The first quarter of the twentieth century witnessed the beginnings of an intellectual and political movement represented by resistance to foreign political and economic occupation in Iraq and the Arab world. Their fatwas and intellectual propositions generated a sense of hostility toward the occupying authorities. Among these thinkers and writers was Sheikh Ali al-Sharqi, who played a major role in mobilizing the Iraqi people to undertake movements against the British occupation, such as the Najaf Uprising of 1918 and the 1920 Revolution. He also opposed the British Mandate and other political developments in Iraq. Al-Sharqi attempted to highlight his role in these developments by presenting his reformist ideas and views through his political participation in many events, or through his poems, prose, and poetry, or through the establishment of social organizations, or through his historical and poetic works, to clarify his stance on political, social, and economic issues.