The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-09-01
The Holy War.

Since the present disturbances broke
out in Egypt the mollah has been bring
ing his political influence conspicuously
into play. Knowing well their power
for political ends, one of Arab BeY' first
moves when he saw that hostilities were
inevitable was to gather together the
mollahs and deryishes of Cairo and send
them out into the Nile valley villages to
preach a holy war in every mosque. The
result of this was that large number of
young men. infamed by religious enthu-
siam, abandoned their homes, flocked
into the larger towns, and there clam
ored TO be armed and sent to the front
along with Arabi's other warriors. In
Cairo the combined religious and politi-
cal machine has been worked by Arab
most effectively. He has used the Cairo
shcikhs for his purposes, and they have
used and are still using the populace for
their purposes. The great Ulema or
teachers of the mosque of III Azhar stand
ready to denounce Sultan Abdul Hamid
and to proclaim the Arab grand Gherif
of Mecca as the true calf of Islam if
Turkey sends man into the country to
fight against the Egyptians. Although
the sympathies of the Constantinople
hierarchy are personally in favor of
Arabi's contentious, there is a party
which is seriously debating whether it
would be legitimate for Turkey, in the
event of certain contingencies, to give its
sanction to the proclamation of holy wars
which must not be departed from upon
any pretext. The trainers of the code,
like wise men, therefore affirmed that
no iehad could be recognizable which
was not proclaimed under certain wei
defined conditions. The mollahs who
have been at work between Cairo and
Alexandria, and even in Tantah, where
the deplorable massacre of Europeans
took place a short time ago, have en-
deavored TO put aside these conditions as
trihing or to conceal them by saying
no hing about them.
But the best MohamInedan iurists have
had the subject forced upon their at
eention from every point of view, po-
titically as well as religious. and have
been compelled to consider seriously
whether the cause of Islam could be
benefited by encouraging the hot-headed
Egyptian clamor for the proclamation of
iehad According to a celebrated
Oriental scholar. who has been giving
his views in a German newspaper upon
the legality of proclaiming jehads, every
Constantinople iurist, ''frOm the Sheikh
nj Islam to the lowest howadi,n agrees
that a holy war or jehad can only be
legally proclaimed if there IS a reason
able prospect of its being successful, and
that if there is no such prospect a iehad
IS unlawful, inasmuch as it uselessly
sacrifices life and property. A further
condition of the legality of holy war is
that the lawful spiritual head of a race
which goes to war shall join personally
the camp of those who have proclaimed
it and all the subjects of the belligerent
state, whether Mohammedans or Chris
tians, are bound to take part in it. a
curious fact about holy war is. that,
according to the AIohammedan code. 1t
cancels all debts, both of the state and
private individuals. For this reason
alone Arab Bev would be anxious to
/ have the Sultan support in the procla-
nation of holy war, for Egypt could
( then dispute the claims of the French
and English bondholders. and those
private Europeans possessing property
in Egypt or justly-acquired credits from
Egyptiams would have to whistle for
/ their money. When Sultan Mahmoud
/ H. ordered the massacre of the janis
saries in 1926 and again during the late
| RuSso-Turkish war (Which was pro
/ claimed To be a holy war by an trade of
/ the porte dated the Goth of May. 1870.
these foreign obligations were declared
cancelled, though in the latter case the
/ Berlin conference re-established the LA
bility of the porte to its foreign creditors
/ All these considerations have to be taken
seriously into consideration by the Con
/ stantinople Mohammcdan jurists, and
/ they are already having an effect in
/ counteracting the enthusiasm aroused by
the teachings and harangues of the indie
| fatigable mollahs and dervishes of Egypt.
! - CHICAGO Times