File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎429r] (862/898)

6
monotony of these bogus lists was broken only by the appearance, among the alleged
Javanese signatories, of one “ Mustahil.” This looks like the sort of Arabic word
which an Last Indian might adopt as a name, but in fact it means, in Javanese, “Liar.”
Sul 1 tan r of Kashmi r ” represents in the press the alleged recognition
\y e Muhtar of Chitral. Similarly, messages from those northern parts of Asir which
mave long, been part of the administrative area of the Hedjaz do duty as “Recognition
G , e I ner1 ' ^ message, which will probably be quoted as recognition, was
extracted from those of the Indian pilgrims who travelled first class on the steamship
h rangestan (see below) The King, having forbidden the agents for the steamer to
do anything for these pilgrims, put them up in his palace and had food sent them.
Aer the meal an Indian appeared and suggested that he should draft them a telegram
of thanks to send to the King. The pilgrims, finding the draft addressed to “ the
Lahph, objected, on the ground that the Indian Moslems had not yet come to a
ecision as to the Caliphate ; but the spy said that the telegraph office would not
accept a message addressed, in any other way, and that, in any case, as they would be
learmg the country soon, it did not matter. So the message was sent. In one case
the British agent happened to be behind the scenes. On calling on the Kaimakam of
Jeddah on business, he found there some Bahreinis, Yussuf Fakhru (?) and two others.
The kaimakam was at the telephone, and, from the conversation, it became clear that
the Caliph was at the other end of the wire. How were his Bahrein friends ^
Not too tired with the journey ? They really must come to Mecca at once, and in the
Caliph’s car. The Bahreinis appeared a little surprised at this enthusiastic greeting,
but gladly accepted the proposal that they should go to Mecca by car instead of by
camel. (They were not to know that, out for the King, every pilgrim could travel to
Mecca by car; cars for the purpose were actually brought to Jeddah by an Indian
Moslem, but the King would not allow them to be used). Their plain expression of
thanks was bellowed along the telephone wire as : “ They thank His Majesty the
Commander of the Believers.” Some of the announcements of recognition bear on
them the proof of their own falseness; e.p., the “ Kibla ” had more than a page about
the c recognition of His Majesty as Caliph by 5,000,000 Moslem inhabitants of the
Malay Peninsula,” through a learned delegation of five, who had just arrived for the
purpose. A close examination of the account showed that the only credentials produced
by the “ delegation ” consisted of “ a letter from him (or those) who appointed them,”
sealed by “ the learned teacher who presided over the annual general assembly by which
the delegation was chosen,” and saying that, as it was difficult to get teachers for the
5,000,000 Moslems of the Malay Peninsula—who were depicted as thirsting for
instruction, not only in the tenets of Islam, but also in the Arabic language—five
students were being sent to Mecca to study for three years or more; would the King
keep a benevolent eye on them. The letter did not mention the Caliphate, though it
was dated twelve days after the assumption of the Caliphate by King Hussein.
Enquiry revealed the learned delegation as, in fact, five youths connected with a school
which was established in Malacca by certain Mecca sheikbs, who have come to Mecca to
school. We may expect “recognition from the Aden tribes,” or something of the kind,
presently, as the president of the Executive Committee of the Arabia Conference,
Sayyid Muhammad Alawi-al-Sakkaf, has been sent to Lahejf'via Aden. “Recognition
from Suez ” resolves itself into a telegram signed by nine persons, of whom two are
Jeddah people domiciled in Suez, one is a Hedjaz merchant, who went to Egypt three
weeks ago, and a fourth is a boy who ran away from his parents in Jeddah last year.
But all these oaths of allegiance pale before the “ recognition by the Moslems of Africa,”
reported in the “Kibla” a few days ago. For the confutation of the sceptical, the
message is printed in full: it is a telegram from an unspecified place, signed by some
person unknown, “in the name of the Moslems of Africa.”
An observer, who reported to the Arab Bureau in >917 about King Hussein’s
attitude towards the Caliphate, has already been struck by his “ transparent honesty.”
The acting British consul at Aleppo has reported reiterated accusations in certain
local papers that the recognition of King Hussein as Caliph in Syria was secured by
the distribution of large sums by British consular officers. French suspicion is, perhaps,
sufficient to account for this accusation, but it is possible that British gold appeared in
Syria at that time, since it is in that form that King Hussein would pay his bribes.
However, Sheikh Fuad, the Foreign Secretary at Mecca, told me that recognition by
Syria was easily obtained. According to him, the King asked how long it would take
to secure recognition by Syria, and was sceptical at the reply that it would take only
twenty-four hours from the time certain secret messengers arrived. Sheikh Fuad,
however, sent off the messengers and secured the oath of allegiance, to the King’s
delight, within the specified time.
[611 t—1] b 2
i UrT-
i fH
I’** 7