The Portland daily press., 1882-02-09
The Mehdi.

| the Drlet announcement that the Insurgents
in Yemen, Arabia, have proc claimed de-
scendant of the Prophet as Caliph. Wheth-
| er the new successor is the Cheriff of Mecca
or the long-expected Mehdi, does not yet ap-
pear. The Cheriff is the head Of the sacred
tribe of the Koreish to which Mohammed
belonged, and of which, according to the an
cient tradition, he said, "as long as there re-
mains one man of the Koreish, SO long shall
| that man be my successor" The Cheriff is
| protector of the holy places of Mecca, and
Prince of the town in which Islam had its
birth. By large part of the Mohammedan
world he is looked upon as the rightful Ca
lph. The claim of the Turkish Sultans has
always been openly rejected by the hereto
Persians, and hesitatingly and reservedly ac-
kowledged by many orthodox Mussulmans.
As Mr.. Blunt stated not long ago in that ar
ticle in the Fortnightly Review which pro-
| yoked so much attention, to the popular
mind especially, the Cheriff is already far
more truly the repres entatiye of spiritual
| rank than any Sultan or Caliph is. The vast
populations of southern and eastern Asia
| send out their pilgrims, not to Constantine
| pie but to Mecca, and it is the Cheriff whom
they find there supreme. The Turkish Gov
ernment in Hejaz holds comparatively in
| significant position, and the Sultan's repre-
sentative at Jeddah is hardly more than SER
want to the Prince. of Mecca. 1t is he who
is the descendant of their Prophet, not the
other, and though the learned m ay make
distinctions in favor of the Caliph the haj
only hears of the Cheriff. Even at Constant
tinople, by immemorial custom, the Sultan
rises to receive members of the sacred fami-
| ly; and at Mecca it is commonly said that
should a Sultan make the haj in person he
would be received by the grand Cheriff as an
inferior. The Cheriffal family, then, is sur
rounded by a halo of religious prestige
supreme temporal title appear natural to all
but the races who have been in subsection
TO the Ottomans, and were a man of real
ability to appear among them he might find
au almost universal following.
But were the revolt headed by so conspic-
uous person as the Cheriff Of Mecca the
cable would, it is to be presume ed, so inform
u.s. 1t is more probable that the leader of
the insurgents is the Mehdi, the expectancy
of WHOSE arrival, students of Eastern affairs
inform US, has been much quickened Of late.
Mussulmans of all sects, whether orthodox
or heretical, believe that in the dark hour of
Islam God will send down NJ ehdi, or Teach
er, whom Mohammed himself foresaw, and
who he prophesied should be an Arab of the
clan Koreish, and descendant of his own
house. He will restore Islam, reunite the
Faithful, and either become Caliph or for
time supersede him, as ruler of the Moham-
medans throughout the world. Usually,
says the London Spectator, in recent arti-
Gle. the belief is of no more Importance than
the belief of some Christians in the coming
of the millennium, but of late it has taken a
stronger hold of the general Mussulman
mind, has become dogma instead of rec
ognized idea, crops up in many places at
once, and most seriously disturbs the old
established Mohammedan governm ents,
whose rulers are well aware that the moral
basis of their authority would be wholly de-
stroyed by the appearanceof such pretend
er. 1t is SO general in Arabia and Syria that
the Turks watch the family at Mecca from
which the Mehdi should come with an in
tentness that has already produced tragic re-
suits, and might any day produce massa-
ere. 1t is the evident belief of Mr.. Blunt,
the Arabian traveller, that the next aspirant
for power in that region will call himself Ell
Blehdi, the Teacher who is expected, and
that if he appears aud wins the smallest
skirmish half Arabia will flock to his STAN
dard. In Egypt, the followers of Colonel
Arab are said to be earnestly watching for
the promised Deliverer; while in Tripoli,
correspondent of the Times, evidently pos
sessed of unusual information, declares that
Ell Mehdi, the sacrosanct head OF the Senous
sia community, which has mouasteries by
the hundred in North Africa, and even in
Arabia and Syria, and is obeyed by the Mo
hammedan tribes of the desert whose very
names are unknown to Europeans, claims to
be the long-expected Teacher, and promises
to proclaim himself openly to the world on
November 12, 1882. A prophecy to that\ef-
feet has been carefully circulated for some
years through the Notwithstanding
world, and is thoroughly known all through
the South Mediterr anean, from Aleppo to
Mogador. The prophecy is couched in thes
words: son the first of the month of Mohar
ram, in the year 1900 (12th November, 1892
will appear the Ell Mehdi, Tor Messiah.) He
will be exactly forty years of age, and OF no
BILE bearing. One arm will be longer than
the other; his fathers name viii be Moham-
med, his mothers Fatima, and he will be
hidden for a time prior to his manifesto
tion.''
Whether the Arabiaa Mehdi is thus en-
dowed is not stated. In all likelihood pre-
tenders will start up in all parts of the Mo
hammedan world, as the Turkish empire
falls to pieces, who will claim to belong to
the Koreish, feign the personal peculiarities
attributed to the Regeneration and raise the
banner of revolt. In Persia the Shah to this
day holds all his palaces in lease as the ten
ant of the Mehdi or Mohady, and may be
called upon at any hour to vacate. AS will
be seen from the above the old doIuinion OF
the Fatimites is eagerly looking for the De-
liverer Arabia is in open revolt. And in all
countries that now acknowledge the sway OF
the house of Othman, may be expected to
rise ambitious or fanatical men, greedy for
the spoil Of conquest or fred by zeal for the
restoration of the splendors of the Cali
phate
The political complication in Egypt has
been SO far Strengthened out as to admit OF
the reorganization of new Ministry. AS
most of the names mentioned are unknown
here, the significance of this change can on
ly be surmised from the fact that Ourabi
Rev the leader of The Nationalist PARTY and