EXILE FROM MECCA

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 492, 26 November 1948, Page 11

EXILE FROM MECCA

A PRINCE OF ARABIA. By George Stitt.

George Allen and Unwin, London.

(Reviewed by

M. H.

Holcroft

ee O the .average reader," writes Commander Stitt in his preface, "the name of the Shereef, Ali Haidar, may be unknown, but only a combination of unfortunate circumstances prevented his name from being numbered among the great personalitieés of the Middle East. As a psychological study, therefore, in addition to any historic value it may hold, I venture to hope the story will be of interest." It is not usual to write biographies of men who fail to reach greatness or distinction, and the value of this book therefore depends largely on the way in which the material has been handled. The fact that A Prince of, Arabia is interesting, in spite of the ordinary quality of the writing, indicates that the author has succeeded in a difficult task. One reason for his success may be the liberal use that has been made of the Shereef’s own diary. The lengthy quotations build up the portrait of a man of unusual character. Ali Haidar belonged,to a family which had descended from the Prophet Mohammed, and he was entitled by hereditary right and family nomination to the Emirate of Mecca. In the early 19th Century, however, a junior branch of the family had been established vin Mecca by the Turks, mainly to curb the increasing independence of the Emirs. It was the head of this branch, Hussein of the Hedjaz, who rebelled against the Turks under the guidance of T. E. Lawrence. Ali Haidar had grown up in Stamboul, and after the rebellion he was sent to Medina to restore Arab unity--an attempt that was nullified by the weakness of Turkish military policy. It was not long before the Shereef was back in Stamboul, and the rest of his life was qa story of unsuccessful efforts to obtain his rightful place in the Arab world. It quickly becomes obvious that Ali Haidar was not the sort of man to find an easy path through the intrigues which surrounded him. He was deeply religious, seeing the will of Allah in all that happened to him; and he steadfastly refused to enter into any sort of political entanglement. His rivals for supremacy in Islam were less scrupulous. They spent money, schemed’ and plotted, and did their best to defame his character. And they prevailed against him. Ali Haidar died in exile, frustrated to the end, but keeping un- dimmed a faith which made him a lonely and impressive figure. While" still a young man he had married an Englishwoman, and although he remained loyal to Turkey, his sympathies were privately with Britain. But he was living out of his time, and perhaps it was inevitable that {n a dubious moral environment his rectitude should be mistaken for weakness, — This book is most of all a biography, but it gives an interesting picture of the decay of the Sultanate and the revival of Turkish nationalism. Readers who have studied the Middle East

mainly from the British side will find in these pages much material that should help them to obtain a wider, view of recent history.