Islam, Duce & Duke

"You Westerners idolize your Colonel T. E. 'Lawrence of Arabia' " observed in Cairo last week the Sheik Mustapha El Maraghi, rector of the Egyptian capital's 1,000-year-old Moslem University. "You credit Lawrence entirely with the success of the revolt of the Arabs against the Turks. You Westerners do not know that not even a hundred Lawrences could have aroused the Arabs against their Caliph, the Turkish Sultan, had it not been for the almost unlimited amount of gold sovereigns Lawrence had at his disposal. There is very little, if anything, a Bedouin would not do for money."

This instance the learned Sheik cited to buttress his assertion last week that the hailing of Benito Mussolini by the Moslems of Libya as "Protector of Islam" (TIME, March 22) and his triumphant entry into Tripoli marked more cozening of a bribe-giving Christian by the wily infidels. "Our religion makes it impossible for us to be loyal to a non-Moslem ruler," smiled the Sheik. "You will hardly find 1,000 Moslems among the 160,000,000 under British rule who are not eager to shake it off, and the same is true of the Italians and the French. Mark my words, Allah may forgive a Moslem for not praying, but Allah never forgives a Moslem who does not strive to free his brethren from non-Moslem domination!"

This Egyptian gibe at Il Duce's recent casting of himself in the role of Protector of Islam was more than matched by mocking English comments last week. "The dirty English!" screamed 250,000 Fascists massed to greet the Dictator on his return to Rome. "If war comes we will swallow up England. The dirty English!"

Soon Orator Mussolini was after the high dignitaries of the Church of England who of late have poured vials of their wrath upon him next after the Duke of Windsor. The Duke has not replied, but the Duce last week lashed "the hysterical, hypocritical oratory of certain Anglican pulpits which always see small bits of straw in the eyes of others, while their own eyes are blinded by beams of lumber."

Panting and pugnacious, he concluded: "But they do not succeed in disturbing our calm!"

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