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Updated: May 14, 2025
During the latter part of his reign he removed his headquarters to the oasis of Jowf, still farther into the Lybian desert, where he died in 1902, and was succeeded by his nephew, Ahmed-el-Sherif, the present head of the Order, who also appears to possess marked ability. With nearly eighty years of successful activity behind it, the Sennussi Order is to-day one of the vital factors in Islam.
This praise pleased them immensely, and they began to be friendly with him, and forgot that they had meant to leave his dead body in the desert, though they still told him he would be killed at the Jowf.
"If I took a Christian to the Jowf," replied the caravan leader, "I am afraid Johar the Chief there would kill me for doing such a thing. I cannot do it." "Yes," another said, turning to Forder, "if you ever want to see the Jowf you must turn Moslem, as no Christian would be allowed to live there many days." "Well," said the Chief, closing the discussion, "I will see more about this to-morrow."
At last Forder saw the great mass of the old castle, "no one knows how old," that guards the Jowf that great isolated city with its thousands of lovely green date palms in the heart of the tremendous ocean of desert.
The next day Forder found that later in the week the old Chief himself was going to the Jowf. Walking up to him Forder held out the money saying, "If you will let me go to the Jowf with you, find me camel, water and food, I will give you these four pieces." "Give them to me now," said Khy-Khevan, "and we will start after to-morrow."
They listened very closely and asked many questions. It was all quite new to them. "Will you give me the book?" asked the Arab who was reading. Forder knew that he would only value it if he bought it, so he sold it to him for some dates, and eight or nine men bought copies from him. Next day the Chief tried to get other passing Arabs to conduct Forder to the Jowf, but none would take the risk.
"The Jowf is eleven days' camel ride away there," they said, pointing to the south-east. "Go back to Orman," said the Chief, whose name was Mohammed-el-Bady, "it is at your peril that you go forward." He sent a servant to bring in the headman of his caravan. "This Nisraney wishes to go with the caravan to the Jowf," said the Chief. "What do you think of it?"
"The enemy of Allah and the prophet! Unclean! Infidel!" Johar, the great Chief of the Jowf, commanded that Forder should be brought into his presence, and proceeded to question him: "Did you come over here alone?" "Yes," he answered. "Were you not afraid?" "No," he replied. "Have you no fear of anyone?" "Yes, I fear God and the devil." "Do you not fear me?" "No." "But I could cut your head off."
"My desire is," he replied, "to pass on to the Jowf." Now the Jowf is the largest town in the Syrian desert the most important in all Northern Arabia. From there camel caravans go north, south, east, and west. Forder could see how his Arabic New Testaments would be carried from that city to all the camel tracks of Arabia.
At last Khy-Khevan, the Chief of Ithera, who had brought Forder to the Jowf, said that he must go back, and Forder, who had now learned what he wished about the Jowf, and had put the books of the Gospel into the hands of the men, decided to return to his wife and boys in Jerusalem to prepare to bring them over to live with him in that land of the Arabs.
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