The Congress was called at the behest of
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and
Maulana Shaukat Ali, leader of the Indian Caliphate Committee. Ostensibly the Congress was called to consider a proposal to establish a University at the
Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as a centre of
Islamic scholarship, an idea which the leaders of the prestigious
Al-Azhar University in
Cairo opposed.
However, the Congress was viewed widely as an attempt by the mufti to enhance his prestige in advance of a bid for the office of caliph. This position had remained vacant since a Pan-Islamic Congress in
Mecca in 1926 had failed to agree on a suitable candidate to replace
King Hussein of Hejaz. A rival clan of the Husaynis, the
Nashashibis, helped to ensure that the mufti was unsuccessful in his bid for the
caliphate.