New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-24

stamboul, where the Sultan. with his policy Of
playing of one European power against another,
was always certain TO find some foreign govern
Inent ready to outbid England for the sake Of
some temporary advantage at the latters eX-
perse, the British Foreign Office, in conjunction
with the Foreign Department at Calcutta, pro-
ceeded to investigate the pretensions Of the
Turkish Sultan to the Caliphate, and after a
careful inquiry in which the most learned mem
bers Of the Mahometan Church in India took
part came 10 the conclusion hat his claims
were urfounded, and based wholly on usurpa-
ton and on false assertions. The Koran, that
is TO say the Khadissei Sheriff portion thereof,
strictly and implicitly provides that the Caliph
Of the Mahorletan Church-its supreme pontif
-r7lJsf be a lineal descendant Of the Prophet
who founded the Faith. Now the Grand Sheriff
OF Mecca fulfls the genealogical requirements
being q Iineal descendant OF Hassan, the grand
son Of the Prophet. Abdul Hamid. on the other
hand. has none of these qualifications Whatso-
eve. his ancestors having belonged to a tribe
Distinguished for its enmity to the Prophet he
cannot be considered as being even in the re
hottest degree descended from Mahomet and the
only foundation on which he bases his CLAIM TO
The Caliphate is an alleged cession of the dig
ritv to Sultan Selin the conqueror Of Egypt
bv The last Fatimite Caliph at Cairo in 1516
This Fatirnite Caliph so called because descend
&c from Mahornet's daughter Fatimah, had no
authority whatsoever TO bequeath the title, least
Of all to one who was by race and ancestry
legally and theolOgically disqualified That Sui
tan Selin's successors did not attach any I'M
portance TO this alleged cessiOn of the title OF
Caliph on the part Of the Fatimite Caliph OF
Cairo is best shown by the fact that none OF
them dreamed Of including it among his digni-
ties until the present Sultan, who, with the OBJ
11afT h9H
actually the audacity to eliminate from the cop
les Of the Koran published in Turkey those
Khadissei Sherifs which contain the inspired in
functions regarding the Caliphate a sacrilege
which has excited horror even among the eccle-
siastical authorities at Constantinople. where
numbers OF ulemas have been banished for de-
rouncing the indignity thus done to their Holy
Book
Since this discovery Englands policy has
been not to protect the Sultan or TO champion
his cause but to develop the power and the
prestige Of the Grand Sheriff Of Mecca as the
principal descendant Of the Prophet and as
therefore. the chief Caliph of Islam Some time
aEo. when she invested a Mahometan Sheik
with the administration of KOranic law at
Zelah, which with the surrounding country, Is
almost entirely populated with MahOmetans
she addressed TO the Grand Sheriff of Mecca q
letter requesting him to give his approval to the
appointment in his capacity as head Of the Ma
homeran Church throughout the world. And
It is no longer any secret that the English Gov
eminent has in view the proclamation Of Mecca.
OF Medina, and. in fact, Of all Of that portion of
Arabia in which the holy cities of Islam are sit
Uated, as the property of the Grand Sherifate.
assuring to the latter the revenues Of the holy
cities, entire independence from the Sultan of
Turkey. as well as freedom from interference on
the part OF any other foreign power. The whole
Of the Arabian Peninsula. in which the holy
places OF Islam are situated. constitutes theo-
relcauy q Turkish province under the direc-