He then, in virtue of a very doubtful cession made to him of his rights by one Mutawakkil Ibn ʿAmri ʾl-Ḥākim, a descendant of the house of al-ʿAbbās, whom he found living as titular K͟halīfah in Cairo, took to himself the following style and title: Sult̤ānu ʾs-Salāt̤īn wa Ḥākimu ʾl-Ḥākimīn, Māliku ʾl-Baḥrain wa Ḥāmīyu ʾl-Barrain, K͟halīfatu ʾr-Rasūli ʾllāh, Amīru ʾl-Muʾminīn, wa Sult̤ān, wa K͟hān; that is: “King of kings and Ruler of rulers, Monarch of the two seas (the Mediterranean and the Red Sea) and Protector of the two lands (al-Ḥijāz and Syria, the holy lands of Islām), Successor (K͟halīfah) of the Apostle of God, Ruler of the Faithful, King and Chief.” It is said that he first had the satisfaction of hearing his name mentioned in the public prayers as K͟halīfah when he visited the Great Mosque of Zacharias at Aleppo, on his return northwards in 1519.
Such are the titles still claimed by the Ottoman Sult̤āns, who arrogate to themselves the position of K͟halīfahs and Successors to the Prophet. It is, however, a mere assertion; for the title and office being elective and not hereditary, it was not in the power of any K͟halīfah to transfer it to another. Force of circumstances alone has compelled the ruler of the Ottoman Empire to assume the position, and has induced his subjects to acquiesce in the usurpation. We have not seen a single work of authority, nor met with a single man of learning, attempting to prove that the Sult̤āns of Turkey are rightful K͟halīfahs; for the assumption of the title by anyone who is not of the Quraish tribe is undoubtedly illegal and heretical, as will be seen from the following authorities:—
Mishkātu ʾl-Maṣābīḥ, book xxiv. ch. xii.: “Ibn ʿAmr relates that the Prophet of God said: ‘The K͟halīfah shall be in the Quraish tribe as long as there are two persons in it, one to rule and another to serve.’ ”
Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif, p. 606, Arabic edition, Egypt: “It is a condition that the K͟halīfah (Imām) be of the Quraish tribe. All admit this except the K͟hawārij and certain Muʿtazilahs. We all say with the Prophet: ‘Let the K͟halīfah be of the Quraish’; and it is certain that the Companions acted upon this injunction, for Abū Bakr urged it as an authority upon the Anṣārs, on the day of Sakhifah, when the Companions were present and agreed. It is, therefore, for a certainty established that the K͟halīfah must be of the Quraish.”
The Ḥujjatu ʾllāhi ʾl-Balāg͟hah, p. 335, Arabic edition, Delhi: “It is a necessary condition that the K͟halīfah (Imām) be of the Quraish tribe.”
The Kashʾhāfu ʾl-Iṣt̤ilāḥāt; A Dictionary of Technical Terms. Edited by Colonel N. Lees, in loco: “The K͟halīfah (Imām) must be a Quraish.”
It is a matter of history that the Wahhābīs regarded the Turkish Sult̤ān as a usurper, when Saʿūd took Makkah and al-Madīnah in 1804; and to the present day, in countries not under Turkish rule, the k͟hut̤bah is recited in behalf of the Amīr, or ruler of the Muslim state, instead of the Ottoman Sult̤ān, which would not be the case if he were acknowledged as a lawful K͟halīfah. In a collection of k͟hut̤bahs, entitled the Majmaʿu K͟hut̤ab, the name of the Sult̤ān of Turkey does not once occur, although this collection is much used in Muḥammadan states. We have seen it stated that the Sult̤ān is prayed for in Hyderabad and Bengal; but we believe it will be found, upon careful inquiry, that he was not mentioned by name, until very recently, in any of the mosques of India. K͟hut̤bahs, in which there are prayers for the Ottoman Sult̤ān by name, have been imported from Constantinople.
According to Mr. W. S. Blunt, the chief arguments of the Hanifite ʿUlamāʾ in support of the claims of the present Ottoman dynasty are:—
(1) The right of the Sword.—The K͟halīfate being a necessity (and this all Muslims admit), it was also a necessity that the de facto holder of the title should be recognised until a claimant with a better title should appear. Now, the first qualification of a claimant was, that he should make the claim, and the second, that he should be supported by a party; and Salīm had both claimed the K͟halīfate and supported his pretensions at the head of an army. He challenged the world to produce a rival, and no rival had been found.
(2) Election, that is, the sanction of a legal body of elders. It was argued that, as the ahlu ʿaqd (or council), had been removed from al-Madīnah to Damascus, and from Damascus to Bag͟hdād, and from Bag͟hdād to Cairo, so it had been once more legally removed from Cairo to Constantinople. Salīm had brought with him to St. Sophia’s some of the ʿUlamāʾ (learned men) of the Azhar mosque in Cairo, and these in conjunction with the Turkish ʿUlamāʾ had elected him or ratified his election. A form of election is to the present day observed at Constantinople in token of this right, and each new Sult̤ān of the house of ʿUs̤mān, as he succeeds to the temporal sovereignty of Turkey, must wait before being recognised as K͟halīfah till he has received the sword of office at the hands of the ʿUlamāʾ. This ceremony it is customary to perform in the mosque of Aiyūb.