"ملف 61/11 VI (D 102) مسائل متنوعة خاصة بالحجاز ونجد" [ظ‎‎١‎٩‎٦] (٥٢٢/٤١٩)

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87. Sha'ibi Family.
Important in Mecca as the Keepership of the Key of the Ka'aba is hereditary
in the family. The prerogative is very lucrative because all persons entering the
Ka'aba are supposed to make a present to the Keeper according to their means.
The family are admittedly descendants of the Quraysh tribe, but not of the
Prophet. It is claimed that the pedigree is continuous from pre-Islamic times
and that the right to keep the key also dates from that early period. According
to one story, there was a blot on the escutcheon in the 19th century, when the male
descent failed and the succession passed through a lady of the family who married
a slave. The late Keeper's physical appearance suggested that this might be
true, but there is no proof of it. Another branch of the family, claiming similar
descent, formerly lived in Tunis, but now resides in Mecca. The present Keeper
of the Key is—
(1) Muhammad ash-Sha'ibi, an elderly man, probably the nephew of the late
Keeper, who died in January last and whom this relative was appointed to
succeed.
The following two persons, who have come to notice in connexion with the
activities of expatriated Hejazis against Ibn Sa'ud, are not improbably members
of one or other branch of this family :—
(2) M. Huseyn Sha'iba. —Accompanied Huseyn ad-Dabbagh {q.v.) on his visit
to India in 1927.
(3) Hasan Slntiiba. —Mentioned in reports from Aden as a Hejazi, who was
in 1932 intimate with Huseyn ad-Dabbagh, and had been a school-master at Terim
in Hadhramaut before coming from Mokalla to Aden in March 1932. If of
sufficient age, he may possibly be identical with the man of the same name, who
was a member for Mecca of the Turkish Parliament for some years, fled from
Constantinople to Mecca in 1916, and at first supported but afterwards turned
against King Huseyn.
88. Sherifian Family.
Also called Hashimites by virtue of descent from the great-grandfather of
the Prophet, but this name seems to be more particularly affected by the family
of King Huseyn. There have been in the past and are in the present numerous
families claiming this descent through one or other of the sons of 'Ali, the fourth
Caliph and son-in-law of the Prophet. There are in Arabia itself many
individuals bearing the title of Sherif, which is held to imply descent from
Hasan, the elder son of ' Ali, and whole clans known collectively as Ashraf. The
strains most conspicuous in the Hejaz trace this descent through an intermediate
common ancestor Hasan ibn Abu Numey, who was Grand Sherif of Mecca in the
latter part of the 16th century. Three groups of his descendants are accounted
specially important, viz.—
The Dhawi Zeyd,
The Abadila, a particular branch of whom are the Dhawi 'Aun, and
The Dhawi Barakat.
All Grand Sherifs of Mecca in the 17th century were drawn from the rival
Dhawi Zeyd and Dhawi 'Aun. The last Grand Sherif belonging to the former
was 'Abdul-Mutallib, who held the post three times at long intervals. The
majority belonged to the Dhawi 'Aun, of whom came the late King Huseyn and
his sons.
Although the most important members of the Sherifian family now live
outside Sa'udi Arabia, their connexion with the Hejaz is so close as to justify this
general notice. The following list, very incomplete, shows those who have come
to notice in recent years :—
(A) Dhdwi Zeyd.
(1) 'Ali Haydar. —Now elderly. Formerly resided in Constantinople.
Worked in with the Young Turks and was at one time Minister of Auqaf.
Appointed Grand Sherif to supersede King Huseyn in or about 1917, but was
naturally unable to assume the post effectively. Sought early in 1926 for British
support in obtaining post of Regent or Governor of Hejaz under Ibn Sa'ud.
Moved later that year to Beirut, where he still resides. Has several sons, the
eldest of whom Abdul-Mejid is married to a daughter of his namesake, the