Amin al-Husseini (1897-4 July 1974) was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1921 to 1937, succeeding Kamil al-Husayni and preceding Hussam ad-Din Jarallah.
Biography[]
Amin al-Husseini was born in 1897 in Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire to a family that was descended from Muhammad. He served in the Ottoman Army during World War I, but in the Interwar Years, al-Husseini advocated Arab nationalism. In 1921, he became the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and he actively opposed Zionism from around that time. After the 1920 Nebi Musa riots, he was imprisoned by the United Kingdom, but from 1921 to 1936 he was considered an important ally to the Mandatory Palestine authorities for his checking of Zionism. However, following the failure of the 1936-36 Arab revolt in Palestine, al-Husseini was deposed, and he went into exile in Nazi Germany and collaborated with them during World War II. He met with Adolf Hitler and helped in the recruitment of Bosniaks into the Waffen-SS during the war, and al-Husseini made propaganda broadcasts. However, he was sheltered in Cairo, Egypt after the war's end, and he was sidelined when other Arab leaders took over the anti-Zionist cause. al-Husseini was discredited after the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and he died in Lebanon in 1974.