultan to issue various edicts "faramans" tai- lored exclusively for these families, giving them critical custodianships and public posts in the Ottoman Empire. The status of these families gave them access to the educational institutions in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople and religious institutions like Al-Azhar University in Cairo.6 As a result, members of these families were literate and therefore appointed to various positions of authority in the Ottoman Empire.7

Sultan Sulieman established this policy to secure the allegiance of al-Ashraaf families because they held political weight with their respective local populations.8 In "Legitimacy and Notables in Ottoman Jerusalem", Jordan Toone describes it as a policy to empower "local notables to oversee provincial government operations and administer the local population's political, economic, and social affairs".9 This was particularly true in the case of Jerusalem, where the Ottomans "secured legitimacy and authority in the eyes of the local population through the traditions and authenticity associated with the tomb of David and other prominent endowments given to the Dajanis".10 Subsequent Ottoman sultans continued this policy to legitimize their representation of the Caliphate before their Muslim subjects.11

2 Sheikh Ahmad Dijani (al-Daoudi)

Sheikh Ahmad Ali Dijani (al-daoudi) (1459-1561) was a member of one of those families.12 He was born near the city of Nablus and died at his residence in the Nabi Daoud neighborhood in Jerusalem. Numerous sources relate his direct descent of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima and his cousin Ali bin Abu Talib, the fourth Caliph in Islam, through their second son Hussein (al-Sibti).13 He is Ahmad (al-Yassini), bin Ali (al-Yassini), bin Mohammad (al-Yassini), bin Yusef (al-Yassini), bin Hussein (al-Yassini), bin Yassin (al-Badri), bin Mohammad (al-Badri), bin Yusuf (al-Badri), bin Bader (al-Husseini), bin Yakub (al-Husseini), bin Muzaffar (al-Husseini), bin Salem (al-Husseini), bin Mohammad (al-Husseini), bin Mohammad (al-Husseini), bin Zaid (al-Husseini), bin Ali (al-Husseini), bin Hussein (al-Hassan/14al-A'raide al-Akbar/15Zu al-Dam'a),16 bin Zaid (al-Shahid),17 bin Ali (Zain al-Abidin), bin Hussein (al-Sibti), bin Ali bin Abu Talib, the husband of Fatima (al-Zahra). According to the ancestry DNA test of Sheikh Ahmad's descendants, the results state "^=…this lineage is found at substantial frequencies within the Cohen model haplotype lineage, as well as the presumed lineage of the Prophet Mohammed^=…".18

The Muslim Custodian of King David's Tomb Since 1529 al-Sayyid ^=… 221

His family name was initially al-Yassini al-Badri in reference to his ancestors Sayyid Sheikh Yassin and Sayyid Sheikh Bader (al-Husseini). However, Sheikh Ahmad later became known as Dijani (al-daoudi?????) by the residents of Jerusalem because of his temporary residence in the Dijaniya village located 8 km near the city of Ramallah, later known as Janiya village,19 and his custodianship of King David's tomb. Two titles his descendants adopted as their family name.

According to oral tradition, he was asked by the Mukhtar of the Dijanya village to arbitrate a conflict between two families according to Sharia law. After finding in favor of the weaker family, he was threatened by members of the offending family demanding a change in his verdict. He decided to depart from that village to keep the verdict in place. During a meeting with the Mukhtar of that village, who initially asked him to adjudicate the conflict, Dijani informed the Mukhtar of his intention to depart. Against the requests of the Mukhtar to remain, Dijani determined that it would be best to leave, so the verdict would stand. Realizing that Sheikh Ahmad was committed to leaving, the Mukhtar requested that Sheikh Ahmad carry the name Dijani so that those who encounter him would connect this virtuous man with the Dijaniya village. From that event, the Sheikh carried the name Dijani to fulfill his promise to the Mukhtar. After leaving, the Mukhtar associated the failing crops that year with the Sheikh's departure. He blamed the villagers for the way they behaved toward the Sheikh and declared dropping the letter "d" from the name of the village Dijaniya, which became "al-Janiya" meaning the "Guilty one".20

After leaving the Dijaniya village, Sheikh Ahmad settled in the "Ibn Daoud Mosque", which he caused to be built to protect the tomb. His residence was built in the mosque and expanded the structure into various houses for his children. He also established the "Zawyat Nabi Daoud" where numerous students gathered to learn from him.21 The area later became known as the Nabi Daoud neighborhood in reference to the King David Mosque and Zawyeh (Study Corner).

Jerusalemites called Sheikh Ahmad "ibn Daoud" and called his descendants Daoudis, which means "those who belong to David" because of their custodianship of King David's tomb. Official documents in the Sharia Court archives in Jerusalem confirm his custodianship over King David's tomb. One document dated 10th Shawwal 968 AH (1560) declares that Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent dedicated Maqam Nabi Daoud to the Sheikh Ahmad Dijani and his descendants,22 in 1529.23 This endowment included "the gardens surrounding the tomb^=…the portion (16/24) of the entire vineyard next to the tomb^=…the cellar next to the tomb^=…used for the extraction of oil^=… the entire estate located next to the tomb in the outskirts of Jerusalem^=…the stables neighboring the tomb of al-Nabi Da'ud".24 Toone observes:

The initial inheritances reveal the status and authority of Ahmad al-Dajani and the Dajani family in Ottoman Jerusalem, as well as a politics of notables which developed between the Ottoman officials and notable families.25

According to the Waqf records, which were officially created at later dates than the actual dates stated in the Sultanic farmans, Sheikh Ahmad was also awarded several endowments, three of which were given by Sultan Suleiman himself.

222 A. M. al-Dajani and M. A. al-Dajani

He received "the entire village of Sawiya in the district of Nablus,...the entire cultivated area of Ra's Abi Zaytun,...the entire cultivated areas of 'Ayn al-Janan, ^=… the entire cultivated area of Bayt Sila neighboring the village of Buyutina,...the entire cultivated area of Jarbut, which is located near the village of Bayt Awniy,... and the entire cultivated area of Dayr' Amir near the village of Fajus" in the district of Jerusalem.26 According to Toone, Sheikh Ahmad's family "received a total of 19 waqf records, spanning a period of over 300 years".27 He explains that "the endowments per se were impressive; yet coming from the ruler of the Ottoman Empire enhanced the significance of the endowments and added great prestige to the Dajani family almost immediately".28

Sayyid Sheikh Ahmad Dijani was the recognized head of Sufism in Jerusalem during the sixteenth century. According to the manuscript (316/19) in the Assad Library in Damascus, he regularly gave sermons in the Aqsa Mosque, which made him well known as Sheikh Dijani. At one point, he had 16 disciples studying under him in Jerusalem.29 He had a considerable reputation in Sufi circles as "Qutub" (Pillar of the faith) of Sufism in Jerusalem, a title of distinction for leading Sufi scholars of his day. Several contemporary sources describe him as "the leader of the judicious and the beauty of the virtuous, Hazrat al-Sheikh Ahmad Dijani".30

He studied under (al-Shareef) Ali bin Maymon al-Hassani al-Idrissi (1450- 1511), the Moroccan, where he forged a friendship with Sheikh-ul-Islam of Damascus, Muhammad Ibn' Arraq (1473-1526), the Damascene, who was also a student of Ali bin Maymon.31 Dijani was well educated in the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence but was especially attached to the Hanafi School of thought and was well versed in the Holy texts of the Qur'an. He would meditate for long periods spanning several days in isolation from his family members in a room his children used to call the "Khilwat al-Jad" (the grandfather's isolation room).

Little is documented about Sheikh Ahmad Dijani's younger years after finishing his learning at his father's hand. However, tradition speaks of him and other family members joining the Muslim armies in Granada to defend the declining Muslim regime in Spain against its enemies, which explains why the Ottomans sought to reward him.32 Afterward, he settled in the city of Fez-Morocco, for a time where he led pilgrim caravans to Jerusalem and Mecca as an occupation because of his native knowledge of these cities.33 During his stay in Fez, he was exposed to Sufism and studied under Ali bin Maymon (al-Hassani al-Idrissi). Ali bin Maymon (al-Hassani) lived in the city of Fez, where he was a judge. He was also a Sufi master who authored numerous publications like Nahaw al-Qalb: Sharh al-Ajrumyah [Towards the Heart], and Ghurbat al-Islam biwasitat Muttafaqa fi Misr wa al-Sham [Alienation of Islam by two types of Scholars of Egypt and Syria].34

After one of Sheikh Ahmad's caravan trips and during his temporary stay in the Dijanya village, King David appears to him in a vision telling him, "save me Ahmad, for my rescue is in your hands".35 He set out to the area described in his vision on Mount Zion to find it a dumping ground. He had it cleaned up and had the Ottoman authorities prohibit continued dumping in that area because he had announced his intention of building a mosque on that site. The Ottoman authorities had the Franciscans driven out from their one-room residence adjacent to the

The Muslim Custodian of King David's Tomb Since 1529 al-Sayyid ^=… 223

dumping area and permitted Sheikh Ahmad to build the mosque in 1524.36 The mosque was called the "Ibn Daoud"Mosque (Son of David Mosque),37 a title given to Sheikh Ahmad by Jerusalem residents. According to tradition, after the cleaning of the site was complete, King David reappeared to Sheikh Ahmad, informing him that he gained divine favor and will be granted two blessings. The first was to be granted numerous male descendants and the blessing would pass unto his descendants.38 According to a plaque still located in the King David mosque today, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent issued a faraman in 1529 making Sheikh Ahmad officially the custodian of King David's tomb in Jerusalem.

Numerous sources claim that Sheikh Ahmad was associated with other various "Barakah", or blessings, usually interpreted as a sign of Divine favor. One of the famous Barakahs associated with Sheikh Ahmad al-Dijani happened during his meditation in the al-Aqsa mosque. The Prophet Mohammad appears before him in this vision, instructing him to improve his Arabic language skills. Sheikh Dijani asked the Prophet to enlighten his mind to learn the Quranic language.39 After receiving another vision, he sent a letter to Sultan Sulieman the magnificent with Sheikh Issa, who was traveling to Constantinople, foretelling the future Ottoman conquest of the Island of Crete.40 In appreciation of the good tidings, Sultan Suleiman issued a faraman ordering the Ottoman authorities in Jerusalem to connect a water supply to the baths in Sheikh Ahmad's residence at the King David complex.41 These various Barakahs were documented in several sources like al-Nabhani's Jami' Karamat al-Awliya,42 al-Ghazi's al-Kwakib al-Saira,43 and a manuscript called Manaqib Shykh Ahmad Dijani [Appraisals of al-Sheikh Ahmad al-Dijani].44

Sheikh Ahmad received special deference from Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.45 He was given substantial lands as a personal gift from the Sultan and received daily sustenance from the Ottoman government's soup kitchen caul- drons.46 The Jerusalem Tekhiyeh el-Khasseki [Soup Kitchen] was a charitable endowment set up by the Sultan to feed the residents of Jerusalem. The Tekhiyeh el-Khasseki-Sultane means Convent of the favorite Sultana. Twice a day locals, pilgrims, and visitors, regardless of religion, received "one pound of bread and one bowl of soup, made with olive oil and some vegetables", and "bread and rice prepared primarily for them in enormous cauldrons".47 However, visitors were prohibited from removing their meals from the Tekhiyeh's premises, except for "the Sufi master in Jerusalem, Shaykh al-Dajjani and his sixteen disciples".48 They had a special privilege to take their daily meal allowance back to Sheikh Ahmad's resi- dence. They received eight and a half cups of food and thirty-four loaves of bread, while the locals received two loaves and one-half cup of food per person.49

Dijani's standing with the Ottoman regime made him the natural conduit of people's grievances and requests to the Ottoman governor. He would regularly travel to Damascus to meet with the governor to bring their requests to represen- tatives of the Sultan. On one occasion, he traveled to Damascus in 1544 to present the various grievances and requests the people needed the governor to address.50 During this visit, he stayed in the residence of Sheikh Muhyeh din al-Arabi. On

224 A. M. al-Dajani and M. A. al-Dajani

Friday, he was asked to give the Friday sermon at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus. According to Mohammad bin Mohammad al-Ghazi, the attendees were so impressed by Dijani's sermon that they lined up to thank him for it.51

3 Conclusion

Sayyid Sheikh Ahmad Dijani (al-daoudi) was highly esteemed in Sufi circles and by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who bestowed various endowments upon him. He remained in Jerusalem until his passing, and his funeral was held in the "ibn Daoud" Mosque in 1561. He was buried in the Cemetery of Mamilla, which is in West Jerusalem today. He is the founder of the Dijani (al-daoudi) family dynasty, who expanded the King David complex and continued to oversee the location during the Ottoman, British mandate, and Jordanian rule of Jerusalem until 1967 when Israel occupied East Jerusalem. His descendants continued his legacy by growing their influence in the community as academics, professionals, and religious figures. They played essential roles in the religious and political life of the city.

Religiously, his descendant Shakir bin Khalil Dijani was "appointed in 1810 as Mutawalli and nazir of the waqfs of two mosques, one in the village of 'Allar and one in Bayt Nuba. Another Dajani, Darwish bin Sulayman, was appointed shortly after that as Mutawalli of the tomb of a shaykh in (Emmaus)".52 Furthermore, Husayn Afandi Salim al-Dijani al-Hanafi al-Khalwati al-Qadiri was the Hanafi Mufti of Jerusalem.53 The Afghani Qadiri Sufis and the Bayt al-Jilani Sufi branch of Jerusalem were under the Dijani family's authority.54 Furthermore, the Mufti in Jaffa "during the Hamidian period was almost invariably a member of the Dajani family".55

Furthermore, Sheikh Ahmad's descendants played an important role in the local festivals in Jerusalem. For instance, the Nabi Musa procession was an important religious festival that shaped the identity of the city. It would "set off from the al-Aqs a Mosque in an impressive religious celebration which included the gover- nor, the shari?a judge and the most important officials, notables and Muslim reli- gious dignitaries".56 During this procession, members of four families would lead the procession carrying flags. The Dijani (al-daoudis) family carried two flags, the King David crest purple flag and their family crest flag.57

Politically, several of Sheikh Ahmad's descendants occupied various critical political posts. Before 1863, military officers administered Jerusalem. However, their primary responsibility was to manage Ottoman forces in the city, as was the case with officer Ahmad Agha Duzdar al-Asali, whose military title was Governor of Jerusalem.58 The Ottomans established the Municipality of Jerusalem in 1863,59 after establishing the Municipality of Constantinople. In 1863, Efendi Abdul Rahman Dijani (al-daoudi), became the first Mayor of Jerusalem,60 administering the city from 1863 to 1869.61 Pasha Aref Dijani (al-daoudi) was appointed governor of Yemen and then Anatolia.62 He was later Mayor of Jerusalem from 1917 to 1918, when he resigned after British forces entered Jerusalem.63 Pashas Aref Dijani and Musa Kazim al-Husayni, were the only locals awarded the title "Pasha" by the

The Muslim Custodian of King David's Tomb Since 1529 al-Sayyid ^=… 225

Sultan, and who "served as kaymakams and mutasarrifs in various parts of the Ottoman Empire".64 However, their political engagement was never easy and came at a cost in the 1930s.

Cambridge-educated lawyer, the eminent Hassan Sidqui Dijani (1899-1938), was elected to the Jerusalem Municipality Council on 28th of September 1934.65 He organized the Jerusalem 1936 Strikes,66 and advised Emir Abdullah of Transjordan.67 He was assassinated in 1938 by supporters of Haj Amin Husseini because of Dijani's opposition to the latter's tyrannical propensities, which led Hassan Sidqui to publish his resignation as Secretary of Hizb al-Ummah al-Islamya al-Filistinia Conference on September 30th, 1933.68

Sheikh Ahmad Dijani's legacy continues today through his progeny, who con- tinue to break ground in their respective fields. The most recent was Dr. Mohammad Suleiman Dijani (al-daoudi), who broke an Arab political taboo by taking 27 Palestinian students to the Auschwitz concentration camps in Poland in 2014.69

Notes

1. Stanford J. Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, 2 vols., vol. 1 (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976), p. 153.

2. Amy Singer, Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem, Suny Series in near Eastern Studies (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002), p. 74.

3. Mohammad Issa Salihiya, "Al-Uthmanyon Wa Madinat Al-Quds (the Ottomans and the City of Jerusalem)," in Dirasat Fi Al-Turath Al-Thaqafi Li-Madinat Al-Quds (Studies on the Cultural Heritage of Jerusalem) ed. Muhsen Mohammad Saleh (Beirut, Lebanon: al-Zaytouna Center for 2010), p. 164.

4. Ibid., p. 198. 5. Samih K. Farsoun and Naseer Hasan Aruri, Palestine and the Palestinians: A

Social and Political History, 2nd ed. (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2006), p. 46.

6. Kamel M. Dkhlah, Filistine Wa Al-Intidab Al-Britani (Palestine & the British Mandate 1922-1939) (Beirut-Lebanon: Center for Publishing and Research 1974), p. 28.

7. Farsoun and Aruri, Palestine and the Palestinians: A Social and Political History, p.47.

8. Albert Hourani, "Ottoman Reform and the Politics of Notables." in Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East; the Nineteenth Century, ed. William R. Polk and Richard L. Chambers (Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press, 1968), pp. 41-68.

9. Jordan Toone, "Legitimacy and Notables in Ottoman Jerusalem: A Case Study of Bayt Al-Dajani Using Waqfs and Marriage Records," SSRN (2004): p. 2.

10. Ibid., pp.35-36.

226 A. M. al-Dajani and M. A. al-Dajani

11. Ibid., pp.51-52. 12. Ahmad; Veeder Mahmoud, Anna, Hidden Heritage: A Guide to the Mamilla

Cemetery, Jerusalem, (Jerusalem: Emek Shaveh, 2016), https://emekshaveh. org/en/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Mamila-Engish.pdf. p.8.[Cited on Jan 7, 2022].

13. Ahmad Qashashi, Al-Samt Al-Majid Fi Silasil Al-Tawheed (the Light of the Aura in the Remembrance of Him and His Majesty), 1st ed. (Hyderabad, India: al-Ma'arif al-Nizamya Press, 1909), p. 181.

14. Haidar Husseini al-Milani, "Hussein (Al-Hassan) Bin Zaid Bin Ali," (2022), http://qadatona.org/%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/%D8%A7%D9% 84%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%84/3414. [Cited Jan 5th, 2022].

15. "Dajani Forum" "Dijani Family Tree". [Cited Jan 5th, 2022]. 16. Ali Bin Ibrahim Fouda, The Simplified Al-Mashjar in the Genealogy of

Al-Hasan and Al-Hussain 3 vols., vol. 3 (Cairo, Egypt: Dar al-Kutob Press, 2016), pp. 223-24.

17. Ibid., p. 222. 18. The Genographic Project, "Dijani Family of Jerusalem DNA Results", ed.

Y-DNA Haplotree (USA2015). 19. Mahmoud, Hidden Heritage: A Guide to the Mamilla Cemetery, Jerusalem.

p. 8. 20. Ibid. 21. Bashir Barakat, Tarikh Al-Maktabat Al-Arabya Fi Bayt Al-Maqdess (the

History of Arab Libraries in Jerusalem (Riyad, Saudi Arabia: King Faisal Center for Islamic Studies and Research, 2012), pp. 49-50.

22. Mahmoud, Hidden Heritage: A Guide to the Mamilla Cemetery, Jerusalem. p. 8.

23. Salihiya, "Al-Uthmanyon Wa Madinat Al-Quds (the Ottomans and the City of Jerusalem)," p. 191.

24. Toone, "Legitimacy and Notables in Ottoman Jerusalem: A Case Study of Bayt Al-Dajani Using Waqfs and Marriage Records," p. 39.

25. Ibid. 26. Ibid., pp. 30-34. 27. Ibid., p. 30. 28. Ibid. 29. Singer, Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in

Jerusalem, p. 120. 30. Salihiya, "Al-Uthmanyon Wa Madinat Al-Quds (the Ottomans and the City of

Jerusalem)," p. 191. 31. Yusuf al-Nabhani, Jami? Karamat Al-Awliya' 2vols., vol. 1 (Beirut, Lebanon:

al-Maktabah al-?A?riyah, 2001), p. 548. 32. Toone, "Legitimacy and Notables in Ottoman Jerusalem: A Case Study of Bayt

Al-Dajani Using Waqfs and Marriage Records," pp. 28-29. 33. Ibid.

The Muslim Custodian of King David's Tomb Since 1529 al-Sayyid ^=… 227

34. Yusuf al-Hazymry, "Ali Bin Maymon Al-Ghmari (Abu Al-Hassan): 1450- 1511," (2014), https://www.arrabita.ma/blog/%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A-% D8%A8%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86-%D8% A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D9%85%D9%80%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A-% D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9% 86-854-917%D9%87%D9%80-1450-1511/. [Cited Jan 5th, 2022].

35. al-Nabhani, Jami? Karamat Al-Awliya' 1, p. 548. 36. Ora Limor, "Sharing Sacred Space: Holy Places in Jerusalembetween

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam," in In Laudem Hierosolymitani: Studies in Crusades and Medieval Culture in Honour of Benjamin Z. Kedar, ed. I. Shagrir, et al. (University of Michigan: Ashgate Press, 2007), p. 227.

37. Ibid. 38. Muhsen S. Dijani Daoudi, interview by Amjad M. Dijani, 2021. 39. al-Nabhani, Jami? Karamat Al-Awliya' 1, pp. 547-48. 40. Salihiya, "Al-Uthmanyon Wa Madinat Al-Quds (the Ottomans and the City of

Jerusalem)," p. 191. 41. Ibid. 42. al-Nabhani, Jami? Karamat Al-Awliya' 1, pp. 547-48. 43. Mohammad Al-Ghazi, Al-Kwakib Al-Sa'ira Bi A'yan Al-Miya Al-Ashira (the

Orbiting Planets with the Notables of the Tenth Century), 3 vols., vol. 3 (Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah, 1997), p. 109.

44. Mohammad bin Saleh bin Mohammad bin Ahmad Dijani, "Risala Fi Ziker Manaqib Al-Shaykh Saydi Ahmad Al-Dijani (Appraisals to Al-Sheikh Ahmad Al-Dijani)," ed. The National Library of Israel (Jerusalem, Ottoman Palestine: The National Library of Israel, 1753), 71B-87A.

45. Salihiya, "Al-Uthmanyon Wa Madinat Al-Quds (the Ottomans and the City of Jerusalem)," p.191.

46. Singer, Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem, p.74.

47. Ibid., pp. 75-78. 48. Ibid., p. 120. 49. Ibid., pp. 120-21. 50. Al-Ghazi, Al-Kwakib Al-Sa'ira Bi A'yan Al-Miya Al-Ashira (the Orbiting

Planets with the Notables of the Tenth Century), 3, p. 109. 51. Ibid. 52. Toone, "Legitimacy and Notables in Ottoman Jerusalem: A Case Study of Bayt

Al-Dajani Using Waqfs and Marriage Records," p. 35. 53. Thierry V. Zarcone, Sufi Pilgrims from Central Asia and India in Jerusalem

(Kyoto, Japan: Kyoto University Press, 2009), p.105. 54. Ibid. 55. Johann Bussow, Hamidian Palestine: Politics and Society in the District of

Jerusalem 1872-1908, The Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage: Politics, Society and Economy (Boston: Brill, 2011), p. 230.

228 A. M. al-Dajani and M. A. al-Dajani

56. Ibid., p.184. 57. Ibid. 58. Kamel Asali, "Al-Quds Tahta Hukum Al-Uthmanyin (Jerusalem During

Ottoman Rule, 1516-1831)," in Al-Quds Fi Al-Tarikh (Jerusalem in History), ed. Ibrahim al-Hassanat (Amman, Jordan: University of Jordan Press, 1992), p.236.

59. Falestin Naili, "The Ottoman Municipality of Jerusalem and the Application of the Tanzîmât Reforms in Jerusalem," in The 10th International Conference for the History of Bilad al-Sham: Ottoman Tanzimat and its Implementations in Bilad al-Sham (Amman, Jordan: The Center for Documents and Manuscripts and the Study of the Bilâd al Shâm of the University of Jordan 2017), p. 3.

60. Nabil K. Al-Agha,Mada'in Filistine (Cities of Palestine) (Beirut, Lebanon: The Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing, 1993), p. 60.

61. Bussow, Hamidian Palestine: Politics and Society in the District of Jerusalem 1872-1908, p. 554.

62. Adel Mana', A'lam Filastin Fi Awakhir Al-'Ahd Al-Uthmani (Notables of Palestine in the Late Ottoman, 1800-1918) (Beirut, Lebanon: Institute for Palestinian Studies 1997), p. 174.

63. Ibid. 64. Bussow, Hamidian Palestine: Politics and Society in the District of Jerusalem

1872-1908, 376. 65. "Fawz Hassan Sidqi Bek Dijani (Hassan Sidqui Dijani's Win)," Filastine

September 29, 1934. 66. "Etiqal Hassan Dijani Wa Saleh Abduh: Haza Anifa Fi Sukan Al-Quds.

(the Arrest of Hassan Sidqui Dajani & Saleh Abduh Shakes Jerusalemites)," Filistine, May 6th 1936.

67. "Friend of Emir Shot: Fate of Moslem Politician," Derby Evening Telegraph, October 13, 1938.

68. "Estiqalat Hassan Sidqui Bek Al-Dijani Min Secretaria Hizb Al-Ummah Al-Filistinia", Filistine September 30th, 1933, p. 4.

69. Neta Alexander, "The Palestinian Professor Who Took Students on Auschwitz Trip and Paid a Heavy Price," Newspaper, HAARETZ (2016), https://www. haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-palestinian-who-leads- tours-through-auschwitz-1.5435444. [Cited Jan 5th, 2022].

The Muslim Custodian of King David's Tomb Since 1529 al-Sayyid ^=… 229

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