Evening star., 1932-07-10
BY COMDR. THE HON. J. M. KEN
WORTHY.

! y VI 4oAdlli ACoNlAOCN VIZ
mission of the faithful to be
domination by the system "over
i all religion" This has been in
terpreted as political domination
over the adherentS of other faiths, just
as. at the end of the nineteenth CEN
tury. ChriStendom dominated politically
the adherentS of Mahomet.
Twice the Islamic program has come
near realization; once when the hordes
of the early caliphs submerged vast por-
tions of Southwestern Europe, Asia ana
Africa; and again when the Ottoman
Turks invaded Southeastern Europe up
to the walls Of Vienna. Today ambitious
leaders of the new Islam dream OF 1ul-
filling Mahomet's mission. Like an
awakening giant the Moslem world Is
stirring In its sleep.
Two main preoccupations have
blinded Western leadership to the emer-
gence and growth Of this new world
movement Western "ChriStendom," as
represented by non Russian Europe and
| America, Is distracted by its economic
problems at home and in the East, by
| the aggressive policy Of Japan in Asia.
| And now the spirit OF natfonalism has
! begun to work as ferment among the
| 230 900 900 inhabitants of the Mahom-
| etan lands.
Twof0Id Expression.
This movement has a twofold ex-
preston. 1t appears as racial ma
i tionalism similar to that which has
racked Europe from the middle years
of the nineteenth century until the
present day. 1t also exists as feeling
| of political solidarity among those
peoples who, since the seventh century,
| have come under the influence Of 1slamic
culture. Just as, from the time OF the
! Crusades onward, the nations that mad
been subjected to Christian influences
| though quarreling violently among
| themselves from time to time, were able
| to show a united front toward the East,
so now, and for the first time since the
| foundation of the Mahometan faith, the
Islamic people are displaying a tendency
| to combine against the West.
| This development threatens the fu-
J ture peace Of the world. In any case
/ It is sure to play a great part in in
| ternational politics Therefore the
Western peoples should understand what
lies behind this new alliance, how 1t
differs from the former religious broth
erhood and why its importance has
| grown.
The first manifestation Of the two to
which I have already referred differs
| ULJle III opulL llOil LIlG lldIlOAldlAoVAO
feeling OF the Western nations. Its
/ significance is that it is now making its
| appearance in the East. Up to the
end Of the last century, religion was the
driving force. Nationalism counted for
little.
NatiOnalism Shows Gains.
Now a nationalist movement on the
Nile combines Christian Copts and
Moslem Egyptians, in Syria combines
| DruseS and Arabs, in Palestine links to-
gether Christian and Moslem Arabs
against the Jews and the British, and
in Irak and Persia it shows all the out
ward manifestations of a spirit of ma
tionalist solidarity just as surely as did
Garibaldis italy at the time of the
Risorgimento. This development had
been foreseen and, to q certain extent,
provided against by the predominant
European nations
What has taken the Europeans by
surprise is the new Islamic spirit of
solidarity against Westernism, the be-
ginnings OF a Mahometan League of
Nations-not only in spite of the aboli-
ton of the Caliphate, but because of 1t.
The Caliph, the Commander of the
Faithful was supposed TO be the chief
Of the most powerful Islamic state, with
a feet and army able to come to the
succor of any other Islamic people
threatened or attacked by the infidel
1t was founded on the religion of the
Koran and in theory the wielder of the
sword Of Islam was entitled to summon
the faithful everywhere to the common
defense. In practice the system broke
down for two reasons. The Caliph was
possessed Of tremendous power by his
position and was inclined, as has al
ways been the case in history, to abuse
this power. Thus, through the CEN
turies the non-Turkish Islamic peoples
dreaded the Turkish Caliphate as much
as they dreaded the most powerful state
in Christendom. Not only were there
revolts against the temporal power of
the Commander Of the Faithful, but
on occasions the Faithful themselves,
those of Turkish races, threw in
their lot with the infidel.
The most recent example was the
World War, when Egyptians. Arab and
Indian Moslem soldiers fought hard
against the Turkish troops.
The other weakness of the purely re-
ligious cohesion Of Islam was the
schism between Sunnis and Sufis, who
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