the islamic prism 71War I to not cooperate with the British eff orts against Turkey, because
such actions were “in direct defi ance of Mussalman opinion.”^9
Mahatma Gandhi added the Palestine question to the mix. Writing in
Young India in April 1921, he elaborated on his earlier position that Pales-
tine could not be given to the Jews as a result of World War I.
The Muslims claim Palestine as an integral part of Jazirat al- Arab.
They are bound to retain its custody, as an injunction of the
Prophet.... The Jews cannot receive sovereign rights in a place which
has been held for centuries by Muslim powers by right of religious
conquest. The Muslim soldiers did not shed their blood in the late war
for the purpose of surrendering Palestine out of Muslim control.^10Elsewhere, he observed:
Whilst every good Muslim must strive to retain the temporal power
of Turkey, it is obligatory on him to see that unequivocal Muslim
control is retained over Jazirat al- Arab which includes Mesopotamia,
Syria and Palestine as well and the spiritual sovereignty over them of
the Caliph, whoever he may be for the time being. No other term can
satisfy Muslim opinion. They will not tolerate any non- Muslim infl u-
ence, direct or indirect, over the holy places of Islam.^11Long before the question attracted international attention, Mahatma
Gandhi recognized and adopted Islamic sanctions against non- Muslim
sovereignty in Palestine. For a brief period, even the Congress Party em-
braced the Islamic arguments. In June 1922, the Lucknow session of the
All- India Congress Committee (AICC) called for the liberation of Jazirat
al- Arab from all non- Muslim control as a prerequisite for peace and con-
tentment in India.^12 Refl ecting similar sentiments later that year, it de-
manded the “eff ective guardianship of Islam and the Jazirat al- Arab free
from all non- Muslim control.”^13 In the wake of the abolition of the offi ce
of the caliph in 1924, the Khilafat question lost its importance and the
Congress Party modifi ed its stance, by demanding “the removal of alien
control from the Jazirat al- Arab.”^14
By using Islamic claims to justify their support for the Arabs, the In-
dian nationalists captured the essence of the problem in Palestine. Mus-
lims could not be expected to hand Jerusalem over to non- Muslim con-
trol. This refl ected the fundamental dilemma facing Muslims regarding