My friends had returned to London before I did,
and they had already received new directives from the Ministry. I, too, was
given new directives upon returning. Unfortunately, only six of us were back.
One of the other four people, the secretary said,
had become a Muslim and remained in Egypt. Yet the secretary was still pleased
because, he said, he (the person who had remained in Egypt) had not betrayed
any secrets. The second one had gone to Russia and remained there. He was
Russian in origin. The secretary was very sorry about him, not because he had
gone back to his homeland, but because perhaps he had been spying on the
Ministry of the Commonwealth for Russia and had gone back home because his
mission had been over. The third one, as the secretary related, had died of
plague in a town named “Imara” in the neighborhood of Baghdâd. The fourth
person had been traced by the Ministry up to the city of San’â in the Yemen,
and they had received his reports for one year, and, thereafter his reporting
had come to an end and no trail of him had been found despite all sorts of
efforts. The Ministry put down the disappearance of these four men as a
catastrophe. For we are a nation with great duties versus a small population.
We therefore do very fine calculations on every man.
After a few of my reports, the secretary held a
meeting to scrutinize the reports given by the four of us. When my friends
submitted their reports pertaining to their tasks, I, too, submitted my report.
They took some notes from my report. The Minister, the secretary, and some of
those who attended the meeting praised my work. Nevertheless, I was the third
best. The first grade was won by my friend “George Belcoude”, and “Henry Fanse”
was the second best.
I had doubtlessly been greatly successful in
learning Turkish, Arabic, the Qur’ân and the Sharî’at. Yet I had not managed to
prepare for the Ministry a report revealing the weak aspects of
the Ottoman Empire. After the two-hour meeting,
the secretary asked me the reason for my failure. I said, “My essential duty
was to learn languages and the Qur’ân and the Sharî’at. I could not spare time
for anything in addition. But I shall please you this time if you trust me.”
The secretary said I was certainly successful but he wished I had won the first
grade. (And he went on):
“O Hempher, your next mission comprises these two
tasks:
1- To discover Muslims’ weak points and the points
through which we can enter their bodies and disjoin their limbs. Indeed, this
is the way to beat the enemy.
2- The moment you have detected these points and
done what I have told you to, [in other words, when you manage to sow discord
among Muslims and set them at loggerheads with one another], you will be the
most successful agent and earn a medal from the Ministry.”
I stayed in London for six months. I married my
paternal first cousin, “Maria Shvay”. At that time I was 22 years old, and she
was 23. “Maria Shvay was a very pretty girl, with average intelligence and an
ordinary cultural background. The happiest and the most cheerful days of my
life were those that I spent with her. My wife was pregnant. We were expecting
our new guest, when I received the message containing the order that I should
leave for Iraq.
Receiving this order at a time while I was
awaiting the birth of my son made me sad. However, the importance I attached to
my country, compounded with my ambition to attain fame by being chosen the best
one among my colleagues, was above my emotions as a husband and as a father. So
I accepted the task without hesitation. My wife wanted me to postpone the
mission till after the child’s birth. Yet I ignored what she said. We were both
weeping as we said farewell to each other. My wife said, “Don’t stop writing to
me! I shall write you letters about our new home, which is as valuable as
gold.” These words of hers stirred up storms in my heart. I almost cancelled
the journey. Yet I managed to take control of my emotions. Extending my
farewell to her, I left for the ministry to receive the final instructions.
Six months later I found myself in the city of
Basra, Iraq. The city people were partly Sunnite and partly Shiite. Basra was a
city of tribes with a mixed population of Arabs, Persians and a relatively
small number of Christians. It was the first time in my life that I met with
the Persians. By the way, let me touch upon
Shiites say that they follow ’Alî bin Abű Tâlib,
who was the husband of Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ daughter Fâtima and at the
same time Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ paternal first cousin. They say that
Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ appointed ’Alî and the twelve imâms, ’Alî’s
descendants to succeed him as the Khalîfa.
In my opinion, the Shi’îs are right in the matter
pertaining to the caliphate of ’Alî, Hasan, and Huseyn. For, as far as I
understand from the Islamic history, ’Alî was a person with the distinguished
and high qualifications required for caliphate. Nor do I find it alien for Muhammad
‘alaihis-salâm’ to have appointed Hasan and Huseyn as Khalîfas. What makes me
suspect, however, is Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ having appointed Huseyn’s son
and eight of his grandsons as Khalîfas. For Huseyn was a child at Muhammad’s
‘alaihis-salâm’ death. How did he know he would have eight grandsons. If
Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ was really a Prophet,
it was possible for him to know the future by being informed by Allâhu ta’âlâ, as Jesus Christ had divined
about the future. Yet Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ prophethood
is a matter of doubt to us Christians.
Muslims say that “There are many proofs for
Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ prophethood.
One of them is the Qur’ân (Koran).” I have read the Qur’ân. Indeed, it is a
very high book. It is even higher than the Torah (Taurah) and the Bible. For it
contains principles, regulations, moral rules, etc.
It has been a wonder to me how an illiterate
person such as Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ could have brought such a lofty book,
and how could he have had all those moral, intellectual and personal
qualifications which could not be possessed even by a man who has read and
travelled very much. I wonder if these facts were the proofs for Muhammad’s
‘alaihis-salâm’ prophethood?
I always made observations and research in order
to elicit the truth about Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ prophethood. Once I brought out my interest to a
priest in London. His answer was fanatical and obdurate, and was not convincing
at all. I asked Ahmed Efendi several times when I was in Turkey, yet I did not
receive a satisfactory answer from him, either. To tell the truth, I avoided
asking Ahmed Efendi questions directly related to the matter lest they should
become suspicious about my espionage.
I think very much of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. No
doubt, he is one of Allah’s Prophets
about whom we have read in books.
Yet, being a Christian, I have not believed in his
Prophethood yet. It is doubtless that
he was very much superior to geniuses.
The Sunnites, on the other hand, say, “After the Prophet’s passing away, Muslims considered Abű
Bekr and ’Umar and ’Uthmân and ’Alî suitable for the caliphate.”
Controversies of this sort exist in all religions,
most abundantly in Christianity. Since both ’Umar and ’Alî are dead today,
maintaining these controversies would serve no useful purpose. To me, if
Muslims are reasonable, they should think of today, not of those very old days.[1]
One day in the Ministry of the Commonwealth I made
a reference to the difference between the Sunnites and the Shiites, saying, “If
Muslims knew something about life, they would resolve this Shiite-Sunnite
difference among themselves and come together.” Someone interrupted me and
remonstrated, “Your duty is to provoke this difference, not to think of how to
bring Muslims together.”
Before I set out for my journey to Iraq, the
secretary said, “O Hempher, you should know that there has been natural
differences among human beings since God created Abel and Cain. These
controversies shall continue until the return of Jesus Christ. So is the case
with racial, tribal, territorial, national, and religious controversies.
“Your duty this time is to diagnose these
controversies well and to report to the ministry. The more successful you are
in aggravating the differences among Muslims the greater will be your service
to England.
---------------------------------
[1] In Shi’îsm it is essential to talk and to have
a certain belief on matters concerning the caliphate. According to Sunnî belief
these are not necessary. The young Englishman confuses religious information
with information pertaining to worldly matters. In worldly knowledge, Muslims
have, like he advises, always thought of novelty and improvement, and have
always made progress in science, technique, mathematics, architecture, and
medicine. When the famous Italian astronomer Galileo said that the earth was
rotating – no doubt he had learnt the fact from Muslims – not only was he
anathemized by priests, but he was also imprisoned. It was only when he made
penance, renouncing his former statement and saying that “No, it is not
rotating,” that he saved himself from the priests’ hands. Muslims follow Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs
in knowledge pertaining to Islam and îmân. Unlike Christians, they do not interpolate
this knowledge, which is beyond mind’s periphery of activity.
“We, the English people, have to make mischief and
arouse schism in all our colonies in order that we may live in welfare and
luxury. Only by means of such instigations will we be able to demolish the
Ottoman Empire. Otherwise, how could a nation with a small population bring
another nation with a greater population under its sway? Look for the mouth of
the chasm with all your might, and get in as soon as you find it. You should
know that the Ottoman and Iranian Empires have reached the nadir of their
existence. Therefore, your first duty is to instigate the people against the
administration! History has shown that ‘The source of all sorts of revolutions
is public rebellions.’ When the unity of Muslims is broken and the common
sympathy among them is impaired, their forces will be dissolved and thus we
shall easily destroy them.”