Abd al-Ilah

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Abd al-Ilah
Hejaz Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died14 July 1958 (aged 44)
Baghdad, Arab Federation
Spouse
Ali of Hejaz
MotherNafissa Khanum
ReligionSunni Islam[1]

Abd al-Ilah of Hejaz,

Crown Prince of Iraq from 1943 to 1953.[2]

Abd al-Ilah was killed along with the rest of the Iraqi royal family in the

Hashemite
monarchy in Iraq. His body was mutilated, dragged across the streets of Baghdad, and eventually burnt.

Biography

Abd al-Ilah (holding hat) at Mount Vernon in 1945
Arab Leaders during the Anshas conference
One side of the Anshas conference, from right to left: Abdullah I of Jordan, Farouk I of Egypt and Sudan, Syrian president Shukri al-Quwatli, Abd al-Ilah, and crown prince Saud of Saudi Arabia, Anshas, 1946

Son and heir of King

King Faisal II.[2]

1941 Iraqi coup d'état

During

Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. Rashid Ali led a pro-German coup d'état against Abd al-Ilah's pro-British government. After he fled the country, Abd al-Ilah was replaced as regent by Sharaf bin Rajeh, an ageing, religious relative of Faisal II.[3] Abd al-Ilah, fearing for his life, was taken on a daring escape route that led via the US embassy in Baghdad to the RAF base at Habbaniya, before reaching the safety of the British warship HMS Cockchafer and eventually the city of Jerusalem.[4] The deposed regent spent his time with former Prime Minister Nuri al-Said as a refugee in Amman. During his time in exile, Abd al-Ilah was a guest of his uncle Abdullah, the Emir of Transjordan.[3]

On 2 May, the United Kingdom launched an offensive against the Iraqi rebels. On 26 May, The New York Times newspaper reported that Abd al-Ilah had called for an uprising of tribal and religious leaders to help him overthrow the insurgent government. He appealed specifically to the Iraqi people, the army and the police to accomplish "this heavy task".

By 2 June, Rashid Ali's "National Defence Government" had collapsed and Rashid Ali had fled to Iran. Abd al-Ilah returned to Baghdad and was restored as regent.[5]

Working in tandem with Nuri al-Said, Abd al-Ilah pursued a moderate nationalist approach while maintaining close ties to the Allies.[2]

In 1942,

state dinner attended by Willkie.[6]

In 1945, Abd al-Ilah visited the United States. He was the honoured guest at the first state dinner hosted by the new American

military decoration by President Harry S. Truman.[8]

In 1953,

Crown Prince
Abd al-Ilah stepped down when Faisal II came of age. But he continued to be a close adviser of the young King, and an advocate of a pro-Western foreign policy.

In 1955, Iraq adopted the

Baghdad Pact (also known as the Central Treaty Organization, or CENTO). The other members of the organization were Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The organization's headquarters were initially located in Baghdad
.

In May 1957, Saud of Saudi Arabia made an eight-day visit to Iraq. He was met on his arrival by Faisal II, Abd al-Ilah, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Said. It was the Saudi king's first ever visit to Iraq, and it commemorated Iraq's membership in the Arab Federation and its break with the United Arab Republic of Gamal Abdel Nasser.[9]

Death

14 July Revolution

Main article: 14 July Revolution
Mutilated corpse of Abd al-Ilah hanging from a balcony.

On 14 July 1958, a

Abd al-Karim Qasim toppled the government and brought an end to the Iraqi monarchy. In the ensuing violence brought on by the coup, Abd al-Ilah was killed, along with most of the royal family. The body of Crown Prince Abd al-Ilah was trailed on al Rashid street and was cut into pieces. According to the 21 July edition of Time magazine, Gamal Abdel Nasser's Middle East News Agency gleefully described the assassination of Crown Prince Abd al-Ilah: 'The people dragged Abd al-Ilah's body into the street like that of a dog and tore it limb from limb.' Then the mobs burned the body.[10]

Private life

In his book Closet Queens, about 20th century British gay politicians, historian and biographer

MP (who was later elevated to the peerage, in 1960, as the 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton
). Bloch says that after Abd al-Ilah was killed, "the revolutionaries discovered intimate letters from Lennox-Boyd among the Prince's papers, which they released to the world's press."

On page 159 of the book, Bloch says that Lennox-Boyd and Henry Channon organised a memorial service for their friend, the Prince, in 1958.[11]

In the early 1950s he told a Turkish diplomat that he was very fond of the Club rakı, a brand of Turkish rakı.[12]

Military ranks and awards

Abd al-Ilah held the following ranks:[citation needed]

He was

awarded the Legion of Merit (Chief Commander)
on 1 June 1945.

Hashemite genealogy

Hashemites[13][14]
Hashim
(eponymous ancestor)
Abd al-Muttalib
Abdallah
Muhammad
(Islamic prophet)
Fatimah
Hasan
(fifth caliph)
Hasan Al-Mu'thanna
Abdullah
Musa Al-Djawn
Abdullah
Musa
Muhammad
Abdullah
Ali
Suleiman
Hussein
Issa
Abd Al-Karim
Muta'in
Idris
Qatada
(Sharif of Mecca)
Ali
Hassan
(Sharif of Mecca)
Abu Numayy I
(Sharif of Mecca)
Rumaythah
(Sharif of Mecca)
'Ajlan
(Sharif of Mecca)
Hassan
(Sharif of Mecca)
Barakat I
(Sharif of Mecca)
Muhammad
(Sharif of Mecca)
Barakat II
(Sharif of Mecca)
Abu Numayy II
(Sharif of Mecca)
Hassan
(Sharif of Mecca)
Abdullah
(Sharif of Mecca)
Hussein
Abdullah
Muhsin
Auon, Ra'i Al-Hadala
Abdul Mu'een
Muhammad
(Sharif of Mecca)
Ali
Hussein
(Sharif of Mecca King of Hejaz
)
Zeid
(pretender to Iraq
)
Ra'ad
(pretender to Iraq
)
Zeid
King of Jordan
)
Hussein
(Crown Prince of Jordan)


See also

Notes

  1. ^ "IRAQ – Resurgence in the Shiite World – Part 8 – Jordan & The Hashemite Factors". APS Diplomat Redrawing the Islamic Map. 2005. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8
    .
  3. ^ a b "Trouble in Paradise". TIME. 21 April 1941. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  4. ISBN 1841769916
    .
  5. ISBN 1-84176-991-6
    .
  6. ^ "Points East". TIME. 28 September 1942. Archived from the original on 25 June 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  7. ^ "Family at Home". TIME. 4 June 1945. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  8. ^ "Talk & Ceremony". TIME. 11 June 1945. Archived from the original on 21 December 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  9. ^ "Gathering of Kings". TIME. 25 May 1957. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  10. ^ "Revolt in Baghdad". TIME. 21 July 1958. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  11. ISBN 978-1408704127
    .
  12. S2CID 242353821
    .
  13. ISBN 9781860643316
    . Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  14. ^ "Family tree". alhussein.gov. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2018.

Further reading

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