File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [‎117v] (245/792)

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APPENDIX “ B
Extract from the Mecca newspaper " UMM-AL-QURA ” No. 109 of January 14th, 1927.
Appreciation of Ibn Saud's Government by a certain Suleiman Ziauddin.
Since the year 1326 I have frequently visited the Hejaz. I have seen its cities, its people
and its tribesmen and I have read some of its history. I learnt that after the brilliant era of the
Abbasides, the Hejaz fell into neglect. It became a burden to every Moslem country claiming
the Caliphate, and its people were a burden to the Moslem nations. So the Moslem nations left
the Hejaz to its own devices until the country reached the following state ; roads interrupted,'
pilgrims killed for their pitiful clothes, villages deserted : The iil d ?eds of the beduin prevailed :
Locked up in their cities, townsmen could only travel from place to place by permission of
the tribesmen.
From the end of the Great War until the last fall of Jeddah the same ruin continued •
What was prospering was destroyed along with what was decaying ; heavy and unjust taxes
were laid on the people, the beduin were in a state of anarchy ; security, education and religion
were neglected.
The present Hejaz Government in spite of its small income and although the country had
reached ruin and poverty, has done its duty and brought about security on the roads, in the
cities and deserts. It has exerted all its power in this direction, sparing neither men nor money.
If you travel in the desert from the Hejaz mountains to the sea, you will find nothing to harm
e -en a child except the hot air and the cold air. If you follow the Red Sea wind you will reach
N jd, the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. without fear. So, albeit the Nejdians are so ambi-,
tious as you say to govern the Hejaz, it must be admitted that they are capable of doing so.
They have caused prayer to be performed and alms given, rendered folk safe in their families
and properties ; they have enforced the lawful and prevented the unlawful; they have made ‘
security on the roads ; they have begun to teach the bedium religion and to help the poor of the
tribes/ They are beneficient towards their kind, severe to hypocrites and merciful to believers.
Did he who sat on the Hashimite throne accomplish any of this ?
As to the question of annexing Akaba, Ma’an, Tebuk and Mudawwara to Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan , the
Nejdians have nothing to do with the matter. You should ask Sherif Abdullah, Sherif Ali and
His Majesty their father about it. Is there any proof of the fact that the annexation of those
places is by the consent of the monarch of Nejd ? Never. :
As to the worries of Sultan Ibn Saud, they are not as were reported to you, but as follows :
All the worries of the Sultan and King are due to the non-union of the Arabs to do the good, to
avoid the evil, to their omission to be frank in speaking the truth and to distinguish between the
good and the evil.
With regard to the rumoured war between the King and the tribe of Beni Malek, no war has ’
broken out between the two parties. Three detachments were not sent out against the tribe.
The truth is that some hotheads disobeyed, but they were brought back to their senses and
repentance by a show of power.
The tribe of Beni Malek is still existing and if anybody wishes to discover the truth he can
easily go himself and verify my statement.
As to the Ghamid and Zahran tribes, they are, praise be to God, as obedient as ever.
As to the Imam Yahya’s troops occupying Birk, that is also news fabricated by hypocrites.
For in Birk the Hejaz-Nejd flag is still flying, and there is no dispute between the Hejaz and the
Yemen, neither is there the former enmity between the two monarchs. On the contrary, the
friendship and affection is better than ever before.
As to the report of Mohammed ibn ’ Aidh fleeing to Asir, the informer would do well to
come and see him at Mecca.
)
As to the baseless informations to the effect that the Nejdians are angry at the assistance and
the protection shown by His Majesty the King to the Egyptians, do you think that a wise
Nejdian or other will say so ? Every body knows that the efforts His Majesty has made in
that incident (of the Mahmal) were superlative to human thought. For His Majesty exposed
himself together with his sons and relatives to prevent any fighting and bore for the sake of peace
what no human being but a eunuch can bear, putting the satisfaction of God before everything
else.
As to Feisal el-Darwish* and the news of his threatening Medina, it is a joke which I can
answer. I am now at Medina and can only see caravans of tribesmen from all parts of Nejd
and the Hejaz coming to Medina with wheat, dates, butter and all kinds of merchandise, and no
one hinders them. El-Darwish is a Moslem believer and is an obedient loyal subject of his
imam, El-Darwish and all Nejdians have to obey their monarch.
As for his desire to make conquests, His Majesty the King did not wish to make a conquest
(of the Hejaz), but was forced to do it. It is not to be wondered at that a pure Arab from the
heart of the peninsula should act as a chief of the Arabs. He is a man who obeys God and his
Prophet, considers himself as a servant of his religion and nation. What matter he be born a
beduin, provided his intention is good, his mind is clear and he loves prosperity and education?
*Cf. Serial No. (105).