Things were extremely sensitive, and so for anything that had to do with Islam, they generally tried to keep it as it was. But there was an issue. There was a problem in that the link with Constantinople, with Istanbul, had been severed. And now you’ve got this Christian power running the land. And worse than that, this is a Christian power from an Arab perspective, this is a Christian power that’s declared before the world that it intends to create a Jewish national home in this land.
[…]
And later on in the testimony, Herbert Samuel basically says: “I did not want to alienate the Husseinis and their friends throughout the country, especially in places like Gaza and Acre.” That is the real reason the present mufti was appointed. So at first he tries to say, “Well, he was the most qualified and this and that.” The truth is that the mufti, Haj Amin, had very limited religious training. He was only about 25-26 years old. His opponents in the race for mufti were much older and much more experienced. And then later on in the testimony, Herbert Samuel just kind of speaks a little more honestly and says: “Look, the Husseinis are powerful. We needed to appease them. And they were lined up behind this guy, and that’s why we appointed him.”
Remembering the Farhud and the Jewish Nakba 