The Shaykh of Shaykhs: Mithqal al-Fayiz and Tribal Leadership in Modern Jordan

by Yoav Alon

Overview

Shaykh Mithqal al-Fayiz's life spanned a period of dramatic transformation in the Middle East. Born in the 1880s during a time of rapid modernization across the Ottoman Empire, Mithqal led his tribe through World War I, the development and decline of colonial rule and founding of Jordan, the establishment of the state of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict that ensued, and the rise of pan-Arabism. As Mithqal navigated regional politics over the decades, he redefined the modern role of the shaykh.

In following Mithqal's remarkable life, this book explores tribal leadership in the modern Middle East more generally. The support of Mithqal's tribe to the Jordanian Hashemite regime extends back to the creation of Jordan in 1921 and has characterized its political system ever since. The long-standing alliances between tribal elites and the royal family explain, to a large extent, the extraordinary resilience of Hashemite rule in Jordan and the country's relative stability. Mithqal al-Fayiz's life and work as a shaykh offer a notable individual story, as well as a unique window into the history, society, and politics of Jordan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804799324
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	07/20/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Yoav Alon is Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University. He is the author of The Making of Jordan: Tribes, Colonialism, and the Modern States (2009).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1 Born a Shaykh 7

2 From Maverick to Powerful Shaykh 27

3 The Decade of Power and Glory 49

4 Between Tent, Camp, and House 81

5 Times of Crisis 103

6 Disgruntled Accommodation 139

Epilogue: Jordan after Mithqal 161

Notes 169

Bibliography 205

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

"Yoav Alon removes Shaykh Mithqal from the realm of Orientalist stereotype and rightfully places him at the center of Jordanian history. Mithqal was a complicated, charismatic man, and Alon shows us how he thought and maneuvered, how he adapted to radical socioeconomic change, and how he lived in public and private. Vividly told and grounded in meticulous archival and oral historical research, The Shaykh of Shaykhs will transform the way we understand the tribal leaders who shaped the contemporary Middle East. A rare and fascinating study."—Andrew Shryock, University of Michigan

"An outstanding study of leadership and authority in Bedouin society. Mithqal was one of the last great Arab shaykhs, and in Yoav Alon he found the perfect biographer. A remarkable achievement."—Eugene Rogan, University of Oxford, author of The Arabs: A History and The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East

"The Shaykh of Shaykhs is remarkable, persuasive, and a good read. Yoav Alon persuasively spells out how understanding tribal leadership in Jordan's past remains essential for understanding the political and social realities and constraints following the 'Arab Spring.'"—Dale F. Eickelman, author of The Middle East and Central Asia: An Anthropological Approach

"In telling Mithqal's story, Alon strikes a delicate balance between empathy and objectivity. His account is entertaining, full of anecdotes and fsacinating personal, political and sociological details."—Sally Bland, Jordan Times

"Alon has done an outstanding job....The many anecdotes with which Alon peppers the story make this book a joy to read. In fact, while this is a book that will certainly offer a lot of new information to scholars of Jordanian tribal life, it is written in a very accessible way."—Joas Wagemakers, Die Welt Des Islams

"[A] well-written and often richly descriptive picture of the patriarch of one of Jordan's most notable political families that serves as a lens for both specialist and nonspecialist readers to consider the crafting of a state, the narratives that are made to frame it and its modernity, and the intersection of interpersonal and state politics in both....With The Shaykh of Shayks, Yoav Alon has given us another piece of critical scholarship with which to foster better, critical understanding of complex histories with immediate relevance."—Elena D. Corbett, International Journal of Middle East Studies

From the Publisher

"In telling Mithqal's story, Alon strikes a delicate balance between empathy and objectivity. His account is entertaining, full of anecdotes and fsacinating personal, political and sociological details."

Jordan Times - Sally Bland

"An outstanding study of leadership and authority in Bedouin society. Mithqal was one of the last great Arab shaykhs, and in Yoav Alon he found the perfect biographer. A remarkable achievement."

University of Oxford, author of The Arabs: A History and The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle E - Eugene Rogan

"Yoav Alon removes Shaykh Mithqal from the realm of Orientalist stereotype and rightfully places him at the center of Jordanian history. Mithqal was a complicated, charismatic man, and Alon shows us how he thought and maneuvered, how he adapted to radical socioeconomic change, and how he lived in public and private. Vividly told and grounded in meticulous archival and oral historical research, The Shaykh of Shaykhs will transform the way we understand the tribal leaders who shaped the contemporary Middle East. A rare and fascinating study."

University of Michigan - Andrew Shryock

"[A] well-written and often richly descriptive picture of the patriarch of one of Jordan's most notable political families that serves as a lens for both specialist and nonspecialist readers to consider the crafting of a state, the narratives that are made to frame it and its modernity, and the intersection of interpersonal and state politics in both....With The Shaykh of Shayks, Yoav Alon has given us another piece of critical scholarship with which to foster better, critical understanding of complex histories with immediate relevance."

International Journal of Middle East Studies - Elena D. Corbett

"Alon has done an outstanding job....The many anecdotes with which Alon peppers the story make this book a joy to read. In fact, while this is a book that will certainly offer a lot of new information to scholars of Jordanian tribal life, it is written in a very accessible way."

Die Welt Des Islams - Joas Wagemakers

"The Shaykh of Shaykhs is remarkable, persuasive, and a good read. Yoav Alon persuasively spells out how understanding tribal leadership in Jordan's past remains essential for understanding the political and social realities and constraints following the 'Arab Spring.'"

author of The Middle East and Central Asia: An Anthropological Approach - Dale F. Eickelman