The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-09-18
The Elective Aspect of the KhaIi-
fat.

Moslen duu MussuIman are also Doth
derived from the same radical, and signify,
"the sayed;'' while "Mohammedan" comes
from ''Mohammed," the name of the foun-
der Of Islam, who figured in Arabia towards
the beginning of the seventh century of the
Christian era. Now, it is fact worthy of
attention at the present conjuncture in the
East, that Mohammed on his death-bed, &C
cording to his Arabic biographer, Ab-ool-
Fedah, declined to nominate his son-in-law
as his successor, leaving the election to the
Mussulmans themselves; and they, on his
death, elected his fa' her. in-law, Aboo-Bekr.
as the Khalifah or spiritual and temporal
chief of Islam. After Aboo-Bekr's death
Omar was in like manner elected; and then
Alec, the husband of Fatimah, Mohammed's
only child, was elected to the same dignity,
not by the right of his wife, but simply by
the vote of the Mussulmans. Ga Alee's
death faction sought to set up as joint
Khalifahs his two sons, Hassan and Hossein,
which gave rise to "a bloody civil war amongst
the Mussumans, resulting in the massacre
of the two youthful grandsons of Moham-
med at the battle of Koofah on the Euphra-
ties, by the party who upheld the elective
character Of the Khalfat Their sad fate is
pathetically sung by Eastern poets; and the
Persians of the Sheeah sect down to the
present day make yearly pilgrimage to
their tomb. 1t may be said that the first
great schism of islam thence took its rise;
and in course of time the Persian Sheeahs
came to recognize their Shah as their spirit
ual as well as temporal chief; as they still
do. Another great schism of Islam arose in
Morocco out of the circumstance of the
adoption by the Mussulmans of that part of
North Africa OF a commentary on the Kho-
ran, or religious book of Islam, composed by
a Mussulman of that country, hence called
El-Mogrebee; so that the Mogrebees ulti-
mately acknowledged the .sEmir-al Noon
enin, or Commander of the Faithful, for
their spiritual head, as well as their Emper-
or-down to our own times. When the
Turkyees, Tartar tribe of Turkstan, made
their first inroad into Asia Minor, selling
the States of the Khalifah of Bagdad, as
well as the realms of the Greek Emperor OF
Byzantium, or Constantinople, their Padish
abs, of the family Of Oman el-Ghazee or
the Victor, hence called Ozmanlees, as
sumed the dignity of Khalifah till the pres
ent day; and they have been SO regarded by
the 'Soonnees,' or orthodox Mussulmans
generally. Thus, in the same way as the
Christians are divided into three opposite
sects, of Catholics, Protestants and Russo
Greeks, SO the Mohammedans are parti-
toned into the three antagonistic sects of
Sunnees, Sheeahs and Mogrebees; whose
heads are respectively: the Ozmanlee Padis-
hah; the Persian Shah; and the Moroccan
while the first men
toned has made the Khalifat hereditary in
the dynasty of the Ozmanlees of STEAMBOAT.
Now it seems that from the earliest times
of Islam, the Khoranic Doctors have been of
opinion that the dignity of Khalifah as first
instituted by Mohammed. is not hereditary;
but, like the President of Confederation,
that the Khalifah should validity be elected
by the Mussulman vote, or plebiscite.
Khoranic writers in past ages have constant
ly set forth this view of the case down to our
own times. Indeed, Mohammed may be
said TO have founded rather sort of Mus
sulman theocratic Republic with an elected
head, than an Empire; and be never as
sumed either the title or state of a monarch,
being remarkable for his abstemious and I'M
ostentatious mode of life. But when the
Khalifat was established at Bagdad, that
dignity became hereditary in the dynasty of
the Abbassides, contrary to the express views
and opinions of the Mussulman Doctors of
the Khoran, who regarded them as sacri-
legious usnrpers, as well as their conquerors
and successors. the Ozmanlees of Stambool.
In our own days, it is reported that move
ment has been set on foot at Mecca, the
Holy city of Islam, in EI-Hedjos, to restore
the elective character of the Khalifat, and
heal the three great schisms of Islam, by UNI
furling the new f'Nishan-ool-Islam, or Ban
ner of the Faith,' and rally around it all the
Mnssulmans of the three hostile great sects
Sunnees, Sheeahs and Mogrebees; under
the sway of an elected Khalifah, as in the
first days of Islam. 1t is evident that such
a movement is subversive of the spiritual
and temporal sovereign rule of the Padishah,
the Shah and the Emir-al-M oomenin stimuli
taneously, as well as of all other minor Mus
sulman potentates. Arabia, Syria and Egypt
are more especially influenced by this new
Mussulman agitation; and in India the thir-
ty or forty millions of Mussulmans, directly
or indirectly placed under the sway of Her
British Majesty, the Khayzar, e-Hind, are in
stigated by emissaries from Mecca and re-
turned Indian Hadjees or Pilgrims, to look
forward for speedy deliverance by Allah
from the thrall of the Giaours and the
Ghoralok, or whites. There is reason to ex-
pect that the present excitement in Egypt
has been animated by the same spirit; and
that Arabee Bey is encouraged in his pres
ent warfare against the English by the hope
that the Indian Mussulmans will rise up
against their British rulers, while simulta-
the "True Believers of Turkey,
Persia and Morocco will drive out their re-
spectve heads, the Padishah, the Shah and
the Emir-al- Moomenin; and that sort of
Mussulman theocratic republican confeder-
alton, under an elected Khalifah, will ulti.
mately be established over all the Mussul-
man world.
1t is not to our purpose to speculate upon
the probabilities of the success of such
our object being to show that
the struggle in which England is now en-
gagged in Egypt may eventually become a
very different business from its actual as
pect, and result in general rising of the
whole Mussulman world, the Indian Mus
included. In conclusion, there can
be no doubt that the Mussulmans would be
far better off under an elected chief than in
tEeir present divided state, under Asiatic
and African despots. We may passingly re-
call the fact that an Egyptian contingent,
under Abbey, was brought over to Mexi-
20 in the service of the late Macmillan.
upon whose return many Republican no
lions were spread through the Egyptian |
army, including the old idea of setting up |
over the Mussulmans an elected head, some |
what like the Presidents of the United |
States and other American Republics. So |
that, in truth, this Mussulman movement |
IN the East may be regarded as modern at