How The Khilafah Was Destroyed by Abdul Qadeem Zallum

No person was in a position to influence the Ottoman State and make her withdraw from the war or hold a separate peace with her apart from the influential army officers. As for the others, they were not in a position to do anything. As for those traitors from among the Arabs who collaborated with the British and the French, they did not rise to the level of the politicians, nor did their masters - the British and the French, expect them to influence the State. Their task was to act as spies against the State and to carry out acts of sabotage against her. Even the chief traitor, Al- Sharif Hussein ibn Ali, was too weak to have any influence over the State.

All that the British wanted, was to use him in acts of sabotage against the Islamic army, the Ottoman army, and in generating a public opinion for them amongst the armed forces, lest the Muslims held feelings of animosity against them and declared on them the Jihad which Shariah commanded, considering that they were Kuffar. Therefore, the Arabs were not the Allies focus of attention during the war in their attempt at making the Ottoman State withdraw from the war, they rather concentrated their attention on the Turkish officers.

From amongst the Turks two officers were known for: Firstly, their hatred for the Germans and their opposition to the Ottoman States entry into the war as an ally to Germany. Secondly, their ambition to seize power and their endeavour to reach that goal. These two officers were Jamal Pasha and Mustafa Kemal. As for Mustafa Kemal, he was a junior officer with no value whatsoever, although he was clever, ambitious and active against the State. Whereas Jamal Pasha was in a position to be influential, especially because of the fact that the whole of the Ottoman State was governed by three men : Tal’at, the Prime Minister, Anwar, the war minister and Jamal Pasha himself, the commander of the fourth division and governor of Syria. Hence, the Allies attempted to entice Jamal Pasha.

During the Dardanelles campaign (Gallipoli Campaign) and in the wake of its failure, the Allies attempted to contact Jamal Pasha in order for him to revolt against the Ottoman State. This was due to the fact that the British had attacked Istanbul and seized Gallipoli on 25th April 1915; however the Ottoman army had confronted them and halted their progress. Thus they could not advance a single step and they suffered heavy losses to the point that the commander of the allied forces, General Hamilton, was forced to send on 16th August a telegram to Lord Kitchener, the British war secretary, seeking reinforcements and ammunition. Furthermore, on 14th October, the British government dismissed the commander of the Dardanelles campaign, General Hamilton and replaced him with General Charles Monro who was ordered to investigate the Dardanelles campaign. On 28th October, Monro arrived in the Dardanelles and together with the general staff, he studied the situation of the allied forces along the Dardanelles coastline and around the British trenches. He then wrote to the war cabinet recommending evacuation. However the war secretary Lord Kitchener, was disquietened by Monro’s telegram and decided to travel to the Dardanelles himself.

He arrived there on 9th November and inspected the military positions along the coastline and around the British and French trenches. He came to the conclusion that the allied forces could maintain their positions unless the Turks managed to acquire canons and ammunition from Germany, for this would render the allied forces’ position very critical. Then on 1st December, the allied forces suddenly evacuated their positions. It was during this critical period and time of confusion in which they were muddled due to the Dardanelles campaign, that the Allies attempted to contact Jamal Pasha and negotiate with him to rebel against the Ottoman State. It seems that these negotiations did effectively take place and Jamal Pasha agreed in principle and laid down his conditions. For on 26th November 1915, the Russian foreign ministry sent to its two embassies in Paris and Rome telegram No 6391; to quote from the telegram : “The news reaching us from the Armenian circles in Istanbul inform us that Jamal Pasha is willing to undertake a hostile move against the government of Istanbul if the following conditions were met :

1- That the allied states recognise the sovereignty of the Ottoman State, headed by the Sultan, over the states of Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Arabstan, Kilikia, Armenia and Kurdistan.

2- That the Sultanate is assumed by Ahmed Jamal Pasha and that his sons and grand-sons would assume the Sultanate after him.

3- That Ahmed Jamal Pasha would undertake to proclaim that the present Sultan and his government are prisoners in the hands of the Germans, and to declare war on them.

4- That in the event of Jamal Pasha declaring his rebellion and his march to fight the government, the Allies would undertake to supply his army with the necessary weapons, food and military equipment.

5- That the allied states would offer Jamal Pasha the necessary financial aid till the end of the war.

6- That Jamal Pasha accepts to surrender the straits and Istanbul to the Allies.

7- That Jamal Pasha undertakes to secure a free route to help the Armenians.” This was the list of conditions mentioned in the telegram and it seems that Russia had negotiated with the British and the French, and while Russia had accepted Jamal Pasha’s terms the British and French did not.

On 12th December 1915, the Second Chancellor in the Russian foreign ministry sent telegram 6130 to the Russian ambassador to Bucharest; to quote from the telegram : “It is possible to give Jamal Pasha an undertaking about what he proposes and if necessary, we are in a position to secure from the Allies promises to give him what he wants.” However, it seems that the Allies rejected this. On 27th December 1915, the Russian ambassador to Paris sent a telegram to his government in which he wrote : “We are in receipt of your telegram No 6391, a copy of which was passed on to Monsieur Brian who expressed a great deal of interest in its contents and he declared that he would present them before the cabinet tomorrow, before it is too late. He also said to me on this occasion that although these conditions are acceptable to us, they however do not agree with the British ambitions and they would reject them.” Then the French retracted from accepting the conditions. On 29th December 1915 the ambassador sent a telegram appendant to his first telegram. To quote from the telegram : “What I learnt is that the French ministers resisted strongly this agreement to the point that they did not shrink from expressing their objection.” He added : “What is certain is that the French do appreciate some of your proposals and they are aware of the importance to instigate a revolt within the Ottoman Sultanate.

They even believe that this revolt would be very useful to them in the world war. However, they do see in the proposals put forward to negotiate with Jamal Pasha nothing but a fulfilment of your ambitions to seize Istanbul and the straits, without making any provisions for the French sovereignty over the East.” The British later declared their rejection to take part in these negotiations.

On 27th January 1916, the Russian ambassador to London sent a telegram to the Russian foreign minister in Petersburg in which he wrote: “Nicholson informed me that having reviewed the issue once again and having closely examined all of its aspects, the British government deem it necessary to desist from taking part in these negotiations and to relinquish them for good.” This indicates that the Allies’ idea to make Turkey withdraw from the war and to entice some of the officers to seize power had its roots.

They however wanted to dismember the Ottoman State and abolish the Khilafah. Since one of Jamal Pasha’s conditions was to preserve the unity of the Islamic lands, at least as a federation, and as one of his other conditions was to preserve the Khilafah, they rejected his proposal and refused to negotiate with him. It is only natural that they must have undertaken other initiatives.

As for their attempts with the Sharif of Makkah, Hussein ibn Ali, these were known, but they would not have served the purpose of making the Ottoman State withdraw from the war, and undoubtedly, they must have made several other attempts with a host of Turkish officers. There is nothing to indicate that other negotiations did take place with anyone from among the Turks, but the British did have their agents within the State, such as Arif Pasha, Damad Farid and others. Before the First World War, the British military attaché had been very active and used to make many moves and contacts, all with a free hand. This military attaché had returned to Istanbul after the cease-fire was signed and he played a major role, together with the commander of the allied forces, in abolishing the Khilafah. Hence, it is very likely that he had made several contacts and established links, although none of these came to light.

Mustafa Kemal was a little known junior officer when the war broke out, though he was known for his Western thoughts and his rebellion against the Islamic thoughts, and for his inclination towards the British and his hatred for the Germans. It was only after his participation in the battle of Ana Forta that his name became known and celebrated. Since that time, he acquired a wide publicity, his name became celebrated and he became famous.

In the spring of 1915, at the beginning of the second year of the World War, Germany halted her attempts at seizing the French territories because neither Germany nor France could defeat one another and achieve a decisive victory. The Russians had meanwhile suffered a severe battering, from which they could not rise again and resume their struggle unless the Western states acted swiftly and supplied Russia on a regular basis with much needed ammunition. The Western Allies loaded ships for this purpose but they were besieged in the Mediterranean and could not reach Russia. Hence it became imperative to launch an attack on Istanbul and open the straits in order to allow the ships to enter and supply Russia on a regular basis. The command of the Ottoman army was at the time in the hands of the German General Otto Liman von Sanders. He had assigned the command of one division to the “Qa’im Qam” Mustafa Kemal Beik and it was at that time that the Allies’ offensive took place.

On 15th April 1915, the British attempted to mount a huge offensive, being adequately prepared for battle. They entered the battle and the British troops managed to reach Gallipoli and succeed in dispersing the Ottoman troops. As a result General von Sanders was forced to dismiss the commander in charge of the battle and he replaced him with the Qa’im Qam Mustafa Kemal, who at the time was still a colonel. Mustafa Kemal assumed the command of the Ottoman troops near Ana Forta, one of the most sensitive areas near the Dardanelles. The battle was being waged over a valley with the Turks occupying its peak and the British down below trying to occupy it. The battle went on for several days with neither of the two warring factions gaining the upper hand. The status quo remained with the Ottomans holding on to their positions and the British holding on to theirs as the fighting between them continued.

This went on for several months when suddenly on the night of 15th December, in an atmosphere shrouded in total secrecy, the British evacuated from the position they had occupied along the coast of Gallipoli.

The warships set sail after having been loaded in an astonishing hurry. It was that evacuation that ended the battle.

When the fighting was over, the commander Mustafa Kemal presented the German general commander with his report about the battle. He also presented his watch which had been completely smashed by a bullet, thus missing Mustafa Kemal. When Liman von Sanders received the watch he immediately took out his own gold watch and gifted it to Mustafa Kemal, keeping the smashed watch as a souvenir.

After that battle Mustafa Kemal became a star, gaining widespread popularity among the Ottoman armed forces, for this battle was given huge publicity and was considered a significant victory for Mustafa Kemal over the British. However, Mustafa Kemal used to harbour the idea of not participating in the war, and despite his newly acquired popularity in the wake of the battle of Ana Forta, he still maintained his opinion regarding the withdrawal of the Ottoman State from the war. He was not content to merely carry such an opinion and with his fame among the armed forces and the people, he undertook several attempts at influencing a host of powerful personalities in order to get them to believe in his ideas, although he was met with indifference and vexation. As such, he became the object of suspicion. Despite their faith in his military ability after this battle, no one was prepared to encourage him in meddling in the political matters of the country; rather they used to stand in his way whenever he attempted to effectively take part in the country’s politics. He held the British in great esteem; trusting them and believing in their ability and that they would undoubtedly win and that Germany would be vanquished; and this is why he was under suspicion. Indeed even those who became close to him came under the suspicion of the authorities and their surveillance.