The Dominion SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1919. TURKEY AND THE MOHAMMEDAN PROBLEM
' Thu fact that'vast Mohammedan 'populations arc • living under British. rule emphasises the: necessity for the. exorcise of sound, sure, and far-seeing statesmanship lti framing the Peace Treaty between Turkey and the Allies. It should be made unmistakably clear that the Allies have no intention of, attacking tho Mohammedan religion. Every care must be taken in order that the Mohammedan'world-'may not have any cause/ for imagining that any attempt will be made to interfere with its "religious belisfs and customs. According to an estimate in 1906 there are about. 10,1,000,001) of Moslems ■ under the /tile of Christian Powers. Of these no fewer than 81,500,000 are subject to Great Britain, 29,250,000 to Holland, 29,250,000 to France, and 16,000,000 to Russia. It will thus be seen, that Britain is-much the greatest Mohammedan Power. The rearrangement of the Ottoman Empire is, therefore, a matter in which she is deeply and directly interested. She must maintain her reputation as the guardian of religious freedom. A clear distinction.must be drawn between Turkey as' a political Power and the religious .aspects of the Sultanate. The Mohammedan'subjects of King Geotiqe have, as a whole, been thoroughly loyal throughout the war, and have made great.sacrifices.'in order to upjiold the power and prestige of the Empire. The attempt, to entangle them in a German-made Holy war failed utterly. The. Moslem world refused to countenance such <i. gross abuse of' the man a of the. Caliphate; but some shreds of spiritual authority still adhere to the. Sultan of Turkey .as Caliph, and there is probablv more respect for his religious ofiicc in distant places like India and Afghanistan than in Asia Minor or Constantinople.- Tho Caliphate, or rather the shadowy remnant of it that :sfcilJ; exists,: is not' very admirable, or impressive ..at- elosp quarters. Distance lends enchantment to the view. ..
A real Caliph, as successor of Mohammed, would, of course, be a biKh and mighty personage in the 'estimation of Mohammedans, but serious doubts have, alwavs existed as to. the legitimacy of the claims of tho Turkish Sultan to that title and ' office. ' Mr. Cunningham Graham states title ought to go only to one descended from the Prophet in the true male line. There is some doubt if I,his is. possible for any Turk, as their invading horde was converted to the faith after the Companions of the Prophet were dead. One of the numerous wives of any of the Sultans may have been i'Sherifa, that, is.;a descendant, of the Prophet, but this would .not mako her son of necessity a. Sherif,: as Mohammedan descent , goes entirely in the main, line. "' The Sultans ha.-ve usurped the office of. Caliph, and 3>ny recognition of theii; authority rested i:pon-their-. possession of the Holy places—Mecca--and Mediiia—and the ■tendency of the Oriental ' mind to-•'conform, to' established facts.. AVith'Mcctd and Medina -freed from Turkish, misrule, the last vestiges ofJ-he.Sultan s religious prestige might be expected, to soon disappear. In any case , the removal of the 'Sulfa-u from. Constantinople to Anatolia would' violate no' vital principle of Mohariimedanism.- In times - past the Caliphate 'lias "been, located at .Medina, at Damascus, at, Bagdad, at Samarrah, and lastly .at- Constantinople. . Dn. • Snouck Hi'rgronje,- the eminent Dutch Islanlologist, ■ declares' that thespiritual suzerainty .of .the Caliph has_ no ■ real .'existence unless by "spiritual suzerainty';' we meari the .empty _ appearance of worldly authority. . ' '
Of late years (writes Dr. Furgronje) Mohammedan 'statesmen in their intercourse with (heir Western colleagues are glad to'take the -letter's -point of view, and in discussion accept the comparison of the Caiiphate with the Papacy, because they are aware that only in this form the Caliphate can bo made acceptable to Powers which have Mohammedan subjects. But for tliosp subjects the Caliph is then their true iirince, who is temporarily hindered in the exercise of his government, but whose right is acknowledged by their unbelieving masters. . . . A. Western State that ;.d----mits any authority of a Caliph over its Mohammedan subjects thus'acknowledges, not the authority of. a Pope of the Moslem Church, but in simple ignorance is feeding political programmes which, however vain, always have the power of stirring Mohammedan masses to confusion and excitement.
According to the Paris correspondent.of the New York. Herald, it is the intention of the Powers to establish a Turkish State, confined within the boundaries of Anatolia, to require the Sultan to live there, and to give him full freedom to cxerciso whatever spiritual ■ authority the Moslem world may be prepared to recognise. Turkish misrule in Europe would thus be brought to an end,' and Armenia, Palestine, Arabia, and other parts of Asia Minor, which have so long groaned under Ottoman tyranny would be emancipated. Mr. John Macdonald, in his book on Turkey and the Eastern Question, tells us that it is a great_ mistake to think that in Asiatic Turkey the words Turk and Moslem arc synonymous. The distinction between Turkish Moslem •and Arabian Moslem is vital. The Turks form a small minority of the Mohammedan populations, and they have foy years lorded it over races of a higher type than their own. Anatolia is the onlv country in which they form a majority. They describe Anatolia as their homeland. The Taurus range par-
titions Anatolia from the Semite Moslem land which stretches to the Persian Gulf, the lied Sea, and the ocean. Mr. Macdc/n.u.d states that a Caliph, chosen from the Prophet's tribe and residing at Mecca, would be the spiritual head of the Arab .Empire. From the "Young Arab" point of view the. Sultan is a foreign despot who inherits his title of Caliph from Semm the Cheat, who usurped it [our centuries ago. The Indian Mohammedan's veneration for the Sultan-Caliph at Constantinople "is but the vaguest of sentimentalities, if contrasted with their appreciation of the beneficence of British rule." The Mohammedan doctors of law were asked some years ago to decide whether Moham r medans were bound by their religion to be foes'of the British Government. The Mecca doctors' replied that Hindustan was "a country of the Faith," inasmuch as the Mohammedan religion was as free in India as in any Mohammedan Stab>; tliat as "the faithful" were .on a footing .of equality with the English, they were . Bound by their religion :to be loyal fo 'the British Government; The Indian doctors were still more emphatic. They declared that rebellion would be a crime descrying death. In view of such facts as these the ejection of the Sultan from Constantinople and the limitation of the rule of tile Turks to their "homeland" in be an act of justice which is not likely to offend the religious susceptibilities of the. Moslem world. It would be, a : political arrangement without religious significance. Britain and her Allies arc not at all likely to attempt to interfere with any remnant of spiritual authority which may be associated with the existing dubious shadow of the original Caliphate.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 229, 21 June 1919, Page 6
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1,153The Dominion SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1919. TURKEY AND THE MOHAMMEDAN PROBLEM Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 229, 21 June 1919, Page 6
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