Faidi al-Alami

Faidi al-Alami
فيضي العلمي
Faidi al-Alami, in Jerusalem, with his two children, Na'amite and Musa
Mayor of Jerusalem
In office
1906–1909
Preceded byMusa Kazim al-Husayni
Succeeded byHussein al-Husayni
Representative of Jerusalem in Ottoman Parliament
In office
1914–?
Personal details
NationalityPalestinian
ChildrenMusa al-Alami (son)
ParentMusa al-Alami (father)

Faidi/Fidi/Fedi/Faydi Effendi[1] el/al-'Alami (1865[2][3] or 1881[4]: 117  – 1924[2][3][4]; Arabic: فيضي العلمي) was Mayor of Jerusalem from 1906 to 1909.[2] Among his legacies was having helped improve the city and expand municipal services leading to an increase in construction of Christian institutions and Jewish neighborhoods outside of the Old City.[4]

Career

Before serving as Mayor, al-Alami was a tax official for the district authority.[2][5][4] then a member of the judicial committee that worked with the qadi,[4] and then he was appointed, in 1902, as district commissioner/director/officer of the Bethlehem subdistrict,[2][4][6] thereafter serving in an elected role on the Jerusalem municipal council.[4]

After serving as Mayor, he was appointed to the administrative council of Jerusalem.[2][4] From 1914 to 1918, he was elected as one of three representatives of the sanjak of Jerusalem in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies.[2][4][6][5]

He also compiled and published a concordance of the Qur'an.[2][4]

Family background and personal life

His father was Musa 'Alami, who previously served as Jerusalem mayor, during the 1870s.[4][5] He was married to Zuleikha al-Ansari, with whom he had two children: a son Musa/Mousa Bey[1][2] (who was assistant attorney-general of Palestine under the British mandate[7]) and a daughter Na'mati/Nai'mati/Na'amite/Ni'mati[1] (who married Jamal al-Husseini[7]).[6][8]

For many years, Faidi al-Alami was the head of the 'Alami extended family, managing its extensive properties and endowments.[4] The Alamis were among "the most prominent landowning families from Jerusalem."[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c American Colony (Jerusalem). Photo Department, photographer (1870–1935). "Fedi Effendi el-Alami [Faidi al-Alami], Na'amite (daughter), Mousa Bey (son). LC-DIG-ppmsca-18411-00008 (digital file from original on page 12, no. 8)". Studio portraits of members of the American Colony (Jerusalem), friends, and associates. Library of Congress. LCCN 2007675263. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Palestinian Personalities: A: AL-ALAMI, FAIDI (1865-1924)". The Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA). Archived from the original on 23 May 2017.
  3. ^ a b Cahoon, Ben. "Jerusalem". WorldStatesmen.org. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Benvenisti, Meron (1996). City of Stone: The Hidden History of Jerusalem. University of California Press. pp. 116–118. ISBN 0-520-20768-8. OCLC 42417559. OL 3263035W – via EBSCOhost.
  5. ^ a b c d Fischbach, Michael R. (2005). "al-Alami (family; Jerusalem)". In Mattar, Philip (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-6986-6.
  6. ^ a b c "Musa Alami - Politicians (1897 - 1984)". Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest. 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Faidi al-Alami with his two children, Ni'mati and Musa, Jerusalem, c. 1907". British Mandate Jerusalemites Photo Library. 11 June 2020. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Facebook.
  8. ^ "Faidi al-Alami and his Family". British Mandate Jerusalemites Photo Library. 28 June 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Facebook.

Further reading

  • "A Medical Test of Faidi al-Alami, Jerusalem [0087.03.1612]". The Arab Development Society Collection. The Palestinian Museum Digital Archive أرشيف المتحف الفلسطيني الرقمي. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023. Found in the Musa al-Alami Collection, this document shows a medical-chemical report for Faidi al-Alami partially handwritten in Arabic, English, and Hebrew, and the rest was printed and issued by a Chemical Laboratory supervised by Dr S.Sabbath.

See also