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The Reform Movement of Dubai 155

and sail his answer wiili Wcighlman when the latter flew to Dubai
on 24 March.
Sa'id asked Wcighlman to attend a majlis on 25 March and
explain British policy to its members. In his account of the meeting,16
the Agent said that the spokesmen, Muhammad bin Ahmad bin
Dalmuk and Hashar bin Rashid, did not argue with him after
he had slated his ease clearly and firmly, especially when they
realised that they had no alternative but to accept. But they were
able to dominate Shaykh Sa‘id, for, as soon as the agreement
to deport the gun-runners was reached, the shaykh and his majlis
went out of the room for a few minutes. When they returned,
Sa‘id asked that the gun-runners be allowed to stay in Dubai,
confessing that he would encounter trouble if his request were
not granted, and that that would be detrimental to his treaty relations
with Britain. Wcighlman remained firm, so Sa‘id finally promised
to have the two men deported.17 But the members of the majlis
were more anxious to discuss with Weightman the subject of the
slaves; it was of greater concern to them because it had a direct
bearing on the pearl industry and their own incomes, especially
as they had been troubled since 1936 by the threat of a general
manumission. Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Dalmuk took the floor,
supported by Shaykh Jum‘ah, brother of Sa‘id.
Sa‘id wisely refrained from joining in the debate with Weightman.
He had abstained on previous occasions from defying the British
by using the few available weapons at his disposal or by trying
to enforce the existing regulations. One chance he had had to
put effective pressure on the British was, as he recognised, during
the period when the preliminary oil concessions were being negotiated.
In April 1937, when Petroleum Concessions was trying to complete
negotiations for a concession from Dubai, the Political Resident
called Shaykh Sa‘id and Major Frank Holmes to Bahrain, where
the discussions were brought to a close. Shaykh Sa‘id insisted,
however, that he should sign the resulting agreement in Dubai,
‘in the presence of his notables’.18 When he returned home, the
rulers of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah attempted to prevent him
from signing, and used the opposition of his cousins as a form
of pressure;19 they also suggested that all three of them should
join in protest against the manumission of slaves.20 Sa‘id did not
agree with the latter suggestion, although it must have occurred
to him that, in view of its extreme eagerness for the Trucial shaykh-
doms to grant concessions to its chosen company, the British Govern­
ment might well be prepared to relax certain regulations.
Weightman planned to leave Dubai, quiet once again, on 27
March. Sa‘id asked to see him before he left, and then told him
that on 26 March the majlis had decided that the air agreement