Page 282 - UAE Truncal States

/\ City Stale - Example Dubai

had been prepared lo abdicate in 1929 if he would have served the
interests of his country best by doing so. The very nature of re­
sponsible autocratic rule, based on and supported by shari'ah law,
as understood by Shaikh SaTd bin Maktum and other shaikhs on the
coast, ran contrary to the new concept of a system where ordinary
citizens might also carry responsibility for the State and no longer
have only advisory roles. In the Ruler’s eyes, a good hakim should not
want lo disclaim total responsibility for those people who regarded
themselves as his subjects.
The great number of earlier incidents of insurrection, and of
opposition for the sake of opposing, completely ruined all possibility
of genuine co-operation between Shaikh Sa'Td bin Maktum and most
of his cousins and their followers. There was always the suspicion
that their good ideas and innovations were intended ultimately to
work for their own private benefit. Shaikh Sa’Td bin Maktum
therefore tolerated the new order for only as long as it seemed
necessary; he presided over the first few meetings of the Majlis and
then ignored all appeals to attend the meetings. The Majlis made a
point of keeping him informed of its decisions: for some time he chose
to ignore them and refused lo co-operate in implementing them. But
he was not patient for long; on 29 March 1939 he had the entire Majlis
dissolved by ordering a contingent of beduin who were in town for
his son’s wedding to attack and disperse the members.
The consequences of the existence of the Majlis
Although Shaikh Sa'Td bin Maktum chose not to accept any of the
suggestions of the Majlis, the efforts of its members during their
extremely short term of office were not all lost. In these six months,
examples were set of the ways in which the City State could be
governed; it was demonstrated that institutions such as a Municipal
Council were both necessary and useful; a community spirit, a
feeling of pride in and optimism for the well-being of the State was
generated; and official, rather than religiously-motivated, concern for
the poor became acceptable. The seeds had been sown both in the
minds of the leading personalities among the population of Dubai
and in the mind of the Ruler, who, consciously or subconsciously,
adopted several of these ideas when he improved certain aspects of
commerce and life in Dubai in the 1950s.
But Shaikh Sa'Td bin Maktum never entirely regained his political
self-confidence, and after 1939 delegated a lot of the responsibility

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