KING HUSSEIN AS KHALIF OF ISLAM.

“PROCLAIMED”

The deposition of the ex-sultan Abdul Medjid from his position as Khalif and the abolition of the office itself by the Angora Government has been followed by an interesting, though by no means unexpected, development. Telegraphing from Jerusalem yesterday, Reuter’s correspondent states that the Trans-jordanian Government has informed him that King Hussein has accepted the offer of the Khalifate from the Moslems of Mesopotamia, Trans-jordania, and the Hedjaz, who have proclaimed him Khalif. “It is expected,” adds the correspondent, “that other Arab Moslem countries will follow their lead.”

The following telegram was received last night by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

Jerusalem, Friday.

At the Palace of Shuna, in Transjordania, where he is staying with his son, the Emir Abdullah, King Hussein of the Hedjaz, was yesterday unanimously proclaimed Khalif by the representatives of the Moslems of Transjordania and of the Hedjaz. It is expected that the Arabs of Palestine and of Syria will join in the proclamation of King Hussein as Khalif within the next few days. Great celebrations are being prepared.

In all likelihood the conference of Arab States which will be opened on March 15 at Koweit, on the Persian Gulf, will formally proclaim King Hussein as Khalif of the Moslem of the whole of the Arabian Peninsula.

Before King Hussein’s arrival in Transjordania for the discussions on the Anglo Hedjaz Treaty, rumours were rife of his coming proclamation as Khalif. Early in January the Merat el Sherk, the official organ of the Arab National Party, reported that the Supreme Moslem Council was calling a meeting of the heads of the Moslem world “in order to proclaim the Arab Redeemer, King Hussein as Khalif of Arabic Islam. When King Hussein, however, arrived in Amman he disclaimed any intention of accepting the Khalifate. To the crowds who, outside the palace at Amman, acclaimed “Long live the Emir of All True Believers,” King Hussein; said, “No, no! not that.” The action of the Angora Assembly in deposing the Khalif Abdul Medjid, however, has precipitated matters and caused King Hussein to agree to the acceptance of the Khalifats.

ARAB MONARCH’S COUP.

From Our Diplomatic Correspondent: The surprise initiative in the matter of the Khalifate to the possibility of which I referred yesterday has been taken by King Hussein of the Hedjaz. Consciously or otherwise, the Angora Assembly played into the hands of a hereditary foe when it so curtly did away with both the Khalif and the Khalifate, at the very moment when the Hedjaz Monarch, now finally reconciled with his two crowned sons, Feisal and Abdullah, and nursing the idea of a vast Arab Federation or Confederation, was actually in conference at Amman with the delegates of the principal Arab kingdoms. The opportunity of what would wear the semblance of his spontaneous proclamation as Khalif by the assembled representatives of the various Arab peoples was too good to be missed by a cunning Oriental statecraft, and it was not missed. Yet this dramatic and momentous event in the history of Islam has probably taken place before even news has actually reached the ordinary subjects of his Hedjaz Majesty of the latest developments at Angara and Constantinople. So much for the elective principle in the Orient!

At the same time, the Arabs, who are a proud race, will probably be fired into enthusiasm by the Khalifal proclamation, regardless of

whatever miseries they may have suffered under the very unsatisfactory Hedjaz administration. Maybe the very feuds between Hussein and some of his more turbulent neighbours like Ibn Saud will be momentarily appeased, although in this case tribal differences have been accentuated by sectarianism. But there can be little doubt of the appeal which Hussein’s elevation to the Khalifate will make to the Arabs of the Hedjaz, Irak, Trans-jordania, and Palestine. Of great importance will be the character of its reception by King Fuad and Egyptian opinion.

INDIAN MOSLEM ATTITUDE.

In Indian circles yesterday opinion on the subject was restrained, pending the receipt of definite and representative expressions of sentiment by the Indian Moslem communities. But it is of interest that the first telegrams to London recording King Hussein’s coup coincided with others from India stating that the overwhelming bulk of Moslem opinion there considered that no new Khalif could be properly proclaimed save as the outcome of a general consultation or conference between all the great Islamic communities. From this fact it may be gauged that the Hedjaz move may not have settled the question with any finality. Moreover, there is the possibility that Hussein’s initiative will be promptly emulated by other ambitious Moslem monarchs.

The truculence of the Kemalist agnostics toward the Indian Moslems is now as marked as their truculence towards the Khalif himself. A prominent Turk of this school in London remarked in this connection that the promoters of the Khalifate agitation in India had been merely actuated all along, like the Ali brothers, by domestic political considerations, and not by love or Turkey nor of the Islamic faith; that the chief Indian Moslem protesters against Angora’s action, like the Aga Khan and Mr. Ameer Ali, did not even belong to the Sunni community; also that the £1,000 cheque sent by the Aga Khan to Ismet Pasha in aid of Turkey’s reconstruction after the Treaty of Lausanne did not entitle his Highness to dictate to the Turkish nation. This language is mild compared with that used at Angora.

Information received from Constantinople reveals the interesting fact that the Bill abolishing the Khalif and the Khalifate was originally drafted for the executive and the Government, or “Popular” party, by a committee of three deputies, Dr. Younous Nadi Bey, the notorious extremist and editor of the pro-bolshevik Yeni Jun, acting as chairman. The bill, as elaborated by them, consisted of thirteen articles. Article 1 declared the Khalif deposed; Article 2 declared the Khalifate abolished; Article 3 declared members of both sexes of the Khalifal dynasty, their husbands and their wives, to be banished in perpetuity from Turkish soil; Article 4 declared them to be no longer Turkish citizens. The remaining articles dealt in detail with the confiscation of their property by the State, Article 9 declaring all palaces and seraglios to belong to the nation.

During the two or three days immediately preceding his deposition, the Khalif spent most of his time in the harem. The grief of his favourite wife and of the seven eunuchs forming the special bodyguard is said to have been heartrending. The remainder of the eunuchs, 300 in all, were decidedly less affected.

EXPULSION OF PRINCES. CONSTANTINOPLE, Friday.

All the male members of the Imperial family left here yesterday by the boat train, in accordance with the instructions of the Angora Assembly. A few ladies remain, but they have been ordered to leave before Monday next. – Reuter.