Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-03-17

VARIOUS CONTEMPORARIES.
Why the HOLY War F;zzled.

William I. Ellis, IN Youths Companion.
What does the Inability of the caiiph to
house his people against unbelievers
mean? II there Ia never again to be n
Jihad, the Christian world wants to know
the reason: for It means that an ancient
and romantic and history making insti-
tuition has collapsed. ~
Iey thrSss reasons the }ihad must fall
for tho successor of Qsmqn who rules at
Constantinople has not Il drop of the blood
of the prophet or OF his people. The
Turkish %caliphatc, and never more so than
now, They know full we'll that only a de-
scendant Of the tribe of kore!sh ts legiti-
flag. The Shah Moslems, too. who are
mostly Persians and Indians. have never
cordially recognized the Turkish caliph-
ate. ~
SO, hard on the heels of the call to a
holy war runs the message that the sui
tan has no right to issue such q sum-
mons. and that the faithful are absolved
from obeying it. We may be sure that
Great Britain and the allied powers gave
wings to that report An Arab caliph, OF
real descent from the tribe of koreish-
of the mysterious Senussi-is likely to APP
pear soon to dispute openly the claims OF
the Turkish caliph. :.
Another difficulty in the way of the
jlhaa is that \ was called in behalf of
tons. That difficulty bias. been lessened
WIN w nav w WV iNlcLN y ullIOII
ignorant Ottomans that the Germans
have embraced the faith of the prophet.
But even if when the green flag was
lifted every !Moslem on earth had the
| greatest Imaginable desire to leap on his
horse and lay lance In rest, after the
good old fashion of the Arabs i'm the lays
of Caliph Abu Bekr and Caliph Omar,
there still could not he a general holy
war today.
Times have changed. Spears. swords.
and bows and arrows are not armament
enough, and a saddlebag full of dates il
not commissariat enough for Il modern
army. Modern battles are not won by
mobS. Organization and equipment are
the two great military necessarfes of this
| hour: and both of them are unavailable
to the far-scattered hosts of Islam. I'ur-
key can not arm, uniform. feed, or trans
| port her own soldiers, much less the Mos
lens of the whole earth.
The difficulty of overcoming that OH
Staclc to n jihad is Increased by another.
namely: that the Moslems have no ships.
! There is not one Islamic power that has
a navy. except Turkey. with her few
ships. which are bottled up within the
D~ardanelles. Without a navy or trans.
ports. how could Islam cross the Meditcr-
ranean to attack Europe?
The third and the best reason for believ-
ing that there will not Ike Il holy wal is
that most Moslcms do not want to fight
against their Christian rulers. S%clf-inter-
est is as strong with a Moslem as with
anyone else-perhaps a little stronger. I'm
der the rule of Christians they have peace.
protection; prosperity. and entire religious
liberty. Their opportunities for educa-
ton and happiness are greater than under
the rule of Islam. They know that life
in Cairo. for example. is more comfortable
than life in Constantinople. The Moslems
OF India would not want to see Turkish
ways extended to that country. When the
calipl1 bids them rise against their rul-
ers. they look at their wives and children
and homes. and ask themselves why they
should forsake them and go forth to dam
ger and death, all because one Christian
ruler. who happens to have made an ally
Of the caliph, is at war with another
Christian ruler.