The Neutralisation of Egypt

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7270, 26 July 1893, Page 2

The Neutralisation of Egypt

Sadr Boy, Ar-Bashidi, in the Asiatic Quarterly Review, says : Our religion lays down that our first duty is to man, and our second to God, for man can be injured and God cannot, and as both ‘‘good works” or “alms and faith” are included in the same (root of “ Sadaqa ” or “ righteousness,” “ he who does not thank men does not thank God, 1 and, finally it is said that “men follow the religion of i heir rulers.” I will, therefore, discharge the duty of friendship, and comply with the request to inform you of the feelings of us native Egyptians as regards the English occupation, though argument is no sword, and what is ordained cannot be avoided, and the pious are cautious of blaming Pharaoh (a tyrant), for God has appointed hi® because 9? our sioß. This fond of Egypt is also called the iajjds ol Pharaohs and •' to th 9 wsse a hint is sufficient.” We thank, therefore, the British for the good which they have done, or wished to do, and ,'we beg them now to withdraw, so ss also to enable US to earn the merit of good actions by governing ourselves in the fear of God. It

will then be seen whether the pupil has learned the good lessons of his master, or rather, whether the pupil will follow the practice of bis master, for, verily, the English occupation has lasted more than ten years, and it has been an experience to whoever can profit by it. The people of India, whom I have seen, are gentle as sheep, and the people cf Egypt were lambs bafure Alexandria was bombarded end Arabi taken into captivity and the Sudan abandoned, which, owing to the help of our Khalifa, the Saltan, we bad ruled for twenty years in peace, and for wishing to retain which the Egyptian Ministers were diamised by Lord Granville in 1884, in a letter which has been wrongly applied in a recent discussion as touching the undoubted right of our Kffendi, the Khedive, to appoint his Ministers, which is a totally different thing. Why should the English remain in Egypt, unless we can get back the Sudan, and re-establish the authority of the Khalifa against the Mahdi, or *• the guided ” (who is verily misguided) ? Then Mohammedans (Sunnis) all over the world would be pleased, and all believers would bless England, and thereby peace and faith can alone be restored. Why should such large salaries be paid for the administration of justice to foreigners, and they yet boast of being just, as if it were a wonderful thing for them to be just, when they already have their reward ? And how can justice be administered where every fugitive from Europe has his own law and protector in his Consul ? French and Russian, and English and Italian and those of all races, come for gain to Egypt, and make false claims and get large compensations. It is a strange thing that those cations in whose homes there is much misery and vice and tyranny, are anxious to deliver the oppressed of one another, and not their own, and to lead them in the paths of goodness. The French grieve over the opressed Irish, the English mourn the oppressed Russians, and the Russians wish to free the oppressed Bulgarians, Armenians and others. Africa has been divided among. various nations of Europe in order to sell their goods and procure produce by paying the smallest remuneration to the sons of the soil. Verily, slavery has been cheeked by the Prophet, on whom be Peace, but it has raised the slave so that bo is of the house of his master, and is oared for when old or ill or weak, and ruling dynasties have descended from the Mam'eluks for “ the possessed”). He who is employed by Europeans is taught intoxicating drinks, and that, it he works, ho can ge h money with whioh to buy them, and j 0 left to die of hunger and the thirst of vanities when no longer able to work. As the English vessels can command tho Bed Ssa, even if an enemy bad the Suez Canal, there would be no danger to them, and at any time, “ the mother of waves,” the *' Um-al-ma ” can be temporarily closed by the sinking of a large ship : so what is the use of giving Egypt ssa prey to all nations, when by giving it to none, all will eejoy peace and respect in this world and the next! Let it be declared that Egypt is a '* Dar-ul-Iman,” i-e. a seat of safety and faith, and that whatever nation disturbs that condition, all other nations will fight against it.