Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-09-21

be longer than the Otner. HIS IdIneTS) |
name will be Mohammed, and fhis mothee
name Fatima, and he will be hidden fey a
time prior to his manifestation" 4
The old Senoussi's name was Nfeham-
med. and persons who have sseen the
Younger remember that his right hand
reached as far as his knee. During the
last four years the power of this great con-
fraternity has increased until its influence
has become controlling all through North
Africa The neighboring tribes take the
name of Maraboutin, and pay no tribute.
The great zaouia of the Libyan desert is en-
larged and adorned, and the Senoussia
look anxiously for the day when Ell Mehdi
shall fulfill second prophecy of reigning
from T to (which they interpret as
meaning from Tangier to Tripoli in Syria
the much longed-for Arab empire of the
future
Ell Mehdi has however not waited for the !
twelfth of November to manifest himself. |
Possibly he found matters in the in
terror ripe sooner than he anticipated. |
Possibly events were precipitated by the
Egyptian crisis. Be that as itmay, he |
appeared at the head of an army few
months ago at Darfur,a land, marching upon
the upper Nile, he utterly defeated the
Egyptian general who, at the head of two
thousand men went out to meet him. He
then advanced VIGOROUSLY upon Khartoum,
the ca pital Of the province, and, according
to the last accounts, defeated Ziegler
Pasha, the governor, German officer,
| who vainly attempted to oppose his pro-
gress. Making himself master of Khar-
toum, he aow threatents to advance down
| the Nile and participate in the conflict,
which is Impending in Lower Egypt. Arab,
on the other hand, has announced
that in the event of his being defeated
he Will lay Cairo in ashes and
march up the Nile to meet Ell Mehdi, with
whom fhe is in communication by means
of the semissaries who keep the zaouias all
through Arabic Islam informed of his
movements, and in the late letter addressed
by him to Mr.. Gladstone and which Mr..
Wilfred Blunt forwarded to that gentleman.
since published in the newspapers, he de-
clares his power and his determination to
spread the flame of religious fanaticism
fram the Atlantic to India
Meantime in the Turkish papers pub
lished in this city III Mehai is always called
1.-The False Prophet;" but though that may
be the view taken of him by the Meslems
in European Turkey, it remains to be seen
how far it will be adopted by the rest of
IIslam. No doubt much will depend upon
his success, and upon the sanction he re-
ieceives from the mosque of Ell Azhar in Cairo
i from the spiritual authorities in Mecca and
i from the various colleges of Ulemas
4 scattered throughout the East. Much, too
will depend upon the attitude of the Turk
ish government. If the sultan were to
issue proclamation denounciGg Arab as
a rebel, and to- land his army in Egypt
cordially to cooperate with English troops
all Islam would probably rally around T.
Mehd1, while. if he were to defy Christen
dom and ally himself to Arabi, he migha
still find FL Mehdi useful ally.
Under any circumstances, it is not i'm
possible that this mysterious parsonage
may play an important part I'm the coming
drama. What influence he possesses ii
Arabia cannot as yet be definitely aseer
tanned. AT present that portion of Ash;
is the center, of intrigues, OF which some
say the object is to declare the present
grand cherif of Mecca, Abdul Mantahib
caliph. This high functionary is IineallB
qualified to occupy this exalted position ,ant
enjoys immense spiritual authority, whils
his ambition in spite of his advanced age
(he is 9S,D4js as unbounded as his loyalty
: to the sultan is questionable. Others SAY
that the Arabs have elected as their future
: caliph a certain Cheriff- ed-deen. also of thu
Koreysh tribe, and of direct descent. H.
has been living in seclusion for many years
, in Bombay, but is now the head of the in
surrectionary movement in the Hedjaz
where the celebrated chief Ibn Raschid is
: the controlling spirit.
What relations these interesting person.
nages may maintain with the new Moslem
Messiah, or what Importance they may at
tach to his claims, the near future will
probably disclose; but this slight sketch
of the forces at work in Islam is enough to
show that a defeat of Arab by British
troops means practically nothing, SO far as
the main question is concerned. What has
come clearly out of the Egyptian imbrogio
is this, that discomfort has been steadily
growing throughout Islam for the last half
century at the steady encroachments of
western civilization upon its domain, at
tho successive defeats of the Ottoman
forces, and the loss of Moslem territory to
the Giaour. at the constantly increasing
subserviency of the Turkish caliph to the
will of Europe, and at the influence which
follows European capital and commercial
enterprise as it penetrates into the recessss
of Islam, and undermines the belief and
nodifies the habits and customs of the
faithful. The Egyptian question was
merely the drop that made the cup of in
dignation run over. 1t was the spark that
set fire to the magazine. Islam has deter
mined, if the sultan will not champion it,
to choose another champion. And the de-
cisivo moment has now arrived
when his profession of devotion
to the Pan-Islamic idea, which
events forced the sultan to make three
years ago, will be tested. If he espouses
the cause of the religious and military
party in Egypt, good and well. He may
be accepted by Islam, but his rejection by
Europe will be inevitable, and involve the
disruption of Turkey, and probably a
European war. If he clings to Europe it
will cause split in Islam, and the same
result will arrive from the East which in
the other case, would have overtaken Tur-
key from the west.
As it is, the only question which the con-
ference at Constantinople will settle will
be that of its own impotence. and the only