The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-05
What the Possession of This Holy
City of Islam Will Mean to Eng
land and the Allies Cause

whom II has been necessary to replace
with white regiments, especially with
Australians and New ~Zealandcrs, OBJ
tained from Egypt. Indeed the greater
part of the four divisions now operat-
ing in the vicinity of Bagdad under
his orders. and employed in holding
the various points along the march M
from the Persian Gulf. are white, with
a few Sikh regiments and corps of
Bengal Lancers.
There IL no doubt that the original
organizers Of the expedition made a
mistake in including therein n Mos
lem regiments. For, as I have men,
toned above, Bagdad was for some
500 years or more the religious capital
OF ali Islam, and the political mctropo-
lis of the greater part of 1t at a period
when Islam bore the same relation to
civilization that Christcndom does to-
day.
Its religious Importance is attcsted
by the number of its great shrines
and mosque tombs dating from that
cru. OF these the most important. and
the most imposing. is that of kaze-
main. in the northern suburb of the
city, where are buried the seventh and
IiI'li vi VIZ -
Shiites, namely Observation-Disclosures
KAHN. and his grandson Mahon"t-
Ibn-Ali-el-Jawad.
The two great domes or ctipolas
above the tombs. the four lofty nina
rets and part of the facade of this
double shrine are overlaid will gold,
and from whatever direction the trav-
eller approaches BlSdad the glitter Of
the sacred edifice is the first thing that
catches his eye. To such a degree is It
venerated by the Shiite Moslcns that
Christians and Jews are not even per-
mitted in the quarter of the city in
which it is situated. Then on the
western side of the river is the tomb
mosque Of Abu Hanifa, which is just
as much an object of veneration to
the Sunni Moslems.
The dread lest these holy places OF
Islam should be bombardcd by the field
pieces of the British invading army
and by the heavier ordnance from the
English gunboats on the river, or
should be %profaned 10y the tread Of a
Christian or Sikh foot, Is intolerable
to the devout follower of the Prophet,
no matter whether he belongs to the
Sulni or to the Shiite sect, and con-
~sequcntly IL was little short of inviting
trouble to include Mohammedan regi-
ments in the invading force of Sir John
Nixon. Let m" add. in this connection,
that the invasion of Mcsopotamia and
the imminent seizure of the sacred city
| Of Bagdad is creating far more unrest
among the Mosi"m population Of India
than the hitherto fruitlcss attack upon
| Con- ct a =, eirAT1a All. fi. L. vln ., nllan -
which they have remained relatively
Indifferent.
When once, however. the 90. 600. 900
Muhammcdan lieges of King George IN
India realize that their mosques and
their hr.n" at Bagdad have escaped
destruction and are treated 10y the
British troops there with the same de-
gree of profound rcSpcc: and cou-.der-
alton as tine various mosques and
shrincs in their own Land OF Hind,
they will soon become reConclled to
the fact that the British flag flies over
the city OF Bagdad. instead of that of
the sultan. For not only the MOslegns
Of India, hut also those of Persia. have
always resented tn" presence of the
Turks In IN" ancient capital OF Cal!ph
IarounJ l-Rasyhid, and during the
nearly 900 years which have elapsed
since tn" capture of the city by sultan
Murad ~. in 1888 the p~er,dans have
repeatedly ~endoavOrcd to Gust the
Turks from HlGdad, while the native
population. as We'll as the nonad tribes
Of Mesopotamil. have usually been in
a state of more or less open revolt
against tn" Ottoman authorities, whom
they have ever regarded as alien
usut pcrS.
1t Is not, therefore, bccausc of any
claim that the sultan nay have to
Blgdad, but only for fear Of the pos
sib,c destruction and Proclamation OF
their sacred snrincS there that the
MoslemS Of India. Persia and Arabia
have been alarmed by Great Britain's
attack ana siege Of TIL Glorious CITY,
~ Islam.