He cannot, however, pronounce sentence without the
Governor's permission; and generally his powers are confined to questions
of divorce, alimony, manumission, the wound-mulct, and similar cases which
come within Koranic jurisdiction. Thus the religious code is ancillary and
often opposed to "El Jabr,"--"the tyranny,"--the popular designation of
what we call Civil Law. [29] Yet is El Jabr, despite its name, generally
preferred by the worldly wise. The Governor contents himself with a
moderate bribe, the Kazi is insatiable: the former may possibly allow you
to escape unplundered, the latter assuredly will not. This I believe to be
the history of religious jurisdiction in most parts of the world.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Eusebius declares that the Abyssinians migrated from Asia to Africa
whilst the Hebrews were in Egypt (circ. A. M. 2345); and Syncellus places
the event about the age of the Judges.
[2] Moslems, ever fond of philological fable, thus derive the word Galla.
When Ullabu, the chief, was summoned by Mohammed to Islamise, the
messenger returned to report that "he said _no_,"--Kal la pronounced Gal
la,--which impious refusal, said the Prophet, should from that time become
the name of the race.
[3] Others have derived them from Metcha, Karaiyo, and Tulema, three sons
of an AEthiopian Emperor by a female slave.
