Notable families had a special place in the social and religious life of Jerusalem during the Ottoman period. These families competed in order to serve in positions, such as imams or muezzins in the places of worship, especially in the al-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock (Sakhra), or as the mutawalli and the supervisor (nazır) in the wakfs, or as the tomb keepers in the tombs of the prophets and scholars, or as the naqib al-ashraf or the mufti. In this regard, Husaynis, who had an important place among these families, engaged in power struggles with other notable families of Jerusalem (e.g. Khalidis and Alamis in city center, Ibn Simhan in rural areas).

In this study, Husayni household’s political status in Jerusalem between the beginning of the 18th century and the end of Abdulhamid II’s reign will be discussed. In the light of the Ottoman archival documents and Jerusalem sharia sijills, firstly the attitude of the family during the Naqib al-Ashraf Rebellion and the effect of this event on the family will be illuminated. After that, the changing political status of the family will be revealed according to the developments before and after the Tanzimat as well as in the period of Sultan Abdulhamid II.