The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-05-30

no feeling Of religious LOYALTY 10 the s,,,.
tan Indeed. 10 most of them the sulfa n
is usurper, not only because he does MOI,
pretend to De descended from All. h,,
because he cannot pretend To No descend
ea rom any one. Let US look little
closer, therefore at the suItan's actual
position and status.
Nature Of Hts Authority.
The word caliph tspelled also khaiif and
ksalinhp means the vicar and successor af
Mohammed fMahomefl. precisely as the
word pope means the vicar and vicsgerent
OF st Peter In Hike manner the word
caiiphate fspelled also khalifat. etc, means
the supreme direction and administration
of the affairs Of the Mohammedan world
precisely as the word pontifcate means the
supreme direction and administration of
the Affairs of the Roman Catholic church
The sultan claims to he the true caiiph the
legitimate head of all the Moslems, their
only authoritative leader and ruler. but
this claim rests upon too slim basis to be
OF any use to him I'm the coming emer-
gency. During the lifetime of the prophet
II was his custom to appoint caliph TO act
Tor him when he was absent from Medina
and one of his last acts was to name his
father-in-law. Abou- Rekir his supreme
representative and successor. which ap-
pointment was duly confirmed by the Mos
OF their leader. Abou- Rekir was succeeded
In due course by Omar. Osman and Ali.
and these four are recognized by all ortho-
dox Mussuimans as perfect caIiphs
THE caiiphate after me-" Mahommed Il
reported to have said. will last only shsr-
" years. After this there will only be
powers established by force. usurpation
and tyranny" Never was truer prophecy
uttered' The death of All and the usur-
vNo1 ion NJ ~
years after the death 81 the prophet and
this put an end to the true and perfect
caiiphate. The sixty-eight mis-perfect
caliphs who followed were all OF the fam
lily of Mahommed. although of different
branches: but they fully met the require
ments Of the sacred law, which pre-
scribed that the caliph must be OF the
family Of koreish tthe prophets ances-
tori, who was claimed to be a direct de-
scendant Of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. and the
Ommiades. fourteen In all. were Of the
same branch as Osman. the third perfect
caliph. The abassides Of Kufa Bagdad
and Cairo. hfty-four In all. descended
from Ahas. the great-unc1e Of Mohammed.
There are many others who at different
times usurped the name of caliph. hut
these seventytwo are all who are recog-
nized as universal caiiphs. Needless TO
say that all OF them were Arabs. Mo-
manned XII. the last OF them. died In
ohscurity In Egypt. in 1888 The power Of
the caliphs gradually declined. until for
hundreds of years II was little more than
nominal. and exclusively religious.
Original Of CIsim Ia Caliphate.
The claim OF the Ottoman suitan's to
the caliphate dates back only TO the time
OF Sultan Seiim I. This Ottoman con-
quered Egypt and overthrow the dynasty
OF the Mamalukes- He found at Cairo
the Caliph Mohammed MIL. and brought
him as a prisoner to Constantiuople. He
was confined in the fortress OF the Sew
en- Towers for several years and then
sent back to Egypt with small pen
sion. While Selim was at Cairo the
Sheref X Of Mecca presented To him the
keys of the holy cities. and accepted him
as their protector. In l5l1 Mohammed
XIII. also made over TO him, under du-
ress as a prisoner. all his rights and title
to the calphate. which both giver and
taker knew very we'll he had no right or
authority 10 do. and which gift accord
ingiy possess no legal value whatever.
This involuntary cession by Mohammei
XIII. and the voluntary homage OF the
Sheresff of Mecca are the only titles pos
essed by the Ottoman sulsans TO the cal
iphate. and consequently their claim 10 II
has ever been the veriest moonshine. az
the prophet expressly prescribed that the
Cai1pn must ne one o. MS own family
The Ottoman sultans have also ss-
sumed the title of fman-ul- Mnssslmln.
which may be roughly translated grand
poniiff of all the Maslsms. .@The Mussul-
mans" saws an article of their faith.
ought to be governed nv an Imam who
has the right and authority 10 secure
obedience to the law, to defend the from
tiers To raise armies to collect tishss 20
Pr; down rebels to celebrate public
prayers on Fridays and al Reiram." etc
IAN MoEiems.' continues the article.
''ough, To be governed by one Imam His
authority Is absolute. and embraces EVERY
thing. All are hound 10 submit ~ him.
No country can render submission 10 any
other authority. This advice OF the
Mosiem fneologsars-is Us nothing more
Is based on few general prescriptions
~ Moba mined. and IL IN no sense Of
binding authority. as IL shown by the &c
T fson ~ the Mona M u7e6an doctors OF the
law who expressly declare as follows.
THE rights nf tire house of Gilman are
based upon lis power and success, for ono
of the most ancient eanonieal books de-
ciares that the authority af prince who
has ustirred the ealiphate hy force and vio-
ience ought not the less to be considered
legitimate. hesaHse since the end If the
perfect csi.phs'e. the sovereign power in
held 10 reside IN the person If him who ia
the strongest who Is the actual ruler and
whose right 70 command rests upon the
power of his armies
taIiphmte Rests on Force.
IN these words then we have tire real
saitanS can advance for their calipnate.
rfcsxt Sc The as IN