It is now thoroughly understood that the Khalifa's authority is no longer based entirely on religious principles as in the case of the Mahdi: he has substituted for it--if not in name, at any rate in fact--the system of "molk," or temporary authority. He has abolished almost all the Mahdi's decrees. His predecessor had substituted for the gallows the system of decapitation for death-sentences, but the Khalifa has reinstituted the gallows, his reason for doing this was to make the mode of execution more alarming to the Sudanese, for whom he considers decapitation a too painless death. He has changed the name of his followers. The Mahdi had decreed that the Foggara (or "poor" as the Dervishes first called themselves) should take the name of Asyad (_i.e._ masters), and this system of nomenclature was partially adhered to up to the date of his death; but the Khalifa thought the name Foggara very derogatory to the spirit of his rule, and therefore ordered that this name should be abolished and substituted by "Ansar ed Din" (_i.e._ auxiliaries or helpers in the cause of religion); it was also permitted to be called the Habib or Sahib el Mahdi (_i.e._ the friend or disciple of the Mahdi), consequently the women are known as Habiba--a play on words which has given rise to much joking on the part of the men. It took only a few days to cause the name of Fakir to be completely forgotten, and now Ansar for the men and Ansariat for the women have been adopted throughout the Sudan. The Khalifa also abolished the name Fiki, which is given to religious teachers. There is a Sudan proverb which runs, "El Fiki yefik ed Din" (_i.e._ "The Fiki analyses religion"), and the Khalifa knew well how these fikis imposed on the minds of the people, how they wrote amulets for preservation against the evil-eye, witchcraft, diseases, and ill-luck; how they pretended to be able to give women the means of taking revenge on their husbands whose love had grown cold, and help those who desired to secure the sole affection of their husbands. Abdullah well knew how credulous were the Sudanese in such matters; already the Mahdi had given the strictest injunctions that the practice of writing amulets was to be discontinued, and now the Khalifa was even more severe; he decreed that any fiki found writing an amulet should lose his right hand, but in spite of these stringent measures it is almost impossible to eradicate the people's belief in these superstitions; the Khalifa himself has openly declared that he has not the smallest belief in witchcraft, amulets, &c., and that God, who is alone the Judge of right and wrong, has alone the power to reward or punish. However, he is a believer in the power of the evil-eye, and will never permit a one-eyed man in his presence, as it is said the one eye that is good can do great damage.