Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz
Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashimi, was the Sharif of Mecca and the one who, following the Hussein McMahon correspondace, incited the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire in World War l. By calling themselves Hashemites, his family claims to descend from the Prophet Banu Hashim. This lineage, along with the fact that Sharif Hussein has been the official protector of the holy sites of Mecca and Medina since 1908, legitimized him for many Arab Muslims as the natural leader of the Arabs.