Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje

“ What stronger proof can we desire of the faithlessness of their inmost hearts to the Religion, and of their feelings towards the Arabs, than their bombardment of that ancient House, which God has chosen for His House, saying, "Keep my House pure for all who come to it,"—a House so venerated by all Moslems? ”

“ Mecca was far too remote from the then existing centres of civilisation to be a convenient vantage point for the world conquest considered by Islam as its appointed task, and as a capital from which to administer the empire which the first Caliphs were able to establish by force of arms. Even Medina seemed unsuited for the purpose, permanently. Then, when the Persian Empire, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain were subjected to Islam, Arabia, regarded politically, became a remote territory with a steadily decreasing significance. ”

“ It is not ready for great undertakings. But, for the moment, a revolt in West Arabia against Turkey, under the lead of the Great Shereef and aided by England, can cause serious trouble to the Turkish Government, and all the more, because it is at Mecca, familiar to, and cherished by, the entire Mohammedan world. Such a campaign, well prepared and ably conducted, would be a master-stroke in opposition to the attempt, made by Young Turkey under German protection, to excite the mediæval fanaticism of Islam against other religious sects and to use it as an incentive to strife. ”

“ This will show how they despised His House and denied it the honour given it by believers.
We leave all this to the Moslem world for judgment.
Yes, we can leave the judgment to the Moslem world; but we may not leave our religion and our existence as a people to be a play-thing of the Unionists. God (Blessed be He!) has made open for us the attainment of freedom and independence, and has shown us a way of victory to cut off the hand of the oppressors, and to cast out their garrison from our midst. ”

“ Domestic dissension, moreover, always assured the punitory leader of the coöperation of one party within the disturbed territory.
When Egypt was conquered in 1517 by Sultan Selim, Turkey, automatically, took over the protectorate of the Holy Land. The Turkish Sultans styled themselves, with unassuming pride, "the servants" of both holy cities. At the same time, their garrison in Mecca was an outward and visible sign that they did not intend to share the service with anyone. From that epoch on, their names immediately preceded that of the Grand Shereef in the official prayers. ”

“ Next came a series of official and officious publications, all based on the hypothesis that the Turkish Sultan-Caliph is the man who, under all circumstances, controls the political policy of the Mohammedans.
Taking all these points into consideration, it becomes hardly needful to reply to the question as to how the Shereef of Mecca might, perhaps, try to become a rival of the Sultan Mehmed Reshad as a pretender to the Caliphate.
A Caliphate, no matter who holds the dignity, is wholly incompatible with modern political conditions. ”

“ The population of the holy cities furnishes no elements for the formation of a military force, and in that population, Shereef Ali, whom the Turks now wish to use, will assuredly find some adherents. Arabia is still, as it was of yore, hopelessly divided by conflicting interests and by century-long feuds. ”

“ The stable population of Mecca were sacrificed to this struggle for mastery; the blessings of peace were an unknown luxury to them.
When the Hijaz was still actually governed from the political centre of Islam, Medina was the appointed capital. For an independent local principality, such as the Shereefate, Mecca had the advantage of not being so accessible to the military forces of powers that might trouble themselves about the Hijaz. ”

“ Any success which they achieved was always transient. The universal condition of things in Arabia afforded the opportunity of turning a portion of the Holy Province into a personal domain. In about 1000 A.D., the heads of certain families among the descendants of Ali began to make themselves powerful in the Hijaz and held their ground. From 1200 A.D. to the present time, one line of these children of Ali, that of Katada, has succeeded in maintaining supremacy in Mecca. ”

“ Both Shereef Ali and the governor, Ahmed Ratib, succumbed when the great Turkish Revolution broke out in 1908. Ratib had to submit to financial extortions and to exile, while the deposed Shereef settled down in Cairo. His cousin Husein, son of Aun's brother Ali, took his place as Shereef. It soon became apparent that this Husein intended to profit by the turn of events to retrieve the reputation and status of the Shereefate.
It is well known that Arabia has contributed her share to the many difficulties with which the Young-Turk Government has had to battle from its inception. ”

“ The inhabitants of Mecca and Medina were, usually, at odds, and unanimous only in obstinacy and insubordination. The nomads of the intervening district continued to be, under Islam, the anarchists that they had been from time immemorial. Only a very strong hand could bridle the disorders native to the Holy Land. ”

“ Such Moslems as were under Turkish authority were not affected by the Caliphate of their Sultan. The relation of subjects to their rulers in Mohammedan realms not subordinated to Turkey were even less affected; and least of all did the matter signify to those followers of Islam ruled by non-Mohammedans. These are numerous and have steadily increased during the last centuries. An, effective Caliphate, however explained, presupposes the political unity of all the faithful. ”

“ During the Turco-Italian War, Turkish occupation was in a disturbed condition, especially in the southern part of Arabia and the Turkish Government asked Shereef Husein for help in relieving the besieged Turkish garrison of Obha in the rebellious Asir territory. With an old-time Shereef-army, composed of slaves, mercenaries, and Bedouins, Husein undertook a campaign which did, possibly, help secure the safe retreat of the beleaguered Turkish garrison of Obha, but which also, undoubtedly, tempered the Shereef's sense of dependence on Turkish authority. ”

“ We are ready to accept all things in harmony with the Faith and all that leads to the Mountain of Islam, and in particular to uplift the mind and the spirit of all classes of the people in so far as we have strength and ability. ”

“ The chief Islam powers have always attached a certain reservation to their tacit recognition of the Shereefs of Mecca which the latter have found themselves forced to accept. He was never an independent ruler and, in the long run, had to recognise the suzerainty of the protecting states. ”

“ The Shereefs have invariably felt the protectorate as an oppressive bond, and the Turks have never been able to appeal to the population in the name of the blessings that they, the conquerors, have bestowed on the land. ”

“ In international life there is no room for mediæval structures, and Turkey can live in peace with other states, especially with those possessing Mohammedan subjects, only if Caliphate pretensions be honestly put aside, even though the title be maintained as a formal one. ”

“ The administration methods of the Osmans were as little adapted for permanent centralization as those of the earlier Mohammedan empire had been. The provinces speedily assumed the character of feudal holdings, each possessing a large measure of independence. ”

“ No one living knows its history better than does Professor Snouck Hurgronje of the University of Leiden. To his vast knowledge upon all subjects connected with Mohammedanism and gained from an extensive reading of its literature, he has added personal observation during the year that he spent in Mecca and Jiddah. ”

“ The Turkish governors of the Hijaz had no easy task. An energetic Shereef would always be on the alert to reduce the governor's authority to the smallest measure. A weak Shereef might be submissive, but then he was powerless to control the ill-disposed elements in his family and make them innocuous, and often he would be sacrificed to the wiles of the opposition. ”

“ Children, old men, and delicate women bereft of their natural protectors were subjected in exile to all foul usage and even to tortures, as though the woes they had already suffered were not chastisement enough. Did not God say: "No punishment shall be inflicted on anyone for the sins of another? ”

“ They also showed their guilt when they hanged in one day twenty-one of the most honourable and enlightened of the Moslems, among them Emir Omar el Jazairi, Emir Arif el Shahabi, Shefik Bey Moayyad, Shukri Bey el Asli, Abdel Wahab, Tewfik el Bassat, Abdel Hamid el Zahrawi, Abdel Ghani el Areisi, and their learned comrades. To destroy so many, even of cattle, at one time would be hard for men void of all natural affection or mercy. ”

“ They have given nothing and have never been in a position even to assure the safety of the roads leading to the Holy Cities during the few weeks of the pilgrimage. In Arabia as little as elsewhere have the Turks tried to affiliate with the people. ”

“ What is of greater importance is the alleged assistance offered to the Emir Husain by the Emir Abd al-Aziz ibn Saʿud, the head of the Wahhabites in the Nejd—the district east of Medinah—and by the Zaidite Imam Yahyah in the Yemen against the Turkish troops stationed there. ”

“ These visitors were constantly exposed to ill treatment on the part of the Shereef. Yet, in spite of that, they held to a belief that domination over the Holy City belonged rightfully to a branch of the Holy Family. ”