Sheik-ul-Islam means chief of Islam--the Mohammedan religion. His
office is solely religious; he has nothing to do with politics. He sees
that the mosques and priests are kept in order, and the religious
services properly conducted; and there are many questions among
the Mohammedans which are settled without going to a magistrate,
by the Sheik-ul-Islam, or by his deputies, called Muftees. These
Muftees can be found in every city in Turkey. The Sheik-ul-Islam and
his representatives issue Fetvas (religious decrees) according to
the Koran.
There is no inconsistency between this and what I have said before
about the Sultan being the representative of Mohammed, and therefore
the chief of his religion. Both the Sultan and the Sheik-ul-Islam
are the heads of it, just as the Greek emperor and the Patriarch
were of the Greek church, and the relative position is about the
same. The Sheik-ul-Islam is the special head of the ecclesiastical
organization. The Sultan appoints him, but once appointed, if
he is insubordinate and opposes the Sultan, the latter cannot
suppress or replace him without grave scandal to the Mohammedan
world. It is like Henry II and Becket; it is easier to make a head
of a church than to rule him afterwards. It is like the Emperors
and the Popes in the Middle Ages; and as with them, sometimes the
Sheik-ul-Islam joins with political officers to depose the Sultan,
and his fetva, or decree, makes it legal. When Abdul Aziz was deposed,
the then Sheik-ul-Islam, Khairollah Effendi, issued the fetva for it,
reluctantly, for Heussein Avni Pasha forced him to do it under threat
of death. As Heussein's own head was in immediate peril, he had no
scruples about the Sheik-ul-Islam's. Every fetva has two questions
and one answer. A case is set forth; after a brief discussion the
question Olourni (To be?) and Olmazmi (Not to be?) are asked, and the
answer is given as either Olour or Olmaz (To be, or Not to be). The
fetva which Heussein forced the Sheik-ul-Islam to sign was something
like this:--"If a Sultan should prove to be unworthy to govern his
people, is it necessary to uphold him or not?" The answer was Olmaz,
and Abdul Aziz was deposed.