MULLAHS AND MACHINE GUNS 169Sudanese for the idea of national rather than tribal identity, a process not
yet fully completed, but one that must go forward.
Elsewhere in Africa and Asia, nations and tribes were submerged into
colonial empires. With the end of World War I the Ottoman Empire was
broken up and the pieces distributed among the victorious allied colonial
powers—Lebanon and Syria to France, Palestine to England. Even nom-
inally independent parts were economically and politically dominated by
the colonial powers. These were the last pieces of the Muslim world to
be occupied as colonies.
The colonial empires generally lasted until the immediate post–World
War II years and are bitterly resented by the local peoples of most of the
old colonial possessions. It is certainly understandable that people prefer
to rule themselves, and it is also true that many areas were better governed
by the imperial powers than by the indigenous peoples. Perhaps the sad-
dest legacy of the colonial decades is that the reaction against them has
helped to steer much of the Muslim world away from the reality of the
modern world and back to the fantastical longing for an existence in which
Muslim feet lie across the necks of all whom they meet. Such a world
may have existed for a few years in the seventh century, but it is now long
past and will not be seen again.
NOTES
- The role of Osama bin Laden and many of the other charismatic Muslim leaders in
the past fifty years can also be viewed within the context of the “Mahdi.” Osama bin Laden
was viewed with a near-religious fervor by the Muslim world when he proclaimed it his
goal to eliminate the Americans from the Muslim world. He too used murder as his prin-
cipal weapon and argument. - The parallels between the battles of Aba and Badr, Muhammad’s first victory, are
tremendous. In both instances, a small victory by a leader claiming religious leadership
brought swarms of followers and launched major religious movements. In both instances,
a surprising victory gave both men the aura of having God on their side in the struggle.
It was then typical for the various tribes to want to be on the side of God, which, because
of the military success, was the Mahdi. - InA.D. 625 Muhammad lost the battle at Mt. Uhud. The parallels between the Mahdi’s
loss at Jabal Jarrada cannot have been lost on the Sudanese and surely increased their
perception that he was the “expected one.” - It was the common practice to take the last name of Westerners and add the title
“Pasha” after them when they commanded Muslim troops. This was the process used by
the Ottomans for their own military commanders and was, essentially, a tradition.