New issue of Al Qibla paper reprinted

AMMAN — The Jordan Times distributes on Monday the 31st issue of Al Qibla newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Great Arab Revolt. 

The newspaper dedicates the front page and part of the second to run the 3rd manifesto of King Hussein Bin Ali, who signs the manifesto with the title “Sharif of Mecca and King of Arab Countries”.

In the manifesto, King Hussein reiterates why the revolt was launched, highlighting that it was not a rebellion against the Ottoman rule and the Muslim Turkish people, but rather against a “group of immature” politicians who “stole power from its owners”, referring to the government led by the ultranationalist Union and Progress Party, which reduced the role of the caliph to an insignificant minimum. 

In a news story covering a meeting of the general assembly of the Turanist Party, the paper underlines decisions that merged Sharia (Islamic law) courts with regular civil tribunals, apparently in a bid to eliminate their role in society. 

The four-page paper, which stopped printing in 1924, includes in the issue at-a-glance news about developments in the revolt’s battles, WWI and daily life in the newly born Kingdom of Hijaz. 

The distribution of Al Qibla (1916-1924) by The Jordan Times and other local dailies is part of celebrations of the centennial of the Great Arab Revolt.