Evening star., 1926-05-11

Sultan Ibn Sa'ud of NaJQ. GUARDIAN
of tho holy places Of Islam and leader
Of the reaCtionaries. or 'fundamen-
talists." has issued invitations 10 ali
MosIems for a pan-Islamic conference
TO he called in Mecca for the purpose
Of considering the holy piigrlmages
10 Mecca. In Cairo. Egypt. seat OF
tho great Nloslem universities, anoth-
or nan.Islamic conference is soon TO
he held to discuss the caliphate ana
take steps for eleCting new callph.
The vacancy was made by the TURK
;sb abolition of the caliphate when
the Turkish National Assembly, two
years ago last March, voted the eA-
lie of Caliph Medjd,
The assumption Of the exclusive
right since 1917 of Turkish Sultans
alwaEs to be caliphs has never been
recognized by the Shi-ite sect OF
Islam nor by the faithful of Northern
Africa. The Moslem world was
therefore, divided quite as radically
as is the Christian world OF CathoiicS
and Protestants.
The New Turks have gone so far
toward modernism that they nave not
ONLY abolished the head of the church'
hut have reyolted against the teach
ings of Mohammedanism. as have the
bolsheviks rebelled against Christian
itv and all religion. The Moslem fun
damentaliStS are swinging the pen
dulum back and appealing for q full
return to the faith of their ancestors,
with the cry of ARABIA Tor tne MO
hammedanS" They resent bitterly
IL. n tpEtine
the Jews.
With the existing antagonlsm OF
the Riffs in Africa against the French
and Spanish, the Druses In SYRIA
(who have a religion of their own.
non. .Islamic) fighting the British, and
the other Syuians fighting the French
with all this unrest against the
dominance of the West in African
Islam and in the Near East. the re-
yival of a. united Islam holds impor-
tant potentialities.
There are more than q quarter OF
a. billion Moslems in the world. and
the number has increased in the last
few wears. The Moslem doctrine
teaches hatred for Christian dogs.
so that the possibilities of antagonism
are far greater than mere numbers
indicate. in case the Caliphate be re-
vived and all fanatical followers raj
lied into obedience.
:. X x x
The caliph holds the same rank in
Nuslem circles as does the Pope in
Christianity. He is the Successor OF
the Prophet" except that the caliph $
uower was stronger temporarily than
Spiritually - more like the holy
Roman emperor. He was the pro
tector of the faith" extending 1t
with the power of the sword. His
authority knew no national bound
aries. With the formation of the
Republic of Turkey. national bound
aries became tangible. With the re-
linouishment of extraterritoriality
in Turkey by the Western powers
Turkish nationality was emphasized.
Then came the REIMBURSEMENT by
Great Britain of her hold over Egypt
and the project of the British to
build great irrigation works in the
Sudan at the headwaters of the
Nile. with which to irrigate a mil
lion acres of cotton land at the ex-
pense of the Nile floods, on which
Egypt bases it's existence. All these
developments within the last hVe
years have tended to draw the Mos
lem world away from the Western
powers and to encourage the cry,
ARABIA for the Arabians! Egypt
for the Egyptiansv' islam for the
MoSleImS.'
Yet they have lacked central lead
ership. Will they overcome that by
selecting at the coming conference a
new caliph, from outside the new
Turkish influences? There are indi-
; ra tions that the argresSiyA TIM On I'D