It is said that he first had the satisfaction of
hearing his name mentioned in the public prayers as Caliph when he
visited the great mosque of Zacharias at Aleppo on his return northwards
in 1519.[10]
Such, in a few words, is historically the origin of the modern
Caliphate, and such are the titles now borne by Selim's descendant, Abd
el Hamid. It is difficult at this distance of time, and in the absence
of detailed contemporary narratives, to do more than guess the effect on
Mussulmans of his day of Selim's religious pretensions. To all alike,
friends as well as foes, he must in the first instance have appeared as
an usurper, for before him no man not of the house of Koreysh, and so a
kinsman of their Prophet, had ever claimed to be his spiritual heir.
Indeed, it was a maxim with all schools of theology of all ages that
descent from the Koreysh was the first title to the Caliphate; but we
may reasonably suppose that within the limits of his own dominions, and
even to the mass of the vulgar beyond them, the Ottoman Emperor's
sublime proceedings met with approval.
Selim was a portentous figure in Islam; and the splendour of his
apparition in the north dazzled the eyes of all. Mussulmans must have
seen in him and his house the restorers of their political fortunes and
the champion of their religion against Christendom; and a departure from
established rule in his favour may well have seemed justified to pious
persons as the best hope for the future of their creed.
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