Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp 1882-1892

by Josef Ohrwalder; Sir F. R. Wingate

The Khalifa adheres most strictly to the prescribed forms of prayer; every day he attends five times in the mosque and enforces the presence of all the principal emirs. He does not like the Ansar to get into comfortable and luxurious modes of life, but insists on their always being hardened and in readiness to withstand the fatigues of war; all prayers end with the "fatha,"[N] after which is an invocation for the victory of religion, the long life of the Khalifa, and the continual success of his arms; then follows a prayer calling down God's vengeance on unbelievers and those who have erred from the paths of Mahdiism, and asking that their wives and children may be given as booty to the true believers; at the end of the prayers the whole congregation joins in a loud "Amen."

After afternoon and evening prayers, the Khalifa generally holds short political conversations, in which the affairs of the empire and of the capital are discussed; he receives his emirs and gives them instructions; he frequently gives discourses from the place in which he repeats prayers, and sometimes turns and addresses in the most benevolent manner those who are gathered around him with heads bent in obedient submission. If he bears any one a grudge, he never attempts to conceal it, but refers to it in the most open manner in the mosque, when the culprit generally comes hurriedly forward, throws himself at his feet, and implores forgiveness: if he fails to do this, he is generally threatened with imprisonment.

The mosque is at the same time both barracks and prison, for here he teaches his followers humbleness, obedience, and submission. He frequently repeats his orders that all should be most punctual in their attendance at the mosque, and if, when the appointed hour comes, people are found in the streets, they are invariably flogged and carried off to the zariba. This is the way the Khalifa tests the obedience of his people, and assures himself that they are at all times ready to obey his smallest behest.

The highest punishment possible for an absentee is that he shall attend regularly at the mosque five times a day for eighteen months, under a police guard, who is as a rule a Baggara, and who never lets him out of his sight. A man under such a sentence may, if he have money, pay a fine or bribe his guard; but if he cannot do this he must attend, no matter how far off his house may be. Some unfortunate people who live a long way off spend their whole day in going backwards and forwards between their dwellings and the mosque. The emirs even, if they neglect this order, are very severely dealt with. This enforced attendance at prayers has greatly added to the unpopularity of the Khalifa, for work is being continually interrupted, and all real feelings of religion are subverted.

Formerly every important emir and fiki had his own rukuba, in which he prayed with his own people; but the Khalifa put a stop to this, fearing that all such meetings would have a tendency to conspiracy and mutiny. He himself is much more a supporter of authority than of religion, but he induces the former through the latter. Personally, he cares little for religion. All his absurd dreams and imaginary visions only make him a laughing-stock of the people, and he is considered by the orthodox Moslems to be an absolute heretic.

On one occasion, when his spies reported to him that he was very unpopular, and that it was the general wish that he should die, he withdrew for three days. This considerably alarmed the people, for they had no notion what form of revenge he might not be preparing for them. At the end of this period he reappeared, and from his place in the mosque he announced as follows:—

"I have been taken in the spirit to the third heaven, where I beheld the Mahdi, the Prophet Elias, and Jesus Christ; when I saluted the Mahdi, he introduced me at once to the two prophets; the Prophet Elias had a very ruddy and sunburnt appearance, and took me very roughly by the hand; but the Prophet Jesus was white and soft as wool. These two prophets were pleased to know me, and I represented to the Mahdi that I had no desire to quit this pleasant heaven; I begged him, therefore, to send some one to rule my people instead of me, as I was tired and exhausted by trying to govern people who did not care for me; but the Mahdi told me not to lose heart, and that he would give me power to please all; the Mahdi also told me that he was quite satisfied with my ruling. He afterwards took me into the presence of God, who also showed pleasure at knowing the Khalifa of the Mahdi."

All true Moslems who heard this extraordinary tissue of lies were very angry that he should dare to take God's name in vain in this way, and thoroughly understood his reasons for having such absurd and blasphemous pretensions.

On another occasion he was told that the two Khalifas were very dissatisfied with his arbitrary ruling, and resented being excluded from a share in the government of the country. This induced another vision, in which he declared that the Mahdi had told him he should live eight years more, after which the Prophet Jesus would appear. In this way he gave them to understand that they had not much hope of being given any authority; but this vision appeared to have exactly the opposite effect on the Khalifas, who became more clamorous than ever. He therefore instructed his "vision secretary" to withdraw this vision from circulation, and added that should any one ever be heard talking on this subject again, he would be punished by the loss of a hand and a foot. And then he tried to justify his action by declaring that it was the fault of his secretaries, who had put an entirely different construction on the vision to what he had intended, and indeed to what he had actually seen!

After noonday prayers he ordered extracts to be read from the book dealing with the early wars of Islam. This was quite a new departure. To keep any book on religion or religious history, it was necessary, in the first instance, to obtain the Khalifa's permission; and indeed it was very difficult to keep any such books safe from the wild fanaticism of the Dervishes. It was the Mahdi's intention to destroy, as far as possible, everything which would serve to remind his people of the old days, so that they should believe the more readily in his revelations only.