The
Mufti of
Jerusalem from 1921 to 1936. During the
Mandatory period,
Haj
was one of the most important Arabs in Palestine. Haj hated both the
British
and
Jewish people, and was a nationalist figurehead for many Muslims in
Palestine at that time. He also frequently incited riots against Jewish
settlements, and is
known to have planned the riots of
1929 and
1936. He met
Hitler in 1938 and was thereafter a major Nazi collaborator, recruiting thousands of Croats and Turks into the
SS.
Despite his violent anti-semitism, al-Husseini had at least one major project
that earned him respect- the restoration of the Dome of the Rock. Not only
was the Dome restored to it's former glory, it was fully plated in gold as well.
This, in turn, enhanced the status of Jerusalem to Muslims everywhere.
During World War II, the mufti created great amounts of support for
Germany among Muslims. He personally met Hitler in November of 1941,
however, his notoriety left him when the Arab armies were famously defeated in
1948.