 One of the factors Schölch attributes to Aqil 's failure to secure an autonomous rule similar to that of the Arab sheikh Zahir al @-@ Umar was Aqil 's refusal to accept a sedentary life . While I 'billin frequently functioned as a headquarters of sorts for Aqil , he did not take up permanent residence there , or anywhere . Instead it served as a symbol of his authority in the Galilee . Aqil was adamantly a Bedouin and once remarked to William Lynch that it would be a " disgrace " to " till the ground like a fellah " . The nomadic , marauding lifestyle of Aqil ran counter to the modernization efforts of the Ottomans , which strongly encouraged settlement of the land and centralization . These processes were eventually embraced by the peasantry and the urban notables , but resisted by the Bedouin tribes whose traditional livelihoods were at risk . 
