OUR LITERARY CORNER.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15488, 15 January 1916, Page 7

OUR LITERARY CORNER.

THE SENUSSI ARABS.

NEW ZEALAND ERS IN THE SOUDAN.

(mC ULJ.r WBITTEJf FOF. "THE MS.") (Br James Collier.) Nothing brings the almost world-wide character of the present warmore vhridlv before us than tho tidings minted in columns of the same issue, of a recent newspaper that a young New Zealand (Canterbury) officer held a command in a battle with Turkish troops across the Tigris in Mesopotamia, and that a New Zealand contingent, co-operating with Sikhs from India, bad fought against tho Sennssian Arabs in Central Soudan only a few weeks ago. We are all well acquainted with "that blessed word Mesopotamia," but Senussi and his Arabs are less familiar, and some well-authen-ticated information about them may be not unwelcome. Baron d'Estournelles de Constant, who was for some years officially resident in Northern Africa, and is a French senator and a member of the International Tribunal at The Hague; Commandant Rinn, an ex-official from Algeria, and latterly Under-Secre-tary for Native Affairs in Paris; and Leo Roches, are perhaps the best guides through a veritable labyrinth. RIVAL METHODS. Within the last two or three centuries most of the leading European Powers have taken possession, bit by bit, or slice by slice, of the whole Continent, of Africa by main forcc, aided or preceded by missionaries or traders. Mohammedanism is taking possession of it by a very different method. It sprees over the Dark Continent as oui'does over a tablecloth, or (what the chemists would call) by Graham's process of endosmosis. It is engineered by-a gigantic propaganda, carried on Wr! Secret organised societies, each with tnpir routes, their caravans, and their leaders;. and either one or another of t|iem has converted, which means conqtiered, the majority of the peoples of die 'equatorial regions. Those secret ql&ieties are numberless and unseizablc, says our .Baron; "they have no frontiers; their adepts are almost always occult as regards ourselves and often nomadic; they manifest themsferfs by intermission, propagate themselves irregularly, traverse deserts, stem to lose themselves, then reappear unexpectedly at a distant .point; they unite with one another, crOss' vWith one another, ramify, . disguise'their doctrines, and change their ranks."

'i A summary sketch will show how i f such Orders are organised, how," they j f spread and multiply, what tasks they j accomplish, and how they accomplish j ' them, and how, in their desert remote- j nesses,'or-in the midst -of .thronged' towns, theymay aid ' or thwart tlieT Governments of European peoples, ... i ; SECTARIAN ISLAMr 1 "' We are apt to thijvk. of Mohammedfe; anism as a sectless ii'. jfact, Mohammed himsblf 'waa^'toovabso-; lute to leave room for'tte formation of yiifefeii-wlale-' his-successors, the' Khalifs, Ijm, too constantly engaged in founds. dynasties to make it practicable: |||jfeit we find a conspicuous order foundby Abd-el-Kader el Jilani, about S&jDBO AJ). It was purely mystical; S«simist as regards this world, it res||jmbled many a Christian mystical 'lllfist; and the number of its members all Asia was incalculable. All later , v||||Swera were founded on a similar basis. PP»9hfc£cr..tbe same constitution, , were OTganised on the same principles, and !v' ' owerred the same general rules. There rape, nevertheless, .'many divergencies doctrine and spirit. Many of | " t& sects have been inspired by political i- Motions, and have' degenerated into '' of tyranny. We shall see are the characteristics of , order. founder of a new order must be and able to trace back his VQKtrifie to the teaching of Mohammed, us, every new sect, takes its on the Bible. Such a doctrine ,''chain,'' his "sampler," as our used -to say, or the of his spiritual ancestors,.! .||pjjrom he transmits to his successor with name at the head of it. This justifies him; it is the base of «||w teaching, and the scientific origins doctrine. To this chain he adds jßpjPtf "deker"—a formula or short Sspar, which is his masonic sign of after his "call" the of the new order begins to Ppi#yh. If he succeeds, if his wortl'finds he surrounds himself with BPS I®''®1®''®' 8 ' To them he IP" and out of their offerisGuilds 'or appropriates seminary, school,, or if- - 'gther-hQnse of the order. There he himself, continues his teachS. ; W, and issues directions. Subordinate J S?»es multiply. The chief is granddesignates his successor. i~X VP mokaddems are the apostles, en"C and ministers; these coUect offer-"gS'-granfc absol «tion, and bestow the 1 wowing of the sheik. They teach the aqptnne of the order, administer the mtii of obedience, and initiate members, If they are eloquent and learned, they nay acquire a wide popularity, and rensignal services to the order. Once l K ? car °r oftener, in towns once a week sheik assembles the mokaddemj iqpits their accounts, admits or expels a ■number, approves or censures. At Wse assemblies they distribute chapofs snd amulets. They then resume ®®r propaganda. Women are admitto the orders they are called sisters, i&a. may,. in. the absence or during a* act as regents. .

!Lt initiation. PVe are apt to think of Mosleimsm as simplest of religions, but its forms Knkwgly resemble those of other reasons, especially . Christian monastic Initiation changes from sect to - h is sometimes 'preceded by a complicated novitiate. .. After I vigils/ mortificas? P. rty^rs ' 'anoM the? oath of L SSfca ®™ le . nc ®j '"'^ cn j fc be novice lies in % hands of. the sheik, Pf ® ? n . t of him the faculties of * lnltla V ve - thought as so P makes him a blind in-. of fai »ticism. A spirit of re-

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED MATTER. NOTES ON BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

nunciation is required of the brother, who must despise suffering, disdain grandeur and wealth, and be prepared to die. Charity, union, and service are enjoined, but only towards the brethren, who all aim at reaching God by the same path. Faith in a future life, with prayer as the expression of that faith, is constantly inculcated. Prayer becomes the capital act of life; it exalts, consoles, and strengthens; it assures pardon. The brother aims at raising his soul to God by his whole life. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. Other orders as mystical as these are ambitious and militant. The sect of Si Mussah bou Amar was one of the most furious enemies of the French in Algeria. There he was the promoter ot the revolt of 1838, and the insurrection of 1543-9. How fierce a battle he could fight was shown by his heroic defence of a fortress in*Zaacha, when all his troops, almost a thousand in number, perished. while the French lost 4000. His administration was of the subtlest kind famd ran a parallel with that of the French.

We may pass over the order founded by Muley Taieb, son of a .Khalif and Sherif of Wazan, in the 17th century. It is mainly Moroccan. In Morocco it modified tho manners of the inhabitants, substituted for disorder a submissive spirit, levied taxes, and formed a State. Muley organised his followers, made of them a body he could penetrate with his influence, and maintained the most direct action and the most absolute supervision. TWO RIVAL SECTS. In the course of time discord arose among the various orders and even among different families of tho same sect. Tho breaking up of Islam wa3 threatened. Two men devoted thenlives to arresting or preventing the catastrophe—Mahommed Tijani and the Sheik Senussi. Their spirit and their methods were irreconcilably opposed to one another. Tijani made lace against the European advance by tolerance, a compact of independence, and. a spirit of goodwill. iSenussi encountered it with an obstinate resistance. Both endeavoured to consolidate the Mussulmans and both, in composing their "deker" and forming their "chain," gave proofs of a large eclecticism. Tijani made of his doctrine a new religion, with indulgence a nd consolation for its bases, the hope of immortality, and the love of God. It was a kind of "Christian science." But Tijani was born too soon; the time for such a faith had not yet come. SENTJSSI AND THE SENUSSYA. Mohammed Senussi was born in Algeria in 1792. He was of Moroccan parentage, and. being descended from Hassan, the son of Fatima, the only daughter' of Mohammed, he was of Sherifian origin. - He studied at Fez in company with Tijani, arid was" distinguished for his .eloquence, erudition, and'dialectical skill; and ho was the author of books that have survived. He let. himself be inspired by Mussali-bou-Ahmar, .already mentioned, and made himself impossible at Laghwat, where he had come to live as a lecturer or teacher. He next undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca, leaving his pnpils ito continue his teaching in his absence. 11l received on his return, though he brought down an abundant rain, by prayer in a time of drought, he forsook Algeria; travelled through Tripoli and Cyrene, stopped at Cairo, and there re.m ainejt Arrivjng,at-.Cairo attfae<fcfene when the. reforms of Mehemet Ali excited violent religious discussions, Senussi was one of the most violent | speakers, and he openly declared . against the civilising policy of the i Khedive. His opposition estranged the Orthodox clergy, and got him expellfed •I.from Egypt.' Journeys to Mpdina' could only exalt his fanaticism. He bound himself' to the heads of Oriental orders and took their various "dekers." None the less he was unable to stand his ground at Mecca, and he conceived the plan of founding in the desert, afc Jebel-Kubis, a zawia, or religious settlement, not unlike the J English university settlements of our ' own day, where he hoped to attract the j discontented spirits. Religious hatreds ; pursued him thither and threatened his : life. .Ho fled to Cyrene. and founded I in. the desert the first zawia «f the order 'of the Senussya. This act terminated his apostolate (in 1843), and commenced • the second period of his life. The remainder of his days was 6pent in organising his order.

HIS PROPAGANDA. Senussi was there admirably situated for carrying on his propaganda. He was isolated from the Christian world and free from all supervision and all control. The native tribes were dense arid docile. Senussi enjoyed free access to all the sects of Islam, and. thus placed himself in direct communication with the whole northern half of Africa, with Upper and Lower Egypt, with Sudan, Algeria, Senegal, and Morocco, by means of the caravans constantly travelling, east and west. 'He purchased troops of black slaves, converted them, appropriated some to the service cf the settlement, and sent the others away to act as missionaries for the spread of the new faith. In a abort time the whole of Wadai became Mussulman and Senussian. The inhabitants of Cyrene, Fezzan,'and the Twareg countries enrolled themselves among his followers. , For those who dwelt side by side with the Christians he planned a different policy. He adopted the occult method of Mussah and his system of administration that ran parallel to the French. He recruited the greatest possible number of believers and made them quit their country. He organised the emigratidii of the Algerians 'to the south, and hoped to make a desert of the French colony. "Quit your country," he cried by his mokaddem, "and follow the path of God, where you will find many commodious asylums."

Serrussi was largely successful. Towns like Ben-ghazi, Jarbub, Rhat, and Rhadames wero closed to nonMussulmans.. Travellers, missionaries, and political missions were massacred. If he did not succeed in depopulating Algeria, h© commanded the routes to the interior, and thus removed and isolated the peoples which European agencies aimed at civilising; He turned from the French all the commerce of Africa, and at least tho French oases were depopulated.

His religious measures were equally effectual- To each caravan he joined a mokaddem, who converted peoples and founded a school, while the merchant purchased negroes. Chi the groat routes in. the desert, sown with the skeletons of famished travellers, he dug tvolls and built humble zawias, where dates were left for wayfarers. Ho. thus became at once the master aud the bencfactor of the principal "ways of access to the heart of' l Africa. Nor did Scnussj neglect any means of supplanting his rivals, like the Tijani, and uprooting their doctrines from -the soil where., he planted his own. He spared nothing to conciliate the most influential personages in Islam. * "As skilful at preaching in the centre of Africa as at t intriguing in thei seraglios of Constantinople and the great towns of the East, they maintain secret agents and even women, who -watch, surround, and circumvent aH who have the power of

aiding or injuring them; they thus, by persuasion or menace, recruit , a number of adhesions; in any case they assure a neutrality •which permits them to exercise with impunity their pan-Islamic action." PRESENT-DAY MAHDI. "When he died in 1859, Senussi_ was doubtless the most potent individual in Mohammedan Africa. Yet he refused to assume the title, Mahdi, which he bequeathed to tho elder of his sons, who inherited his attributes and his prestige. He bore the outward Messianic marks and therefore was the Mahdi. When in March, 1902, he attacked a French column 200 strong, he was popularly credited with the intention of preaching a "holy war" against the infidel. At all events it was believed that the 13th century of the HegiTa (then just entered on)* would witness a renaissance of Islam. The so-called Mahdi, who assailed the British in Eprpt was an impostor, the Senussya maintained. Sincethen, till the recent rising, when the New Zealanders and the Sikhs defeated the Arabs at Mutrah on Christmas Day. the Senussya have lived quietly, as far as we know. The Slieik-el-Mahdi resides in retirement at Jarbub, a town of 6000 or 7000 inhabitants, where it is said that immense quantities of treasure, munitions, and stores are kept. "He awaits the hour," says the Mohammedans.