The Shaykh of Shaykhs: Mithqal al-Fayiz and Tribal Leadership in Modern Jordan

by Yoav Alon

Shaykh Mithqal al-Fayiz's life spanned a period of dramatic transformation in the Middle East. Born in the 1880s during a time of rapid modernization across the Ottoman Empire, Mithqal led his tribe through World War I, the development and decline of colonial rule and founding of Jordan, the establishment of the state of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict that ensued, and the rise of pan-Arabism. As Mithqal navigated regional politics over the decades, he redefined the modern role of the shaykh. In following Mithqal's remarkable life, this book explores tribal leadership in the modern Middle East more generally. The support of Mithqal's tribe to the Jordanian Hashemite regime extends back to the creation of Jordan in 1921 and has characterized its political system ever since. The long-standing alliances between tribal elites and the royal family explain, to a large extent, the extraordinary resilience of Hashemite rule in Jordan and the country's relative stability. Mithqal al-Fayiz's life and work as a shaykh offer a notable individual story, as well as a unique window into the history, society, and politics of Jordan.

Genres: History, Middle East

242 pages, Hardcover

Published July 20, 2016

Reviews

[987643467881 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was initially a bit hesitant about reading this book. Even though the topic seemed interesting, I thought the cover was a bit gimmicky (yes, I sometimes judge books by their covers :) ) so I decided to do a little bit of research into the author to help me decide. An author's credentials don't always say much about the quality of a book, so the fact that the author is a senior lecturer at Tel Aviv University, with a PhD from Oxford University, wasn't really what convinced me that the book was worth a try. The fact that the book was published by Stanford University Press didn't necessarily give me high hopes either, but at least I was able surmise from this that I wouldn't be in for a travel diary in the guise of a history book that would eventually turn into a journey towards “self discovery” (which is a thread that can find its way into a surprisingly vast range of topics). The fact that the author had some support from professors Eugene Rogan and Asher Susser, and that the book was written with the full cooperation of Shaykh Mithqal al-Fayiz's family, as well as with the approval from the Jordanian royal family, did make me feel slightly more optimistic and curious about the book though.

I should start by saying that “The Shaykh of Shaykhs” is not just a gimmicky title as I initially mistook it for - it's an actual title given to shaykhs (a translation of “shaykh al-mashayikh”), which is perhaps a good analogy for my experience with the book: it turned out to be a lot more serious than the title and cover had lead me to believe. It's not only an incredibly informative book, but an engaging one too – the biography angle made the historic facts and details a lot easier to remember and connect, which is something I often struggle with with many other serious history books.

I thought the book did a great job of giving a quick, basic summary of the history of Jordan (which was necessary for someone like myself with little prior knowledge on the topic), and providing an intimate look into the complex public and private life of shaykh Mithqal, and using his story as a way to give a more general insight into tribal life and the dramatic transformations that Jordan went through during his lifetime (from his birth in the 1880s to his death in 1967).

I personally found the last 3 chapters to be the most entertaining; they focus more on Mithqal's personal life, his relationships, his responsibilities and obligations as a shaykh, possible motives for various political actions, etc. Chapter 5 was particularly interesting and revealing of Mithqal's psyche; it dealt with the nomads' crisis in the 1930s and Mithqal's desperate courting of the Zionist movement in Palestine in the 1930s (in an attempt to relieve some of his economic strains and to use as leverage in his negotiations with other parties).

The book reveals an interesting, complex character who could be warm, kind and affectionate (e.g. personally checking up on his foreign guest, writer William Seabrook, in the middle of a cold night, taking him a quilt and “tucking him in” to make sure he was warm enough), but also showed his darker side (e.g. on one occasion beating his wife “with a whip until she bled”). Although many of his political strategies were those of a cold, calculating tactician and opportunist (with personal/tribal motives rather than any ideological ones), he also proved at times to be sentimental enough to maintain long lasting bonds and friendships, even when they didn't necessarily suit him all the time (e.g. his friendship with Aharon Cohen, the secretary of the Arab Bureau of the Jewish Agency’s Political Department in the early 1930s) - perhaps his success was partially due to the fact that he understood that these two seemingly contradictory sides to his personality didn't necessarily have to be mutually exclusive.

One of the most memorable little stories in the book was one that the author obtained through interviews with Aharon Cohen's children, which I thought reflected Mithqal's personality really well (or at least my impression of it): late one night Cohen returns home with Mithqal, who fancies some bean soup, Cohen's wife reluctantly obliges and the next day the Cohens discover that “Mithqal had left a £5 note—almost the equivalent of Cohen’s monthly salary. A few days later, moreover, a sack full of beans arrived from Transjordan. The family saw the money as thanks for their hospitality and the beans as a friendly hint that bean soup should be made with black beans, not red ones. Alternatively, these gestures may well have been subtle criticisms of his hosts. Mithqal might have been suggesting to the Cohens that they had made him feel like a client, rather than a welcome guest, and that the soup was somehow inadequate, perhaps because of the reluctant spirit in which it had been prepared.”

Mithqal's rise to power and his ability to hold onto it by adapting to change and successfully navigating regional politics (effectively redefining the modern role of a shaykh and thus securing his family's prominent position in Jordanian society and politics, which it maintains to this day) not only makes for an entertaining personal story, but also offers a unique insight not only into the history of Jordanian society, but also its current socio-political landscape (the author attributes the the country's relative stability and the resilience of the Jordanian Hashemite regime to the long-standing alliances formed between the royal family and the tribal elites) – which makes this a great book for both a casual reader like myself, as well as anyone interested in both past and present Middle Eastern politics in general.

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief and readable account of the life of an important shaykh whose career ran in tandem with that of Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, the emir of Transjordan and eventual first king of Jordan. The Hashemite dynasty was embroiled with the Fayiz family, no two members perhaps more interconnected than Mithqal and Abdullah himself (though Mithqal's son Akif and Abdullah's grandson Hussein might have given their progenitors a run for their money). As Jordan slowly emerged from the British Protectorate, Mithqal deftly navigated the politics of the Bani Sakhr while simultaneously playing the various players in the region off one another to his and Abdullah's benefit. If at times Mithqal seemed to need to play these same regional entities against Abdullah to enhance his own profit and prestige, well, that seems to have been the price of doing business in the early days of the kingdom. In Alon's account, Mithqal is a savvy operator who uses relationships with Palestinians and Zionists, Syrian and Arabian tribes, and even British and French colonial 'proconsuls' to get his way. He was smart and apparently only rarely overreached himself. In Alon's account, Mithqal seems to have been the shaykh of shaykhs first, and one of the erstwhile fathers of Jordan second. In all his dealings, his primary motive seems to have been to retain and enhance his tribal prestige and, where possible, assist the emerging Hashemite dynasty—so long as it furthered his own interests to do so. He is a relevant if minor player in the settlement of Jews in the Transjordan prior to Israeli independence because of his willingness to engage with Zionists when it was to his own profit. Alon's narrative is a well-researched, brisk account that contrasts with the more romanticized narrative of American travel writer and adventurer William Seabrook, who spent time in Mithqal's circle in the 1920s.

[Valectrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography of Shaykh Mithqal al-Fayiz coincides with the post-WWI era when Britain, France, the Saudis and the Zionists were engaged in various machinations to bring their particular vision for this region into being. Mithqal was truly a larger-than-life personality who spent those decades jockeying for position among the players and upholding the traditional role of shaykh and tribal leader. Alon does an excellent job of describing games being played and providing context for those games. If you have an interest in the region and its culture and history, this book this book is well worth your attention.