Supreme Muslim Council
Encyclopedia
The Supreme Muslim Council (SMC) was the highest body in charge of Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 community affairs in Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...

 under British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 control. It was established to create an advisory body composed of Muslims and Christians with whom the High Commissioner could consult. The Muslim leaders, however, sought to create an independent council to supervise the religious affairs of its community, especially in matters relating to religious trusts (waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

) and shariah courts. The British acceded to these proposals and formed the SMC which controlled waqf funds, the orphan funds, and shariah courts, and responsible for appointing teachers and preachers. The SMC continued to exist until January 1951, when it was dissolved by Jordan and its function transferred to the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf.

A SMC was reconstituted in Israeli-occupied territories in 1967 as the judicial authority of the Muslim community in Israel in matters of personal status of its members under Israel's confessional community
Millet (Ottoman Empire)
Millet is a term for the confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire. It refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system...

 system.

There are several Supreme Muslim Councils which administer Muslim affairs in several countries, for example in the Russian Federation and Kenya.

British Palestine period

The High Commissioner of Palestine, Herbert Samuel
Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel GCB OM GBE PC was a British politician and diplomat.-Early years:...

, issued an order in December 1921 (in anticipation of the start of the British Mandate of Palestine, which did not start till September 1923) establishing a Supreme Muslim Council with authority over all the Muslim waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

s and sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

 courts in Palestine. It was to consist of five members - a president and four members, two of whom were to represent the Ottoman district of Jerusalem and the remaining two to represent the Ottoman districts of Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...

 and Acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

. All were to be paid from government and waqf funds. The SMC had a budget of £50,000.

At the first election, held on 9 January 1922, the fifty-three former electors to the last Ottoman parliament, elected Hajj Amīn al-Husseini
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...

 as president, by a vote of 40 out of 47. The other members were Muhammad Effendi Murad, 'Abd al-Latif Bey Salah, Sa'id al-Shawa and 'Abd al-Latif al-Dajani. Amin al-Husayni had previously been made Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque.-Ottoman era:...

 by Samuel following the death of his half-brother, Kamil al-Husayni
Kamil al-Husayni
Kamil al-Husayni was a Sunni Muslim religious leader of the Palestinian people and was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1908 until his death....

, on 31 March 1921. Amīn al-Tamīmī was appointed as acting president when Amīn al-Husayni was abroad, The secretaries appointed were ‘Abdallah Shafĩq and Muhammad al’Afĩfĩ and from 1928-1930 the secretary was Amin's cousin Jamāl al-Husaynī
Jamal al-Husayni
Jamal al-Husayni , , was born in Jerusalem and was a member of the Husayni family.Husayni served as Secretary of the Palestinian Arab Action Committee and the Muslim Supreme Council. He was founder and chairman of the Palestine Arab Party and its delegate to the Arab Higher Committee, led by his...

, Sa’d al Dīn al-Khaţīb and later another of the Amīn al-Husayni's relatives ‘Alī al-Husaynī, ‘Ajaj Nuwayhid, a Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...

 was an adviser.

The president of SMC had the powers of employment over all Muslim officials throughout Palestine. The Anglo American committee termed it a powerful political machine. Amin rarely delegated authority, and most of the SMC's executive work was carried out by Amīn al-Husayni. Nepotism and favoritism played a central part to Amīn al-Husayni's tenure as president of the SMC.

Subsequent elections were held in 1926, 1929, and 1930, though the 1926 election was annulled by the High Court of Justice and its members chosen by the Mandatory government.

The Arab Higher Committee
Arab Higher Committee
The Arab Higher Committee was the central political organ of the Arab community of Mandate Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and comprised the leaders of Palestinian Arab clans under the mufti's...

 was established on 25 April 1936, after the start of the 1936-39 Arab revolt. Amin al-Husayni was president and included several member of the Supreme Muslim Council, including Jamal al-Husayni
Jamal al-Husayni
Jamal al-Husayni , , was born in Jerusalem and was a member of the Husayni family.Husayni served as Secretary of the Palestinian Arab Action Committee and the Muslim Supreme Council. He was founder and chairman of the Palestine Arab Party and its delegate to the Arab Higher Committee, led by his...

, brother of Amin al-Husayni and Yaqub al-Ghusayn
Yaqub al-Ghusayn
Yaqub al-Ghussein was an aristocratic Palestinian landowner from Ramla and founder of the Youth Congress Party. He graduated in law from the University of Cambridge. Ghussein was elected president of the first National Congress of Arab Youth, held in Jaffa in January 1932. He was a member and...

. The AHC was outlawed in September 1937 after being implicated in the assassination of the Acting District Commissioner for Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

 Lewis Yelland Andrews
Lewis Yelland Andrews
Lewis Yelland Andrews . He was a son of A.E. Andrews from Sydney. Andrews had fought in World War I for the Australian Imperial Forces. He later served as British district commissioner for Galilee. His assassination on 26 September 1937, caused Britain to respond by outlawing the Arab Higher...

 by Galilean members of the al-Qassam group on September 26, as well as other anti-British activities. The British commenced to arrest the members of the AHC, including members of the SMC who were on the AHC, but Amin al-Husayni fled the country to avoid arrest. Amin al-Husayni's position as president of the Supreme Muslim Council was terminated, but the SMC continued to function.

Post-Mandate period

The SMC continued in existence under the British but was dissolved in 1948 after Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

 occupied Jerusalem. The Supreme Muslim Council was dismantled in January 1951 by Jordan, and all the Palestinian waqf (charitable institutions) and the juridicial system was placed under the control of the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf. The SMC had already been crippled by the loss of vast properties in areas that became the territory of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

Current status

The Supreme Muslim Council was reconstituted in Jerusalem under Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i rule after the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

 in 1967. It is presently the judicial authority of the Muslim community in Israel in matters of personal status of its members under Israel's confessional community
Millet (Ottoman Empire)
Millet is a term for the confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire. It refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system...

 system.

Hasan Tahboub
Hasan Tahboub
Hasan Fateen Tahboub , was a leader of the Arab community in Jerusalem, Head of the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem and Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs in the Palestinian Authority...

 was the head of the SMC (1993-1998) and Minister of Waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

 and Religious Affairs in the Palestinian Authority (1994-1998). In 2006, Na'if Rajoub was the Palestinian minister in charge of the Waqf.
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