Historians of the modern Middle East have begun reexamining the period between the end of Ottoman rule in the Arab provinces and the imposition of European colonialism after WWI, leading to the formation of the new nation states of Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Syria. Rather than regard this period as a strict bifurcation between Ottoman and European rule, where Ottoman loyalties were replaced with new national identities, as Arab nationalist historical narratives have claimed, historians have begun treating these years as a transitory phase, identifying persistent loyalties to the Ottoman empire, locating the existence of popular forms of Arab and Islamic identities, and recognizing that national identities were at a nascent stage of development. One figure that represents the fluidity of this period is Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Muzzafar (1894-1949), an Arab activist of the late Ottoman period and of the era of British-ruled Palestine (1917-1948). This paper will examine Shaykh al-Muzzafar’s career from the closing years of Ottoman rule in Palestine when British troops arrived in December 1917 to the formation of the new nation state of Palestine, governed by Britain under a League of Nations Mandate, officially enacted in September 1923. Between these two periods – December 1917 to September 1923 – Shaykh al-Muzzafar’s career represented the liminal nature of this era, as British authority had replaced Ottoman rule, yet, the political direction of the country remained unresolved and different political opportunities remained available. Shaykh al-Muzzafar pursued political options beyond the Palestinian nationalist framework, such as a continued support for the Ottomans, loyalty to an Arab and Islamic identity, and support for the Arab government of Prince Faysal in Syria (1918-1920). During this period, he became active in helping to set up various Arab nationalist groups in Damascus and Jerusalem, a leading member of the main Palestinian nationalist group in Palestine, and a vocal advocate for Ottoman and Turkish support for the Palestinian cause. Based on British colonial records, Arabic newspapers, and memoirs, this paper will argue that Shaykh al-Muzzafar’s career reflected a transitory phase of modern Middle Eastern history, where the end of Ottoman rule in Palestine offered political strategies beyond the nation state dimension, based instead on Arab, Islamic and Ottoman loyalties.