Following the capitulation of Makkah, Ibn Saud formed a Majlis al Shura, a Consultative Council, which operated locally in the Hijaz as an intermediary between himself and the people, and through which he exercised control over the region.
Ibn Saud showed considerable subtlety in his handling of the citizens of the Holy City of Makkah and, in particular, its religious leaders. In common with most Nejdis, Ibn Saud had considerable reservations about the morality of those living in the holiest of all cities but, in introducing his reforms, he was careful to proceed through conciliation rather than confrontation. There was no purge of the religious leaders of the city. Rather, Ibn Saud insisted that the Ulema of the city and the more puritanical Ulema of the Nejd should work out an accommodation.