At Angora, capital of Turkey, the Grand National Assembly passed a bill providing for the deposal of the Calif, Abdul Medjid Effendi, and the abolition of the Califate.
At Constantinople, Vali (Governor) Dr. Adran Bey, went to the Dolma Baghche Palace, home of the Calif. He there demanded to see the Calif in the Throne Room. When the Calif arrived, the Vali ordered him to ascend the throne, read the decision of the Grand National Assembly to him, ordered him to descend the throne and pack his things.
One hour later the deposed Calif, his wife, daughter, two members of his harem and his private secretary left the country for Switzerland
After examination of his papers, the Swiss Government gave him permission to stay in the country, provided he would promise to abstain from doing anything that would embarass Switzerland. The ex-Calif was expected to go on to France.
Aside from Turkey, the Moslem world finds itself in Africa, Arabia, Persia, Russia, Afghanistan, India, China. In fact 95% of the 220,000,000 Mahammadans in the world live outside of Turkey.
The Califate, which came into existence in 632 A. D. on the death of Mahammad, is the highest office of the Moslem religion. To some extent, although it cannot be compared to it, the Califate occupied the same position as the Vatican: The Calif (meaning successor, with to the Prophet understood) was the pontiff of Mahammadanism.
Last week the question of setting up a new Califate rapidly absorbed all the Moslem world. The King of Egypt, the Sultan of Morocco,* the Aga Khan of Bombay, all had their hopes of being recognized.
The most serious claimant to the Califate was King Hussein of the Hedjaz. The Arabs of Mesopotamia, Transjordania and the Hedjaz proclaimed King Hussein Calif, a title which the King was pleased to accept. For some time, the Arabs have been agitating to make Hussein Calif, thereby displaying their dislike for the conditions with which the Nationalist Turks surrounded the Califate. It was by no means certain that any of the other Moslem countries would recognize King Hussein as the head of Islam. He is, however, more fitted to the Califate than most other candidates, because the blood of Koreish, tribe to which Mahammad belonged, runs through his veins; this, according to the Sunni Moslems is an indispensable condition to be fulfilled by a Calif. Then, again, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina (the former associated with Mahammad’s birth, the latter with his death) are both within the territory of Hedjaz.
Said The Times, London, apropos of the Calif’s ouster: “Of all vast changes wrought by the war, the downfall of Habsburgs, Romanoffs and Hohenzollerns, the resurrection of ancient States and the rise of States unknown before, the evolution of novel forms of government and the emergence of new ideas and new feeling among mankind, no single change is more striking to the imagination than is this; and few, perhaps, may prove so important in their ultimate results.”
After deposing Sultan Mahammad VI in 1922, the Angora Government elected Abdul Medjid Effendi to the Califate. Now it has deposed him. The meaning of this sudden change of countenance was said to be that the Calif proved himself not pliable enough to the Government; he, therefore, had to go.
One of the surest results of abolishing the Califate in Turkey—and it seems clear that 5% of the Mahammadans could not abolish it for Islam— is that it is certain to reduce Turkey’s hitherto predominant position in Islam. If the Islamic world splits, Turkey may not suffer much, owing to her military strength; if it be unified under King Hussein, then Turkey’s position in the eyes of other Moslems will indeed be low.
But Turkey just now is turning her head to the West and forgetting the East; in whick case, loss of prestige in Islam may not mean so much to her.
*The Moroccans have never recognized the Calif at Constantinople.
