During the last days of the Anglo-Iraqi War, before British troops entered Baghdad, and before the collapse of Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani government, Rashid Ali phoned Mulla Effendi and informed him that he had chosen his house as a safe haven for the royal family to stay until the conflict ended. King Faisal II, Queen Alia, members of the royal family, and court escorts and servants left Baghdad on May 28, 1941 to stay at Mulla Effendi's house at Badawa.