PROPAGANDA OF REVOLT

A new importance is given to the Arab revolts in Mesopotamia by the announcement that a holy war is being preached, for this means that we are no longer dealing with a somewhat vague unrest, which could be settled tribe by tribe. It means that the leaders of the anti-british movement have sounded the only call which offers a prospect of uniting the Arabs in a common cause. Until this preaching of a holy war, it is much to be doubted whether any two tribes were opposing us for quite the same reason. I have met many Arabs of property and power who had a vital interest in the future of their land – and almost without exception they had no wish that the British should leave the country. They had reason to appreciate that, while Moslem rule was a pretty enough ideal, it was not a matter of practical policy. The Turks had no money, and they were always wanting it. The British, on the other hand, had full purses and needed nothing from the Arab.

A holy war will doubtless appeal strongly to the Arab who, possessing nothing, has nothing to lose and everything to gain by the fortune of battle. The sheikh who, having much at stake, has thought about these matters, doubtless finds his motive for fighting rather in the bearded rabble at his back than in any deep conviction. Sheikhs lead less often than they are supposed to do. Some are truly henpecked husbands, too, and the real ruler of the settlement in such cases dictates policy from the seclusion of the harem. Women wield a power in the East far greater than they are credited with. Some petty sheikhs of my acquaintance have invariably concluded any business talk with the announcement that they would decide the matter within a day or two. They meant, often enough, “I must consult my wife,” but would never have admitted so much,

One of the grave aspects of a holy war is that the more thoughtful men hardly dare to warn their followers of the perils of their notion. A man who admitted that he thought of his purse and lands when the Prophet’s bidding was in question would incur no small personal risk. In the most lawless districts the law of the great camel driver runs inviolate. Wild fighters who fear no man and no law in the whole vast desert will suffer meekly during Ramazan the pangs of thirst and hunger through long days of blistering heat, fearful of the Prophet’s law, which bids them fast until sunset. Wherever they may be, on the desert, at work in fields and date groves, or in the crowded city, they will observe the call to prayer. The letter of the Moslem law is strongly fortified by many a superstition which survives all contact with reality and common sense, I recall a notable example which impressed this fact upon me during the war. Two Arabs under my control were charged by a third Arab with the theft of a watch. They were both highly civilised city Arabs, in daily contact with business and modern things, and both in their sphere shrewd men of affairs. An inquiry into the case proved conclusively their innocence, and they were discharged as cleared of all suspicion. The sequel was that the two disappeared for three days, and on their return came smiling to account for their absence, both with their palms laid open with ugly wounds, which had to be medically treated.

VICTIMS OF SUPERSTITION

After their acquittal of the charge of theft they heard their accuser express still some doubt about their honesty. Without further parley they agreed with him to put the case to the test of tribal law. Accused and accuser then undertook a long journey to the home of a celebrated holy man, there to submit to an ordeal by fire. In his presence each plucked a burning faggot from a fire, and, holding the red-hot ends, swore a certain form of oath. This satisfied their calumniator as no evidence of reason could have done, and the men returned happy, in spite of their painful wounds. For such men as these a call to a holy war is likely to be more potent than the Western conventions of law and order.

Hope for the future lies chiefly in the certainty that, before very long, economic considerations may make the Arabs pause to inquire exactly what they are fighting for. They know that their faith has never been threatened through the British occupation. They also know that British railways and irrigation schemes are laying the foundations of prosperity for them. Such gifts as the British have brought are too good to be lost, even though they come from an infidel source. When last I saw Ramadi, an important centre in the present disturbances, a fine new mosque was being erected almost opposite to an office devoted to British encouragement of Arab agriculture. In another open square, a few hundred yards away, the gallows faced the desert. There, in the compass of one little town, the Arab may look on both sides of the picture and find food for thought.