The photo above, taken a century ago today, shows the Sheikh-ul-Islam of the Ottoman Empire, the senior religious authority, Ürgüplü Mustafa Hayri Efendi, proclaiming a fatwa (Turkish fetva) at the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, declaring in the name of the Sultan a religious duty of Jihad against the enemies of he Empire, and asserting that it was incumbent upon all Muslims, through the sultan's claimed authority as Caliph of Islam, and not merely those in the Empire's territory.
The key element is the last:
In this way, would the Muslims living under the sovereignty of Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and their supporters deserve severe suffering if they fight against Germany and Austria, who are helping the Ottoman government, because it would be harmful for the Caliphate of Islam?
Answer: They would.The ruling Committee of Union and Progress (the "Young Turks"), were not terribly religious nor believers in Jihad in the current sense of the term, but they, and their German allies as well, had harbored a dream that the claimed authority of the Sultan/Caliph (though he was now largely a figurehead) might be used to persuade the large Muslim population of British India, of British-protected Egypt, of Russian Central Asia, and of French North Africa, to throw off the colonial yoke. The quote above shows they were emphasizing that Muslims were not only forbidden to fight against the Ottomans, but against their German and Austro-Hungarian allies as well. (Despite the mention of Montenegro and Serbia, there was no hint that Bosnian Muslims should rise up against Austria-Hungary. A Jihad dependent on Christian alliances.)
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