The case of Wardani, the fanatic condemned to death by
the Egyptian Criminal Court for the murder of the late Prime Minister, Boutros Pasha, was last week referred to the Grand Mufti for confirmation. The Grand Mufti, we may remind our readers, is a functionary who can be best described as the chief ecclesiastical lawyer of the Mohammedan communit" in Egypt. On Saturday last the Daily Telegraph published an account of the grounds on which he refused his sanction to the sentence of death. In the first place, he pointed out that the Prophet has said nothing in the Koran about the use of revolvers. Therefore apparently he who kills a man with a revolver is not guilty of any crime known to the Sacred Law. Next, the victim was a Christian, and the life of a true believer can never be taken merely on the ground that he has killed a Christian. Thirdly, Boutros Pasha's relatives had not themselves appeared as prosecutors.
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