Prince Rashed Al-Khuzai

Prince Rashed Al Khuzai (1850–1957) (الأمير راشد الخزاعي, his full name, Prince Rashed bin Prince Khuzai bin Durgham bin Fayad bin Prince Mustapha bin Salameh Al Fraihat, was an Arab nationalist and an influential Sunni Islamic political leader and struggler in the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1937, he launched and ignited the Revolution of Ajloun by forming an Arab militant group named Rebels of Ajloun, which he led against colonialism until his death in 1957, he had a very strong and close relationship with Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam.

The political history and struggle of Ajloun
Before the victory of Turkish Empire (Ottomans) over the Mamluks in the battle of Marj Dabek, Ajloun Mountain (or Jabal Ajloun as it was stated in Arabic language) it was a center for leadership & base for emirates that hold and control all the area of Jordan till some parts of Palestine. The status of the rule of the Principality, and the spirit of leadership at that area was forced Ottomans to give Ajloun an advanced level, with the formation of Emirates of Ajloun (Sanjak - Governor of Ajloun) since 1517, which demonstrates the great history of Ajloun and prove its pivotal role as a focus for the region since a long time, perhaps Kufranjah town is the home of tribal and emirates governance, which is a family of Al-Fraihat, who was cementing through a number of Commissioners Princes who ruled that region hundreds of years and managed the protection of convoys pilgrimage in the region of the Levant too, enjoying great support and love from nation at that time, and this has enabled these leaders to carry out its political, historical, time-related stages, which serve as the leaders of the civil society, and executive authority, in addition to the clan after the old.

The area of Ajloun and the name of its historical Prince Rashed Al Khuzai are well known to the historical archive of the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the archive home of King Abd al Aziz Al Saud, and all international organizations, in particular on the political history of the Arab region, as the city of Ajloun in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is currently one of the cities that have an arm in the supply of basic All liberation movements, the struggle of Arab and Islamic arenas alike, especially the supply of the Palestinian revolution in 1936 (the revolution of Sheikh Izz el-Deen al-Qassam), and in this aspect the Government of Ajloun, which was formed at the beginning of what was called the Emirate of East Jordan in 1920 was one of the Governments and non-distinctive, despite the unprecedented imposition of the blackout and to change and the politicization of its history because of their national struggle against colonolism.

The Government of Ajloun that was mentioned in fake history books that were written by the Jordanian regime, this government was formed before the year 1920, and it was an emirate led by its Prince Rashid bin Khuzai Alfraihat - Prince of Ajloun as he was called which was adopted and approved from the Ottoman sultan, Prince Rashed was the ruler of South Levant area, which included all the area of Jordan and some parts from Palestine, before the formation of the Government of Ajloun in 1920, Prince Rashed was appointed Mr. Ali Niazi Al-Tal as governor for (Government of Ajloun) and assigned Lieutenant Abdullah Rehani, as a head of security and police at the time, and pointing out that Prince Rashid Al Khuzai was represented by the Ottoman sultan as a Prince of Ajloun. At the beginning of Ottoman rule in the region Sandjak Ajloun was formed in 1517, and it had included the Houran plains and all the present territory of Jordan and the city of Nablus.

Princes Rashed Al Khuzai was called in many names such as the prince of Ajloun Mountain, Father of Ajloun, the father of the revolution of Ajloun which was launched in 1937, Sandjak Ajloun, and the title of Godfather of Ajloun as well.

Emergence of a National Jordanian Prince
Within this context, which included the Arab region, especially south of the Levant, was born a Prince and a tribal leader named Prince Rashed Al-Khuzai as documented at the Ottoman Sultan Court, he was born in 1850 in the town of Kufranjeh center of Alfraihat tribe to which Prince Rashed belongs, a descendant of princes, where the rule of Worth the region from his father and forefathers, who led the leadership, generation after generation, he is the son of Prince Khuzai bin Durgham bin Fayyad bin Prince Mustafa bin Salameh Al-Fraihat.

Prince Rashed was able to make the Mountain of Ajloun a capital of an extended area under his authority which included Houran plains, Dur’aa, Irbid, Jerash, Ajloun, and extended his influence to Nablus city, which the Ottoman government could not shirk it, but rather resorted to the leadership in order to consolidate the management of this country, recognized by the lords commissioners and representatives of the leadership and people management under section edicts higher.

Prince Rashed Al Khuzai ruled the southern region of the Levant before the advent of the King Abdullah I who established Transjordan by the support of the British Mandate and its allies. Prince Rashed Al-Khuzai was originated in a house that is the focus of the leadership of the clan Ajloun, and educated in the basics of reading, writing, and the preservation of the Quran at the hands of a number of religious elders, known as the book, which offset the absence of public schools, or even the special limited time on some of the communities in specific places, the real education was received in the house of his father Prince Khuzai, which was a real university in the life sciences, where a lot of experience for the children and young people who enter the world of men early, and learn directly from the events, it has been the meeting place for ruling the region, house and government put forward the issues and decide according to customs and traditions, and has provided added and fertile life of his father, as a place frequented by those in need, and where the public meetings, where decisions are taken that apply to everyone. Prince Khuzai the father of Prince Rashed was able to prepare an army contained from thousands in a few hours and he was having a kind of collation with Al Adawn tribe, and Al-Fraihat Castle was under the sovereignty of that tribe and subject to their rule till the year 1922 then it had been taken by the Jordanian regime under the leadership of Crown Prince Abdullah I at that time, and was changed the name of the castle into Alrabad Castle then Ajloun Castle and its still its name till now.

Accompanied by Prince Rashed Al Khuzai significant events, have been re-formed by the impact of the political geography of the region as a whole, which inherited the leadership of the region since the Ottomans until the founding of the Principality of East Jordan, therefore, has played a prominent role heroic beyond the boundaries of the Arab region, where he has made contributions in a clear in Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and Libya.

Furthermore Prince Rashed Al Khuzai was the only one from Jordan who provided a direct support in the revolution of Sheikh Omar Al-Mouktar against Italian colonialism in Libya, therefore Prince Rashed supported the Libyan struggle against Italian colonial by afforded funds and provided Libyan revolution with ammunition and weapons through the mediators that he had met several times at Ajloun and Palestine. In addition to such visits Prince Rashed had sent many Jordanian-Palestinian rebels to Libya, and this fact reveals the dimensions of national Arabian thoughts stored at his vision, Prince Rashed always believed that all Arab countries should be united, so since he took over the responsibility of leadership, and appointed by the Turkish Sultan, he worked and set closer links with leaders in his surroundings, and began to hold meetings and meetings, and exchange messages with a number of men and the leaders of the Hijaz, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, in order to see the general conditions, and exchange of views on the reality of the nation and how to cope with the challenges that beset the nation.

The leadership of Prince Rashed Al Khuzai came as an extension of the ancestral history of his tribe warlords Alfraihat, that tribe which emerged several princes throughout history over hundreds of years, such as Prince Yusuf bin Barakat Alfraihat and those who ruled the region through their famous castle located in Irbid city which is named recently as "Saraya Irbid", as well as Prince Mustafa bin Salameh Al-Fraihat who was a well known prince too, and Al-Fraihat armies participated in ending the siege of Acre in 1831, and they have been always represented by a member at Ottoman Council, which has increased the weight of the tribe and its leading role in managing the affairs of the region of the Levant as well as the readiness of the organization of armies and supported directly by the Ottoman sultan.

Prince Rashed Al Khuzai Stands from the Unity of Religions
Prince Rashed Al Khuzai participated in many regional events, and when sectarian strife erupted in Lebanon, Syria, around the end of the Ottoman Empire, Prince Rashed Al Khuzai received refugees from the Christians from all the Levant and the worked for his nation and provided protection of Christians in East Jordan at that time, was the spark that sedition began in 1860 and continued for many years and completed the role of Prince Abdel Khader Aljazaery, and Prince Rashed declared at that time that any assault or abuse that would happen to any Christian, that would be considered an attack on his person and his tribe and all tribes under his rule and would be a penalty Similarly, and punishment from him without compromise or has relentlessly embraced.

Prince Rashed Al Khuzai noble stands with Christian communities from all parts of the Levant and his fruitful efforts to protect them from any harassment or killing, and calling for peaceful coexistence between religions and respect for all faiths, which directly contributed to the extinguishing of such fire of sedition. The gesture was the echo of the historical range of Christian denominations in all the Levant region and has its impact on Prince Rashed Al Khuzai by awarded the scarf sacred tomb from His Holiness the Pope “Bishop of Rome” and this was happened at 1887, and Prince Rashed was the first leader who received such a high holistic greeting from the entire Arab world at that time, and in view of the role played by, both of Prince Rashed Al Khuzai and Muhammad Ali of Egypt considered the only ones who won the title of Pasha, under the decree issued by Ottoman Sultan, which raised the envy of many leaders in that time, although Prince Al Khuzai enjoyed a privileged position among the leaders of the Arab and Islamic region, and played a clear political role.

Impact of Prince Rashed Al Khuzai in the Palestinian Issue
Before the formation of the Emirate of East Jordan, and before the emergence of local governments such as government of Ajloun in 1920, Prince Rashed Al Khuzai Emirate ruled to cover wide areas ranging from the plains and the shield of Houran, Irbid, Ajloun, Jarash, and even the city of Nablus, and it was known that Prince Rashed Al Khuzai directly supported and actually he was the main supporter for the Palestinian revolutions in 1935 and 1936, "Revolution of Izz el-Deen al-Qassam", and he provided direct protection to the rebels, the Palestinians and their leadership in the mountains of Ajloun and fortified them with supplies and weapons through the region called “Makadet Kraymeh” near Ajloun as well as direct meetings with the struggling Sheikh Izz el-Deen al-Qassam and Hajj Amin al-Husseini from Palestine, Prince Rashed also afforded the necessary funds for the Palestinian rebels through intermediaries, who were sending his aid to Palestinian revolution directly, in addition to the Prince Rashed multiple visits, these visits to Palestine, which was accompanied by the pro-Jordanian Prince Rashid sent to fight in Palestine, under the direct command of the Palestinian revolution and he brought several Palestinian militants wanted by the Jews and the British Mandate and settled them in Jordan to live among many Jordanian tribes.

As a direct result and in particular to the revolution of Sheikh Izz el-Deen al-Qassam fighter in Palestine and in direct support of Prince Rashed Al Khuzai, these noble stands was lead most of the Jordanian national clans loyal to Prince Rashed for a direct confrontation with the Jordanian regime, especially with Jordan's King Abdullah I and the British Mandate, which tried to liquidate Prince Rashed Al Khuzai by bombed his positions and killed many of the rebels loyal to the Jordanian Prince Al-Khuzai at that time, forcing him to leave the land beyond Jordan, to Saudi Arabia, and under the policy of pressure and fatigue by the British Mandate and his aides in the Emirate of East Jordan stated at that time, such serious political situations were forced Prince Rashed and a group of his fellow elders and leaders of Jordan in 1937 to leave Jordan into Saudi Arabia where Prince Al Khuzai lived there for several years in the hospitality of the late King Abd al Aziz Al Saud. It was a difficult period of political history of Jordan.

Remarkably, even Prince Rashed had left Jordan to Saudi Arabia, he continued his leadership and guidance of the Arab nationalists and loyalists to the idea of struggle and launching a kind of revolution that was named (Ajloun Revolution), although there were difficulties of communication in that time and since people in Jordan and Ajloun following the news of Rashed Al-Khuzai and his existence at Saudi Arabia, since that moment happened there was home of several popular revolts began in Jordan called the "revolution of Ajloun," formed from a group of loyalists to the national leader “Prince Rashed Al-Khuzai” They blew up the line of oil (oil pipelines) coming from Iraq via land Palestine and Jordan, who was a British mandate at that time, and it was adopted by Jordanian rebels. It was a kind of guerrilla war as a way to pressure the British Mandate and his aides to accept the return of Prince Rashed Al Khuzai to the land of Jordan. Prince Rashed was back to Jordan after he lived several years at Hijaz and this was come as a result of the tribal claims and most of the nations of Jordan, which was closely tied to Prince Rashed Al Khuzai like the late Sheikh Methkal Al-Fayez, and Sheikh Hadeetha Al-Kraisha who was known for his support of the Palestinian revolution and supportive to Prince Rashed stands and believes. Prince Rashid Al Khuzai was back home from Hijaz after he lived there nearly 8 years and since his entry to Jordan from Hijaz, he received a national greetings and celebrations from all the Jordanian tribes, Arabian rebels, as well as the Arab nationalists, and that moment was a turning point in the political history of Jordan.

Most of the Palestinian militants cling and believed in this Jordanian Prince, may have been the reason behind this is linked very closely with the struggling Sheikh Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Gods mercy. The majority of Palestinian fighters from the guerrilla during the war in Lebanon in 1982 had pictures of Prince Rashid Al Khuzai in their pockets and ammunition and even between the blood drops, side by side with images of Che Guevara (the Cuban freedom fighter) and images of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (Abu Ammar) confirming the images directly from the images of Arab solidarity.

National dimensions at Prince Rashed’s Vision
The idea of the Jordanian National Conference was set up to light by Prince Rashed bin Khuzai Al-Fraihat, and the falsification was to conceal this fact in the history of Jordan, who formally written to hide all the history of this revolutionary Jordanian prince. The first national conference was held at 1928 under the patronage of Prince Rashed Al Khuzai, and it was led by him with a main aim in refusing any kind of nationalization with Jewish, to refuse giving Palestine to the Jews, and resistance to the traitors in the east of Jordan, and to declare resistance against the Arab leaders that sold Palestine by all means, at the same time Prince Rashed Al Khuzai exposing and fighting against agents and brokers of the Jewish Agency in the east of Jordan, who, unfortunately, they sold some of Jordanian territory for the benefits of that Agency.

Prince Rashed Al Khuzai supported Arab liberation movements, such as the Syrian revolution, and town of Kufranjeh was received hundreds of activists who have fled from Syria as of July 25, 1920, and Prince Rashed provided them with the needed support from all tribes, and afforded all their needs to continue their struggles. Prince Rashed Al Khuzai made his birthplace “Kufranjeh” as a main stations for members of the Independence Party as well, while Syrian leaders of the Revolution were prepared for their revolution from Prince Rashed home which was a base for messaging and communications to the Syrians rebels, as well as Prince Rashed had a very distinguished relations and close cooperation with Prince Sultan Pasha Al-Atrash and leaders of Mount of Lebanon in general, in addition to the unprecedented support of the Libyan revolution against Italian colonialism.

Prince Rashed Al Khuzai was able to transform Kufranjeh and Ajloun as a base of struggle against colonialism, and became a member in a number of militant movements and parties, including Arab nationalists, and the Jordanian people party, and he had led a number of manifestations of protest, where he led a demonstration named famous IRBID demonstration that was ignited to protest against the executions of Palestinian activists Fuad Hijazi, Atta Al-Zeer, and Mohammad Khalil Jamjoum by the British on June 17, 1930, and after the Buraq revolution that erupted in the city of Jerusalem on August 9, 1929, days of the British Mandate on Palestine, Prince Rashed also has had a prominent role in the Islamic Conference held in Jerusalem, which enhanced the Islamic influence to Jerusalem. The main goal of Prince Rashed Al Khuzai was to achieve the unity of the Arabs and to free them from colonial systems and their agents in the region, with the view to rid the nation of colonialism is to achieve unity, and to do everything in his power to achieve this end, and this was confirmed during his participation in the Bloudan Conference, which was held by a large number of leaders from the Arab Middle East, for the unity of the Levant, which was presided over by Naji al-Suwaidi.

Outcome of the struggle of Prince Rashid Al Khuzai
The revolution of Prince Rashed Al-Khuzai in 1937 came as a general outcome of Jordanian needs for freedom, democracy, and for the unity of Jordanian and Palestinian people. Many of the information related to Prince Rashed Al Khuzai had been hidden by the Jordanian regime, especially his pivotal role in the political history of Jordan because of the long prestigious history of this Prince, his highborn family, and his struggle against colonialism in all around Arabic & Islamic world, as well as his political opposition against Jordanian regime during the establishment of the Emirate of East Jordan, and his vital role in supporting the Palestinian revolution in 1936, and anti-Zionism, especially with regard to combat the sale of land to the Jewish Agencies customers in the east of Jordan.

Jordanian political system fought fiercely the history of that Prince and his family, furthermore Prince Rashed's family and even his grandchildren were clearly excluded from the receipt of any official position at the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and this was come as a natural conclusion to conceal the history of that Prince, his family, and his grandchildren as well, and their pivotal role in the history of the Middle East.

Honorable stands of Prince Rashed Al Khuzai will never be forgotten or erased from the memory of the Arab and Muslim countries. Prince Rashid was always a popular symbol for all nations struggling to achieve their freedom as well as his close comrades like Sheikh Izz el-Deen al-Qassam fighter in Palestine and Sheikh Omar Al-Moktar fighter in Libya.

Death and legacy
Prince Rashed Al Khuzai had died in his birthplace Kufranjeh in Ajloun at 1957 after a mysterious life where many of its chapters were hidden by the Jordanian regime and some of its recent leaderships that were created in Jordan supported by the colonialism.

Memorials and honors

 * Prince Rashed Al-Khuzai had awarded the “scarf sacred tomb” from His Holiness the Pope “Bishop of Rome” in 1887.


 * Poetry in Arabic “Jewel of Arabism” (Jewel of Arabism, 18/01/2011, by Poet Mr. Yazeed Alrashed Al-Khuzai- This poetry were written and gifted on the anniversary of Prince Rashed Al-Khuzai death).


 * Prose Poems in Arabic “al-Robaeyat Al Rashidiya” (Rashidiya Quartets, 2009, by Poet Mr. Mahmmoud Abdu Fraihat- These poems were written and gifted on the anniversary of Prince Rashed Al-Khuzai death).


 * His Highness Prince Rashed Al Khuzai Group, it’s a Facebook group created by an American researcher Mr. Nasir M. Tuqan and worldwide teamwork, Houston, TX, USA.