Hussein’s family
An intimate gathering at the Souq al-Bizaar house. Back row from left to right: Khaddouj Fayek Daoud Dajani (cropped), Tarafandah (this is the only photo that we have of her), Inaam Mohammed Hussein Dajani, Musa Mohammed Hussein Dajani and on his lap Wafaa Daoud Fayek Dajani, Bassam Abdel Mohsen Daoud Dajani, Fatmeh Mohammed Hussein Dajani and her husband Daoud Fayek Daoud Dajani. Front row from left to right: Fatina Daoud Fayek Dajani, Faihaa Daoud Fayek Dajani and her cousin Ziad Abdel Mohsen Daoud Dajani, Fayek Daoud Fayek Dajani and his siblings Fadia and Fouad. Jerusalem, circa 1962–3. Source: Fouad Daoud Fayek Dajani family photo collection.
It is impossible to tell the story of Daoud and his nine sons without mentioning that Daoud has an older brother called Hussein. In fact, Daoud has two brothers and two sisters: Hussein (1861–?), Ibrahim (1863–?), Fattoumeh (1866–?) and Jamileh (1874–1932). But the reason why Daoud’s brother Hussein is of particular relevance is because the lives of the descendants of those two brothers are intertwined. I shall explain:
Hussein marries Amineh Ali and they have four children (three daughters and one son). The eldest daughter is Labibeh (1877–?), of whom very little is known. It is said that she died young. Labibeh marries and has Tarafandah and Mohammed. The second daughter is Daoudieh (1880–1965/66), who does not get married. Unlike her elder sister Labibeh, family members do remember Daoudieh as she lives until the mid-1960s. The third daughter is my great-grandmother Zohra (1894–1964). She marries her cousin Fayek, my great-grandfather.
Hussein Taher Dajani and his wife Amineh Ali had three daughters (Labibeh, Zohra and Daoudieh) and one son (Mohammed), and this is the very little we know about Labibeh and her children Tarafandah and Mohammed.
- Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Dajani, Fayek Daoud Fayek Dajani and Ibtisam Abdel Mohsen Daoud Dajani
After having three daughters Hussein and Amineh Ali have a son whom they name Mohammed. Mohammed marries Ammouneh Hammoudeh.
Our grandparents Mohammed and Ammouneh were so young when they married, and the story goes that our grandfather was busy playing marbles on his wedding day.
- Wassim Musa Mohammed Dajani and Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Dajani
Mohammed and Ammouneh have seven children: Amineh (1915–1999) who marries Abdel Mohsen, Hussein (1916–1987), henceforth Mohammed is called Abu Hussein, father of Hussein, Fatmeh (1922–2012) my grandmother who marries Daoud, Fayek’s son, Inaam (1924–1970), Maqbouleh (1926–1967/1970), Itaf (1928–2008) and Musa (1931–2009).
Introducing my grandfather Mohammed (Abu Hussein) and naming his children, and how we relate to Daoud and his nine sons.
- Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Dajani
Abu Hussein and his family and unmarried sister Daoudieh live in Nabi Daoud.
My father lived in Nabi Daoud, and only a wall separated his bedroom from the Chamber of the Last Supper.
- Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Dajani
But in 1948, Abu Hussein and his family are forced to flee their home in Jerusalem and they take refuge in Damascus. After the end of the war they all return, not to Nabi Daoud, which has fallen in the no-man’s-land area, but to Old Jerusalem, living in the Jewish Quarter. Abu Hussein has a farmhouse in Jericho where the family also spends some time. Ammouneh dies soon after the return to Jerusalem, and she is buried in the Dajani plot at Bab al-Asbat Cemetery (see map: Bab al-Asbat Cemetery).
About our grandmother Ammouneh Hammoudeh: a beautiful woman of Albanian origin who was known for her striking ginger hair.
- Wassim Musa Mohammed Dajani, Ibtisam Abdel Mohsen Daoud Dajani and Riad Abdel Mohsen Daoud Dajani
Abu Hussein eventually moves to Shu’fat, north of Jerusalem. He settles there with his sister Daoudieh and his unmarried daughters Maqbouleh and Itaf (by now Hussein, Inaam and Musa live abroad). Eventually his two daughters Amineh and Fatmeh (married to Abdel Mohsen and Daoud) move to Shu’fat close to where their father lives. Abu Hussein lives in Shu’fat, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, and he witnesses the Naksa, the Setback of 1967, and dies shortly after in 1968.
Leaving Jerusalem and coming back to Jerusalem: our grandfather Mohammed (Abu Hussein) and family fled to Damascus during the Catastrophe, returning to Old Jerusalem after the war. Later Abu Hussein’s children Musa and Inaam built a house in Shu’fat where Abu Hussein lived: remembering a cold house and an old man.
- Wassim Musa Mohammed Dajani, Ibtisam Abdel Mohsen Daoud Dajani and Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Dajani
This is in short the story. But the main focus remains on the enduring multigenerational connection through blood, marriage and amity between the descendants of Hussein and Daoud and the interwoven stories of the relatives throughout these chronicles.
A studio portrait of the siblings (missing Amineh and Hussein). Standing from left to right: Maqbouleh and Inaam. Sitting from left to right: Musa, Fatmeh and Itaf. Jerusalem, circa 1935–6. Photographer: David Abdo. Source: Wassim Musa Mohammed Dajani family photo collection.
Inaam Mohammed Hussein Dajani was a trailblazer: the first of her sisters to complete higher education, Inaam worked as a teacher following her graduation, and she later left to Kuwait and became a distinguished school headteacher. Photo: Birzeit College graduation day. Inaam seated on the far left, along with her female classmates and college headmistress Nabiha Nasir. Birzeit, 1944. Photographer: Khalil Raad. Source: Palestinian Museum Digital Archive.Birzeit College graduation day. Inaam seated to the right of college headmistress Nabiha Nasir. Birzeit, 1944. Photographer: Khalil Raad. Source: Palestinian Museum Digital Archive.
The grandchildren of Mohammed Hussein Taher Dajani celebrating Eid (a major Islamic holiday) at their grandfather’s house in Shu’fat. The eldest cousin in this photo Bassam Abdel Mohsen Daoud Dajani, the youngest cousin in this photo Anis Hussein Mohammed Dajani who is on the shoulders of his big brother Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Dajani, on the right is Mona Hussein Mohammed Dajani and at the front is Wafaa Daoud Fayek Dajani. Jerusalem, 1964. Source: Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Dajani family photo collection.
A written note at the back of the photograph with the names of the cousins, the occasion and the year.
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