In pursuance of my remarks on the way in which the Sultan makes use of
the influence of the Caliphate for his personal ends, it may perhaps
be of some interest if I make some general remarks on the Caliphate,
and the influence of the Caliph among the Mussulmans of the world. It
must be remembered that Great Britain has under her rule or protection
a very large number of the followers of Islam. Some authorities say
that her Moslem subjects are five times as many as those who belong to
Turkey itself. It follows that this immense Mohammedan population in
Great Britain's Eastern dominions will some day prove of the highest
importance in determining the direction of her policy in the East
There are now symptoms of rivalry between the Sultan of Turkey and
those British authorities whose business it is to maintain their
country's prestige and influence in the Moslem world. It is on account
of this rivalry that some British writers and politicians try to
represent the religious influence of the Sultan as being less than it
is, while others seek to deny the validity of the Ottoman Caliphate.
That the present Sultan is unworthy of the title cannot be questioned;
but the validity of the claim of the occupant of the Turkish throne to
the office, quite apart from his character, is incontestable. Those
who deny this, or seek to depreciate the influence of the Ottoman
Sultanate on orthodox Mohammedans, periodically shower abuse on Turkey,
as was done during the Armenian agitation, perhaps with the view of
creating a breach between the Moslem populations of British territories
and Turkey. And I cannot but think that this policy is having just
the opposite effect. The study of the English language is increasing
steadily but surely among the Mohammedan subjects of Great Britain,
and so they read or hear many of the hostile sentiments published and
uttered in England against the Ottoman Caliphate, and become suspicious
and irritated. In fact, the more this hostility is displayed, the
closer will become the attachment of the Moslem subjects of England
towards the Ottoman Caliphate. Such alienation of feeling, which is at
present latent, will be anything but favourable for England in case
of international complications in some part of the Orient. There are
European Powers who may take advantage of it, and use it against the
interests of the British Government The speech of the Kaiser delivered
at Damascus must still be fresh in the memory of many people. It was
certainly with the object of increasing the influence of his country in
the East that he said that he would stand side by side with the head
of three hundred million Mohammedans. A highly connected Russian once
told me that during Queen Victoria's reign Great Britain waged over
fifty different wars, small and great, and added that most of these
wars were carried on against Mohammedan peoples in different parts of
Asia and Africa, in order to crush their independence and take their
countries.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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