Ali al-Rikabi
Jordanian politician (1864-1942)

Ali Rida al-Rikabi (Arabic: علي رضا باشا الركابي; 1864 – 25 May 1943) was an Arab politician from Syria during and after the Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
Originally from Damascus, he made a career in the Ottoman Army, rising to the rank of major general. During the Arab Revolt he joined the side of the Arab nationalists and was appointed military governor of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) East in October 1918. Subsequently he became the first Prime Minister of the Arab Kingdom of Syria under Faisal I from March to May 1920. He was also the 3rd Prime Minister of Transjordan under Emir Abdullah I, serving from 1922 to 1923 and again from 1924 to 1926.
Summary
During the last phase of Ottoman rule in the Middle East, al-Rikabi occupied prominent positions. After the Ottoman Turks departed from Arab lands in 1918, he formed the first cabinet in the history of Syria under Prince Faisal, third son Sharif Hussain of Mecca. Later, during two periods (1922 and 1924–1926) as prime minister in Jordan, al-Rikabi established Jordan's administrative and financial system. He supported the Syrian revolt of 1925 against the French Mandate while he was Prime Minister of Jordan.
During Ottoman rule
Ali Rida al-Rikabi came from a Damascene family whose ancestor had migrated from Rifa’i in southern Iraq during the seventeenth century.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ali al-Rikabi” is jordanian politician (1864-1942). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through al-Rikabi, Jordanian and politician, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1383555. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1864, 1943, 1918 and 1920.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ali al-Rikabi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.