Abd-ul-Hamid's use of his power as Caliph--What the
Moslems think of him--British Mohammedan subjects--The
validity of the Ottoman claims to the Caliphate--The
mistaken policy of British Statesmen in opposing
them--Danger of alienating the Mohammedan world--The
errors of English writers.
THERE can hardly be found in the history of nations a more fortunate
tyrant than the autocrat of Yildiz Kiosk. Besides all the circumstances
I have noted, Abd-ul-Hamid has at his back the authority of the
Caliphate, which he can, when he chooses, ingeniously employ for his
own ends. The devotion of the Mussulmans of Turkey and the respect of
orthodox Mohammedans of other countries for the Caliph are very great,
and becoming greater every day. As a matter of fact, the attachment of
Mohammedans is to the office of the Caliph rather than to his person,
and according to the qualities necessary for the man who holds it, a
true Caliph must be a perfect specimen of humanity. If he cannot fulfil
the prescribed conditions of the Islamic religious law, that law orders
the faithful to depose him, and justifies the election of a proper
Caliph. There are not lacking in the history of Islam instances in
which the Caliph has been deposed solely on these religious grounds. It
is almost impossible for these people to comprehend that the present
Sultan does not possess any of these good qualities, and is therefore
quite unworthy of his office. The Sultan employs subtle methods that
he may pose before the Mohammedans as the true Caliph and the sole
champion of the Islamic cause, and spends immense sums of money for
the same purpose. In reality, however, he should be known as the worst
enemy of Islam, as no Moslem ruler has ever brought by his misdeeds
so much shame upon his faith as he has. Anyone who has observed his
career closely knows that his actions are diametrically opposed to the
principles of the Mussulman law and creed. But it is the hardest thing
in the world to make Moslems understand this. Those in Turkey are just
beginning to understand what he really is, but outside Turkey he is
held in blind veneration by all Moslems. An Englishman, who had great
experience of the East, and who followed the Prince of Wales during
his tour round the Colonies, told me that the further you go away from
Turkey the greater is the influence of the Sultan among the followers
of Islam.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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